Aetroziythun Adventurers' Adventures, Or: Germ Warfare.
In the mystical land of Aetroziythus, the kingdom had collapsed, older structures became abandoned, and reality itself had become destabilized. Nomadic bands took to roaming the land, protecting various the various towns and hamlets from other bands, and went to looting ancient buildings and outposts, hiding their swag inside previously explored buildings and outposts, while making sure to reset every trap for added security. To anyone who hails from anywhere else, Aetroziythuns are violent, primitive, and somewhat cliched. For the native Aetroziythuns, it's a way of life:
Carcus hefted his two-handed, curved sword, listening for any movement beyond the torchlight behind him. In the narrow tunnels of the Pathways of Peril, (as the sign outside called them) he couldn't swing his sword from side to side effectively; it put him at a disadvantage, but his armour was the most protective of any in the group. Besides, he thought to himself, Selnia could turn any injury into an impressive scar within minutes. Selenia, the resident Bvellaccian, stood at the back. Since armour would have weighed down her Avian form, she dressed lightly. It was only personal preference that caused her to dress lighter than necessary. She looked fearfully over Carcus' shoulder, frustrated at her inability to see in anything other than bright light. When they came to a cross-branch, Carcus waved his sword in front of him, sniffed the musty odour of the Pathways, and motioned for the group to continue straight on. As they were passing, they heard something, smelled something, and something threw a cupful of water over their torch. "Rats!" Carcus shouted, swinging his sword with enough force to smash through doors. Unfortunately, the passageway's five-foot height couldn't accommodate a full slash from a six-foot sword, which resulted in a loud clang and even louder curse from the Ursine. "We can see ya's an' smell ya's, idiots," a Rat smirked, before kicking Carcus to the ground. Various screams and shouts went up from the other members of the group, which only helped the Rats' surprise attack. Irvin the Alcine kept swinging his mace around wildly, until he fell to the ground with a thump and a grunt. Selenia just cowered, unable to defend herself. "Hey, this one isn't fightin' either!" one of the Rats exclaimed. After one slashed at Carcus with his dirk, the four of them turned to look at the Panther, clad in black to match his fur, standing perfectly still. "That Panther thinks he can hide from us, eh?" "That's Jaguar, not Panther," he corrected. "Only companions of mine may use the Proper connotation when referring to me." "Well it doesn't - sorry - it don't matter, 'cause we're gonna kill ya's anyway," another Rodent smirked. "Good ol' showboating Mani," Irvin thought to himself. He could almost see him surreptitiously put his paw around one of his little jars. The prone figures tensed themselves and closed their eyes. "You see, you have all let your guard down for-" the Panther flung the little jar at the ground: the powders mixed, met air, and burst into a blinding flash of light! "The stealthy Mana-Toba!" Everyone leapt up and swung their weapons together, striking the stunned Rats to the ground. A blow from the Panther's tonfa knocked one down, which caused another to trip over her after being pecked at by Selenia's beak. Carcus and Irvin finished off their foes just as quickly, then began to rifle through their pockets. "They had little with them," Mana-Toba mused, while Irvin gathered up his viola case from the ground. "They were exploring the Pathways of Peril also, perhaps?" "Well I feel fine, scout out ahead," Carcus growled. He quickly turned to Selenia, who was wiping the blood off her beak, and said, "Could you help me with this slash down my arm? Call on your Spirit Warden or something." The Swan gave an amused squalk. "Sweet-tail, you know Bvellaccian Spirit Wardens commune with us for guidance only. They don't confer any power, but I will help you anyway." After meditating briefly on the shapeless Holiness that was the central concept of Bvellaccianism, she began to apply a cleansing liquid and sling to Carcus' arm. After the wound was bound tightly, she changed her mindset from her original teachings, and the two of them slipped into the trancelike focus that Aetroziythuns had learned to do: Carcus noticed that the wound was starting to feel better. He noticed with all his will, and was slowly proven right. Selenia's faith in her medicinal work grew past pretentiousness, to the unshaking belief that she could make healing work much faster than it normally could. A scab began to form and then crumble under the bandage, leaving no ingrown fur or disfiguring scar. By the time Mana-Toba called for them to get a move on, Carcus pulled the bandage from his arm, flexed it a bit, then grabbed his sword and ran down the passageway, leaving Selenia still in an attempt to kiss him with her Avian beak. * * *
