Quote Originally Posted by Shruikan View Post
"Nico no!" ;_;

"Ahh, perhaps investigating the estate wasn't such a good idea. Now I must remove this clawing empty feeling in my soul..." After a bit of research Lycellus found that there is a berry that should help with that somehow, though why such a fruit would evolve only Arceus knew. "So, Berry shopping, then disarming the trapped books."

~~~

"Hello friend! I would like one of your most soul-clensing Starf berries please" Lycellus grinned their overly toothy smile at the Clefairy, though it seemed a little forced today.

[Buy and use a Starf Berry from Friend in Need Pharmacy at (2) Silverlight Shopping Mall]
[Use Security to attempt to remove the traps on Corrupted Children’s Book “My Happy Massacre” and Deranged Codec]
As soon as the sun rises, you head out and make your first stop at the Friend in Need Pharmacy to buy and use a Starf Berry. From what you can see, you’re Borsei’s first customer of the day and you’re definitely not the one she was expecting. You’re the largest Pokémon at the mall by far!

“…Sure…” Borsei replies, giving you a Straf Berry in exchange for your 25 sochas. “You want a bag for that?”

Lycellus has spent 25 Sochas for a Straf Berry.

But you just decide to eat it right there and then, no bag necessary. The taste is quite mellow and sweet, but not overbearing. It fills you with a refreshing sense of optimism as it flushes out feelings of guilt and evil.

Lycellus has used the Straf Berry to recover 10 points of Purity.

You decide to then head back to base to address some of the corrupted items, specifically the Deranged Codec and the Corrupted Children’s Book “My Happy Massacre.” When you find them in the storage area of the steel mill, you see they’ve been given warning labels. And it’s no surprise, you can sense they’re tainted with the dark, defiled aura of the Stalkers, although you can sense two distinct and different Stalker presences among these two items. Still, both of them are their own flavor of awful and demonic.

You first attempt to disarm the [Corrupted Children’s Book “My Happy Massacre”: <<Instances of Corruption>> / <<Glimpse of the Past>>]. It’s not hard to see and feel that there is a deep and very thorough level of corruption going on in this book, but you carefully unwrap it and start your work on it.

You gently lift the book out of the wrapped bag and…

#Abomination Infestation (10 Purity Damage, 10 Sanity Damage)# Trap 20% Evasion Test: 24 out of 100: Failed!

And the effect is h̞i͚̖d̺̺̟͜eo͟u҉̮̞͓̞̺̘̥s͏͎̹̪͇͕̠. Instantly, it is as if ethereal leaches and carrion worms leap from the book and b̝͕͓u͙̘̩̮̳̪r̦̣̼̭̲̼r̯͖̝o̺ͅw̤ ḭ̤̠ṋ̟̖̻ṭ̫͖͍̻̫ͅo͉̼͔̪ y̻̖̼̼o̗͈̞͖͚ụr̮̜̪̯̖̮͙ ̹b̥͉̞̺rai̜̪͓̙͓̳̱ṉ͚͍̙ ͓̦͇ͅa͙͎̪̖͉̭̘n̘d̮̖ ͍s̮͚o̱̝̫͓͇u͖l, causing your eyes to violently roll to the back of your head. Your vision even blurs and your temperature gets f̱̙͓̻ev͖̹̟̣ͅe͔͕̜͖r̬̝̻͇̙̫̪ḭ̰͎̥̞̮s̬̝̪̱̖h̭̰ as if you’re trying to wake up from a hideous nightmare, but an unholy sleep paralysis keeps you bound and locked into the a̦̗͈͚̮͖̟͉g̠̜̭͙̠͓̫͍͖͎͉͕͈͉̘̺o̫͇͎̳̹͈̳n̘̤̺̘͍̞̻͎̮͙̤̹ͅy̤ ̜̞̫͔̞̼ͅ.

Lycellus has taken 5 Purity Damage and 5 Sanity Damage.

You vomit profusely, barely able to hang onto control of your cognitive abilities. You realize the only way to seal off the trap embedded into this book is to r͍̮̼͉̳̤̤̫̻̟̦̪̙̖͖ͅị̖͉͈̪̯͓̬̰̫̘ͅp̹̣̯̝͚̻̠͕̦͖͚͉͔̜ͅ each page out, run them through a laminator machine, and use that to ensure there’s a protective barrier between whoever is touching it and the infested pages themselves.

Lycellus has taken 5 Purity Damage and 5 Sanity Damage.

It’s an aͬg̻̟̺̗̥̃ͦ̚ͅo̠̯͎͛̓̓̊̋n̬̭͙̊̉̿͗̑i͓̝̹ͮ̅z̯̣̃̒ͨ̑î̙̥̠ͩ̐ ng̓̉l͈͇̣y̖̬̣ slow but actually effective process. You find using a cloth to grab each page is slightly effective, but like a weak oven mitt, it only works for so long before it begins to burn again. But once completed, you put the laminated pages back together in order. Now, at least it’s only hideous to look at, but anyone with a relatively strong stomach can at least bear it without the mind-rendering effect.

