After skinning and collecting all of the meat from the manticore, Lann went to sleep leaving Mors and Areelu Vorlesh as the only ones awake as everyone else had already gone to bed and being a demon Areelu didn’t sleep. As they had no other use for the bones, Mors raised the manticore’s now completely fleshless skeleton. Fortunately Lann had left the stinger on the end of the tail so its now undead skeleton could still inject its victims with venom. Once the stinger was eventually empty, Mors planned on having Nenio make a potent poison for him so he could fill the stinger with that instead. Though, he supposed he could fill it with a magical disease instead. Either one would suit his purposes. The poison would kill individual targets and would be much faster acting, but the magical disease could spread and kill far more people or animals leaving him with even more corpses to raise. Decisions, decisions…
For now he had the skeleton sit and help him keep watch. If it noticed anything, it would warn him and he could send it to deal with it for him or he could go check it out for himself.
“So… What will we do now?” Areelu asked as they sat around the campfire.
“A good question. I am unsure. Without access to the Abyss and the World Wound, we can no longer complete our ascension… My first goal shall be to build a new Ziggurat so I can create a new phylactery. And I have learned from my mistakes. After I have made a new phylactery I shall keep it hidden so it can not be taken away from me and destroyed again so easily. After that, however…” Mors said.
“I wouldn’t be so quick to give up on ascension. It may very well still be possible. It will just require time and research. And if there is one thing we have in abundance now that the World Wound has been closed and we have partially ascended, it is time. Who knows, perhaps we may even find a way to ascend further than what even the Nahyndrian crystals would allow and become true gods rather than mere demigods.” Areelu suggested.
“Then research we shall. I do hope this world has sapient life. It will make the construction of my ziggurat so much faster. Then we can conduct our research in my Ziggurat rather than having to base ourselves in mere tents and hand built wood cabins.” Mors stated.
Areelu nodded. “Agreed. We are all far above such crude accommodations… Did that irritating fox truly have to accompany us? Could you not have ordered her to stay on Golarion?”
“Nenio is useful. Often near suicidally reckless, but useful all the same. She could be of assistance in our research, if you can tolerate her reckless curiosity and in your case, her constant questions. Besides, I did encourage all of my allies to stay but I did not wish to order them to do so as I was concerned about what we might encounter so far beyond the maelstrom. In fact I’m still not sure what we may encounter, though this manticore seems to be a good sign that this world may not be so different from Golarion which would be most fortunate.” Mors explained.
Areelu sighed. “Very well… I suppose I’ll simply have to put up with it, much to my frustration.”
The two of them continued to talk and discuss their plans as the night dragged on.
Eventually the night gave way to the dawn and dawn gave way to the morning. Nenio was the first one to wake up, much to Areelu’s frustration. Fortunately for Areelu, instead of badgering her with questions, Nenio started examining and recording a bunch of plants in her new book. Arueshalae was the last to wake up and by the time she did, breakfast was already in the process of being cooked. A good portion of breakfast being the meat from the manticore.
As they were eating, Mors heard a bit of rustling and noticed something in the distance. Four equine creatures peeking out at their camp from behind some bushes. One of them was wearing a strange looking hat. A sign of not just intelligent life but of civilization. Scooping up Jharsygax he passed the dragon to Arueshalae. Then before anyone could question what he was doing, he stood up and cast “walk through space”, teleporting himself directly behind the equines.
“Did it just use magic? Where did it go?” The small purple unicorn-esque creature asked.
“Behind you.” Mors answered.
The purple unicorn and yellow pegasus both screamed in terror while the orange one with the strange hat and the zebra whirled around to face him, dropping into what looked like fighting stances.
“I was wondering if there was intelligent life in this world. Might I ask what you are doing sneaking up to our camp?” Mors asked, resting the butt of his scythe on the ground. Unperturbed by their current hostility.
“Hey, what was that screaming? What’s going on over there?” Lann asked as he and several of the others started to approach.
