Having been granted rulership over the city of Vanhoover, and confessed their feelings for each other, Lex Legis and Sonata Dusk have started a new life together. But the challenges of rulership, and a relationship, are more than they bargained for.
It was several minutes before Nosey was able to calm down.
Lex couldn’t suppress a feeling of relief as her sobbing ceased and her shuddering breaths became slower and steadier. He had spent the last few minutes silently trying to figure out what words or actions would best alleviate her suffering, to no avail. Embracing her certainly hadn’t seemed to help, given how heavily she’d been weeping, but he hadn’t dared try anything else; making her condition worse was something to be avoided at all costs. So he’d stayed silent, holding Nosey close as she’d broken down, hoping that she’d recover from whatever she was going through even as he grew more concerned with every minute that went by. But the worst of it seems to be over now, he hoped. If not, he had no idea what to do...
Nosey took several slow breaths then, and Lex felt her grip on him loosen, releasing his own in turn. She didn’t make eye contact with him as she backed up a few steps, turning around and telekinetically lifting her glasses so she could wipe her eyes again. It was only then, having cobbled together the barest facsimile of composure, that she turned back around and offered him a shaky smile. “Thanks.”
Lex opened his mouth to inquire as to what precisely she was thanking him for – repairing her glasses, in all likelihood – but what came out was, “Are you still experiencing any pain or discomfort?”
She shook her head lightly, eyes closing as though the gesture was tiring. “No, I’m…I’m okay…” She trailed off as her eyes opened, and Lex saw them focus past him, to where he knew Xiriel’s shape was still burned into the ground. The fragile smile fell away from her face then. “Listen…we can go back now, right?” There was a pleading note in her voice, as though desperate for him to say yes.
The question struck Lex as rather odd. Nosey had never, in all the time he’d known her, asked him for permission to go anywhere. Whether it was inviting herself into his and Sonata’s hotel room back at Tall Tale, his office in city hall there, or even onto their ship when they’d left for Vanhoover, she had simply presumed that she could go wherever he wanted, becoming almost indignant when he’d objected. That she was seeking his authorization to return to the camp now, and was apparently waiting to receive it, wasn’t like her. Of course, neither was her bursting into tears the way that she had. But that was at least a contextually-appropriate response to what had happened to her. This deferential attitude couldn’t be attributed to the same cause…but what other cause was there?
“…Lex?”
“Hm? Ah, yes.” Drawn from his musings by Nosey’s inquiry, Lex brushed those thoughts away, irritated at himself. This was no time to get drawn into a thought-experiment regarding social dynamics; Nosey was still injured, and needed treatment as soon as possible. “We’re leaving,” he declared, moving before the last syllable had passed his lips. Nosey immediately fell in beside him, not even trying to hide her relief as they started back toward the camp.
It had taken several minutes for them to make their way out here, but it took Lex only a few steps to know that it would take them longer to go back. Just the effort of walking at anything that remotely resembled a brisk pace was enough to make his muscles ache, and he was keenly aware of the fact that he hadn’t finished recuperating before he’d fought Xiriel. Despite the totality of his wounds having been transferred to the belier, Lex knew that making a full recovery would take some time now, particularly with the amount of blood he’d lost. But that was no excuse not to accomplish what he could in the meantime…and right now, there was information that he needed…
“Nosey, what happened to Cloudbank and the others?”
Out of his peripheral vision, he saw her stop in mid-stride, going rigid at the question, and he halted as well. For a moment he worried that it would push her into another breakdown, but that was a risk that he had to take. Although Xiriel had been consistent in saying that it had killed the ponies Lex had sent into Vanhoover – a claim that was upsettingly congruous with what the ghouls had said – that didn’t mean anything definitive. The belier had been cruel and deceptive in the extreme, and so couldn’t be taken at its word. But Nosey could be, so maybe…just maybe…
But whatever hope he had was dashed a moment later as Nosey bit her lip, looking down. “I’m sorry, Lex. Xi-…” A shudder went through her as she tried to say the belier’s name, and she gave a sudden start, one hoof flying up to her mouth as though she were about to throw up. It took her a few seconds to slowly lower her hoof to the ground, taking slow breaths. “It killed them.”
