I am moving through trees, and the smell of the monster gets stronger and stronger until a black mist creeps out of the trees. My first instinct is to turn away, but something else keeps me moving. There’s a figure standing in the centre of a copse of trees, silent, and watching me with two white pupils.

What is perhaps strangest is that he looks… human. No fur, no tiny antlers, no big ears on the top of his head. His skin is pale, nearly white but that’s just it. Skin. I’ve always been curious, but this is setting off alarm bells and curiosity bells in equal measure.

I get to a point, about halfway through the shrubbery that would allow me to touch him, and I stop. I can’t move. It’s not like I’m shackled, with Avelihn’s invisible bullshit. I just… can’t. Yet also, I feel completely safe, like a giant has cradled me in his arms, safe from the world.

The man turns to me. I see now my own face in his, and he steps forward, each movement pulling the flesh from his face until only a skeletal head remains. It’s similar to Avelihn’s face, but without skin or hair and distinctly masculine.

HELLO RYAN RIVERS.

The words startle me, and I would have jumped back, but still I don’t move, and after a second, the fear and confusion is gone.

“You’re speaking to me?” I ask the fox-faced skeleton. It simply nods, then sways out it’s arms.

I AM ONE OF THE CREATORS. I MEAN YOU NO HARM. IN FACT, I MAY SAVE YOU FROM SOME. DO NOT TRUST AVELIHN. SHE IS ALSO A CREATOR OF THE SYSTEM - BUT SHE DOES NOT SEE IT THROUGH TO IT’S INTENDED PURPOSE.

“I don’t trust anyone, currently, but at least she’s making sense. Why should I trust you over her?”

SHE WILL TRY TO GET YOU TO BREAK YOUR CURSE. SHE WILL SAY THAT AN EVIL LIIAN FROM LONG AGO BROKE THE SYSTEM WHEN TRYING TO IMPROVE IT. THAT LIIAN IS ME. I MADE THE CURSES, ONE OF WHICH YOU NOW HOLD.

“You gave me this?” I say, my anger rising through the unnatural calm that has been forced upon me. “Why would you ever, ever do that?”

CALM, MY FRIEND. I WILL TELL YOU IN TIME. FOR NOW, KNOW THAT WHAT I DID WAS FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THE ENTIRE WORLD, EVEN IF AVELIHN AND PEOPLE LIKE ELIJAH WILL NEVER SEE IT. THE CURSES ARE NOT SO SIMPLE. AS FOR THE CURSE OF LUST, IT WILL EMPOWER YOU… IF YOU LET IT.

“If I let it? I can’t control it, I can’t change it at all. I’m already letting it do whatever it wants, and it hurts people. I hurt people.” The skeletal man seems to smile softly, but his features do not move an inch.

ALL INCARNATES HAVE A PATH TO POWER. IT IS A NECESSARY EVIL FOR WHAT WILL ONE DAY COME. THE CURSE OF LUST WILL ALLOW YOU TO HAVE POWER YOU COULDN’T IMAGINE, IN TIME. CONSIDER WHAT YOU WANT TO BE, RYAN RIVERS. YOU WERE NEVER SO CONTENT TO FOLLOW IN YOUR OLD LIFE, BUT YOU DID NOT HAVE THE ABILITY. NOW, I FEAR, THAT HAS SWITCHED.

THE CREATORS MADE IT SO YOU WOULD HAVE TO COME TO THEM TO UNDERSTAND THE SYSTEM. I’M SORRY I COULDN’T PREVENT THAT.

I try to ask him what he means, but he is gone, walking into the black mist and disappearing. I pull up the curse of lust.

CURSE OF LUST: THIS CURSE WILL CAUSE YOU TO SEEK OUT THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CREATURE IN YOUR PROXIMITY, AND FORCE YOURSELF UPON THEM.
BONUS: STAT GAIN FROM SEXUAL INTERCOURSE - APHRODISIAC PRODUCTION IN PROSTATE AND SALIVA.

Is he talking about the stat gain? I suppose I don’t have to force myself onto someone to gain stats, just having sex is good enough.

NAME: RYAN RIVERS
CLASS: UNKNOWN/UNCHOSEN
RACE: WOLFHEART [WOLF GROUP]

RACIAL BONUS(s):
POWERFUL AURA BONUS: ADD POWER TO CHARISMA
TERRITORY GAIN BONUS: TERRITORY MARKERS SIZE +25%
TERRITORY GAIN BONUS: MAIN STATISTICS GAIN +25%
+ MINOR HUMAN RACIAL BONUS [PREVIOUS INCARNATION]: +5 INTELLIGENCE
+ DISCOVERED WOLFHEART POISON RESISTANCE

STATISTICS:
MAIN ATTRIBUTES:
POWER: 70 SPEED: 40
INTEL…: 25 CHAR…: 95 (25 BASE + POWERFUL AURA BONUS)
WIS…….: 2 PERCE.: 40
END…: 45 VIGOR…: 40

I have a much higher charisma stat than anything else, mainly thanks to that racial bonus. But I don’t know what that means. Well, let’s see. I tap the Char… part, hoping that a menu will pop up, telling me about it, but no such luck. Maybe I can ask Avelihn…

The man’s words pop into my head. Don’t trust Avelihn. He sounded so genuine, and his words cut my to my core. When I was on earth, I was nothing, but I always wanted to be powerful, even if it was just so I could live happily. I’m still living in the routines of my old life - someone tells me to do something and I do it, and if I don’t have someone telling me to do something, I wander around aimlessly.

What do I want to do with this new life?

All incarnates have a path to power. The curse will allow you to have power you couldn’t imagine.

Why does that sound so… good?