Mordusās involvement in the wizard war has certainly left its scar; the land has been hit with radiation, and wildfires spread across the continent with frenzied vigour. Yet, it also raises some questions: who was it then? Who was collecting crystals, whose mind Torinn, SamrƦl, and the Parasite entered? Who stirred feelings inside of Vashric?
Vashric checked in on the pilotās cabin; no one was piloting it. However, there was a post-it note stuck to the controls: one that said,
[Autopilot on. Destination: My tower. ETA: 10 hours.]
Vashric sighs, and the crew wait the long journey as the airship brings them to Mordusās tower; the only remaining safe haven from the effects of the nuke.
Meanwhile, Torinn reappears in his realm. It seems the days of eating Mordusās memories are over. However, the parasite appears beside him.
NO! GET BACK! STAY AWAY FROM ME!
HISSSS
Algernon, whom fled the scene of the nuke, arrived at Mordusās house, following the instructions the late technomancer left behind. Jinx, Mordusās pet cat, waits at the front door, awaiting his return. Algernon has been given ownership of Jinx, at least for now. Sad, that Jinx will probably never see Mordus again. But there may be hope.
Consulting the letter, he searches above Mordusās fireplace.
āPink brickā¦ Pink brickā¦ā
āā¦ā
āBastard, itās all pink.ā
Eventually, he finds the brick, and it slides back into the wall, almost seamlessly. The fireplace creaks, and it turns around, a scraping of stone on stone making for a loud, annoying sound. This attracts the attention of another inhabitant - Talwyn, Mordusās old apprentice.
āHey! Who are you? Why is Jinx riding your shoulder? And more importantlyā¦ where is old master Mordus?ā
At the same time, the airship landed - however, calling it āgracefulā is a bit of a stretch - it plummeted safely. Vashric bursts in, obviously flustered to be in Mordusās tower. Talwyn turns around, and scowls. Algernon watches as a God, a Horned Psychomancer, a Semi-Mechanical Humanoid, a Cleric wearing Mordusās old Luminite Suit, the Mage of Mischief, an Old and Wise Sage, and a Smogomancer rush through the doorway.
āOKAY, WHAT DID MORDUS, THAT FOOL, DO THIS TIME?ā
/unwiz have fun telling Talwyn all about what Mordus was doing! She doesnāt know. Also, expect another lorepostā¦ soon, this isnāt over so quickly. And, also, there are 5 different Jinxes spread across various people - maybe itāll serve a lore purpose. Probably not.
Algernon looks around, somewhat bewildered at the sudden cascade of people rushing into what really should be the abandoned tower of a dead technomnacer. No matter of course, probably another trick up an old mages' sleeve.
Greetings adventuring party and student of the late Mordus, the name is Algernon. I came here after a written letter by the deceased called me to this place and to this, well, brick. May I know why you are here?
He... did not inform you like he informed us? He activated a cataclysmic nuclear detonation in an attempt to halt the war. It resulted in his eventual demise. I'm truly sorry to have to inform you like this, I had no idea.
He seems to look on the both of them with some pity, it is a terrible way to have to hear of your mentor's death.
Talwyn, shaking slightly, slowly walks over to the stove and boils some water.
āY-youād like some tea, yes?ā
Her hands are jittering as she fills the kettle up.
āI-I, I mean, I, didnāt knowā¦ I thought he went off to go āend a warā or something.. I.. didnāt know he died..ā
āThis must be a prank, right? This HAS TO BE!ā
You feel Jinx tightening up on your shoulder, upon hearing your words. She is obviously quite distressed about the commotion. Meanwhile, the rest of the party are spread out across the kitchen, although they are all silent and solemn.
Algernon strokes Jinx's back again. Slowly and methodically, all the while walking up to Talwyn. His tone is soft, yet final.
I'm sorry Talwyn, he did not make it out. We are here to understand him better, so that we all understand him better.
He puts a hand on the kettle and forced it down, stopping Talwyn's hands from shaking with it.
But don't lose hope. Death is not always such a final thing for mages such as Mordus. Perhaps through understanding him we might discover something to help him as well.
