Fantasy World Creations

Location: New World - Wind Temple of Velothia - Dalina's Home
Date: Day 7 - Morning

The morning came, and when you stirred awake, you noticed that the slimeling was already up as usual. Gust was with Viridio, who seemed to be teaching the hatchling how to correctly hover in place. Anja was stirring as well, and from the way Ren's tentacles coiled around one of your arms, figured she must be up as well.

As you suspected, Dalina was still dead asleep.

     Jean stood up and stretched his arms and looked over his companions.  Seeing Dalina still asleep he went about fully rousing everyone, everyone that is but Dalina.  He gathered them all together with a finger over his lips to signal continued silence and brought them over next to Dalina's bed.  Getting his head as close to Dalina as possible, close enough to just barely move the lock of hair that lay across her face.  He looked to everyone else and brought up his fingers in a countdown, hoping they would get the jist.  Three fingers.  Two fingers.  One finger.  "GOOD MORNING!"  He said as loud as he could without yelling.

Everyone spoke up at once.

"WAKE UP SLEEPY!" One of them said.

"Master wishes you to wake!" Another said at the same time.

Gust and Viridio chirped as well joining into the call. It was the slimeling who didn't say anything but instead, decided to plop itself on Dalina's face.

That of course was enough to wake her up.

"WHA-" Dalina yelled, and at the same time, bolted up in her bed, hitting her head on the ceiling, while pushing the slimeling off her face.

"O-ow..." She said, blinking her eyes, and realizing everyone was crowding around her. "I told you I was going to wake up..." She said hesitantly, avoiding looking at anyone in the eye.

     "It's morning and everyone else was already up.  C'mon, we gotta eat so we can go watch the landing." Said Jean as he made his way into the kitchen to get breakfast.  "Ren, could you carry Anja?  We should all watch together."  He said as he gathered up some jerky, dried fish, and bread.

Ren nodded as her tentacles wrapped around Anja. Anja took the proffered appendages, and once she did, the tentacles morphed into something akin to a squishy chair.

With that, the rest of the crew gathered some things as well for the landing, along with prepping their robes, and ensuring they all looked tidy. It was then that Dalina disappeared into a closet, and eventually pulled out what looked to be a fine robe. It was similar in design and make as the rest of the robes that the people in the temple wore, but this one looked exceptionally better made.

"I can finally pull this out... This is a special robe designed for the hero." Dalina explained. "On the day when you depart our temple, I am to give this to you. Because we're landing soon, this is the best time, I think."
 
"It's a robe passed down for generations, since the time of the old kingdoms before the first of our temples took flight into the skies. It has a special property... What makes it uniquely for the hero, is that is grants the wearer a high amount of elemental defenses in relation with the type of elements they have affinity for. But also, you become more vulnerable to elements that you do not have affinity for."

"For example... The priests of our temple have a strong affinity for Air. Meaning, that when wearing this, air weaves around us more easily. Direct attacks based on air to cut or pummel have a reduced effect. However... If a Wind Temple priest were to wear this and walk on flaming stones, it would hurt much more."

"For heroes... they generally have an affinity for all the elements, and are more likely to have affinity for the rarer ones, such as Light or Darkness."

With the explanation complete, Dalina handed it to you.

QuoteFeel free to describe the robe. Only requirement is that it's a robe of some sort, but definitely more adorned than what the rest of the priests are wearing. Colors should include white in it.

Statistics:

Robe of the Velothian Wind Temple Hero

The robe grants the wearer 15 resistance to a specific elemental damage type(s) they have affinity in. However, this only extends to specific elemental damage, rather than the physical damages such as Piercing, Slashing, or Bludgeoning.

Fire affinity is a resistance to fire damage and electric damage.
Water affinity is a resistance to cold damage.
Earth affinity is a resistance to acid damage
Air affinity is a resistance to electric damage and sonic damage.
Light affinity is a resistance to sacred damage.
Darkness affinity is a resistance to profane damage.

For elements a user does not have affinity with, the damage taken is doubled.

     Jean took the robe and held it up in front of himself, letting it unfold so he could get a look at it from top to bottom.  It was certainly more ornate than what the other villagers wore, made of some kind of fine linen rather than the usual woolen material.  The robe was cut with a firm collar and slits on either side from the waist down, much like the changshan he sometimes saw in old kungfu movies (again, the knowledge of which he didn't think he would have seen before other than in passing).  It was white with deep emerald patterns and gold trim that evoked blowing wind but as he looked closer at it the patterning seemed to ever so slowly change as rich purple streaks seemed to weave among the green.  He blinked and pulled away, at a further distance the patters remained their original color and only upon bringing the fabric up to his face for a closer inspection could he see the additional color.  "Amazing stuff."  He said as he pulled his gaze from the almost hypnotic pattern.  "It must change according to who wears it...  And yet it remains the same"  He took off the simple jerkin he had been wearing and pulled the robe over his head.  It was soft, and the stitching was finer than even the clothes he wore back in his original world, as if they weren't even there, a huge difference from the rough handmade clothes he had been wearing so far in this world.
     "I could certainly get used to this" he said, as he stuck out a leg to see how it fell on his form.  It flowed around him with the slightest breeze, and was surprisingly voluminous, feeling like a cloud or almost like he wasn't wearing it at all.  It was luxurious, almost too much so for Jean.  "It feels...  Well different than anything I'm used to wearing.  Almost like I'm naked."  He turned back and picked up the jerkin he had just taken off and pulled it back on over the robe and rolled up the sleeves to his elbows  "That... feels better."  He said as he seemed to trap the robe with the overlay and feeling more like he was actually wearing something. "So, do I look sufficiently heroic now?"  He asked as he turned around for his companions to see.

