Lore & tentacles
In the previous post of Ophi’s Quest things were finally starting to look up for our long eared hero as we mushrushed the enemy fort while they were distracted by the Leafling’s poison. Now that we have Bleu’s debt collector captive, will we finally shed some light on her plan? Well, let’s find out.
Well, it seems you and the minions have the inside of the fort handled, I’ll check the perimeter and make sure we don’t have any more surprises while the minions search the fort for resources. We need it secured if we want to make an outpost here.
I got it. Mordred, can you ask some of our friends to keep an eye socket out around the fort?
No problem!
Could you guys lock our friend in a room for now? I’ll talk to her soon.
Mush mush!
The collector is placed in her room and the minions dutifully stand guard outside. The fort is filled with the happy squeals of the former occupants while Ophi and the party look around for the lost egg, but there’s still no sign of it.
That’s a good point, I hope he didn’t slip hit his head on a rock or something, I’ll ask Ceres to look for him. Meanwhile…
Using the crown our Ophi calls for the tower and quickly gets greeted by Elgor once again, we’ll be skipping the bells and whistles this time since you should all already be well acquainted with that!
…
What’s with the long face?
i mean.. i cant see your face… but
you got the idea
I don’t know, maybe I was worried for my friend after she suddenly said she was sieging an enemy fortress?
Aww Elgor, that’s cute.
*incoherent noises*
Anyway, yeah we managed to defeat them without a scratch. The leaflings’ weaponized cuteness worked pretty well. In fact, could you send Lily over?
I want her to take a look at this place and see if she can’t make it sturdier so we can use it as an outpost later.
Certainly. Not having her constant banging on metal the whole day will do wonders for my research. I wonder if there’s a way we can use the tower doors to travel there faster…
Okay then, you work on that, I’ll be waiting.
Mortimer arrives at the fort soon after, a bit shocked to see Bleu’s stalwart defenders having so much fun with the mushminions.
This doesn’t look right, how are they okay with this?
Well, actually… Since we have a bit of downtime, why don’t we elaborate a little bit on the secret story behind the scenes, Cinder?
Sounds good… Saddle up then, it’s storytime for you pervs out there!
While it’s true that our friends here engage in these plays out of their own volition, it’s also a bit due to these guys here.
According to our research, long ago, Lucernia used to be lit up by two massive crystals: The Hearth of Sin, and the Hearth of Virtue.
The Hearth’s powers illuminated the way for Lucernia to float through the void, keeping the denizens safe from the monsters of the underdark.
But our Hearth was snuffed out somehow… We suspect it must’ve been an attack from an underdark creature.
As time went on, the people forgot about the Hearth of Sin, and the power of the Hearth of Virtue grew unrestrained, inhibiting people’s inner urges.
After so long without exposure to the Hearth of sin, just the mere presence of its power is enough to send people’s desires into overdrive, exaggerating them somewhat.
By the way not everyone reacts the same: some become violent, we just arrest those; some are mostly unaffected, and we just let them go if they don’t feel like joining the debauchery; You know, to each their own.
I don’t like sending them home, but most become unwilling to fight us after that anyway.
Wait, go back a bit, by underdark creatures you mean those scary things we see in the sky sometimes, right?
Actually, I can explain that part. Everyone knows that Lucia’s sun keeps the dark away, but it also works as a barrier against the Underdark.
As druids, we’ve seen what it’s capable of, through ritual meditation we can catch glimpses of the horrible monsters on the beyond.
Hmmm…
What’s up old man?
Nothing, for now. Let’s rest for today, tomorrow we find that egg, then we can ask some questions to that debt collector.
Lily arrives the next day on a shrubling-pulled cart, finding most of the minions and ex-guards out-cold in an orgy-induced sleep.
Not a bad place you got here. The walls are a bit old but the fort is sturdy, all we need is to fix the gate and we’re good!
You could’ve invited me to the party though…
Umm, Yeah, sorry about that, but I’m glad you stayed at the tower, Elgor told me you got a lot of work done.
Tell me about it! These minions are a fantastic workforce. I just show them the instructions and they’ll do it in a flash, they are working in the war room construction right now.
Leaves me a lot of time to pla– Ahem, to work in improving LUDIAS’ systems.
Yeah… I definitely know what systems you’re working on. Anyway, what do you think, could we make a base here?
Well, it’s a bit far, but me and Elgor have been working on something while you were away. We can theoretically use the dimension doors at the tower to create a two-way teleport into anywhere, but we need an anchor in place.
