Previous Contest Post

Finally, sorry for the time frame. This proved to be way more daunting than I had originally planned. That’s partly my fault because I love to write and so just kept doing so. I had to trim and edit a ton of stuff because it seriously would’ve been a novel’s worth of stuff on each post. Each post was already like 7000-8000 words as it was, and that was after removing entire sections. But it was also daunting because it’s a tough format to wrap your head around executing something like this. Normally, we’d be playing something like this together in real time, so I could have you read a post that says something like you enter a cave and there’s a box in front of you with an dagger in it and an iron door to your left what do you do? And seconds later you could send your choice in a response and we could proceed from there. Trying to make a choose your own adventure that a large number of people could play at the same time and interact with was challenging to figure out. I wanted it to be fun and interactive and feel like you had agency in your choices, while still making it so everyone could experience it at the same time without it being like a sentence or single choice at a time. So the branching story paths was my solution this go around, and I’d like to think it worked sort of ok, but even I’ll admit it got really confusing at times. (You should see the notebook pages I had with flow charts dedicated just to this contest!) So for (if there is a) next time, I have smoother ideas for doing this that’ll be hopefully more fun, engaging, and interactive, and less reading walls of text and rolling one die. I promise!

Ok, I appreciate you letting me get that all out and reading it all (whether you did or not) and thank you for sticking this out with me. Hopefully it was at least a fun little something different for you to be a part of.

TL;DR:

I apologize for this being a confusing mess at times and thank you for your patience.

Now, on to the grand finale!

Have your character ‘sheets’ ready - (your comment from the previous post, linked here):

Previous Contest Post

as you’ll need it for reference. Here’s where you should be at:

• Name:
• Class:
• Force:
• Finesse:
• Path:
• Roll A:
• Branch A (or C if you still have it leftover from Paths 4-6, you can change it to A now):
• Branch B (or D if you still have it leftover from Paths 4-6, but actually this line is no longer needed so feel free to delete it if you want)
• Influence:
• Drive: Mercy or Malice
• D100:

Alright, story conclusion time!

We left off the last post with following whether you were on the [Healthy] story or [Injured] story previously. Below is a quick reminder if you forget:

• You can check the last post or, a quick way to figure out is refer to whichever number is higher between your Finesse and Force stats, refer to your Roll A and if the number is higher than 14 you were [Healthy] and if that number was less than 14 you were [Injured].

• There was also the [Armed]/[Unarmed] status you’ll need, so you were [Armed] if your Branch A number was 1-3 and [Unarmed] if Branch A was 4-6). Remember or make note of this status.

Proceed according to your [Injured]/[Healthy] status to continue on that path:

[Injured] Path Continued:

As you frantically search your surroundings, your distracted for a moment and almost have your head onitalics taken off, realizing at the last moment the metallic creature has once again advanced and made a swipe with its blade that would’ve left you a head shorter, ducking out of the way just in time. The pain shoots through your body as the action puts strain on your already injured ribs…The pain making you wince, which brings you…

• If you have the [Unarmed]Status, proceed to Track E.
• If you have the [Armed]Status, proceed to Track F.

[Healthy] Path Continued:

You deftly dodge another attack by the metallic creature. It bellows an scream that’s grating on your ears, the shrill screech reverberating from some electronic device within the creature no doubt. It comes at you again and again but you manage to dodge and roll out of the way each time. You know you can’t keep this up forever, as you suck air in to your lungs and leap back, narrowly dodging a wicked swipe the creature made for your gut. You still search the ground around you for anything you can use as a weapon, when distracted, you trip and stumble to the ground. Knowing you have no time to lose, you quickly spring round, and take a breath that brings you…

• If you have the [Unarmed]Status, proceed to Track E.
• If you have the [Armed]Status, proceed to Track F.

