Ch4 - Goblins and Tieflings

Once again we set off, traveling forwards in the direction the tieflings ran. On way I ignore Shart and Lae'zel tripping eachother over, as it just seems like drama I'd rather watch than get involved with.

We traverse around a hill to find goblins firing into the great stone wall barring their entry to a safe haven. Against them stands a charismatic warlock wielding a rapier and eldritch blasts, a band of tieflings with bows and a former adventuring party now found dead to the goblins.

Without any communication, Astarion hid behind some rocks and took out their worg. Immediately, we all jumped into action, clearing the goblins out with little to no hassle. They made a good warm-up for all of us, though that was my only claim to a true battle in both of my lives.

A grizzled tiefling paladin shouted over to us "Quick come in! We have to close the gates!"

"Go in without me, I can go through the walls anyway" I waited before they left to steal a human body, a goblin body, a high elf body and the worg body. I'm resolute on making good use of my system, and a bit of dissection will go a long way for that.

Flying back in, the group has gone to a large patch of unoccupied grass to set up camp. I follow suit and set up my (now spectral) camping gear. Once we're all set up, I offer to cook food since everyone else seems to be tired and I don't.

Frying up the fish we found on the coast, Shart comes to me, "I don't think we should trust the gith, they're a violent bunch with no sense of morals"

"I mean, I don't know much about stuff like that, my village was only humans, so I'd much rather learn from experience." I dash a little bit of lemon and pour some tartar sauce on the side before dishing it out to everyone. She didn't seem happy with my answer and went to eat in her own tent.

The rest of us sat down and ate around the campfire, my food wasn't real so it regenerated, but I could taste it. It was one of the best things about dying with a camping bag on, my meal deal became ghostly too. We shared stories of our own, Gale of his time in school, Lae'zel with her battles, I spoke about my time in Spain. Durge was quiet, he said he had nothing to say, the tadpole took his memories apparently.

Once everyone went to rest or meditation, I floated over to a stone slab and begun going through each of the corpses, mentally noting differences and trying to guesswork what certain organs did if I didn't know already. So now I come to decide the knowledge I want.

"I choose Cthulu for my lv4 knowledge"

[Acknowledged]

Immediately, my mind was transported to a beautiful seaside view, the moon shimmers on the surface dancing across the slow waves. It was ruined by my compulsion to walk forwards, I floated deeper and deeper, reaching past the mantle, past the outer core until I reached a place of vast horror.

A new plane is what I entered, mist rose from below me dispersing and collecting randomly. Eyes blinked in the sky, the sky blinked, the floor sniffed, left was right and right was the moon. Nothing was everything and the hunt has begun.

In the distance, a form rose, tendrils spilled out from what I believe to be its face and when I looked upon it I could only pray that it had not taken offence from my very existence. This is Cthulu of the Lovecraftian Pantheon, a great old one, the slumbering god, the deep one, the very reason why we fear the sea depths.

****

My eyes opened again, I checked my hands and my surroundings. I was back at camp, safe hopefully from the horrifying nightmare I awoke from. However it will function as a reminder to not pick evil gods for stuff like that again.

[Knowledge assimilating]

Wait what?

My eyes glowed purple and for the first time since my death I felt pain, deep soulful pain. The eldritch truths, the face of the Gods. Madness incarnate, everything people have been warned not to know about I'm processing into my own mind.

[Lv1 - Optical growth

Lv2 - Eldritch blast cantrip

Lv3 - Aberration ally - aberration form

Lv4 - Beholder's gaze - The truth

Congratulations you earned rewards!]

[ Optical Growth -

Growing eyes has never been easier! Just will it!]

[ Aberration Ally -

Sick of Beholders? No worries! They're not sick of you, they quite like your presence!]

[Aberration form -

Don't look scary enough? Great! Shift form for great effects!

(Form includes flight, crown of madness and tentacles)]

[Beholder's Gaze -

Cantrip - Use any of the 10 beholder beams

Toggle-able passive - Create a 150 meter cone anti-magic field from your main eye/s]

[The Truth -

Action - Place your hand atop a being's head or their equivalent and ruin their mind with the eldritch truths.

Passives - All speak, Dark vision (150m), levitation, immune to prone, water breathing]

I would be hyperventilating if I could breathe right now, but I guess I can? I have to try the new form out, it'll be great to have a body again. Though as I got it from my knowledge on Cthulu I'm worried I'll look a bit too… eldritch.

I fly out into the woods and active my aberration form, immediately I felt myself solidify and fall over, my bag fell off my back and I hunched over as I felt my skin grow over my face. My bones clicked and distorted as I grew to 9ft tall, 11 tentacles sprouted from my scalp each sporting an eyeball at the tip of each one, one in particular was larger than the rest. My fingers became longer and clawed, my legs backwards and bent like that of a stork, my feet became serrated and fused into 2 digits. Finally, my skin turned purple and I gained a sheen of mucus over it.

I didn't need to see a mirror to know what I look like, I just knew I looked nightmare-inducing. But the issue is, I was EXTREMELY powerful in this form. Which is why I'm glad I researched biology to the extent I have in my travels, maybe I can shape-shift when I hit a certain level?

"I would like to do an exam on biology next" I spoke aloud into the woods. Only responded to by the cold voice of the system.

[Biology exam beginning]