Madness, Magic, and Monsters

How Did We Get Here?

You are (Y/n), a manaborn—one who has an innate and powerful gift for magic—and talented mage. You are a great hero and adventurer; exploration is your passion. You had just returned from a quest when you life would become so much more difficult. It is a tale that involves betrayal, a dragon, lust, a cave, more lust, a castle, a maiden, and even a goat. So let us recount the tale.

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You had just sat down at your favorite tavern, The Lazy Serpent. You had a drink in one hand and a piece of bread in the other. You and your friend, Barnabas, had found and returned the priceless heirloom of the prince of Jekarai. You and Barnabas were telling the tavern-goers a highly dramatized tale of the adventure.

"—and that's when I plunged my sword into it's fat belly and—," Barnabas was cut off by the tavern door slamming open followed by a screech.

"Please help," a young woman ran to you, "Please, (y/n), my sister is being attacked by goblins." She looked disheveled, her long black hair stuck to her black tunic because of the pouring rain. Her eyes bore into yours with sadness and worry.

You and your partner stood up, only for the woman to look at Barnabas with disdain, "It's on holy ground near the altar of Anashi. It would desecrate the lands if a male stepped foot on her lands."

Barnabas sat down, defeated. She was right. Anashi was the goddess of women. Her temples and shrines are sacred, safe places for women, which makes the fact that they are being invaded incredibly infuriating to you. You pound the rest of your drink and wrap up your meal for later. Kicking goblin ass first, dinner after.

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You started to get suspicious when the young woman, whose name was apparently Katya, passed the entrance to the local shrine to Anashi.

"We passed the shrine," you stopped, looking at Katya with a look of distrust and a hint of anger in your face.

She grabbed your wrist and pulled you along, "Please, she's in trouble. I fear they have taken her to their lair." You wouldn't budge. "We have valuables, we will pay well." You trudged on at the thought of payment. Yes you loved adventuring, but you also loved money. Everyone does.

Katya led you through a small, hardly used trail through the woods. You were a bit nervous, she could be leading you into an ambush. Well, she probably was now that you thought of it, but it's too late now. You're already committed and too tired to walk all the way back to the village.

She stopped at a clearing, in the center was a temple of sorts. Above the entrance was a small stone figure of a wolfman with ram's horns and a snake tail, which definitely wasn't the symbol of Anashi. You think that might be the symbol of Tarawn Karg, the patron of monsters and outcasts. You really didn't want to go in there, Tarawn's temples are not welcoming to humans, especially those who slay monsters.

"Well, here it is," Katya spoke oddly loudly. As if on cue, a scream emanated from the stone building.

You didn't trust yourself to run down the stairs, so you jogged down them. If there really was a girl kidnapped, getting your ankle sprained would only cause trouble for the both of you. You reached the atrium of the complex. It was massive, large stone walls opened up to a giant cavern lit by fluorescent plants, glowing gems, and magic torches. In the center was an altar to its patron god: a giant, engraved stone circle on the ground with a statue of a monster on each cardinal direction. You felt watched by all of the carvings and statues of various beasts in the room. You reached a hand to the one closest to you, a dragon standing on its hind legs. The detail was astonishing, as if each scale was individually chiseled.

You heard many small footsteps behind you. That definitely wasn't Katya. You turned and readied yourself in a fireball spell stance. She wasn't lying about the goblins after all. In front of you stood about twelve goblins, each no taller than 4 feet. You could handle them as long as you got a good spell off.

They started towards you as you channeled a fireball. A surge of heat radiated from your core through your arms and out your hands as you lowered your stance to gather the flames. You were interrupted by a thwack to the back of your calf, which made you lose focus. It was more goblins, at least another ten. You couldn't handle 20+ goblins by yourself on a good day, definitely not now when you were tired, hungry, and had a bruise on your calf. You used what little flame you had conjured and spun it around you, pushing the goblins away.

You summoned a weak flame golem to occupy them while you worked on a levitation spell. You started chanting the correct spell words when you heard Katya call out, "Get her, the master will not be pleased if she escapes."

A few goblins turned to you. You spoke the words as fast as you could, but they were grabbing you, pinning you down and out of your stance. "Get off of me you little green shits," You shouted. One held your mouth shut after that.

"I'm sorry, manaborn, but the lands of Tarawn Karg demand a sacrifice to give us our power," a tall, woman walked out from behind a statue towards the stone circle. She had on nothing but a wolf skin cloak. More people dressed—well, more like undressed—like her walked out from the shadows. They were lycanthropes, or at least trying to become them. They gathered between the four central statues and around the stone circle. The goblins that were holding you down dragged you to the center of the circle, where they let go as two large Lycan men bound your arms. They returned to their spot amongst their fellow cultists.

They all started chanting as the statues turned to face the circle. Their eyes glowed a deep, bright green as that same color sprouted through cracks in the stone circle. The green engulfed you as the bright lights and loud chanting filled your head and senses.