823 - What Hath the Goddess Wrought
Ensconced within the larger shadow that was his astral construct, Lex shot upward from the top of the massive cyst of black crystals.
A single glance down showed that Belligerence had indeed conjured a mountain of the stuff. Against the backdrop of the abyss below, he could see numerous jagged protrusions erupting from the edge of the chasm. Pointing in every direction, the largest were several hundred feet in length, and a large number of them were coated in ice, a testament to the power of Hvitdod’s breath weapon.
Then the dragon, already having spotted his emergence, swooped in to provide another demonstration of its deadliest attack.
It wasn’t the beam it had used before, nor was it the wide cone it had used when initially attacking his army of astral constructs. Instead, its sharp inhale was followed by a slow exhale, and another look down showed Lex that Hvitdod was gathering the coldness of its breath in a shimmering blue sphere directly in front of its jaws.
Hvitdod was taking no chances this time, Lex knew. It had correctly guessed that the black crystals had shielded him from its last attack, and since it hadn’t known precisely when or where he’d emerge from them, it had readied an attack that would radiate out in every direction.
This time it would hit its target without fail.
It was exactly as Lex had predicted.
“NOW!” he roared, just as the dragon snapped its jaws closed, shattering the glowing sphere and sending the wave of sub-absolute zero temperature radiating outward in all directions.
In response to his command, his astral construct returned to solid form just as the wave of icy death crashed over them.
And struck the black crystal armor that he’d covered his creation with.
It was an idea he’d borrowed from Solvei. Seeing as how the mass of black crystals had stopped the dragon’s last attack, he’d theorized that a heavy coating of the stuff would turn it aside – or at least slow it down – now. And in an instant, Lex could see that it was working, the facsimile of Solvei’s armor freezing over and cracking as the algid attack struck it, but it held.
For almost a full second.
Then the cracking sound escalated, the fissures in the black crystals spiderwebbing out all at once, and before Lex could even think about reinforcing them, the armor shattered completely.
Immediately, Hvitdod’s cold breath washed over him.
There was nothing Lex could do but grit his teeth as the cold sank into his skin, through his muscles, and down to his bones. It was so painful that it burned, though the agony lasted only for a second as nerves died, leaving him numb and unfeeling as the chill began to sink into his organs...and then stopped.
In that last instant, Lex saw that they were through the expanding field of the dragon’s breath weapon, the black crystals having absorbed just enough of the damage from it that the attack hadn’t been enough to kill him outright.
His eyes shining green and purple as he fully embraced his inner monster’s bloodlust, Lex pulled his frozen lips back in a snarl.
Now it’s my turn!
Then his astral construct, almost completely covered in ice, plunged straight down and crashed onto the middle of Hvitdod’s body.
The impact caused it to shatter completely, exploding into icy chunks that bounced and rolled off of the dragon’s sinuous form, falling into the abyss below.
Lex had expected nothing less, and as his armor fell to pieces, he howled as he drew his one remaining foreleg back, stabbing downward.
And plunged Belligerence deeply into Hvitdod’s body.
The Night Mare had given him everything he’d need.
Or at least, that was Lex’s theory.
After everything he’d gone through in the Shrine of the Starless Sky, the Confluence, and Darkest Night, it had become clear that the goddess had been guiding him ever since she’d brought him to Everglow. Each of his trials and tribulations had either forced him to overcome a weakness, or had led him toward a subsequent chance to do so. The result had been that he’d managed to best each new challenge, having managed to utilize – fumbling and haphazardly – the resources available to him to prevail and conquer.
It had been incredibly painful, physically, mentally, and spiritually. But that pain had resulted in his shedding old weakness – fears of his secrets being revealed, being unable to accept Solvei, clinging to a childish dream that was beyond his reach – and replacing them with new strengths. All of which was in keeping with the Night Mare’s teachings, something he was aware of now that he’d read the Auctoritas Caliginous, her holy book.
Had he been the stallion he once was, Lex knew he would have seen the goddess’s guidance as manipulation and raged at her for it. Now he knew better. She was simply providing him with the opportunities he needed to better himself; whether or not he used them, and how, was entirely up to him.
That much had been made obvious when she’d placed Nisha in front of him. Or rather, when Sissel had used aristeia, something that in hindsight Nisha would have been able to warn him about. That, and she likely could have taught him a great deal about what it meant to have, and use, a tulpa.
