《Defiant Soul Origins》 First Story: The birth of Gluttony (part one) When he first came to be there was nothing but an unsated need clawing at him and darkness. Then came touch as his body formed and the clawing need turned to a hollowing pain in his middle. The need shaped his form, one build for the Hunt. It gave him long strong limbs for the never-ending chase, claws to rend and capture prey and food, sharp teeth and too many mouths to devour all that he could. It felt powerful yet weak from the Hunger that clawed at his insides and the darkness remained in spite of him being fully formed now. That was easily explained as he had no eyes for some reason and sharp tooth mouths had taken their place. His hearing wasn''t much better off as he had no curving flaps of skin and cartilage to capture sound but at least there were no toothy maws to hinder it further. Something told him that his sense of touch was off too however, he couldn''t really tell how as he had nothing to compare it to. He let his mind linger on that thought as he gingerly prodded and pinched at the wrinkled, sagging skin that covered his body and made up the majority of the large sensory organ. It was an equally strange mix of hanging off his bones and clinging to them and he could feel all of his bones under it like he was some starved to death creature. Which wasn''t that far off considering the clawing hunger it had awoken with. Speaking of which..... His final sense was the sharpest of all of them, telling the creature a great many things about the place it was in. Most of what he could smell was identified in his mind as being ''not food'' but there was a faint paltry few that it could identify as being ''food''. He literally followed his nose to the nearest and largest source of one of the ''food'' scents it could detect, fumbling his way over to it in his blindness until one of his clawed, long fingered hands brushed against a still form laying on the floor. The creature cautiously nudged and prodded his perspective meal, making certain it wasn''t going anywhere before digging in. In his eagerness to feed, he nearly loss a few of his many fangs on the body''s hard bones on his first bite. The bones still broke in its powerful jaws, but he had learned a valuable lesson and was a bit more cautious in his feeding. He kept the softer tissues and joints for his teeth while using his hands to break apart the larger bones into more easily swallowed chunks. He made quick work of the body in spite of him learning another, foul lesson along the way when he came to the body''s insides. He powered through the unpleasant discovery though, the hunger clawing at his insides clamoring for every scrap of fuel he could give it. Before long, the lifeless remains had disappeared down his various gullets and he was licking himself clean of the residue his messy eating had left behind. The body he had devoured had taken off the edge of his all-consuming hunger, but he still wanted more.... He needed more. His ever-pressing hunger even urged him into hunting down and digging out the fresher, moving morsels in the walls of what he learned to be an enclosed space of some kind. Once he had cleared out the insides of the place of ''food'', he ventured to the place beyond its protective walls. The ''Outside''. The change from being in a sheltered space to the boarder of one that was not was a bit of shock to him at first, causing him to freeze for a moment. His limited senses couldn''t feel any boundaries like he had when he was ''inside'' and there a cool wind nipping at his exposed body as he ''stared'' out of the shelter out into the world beyond. The wind brought with it new scents of ''not food'' and the more appealing ones of ''food''. It was the latter that motivated him to venture further out into that vast empty space whose only boundary that he could sense was the ground beneath his hands and feet. A feather light warming touch from above blanketed his body as he followed one of the scents to one of the larger sources of ¡®food¡¯. He found it sprawled against the outside of one of the shelters as unmoving as the first one he had eaten. It was a bit different than that one though, less fresh and with a slightly different shape. It had a smaller frame over all but the part that held the foul parts of the body was distended far more than the first one. Curious, the creature cautiously prodded at bulge with a claw before sinking it into the stretched flesh when nothing happened. That was enough for the foul gases of decay to burst forth from the body to give him another unpleasant lesson, this