Sentinel Serpent Orb of Vigilant Malice 3042

Lore: The Sentinel Serpent-Orb of Vigilant Malice 3042 is a masterpiece of illicit, high-tier planar binding and alchemical architecture. It was forged by a rogue sky-sailor who was driven to severe paranoia after barely surviving a lethal harpy raid. Desperate to ensure absolute protection during their mandatory slumbers, they ground up a crystalline Minion Orb of 42 and dissolved it into a volatile vat of Deadly Venom Tincture. Using a steam-powered reciprocating needle, they forced this venomous, crystal-infused ink directly into the dermis of a preserved shoulder hide. By chanting advanced binding incantations, the creator bound the instinctual spatial awareness of Tattoo 742 of the Vigilant Eye and the toxic wrath of the forest spirit, Thornea, directly to an eternal, multi-limbed extra-planar entity. The resulting artifact collapsed its spatial properties entirely to forge an indivisible, single-slot safeguard.

Description

This artifact manifests as a heavy, fist-sized crystal sphere bound securely within an intricate moon silver framework.
The crystal core shifts continuously between shades of deep azure, luminous neon violet, and glistening emerald green, throwing off a low-level ultraviolet radiance.
Geometric magical circuits and a wide, staring owl-eye motif are etched into the metal frame, pulsing with a rhythmic, sub-dermal warmth.
A viscous, dark emerald film of Thornvine Dartleaf venom constantly weeps from the seams of the moon silver structure, releasing a sharp scent of ozone, lavender, and scorched parchment.
The entire assembly vibrates softly in the hand like a mechanical heartbeat, carrying a subtle, low-frequency resonance that can be felt in the user’s Mind’s Eye.

Stats

Item Tier: 3 (Rare).
Armor Check (AC): +2 bonus specifically during surprise rounds or while the avatar is asleep.
Item Hit Points: Avatar’s Maximum Hit Points + 30 (Resilience 10 multiplied by Tier 3).
Base Weapon Damage: 1d6 Piercing + 1d6 Poison damage (Combat stats scale with the tier framework).
Social Modifier: Imposes a noticeable penalty to friendly interactions and charm checks due to the somewhat intimidating appearance and the toxic, malevolent aura radiating from the sphere.

Skills Gained While Openly Worn

Vigilant Perception: +5% to Perception checks involving hearing or sensing physical vibrations while stationary.
Planar Arcana: +3 trained skill points to Arcana, providing a cognitive synergy with summoned entities and aetheric boundaries.
Poisoner’s Craft: +3 trained skill points to the handling, modification, and precision application of lethal alchemical toxins.

Tags: Tier 3, Worn Item, Summoned Entity, Ethereal Origin, Multi-Limbed, Scale-armored, Poison, Paralysis, Lethal, Alchemy, Alarm, Permanent, Neon, Ultraviolet, Boundary, Sensory, Detection, Warning, Indivisible, Planar-Bound, Symbiotic-Ink, Coated-Chassis, Shock-Resistant, Ethereal-Tether, Moon-Silver, Owl-Essence, Toxic-Resin, Trap-Sensing, Micro-Circuitry, Autonomous

Multiple Passive Magics

Sub-Dermal Vibrational Alarm: While the orb is exposed and the bearer is resting or stationary, the internal owl-essence grants a passive tremorsense. The ink pulses with tactile warmth if a sentient being or feral beast larger than a house cat enters a 30-foot radius, protecting critical resting cycles from being broken.
Lethal Coating: The orb’s framework generates an absolute barrier of Deadly Venom Tincture. Any creature that makes direct, unmitigated contact with the item’s outer shell is instantly exposed to the toxic resin.
True Sight Wake: The item maintains a direct metaphysical tether between the user’s consciousness and the planar realm. This provides an asset to initiative rolls during an ambush, allowing the wearer to act instantly during surprise rounds.