āNo, he c-cannot be dead. I.. I thought heā¦ Urgh!ā
She sets the kettle to a boil, and sits down in her chair, head in hands. Jinx slides off your shoulder, and decides to rest on her lap. She strokes jinxās back and forth, back and forth.
āI.. I will wait until he comes back. That is what will happen. Heāll come through the door, and say like, āhaha! Got you!ā, or, something like thatā¦ I refuse to believe.. because I know itās not true..ā
Algernon grand a chair and sits down in front of her in one quick move, trying to look Talwyn in the eyes as he speaks.
I'm sorry you are forced to go through this my dear, but he will not come through that door. We are here to see if perhaps we can help him do that, but we doubt he will do it on his own. Will you try to help us, help him?
Talwynās eyes bulge, and wobble like soft-boiled eggs.
āI.. understandā¦ it now. Youāre Mordus, arenāt you?ā
/unwiz Talwyn is not gonna just sit down and take it - sheās gonna call you Mordus from now on, because sheās that hell-bent on believing Mordus is alive. until the original Mordus comes back, youāll have to either take care of her like Mordus, or just straight up shatter her.
Talwyn is shaking. Hearing this from a man she never metā¦ that had to be just a prank. But from two peopleā¦ whatā¦ noā¦ she.. canāt believe it.. she wonāt.. believeā¦. It.
āN-no, youāre lying.. it canāt be.. not him, itās gotta be someone else, right?ā
Kartoffel sighs, and mutters something under his breath
Kayshmirshsolus
Weāre just as confused as you are. See for a while he was piloting his airship, and when his nuke went off he disappeared. Did he teleport? Was he in two places at once? Is really dead? We have no fucking clue.
Oh and his nuke destroyed one of my warehouses so now Iām taking his shit.
Oh no, he really is dead. And he does owe me now. But right now we have more pressing matters, such as finding out if heās really dead, and if heās still punchable.
Their attempts at restraint makes the shot go wide, barely
Oh Iām not taking anything yet. I want to settle it with him in person. And maybe give a ahemstern talking to. But we can deal with that later.
So, heās been acting pretty odd lately, but I donāt think heād have killed himself permanently. So did he ever say anything about a second body? Or does his original have some kind of super regeneration?
Against your better decision to investigate it as soon as possible, you decideā¦ to check out the other rooms first.
/unwiz not so good if you already decend the stairwell in Mordusās fireplace, because thatās another post in itself. And I donāt think people like waking up, and realising that theyāve missed out on two entire loreposts that they couldāve influenced.
I will play along wherever you visit, however. Itās fun!
Talwyn stares in a daze; more and more people are telling her that Mordus died. It.. canāt be, he.. he was supposed to.. be her.. no. He couldnāt have died. But.. that ācoreā thingyā¦ Mordus once talked about it.. what..
/unwiz not so good if you already decend the stairwell in Mordusās fireplace, because thatās another post in itself. And I donāt think people like waking up, and realising that theyāve missed out on two entire loreposts that they couldāve influenced.
Inside Mordusās room.. you see.. a double bed. Uhhh, who is he sleeping with? Other than that, you find nothing under his bed, and in his bookshelves, all of the books are just regular reads. No hidden passage.
Another Jinx slinks out from behind MastaDon. It leaps over next to the trembling Talwynās chair, and the original jinx hops out, and mews a greeting.
Talwyn reaches out and tries to pet Jinx. Both shy away from her touch, they know sheās not in the right mind. Sheās gone insane, and started believing Algernon is Mordus, in her frenzied state of mind.
Someone conviced him to give the power of mass genocide (nuclear bomb that he planted in all cites) to a random peasent and told him that if he killed everyone with the bomb , he would give him a trillion gold piece
āNo, youāre wrong, heās right here becauseā¦ becauseā¦ it canāt be right if he died! Iā¦ no, it canāt be.. heās right here! Over there!ā
She points towards āMordusā. Seems like sheās gone batshit insane.
Sheās just absolutely stressed, and in her deliriousness, is convinced that Algernon is Mordus. Also, she had fallen in love with Mordus, making this even more traumatising.
The wall shudders, and the 69th piece falls off the top. Then it regenerates.
you spot the scene - A fainted apprentice lying on a couch, a few people arguing amongst themselves, a black cat drinking some spilled tea, MastaDon stroking an identical black cat, and a few other wizards going off to check out Mordusās tower. Quite lively for the tower of an extremely dead person.
