Muscles ﹠ Monsters TTRPG Federation

16:11 Vaak-Uhm: I sit in my sable chair, twirling the Tooth of The Great Bear in my fingers... idly, I wonder if the man from whom I took it even knew its name. He seemed as surprised as I by the revelation of its magic. I smile as I recall the encounter... one of the most filling meals I've ever had. I can recall only one other feast ever having been so powerful, and it was the one which preceded this very quest upon which I was about to embark. I wonder if the man from whom I took this blade brought any others into his tribe, using the gift I gave him, or if he's still unique in the world. It's strange... since this dilemma, this danger, emerged... since beginning to search for a solution, I've felt a hunger.

16:11 Vaak-Uhm: Hunger is something with which I am desperately familiar.

16:11 Vaak-Uhm: But in my study, in my quest to know the ephemeral danger which imposes upon my eldritch senses, I could not name this hunger, this want, so different from the hunger tied to the Force which I serve.

16:11 Vaak-Uhm: And then, as I sat studying a scroll older than some worlds, my eyes fell upon the Tooth, and I thought of the barbarian... and I... felt. Connection. Allyship.

16:11 Vaak-Uhm: What I wanted, what I needed, was a friend. And in the long, long centuries of my life, you, Bronan, are the only being in the universe who even comes close.

16:11 Vaak-Uhm: I never expected to see you again, in my life or yours. I was half right... time is a strange thing, but by any measure of my long life and its long sleeps, you are centuries dead. I seek you, through the Tooth. Its magics, though largely inaccessible to me by its very nature, have taught me much in my study of it. I find you, long dead, in the Eltrian Fields.

16:11 Vaak-Uhm: I could pull you, from there... it would neatly bypass some of the knottier problems of time. But it would pull you from your earned afterlife, and while I long ago dispensed with morals beyond my own interests, I know that you may not react well, or cooperatively, after such an invasion.

16:11 Vaak-Uhm: I could reach into your life, of course... pluck the strings of your existence, grip and pull myself to you. But then the book of your life is rewritten, and that is always a perilous prospect, with unknowable ramifications.

16:11 Vaak-Uhm: It matters not, in any event. The Tooth shall bring me to you in your life, or bring you to me after yours... it shall draw us together, whenever and wherever its connection to you is strongest. It may even bring me to you before I fed upon you. I smile as I recall again the meal. Feasting is not my goal, this time... I am well energized for the tasks ahead. Still, it will be pleasurable to be near such raw masculinity again. And, should the opportunity arise, tasting you again would be a welcome treat.

16:11 Vaak-Uhm: Time to begin.

16:11 Vaak-Uhm: Gripping the Tooth, connecting my energy to it, I flex my will, a fiendishly complex manipulation of magic and time, tearing open the fabric of reality, commanding the knife to connect with you…

00:03 Bronan_the_Barbarian: Another day has passed in eternity and my day comes to its close. The sound of wood splitting fills the air again as I bring my stone axe down into the waiting wood. Even as I work, I ponder so many things, thoughts flowing from one thing to the next. Mostly, though, my thoughts are on my needs for the coming season. With snow likely imminent, I continue prepping my den for the coming days and the season of slumbering potential that awaits. Even though this spiritual plane offers some differences from the mortal plane, there are still things that need to be done to ensure spiritual survival, including weathering the spiritual cold with a warming fire. With the last of the wood cracking open, I finally stop and look up into the purple light in the sky. To my delight, I see the first flakes of snow starting to fall.

00:03 Bronan_the_Barbarian: “It’s time to turn in for the night,” I say low as I watch the flakes float down from above. With a bundle of firewood in tow, I turn to my den to enjoy one of my favorite rituals: bearing witness to the birth of night.

00:03 Bronan_the_Barbarian: With all set for the night, I turn and cast my eyes on the horizon. I watch intently as the triple suns slowly set. Thoughts of eternity, spirit, men, beasts, and more pass through my head as I ponder all I know of existence, yet another moment of quiet reflection. Time is a patient teacher and she has taught me many things since my time as a mortal. At this point, I can barely remember anything from my mortal life. It’s just as well, as I have grown to cherish this world so much more than I at least remember cherishing the mortal world. But tonight, something from the mortal world will touch my existence again – something quite unexpected.

00:03 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I breathe in deep, filling my chest with the air, feeling the flow of energy through my being, and I reach out like the roots of a tree, willing my spirit to connect with all that it can in this moment. This passing of day and birthing of night is one of the more potent times for such connections, especially for me. And that’s when I feel it: a connection to something not touched for so long. The time apart has not dulled my knowing of what it is, though – there are some things that even eternity cannot change.

00:03 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I know not its name, but I know it. I reach with my spirit to answer its beckoning. As I reach, I can feel something else pulling, though. So long ago, I felt this same energy, but I had no idea what it was back then. Even now, I am still unsure what it is, but I do know this power is as different to me as day is to night. I smile, though – even as a mortal, the power did not truly scare me, nor does it now.

00:03 Bronan_the_Barbarian: Reaching along that thread beckoning to me, I simply say, “be welcome here.” And with that, I see the conduit open. Coming from it first is my old family knife, long left in a place I only visited once. And though I haven’t seen you, I have felt you already. My smile widens as I feel your presence gather and push through the conduit. And sure enough, I see you step through – the nameless being that taught me so much in one meeting.

00:03 Bronan_the_Barbarian: Your form steps through the conduit, but it is misshapen and distorted. I can feel you adjusting to being on this plane. I stand in front of my home and look at you, the triple suns aligned perfectly around your blurred and distorted head on the distant horizon. Before you stands very much the man you met ages ago, yet reborn here on this spiritual plane into a more actualized version of myself. My stature remains just the same, standing just as tall and broad, if not even more muscled. The only stark visual differences are the stag antlers now crowning my head and the random streak of white in my beard and hair. Your eldritch senses can pick up quite the difference in my spiritual being, though – the essence that radiated from the knife now radiates from me. In fact, I now seem to be a wellspring of that same essence.

00:03 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I feel your eyes focusing upon me as the distortions in your form fade. “It has been a long time, Ancient One,” I say as I smile.

18:36 Vaak-Uhm: As I grip and work titanic mystic energies, I feel the connection... so, the Forces which guide us have chosen your spirit, over your body. This may complicate our task, but I am prepared: a vessel is prepared for your spirit, matter awaiting form. The connection opens further...

18:36 Vaak-Uhm: ...and flows outward.

18:36 Vaak-Uhm: I did not expect this. An afterlife is earned, it is not simply stepped into from without. The magic of your ancestral blade suggests you could exist again in the material realm, but I did not expect the blade to be drawn toward your ethereal self!

18:36 Vaak-Uhm: And now, I experience something I've not known in... I don't know how long. Thousands of years.

18:36 Vaak-Uhm: I feel terror. Raw terror, for I am no longer in control and with dread certainty know that, while physical existence still holds meaning for me, it is not for me as it is for mortal beings. My essence is incompatible with the Eltrian Fields, and I know to the core of myself that should my essence be bounded there, I will cease to exist.

18:36 Vaak-Uhm: Desperately, even as my essence begins to be drawn into the portal, I grip the stone which was to contain you with my will, and CRUSH my intent upon it; discarding the spell which was to make it your vessel, it instead becomes my Anchor, a conduit within a conduit, a thread binding me back to the Force which I serve. I pray to that Force that it is enough.

18:36 Vaak-Uhm: And then I am consumed, swallowed whole by dimensional energies, cast violently through space and time, and then I feel the Tooth exit the vortex ahead of me... I brace myself for the searing battle to begin, the conflict of my energies and the energies of the Fields.... power upon which I have fed greedily, but rather than a wellspring which I may draw into myself this will be myself cast into a deep ocean.

18:36 Vaak-Uhm: Blinding light, then darkness. The smell of earth and pine. The sound of insects. The cool air.

18:36 Vaak-Uhm: As I feared, there is conflict, but... it as if a space is being made for me, a tiny gap kept open around me. Rather than being permeated with these primal energies, they lap at the edges of my being like water at the shore of a lake. It takes a moment to master myself, but between my will and the Anchor, I am safe. For now. As my form settles, I am exactly as you saw me before: pale, lithe, athletic.

18:36 Vaak-Uhm: And there you are... magnificent. Masculinity ripened to fullness. A tower of strength. So steeped in magic it flows from you like a river. Ravenous hunger burns in me, and I shove it aside. Later.

18:36 Vaak-Uhm: I pick the Tooth up from where it has fallen on the forest floor, and offer it. "Indeed it has, barbarian," I say proffering the knife. "I believe you left this on my shelf. I've come to return it, and ask a favor. There is an evil loose in the realms, and it threatens many. Perhaps, even here. I cannot destroy it alone."

19:32 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I look you over and remember so many details of your human form. The pale skin, the lithe, athletic frame that houses your other form, your scent… Even as a mortal, everything about you caused deep arousal from me, even your other form – all of that has not changed at all now that I am more than mortal. In fact, I can feel something stirring in me that I haven’t felt before. That part of me is ready to step to you, scoop you in my arms, and see if you taste the same now as you did then…but that will have to wait till later. The look on my face changes to one of more concern as I hear your words.

