STORY ARC #4 HERO OF PENDOWN
Battle of Blood and Will
A Hero of Pendown Adventure
If you haven’t already, you can read the opening to A Hero of Pendown here. This continues We Are Not Alone, a ‘Choose your own story’ adventure.
You decide to fight the blood beast and try to save the trapped creature.
“Hang on, we’re coming to help!” you call out to the trapped soul as you ready your sword to fight.
“Careful,” Eshami warns. “If it touches you it could very well spell the end.”
“Nothing a little razzle ‘n dazzle can’t solve,” you say with a wink and a hint at a previous endeavor.
Eshami rolls her eyes but complies. With a swift step forward she points an open palm to the beast and utters a few arcane words. Her hand glows with a brilliant light as it bursts outwards with force. The blood beast shrieks and recoils in pain. Several tendrils of blood pull away from the trapped creature, which exposes much of its upper body.
You can now see it was a man that was trapped within the beast with only a few drops of life remaining. With a lunge, you stab your blade deep into where you think the beast’s heart resides. With your offhand, you grab the man by the arm and attempt to pull him from the monster’s grasp.
Despite being weakened, the beast refuses to let its victim free. You struggled with it in a deadly game of tug-o-war, with neither side able to gain any ground. Then you feel a chilled slimy tendril of blood drop upon your shoulder. Instantly you begin to feel your life being sapped away. Your muscles begin to weaken and shrink away, while your hair goes grayer by several shades.
You muster what little strength remains and channel it into your sword. The blade bursts into a brilliant fury of flames and threatens to engulf the blood beast.
Eshami seizes the opportunity you have created and expells another blast of holy light into the monstrosity. This forces it to recoil back from the onslaught. You manage to retrieve your blade, and free the man from the bloody tendrils. His sunken frame breathes weakly as you drag him across the floor to a safe distance.
Eshami retreats with you and casts a wary eye on the trail of blood left behind by the freed man. Slowly it begins to ooze and slink its way back to the beast.
“I can help you…” the sickly man utters.
You glanced to Eshami who meets your gaze. “I only have enough strength for one of you…”
You cast a glance at the blood beast which is starting to regain its form, and likely to attack again, and then look back down to the man at your feet. You are unsure what sort of aid, if any, he will be able to provide once healed, but your strength was severely sapped by the beast.
You have a few options to choose from. Pick wisely…
- Have Eshami heal the man to help finish the fight.
- Have Eshami heal you to help finish the fight. (Written by Jonathon Sawyer here.)
- Attempt to flee from the blood beast with the rescued man and find a different route to the control room. (Written by Jonathon Sawyer here.)
This is a ‘choose your own’ story article. You can read more about the collaborative effort and how you can participate here:
