Macrendil-Ysmir

I feel like something of a content warning is in order. So here goes: WARNING - this chapter involves the aftermath of Chaos induced madness, including a direct consequence of growing a certain appendage while crazy. I think you'll connect the dots when reading it.

Please let me know your thoughts about 'it' too.

Watching Erik fight Krir and Rokar had made Sigrun anxious at the time. But now she was mortified and deathly afraid.

As she watched Yrret play around with her lover like a cat with its prey, toying with him as he pushed him around, cut him to ribbons and stomped on his prone body, she felt ill. But she did not faint.

Her face turned whiter than snow and her eyes were brimming, but she did not shed a tear. She had to believe. She had to believe in her man and that he could make a comeback.

But seeing new, enormous wounds opening up one after the other, she almost fell to her knees. When Erik seemed to make a comeback, she almost cheered aloud, certain Erik would quickly finish it and she could tend to his wounds.

But reality was cruel and if it weren’t for her mother forcefully supporting her, she definitely would have after watching Erik go down for the final time.

Looking at her bereft daughter, Helles couldn’t help but inwardly sigh.

‘Baby girl, this is why your father and I were so adamant about not letting you two get married yet. You are so young while his Trials are this deadly. Don’t look at the annual raids, those are far safer than 1-on-1 duels or the Winter Hunt. It may take some time, but your heart will heal eventually…’

On the stage, Yrret was loudly proclaiming his victory. He had spread his arms out wide as he boldly strutted around the stage as if he expected applause. He had completely forgotten the solemnity and honourable nature of the Trial and was insistent on turning it into a moment dedicated to him.

And as the people began to turn away, deeming the matter finished, Sven forlornly looked at Erik’s prone figure.

‘Damnit Erik, we were supposed to Hunt together! You were supposed to become my brother-in-law!’

He turned away for a moment as he punched his clenched fist into a nearby wall in frustration.

But when he shifted back to Erik, he questioned his eyes.

Erik’s body seemed to be contorting by itself, the wounds rapidly closing on their own as broken bones righted themselves. And from the stump of his lost arm, two new appendages started to take shape.

Surprised, Sven shouted to everyone that the fight wasn’t over yet as Erik sluggishly stood up.

But what happened next made everyone present lost for words and left many greatly frightened.

Erik’s eyes were replaced by two blazing vortexes of Chaotic energy, small but eye-blindingly bright. And as the light subsided, Erik launched himself with a beastly towards Yrret, who had turned around to face him in surprise.

Erik’s two new appendages took the shape of muscular, fleshy tentacle and a sharp, chitinous claw. He used the former to wrap up Yrret’s swordarm while the claw cut straight through the shield, and the arm that held it.

Then, using the wrapped up arm as a handle, Erik started flailing Yrret around like a ragdoll, smashing him on the log floor of the platform left and right, left and right.

No one could have foreseen this as the people stared in awe and fright at the unexpected turnaround and the unfolding spectacle.

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Erik had completely lost his mind. No, a better description would be that his body started acting completely on instinct after his psyche had momentarily shut down.

But when he regained consciousness, he did not regain control over his body. On the contrary, he was forced to watch in abject horror as his body continued to regenerate itself and used its mutated appendages to attack Yrret in an uncontrollable, primal fury.

After continuing to watch for a while, Erik tried to regain control but failed. Meanwhile his body had changed from flailing Yrret around to stripping him off his armour and started cutting, twisting and bending his body while dragging it over the rough wooden platform.

It felt like an eternity, but Erik finally managed to momentarily take back control. He quickly wrapped his tentacle-arm around Yrret’s waist and threw him into one of the large bronze braziers where the smell of roasting flesh was soon accompanied by his screams as Yrret burned alive in the unholy flames.

Turning his back on Yrret, Erik hurriedly sought eye contact with anyone he trusted. He couldn’t find any of the Jarl’s family members, but he did swiftly lock eyes with Scaldar. And while Erik could feel his control slipping away again, he requested something of the old Vikti.

“Quick, bring me home…”

And after seeing Scaldar nod, Erik’s body collapsed on the ground as he shifted his focus on reigning in the rampaging beast inside his mind. Currently neither of them had control over the body, making it easy for Scaldar and his helpers to move the motionless Erik into his cabin, where hey instructed the thralls to take care of him.