19:32 Bronan_the_Barbarian: “Evil loose? Across the realms?...” I say as I look at the knife you offer up to me. I take it and feel it HUM resonantly in my hand. As I take it in my hands, I receive a flash of visions from the knife – things it has witnessed while sitting on your shelf. The visions come too fast even for me, though, and I can’t follow them completely. Even still, I now know that you speak the truth beyond a shadow of a doubt and I feel the sense of urgency of the situation.

19:32 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I turn my gaze back to you and look at you deeper. I feel the terror from you as you seem to be looking around nervously and feeling for something far in the distance. I draw in closer and place my hands on your shoulders, feeling a consuming electricity as I touch your pale skin. I can feel so much more about you in my current state that I had no clue of when we first met. There’s a part of you that I still feel a primal danger response towards, but I look in your eyes…and I trust you. I nod then and grip your shoulders.

19:32 Bronan_the_Barbarian: “If you need me to walk and fight with you, I am ready,” I say while looking down in your eyes. I know that I may not come back from this journey, wherever it takes us. Even spirits can be killed, or worse yet, consumed and transgressed into other energies….other persuasions. This may mean that I am not here if my foreson who visited me once finds his way back to the Eltrian Fields. But I cannot let that stop me from doing what is in my blood – fighting my enemies with feral strength. “I will be your bulwark. But…I have one condition. I must know your name, Ancient One,” I say with a smile.

20:20 Vaak-Uhm: I stare at you, stunned. "... Vaak," I say weakly. "My name is Vaak-Uhm." My eyes narrow.

20:20 Vaak-Uhm: "Just like that, we are allies?" I ask acidly, yet feeling the cock of my form stir in my black leather trousers at the weight and strength of your hand on my shoulder. "I collected you, made a meal of you... you could have died at my hands! And now, after near a thousand years and two sentences exchanged, you would quest with me?"

20:20 Vaak-Uhm: I reach out, and... I pause, suddenly uncertain. Can I cast here, tenuous as I am, surrounded by a near-antithetical magic? I firm my mystical grip on the anchor, and flex my will. It works.. if anything I feel stronger.... and again, as I did so long ago, I smell you. Your magic, your scent... you speak your truth. Fascinating. And then I realize... your power has grown, your understanding has grown... you have seen it too, somehow.

20:20 Vaak-Uhm: I look around, taking in the forest. "This place suits you. Are you sure you wish to risk this, for a long lost scion of darkness who drank you near to death?" I ask wryly.

20:44 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I smile as you tell me your name and then I see the very real doubt on your face. Then I feel you sensing me, probing me to know the truth. My eyes narrow as I feel this, feeling my sense of honor not understood by you. It's not that I'm offended - it's that I think I understand you a bit more then. You've never known someone who might stand at your side...at least that's what I feel.

20:44 Bronan_the_Barbarian: "Yes, this place does suit me. I am of it, now. And I am sure I wish to risk this. But make no mistake, Vaak - I don't do this for you." I break my gaze down in your eyes then to look at the triple suns as they vanish below the horizon. "I do this for me. To go and be where I can fight again. I do this for my progeny. To fight for them so their existence can be spared in the other planes. Perhaps along the way...I will learn more of you," I say as my eyes return to yours. "So that I might fight for you, too. Besides...our meeting so long ago was not so one-directional. You gave me a blessing...showed me possibilities.... and I feasted on you too, my friend, though admittedly not as ravenously as you feasted on me...." I smile wide, acknowledging you thoroughly besting me in our first meeting, a rare thing for me to be able to admit to. "But my word is my bond, Vaak. Always." With that, I take my right hand from your shoulder and place it between us, offering it to you. "And if you take this bond, know that you are truth-bound to me - we speak only truth to one another. You should only accept my help if you can accept that oath."

06:10 Vaak-Uhm: I almost laugh at your naiveté; "truth" is so subjective, shaped by belief and perspective... such a bond means almost nothing, even if magically enforced. How have you not become a cynic after all this time? Perhaps I've made a poor choice after all. Still... there is no one else. And you are powerful. And, if magical, this gesture may be a test...

06:10 Vaak-Uhm: "Easily enough done, Bronan," I say, and grip your hand. "I have no need to lie to my allies." And, yes... there it is. I brace myself against the incompatible magic... it burns, painfully slithering across the surface of my being, though not visible on my body. It hurts, but is also nearly erotic. It settles in, a magically enforced vow. I release your hand.

06:10 Vaak-Uhm: "To the meat of it, then. There is a force loose in the universe... I first became aware of it when one who was to become my servant... not nearly as powerful or filling as yourself, but with his own merits... vanished from existence. He did not simply die, else I would still be able to find him, especially given the connection I created. He was... erased. " I pause, and stare into the darkening sky, idly wondering if the stars here are in the sky of some mortal world, if this globe spins about its stars as other worlds do in the vast universe, if the Fields are, mystic though they be, still upon a physical world somewhere in the universe.

06:10 Vaak-Uhm: "Since then, I have seen it... again and again. Men, beings… gone. I am not certain, but I think sometimes whole worlds vanish with them."

13:16 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I see you staring up at the heavens, and while you look up I keep my gaze on you. I still see all of the same things in you that I was attracted to in my youth - and some of those same attractions remain still yet. There are new things now, too, though. You are more kindred to me now than you were in those ages past: a certain kind of loneliness we both embrace; a drive and sense of purpose that propels us to augment who we are; a truth to self; others still. Our pact magic connects us further, deeper, and I begin to see there are some vast differences between us as well, just as I suspected…but that matters not to me. Your path is yours as mine is my own. I smile and turn my head to the heavens now.

13:16 Bronan_the_Barbarian: "All things must eat, Vaak. That is the will of the world," I say. "This devourer may be… erasing existence… as you say, and that may be its way of sustaining itself.” I pause and ponder such an existence further. “Of course, that doesn't mean we just slide down its gullet willingly," I growl with a smile as I think of what's to come. The spirits around us are singing a growl as they begin to understand what's at stake, too. Such is the nature of the pact that I made with this entire world when I became its guardian - all I know, the spirits know - all the spirits know, I know.

13:16 Bronan_the_Barbarian: “Why did you choose me to help you with this, Ancient One?” I say and wait. I have no idea what to expect for your answer, but I am eager to hear it.

15:30 Vaak-Uhm: I study you, for a short time. "You are powerful. Your magic is primal, springing from life... I do not know for certain, but the nature of my power may be too akin to this... force, or being, for me to destroy it. It makes sense to diversify. And," here I offer you a hungry grin, "should I find my reserves in need of replenishment, few have ever offered me so deep a well from which to drink and survived, let alone remained strong enough to fight." All of this is true, but I can still feel the pull of the vow into which in entered. Very well.

15:30 Vaak-Uhm: "And... there is no one else to ask. I have lived a singularly solitary existence. I have no kin, no lovers, no companions. You are the closest thing I have in the worlds to a friend, barbarian." I pause, looking again at the stars. Without looking back to you, I ask, "did you ever make use of the gift I gave you? Is your kind reborn into the world, enduring beyond your mortal span of years?"

17:33 Bronan_the_Barbarian: We stare at the heavens now, the sky black and revealing the myriad of stars above. I listen to your answer and feel the truth of your words. Of these things, I would not expect you to hold back anyway - after all, you had plucked me from my existence once before without so much as a word beforehand; I know better than to expect you to abide by such concepts as "consent." You are much too proud to deny your hungers...nor your abilities to take that which you hunger for. I smile at your assuredness, still as erotic to me now as it was all those ages ago. And then you ask about the gift you bestowed so long ago.

17:33 Bronan_the_Barbarian: "I did not make use of the gift you gave, not in the fullest sense. I sired children...and my lineage persists..." I say as I stare at the heavens and think of one in particular, seeing his star high above us. "But...." I pause as I look to the stars. "Sometimes, forests die. It is the way of the world. But where I could not resow the seeds of my bestial lineage, I turned instead to a different opportunity. Survivors are nothing if not ingenuitive," I say with a smile, knowing you have long known this same lesson.

17:33 Bronan_the_Barbarian: "I don't think it was by chance that we met so many ages ago. Even as a mortal, I never thought that." I pause for another moment, then continue, "I sought you for many years after, you know. Even in your consuming nature, there was something that beckoned me. I have no word for what you are to me, nor do I need one. A rock need not know why it falls to the earth - it does what is in its nature. I am ready when you are," I say as I take in the last view of these stars that I may ever have...and I send a blessing to one of those stars in the sky. Hopefully I will be able to meet that one again someday, too....

17:45 Vaak-Uhm: Curious. The barbarian sounds almost... fond. Perhaps I did not imagine our connection, perhaps there was more to this than having no options.

17:45 Vaak-Uhm: "Then let us be about it. If you require an Anchor to this realm, I suggest you cast it now. Will you require a vessel for your essence, should we return to a material realm?"