“I found some creatures spying on us. They’re intelligent.” Mors responded emotionlessly.
“P-pl-please, don’t eat us!” The yellow pegasus squealed in fear, laying on her stomach and covering her head with her forehooves. Her entire body was trembling in abject terror.
“No, no! We aren’t going to hurt you, I promise! Well, unless you attack us first but then it would only be self defense. I’m sorry if we scared you.” Ember said in a kind calming tone.
“Yeah. As long as you aren’t here to hurt us, we won’t hurt you either. Even the Commander here wouldn't hurt you without a reason, despite his, uh... Creepy appearance." Lann said, motioning to the lich.
“You… You aren’t…?” The yellow pegasus asked timidly.
“Of course not. Why would we? You haven’t done anything to us.” Arueshalae answered. “Let’s introduce ourselves. I’m Arueshalae and this adorable little creature in my arms is Jharsygax Aghamornalyandre.” Jharsygax squeaked in greeting.
“I’m Nenio. Excuse me, strange equine creatures, would you mind if I conducted a few experiments on you? I promise to make them as painless as possible!” Nenio requested eagerly.
“Ugh, she’s always like this. Just ignore her. She won’t do anything to you if you don’t agree to it. Anyway, I’m Lann.”
“Hey. I’m Woljif Jefto, nice to meet you! That’s Commander Mors though I usually just call him ‘Chief’, over there by the fire is Areelu Vorlesh, and this is Ember.” Woljif introduced them.
“Hello!” Ember greeted them with a smile.
“Uh… I’m Twilight Sparkle. These are my friends, Zecora, Applejack, and Fluttershy… Um… I don’t mean to be rude, but what exactly are all of you, and do you have something to do with that meteor we saw crash here last night?” The purple unicorn inquired.
“This seems like it’ll be a long conversation… Come sit with us by the fire and we’d be more than happy to answer any questions you have for us!” Arueshalae offered, petting Jharsygax affectionately.
“Uh… What do you think, girls?” Twilight asked.
“Well, most of y’all seem nice enough… And while Commander Mors there is scarier than Nightmare Moon at her worst, we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Ain’t that right, Zecora?” Applejack said, looking at Zecora with a smile.
Zecora smiled back. “One should not be judged at a glance. I agree we should give them a chance.” Though she glanced at Mors warily.
“U-um… W-what happened to that poor manticore…?” Fluttershy asked timidly, looking at the manticore skeleton.
“It attacked us last night. I killed it. Lann harvested the pelt and meat. Then I raised its skeleton from the dead rather than letting it go to waste. Its death was instant and painless, if that is a concern to you.” Mors explained in his emotionless monotone.
Fluttershy cowered in fear of Mors as he spoke. “O-oh…”
“I can just send you home if you’re too uncomfortable, Fluttershy.” Twilight offered.
“Uh… I…” Fluttershy looked at Mors’ companions and Jharsygax. Swallowing hard, she said, “I… I’ll, um… I’ll stay…”
“Okay. Just remember, if you start feeling too scared or uncomfortable, just let me know and I’ll teleport you back home.” Twilight said, patting Fluttershy on the back comfortingly.
All of them moved to sit back down around the fire. Twilight sat next to Applejack and Nenio who was trying to measure her horn with a tape measure, Applejack was between Twilight and Woljif, Zecora sat down between Lann and Areelu, and Fluttershy sat down between Ember and Arueshalae and was currently petting Jharsygax who had wiggled free from Arueshalae and was currently sitting in front of Fluttershy happily letting her pet him.
“We have some of our breakfast leftover. Any of you want some?” Lann offered.
“I think I already know the answer, but, is there meat in it?” Twilight asked hesitantly.
“Yeah. It’s from that manticore over there. It’s pretty good, if you ask me. Why? Oh, wait… Horses… You’re herbivores, right? Sorry, I didn’t think of that. I hope I didn’t offend you.” Lann said apologetically.