Lex didn’t answer, trying to swallow the sudden wave of bitterness that broke over him then. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t already accepted the likelihood of what he’d just been told, so he knew there was no reason for Nosey’s confirming it to make him feel worse. But somehow it did anyway, and Lex spoke his next question through gritted teeth. “How?”
Nosey needed a few seconds to steady herself before she answered. “Just like it said.” Her voice had returned to the emotionless murmur she’d had just before he’d fixed her glasses and made her cry, looking at the ground. “It used that spell, or whatever it was. The one that it said ‘overwhelms the spirit.’ It was just like that…it said something in some language I didn’t know, and I felt it use its magic…” she shuddered before continuing, “and then they all just…they fell over and didn’t move. They weren’t breathing…” Her voice broke then, and she suddenly lifted her head. “Lex, I’m so sorry! This is all my fault! I-”
“No!” snapped Lex angrily, whipping his head around to look at her. “Do not apologize!” All of a sudden, her misplaced guilt infuriated him. “I do not want to hear any assumption of culpability on your part!”
“But if I hadn’t tried to interview Block Party…” she moaned miserably.
“I said NO!” roared Lex, his anger flaring even higher. Just putting that much force into his words sent a wave of dizziness through him, but at the moment he didn’t care. “What kind of crippling stupidity are you afflicted with that you think your actions had any tangible impact on everything that’s happened?!” He stalked toward Nosey then, his lips pulled back in a snarl. “That thing had powers that surpassed my own! It could possess living ponies and move between dimensions at will! You yourself said that it could teleport and create illusions! And you think that it needed you, Nosey Newsy, in order to accomplish its goals?!” She was wide-eyed and gaping as Lex got right in her face, completely taken aback by his ranting. For his part, Lex’s eyes were blazing green and purple, small black crystals sprouting up around him even though his dark magic was expended. “It’s a failure of logic of obscene proportions to suggest that creature’s plans would have been curtailed if you hadn’t gone there! It’s insanity to suggest that there’s any transference of accountability between it and you! How could you possibly fail so completely at basic reasoning that you think any of this is your fault?! Xiriel is to blame for what happened! Not you! WHY CAN’T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?!”
His last shout hung in the air, leaving his throat raw and aching. Nosey was staring at him with a look of complete shock, and Lex back glared at her as he watched her slowly recover her wits, daring her to say a word in disagreement. No matter that she’d been traumatized, no matter that he’d doubtlessly violated some inane social decorums, what she’d been saying had been fallacious to the point of being offensive, and couldn’t be allowed to go unchallenged.
“…okay.”
Lex blinked, hackles still raised as he tried to figure out what sort of counterargument she was making, prepared to tear it to shreds. “‘Okay’?” he echoed.
She nodded, the corners of her lips turning up in a small smile. It was different from the shaky one she’d given him a few minutes ago, and it took him a moment to understand why: it was more like how she usually smiled. The intensity was far less than her typical grin, but it was recognizably the same expression. “Okay.”
She walked right by him then, heading back toward the camp, and the lack of any other reaction left Lex so nonplussed that he needed a moment to catch up. Fortunately, she wasn’t moving so fast that he wasn’t able to close the distance between them, moving alongside her with a frown. This also wasn’t like Nosey; while he’d never lost his temper with her quite that badly, they’d had plenty of arguments, and she never backed down so easily as she just had, let alone with a smile. This…passivity was very unlike her, to the point where it was starting to unnerve him.
That feeling skyrocketed a moment later when he felt her press her side against his.
“Nosey?” He couldn’t keep the surprise out of his voice as he looked at her, by now having no idea what was going on.
“My hoof is numb,” she murmured in explanation, not facing him. He caught sight of her glancing at him out of her periphery, but as soon as they made eye contact she looked away.
“Ah…” That made sense. She’d mentioned that before, after all, and if it was affecting her ability to walk, then it was logical for her to lean against him for support. I should have realized that, he castigated himself, rather than being concerned with that nonsense she was spouting. But the thought lacked conviction. The very idea that she could blame herself for what had happened to the others…
That reminded him of something else, and, mentally preparing himself for more odd behavior from her, Lex gave voice to the question. “What about Severance?”
Nosey gave a sigh, shaking her head. “I don’t know. It just…got rid of it, somehow.”
Lex frowned, not sure what to make of that. “Explain.”