Location: New World - Wind Temple of Velothia - Dalina's Home
Date: Day 7 - Morning

The rest of the crew either smiled or grinned when they looked upon you. It was Dalina who first spoke.

"Now, you look like an actual hero. Your hair also works really well with the entire thing too." She commented. "You look great!"

"Master... I still think you look better without anything on..."

Anja furrowed her eyebrows. Though you noticed Dalina's cheek turn slight a slight red, and avoided your eyes. Ren wrapped her tentacles around both Anja and Dalina.

"What do you two think?" Ren asked, surprisingly attempting to include the two others in her musings as the tentacle girl looked hungrily towards you.

"No comment." Anja replied flatly.

"Well, he's not bad." Dalina said. "I mean... uhh, he is pretty fit and good look-" Dalina paused. "Why are we even talking about this?" She said as she began walking off abruptly.

She was trying not to turn around but the rest of you could tell she was probably trying to hide her blush.

"So? Are you guys coming? We'll be there soon and we need to get good seats!"

---

Location: New World - Wind Temple of Velothia - Viewing Area
Date: Day 7:30 - Morning

Soon enough, Dalina lead the way, and soon enough you and your companions found yourselves making your way to one of the island's cliff-face. The lowest island in elevation among the islands that made up the temple was the destination. It seemed during landing, or perhaps it was more like 'docking', the sides of that island were used as both a viewing area and the dock.

Apart from many other wind temple priest residents, there were other priests who actually had various thick ropes tied to moor-like protrusions waiting their chance to secure the 'landing' island to the mountain.

When you had appeared, many people noted your more-extravagant clothes, and there were some who nodded in approval. During your stay here, you managed to get acquainted to the other trainees under Vitaliya, and you saw her wave towards you in greeting along with some of the other students.

Once Dalina found a set of seats for your entire group, that was when someone called out to you. "Hero! A little late... but I finally got a chance to meet you."

     "Sup...  Jean Valois..."  He said with a wave in greeting.  "I think someone mentioned you before but I didn't really have a chance to come meet you.  No offense intended but there were some things I needed to get done before I left and then with the ceremony and its...  issues...  I felt there were more important things than meeting with another of your elders.  Though,  I see you aren't as elderly as some of the others,"  He sat down on the grass with the rest of his companions.  "I thought you were the one in charge of flying this island or something.  Shouldn't you be...  I dunno... doing that?  Not sure if it applies but back where I'm from they say the easy part is the flying, the hard part is the landing."

She giggled.

"I'm actually pretty old." She said offhandedly. Her eyes brightened. "But the temple's landing will be fine!" Marina said cheerily.

"I got a whole bunch of priests regulating the flow of magic for our descent. Plus, I can simply yank the controls from them, even here."

"Ms. Keeper of the Temple? That's really you?" Dalina hesitated. "You usually never go outside the temple's control room... You don't look.. umm..."

"Hundreds of years old?" She laughed. "I thought I would be visited by the Goddesses' hero! Poor me, waiting in anticipation... I even prepared a grand opening whenever you first stepped through, and here we are... 30 minutes before landing, and I had to go out here to find you." She rolled her eyes.

"With your white hair and that snazzy robe, it wasn't hard to spot you at least." She shrugged.

"Now, follow me?" Marina suggested, eyeing you, Dalina, Anja, and Ren. "Your bird companions and slime companion can come too of course."

"We came here to see the landing..." Dalina started to complain.

Marina held up a finger.

"And you'll see it! A view like no other." Marina's eyes then went towards you. "I have a duty, you see. Not just to this temple and its people."

She cleared her throat as she continued to pierce her eyes through yours.

"But to the goddess I swore myself to."

     Jean met the priestess' gaze.  "Great, another of these talks?  Fine.  Let's walk.  Anyone that wants to come can."  He stood up and motioned ahead.  "Lead on."

She giggled as she started to lead the way. Once you started to follow, everyone else did, partly out of curiosity, but primarily for their desire to follow you. Marina took you to a natural alcove on the cliff-side just a short distance from where the group of you were sitting.

She glanced around her for a moment, and when she noticed all was clear, she turned towards you.

"Luckily the trip isn't that far at all." Marina said as she looked at the wall that made the inner part of the alcove. "Away from the eyes of others, should work just fine!"  She then glanced towards the others.

"This is really only just for the hero... But since the lot of you will be travelling together, and I did promise a viewing area, I'll let you come, too. But keep in mind, this is a secret from the rest of the temple priests."

"Now... follow me." With that, she stepped into the wall.

The other with you blinked in confusion. And a second later, Marina's disembodied head popped out of the wall. "Just step in!" She giggled again.

---

QuoteAssuming you follow in.

The moment you stepped through, you were greeted with a sight you did not expect.

Spoiler

(https://i.gyazo.com/c58c0053db7761c7753d18708c5e008b.jpg)

[close]

"Welcome to the temple's control room." Marina explained.

Dalina was the first to respond.

"This isn't the control room. The control room has a bunch of priests, fiddling around with orbs, with star and solar charts. And an observatory on top." Dalina said as her eyes continued to take in the sight around them.

"I guess that's correct too..." Marina said. "I guess technically you can call this a Master Room."

