MT 74 - Through the Gift Shop
I was making Nuralie MVP of this Delve, and I would hear no argument about it.
We had problems. The loson had chemical solutions. Nuralie and Xim had both popped one of Nuralie’s antidotes while I went on crusade with Grotto, and I eagerly accepted one for myself now that the immediate threat had ended. It knocked sixty stacks of toxicity off my debuf...
2024-01-25 12:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostMT 73 - Cage Match, Part 2
After missing her first counterspell, Etja was ready for the follow-up. A wave of blue mana washed across me, Xim, and Nuralie as Orexis’ second cloud of putrescence bombarded us, creating a swirling fog of mutual magic annihilation.
I checked on Etja’s mana, seeing that the golem was nearly empty, and focused on timing my Dispel for the next ...
2024-01-22 12:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostMT 72 - Reveals
‘The Eye reveals’ is how Xim had explained it back on the riverboat to Arsenal. An ability that I’d tapped into later, during our Third Layer walk. I’d become connected to the other eleven people in our Layer-hopping crew, able to show them the way I saw the Layer. Not a desolate horror-scape, but a strange, yet beautiful place.
Back then, I’d been...
2024-01-20 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostMT 71 - Cage Match, Part 1
Before Orexis could voice his displeasure, I asked a question that was burning a hole through my mind.
“So, if you’re in here, as a soul fragment,” I said, gesturing at the specter, “does that mean that the real Orexis, outside, doesn’t know that Fortune just kidnapped his sister?”
“Tell me where he has taken her,” Orexis dem...
2024-01-18 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostMT 70 - The Inner, Inner Cage
The portal was in the ground.
Our group was gathered in a circle around the entrance to Anesis’ prison, looking down at its languid surface. The gateway swirled at a slow and leisurely pace within the floor, as though it defied the chaos of the world around it—a mute and unfeeling guardian, behind which catastrophe gestated.
We’d spent the l...
2024-01-15 12:36:42 +0000 UTC View PostMT 69 - May I Borrow a Cup of Soul?
Fortune continued to walk, footfalls trodding neatly between the bodies. Though the overall shape of the central cage was a sphere, the ground here was level. Looking at the distant edge, I could see that the floor we walked on abutted the sloping wall, built flat. I had no hint as to our destination from studying the terrain.
The world was filled...
2024-01-13 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostMT 68 - The Quick Way Down
I’d never gone skydiving. I thought that I wouldn’t like it.
I was correct in that assumption.
The inner cage was a sphere with a diameter of about two and a half miles. We’d entered at the midway point and climbed our way up an absurd distance, though we were still far from the top. That meant there was well over a mile between us and the bott...
2024-01-11 12:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostMT 67 - Fortune
I reeled from Fortune’s words, but their meaning wasn’t lost on me. Still, I needed to be sure.
“Sorry, I’ve been getting to know a lot of gods lately,” I said. “Where did we meet again?”
Fortune’s smile receded an inch, and Xim turned her head slowly in my direction, eyes wide. It was the first time I’d seen her look genuinely worried about s...
2024-01-08 12:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostMT 66 - Gods and Ladders
“You know what’s odd?” I said as we hustled down the flickering corridor. The door we’d unlocked was a quarter turn around the loop from where we’d fought the Bloom.
“Everything’s odd in here,” said Varrin.
“Right, but I didn’t see any big god-mummy in that last room. The first subchamber had that huge guy in it.”
{...
2024-01-06 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostMT 65 - Breaking Gear
Turns out Homing Weapon was not a Guaranteed Hit, as the flappy asshats were still able to swoop out of the way of my thrown axe, technique be damned. The ability guided the weapon toward my target, but the axe didn’t turn on a dime when the chosen creature dodged last second.
It had perhaps been a bit optimistic to assume that I, with three...
2024-01-04 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostHowdy!
First, happy new year! Next, thanks for being here!
There's a lot of space on RR to let everyone know how much I appreciate their support, but no author notes on Patreon to do that. I thought about adding them to the text posts, but it looked weird so I didn't do it. I also can't pre-comment on a scheduled post. *shakes fist*
It means a lot to me that everyone is here a...
2024-01-02 21:07:48 +0000 UTC View PostMT 64 - Handsy
{The Mouth is definitely in the subchamber,} Cage thought to us.
“Is there a reason,” I said, “that you’re withholding critical information until the last second?”
{It goes against my nature to help Delvers overcome a Delve. This is all a vvvvvvery new experience for me. Besides, this isn’t the last second! It’ll take another coup...
2024-01-01 12:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostMT 63 - Heads Shoulders Knees & Toes
The hike from one spawn-infested subchamber to the next was about four miles, which made the entire loop around the outside of the main cage an eight-mile circumference.
We moved at a jog, giving our health and mana some time to recover while trying not to dawdle too much and letting the world implode around us. The goal was to make the journ...
2023-12-30 12:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostMT 62 - Shog'tuatha
A deep voice echoed from the portal, purring like a lion as it spoke.
“Slayer of Ihbriobrixilas,” it said. “I am pleased to hear your call.”
Tentacles continued to spill from the portal, and a heavy, muscled leg stepped out behind them. The flesh was dark green, the muscle corded, and the foot neve...
2023-12-28 12:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostMT 61 - The Wailing, The Moaning
“Hmm, wonder what Fervor monsters look like,” I said.
“Spiders,” said Nuralie. I jumped at her sudden appearance beside me.
“Really? Spiders?” I scratched my beard. Definitely needed a trim at this point. “Feels kind of normal, ya’ know?”
“They’re very scary,” said Nuralie.
“Sure, but I’ve never been both...
2023-12-26 12:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostMT 60 - Delve Core 9998
“Alright,” I said. “What fresh asshole is talking into my brain?”
{Fresh? If I were an asshole I’d be very old. I doubt I’d be fresh at all.}
“That’s gross,” said Xim, giving me a disapproving look.
“Jesus, I didn’t know he was gonna take it in that direction.”
I decided not to have another discussion with a ...
2023-12-25 12:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostMT 59 - Short Rest
“So, what are we doing?” said Xim through a mouthful of hardtack.
We’d all broken out some provisions once Etja had dug into my offer of cheese and dried meats. The golem mostly nibbled at the cheese in delicate bites with varying degrees of awe on her face, while ignoring the meats. She’d even grown a pert nose with which to sniff them prior to consumptio...
2023-12-23 12:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostMT 58 - Player 5
You’ve entered an area with a very high concentration of Dimensional mana. Bonus mana regeneration capped at 10xWIS.
Current mana regeneration: 125/hour
You have survived the notice of a Divine being. You are granted +1 LCK!
I exited the Delve portal like a man doing a backward dive onto pav...
2023-12-21 12:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostMT 57 - S-Tier
Orexis turned and searched between us, looking for the source of the interruption. His gaze quickly landed on Grotto, and he snarled. The tendrils from the obelisk continued to fluctuate, losing cohesion, pulling Orexis’ attention back to his task. He began weaving his magic through the unsteady energy. The threads stabilized, but the power from the Obelisk was erratic. 2023-12-19 12:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
MT 56 - Override Code: FAAFO
“You think I have no ears?” said Orexis, as the hardened masses of his feet clunked along the floor toward us. He paused and held a hand up to the side of his head, patting it. “Ah, I do not, it seems,” he said as though it were the first time he considered it. “Still, I hear all that you say. I do not wish for you to struggle, as the sacrifice I wan...
2023-12-18 12:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostMT 55 - God of Yearning
Ealdric opened with a spinning slash. His blade grew twice in length, sailing for the side of Orexis’ head, but the creature’s left hand appeared in front of the blade. The hand pivoted, sending Ealdric sailing behind him with his own momentum.
Ember launched an arrow at Orexis’ chest, but one of his smaller hands intercepted and crushed it.
Lito ...
2023-12-16 12:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostMT 54 - Orexis
The light in Drel’s hand expanded outward and enveloped us. Within it, I was cast back into the world of complete black the same as when we’d first transitioned to the Third. My allies were once again still visible, though the light illuminating their forms was dim. A shadowy form coalesced near me, and I took a step back as it began to come into focus.
Tall, lean...
2023-12-14 12:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostMT 53 - The Third Layer
“I will have a guiding light,” said Drel. “When we are in the Third, you must follow it. Do not speak to one another. If someone speaks to you, they are not real. We shall not risk confusion.”
“If you’re drinking in the landscape and see something concerning,” Xim added, “best idea is to ignore it and focus on the light.”
“We Xor’D...
2023-12-12 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostMT 52 - A Perfectly un-Ordinary Bridge
We made our way into the mountains at a brisk walk, rather than the break-neck speed of the journey so far. This gave Ember and Drel’gethed the time they needed to properly scout the area ahead of us. Even with their Delver abilities, it still took time to canvas a wide area and ensure there weren’t any spies or traps laid out.
I toyed with...
2023-12-11 12:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostMT 51 - LFG
“We took the liberty of naming it,” said Varrin, looking over the disassembled shield, “since Modular Floating Targe of the Honeycomb Atrocidile’s Maw was too much of a mouthful. I hope it serves you well.”
I strapped the armguard onto my left hand, then picked up one of the slabs. There were four hexagonal slots along the top of my forearm. When I hel...
2023-12-09 12:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostMT 50 - Gracorvus
I forewent physical training on the eve of our approach to the cave. Initially, I’d asked Lito if he could teach me a technique that utilized stamina rather than mana, but he was of the opinion that techniques were better ‘discovered’ than taught. I also asked Ember about her flight ability, which was stamina-based, though I didn’t see how that made sense, and sh...
2023-12-07 12:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostMT 49 - Some Light Exercise
Arsenal was the quintessential trade hub and traveler’s town. The economy revolved around providing services to the merchants, traders, and commuters moving from Hiward’s eastern shoreline to Foundation, and most of the south as well. Trade goods passing through Port Sarsora–which serviced ships sailing from The Littan Empire and Eschendur–and bound tow...
2023-12-05 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostMT 48 - Enter the Mana-Matrix
I raised my eyebrow at Grotto’s claim.
[I thought improving my stats with training was just some divine fuckery.]
[It is. However, I believe that I can distill the fuckery into quantifiable concepts. I have examined your mana-matrix closely, and found a strange interaction between the matrix and your mana-veins.]
[Those are differ...
2023-12-04 12:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostMT 47 - I Can't Feel My Guilt When I'm With You
“Many Delvers may act as though their exploits are limited to conquering Delves and clearing out inhuman creatures from around villages and new settlements. That is the dream of the naive, and of those who wish to portray themselves in an overly flattering light.
“So, we end up back where we started. Yes, Delver blades can cut thro...
2023-12-02 12:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostMT 46 - The Subtle Art of Hammering
Eventually the Alpha was subdued, and Ember dismissed her mega-owl to keep it from eating the body parts the beastman needed to respond to questions. Myria managed to lock him down with her mind-magic, but she was unable to encourage the man toward providing any useful information. Since the Alpha wasn’t responsive to Myria’s good-cop routine, Lito ...
2023-12-01 12:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post