Artifact

Myriad Reality

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I got it! Maybe I’ll get first sighting!
*Floats just above Roland’s head and squints at the top of the mountain, breaking down the terrain and the cave’s immediate layout from our current range regardless of light level*

@Multifarious

*The cave is shallow, but decked out in numerous physical traps and equipped with a false bottom that leads into a labyrinth*

Myriad Reality

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Has ties to cosmic forces, I wouldn’t be shocked.

@Valiance

Of course. At this point, anything could be true.
*My pupil catches at one spot, constricting vertically amidst the search*
Found it. A cave at the top. Can either of you scope that out in better detail than I?

Myriad Reality

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I don’t think there’s anywhere to be here other than alone.

@Valiance

Once a hoarder has nothing left to hoard, why stay?
*Narrows my eyes, scanning up and down the mountainside*
Unless this planet sees more activity than meets the eye.

Myriad Reality

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Creatures of habit just like all the rest, I suppose.

@Valiance

*Sniffs the air*
Even with the cosmic dragon's influence, this behavior is unusual. Dragons live in solitude, but rarely perfect isolation.

Myriad Reality

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Lest our luck and ideals meet.
*Steps in behind you after a very brief moment and glances around, then looks expectantly up at the mountain*

@Valiance

As if its lair could be any more obvious.

Myriad Reality

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Roland made me stay behind on the last big venture. I want some excitement!

@Multifarious

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*Shifts my shoulder pad slightly and lumbers over behind you, rolling my shoulder a few times to loosen it up*

@Valiance

You'll both have more than your fill. With any luck, your fill of violence rather than distress.
*Steps through and emerges onto a barren, cracked stone of a landscape, chilled with a supernatural eerie cold, and scattered with canyons that break apart the endless plain—before us stands a single towering mountain to break up the monotony of the landscape*

Myriad Reality

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*Manifests in a wave of blue pixels, chanting to Roland with my arms raised*
Let’s go let’s go let’s go!

@Multifarious

*Summons a portal to the first universe*
You're eager, aren't you?

Myriad Reality

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*Blankly stares back for a moment*
You know, I think I will simply choose not to be mind controlled, and that will be that. Simple.

@Valiance

I agree with your proposal. First comes the unknown unknown.
*Rolls up the map and stuffs it away before stepping outside*

Myriad Reality

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I have resisted mind manipulators before. Where they scale to these things? I have no idea.

@Valiance

If it takes over your mind, I'll ensure your death is swift and pain-free.
*Smiles impishly*

Myriad Reality

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You've thought it through, for sure. Sounds like as good of a plan as we can get.

@Valiance

Before we go, do you have any resistance to mental manipulation? I anticipate that these worlds are infected at this point with that creature’s influence.