time about the freshness of ¡®food¡¯ type items. Unfortunately for him, that wasn¡¯t the only lesson the still body was going to give the creature. He felt something in the air shift and flow towards the body while his own was busy trying to heave out its previous meal from the smell. The food wouldn¡¯t come out for which he was grateful for, but the nausea still left it unable to swallow and drool dripped from his numerous maws from the ordeal. While it had been doing that, whatever had been shifting towards the body did something to it and the creature could hear the crunching squelching noises from it over his gagging. The body moved, changed, and eventually disappeared from his limited senses during that time and was replaced by something that moved¡­. And wailed at him before surging forward. The starved creature snarled wetly back and defended himself ¨C angrier that his potential food had been stolen from him than afraid of what this new thing might do to him. It was a short yet brutal fight for the pair as their fangs and claws were set against each other. The first creature had the upper hand though as he had already had a chance to eat and adapt to his newly formed body. He was stronger too and eventually overpowered the newer one bite by bite until there was nothing left. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Well, almost nothing. The newborn creature was mostly tasteless and made from a barely identifiable mix of goo and bones. Eating it didn¡¯t fill his belly any or curb the gnawing hunger in his gut either, but it did have other lasting effects. He felt stronger after consuming it and that strength came with a kind of undefinable weight that he couldn¡¯t quite define other than it being there. There was also a new consciousness inside of his head with thoughts and feelings that were not his own. The other mind was still howling at him but now that noise came with meaning. Pain. Hunger. Suffering. Fear. Just to name a few of things inside of that torrent of emotions. The victor shoved back at the torrent in anger and annoyance and tried to get the other to stop but that only ended up with mixed results and not ones he was looking for. In his frustration, he tore at the torrent of formless thoughts and emotions, trying to get it to stop by taking them away from the other. To his surprise, that did work and soon all that was coming from the other was a mix of mild fear and confusion. He was confused as well, and it took the creature a moment to get his bearings and take stock of what had happened. That¡¯s when he realized his actions had borne more than his intended results. He felt oddly light for one and for another his seemingly endless hunger had ebbed by the smallest of margins. His efforts and interactions with the other consciousness also gave him something of a vague and nebulous understanding of¡­ various things. The creature took a few moments to sort things out inside of his own head before moving on. This included getting the other settled enough to leave him be and his new knowledge helped with that. It showed the creature that gentleness and patience would be more effective here rather than intimidation or violence. Once the other was pacified, the still starving creature went on to search for more ¡®bodies¡¯ and ¡®critters¡¯ to consume as ¡®food¡¯. He came across more things like the one he had fought and ate them as well. Each time they appeared, the body they came from disappeared but with each one¡¯s consumption came clarity, snippets of knowledge, and the odd feeling of having the smallest sliver of his ever-pressing hunger disappear even though they did nothing to fill his physical belly. Fortunately, there were other bodies that weren¡¯t bloated, and he was able to become ¡®full¡¯ in a sense. His hunger hadn¡¯t left it though, but it doubted eat anything more for a while. He also felt sluggish and slow now with a full belly and he knew that made him vulnerable to being attacked by stronger things. He sought out a resting place in one of the larger structures that his newfound knowledge called a ¡®barn¡¯. It found a pile of relatively dry hay that had been partially spoiled by rodents and other small creatures living in it, but it was big enough for the creature to hide within. The pungent smell of the rodents also helped him to disguise his own feeble scent and give him the occasional tasty snack he couldn¡¯t resist as his burrowing stirred them up. As for the hay, it was thick enough to easily keep out the chill drafts that riddled the building as well as trap in warmth to make things a bit more