The goat clambers down the steep shale, leaving the frantic chirping of the High Crags far behind. He reaches the Low Fens, where the air turns heavy, damp, and thick with the scent of stagnant water and blooming night-lilies.
Amidst the rot of fallen logs, a tall, spindly figure in patched furs stands motionless. Elowen, a local warden of the marsh, stares down at a patch of pulsing, crystalline mushrooms that mirror the energy the goat recently consumed.
Elowen
The creature smells of raw lightning. I should not have come here alone.
Goat
BAAAAAAH.
Elowen
It is not a beast. It is a calamity walking on four legs.
The mushrooms flare with an intense, rhythmic hum as the goat approaches. The ground beneath his hooves begins to soften, turning into a swirling slurry of mud and arcane light.
“Wait. *Try not to insult this lady, is she important? She seems important*”
FAILURE (Fair Willpower, rolled -1)
Goat
Don't butt her. Don't butt her. Just stand here and look like a normal, non-screaming creature.
The goat tries to hold his ground, but the arcane mud is slicker than spilled oil. His heavy hooves lose purchase, and he tumbles forward with a clumsy, loud thud, his horns digging deep into the muck right at Elowen's feet.
Elowen
By the spirits, you insufferable beast. Do you have any idea what you have triggered?
Elowen recoils, her hand flashing to the hilt of a curved silver blade at her hip. She does not draw it yet, but her knuckles turn white. The mushrooms glow with blinding intensity, turning the surrounding mud into a boiling, violet slurry that begins to crust over the goat's legs.
Elowen
It is tethered to the rot. If I strike it, the feedback might unravel my own lungs.
A shard of crystallized peat erupts from the ground, narrowly missing the warden's cheek. She stares at the goat with a mixture of terror and mounting fury.
+ Scene Quest Added
Survive the arcane mud eruption
“Arcane mud? *Most things you can either scream at, eat, or fuck. For some reason you want to do all three*”
SUCCESS (Legendary eat anything, rolled +0)
Goat
Tastes like lightning, but salty. Keep chewing. Don't let the purple stuff win.
The goat lowers his snout, ignoring the boiling violet bubbles, and bites down hard on the vibrating, crystalline peat shard. It shatters between his teeth like frozen sugar. He hungrily swallows the jagged chunks, his throat glowing with a faint, rhythmic violet light that matches the churning earth.
Elowen
Stop that. You are consuming the manifestation of the rift. You will combust.
The ground beneath Elowen violently heaves, forcing her to stumble backward. The goat’s stomach emits a low, guttural vibration that resonates with the humming mud, momentarily calming the bubbling slurry. A wave of violet energy ripples outward from the goat's gullet, causing the surrounding mud to solidify into hard, glassy stone. Elowen stares, her mouth slightly agape, as the deadly sludge turns into a stable platform beneath them both.
Elowen
It is stabilizing the eruption. How is a goat stabilizing an arcane eruption?
Elowen takes a tentative step forward, her hand still hovering over her blade, waiting to see if the goat will explode or transform.
Quest Complete
Survive the arcane mud eruption
Skill Upgrade: Arcane Resonance Mediocre→Fair