     Jean rolled his eyes at priestess' play at sticking her head through the stone.  "Yeah, yeah, I get it. Ooooh, look at the fancy..."  He said as he walked through the wall.  "Magic..."  He looked around at the new setting.  "Holy shit..."  He stared, mouth slightly open.  His next companion walked into him and he stumbled, realizing he was blocking the door.  He stepped further in.  "Yeah I uh... really didn't see this coming...  And you..."  He looked to Marina.  "What is this?  What are you?  Going to whip out a spooky voice and glowing eyes next?"  He walked over and touched one of the displays.  He had no idea what kind of technology he was looking at.

Touching one of the displays, it seemed to react. The characters themselves were unfamiliar to you, but the translation ability you were granted made the text readable. It seemed to display all sorts of information about the temple. Things like precipitation, temperature, population, amount of area, number of islands, among other things.

"This is the place I manage the temple." Marina replied curtly with a hint of pride in her voice. She didn't bother to hide it either as she placed both her hands on her hips in a 'I'm-better-than-you' type of pose.

"This place actually isn't real. In the same sense as the physical 'control room' that Dalina mentioned. The control room, or technically the Master Room, is a place that sits outside of reality. You can think of it as a miniature space. If the worse happens... And say the entire temple is destroyed in a large blast. This would still be here. It's the place where most aspects of the temple is controlled. That 'control room' the priests know isn't really a control room either. I just placed orbs up there, with star charts and the like, to make it seem fancy. The orbs do have a purpose still of course... They do regulate the wind currents around temple itself, and in effect, choose the direction. So I guess there's that."

"As for who I am... well, I'm a person... But I'm not either." Marina said. "My actual name isn't Marina either." She strode over to you, still smiling.

"So...! I guess I should reintroduce myself!" She stuck out her hand for you to shake.

"My name is Dungeon Core 17."

     Jean took her hand and shook it.  "Pleasure to meet you I guess...  So wait...  If this..."  He waved around the room.  "Is what is really in control of the island, then is it really the Goddess of Air that makes it fly?  And if you're not human, what are you?  Is your role as the Keeper of the Temple just a guise or real?"  He poked around at the display to see if there were any surveillance devices he could use to peek around the island.

"I'm what's called a Dungeon Core. This entire temple, believe it or not, can be thought of as one large dungeon. Just... open air, and without all the usual nasties many of the land-dweller cores have. My role as the Keeper of the Temple is both real and a guise. I'm actually not the only Dungeon Core here, but the others are in a kind of deep sleep."

"As for the Goddess... No, she wasn't really directly related to make our temple fly. It's all powered by mana, spells, and magic. If it wasn't for me, the Dungeon Core, the temple would still be among the land-dwellers."

QuoteRoll an applicable skill (Or INT) for your attempts to play with the displays.

"That's a lie." Dalina interrupted.

Spoiler

"That's a lie. That's a lie. That's a lie."
(https://i.gyazo.com/2d4a7c68dc90cff4a305fc151a623fc6.png)

"That's a lie! That's a lie!"
(https://i.gyazo.com/adb5cfcac67387a137222cc416b3c143.png)

[close]

    Jean fiddled a few more times with the controls to see if he could see anything while the dungeon core explained.


     When he heard Dalina speak he turned around.  "Dalina, don't do that.  Look around you.  This is the way things are.  Don't tell me your faith is that dependent on the Goddess moving the temple?  Just because the island is controlled from here doesn't mean your goddess doesn't exist.  She just does one less thing than you thought.  Though..."  He turned his attention to the Dungeon Core.  "This does beg the question of why the charade?  Why is this place hidden and why are you posing as one of the villagers?"

QuoteDiplomacy requested for attempt to placate Dalina.

"Sis! Listen to Jean! Please..." Anja pleaded, still wrapped up in the makeshift chair that was Ren's tentacles.

"You don't understand... Our scriptures... Our scriptures tell us that its due to our prayers and her gift and guidance that this temple flies! It's what made our people special."

Marina was about to answer, but instead she bit her lip.

"And if that part of our scriptures are wrong, then what else? We base our entire lives around our faith, Jean."

"I..." Marina sighed. "As the Goddess of the Hero, I thought you would be understanding Dalina. But if it helps you any, the Goddess does exist."

Dalina nodded but chose not to say anymore. She continued to look sullen however, and her eyes seemed blank, as if they were deep in thought.

"Dalina?" Ren asked as she placed a tentacle on her shoulder. But Dalina didn't respond.

     "Well maybe it's time for that to change.  Dalina... There is more to life than worshiping some distant god.  I'm not going to say she doesn't exist in fact I am sure that she does, but I have met gods and they are not beings you should rely on.  You need to be your own person.  You are free to live unchained by your god.  You should take advantage of that.  Some of us don't have that luxury."  His gaze drifted to Ren.

"It's not chains... it's... it's..." Dalina tried searching for the words but she couldn't describe it. Anja continued to wrap her arms around her sister's back, while Ren only nodded in understanding.

"A-and you Marina! Isn't it said that you were blessed by the Goddess of Air to have been alive for so long and not suffer old age?" Dalina tried to argue, but even she knew her words were hollow, given the fact Marina had just described who she was.

To her credit, Marina stepped forward and placed a hand on Dalina's shoulder.

"I understand Dalina. How could I not when I've lived among our people for the hundreds of years now?" Marina's eyes then met yours.

