Volo/A Special Gift
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
A Special Gift
(( Co-Written by Samoht, Volo, and Elder Wish! ))
The Rakshasa Prince known as Samoht paces back and forth on the shore of Thorn island, he looks inland towards the huge tree in the center, and then back out onto the watery horizon. Something catches his attention as he turns around to see the Djinn, Elder Wish, appear out of no where. The Djinn wore a fancy robe, and had long hair with a mighty beard.
“Sorry I am late, King Samoht.”
Not a second later a rather powerful gust of wind following the speedster Volo blows past them. He’s not wearing anything he usually wears, in fact, it looks like a knock off of Indiana Jones, whip included.
In a hushed voice, Samoht turns to Volo, “I’m glad you were able to make it here… nice outfit Volo.”
“Thanks dude, I got a whip with it too!”
Elder pulls out his coin, which gives three wishes to whomever might be able to steal it from him, “It is very odd... Like the explorer's wore when they discovered my coin.”
“So like, this place is here? On Thorn Island?” the young speedster questions, looking around and trying to imagine what had happened last time he was here unconscious.
“Yes, you’ve been here before?” the Rakshasa questions as he sneaks up behind some stones.
“Yeah… from what I hear it wasn’t fun.”
The Genie looked around, "I personally read about this place." He hums a fit curiously, "Perhaps we should attract attention."
Samoht shook his head and pointed to a stone door a bit away, “Okay, you see that gateway over there? It's past there, we have to make sure not to draw attention, and at all costs, do not touch any of the tree's roots...”
Volo grinned and gave a thumbs up, and in the blink of an eye was standing by the door waving at the other two. Elder on the other hand took a coin out and tossed it in the air. Afterwards he flew up high out of sight and hovered slowly towards Volo. The prince facepalmed as he looked at Volo waving. He then moved his hands in a somatic nature, dissapearing into the shadows of the islands. He made his way to the gateway where Elder had just landed and Volo was waiting. The coin he tossed earlier landed on a tree root, yet didn’t do anything but reappear back in Elder’s hand.
“’Bout time guys.” Volo smirked.
“Sorry, not all of us can run so fast, we make light jealous…” Samoht stated as he began feeling the door looking for any way inside.
"Those who brag suffer earlier dooms, not that you are capable of such braggings, Warrior Volo." Rolling his eyes a bit, he turns to the prince still looking for a way in, "Samoht there is something I need to warn you..."
“Yes noble Djinn?”
"Make sure not to let me get caught in their sensors, it could be bad if they caught a hold of my coin." He nods, flipping it a bit, then catching it.”
Nodding, Samoht backed away as grinding of stone on stone filled their ears as the gateway opened, “That would be rather horrid...”
Volo stood there looking speechless at Elder.
“Is there a problem, Warrior Volo?”
“... Nothing dude. I just hope you're a little better at defending yourself then you make it sound.”
The djinn nodded and summoned a flame over his hand, “Lead the way, Great King.”
They walked inside, Samoht leading the way took great care in not setting off a trap, Volo trotted along without really worrying about much, and Elder floated along, not touching the ground at all.
“Seems safe… so far.” Samoht remarked.
"One who assumes safety upon an entry is normally faced with much worse in the end," Elder says gravely, nodding.
The prince nods to the genie and begins to lead the two through the all too familiar Circle of Thorns arcane bunkers. As they pass through the winding corridors, they come across an opening, with three doors leading in opposing directions.
“Oh joys…”
Volo looked around, “Why do I feel a Scooby Doo moment coming on?”
“Cala loves that cartoon,” Samoht said, speaking of his wife.
“It’s a good show.”
"One mustn’t linger on a decision of direction for too long, otherwise the fate will be the same but with time wasted." Elder immediately heads for the middle, "Come friends."
The speedster stood still, “Wait, you mean we’re not splitting up?”
Samoht right behind Elder looked back, “If we get separated, it would be easier for them to pick us off.”
As they travel through the hallway, a cold breeze blows past.
Volo grabs hold of his Indiana Jones’ hat to keep it from blowing away, “Getting a bit nippy.”
The Djinn doesn’t seem to notice it, "How so? Is someone nipping at our heels?"
