Buried Memories – Confrontation Down Below

February 4, 2021

She is the most beautiful specimen I have yet laid eyes on!

The effort, the time, the exorbitant cost, all worth it! No need for House Lethrai to squabble or push or negotiate. She will expand the boundaries of our political influence and please the Matriarch. Even those outside the Reach, squalid as their lives are, should be honored by the beauty of my creation’s skill if ever they cross the Lethrai.

They will know her deadly radiance
She sings but they cannot hear until it is too late and her vines and teeth find that which they seek! The Reach will be built ever faster, ever better, ever more efficient with her and her descendants. It matters not if the Builders try to dissuade us, foolish as that notion is. Her might shall impress to all that she is the beginning of something new. Something beautiful. Something powerful. Not even the Shadowsea’s touch nor the Speaking Circle with its paltry plays at unity can stop her.

She is the beauty of what is to be. She is the future. She is Euryd!

Irina Slen
Lead Researcher, House Lethrai

A befuddled note rang out within Euryd, a response to a change in the music of the hearts of her allies. Her internal song maintained its normal rhythm but she halted her movement.

“I’m not sure about sending you in first, Gren,” Hifos briefly sang to the small Grenadin. Euryd slithered along the ground and felt the cool stone against her vines. The slow disconnected songs of her allies made little sense, though the tone of their notes aided her some.

Hifos seemed uncertain about something.

“The Grenadin has been a key variable contributing to success at counteracting traps throughout this endeavor,” Vulk replied with a rumbling series of notes. Euryd found her song slow, steady, with the occasional touch of a high note just before the Sentinel sang aloud.

Hifos clutched his shoulder and Euryd noticed him favoring the other arm with his sword. His internal song sped faster as she followed his gaze into the looming darkness before them.

“Let’s let Gren scout and search for tripwires and other traps. Avoid them at all costs. Anybody see anything in there?” Dichro sang. More uncertainty, a song of questioning, curiosity.

Euryd spread out her vines upon the ground and sang a few gentle notes in reply. The others did not seem to listen to her song. Somber notes mixed with those of her search. She missed the chorus of her sisters far above in the high point of the tall structure. The Studious Ones prodded and examined but they let her kin sing as they pleased. This far below the Glen, her performance went unnoticed.

“Gren sees nothing but powerful warrior allies ready to vanquish all within! Worry not Winged One!” Gren exclaimed in a bombastic chorus to Dichro. Joy in that short song, the tones from Gren always excited.

Euryd noticed Vulk’s rhythmic tone shift and an odd note of whirring was followed by a chaotic song of flame.

“Combat posture engaged to decrease reaction time and increase likelihood of Waystone shard retrieval,” Vulk sang, inflamed.

Gentle notes of light, clanking metal came to Euryd which caused confusion to wash over her. She turned her attention to the pitch black room. The torches did little to illuminate it. She moved forward as she noticed Gren had changed its position. A flurry of unexpected notes echoed back to her as she pressed forward with the group.

Gren had entered the performance too soon. It sang a cacophony of short notes that she knew from the teachings of the Studious Ones: ‘Pride’ and ‘Joy’, ‘Honor’ and ‘Glory’. The cautious ballad of a hunter had failed and a new song was in its place.

The rhythms of Dichro and Hifos came too swiftly for their usual parts. Then slower, an uneasy combination of tones. ‘Shock’. ‘Awe’. ‘Fear’. More singular melodies the Studious Ones had taught her to recognize. Euryd watched as Vulk’s flames and the torchlight of her allies illuminated a giant shadowy creature.

Upon its back was a tentacle-like appendage that whipped and sliced through the air. On the end of it, a large hunk of shimmering rock. The rock glinted and glowed. This was the Precious Thing that the Studious Ones had instructed her to retrieve. Gren was already clutched tightly in another of the creature’s tentacles.

A second passed and Gren was dragged to the many-toothed maw of the shadowbeast. Harsh, painful tones of crunching destruction hit Euryd as she took in the sensations and song of it.

The song of death.

Vulk’s percussive hoofbeats continued past the fading notes of life of Gren. Gren’s silence caused Euryd to shudder. Vulk’s horns looked ready to rend the beast as it had the smaller shadowbeast previous.

Euryd let loose her vines to wrap around the tentacle and the massive beast’s legs, to hold on with all the might the Studious Ones had instilled in her. She sang a song of rage and anger, spitting rough and powerful notes toward the creature. This was not trapped prey ripe for killing, this was something that could fight back.

Something that must die.

In a shared rhythm, Dichro and Hifos took action by slicing blades on either side of the beast, cutting into it. They dodged bites of its jagged maw while smaller tentacles launched forward to grasp at Vulk’s bright fiery form. Vulk’s song sped up in tempo to impressively quick tones. The bladed instruments of Hifos and Dichro played a duet of blood and fire, plunging into the beast’s thick hide.

The loud, low, singular note of a pained wail rang out from the shadow creature. The tentacle wielded the Precious Thing like a club and continued to swing it forward through the air. It was aimed directly at Vulk and moving swiftly.

Euryd held her vines tight, tugged, thrashed, pulled. She sought to break the beast’s aim, to shift its momentum.

She did not wish to witness an encore of the song of death.

Meet the party of Buried Memories!

Delve into Bastion’s past in Buried Memories, coming February 11! Pre-order now for the best value!