Mission:What Was Built Upon the Past - Part One: Immunity

Part One: Immunity

Briefing

A strange spirit came to me in a dream, Character. It spoke of a tremendous battle recently fought on an island in the sea, a battle against what they called the 'creature of pure death'.

The spirit implored that a champion from Cimerora sail to the island to try to finish the battle that they started. However, Cimerora is still reeling from the war against Romulus Augustus. He is still out there in the wilds, filled with the strange power of the evil spirits.

We were going to send the captain of the guard, Marcus Valerius with a squad of our strongest soldiers, however the spirit warned that only those of god-like stature should try to visit this 'island of death'.

• Then it looks like I'm setting sail to the island.

I appreciate it, Character. There shall be a boat waiting to set sail to this island.

Marcus and his men shall man the boat while you investigate the inside. I do not know what you will find there, but I would be careful. Daedalus says that if this spirit is correct, there could be monsters within that cave the likes that we've never seen before.

Unnecessary Solicitation

Be careful, Character, it would be a shame if something horrible happened to someone of your stature.

Mission Objective(s)

Map: ISLAND_OF_THE_DEAD

The boat docks on the island of death after navigating through a narrow passageway.

• Investigate the Island of Death
  • Investigate the cavern
  • Speak with Dream Doctor
  • Recover the idol of Mot amidst the rubble

You've recovered the idol of Mot!

Enemies

Banished Pantheon

Notable NPCs

• Dream Doctor (NPC Ally)

Dream Doctor: Character. Dream Doctor: I believed we would meet under much different circumstances... but I suppose we don't get to choose where destiny leads us. Dream Doctor: This current threat we face could spell the end of humanity, before the supposed 'Coming Storm' even arrives. Dream Doctor: So, without further pause, allow me to introduce myself, properly... Dream Doctor: I am the Dream Doctor, the letter writer. You and I, Character, have a lot of work to do.

The letter writer has revealed himself!

Dream Doctor

Briefing

Character, I've been hoping this day would come for quite some time. I am sorry you and I had to speak for so long in such an odd manner, but it had to be done.

I have had my eye on Dark Astoria for some time; I originally set up the protective runes throughout the area as a beacon for those in my team, Ajax and Protean, though I fear those runes grow weaker as we speak.

I am sure you have questions, I shall do my best to answer them. We are lucky, as we have all the time in the world; when you return to the present, barely any time will have gone by. It is the beauty of time travel.

• What is the Coming Storm?

I do not know fully what the Coming Storm is. I do know that it involves the force known as Batallion, but beyond that, I do not know.

Mender Silos and his cohorts are fully aware of what it is, yet refuse to divulge much information about it. I do know, however, that Batallion is a force like no other, one that has the potential to wipe out all of existence. Of course, we will not let that happen. Humanity will grow stronger and fight against the group, this I am sure of.

• Why did you have to communicate through letters?

At the onset of my suspicions of Ouroboros, I had to keep my work secret. The group was powerful, and I was but one man.

When I first vanished, I had gone into dreamspace, believing the Circle of Thorns were the source of our problems, that they had somehow found a way to tamper with time. It was during my travels that I discovered the menace of Ouroboros.

I found out that I could use dreamspace to travel through time... one of the thirteen methods of time travel. I saw that you would become a very powerful figure one day, and so I wrote my letters to warn you of Ouroboros and Silos, knowing they would try to use your abilities for their own gain.

I had to bide my time as I understood the nature of what we're up against, but time travel has taken its toll on me. My travel to Cimerora shall be my last foray into tampering with time. There are too many dangers associated with it, including losing your mind.

• Why are you fearful of Ouroboros?

I was fearful of them, Character. Mender Silos gathered a group of maniacs to do his bidding. Twilight's Son sold out his race to Battalion and Mender Lazarus is a madman of a scientist, leagues beyond the likes of Dr. Aeon. Mender Tesseract is a cruel creature who would enslave everyone if she still retained her power, and Silos... well, as you must be aware, he is a version of Nemesis from the future.

I do not know why he chose these people, however, if Silos could travel through time and choose anyone, why choose those who were morally questionable? Perhaps I cannot speak, as I have Protean in my employ, but he pales in comparison to the horrors that the Menders have wrought.

• Who else is part of your team?

Right now it is currently Ajax and Protean, though I have solicited some others for help, notably Dean MacArthur and those two agents.

Ajax is incredibly useful as a man who cannot be killed. Protean is an excellent man to send in for spy work, though he must be kept on a short leash. He is a cold-blooded killer, though he continues to help me, as I know how he can recover his true identity.

Protean is currently going back and forth through the Banished Pantheon and the Tsoo, relaying information that the groups have.

• Let's just get to the point of what has to be done.

As you're aware, the Oranbegans fought against Mot here and sealed him in an idol.

The Cimerorans may have been able to handle the situation themselves, but due to the temporal invasion of the 5th Column and other groups, they have been left in a state of chaos.

Did you read that it somehow ended up in Astoria, Rhode Island, all the way from Cimerora? That would be due to the actions that you have done, or will do here. The idol that Mot is contained in must be taken across the ocean and sealed in Astoria if we are to have a chance to destroy it in the present.

