Ment
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People walked along the roads in crowds, leaving their homes. In a hurry, they grabbed only the most essential items and loaded them into wagons: some chests, clothes, and a few animals. Stubborn cows, unaccustomed to traveling, were prodded with sticks. Women wept and prayed to the gods. Men cursed and prayed too... for something.
The youngest children behaved with the most stoicism; they were only annoyed by the hustle and bustle and the cries of their mothers, but overall, they didn't understand the scale of the disaster. As a result, random trees and birds on the road were far more interesting to them than thoughts of lost possessions. Infinitely more so. If they did start to fuss, it was from fatigue.
How many more times would I have to witness similar scenes! Although there were no obvious dangers, I volunteered to accompany these people for a while, until they reached areas that had not been affected by the outburst of magic, which was unknown at that time. After a long journey, we arrived at places that did not cause us the unconditional, difficult-to-explain panic (fortunately, the symptoms of this were alleviated by good food, but they still made themselves felt).
But it turned out that all these people, hundreds of them, were not going any further: the road was blocked by legionaries from I. The logic of the local authorities was as follows: we have no contact with L and the council, we don't know what happened, we see that it is terrible and unsafe, we have a war right next door, which even without aggravating circumstances would not allow us to do anything about the humanitarian disaster in the vicinity of K. Therefore, we simply won't let you pass. Do what you want, but don't cross this imaginary line, or we will open fire.
I spoke with the captain, and when he learned that I was a recruit of the Armed Forces, who had successfully completed the training, and saw my badge (actually, not mine, but that's a detail), he agreed to let me pass. Alone, without the refugees. I didn't go. Going with peasants to attack the legionaries was also clearly insane, and although some people suggested such ideas, in the end, we set up camp near the "border," not close enough to annoy the soldiers, but far enough from the source of wild magic. Despite their possessions, the peasants were already afraid to return to their homes: many claimed that the lives of their acquaintances and relatives were being taken by an unknown illness, and this happened in the first hours after the disaster. Now, every day, some kind of energy was spreading around K, further and further, and it was terrifying.
Fear... Constant fear. Despite my difficult childhood and the path I had chosen as a knight, I myself was infected with horror from the people around me, and even more so from the fact that the nature that was familiar to us was becoming increasingly hostile, and magic was trying to penetrate our bodies and cause changes from within. At first, I scouted and hunted for new acquaintances, occasionally using my privilege and going beyond the cordon, bypassing local doctors and wizards. One of them turned out to have a fairly powerful remedy that helped me get rid of the poisoning from Annihilator of Ivora – this was not done for free, and not for useless tokens in the current situation; in exchange for the service, the sorcerer scanned me with some kind of spell, checking what influence the Dark Lands have on the human body. Although I was not a mutant, my healer was satisfied with the results and said that I would live a long life (surprisingly, I rather thought it would be the opposite). He also took some irradiated items as payment.
Regarding mutants. Just a week after we set up camp and took the first steps to settle in the Lands, a pregnant peasant woman gave birth to a baby with thick blue fur all over its body. This was only the first warning, but then it was a great effort for me to prevent the other residents from tearing the infant and its mother to pieces on the spot. Over time, it turned out that young children were also susceptible to changes as a result of the flows of wild magic, and even adults, although to a lesser extent, still had a chance of suffering. Animals went mad and gradually lost their natural traits: however, most of the changes were fatal to both animals and people, but those who remained were often worse off than the dead. Relatively speaking, it was still not bad if a person grew an extra pair of hands, and an animal grew a scaly shell; much more often, both were covered with terrible purulent scabs and growths, spread unknown diseases or an aura of decay, fused together, or grew into shapeless cadavers, for whom death was a relief from their torment. Even more often, the same fate awaited plants: it was clear that the younger and more primitive the organism in terms of biology, the sooner it changed, and the more likely it was to adapt to its changes in order not to die completely.
After a couple of years, a kind of unique biome of its own formed in the Dark Lands, most likely temporary and fragile, but still, it became possible to catalog it somehow. I don't know how useful this is for me now, and with my unsuitable (non-)education, but to test my memory, I will try to do this, recording the most memorable creatures.