Multiple Active Magics

Multi-Limbed Matrix Summoning (1/Day): As an action, the wearer channels focus through their Mind’s Eye, causing the orb to flare blindingly. This summons a Medium, highly agile multi-limbed entity—resembling a cross between an octopus and a spider—covered in iridescent scales. The minion acts with enhanced Strength (+2) and exceptional Dexterity (+3), prioritizing the summoner’s safety by deploying Elemental Blasts, Protective Wards, and Realm Echoes. It carries a Realmstone for a 30-foot teleport and an Etherflask for self-healing, remaining bound to the battlefield for 3 rounds before dissolving back into a cloud of shimmering ozone.
Ultraviolet Flare: Activated as a reaction when a hostile action is initiated within the 30-foot alarm perimeter. The neon violet circuits explode with a brilliant flash of ultraviolet light, instantly granting the bearer exactly 5 feet of True Sight for three seconds. This flash cuts through illusions and hidden camouflage, exposing the approaching threat’s exact path.
Paralytic Strike: As a weapon action, the user can strike a target with the orb’s metal frame to discharge the concentrated Thornvine Dartleaf venom. On a successful hit, the target must pass a Constitution saving throw (DC 12) or become completely paralyzed for 1 minute. Paralyzed targets suffer 1d6 poison damage at the beginning of each of their turns, with the lingering toxic effects lasting for up to 1 hour.

Specific Slot Worn Item (Shoulder/Arm Location): Through the divine rules of arcane synthesis, this item magically becomes one single physical object. It physically covers and occupies only one slot on the avatar and does not occupy additional slots or separate body parts. It functions simultaneously as a protective garment, tracking tool, and weapon focus within that singular space, preventing any spatial gear overlap across the avatar’s form.

Core Structural Integrity and Restoration Protocols

If an adversary targets The Sentinel Serpent-Orb of Vigilant Malice 3042 directly in an attempt to suppress its magical functions, they must first overcome a dynamic defensive threshold to land a successful strike. The specialized Armor Check required to hit the item equals the targeted avatar’s total Armor Class, plus the item’s tier level (3), plus a temporary tier die roll (1d8).

Once an attacker successfully strikes the item, the object enters a disrupted state, instantly deactivating its passive features and breaking any current attunement bonds. Because it functions as a worn item, it becomes entirely inert and cannot be re-attuned or utilized until it undergoes a dedicated 10-minute ritual realignment process.

To permanently damage the framework or shatter its magical properties, an opponent must deplete the object’s specific hit points. The total health pool of this Tier 3 Rare artifact is calculated as follows:

Item HP = Avatar’s Maximum Hit Points + 30

This incorporates the baseline resilience of 10 multiplied by the item’s tier level of 3. If the item’s hit points are reduced to 50% or below, it enters a broken state, completely disabling all active and passive magics, including the Multi-Limbed Matrix Summoning and the Ultraviolet Flare. Should its hit points reach zero, the item is completely destroyed, collapsing back into its original constituent alchemical elements and raw materials.

To repair the orb and restore its item hit points after a direct assault, an artisan must physically mend the structure before any new attunement bonds can be established:

Metallurgy and Silversmithing: A smith must use an elemental furnace and an arcanist’s chisel to repair stress fractures in the intricate moon silver framework without disrupting the carved symbols.
Alchemical Crafting: The leaking Deadly Venom Tincture must be restabilized, requiring the careful blending of fresh Thornvine Dartleaf venom, nightshade berries, and Essence of Darkness in an alchemical flask to re-coat the chassis.
Magical Crafting and Enchanting: An enchanter must re-inscribe the faded runes with Runestone ink using an enchanter’s quill, followed by chanting a minor sealing ritual to reconnect the planar tether to the crystal core.

Methods of Acquisition and Commercial Valuation

The Sentinel Serpent-Orb of Vigilant Malice 3042 is a rare, high-tier composite artifact. Because it requires the delicate synthesis of planar summoning cores, highly illegal alchemical neurotoxins, and permanent guardian ink formulas, it is entirely absent from conventional, law-abiding retail storefronts.

Methods of Acquisition

Arcane Integration Ritual: The premier method of obtaining this artifact is through a deliberate combination process executed at a specialized alchemist’s bench. An artisan must dismantle and merge three distinct Tier 1 components: a Minion Orb of 42, a fresh vial of Deadly Venom Tincture, and the specific ink components of Tattoo 742 of the Vigilant Eye. When bound over an active containment matrix, the physical properties collapse, forcefully elevating the output into a single-slot Tier 3 Rare item.
Black Market Shadow Auctions: Due to the forbidden and lethal nature of its constituent elements—specifically the protected Thornvine Dartleaf venom and secretive sky-sailor warning grids—this item is occasionally distributed as high-tier contraband within underground criminal syndicates or pirate enclaves.
Apprentice Inheritance: A rogue practitioner or shadowy assassin might inherit a functional orb from a dying master who synthesized the device to survive deep-sea trenches or sky-faring raids.

Commercial Outlets and Valuation

When this Tier 3 artifact enters the specialized economy of Saṃsāra, its financial value fluctuates based on local legality, faction alignment, and regional supply lines.

The Mid-Current Ink-Smithies and Industrial Shaman Shops
- Description: Located in the steam-filled, high-density industrial districts of major port cities where the clanking of machinery masks secretive arcane crafting, these shops cater strictly to professional night watchmen, high-end warehouse guards, and corporate extraction teams.
- Transaction Dynamics: These establishments are highly transactional and operate under “Buyer Beware” protocols. The shopkeeper will typically demonstrate the item’s validity by triggering a mechanical pulse near the orb to showcase its vibrant, multi-colored neon flare before gold or electrum changes hands.
- Cost: 4,500 to 6,000 Gold pieces. Legitimate, verified shops in these sectors will buy a clean, stable orb from an adventurer for roughly 2,500 Gold pieces.
Trench Markets and Cephaloid Pawnshops
- Description: Situated in the silt-heavy, dimly lit lower docks or subterranean black-market caves, these cluttered dens deal heavily in forbidden biological augmentations and dangerous alchemical assets.
- Transaction Dynamics: Haggling is mandatory. The buyer must personally inspect the moon silver framework and crystal seams to ensure the toxic resin has not short-circuited the internal computational circuits.
- Cost: 3,200 to 4,000 Gold pieces. Because these districts operate entirely “off the books,” transactions are often discounted but carry a massive risk of attracting local security crackdowns or corporate asset reclaimers.
Frontier Supply Posts and Rogue Faction Enclaves
- Description: Established near untamed, enchanted forests or floating island borders where the threat of harpy raids and feral beast attacks is a daily reality, these practical armories value immediate personal security gear.
- Transaction Dynamics: The trade here is often driven by survival necessity. Merchants eagerly buy or sell the item for its unique passive alertness benefits, utilizing it as a biological tripwire to safeguard long resting periods in highly hostile territories.
- Cost: 5,000 to 7,500 Gold pieces. Due to the high demand for automated defenses in these volatile zones, characters can often negotiate a lucrative direct trade, swapping the orb for rare elemental reagents, high-tier rations, or customized weapon upgrades.

Environmental Defense and Offense Implementations

Operating with The Sentinel Serpent-Orb of Vigilant Malice 3042 demands a roleplay style that balances ice-cold tactical awareness with a baseline layer of hyper-vigilant paranoia. In turn-based combat or narrative execution, the avatar treats this shifting, toxic crystal sphere as a sentient extension of their own nervous system.

Sky-Sailor Trade Lanes and High-Altitude Docking Platforms

Defense: While navigating open-air decks or sleeping in shifts beneath a turbulent sky where harpy flocks or aerial raiders thrive, the user rests with total confidence. The avatar roleplays the subtle, sub-dermal warmth of the orb’s Vibrational Alarm pulsing rhythmically against their skin. The moment an aerial threat cuts through the clouds within a 30-foot perimeter, the orb acts as a biological tripwire. The avatar flinches awake instantly with an artificial adrenaline rush, completely negating surprise penalties and allowing them to react first in the turn order before a single claw can touch the ship’s rigging.
Offense: During an aggressive boarding action against an enemy vessel, the avatar deploys the Multi-Limbed Matrix Summoning. Channeling their focus through their Mind’s Eye, they thrust the moon silver orb forward, causing it to flare with a blinding azure-emerald light. A Medium, highly agile octopus-spider entity materializes directly onto the enemy deck. The user commands the minion to unleash Elemental Blasts to shred the enemy sails, while its multi-limbed finesse allows it to rapidly sabotage mechanical steering pulleys and systematically dismantle the enemy crew’s defensive formations with remarkable tactical efficiency.

Sacred Groves and Untamed Enchanted Forests

Defense: Walking through dense, pitch-black woodland paths where predatory beasts or hostile forest guardians blend seamlessly into the foliage, the avatar relies heavily on the Ultraviolet Flare. If a camouflaged threat launches a sudden strike from the deep undergrowth, the orb instantly detects the hostile intent within the 30-foot alarm radius. The neon violet ink explodes with a brilliant flash of ultraviolet light, cutting through all magical illusions, foliage cover, or invisibility to grant the avatar exactly 5 feet of absolute True Sight for three seconds. This lets the user sidestep the initial lunge safely and instantly pinpoint the attacker’s true position.
Offense: When confronted by heavy, formidable forest monsters, the avatar turns the item’s toxic architecture into an offensive weapon via a Paralytic Strike. Lunging forward, the user strikes the creature directly with the orb’s weeping moon silver chassis. Upon a successful hit, the dark emerald coating of concentrated Thornvine Dartleaf venom floods the target’s system. The avatar roleplays the enemy collapsing into immediate, excruciating paralysis for a full minute, helplessly locking up on the forest floor while suffering automatic poison damage at the start of each of its turns.

Deep-Sea Submerged Trenches and Oceanic Sump Zones

Defense: Navigating high-pressure, silt-heavy aquatic rifts where visibility drops to absolute zero, the user relies on the orb’s Sub-Dermal Vibrational Alarm to map the environment. Instead of relying on sight, the avatar perceives the shifting currents and pressure waves as a clean mental overlay. If a deep-sea apex predator attempts a flanking maneuver through a heavy curtain of mud, the low-frequency harmonic hum of the sphere alerts the user to the exact trajectory of the displacement, giving them a vital asset to their defensive saving throws and allowing them to brace safely against the strike.
Offense: To flush out entrenched targets hiding behind defensive barriers or within sunken ruins, the avatar utilizes the summoned entity’s unique Realm Echo trait. After manifesting the iridescent scale-armored minion into the water, the user directs it to swim ahead into the tight corridors. The minion uses its multi-functional tentacles to scale the ruins with high Acrobatics skills, bypassing traps before unleashing an area-of-effect buff that empowers the party’s attacks, successfully routing hidden defenders out of their cover and forcing them directly into the open current.

Urban Sprawls and High-Security Banking Districts

Defense: Walking through congested metropolitan marketplaces or shadowed alleys where elite thieves and invisible assassins loiter, the orb provides an impenetrable personal boundary. The user roleplays a constant, calm alertness, ignoring the chaotic sounds of the city while focusing on the low harmonic hum vibrating against their palm. Because the item keeps a constant perimeter scan active, a pickpocket attempting to lift a pouch or a shadowy rogue closing in for a backstab is instantly caught by the tremorsense logic. Before the hostile hand can even make contact, the orb flares, giving the avatar a crucial reaction window to cleanly disengage.
Offense: In a tense social or corporate encounter inside a heavily guarded faction house, the user weaponizes the item’s intimidating presence for a strategy of “Vigilant Coercion.” By openly displaying the glowing, poison-weeping sphere, the user leverages the item’s massive Intimidation bonus to socially dominate the scene. The avatar points out that any hostile physical response from the rival party will automatically trigger a localized Ultraviolet Flare and a toxic deployment of Thornvine Dartleaf venom. This hyper-alert, aggressive posture shatters the confidence of corrupt merchant lords, forcing them to capitulate to the user’s terms out of sheer survival instinct.

Perception of Activation:

User’s Perspective: Upon causing the The Sentinel Serpent-Orb of Vigilant Malice 3042 to activate, the user feels a direct, unmistakable tether pulling at their consciousness from another dimension. Time around them appears to slow down momentarily, providing a fleeting instant to make strategic calculations. The orb quivers gently in their hand like a mechanical heartbeat, while the interior collar line against their bare skin surges with a warm, rhythmic heat pulse that sharpens their physical focus. Simultaneously, a complex, layered aroma of sharp electrical ozone and calming lavender floods their nasal passages, accompanied by a prominent copper-like metallic tang that coats the tongue.
Observer’s Perspective: To an onlooker, the fist-sized crystal sphere suddenly erupts with an intense, vibrant azure and emerald ethereal light that pulses in perfect rhythm with the user’s spoken incantations. The etched moon silver framework begins to glow brightly, casting sharp geometric patterns across the immediate surroundings. A low-frequency, harmonious musical hum emanates from the device, ringing clearly through the air. Those with specialized magical sensitivity or an active Mind’s Eye perceive a swirling, dark violet ultraviolet flare bleeding out from the core, radiating a sudden, contagious wave of excitement and heavy duty shared by an incoming entity.
Positives: The activation sequence offers absolute physical and sensory clarity, giving the summoner definitive tactile and auditory cues that the magical pipeline is successful. The aromatic lavender profile actively focuses and calms the user’s mind amidst the chaos of engagement. Furthermore, the fleeting sensation of dilated time serves as an invaluable strategic window to assess enemy lines and coordinate precise party placements.
Negatives: The brilliant ethereal illumination and the silver-etched flares completely destroy any possibility of maintaining stealth, functioning as a beacon that alerts nearby enemies to the user’s exact position. The persistent metallic tang left on the tongue can be heavily off-putting and distracting during high-stakes maneuvers. Additionally, the sudden, overwhelming rush of shared extra-planar emotions flowing directly from the minion into the user’s psyche can temporarily shatter the user’s composure if they lack the mental discipline to handle the influx.

Crafting Recipe: Planar Convergence of the Sentinel Serpent-Orb of Vigilant Malice 3042

Items Merged

Minion Orb of 42: Acts as the central extra-planar housing unit, supplying the crystalline base, moon silver framework, and the multi-limbed octopus-spider summoning matrix.
Deadly Venom Tincture: Supplies the toxic, paralytic resin extracted from the Thornvine Dartleaf, used to fully saturate the outer framework with nature’s wrath.
Tattoo 742 of the Vigilant Eye: Instills the permanent, sub-dermal alarm circuitry, neon violet pigment, and the avian instinctual awareness required for the vibrational sensors.

Additional Materials Needed

Ectoplasmic Residue (2 ounces): Harvested from ethereal entities to act as a permanent alchemical bonding agent between the flesh and crystal substrates.
Essence of Darkness (1 vial): A shadow catalyst used to stabilize the toxic tincture and preserve the luminous violet pigment against light decay.
Purified Elemental Water (1 gallon): A sterile fluid conduit used to wash the materials and keep the arcane circuit cells growing efficiently.
Aromatic Salts (1 pouch): Burned during the binding process to maintain the crafter’s hyper-focus and stabilize the emotional planar link.
Runestone Ink (1 vial): Magically-infused conductive ink required to paint the initial guiding paths and lock the wide owl-eye motifs into the metal frame.

Tools Required

Steam-Powered Reciprocating Needle: A rapid-pulsing mechanical needle used to drive the alchemical, crystal-fused ink into the structural framework.
Arcanist’s Chisel: A high-precision engraving tool used to etch the intricate layout of geometric magical circuits onto the moon silver frame.
Alchemist’s Mortar and Pestle: Used to crush the crystalline elements and blend them seamlessly with the dark emerald venom tincture.
Elemental Furnace: A specialized forge utilized to heat the moon silver framework to a highly flexible, receptive state.
Bindstone Platform: A secure, containment-warded slab used to anchor the orb and prevent volatile localized mana bursts during the ritual.

