In this world, Magic is Everything. All people, all races, are granted with the power to perform mystical and magical feats via grimories, mystical tomes granted to each and every child on their 15th birthday. Those blessed by the mana can have their names written down in legend.
Shattered Grimoires is the work of the mind(s) of Ardere & Shattered Grimoire's staff. All characters and content are copyright their creators, and may not be replicated without their creators' permission. Black Clover is owned by Yuki Tabata and published by Viz Shonen Jump. All images belong to their original owners. The theme you are currently viewing was made by Eliza of ElizaCodes exclusively for Shattered Grimoires.
Description: Vones has managed to create a large party of select explorers, archaeologists and magic knights to go find the ancient ruins of a serpentine swamp temple. There’s about 20 of you altogether and as the group proceeds through the jungle, you have to help ward off waves of attacks until you reach the temple.
Minimum Number of Players: 1
Minimum Word Count: 2500
Location: Forsaken Region
NPC Information:
Enemies: Forsaken Treants x 6 per Magic Knight
Giant Black Mamba x 4 per Magic Knight
The Forsaken Treants are large loud undead trees that have been possessed by some sort of evil magic and turned into mana beast. They move slowly, at 5 m/s and have intermediate health. They deal intermediate damage with a swipe of their dry branches. These creatures are extremely sensitive to heat, lava or fire magic and attacks with those elements deal double damage to them. They’re also indiscernible from regular trees unless the mage has 15 sensory or higher until they attack.
The Giant Black Mambas are fast, moving t 15 m/s; they have senior rank health and tend to drop from the top of the tree branches onto the party of adventurers, attempting to bite and/or swallow the party members. They deal senior rank poisonous damage that causes a movement hex if they manage succeed in such an attack and then try to swallow the bit target whole.
Special Conditions: All damage taken in this mission by the Magic Knights and the party of adventurers will remain going into the next mission. There is a very short rest between the end of this mission and the next in the chain, but not enough for health or mana skin to recover.
Finally the time had come for the expedition to get under way. As promised, he had been quite light and was easy to take along with the caravan. Perched on top of a cart amid some large boxes and crates, the boy sat in his roost while watching over the members of the expedition. Not including himself, there were twenty people making up the party that was going to unearth some sort of snake place deep inside of a marshland. When he had been told where they were supposed to be going, Gawain had to be honest about the fact that he had never been here before, nor had he ever been anywhere close to here. Because of it’s placement, it was placed incredibly close to the land of Diamond, a place that had been at war with Clover for a very long time, and a war that had been fought out at their shared borders.
While Gawain himself had not been around for any of it, he had no idea just how scarred the land in that region truly was, though he had heard about it from the people of the forsaken region. As they were the closest to it, when they told him that it was best not to go near that place, it was the kind of wisdom he was prone to accept. From the stories he had been told, the land was scarred, beaten and battered to the point where nothing grew, making it the kind of place no living thing would or should wish to be. There was no food to scavenge, no prey to eat and no sanctuary to be found, making it into what people usually called a ‘no man’s land’, and for good reason. This swamp they were in was located not too far from it. In fact, it bordered on the place, which just went to make this already inhospitable place feel even more eerie.
Even though it was called a marshland, one wouldn’t exactly think of such a thing when they looked upon this place. After all, Gawain had been living next to an actual swamp known as “Dagmar’s Mire” back in Skjaergard. That place was what one might call a marsh, complete with dead trees, murky shallow water that was part rain and part silty ocean water, as well as the layers upon layers of putrefaction caused by Villtsung tossing their dead into the place. Hoping the corpses would be disposed of by corpse eaters before the angry dead got the chance to rise from the grave and seek vengeance upon their killers or those that had neglected to uphold their promises, all it really did was make the swamp into the most dangerous place on the entire island. By comparison, this swamp wasn’t all that scary, though the vast majority of the expedition members begged to differ.
They hadn’t seen the kind of things he had seen, experienced the kinds of things he had experienced, and it showed. It was inside of a marshland much scarier than this one that Gawain had lost his mother, and the same place where he had been forced to ditch her dead body by the people that lorded over him as ‘owners’. In that sense, marshes and swamps would always hold some kind of nightmarish sway over him, though he was old and wise enough to know that this place couldn’t hold a candle to the horrors of Dagmar’s mire. Once they reached deep enough into the marshes, one of the positives about this place was that it all seemed rather level. No hills or thick woods, just a bunch of dead trees here and there, as well as a bunch of places where it seemed like the dead trees had more or less grown towards one another before they eventually withered and died.