“… Dude, you need to wish for some better jokes.”
"Perhaps, but I was not merely joking I was... King Samoht step back."
As he was about to step on a tile, he holds himself still. Has halfway about to shift his weight onto the foot, but, he steps back in time. “What's wro-“ just then, and arrow flies through a murderhole and wizzes past Samoht's face.
"You were about to die, that’s what’s wrong." Elder nodded.
The Rakshasa bites onto this lower lip, surprise at how he easily he would've fell to that trick, “Thanks…”
“That first step’s a doozy,” Volo stated rather boredly.
“Yeah, I doubt Cala would like to see me come home with a new piercing…”
"Samoht, perhaps you were too busy thinking of your queen? Such thoughts can distract a man..." The genie nods, "It be best if I took the lead, my eyes can see easier and I am more expendable."
Elder positions himself in front and leads them forward moving through the halls carefully, looking around constantly, "This place seeps with evil."
“Indeed…” As they keep pushing forth, they hear a slight, hissing noise, followed by a croaking. “I think we have company...”
“That or someone’s using the toilet,” Volo said sliding one foot forward getting into a fighting stance.
A few moments later a large herd of Lashers with their rancid breath and long tongues flying everywhere charge the group from the shadows.
“Oh man… Lizard-Pigs,” Volo mumbles.
Elder quickly snapped his fingers and vanished from sight.
“… A lot of help he is …” the speedster said.
Prince Samoht gnashes his bagh nakhs together, a sadistic grin crossing his face, “Looks like it's up to us, eh? I always wanted to see you in combat for myself!” He then rushed towards the horde and slices the first one in half.
A little thrown off by Samoht’s evil look, Volo reformed his resolve, “Yeah... well, try not to blink.” The speedster then blasted forward, planting his one foot in the ground in front of one Lasher, he swung his other around and kicked the Lasher away like a cannonball towards a few behind it.
One of the Lashers wrapped its foul tongue around Samoht's foot, tripping the Rakshasa. Attempting to drag him away, Samoht grabbed a hold of the tongue, then yanks the beast towards him and kicks it in what would be it's face, tearing tongue from maw. The one shot like a cannonball knocked over several others in the process. Their odd bodies don't allow them to right themselves up probably, and most are effectively immobile.
Volo walked towards Samoht, “Not bad dude.”
“Not too shabby yourself.”
Elder reappeared near the creatures, "Very good job comrades, truly mighty work." Looking to Sam and Volo, "I am glad you were able to easily dispatch of these wretched creatures."
The prince gets back up on his feet, and kicks the slimy extention of the beast, “Well, onward then?”
“Yeah well, if that's all that's guarding this place, this'll be a cakewalk” Volo said with a smirk.
"Confidence is the downfall of many warriors, Volo." Elder nods stroking his bread.
“Well I guess I’ll just have to get back up, huh?”
"I never said that." He shakes his head moving down the next corridor he sees. Volo just shrugs and follows Sam and Elder.
As they head down the corridor, the walls glow faintly with several arcane sigils. Their light blue coloration could easily trick one into a sense of calm, perhaps they were made with that in mind. Volo seemed effected by it as he trotted along bobbing his head back and forth like he was very relaxed. Sam on the other hand looked nervously back and forth, “See anything Elder?”
Elder then speaks in a sing songy way as his old eyes scan everything, "Djinn are suite to rule humans, yet humans rule them, tis a Djinn's duty to serve till one day he be free and he may join the three."
“I'll take that as a no...”
As they keep walking, ahead of them, they see a doorway leading into a large room. Water fills it halfway, with several crystalline structures filling the room with rope bridges connecting each other. The runes from the hallway fill this room as well.
Stopping dead in his tracks, Volo looks nervously towards the water, “Dude… please tell me we don’t have to go in there.”
“Afraid of the water? Well, they at least have those little bridges.” Sam says with a smirk.
Looks at the bridges, then back at Sam, “I think it’d be safer if I tried running on the walls then walking across those bridges…”
Elder nods, "I do not need to breathe, if we ever need to scout under the water, I can for us."
As they talk amongst themselves, they begin to hear someone, sounds like a young woman, vocalizing an enchanting tune. It beckons to them.