comfortable for the creature while it rested. As he rested and digested his meals, he found that he really didn¡¯t sleep or feel the need to. Yes, he was lethargic and what not, but he was still conscious of what was going on around himself unlike what ¡®sleep¡¯ was. At least according to the knowledge, he had gained. Still, he was content with what he had, and his semi-conscious state let him keep an eye on things, including the consciousnesses he had collected during his search for food. Both he and they had quickly learned that the creature that had eaten them wasn¡¯t the only one they could interact with. They could also interact with each other and the creature spectated with mild interest, letting him learn more from them just by watching. They also paid attention to him in return but whenever they asked him a question, the creature never had any answers for it. They were understanding of this in sense, accepting that he wouldn¡¯t have any due to him being less than a day old. Perhaps not even half of that yet. He wasn¡¯t even certain how long or even how he had even come to be. All he knew was that there was nothing then he simply was, like opening one''s eyes for the first time. His answer for his beginnings drew their curiosity and further attention and with it, came more knowledge as they taught him about the world, he came to exist in. Many new words, thoughts, and ideas were given to him by the consciousnesses which he came to know as ¡®souls¡¯. He was also able put names to other things like ¡®house¡¯, ¡®home¡¯, and ¡®barn¡¯ to the different shelters he had been going through. ¡®Village¡¯ and ¡®family¡¯ came next, quickly followed by ¡®adults¡¯, ¡®parents¡¯, and ¡®siblings¡¯. There were more along that line, but he couldn¡¯t really grasp them as he had nothing to compare them to. From there, the ideas got bigger and more foreign since he lacked the same set of senses general experiences as they had. He vaguely understood what the ¡®sun¡¯ was but ¡®light¡¯ and ¡®dark¡¯ eluded him still. Then there was ¡®land¡¯, ¡®forest¡¯, ¡®field¡¯, and related things the creature had yet to experienced but now knew he would probably recognize them to some extent once he had encountered the items. The birth of Gluttony part 2 The more nebulous or common ones were intermixed throughout the explanations and observations giving names to everything from emotions and feelings to scents like ¡®rot¡¯ and ¡®flowers¡¯ to bigger things like ¡®Life¡¯ and ¡®Death¡¯. Those last two had separate, complex tangles of emotion centered around them, ones he couldn¡¯t full comprehend although he had some idea of what the two were. Souls were involved with both, which brought up what was going to happen to the ones it had ingested. He...didn¡¯t know. Not really. When he thought of the ones he ingested or soul in general and what his body would¡­. or could do to them, idea of them being ¡®not food¡¯. Not just along the lines that he shouldn¡¯t eat them, but also that his body couldn¡¯t do anything to them other than contain the souls. That didn¡¯t mean it got nothing from them though. It took something from them while they remained within him, drawing it out until their minds drifted off into a restful slumber. It wasn¡¯t a permanent one though. He could wake them from it if he wanted to and they could resist the call of sleep easily themselves as well if they chose to do so. Either way, the discovery that the sleep was harmless and not permanent thing, helped put the others at ease. One by one, they all drifted off to sleep as time passed, leaving him alone once more inside of his mind. His belly grew steadily emptier as well and by the time the last one drifted off, he was more than ready to leave the haystack. He didn¡¯t pass up the chance of food the rodents hiding in the hay would give him and tore it apart in his search of them. He ignored the fibrous material in favor of them as it wasn¡¯t worth the effort to consume and digest even though it was vaguely edible. When he was done, he left the building and gave the village a cursory once over for any more bodies he could eat before leaving the village. He headed in the vague direction of another affected village, passing through dried up fields of dead crops and into what was left of the forest that once grew between the two settlements¡­¡­ A Few Hours Later at the Village He left behind. A group approaches the abandoned village warily, searching the buildings with their eyes for threats. Their two human archers, a man and woman, and elven tracker had bows in hand while the tall human swordsman had his weapon and kite