Defilement is a Matter of Perspective, Non-con JT

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Plotline:

Here the player finds themselves at the actual cesspit of the world. You know that place we all reference and throw everything we don't like in? Yea, now imagine that you threw diseased people, a few demons, and literally everything poisonous, infectious, and putrid all in the same thing! It's actually disgusting. It will never come off of your clothes, and that stink is about as foul as foul can be. So foul even the plaguefather would approve of.

In all seriousness though, the player will find themselves in a valley where everything ends up at. However in these lands it's mostly everything that no one wanted to deal with and things that were considered "unholy". You find yourself in one of the many shacks at the upper portion of the valley after having been knocked the fuck out. With walls slick from grime, sludge, and the seemingly constant foul acidic rain there's nowhere to go but down and deep into the heart of the valley. Whatever lies there may be the only means of bringing you back the real question is do you have the stomach for it? And can you handle the mobs of exiled and forgotten things that call this degenerate and rotting slum their home?

Let's be blunt I'm trying my hand at another Demon Soul's theme'd adventure. Albiet smaller and one on one. The user is going to deal with the Valley of Defilement and of course every disease known to man. Good luck NOT catching them all. Meanwhile attempting to find a means back to the world they were once apart of. As well as some cleaning agent, but let's be fair. No amount of bleach will rid you of the stench by the time you're done with this. Win and surivive or lose and be blessed with so much filth even Orobas couldn't corrupt you further. Same as the old Souls formula with a few twists here and there.


Estimated Enemy Strength:

This depends on the area.

The starting area (2-1) will deal with enemies that about class 4 to a couple class 3 creatures. The boss for it will be class 2.

The intermediate area (2-2) will have class 3 enemies predominantly with a few class 2 enemies sprinkled around. The boss is going to be class 1.

The last area (2-3) deals simply with the final boss and is expected to a hard won fight. Class is 1-0 with the works.

This can be lowered if the participant is on the lower end of the accepted class range.

Special Conditions:

Ok so there are a few!

1. Step techs limited to twice a post max and can only go a maximum of 5 feet.

2. Air ground does not exist. If the user can't fly via a tech or some inherent ability, or cannot create constructs the user cannot remain suspended in the air.

3. Upon killing a boss the RPC will be refreshed in all manner. Physical health, reiatsu, stamin, and extra resources such as. Stamina posts, times they can release, ability cooldowns, etc.

4. Characters have 2 extra lives. If they die 3 times the thread is considered finished but failed. These will not be regained upon killing a boss.

Video Reference of level:

[William O, Creed]

Hoping this is still open

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

To the Tokyo police force it was almost akin to the robber picking a "flavor of the week" considering no two weeks were ever the same. The first week had been what one would expect. Jewlery. Highly valuable and from several repuatble stores that were known to have high quality materials to make even more luxurious accessories. The next however was a series of bakery thefts. A few wedding cakes, cookies, and even just their culinary equipment. Fast forward to the week after that and it was financial records of most major companies in Tokyo. And last but defintely not the least strange came to the final week prior to William's involvement, books. In a few cases it was a library but frequently it was various books, generally fantasy, from book stores. To say the police force was confused was an understatment.

Hell the only reason they had even realized that any if not all of these thefts were connected was the single piece of evidence that was found at every crime scene. Spiritually enhanced dirt. Granted did anyone other than William realized that it was reiatsu infused? Absolutely not. William being the only spiritually aware human among the force was the only one who'd realized that something clearly spiritual was involved. To the rest of the force it simply looked like the criminal had gone to a gardening store and purchased high end fertilizer.

With William's revelation came the duty to take on the case. the only question though was would he be able to get assigned to it through the proper channels? Or woul;d he have to resort to vigilante work on the side? It wouldn't matter ultimately as regardless of his choice William continued to research and study the thefts as well as the clues left at the crime scenes. It didn't take longer than half a week for William to realize his current stream of thefts weren't as superficial as they may have appeared. In fact with a couple of people on the "shadier" side of life he'd begun to realize that the thefts were targeting potential spiritually infused items. Some of which were potent items or would be potent items on the black market.

Thus William came up with a plan. A very simple but effective plan. Having recently acquired a black market item of his own it was highly likely that should this information be "leaked" that the thief would immediately make an appearance to steal it. And what made it even better was that a thief like themself would kill for the item that William possessed. An interdimensional doorknob. A rarity even among black market items and for good reason. It allowed anyone, physical body or spiritual body, human or not, access to every world imaginable. Barring Hell or select planes of existences. But what better tool for a thief than an escape button that let them go anywhere they wanted? Even if the thief caught on that it was a trap, there was no way they could turn down the opportunity. Especially now with the high demand such an item had and how hard it was to come by.

The days came and went more quickly than even William would have liked. But even despite their hasty arrival and departure everything was able to be set in place and the trap ready for the "super thief". In a warehouse known for lax guards and infrequent patrols due to how large the overall complex was it was perfect. William nor his soon to be captured criminal would be done without anyone the wiser.
And best yet the crime spree would be put to a grinding halt. That was how it was supposed to go. Needless to say. . . shit happened.

It started out exactly as intended. William perched above several cargo crates watching and waiting for his newest aquaintence to show themself. The guards had just passed by for their patrol and that meant that at the worst he had a couple hours left before he had to start worrying about their arrival again. Thankfully the thief was nothing if not punctual because as soon as the guards entered the next warehouse over the man, the myth, the super thief entered. And if William had any questions about how no one and nothing was able to catch him it was easily understood at a glance. First and foremost the man in question was wearing a cloak, light green but hard to keep track of and definitely harder to sense. If it hadn't been for him seeing the man make his entrance he'd have never saw him in the first place. Which meant that cloak was the reason nothing short of a potent spiritual entity would have been able to attempt to sense them. And the second thing to note was how the individual got in and out before anyone noticed.

