Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

"Sir Loimos, I could not help but notice that you seemed to be searching for something in particular" asked the mistborn, the two of them currently standing on the ocean's floor, or rather, the lowest point on their current position, they were scaling a mountain of coral as the dreadful pressure around attempted to crush them, to no avail, one was simply unaffected, and the other held a part of sovereignty over water.

They were seeking a path inside, it would be simple to just break in to place the generator, but Loimos was well aware that King Nitok sought to preserve as much as was possible, The Prince Of Death was an avid collector, and as absurd as it might sound, he wanted to document all cultures and all manners of knowledge, the undeads were loyal, but they were not a single mass with the same vision of things, those that had once lived in a desert, or emerged within one, would feel a sense of familiarity to such a place.

As the king wished both to keep a trace of everything, and to please his subjects, it was important to not graze everything when possible, and in this situation, Loimos had all the time in the world.

And it was also an opportunity to walk Poitirus through the domain he would soon be watching over, not every body of water was the same as Mistdrown, to enact his full power, he needed to be familiar with the different types of waters and creatures available for him to use in every situation, the waters were the firstmost line of defence in case of an assault on the mainland, and Poitirus would be the ruling hand in here at all times.

Loimos did not linger on to answer the question, there was indeed something, or rather, someone that he had been seeking ever since Viridis had been claimed.

"Quideos Audit, the living prophet has completely vanished" he responded.

Indeed, Loimos had returned to the sunken mountain, finding Silvaram, a primordial tree that had served to contain Thanatok's devouring life, but the seer who had been hiding there had disappeared entirely, and even after turning the tree to an undead, Silvaram could not tell where Audit had gone to, he had simply vanished out of thin air, hiding on the undead mainland was impossible, the potent miasma would destroy him, and Loimos knew that the prophet had not perished, the remnants of life force clearly told him so.

The living had failed to stop the undead once already, but allowing him to try again could prove problematic, none could do however, he had disappeared without leaving any trail behind.

Poitirus had not much to say to this, tilting his head as he planted a generator in the center of the coral mountain, the surrounding colours were plenty, compared to Mistdrown, the ambiance was much less bleak.

Thinking that Loimos had most certainly already made every obvious consideration, so Poitirus instead focused on his surroundings, in the ambient darkness that was natural so deep, he could sense far and wide, and this ecosystem was one of many wonders and horrors, both most of the time.

He had heard that sea serpents were relatives of dragons, and the one they had encountered convinced him wholeheartedly, that creature had not appeared massive, but its body length stretched far beyond anything he had ever imagined, in fact, he had not seen the end of its tail, Loimos had easily defeated it and made it into a guardian.

Such creatures were supposed to be overlords of their environment, but before death, they were easily felled, and as per usual, the pure undead had just said that it was not as strong as it had appeared, for it lacked an intelligent mind amongst other things.

The pure undead seemed convinced that there existed individuals that could challenge him, even though he had already overcome his natural enemy, whether it was modesty, a mindset to avoid surprises or simply a fact, was hard to discern.

But many only knew of Viridis, it might be true that other continents could house powerhouses that surpassed what they had already faced, it was hard to imagine that something could not be, astral bodies forming out of thin air, suns that only shined on certain, restricted area despite clearly being in the same sky as the rest, illogical depths and heights, the fact that life and death were not the only method beings could exist, all were much harder to believe, and yet.

"Sir Loimos, it appears that we stumbled upon some ruins" pointing at a statue oddly free of the effects of nature, depicting an unknown bearded man, the statue was larger than the two undeads, although perfectly preserved, not many details were visible, the sculptor had not been of expert skill, the man was carrying a staff and a book, perhaps implying that it represented some sort of keep of magical knowledge.

This statue was at the forefront of ruined buildings that had suffered much more dearly under the strain of time and of the ocean.

"The rest is buried below" remarked Loimos, weaving rot into existence, he cleanly carved a way through the floor, revealing that the ruins they were seeing was just the top of buildings, and that the statue was anchored by a lengthy chain that had rusted.

The architecture was oddly reminiscent of buildings that would be on dry ground, not at all adapted to life underwater, even if the occupants could breath down here.

The whole of these ruins was rather small, one could see it all in details even from up close, interest was better direction at the well sitting at the center, the water within was like that of an underwater lake, the pressure was completely different, and most things that went in there would be corroded away, like jumping into the stomach acid of a whale.

Corrosion had been a part of Loimos's skill set since nearly the very beginning, he extended a tendril of rot into it, remaining cautious of what might be hiding in there, he spoke up after a few seconds.

"A temple is below, it would appear that the residents used to worship a creature" he said, walking up to the wall and letting himself sink into it, Poitirus followed right after him.
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"So, it's a holy beast?"

"Divine beast"

"More powerful than the sea serpent?"

"Most definitely"

It was a common belief that the gods gained more power by being worshipped alongside probably other means, no one had ever asked one if that was true, or the records had been lost, but one thing was certain, when something or someone was worshipped, they had the possibility of gaining a holy disposition, as an idol.

Of course, that did not always work, but Loimos was saying that the beast was divine rather than holy, which was the step above.

Unique specimens like this one were must-haves for the undead, they represented great power instantly, and Loimos was also a wielder of divine energy thanks to being death's chosen champion, so it should be rather simple.

"Try making it submit, Poitirus"

Or not.