TRACK E

…to your knees and in doing so, your hand grazes something hard and you grab for it, bringing up a jagged rock, slightly bigger than your first. You’d have preferred an actual weapon, but you’ll take this over nothing. You rise to your feet as the monster lets out what you assume is a growl, the mechanical screech sounding angry and full of hate. It makes a lunge toward you again, and this time you’re too slow as you dodge out of the way. The blade manages to find its mark, just grazing your arm but catching enough to draw some blood, thanking small miracles it wasn’t your sword hand. The swipe leaves the creatures backside exposed as it passes by you and with all your strength you bring the rock down on its back and feel the metal beneath give. As it stumbles past you from the blow, you can see you’ve made a large dent in the creatures shell where it’s shoulder blades would be…

• [Proceed to Path M]

TRACK F

…a moment to sharpen your focus… remembering… in your panic you forgot… yes! You can’t believe you had forgotten that quickly but the panic and adrenaline had you out of sorts. You pull the fashioned bone dagger out and grip it tightly, renewed vigor coursing through your body as you hold on to your crude weapon. But even a simple dagger can be deadly in capable hands. And you’re more than The pain makes your memory click for a second and you remember the beach, and that makes you remember… up to the automaton and as it lunges for you again, you feint to block low, the creature seizing the opportunity and slashing forward with its blade, managing to catch your off hand forearm and open up a shallow gash. The beast lurches forward having overcommitted to the attack, exposing itself as you drive the makeshift dagger hard as you can between the metal plants in to the exposed wires of its shoulder. You feel wires give way and hear gears crunch as the tip of the dagger breaks off, lodged deep in the beasts back. You cast the broken handle aside and with furious purpose, stare down your wounded foe, hoping your attack was enough to cause some damage...

• Proceed to [Path M]

PATH M

… and while shaken, it seems to still be moving with purpose. As it circles round to face you again, you see it lose its footing for a second as it’s legs buckle. It takes a moment to right itself and adjust its footing but you know your blow has weakened it. It makes to come at you again, and you plant your feet with renewed vigor. “This is not where I fall, not this day and not to you,” you yell, telling yourself as much as the automaton. Seeming to answer your boast, the beast lets out a slurry of electronic sounds, resonating from deep within its metal framework. The soundwave emerges as a series of beeps and repeating numbers in your own tongue, causing you to pause a moment when the realization dawns on you. Stranger even still, the creature has cancelled its advance, and not just cancelled it, but ceased moving entirely as the noises spew forth from it in quick succession. As soon as it began the noise ends, and the monster begins moving again, but seeming dazed and unsure of itself for a moment. You see it shake it’s head as if to clear itself, and you can’t help but think that the sound was not of the creatures own making. As if something had broadcast those machinations using the automaton as a speaker of sorts. You’re not given too much time to ponder though, as the beast lets forth another screech, beginning another charge. Just as you’re about to begin searching for something to use to defend yourself again, you feel a warmth and then a heat on your thigh, as if someone had shoved a forge heated piece of metal in to your pocket. Trying to escape the burning sensation, you furiously swat at your pants and thigh, your hand coming in to contact with something and pulling back from the heat. You reach in your pocket and feel a cord and yank it out and the necklace bauble dangles before you as you hold it in front of you. The automaton, seeing the symbol of the necklace in front of you, lets out another screech, only this one sounds like there’s something more behind it than anger or fury, something that sounds a little bit like fear. Despite the simple metallic face of the monster across from you, you feel the recognition wash over the beast more than you actually see it. And the necklace lights aflame, blazing the deepest violet you’ve ever seen in your life. A purple flame, burning white hot in front of you, so bright you almost have to avert your eyes. And just when it reaches an inferno which promises to melt your hand, just as your about to throw the ball of fire away from you, the purple flame leaps to your arm and engulfs you in an instant. You watch, horrified, as the purple flame rages across the entirety of your being, and you’re sure you’re burning alive. You feel no pain though, and chalk this up to the fire having to have burnt your senses away already, searing all your pain receptors and so you’ll just melt in to a puddle of flesh beneath this suit of fire. But no sooner had you been wreathed in purple flame, then the fire subsided and you found yourself still in one, unmelted piece, only now you could see purple runes glowing, woven throughout the skin on your entire body. You examined yourself in wonder as the tingling of these new markings rose and fell in brightness, seeming in rhythm with your pulse. You’re snapped back to reality by the sound of a gear grinding and quickly whip your focus back to the beast. It was circling you now, but hasn’t advanced, seeming a little less sure of itself. If it was half as confused as you were, it might self destruct. Giving yourself a small laugh, you consider what to do next, unable to keep your focus from wandering to the feeling racing through your body. You feel powerful, like a man possessed on path to greatness. As the brightness of the future fills you with purpose, a voice suddenly barks, “Finish this and find me within the Obelisk!” You whirl round to find the source of the command and see no one save your metallic adversary, who seems ready to engage again. Again the voice orders, “The answers for the questions you have and the ones you don’t even know you need will be granted when you come and find me.” In your head then, this voice must be, realizing it’s not a figment of hour imagination, but only after a brief second where you entertained that maybe you had burned alive and melted and this was death, hearing voices and all. But you still feel alive so you decide to go seeking out the owner of the voice inside the obelisk, which you figure is where the door, the one your present adversary sprang from, is located and leads inside of. You turn again to face the automaton just as it’s planting its feet, a sign it means to strike you’ve seen countless times this fight. It begins to launch itself forward at you and almost instinctually, before you really know what you’re doing, you move your fingers, tracing out shapes in front of you that shimmer with purple energy as you seem to complete a series. After five or six of the symbols you didn’t know you knew were traced through the air, the energy inside you again flared to life only this time it, it was intoxicating. You feel stronger, faster, a conqueror, and before you know it…