17:59 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I look at you curiously as you ask me your question. "Your magics truly are...unnatural...aren't they?" I say as I puzzle you for a moment. "No, I will not need a vessel for my essence… as long as we are going to the material realm. Should we go to one of your eldritch realms, then yes. I'm sure you can create a vessel for me in such realms if needed. As for an Anchor....there is no need for that. I am always Anchored here." I say that and I puzzle in a new direction for a moment - the loneliness and disconnectedness I feel from you is striking. Twice I've sensed it now - once as a man, and now again, but now I can do more than sense it: I feel it pulling at my very being through our pact.

17:59 Bronan_the_Barbarian: "Take us where we need to go," I say as I stare up at the heavens again and place my left hand on your shoulder. It's time for the next adventure.

07:47 Vaak-Uhm: "Very well. Our first stop, then... as I had said, I had singled out a servant for myself. A virile young man named Jacob. Something about him attracted me, and during my meal, I infused him with magic with which to fight me… he would have offered no challenge, otherwise. However, he adapted quickly to the gift and was powerfully willful. I decided to cultivate him, perhaps as a disciple, and marked him magically. Later, I tricked him into a test, a confrontation with a giant warrior...." I feel my cock throb in my trousers, and mutter "...whom one day, I shall drink deeply of..." and then my focus returns, "and he performed admirably, instinctively leveraging his magic to survive. That cemented it; Jacob would become my protégé. I became occupied for a time with other matters, but when I was ready to proceed and reached out to find Jacob, he was.... gone. Erased."

07:47 Vaak-Uhm: I step into you, wrapping your powerfully muscled body in my arms. "I do not know what we will find. Brace yourself." I gather energies, flex my will... "RELOCUS!!"

07:47 Vaak-Uhm: Reality SHIFTS, tears around us as my will grips and rends the seams of the universe, pulling its fabric apart, plunging us through and slamming it closed behind us. It is always taxing; bringing us both is a strain.

18:07 Vaak-Uhm: The portal collapses around us, and we are... somewhere else.

18:07 Vaak-Uhm: Magic lurks here, as it lurks everywhere, but it is hidden... this is not a world which knows the ways of sorcery. Yet still… it is full of Wonders. Lights burn without fire overhead, and there is no sense of magical energies in them. They buzz, irritatingly. From small boxes on one wall comes a rhythmic, thumping noise which after a moment I realize is meant to be music. It, too, is irritating. I realize, this is one of the realms of of the world where humans have mastered, not magics and the deeper orders of the universe, but rather the simple energies which exist at the surface of things, matter and electromagnetism, the energies which buzz at the surface of atoms.

18:07 Vaak-Uhm: Still, the room has its merits... it reeks of sweat, testosterone, the musk of manhood. Strong looking men, most of them shirtless, train and drill in what appear to be combat arts. Large leather bags hang along one wall. Across the room, a pair of men move through a striking drill, one of them holding leather pads for the other to strike. Dominating the center of the room, is an elevated platform, surrounded by ropes. In it, two men physically contest with one another.

18:07 Vaak-Uhm: And, underneath it all, I can sense it… can practically taste it, like a taint upon the world. The alien thing. The discordant note of the Enemy.

18:07 Vaak-Uhm: A man in his middle years, wearing loose clothing and looking quite fit, approaches us from across the room. Suddenly, it occurs to me... we may stand out. Especially you, with your hulking stature, to say nothing of your antlers and pale goatee, and I glance in your direction.

14:11 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I feel your portal close and we're in a new place - a suffocating place. There's a tightness in my chest and the entire surrounding seems...depressed...swallowed, even.... And yet...I know this world. My heart leaps with joy even with the tightness gripping my core. "He's here..." I say low under my breath.

14:11 Bronan_the_Barbarian: Your eyes turn to me as I look around at this world, and you know that I am pondering something. I finally notice your gaze and my eyes refocus and I nod. "Sorry, I...felt something. Someone. Nothing we need to worry about, though." I notice the man approaching us then, and I turn my eyes to him. I sniff the air deep and finally the scent of manhood hits me. The absence of the spirits and the presence of a connection had been enough to idle my perception of it at first, but now.... I growl and smile at the scent and the sights around me. "Maybe there's more merits to your world than I knew of, Mat...." I say lowly with a horny grin.

14:11 Bronan_the_Barbarian: "Can I help you guys?" the man finally asks us. I cross my arms over my chest and stand there proud as I let you be our representative. I am guessing you have more knowledge of other worlds than I. But I can't help but feel my balls tingle as I hear the grunts, smell the musk, and see the sweaty muscle fighting.... I can only hope we get to explore some of these rituals before we leave....

15:48 Vaak-Uhm: I turn my attention back to the man as he speaks. "Yes. We are... friends… of Jacob. We seek to learn of his fate."

15:48 Vaak-Uhm: I watch the man study us, looking increasingly dubious. Then I realize, and feel foolish... how out of place we must seem. So many men here are shirtless, fit, barefoot... but it is more than simply your antlers, though I watch him start as he notices them... we are decidedly alien. Likely even the phrasing of my question evoked caution. Damnation.

15:48 Vaak-Uhm: "Obeisi!" I whisper harshly, flexing my will. There is a flicker of shadow and then his face goes slack. He stands placidly.

15:48 Vaak-Uhm: "Take us to your private sanctum." A vaguely confused look passes... his body twitches, as though he wishes to obey the command but did not understand. Finally he asks quietly, "the office?"

15:49 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I watch as you grow tense with this boy and as you flex your will through restraint. I can feel so much of your irritation through our pact bond right now. As much as this world is suffocating to me, I have to wonder what it is that seems to be riling you up so much - not that I certainly don't understand why you wouldn't be...amused with this world.

15:50 Vaak-Uhm: "Yes," I say, keeping a tight grip on my irritation. "The office." He begins to move but it is too late to go unnoticed. Many of the young men turn to watch us be led away. Many look at us appraisingly, especially at you. A few wolf whistle, and one calls "You're a big fucker, would love to spar you, bro!"

15:49 Bronan_the_Barbarian: We make our way to the office and I hear the competition rise around us, the men's eyes on me. But something else starts to stir in the air - the scent of bridled sexuality. It stinks of restraint...because of....shame?....

15:49 Bronan_the_Barbarian: "You're a big fucker, would love to spar you, bro!" I hear. I see you two go in the office and I nod to you. "I'll be just a moment," I say as I turn back to the men, all of them looking, and I smirk. I probably shouldn't expunge energy for this, but...maybe it will reap a powerful bounty....

15:48 Vaak-Uhm: Finally, mercifully, we step into a small room and the man closes the door. He stands placidly.

15:49 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I face the men squarely for a moment and I push my power low down my spine...lower...lower...concentrating it in my cock and balls. I feel my manhood swell and grow from the focus, and then I let out a primal prayer to one of the oldest spirits of all creation: the Spirits of Fertility. My prayer is a simple growl - low, deep, rumbling - the kind you make in your lovers' ear as you enter them from behind.

15:49 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I feel the power swell and go outward into the room, growing first from my balls, through my cock, and then bathing the room in an invisible spray of unbridled lust. Of course, the men are just looking wide-eyed, confused, unknowing of why my 9 inch dick is suddenly pointed at them, poking out from under animal skins around my waist. I smile at the confusion, growl low again and aim my cock at each of them.

15:48 Vaak-Uhm: "You will tell us of the fate of Jacob." Suddenly, I sense a primal rush of magic, and my hunger stirs... what in the lower hells have you done, barbarian?

15:48 Vaak-Uhm: He stands quietly a moment. "Jacob who?"

15:49 Bronan_the_Barbarian: "Bridle yourselves no longer, brothers. Be what you are with no reserve.... Let the chains of restraint shatter against the might of your manhood...." I say with a wide grin as I turn back to the door and come into the office now, my hard dick still pointed out. It's surprising to see the boy who led us here not respond at all, but your response on the other hand.....

20:25 Vaak-Uhm: As you enter, I look at you, my face a clear question, but we have other priorities. I turn to the man. "Jacob... tall, young, fit. More muscular than myself, less so than my friend here." I pause, considering how little time the men here spend wearing shirts. "He... recently?... acquired a small tattoo at the base of his neck. Four tentacles in a circular pattern."

20:25 Vaak-Uhm: The man remains placid, but seems relieved he can serve. "Oh, you mean TMJ."

20:25 Vaak-Uhm: "I beg your pardon?" I ask.

20:25 Vaak-Uhm: "TMJ. Yeah, Jake... we called him TMJ. 'Taboo Muscle Jobber.' Don't know, weird cage name to have, but it was written on his gym bag, so..." he pauses, his ensorcelled mind reprocessing the command I gave him. "Um, his fate?"

20:25 Vaak-Uhm: "Yes, you simpleton, his fate! Where has he gone what has become of him!"

20:25 Vaak-Uhm: "Um... home, I guess? Work? He doesn't come in on Tuesdays usually, but, I think he'll be here tonight." Having done his best to answer the query, he returns to standing placidly, expressionless.

20:25 Vaak-Uhm: "Strange..." I turn to you. "Your thoughts? Also, what did you cast out there?"

