Limbus Murk Worm Queen
Level: 25
The Murk Worm Queen was pale white, as had been the previous worm I had encountered in Goodlabor when Sneed transformed. This one, however, had pulsating varicose veins filled with what I assumed was Shadowmurk poison spread across the entirety of its body. It was a bulbous horror that looked ready to explode. A nightmare that made Octave gag and Curmlough cower back in fear. I had been expecting this, but a new, unexpected terror tore through my heart when I beheld the cocooned figures hung like trophies upon a wall up near the Worm’s tail.
Burl Mayburry
Jenny Welmer
Silas Tenpenny
Hanson Broadhammer
Quest Update!
Locate the remainder of Goodlabor’s Survivors. (4/5)
Rescue the remainder of Goodlabor’s Survivors. (0/5)
Success: Rare Item, Goodlabor’s survival +50%.
Failure: Goodlabor’s survival -50%.
Gods, what is it doing to them?
The survivor’s were wrapped in Limbus Murk Worm Silk from head to toe and the only way I was able to identify them was by the Quest update. As they were still shown as “survivors” I knew they lived, but the Murk Worm had likely infected them with Shadowmurk Sickness and if they were not already Mutants, they would be soon unless I was able to use Purgation upon them.
My Luck score will only accept two more casts of Purgation before I get that warning message again. Leif’s Mother is there, by Mir’s Sacred Tears! I’ll use up every point I have as many times as I need to stop this thing by Wik’s Bloody Blade!
There was another issue I noticed as well, thank’s to my persistent use of Caretaker’s Guidance. The spell was only Tier I, but either due to my high Wisdom attribute or by Hul’s Grace I was still able to see that which the Worm was trying to keep hidden. Strands of the Limbus Silk that connected to its body disappeared into the walls, ceiling and floor at different points of the room. I already knew from the previous Dungeon that these strands were connected or had been connected to possessed Monks in other parts of the Revelation of Cel Dungeon, but I paused as I tried to count the amount of strands I saw.
There are too many strands. Certainly more than the amount of Mournful Brothers I’ve fought in this Dungeon? Could I have been wrong about there being another Murk Worm hidden in the Abbey? Could it have been this Worm holding the reins, so to speak, of all the Mournful Brothers in the Abbey this whole time? Yet, if that’s true then that means Worms spawning from Fel Shards not only connect to the world outside the Dungeon, but can also connect via other Dungeons!
Across the face of Aramyr, Shadowmurk had been spreading for decades. Had I just stumbled upon the method of its delivery? If a Dungeon thousands of miles away became Corrupted and could somehow connect via the Limbus/Hadaeon Fel Shards to another Dungeon across a great distance and infect victims with Shadowmurk to Mutate and hatch Murk Worms…
By all the Gods of Aramyr! The entire world will eventually be covered in Shadowmurk and people will never even know it is being spread through the Dungeons! Void Portals will be created! How many have already been opened? Ord’s Mercy, what horrors are already here?
“We have to stop this,” I vowed with a whisper.
“How?” Curmlough whispered next to me. I could hear the fear in his voice as he stared at the Murk Worm. “That thing is no child of Gor. It is an abomination! I…I’m not sure we can fight that thing and win.”
“For once, I agree with the Satyr,” Octave said, floating just behind Curmlough. He wore the most serious face I had ever seen on him yet. “Ord will not suffer these things to exist. It should not exist! I can feel it doing something to the Dungeon’s mana. It’s like a leech that’s attached itself to the Dungeon Core, but it is subsuming it completely. My guess is it wasn’t originally this Dungeon’s Boss, but rewrote the parameters of the Dungeon to make itself the Boss. That should not be possible.”
“Then we will show the vile thing the error of its ways.” I stated in what I hoped was a confident manner. I placed a hand upon Curmlough’s shoulder and smiled. “Gor’s Chosen is going to rescue those people in the cocoons and we are going to kill this monster, understood?”