It was a doorknob of their own. Albiet a bit different in function than William's interdimensional doorknob. Instead of opening doors to other worlds it instead made a door present on a wall or any surface it connected to. Between these two objects there was no way anything without reiatsu involved in it's construction would detect this man. Thankfully William was spiritually aware and had been ready for something like this to happen. And when his new guest was just about to "acquire" his newest item that's when William sprung. Jumping down from the cargo crates and landing directly onto the thief.

He'd managed to get off the cloak making it infinitely easier to keep track of him but the fight had only just begun. And like any good action movie the fight scene was almost mildly ridiculous. William's martial prowess was nearly on par with the thief's which admittedly had caught even William off guard given there had been no indication the individual in question had any "fighting" capability. But that didn't stop the two from continuing to duke it out. Deflections, redirections, guards, sucker punches, and anything else you could imagine was all used. The dirtier the tactic the better and ultimately the fight between them was pretty much even until William had made a few minor mistakes. Those mistakes cost him dearly as it had allowed several free hits to his head, torso, and shoulders. Ultimately making him slow down enough to be caught in a grab and transitioned into a shoulder throw. Try as the man might he was thrown into the nearest cargo crate thus ending their epic action sequence between them.

And like every movie ever it looked like William, the protangonist, had his back against a wall. The thief had his doorknob in hand, grabbed his cloak again, and was in the middle of figuring out how to use said doorknob to escape. Meanwhile William was still in a daze and struggling get himself back up. That's when instinct took over. There was no chance in hell he could reach the thief in time, He was already realizing how to open the door and the glow around the doorknob showed it. That left only one option. With one swift motion Wlliam drew his gun, fired off several bullets just to be safe, and managed to land a couple rounds on the doorknob itself. Knocking it not only out of the thief's hands but also damaging it and changing the hue from light blue to a dreary murky purple.

The thief obviously hadn't realized as he was holding onto his hand and making a run for the doorknob regardless. In a a last ditch effort William had found the strength within to drag his ass up and run like his life depended on it to get to the man. What would happen next is where the fan, already hit by shit would have spontaneously combusted. The doorknob was attached to the wall and a door opened. However unlike how the doorknob would normally work the place itself was nothing like any world William had ever seen. It was a valley but from the stench was the literal cesspit of the world. And with William having lunged after the doorknob and landing directly onto the thief they were both sent through the door and into this unwelcoming and near inhospitable realm. The door behind them shut immediately afterward and the doorknob fell onto the half rotten, slick, swelled up wood planks that made their new floor.

Like a cartoon skit the doorknob rolled and rolled and rolled until it was just at the edge of the precipace of the shack William and his criminal companion had been brought to. Said criminal however wasn't willing to let the doorknob go as even he knew it was the only way out of this. . .filth of a world. Thus he threw off Willam and immediately ran over to said item. And that's when rock bottom was reached. Literally. The wood so swelled up and brittle from the rain, fungal, moss, and god knows what other degenerate plants had made their residence on the end of the "terrace" finally had too much weight to bear. And the floor itself split and fell down into the valley's depths taking the thief and the doorknob with it.

William on the other hand was relatively "safe" given he was in the "dryer" portion of the shack. The wood more sturdy and able to handle his weight far easier. With his only ticket out lost and his criminal presumably dead or soon to be he was left in the shack with his own thoughts. A quick glance around showed there were ramps made of several large planks of swelled up wood lining the sides of the walls starting at his left and spiraling up to the second floor. From there he'd find a "bridge" made of equally shody wood and would be subject to the "rain" of the valley once he'd left the gaping hole in the wall that was his entrance to the shack on the second floor. Further down was a man? Humanoid. . . thing with a plague doctor mask on it's face, incredibly emaciated, and skin that was a dull orange wielding a spear that burned from oil on the end of it. It was simply walking around in circles.

Taking a step back however if William looked around he'd realize that the "rain" though it was definitely present from the sky above was also in part due to several waterfalls of absolute grime and filth making their way into the recesses of the valley from either side. Every 30 or 40 feet there was a waterwall about 10 feet wide spewing out liquid that made sewage water smell and look like drinking water. Whever William had found himself to be at it was without a doubt the a living dumpster heap. Looking past the waterfalls and shacks lining the walls of this valley the only other noteworthy features were the "sky" and the abyss below him. Neither he could see clearly meaning it was either night or he was so far into the earth that it didn't matter where he was it was dark as hell. And considering he couldn't even guesstimate how far down the valley went it was likey a safe guess to say falling was not an option he'd want to partake. His only option was up and forward into the various connected shacks and hoping to god or whatever deity that may exist that the utter stench, and that was putting it lightly, would go away or get better as time passed. Spoiler, it wouldn't. And even William knew he was down right fucked.







OOC: So welcome to the Valley of defilement! It's a bit early to start but fuck it. I've got the time to shoot out a post and get this started so why the hell not? Besides I can't wait to see how William handles this place haha!

As I've done with the other threads for each Demon's Souls area there is a gimmick. And in this case William has to deal with eniromental debuffs, aka Poison/Plague/ Pestillence.

These are tracked in counters and I'll keep track of them for you. Ultimately however you'll want to minimize the gaining of these as much as possible as the effects will stack up over time and with Plague you'll die if you have too many counters.

Poison Counters: These are gained in several ways. 1 per post by existing in the Valley of Defilement. 1 by being hit by any enemy that isn't a rat, or something else entirely. (I.E. the soulless husks, giant ticks, giant mosquito's, giant husks, swamp jelly fish, slugs. and the first two bosses.) Black Phantoms will be on a case by case basis if they do. I'll inform you ahead of time. Certain attacks may give upwards of 3 counters so I'll let you know if before hand how many they will inflict. Last by not least is by interacting with the swamp water in the basin in the second level also gives a counter.

