Black Hole: The Book of Iratus, Episode 20

Chapter 191

The hyena man named Fractura, full name Fractura Exos Cibum, sat in the chair, eating the meal before him. Iratus looked over to Clamor as the old rabbit man spoke.

Clarmor, "So, as I was saying, you didn't have to get into the fight at all. You should have just fled."

Iratus, "Not like we could have predicted the metalhead attack."

Resonantia, "Yeah, you guys were talking about some sort of mutant variant?"

Fractura, "Even I have no idea what those things were."

Ignis and Victoria both flicked their tails in anger.

Victoria, "Is no one going to point out that a stranger is in our house?"

Ignis, "A lost pet you two have brought for us to feed without an explanation!"

Iratus, "Oh yeah. This is some hyena guy we met at the camp."

The otter girl, Aestus, brought over some water for their gust to drink.

Aestus, "Didn't you say the army people were all killers and murderers?"

Fractura, "To be fair, I was just following them and had no real ties to them."

Clamor, "But what sins have you committed? How many innocents died because of you?"

Fractura, "From a religious nut with a faith of death and slavery to another religious nut with a virtue bar so high, no one can meet."

Clamor wasn't insulted when he said,

Clamor, "Yeah, that's the point. That's why people need the one true God to meet that standard."

The hyena man rolled his eyes.

Fractura, "I've been following Victorium's army for a while. They usually had food or other resources I needed to survive, and Victorium needed my medical knowledge and services. Unlike you primitives, I'm from a time with actual medical science. Victorium never needed to fear me stealing from him, as I had no reason to abandon his men."

Fractura was pulling out some leaves from his pack while talking. Iratus had a wealth of knowledge of what the hyena man was doing. He dipped the leaves into his cup of water, and soon the water was bubbling with small, adorable bubbles.

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Chapter 192

Aestus, "Woh, what's that?"

Iratus, "Mortuus Cerebrum. It's a poison."

Fractura, "Oh yeah, you guys on Providence got all the good stuff."

Once he took the leaves out, he took a large gulp of the water and then set his cup down. Within a few seconds, he grabbed his head with one hand as if he were having a headache. Afterwards, he gave a satisfying "Ah!"

Iratus, "What, does no one else get the plant?"

Fractura, "Nope."

Victoria, "He drank poison?"

Fractura, "Neurotoxin. It attacks the brain, and it feels good."

The girls and Clamor had confused looks on their faces.

Fractura, "Really only a problem for small animals and anything with a crap metabolism. So unless you have a medical condition or are a kid, don't drink it. Now, where was I?" He continued to nurse his drink while speaking, "I don't know what kind of deal you made with Victorium, or maybe it was having an actual base of operation, but he finally snapped. I had retained the right to leave whenever, and I told him I had another group I was loyal to, and he seemed to accept that, contrary to how he ran things."

Iratus, "Everyone could leave, though, right?"

Fractura, "Oh no, no, no, no. The only thing we saw while traveling were hungry people, and these hungry people were always violent or thieves. The way Victorium saw it, if you left his army, you would grow hungry, and you would know where food was: his army. Look, they may not be the worst this place has to offer, but they do kill innocent people most of the time. They are not innocent, but it didn't matter to him. Kill the innocent with the guilty to make sure you kill the guilty."

Clamor, "And proof that his gods were not divine at all."

Fractura, "I don't see the connection?" He said it as a question.

Iratus, "The Lord teaches the innocent shall not be harmed, even if the guilty are set free."

Fractura, "Not you too. You guys are doing the whole, our god is the same god thing?"

Clamor, "We've talked long enough to decide that is the most logical possibility."

Fractura, "Sure, whatever. Now, for my so-called sins, I can't say I've taken any actions that you would consider bad for other people. I heal people and anyone I can convince Victorium to spare."

Clamor, "I see."

Fractura, "Well, I think it is time for me to leave. Thanks for the meal, but I really don't have anything better to do."