This allowed him to keep an eye on the entire place without really struggling to maintain oversight, as it was his job to protect everyone here. In and of itself, this was somewhat laughable, as all of these people had more or less decided to put their lives in the hands of a child. An absurdly powerful and, lets be honest, intellectually gifted child, but still very much a child. On the other hand, it felt rather empowering when he thought of how all twenty of the individuals here, including the renowned explorer and former magic knight in charge of this expedition believed that he was the right guy for the job. As such, by the time they had finally located the entrance to the snake temple or serpent temple or whatever they had called it, it was time to set up camp and prepare for them to breach into the place and find what it was they had came for. Riches, archaeological finds of cultural or religious significance, and if Gawain’s hopes were in any way answered: Powerful guardians to beat up.
Right now though, preparations had to be made, as there was still one thing Gawain hadn’t been overly truthful about. When he said he was light and therefore easy to carry around, as well as not eating much due to his small frame, the latter had been a blatant lie. Gawain ate a lot, he needed it to keep his body and mind working properly, and to generate the kind of mana he needed to cast some devastating spells when and if the situation called for it. Given how dry their surroundings were, there were those who were volunteering to go around and look for materials and food, though both were more than likely going to be very difficult to find, and not without danger. Even if the place seemed level and dry, there was always the danger of sinkholes and quicksand, not to mention creatures that moved beneath the ground.
Because in places that seemed so inhospitable, it didn’t seem dead. There were plenty of annoying bugs around, as well as the kinds of plants you would expect in a marsh. It meant that life here was possible, if one could adapt to the somewhat harsh conditions. Still, there seemed to be nothing larger than bugs around, making it unlikely that they would encounter any naturally occurring predators such as bears, wolves or mountain lions. While a welcome idea, Gawain still wasn’t feeling like it would be a good idea to have these people wandering about on their own. He felt like there was some kind of overarching presence here, something that felt similar to the kind of ominous sensation he got from the Mire back on Skjaergard. Though similar, there was something about it that made this feel more singular, as though it originated from a single point and spread outward, where the Mire just felt like it had become an evil entity all of its own.
“Don’t worry, I’ll go find us some food and some dry wood to work with. You guys just focus on setting up the base, and call for me when you need me. The wind isn’t blowing, and this bog is as silent as it is spooky, so I’m sure I’ll hear you in time before you get devoured by ravenous sand worms!”
Making a scary face as he brought up the sand worms, he turned around and wandered off into the marshes while laughing to himself. There were no such things as monstrous sand worms. And even if there were, this was a marshland, not a dune or a desert, meaning the soil was hardly suitable to their needs. Shaking his head as he caught himself thinking of imaginary monsters that couldn’t possible exist here, he wondered if maybe the one he had managed to captivate with his joke of graboids was himself. Wandering over to where the dead trees stood in peculiar formations, the boy figured that since they stood this far above the ground and appeared to have been dead for quite a while, they were likely going to be as dry as a whistle. Making them prime candidates for fire wood. And with his magical cutting tools, he was sure to cut them down into chunks he could carry back.
When he wandered closer, Gawain could swear that he saw some of the branches twitch, almost as if someone moved alongside it. But it couldn’t be, as the branches were as bare as a naked ass on a summer afternoon, meaning he could clearly see that there was nothing there. At least unless it was invisible, in which case all of the previously mentioned was a moot point. Watching closer as he activated his Ki, he got a rather peculiar reading, one that seemed like it couldn’t be. But when the tree moved again, it was clear that his senses weren’t lying to him: the tree was moving on its own. Almost as if it knew that it had been caught, the tree suddenly stopped trying to remain still, instead lashing out at Gawain with its razor sharp branches and stubby, pointy twigs. Dashing back to evade the hit, the tree showed itself for what it was, some sort of peculiar golem or maybe even an elemental.
Though he didn’t believe elementals were actual existing beings, the fact that there were spirits and demons and vampires had made him somewhat more open to the idea that there were things out there existing that he himself did not consider to be logical. It was a world of magic after all, meaning logic did not always win the debate of what was real and what was not. With the movement of the first of these tree creatures, the other mass of brambles and branches also started moving apart, breaking away from the mass and showing themselves to be several creatures that had huddled together for reasons unknown. When they did, they unearthed a hole in the ground, a hole from which Gawain could feel movement, though his eyes could not yet see it. Regardless of what was down there, the most pressing issue right now were these tree beings, as taking them out was the quickest way towards doing his job as protector of the expedition.
Pushing his fingers together and flicking them up towards the tree abominations, a blade of heavily pressurized wind tore through their wooden limbs, causing large portions of their trunk and branches to come down. Given the strength of the spell, their slow and brittle forms had very little to resist with, causing them to falter and wince, though they did not seem to be in pain. Gawain wondered if these odd kinds of constructs could even feel pain as they did not possess any kind of flesh, which likely meant they did not possess any nerves either. As the bits and pieces of wood were starting to come down, pondering on whether the monsters felt pain or not seemed like a moot point as they instantly continued attacking. Even though his pressurized cut had pretty much carved all of them up to the point where they really couldn’t handle another hit, a more nefarious threat used them as cover.
Dashing forth from the hole beneath the ground that had been concealed by the tree monstrosities was a massive serpent. For a moment as it appeared, Gawain was reminded of the ravenous sand worms he had joked about earlier, though he was quite content with it just being snakes. Believing there might be some section of the temple they were supposed to be unearthing beneath them, and that these serpents were using the marshy tunnels as a means of moving in and out to scavenge for food, Gawain more than likely had the appearance of a quick and easy meal. Following up on the first, several others unearthed themselves to get their fill. And once they were done with him, they could dash straight towards the camp and gobble up a bunch of people that couldn’t fight even if it was to save their own lives. But they had bitten off more than they could chew, as they would find out soon enough.
By holding out his right fist at the rapidly approaching beasts, he formed and held a seal with his right, causing it all to come together when he opened up his fist and released a grid patterned attack that would carve clean through anything that happened to be misfortunate enough to cross its trajectory. Slicing clean through the approaching serpents and slicing them into small bits and chunks roughly the size of an adult male’s fist, the tree monstrosity that stood in the back suffered the same fate. Eradicating all of these snakes in one fell swoop, it left nothing for the people back at the camp to work with, though that didn’t matter. At least now nobody was going to get eaten, and there was actually a whole bunch of stuff for them to eat. Because while they were very big, at the end of the day, these serpents were still just animals. Extremely violent and opportunistic animals from what he could make out, but still very much animals.
But for all of the carnage that had just transpired, three of the wooden monstrosities still remained. Luckily, they seemed to carry about the same amount of momentum as a fart moving against the wind, making it rather simple for him to get rid of them too. Utilizing a weaker version of the original compressed air blade he had used to severely damage the creatures, the next blade did about as much as could be expected. Destroying what little remained as they collapsed against the ground, the ashen haired boy just remained stationary for a bit. Pondering on what to do next, one might say that he got a rather bright idea. Breaking off a large portion of one of the abomination’s trunks, he loaded it up with chunks of snake meat before hauling it back to camp, dragging the wood behind him like a sort of cart. Though it would hardly win a prize for being fashionable, it served its purpose for sure.
Dropping the trunk filled with meat at the camp cook, the man took a look at the meat, finding that there was little to nothing wrong with it. It seemed to have the kind of texture he was relatively comfortable working with, though there was something about it that he couldn’t place. When he asked if this came from some kind of sand worm monster, Gawain just smiled with an impish expression on his face before wandering away. Leaving the cook and the camp behind to do a second run, he broke another bit of one of the creature’s trunk off and loaded up the remnants of snake meat, finding that his earlier run had seen to most of that already. So instead of just hauling ass back to camp, he figured he might as well bring along as much of the creature’s dry wood that he could realistically carry.
Name of Spell: Reap Elemental Type: Air Pressure Rank & Spell Type: Senior | Attack Creation | Sensory (Homing) Range & Speed: 80m | 45 m/s Mana Cost: 30 | 15 Stats Effected: - Applicable Perks: Overpowered | Quick Shot Description: Extending and pushing his right index and middle finger together before flicking them upward in order to activate the spell, a crescent blade of rapidly spinning wind roughly five centimeters thick and six meters long is fired into the desired direction, following directly up on this motion. The attack itself is lethal on direct hits, capable of leaving deep cuts and lacerations, broken bones and breaking most structures, dealing Senior rank damage. For every 30 Control, an additional shot can be fired. In addition, the accuracy and chance to hit can be further improved by utilizing Homing rules, including following the target in adherence to those same rules. The crescent blade follows the target that was initially pointed at until it hits, runs out of space or hits another object. To those without at least 30 sensory, this spell will be invisible, appearing as a wispy green circular blades to others.
Name of Spell: Grid Elemental Type: Air Pressure Rank & Spell Type: Grand | Attack Creation | Sensory (Homing) Range & Speed: 150m | 85 m/s Mana Cost: 50 | 25 Stats Effected: +12 Power Applicable Perks: Overpowered | Quick Shot | Battle Knight Description: By pointing his right fist at a chosen target or direction while simultaneously forming the half-dragon seal with his left hand, a grid-shaped pattern of air pressure magic will rapidly form right in front of his right fist. When he opens up his fist, the grid will launch forward instantly, slicing through buildings and obstacles in its path and leaving it in the shape of cubic bits and pieces of roughly equal size, leaving deep lacerations and cuts and being potentially lethal on a direct hit. For every 50 Control, an additional shot can be fired. In addition, the accuracy and chance to hit can be further improved by utilizing Homing rules, including following the target in adherence to those same rules. The square-shaped grid is roughly 12 meters wide, being invisible to those without at least 50 Sensory, appearing as a wispy green grid to others.
Name of Spell: Slice Elemental Type: Air Pressure Rank & Spell Type: Intermediate | Attack Creation | Sensory (Homing) Range & Speed: 40m | 25 m/s Mana Cost: 20 | 10 Stats Effected: - Applicable Perks: Overpowered | Quick Shot Description: Extending and pushing his right index and middle finger together before flicking them upward in order to activate the spell, a crescent blade of wind roughly five centimeters thick and three meters long is fired into the desired direction, following directly up on this motion. The attack itself is non-lethal, unless direct contact to one's vitals is established, as well as causing painful cuts and bruises on people and breaking most unreinforced walls, dealing Intermediate rank damage. In addition, the accuracy and chance to hit can be further improved by utilizing Homing rules, including following the target in adherence to those same rules. The crescent blade follows the target that was initially pointed at until it hits, runs out of space or hits another object. To those without at least 20 sensory, this spell will be invisible, appearing as a wispy green crescent blade to others.
Later that night, as the entire expeditionary group was sitting around a large fire that Gawain had made, many of them didn’t bother asking why it looked like there were several large wooden heads in the fire that had an agonized expression on their faces. Still, it seemed to be on everybody’s minds as they stared into the fire, with every crackle that caused heavily burnt fraction of head to drop to the ground raising more questions. Gawain however remained surprisingly unbothered by all of this, knowing that these blocks of firewood had been beaten by his own two hands in the pursuit of keeping the camp safe and warm for the night. Tomorrow was going to be a pretty big day for everyone, as it would be when they would make for the interior of the temple that loomed just a few hundreds of meters away from them at the moment.
Part of him wanted to just get on in there now, though doing so without any kind of natural light was going to make it difficult for anyone to really see what they were doing. Himself included. And going in with just torches and the assumption that some of these mages had fire based magics wasn’t really working for him. So as he gobbled down another piece of very well prepared snake meat, his audible enjoyment seemed to make the others slightly more open to the notion of trying this fresh food as opposed to just digging into the rations that had been brought from the capital. Though the story had made its way throughout the camp that this meat had belonged to some kind of monstrous sand worms, Gawain honestly didn’t know what he could tell them that would make it any better at this point. Because the way he saw it, telling them it belonged to large predatory serpents coming from the temple underneath them, he doubted anyone would sleep tonight.
That, and no one would be willing to take a bite.
Leading by example, as he felt like he should at a time such as this, it wasn’t long before others began ignoring the fact that Gawain had killed some kind of odd mana creatures to get them food and dry wood. And seeing as how the boy was not going to make things worse by cracking any additional jokes, the fact that the others were willing to overlook the figurative ‘elephant in the room’ so as to get their bellies filled for the big day was most important. When even miss Vones decided that it was a good time to get some food, the former magic knight began sharing some stories about other delves that she had done as the fire from the pyre illuminated the camp and everyone in it. Telling some stories about restless undead protecting their trinkets, Gawain wondered whether now would be the best time to share such tales as they had to go to bed soon. Still, this was her expedition, which she was hosting as per her rules.
It wasn’t long before Gawain eventually fell asleep by the pyre, which would keep him warm until the very next morning as no one had the guts to wake him up or carry him towards one of the nearest beds. That was but one of the many pro’s and con’s of being a creepy and incredibly powerful kid.