21:28 Bronan_the_Barbarian: You turn to me and ask me for my thoughts...and what I cast out there. I ponder your first question while I smile at the second. "It seems odd that you sensed him as missing and yet he seems to still be among those here. Could it be he has found a way to evade your detection? But I suppose that wouldn't explain why out others have vanished from your view...." I ponder for a moment and consider everything you've said. "Perhaps the easiest thing to do would be to find him and ask him directly. I can track him with a scent." I turn to your thrall and ask, "does he have anything here?"

21:28 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I notice you nod to the man, an acquiescence from you for him to answer… of course, since it's your magic he's under. "His locker...maybe. I'll look it up for you." With that, he turns his back to us to do what I can only assume is find the information we need. This world is so confusing to me, though - fascinating, but confusing.

21:28 Bronan_the_Barbarian: "As for what I did out there...." I flash a crooked grin at you and then turn around and open the door. It's a vastly different sight now as the men have tattered clothes hanging from their waists or are naked. What's more, all the men are in the ring and are half wrestling and half fucking. I can feel your hunger well up and I chuckle. "Hold, Vaak. Let my crop continue to grow...and there may be a plentiful harvest for us both.... It's amazing the power of pent up desires these mortals can house.... Mmgggrrrrr......" I growl again as I close the door and adjust myself under my fur-skin loin cloth.

23:19 Vaak-Uhm: I laugh, and am surprised to find a genuine feeling of amusement in the sound. "A fine harvest indeed." The man clears his throat, and I turn. "Locker A41, this way." He leads us out of the office down a short passage, into a room filled with lockers. The air is humid and warm, here... there is the sound of rushing water, perhaps a small waterfall? And several young men walk about wearing only sheets of cloth, a few fully naked, many dripping with water. They reek of sweat and testosterone is absent, here. Ah... a bathing house.

23:19 Vaak-Uhm: The man brings us to the locker in question, and opens it. He returns to placid stillness. The bag marked "Taboo Muscle Jobber" is present.

01:09 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I reach in and pull out the bag. I hold it up to my face and begin sniffing it. I can smell a potency; virile; strong; cunning. I reach behind me and pull out my knife that you returned to me. In an instant the side of the bag is sliced open and I again sheathe my weapon. I pull out items and sniff them one by one, searching for a potent one. I finally pull out a black object with a large band and two smaller ones plus a pouch shaped bit of fabric. I sniff it and growl.

01:09 Bronan_the_Barbarian: "I can find him with this. Are you sure this is the one?" I ask you for confirmation. It's then that I notice the other men are staring at us with jaws hanging. Something about the way they stare is flattering but also irritating. They've cast aside their connection with the primal to be....this. Souls like my descendant's must be few in this world: those with a fighting heart but who can also appreciate the wilds.

07:34 Vaak-Uhm: I flex my will, no word of focus needed this time, and my senses become nearly as keen as your own. I breathe deeply of the fabric. "Yes." I frown. "Something is wrong, though. It is... tainted. The stink of the Enemy."

11:54 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I nod and start to set out on the trail...but then I remember. "Oh...first, maybe we should reap our harvest...." I smile wider, more feral than normal as I start out to the room we first started in. I growl as we go, the smell of the deep rut they're now in thrilling me more with each step. I look back over my shoulder to you. "I hope you can feed quickly...." I say with a coy grin.

11:54 Bronan_the_Barbarian: We walk in and the men are definitely more into their games of wrestling, fighting, and fucking. There are four who have two tops mercilessly fucking the bottoms while the bottoms try to gutpunch each other. The tops growling sweet nothings in the bottom's ears whenever they take a hard blow and CLENCH their holes TIGHT on the tops' throbbing cocks. Another pair is 69ing while keeping each other locked in a mutual bearhug. They have since rolled out of the ring and are rolling around on the floor now, though. Another man is pummeling another against the wall with a series of jui jitsu blows - the Uke is pinned against the wall with a raging boner while the Tori sets up the fall with a hard throw to the ground. It isn't long till they're together on the ground with their tongues wrestling deep in each other's throats.

11:54 Bronan_the_Barbarian: Such warrior orgies were common in my mortal days, and I do relish in the sight of one again. But in truth, it's the spiritual energy of the fertility spirits that are gathering that I find more intoxicating these days. I watch the sight, stroke my cock and edge as I feel the spiritual energy rise and be much less suffocating than it was before. This is all that I needed from this harvest, and I know we have tasks at hand that require attention. But I look over to you and wonder if you'll be as...restrained...as I am.

11:54 Bronan_the_Barbarian: "So how quickly can you feed?" I ask with my toothy, feral grin as I look back at the warrior orgy going on before us.

13:33 Vaak-Uhm: I could feel it, unfolding, but so focused was I on the matter at hand I had not apprehended the scope of what you had done, until now. I stare at the dynamic tableau, feeling through the bond of our vow and my earned familiarity with your magics the ways this spiritual milleu feeds you, replenishes you. It is decidedly kinder than my own methods. For the room is also filled with aggression, domination, MALEness, LIFE, it surges and my hunger, my constant hunger, surges with it. After so many portals in so short a time.... though I'd begun this quest freshly sated, I could indeed use a meal.

13:33 Vaak-Uhm: And yet... always, always my feeding had been... personal. Direct. Connected in the struggle with my prey. Flesh to flesh, will to will. Never had I ever fed as a... bystander. I paused, considering. But this room was RICH, and I would have it.

13:33 Vaak-Uhm: "I presume you would prefer them to survive?" I growl, and needed not your answer, I knew the truth through the vow bond.

13:33 Vaak-Uhm: I stride into the room, approaching first the quartet engaged in rut and contest. While the room REEKS of manhood and struggle, the tangle of flows can each be traced back to one warrior, and with them I must connect. This group will be the best place to begin, the greatest concentration. This meal will be far less drawn out, but no less filling.

13:33 Vaak-Uhm: My approach unnoticed. I place my hands upon the broad, muscular back of one of the tops, and pull the conduit open, feeling the flow from him and the warrior to whom he is connected by his manhood. It is enough.

13:33 Vaak-Uhm: My form SHIFTS, bulking, spreading, dividing into a writhing mass of thick, black, muscular tentacles, and I begin to FEED.

13:33 Vaak-Uhm: Dozens reach out for the quartet, wrapping their limbs, suckling at their nipples and lats and thighs, drinking the essence of their thick muscles, restraining them. I measure my force, allowing them to flex and struggle, to fight, for the fight is sweet, the RAGE is sweet. More tendrils wrap their bull balls, mouthed tentacles engulfing their manhoods, sucking greedily.

13:33 Vaak-Uhm: I had wondered, if not expected, that my meal would be cut short at this point, their fightlust and domination and aggression wilting in the face of a magical, fantastical sight their limited perception of the world could not comprehend, souring the banquet with an overabundance of fear. But your magics and the orgy emboldened them, or this world grew men more formidable than appearances suggested, for when the four began to bellow in rage and surprise and began to fight back, rather than fleeing their fellows, naked and engorged as they were, the other warriors in the room rushed to attack the indescribable horror assaulting their brothers.

13:33 Vaak-Uhm: They dove upon me, gripping, pulling, wrestling, flexing, seeking to impose their will upon me and it was GLORIOUS. The conduit was wide, wider than ever I'd known it, flesh upon flesh upon flesh. I DRANK DEEPLY.

13:33 Vaak-Uhm: My body divided further, thick tendrils plunging their mouths as they continued to fight... even as they fought me their rut would not be defied, they FUCKED into the tentacles sucking their cocks as an act of defiance, and smaller tendrils came from inside those suckling mouths and PLUNGED the depths of their throbbing manhhoods, drinking from the root of them!

13:33 Vaak-Uhm: Thick, cock-like tentacles pressed at their muscled assess, forcing, entering, fucking, plunging deep!

13:33 Vaak-Uhm: The tendrils clamping their full and pulsing balls slithered, punctured, entering their manly orbs, hairy and smooth alike, SUCKING, DRINKING, SO MUCH FLESH!

13:33 Vaak-Uhm: Our symphony of aggression and dominance and defiance reached a howling crescendo as they all bellowed in base animal lust and eight orgasms hammered into the conduit, their energy pulsing into it like a tidal wave, flooding just ahead of the seemingly endless torrent of seed which came thumping into my flesh in wave after wave of cum! AND I DRANK IT ALL!! The life and maleness pounded into me, for a moment I felt nearly overwhelmed, their combined manhood and masculinity nearly defeating and dominating me, after a fashion, but I STRETCHED the conduit to its LIMITS and DRANK!! GODS BELOW, THE POWER!!!

13:33 Vaak-Uhm: Dropping the men to the mat, my form RUSHED in upon itself and SNAPPED back to my familiar human shape. They are worn, spent, but unharmed… and will awake feeling only the exhaustion and soreness of an exceptional training session. With so many to drink from, resonating from one another, the feast was magnificent without needing to take any of them near to death.

13:33 Vaak-Uhm: "ENSOMNUS!" I shouted, the spell of sleep cast upon so many would normally be quite taxing, but at the moment was as nothing. All eight men dropped. My voice again filled the air. "MEMORALTUS! Your fightlust reached its climax with one another! You treasured the time with your brothers, and shall joyously worship one another again! The fearful recollections of a monstrous foe are as nothing, simple nightmares!" Far too potent an experience to suppress completely, without having ensorcelled their minds first. I release my grip on their memories, and turn to the one who's mind I earlier bent to our needs. He has stood passively this entire time. "You will recall nothing of our visit here." I release my grip on his mind, and he collapses to the mat, unconscious.