Victoria, "Wait, if you are a healer, then we could trade for your services. I mean, in the future."

Fractura, "Why would I stay near here?"

Ignis, "We have wealth?"

Fractura, "You can't afford me, and you couldn't pay me to stay here."

Iratus, "We have made a home here and survived for...uh, seventy days, I think. Seriously, the dangerous wilds are better than security?"

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Chapter 193

Fractura annoyed, "Staying with Victorium's army was bad enough. I need to keep moving until I find the right place. There has been enough negative karma I've been swamped in."

Iratus, "There's that word again. Everyone talks about it, but none of them have given me any explanation of what it is other than luck."

Fractura, "Yeah, just luck."

Iratus, "The gray mask, conduit thing, literally had some sort of projectile....shield thing."

Fractura, "Nope, just rolling a bunch of natural ones on a d20."

Iratus, "I doubt tabletop roleplaying is indicative of our reality."

Fractura, "What would you know of tabletop games?"

Iratus, "A lot. My people had entire libraries dedicated to tabletop gaming and roleplaying."

Fractura, "Huh, I don't think I've ever played any of those old games. Too bad we won't be able to here."

Iratus, "Actually, we've got the paper and ink and will continue to make more; if we want to play some roleplaying, I'm up for being the Game Master."

Fractura, "You make your own paper and ink?"

The hyena man looked at the table and saw papers, dice, and wooden figures scattered around. Then he looked at Ignis, who was bringing over another plate of food that contained fish and fruits on the side.

Ignis, "If you wish for an additional dish, here you go."

He grabbed the plate of fried fish and fruits and was in thought as he ate until he spoke up.

Fractura, "I have changed my mind, as I will stay around if you provide a good enough safe haven. I'm not staying in your nasty tower."

Clamor, "There is another tower, a very strange one with a deep underground level that I've called the forbidding area. Hence, the tower itself is the forbidden tower. I just don't think it's perfectly safe because there are creepy things down below."

Fractura, "Sounds familiar; I'll take it. Now, I'm not sharing my living space with anyone else."

Clamor, "Completely unreasonable! I live there."

Fractura, "Not my problem. If you want a student doctor nearby, then this is the cost."

Resonantia, "We've nearly cleared out Last Mistake, so it will be livable soon."

Aestus, "The camp place is also nearly cleared, and I bet metalheads are easier to kill than treeskins."

Clamor, "Yeah, but how long does the metalhead sickness thing take to clear out?"

Fractura, "I'm aware of the sickness, but what do you mean by clear out?"

Clamor, "People just being near places with metalheads get messed up. We've lost some companions because of it."

Fractura, "Really? I didn't even know that."

Iratus, "Did the army know about the sickness?"

Fractura, "Only what I knew, and all I knew or thought I knew, was that fighting against metalheads long enough gave you the sickness. Were you guys going to have the sickness take out the army?"

Clamor, "Yup."

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Chapter 194

Aestus, "With that out of the way, can we talk about the thieves we saw today?"

Clamor, "Right, you two said you saw someone?"

Ignis, "We left the tower to come provide aid to Resonantia and Victoria, but were forced to come back when we heard people sneaking around. We hastily made it back to the tower just in time to ward off some blue-clad people from entering the tower."

Victoria, "Great, so we have thieves around now."

Iratus, "Technically, we don't know if they came to steal anything, as they could have run because they realized they were about to enter an occupied home."

Resonantia, "Regardless, we must now be on the lookout for more dangers."

Clamor, "I'll see if I can't try to track down these strangers. We also need to see who is left alive in the army and, if possible, loot their stuff. You lot could use some proper weapons and armor."

Iratus, "If only we kept that cart."

Ignis, "I am most certain we did."

Victoria, "Honestly, I can't find it. Maybe we broke it down for parts?"

Clamor, "Iratus, you said you saw a female in the city?"