"This is what I mean though." Marina said carefully. "For the first few centuries of my service, I didn't interact at all with the Wind Priests. I carried my duty to travel the skies, keeping the inhabitants of our temple safe. Me, among many other Dungeon Cores. But you watch them long enough, and there's a part of you that eventually wants to be with everyone else."

"But the truth for them... These children in the skies? It's a difficult one. One that I'm not sure if anyone else on the council would be willing to accept." Marina turned back towards Dalina.

"Dalina, let's table this discussion for another time..." Marina said as she sighed and began to lead the way through the control room. "I promised you a great view, right?"

     "Yeah about that...  You seem to have quite the view from here."  Jean said looking back to the display he had been tinkering with.  "You seem to be able to see well... everything."

Dalina continued to follow the group, but she lingered behind everyone else, her eyes downcast, and looked deep in thought.

Marina continued to lead the way until the group was in a dome-like room, with a centerpiece bridge that made its way towards the center. On that center platform it contained a large couch. The whole thing reminded you of Professor X's cerebro in the X-Men movies that aired in the last decade back on Earth.

"Come sit!" Marina said. "You too, Dalina. This might cheer you up." The Dungeon Core said trying to smile gently.

     "How much do you watch of the village?  You uh... been watching me?"  Jean asked as he plopped down in the middle of the couch.  "Come on, you too Dalina.  It's your island.  Don't you want to see everything it truly has to offer?"  He said as he patted the spot next to him.

"Thanks..." Dalina said quietly, making her way next to you. Ren gently dropped Anja next to her sister, while Ren herself made her way to your other side, already deciding to hook her arm around one of yours.

"Oh? Hehehe... Yes!" Marina said cheerily with a hint of mischief. "Well, more out of curiosity with who the hero is supposed to be... It's not very often we get outsiders here."

Once everyone was seated, Marina waved her hand, and all of a sudden the entire room became one giant screen, letting you see in all directions. It was a point of view near where you were at, but seemed to be closer forward as well towards the direction of descent. Looking behind you, you were able to see rows of other temple priests, excited to watch the landing occur.

Already the island itself was low enough that the clouds started to part ways, revealing a vast ridge of mountains, along with forests and what looked to be a bay. There was a small speck in the skies, and Marina pointed to it. After which, the image you were seeing zoomed in, and soon enough a picture of a blue serpentine creature was displayed on the viewer. It was a dragon.

"There they are. At least one of them... A Velothian Dragon." Marina said. "We visit them yearly, so one of them should let the Elder know that we're arriving."

     "How good is the zoom on this thing?"  Jean asked as he watched the wyrm flying, marveling at the clarity of the image.  He leaned back into the couch and stretched his arms across the back like he was watching any other tv and basked in the modern comfort he thought he would not have never had a chance to experience again.  "You know, I'm not as impressed as I thought I would be, especially considering dragons are such a big deal where I came from, the myth of them anyways.  Maybe it's from seeing so many other things.  Do they breath fire?  Or do they have some other magical powers?" 

Marina explains how far the magnification works.

QuoteFor in-game use, assume it's a x8 gain to the distance per DC increase. For example, normally its +1 DC for every 10 ft. for Perception checks. Using the magnification, this becomes +1 DC for every 80 ft. Likewise, once you hit 20 ranks, instead of +1 DC for every 60 ft, it will be +1 DC for every 480 ft.

"They definitely do breath fire! Well, all sorts of things actually. They're able to channel the elemental powers naturally, being gifted by the gods. Some are able to breathe out fire, some lightning, so on and so forth. They have the ability to transform themselves into a human form too."

     "Well that's pretty convenient.  I'm guessing you have a similar ability yourself?  Or is this your true form?"  He turned to Ren.  "Actually...  Hey I don't suppose you can do the same thing Ren?  This doesn't happen to be your only form does it?  I haven't seen you take any other shapes."  As he was asking a thought struck him.  "Hey Dalina, do you know any magic that can let someone else take a different form, like a bird?  Maybe something that Anja could learn to get around better."

"I don't really have a form... So this is the form that I choose?"

She waved her hand again, as a sub screen appeared on the surround-cinema screen. It was a picture of a couple of crystals found in the 'Control Room' of the temple with other priests going about, chanting spells directed at orbs, while some were in meditation.

"See those crystals?" She asked. "Those are the Dungeon Cores. One of them is me. This form I have though, is just as corporeal and 'real' as you would expect it to be. If this form of mine gets destroyed or killed, it would hurt like hell, but given enough DP, I can resummon it. In a way, my consciousness doesn't really live up here." She pointed to her head.

"But at the same time it does. If you dismantle this body apart, it would be just like any other human. I can eat if I want to, but I can sustain myself just fine with MP."

"DP? MP?" Anja asked, her curiosity having her break her silence and concern for her sister.

Marina nodded.

"DP is dungeon points, while MP is-"

"Mana points. Recorded in our Book of Heroes." Dalina responded, though her features were still sullen.

Marina nodded, while Dalina continued trying to shake herself out of her thoughts.

"There were stories of priests in our scriptures that wind priests were able to transform into birds. Similar to Gust, or Viridio even. But those techniques or magic are lost."

"I remember those times. There weren't many of them that could though. Even after all these years I never bothered learning how to use magic though. Being a Dungeon Core gave me enough that I needed to run this place, that I never thought about it." Marina shrugged.

Ren shook her head.

"I'm not... familiar with magic either. And no master... I can't transform out of this. The most I can do..." With that, while still sitting next to you, she began transforming her tentacles to different shapes, then her legs back and forth between a tentacle form and normal human-like legs.

