Übermensch (3rd Edition)

Day 298, 09:58:01

We are a most curious group come to save an idyllic village from a fearsome dragon.

Birds chirp amongst autumn trees, the air fresh and scented with nature. Leading us bravely down a sunny country road is The Master clad in scaled armor, helmet visor open while riding its powerful, high-stepping black stallion. I follow, short hair-feathers-flowers tied back in a ponytail and the Id EIS masculine-shaded body layered over with silk, black leathers, and oiled chainmail, a full scabbard weighing heavy against the Id EIS hip. The sAI node also follows beside me, golden sphere now serving as the head atop a striding, bulky silver mechanoid body unearthed from Storage.

Not much longer, now...

A ROAR sounds loud, and familiar, from beyond the forested hill ahead.

"Trouble?" Sir Gabriel asks.

I nod. "Perhaps."

"Then we had best meet it head on," Sir Gabriel says, smiling as it shuts its red visor with a CLANG and snaps the reins of its black stallion to go galloping off upslope through the brush.

Drawing a borrowed sword, I jog after it. "We guard Sir Gabriel, not honor!"

"A fact I never forget," the silver squire calls out in feminine voice while driving the borrowed mechanoid body to keep STOMPING pace beside me.

First blood...

Sir Gabriel reaches the top of the slope first, reining up abruptly enough that its black stallion briefly rears up, whinnying, before coming back down again, snorting.

Mmm. The Master is truly divine.

We jog nearer, but no longer in haste.

The Knight pushes its red visor up, gazing down...

We reach the summit, joining it.

Heh. Why am I not surprised?

The forest glade below us is a killing ground filled by the savaged, blood-soaked corpses of greatwolves lying in pools of scarlet blood. Furled wings spattered in red, the Griffin trots upslope towards us, red tongue lolling from an open beak. "Weak creatures," he rumbles.

Sir Gabriel snaps its red-scaled fingers. "Heel." The winged hound immediately bounds and takes the place at its left. "We shall scout together from now on," The Knight calls, before giving me a brief, pointed look. "And share the spoils of this Quest together. As a group."

I nod.

Tapping the heels of its red-scaled sabatons to the flanks of its black stallion, Sir Gabriel now goes trotting down towards the carnage, winged hound keeping pace at its heels. Smiling, I follow them with the hulking silver squire still keeping pace beside me.

All to plan. (So far...)

Under the Master's general directive of "build me a medieval dragon Quest", I had plotted a likely staging ground across a big section of unused Domain, overseen minor terraforming, deployed automated drones to build the necessary architecture, clothing, and supplies, then quickgrown legacy humans and non-humans, provided them with appropriate personality/memories through a combination of mental codemapping and multi-stage Somnotic Experience and finally set the whole thing into motion at the chosen hour. Therefore: I knew with great certainty that, just as the Master desired, there would be plenty more surprises to come on this Quest before the formidable endgame...

We're off! We're off!

After crossing the bloody glade, we pass once more amongst the woodland trees and back onto the idyllic country road, continuing ever on.