Iratus, "Strangest thing. She jumped out of a closet to hand me a piece of metal, then jumped back into the closet. What else could I do but shrug at the absurd event?"

Clamor, "Victorium said you were some sort of enemy agent at the camp. Is this related to that?"

Iratus shrugged.

Iratus, "Apparently, I'm some sort of champion for a rebel faction of the summoners."

Fractura, "Pfft, that's dumb."

Iratus, "That's what I said."

Fractura, "Normally, I keep my mouth shut; people like Victorium should make it clear why some secrets are worth keeping. For you, because I don't think you guys are vicious killers, I will tell you one of my secrets. Like Victorium, I too have had a close encounter with the summoners—not as personal, but I've learned a few things. Everyone is a champion for the summoners. I may not know why you are singled out, but being labeled as a champion means nothing; it is completely meaningless."

Iratus, "But I'm the champion of a rebel faction."

Fractura, "It does not mean anything. Trust me."

Iratus pulled out the metal keycard. Iratus opened his mouth to speak, but the hyena man beat him to it.

Fractura, "Oh, my mistake! Let me correct what I said. Not only do you have a meaningless title, but you also have a meaningless role to fill."

Victoria, "How about you explain this for us then?"

Fractura, "Every person in the Nexus Prime was summoned here to be a champion to save the summoners from the monsters that have taken over. Most people are summoned for a reason. A ship of sailors will appear on the sea to battle sea creatures; a desert nomad will appear in a desert full of metalheads; and then there are you, tower people. You too have a task to fulfill, and I assume the keycard is how you will complete your role. Now, this is assuming that a random woman is directly working for the summoners, and I will say that, if true, is very strange. Victorium being contacted is also strange; most people were not there when he got contacted, so I don't know the details, but these things do raise a few questions...questions I don't care about. Show me to my forbidden tower."

Iratus, "I guess we'll talk more at a later date. So, the army camp should have enough carts for us to use. I'll head over there now; anyone else?"

Victoria, "I'll go."

Aestus, "Same here!"

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Chapter 195

The mouse boy, Iratus Lionheart, and the two girls, Victoria and Aestus, the racoonfolk and otterfolk, respectfully made their way to the warband camp of Victorium, which was attacked by the monstrous metalheads with their metal bones and blazing breath. Once the group arrived at camp, they saw how much of it had collapsed and been ruined, with a number of metalheads roaming the site, most of whom were former members of the army.

Iratus, "Alright, let's use what's left of the barricades to trap these things."

The next twenty minutes were spent luring the metalheads on site into the barricades and using their reach with their weapons to kill the creatures because their brainlessness and single-mindedness were easily taken advantage of.

Almost all of the armor was melted into the metalheads, but the group did manage to salvage one scrap metal breastplate and, of course, the mountain load of weapons littered about. The group also found Victorium's body, untouched by the metalheads, as the man seemingly died seconds after Clamor cut his throat twice.

Iratus, "Oh, sure, that killed him."

Aestus, "Do we know if being dead stops people from getting turned into metalheads?"

Victoria, "There are a few dead bodies around that are untouched, so...maybe?"

Iratus, "Start stacking stuff into the carts over there."

Weapons upon weapons were shoved into carts, as were a few helmets and a proper butchering kit from more modern times.

Victoria, "Finally, no more crap work or wasted meat! Look at what we've been missing."

Blankets, pillows, fishing gear, and more treasure were also among the loot. Some hunting traps and snares for food collection, as well as the tattered tents, were also packed up. Canned goods from many different civilizations and times and fresh jerky were stored quite well in chests. The group left the mechanical devices as they could not determine their use and they also looked broken. A skin drum was taken, while some of the tools were left as they already had hammers and the like. The animal skulls and scalps of people were also discarded, while a sketch book was taken by Aestus.

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Chapter 196

It took most of the day, but all of the gear and loot were finally unloaded, with everyone picking over the goods. Victoria took the breastplate, and everyone took a helmet for their kit, with everyone taking leather-made helms and Resonantia taking the only metal helmet. The wooden spears were stored away, and everyone added metal-tipped spears to their arsenal.