Zombies. People, humanoids, and even animals in some swamps in the central part of the Lands were infected with a strange disease that turned them into something like corpses. Although these zombies should be distinguished from the walking dead that result from the rituals of dark mages: their transformation goes from life to death, not from death to death. Details may vary depending on the specimen, but usually, after stepping into an infected area and without proper treatment (or good immunity), the victim gradually experiences a fever, falls into a coma, and then rises as an unconscious monster. It is also possible to become infected from another monster. The creatures multiplied beyond measure, but they do not go beyond the swamps, so they are relatively safe if you don't go to them yourself (or prepare). Kill count: ~100
Worms and caterpillars. I don't distinguish them very well, and magic transforms them, blurring any differences; it's just some kind of worm-like healthy creature the size of a cat or a small dog. Sometimes they grow into giants, but smaller ones are more dangerous due to their numbers and because they are much more active in digging into the ground in search of food (the large ones seem to be slowed down due to their metabolism). They like forests, where there is a lot of humus and roots, and they don't disdain animals and people. Kill count: ~500-700
Rock Riders. I didn't come up with the nickname; these creatures are some of the most disgusting and annoying. Winged mixture of lizards and birds, with toothed beaks and membranous wings, slightly larger than a human (although lighter in weight). They nest in the mountains, but often fly to other areas to satisfy their hunger; however, for an experienced warrior, these raids by single individuals are not dangerous. It's a completely different story that every trip to the mountains turns into a chase: the creatures are persistent, numerous, and swarm in as soon as they see you. Without good archery skills, you just wait for them to get close so you can strike, but they manage to bite. If you run, they won't catch you; fortunately, I'm a good runner, but they don't lag behind for several kilometers, forming a huge cloud of all the individuals that saw you at that distance and decided that you are good food. In short, don't go for a walk in the mountains, kids. Kill count: ~300-400
Poppies. The flower surprisingly took root in some plains and acquired the property of putting people nearby into a lethargic sleep. I still don't understand why this property, it doesn't give them any visible evolutionary advantage. Kill count: I burned a couple of such plains, but the poppies grew back after a year.
The continuation of the list will definitely be later.
The youngest children behaved with the most stoicism; they were only annoyed by the hustle and bustle and the cries of their mothers, but overall, they didn't understand the scale of the disaster. As a result, random trees and birds on the road were far more interesting to them than thoughts of lost possessions. Infinitely more so. If they did start to fuss, it was from fatigue.
How many more times would I have to witness similar scenes! Although there were no obvious dangers, I volunteered to accompany these people for a while, until they reached areas that had not been affected by the outburst of magic, which was unknown at that time. After a long journey, we arrived at places that did not cause us the unconditional, difficult-to-explain panic (fortunately, the symptoms of this were alleviated by good food, but they still made themselves felt).
But it turned out that all these people, hundreds of them, were not going any further: the road was blocked by legionaries from I. The logic of the local authorities was as follows: we have no contact with L and the council, we don't know what happened, we see that it is terrible and unsafe, we have a war right next door, which even without aggravating circumstances would not allow us to do anything about the humanitarian disaster in the vicinity of K. Therefore, we simply won't let you pass. Do what you want, but don't cross this imaginary line, or we will open fire.
I spoke with the captain, and when he learned that I was a recruit of the Armed Forces, who had successfully completed the training, and saw my badge (actually, not mine, but that's a detail), he agreed to let me pass. Alone, without the refugees. I didn't go. Going with peasants to attack the legionaries was also clearly insane, and although some people suggested such ideas, in the end, we set up camp near the "border," not close enough to annoy the soldiers, but far enough from the source of wild magic. Despite their possessions, the peasants were already afraid to return to their homes: many claimed that the lives of their acquaintances and relatives were being taken by an unknown illness, and this happened in the first hours after the disaster. Now, every day, some kind of energy was spreading around K, further and further, and it was terrifying.