The effects of having the Poison Counters are as follows:

1. Starting at 20 for every 5 counters after William will get one plague counter.

2. Every 5 poison counters William will suffer a 5% increase in reiatsu costs. (Up to a maximum of 50% at 50 counters)

3: At every 10 poison counters there will be a debuff applied.

10+: Minor aches and blotches on skin. Namely the arms and legs. Blotches are small at max about half an inch in size.
20+: Blotches turn into bruises that begin to ache more than what would be expected from a bruise. Minor fatigue. Pain Tolerance/SoW/ or other applicable skill of 1 will make it easily ignorable.
30+: Bruises grow up to 2inches in size and are frequent all over the body. Skill points necessary to ignore increase to 2. Step Techniques are limited to once per post without harming William's legs in the process. Fatgue is noticeable. Any cut to William is treated as though Bleeding Tolerance is 1 less.
40+: Wide spread brusing covers most of William's arms and legs, and are spreading to his torso. Pain is capped out at a 3 in the requiste skill to ignore. Bleeding is much worse for any injury and acts as though the skill is 2 less.
50+: Final stage. William is for all intents and purposes a bruise. And this has spread to his internals causing internal bleeding. No step techs can be used without injuring William further. Using anything higher than half his physical total will also injure William. Pain is felt regardless of any action he's doing.

Plague Counters:

These are much harder to generate than poison. Barring certain enemies, most notably rats and certain shamans only the final boss will have these. However generating even a small amount of these is deadly as shown below.

3+: Healing items are half as effective.
6+: The bodies natural healing abilities are stopped.
9+ Wounds fester and every 3 posts grow worse eventually leading to potential limb removal from it rotting off.
15: Death.

To counter these there are special herbs that the vendor of this level will sell. Royal Lotus for poison and Widow's Lotus for Plague. Royal Lotus will decrease the counters by 20 per consumption while Widow will completely remove any plague counters.

Last but not least Poison tolerance helps immensely by staving off the effects by 10 counters per level. However once exceeded William will suffer from the level appliable. Plauge works similarlly but pushes all effects back by 3 per every 2 points aside from death. 15 counters of plague will kill regardless of poison tolerance.

Also last but not least. True to Demon's Souls there are "artifacts" of power hidden within the level. These are guarded of course but if you succeed at getting them they will ganted a good number of boons for William. And possibly be weapons he retains as rewards should he succeed in the thread. But that's up to you to find. There are other items of note hidden around as well under similar circumstances. Everything ends up here eventually so a bit of searching can go a long way.

[William O, Creed]

Standing in what had to be the most disgusting, runndowned apartment (?) he’d ever been in, William turned and looked around at where he actually found himself now. “What the hell?” It’d be his luck that something as useful as the doorknob would end up doing something completely unknown only for him to lose it. The only potential positive to the current situation now was that he didn’t foresee the thief getting back up from such a fall. Although that also meant that he likely wasn’t going to be able to retrieve the doorkbot. That left him with only a single major objective, to find a way back to Tokyo. At the moment William couldn’t be sure this wasn't somewhere in the human world although the atmosphere felt off so that was unlikely.

Staying away from the hole in the floor William takes note of what's around him and would investigate anything such as a cabinet or container in the hopes of finding perhaps paper giving him a clue as to his location. He was sure if he was in the human world he’d find something written in a language he could recognize. Whether or not he finds anything William knew staying here wouldn’t solve his issue and would exit from the room making his way up town in order to investigate wherever he was now. Although taking one major action to protect himself first, drawing not just the dagger from his back, but the pistol from his hip. The pistol held in his left hand and his knife in the right William wasn’t going to let anything take him off guard.

After a little bit of time passed William couldn’t ignore the ramp that led upwards any longer. Proceeding up he found the bridge with nothing else to peak his interest. “Oh no well this is looking bad.” William, familiar with stories whether they be books, legends, movies, couldn't remember how many times he’d read through a character in a story in a situation just like this, the only thing he could hope was this didn’t lead right to a trap or someone that was ready to attack the first thing they see. Crossing the bridge it seemed to be exactly what he found. A strange man in a plague doctor's mask with a burning spear walking in circles in an area of literal liquid garbage. “Oh yay how lucky am I? Why couldn’t I get trapped in the land of beautiful horny women.”

Appoarching seemed to be the only thing possible for William though as the waterfalls of filth gave him this feeling of “don’t fucking touch that.” even if it meant he’d have to pass by the strange individual with the burning spear. The smell was one thing that William really didn’t want to have to put up with, but the sight was another. Everything covered in liquid filth was more than off putting. Although it gave William what he needed to find out. Looking down at the ground, William would focus his reiatsu for a moment. “Go away.” He whispers to the filth laying the ground in the hopes of finding that at the very least Soul Command can still work.

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Search as thoroughly as he did William would find nothing of value. In fact he only found more mold, fungus, and rot all over the place. It was a miracle the shack was held together at all. Thankfully the remainder wouldn't fall or break apart. It like the valley, seemed fixed enough to remain regardless of the literal "shit storm" that was encasing the entire valley. But if nothing else there was one good thing for William. His soul command worked! Though how it worked was a bit eerie and disgusting.



The pile of semi-solid filth William had commanded to leave him slowly coalesced into a ovular shape. Then a small and thin arm with nubs for fingers came out and it started to pull itself to the edge of the cliff William was on. This filth was now bubbling as if "alive" in some capcity. A few moments of this strange phenomena it finally fell off the edge and into the valley. The arm no longer present but the mass present for a good few moments before it finally dissappeared.



Strange reactions to Soul Command aside with William nearing the bridge the humanoid finally registered William's existence and immediately walked across the few blanks of swolled wood that was attached to the wall and the "floors" of the cliff William and it was on. It's spear held close, once within 5 feet would shout unintelligible musings as it launched out the spear. The spear itself if it hit would tear more than it would cut given how unapologetically rusted it was. Even the wooden shaft was swelled and warped from the moisture it was constantly exposed to. It didn't help that it was doused in something flammable so atop of tearing it would sear away William if he let it hit him. Thankfully though it was very obviously aimed at his stomach. This thing had no concept of "stance" or "skill" in fighting. It simply did as it's weapon allowed it to attack.