13:33 Vaak-Uhm: I turn to you. "Lead on."

19:56 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I watch you take the orgy of men in all your dark glory. Never in all my days have I been so sexually attracted to one like yourself - your dark grace seems to be the most potent aphrodisiac for this barbarian. I watch, my jaw dropping, as I stroke and edge my cock, relishing in the heightening of the fertility spirits at your magic. I ggrroooaannn as my balls seem to fill even more full as my body responds to the heightened energy. My hand slows to a creep as I edge my cock, feeling so full I could bust my load....

19:56 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I fear not for the men as you drop them, drained of their energy but still alive and well enough, feeling your appetites grow sated much sooner than I anticipated. The bond with you through the pact allows me to feel your hunger - and your satedness - for the first time. I growl deeply at feeling this from you and have to reach down and twist my balls to keep from dropping a load then and there. No.... Not yet.... No, this will be savored.... Later....

19:56 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I watch as you work your magic, but I don't even hear your words or know what you're doing to the men. I just watch in primal lust - pure, sexual awe. Then you turn to the man beside me - again, I don't hear the words you say, I just stare in primal lust. Then your eyes on me.

19:56 Bronan_the_Barbarian: "Lead on," you say.

19:56 Bronan_the_Barbarian: There's a feral look in my eyes that you've seen before - the time you fed upon me. As deep in rut as I am, I nod and turn to the spirits in the room. With a DEEP INHALE, I pull the last vestiges of the sexual spiritual energy into my lungs. I hold it there and feel it SURGE through my body. I groan as my balls feel even more full and sagging...but there are other things to do now.... I let out that deep breath and pull out the black strapped object we retrieved from the gym bag earlier. I sniff it deep to get the scent back in my nose, my hunter side becoming dominant again. "This way...." I say as I head to a door.

19:56 Bronan_the_Barbarian: Outside, I can feel the spiritual vacuum settling back in again. It won't matter as much now that I have also recharged, but I know we should make haste in this world that isn't the most hospitable for either of us. I take one more sniff of the black fabric and then throw it to the ground as I start growling again. As you come out the door into a back alley, you can see my body changing, shifting. Black fur starts growing on my back and my feet start growing and arching up. I lean forward and go down on all fours as my body shifts more quickly to that of a large black wolf. I turn my gaze back to you and motion with my snout for you to hop onto my back. Through the pact bond, you can feel my hunger for our hunt growing....

22:30 Vaak-Uhm: I find myself caught between amusement and exasperation. Somehow, I do not anticipate this making us seem less out of place...

22:30 Vaak-Uhm: Still, we must be quick, and I have no better suggestions to offer for finding our answers. I climb upon your back, gripping the fur. Your body is potently muscular even in wolf form.

22:30 Vaak-Uhm: How best to hide us? I consider casting a glamour or illusion, but those are specific and we do not know enough about this place to cast something convincing. Ah, of course. A flex of my will, a complex gesture, an intention.... the casting binds itself to us, and now we radiate an aura of calm. Instead, any who see us will simply be... unalarmed.

00:49 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I feel your intentions through our pact bond and I let out a yip of laughter at your spell. Whatever may make you feel better, dark mage.... As you cast your spell and climb aboard my back, and I feel your legs gripping tight around me and your hands in my neck fur even tighter - it's time to have some fun with you this time.... and with that, I dash out of the alley and into the streets of...this village?

00:49 Bronan_the_Barbarian: We are greeted with oddities that I am unused to being around in a physically manifest form. Still, the sight of the things I see do not startle me - I have spirit walked across countless worlds now. I feel the people cast looks at us and continue on their way as if nothing is wrong with a large black wolf being ridden by an athletic, pale man in skin tight leather pants. Perhaps there is merit to your spell.... It matters not as I catch a strong whiff of the scent. With that, I run fast and dash between the heavy metal horseless carts that are so common here.

00:49 Bronan_the_Barbarian: The air is heavy, thick, and humid. Even as night has settled, there's a heat that surrounds us that reminds me of high summer. Feeling the wind rushing through my fur and over my snout only hastens my pace as I feel you hunker down and hold on tighter, carrying us across the night in this unusual place. We pass by so many people and my keen hearing picks up on children delighting at the sight of the "magical doggie and the pale warrior." I smile at the innocence of this world - and at how absolutely backwards the children have mine and your roles in this adventure we find ourselves on.

00:49 Bronan_the_Barbarian: Minutes more pass and suddenly I pulse a feeling through to you via our pact bond. Though it's wordless, you know that we're near. I can even sense that you, too, feel it. It seems as though I'm running to a wall of greenery when I suddenly JUMP into the air, having us sailing over the wall of foliage to see a large sandy beach before us and the expanse of an ocean. Across the beach at about 50 yards is a group of people near a circle of torches. Inside the torches are a man and woman sparring. It seems there's about 15 people or so in this group. One in particular stands out to you - it's Taboo Muscle Jobber. I can smell him even stronger now, including the disgusting taint of something foul. I growl and snarl, and then begin to shake my head. The stench of it is too strong in this form, and I begin shifting back with you still on my back.

11:34 Vaak-Uhm: The aura works; while we are noticed and commented upon, there is no outcry, no terror, no hate... only curiosity, idle interest, and occasionally delight.

11:34 Vaak-Uhm: And speaking of delight... the feel of your powerful form flexing under me as we lope through this strange place of hurry and machinery, bright lights and the pervasive feeling of a strange, disconnected stress, as though all around us were running from something but at the same time complacent with where they were and alone, so alone... the feel of your powerful form flexing under me touched within me that which is normally my hunger, endless hunger but in this moment I am so sated by my recent meal, I feel something else.

11:34 Vaak-Uhm: Delight. Pleasure, devoid of ravenousness.

11:34 Vaak-Uhm: I wonder how long that will last.

11:34 Vaak-Uhm: I feel the signal you send through the magical vow of truth, and my attention turns there... even after all my time to study and understand the Tooth of the Great Bear, your magic is strange. I would not have expected the ability to communicate via a simple magical vow. Your magic is so... raw. Primal. Based upon instinct, imprecise, messy, not entirely in your control... I would have described it as limited, but it does seem to offer a certain versatility.

11:34 Vaak-Uhm: While the Force from which I draw my eldritch power and my own hunger which is the price of that power are, after their way, quite primal, quite raw, my magic itself is very... scholarly. Precise. Controlled. Hard won through study, each spell is a scalpel which does exactly as I demand and not a whit else.

11:34 Vaak-Uhm: I have no more time to ponder as you leap the hedge, my legs flexing to hold upon your back, and I turn my attention back to our quarry... yes, I can feel it. That... absence. The wound in the world where Jacob, where Taboo Muscle Jobber should be, that alienness. But here, so close, I can feel that it's not merely that wound... the absence, the Enemy reaches INTO the world, from Outside, to touch the place where I expect not to find Jacob.

11:34 Vaak-Uhm: But there he is.

11:34 Vaak-Uhm: Shirtless, barefoot, wearing only loose shorts... as all the other men in the circle wear, the handful of women wearing skin tight garments which cover their pelvis and breasts... hooting and shouting for the contest within the circle of torches. He is as I remember him; young, dirty blond, 6' tall and just over 200lbs, well muscled but nothing like your own swollen bulk... young and virile and strong. The Enemy feels strong here. I briefly invoke a simple spell, a sharpening of my sight and yes... my mark is still there. Physically. But I cannot find it with my eldritch senses.

11:34 Vaak-Uhm: I feel your revulsion, feel your form shift beneath me. I cannot drop fast enough, and find myself clinging to your broad back. I drop to the sand.

11:34 Vaak-Uhm: "Well... let us be about this mystery, then," I say, and stride forward. What else is there to say? We know nothing, and only making contact will alter that.

11:34 Vaak-Uhm: As we approach, I finally FEEL it. The mark. I see it also with my eyes, it glows, and the Enemy reaches out through it. Sees us. Sees me. Knows me.

11:34 Vaak-Uhm: Taboo Muscle Jobber, for I somehow know now that this name, this moniker written on his bag is the truth of him, turns sharply and snarls. As he moves towards us, his blue eyes turn whitelessly black. His companions seem not to notice as he sprints in our direction.

11:34 Vaak-Uhm: "Ready yourself!" is all I have time to call, before he is near upon us and I flex my will... and the spell which should have lifted him from the ground passes through him, as though… at the smallest scales, scales where the atoms of base matter are cavernous voids traced by fragile energy, the Enemy could not be touched by my magic. It FLOWED around the absence, like water passing a boulder in a river. A heartbeat later I felt the reality that this effect did not extend to the physical, as Taboo reached me, grappling me, and with a surge of strength unreal for the size and muscle he carried, lifted me bodily and threw me across the sand. I crashed back to the earth with a dull thump, rolling along, winded, my form bruised.