shield out. The man was an inch or two taller than 6ft, but he only came up mid-chest to the heavily armored, small¡­ ¡®giant¡¯ that traveled with them. It was actually an orc under all that metal, and he favored a tower shield bigger than any of his smaller companions. Small, barbed spikes were scattered across the front of it, making anything that slammed against it pay with a ¡®pound of flesh¡¯ to get free. At the other end of the size spectrum was what looked like a child in light leather armor. It was a halfling with short curly hair, fair skin and blue eyes. He had no weapon, or at least no obvious weapon, on him and he was sitting in the driver¡¯s seat of the covered wagon the group had with them. It was being pulled by a great big plodding beast with a leathery reptilian hide and built in plates of boney armor to protect its wide back. More plates protected its blunt, rounded head along with a pair of thick curling horns jutting out of the sides and sharpened tusks curving skyward at the corners of its wide mouth. Its normally bright, large, round eyes were dulled with hunger and weariness while its large nostrils flared with every breath as it snuffled around. Thick, pillar-like legs kept it moving forward at a steady pace and kept its normally round belly a few feet up off the ground. At its rear was a short, bulbous tail with curving spikes and eye spots to make for a mock head. When the group entered the village¡¯s border, they headed for the center of it where the village well was. They kept their guard up and surrounded the wagon to keep it safe. It carried their much-needed supplies as well as testing kits to check for the taint of the ¡®black blight¡¯ that infected the lands they were traveling through. They were almost as needed as their supply as the blight could kill them as surely as a lack of food or water if they were to ingest any of this particular form of it. ¡°I don¡¯t like this, it''s too quiet.¡± muttered the elven tracker. ¡°Think they fixin¡¯ to ambush us this time around, Ferril?¡± rumbled the Orc and elf shook his head. ¡°No, this is a starvation type blight they would have struck or tried to get into position the moment we got close enough. I would have heard that.¡± Ferril replied before furrowing his brow as he focused for a moment. His blue eyes turned a starry black for a moment as he used a skill of his, a stark contrast to his fine, ivory pale features. Whatever he learned from it made him halt in surprise. The others did as well to stare at him, except for the cart. The beast pulling it was more interested in the smell of fresh water coming from the village well as its center than whatever the elf was doing. ¡°Ferril? Is everything alright? We¡¯re not about to get neck in wyvern dung, are we?¡± The hafling¡¯s high wavering voice asked him, snapping him out it. He shook his head, his eyes returning to their normal sky blue before answering. ¡°No¡­ but it¡¯s strange. I¡¯m not detecting any of the blight. The village has obviously suffered from it, judging from the lack of life alone but it''s like a hundred years have passed! There¡¯s not a trace of it anywhere!¡± Ferril replied, waving his bow at the empty buildings and parched, lifeless fields surrounding them. The others frowned in collective confusion before returning to walking by the wagon that hadn¡¯t stopped. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Maybe we wandered deeper into the affected area tha¡¯ we should have?¡± The orc asked him, and the elf paused for a moment to consider it before shaking his head. ¡°No, there¡­ there would be something, Razz. It only started last year after all before it was caught¡­. And only half a year before word was sent out for help." Ferril replied. ¡°Then what about a Wave? You¡¯ve lived through one of those, haven¡¯t you?¡± Asked the human woman. Again the elf took a moment to consider the question. ¡°No¡­ I¡­¡± The elf started and then sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t know. It was over a hundred years ago and I was only a child back then. I would think if they had found something even remotely like this it would have been a big enough that even us children would have noticed.¡± He eventually told her before his confusion turned into anger and his frown deepened. ¡°Unless the political bullshit the Elders were up to at the time got it buried for whatever asinine reason.¡± He spat bitterly and uttered something in elvish that probably wasn¡¯t too flattering about the elven leaders from that time. ¡°I take it, it¡¯s relatively safe since the beast -¡± The armored man started. ¡°Her name is Sally!