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rejalgarBless all the horrible things I've drank and shoved up my nose. Thinking about like a drug works, and it feels good.
There's a valley you have to cross to get to the Tomb of Marka Ragnos. It's cold down there, even though the sun was right overhead. Almost didn't catch on what was happening, but a couple of soldiers stumbled out in half a set of armor each, looking sick as death, and feeling worse. There's something dark and powerful in that valley, don't know what, but it was too much to take head-on.
But once I grabbed the fear and anger out of those soldiers, that fueled a high that pushed back the cold. It kept trying to drag me down, but there are a lot of people stuck down there. Lot of ones ready to kill, too, but it looks like they're not remembering to eat much down there.
And I'm starting to get a handle on the stuff they started teaching us back at CPC. They started trying to teach focus techniques, basic combat--because sure, that's gonna go well with us all in Maximum Security--but their training was shit. Couldn't make the concepts stick as well as they should. But today? Blocking blaster bolts. Good thing I was having too much fun to worry whether this old-as-emperor's-ass warblade was going to break from that. It's built sturdy, but taking those bolts dead-on needed a lot of muscle power. It's good--it cut those AWOL buggers to pieces--but it's definitely no lightsaber.
It's been enough, though. By the time I got into the Tomb, seeing the thing I was supposed to fight didn't slow me down a step. That thing was huge. I don't know what it was, I've seen drawings of things like it, but that's all. Stood at least twice as tall as me, covered in spines bigger than my arm. More teeth than one row could fit, too. Couldn't feel it coming either, not like the soldiers. It was just cold as the rest of that place.
Fighting it wasn't easy. Obviously. It had me all over its lair, and it was smart enough to block the exit, try and corner me. Nearly worked, too.
But it wasn't as hard to fight as it should've been. It survived two thousand years down there. I shouldn't have been able to beat it, no matter how good I felt. Maybe it's one of those alchemical things that can pull itself back together. I don't know.
I wanted to take some of those teeth back with me, but they didn't just smell bad, they smelled dangerous. Claws did too. Found out the gentle way those things are poisonous, I guess. It got me with the spikes on its arms, but
Oh, right. Hello diary, I'm bad at writing these, and I'm sitting at the medical tent near the speeder pad right now.
I hacked off some of its skin, just in case I need proof. I don't think I'll be able to tan this stuff, much as I want to. Didn't do a great job with the cut, and it's... odd. Doesn't feel like hide or scales. There's an oil in it too, don't think I'll be able to get that out. Hopefully that's not poisonous too.
Also--got the tuk'ata Renning wanted. Cracking open its skull was too much fucking work. And I didn't have a box to put the brain in, so I just... carried it back to the camp under my arm.
Between legendary beast blood and tuk'ata brain juice, I think these clothes are toast.
Not as toast as Renning's apprentice, though. She's still alive, but I'm not sure how long that's going to last. I keep hearing lightning over there. I'd say it's a good lesson for me to learn from, but I've got no idea how she made it this far without figuring it out. Don't tell random strangers about your dangerous plans. And have a plan in the first place.
There's a valley you have to cross to get to the Tomb of Marka Ragnos. It's cold down there, even though the sun was right overhead. Almost didn't catch on what was happening, but a couple of soldiers stumbled out in half a set of armor each, looking sick as death, and feeling worse. There's something dark and powerful in that valley, don't know what, but it was too much to take head-on.
But once I grabbed the fear and anger out of those soldiers, that fueled a high that pushed back the cold. It kept trying to drag me down, but there are a lot of people stuck down there. Lot of ones ready to kill, too, but it looks like they're not remembering to eat much down there.
And I'm starting to get a handle on the stuff they started teaching us back at CPC. They started trying to teach focus techniques, basic combat--because sure, that's gonna go well with us all in Maximum Security--but their training was shit. Couldn't make the concepts stick as well as they should. But today? Blocking blaster bolts. Good thing I was having too much fun to worry whether this old-as-emperor's-ass warblade was going to break from that. It's built sturdy, but taking those bolts dead-on needed a lot of muscle power. It's good--it cut those AWOL buggers to pieces--but it's definitely no lightsaber.
It's been enough, though. By the time I got into the Tomb, seeing the thing I was supposed to fight didn't slow me down a step. That thing was huge. I don't know what it was, I've seen drawings of things like it, but that's all. Stood at least twice as tall as me, covered in spines bigger than my arm. More teeth than one row could fit, too. Couldn't feel it coming either, not like the soldiers. It was just cold as the rest of that place.
Fighting it wasn't easy. Obviously. It had me all over its lair, and it was smart enough to block the exit, try and corner me. Nearly worked, too.
But it wasn't as hard to fight as it should've been. It survived two thousand years down there. I shouldn't have been able to beat it, no matter how good I felt. Maybe it's one of those alchemical things that can pull itself back together. I don't know.
I wanted to take some of those teeth back with me, but they didn't just smell bad, they smelled dangerous. Claws did too. Found out the gentle way those things are poisonous, I guess. It got me with the spikes on its arms, but
Oh, right. Hello diary, I'm bad at writing these, and I'm sitting at the medical tent near the speeder pad right now.
I hacked off some of its skin, just in case I need proof. I don't think I'll be able to tan this stuff, much as I want to. Didn't do a great job with the cut, and it's... odd. Doesn't feel like hide or scales. There's an oil in it too, don't think I'll be able to get that out. Hopefully that's not poisonous too.
Also--got the tuk'ata Renning wanted. Cracking open its skull was too much fucking work. And I didn't have a box to put the brain in, so I just... carried it back to the camp under my arm.
Between legendary beast blood and tuk'ata brain juice, I think these clothes are toast.
Not as toast as Renning's apprentice, though. She's still alive, but I'm not sure how long that's going to last. I keep hearing lightning over there. I'd say it's a good lesson for me to learn from, but I've got no idea how she made it this far without figuring it out. Don't tell random strangers about your dangerous plans. And have a plan in the first place.
