AbyssalRoadTrip posts
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Abyssal Road Trip - 524 - I am not (yet) okay
Amdirlain’s PoV - Material PlaneThroughout Sarah catching her up on events she’d missed, Amdirlain continued creating simple bacteria and chemical chains for their reproduction. Verdandi’s death resonated with the stray memories the plinth had ensured she’d witnessed. She tried various psionic techniques to catch and handle their impact without noticeable success. The distractions had frequently caused insights from the exercises she’d been attempting to slip from her grasp.After weeks of failures, Amdirlain finally growled in frustra...
Abyssal Road Trip - 523 - Best for me
Amdirlain’s PoV - Vehtë - SouthgateWith gentle chiming notes, Verdandi’s Soul lifted from her body, and Amdirlain ended the lingering song that prevented the acolyte and priestess from hearing anything.“Goodbye, Verdandi. Whatever your journey holds next for you, I hope it’s with beings that treasure you.”As Verdandi’s Soul finished separating, Amdirlain opened a Gate to allow her to cross directly to the heavenly region where Týr’s Domain sat. For a moment, her white Soul floated still in mid-air and shimmered in the heavens’...
Abyssal Road Trip - 522 - Letting go
Amdirlain’s PoV - VehtëPhoenix’s Trail sped her across successive longitudes at a pace that saw the sun shift in the sky, taking her from early evening to early afternoon in a few seconds.As she approached the northern shore of the Great Lakes, she paid more attention to the network of roads crisscrossing the countryside ahead of her. The late summer season saw them awash with trade caravans. While some seemed set for long trips bringing supplies in bulk to the major cities, others had goods more suitable for the local villages. A predator...
Abyssal Road Trip - 521 - An Unexpected Call
Amdirlain’s PoV - Demi-PlaneWhen the hug finally ended, Rachel winked. “Don’t keep the family waiting too long for a barbecue.”“Once I’m settled, I’ll put regular family gatherings high on my list.”Rachel laughed and wiggled her eyebrows. “That’s an excellent idea. There is much to discuss, but you need some catch-up time first.”With that, she vanished, and Sarah slowly shook her head. “She’s a brat.”“Did many people change their names while I was away?”“Only Noltar and Azadi. That’s the last piece of informa...
Abyssal Road Trip - 520 - Home Again
Amdirlain’s PoV - AtonementSilpar and Eldest barely began to field questions when the whole cloister jumped planes. The atmosphere shifted as the planar energy changed to calm consideration from the oppressive, chaotic pressure of the Abyss.Purification energies washed through the stone, clearing the place of every trace of corruption and the last shattered fragments of the veil Ori had wrapped around her energies. When the effect reached the rough stone's outer edges, it morphed and stretched the material. Seamlessly turning it into an a...
Abyssal Road Trip - 519 - A Thousand Years
Amdirlain’s PoV - CulerzicAmdirlain considered the nearby trio of Eleftherios, Laodice, and Naamah as the flames from the corruption’s incineration died, and she shrank to her typical height. The pendant of the Redemption’s Path, having survived her various transformations, sat coldly beneath the green silk of her robes. She could feel her evolved Mana Font churning away, its energies directed to feeding the prayers of mortals on three planets. Three notifications claimed her attention before she could consider exploring how those connect...
Abyssal Road Trip - 518 - Lost and found
Amdirlain’s PoV - Primordial EssenceHer initial impression had grossly underestimated the tens of thousands of shards she’d scrambled to locate and assemble. After the memory she’d retrieved of surviving the mines, time had passed with the steady beat and tiresome progress of a pickaxe tunnelling through granite. Initially, snippets of memories had made her feel like an incomplete jigsaw puzzle with more questions than answers. They returned out of order, hinting at powers and abilities that other recollections found incredible, while als...