The #Abomination Infestation# trap has been removed from the [Corrupted Children’s Book “My Happy Massacre”: <<Instances of Corruption>> / <<Glimpse of the Past>>]

After taking a bit of a breather, you then try your skills at the [Deranged Codec]. You find the carefully wrapped piece of skin used as parchment, and gently lift it out of it’s wrapping, thinking running it through the laminator as well might help remove the effect.

#Insantiy Presence (5 Sanity Damage)# Trap 20% Evasion Test: 27 out of 100: Failed!

It doesn’t work at all, and instead results in a ǵ̙̝̆ͧ̇͑ͭr̻̗̫̺̬̾̇i͕̥̘͗ͯ̿̎̋̚ṃ̯͚̜̜̔̂̇ͣ ̾ͦ͊̊̌ͥg̼̖̲̝̰͐́̂n̼͓͙̂͒̂̓̉a̓͂̍ͧw̝͍͉̳̺͎̅̊ͣ̓i̪̗̙̳͈ͦͫ̿ͮ ̘̣ng͖͈̀̽ ̾ͭ͛̎͐̓a͆̀t̗̘̦ ͉̩̳̳̝̱̈̉y͚͈̺̱̪̓ō̱̠͚̯͉ͮ̈́ͯ̅̑̄u̝r̜̞̳̖͛ ̳̘̫͚̺̅͛̐͌ͪͦͪḿ̮̠̱̪̬̦ͯi̻͕̟̰̝͚͎ͪͫn̲̭ͤ̋̃̿d̫̬͚͇͉ͤ. For a moment, you undergo an almost v͍̲ͅi̭̗̰̣͙̘o̗͕͕͔̞̼̬le͈͚̠̜̘͖ͅnt ̹̘̤̥a͔͖͇͔̟̘̬n̘̥͉̮̱d͉̼͚͙ ̟̥̪͇ͅd̦̯͈̺̗e͇͉̗r͙͍̰̲̙a̘̠̰̩͚̣ͅn̟̱̫g̳e̞̤̱̱͙̼d ͍̥ͅs͈̮͇͇ͅͅẹi̮̱͍zu͚̰ͅr̼̗̣̗̩̦͎e̩͙̪, your head starts shaking v̳̻̗̥̰̼͈͈̯̟̤͓̭̼̿ͫ́ͨ̈ͥi̠̳̘͕̝̻̗̤̻̙͓̰̹͎͎͉̞͇̻ͣ̌̓̔͗oͥͫ̋ ͉̙̘͎̯̺̮͈̺̪̬̱̩̠̱̬́ͤͧͯ͗̀̈́̈ͥ͗͑̂̓ͭͯľ̹̠̊̉̑̅̍̊̃͌̌̐͒͌ͤ͊̓ ̮͚̣͚̣̩̙̦e͓̭̺̭͚̬̜̼̯̗̝͍ͫͧ̐̾̏́͒̆̐̍ͩ̀͌n͇͒̊̅̔ͣ̃͆͊ͮͥ͛ͫ̎͊ ͕̳͙̱̱̱̹̠̲̣̞̼̮̣̙ͅt̩͉̖̥̞͖͍̜̥͇͓͚̘̮̯̬̃ͬ̃̊̍ͥl͋̆͌ͫ̅ͫ͂́ͬ̊ ̜̼̣̟ͣ̿͂̓y̱͓̠̰͔̝̥̣͙̤̗͎̗͉͎̭̦͊ͬ̈͋͂̄ͭͥͪ̓̑͊ͫ as if some unhinged beastly creature was trapped inside your skull, thrashing to try and break out and escape.

Lycellus has taken 5 Sanity Damage.

You unconsciously mutter gibberish to yourself as you descend further into m̬̻͓̟͚a̺͓̰d̝̺̞ne̻s͍̝͇̺̻̭s̳͍. The few bits of your rational mind still remaining tell you to flush it in holy water, one of the few things Syrax left behind for you that you didn’t think you would need or would be effective.

It removes the taint embedded in the skin parchment, but still retains the nonsensical madness that doesn’t seem to make the slightest bit of sense to you. But at least now it’s just but a mere incoherent puzzle.

The #Insanity Presence – (5 Sanity Damage)# was removed from the [Deranged Codec: <Technical>

You honestly feel ill as your deranged mind feels almost detached from your body and wounded soul, but the job is done and now these two dark relics won’t bring any more harm to anyone else.

Lycellus the Eternatus (L: Dragon/Poison)
Health: 24/24 | Sanity: 5/20 | Purity: 6/16
Battle Stance: Tactical
Perk: Security | Abilities:
EQUIPMENT:
Attack Weapon: [|AW| Veteran’s Warhammer] (Adds 4 damage to successful attack rolls)
Defense Armor: <Empty>
Jewelry: <Empty>
Utopian Aspect: <Empty>
MERCENARIES:
#1: <Empty>
#2: <Empty>
PACK:
  • $170 Sochas$