11:34 Vaak-Uhm: "Bronan, 'ware his strength!" I called, as he charged across the sands, crashing into you bodily and sweeping you up into a bearhug!

20:32 Bronan_the_Barbarian: My head was still shaking as you charged into battle with our foe. While I was more intent on getting that disgusting scent out of my nostrils, you were laying the foundations for our first attacks. As I finally managed to get that wretched scent mostly out of my nose, I focused my attention back on the battle only to see you being flung backwards and rolling in the sand in a bruised heap. My eyes widened at the sight, but your warning called out to me helped snap my attention back at the attacker coming up on me fast.

20:32 Bronan_the_Barbarian: As he drew closer, the stench again filled my nose, but my nose was not so sensitive now in this form. My thick arms raised up high, fists locked together above me as he was on me, colliding and wrapping his arms around me. I timed the blow to bring down the full BRUNT of my strength and weight upon this much smaller foe, and just as my arms started their descent, his arms began their squeeze. I have felt the bearhug of many a man and beast in my days, but this one....this one was different. It suddenly felt as though my body was being wrapped in nothingness....in despair made physical. There was a power there in that nothingness, a power that threatened to consume all it touched, and I found myself wrapped in that power.

20:32 Bronan_the_Barbarian: My arms swung down as the bearhug intensified, and I suddenly felt my body being moved, SQUEEZED, made to conform to the strength of this thing that wrapped its arms around me. My arms swung down to their mark, but with half the strength I originally put into the blow.

20:32 Bronan_the_Barbarian: "GAAW.... NNUUGGHhhhh...." I managed to grunt out as my hands went to the lean frame and PUSHED UP. To touch him felt like I was touching a burning nothingness - his form felt empty and consuming of even my touch. Even though I towered over this smaller framed boy, I felt my body being pushed hard and quickly. My offense quickly melted away to defense as I gripped at the boy and tried to find a weakness in the hold. His smooth face ground against my pecs as he held tight and SQUEEZED further. I could feel my back starting to curve then and my eyes widened.

20:32 Bronan_the_Barbarian: A feralness began taking over then as I reached high above with both fists and brought them down HARD on the boy's shoulders, causing a deep THUDDING sound to rupture the air around us and causing the boy to break his hold. My feet again dug into the sand to support my full weight as I looked down at the boy with my wild feral eyes. In that feral rage I wrapped my hands around his throat and SPUN ROUND HARD and FAST, flinging him away from where we had stood much like he had done to you just moments ago.

20:32 Bronan_the_Barbarian: As he thumped into the sand, I stared at him only for a moment before letting out a RROOAARRRR that sounded like a peel of lightning crashing. I lowered my head then and charged like a feral stag defending his domain. We shall see how this thing stands to weapons of nature and the spirits!!

21:36 Vaak-Uhm: As I clambered to my feet, Taboo Muscle Jobber reached you, and I saw on your face and felt through the vow bond your shock at the strength of his attack, your revulsion... of course, being a creature of spirit, you could surely feel the Enemy's strangeness, as well.

21:36 Vaak-Uhm: My mind raced as I saw the foul thing which had once been a promising servant and virile young fighter crushing upon you, obscenely strong... I could magically enhance my own strength, but would such magic be neutralized by its very touch? The way my magic had flowed about it, not merely as though there were a barrier... like all things in the universe, at the smallest scales magic existed not as an unbroken flow, but existed and moved as tiny fragments, gnarled fractals of hidden energies, and my magic and that of the Enemy.... could not intersect. I had no better language for it.

21:36 Vaak-Uhm: I am brought from my reverie as you rally and fling him across the sand, and charge! He snarls, lifts his arms... and I feel my mark, MY MARK, flare with power as this... this THING casts a bolt of darkness at you, MASQUERADING its vile absence as my own magic! I WILL NOT HAVE IT!!

21:36 Vaak-Uhm: "LOFTIS!" I cried, flexing my will savagely! A huge wave of sand lifted ahead of you... the bolt of dark energy tore into it, blasting the wave apart... but, it was a physical interaction. So, I could indeed fight this thing by physical means... but I could not touch it directly with my power. So be it.

21:36 Vaak-Uhm: The sand deflected by the bolt was cast widely, showering us both, but the rest crashed at Taboo, knocking him off balance just as you reached him.

00:21 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I had been charging at the boy when that dark bolt had been flung at me. I felt the power of it, the stench of those void powers rising up in the air, causing a knot to twist in my stomach. But your powers rose up to shield me. I put my faith in your magics and continued with my charge. Sand began showering on me as my arms raised up and my eyes closed tight, but the stench of the magic hung heavier and the knot in my stomach twisted further.

00:21 Bronan_the_Barbarian: And then, the sand dissipated and there he was, staggered by your attack and left open for an attack. I lowered my head like a stag and then at the last moment TWISTED UP. I felt my antlers tear into the boy as he was flung up, my neck FLEXED and TWISTED to heave him up and over my head. He landed again with a deep thud and I wasted no time to be upon him. I stood over him and expected to see blood, or some equivalent of it, but instead of blood...there was nothing.

00:21 Bronan_the_Barbarian: Three puncture holes showed on his torso....and there was....nothing....behind them. This...thing...was truly hollow. Its nothingness seemed to suck at me harder with those puncture wounds, like the holes themselves might suck me in and swallow me whole. But I had made a mistake - I had hesitated when I saw the thing's wounds, and that hesitation gave the foe time enough to fling sand up in my eyes.

00:21 Bronan_the_Barbarian: "GGRAAWWRRGHHHH!!!!" I roared to the heavens as I spun away with my arms at my eyes. I had fought dirty combatants many times before, but none with the strength of this one. Even if blind, I knew better than to leave my back to him. With that I spun back around but backed away slowly with my hands outstretched.

00:21 Bronan_the_Barbarian: "VAAK!! WHERE IS HE?!" I called out as my hands felt back and forth in the air.

05:09 Vaak-Uhm: I hear your cry, thoughts rushing furiously... I have magic sights that do not require light, nor even eyes, to see... but you know nothing of them and simply casting them upon you would do nothing but offer you confusing perceptions with no context.

05:09 Vaak-Uhm: I see Taboo getting up so I take a risk and flex my will, "loftis!" and pull you away from him bodily, "I have you!" I call as your feet touch the sand near me. Taboo is already charging at us, and I rush past you to meet him. I flex my will and cast enmightis, the spell of strength, no word needed as my own form is the focus. Dark energy wreaths me and sinks into my body. Let us see how you fair now foul thing! My cock throbs hard in my trousers, I cannot help it... the air is saturated with aggression and conflict, though none of it belongs to the creature... it is all you and I and the thing's human companions.

05:09 Vaak-Uhm: His companions have noticed us, now, and seem confused... some seem ready to engage us, others seem overcome with fear.

05:09 Vaak-Uhm: And then Taboo Muscle Jobber and I are upon each other! I am relieved when I grip the thing and retain my enhanced strength, but the foul being is powerfully strong... closing my grip around its body, trapping its arms, I crush down, seeking to control it... it begins to flex, muscling out... I give a wordless howl of effort but I cannot hold it... it's muscling out, overpowering me!

07:17 Bronan_the_Barbarian: You have saved me again as I float through the air and begin wiping away the sand again. Wet clumps are forming now as my eyes constantly weep to flush out the grainy attackers. I am making progress when I hear two bodies SLAM together. You've rushed out to meet him I bet. I must hurry and do something.

07:17 Bronan_the_Barbarian: And then I can feel the strain of your body....even your mind....trying to contain this thing. I feel your arms wrapped around it, holding it, clamping down on it's strength that seeks to overwhelm us both - to devour into nothingness who we are. I can feel that emotion from you that some would call desperation; others might name it fury; so many words for the same thing felt. But then I realize an opportunity has possibly presented itself.

07:17 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I drop to my knees facing you and the boy, and I reach deep inside myself, searching for the root of that thread that runs from each of us to one another. As I find it, I reach out to you through that thread and give you another feeling. You know I'm urging you to fight on, to continue. And then it's like my voice is in your head as you hear me say "let my strength be yours, from me to you, let it flow.... let my strength be yours, from me to you, let it flow...."

07:17 Bronan_the_Barbarian: And I spiritually PUSH and REACH to you with all I have, willing my strength to travel down that thread that connects us and to empower you with my might. And not just a portion of it - I'm sending you the whole of my might. I have never attempted anything like this, but you are also the first being who might be able to channel my might. There are so many dangers in this, so many hungers I can feel from you gnawing at my soul now as I push the essence of my strength along that thread...but this is the only path forward I can see for us.... "let my strength be yours, from me to you, let it flow...."

07:17 Bronan_the_Barbarian: Soon, you hear a litany of my voice, multiple copies of it seeming to echo that same statement, layering it as though the statement itself were magic. "Strength, me, you, flow, strength, me, you, flow...." But will the magic weave itself true to be reality?...

12:32 Vaak-Uhm: Straining to contain this foul thing, the enhanced strength of my form not equal to the task... and then I feel you. Your magic. DAMNATION! There is no time, no time to call out to remind you of the dangers your very essence poses to me... I do not know what the outcome will be, should you try to so directly touch my essence with your power... I ready myself, for the flaring incompatibility, the clash of natures... perhaps I can feed upon your effort and use the power thusly, though nothing in my own knowledge will make enmightis a more potent spell.