Proceed to the track to which your class (the one you chose at the very beginning) appears: - [Blade Dancer] - TRACK Q - [Beast Totem] - TRACK R - [Storm Weaver] - TRACK S - [Tale Spinner] - TRACK T

TRACK Q

…time seems to slow, as the automatons lunge suddenly seemed like it was moving through syrup, it’s newest lunge looking comical as it slowly brought its blade up toward you so slowly you’d swear it was rusting completely over in the span of a breath. You easily stepped to the side and watched as the creature went on slowly passing by you, seeing its advance through despite having completely missed you. Almost in jest, you shot a foot out and let out a raucous belly laugh as the creature actually, having made contact with your foot, began to slowly stumble over its own legs and fall to the ground. You collected yourself and stared on in disbelief, considering how quickly your fortune had changed. As you felt energy crackle within your hands, almost on instinct and with no more than a though, you call forth a pair of spectral daggers from the ether into your grips. The large, wicked looking blades are incredible, appearing from thin air with their ethereal glow, a deep indigo in color and transparent, feeling light as air yet perfectly balanced in your hands, as if these blades were made for you, which you’re almost certain they have been. You flip one deftly in your hand and catch it, admiring the weight of the blades and how sturdy they feel, yet they swing with a speed as if you held nothing at all. You begin to move, seamlessly weaving and twisting your body while the knives sing before you, a dance of deadly precision. Before reaching the creature in its pathetic state, you decide to test something out and before you’ve even realized you’ve finished the thought, the robot is lunging back at you, back to normal speed again. You’ll have to test the extent of your ability to affect time when you’ve had a chance to consider all of this a great deal more, but you’re sure you can find the… You don’t even finish the poor joke in your head, and smirking, now find yourself actually glad you’ll have a competent foe before you again, one who can test your new skills properly. But you don’t even bother trying to parry as this new flurry of blows come wild and desperate, the frustration in the creature spilling out plainly through their haphazard strikes. Dodge, twist, slip, step, you dance between the monsters blows and as it makes a wide sweeping slice with its arm that you easily sidestep, you grow bold in your arrogance. Cocky now and losing all discipline, in all your mocking and bravado, you fail to pay mind as during a particularly wide swung attack which you easily turned aside to avoid, that its other arm was coming round and sweeping up toward your chest. In your disregard you’re oblivious to the hidden spear that’s just sprung out of the beasts off-hand. Just as the spike would find your heart run through completely, you react at the last second with a gasp and brace for the pain, only to have everything go fuzzy for the blink of an eye, and all the sudden you’re behind the creature, looking at an image of yourself standing with the attack passing through you as your effigy dissipates in to a purple mist and reabsorbs itself to you. With both blades poised, the creature completely exposed to you, you stare down at this enemy who tried to cut you open and…