Fear... Constant fear. Despite my difficult childhood and the path I had chosen as a knight, I myself was infected with horror from the people around me, and even more so from the fact that the nature that was familiar to us was becoming increasingly hostile, and magic was trying to penetrate our bodies and cause changes from within. At first, I scouted and hunted for new acquaintances, occasionally using my privilege and going beyond the cordon, bypassing local doctors and wizards. One of them turned out to have a fairly powerful remedy that helped me get rid of the poisoning from Annihilator of Ivora – this was not done for free, and not for useless tokens in the current situation; in exchange for the service, the sorcerer scanned me with some kind of spell, checking what influence the Dark Lands have on the human body. Although I was not a mutant, my healer was satisfied with the results and said that I would live a long life (surprisingly, I rather thought it would be the opposite). He also took some irradiated items as payment.
Regarding mutants. Just a week after we set up camp and took the first steps to settle in the Lands, a pregnant peasant woman gave birth to a baby with thick blue fur all over its body. This was only the first warning, but then it was a great effort for me to prevent the other residents from tearing the infant and its mother to pieces on the spot. Over time, it turned out that young children were also susceptible to changes as a result of the flows of wild magic, and even adults, although to a lesser extent, still had a chance of suffering. Animals went mad and gradually lost their natural traits: however, most of the changes were fatal to both animals and people, but those who remained were often worse off than the dead. Relatively speaking, it was still not bad if a person grew an extra pair of hands, and an animal grew a scaly shell; much more often, both were covered with terrible purulent scabs and growths, spread unknown diseases or an aura of decay, fused together, or grew into shapeless cadavers, for whom death was a relief from their torment. Even more often, the same fate awaited plants: it was clear that the younger and more primitive the organism in terms of biology, the sooner it changed, and the more likely it was to adapt to its changes in order not to die completely.
After a couple of years, a kind of unique biome of its own formed in the Dark Lands, most likely temporary and fragile, but still, it became possible to catalog it somehow. I don't know how useful this is for me now, and with my unsuitable (non-)education, but to test my memory, I will try to do this, recording the most memorable creatures.
Zombies. People, humanoids, and even animals in some swamps in the central part of the Lands were infected with a strange disease that turned them into something like corpses. Although these zombies should be distinguished from the walking dead that result from the rituals of dark mages: their transformation goes from life to death, not from death to death. Details may vary depending on the specimen, but usually, after stepping into an infected area and without proper treatment (or good immunity), the victim gradually experiences a fever, falls into a coma, and then rises as an unconscious monster. It is also possible to become infected from another monster. The creatures multiplied beyond measure, but they do not go beyond the swamps, so they are relatively safe if you don't go to them yourself (or prepare). Kill count: ~100
Worms and caterpillars. I don't distinguish them very well, and magic transforms them, blurring any differences; it's just some kind of worm-like healthy creature the size of a cat or a small dog. Sometimes they grow into giants, but smaller ones are more dangerous due to their numbers and because they are much more active in digging into the ground in search of food (the large ones seem to be slowed down due to their metabolism). They like forests, where there is a lot of humus and roots, and they don't disdain animals and people. Kill count: ~500-700
Rock Riders. I didn't come up with the nickname; these creatures are some of the most disgusting and annoying. Winged mixture of lizards and birds, with toothed beaks and membranous wings, slightly larger than a human (although lighter in weight). They nest in the mountains, but often fly to other areas to satisfy their hunger; however, for an experienced warrior, these raids by single individuals are not dangerous. It's a completely different story that every trip to the mountains turns into a chase: the creatures are persistent, numerous, and swarm in as soon as they see you. Without good archery skills, you just wait for them to get close so you can strike, but they manage to bite. If you run, they won't catch you; fortunately, I'm a good runner, but they don't lag behind for several kilometers, forming a huge cloud of all the individuals that saw you at that distance and decided that you are good food. In short, don't go for a walk in the mountains, kids. Kill count: ~300-400
Poppies. The flower surprisingly took root in some plains and acquired the property of putting people nearby into a lethargic sleep. I still don't understand why this property, it doesn't give them any visible evolutionary advantage. Kill count: I burned a couple of such plains, but the poppies grew back after a year.
The continuation of the list will definitely be later.