Sam looked at Volo, “Do… you hear that?”
“It sounds kinda nice.”
Elder looked at the two and simply says, “Don’t fall for it.” He then walks over and slaps the two.
"A siren’s song has led more men to doom then a charging army with a advantage." He nods then begins to cross the bridge.
The other two follow, Sam treading carefully to make sure it doesn’t break and Volo walking along casually.
“Perhaps we should check it out…” Sam suggests.
“Maybe, she does sound kinda nice… maybe she could help us out.”
Elder looks back, "Remember, whatever is in here... Keep you two's thinkings above waist level." He nods and proceeds.
“ … I was just saying she might be able to help us out, she might live here or something.”
They cross the series of bridges and come across one of the crystal holding cells. Within, they can see a female form, fitting the tastes of each one. Her vocalizations become softer as they draw nearer.
Elder looks inside, “Humph, there’s nothing here.”
Volo on the other hand looks inside and mouth drops open. A few seconds later he shakes his head and hides behind Elder.
“What do you mean? Can't you see her within?” Samoht walks closer to the crystal, unaware of something moving in the water beneath.
"...Is this a stick up or are you two happy to see m-... KING SAMOHT!" Elder grabs Sam by the hair and pulls him back. Just then the doors open, which don’t happen to be doors but jagged teeth and the women within turns out to be a radula.
Volo has fallen to the ground and has his eyes closed talking to himself faster and faster, “I'm loyal... I don't cheat... I'm a good speedster.. she's not hot yes she is what nosheisn'tbutreallyohmanshe'sbeautifulandnoI'mloyal...”
The monster starts lashing at the trio with her tentacled arms, as much larger tentacles burst out of the water and grabs Volo sitting on the ground with his eyes closed.
Elder sighs, stepping forward and extending his hand, "Your neither maiden nor a crystal, but a mere siren like illusion, a monster, GO BACK HENCE WHERE YOU CAME YOU FALSE BEING WHO TRICKS MEN TO THEIR DOOM WITH LUSTFUL TRICKS!" He concentrates a bit and a large fire wave flies out right at the monster’s center.
Meanwhile Samoht fights against the Djinn, trying to reach what he sees as a voluptuous Rakshasa maiden, “Let me go! I must save her!”
The tentacle with Volo in it's grip lets go as the fire begins to consume the beast from within, the radula's arms lunge towards Samoht. As they come towards him, something crosses his mind, Cala. He then slashes at the tentacle and grabs Volo by the hand. Volo, not missing a beat quickly climbs up Sam and is over by Elder before Sam can turn his head.
“I almost fell into the water!”
"GO! GO YOU TWO!" Elder continues pouring all his basic energy into the fire aiming it straight at the creatures center, for a brief moment he sees someone he remembers...but he perishes the thought continuing the fiery blast as it soon filling the area. The creature hisses and writhes in pain, the other crystals begin to turn into similar monsters, each one attempting to grab the trio with their tendril.
“RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!" The genie focusing the flame to cover the area, pouring all his energy into it.
“What about you dude?”
“I don't think the water is what you should worry about…” Sam says looking at the monster which is still in agony, and begins to rip itself out of the glassy maw. The ‘woman’ quickly scurries over to the three, attempting to impale them against its spiked skin.
"I'LL BE FINE! GO YOU TWO! GOOOOO!" Elder shouts as he pours all his energy into it, the flame growing more... in a few seconds the whole room be filled with a fiery explosion, "GOOO!"
Volo frowns as he grabs Samoht by the arm and jets out of the room. The prince is pulled along by the speedster and his hair whipping wildly. The radula rushes past the djinn, and gives chase after the two, hissing wildly all the while.
"FOUL DEMON RETURN TO THE HELLS YOU BELONG!" Elder shifts the wild inferno to go to the Radula giving chase, then redirecting it to all the others, "TO HELL AND LEAVE MY COMRADES ALONE!" He puts all his energy into a fiery explosion incarnating the entire room up to Volo and Sam. Elder falls to his knees, then collapses on the floor.