• If previously did your drive you chose Malice, proceed to [STORY J]
• If previously for your drive you chose Mercy, proceed to [STORY K]

TRACK R

…you begin to chant a language whose understanding comes to you as quickly as the words to it spill from your lips. You can feel the power behind the words and no sooner are you finished chanting then you can feel slight tremors beneath your feet. The automaton seems to feel them too as it peels off it’s attack and pauses a moment to consider what’s happening. There’s a slow exhale as the energy inside you ripples through your skin with expectation. The automaton leaps back in confusion, the unexpected motion causing it to trip over itself, as it flees the source of its surprise. An animal the size of a hut erupts from the surf, leaping a full 4 heights of self in the air at least, and lands with an impact that shakes the ground around it, spewing forth water from its tusked maw. The water dwelling Vaeuv’un glares around with its 7 eyes, malicious intent dancing within the large central eye mirrored by the surrounding ring of eyes. 7 means it’s an adult, with the smaller welps having only the 3 eyes, not sprouting the additional sets until maturity. Thankfully, purposefully, the metal menace finds itself the object of this new friends attention, as you reach out a hand to pat the Vae on its exposed shoulders and let it know it has an ally present, the shoulder the only portion of its hide not covered by the armor like scale plates that are notoriously near impossible to penetrate. The beast gives a huff of water from its mouth in retort, a sign of respect from the beast that stores large quantities of water in a bladder to either side of its back, which it uses to spray forth gouts of sea water heated via an organ in its throat to metal melting temperatures, a fact you alone can appreciate in its applicable appropriateness. The bucket of bolts before you must be at least somewhat capable of processing knowledge because it takes in the monstrous animal beside you and it seems to preform something like scanning, seeing a small bar flashing back and forth across the electronic display that acts as it’s eyes. A moment later and you know that it now knows what the Vae is capable of as it wastes no time attempting to attack its flank and take advantage of its momentary inaction while it’s still in one piece. Just as it goes to leap through the air though, your hand shoots out muttering a phrase under your breath and before it’s metal feet leave the ground, two large, tentacle like vines shoot up from the earth and coil tightly around the legs of the automaton. It lets out another one of those screeches only this time in it, you hear a tinge of shock, but more than that, there’s a bellow of despair. As more vines shoot up from the ground, you climb atop the Vae who lowers to allow you purchase to climb on to its back. The two of you approach the now helpless automaton, the Vae rearing up on its two back legs, almost throwing you from its back, a suspicion that it’s not used to many riders these days giving you a laugh. Probably forgets it’s own strength. Then you feel the heat beginning to gather in its throat, with steam starting to escape from the two stalks jutting out from either side of its head. You wrap your arms around the neck of the water animal and give it two quick pats in succession, which causes it to lower itself with a large expulsion of steams, purging the water it had been boiling in readiness. Seeing more and more vines shooting you and ensnaring the robot, you dismount and pushing your forehead to the beasts chest and muttering a few more words, you thank it and send it back to the sea where it lumbers off to and dives back in, disappearing beneath the wake. Despite not utilizing the beast, you appreciate its support, but know when it’s overkill against an already defeated foe. Locked to the ground on all fours, the vines snaking in and out of the machinations of the monster brought low before you, you stand over the crippled figure and…

• If previously did your drive you chose Malice, proceed to [STORY J]
• If previously for your drive you chose Mercy, proceed to [STORY K]