What William might not catch given how he was going to deal with the spear man was another "humanoid" walking from a bridge on the right side of the valley that the cliff the spearman had been on. It hadn't noticed the two yet but what was important was that it came from a series of shacks stacked on top of each other. And if William did manage to catch a glance at the area before him he'd quickly realize that throughout the various levels of this stacked shack there were several others around. Most at lower levels but there were at least two more humanoids at his would be level when he'd get there. The one currently walking his way and another near a more secure wooden bridge that held a flaming dagger.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Williams current poison counters}
Current total: 1

1 counter given for being in the valley

SPOILER: Click to show

{Emaciated Spearman}
Strength: 200 (300)
Speed: 150 (225)
RS: 50 (25)
SPPR: 50 (25)
Instinct: 100
Senses: 150
ES: 0
HE: 0

+1 poison counter if they land a hit

Poison tolerance: 4
Pain Tolerance: 2
Strength of Will: 1
Lack of Fear: 2

SPOILER: Click to show

{Emaciated dagger weilder}
Strength: 150 (187)
Speed: 200 (300)
RS: 50 (25)
SPPR: 50 (25)
Instinct: 100
Senses: 150
ES: 0
HE: 0

+1 poison counter if they land a hit

Poison tolerance: 4
Pain Tolerance: 2
Strength of Will: 1
Lack of Fear: 2

[William O, Creed]

The scene that unfolded before William’s eyes was something completely unnatural. So far from the reality of even the spiritual possibilities that existed, such that William had to take a step back and pinch himself on his right cheek. Pulling on his little bit of skin and flesh hard enough that he felt some pain for a moment. Letting go there would be a small red mark indicating what he had done. “Doesn’t seem like I’m under hypnosis. Could someone really possess the ability to make something so ugly?” William asked himself as he watched the fifth move away like some sort of horrible mutation.

Examining further was probably for the best in order to really hammer down what is possible in this strange place yet if it wasn’t the smell it was the immense danger that William knew he was being out in now. The individual that he had seen in the distance made it a point to come to William. This filthy place didn’t pretend to give this individual special treatment as his entire figure was covered in the horror of ic black substance that covered everything. Even while it rained William found the smell becoming more potent as his own being became caked in the filth.

William didn’t have any sort of time to investigate what was going on though as this individual muttered things that he honestly couldn’t understand. He wasn’t certain whether this individual could speak properly or if perhaps he was speaking in a language that he didn’t know, either way though his intent became clear in the moment that followed. Watching his shift change William realized the nature of his movements just as he made them and acted accordingly. Stepping to the side in order to allow the spear head to pass by him William feels the irritation of the fire near his body. His right hand pulling forward the spiritual dagger from behind his back and swiping it across aimed at the throat of this individual.

Whether or not successful, William's left hand moves like a viper in a swift dash to grab the shaft of the spear securing it in order to avoid another potential thrust. The sensation of the filth on his hand caused a shiver to crawl up his spine. At this moment the human realizes that no matter how hard he scrubs this feeling more than likely won’t ever go away. “Why here, just why.” William looking around sees the various other wooden structures although the one that he locks onto and begins to approach is the one with the burning light.

It took him a little bit of time to get close, while doing his best to keep the noise he was making to a minimum and listen to what could be around him. He wasn’t so sure that there was just one or two other individuals in the area so he decided to side with caution. If he didn’t hear anything or find some reason to believe that there were others in the area then he’d approach the bridge in much better condition. Seeing that the light was coming from another figure similar to the last. If this played out like the first then William wasn’t going to wait. He’d put the knife back behind his back and this time would simply draw The Standard and aim to shoot this one in the head.

SPOILER: Click to show

Strength: 150
Speed: 300
Spiritual Pressure: 337
Reiatsu Strength: 300
Instincts: 200 (250)
Senses: 100
Energy Sensory: 0
Healing Expertise: 0

Firearms: 2
Learning: 2
Analyzing: 1
Krav Maga: 2
Anti-Stealth: 1
Lack of Fear: 2
Focused Eye: 1
Pain Tolerance: 1
Battle Analysis: 2
Strength of Will: 2

Name: Spiritual Steel Dagger
Description: A rather basic weapon, this dagger has a length of about twelve inches, and the entire weapon, including the hilt, is made out of spiritual steel.
Type of Item: Weapon
Class: 4
Item Power (IP): 400
Offense Type: Physical
Durability: 1.5x Base IP
Bonuses: Attacks with this weapon have their speed increased by 10% due to the lightness of the weapon. This does not apply to techniques.
Drawbacks: None

Name: The Standard - Handgun
Description: The most basic firearm sold by the notorious Black Market group Shanks and Belcher Co., this has the appearance of a standard gun made of black spiritual steel. It is capable of striking spiritual targets. The user can select between a handgun, submachine gun, or assault rifle.
Class: 4
Item Type: Weapon

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

The emaciated spearman couldn't have reacted quick enough. It probably didn't even realize what was happening until it was too late. It's throat cut, jugular letting loose it's blood in rapid spurts as it inevitably grew closer to its death. The creature cried out as loud as possible before it finally died, the grip on it's spear nonexistant and the body collapsing on itself and eventually tipping over and into the valley itself. The spear would remain in Williams hand until he'd dropped it burning all the same.



Because of the former emaciated human's scream the closest companion, the dagger wielder quickly ran over to William. It's rusted thing it called a knife was clearly being aimed at him however unlike it's companion it wouldn't even make it close to him. With William pulling out the gun and firing a bullet into it's brain the thing immediately would fall to the ground and convulse for a few moments before finally going still. If nothing else, these two proved just how weak these humanoids were. Not that it was a matter of question given their physical state but they clearly weren't that strong of a combatant.