¡± The halfling piped up in irritation and the man eyed him with derision before continuing. ¡°Sally is calm and you¡¯re muttering in elvish, I¡¯m to take it that its safe?¡± the man asked in a gruff voice. ¡°Er¡­ yes¡­. Well, barring the blight beasts figuring out how to hide all trace of themselves, we are as safe as we can be, Charles.¡± The elven tracker replied, and the man nodded. ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll make a base camp here and see if we can¡¯t at least refill our water supply if the well checks out. After that, whether not we find anything ¨C and that includes another blight beast ¨C we¡¯re heading back.¡± Charles told the group after sheathing his sword, getting mixed sighs of relief from the others and one muttered ¡®finally¡¯ from the woman. The majority of the group followed the wagon while the elf split off from the rest of the group. But, before he did, he had the halfling dig out a small box that contained a sample collecting kit. He took the item with him as he went off to investigate what had happened to the village. What he found was both puzzling and concerning, leaving his pale face scrunched up in thought when he finally met back up with them at the well. They had taken the opportunity to get out some water and jerky for a general break while they waited for the elf to return. Sally didn¡¯t get anything though as most of the supplies weren¡¯t for her, but she was still thirsty and snuffled and grumble unhappily at smelling water but not getting any. She did get a little when the elf returned, and Charles handed his cup off to the halfling to empty into her mouth. ¡°Find anything?¡± He asked the elf once he was close enough. Ferril gave him an exasperated look before shaking his head. ¡°Plenty. Most of which is concerning while the rest¡­ I don¡¯t know what to make of it.¡± He replied, waving his hands to illustrate his clueless helplessness at what he had found when he paused. He paused again to gather his thoughts after that, and Charles and the others waited patiently while they waited for the elf to continue. ¡°On the surface, it just like all the other villages we¡¯ve come across where there have been blight beast births. Yes, it was affected by the blight this year and there are signs of cannibalism before everyone died. Yes, there are signs of fighting too after everyone is dead and only a single trail leading out. But that¡¯s where the similarities end. Aside from there being no traces of blight as far as I can tell without testing, the signs of fighting are at least a day old if not more, but the trail is only a few hours old. Not only that, it hasn¡¯t been scoured of everything edible and the tracks aren¡¯t in any hurry either. If anything, they were purposeful, going to the road and heading in the direction of the next village we were supposed to investigate.¡± Ferril explained. ¡°Think it¡¯s friendly?¡± The halfling suggested and all of his companions turned to look at him. ¡°What? It¡¯s a perfectly good assumption! For all we know it¡¯ll only attack those infected with the blight!¡± The halfling protested as the rest stared at him incredulously. It was Ferril who broke the awkward silence that followed by clearing his throat. ¡°Theories aside, I was able to determine that this one is humanoid with the ability to move around just fine on two legs but with preference for crawling. Its senses might be questionable too which would explain its slowness and why there are still living things in the buildings as small as they are. I just couldn¡¯t tell that they were there. I know I said its trail was a few hours old, but I don¡¯t think it would take much to catch up with it if it''s as encumbered as I think it is.¡± Ferril explained, focusing on Charles as he spoke. The man crossed his arms and closed his eyes while he weighed his options. It didn¡¯t take him long before deciding and he opened his eyes take in the group. ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll take an hour¡¯s rest here before going after it.¡± He told them before turning to look at the halfling. ¡°Except you, Reed. You¡¯re going to do some reconnaissance. You¡¯ve been sitting for most of the day while we¡¯ve all been walking and, if the creature is as harmless as you believe it to be, then you shouldn¡¯t be in any danger then.¡± He informed him and Reed shank with a wince at the suggestion. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t joke, Charles. You¡¯re really bad at them.¡± The halfling commented weakly. System Mechanics - Stats
STAT CHARACTERISTICS AVERAGE (for an adult Human) METHODS OF TRAINING