TRACK S

…both your fists burst aglow with violent, cracking energies. As the metal monster leaps in to the air to try and skewer you from above, you let forth a thunderous eruption of lightning that strikes it right in the chest, as you see the glow behind its circuitry and the hum of its parts all go dark and silent for a moment before kicking back on and just nearly catching itself to land on its feet. Stunned for a moment, it turns to you just in time to catch a stream of burning ice blasting in to its body. The torrent causing layers of frost to quickly race along the metal of its framework and clusters of frost to spike up from where its circuitry was exposed. As the machine tried expending its efforts to power through the freeze, you hear its gears straining to provide enough power to free itself from the debilitating frost. As it finally appears to be gaining its mobility again, managing to shake free from some of the frost clinging to it, it turns again toward you to refocus its efforts and this time the shriek is drenched in frustration as it now faces the funnel of water your loosing from your palms, turning the sand and dirt encircling the machine to quicksand that it finds itself already knee deep in and sinking faster. The automaton frantically redoubles its efforts to escape the sand trap it finds itself in and you almost feel bad as you juggle the flame from hand to hand, finally feeling it grow to mirror your own fury as you cast it forth to explode in a fireball of rage, flash searing the metal of the automaton to near black and turning the sand previously presenting as almost a liquid into hardened fire glass, the inferno locking the sand in place and trapping the metal menace in a glass prison, unable to move despite the high pitched shrill of gears whirring to the point of smoke rising from the internal mechanisms of the automaton. As you approach and begin to circle round the robot, first locking eyes and glaring down at the helpless creature, moving to its back as black, pulsing energy sparks forth from the void to engulf your hands with dark magic, you pause a second to consider the pathetic state of your enemy before you and…

• If previously did your drive you chose Malice, proceed to [STORY J]
• If previously for your drive you chose Mercy, proceed to [STORY K]

TRACK T

…you feel the words rolling from your lips as the song echos around you. The automaton begins to become erratic as you see it begin to glance around, buzzing and whirring coming in rapid succession. As you let the lyrics flow through you and sing the song of the Gemini, you crack a wry smile, the knowledge of countless libraries now filling your head, knowing the song you sing must be driving the automaton mad with attempts to process the turn of events. Where before it had been certain it was poised to land the killing blow on you, yet now before it in defiance stands 8 identical foes, all with various weapons and implements at the ready, you’re sure it’s confusion is wreaking havoc on processing the situation before it. And as you watch it fruitlessly slashing the air a stones throw away, it’s blades passing harmlessly through the enemies before it, not understanding why the blows are having no affect, you begin to harmonize the Gemini’s tune with a Ballad of Remembered Heroes, the now skeletal remains emerging from the ground adding to the chaos surrounding the metal menace. Boney hands that reach up from beneath the earth and grab hold of the automaton, holding it fast in place, despite its best efforts to free itself. It strikes furiously down at the grips unaware that these fallen legends of old have stirred awake with the sole intent of defeating the machine that slashes at their bones with fervor, splintering and sheering through bone, only to have two new hands spring up from where one was cut down. And as you casually stroll toward the automaton, locked in its furious attempt to free itself, you conjure forth a small pipe and accompany the two songs with a somber Restweary Lullaby, watching as the intoxicating melody enraptures the creature whose frantic swings become more and more sluggish and labored until finally succumbing to the call of the Queen of Dreams. You come upon the metallic adversary just as, in rapid succession, the blinking lights and flashing bulbs within the machine’s framework resolve themselves to power on no longer, silenced while the melody continues to weave itself around the automaton, spilling forth ad infinitum from the spectral instrument hanging from your neck. The beautiful music filling your soul with assurance and confidence, you drink it all in a moment as you arrive behind the slumbering robot and…

• If previously did your drive you chose Malice, proceed to [STORY J]
• If previously for your drive you chose Mercy, proceed to [STORY K]

To be Cont’d in:

PART 2 AND THE FINALE. HEAD TO THIS LINK FOR STORY J AND K

YOU DONT NEED TO COMMENT ANYTHING ON THIS POST!

Thanks u/CephaloCatSquad, I forgot to note that.