Skill Requirements

Arcana Mastery (Trained Level): Comprehensive knowledge of planar geometry to correctly bridge the user’s consciousness to the summoning dimension.
Alchemical Crafting (Trained Level): Advanced expertise in stabilizing lethal neurotoxins and folding crystalline cell powder into mineral pigments.
Artistic Proficiency – Tattooing (Trained Level): Precision physical capability to manipulate the reciprocating needle and trace legible, active circuit pathways.
Elemental Manipulation (Intermediate Level): Skill in managing high furnace heat and elemental water boundaries to seal the structural merge.

Crafting Steps

Preparation and Cleansing: Cleanse the workstation and all tools inside the sterile steam-basin using purified elemental water. Secure the moon silver framework of the Minion Orb of 42 to the center of the Bindstone Platform, igniting the warded containment runes to damp any wild magical frequencies.
Alchemical Blending: Pour the full vial of Deadly Venom Tincture into the Alchemist’s Mortar. Gradually add the ground, crystal-infused violet pigments and owl essence pulled from the Tattoo 742 of the Vigilant Eye formula, folding in the Ectoplasmic Residue until the compound thickens into a glowing, dark emerald and violet reactive gel.
Chassis Chisel and Etching: Utilize the Arcanist’s Chisel to deeply engrave the wide, staring owl-eye motif and accompanying geometric circuits directly onto the face of the moon silver frame. Use an Enchanter’s Quill to trace these fresh grooves with conductive Runestone Ink, establishing the physical conduits for the alarm network.
Needle Infusion Matrix: Hook the Steam-Powered Reciprocating Needle to the elemental furnace lines. Dip the high-frequency needle into the toxic, violet alchemical ink paste. Systematically drive the needle across the freshly chiseled grooves of the silver frame and inner collar hide, forcing the crystalline cells to physically bond to the metal-fiber matrix.
Planar and Toxic Fusing: Slowly apply the remaining Deadly Venom Tincture directly onto the crystal core, allowing it to weep over the silver seams. Open your Mind’s Eye to capture the emerging planar link, keeping the focus sharp by breathing in the burning aromatic salts. Chant the 6-second binding ritual to collapse the spatial parameters of the individual items into a single entity.
The Awakening Seal: Cast a final series of protective and amplifying abjuration enchantments over the matrix. The newly forged Sentinel Serpent-Orb of Vigilant Malice 3042 will experience a sudden, high-frequency shudder, accompanied by a blinding flash of neon violet light and a sharp aroma of lavender ozone. This confirms that the three distinct objects have permanently collapsed into a single, indivisible item bound exclusively to a single worn gear slot.

Heavy-Holding-Ball of Never-Sleeping Angry Watching 3042

In the dirt-cycles of the very before-days, when the sky-water was a different wetness and the mouth-sounds were not yet written on the dry tree-skins, there lived a man of the empty-ears. His name in the old click-tongue is The-One-Who-Weaves-the-Thick-Cloth-But-Hears-No-Wind. This man did the riding upon the wooden wind-boats that sail the above-ocean. In those sun-turns, the great sorrow was the Screaming Bird-Women with the foot-knives. When the star Helios went beneath the world edge, the sailors must do the long stillness of the heavy slumber. In the slumber, the Bird-Women would fall from the high dark and consume the life-meat of the sleeping ones.

The man of empty-ears had much terror in his heart-pump. He could not hear the pushing of the atmosphere. He said to the sky, “I must have the seeing-orb that does not do the closing.”

The Great Dirt Mother, she who is Gaialilith of the everywhere, placed the knowing into his mind-space. She said, “Take the crushed hard-magic-stone and the life-juice of the flat-faced barn night-hunter. Mix with the glowing purple plant-blood. Push this into your meat, and you will wake when the danger walks.”

But the man of empty-ears was having a paranoia that was too fat for his chest. He thought the brain-thoughts, saying, “If I wake, I am only the awake meat. I must have the biting-teeth to stop the moving of the enemies, and I must have the many-hands to do the fighting while my eyes are still heavy with the sleep-sand.”