Strength How much a person can lift *10 lbs per point Stamina starts to drain when carrying ^80% of maximum Can carry up to ^10% over maximum but is generally considered a bad idea Can be negatively affected by Starvation, Malnutrition, Illness, and ^^Miasma related Afflictions *5~10 Anything that causes Stamina or equivalent Physical Resource to drain really
Vitality Governs the maximum health points a person has Hp = 10 times Vitality score Also has a small effect on how fast Stamina drains, and resistance to illness and how quickly they can recover from it, Affects how quickly Stamina, Hp, Mana(demons and Fae only), or similar resource is recovered Doesn''t affect the recovery of Unique Resource like Cp or Elemental essences Can be affected negatively by certain sustained Afflictions like Malnutrition, Starvation, Illness and ^^Miasma related Afflictions ~10 Getting hurt and recovering Health Good Nutrition
Endurance Governs the Stamina resource and other equivalent resources Affects base Resistance to everything and the accruement of more specific Resistances Can be affected negatively by the higher levels of certain sustained Afflictions like Malnutrition, Starvation, Illness ^^Is negatively affected by Miasma related Afflictions ~7-10 Getting hurt and recovering, recovering from most Afflictions, Fully draining Stamina, Continuing to work/move with fully drained Stamina
Defense Affects the durability of skin, bones, and other tissues to reduce damage to the body. Can be affected negatively by the higher levels of certain sustained Afflictions like Malnutrition and Starvation ^^Is negatively affected by Miasma related Afflictions ~7- 9 Getting hit a lot
Wisdom Affect the regeneration of Mana and other mental or spiritually based resources Affects the retention and use of acquired Knowledge Affects resistance to Mind Control, Charm/Charisma, and Madness Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.Can be affected negatively by the highest levels of certain sustained Afflictions like Malnutrition and Starvation Can also be affected Drowsiness, Fatigue, Drunkenness, and Mage Bane ^^Is negatively affected by Miasma related Afflictions ~5 - 10 Problem solving, Extended periods of Meditation
Intelligence Affects the maximum stored Mana that is readily available for spells or other mystic/spiritual arts Mana = Intelligence stat times ten Affects the speed of learning and thought processes Affects resistance to Mind control and the effects of Charisma Can be affected negatively by the highest levels of certain sustained Afflictions like Malnutrition and Starvation Can also be affected Drowsiness, Fatigue, Drunkenness, and Mage Bane ^^Is negatively affected by Miasma related Afflictions ~10 Problem solving, studying, research
Agility Affects flexibility, speed, balance, and the ability to dodge during a fight Can be affected negatively by the highest levels of certain sustained Afflictions like Malnutrition and Starvation Can also be affected Drowsiness, Fatigue, and Drunkenness ^^Is negatively affected by Miasma related Afflictions ~7-10 Stretching, running obstacle courses, and dodging
Dexterity Affects precision and spatial awareness Can also be affected Drowsiness, Fatigue, and Drunkenness ^^Is negatively affected by Miasma related Afflictions ~8-11 Doing detailed work, dodging
Charisma Affects social interactions - good or bad - on an intentional level ^^Is negatively affected by Miasma related Afflictions ~6-9 Socializing mainly
Luck Affects the rarity of events and the outcome of interactions, good and bad Event type is regulated by Karma Outcome of interactions is regulated by Charisma Curses increase the negative effects of Luck Blessings increase the positive effects of Luck Moderately affects the effectiveness and acquirement of Resistances ^^Is negatively affected by Miasma related Afflictions ~ Gambling, taking calculated risks
*May change in the future ^Can vary between races and specie and can be changed with boosting effects ^^Demons and Demonics are immune to the effects of Miasma and thus cannot acquire Miasma related afflictions Demon Lords
TITLE NAME BURDEN STAT AFFINITY
Demon Lord of Gluttony Gully Starvation Endurance
Demon Lord of Lust Lucia, Lu Isolation Charisma
Demon Lord of Greed To be decided Need(?) Luck
Demon Lord of Wrath To be decided Fear(?) Strength
Demon Lord of Sloth To be decided Depression Intelligence
Demon Lord of Pride To be decided Something to do with lack of confidence/ self-esteem Agility
Demon Lord of Envy To be decided Loss Dexterity
*The Hidden Lord Issac(?) Madness Wisdom