Abyssal Road Trip - 517 - Pieces of me
Amdirlain's PoVLiquid darkness drank her thoughts. A blink tickled her eyelashes across the icy surface beneath her, and she imagined herself lying face down on a sheet of ice; yet she became immediately unsure of what ice might be or why she was lying on it. Aches and sharp pains ran through her body, and she gingerly shifted her head to the left so her ear rested against the cold floor. She momentarily considered going back to sleep, but forced her eyes open. Her vision blurred as she examined the long passageway with a polished white mar...
Abyssal Road Trip - 516 - Lose Yourself
Amdirlain’s PoV - Ijmti - The Cloister of the FallenThe lifetimes she influenced loomed like an avalanche poised to crush her. Amdirlain sought her soulscape, but the plinth yanked her back into the moment. From within the plinth, billions of tales linked to her were assembled, the bleakest themes stabbing into the forefront of her thoughts.It tallies my failures first.The male’s terror overcame her. Desperate for his family, the Matriarch’s goons had snatched him off the streets for buying rations from a black market dealer. The last thi...
Abyssal Road Trip - 515 - One More Light
Amdirlain's PoV - Outer reaches of the Material PlaneThe latest of the string of stars she'd left behind had only barren planets orbiting them. While ready for life to be created, she focused on pushing True Song. By not yet increasing her classes further, she was better able to judge what changes came from improvements in her capabilities over level increases. She'd made steady progress through True Song-King and Phoenix’s Symphony-Prince over the months, along with Protean from the pressure she put on it to aid her recovery.As s...
Abyssal Road Trip - 514 - Colour your night
Amdirlain’s PoV - Demi-PlaneIt’d taken under a month to have sessions with all the Enyalië. The gradual increase in group sizes as her Power improved was offset by the rests she took throughout the process. The process of supplying realistic simulations of True Song for them had been a continual stretch of her capabilities. With all the details she’d provided, the technique had drunk deeply from her psionic reserves, requiring her to force its continual renewal far beyond what previous training had needed.As the last Enyalië approached ...
Abyssal Road Trip - 513 - Mood
Amdirlain’s PoV - Outpost of the Monastery of the Western ReachesA few days later, a Gate contracted behind them, disappearing into the shadows beneath the trees. Amdirlain could see the fields outside the Outpost of the Western Reaches through the gaps between the trees. She had already examined the forest and the mountain for kilometres, Livia’s Domain greeting her touch with a welcoming warmth.“Race you.” Amdirlain wiggled her brows.When Sarah vanished and reappeared in Livia’s manor, Amdirlain howled with laughter. Before the echo...
Abyssal Road Trip - 512 - Fleeting comfort
Amdirlain’s PoV - Demi-PlaneShe’d only been there a few minutes when Sarah arrived—her look of relief at seeing Amdirlain changed to concern when their eyes met. “Your eyes look a lot older.”“You could say I did some closed-door training. There was a time loop that repeated a day. I used it for meditating and lived out a half-dozen lifetimes of those tattooed elves. Also, I trained at Mana Mastery for a few centuries.”Sarah grimaced and sat on the grass beside Amdirlain. “Yeah, that would do it. Are you still wanting to work out...
Abyssal Road Trip - 511 - Light 'Em Up
Amdirlain’s PoV - HadesLysandra shifted them to a gigantic grey cliff face carved with Grecian columns and balconies. Ancient shed ectoplasm provided ghostly echoes from all the souls that had trudged through the barred gates at the cliff’s centre. The stream of residue washed a chill breeze over the pair, as the figures’ hollow, phantasmal faces looked their way. Some wept silently, while others screamed in despair.“These emotional trails unnerved me the first time I saw them,” said Lysandra. “Though Cerberus can be enthusiastic, p...
Abyssal Road Trip - 510 - Bittersweet
Amdirlain’s PoV - Hades - Observation PlatformShe appeared with the green figure in a vaulted chamber. Around them, sturdy constructs that had thick elephant legs attached to a central core used long tentacles to shift stacks of material from various storage containers. They moved them into feeder tubes that delivered them into hoppers linked with scores of glowing cylinders that churned out additional constructs. As each flowed forth, they raced off without pause. A new energy framework emerged from the wall of the vacated tube, a new constr...