Curmlough didn’t look convinced. He fingered the holes of his Aulos and looked away. I would give him some time, but not much. Octave seemed to understand the look I gave him and despite the back and forth he and Curmlough had engaged in since the moment they met I felt that they both held a grudging respect for one another. The Cherub floated closer to the Satyr and started whispering to him. I backed away, hoping the words of an Angel might calm Curmlough’s fear.
Or at the very least rile him up enough to forget to be afraid.
I had my own task before we engaged the Worm Queen. I had an upgrade to Purgation to choose and I was hoping it might provide the edge we needed. With my progression so far, it hadn’t been lost on me that my two most powerful abilities were Lore Sight and Purgation. Ara’s lost skills had been game changers every step of the way and they had already saved my life time again. Without them, I would likely be a mindless Mutant wandering Goodlabor.
Octave had called Ara’s Priests Fate Priests. Weavers and Shapers of Aramyr’s destiny. The power to tap into knowledge had been a game changer. With Lore Sight, I could not only identify people, beasts and items, but also get a sense of who they were or might eventually be. I had leveled the skill to the point where even deeper knowledge was opened to me and I could even now use it to see the weaknesses of enemies. What further powers might I unlock once I started leveling the skill once more? I felt its absence keenly and I again cursed the ill luck that had corrupted the Shard of Ara I currently held within my Inventory. I was afraid to use it. The risk of mutating any skill I unlocked with it was a coin flip and I still lacked the confidence to try.
Now, I had finally leveled Purgation to Tier II. I opened the notification and saw that there were two choices to choose from, but each one came with a caveat that made me frown.
Baptism
Description: The strands of Fate heal the wounds inflicted by Void Incursions so that life continues by the will of the Purgos. That which once was shall be reborn by the Grace of the Light and Fate shall reconnect systems redundant or corrupted.
Primary Effect: Removes all Shadowmurk Infections within a given Sector up to Tier V and begins the regeneration process on previously Corrupted Systems.
Secondary Effect: Places a temporary debuff on all Void Infections within a given Sector that cuts their Health Regeneration by 50%.
Note: Once this upgrade is chosen, it is permanent and can no longer be toggled off/on.
Condemnation
Description: The strands of Fate purge the wounds inflicted by Void Incursions so that life might begin anew at the will of the Purgos. That which once was shall be born anew in Shadow’s Grace and Fate shall reset redundant and corrupted systems permanently.
Primary Effect: Destroys all Shadowmurk Infections within a given Sector up to Tier V and scours previously Corrupted Systems to reset to Origin Settings.
Secondary Effect: Places a temporary debuff on all Void Infections within a given Sector that cuts their Attack power by 50%.
Note: Once this upgrade is chosen, it is permanent and can no longer be toggled off/on.
Two choices and two different paths. Permanent ones. While both seemed remarkably similar, the devil was in the details. I reread each description again.
The Purgos. The Purgatorium Mystics had more to do with the workings of the Gods than I think anyone ever realized. None have been seen since the days when Ord walked Aramyr! I feel that either one of these upgrades will take me to a level of power as a Priest not seen in centuries.
Stolen novel; please report.
As far as which upgrade to choose, I realized the Gods were again forcing me to make a major decision that would undoubtedly result in Faction changes. I was again at a crossroads in what sort of Priest I wanted to be. Yet, was choosing between Light or Shadow really such a moral decision? Both were paths to power. I wanted to be a Healer, first and foremost, but was choosing Baptism or Condemnation the correct path to choose in pursuing that goal? Since receiving the Prophet class, I had learned much about the Shadow Pantheon I had not previously realized.