The prince bares his teeth, snarling, “It made me... forgot about Cala...” He pulls himself away from Volo's grip, and pounces onto the crispy radula, swipping his bagh nakhs at it, cutting it to pieces.
After blowing off some steam, Sam runs over to Elder and Volo, “Djinn! Djinn! Are you alright?!”
“Elder… man… you okay dude?”
Elder coughs lightly, "It appears I... over exerted... myself... I am racked with pain and my joints stiff..." He coughs a bit more.
“I thought you said you’d be okay…”
"Most men tell white lies to help others... if I said 'Im gonna die' would you have stayed?" He chuckles more, coughing.
The speedster shook his head and lifted the genie onto his back, “Alright, let’s go tough guy… and try not to cough in my ear.”
The Djinn gives a smile, "Sorry... I have over exerted myself... I wish you two luck on the rest of this adventure... sadly... I will have to re-form my physical body tomorrow... farewell... and good luck..." And with that, Elder Wish faded away.
Samoht looks to Volo, “Well... that's not a good sign...”
The speedster shook his head, “Dude just had to pull a Gandolf on us.”
The prince nods and looks around, “This appears to be a dead end.”
“Alright then, hop on, I’ll get us back in no time.”
Samoht, who’s somewhat larger than Volo looks confused, “Hop on?”
“Yeah, it’ll be easier than grabbing you by the arm or leg and dragging you.”
“Heh… true.”
Sam mounts onto Volo’s back, “Well… Onward!”
Volo grins as he bursts forward, the ground ripping up behind him from the force of his speed then comes to a stop back at the room with the doors a few seconds later. Samoht had a stunned face at first then shook it away and hopped off. Before they could figure out what to do they heard footsteps coming and quickly slipped out of sight. A man with glowing green eyes and a brown robe walks by, mumbling to himself in an ancient eldritch tongue. Volo pulled out his whip and quickly hit the man in the back of the head with the hard handle and gave Sam a thumbs up. Sam returned the thumbs up although it looks somewhat odd with his structure.
“Dude, this totally gives me an idea.”
A wicked grin crosses Sam’s face, “Do tell.”
Volo then quickly becomes a blur of motions and stops. The man is no naked and his robe is on Volo… who still has his shades on. “We can totally sneak passed everyone now!”
“Hehehehe, I like the way you think!” Samoht then slips into the shadows and goes through the passage way the cultist came from, Volo follows.
As they walk down they pass a few more cultist who don’t seem to protest Volo or the invisible prince. They walk on and eventually find themselves in a large library. All around them are books with words not meant for moral tongue abound. Glass structures hang form the ceiling, giving off a faint glow. The hooded speedster looks around.
“I’ve already got a headache.”
Sam rummages through the books, as he pulls out one only to have the binding snap at him. He quickly shoves it back in place. “And they say words don't hurt…”
“Is this where it’s suppose to be?”
“A good deal of new mages come from this part of the island... I assume they would have them here...” suddenly they begin to hear a faint noise, like that of tiny screams.
The prince looks around for the source of the noise and finds a small cabinet and opens it slightly. As it ajars, a small orb rolls out, no larger than a marble. It glows a faint green. Samoht picks it up and looks inside to see the form of a miniscule humanoid slamming its fists against the sides in a vain attempt at freedom.
“It appears as though we found where they keep these…”
“Great… glad to know I know where to go if I ever need a tiny screaming soul…”
The orb shines in the light of the crystals. The figure inside begins to panic until it gazes upon the face of the duo. It begins to calm down, gesturing something to the panther.
“Volo, look through the cabinet... I'm going to trying to figure out what its trying to say...”
Quickly gets down and starts throwing out books and other magical items left and right not really sure what he’s looking for. He quickly finds more orbs, but they glow a faint blue and there’s nothing in them.
Volo holds one up to Samoht, “Hey, would this be what we’re looking for?”
“I believe so...” As Samoht looks at the orb in his own hand, the little figure begins to panic once more, pointing to behind him. “What the...” Sam turns around to see a monstrous claw popping itself out of one of the thrown books.
“That’s a pretty realistic pop-up book…” Volo says putting the jewel in his jacket and readying himself.
Another claw pulls itself out as well, grabbing onto the floor next to it. A head begins to emerge from the pages. Like that of a human, it's head differs in one important aspect, a wide, toothy mouth is the only facial aspect it has. No eyes, nose or ears.
Volo doesn't even bother waiting and rushes up to the beast and tries to give it a punt kick to the face, “I don't feel like having any childhood nightmares again thanks.” Sadly it didn’t work so well as the creature wrapped its maw around the speedster’s foot and sinking it’s teeth in. Samoht stuffs his green orb into his pocket and rushes to help his friend. Volo screams out in pain as he uses his other foot to try and kick himself free. Samoht pulls his fist back, and with his claws ready, stabs them into where the creatures eyes would be. On of its claws then strikes against Samoht, knocking him into Volo which causes the speedster to twist his leg funny. Volo’s foot now bitten, bleeding, and twisted around backwards, was causing him more pain then he’s felt in a long while.
Tears of pain and anger roll down Volo’s face as he bites the bullet and faces the creature. His arms become blurs of motion as they throw hundreds of punches at its face. The beast began squeeling in pain, letting go of the speedster’s foot. That didn’t stop Volo though, as he continued to wail on the brute, making an indentation of his fist on the creature’s face. The speedster then fell to his knees as Sam rushed over and slammed the book shut. The blood lose from the bite had caused Volo to tire quickly and he was breathing heavily with pain. Volo took off his robe and wrapped it tight around his foot trying to keep it from bleeding more.
Samoht stumbled over to his friend, “You… okay… Volo?”
Grunting in pain, he looks to Sam, “Compared to most things I do, I’ve never been better.” Volo then manages a weak smile.
Chuckling weakly, Sam helped Volo with his foot. “Got the-“ As he began to speak, rapid footsteps hurry towards the library, shouts in Infernal can be easily heard. “Fuck...”
“Got any ideas dude? I’m not sure I can fight anymore…”
“Just one.” Samoht rapidly performs another somatic motion with his hands. His body begins to contort into a hideous, monstrous thing. His fingers like sickles, his fangs like daggers, this... brute begins to rush towards the voices. Out of the corner of Volo's eyes, he can see that Samoht hasn't actually changed at all, it’s just an illusion, though a cruel smirk has appeared on his face.
Dizzy from the lose of blood, Volo smirks and lays down, “Glad to know you still had a trump card.”
A loud roar can be heard echoing from the corridors, so can be the frightened yells of the cultists. At first, it seems like Samoht has everything in his hand, but quickly, Volo can hear quick footfalls heading back to the library. He quickly grabs his whip and swings it around a light from above and climbs up, hiding from the mob about to enter the room. Samoht then rushes into the room without looking so frightening with a few deadly looking demons and cultists behind him.
Samoht tosses one of the stools towards the beasts, and it shatters upon impact. In favor, the creature picks up a table and slams it against the Rakshasa. As he falls to the floor, the soul orb falls out of his pocket and breaks to shards. As the orb breaks, a gaseous mist rushes out. The Thorns take a step back as it takes on a clear form. A cape blowing from it's back, a colorful outfit adorned his body, the soul raises the visor over his face. "It's about damn time.”
“Poke’Heroes, cool…” Volo remarks safely hanging above from his whip.
The spirit rushes towards the demons and wizards, as his hands goes through them, the behemoths begin to melt into a sulfurous puddle. The flesh of the spellcasters begins to rupture, light bursting out of every orifice.
Samoht looked in awe, “.... dear Ravanna...”
Volo, unable to hold on any longer falls and lands on the ground. Right on his back. “Ow…”
As the spirit finishes off the last of the vile enslavers of souls, Samoht rushes over to Volo. The spirit places his hand next to his forehead in a salute, and vanishes.
“Well… that was lucky.” Volo said followed by a cough.
Sam then lifts Volo on his back, “Yeah.. praise Ravanna.. looks like we got what we need… You wouldn’t happen to have a Pocket D teleporter, would you?”
Nodding, the two activated the porters. Volo’s leg couldn’t be completely healed, so he’s going to have to use a cane for awhile. He also now owes Sam a favor, but that’s alright. He got Ghostie’s present. A soulgem. Now he just needs to see if Elder can make it into a ring.