12:32 Vaak-Uhm: But, astonishingly... I feel strength flow in. For a moment, somehow, against all expectation, your spell works upon my antithetical nature precisely as intended. I nearly lose my grip in surprise. For a moment.

12:32 Vaak-Uhm: The mark FLARES upon Taboo... not visibly, but I can feel it. Somehow, in some way, some combination of the corrupted mark, the perverted masquerade of my magic fueled by its alien nothingness, and your power allows it to DIVERT the flow, taking from me what you are giving me, touching my essence though my magic could not touch it. And it grew stronger.

12:32 Vaak-Uhm: My mind races... my own strength swelled, but its strength swelled apace. I've no idea how much this act taxes you, or if you can even feel the flow being lost from me to it. I dare not simply let go, it would pummel and ravage my form before I could get away. I can think of only one course, but I know not what the sudden disconnect of this flow may do to you. But, I cannot simply let it grow stronger.

12:32 Vaak-Uhm: You're fierce and capable, I'm sure you'll muddle through.

12:32 Vaak-Uhm: "DISLOCUS!" I cry, and I vanish in a flash of Darkness.

12:32 Vaak-Uhm: Taboo howls, looks and you, and charges, stronger than before.

14:19 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I feel the spell taking root at first, and I redouble my efforts. But then....a corruption seeps in...the void starts consuming. The bond between us is two-way, and even though you had not yet mastered pushing the flow from your direction, I could feel the consuming void pushing its devouring self through that thread, bypassing you and seeking to devour me. I was ready to fight it, to block off its devouring with my own protections, but then....

14:19 Bronan_the_Barbarian: "DISLOCUS!" I hear, and the connection is broken. I am glad for that at least, as that keeps me from having to spend energy on the protections...but then I hear the howl and the charge of our foe, and your presence is much less tangible to me. That can't matter now, though.

14:19 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I am still blind as the boy charges and tackles his shoulder into my core, rocking me as I feel his now even greater strength. We are laying on the beach then with his arms locked around me as I let out a HOWL of surprise and pain as I feel the deeper vigor of the boy SQUEEZE into me. My warrior instincts take over as I snake my legs around his core and SQUEEZE BACK. My legs GRIND into his sides and back as his arms do the same to me. I reach down with my hands then place them on Taboo's head, willing myself to understand WHAT this monster is. The effort is supremely taxing as I keep up my physical defense while also mounting a spiritual offense. He struggles and tries to resist, but I begin to see, the truth coming in flashes as my hands glow in a white-green light as I will myself to connect to and understand this nothingness that threatens to snap my back....

14:19 Bronan_the_Barbarian: Inside, he is truly hollow....

14:19 Bronan_the_Barbarian: A shell...

14:19 Bronan_the_Barbarian: Empty...yet full...of something....

14:19 Bronan_the_Barbarian: Who existed before was definitely gone - this was an invader. But why? What motivates one's existence to simply cease in such an intangible way? I sensed… Shame?.... Regret?.... Self-isolation?.... The reasons were obscured to me, but that truth remains just the same. But what does this even mean for the void inside?.... What does......

14:19 Bronan_the_Barbarian: "GGAAWWRRRUUUGGGHHHHH!!!!!" I howl out into the night as my back arches more as the SQUEEZE INTENSIFIES!!!! Can't.....hold....on....to both.....attack...and defense..... Must....GAWWUUUGGHHH....redirect!!!

14:19 Bronan_the_Barbarian: And with that, I stop feeling into the void to learn more and turn to just the physical. I sneer down at the boy in my legs and pour my remaining spiritual energy into my legs and back, focusing power there. This will be especially taxing here, but I have no choice - it is life or death now. And so, I focus the energy in my legs and back, and the muscles respond in turn, growing thicker, swelling with even more power and mass. As my back swells, it pushes back against the crushing vice of the void around me. As my legs swell, they become an even deadlier menacing vice on the void. Now it will be a test of wills to see who is truly the stronger.....

13:01 Vaak-Uhm: Formless, my essence floats at the seams of this world, the space which separates realms... from without, a tiny sliver, nearly unnoticeable, untouchable... from within, a raging expanse of silent void, empty and yet violent with energy at the smallest scales. From here, I can see you but dimly, sense you but dimly... just as I could during our first encounter. But now, rather than waiting patiently to observe and measure you, I am desperate to return, to aid you as I watch your formidable, manly strength battle this unnatural thing.

13:01 Vaak-Uhm: But, ummooring oneself from physical reality is exhausting, and returning even more so... I must wait out the agonizing, eternal seconds before I can return. I can do nothing for you, and so I turn my attention to something else.

13:01 Vaak-Uhm: I can SEE it, here. The wound in the world, the space from Outside through which the Enemy reaches... the thread of... absence, I can still find no better word, it is as though the absence of vitality is itself a tangible thing... that thread reaches into this time and place and touches the place where Taboo Muscle Jobber is. Where he was, rather. For it is clear that the virile young fighter is no more, he is indeed gone as I felt him to be, and somehow, this thing is now in his place.

13:01 Vaak-Uhm: And of course... this is not the only one. What I sensed before I can now see clearly... other wounds, reaching into other times and places... touching the places where other fighters used to be.

13:01 Vaak-Uhm: For that is the thread. That is the commonality. All of them, all of these threads of life, lead to beings of strength, virility, contest, sexual and physical struggle and conquest.

13:01 Vaak-Uhm: It is as if The Enemy seeks to destroy my food supply. I have no idea if its motivations are so personal and I do not care... even if I were not myself a being at risk from its vile attack, I WOULD NOT ABIDE THIS!

13:01 Vaak-Uhm: And I see something else... finally, a possible avenue for me to attack. I cannot see into the space Outside from which it reaches in, nor where it is… not that "where" has any meaning here. But, I do know this: as I cannot touch the raw essence of this thing's magic, it cannot touch mine. I can work with this.

13:01 Vaak-Uhm: But, I cannot act from here.

13:01 Vaak-Uhm: ENCORPUS!! I cry wordlessly into the void, and with a thunderclap and implosive vortex of Darkness, my body returns to the beach.

15:38 Bronan_the_Barbarian: The dire contest of strength continues on the beach as I continue to SQUEEZE my legs onto the devourer captured there, but I still feel his SQUEEZE on my core, threatening to break me in two if I let it. I pant in exertion, my body having swollen larger, thicker with muscle to fight...but it isn't edging me closer to putting down this wretched void beast.

15:38 Bronan_the_Barbarian: "GGAWWWwww...wwwuuuugghhh......" I HOWL out as I feel my sides sink in and my ribs begin to move from the pressure. The pain pours over my body and becomes clearly animated on my face as my bearded jaw CLENCHES and my teeth GRIT. Even through the cacophony of pain in my body, I can feel you in the vast distance, so far away and yet connected just the same by that thread that runs between us.

15:38 Bronan_the_Barbarian: That...thread...that runs between us....

15:38 Bronan_the_Barbarian: My mind and spirit rally at the thought that suddenly forms in my mind. I call on the last of my reserves for two things. First, I fortify my core with strength and will my body to hold back this CRUSHING HOLD as long as I can. Second, I will my eyes to forget seeing in the physical world right now, which is easier anyway with my vision being blinded by the sand still - but what's important is to spiritually see right now.

15:38 Bronan_the_Barbarian: As I feel my core hold back the savage attack for now, I look deeper into the spiritual folds of this world. In the spiritual underpinning of any world, the web of threads that connect us all are always vast and complicated...but there are sometimes threads that stick out and are inescapable from a discerning eye. This world's web of threads is no different and I see several threads that are not of this world, but they are not infinite. I reach out to those threads, touching on each one and sensing what they are.

15:38 Bronan_the_Barbarian: Finally, I find the thread I'm looking for.... The thread connected to this foul void beast. It burns to touch this thread, and I feel something on one end react vehemently to me touching the thread. With the last of my reserves, I REACH to that thread with both hands, GRIP IT, and then PPUULLLLL..... PPPUUULLLLINGGGGGG…

15:38 Bronan_the_Barbarian: My arms and chest BULGE with the effort and my hands alight with white-green fire again. And soon, that thread is visible in the physical world, just the expanse between my hands is visible, but that's enough.

15:38 Bronan_the_Barbarian: "GGGRRRAAAWWWWRRRRRRRRUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" I howl out as I feel my ribs shifting again. My back bends, my innards shift - this void beast will devour me soon.... Me, the great hunter of the Eltrian Fields...swallowed by a beast? No.... Not by you, you are not worthy of this meal, void beast. My biceps FLEX, my chest FLARES THICKER as my arms SHAKE with effort to RIP that thread apart in my very hands..... I will show you the brutal ferocity of nature, and send you back to the void expanse, BEAST!!!

16:06 Vaak-Uhm: My body gasps for air as I come again into material existence, a few feet from you. Your struggle is dire, raw, physical, and I cannot help directly, but...

16:06 Vaak-Uhm: There is no spell, no gesture or word of power or sigil to act as a focus, for what I do next... it is an improvisation born of desperation and need and more than two thousand years of arcane study… and innovation born of studying your raw, primal, instinct-driven magic.

16:06 Vaak-Uhm: I reach out and SLAM my essence into the wound in the world, making a BARRIER of my very essence... a barrier which The Enemy cannot reach past to feed its abomination... now, whatever power existed in it before this moment… is all it has left.

16:06 Vaak-Uhm: But the pressure The Enemy offers from Outside is MIGHTY... as deeply felt as any physical contest, I STRAIN with my will to hold the line, hold the line, I will not let that barrier fall I WILL NOT YIELD! I howl with agony and effort as I'm driven to my knees but I WILL NOT YIELD!!

16:06 Vaak-Uhm: "BRONAN!" My voice is a tortured, guttural, sobbing shout. The weight of a world is almost literally upon me, the barrier FLEXES inward.. "YOU MUST... DEPLETE IT... MAKE IT.. USE ITSELF UP!" I WILL NOT YIELD!!

17:11 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I hear your words and feel your strain even more. And now, I feel the void beast's strain, too.... its weakness exposed....and that thread in my hand seems to feel more pliable...weaker....

17:11 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I pant hard and then ARCH my back so that my legs can SQUEEEZZZEEEE TIGHTER!!!! Only a few seconds go by before the void beast HOWLS in pain. Our attack is working!!! I am near spent, and I know you are, too, but one of us must have something left at the end of the battle. I know your magics will be better suited to help us away at the battle's end, so I dig deeper still and POWER my very SOUL into my legs, FLEXING on the BEAST!!!

17:11 Bronan_the_Barbarian: In another moment, the beast howls, releases its hug and arches upwards to try to relieve the pressure of my crushing legs. But as I let out a groan of relief, there is none for the void beast. Its power is being cut off, and it is drying up like a fish out of water. I grimace from the strain, but continue the assault with my legs while also PULLING at the thread still visible in my hands. There's a sound of tension in the air, like that of a bow string drawn too tightly. "GGRRAAWWWWWRRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!" I HOWL out with effort and agony, and several SNAPPING sounds fill the air.....

17:11 Bronan_the_Barbarian: The first is that thread being sundered, RIPPED and SNAPPING under the tension of my arms, pulling the thread's existence in twain. My thick forearms make a DULL THUD as they hit the sand on either side of me from the force released.

17:11 Bronan_the_Barbarian: The next SNAP is that of the creature, contorting further as its source of power is sundered. Normally, I would expect such sounds from a creature whose spine has been crushed and twisted, but I know this beast has no spine - it's almost as if the hollow form is no longer able to withstand or exist....and is SNAPPING in on itself.

17:11 Bronan_the_Barbarian: The last SNAP is that of the creature's will. It sounds pitiful as it writhes and gives way to a different kind of void existence - to a death of its consumption. It is being undone and its very nature may be snuffed from reality itself. I pant in exertion as I hear these last sounds before I fade into a dreamless state of unconsciousness. I have pushed myself to exhaustion and must leave the rest in your hands....

08:10 Vaak-Uhm: I WILL NOT YIELD, I WILL NOT!! My feelings are not as mortal's feelings... more like… remnants, like having memories of feelings from my mortal days... except hunger, always hunger. But all else is a pale shadow. But now, NOW I feel rage and determination and terror with an intensity I've not felt in two thousand years and more as I fight to hold the barrier, the barrier I've made from my very being, in place against the crushing tide building from Outside. A vast universe of... absence. A crushing, massive, thrusting, demanding absence crashing against me, pressing, howling to be let in BUT I WILL NOT YIELD. I fall to all fours and whimper. Distantly, I hear and feel your struggle.

08:10 Vaak-Uhm: And then, suddenly, the pressure SNAPS away... like a rope pulled too taut, as the abomination fizzles and dies and blinks out of existence, the questing force of the Enemy is RIPPED from the world, the wound sealing over... and in that moment, I have a fleeting vision, a glimpse of form: pale, though not as pale as I... humanoid, but rounded, shapeless, like some kind of half-formed golem... except its eyes, deep black whiteless eyes like the ones the Taboo Muscle Jobber abomination had possessed. A flash of red... hands? Gloved hands?

08:10 Vaak-Uhm: But then it is gone. The wound is fully closed, and the pressure is gone. I withdraw my essences into myself, drag myself to my feet, and stagger to you. The abomination has vanished.

08:10 Vaak-Uhm: Finding you unconscious, I flex my will, gesture precisely, and scry your body. You are deeply exhausted, but would recover given time... time we do not have. Taboo's friends approach, at a run, shouting angrily. I quickly look around... no one else is near. I grin wickedly, and SHIFT.

08:10 Vaak-Uhm: A short time later, there are 10 unconscious forms and 4 corpses lying on the sand... 4 of the men were not nearly as virile and powerful as they'd thought themselves. But I am brimming over with energy, and without shifting my form back I lift you, cradle you, entwine you, enter you... tentacles suckled to your nips, cock, lats, ass, feet, entering your mouth, smaller tendrils entering your cock, balls, nips... finally, a thick tentacle plunging your hole, and then I FEED... but it is in the giving sense. I pump all... well, most... well, enough of the energy I've just collected into you, PUSHING life, PULSING power through the conduit into you.

19:56 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I am laying in the sand, spent after that struggle, and I am completely unware when your alternate form picks me up and then begins penetrating me like you did all those many, many years ago. Even though I'm unconscious, my soul remembers this feeling.... I've stroked off to it so many times, and my manhood responds in turn, becoming almost instantly erect as your form invades mine.

19:56 Bronan_the_Barbarian: Then the energy surges, POURS into me. I can't just instantly take the energy you give me as usable, though. It's much like eating when I was a mortal - the sustenance taken in must be processed, churned in the body and made usable. Lucky for us, my spiritual metabolism is much more efficient than a human's.

19:56 Bronan_the_Barbarian: In just seconds, I groan on that thick tentacle in my mouth and move to stroke my cock, thinking at first that I am dreaming, and embracing that dream.... But suddenly, I remember the fight we were in and my body TENSES UP immediately. I start to struggle and then...I feel something....I feel you...through that pact bond. Again, those tendrils of yours wrap seductively, gently around my fingers, and I grip onto them, comforted by them...and I relax as your form withdraws.

19:56 Bronan_the_Barbarian: Soon, I'm back on the sand looking at your form withdrawing and resuming your human shape. My energy is already starting to replenish thanks to the meal you have fed me. I look around and don't see our quarry, but I do see the group of people face down in the sand. I look back to you and ask, "did we get our quarry?"

16:02 Vaak-Uhm: "Indeed. After you forced it to spend the last of its reserves fighting you, and then crushed it, unable to replenish itself because I blocked its connection to The Enemy, it... ceased. Unraveled. Dissipated." I pause.

16:02 Vaak-Uhm: "Curiously, I believe I had a vision as it expired, of its true face. Perhaps the true face of our foe." I describe it to you, as best I can. "What's more, I learned much, more than in all my days of attempting to understand it from afar." I brief you, about the realization that it targets fighters, warriors, competitors who thrive as we thrive on conflict, aggression, sexuality, struggle, and dominance. "Best of all, I believe I can now... target, for lack of a better word, the times and places where it has wounded the world, corrupted or replaced someone as it did to Taboo Muscle Jobber."

16:17 Bronan_the_Barbarian: I listen to you as the waves crash up on the beach. I shake my head at the oddness of it. This is an odd predator indeed. If you're right that it's targeting fighters, warriors, competitors who seek conflict and the virility that comes with it, what is it that it really hungers for? What sustains such a creature? It certainly was the most physically strong combatant that I've ever faced.

16:17 Bronan_the_Barbarian: "A being that...hungers for...lust? For the drive of conquest? Or does it hunger for....hunger?...." I shake my head as I ponder the existence of such a beast. "What's more, there is an alpha....so this is a pack....and the wounded warriors are its betas...." A look of worry crosses my face then.

16:17 Bronan_the_Barbarian: "Vaak.... This could be even more dangerous than we know. Pack animals are merciless in their hunting technique.... If we faced more than one at a time, I'm not sure we could withstand the onslaught....." I have no more words to offer - the most important things have been spoken, but I'm not sure either of us sees the clear path forward....

13:47 Vaak-Uhm: I look around, considering. There is nothing more to be learned, here, the aftermath of our battle, particularly the four corpses now lying cooling on the beach, will not go unnoticed for long. Remarkably, after so many intense battles and uses of magic in so short a time, we are both relatively fresh, thanks to my ability to replenish us. It is time to be on our way.

13:47 Vaak-Uhm: I reach out with my eldritch senses, tracing the threads I felt and saw, finding the next nearest wound in the world, the next nearest taint of the enemy, though nearest does not have quite the same context when dealing with the intricacies of manifold time and space. Nevertheless, I have a target.

13:47 Vaak-Uhm: Wordlessly, I stand and offer you my hand. As you take it, I flex my will, tear open the universe once again, and step through.

Published: 2020-08-13, viewed 136 times.