Like the former's scream however the sound from the gun was loud. Incredibly so. This caused the fiery dagger wielder to look over towards William. And unknown to William it cause 3 more that were hidden on a cliff higher than the current shack he was nearing to direct their attention at him. And last but not least was another body William wouldn't have noticed at first. On the pathway to the bridge connecting this chain of shacks atop one another there was another emaciated human but with no weapons at all that had been lying on the floor, still as could be. It wouldn't be a surprise if William had mistaken it for another dead body. However it was very much more alive and was slowly, very slowly crawling towards Willaim. Intent on catching him off guard and clawing at his legs.



As William would make his way to the collection of shacks he'd quickly realize the bridge that connected the two sides of the valley together was on a level below him. And from a casual glance, it was apparent he'd had to drop from one roof of a shack to another. Ladders simply weren't an option. Where the flaming dagger wielder was at was a sort of "in between" level of the current shack and the one below. And they were next to a collection of planks that looked almost ready to be pushed over and make a small makeshift bridge as opposed to the larger bridge below and to the right of it. It was up to William to decide what path he'd take but regardless of what bridge he decided to take there were 4 more humanoids, one with a spear, 2 with a dagger, and the last with just it's flithy hands looking around at the opposite end of the main bridge.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Souls from the humanoids killed}
+40 soul dregs (20 from each humanoid killed)

These can be used to purchase items from in world vendors.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Bare-handed humaoid}
Strength: 175 (263)
Speed: 175 (219)
RS: 50 (25)
SPPR: 50 (25)
Instinct: 100
Senses: 150
ES: 0
HE: 0

+1 Poison Counter if it comes in contact with William

Skills:

Poison tolerance: 4
Pain Tolerance: 2
Strength of Will: 1
Lack of Fear: 2
Stealth: 1

SPOILER: Click to show

{Wiliams Poison Counters}
Current total: 2

+1 from the valley

SPOILER: Click to show

{Total number of enemies and where they are}
Total enemies: 9

3 bare handed humanoids on a cliff 50 feet above William and the current shack roof he's on.

1 bare handed humanoid slowly crawling towards william. It's on the roof of the shack William is walking towards. 20 feet in front of him.

1 Flaming spearman on the left side of the main bridge 1 shack below william. It's accompanied by it's 2 dagger wielders and 1 bare fist humanoid.

1 flaming dagger wielder on the platform between the current shack and the on below william. Guarding a smaller makeshift bridge that hasn't been lowered yet.

2 dagger wielding humanoids accompanying the flaming spear man and their weaponless friend.

1 bare handed humanoid accompanying the 2 dagger wielding and flaming spearman.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Area reference}

[William O, Creed]

Eliminating the first two humaninoid figures that he came across wasn’t something that William really would want especially in the circumstances he found himself in now. All the same though defending himself had to take precedence over actually finding out where he was at the moment. Neither of them seemed the type to talk being that they attacked him first. Despite how they looked though neither one of them was much of a threat it seemed. Everything was useful information yet he couldn’t allow what he knew to leave him open to the possibility of the unknown later.

Everything happened in a matter of just a few moments, but by the time William had fired off the single bullet of reiatsu from his pistol he already regretted it. The scream of the first had been enough to alert the other and draw him close. His gunshot had been much louder, so any element of surprise he may have possibly was now definitely gone. He wasn’t certain at the moment that others were in the area, but now he’d seen two which meant the likelihood of others was growing. Holding the filthy spear in his left hand William thrusts the ablaze head into the corpse of the first figure.

Exposing his reiatsu over the flame itself William executes soul command once again this time on the flame. He’d seen something strange with the filth now it was time to experiment a bit more and see if it was the only thing that acted differently or if everything in this world would react differently than normal. Commanding the flame intentionally to spread over the corpse to burn to and only it. He didn’t know enough about them and wouldn’t risk the chance that a slit throat or gunshot wound to the head would be enough. So once the first figure would be set ablaze the fire would jump from the corpse to the second repeating William’s command.

Making his way forward once he gathers whatever information he can with the fire, William leaves the spear in the first corpse yet if possible will pick up the dagger. The long pole arm being a weapon he possesses very limited practice or skill in utilizing, the dagger being a knife is completely different, serving as a known weapon for the human to utilize in this strange land. Holding the dagger in his left hand with the pistol in his right William crosses his hands in front of himself holding them at a bent form halfway out to their full length. The pistol arm above the dagger held in a reverse grip.

Getting further forward William comes to the end of the floor he was currently on or at least the break with only a single bridge below him. This was a situation that could get him potentially hurt if he wasn’t careful. He wasn’t sure how stable the wood was on the bridge nor if there were any other figures in the immediate area. After a few moments of thought William decides to run an experiencement once more. This time enforcing a command on the soul of the air around him to push him up off the wood and hold him gently. Figuring out what’s possible is the most important thing in William’s eyes right now. He waits to decide whether to cross the bridge

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Like before with the grime that William had commanded to drop itself off the edge of the cliff the flame he produced and ordered was . . . funky to say the least. For one thing the flaming spear itself instantly combusted and consumed the spear in it's entirity. In it's place floated a humanoid skull that was made entirely of flames. It cackled silently as it breathed flames over the first corpse but spared the ground, grime, and everything else that wasn't specifically the corpse. From there it would nod at William's second command and immediately tackle the second corpse instantly igniting it. The skull disappeared in the process. Meanwhile the flames looked darker, akin to the same oily brown sludge on the ground as opposed to the bright orange-red it had been prior. Nevertheless the orders were followed to completion, regardless of how long William watched them. Only the corpses would burn, and produce yet another odor in the process, until finally succumbing to being turned into ash and a pile of charred bones.

In the meantime the 3 humanoids that were on a cliff above William watched what he did. In whispered tones that would be hard for anyone that wasn't super human in their hearing capabilities they "devised" a simple plan. They had a few small boulders and once William was within range and standing still would push them over onto him. For the time being though they'd simply wait.