Again, her eyes flickered over to him before looking straight ahead once more. “After it…dealt with everypony else, Severance attacked it.” She shook her head then. “It made me teleport away, a few blocks down the street, and Severance came after us. Then I felt that monster use some kind of magic, and the next time Severance got close I reached out and touched it…and then it was just gone. Vanished completely.”
Lex was silent as he considered that. From what Nosey had described, Xiriel had either destroyed Severance, or transported it somewhere else. But while the former possibility was unlikely – it seemed implausible that an artifact-weapon forged by the Night Mare could be so easily destroyed, and Xiriel hadn’t used any sort of one-touch destruction power during their fight – the latter possibility wasn’t much better. With no way of knowing where Severance had been sent to, and with no easy way to replenish his strongest magic in the meantime, locating and retrieving the scythe would prove to be a difficult task indeed. Moreover, it was a task that would have to wait; his people’s welfare came first. I’ll just have to deal with it in the meantime, he knew, forcing himself to embrace the thought stoically despite knowing that losing Severance was a major blow to his magical strength.
Nosey seemed to sense his thoughts, nudging him slightly. “C’mon…we’re almost there.”
Lex nodded wordlessly, and together the two of them made their way back toward the camp.
Nosey tells Lex what happened to the others, while he assures her – in his usual way – that she's not to blame for what happened.
Will Lex be able to retrieve Severance? Or is it gone for good?
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Dang. Pour some cider on the curb for the gang.
I hope Lex knows Scrying. That should always succeed on a willing target. That said, Severance is probably in Hell, and not the nice pony Hell where the Nightmare lives. Powerful fiends can, with enough time, corrupt even major artifacts. I wonder if Nightmare knows about her weapon and is going to try and extradite it or something.
Either way, it looks like Lex will either need to lead a raid into Hell, or end his relationship with the Nightmare. Tough choices ahead.
8780575
He's still got the Tulpa? And the divine spells which aren't much, but at least can be refreshed every day (and boosted with the dark magic which also refreshes I think?). I don't think he can casually end the relationship just because he lost his toy.
No powerful magic means he's still cut off from contacting the princesses, though, even though with the devil gone the spells might work now.
Belier used Dimention shift to remove Severance? which doesnt have Reality Slice in return?
Or Nosy isnt herself still, therefore it isnt Nosey thats spewing Belier lies?
things are looking up a bit.
Severance ok just how fare or ware did it get cent to?
how long will it take for Severance to find it's way back?
Well damn...while it's disheartening to hear the confirmation of what the ghouls told Lex, I can't help but wonder what the spell Xiriel used to 'overwhelm' the party's spirit was and its actual effects. I would say magic jar but the effects don't match up to me.
Considering the circumstances, Lex will have to go forward without Severance and its help for the foreseeable future. Still, even with the loss, Lex has survived the Everglow for a long time before he got Severance so I'm certain he'll be able to make do without it.
Even though I am curious on where Xiriel sent Severance(likely where the belier had some dominion over) I am more interested with Nosey's behavior towards Lex here. From what I can guess, being possessed has left Nosey vulnerable and her smiling at Lex was likely her happy at him telling her that she's not to blame for Xiriel's actions, and the fact that he went on a bombastic tirade over it made her happy that Lex cared that much about her.
Admittedly, despite the seriousness of the situation, I laughed at Lex's reaction to Nosey's behavior here. While Lex is unable to interpret her intentions here, I'm certain Sonata will likely see what's happening between Nosey and Lex.
8780805
Considering what she's been through, coupled with Kara's 'love aura', I'm not surprised by Nosey's behavior here.
8780575 We know that Lex knows the scrying spell; we've seen him use it before (chapter 114), although it didn't work then. Still, it's an open question (unless I'm forgetting something) as to whether or not he's prepared it again. That would be quite the dilemma...he needs Severance so that he can prepare the spell he needs to find Severance! Of course, we know he can prepare his primary spells other ways, but they're all far less convenient than having a major artifact right there.
8780805 I'm sure I don't know what you mean.
8781003 No comments from me about any of that. What would be the point of reading future chapters otherwise?
8781049 To be clear, the spell that Xiriel used was blasphemy. Given that they were all so much lower in level than it, and the damage they'd have taken even on a successful save, there was really no way for them to survive.