With their minimal wounds tended to, the band traveled farther down the Pathways of Peril, pausing only to engage in short conversation, or to appraise the value of some ancient decoration. "So in Bvellaccianism, Holiness is given by losing one's identity for the sake of Everyone?" "No, Mani," Selenia replied condescendingly, "Each individual contributes to One and All, and must cultivate both in order to achieve greater Holiness. Only then will the memories of life transcend the inconvenience of death. Spirit Wardens are otherworldly voices of beings whose Holiness-" "Shh! I hear something!" The two went silent as Irvin cast his torch around. "Something's coming, but it isn't trying to be sneaky. I think they know where we are..." Carcus smirked at the Moose. "Then get out your mandolin and play something. It'd lull them into a false sense of security!" Irvin snorted. "It's a viola, Carcus, not a mandolin! Besides, I wouldn't be able to help you get out of another mess." "Be quiet, you two. There are foes about!" The Jaguar strode forward and struck his tonfa at the nearest approaching foe, knocking it to the ground. He smirked until it started to claw at him while prone. Carcus stepped forward, and gave a tentative stab at one of the attackers: the shambling Lapine fell as its arm split apart, yet still kept crawling along the floor. Selenia shivered at the sight of their foes: many of them, of different Kinds, came trudging along the corridor, some half-decayed. They did not bleed when struck, yet the odd organ fell out of one when it went down. Mana-Toba leapt forward to kick one that was bearing down on Carcus, but met with the flat of his blade by accident. He was sent stumbling into the arms of a putrefied Cat, who sank its fangs into his shoulder. Carcus grabbed Mani and pulled him backwards, while Irvin came forward to smash its head in with his mace. "There's too many of them," Carcus roared, "and they just keep coming! We have to run! Selenia, get your Spirit Warden to help!" Selenia gave a frustrated sigh and tried to search for the voice who spoke to her when she needed it most. She sent a silent plea out to wherever it was the body of her Spirit Warden resided, and only got a cryptic whisper in return. "Up... Left... Start?? Start to do what? Do what?" she moaned in confusion. In a second, it turned into anger. She rushed forward, grabbed Irvin, and shouted, "This way! Then turn left! Start to run, NOW!" They ran, with the bodies of past treasure-hunters pursuing. They turned a corner, ran into a heavy, metal door, and with a bit of heaving on the part of Carcus, managed to run through it. The Ursine slammed the door shut behind them, and barred it with whatever large, strong object he could; in this case, his sword. He breathed a sigh of relief and began to survey the room. "Ah," he smiled, "This must have been the storage room for whatever this place was before the Kingdom collapsed. That explains the strong door and boxes full of what I can only assume was food and small goods." "Yes, Ursine, we all figured that out too," the Jaguar muttered through clenched fangs. The sound of bony claws of several dozen dead bands before them scrabbling against the door eventually stopped, leaving the band in silence. After a brief search of the large storeroom, lit only by a shaft of moonlight through the top of what had once been a window, the band decided to rest. Irvin asked Mani if he should peek out the door; Mana-Toba asked Irvin if he would like his face ripped off and eaten, so the subject was dropped. After rolling out the sleeping bags that they carried in their knapsacks, they soon fell into an exhausted sleep. Carcus, however, soon found himself awake, due to a quick peck from Selenia. "Ouch," Carcus muttered, roused from his sleep. "That hur - Uh, Selenia? Why are you awake?" "Carcus?" Selenia whispered, trying to move her beak out of the way. "I-I've been thinking a lot today... About you..." "Heh. Thanks, Selenia," the Ursine rumbled, "but I can take care of myself. You did great against those Rats back there." The Swan gave the Avian equivalent of a frown with her slightly-flexible beak and cooed, "No, Carcus. I mean about the two of us. I like Irvin and Mani, but... I feel in touch with Holiness the most... when I'm with you." "Aw. Thanks, Selenia. Well, I'm feeling pretty tired, so we should-" After a moment fraught with nervous indecision, Selenia leapt from her sleeping bag onto Carcus', and tried desperately to meet her beak with his mouth. The startled Bear, who hadn't encountered anything similar before, nearly leapt up and reached for his sword, but grabbed the female close to him instead. After another clumsy attempt at a kiss, the white-feathered Avian leaned up over him and gave a worried gulp. "Uh, when did you... I've never... How do we... Uh..?" Carcus, at a loss for words for the first time in his life, looked helplessly up at the female who was straddling him. "I haven't either," the Swan replied. "I... I guess we can just try until we see what works." The two tried to see what worked long though the night. Eventually, it did. * * *
Carcus awoke much later, at the sound of Irvin's viola and the sound of Selenia's voice. The Alcine was playing a song he'd never heard before, while Selenia was singing in a foreign language. While her beak left her sounding awkward in the Aetroziythun tongue, (first standardized in the Imperious Age by those with teeth) her song sounded beautiful and haunting to the Bear's ears: even more so by the fact that he couldn't understand her. Carcus yawned a mouthful of the musty air and struggled to become fully alert; his struggle ended when a soft kick from Mani got him into his usual state of guarded annoyance. "Rrgh, huh. Where?" the Bear grumbled, trying to simultaneously shoot a self-conscious look at the singing Swan and an unpleasant one at Mani. "To answer your grunt, Ursine, those putrefied corpses managed to open the door while you and Selenia were asleep. Thanks to you, we are all dead. Oh, and the food in the boxes is too old to eat, as Irvin graciously showed us; he still has some of the late bread in his fur." Carcus thought of making fun of "the boxes is", but figured the smug fighter would find some way to explain how he was right: while other Aetroziythun bands had arrogant ninja fighters who would constantly and humorously misuse their grammar, he had to have met up with one who was prideful, deadly, and perfectly trilingual. The musicians' song soon came to an end, giving Carcus an attempt to hurriedly ask Selenia what she was singing. "It's a Bvellaccian hymn," the Swan shyly explained. "It was composed to be sung by anyone with a beak. I thought singing it would help Irvin with his practice, and maybe inspire him some more." "Yeah, thanks, Selenia," Irvin smiled at the blushing, smiling Swan. "It's still hard to think up an epic poem for the viola. Once I've got the tune right, everything should start to work and I'll-" "Yes yes, famous-poem-huge-reputation-best-in-the-land, we all have heard it many times before. I just hope your first actual epic is as good as you say it will be." Mani turned back to stuffing some of the rancid mould from the boxes (and Irvin's fur) into a small, half-full vial, shaking the result, and putting the mixture somewhere in the hidden pockets of his garb. As Selenia walked by, singing softly to herself, Carcus decided to grab her forcefully, pressing her against him and possibly jostling her attire to a more revealing position. The Swan cheerfully walked by and gave the Ursine an affectionate pat while he was lost in thought, making a no-doubt tough decision. Irvin put his viola in its case and started to pull Carcus' sword out from the door. "It's a good thing we had this room to hide in," he remarked. "Now I feel like I could take on a couple dozen of those... Those... Uh..." He dropped the large sword as he opened the door: a couple dozen of the walking corpses got up off their prone positions in the ground and turned toward the frightened Moose. The three males cussed the first oath that came to their respective minds, then stared in surprise as the monstrous abominations turned around and trudged away. Selenia blinked and looked concernedly around, while Carcus and Mani pushed at each other to fit through the door at once and pursue the retreating living dead. "Ah-ha! In these auspicious conditions, I can hit those shambling abominations so hard that they'd have nothing left to fight back with!" "Outta the way! I can take out four of them while you'd still be hitting your first!" "But... they're running away..." Selenia warned. "Should we just follow them like that?" The Avian soon realized that there was nobody around to listen to her concerns. She gave her best attempt at grumbling that someone with a beak could, then took off after the others.