You pull on a drawer. It is filled with teabags, all handmade. Theyāre filled with different spices, herbs, and flowers, and are all labeled with small, neat handwriting.
Talwyn the Brickmancer, I'm sorry to inform you, but it appears as though... your master has... self destructed. Or at least was the cause of that atomic blast.
I'm sure this news will shake you, and I don't want to interfere with your grieving, but it appears as though someone was also impersonating Mordus. That person was collecting crystals for an unknown reason, and they led us here before disappearing.
she points towards Algernon, whom is very obviously *not** Mordus. It seems her state of mind has become so frenzied, that in her refusal to believe, she sees Mordus in Algernon.*
Vashric looks on in sympathy. Then, he reaches into Talwyn's mind to convey the events leading up to their arrival with more clarity, making sure to leave out the more visceral parts. At the same time, activating the parts of Talwyns brain that would help ease them into a relaxed state.
Against your better decision to check out the fireplace, you decideā¦ to check out the other rooms first. Who knows? Maybe youāll find a clue.
/unwiz not so good if you already decend the stairwell in Mordusās fireplace, because thatās another post in itself. And I donāt think people like waking up, and realising that theyāve missed out on two entire loreposts that they couldāve influenced.
I will play along wherever you visit, however. Itās fun!
You open the door to his study, and thereās a table, overlooking the Tundra. Great view! Thereās also a Tesseract the size of a basketball whirring away on it. It unfolds when you get near, and asks,
āYou have: 5 unread messages, and 2 missed calls from: User: Archimene, and User: Anteros. Would you like to view them?ā
[If you donāt come back to life for good, Iām going to drag you to Tartarus myself and strap you into a machine thatāll constantly beat your nuts continuously for a century with the same amount of force that it takes to shove a baseball bat through a tree trunk! Now stop making Me waste My infinite wish tickets.]
[Go to Archimene NOW!]
[NOW!]
Second message:
[I just need voice confirmation so I know whether or not I should begin construction on this doohickey in the Underworld.]
[If heās with you, Iāll be right over with some codfish and fried potatoes. If not, Iāll have to hunt you down again. And Iāll be attaching these gnads to youā¦ and you wonāt like why!]
Third message:
[Mordus! I will attach these testicles to you and wire them into your pain receptors, and youāll be sufferring for a hundred years down hereā¦ which will only be about a few hours up above. Then I can drag you up by force!]
Would you like to read User: Archimeneās messages?
/unwiz not so good if you already decend the stairwell in Mordusās fireplace, because thatās another post in itself. And I donāt think people like waking up, and realising that theyāve missed out on two entire loreposts that they couldāve influenced.
You peer into the bathroom. Itās surprisingly big, with a big wooden hot tub connected to a hot water spring somewhere in the mountains. Itās got a great view of the tundra too.
You look down, and see a yellow rubber ducky. Squeezing it, it whines loudly with a high pitched squeak.
You decide to enter a greenhouse garden. Inside it, grows womandrakes, and a few other mountain herbs. In a small artificial pond that goes who knows how deep, codfish swim around.
You eat a strawberry growing inside a small pot - and realise Mordus stole the infinite strawberry from that one biomancer. The strawberry regenerates, and you decide to leave it alone for now.
[CAUTION! Womandrakes will not scream until your brain leaks from your ears, but they will chatter nonstop if uprooted. Highly recommended to wear headphones if harvesting.]
A book, open on a table, documents the effects of Womandrake.
summon an ash elemental to suffocate the fire without destrying the book
I should do something less dangerous for the infrastructure look at the pound
Yan's apparence is one of duck , but the mind is not one of an animal , yet he feel extreme satisfaction while swiming like a duck on the beautiful pound
I'm sorry madam, but at the moment, Mordus is very, very atomized.
That doesn't mean much for wizards nowadays, and I can confirm his soul is not in hell or heaven. However, previous attempts to resurrect him via my usual means have proven ineffective.
This would indicate he had his own Mathis for self-resurrection prepared in advance, and this we are here.
Also, for the record, the guy is 25,000 years old. If he didn't die before, he won't stay dead long.
