Minecraft: A New Adventure

by Blackdrag-rose

Crimson Cultists

Following their discovery of the dragon corpses, and being unsettled by what the scene in question, Octavia kept her eyes open as Steve and Alex scanned part of the area they were in, as she had a feeling that flying wasn't the answer right now and wanted to be sure they didn't announce themselves to their new enemies. She had come across mentions of these guys in her studies of her tome, the Crimson Cultists who were said to research eldritch truths and, given the fascinating nature of this world, that either meant it was connected to the Admins or something much darker. It was possible that they might hold the key to worlds beyond this one, due to the dimensional madness she and the others had gone through to bring ruin to where the parasites lived, and while her tome claimed that they were unsuccessful in their many ventures she suspected that it was only a matter of time until they were successful. At the same time, however, there was a chance that her own studies might be the missing link in whatever the cultists were trying to do, meaning if she could find their knowledge she might gain the key to attacking the Admins, like Pandora was likely planning on having them do.

The only part of the puzzle that didn't make sense was why the dragons, why the Crimson Cultists would target them like this, sacrificing several of their number to bring a dozen of these creatures down, before figuring that it had something to do with Pandora and her powerful dragon guardian.

"Are we sure this isn't Pinkie's work?" Alex asked, as while the odd robe wearing figures seemed to be the ones who had committed the deed they had discovered, given that some had claw marks and burns on them, she wanted to rule Pinkie out of the equation.

"She didn't do this. If she did, she would have salvaged all of the dragons, plus the cultists, before telling us that she did such a thing on her own." Octavia answered, where she showed Alex and Steve that she had considered the idea as well, and had come to the conclusion that their friend wasn't behind the massacre they had discovered, though she considered the rest of the information they had gathered so far, "I'm sure these cultists are behind the scene we found, but why I have no idea... other than the fact that the Crimson Cultists are usually mad or insane, so if they did this it's most likely that they thought all of the dragons posed a threat to their operation."

"And you know this how, exactly?" Steve inquired, as this was the first time Octavia had mentioned the Crimson Cultists, and he could see that Alex was also confused by the information, even though they both knew that if they were able to bring a number of dragons, even while losing some soldiers in the process, it was a threat they couldn't ignore.

"The Thaumonomicon makes several mentions to them, but I didn't think we'd run into them so soon, otherwise I would have said something sooner." Octavia replied, which was the truth, had she known that she and her friends would discover the Crimson Cultists like this she would have told them about these guys before leaving the village, as she suspected that it would have brought Pinkie out as well, "Like I said, it lists them as insane individuals and, if they were the ones responsible for the scene we discovered, it means the dragons posed some threat to their operations... or maybe they were seeking new resources for their eldritch experiments."

Steve and Alex glanced at each other for a moment as they climbed the hill in front of them, as they weren't sure what to make of the information that Octavia was revealing right now, though both kept their hands on their weapons, because if the cultists were insane there was a chance they would be attacked. As the three of them moved through the area, which came to a much flatter area after some time, a new discovery was made, a large number of trees had been cut down, stone was missing from the sides of the mountain pass, and the area was devoid of life. At a glance it seemed like a place one or more of them would have visited at some point in the past, only they would have made things much neater than this, but Octavia knew that, thanks to the dragons, none of them had bothered to come here, and Pinkie hadn't said a word about a place like this, meaning the cultists had to be responsible. When they reached the end of the passage, and came to a stop for a time, Octavia stared at the area in front of them, as there was a massive circular structure right in the center of the mountain pass, as if someone had mined the area out to make a hidden base of some kind.

The place looked like a citadel, with watchtowers all over the place, tall walls that were, interestingly enough, made out of Deepslate, and what seemed to be a church that Octavia could feel eldritch energy coming from, meaning they might have found the key she was looking for.

"You know, I was going to say that they were either incredibly brave or stupid to build in such a place, but, after seeing all the dead dragons, I can said it's the former." Alex remarked, though at the same time she kept her voice low, as there was no way for them to tell if the cultists could hear them from the opening they had emerged through, but right now she had no desire to give away where she and the others were watching from, "So, what do we do now?"

"I'm going to head down there and see if I can find anything worthwhile." Octavia replied, where she held up a hand for a few seconds, stopping her friends from interrupting her while she stared down at the sight in front of them, as she could see knights riding around or patrolling, clerics getting ready to do their duties, and two figures that looked like they might be generals, as there was one figure that looked like an imposing king, the highest of them all, "Just look at what's in front of us, there's literally an army just waiting to do who knows what. If we want to figure out what they're up to, without one or more of us jumping to conclusions without evidence, I need to head down there and investigate the church, and while I'd rather go in as a team, this might be one of those instances where we have to go our separate ways for a time... as in you two stay safe and be prepared to run if they spot you."

"Agreed. You know what you're doing, and have the magic to back you up, in case you need it." Steve remarked, which was a chance of pace, as Octavia was expecting that she would have to convince him and Alex to let her do this on her own, but she wasn't about to ask questions if this was their decision on the matter, to which he drew his weapon as Alex made sure to ready her bow, "We'll keep the passage secure, to the best of our ability anyway, while you find whatever you can about these guys and their plans... whatever they're up to it can't be good."

Octavia nodded and carefully moved down the rocky path in front of her, where she did her best to approach the citadel without being seen, though after some time she weaved her magic around herself and disappeared, an invisibility spell to be exact, which allowed her to study the outer wall for a time. What she discovered was that the cultists had sent up four entrances to their citadel, each facing each of the four directions, and each one had a pair of guards that looked like they were keeping an eye out for danger, all while noticing that there were a large number of crimson banners with a black eye in their centers. As such her only option was to propel herself over the wall with a small bit of magic, not enough for them to detect her, because she felt that walking by the guards in a stealth form might be noticed in some manner, which was when she landed on the wall and found that it was much like Pinkie's, there was stairs leading down into the main portion of the citadel, which she took without delay. While Octavia did that she made note of the amount of enemies in this place, where she was glad that they had decided to fortify their own walls since the cultists looked like they would wipe out one of the Illager outposts with ease, a worrying thought for sure.

Once inside the citadel Octavia noticed that there were barracks to house the cultists, a stable for their steeds, which also explained why she and the others couldn't find horses, an armory filled with weapons and armor made from a crimson ore, and even a smithy with some material laid out, where she carefully found some loose bars and pocketed them, as she knew Pinkie would want some.

"Generals, how goes the experiments?" a voice inquired, where Octavia hid herself for a moment and watched as both of the figures she had seen earlier walked through the streets of the citadel, marching beside the Crimson King, as Octavia was going to call him, who rode on a horse clad in deadly looking crimson armor.

"Our mages have been delving into the eldritch knowledge, my King, but they are unable to perform the ritual... sadly we are still missing a key component." one of the Generals replied, where Octavia noticed that one seemed more like a figure that belonged to a church and the other was actually a warrior of some kind, where it was the Church General that spoke, leaving the other one in a state of silence as they moved through the city, "Even the components we liberated from those dragons, both their treasures and their scales, has done nothing to tame the eldritch powers we're dealing with."

"A dozen dragons, but nothing to show for it... I'm not even surprised." the Military General stated, where Octavia felt that he and the Church General were rivals in some manner, no doubt since it seemed like their King was spending more time on his opponent right now, which was failing based on what Octavia learned as she silently followed them.

"Interesting. What of the other tome?" the Crimson King asked, something that caught Octavia's attention, because while she expected there to be a single book related to what the cultists were doing, given her own tome, the knowledge that there was a third one out there meant she had to claim it before leaving this terrible place.

"We have been unable to open it, or use it in our various rituals... it, too, needs a key and we don't possess it." the Church General answered, which was good news for Octavia, because it meant that whatever they were working towards was far from being completed, so if she stole the tomes she could cripple their operations and inform Pinkie of their discovery, all so they could prepare the walls for a potential incoming attack.

"Very well. Our next destination will be the ancient city we found under the ground... we'll find the missing link, that I know for sure." the Crimson King stated, where it was easy for Octavia to see that he was displeased by this information, but at the same time she was amused by his orders, as heading into the Ancient City meant certain death with the Warden they had found down there not that long ago.

Octavia peeled away as the Crimson King issued orders that would lead to the death of his soldiers, though at the same time she needed to tell Pinkie so her friend could terraform the area of their mine to prevent the Sculk from spreading to the surface, though she had one more target to hit before leaving. She carefully made her way over to the church, where she discovered that none of the cultists were present, oddly enough, and entered it without delay, finding that they had all sorts of items from the rest of their world, components to be used as keys to the ritual they were trying to perform, with no real success. Sure enough she found what she was looking for, a crimson tome that radiated eldritch energy, the tome that the cultists were using in their rituals, and tucked it inside her pack as quickly as she could, before noticing another one resting on a pedestal, causing her to walked up to it so she could study it. Octavia discovered that it was a tome with a leather cover, one modified to have a screaming face on the main cover, though the longer she stared at it the more she became convinced that it was, grossly enough, human flesh modified to fit over a book, to which she shook herself before collecting it as well, figuring it was better kept in her possession and not in the hands of the cultists.

With that done she rapidly departed from the citadel, finding that she was able to leave without raising the alarm, and was able to catch up with Steve and Alex without anyone discovering her, to which they departed with all the haste they could muster, as it was time to head home and inform Pinkie of what was going on, and what she might learn from the tomes she had stolen from their enemies.

Comments

[Booster Spice]

Pinkie can make unlimited eldritch tomes, so the Cultists can end up with the tomes still in their possesion yet Octavia is making up the Entire Eldritch Trefoil?

Its a good thing Pinkie doesnt have access to the Mod that allows Mining Lasers. that thing acts more like a reality erasure?

[Auram Potentia]

so they had the necronomacon with them?

[Blackdrag-rose]

11334944 Yep. Fortunately they couldn't open it, even though they were preoccupied with the other tome Octavia stole.