- * * The Ursine and the Jaguar charged onward, ignoring the fading sounds of the Moose and the Swan. They turned a corner, and ran into more of the aberrations, all heading in the same direction. Suddenly, the walking corpses stopped. They turned aside to let another through: a large Reptile with open wounds, missing teeth, a lost eye, and wings. Unlike those around him, he stood up straight; his body was whole, though his scales had lost their colour and lustre; and he spoke: "You..." he wheezed, "Who leads... your band?" Mani and Carcus both started to answer at once. Mani gave a dismissive snort in the Bear's direction. "This," the decaying Dragon continued, "is the base of our operations... What... are you doing here?" "We are here to inform you," Mana-Toba grandstanded, "that your entire base now belongs to us!" "Hold," it snarled, raising an outstretched claw. Mana-Toba raised a tonfa, but begrudgingly stopped; partially due to the Dragon's focus of Aetroziythun power, and partially because his foe clearly had something important to say. Carcus, however, grunted out, "Listen, Dragon, we were here to-" "You were here to desecrate these ruins and thought only of yourselves!" he hissed, "and that's Avian-Reptile, not 'Dragon!'" He inhaled deeply to cough as if he'd inhaled a mouthful of sand, then continued, "Just like... my band did, not too long ago... And here I am. Once our offspring can survive outside... this selfish Continent will meet its faults... and a better one will rise." "Hey, let's fight while we talk," Carcus suggested. "It'll make things go faster." He jabbed his sword forward, knocking a few to the ground. Mani followed suit, leaping at the first opportunity he could. "So, you want to leave all of Aetroziythus to rot?" Carcus had to dodge a clumsy swipe from a Bat, but accidentally slammed himself against a wall to do so. "Why yes!" The Dragon coughed again, spewing blood against the floor. "And new life... always comes out of rot! Things can... only improve... I'll show you Real Power: the power to start life over again!" "Real Power..." Mana-Toba scowled. "You vicious fanatic! We hold to the ideals of True Power, of the power to change without ending! Carcus, aim for that Rodent, over there!" Carcus swung his sword as much as he could, and knocked down the Rodent that leapt up between them. The Jaguar jumped up, over the fallen carcass, and swung his tonfa with all the might of his ethical affiliation behind it. * * * "Irvin, slow down! Are you even sure they ran this way?" "Don't worry, I've been separated from those two before; just listen for where the loudest noise is coming from, and you'll find them." "But what if they're dead already?" "Oh, it'd take a lot of noise to kill them. Besides, we must be getting closer: listen!" Selenia shook her head and listened as best as she could. "I don't think that's them. It sounds all... gooey and gross..." They turned a corner and stopped dead in their tracks. One of the Rats they had encountered earlier was being dragged away by two of the disgusting monstrosities they had fought earlier. The Rat was coughing continuously, shivering as if freezing, and was covered in open sores and welts. He didn't struggle or fight, but seemed miserably condemned to his fate. Irvin gave a worried gulp, and held on to his protective mace. "Do you think we should follow them?" he whispered to Selenia. "Yes; I want to know what they did to him, and why. Just looking at him like that... It makes me feel... all gross inside." Irvin agreed, and they snuck forward to see where they would be led. Eventually, they found out: a large chamber, full of rotting meat and vegetable matter, puddles of stagnant water, and suffused with a powerful stench. Several zombies were lurching around, and the other three Rats were already there, in worse condition than the new arrival. They tried ineffectually to hide, but the zombies took no notice of them. Instead, they were focused on the horrendous figure they threw the Rat in front of: an oozing, spherical glob, more than five feet around. Its translucent form was covered with what looked like a cross between fur and antennae, and a network of arteries trailed from its surface to an organ that looked like an eye, a mouth, a brain, and a length of intestine all together. The Rat tried to stand up, and reached for a knife at his side, but could only rise to his knees. The amorphous thing knocked him back to the ground with a tentacle, leaving a slimy patch on his clothing and fur. The Rat looked up at the thing and gave out a weak, "W..wha...?" " I am Germ," the thing squelched. " Be my follower now. The infection continues." The Rat started to vomit: first bile, then blood. It still could not stop the processes happening within him, which made Selenia groan in disgust while it happened. " Bring