But although he’d foolishly thrown the purple-eyed wolf away, Lex knew that the goddess had given him other tools.
His tulpa was one of them. Conquering it had not only placed that fragment of his conscious back under his control, doing so had also put its ability to draw things from dreams into reality at his disposal, even if he still didn’t understand a great deal about how that power worked.
Belligerence was another. That the spear had punched through Sissel’s aristeia when nothing else could harm her was no coincidence; of that Lex felt certain.
Nor were the small group of new, stronger divine spells that he’d received after reaffirming his faith in the goddess.
And, of course, his new body – powerful on offense and defense – was notable not only in its physical enhancements, but also because of the prodigious degree of supernatural energy that he could route through himself, empowering his magic to heights beyond anything he’d ever imagined.
Lex would never call those things gifts from the Night Mare, and he knew she would have been insulted if he had. He had earned each and every one of those improvements through his own effort, proving what she had already known about him. The Charismata might have been her blessing, but that he’d had the chance to grow so much was her benediction.
And he’d put each of those powers that she’d given him the opportunity to attain to use now.
From the coterie of new spells she’d granted him, Lex had cast one designed to overcome any and all forms of immobility – including having his muscles paralyzed by extreme cold – before exiting the cocoon of black crystals. It had been his backup plan in case the black crystal armor he’d wrapped his construct in had failed. While it couldn’t protect against the incredible damage that the dragon’s breath weapon had inflicted, it had ensured that his muscles wouldn’t be paralyzed by the cold.
From his tulpa, he’d demanded a magic item able to boost his ability to channel magic through himself. That it had granted his request had been a relief, since he’d been half-convinced that whatever unknowable rules it followed would see it refuse him.
Instead, it had brought forth a bracer, one which he’d quickly wrapped around his remaining foreleg...though not without some trepidation, since he was already under a stamina-boosting spell that allowed him to push his new body’s limits. The last time he’d overcharged his body’s natural channels, back in Vanhoover when he’d tried to create enough food for all of the survivors, he’d almost killed himself. Hopefully his new body could handle the strain he was about to place on it.
All that was left was to channel as much power as he could into Belligerence.
In truth, Lex had no idea what would happen once he did. The full scope of what Belligerence was capable of was still a mystery to him, since even though he’d placed the runes along the quill with exacting care – inlaying the instructions for how he wanted it to function – he hadn’t been the one to actually imbue it with power. The Night Mare had done that, in response to his repeated prayers and ceremonies.
To take a weapon that had already been touched by the goddess, and then super-charge it with as much power as his new body, further augmented with spells and magic items, was capable of, was so risky that it could only be called madness.
But Lex preferred to think of it as an act of faith.
Belligerence’s barbed head punched through Hvitdod’s scales as though the dragon’s natural armor were made out of parchment.
In another instance, Lex would have marveled at the fact that the weapon was so easily able to pierce even the ancient dragon’s defenses, but now he didn’t bother.
Instead, he grit his teeth and began channeling power into the weapon.
Hvitdod didn’t seem to feel the strike. To a creature of such titanic proportions, the injury was little more than a shallow splinter, barely worthy of being noticed. Instead, the dragon brought its tail up and around, intent on swatting the insect that was stinging it.
Snarling, Lex tried to direct more energy into Belligerence, but even as he did so he felt a building resistance. Like trying to force water through a funnel, he could only give it so much at once, and the more he tried to push that limit the harder it became. Just a few more seconds! he screamed inwardly, even as Hvitdod’s tail began its lethal descent. I only need a few more seconds!
But Hvitdod had no intention of giving him that much time, the dragon’s tail coming down on his head a moment later.
Only to stop before it reached him.
“Operational functionality...at fourteen percent...”
The report made Lex’s eyes widen, glancing behind him in shock.
Lying a short distance away, the largest remaining chunk of his astral construct – little more than the battered remnants of its head, neck, and one remaining leg – was straining to hold up Hvitdod’s tail, bracing itself with its single leg as the massive limb pressed down on it from above. “Recommend...evasive action...immediately...”
Shaking off his shock, Lex instead turned back to Belligerence, renewing his efforts to overcharge it. “NO! THIS ENDS HERE!”