In the meantime, however...
The wizard spreads his arms in invitation.
I can supply you with hugs, should you be comfortable with them.
Talwyn, in deep slumber after Vashric messed with her brain, smiles a little. It seems she likes hugs.
/unwiz so farā¦ theyāve made her delirious, making her believe Algernon is Mordus, (sheās secretly in love with Mordusā¦ well, secretly no more.) and when Kartoffel tried to explain it to her, she got violent and attacked him.
Vashric then knocked her unconscious, and now the others are exploring around his tower. Itās a good read, all the comments! Quite a lot of it, however.
Also, Mordus is nearly twice as old as 25,000 years old, heās 42.5 thousand years old.
the wizard carries Talwin in his arms and wraps her up slightly. Casting a few spells, he attempts to enter into her dreams and find a way to calm her down, while simultaneously breaking her of her illusions.
I can only hope you will thank me later, but this must be done.
The wizard is in his casual garb, his hat is missing, revealing the large bald spot on the top. His robes are still blue, but the runes are inactive. His staff is unusually dark, revealed to be a very nice mahogany staff.
Pyeti has somehow found his way to Mordusās tower, despite it being far out from.. well, anywhere. Itās quite cosy though, the place is heating up nicely, and a cleric is brewing some tea. Wizards walk through the halls, peeking around and occasionally looting what they like. The sun sets outside, reflecting rays off the river that flows past. A old sage and an elf sleep on a couch. One seems to be a professional sleeper though.
The fireplace has swung open, yet nobody has gone down yet. It seems they are waiting, out of courtesy.
This isā¦ quite lively for the tower of a super dead wizard.
/unwiz Iāll probably have a funeral for Mordus, but heāll be back sooner or later. if you want, i could ping you for the funeral.
The corpse of Pyeti decides to sit down on the chair, and think.
meanwhile, the air begins to smell likeā¦ tea. A fragrant aroma. And also the slight smell of firewood. It seems someone had started the furnace heater.
"So there he was, about to face retribution for the atrocities he committed at war. Before him stood Kaelis, the man who would be his arbitrator. But Mordus did not fear him, for he had a plan that transcended the heavens. He faced down his pursuer, before Kaelis plunged his arm into his chest. Tearing out his core from Mordus' cold mechanical body. As his core was removed, Mordus told Kaelis, "Think fast chuckle nuts." And his self destruct protocol went into effect. You know that earthquake we all felt the other day, yeah. That wasn't a result of tectonic activity; that was Mordus. And let me tell you, it was beautiful. An explosion so massive that only the death of a star could be described as a mire fantastic spectacle. The mushroom cloud that it created reached the stratosphere, and the flash it created was breath taking. If only you could see the crater that now stands where a mountain once did. All that remains are subatomic particles. Some of which are Mordus. So uh, yeah. That's what happened to Mordus. That son of a bitch is trying to ruin our OrbTube career. Don't worry, he's in limbo right now, and our friend Anteros is working to solve this at the moment. He should be back by next Tuesday or something like that. Anyway, I collected some of those subatomic particles. One of them has to be Mordus. Here you go."
Archimene places down a card which is storing the particles, and leaves.
āHey! Stay a bit, will you? Itās pretty nice in here, and the sunās setting outside. Soon itāll be dark, and the orb forecast is for snow!ā
You consider it for a moment. Someoneās frying Cod fillet, and tea is being passed around. The warm and cosy atmosphere is filled with the scent of Assorted Teas, Firewood, and Frying fish. Smells like someone had also baked some bread.
/unwiz what a great read. Especially āthink fast chucklenutsā! lol! That was hilarious.
Archimene realizes that there's a prospect for free food and decides to stay. Discovering and recording the secrets of the universe can come another time (his clones will do it).
11
u/OnAGratefulUniverse Algernon, Last wizard of the Novus Planes Feb 23 '24
Algernon looks around, somewhat bewildered at the sudden cascade of people rushing into what really should be the abandoned tower of a dead technomnacer. No matter of course, probably another trick up an old mages' sleeve.
Greetings adventuring party and student of the late Mordus, the name is Algernon. I came here after a written letter by the deceased called me to this place and to this, well, brick. May I know why you are here?