them," Germ oozed, feeling the vibrations of her groan through the air. " More offspring!" Irvin saw the diseased corpses turn to them, and grabbed hold of his mace. Selenia was still struggling to stand back up in the fetid air, and Carcus and Mani were nowhere in sight. Coming to a rash decision, Irvin ran forward, eluded the zombies' attempts to grab him, jumped over the convulsing Rodent, and swung his mace down at Germ as hard as he could. It gave a sound like he had hit a bag of mud, and gave the same kind of resistance. A tentacle swung out and knocked him to the ground, the liquid feculence stinging his chest as if he had been poisoned. He felt a shortness of breath and a rash where he was struck, but nothing beyond that; Germ gave a mild shudder, and all the while the dust Irvin had on himself gave off some kind of violent fizz. Bubbles popped on Germ's hide: the various bodies in the room listened to the sound and all turned to attach Irvin. "Selenia! Help!" He nearly tripped over the infected Rat, sprinkling some of the mould on him: the goop on his face started to froth, making him moan and choke all the worse. The Swan edged forward nervously, and gave a hesitant kick to the leg of a passing Dog; it fell to the ground, its leg falling off at the knee. The minions infected with Germ's offspring hesitated as Germ bubbled more orders about the second foe: Irvin and Selenia backed themselves against the rear passageway and steeled themselves for the shambling onslaught. "Selenia," the Moose gulped, "it's like this thing's made of dirt. What can we do? What do you use for cleaning wounds? How come we have to fight this thing on our own?" "Uh... That rotten bread dust did something... I know vinegar can clean wounds, but it hurts... Oh, I wish Carcus was here..." "Yeah," Irvin agreed, slipping off his backpack to swing his mace and his antlers at the advancing horde. "He always seems to find out just what he needs to do to hurt these kinds of weird things by accident." "Well, True Power to you, and to me," she quavered. She searched around in her pack for a bottle of vinegar, and grabbed it in her beak. While Irvin started to shout for help, driven back by the pressing advance and a couple of wounds to one leg, Selenia spread her wings and leapt into the putrid air. She had to step on a couple of the advancing zombies, but managed to get high enough in the air to land between them and the angry Germ. She uncorked the bottle and stood there hesitantly, while Germ, seething with dim indignation, got a few of his offspring to focus their attentions away from the Moose. "Oh for crying out loud," Irvin shouted, "Don't stop and think of something impressive to say; just throw it!" The Swan gulped again, and tossed the bottle into the air, its acidic contents splattering on Germ's gooey hide. It gave a hideous squeal as the vinegar spread into it, causing it to shrink and dissolve rapidly. Its offspring started to shamble in a less stable manner as it flailed out with tentacles that fell off as it flung them. Selenia threw herself to the floor, and shouted for Irvin to find more of his bread dust. "Right!" Irvin shouted, and tried to scrape as much of it out of his fur. He shouldered his way through the confused zombies to- A loud roar echoed through the room, heralding the Panther and Ursine; Mana-Toba leapt in and threw his vial of the bread dust mixture, making a light fog spew forth. The zombies started to shudder and stumble, making them even easier targets; Germ started to fall apart rapidly, then was slashed straight through by Carcus' sword. Within a couple of minutes, only the band of four remained upright. "Carcus, Mani, you made it!" Selenia gushed with joy. "Of course!" the Bear laughed out. "We even took care of the Dragon who was putting together his gross army before they were ready. Looks like it wasn't so big. Oh, thanks for helping us get rid of that gross zombie-making-thing." "Wait- you... Wha??" Irvin babbled. "What Dragon? We- that thing was-" "When you are ready to start making sense," Mana-Toba said, "you should come with us. Members of many bands were the primary makeup of those repulsive forces; it stands to reason that their possessions were put somewhere else, as nobody here appeared to have any of them to themselves. "And stay with us next time," he added, "I am not the rescuing type, and do not want to go through with that again." "Wha- rescue?" Irvin wailed. "Oh, well, thank you anyway," Selenia smiled weakly. "I just want to get out of here and have a bath. Carcus? Please lead the way." The Bear returned the weak smile with a shaky one, and led the way down the corridor to where they hoped a treasure room was. Irvin took up the rear, only pausing in his irate grumbling to cough into his fist. ****** (Happy Halloween, Furry fans!)