"The legs and everything else with them are for when you're ready master." She said, her features with a bit of flush to them, her smile turning to that familiar predatory one that you hadn't seen for at least a few days.

     "Dungeon Points...  I'm unfamiliar with those.  I don't think I have any.  What can they be used for?"  Inquired Jean.  "I figured it wouldn't be that easy to find such magic.  I guess we'll have to go to other sources for that magic then..."  He looked down at the book in his lap, his eyes drifting over to Ren's shifting legs then back up to the screen as he pondered.  "No magic huh?  Maybe you could learn?  It seems like a good skill to have.  Do you know how to teach someone to use magic Dalina?  I have only a vague understanding of how it works and even then, I think my magic might be a bit different from everyone else's on account of being a hero."

"Dungeon points are used for all sorts of things!" Marina said. "It's a resource for Dungeon Cores to make use of in order to do things like create walls, dig underground, summon creatures to defend the dungeon, generate loot, along with other things. For me however, I use most of my points to maintain and run the temple. Keeping it afloat in the skies... Purifying the water. Ensuring places are clean and maintained. All sorts of things!"

Dalina nodded.

"I can..." She said quietly. She raised her voice a bit more. "Ren... since we'll be travelling together from now on, I'll teach you what I know."

Ren herself nodded, though she didn't look particularly excited.

"I'll learn and do anything for my master."

The main view screen continued to narrow down towards the destination, and the mountain top was starting to get more and more visible.

    "There, that's the spirit, working together!" Said Jean as he put his arms around the shoulders of Ren and Dalina and pulled them together in front of him.  "Keeping it flying...  Dalina said there were other islands that have been lost and that you knew about what happened to them.  I assume they were also guided by others like you.  How did they fall?  Do you know where they are?  Did they run out of DP?"  Asked Jean as he watched the land grow closer.

"Many of them had fallen from the skies." Marina said, she glanced carefully at Dalina, then back to you.

"It takes a lot of DP to keep the island flying. Whenever our island merges with other temples, such as what happened twice before, the DP of those other Dungeon Cores are absorbed into one of us, it's just more efficient that way. The other Dungeon Cores are inactive but are still housed with my Core."

"Sometimes, the burden of another temple is too much for a a Dungeon Core to handle, and DP starts to drain quickly. Once that happens, we find a place to gently land. When this happens, the priests of those temples are faced with the fact that they themselves become land-dwellers. Over the years, they integrate slowly with the populace. It wouldn't surprise me if there's descendants of wind priests living among them below, or even other Dungeon Cores who were originally caretakers of temples."

"As for knowing where they are..." She shook her head. "The only way we can communicate with other temples is if they have their own Dungeon Core that was first merged together. One of the Dungeon Cores here was merged with another core of a different temple. We used to keep in contact with them all the time, before they decided to land and help the land-dwellers. That became a disaster... They landed on the outskirts of the Felothian kingdom, now called the Felencorp to the south. They were to aid them as much as they can, but the last message we received from them was that their temple was being overrun by the very people they were trying to save."

"Soon after that, their Dungeon Core crystal was destroyed. And of course, without that, there was no way to facilitate communication."

"We can activate the other Dungeon Cores for a brief period of time if you would like, if you had questions for them." She paused for a moment.

"I was thinking that you take one of them, so you can keep in contact with me up here."

     "Take one with me?  I don't see why not.  The ability to communicate over large distances would be helpful, seeing as you don't have the kinds of communication technologies that my old world had."  He kept holding Dalina and Ren together as he pondered.  "Though...  If the other dungeon cores are gone then that means the other temples will no longer be able to fly doesn't it...  Even if we were able to get to the other temples is there any chance we could salvage them to expand this one?  This island is a haven and strategically powerful.  If it were possible to make it bigger and more capable of sustaining a larger population that would go a long way in the war effort but given the fate of the islands forced to descend I wouldn't want to risk the same thing occurring to the others here."

"Well, just one of the Dungeon Core crystal was destroyed; the one used for communicating. There's a chance the Dungeon Core who actually ran the temple, like me, is still around... Maybe you can look for her if you're around there? Dungeon Core 23 is her name. She never mingled with her own priests on her island though, so she never chose a name for herself. The people in my temple refuse to land anywhere else but Mt. Velothia, but... I suppose things will need to change."

"If we can figure out a way to supply DP, then it's possible to sustain more islands. Hopefully there are other grounded Dungeon Cores out there that can be merged in with ours, or even help manage parts of the island."

"There's multiple ways of earning DP. We get a small amount per hour for each individual in my dungeon territory. Next, we get a lot each time someone dies while on the territory. We get more by absorbing the body, but I usually don't do that, as that arouses suspicion. Lastly, we can convert magical items, or even gold and wealth straight into DP."

     "Hmmm... Wealth and magical items..." Mused Jean, tapping his index fingers absentmindedly on Ren and Dalina's shoulders.  "Both things that seem to be in short supply on this island.  People dying here is of course not an ideal source of DP....  I guess we'll have to see what we come across in our travels.  Either that or the villagers will need to learn some more economically viable trades."

"The priests trading sense isn't very good, and the merchants that come up to meet us on Mt. Velothia, I suspect, trade us items that aren't really worth as much as we trade them. We usually trade away various cloths made from the telma, the herbs that grow out of them, and the fruits. Apart from that however, we do get a lot from the Velothian Dragons."

She glanced at the view screen.