No one else was allowed to go inside and soon after this proved to be a wise decision as screams started coming from inside the cabin.

Screams of horror were soon replaced by screams of pain. Then the sounds started alternating between screams of pain and moans of ecstasy.

Every now and then, a part of the wall was blown apart but the snow dunes and collapsing roof blocked everything from view.

The Jarl ordered all the tribesmen to return home, but he and his bondsmen kept their weapons close as they held watch throughout the afternoon and then continued through the night.

Finally, just after dawn, the sounds coming from Erik’s cabin died down and the people waiting outside, after waiting for another hour or so, gingerly went inside to take a look.

They hoped to find an exhausted Erik lying amidst rubble. What they feared to find, and kept their weapons ready for, was a Chaos Spawn like the one Erik’s body had been given form with only 9 weeks ago.

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When Erik regained consciousness, he immediately noticed multiple things.

His right arm had returned to normal, the claw and tentacle having fused together into a regular arm.

The cabin, or what was left of it, was in utter ruin. The walls were broken in some places, all the furniture was shattered and claw marks could be found on all surfaces.

Finally, there were a lot of bodies lying around him. Some were cut in half at the waist. Others had long streaks of dark blood running over their bodies from where their mouths gaped open wide.

These bodies belonged to the male and elderly female house thralls Erik had taken in after his first Trials and could be found all over the place.

Directly surrounding Erik, who oddly enough woke up on the bed, were the still bodies of his pleasure thralls. Only two of them still breathed, although they looked terrible with bruises all over their bodies and their skin drenched in foul smelling liquids.

Three unlucky girls must have borne the brunt of his madness as they had been horribly mangled and mistreated. Limbs stood at impossible angles and their necks had been twisted 180 degrees or stood at 90 degree angles. And possibly the most shocking thing about them was that they each had their lower holes ravaged and stretched wide open while their faces wore eerie smiles of ecstasy.

Carefully sitting up, Erik looked at the results of his rampage.

‘Seems like I was right in my assumption that buying a lot of stat points at once was dangerous…’

A glint appeared in his eyes as he recalled that situation and he quickly opened the GAO screen.

~Bleep! – Player information displayed!

Player: Erik –
Affiliation: Chaos, Frost Wolf Tribe (Skaeling Confederacy)
Patron: Khorne; Slaanesh; Nurgle; Tzeentch

Player stats:
Strength (STR):                 30 (+9)
Dexterity (DEX):               30 (+20)
Constitution (CON):         30 (+16)
Wisdom (WIS):                  30
Charisma (CHAR):           12

Player Favour:
Khorne:               73 (-90)
Slaanesh:            92 (-200)
Nurgle:                46 (+74) (-160)
Tzeentch:            26

 (Earn Favour by performing actions that either directly please your Patron or are in line with their commandments.)

Favour can now be exchanged for Patron Deity’s Gifts and Bonuses.

Patron Deity’s first ability unlocked:
Khorne:               Berserk (Active) – Activated by spending 50 Favour or when extremely agitated. The followers of the God of Rage can perform impossible feats of strength by invoking this power.
Slaanesh:            Pheromones (Passive) – Attract members of the opposite sex. Gain better initial relation and get better prices when buying or selling items.
Nurgle:                Regeneration (Passive) – The Lord of Ruin expects unnatural perseverance of his followers and grants them the ability to do so.
Tzeentch:           Encyclopaedia (Passive) – Allows the user to gather and store information. Also provides a basic understanding of new discoveries and first encounters.

(Abilities can be improved by spending Favour or with repeated use of the ability.)

Player weapon proficiencies:
Unarmed:           154 (+73)
One-handed:     140 (+51)
Two-handed:     215 (+15) (Proficiency limit increased)
Polearms:           161
Archery:              50
Throwing:           113
Firearms:            50

Player armour proficiencies:
Unarmoured:                   60
Medium armour:            92
Heavy armour:                 60
Magic armour:                 (LOCKED)

Player magic proficiencies: (LOCKED)~

Player mutations:
Right arm: Chitinous Claw morph – A strong, razor sharp claw capable of rending armour.
Right arm: Tentacle morph – An extendable mass of muscle with high sensitivity and great strength.

Well, Erik had expected some changes, but nothing quite as drastic as this! And as Erik was dazedly looking over his new status, the people outside quietly and cautiously walked into the ravaged house.