Wik, Sul, Gor and Cel were not wicked or indifferent as I had been led to believe growing up. They were essential parts of a greater whole every bit as much as the Light Pantheon Gods. There had been Synods, great gatherings of Church leaders, that came together in years following Ord’s Ascension to interpret the will of the Gods for the good of the lay people. Debates had raged over the centuries if the will of one God outweighed the will of another? Did the doctrine of one Church hold supremacy over another? I personally didn’t care a whit over supremacy of this or that Church. My instincts, my conscience were what guided me. Perhaps my upgrade choice would have very little impact upon my Faction standings, but it could have a huge impact upon my build moving forward.
Shadowmurk is spreading and this upgrade to Purgation will be a means to deal with it. If I am interpreting things correctly, both spells will remove Shadowmurk up to Tier V, but to differing results. Ord’s Mercy, I don’t want to know what terrors a Tier VI or higher Shadowmurk Sector holds! Baptism will cause a restoration to occur. Like a flower that has wilted, but needs nurture and care to live again. On the other hand, Condemnation will pluck that flower from the earth and allow a new, perhaps completely different seed to grow. Both ways can be acceptable, but which is the best one to choose? Not for myself or even for the Gods, but for Aramyr?
I briefly wished I had another Gold Node I could use to ask a God what I should do directly, but I chastised myself over the thought. Naturally, whichever God I asked would push me towards their Pantheon! I was out of time. I looked at the Worm Queen, its Limbus threads covering this section of the dungeon making the area look like a tailor’s shop or a spider’s lair.
“Look at its mouth, or at least I think that is its mouth,” Octave whispered. I narrowed my eyes and looked at the circular maw of the Dungeon Boss. Its mouth was undulating and quivering. It looked like it was chewing upon something? Then, a moment later, it spat out a muck covered rock. No! It wasn’t a rock, it was a crystal!
“Ord’s Mercy, a Fel Shard!” I exclaimed. “Does it eat them or is it vomiting them up?” Then it occurred to me. The pieces fit. This shard would eventually mature and crack, releasing Shadowmurk into the air. It would poison the land, spreading as a mist throughout an area and any infecting any who breathed it in with Shadowmurk Sickness. Over time, the Shadowmurk would grow in strength and in Tiers. Land, Man and Beast would be infected with tiny Murk Worm larvae. Those larvae would take root and grow, slowly overwhelming its host, mutating Body and even changing person’s Class! It was Void Mana given an insidious, unholy form…and this Worm Queen was its source.
The Kobolds in the Monk’s Faith Challenge had turned a Fel Shard into a False Idol. Miller Sneed had ‘found’ one. This was no mere happenstance. Nor was it random that these crystals were being spread throughout the Dungeon’s of Aramyr. There was a plot here. Some dire machination and the false God Xat was at the center of it.
There is no Xat! Yet, something is behind the spread of these Fel Shards and the Shadowmurk, but who?
Hadaeon’s Descent. I would find my answers beyond the Red Portal. Yet, to reach it, I first needed to kill the Murk Worm Queen and destroy the source of the Fel Shards. I would use the upgraded version of Purgation to destroy it forever. I chose the Condemnation upgrade.
Purgation has been upgraded to Condemnation!
Condemnation is a permanent upgrade and cannot be toggled off. Establish a Well of Faith to create a sustainable source of Holy Fate Mana for repeated use of Ara Skills.
You have gained +100 Faction Shadow Pantheon!
You have lost -100 Faction Light Pantheon!
Minor Sanctified Ward has been set to Inactive!
Greater Heal has been set to Inactive!
Harvest Moon has been set to Inactive!
Congruency Darts has been set to Inactive!
My heart sank and I felt a moment of panic. I hadn’t expected quite so dramatic a shift in Faction from just from choosing a spell upgrade! Quickly, I pulled up the Faction tab from my Status and looked over my new standings.
Faction
Mir: 145
Wik: 375
Eui: 115
Pyr: 35
Una: 35
Aqa: 35
Qas: 120
Sul: 470
Tek: 160
Hul: 195
Gor: 445
Cel: 405
Ord: 10
Great Ord was now my lowest Faction standing. My Mother would have refused to speak to me for a week if she could see this. Just like that, I had lost an attack spell, a healing spell, a debuff/resist and a protection spell all in a big sweep.