"Which... we're almost there actually." She pointed towards the screen, then it zoomed in further. On the view screen it showcased four individuals. One was a tall woman in a dress. The next one looked to be someone wearing red. The third one looked to be a young girl. But it was the last one that gave you paused. That one looked like she had a bass guitar strapped to her back, with clothing that didn't quite match anyone else that you've met since both times you had been summoned. In fact, it looked like she wore clothes from back on Earth.


In front of them was a pile of swords, though, you noted that each one seemed to glow with a light blue color.

     Jean pulled Ren and Dalina apart just wide enough to fit his head in between their faces as he leaned forward to get a good look at the screen.  "A guitar...  A bass guitar...  That must be their hero...  Hey Dalina..."  He turned his head to her face.  "Do you know if the heroes all come from the same place?"

The moment you faced her, a slight blush crept along her features, though she seemed to refuse to entertain the idea.

"Jean..." She said trying to avoid your eyes, but with your face so close, wasn't really able to accomplish much. Eventually she sighed and shook her head.

"No... They can come from anywhere. Though, many times, their own world differs greatly to ours."

     "I see...  Then she might not be from my world after all..."  Jean turned his head back to the screen.  "I wonder if those swords are for us.  You said they bring you supplies?  What do they usually trade?"

"They don't normally give us weapons... But here, look." Marina said as she changed the view of the screen. It then showcased a couple more dragons that looked like they were hauling and carrying large craters dangling from ropes they held on to with their claws. More and more dragons began to climb up the mountain as the temple continued its descent.

More and more other people started to make their appearance too. There were many little girls, people you assumed to be merchants, along with men who seemed to be wearing matching armor and uniforms.

"They do know that you were potentially be summoned the next time we landed here, so those weapons could indeed be for you." Marina commented. "Generally though, they give us food stuffs, usually dried goods and spices. Tools for farming, gathering, and maintenance of our own things. Likewise, a couple of our priests go down with requests from the people to trade with the merchants."

"It shouldn't be too long until we arrive." Marina said as she turned towards the group. "Ready to meet them?"

     "I guess so."  Said Jean as he stood up from the couch.  "Everyone else ready?  I'm guessing we have to go back out of here."  He said, leading the way to the exit.  Upon emerging from the control room he pulled Dalina aside.  "You guys go ahead, I need a second to compose myself.  I'll need Dalina's help."


     Jean turned back to Dalina and motioned for her to folllow him around the corner to a more quiet outcropping that was even more private than the entrance to the control room.  "Dalina...  What's wrong?"

"Did you see that place? I'm not sure why Anja wasn't affected." The priestess began. "Marina, our Keeper of the Temple, was supposed to be one of those who were blessed by the goddess more so than the rest of us. It's why she looks so young. Then... Then to find out our temple, raised by the goddess herself, is simply a dungeon?"

"Rather than being a holy place, it's a dungeon. Not to mention that the goddess had no hand in guiding our temple. We always thought that it was due to the goddesses' intervention that we never ran into any bad storms up here. But you know what? It was probably Marina all along deciding the course of the temple as it floated above the skies with all of her fancy tools up here to see the danger before it came to us."

She shook her head.

"Her name's not even Marina. It's Dungeon Core 17?" She asked no one in particular.

"It's like a bad joke." She paused a moment before continuing.

"I'm sorry Jean, this probably seems stupid to you."

    "Oh no, it's super weird.  But then so is everything else that has happened to me.  Where I come from divine intervention wasn't believed to exist in any form other than ancient stories, magic was merely a parlor trick, and dragons were mere fairy tales."  He turned to the cliffs and looked up to the clouds they had passed through.  "You live on a flying wonder.  All this is something I never could have dreamed of before."  He turned back to Dalina and put his hands on her shoulders.  "We just have to learn to adapt, to accept the way things are.  We are about to go on a journey where you will see a world you have only glimpsed through the clouds.  Give it a chance to surprise you.  That said... I get that it must be tough to find out that someone you thought you knew has been lying to you for centuries but isn't this exactly why she probably had to hide her true identity?  How welcoming do you think the rest of your people would be if they found out the same things you have?"  Jean put his hands on Dalina's cheeks.  "She just wants to get along with everyone, to have some kind of human contact.  Could you imagine being locked away for hundreds of years and never seeing any of the other villagers except from a distance?  Never getting to touch or..."  He moved his hands to hug Dalina and pull her close to him.  "To hug anyone."

When you pulled her close, Dalina began to blush.

She didn't know how to respond at first, only being quiet and finding your action sudden and daring. But a few moments later, you felt her slowly begin to wrap her arms around you as well.

"I guess... I guess if the other elders knew exactly who or what Marina is, they might have... reacted worse." Dalina said, finally giving way.

"It's not that I think poorly of Marina... Please don't get me wrong, it's just... maybe a shock? Kind of like a betrayal. In a different way than when you first arrived... See, back then, I had no idea what to expect from our summoned hero. But with Marina? And with the teachings that the other priests teach? That's different."

Dalina eventually pulled away from the hug, but she moved to hold your hands instead. She didn't look at you in the eyes, and only focused on the warmth of your hands.

"But... I guess I could imagine how it could be like seeing people without being able to touch them or talk to them like how we are now." Her eyes moved up to yours, there was still sadness there, but she forced a smile. "Thank you Jean. Don't worry, I'll pull myself together. We have you to introduce to the dragons, then after that... a whole adventure before us."