As far as William was concerned however between his focus on the fire and then finding the knife not to mention the difference in hieght between them he'd have a hard time noticing anything. Upon picking up the "knife" William would see it was in utter disarray. Rusted, tarnished, and with flecks of something on it the blade itself was less an edge and more akin to a series of rough teeth on either side of the blade. With a little bit more force than William would probably be used to however it would do the job, albiet with a bit more blood given it was more likely to tear flesh than cut it cleanly.

Fast forward to when William was near the edge of the current shack's roof he was standing on and the command on the wind was quickly responding. However like everything else it didn't quite work as expected, for one it didn't hold him suspended in the air but it did make him feel a good bit lighter. But the physical show was several elongated arms quickly forming around him and using what could only be described as claws as fingers pick up William. There was a couple on either side of his waist, one on each leg, one on his throat squeezing just enough to make him feel his airway tighten, and the last couple under his arm pits.

This however would be the least of his current concerns however as William was about to be in a world of pain. While he was standing still and trying to levitate the motley crew of humaoids above him would push over 3 boulders, only one of which would actually manage to hit him dead on. Well him and another emaciated humanoid that was currently mid tackle and holding onto his torso. What had happened was the weaponless humanoid that was lying in wait on the shack's roof had noticed William walk by and not attack him outright. So once he stood still waiting for the air to do it's thing it had immediately rushed him. This would push him onto the mid level platform where another flaming spearman was. However the boulder would have slammed onto the humanoid who'd tackled him first, killing him instantly.

William would without a doubt feel the boulders weight and have a fresh bruise across his back from it hitting the humanoid but that was thankfully the extent of that injury. The only other "injury" William would begrudgingly have to acknowledge would be some scratches from the absolutely filthy nails of the now dead humanoid. It would be better and easier if William didn't think about what all those hands had touched or what pathogens they may have carried.

However this left William in an interesting situation. He would be on this platform with the boulder having rolled off him and into the valley, the now dead body draping over his back, and the flaming spearman staring him dead in the eye uncertain of what had just happened. At most he'd have a few more seconds to get his shit together before the spearman decided to finish the job and impale him on his spear. Meanwhile the 3 cronies above were dancing happily and clapping at thier "plan" working. The death of their companion was a worthwhile cost for having had a boulder hit William.

Last but not least there was only two routes left to William. He either pushed down the wooden contraption on his level that was a makeshift bridge or he jumped onto the much larger, sturdier looking bridge to his right about 5 feet away. From there he would have to contend with the 4 other humanoids on the opposite side of the bridge or he could run to the next shack roof on his side of the bridge and try to find a way to keep going further down. Regardless he had no inherent means of going back up to where he had been on the first shack's roof.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Soul dregs gained}
+20 for the humanoid killed via boulder

total soul dregs on William: 60

SPOILER: Click to show

{Enemies present}
3 bare fisted humanoids on a cliff above William

1 flaming spearman 3 feet in front of Willaim on the same mid level platform

2 bare fisted humanoids, 1 flaming spearman, and 1 dagger wielding humanoid on the opposite side of William on the big bridge.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Poison Counters}
+1 from the now dead humanoid
+1 from the valley

Total poison counters: 4

[William O, Creed]

Testing out how Soul Command was different in this place was definitely the smart thing to do as everything that William attempted took some strange different manner of accomplishing it. What would be straight forward, quick and to the point in the Human world, well here it took more time, it all took on strange looks from human like appendages. Out of everything that William had researched nothing for this description. All he could be certain of at this point was he had to figure out a way to find the doorknob that had fallen or a gateway out. He didn’t have much choice in what happened next though as he suffered an attack from above while the wait itself had its hands right around him.

The Boulder slamming into him was something that he definitely could have done without, the scratches from the filthy individual was something else he could have done without the only difference between them being that once he got out of here William was certain he wouldn’t ever stop scrubbing the scratch marks. Now on the ground he could feel his legs which told him he could still move even if his back was hurting a good deal. After a moment passed William heard the noise of fire near him causing him to look up and see the spearman staring down at him.

Thankfully his grip wasn’t something that loosened easily, years of constant combat training paid off once again. His left hand still holding the grimy knife that he had picked up from one of these less functioning individuals. In his right was The Standard. His pitch colored pistol was brought forward aimed for a fraction of a moment and fired at virtually point blank range to deliver a fatal shot to the spearman before William could suffer the bite of the flaming spear. Afterwards getting up would take a moment as he feels the pain throughout his back.

Based on the pain he felt he could tell that some of his muscles and bone in his back were sore, but nothing was especially damaged critically. He’d gotten lucky, something he could bet on happening a second time which meant he’d have to keep his eyes peeled better and at all times. It’s for this reason that once William got back up onto his feet he took the time to look around more clearly especially up where the Boulder had come from. Upon doing this and seeing the three entities snickering to one another. William fires off three shots in rapid succession meant to eliminate each of them in just a moment. “Laugh at me bitch.”

Reaching down in order to pick up the spear that had fallen along with its previous wielder, William makes his way over to the gap and jumps across to the more secure looking bridge. Checking the clip of his pistol William confirms that he has three shots left in the clip, a knife in his left hand and a spear in his right now as he placed the standard back on his hip, lastly his nice steel dagger on his left hip. Cutting these things with that tool was something he’d want to do without as much as possible. He had the feeling that they might lessen its value or effectiveness with their filth.

Now on the bridge William makes his way to the other side ready to deal with the four other entities. Thrusting forward at the closest one with the spear in his right. Aiming to pierce through the chest of the first entity William is ready to thrust the filthy knife in his left hand forward at whichever one comes second. Two of them in front would make getting together take at least another moment or so, enough time for William to use Soul Command once again on the fire of the spear, this time commanding it to wrap around the two remaining entities.