Abyssal Road Trip - 509 - Far away
Amdirlain’s PoV - Hades - Beneath the sealThe descent proceeded for a couple of kilometres through granite polished enough to shine like marble, and Amdirlain could feel the dimensional energies shifting across her skin. Oddly, it was a magic firmly laced with Chaos rather than silvery Celestial energies that was responsible.They were nearing the bottom of the shaft when Medusa touched Amdirlain’s arm and pointed to the only passage from it. “The guardian is just around the bend. It doesn’t care how much noise people make, but the momen...
Abyssal Road Trip - 508 - Goddess
Amdirlain’s PoV - HadesWhen Amdirlain stepped out of the gold pane, Damon froze in mid-word with Medusa, who sat nearby. She caught him mentally setting aside their idle chatter to follow his duty.He shook his head and looked up at Amdirlain in concern. “It concerns me that another dire challenge will occur.”“They’re mostly scaled for mortals to tackle Damon. I’m not Mortal.”“You’re not Mortal?” Damon gulped.Amdirlain slowly shook her head. “That doesn’t seem to make a difference to the trials, and I’ve only three more...
Abyssal Road Trip - 507 - Round and Round
Amdirlain’s PoV - Hades - Halls of AthenaA steady progression of knowledge points into the Arcane Knowledge had caused two evolutions. Her understanding of the realm’s rules and True Song made it far easier to see how the arcane elements of the realm linked. After hundreds of points had been spent, another significant notification shone in her awareness amid the pattern of runes and information.[Arcane-Lord [G] (212) evolved into Arcane-Prince [G] (81)]With that push through to Arcane-Prince, she still had half her knowledge points in hand,...
Abyssal Road Trip - 506 - Drought
Amdirlain’s PoV - Hades - Halls of AthenaWithin Amdirlain’s Soul, the group of elves had grown distinct. A male among them drew Amdirlain’s gaze. While previously, only his lack of face tattoos had distinguished him from the others in the group, now he appeared worn and fatigued, the worry lines radiating from his eyes and tight mouth painted a picture of trapped misery to Amdirlain. The emotions radiating from him drew her attention while the others remained inanimate figures.When she put a hand on his shoulder, the memory yanked her int...
Abyssal Road Trip - 505 - Time warp
Amdirlain’s PoV - Hades - CreteAmdirlain waited near the closed gate, aware of the throbbing sour notes from her destroyed arm. Only when the sour notes eased did she move to the open floor area of the amphitheatre, checking for signs among the benches of where Medusa and Damon had gone. Dried blood stains, the same greenish hue as the Colchian dragon, were the only signs of their departure, so Amdirlain settled on a bench.Medusa asked Damon about making knives from the Colchian Dragon’s fangs.As she relaxed on the bench, an inland breeze s...
Abyssal Road Trip - 504 - Some like it hot
Amdirlain’s PoV - Hades - TartarusLava streamed off the figure as they rose higher in the volcano’s central pool. His stony brow alone was three hundred metres across while beneath his eye ridges pits of molten lava seethed in his eyes socket.[Name: EkdikésisSpecies: Earth-Born PrimordialDefence: 122,772Health: 109,344,268Magic: 123,842Melee Attack Power: 123,234Combat Skills: Tartarus Bellow [G] (333), Eruption [G] (128), Pyroclastic Surge [G] (214), Volcanic Strike [G] (102), Lava Blast [G] (453)Details: This Earth-born embodies Echidna...
Abyssal Road Trip - 503 - Never be
Amdirlain’s PoV - Hades - CreteAmdirlain emerged from the wormhole to find Damon staring at Medusa with wide-eyed fascination. “No one has ever returned from a trial with someone else before. What’s your name?”“Megaera,” offered Medusa, without a glance at Amdirlain.How would Damon have reacted to her real name?“Were you part of the trial, Megaera?”“A monster had cursed me and chained me up.” Medusa smiled at Damon. “Other heroes had visited my prison before, but of the options to complete the trial, no one has ever rescue...