    "That we do.  Actually, about that...  Be careful around the other hero.  I don't know anything about them but I have been clued in on something that makes me wary that we heroes might not all be playing for the same team.  There is a great game afoot and it's hard to tell who is a piece and who is a player.  So just...  Be careful."  He let go if Dalina's hand and motioned for her to follow.  "Time to go meet some dragons then."

Dalina slowly nodded at the suggestion.

"I'll be careful." She finally said as she began to follow you.

---

Marina lead the way through the throng of people, she had created an 'exit' from the Master Room near where you had entered, away from people's eyes. When the other priests realized Marina and the hero were passing through, they gave way. In this way, your group managed to easily make their way to the front of the pack.

Vitaliya was there, along with some other priests who seemed to be quite muscular, and when she saw you she waved.

"Ah! If it isn't ze hero. We're about to land here." She said as she, along with the others, heaved what looked to be a giant bridge or stairs and began to drop it from the edge. It didn't take very long for the bridge to connect with the peaks of the mountain, and with that, the landing was complete.

Marina beckoned the group forward, leading the way and holding a hand up, with palms open towards the lady in purple.

"Here again as scheduled... Jean, meet the Velothian Dragons." She said.

Next to the lady that Marina had greeted were a few others, the same you had seen earlier in the viewing room.

     Jean folded his arms across his chest as the bridge was being dropped down.  "Damn...  You know we should have come up with a bit before we got here.  You know, something to really hype up my presence.  Gotta rep like a boss as they say back in my old world.  Oh well, there's always next time I guess.  For now, gotta work with what we've got..."  With the stairs lowered he bounded down the steps, his arms wide and the cheesiest grin he could muster on his face.  "Hello, oh ancient and mighty dragons of Velothia!  I am Jean Valois: hero extraordinaire!  And this..."  He made a grand gesture towards his companions descending the stairs.  "Is my Enticingly Enviable Entourage!  A pleasure to make your acquaintance."  He said as he approached the taller woman in the regal dress, taking her hand, and bowing before her.  "You must be the elder dragon which I have heard so much about.  If I should be so bold?"  He raised her hand up, pausing just before his mouth.

"The hero of the wind priests?" The lady said as she nodded in approval. "I'm glad our human companions in the skies have summoned there's. I am the Elder of the dragons here on Mount Velothia." She then gestured towards one of the people next to her. The girl wearing the clothes from your own world with the bass guitar strapped to her back.

"This one is the hero summoned here on Mount Velothia just a week ago." The Elder continued, her eyes flashing towards her.

     "Please, call me Jean.  I don't suppose you have a name I could call you by?  I do not mean to offend or come off as overly familiar but Elder is so formal and reminds me too much of the stuffy old folks that summoned me to the island, hardly fitting for someone as ravishingly beautiful and youthful as yourself."  He said as he raised form his bow.  He turned to the other hero and bowed again, hand over his breast.  "Hail noble hero and well met.  Tell me, what is that strange device on your back?  Is it some kind of exotic maul from your homeland?"

The lady blinked a few times, while the red-clothed one, and the smaller one beside her both dropped their mouths. Eventually the woman laughed. A gentle and warm laugh as she gave into her moment of mirth. This only seemed to confuse the other two around her.

"Words I haven't heard in centuries." The Elder finally said. "Very well, you have earned that much, hero Jean. Before I was the Elder, I was called Vasillisa."

     "Vasillisa...  A beautiful name for a beautiful creature.  Thank you for the honor." 

After she was directly addressed, the girl stood up, surrounded with the pile of swords. She dusted herself off. "I am Rosalie, hero of the Velothian Dragons." She took her guitar off of her back. "This is no weapon, Jean. As you are a hero, perhaps you are familiar with it. It's an instrument. A bass guitar to be exact. I don't know if all heroes come from the same world or what, but out of anyone that I've seen here, you're the most likely to know it." She played a short bass line, for all to hear, and stowed the guitar on her back once more. "May I ask how long you have been a hero?"

     "Interesting...  A base guitar you say?  Does that mean there are more advanced guitars to be acquired back in your world?  I have been told that there are many worlds from which heroes are drawn.  Tell me, what was your world like?  As for how long I have been a hero?  Somewhere between a week and a decade.  Time flows so strangely it's really hard to get much of a grasp on it but I have certainly been around long enough to go white with age..."  Replied Jean as he swept his hand through his colorless hair.  "And hopefully not senile with it.  Ha! Ha?  But enough about us heroic folk!  We must go on a grand tour of your mountain!  A place so beautiful from above must be even more spectacular from the ground and so far the inhabitants have not disappointed.  If we might take our leave?  Lady Vasillisa, once again a pleasure to meet you."  With that Jean bowed once again to the Elder dragon before sweeping off to walk down the mountain path.  "I will return tonight so that we can finish our preparations!"  He hollered back to the island's inhabitants over his shoulder.

"Very well then Jean." The Elder, Vasillisa, said. She then turned towards Rosalie, the hero of the Velothian Dragons.

QuotePerception, DC 15, to catch her whisper.

It was at that moment, when the rest of your companions started to follow you, with the exception of Marina, that one of the small girls around Rosalie called out.

"You just wait a moment mister!" The girl said as you began to turn around and walk down the mountain path. Her face was in a glare.

"I waited an extra hour just for that island to show up..." She then turned towards Vasillisa and Rosalie. giving them a meaningful glance, then back towards you.

"Help my village, please!"

     "I don't see why not as long as it is within our means."  Said jean turning to get a better look at the girl.  "What kind of aid does your village require?"