Annunciation: 3/7

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Thanks to William lack of hesitation killing the spearman the fight was over before it even began. And loud sounds aside the body even had the deciency of taking care of itself by falling into the valley below. From there William's next few shots would, for the most part, hit their mark. The humanoids on either end would be shot either in the head or heart but die regardless. Their central companion managed to move just in time to be hit dead center in the shoulder. It immediately ran to the wall of the valley to ensure William couldn't fire anymore projectiles at it.



From there getting to the main bridge was easy. A quick drop and a bit of shacking, as would be expected from the shoddy work of the bridge and the shacks alike and William was standing before the quintuplet of skinny angry huamnoids. However this is when he'd begin to feel a small headache forming. Nothing that would hinder him immensely but it was definitely noticeable and to boot it would feel like his reiatsu was starting to feel just a bit off. He could try to investigate what this feeling might entail but given his new companions in front of him he'd likely have to figure it out after the fact.



Like their compatriots from earlier none of these humanoids were terribly smart. If anything they showed moments of cunning but that was about it. The spearman stayed behind the weaponless humanoids and watched for a moment as they ran towards William with reckless abandon. The dagger wielder hesitated for a moment as well but quickly decided against it and joined in the fray to run directly at William but unlike the other two who ran towards his sides, this one went dead on for William. To say Willaim would have his hands full would be stating the obvious. William would immdediately gut the one on his right with the spear, killing it moments later as it squirmed and held firm in place, and when the humanoid on his left came close he'd managed to stab it in it's side. It wasn't lethal but it did stagger it as flesh was torn and it hollered at William as it furiously attempted to scratch and claw at him. However this left him wide open as the dagger wielder was unhindered in his treck to William.



Once in range it'd immediately swipe at him with the dagger trying to gut him with it. From there it'd try to continue it's assault with a surprising amount of grace by transitioning from a slash to a stab in William's torso, right side, by taking a step forward shoulder first and thrusting the dagger at him. William's soul command however did not go unheeded in all this. With the command made another flaming skull was made and it immediately shot a small orb of fire at the spearman before tackling the dagger wielder. Needless to say for the dagger wielder it immediately hit them but that didn't stop their attempted assualt against William. If anything it screeched out and was ever more determined to hit him. If William had gotten out of range prior it was going to follow without a doubt, the smell of burning flesh and blood coming with it.



Finally with the spearman having sat in the back it was able to watch and see everything William and it's compatriots were doing at the time. Including the small orb of fire that was coming its way. But unlike anything with a hint of self preservation it simply allowed it to hit it, burning it some but ultimately not killing it or hindering it's movements any. This one didn't even screech it simply started running towards William with its spear held in both hands. This one had the grand idea to use it's dagger friend as a shield to hinder Willaim from seeing it and ensuring it'd manage a solid hit on him if it wasn't noticed.



This of course meant it would spear it's friend in the process to even try and get William but that wasn't a problem given the way it didn't stop coming after him. Thus if William made no attempt to stop it, the spearman would thrust through the dagger wielding humanoid mid raging assault against William and attempt to spear him through the gut in the process. Willaim without a doubt had a lot on his plate to handle and the ever growing rain, filth, and poisonous odors in the air didn't make this any better. Even now the small headache that had formed was very slowly growing and William, if he managed to get hit by any of the humanoids in the process could, if he had a moment to focus, realize the headache would grow just a bit more painful upon the humanoids harming him. But that would be asking a lot in the heat of this mosh pit of a fight on the bridge.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Soul Dregs gained}
+80 (20 per each humanoid killed)

SPOILER: Click to show

{Poison Counters}
+1 from the valley
-Up to +2 from the dagger wielders initial assault
-Up to plus 2 from the weaponless humanoid stabbed by William
-Possible +1 from the spearman

Current total: 5
Possible Total if all hit: 10

SPOILER: Click to show

{Enemies remaining}
1 weaponless humanoids - currently stabbed in the side, bleeding moderately

1 spearman - Minor burns over it's upper body

1 dagger wielder - Will be dead start of next post via impalement from spearman, 1st degree burns over entire torso

SPOILER: Click to show

{Current debuffs}
5% increase to all reiatsu costs for William

[William O, Creed]

Making it to the bridge was something that William had to consider a good stepping stone even if it meant facing down almost a handful more of these disgusting entities. The idea of them being human at this point was almost no possible. It was still bugging him though where he was, despite all his research, studying and knowledge on the spiritual worlds, he hadn’t ever come across something that would fit a description of this trash bag. He was on the verge of realizing something though when his head started to hurt, taking his attention away from what had been emerging.

Removing the entities on the bridge wasn’t all that difficult as his training continued to keep him at least a few steps ahead of them. Utilizing the weapons that he had pocketed off the previous few was enough to keep his supplies steady although once he got back to the human world he was certain to scrub himself raw. He had to focus though as the rapid decisions he was forced to make while dealing with the handful of entities on the bridge. The first one went down just like he had expected although the second was proving to be a bit more sturdy.

While he had managed to stab it, it hadn’t gone down. The position of the grimy knife was off from what William had planned. Still the clawing at his arm wasn’t a pleasant sensation nor one he couldn’t worry about due to the lack of knowledge he had on what it was he was fighting. All he could tell for certain was that another was quick at work. Pulling with the strength of his one arm William repositioned himself while moving the entity currently trying to claw him. If everything went fine he’d block the knife attack with the body of his foe.

Soul Command definitely wasn’t a technique that he could rely on like normal as it had taken far longer to actually work at this point. Pushing the entities backwards away while retreating backwards with several hops, William takes a moment and throws the disgusting knife at the one that uses a knife itself. Although it was on fire, perhaps a knife to the head or throat would finally bring it down for good. Conserving reiatsu is something that is definitely biting him in the ass right now.