Abyssal Road Trip - 502 - Left Behinds
Amdirlain’s PoV - HadesAmdirlain easily located both the attackers and those who knew. Theodotus, despite his misogyny, hadn’t been involved at any point. Though he looked down on women, he considered such assaults to show a lack of prowess and honour. She concealed her rage as she patiently followed Petrov, who sent one of his ‘children’ ahead to tell the elder. Though only two more had contributed during the attack on Berenice, too many had known before or after, including the timid Petrov, who had been invited to participate. He hadn...
Abyssal Road Trip - 501 - Don't tell me.
Amdirlain’s PoV - HadesHer perceptions contract to a churning conduit of white and black, with a pinprick of light in the distance. The threads of energy along the tube looked like the inside of the eye of a dust-laden twister. She felt herself rush along in the tube for minutes, and as quickly as it had started, Amdirlain found herself spat out on the edge of a churned-up field. The exposed dark earth and rocks were splattered with blood and pieces of shattered fir trees. Beyond it were a few more fields and poorly maintained buildings, the ...
Abyssal Road Trip - 500 - Crossroads
Amdirlain’s PoV - HadesWind and lightning battered Amdirlain as Aetos Kaukasios raced up the mountain. Every beat of the giant eagle’s wings pulsed the surrounding air with energy, and a rift split the grey clouds high above them. The psionic pattern aimed at her targeted location, divided between a route over the mountain range and the purple rip in the clouds.“You can take the rift. I know what’s happening.”Aetos Kaukasios screeched and thrust hard with his wings before spreading them to grab another thermal current that tossed them...
Abyssal Road Trip - 499 - On my own
Amdirlain’s PoV - AtonementShe arrived a few million kilometres from where Nazha and his father were sparring atop the building. Amdirlain had expected as much since the Plane’s automated processing of souls left them little to do. As she started to plan her next steps, the evening spent listening to Verdandi’s sorrow continued to niggle. Though the conversation had helped lessen her distress, Amdirlain knew from personal experience such issues weren’t so quickly settled.Amdirlain set the matter aside with a frustrated groan and, instea...
Abyssal Road Trip - 498 - Set me free
Amdirlain’s PoV - BeijingFrom the hills outside the imperial city, Amdirlain looked over the red-tiled roofs and the neat lines of the paved streets. In a variety of sites beyond its limits, she observed large fortified compounds that contained the themes of multiple practitioners. One of them had a banner of five white rings on a red background prompting her thoughts towards the Mongolian youth they’d met in the first village. Though she hadn’t heard Milad’s song, he’d freely said his name to her, making him easy to track. He was now...
Abyssal Road Trip - 497 - Parting ways
Sarah’s PoV - South Wind’s Court - AyutthayaAs the two servants escorted them through the palace they caught glimpses into the rooms they passed. The interior was a mixture of polished stone, airy screens, and engraved wooden furnishings. Though it was immaculate by Human standards, each inhalation brought Sarah the scents of thousands of beings. Some of the oldest scents were the strongest, from repeated reinforcement, but others had faded to the barest trickle; ghostly whispers of people’s lives spent in service from youth to their twil...
Abyssal Road Trip - 496 - It's you
Amdirlain’s PoV - South Wind’s Court - AyutthayaThe river around the island—Ayutthaya—teemed with fishing and trade boats, as Amdirlain and other practitioners raced along the waters in the early dawn. They’d been in the guest house for days without invitations or obligations. While Kadaklan had shown Klipyl, Sarah, and Jinfeng the sights, Amdirlain had studied the first stages of the technique that Zhūquè had researched for her. The local forests and mountains to the north and along the Malay peninsula to the southwest provided a d...
General Status
Hi Folks,I'm running late with the second chapter this week. I've spent a lot of time finishing book 2, and chapter 496 needs reworking.Will look to get three chapters together next week, but will see how things go.