As well, I've deduced that if you were to be exposed to Mot's idol in its current state, you would develop a sort of immunity from Mot's influence. This would buy you and me time to fight Mot. The creature is growing out of control, however; if we do not stop it, even the immunity you gained will not be strong enough to stop it from devouring you.

• Why can't we destroy it in Cimerora?

Mot's nature prevents it from ever being destroyed. The Oranbegans tried again and again until none of them were left. The creature simply regenerates, feeding upon its own death.

There is a way to destroy it, and that way is contained within Dark Astoria.

• And why is Astoria special?

Astoria, as luck or fate would have it, is the only place where Mot can be destroyed. If the idol ends up anywhere else, the world will be destroyed.

I've spent months pondering over this, Character, believe me. I've come up with many alternatives... throwing the idol into space, sending it into a different dimension. However, all of them lead to doom except for this one gambit in Astoria, the perfect place for Mot.

• How is Astoria perfect for this?

There was a man long ago... well, if we're speaking now, it would be far in the future, named David Hazen. He and his friends discovered Mot and the bindings that were in the land known as Astoria.

They sought to destroy Mot once and for all, to do what the ancient Oranbegans could not. In the end, Hazen and his friends failed. All of them were either killed by Mot or driven insane. However, their final act was to inscribe tremendous runes into the very earth of Astoria, runes that were extremely complicated.

I believe these are runes of empowerment, meant to amplify a certain spell. I do not believe Hazen knew what spell this would be, but he hoped that those that came after him would use it to stop Mot.

The Tsoo, for all their infamy, came up with a plan to use these runes. They are attempting to summon Tielekku into this world and use her power to destroy Mot. There is an issue with this, however.

• Wait, who is Tielekku?

Ancient myths say that she is the goddess of magic, possibly the first being to even use magic. She used her powers to banish the gods that the Banished Pantheon worshipped into the spirit world. Unfortunately, Mot was not part of this. From what I gathered, Mot was not powerful enough to be noticed during that time. It slowly grew in power as centuries passed until it fell to the Oranbegans to handle Mot. I believe Mot has become part of the Pantheon many years ago, as it is the last powerful god that remains outside of the spirit world.

If Tielekku were to be summoned into this existence, she could banish Mot, just like the others gods of the Pantheon... I believe. Her power may have weakened over the years... but that is something I do not fully know.

• Alright, but what is the issue?

One, is that I believe the Tsoo intend to use a sword called the 'God-Killer' that Tub Ci has forged to take Tielekku's power. Their aim is to ascend Tub Ci to godhood so that he can destroy Mot himself. Whether or not this sword can kill Tielekku is debatable, but it can, at the very least, take some of her power.

The second is that even with Tielekku summoned, there would need to be someone powerful enough to help protect her against the power of Mot while she banishes the beast. This would require that someone to be immune to Mot's power.

When you take hold of the idol, Character, you will fulfill the portion of this plan that requires you to be immune to Mot. It will not be easy, however, as Mot will try to pull you down into its darkness when you take hold of the idol. If you can resist it for some time, you will be immune to Mot's ability to absorb you, but only for a time.

You will have to focus all of your willpower when you are holding onto the idol of Mot, leaving only yourself to go toe to toe in a battle of wills against Mot.

• Understood. Let's go get the idol of Mot.

Excellent, I will follow your lead.

Once the idol is retrieved, you must bring it to Sister Solaris. The Cimerorans will be able to set up a voyage to send it to Astoria, this I am sure of.

I shall stay in Cimerora to investigate rumors of other monsters appearing. When our business is done here, we shall meet again in Dark Astoria to finish things with Mot once and for all.

• Very well.

• Why bring it to Astoria? There must be a better way.

The Idol of Mot

You grasp the idol of Mot, which is covered with tiny grotesque mouths. The power of Mot pulses out from it, trying to escape. As you hold it, you can hear unintelligble mumblings in your mind, the words of Mot trying to destroy you. Images flash in your mind, that of your past. The memories of any person you cared about appear and become twisted, Mot showing the absolute worse view of them. You can feel emotions of hatred and despair trying to assault you, changing your view of past events in your life; moments that were happy turn to hatred, victorious times twist into despair. You see images of yourself being killed in several gruesome ways, all of it trying to drive home the fact that you can be killed, despite what you think, and that your life has no meaning to it. You see yourself falling into the maws of Mot, followed by an image of the planet earth being devoured. However, you're able to resist Mot's attempt to twist you. You've seen enough horrors in your time to be able to resist the will of Mot. The images fade, but Mot still tries to whisper to you.

Debriefing

Character, you return, and with the source of evil kiLL that I have seen in my dreams.

Truly, you must be strong yoU willed to resist such a power.

We must decide nO what to do with such an item, for if it is left alone, all of Cimerora will be destroyed by such rampant evil.

I would ask that you stay and help us with this task. There are rumors of monsters appearing in the peninsula. If that is true, we HoPE will need all the help we can get.