That means it needs a steady supply of the same kind of energy our crystal produces…
So we have to leave some people here to… uh, charge it?
Precisely. But well, I can start working on it as soon as you’d like.
Well then, let’s build this thing.
Meanwhile I guess we’ll talk with the puffy hair mouse. Where do you think they could’ve stashed the egg anyway, the minions have already thrown the fort upside down looking for it… You think your nose could be wrong, Mordred?
No, I know I’m not very smart sometimes but my nose has never failed me! I know it’s somewhere close, the smell is all over the walls.
The walls huh… you know what, that gives me an idea, thanks Mordred. Round the mushminions for me.
Gotcha!
Will the party finally find the egg? What “improvements” has Lily made to LUDIAS and what will Bleu’s collector tell us? Let’s find out, in the next episode of Ophi’s Quest!
Hey, hey there shady guy, we’re not over with this one yet, get back here, you still got some work to do.
Oh, umm. Ahem, sorry, got a bit too excited. Anyway, it’s been a while since our bunny went into the dungeons, let’s see what she’s up to!
Oh wow, you guys are really into this thing aren’t you? Don’t worry though, it’s easier to catch a bee with honey.
Huuuh, also maybe chill out a bit. I don’t think they would appreciate that sort of adventure.
After listening to Mordred, Ophi tells the mushminions to go around tapping the walls inside of the fort, and then heads into the dungeon to talk with the debt collector. Ceres seems confused, but the mushminions having nothing to do after the guards were exhausted, happily oblige. An hour or so later, Ceres walks down the prison to find Ophi and Larahmal to report their findings.
Commander Ophi, the minions have found a–
Umm, a hole in the wall…
Oh, hey big girl. Don’t worry, me and mousy here have been getting along while you guys searched the fort, she told me all about the secret storage room.
Yes, it seems they had a fake wall in the basement, it led to a storage room and then a door that leads further into a tunnel underground.
They were storing all kinds of weird artifacts there, even some remnants of the old war, I’m impressed they were still around. Nothing of great value beyond the egg though.
It seems the mouse guild has been digging around looking for some old artifacts, my friend Sophitia here said Bleu thinks it’s powerful enough to give her leverage over Lucia.
That’s why she’s been going around trying to own the entire island, so she can dig under everyone without anyone noticing.
Hmmm… I wonder if they could be looking for the portal…
I’m afraid to even ask but… What portal?
Well you know, while I’m sure you must be surprised, I wasn’t always an overlord.
No shit.
Ahem… Despite my manly and strong physique I fancied myself a bit of a researcher of odd events, which is what brought me to the Hearth in the first place.
I always wanted to know what lies beyond the underdark, so after we started getting some power out of the crystal, we built ourselves a portal that could transport things from the realms beyond. That soul jar you found myself in was one of those things.
First of all, why would you even do such a thing?!
Why not!
Ugh. Anyway, keep going, what happened to that portal?
How the hell would I know! I’ve been asleep for over a thousand years!
If she’s looking for ancient artifacts that could explain the look she gave me when we clashed in Gouda…
Squeek!
Anyway, seems mousy over here is up for round 2, how about we get around to that?
Oh well, as long as she’s having fun I guess we can have some more fanservice for the spectators, but don’t think you’re off the hook yet you old kook.
here we go
Maybe we need to go a little faster.
Oooh yes! please!
I think we are done for now
… so… good
Yes, indeed a good job here. Now, time to focus on our objective
That’s most definitely not how magic armors reproduce!
I don’t even wanna ask, we just had to finish with this didn’t we?
Ahem…. We still have to decide on our next course of action, we’ve found the egg so we can go back to the village and report back, or we can stay here longer and explore the mouse guild little digging expedition.
Also, don’t forget the tower portal should be finished soon so we can go straight back to the tower if we need to!
I guess this one will be up to the will of the people again. Hey shady, it’s your turn now!
Narrator:
Oh, umm! Ahem. It seems one mystery comes to a close, but a bigger one has just surfaced, a portal to the underdark, deep beyond the cosmic darkness that threatens Lucernia, what will our party do now? Should we get back to the mayor and deliver the egg? or explore this underground entrance found in the secret room? You decide!
Look, permanent stat buffs seems like a good idea, but you’re an overlord now. Most of your power’s going to come from who and how many are under your dominion. There will be other opportunities to gain more personal power.
but.. omelette D:
But giant friendly crab monster! 😀
I do wonder whats inside the cavern to the underdark door in the storeroom….
it’s just an underground cave, its not the portal to the Underdark hehe