Victoria, "Seeing that stitched-together breastplate, I wonder if we could make something similar with all the armor pieces we have."

Iratus nuzzled his lovers, and they returned the affection.

Iratus, "With that whole thing over, we can finally get back to being a family."

Resonantia, "Technically, we still have to find a place for Clamor."

Iratus, "As much as I want to free Last Mistake, there is still that giant treeskin there. I hope you girls are up for killing metalheads. Clamor and I need to stay away from metalheads for a while."

Victoria playfully, "Clearly. I guess that means you'll be staying here tomorrow, away from the people you need by your side at all times."

Iratus playfully, "A sacrifice I'm willing to make."

The night would come, and the tower folk would play their games and snuggle when they could.

Ignis, "Our next dutiful project should be a couch. It would make snuggling so much easier!"

Iratus licked her neck.

Iratus, "A wonderful idea, love."

The other girls would come up to receive affection as well before finishing up their dice game and heading to bed.

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Chapter 197

A few days passed, with the 72nd day being another boring day with Clamor and Fractura coming in the late afternoons to play games. Usually it was some sort of board game or dice game, and they would play until the girls came home to play a world-building game. Clamor would head out with no current interest in this game.

Iratus, "I can't wait to play in this world. It sounds so cool to make a world with others and play in it!"

There were a few discussions happening on the other side until Fractura finished setting up the pieces.

Fractura, "We need a lot more paper."

Iratus, "We've got some papyrus cooking already, so we'll have some more sheets soon."

Fractura, "God, it is strange to see ye old paper making. I guess that means you don't know how to make paper from trees, do you?"

Iratus, "I don't know how to make the right tools. Otherwise, I might be able to remember how to."

On the table was a long timeline of events, with the players adding to it or expanding on events already posted. Iratus slotted an event early in the history of the world about the rise of a powerful spellcaster raising an army of magical golems. Ignis and Aestus focused on a nation called Argenteus, while Resonantia and Victoria had a decentralized focus, with races and cities popping up all over the place. Fractura Conjured a powerful avatar who watched over the world and slotted it into the ancient era.

The world was populated by bug folk, with ants, bees, and any other assortment of insects and bugs. As the day waned, the group paused their worldbuilding game once again, though they had completed most of the history they wished to touch on.

The 73rd day was a more positive one, with the girls returning early with the campsite completely cleared of the metal monster and only sustaining minor injuries during the operation. In a few days, Clamor said he would move in.

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Chapter 198

The group arrived together to complete the final touches to their world while working on new sheets of papyrus paper. On the 74th day, they finally got to work making their characters. Fractura was elected the Game Master, and he would be using a simple RPG system, which everyone was fine with.

Iratus would be a high endurance ant character with a large kite shield and full plate; Ignis would play a high agility mantis character with mastery in swordplay; Victoria would choose to play a beguiling merchant who was also a bee inventor; Resonantia would choose to be a durable spider fighter; and finally, Aestus would play a spellcasting centipede person.

The game started with the players meeting in a tavern, and the place was soon ransacked by violet revolutionaries. The party repelled them and decided to start a mercenary company to put down the bandits and revolting radicals. They had a rough start as they had to register with the collapsing government to become legitimized, but once they were hired, they set out to crush the rebellion at their headquarters. As days passed, the story continued to unfold, with the rebels being crushed, a new dictator rising to power by securing peace and stability for the nation, and then the dictator overthrowing and killing the monarch. The party's warband grew in size and popularity to the point they were invited to join a coalition against the dictator, and upon slaying the man, the whole country fell apart in a free for all for the nation, with the party now having to decide, What do they do now?

Iratus, "We could try to find a rightful heir to the monarchy."

Resonantia, "Nah, let's go full conquest and take Argenteus for ourselves."