Don’t panic. This choice had to be made and either way you would have lost something. I just didn’t want to lose my bloody strongest heal!
I would look on the upside. My Shadow Faction had rocketed up to Tier IV in Sul, Gor and Cel with Wik just barely behind that. I had the opportunity to advance myself deeper into their trees and I would likely have to spend every free Node I had to make up for what I had lost. I just hoped it would be enough. I checked my current Node bank.
Green: 33
Blue: 11
Red: 5
Rainbow: 1
It was a decent amount of Nodes, but I would need to be even more strategic in how I placed them. I still only had 21 available Active Slots and with only Minor Heal currently available as a way to patch any damage taken, I would be unable to risk taking any serious damage. Getting close to the Worm Queen was therefore out of the question. The other problem I faced was that without Congruency Darts, what was I to attack it with? I prayed the Shadow Gods would grant me options.
I navigated to the Faction Web Terminal and first focused upon the newly revealed Tier IV webs for Sul, Gor and Cel.
What’s this? Passive Abilities?
My mouth dropped open. Breaking from how things had progressed so far, Tier IV did not have a single Active spell, but instead was offering Passive Skills that would fundamentally alter the rest of my build moving forward! Thankfully, I already knew what Passive Skills were. When I had been researching the Merchant Class, I had discovered that when one equipped a Passive skill one would either boost general Class abilities and/or narrow the Classes focus to buff a few Class abilities to even greater heights. Sometimes, a Class ability might even go through an Evolution to achieve a level of power that would become the cornerstone of a build.
My first impression of Sul’s Tier IV Passives? They would do just that.
Avowed
Description: All Vows cast in Sul’s name now have an increased chance to hit and increased Critical Damage by 50%. All Vows now have their Active Slot cost reduced by 1. Vow costs reduced to 0 are now Free cast.
Mark of Luck
Description: Results (spells, skills, item drops) affected in any way by the Luck attribute have their chances of success or rarities increased by 50%.
I licked dry lips. If this is what I could expect from the rest of my Tier IV choices, then my implementing of Passives Skills like these would see my strength magnified higher than I ever could have imagined them going. Mark of Luck alone was a game changer. Increasing my chance to have things work out in my favor by 50%? My only concern was if it only would affect Sul’s spells and skills, but nothing in the ability’s description said that it would? In the case of Avowed, well only Sul offered those spells, but reducing their Active Slot costs was a tremendous boon I couldn’t ignore.
How much does it cost to unlock Tier IV? Is that what the Rainbow node is for?
I tried to will the Rainbow node into Mark of Luck, but received a notification instead.
Passive Skills may be unlocked by paying the following cost:
1 Passive: 3 Red Nodes, 9 Blue Nodes, 27 Green Nodes
Note: Only 1 Passive may be unlocked per Faction up to Tier VIII.
“Oh, come on!” I whispered harshly.
“Are you crazy? It’ll hear you!” Octave said, floating in front of my face. Ashamed, I looked away and met Curmlough’s eye.
“Are you finished yet? I can smell that things foulness from here and it is making me feel…
“Hold it in, Harry!” Octave said, patting the Satyr on the back. The Cherub glared at me. “You need to hurry!”
“Right. I’m sorry, my friends. I just found out I have fewer resources than I had hoped.”
Lingering this close to the Worm invited trouble. Rescuing the Goodlabor prisoners, if even still possible, had to be acted upon now if I hoped to reverse any mutations before they reached Tier V. So, as I needed to save my Red Nodes for Tier III unlocks and Green Nodes were always in demand for smaller, yet necessary unlocks throughout the Web, I paid the 9 Blue Nodes to unlock Mark of Luck.
I didn’t feel any luckier, but I saw that a Passive tab had appeared in my Status. I could no longer take another Sul Passive Skill until I unlocked Tier VIII in my Faction Web, as Avowed had greyed itself out and was no longer available. Now, the issue became my ability to do damage and my instincts guided me to Wik’s Tier III.