"Demons were found at the outskirts of our village. Some of the men had started to form up a defense, but I chose to go out to get help... I found out soon enough that the roads were all different, like... they just ended abruptly. A demon had found me, and I was trying to escape when I met Rosalie and her friends." Amie explained quickly.

"I wanted to go out to my village then, but it was getting late..."

     "I see...  Well my companions need to see the enemy we are up against.  How far is your village?  Do you have horses we could take?  For that matter, how many can be spared?  If possible, we need to bring some of the villagers from the island as well."

"Bass, as in the lowest sound. My world was simple. I lived in a place called the United States and traveled around playing music for crowds with my friends." Rosalie paused a moment to think. "Yes, the mountain and the camp below are among the most beautiful landscapes I've ever laid my eyes on, and in my world my home was in a fairly picturesque location."

You notice Rosalie whispering back to the Elder.

Soon enough you noticed Rosalie glance towards the swords beneath her.

"Where should I put all of these swords? If i'm going on a tour of the mountain I should try to get them in order."

     "I think we can put the tour on hold for now to help this young girl.  Perhaps the stable?  Unless we plan on walking."  Jean looked up the stairs and yelled out to Vitaliya.  "Vitaliya!  Bring your strongest students, there is a village in need and it is time you saw the enemy you will eventually need to battle!"

The Elder answered Rosalie.

"Rosalie... Perhaps we distribute these swords to the rest of the dragonknights, or even our allies here." She said looking towards you.

"My village is a day's journey northwards... But with these dragons we could get there much faster!" The child who had spoken up said.

The red-clothed women spoke next.

"I don't mind Rosalie riding me, but I'm not going to let any others do so, and I doubt any of the other dragons here would be so willing either..."


"B-but... It's the only way!" The girl shot back. "People got to ride dragons all the time back at the capital..!" Her eyes moved to the Elder pleadingly.

"Human child... Letting a human ride on our backs, is akin to... perhaps kissing for you humans. Do you understand this?" Vasillisa explained carefully. "It is not my place to command my children to do so, it's something you'd have to be willing to ask of them."

The other lone man in the group near the rest of you then spoke up. He wore a uniform much similar to the rest of the other man who were with the young girls, but this one seemed to have more medals and marks on his outfit.

"We have enough horses for each of the trainees back in camp, plus a good number of extras in our stables. Wagons too... But the journey would take another day... I did send one of our dragonknights to scout up north, and he should be back in another hour."

When you called out to Vitaliya, her booming voice called back down.

"Strongest students? Vell, some of zem are no longer my students and teach their own classes!"  Vitaliya roared back. "How many do you need?"

     "I don't know.  How many do you think we could take without slowing us down?  10 or 15?  Do we have enough horses for that?  If the village was under attack yesterday then we have little time to act.  Time is of the essence.  It is too bad that others can't ride the dragons."  Said Jean, his hand on his chin in a pondering gesture.  "Can you at least send an advance force of dragons to soften the demonic forces and begin the engagement? The rest of us can catch up on horseback and reinforce as soon as we arrive"

Rosalie picked up one of the swords and gestured towards you.

"Can you use a blade? These are enchanted to be more effective against demons. If we are gonna fight some demons in Amie's village they'll be handy. As far as an advance force is concerned, if we are doing this I can easily travel ahead with Valeriya. Other than us, Captain Charles is likely the best fighter among the dragon knights in camp and he also has been provided with enchanted weapons."

"If ve're fighting demons, zen I'll pick out 15 of us to help." Vitaliya called out again from the island, then disappeared as she went to look for the others.


"I umm... I can carry the other hero... But umm..." She looked down and avoided your gaze. "Not ride my back... Like... carry him with my feet..."





"Most of the uncontracted dragons here are too young to be sent to battle... Even most of the dragons our trainee dragonknights are using are rather... young. But we have 25 dragonknights with their dragons here at our camp. If the heroes could guide us..."

He eventually shook his head.

"How many are in your village Amie?" Captain Charles asked the little girl.


"There's not too many... ours is a small village... Umm... Maybe 200?"

"200 villagers..." Captain Charles echoed, his voice full of concern. The captain then turned towards you and Rosalie.

"Hero Jean, Hero Rosalie, what will it be?"

     Jean walked up to the swords and reached out but stopped.  The weapons seemed to be enchanted with something that made him uncomfortable, something he felt was dangerous to him.  He withdrew his hand.  "I am actually partial to my own weapon of choice, not much of a swordsman myself.  Vitaliya perhaps you and the others are better skilled with something like a sword?  I have a weapon I can create with magic.  I believe it is more powerful than these, if temporary."
     He knelt down to the level of the girl that offered to carry him.  "If I can be carried into battle then I will take it.  Thank you."  He stood back up.  "How defensible is the village?  I'm sorry to say this but if it can't be easily defended then we will probably need to evacuate it.  If we must evacuate then we should bring empty wagons to save as many villagers and their possessions as possible.  If it can reasonably be fortified then we need to bring supplies.  We can't do both."  He looked to the girl that had requested the help.  "I know this is a hard decision but you need to make this choice for your people.  If they need to be evacuated, there might be room for them on the island.  I cannot make any promises.  The wind temple plans on returning to the skies so it would be up to the dragon knights to guarantee your safety.  I do not know if that is possible."

"As long as we have the people, and in helping we do not put Velothia in danger, I will gladly lend my aid to this cause. Where I'm from 200 people isn't many, but here it is an entire village that rely on each other to live. We can't just leave them to die."