The irony here is that this didn't go the way I'd planned it at all. My original outline for this part of the story (in my head) was that Cloudbank and the others would survive, but Xiriel would kill Nosey right in front of Lex. I had her dying words and everything written out (which I may still be able to use later). But when I actually sat down to write the confrontation between Xiriel and Cloudbank and co., I realized that they weren't going to survive that. The belier not only had no easy method of detaining them (notwithstanding sending them to another plane, which was more trouble than it was worth), but had no real reason not to just kill them. By contrast, Lex would put too much emphasis on saving Nosey to make it worth Xiriel's while to keep trying to kill her when the one it needed to eliminate, Lex, was right in front of it the entire time.
That's part of the joy of writing this story; contrary to what I'd have thought before I started, I get to be surprised by where it goes...even when the results are rather sad like this.
As for Severance, well...it's a major artifact, so wherever it is it won't go down easily, but even so it seems to be out of the picture for now. Where it ended up and what becomes of it are open questions at this point.
Having said all of that, I'm glad you liked the exchange between Lex and Nosey here! One thing that I wanted to subtly indicate (and I'm not sure if I succeeded) is that Lex isn't operating at his best either. He's heartbroken over what happened to the others (even if he can't show it), exhausted, and shaken by just having the most difficult fight he's ever had. Given that he's difficult to be around on his good days, it's not surprising that he ended up trying to tell Nosey not to blame herself by screaming at her that she was an idiot. Luckily, she knows Lex well enough to understand what he was trying to say, and was touched by the sentiment.
Of course, how Sonata feels about her best friend being so close to her stallion remains to be seen.
8781168
Hmm, with their demise confirmed, I wonder if Turbo's soul would enter Luna's realm. I mean, she may be starting small but I can't help but think of Turbo's wishful thinking of contacting Luna be akin to a prayer of sorts. While likely not enough to grant him entry into her realm, it is still possible. Then again, considering his actions prior to encountering Lex fitting more closely to what Xiriel desired, the chances of Turbo going to hell is just as possible to me.
That would also mean that Cloudbank, as an acolyte would go to Night Mare who would obviously be displeased at what befallen to her only acolyte in Equestria while Thermal Draft go to Kara though that's rather iffy since she was technically left to fend for herself when she pleaded for help. That leaves C.Shells and Sandbar unaccounted for so off to the Elysium fields or whatever serves as pony heaven?
Of course, that's all just hypothetical ideas my mind has at random.
Also, Lex yelling at Nosey did tell me how upset and stressed he was since he would have normally scolded and lectured someone for some error on their part. So yeah, your message got through.
8779290
your link doesn't work can you post the url directly please
8781219 Whoops, sorry about that. I've repaired the URL, so it should work if you click on the link now.
8781212 Turbo wouldn't go to Luna; in order to go to a divine realm, you need to actually worship the entity in question (and, of course, the entity in question needs to be a divine power...or similar being). Anything less than that, even reverence, isn't enough. Cloudbank worshiped the Night Mare, and I'd presume that Drafty worshiped Kara, but none of the other members of the group worshiped a deity that we knew about. So they would go to Outer Planes that matched their ethos most closely. (Of course, this brings up the question of what became of souls before Equestria was removed from its isolation and integrated into the larger planar structure. So far, we don't know.)
That said, I'm glad that Lex's stress being responsible for his losing it was understandable!
8781224
thanks i just read the part. I suppose lex was using the envelopping ability with another for the construct to get a mind on his own (unless i am mistaken the construct act while lex cast spells). That would make a 7 level construct tough. I get that he can cast higher level spells than he should by taking damage, but during the fight against the dragon, how high was his level ? And how high a spell can he cast above normal, and for wich cost ?
8781326 I want to say that I quite like how you're asking such probing questions. Getting to discuss the underlying game reasons why things happened the way they did is fun for me. Note that you can see what I'm talking about in Lex's most recent stat block on my blog, and that this will refer to Eclipse: The Codex Persona along with The Practical Enchanter.
Lex, during the fight against the dragon, was a 9th-level character (he didn't have his template then), who was casting as an 11th-level spellcaster. What that means is that, although Lex only had 9 actual character levels, he purchased 11 levels' worth of his particular magic progression (Eclipse, pg. 11-15) and 11 levels' worth of caster levels for said progression (Eclipse, p. 10). While it's unusual to buy a magic progression that's higher than your actual character level, it's not forbidden (see the "Adventurer Framework" sidebar on page 16 of Eclipse).