Armor of Shadow (3 Active)
Mana Cost: 300 Mana
Description: Draw upon nearby shadows to create a suit of light armor as strong as Plate.
Primary Effect: Increases Defense and Dodge by 100%.
Secondary Effect: DEX +20
Shadow Tendrils (3 Active)
Mana Cost: 175 Mana
Description: Choose a Target and bind them with chains of Shadow. They are unable to move or take an action for 8 seconds. (Can be resisted)
Wik’s Blade (3 Active)
Mana Cost: 100 Mana
Description: Draw upon nearby shadows to create a magical dagger.
Primary Effect: Shadow Damage.
Secondary Effect: Increases Shadow Spell Penetration by 100% if held in Off Hand.
It seemed that ‘Wik’s Blade’ was more than just an epitaph that had once made my Mother slap Errol’s mouth so hard it had made him cry when he had shouted it in front of her. It was an actual spell of the Wik Priesthood! I didn’t hesitate to pay a Red Node each for Armor of Shadow and Wik’s Blade. Shadow Tendrils was unnecessary at the moment thanks to Curmlough’s crowd control abilities with his Aulos, but with a new method of protection and attacking, I felt much more confident. Also, I could throw the dagger from a distance and just summon a new one!
I also paid a total of 18 Green Nodes in two of the threads that branched off from Wik’s Blade. The first increased the Damage of the Blade and the second increased my chance to land hits with it if I used it as a Thrown Weapon.
Increase Damage with Shadow Based Weaponry by 1% up to 3%. (3/3)
Increase Chance to Hit with Shadow Based Thrown Weaponry by 10% up to 30%. (3/3)
My available Node Bank was now:
Green: 15
Blue: 2
Red: 3
Rainbow: 1
Next, I quickly loaded up my Active Spell list, dropping both Lesser Turn Undead, but on a whip decided to keep Minor Command Beast and Spoor Blast, as well as making sure I had Minor Heal loaded too. The Murk Worm Queen looked like it was about to spit up another Fel Shard, Mir’s Tears!
Active Spells Slots (21 of 21)
Minor Cube of Confusion
Minor Heal
Minor Command Beast
Minor Mana Tap
Lesser Barrier of Light
Lesser Shadow Leech
Caretaker’s Guidance
Mantle of Intellect (2)
Deathward (2)
Bane Strike (2)
Spoor Blast (2)
Armor of Shadow (3)
Wik’s Blade (3)
Alright, it’s now or never.
I cast my buffs and then what spells I needed to fight. Caretaker’s Guidance should the Murk Queen have the ability to cast Illusions. Mantle of Intellect to buff my INT and increase my Mana Pool as high as I could. Deathward as a last line of defense and then Armor of Shadow followed Wik’s Blade.
Shadows seemed to peel off the walls, ceiling and floor to wrap around me in an eerily similar manner to how the Murk Queen had entrapped the Goodlabor survivors. For a moment, I was cocooned and then many of the shadows fell away. I was left standing head to toe with a layer of Shadow Armor over my regular armor. Even my head was wrapped in Shadow that only my eyes could be seen. I looked like one of the Elvish Bandits of the Eastern Deserts, a warrior of Shadow. Wik’s Blade was a curved, wicked looking dagger with a firm, leathery grip. The blade itself looked sharp and reflected no light. I knew it would penetrate even the Murk Queen’s thick hide. I turned to my companions.
“I’m ready,” I said.
“You’re something, alright.” Octave quipped. “Let’s hope the Worm doesn’t sit on you in the first five seconds.”
“I’m ready too!” Curmlough said, fingering the holes of his Aulos.
Octave couldn’t see it, but I was grinning beneath my new, shadow formed mask. With all the upgrades I had made, I was feeling confident.
“By Sul’s Hand, I like our chances,” I answered.