So, the man of empty-ears did not do the pushing of the ink yet. He walked down from the sky-boats into the wet-green places of the angry trees. He remembered the old cautionary mouth-sounds of Arathil, the First-Juice-Maker, who made the angry-green-juice that makes the muscles become stone. The man of empty-ears sneaked past Thornea, the spirit of the tree-anger. He took the sharp Thornvine Dartleaf. He cooked it with the dark-berries and the shadow-water. He made the biting-juice, the Deadly Venom of the paralysis, which is the sleep of the bones.

Still, his paranoia was not finished eating. He walked to the ruins of the broken kings. He looked in the dust until he found the lost glass-ball of the foolish Lord Drakenhar. It was the Round-Stone of Forty and Two. Inside the silver metal-cages of the stone lived the sleeping ghost of the spider-octopus, the creature of the shiny scales and the elemental hitting-magic.

The man of empty-ears took the three powerful things to his steam-poker machine. He did the great mashing. He put the purple glowing ink of the night-hunter into the pot. He poured the angry-green-juice of the muscle-stone into the pot. Then, he smashed the Round-Stone of Forty and Two into the wetness. The magics were very much angry together. The things did not want to be one flesh. But the man chanted the heavy binding words of the sky-sailors. The glass, the green-juice, and the purple-ink forgot they were many. They collapsed their shapes and became a single heavy-holding-ball of the shoulder-wear.

He used the hot steam-needle to sew the silver metal-cages and the dripping ball directly into the leather of his upper grasping-limb. The ball was weeping the dark emerald biting-juice constantly. It smelled like the lightning-air and the quiet purple flowers. The man felt the mind-tether pulling his brain into the nowhere-place.

Then came the time of the long stillness on the wind-boat. The star Helios went away. The man did the heavy slumber.

From the high dark, the Screaming Bird-Women fell down. They made no noise to the ears, but their wings pushed the air. Immediately, the purple seeing-orb in the man’s meat tasted the pushed atmosphere. The glass ball became like a hot cooking coal. The man was pulled from the sleep by the sudden heat-pain.

Before the Bird-Women could put their foot-knives into his life-meat, the ball did the great explosion of the unseen violet light. The purple sky-flare burned the shadows. The man had the True Sight of the three heartbeats. He saw the Bird-Women coming.

The man did the striking with his shoulder. The silver metal-cages of the ball hit the first Bird-Woman. The weeping angry-green-juice of the Thornvine entered her blood-rivers. The Bird-Woman made the loud screeching, but her muscles became the heavy stone. The paralysis took her. She fell to the wooden floorboards, completely locked in the poison-sleep, taking the burning damage in her veins.

But there were many Bird-Women. The man of empty-ears used his mind-space to pull the tether of the nowhere-place. The glass ball flashed with the color of the blue-water and the green-gem. From the light stepped the spider-octopus of the Forty and Two. The beast of many grabbing-sticks was wearing the shiny armor. The beast felt the deep anger of the man. The beast threw the fire-water and the heavy winds from its tentacles, doing the elemental blasts. The beast used its many hands to rip the feathers from the Bird-Women, protecting the man with the invisible walls of the magic.

The Bird-Women were broken. Those who were not muscle-stones from the green-juice were thrown off the sky-boat by the spider-octopus. The sky was clean again. The beast of many grabbing-sticks dissolved back into the smelling lightning-air.

The man of empty-ears was safe. He kept his life-meat. But the translation of the old tree-skins turns dark with the weeping ink here. The man could never do the heavy slumber again. The heavy-holding-ball of the 3042 was too awake. It was always tasting the pushed atmosphere. The green-juice was always burning his skin with the paranoia. The spider-octopus was always whispering in his mind-space, wanting to come out and do the hitting. The man became a sitting-statue, never sleeping, always watching the purple light, entirely consumed by the perfect arithmetic of the unseen danger.

The Moral of the Story: The moral of the story is that the man who forces the angry poison and the many-handed ghost to watch his sleeping-mat will never be eaten by the birds of the high dark, but he will also purchase his own forever-waking, for the eye that is built of venom and foreign minds will eventually forget how to close its own lids.

Suggested conversions to other systems: