With a feral look, Kali backed away from me, using a priestess spell to stop the bleeding. With her remaining hand, she tried to pull out a black book that was clearly a grimoire from her inventory, but with a flick of the eyes my Dark Tentacles were upon her, knocking the book away, and grasping for Kali. But Kali still had a few tricks up her sleeve, it seemed. As she scrambled away from the tentacles, she pulled out a small paper charm, and tore it with her teeth.
It was a Summon Token, apparently, because with a flash of light, Zaor, the zombie fighter, appeared on the sand, summoned by magic, and therefore not breaking the rules. Clever bitch, to have summon tokens for her undead. While normally used to summon items like legendary weapons from the vaults they were safekept in, or summoning an animal companion who had been allowed to roam free while you entered a dungeon, they could be used on players. Most didn’t like giving another person that much control over them, however. But if they were already your pawns…
I put such thoughts aside, and yelled, “Crescent Moon Slash!” With a slash of Munsuraisa, I unleashed a blue-white wave of energy at my two foes, catching both of them unprepared. Kali wasn’t the only one with hidden trump cards. Still, Zaor didn’t look too badly off, having taken the attack mainly across the chain shirt he wore, and his crossed sword and shield. He was damaged, but undead felt no pain, and didn’t suffer from bleed effects. Kali, on the other hand, screamed in pain as the light blade caught her in the chest, and Munsuraisa’s chance to ignore armor kicked in, causing blood to go flying as the blade of light tore her open.
At my direction, the tentacles rose up and threw Zaor against the wall and pin him there while he was stunned from the sudden attack, and I darted forward, blades shining in the light. Kali brought up her good arm to try and defend herself, but that only caused her to lose that arm, as well, just above the elbow, as my blades touched her flesh again. I whirled, and my blades of the Moon and Sun slashed out, removing Kali’s legs, and she fell, a wailing mess, to the sand.
But she was still not dead. I had crippled her, and grievously wounded her, but she still had HP left, which meant she could still fight, according to the system. Sheathing my swords, I kicked the bitch hard, forcing her onto her back. She squirmed, but was like a tortoise on her back now that she’d lost her limbs. And I still hadn’t released her from Euphoria.
But that was enough playing with my food. I didn’t want her fighting through the pain to attempt some sort of reversal. I pulled out my trusty Sacrificial Dagger, and plunged it down into Kali’s heart, ending the match.
For sacrificing your foe, you gain +5 INT.
There was a flash of light, and then I was back in the room I’d left, as were Zaor and Kali’s body, her dropped dagger and book next to her. Though the result of the duel was obvious, a window popped up, just to make things clear.
The Demon’s Duel has been concluded. Zayn Darkmore has triumphed over Kali Dorna on the sands of the arena. Kali Dorna shall suffer the following death penalty for her loss:
All undead under the control of Kali Dorna (including Deathsworn Travelers) will be immediately freed from her control, and upon their destruction may return to life as members of their former races.
All other property and funds belonging to Kali Dorna are henceforth ceded to Zayn Darkmore.
Prior to logoff, Kali Dorna must suffer the pain of all the tortures she’s inflicted on others in this world, condensed into one minute’s time.
Afterwards, the character Kali Dorna will be deleted completely, with the loss of all reincarnation bonuses.
As soon as the box appeared, Kali’s lifeless corpse began screaming in what was surely unbearable agony. After a minute’s time, she fell silent again, and I received a long report of her items and properties, as well as a healthy sum of just over 400 PP, before her body disintegrated into nothingness.
Then the cheering started.
Chapter 46 – Trade Chat II
Majestic: Hey, did you guys catch that announcement earlier?
Lady Blaze: Oh, hell, yeah! I haven’t seen a Demon’s Duel since Torgan used one to banish the leader of Demonfang to some hell.
Vala: What happened to him?
Blackdeep: Oh man, that was brutal. He used the rules to give the Demonfang guild leader, Athabraxas, a permanent character change/lock. The man was locked down as a Horned Rabbit, his spawn point permanently locked to a boss room in the Citadel of Hell dungeon, and was prevented from playing any alts.
Trollbait: Fuck me! That’s savage.
Colbalt: What the fuck did Athabraxas do to piss Torgan off that much?
Cookie: Demonfang was a bunch of stuck-up shits who thought they were the baddest PVPers in the game because they were a PK guild. They attacked some of our lower-level characters, so Torgan made an example of them. That war lasted, what, almost a year in-game? We ended up driving them all to level 1, or forcing them to quit their characters. And if we found out their new characters, we killed them, too. Some quit the game, but the war didn’t end until Torgan tracked down Athabraxas and challenged him.
Darkmore’s Knight: Ah, talking about when we blasted Demonfang? Good times.
Lexichan: DK! Yukiko, you slut, what the FUCK is going on over there?
Darkmore’s Knight: Well, you know how we got caught by the drow while investigating the dungeon?
Lexichan: Yeah.
Darkmore’s Knight: Well, Master woke up on an altar, under a temporary blindness effect. Once he broke out of jail and freed us, we started with the killing, but decided to jump to the end, to keep the rat from fleeing.
Cookie: Rat?
Hrozne: A nasty piece of work called Kali. She used to be Black Citadel’s Ravenna, apparently. She caused the undead plague in Ullelone Village.
PoD: Damn Darkmore’s taking all the good events!
l33tPally: HAX! Gotta be hax if he’s getting all that luck!
Darkmore’s Knight: Or it could be that he’s got a Luck score of almost 100.
Dweomer: HOW?
Lady Blaze: He reincarnated, duh. You get tons of goodies if you do that.
Killjoy: So, what is a Demon’s Duel, anyway?
Redscar: A very, very rare duel for PvP, when people just can’t stand eachother.
Majestic: Why so rare? People duel all the time in AAO.
Anonymous2: Not like a Demon’s Duel. The risks are insane, but the rewards if you win…
Blackdeep: It costs 1000 GP just to make the challenge, and you only get so many challenges a year.
Lexichan: And you can’t decline the Demon’s Duel.
PoD: So what’s wrong with that?
Cookie: The duel is to the death, and your opponent decides your death penalty, and you’ll never know what it is unless you lose. The leader didn’t even go as far as he could with Kali’s punishment.
PoD: DA FUCK??? How is that not OP?
Darkmore’s Knight: You can only challenge someone within 10 levels of yourself, and there are limits to what you can do. Demon’s Duels are actively monitored by GMs, unlike the rest of the game.
Majestic: So what did this chick do that pissed Zayn off that much?
Darkmore’s Knight: She captured us, made pretty much all the players who started as drow into her undead torture sex slaves, and tried to unleash the zombie apocalypse for lolz. They also have history from back when she ran Black Citadel.
Cookie: She got a RL year’s ban for what she did, because Torgan had proof of what she was doing and turned it over to the admins.
Lexichan: And now he doesn’t have to worry about that whole ‘lightside’ rep when dealing with people who piss him off.
Trollbait: Daaaam
n. Not getting in his way!
Darkmore: So, I’m pretty sure I know what everyone’s talking about, but what’s the situation in Duskhaven?
Darkmore’s Knight: You know damn well that’s not what everyone’s talking about.
Darkmore: Meh. But I want to know what is going on in Duskhaven. Is Mirelth still holding the city hostage?
l33tPally: Yup. There’s a string of rep-grinding quests that you can do to try and get her to like you, but they aren’t very nice.
Lexichan: Oh?
Colbalt: Well, finding and killing the heir of whoever it was that pissed her off and presenting her with the corpse will get you from ‘indifferent’ to ‘friendly’ in one go. But that’s a needle in a haystack, since the quest doesn’t mention names.
Cookie: So no other rep-builders?
PoD: Well, you can hunt enemies of her allies. For some reason, killing members of the Scions of Torgan gives you faction XP with Mirelth.
Z.Void: Stupid dragon. We were so close to purging the city of evil before she came!
Darkmore: Well, that’s what happens when you declare yourself the enemy of someone and all their allies.
Trollbait: Wait, WHAT?
Z.Void: YOU!
l33tpally: What?!?
Darkmore: Miss Chainbreaker declared war on me and all my allies. Since then, I’ve gained quite a few allies. That’s why her guild is KOS in Wyrmwood.
Colbalt: And what does this have to do with Mirelth?
Darkmore: Who do you think let the beauty go, with naught but her vow not to harm myself or those under my protection?
Z.Void: DIE!
l33tpally: HAX! HAX! 4 realz! How da fuk you do that?
Darkmore: It was an event, aided by roleplay and being honest when speaking to a goddess.
l33tpally: Ugh. RP events? No way!
Darkmore: I guess I can give a bit of free advice, since others have already started figuring it out. Forget all your normal MMO stuff. This is a living world. RP matters. You can’t just spam attacks until everything falls down.
Majestic: So, what’s that mean?
Darkmore: Do you just wander through a city in the real world asking people for quests? No. You talk to them. Do the same in AAO. Treat all the NPCs as actual people, and treat the world like you were living in it, and you’ll start uncovering more hidden opportunities. Like finding a dragon who had been held captive for centuries, and was very grateful that I freed her.
Colbalt: So going back to Mirelth, are you saying that you could stop what’s happening in Duskhaven?
Darkmore: Maybe. But I’m busy with affairs here in Wyrmwood, and maybe heading to the Underdark, as well. Then I promised I would go visit an orc clan that I made friends with.
Cookie: Always busy, hmm?
Darkmore: Don’t I know it. Anyways, for now, kill Z.Void and her people as often as you can, to try and earn your way out of Duskhaven. Those of you with friends outside the city should have them studying the lore, looking for Mirelth’s origins. Finding the heirs of her enemies will help. Finding all of them and presenting them to her may just resolve the event.
Z.Void: THE LIGHT WILL PREVAIL AGAINST YOUR DARKNESS, ZAYN!
Darkmore: Don’t worry, Z.Void. When I turn my attention to you again, I’ll make you into a nice, obedient pet.
Darkmore’s Knight: Hehe. You won’t be able to walk straight for DAYS!
Lexichan: Un. But she got stretched out properly during her time in the brothel, right? So she shouldn’t be too bad.
Z.Void: F-fuck you all! I’ll never do that again! You’ll never chain me again!
Darkmore: Little fool. If you had just let it be after your time in the brothel, I would have ignored you. But you took Torgan’s name in vain, and so now I will crush you.
Z.Void: N-no! I will purge you! By fire be purged!
Darkmore: I’ll see you soon.
Back in AAO, I began checking over the gear and properties that I had just acquired from Kali while considering my next course of action. Most of the gear was not bad, but not really useful for me or my pets. Her grimoire, with all her nasty spells, was of course not something I would use. I had no interest in undead apocalypses. But there were some nice pieces in the mix. If Kali had been prepared when she fought me, then things might have been more difficult.
Deathkeeper’s Bodice
Type
Chest
Rank
Rare
This corset is made from black leather and the bones of elves. The visible bone structure provides a measure of protection, but most of the garment’s protective value comes from its magic. Two skeletal hands grip the wearer’s breasts, keeping the view chaste, if only just.
Requires: Female or Hermaphrodite gender.
Requires: Non-Good Alignment
+100 Defense
+20 Charisma
+10% to all resistances
Lichlover’s Ring
Type
Ring
Rank
Uncommon
Dealing with the undead provides one with a significantly increased risk of catching several quite unpleasant diseases, some of which are incurable, even by magical means. This ring was crafted with that thought in mind. Those who wear it are immune to disease, including magical diseases. Additionally, those who are regularly in ‘congress’ with the undead are rendered immune to the special abilities of different undead creatures, such as a Vampire’s gaze, or a Lich’s paralyzing touch.
+10 INT
Immune to all normal and magical Diseases
If the wearer has sexual contact with an undead creature, immune to the special attacks of undead creatures for 24 hours.
Dagger of Vile Darkness
Type
Dagger
Rank
Rare
Damage
70 – 100
Damage Type
Vile/Piercing
A terrible weapon, meant for only the most evil of souls to wield. The blade was forged from corrupted Mithril in a forge on desecrated land, with tools containing runes of evil. Because of this, merely touching this weapon causes damage for anyone of Non-Evil alignment. But the most terrible effect of this weapon is that the wounds it causes cannot be healed, even by magical means, due to the weapon’s curse. Only by traveling to someplace with consecrated ground and having one well versed in holy magic perform a Remove Curse or similar spell can the wounds be healed.
Requires: Evil Alignment
+80 Attack
+20 DEX
Cursed Wounds – The dagger deals Vile damage, which is cursed such that it cannot be healed until after a caster with at least Advanced level in Divine Magic casts a Remove Curse or similar spell in an area under a Consecration effect, after which the damage may be healed normally.
Hateful Branch
Type
Wand
Rank
Uncommon
Damage
60 – 85
Damage Type
Dark
A deadly weapon in the hand of any mage, this wand is crafted from a rare darkwood tree, which grows in the Underdark by absorbing Mana from the air, rather than sunlight, making them prized as materials for a mage’s wand or staff. Like most wands, this weapon conjures a bolt of energy when used, which flies unerringly towards its target so long as it is within sight.
Range: 200 Feet
Cast Time: .5 Seconds
+20 Attack
10% chance to ignore armor
Unholy Thong of Cursed Souls
Type
Pants
Rank
Uncommon
This garment actually counts as a pair of pants. In drow culture, the more skin (and thus, theoretically, the more vulnerability) a female shows, the more powerful (and arrogant) she is. Of course that vulnerability is a lie, as anything a
high ranking drow female wears is likely highly magical. The same can be said of this leather bikini style garment with a thong back. It is imbued not only with protective magics, but is an incredible boon to Necromancers or others who control the undead.
Requires: Female Gender
+120 Defense
+20 CHA
+20% to all resistances
Maximum number of undead controlled increased by 50%
Cloak of Unending Torment
Type
Cloak
Rank
Rare
A cloak designed for sadists and torturers, pure and simple. The magic on this cloak is such that wounds dealt by the wearer deal 50% less damage, but that they cause 150% more pain. It also ignores user pain settings, causing both the wearer and their target to receive 100% of the pain inflicted, regardless of their pain settings.
+50 Defense
All damage reduced by 50%, pain caused increased by 150%. Target receives 100% of pain inflicted, regardless of settings.
Cursed: Pain settings increased to 100% as long as cloak is worn.
Of course, there was more, but those were the only really notable pieces of loot. I also saw that I now owned a building in the drow city of Chez Nairczet. Of course, me being a non-drow, getting down there without getting myself killed would be… problematic. Profitable, certainly. An insane level boosting program, definitely. But most certainly problematic.
Rules-Free VRMMO Life: Volume IV: To the Deeps Page 7