Ignis, "How shameful! We must diligently find a peaceful solution to reunite the country."

The days would be good for everyone, with even Clamor reporting that he had not seen any metalheads nor suffered any metalhead sickness, but when the 79th day came, Iratus, Victoria, and Aestus found a dead deer near their home. It still had arrows stuck in it, which made the group look at each other.

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Chapter 199

At the tower, the group told everyone else what they found.

Iratus, "So unless any of you just left a deer out to rot, we have visitors or something around here."

Resonantia, "possibly the people from a few days ago."

Ignis, "Clamor never did track any leads down, did he?"

Iratus, "Nope."

Aestus, "We need to look through all of the locations around here. Unless they are camping in the middle of nowhere, they must be held up somewhere."

Resonantia, "I'll lead a search party then. Today I'll start in our hot springs cave and Last Mistake."

Over the next few days, Resonantia searched all of the locations the group was aware of, with Clamor and Fractura not having seen any signs themselves.

The 83rd day would result in new findings as Resonantia returned home with news. When the tower folk were together, she laid out her findings.

Resonantia, "Victoria and I have found some evidence that someone has been living in the old ebony cave, more specifically the giant elevator room. I don't know if our scent will be found, but I believe we should do something now before they catch on to us."

Aestus, "Then are the ebonies gone then?"

Iratus, "No, I'm pretty sure the ebonies attacked the army camp when they were out. They even tracked the blood trails to that cave system. Something seems off if normal people are living in a place the ebonies should be."

Victoria, "There are way too many unknowns right now. Let's find out who is living in the cave system now."

Iratus, "Then let's make a party and grab Clamor as well."

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Chapter 200

Iratus, Resonantia, Victoria, and Clamor stood at the entrance of the ebony cave, as they called it, with several clothing wraps for the cold tunnel. They headed inside with homemade torches in hand and traveled all the way down to the elevator room. There were bones of animals as well as an old fire pit that were not there the last time Iratus was here.

Clamor, "Yeah, looks like someone was living here recently."

Iratus, "Still, are they around, or did they go further in? The cold down there isn't survivable."

Resonantia, "Worse-case scenario, we will finally see what's in that tunnel."

Victoria, "Joy, the worst cold ever to feel, and we get to swim in it."

The party slowly descended, and at the bottom of the elevator, they saw a great many objects and loot gathered into a pile.

Iratus, "Saves us the trouble of gathering the rest of the stuff up."

Clamor, "We cannot steal from others, even if they themselves are thieves."

Resonantia, "Let's get this over with."

Everyone got their wraps on and headed down. The cold became sharp and painful as the temperature lowered intensely everytime the party moved down. Eventually the hole in a wall came upon them, and the party entered the tunnel with the train tracks still there. Off to the side was a massive, burned-out bonfire with recent embers.

Iratus, "By God, these sheets are not helping much."

Clamor, "Those embers are still fresh. Someone must have lit it within the day, which means someone is definitely down here."

Resonantia, "I hope the ebonies are not capable of making fire. It will be the worst if we find them down here."

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EPISDOE 20: END

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Episode 20 End Character Sheet
Name: Iratus Lionheart
Species: Mousefolk
Age: 14
Coverings: blonde fur, white gambeson (many repairs, some leather patchwork, minor damage), leather gloves, tactical vest, tailorcraft backpack, leather plate helmet
Weapons: Long Sword, 3x Knifes, Short Sword
Equipment: belt, belt bag, water skin, leathercraft backpack, 2 bags, 33 oval copper coins, 7 small silver bricks, 6 gemstones, 20 fine silver coins,20 fine gold coins

Wounds: Shoulder, stab wound (minor)