Now, we need to specify just what magic progression Lex purchased, since they have different costs and grant different spell levels. In Lex's case, he purchased the Sorcerer spell progression (Eclipse, p. 14). Note that this does NOT mean that he's a spontaneous spellcaster! Eclipse deliberately decouples the associations that 3.5/Pathfinder typically make with regard to magic progressions (e.g. that buying Sorcerer-equivalent spells per day means that you must be a spontaneous caster, must use Charisma as your spellcasting ability modifier, etc.). To be clear, Lex is buying Sorcerer-equivalent spells per day, but can (and must) prepare those spell slots ahead of time, as a wizard would, and uses his Intelligence as his spellcasting ability modifier. He also doesn't need a spellbook, able to retain the spells he learns in his mind rather than in a tome.
That's all fairly expensive of course, which is why he's bought down the cost of those 11 magic levels via corrupting and specializing them, as outlined in his write-up. (Strictly speaking, his caster levels are also specialized to only work with regard to his sorcerer-progression spells; if they weren't, he'd be able to use his divine spells and witchcraft (i.e. "dark magic") much more effectively.)
So, that means that at the time Lex fought the dragon, he could only use 5th-level spells at most under the normal rules (because, if you look at the Sorcerer progression table on Eclipse p. 14, you'll see that at 11th level it grants four 5th-level spells per day (before counting bonus spells for a high ability score) as its highest-level spells). And yet, as you pointed, out, Lex was using a higher-level summon construct spell. So how did he do that?
Well, that was a two-part application on his part. Lex has the Compact metamagic theorem (Eclipse, p. 57) and the Amplify metamagic theorem (Eclipse, p. 56). The Glory modifier (Eclipse, p. 60) has also been applied to that latter metamagic theorem. So, what does that mean? Well, Compact lets prepare spells of a higher level in a lower-level spell slot, including spells he wouldn't otherwise be able to cast. So Lex was able to take a summon construct VI spell and compress it down into a 5th-level spell slot, though doing so cost him (he'll typically take ability damage to one of his physical abilities scores, often Strength, to pay for it). Amplify, by contrast, does the opposite: it boosts a spell beyond what it could normally accomplish (but only in terms of actual effect; changing the range, duration, area, etc. would require other metamagic theorems). So Lex could potentially boost that summon construct VI to function as a higher-level version of itself.
But that leads us to a problem: pumping up summon construct VI requires a higher-level spell slot, since Lex is a preparatory caster. But he doesn't have one, since he's limited (at that time) to 5th-level spells. So what's the answer? In a word: Glory. The aforementioned Glory modifier allows the modified metamagic theorem to be spontaneously applied (Constitution modifier) times per day for (Constitution modifier) spell levels' worth of "free" metamagic. Since Lex has an adjusted Constitution of 16, that means that up to three times per day, he can add +3 levels of Amplification metamagic to a spell without having to pay for it. That lets him pump up summon construct VI to summon construct IX as he casts it. Naturally, that lets him take the Menu-C "enveloping" ability (The Practical Enchanter, p. 232) for his psychic construct, as well as quite a few others!
I should mention that I actually picked out abilities from each menu; the list is back on my home computer, though, so I can't look it up at the moment (but you're right that one of them was either Menu A's semisentient, Menu B's sentient, or Menu C's mindful; I distinctly remember adding that, since the construct could act on its own).
EDIT: So the only list I had of the construct's menu abilities was outdated, which is odd because I could have sworn that I'd updated it before I finished the fight. How odd. That said, I've updated the list as best I can remember, so the psychic construct's abilities should be like so:
Menu A: Damage Reduction, Feat (Improved Natural Attack), Feat (Mobility), Semisentient, Smite
Menu B: Extra Attack, Feat (Pounce), Heavy Deflection, Versatile, Warding
Menu C: Energy Bolt, Enveloping, Versatile II
Severance is a smart guy, and a powerful artifact in its own right. Does it not have the ability to plane shift on its own?
9217620 According to what we've seen of it in the previous story, The Apple Falls Far From the Tree, it does. So where is it now...?