“Acknowledged...” The artificial creature didn’t get a chance to say anymore as, above it, Hvitdod snarled and pushed its tail down harder, causing the construct to compress beneath it. “Warning...operational functionality...at five percent...and dropping...”
Closing his eyes, Lex shut out everything else except what he was doing, abandoning all restraint as he shoved more power into the weapon.
“...four...”
In his grasp, Belligerence began to shake, as though it were struggling to process the excess buildup of power that he was forcing into it.
“...three...”
A tingling sensation crept over Lex then, spreading throughout his body. He dimly recognized it as the sensation of his magical channels starting to shred themselves from the strain, just like they had when he’d done this back in Vanhoover. Only the fact that Hvitdod’s breath weapon had deadened his nerves kept him from reeling in agony.
“...two...”
There was an inward pressure on his chest now, as though his heart were being squeezed in a vice, and Lex recognized it as his body beginning to give out under the abuse that it had suffered. There was darkness gathering at the edges of his vision. In his claw, Belligerence’s runes were glowing, shining with a crimson radiance that reminded him of the Night Mare’s eyes.
“...one...”
His legs gave out then, and Lex collapsed, somehow managing to keep his grip on Belligerence. The quill felt as though it were about to wrench itself from his grasp, and then...
Suddenly it went still, all sensations of resistance disappearing.
And then Hvitdod screamed.
It took Lex a moment to realize that what he was hearing wasn’t the same roar that the dragon had made previously, calling out its rage and bloodlust. This was a sound of pain. Of agony. Something that was forced out of a creature when it was hurting more than it could bear.
The creature within Lex roared in approval, and the effort made him raise his head, needing to see what he’d done. Somehow managing to raise his gaze, Lex beheld...
Barbs. Massive, gigantic barbs.
They were sprouting from inside the dragon’s body, impaling it from the inside. Even as Lex watched, another one – it had to be at least fifty feet in length, perhaps more – burst out from Hvitdod’s abdomen, sending blood and scales flying through the air. It joined the half-dozen that had already emerged, and as Lex watched another grew.
Then two more.
Then a half-dozen.
Then a score, spreading out in all directions across Hvitdod’s body.
In an instant, the dragon’s dorsal fin was punctured along its length. Its claws were perforated from within and without as it futilely reached down to try and pull the massive skewers out. Its tail – lifting away from the now-destroyed astral construct – swung randomly as the dragon continued to howl in agony. But no matter how it thrashed, the spikes kept shooting up, working their way further up Hvitdod’s massive length.
They emerged where Lex was too.
His breath catching in his throat, Lex had just enough time to feel the ridged barbs emerge beneath him...and stopped.
What?
That shouldn’t have happened, he knew. By all rights, the quill’s power – overloaded beyond all limits – should have caused him to be impaled along with the rest of the dragon. So why...?
A faint tingling from the clasp of his cloak gave him the answer.
Mystaria’s gift to him.
The clasp was enchanted to prevent the wearer from being harmed by their own magic...and Belligerence was an item made with his own blood, and overloaded with his own energy!
A ragged chuckle tore itself from Lex’s throat then, one which grew deeper as Hvitdod screamed again, the gigantic spikes continuing to erupt from its flesh further along its body, passing its upper set of claws and nearing its head.
Except this time, Hvitdod’s scream wasn’t just a release of sound; it also came with a blast of super-cold air.
The dragon’s breath weapon came nowhere close to Lex. In its agony, Hvitdod wasn’t paying any attention to him. Rather, it was facing directly upward, waving its head back and forth as it breathed out. The expulsion of cold air, erupting as another massive cone, shot upward, striking nothing.
Except the clouds hovering overhead.
A second later, a loud crackling sound came from above as those same clouds froze solid.
Lex’s vengeful mirth died immediately as Hvitdod’s pained exhalation spread across the overcast sky, the massed water vapor transmitting the extreme cold throughout itself, expanding rapidly as the dragon kept thrashing its head, catching as much of the gloom overhead as it could.
Although he didn’t know if he’d struck Hvitdod with a mortal blow, in that moment Lex knew that it didn’t matter. Whether it was a dying attempt to take its enemy with it, or because it thought it could regenerate even from this, Hvitdod’s final attack was one that would hit them both. And in his current state, Lex knew that there was nothing he could do to avoid it.
Then several hundred thousand tons of ice began to plummet toward him.
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Belligerence is quite the powerful weapon/tool in Lex's hands, though I can't help but wonder if he'll be able to bring it back with him to Equestria or if he'll somehow lose or sacrifice it in his pursuit of returning home.
Regardless, it seems that Lex left in another precarious situation, the dreaded cliffhanger!
Jokes aside, I am curious at the result of Solvei/Akna's idea of praying to the Night Mare and if it will result in Lex surviving Hvitdod's possibly final act of spite.
Thats some pidgeon.
Especially given some extreme varients possible in base dragon existance design with the rocks and lava an no other apparently living organism in te dragon fields.
Hvitdods regeneration capacity is how strong? And he took how much percentage hit point damage, so all he needs to do is crush the spines to snap and shear them and then let regeneration expell, absorb them and in how many rounds he will be rehealed and even more cheesed off than before?
Acid blood or other bodily capabilities are eroding the Black crystal rapidly already, or the dragon is even adapting to the existance of the material?
Be a pity if even a coconut sized fragment of processing core shard didnt survive from that construct, even landing on the ground below.
11569249
The Gods, especially the Night Mare will know but the adlets who might try to pull a fast one will probably believe they can try. I mean, there's plenty of stories of characters trying to deceive the gods for their own benefits. Then again, the adlets seem like a very proud bunch so there will probably be plenty if not all that abstain rather than even entertain of praying to the Night Mare, even if it's simple lipservice.
Still, if Yotimo and Solvei/Akna's prayers are answered, then it might be able to sway the more open-minded members...maybe
11569628 Belligerence is indeed quite the powerful tool, all the more so when Lex goes to such great lengths to boost it even more. Given how much trouble he went to in order to create it, I suspect that Lex would be loath to give it up, particularly since he can always summon it back to his side with a thought. But that doesn't mean that he might not be deprived of it should circumstances conspire...
Of course, right now his more immediate concern is surviving Hvitdod's counterattack, since he's got a massive amount of frozen clouds plummeting toward him, and almost no way of dealing with it. Given that Solvei/Akna is trying to get her people to be able to take to the wind again, it's unlikely she'll be able to help with that, but maybe we'll be surprised?
11569673 One of the things the d20 System does that I was a bit confused by at first was how it treats "regeneration" as being different from "fast healing" despite the fact that they're basically the same thing, i.e. you quickly recover from damage that you take. That said, I can see why they split it up.
"Fast healing" is, as the name says, where you simply recover a static value of hit points every round. It's not necessarily tied to biology (i.e. you can have undead or constructs with fast healing), and stops functioning when you actually die (i.e. your hit points hit a particular threshold that constitutes death, which was original -10, but in Pathfinder 1E is an amount below 0 equal to your Constitution score). It's limited in that it can't restore lost limbs or let you regrow from a piece of yourself if you're chopped into bits.
"Regeneration," however, is where you recover from "nonlethal" (i.e. subdual) damage by a static amount every round and all of the damage you take is treated as being nonlethal, except damage from the sources explicitly called out as being a type of damage you can't regenerate from (e.g. fire, acid, etc.). It's also inherently biological, and so you can't have non-living things which regenerate; this is traditionally the type of recovery that allows you to reattach lost limbs and regrow from a still-living piece if you're blown to pieces. Likewise, regeneration continues to function after "death" because you can't actually die from damage types that don't beat your regeneration. (Although regeneration, and fast healing for that matter, can be bypassed by certain attack forms which circumvent hit points, e.g. if you take sufficient ability damage to bring your Constitution score down to 0, then you're dead, regardless of your regeneration or fast healing powers.)
Pathfinder 1E, it should be noted, changed how regeneration worked in order to lower its power level; in PF1, being hit with a damage type that bypasses regeneration shuts down that creature's regenerative powers for a full round, i.e. six seconds, allowing all attacks of any type during that period to inflict lethal damage.
All of which is to say that we don't, at this point, know which type of healing Hvitdod is benefiting from (and for that matter, whether the differences between the two abilities are even really recognized by characters in the story), so it's hard to state exactly how the dragon's recovery ability works.