Thankfully it seemed that the rain, grime and pounding headache was just enough to make William slip up both figuratively and literally as he hops backwards once more resulting in his feet slipping on the trash slush and falling backwards. Reacting on pure adrenaline and reflexes at this point William without thinking pulls out The Standard once again firing off a single round at the head of the spearman. If successful and none of the entities were alive then William would slowly get back up on his feet.

Bolstering The Standard once again while cursing at himself for making such a mistake. His head was pounding even more now, not just from the place he was in, but due to the impact he’d had on the bridge when he’d fallen. He had to converse reiatsu and ammo while keeping any injuries to a minimum, but damn if nothing else these things were resilient or perhaps determined. “This is going to get soooo much worse.”

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

William ultimately would find his actions immensely successful. With the right humanoid dead and the spear dropped the body simply fell into the valley. The humanoid on the right though it managed to scratch him had ultimately been on the recieving end of the his comrades knife. This was due to the the knife wielder starting his assault but not prepared to actually injure his companion on in the process. It looked shocked and stopped moving as a whole while it's companion stopped moving shortly after being stabbed. Once William kicked the two back though it was made all the more obvious how unable the these things were to fight under normal circumstances as the dagger wielder was caught under his buddies corpse and struggling to get out initially.



This of course gave William all the time he needed to line up his shot with the grime knife. And once thrown he'd find that the knife managed to hit the thing in it's jugular, not quite where William had aimed but it's flailing and squirming had managed to land William the clean hit. It shortly after stopped moving and added to the pile of corpses. From there it was just William and the spearman who'd been running up towards him. Yet again though William managed to deal with them as though they were nothing but nuisances. Which in all reality wasn't totally off the mark.



The bullet hit it's mark cleanly and loudly, reverberating in the valley for several moments after the fact. Accompanying it came the sound of the body falling onto the bridge and adding yet another corpse to it. Somehow though the bridge didn't seem to be struggling despite it's shoddy creation. With nothing else coming after William in his immediate future he had a moment to breathe and look around. If he did he'd notice he'd have two means of travelling further.



He could go across the bridge and travel down the side of the valley and enter the shack the cliffway went into. Or he could turn around, ignoring the bridge in it's entirety. Behind him were a series of shacks stacked on one another and he could easily see there was a hole in one of the roofs a good 40 feet in front of him. Either way he chose he was going down and was going to have to decide where he wanted to go. Into the "home" of one of these things or into a large shack built into the valley and scaled it's side.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Soul Dregs gained}
60 total (20 per humanoid killed)

SPOILER: Click to show

{Poison Counters}
+1 for being in the valley
+1 from the weaponless humanoid scratching William's arm

Total: 7 poison counters

SPOILER: Click to show

{Current debuffs on William}
5% increased reiatsu cost on all abilities/techs/etc.

[William O, Creed]

Thankfully everything went along better than William could have expected with virtually everything that he did landing while his training didn’t just bring down his enemies, but protected him for the most part from them. A minor scratch was the only thing that had managed to imprint on his body. Roughly around the same degree of pain that one could expect from a bee sting. Now though making a double check by taking a turn and surveying everything around him William took a couple moments to catch his breath.

So far everything that he’d come across had been basic beyond the disgust. All of these things had the combat value of an average human which meant as long and he kept up his guard and didn’t joke around there was little chance he’d suffer any serious injuries. This place though was definitely something that he didn’t like. He got the feeling in this place especially that the less anything touched him the better. Either way though he had to find a way out which means he had to press forward. Deciding on a change of environment instead of circling back through the same of what he’d already been through.

The cliff face shack wasn’t something that he really liked, but something he’d already done here enough. This led somewhere else it seemed even if he was going down when he wanted to go up. The headache wasn’t going away nor were there any changes in the degree of pain. A little bit of information that told William this was caused by the area although how exactly or why it was causing the pain he couldn’t say. Keeping his eyes open for anything out of the norm in this color coded environment.

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

William would make his way over to the opposite side of the bridge with ease. No shaking on the bridges part, no more enemies trying to harm him, and even it seemed the rain let up just a little. That did not mean that the small trails of water coming down off the sides of the valleys stopped any or were lessened but less overall shit water was better than more. As he made his way to the object loosely described as "stairs" and more like a muddy hill that happened to go down he'd be able to see where this shack led. Ultimately it was about 2 stories tall and had a broken first level which comprised of a large hole in the center of the room, leaving only the edges close to the walls with about 2 feet of room to walk on. The nailed pieces of inflated timber that were collected together to be a bridge was the only thing that would allow William to cross the center without falling to the lower floor. And better yet it laid to the next muddy hill.

The issue that William would immediately see however is that one such humanoid was making its way up the stairs. Likely having heard all the commotion and the sound of "The Standard" going off only about a minute ago. He was what William had already seen however, a standard flaming spear wielder but he hadn't yet noticed William as it was struggling to get up the hill it was using as stairs. William had about a minute or so before it'd actually manage to make its way up and notice him. In the meantime if William wanted to shift around the muddy hill he was on he could attempt to see through the massive hole and down to the first level.

If he did look down he'd notice there were a couple bodies of the same humanoids. Presumably dead considering they didn't even look to be breathing at this point. The floor wasn't made of wood it was simply the cliff at this level of the valley that this shack was built on and around. Lastly the exit to this shack was a hole in the wall with a bridge back to the other side of the valley he had come from. Though this bridge unlike the others he'd seen up til this point actually looked like a proper and well made wooden bridge. Aside from the bloated wood that made the crossing portion and the rope being slowly but surely eaten away by mold and moss. Still the rope was thick, the wood a good bit sturdier than anything else barring the shacks. And it even had torches on either side of the bridge to help ensure that anyone crossing could see the bridge and either side of the bridge.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Poison Counters}
+1 counter from the Valley

Total counters on William: 8

SPOILER: Click to show

{Current debuffs on William}
Additional 5% reiatsu cost on all techniques/abilities