“It’s no problem, but uh… I’ll pass…”
“Hm… For me there is no need to cajole. I am willing to at least try a bowl.” Zecora stated.
“Really? Alright then. It's a stew so it has other things in it too. Potatoes, carrots, and some edible mushrooms.” Lann said as he scooped some out of the cooking cauldron with a ladle and poured it into a wooden bowl. “I’d offer you a fork but… uh…”
Zecora chuckled and held out both of her forehooves.
Lann hesitantly gave her the bowl, which she took gratefully.
Taking a bit of the meat from the bowl she chewed it up and ate it. “Mmm… What an interesting taste. I shan’t let it go to waste. Thank you.”
“Sure. Anyway, you wanted to know what we are and if we had something to do with that ‘meteor’ you saw. I’m what’s known as a Mongrel. A descendant of some of the first crusaders who were tricked into killing and eating an angel out of starvation by a demon and ended up being corrupted by it. Before you ask, no I’m not evil and I’m not a cannibal like my ancestors. I actively resisted the influence of the same demon who corrupted my ancestors and the rest of my people. In fact, I’m pretty much the only one of my people who managed to resist Savamelekh. Just trying to resist nearly killed me but I did it. Unfortunately the rest of my people weren’t so lucky, or strong willed I guess…”
“I must apologize that we were unable to find and get revenge upon Savamelekh before the end of the crusade, Lann. I had every intention of assisting you in that, but no leads as to his or your tribe’s location presented themselves.” Mors stated.
“It’s fine. I don’t blame you. If anything I blame that gods damned demon for deceiving my ancestors… Oh well… Too late now.” Lann sighed.
“I’m so sorry to hear that… What happened to your people, exactly?” Twilight inquired.
“Didn’t you hear me? They were all corrupted by the demon Savamelekh. All of them. Every last one. They’re all his slaves in the Abyss now, I’m sure… Anyway, enough of that. Ember, why don’t you go next.” Lann said.
“Okay. I’m an Elf. We’re just a normal race of mortals except we live a really long time. Our country is Kyonin, that’s where my mama lives, I think. I haven’t seen her for almost a hundred years, so I don’t know. Maybe she moved?” Ember stated.
“Almost a hundred years? How old are yah? No offense but yah sound like a foal.” Applejack asked.
“Oh, I’m one hundred and ten! I guess I’m almost a full grown adult, by elf standards.” Ember explained.
“How long do elves normally live?” Twilight asked.
“Around seven hundred years, I think?” Ember said uncertainly. “At least that’s what I’ve heard.”
“I’m a Kitsune. A race of fox-like humanoid shapechangers native to the continent Tian Xia on Golarion.” Nenio explained.
“I was a human. The same race as Lann’s ancestors before they were corrupted. Though thanks to my mother, Areelu, I was born of demonic blood and was thus born with the ability to use magic and later grew demonic wings. Later still, I learned a method to grant myself a second bloodline and I infused my blood with the power of the grave through necromancy. Now, I have transcended mortality all together and have become a lich. A process that granted me great power, but cost me my emotions and all forms of attachment. A worthy trade, in my opinion. I no longer need to or even have the capability to eat, sleep, or even breathe. Nor will I ever die of old age, disease, or poison.” Mors explained.
“Necromancy… I, um… I thought that was fantasy… Something made up for horror novels involving zombies and stuff…” Twilight said uncertainly.
“Look at me and this manticore. Do we appear as a fantasy to you?” Mors inquired, motioning to the manticore skeleton which was sitting there off to the side with its tail twitching.
“No… You’re real… This is a huge magical breakthrough but… I’m not quite sure how everypony will react to it if it becomes public knowledge.” Twilight muttered.
“Who said I would share my secrets? No. I have no intention of spreading the knowledge of necromancy, save perhaps to a few select apprentices hand picked by me.” Mors stated.
“Sorry to burst yer bubble Mr. Mors but you look like a walkin’ skeleton. It’ll be kinda difficult to keep that secret wont it?” Applejack asked.
Mors stood up and cast a spell. Suddenly he looked like an old human with a short white beard and short white hair. He looked exactly like he did when he was still alive. “Will it, now? I’m not so sure.” He said, still sounding as cold and emotionless as ever.
“Fine, fine. I get it, you can hide it… I just got one question fer yah. Why’d yah do it? Was it just fer power and immortality or was there more to it?”
“That is a long story and I would rather not spend all day here discussing it. For now all I shall say is, the Fifth Crusade, the war I led., was hard. I was against odds that seemed insurmountable and I was desperate. We could not afford to lose the crusade. So, at my wit's end, when I met Master Zacharias and he offered me the power I needed to win, of course I agreed. I had no choice. It was necessary to win. Woljif, it is your turn.”
“Me? But… Oh alright… I’m a tiefling. My granddad was one of the Demon Lord Baphomet’s children. So I guess that makes Baphomet my great granddad or something, which makes me demonic royalty! A genuine prince of the Abyss! I’m not evil like them though. The commander actually helped stop me from being possessed by my grandpa and becoming essentially just a meat suit for him. And I helped kill Baphomet and end the war. Really I’m just a poor orphan who grew up on the streets, running with gangs just to get by.” Woljif explained.
“Wait, you said your mother was a demon but you said you’re human and it just made you able to use magic. But your grandfather was a demon and you’re a tiefling? How does that work?” Twilight asked.
“Two things. I was not born naturally, rather my mother made my body this way on purpose.”
“Indeed I did. If you had to suffer the stigma of being a tiefling, it would have been highly inconvenient. This was a far better option.” Areelu stated.
Mors nodded and continued, “Furthermore, demons are metaphysical entities formed from the souls of sinners sent to the Abyss for their ultimate punishment after their death and judgment in the Boneyard by the Goddess Pharasma, and their blood does not always manifest itself in any form nor manifest itself in the same ways when it does manifest itself. For example, Woljif’s mother was born human despite having been sired by a demon. There was a chance he could have been born similar to myself, or he could have been born as a normal human, or he could have been born as a tiefling but he could have been a sorcerer like me, but he was not.”
“Yeah, I really got the short end of the stick there. My life would have been waaay better if I had been born a human sorcerer or even just a normal human rather than a tiefling. Oh well though. Everything turned out well enough for me after you took me off the streets and brought me into the crusades, huh chief?” Woljif said, smiling at the lich.
Twilight sighed and shook her head. “This entire conversation is just giving me so many more questions than answers… So, Miss Areelu, you are Mors’ mother? So you’re a demon?”
“A succubus to be specific and yes. I became a half demon by tying my soul to the Abyss. A very different process than how demons are usually made. I retained all of my memories from when I was simply a human trying to look after her son.” Areelu stated.
“And you’re an evil witch. I still think we should have just thrown you into the World Wound and have been done with you forever. It would be poetic justice since you opened it.” Lann stated.
“Don’t be like that, Lann. Arueshalae redeemed herself, so I’m sure she can be redeemed too!” Ember stated.
“Excuse me, but what is this ‘world wound’?” Twilight asked.
“A complex topic for another time. It would require a lengthy explanation and lessons in history to explain in full.” Mors stated.
“Uh… I guess it’s my turn. I’m also a succubus like Lady Areelu, but because of the Goddess Desna and with the help of Commander Mors, I was able to find redemption and fully overcome my demonic nature. I’m not fully certain I can even be called a succubus anymore since my very nature was altered after I achieved redemption…” Arueshalae stated. “Oh and little Jharsygax here is a freshly hatched dragon! Technically he’s several centuries old since he’s been in his egg all this time and he’s been able to communicate with his original guardian through dreams but he only hatched recently. So he understands language perfectly. He’s just not big enough to speak yet. At least not outside of dreams. Maybe in a year or so he’ll be able to talk.”
“It is your turn. What are you four?” Mors inquired.
“It will be difficult to put this to rhyme so I shall speak plainly. I am a Zebra. My kind are quite similar to ponies like these three but we are not quite the same. My kind’s magic resides in the creation of potions, elixirs, and powders rather than natural ability. We also commune with the spirits of nature from plants to the wind.” Zecora explained.
“So you're a race of alchemists? Or shamans perhaps?” Mors inquired.
Zecora nodded with a smile.
“I’m a unicorn. One of the three main races of ponies. Unicorns can use our horns to cast spells.” Twilight explained. Suddenly a lavender aura appeared around her horn and a nearby rock as she started levitating said rock towards her. “See?”
“Hm… Fascinating. An entire race of sorcerers…” Mors stated, staring at Twilight’s horn.
“Welp, I’m an Earth Pony. Our magic is tied to the earth. Growin’ plants, helpin’ trees lose their leaves in the fall, and we’re strong as all get out, that sorta thing. And Fluttershy there’s a pegasus. They can fly and control the weather and seasons.” Applejack explained.
“A race of druids with enhanced strength and a race with magic completely unknown to me. Interesting. This world is very different from ours… Tell me, do all of your kind possess those particular forms of magic?” Mors inquired.
“Yes. Every unicorn can cast spells, every earth pony can control the growth of plants, and every pegasus can fly and control the weather… Well technically some pegasi can be born with wings that are too small to fly, but they can still walk on clouds if they manage to get up there somehow.” Twilight stated.
“How fascinating! It is so much different from our world! This will absolutely require further study and experimentation!” Nenio said excitedly.
“Excuse me, your ‘world’? What do you mean by that?” Twilight asked.
“I would prefer to keep most of our past to ourselves until we learn more about you and this land. After all, we are strangers. Only a fool would explain all their secrets to a stranger on their first meeting. All I will say on the matter is this. What you saw last night was no meteor. It was us.” Mors stated.
“So… You’re aliens?” Twilight asked.
“If that is what you wish to call us. We are indeed from another world so I suppose the term fits us.” Mors stated.
“And I suppose you aren’t going to tell us what sort of magic you used to get here?” Twilight asked in disappointment.
“No.” Mors stated.
“You said the Abyss was something like an afterlife and that you’ve been there. Are you willing to elaborate on that?” Twilight asked.
“No.”
“The crusades?”
“No.”
“What about this ‘Pharasma’? You said she was a goddess. Can you at least explain your religion?” Twilight pleaded.
“No, but only because I know little about religion. I never took an interest in it, personally. My focus was always on the arcane. I’m sure Arueshalae would be able to explain Desna and her religion to you if you asked.”
“Is there anything else you are willing to tell us?” Twilight asked.
“Perhaps. But there is much we know and you have not asked questions we are willing to answer at this time. Think of something relatively benign and unimportant, or at the very least unrelated to us specifically, and there is a slim chance I will be willing to answer you.” Mors responded.
Twilight sighed in disappointment.
“I assume you four live in a city or village. If you could lead us to the nearest settlement, I would be willing to tell you some history of our world. Though this history will be unrelated to us, specifically.” Areelu offered
Twilight immediately brightened up. “Really?”
“Yes. I would rather not have to spend another night sitting on a log in these woods. If I need only tell a bit of history for directions to the nearest settlement, I will do so.” Areelu stated.
“Okay! Deal! In fact I can do better and teleport all of us there right now!” Twilight offered.
“Hold on, hold on! Before you do that, at least let us pack up our camp, okay? I don’t want to have to leave our stuff behind, just in case we need to camp out again.” Lann said.
“Oh, right… Sorry, I guess I got a bit ahead of myself.” Twilight said apologetically.
“It’s fine. Just give us a few minutes. We’ll be all packed up and ready to go soon.” Lann said.