Community Stash: a fire starter, whetstone, several leather items, a lot of animal bones, some animal hide, 3 glass jar, 1 fish net, fishing gear, primitive sewing kit, trowel, woodcutting axe, a bunch of small wooden figures, wooden dice, some of sheets, metal scrap, lots of rusted metal, several small fish nets, box of unknown ammo, some medical supplies, semi-automatic rifle (no ammo), a strange device (Gameboy-like device), lots of wooden planks and boards, wood glue, sandpaper, compass, sextant, some bedrolls, a tent, lots of rope, a large barrel, some ink, 1 papyrus paper, 3 hide paper (parchments), 80 cloaks and other clothing materials, some alcohol, some primitive medicine, some fabrics, 6 carts, 11 tattered tents, skin drum

Armory: 10 wooden spears, 56 short swords, 53 knifes, 25 daggers, 34 metal spears, 2 hand bombs, 21 rusted weapons, many armor pieces, ruined metal armor, 4 hunting traps, 3 snares
Aestus: leather vest, leather helmet, metal spear, short sword
Victoria: scrap metal Breastplate, leather helmet, metal spear, short sword, crossbow
Resonanita: breastplate, metal helmet, metal spear, short sword, compound bow
Ignis: leather helmet, metal spear, crowbar

Treasure: 88 oval copper coins, 33 oval silver coins 74 ancient metal coins, 40 fine silver coins, 44 fine gold coins, 23 fine copper coins, a tarnished silver brooch, a small ornamental figurine, a handful of sparkling glass beads, a small wooden trinket box, a collection of delicate, hand-painted porcelain charms, a few antfolk tapestries, some antfolk art, 157 copper lion coins, 45 silver lion coins, 14 gold lion coins, 165 wolfen metal coins

Home Base, Tower: Large Storage Area (many crates, clay pots, and wooden chests), Basic Workshop Area (lots of tools, woodcarving tools), Kitchen Area (many tools, many cutlery items, pots&pans, makeshift grill), Library, Armory, Infirmary Room (surgery tools), Guest Quarters, Master Bedroom (proper bedding), Six Bedrooms (proper bedding)

Outside Base: Butchering Hut (modern butchery kit, smoking rack), Tannery Hut, Underground Storage Area, Garden Area (fenced in)

Books: 3x woodworking books, weathered leather-bound journal, war game booklet, sketch book (from warband)

Year 0, Day 83

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(Extra Stories)

Extra Story 1

(many years ago) A much younger Victoria marveled at her uncle, who was now wearing fine and expensive clothes. Her older siblings and parents embraced him with open arms and invited him into their poor household.

Rich Uncle, "I can't stay for too long because I have to get these supplies to the capital."

Victoria's Mother, "Finally, Lord Superesse will no longer own us!"

Rich Uncle, "I don't even have to buy the land. Once I come back with a writ of loyalty, we are moving to some Freeland."

Victoria's Father, "I can't thank you enough, brother. This family owes you everything."

Rich Uncle, "I still have to find someone who is willing to buy the medical supplies. None-the-less, there isn't anything I'm willing to sacrifice for family."

Victoria's Eldest Sister, "Let me come with you. I got some free lessons from Dame Parsimoniae, and I can fight off any bandits who think they can rob you."

Victoria, "She even has a suit of full mail!"

Rich Uncle, "Only as long as you don't mind the long and boring ride up there."

---

Extra Story 2

(Some time ago) Fractura grabbed his hammer, flashlight, and military body armor from the locker. The room was spacious and well kept throughout the floor. The hyena man opened the door into a large stairwell and headed down. He left from the second floor and got to the fifth floor, where there was a wall with a window to another stairwell heading further down, but the door with an electronic lock would never give without a monstrous  amount of force.

The hyenafolk moved slowly as he traveled to the fifth floor. It was a maze of hallways that would look perfectly the same if not for the numerous signs of combat scarring most of the walls. Fractura heaved for a door and stopped when he heard the buzzing and whirling of something mechanical. With an angry scowl, he backed up and kept trying to find a way around. Finally, he reached an emergency ladder and peeled off the cover to reveal the sixth floor. From his backpack, Fractura took out several blankets to wrap himself in and proceeded down into the dark hole.