🦉

Surprised I couldn't find a *SINGLE* variation of blush(ing/es) in my largest WIP to sample, but fortunately I found samples in my second largest! 🩷Going to tuck everything after "armor" under a read-more for the sake of everyone's dashboards, lol.

CLONE(S): Commander Fox/Ravena Olaen

"Make it very, explicitly clear when there's an emergency," Commander Fox requested upon being given Ravena's comm. "Emergency transmissions take precedence at all times. I can only be in a single place at one time; they don't exactly clone Clones. If you want to chat, don't expect a quick reply. Am I clear?"

"As kyber."

ARMOR: Commander Fox/Ravena Olaen

Ravena twisted her fingers, discomfort growing. "Do people ever, uh, impersonate t-troopers...?"

"Few have tried. Something always tips us off. Armor doesn't fit. Walk's wrong. Talk's wrong. Posture's wrong. Height, weight, even the smell."

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You stumble down a narrow corridor, tripping over the uneven stone floor in your haste. Behind you, the horrific wails begin to fade as you traverse deeper into the temple. The dim light from the antechamber fades into gloom. The darkness stretches, swallowing your shadow whole as you continue forward.

You pass beneath a stone archway and feel an immediate drop in temperature. You cannot make out much in the gloom, but you instinctively recognize that you've stepping into a large chamber. Before you, a lone pedestal sits at the center of the room. A ring of lit candles sits at its base. Their flickering light reveals carvings in the stone column - a lone hawk and hare caught in a never-ending chase. In the flickering light, they appear to be moving - the hare's ears twitch, the hawk's eyes gleam.

Atop the pedestal rests a magnificent bow and a single arrow. Though the candlelight is low and reveals little, you can see that the bow is golden and gives off an eerie glow. The air is filled with a low hum as if a frantic energy fills the chamber.

Codex Entry: The Golden Bow

Material: Unknown metal plated with gold and a shining arrow of unknown material +300% Attack power +100 Piercing damage +25 Dexterity +20% Electrical damage +20% Critical hit chance +15 Perception +10% Necrotic damage A golden bow that gives off an eerie glow. The body is twisted and jagged as if to mimic the crack of lightning through storm clouds. There is one arrow that always returns to the archer's quiver. When drawn, the archer's senses are heightened – a greater sense of hearing, sight and smell. All the better to hunt quarry. A simple archer will be transformed into a fearsome hunter. The arrow will deal a deadly wound to the target with a high chance of instant death once struck. In addition, the arrow will taint the target, and necrotic damage will stack. This necrotic damage will also affect the archer. Once the arrow is notched and drawn, necrotic damage begins to spread through the archer's body. The longer the bow is drawn and the greater the foe felled, the faster the spread of necrosis. Necrotic damage stacks with each foe killed. This damage can only be healed with a powerful magic artifact or with several weeks of rest. Once necrotic damage reaches threshold of 80%, the archer is permanently blighted.

A harsh shriek pierces the air, coming from the corridor behind you. Flapping wings, scrapping claws and gnashing teeth fill the air in a raucous cacophony that grows louder and more fierce with each passing moment.

You are faced with a choice. Do you:

⟡ Take the bow and face the source of the noise

⟡ Leave the bow and try to find a way to escape

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Developer Notes Below!

◀ GO TO PREVIOUS ENTRY

You exhale raggedly as you continue your climb up the crumbling skeleton of stairs that runs along the mountainside. When it seems as though your thighs cannot take another step and your lungs wheeze unevenly with each new breath, you reach a landing. You collapse to the ground. After a moment's rest, you right yourself with trembling limbs - only to find yourself facing a skeleton, its lower jaw dropped in a silent scream. You scramble backwards, your back hitting a jagged rock jutting from the mountainside. You cower against the stone, your fear surpassing the sharp flare of pain, but the skeleton does not move. It sits slumped by the edge of the landing. A ragged cloak pools around the bones of its body and clutched in its lap in a bony grip is a book.

The book slides from its grasp easily. The binding is a dark green leather - plain with no embellishments or markings. Two copper clasps keep it closed, but there is no way to unlock them or open the book it seems. You run a finger along the cool metal as you shuffle backwards, keeping a wary eye on the skeleton. Its empty sockets stare back at you.

Codex Entry: A Book Without Title

Material: Simple leather binding with no title and an ornamental clasp with no visible way to unlock and open the book This object is not for use in combat. A plain leather book. The visible page edges appear to be simple parchment. An intricate and ornamental clasp keeps the book closed, but there is no keyhole or visible way to unlock the clasp. To unlock the book you must whisper it a secret. Once opened the pages appear blank, but ask the book a question aloud, and it shall be answered in the reader's own mind. But beware for the cost of knowledge is a memory. The book takes no physical toll from the reader apart from the snatches of memory it takes. Yet the more it is used, the more the hunger for knowledge grows within the reader. The reader will be compelled to continue asking questions. The craving for knowledge will become insatiable until the reader has no memory left to offer. Without memory, no knowledge can be gained. The reader will wander, aimless and without memory, protecting the book with no knowledge of how to open it or what it is until it is taken from them or until death.

A secret, long-forgotten comes to mind. You run your finger along the copper clasp again, the pad of one fingertip catching on the sharp point of one end. What knowledge lies in this book? Might it help you find what you seek?

You are faced with a choice. Do you:

⟡ Share a secret with the book and see what lies within its pages

⟡ Return the book to its previous owner

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Developer Notes Below!