sessions 3, 4, and 5

still need to do: Skeletron, dungeon, WoF discovery, Celia's announcement, bait suggestion, WoF, recovery from WoF, wings, Celia's change

--session 3--

Green has to transcribe entry for me - too injured to use a pen
scared that I might not recover fully
corruption extremely strong now
hallow is the polar opposite, and is just as dangerous
Celia is a dryad now; notice the changes in her skin, hair, and so on - Celia hadn't noticed those at all
large, leafy wings on Celia's back (she noticed those, of course)
her temperament has changed somewhat - she has a much wider view of what's happening
even so, she's still Celia, that hasn't changed

mostly recovered from WoF fight, but...
raised welts appear on my back
mind is cloudy, hard to think

the welts have opened into bleeding gashes in my back
entire body hurts even worse than before
barely able to form coherent sentences
scared - ask if Celia, Dryad, guide, ANYBODY knows what's happening to me
nobody does

large angelic wings have sprouted from my back
everything hurts too much to even move, let alone test the wings

eventually recover
wings are fully functional, and quite agile at that
however, a problem: can't wear dress due to wings; have pants, but no shirts or anything that I can wear
having to walk around the settlement with nothing but a bra on top is [b]extraordinarily[/b] embarrassing...

tailor changes the dress - now backless, so the wings have room
my long hair gets in the way of wings, so I get a haircut

strange metal
special armor - magic petals attack in tandem with bullets

hammer found near Wall of Flesh battle site
Dryad thinks it might be capable of breaking the demon altars
I offer to be the one to do it, in case it doesn't work; can't bear the thought of one of the others getting hurt like that if it fails
as I promised Zl'ana, the altar in the jungle is the first to go
it works!
head to the corruption and start demolishing as many of the altars as we can find

destroying the altars did nothing to slow down or weaken the corruption... why?
Celia is desperate to do something, ANYTHING, to slow down the corruption
starts to fling bombs into the corrupted lands
I drag her away from the corruption to stop her

--session 4--

new armor - titanium
uzi from Zl'ana - she spent a long time searching for it, as thanks for saving her life during the WoF fight, despite it nearly costing me mine
find two curious weapons, which look like crosses between traditional firearms and blowguns
ask the new guide
dart rifle and dart pistol
capable of using some unique ammo types, good for supporting
says to ask Zl'ana for more info, since blowgun-style weapons are in common use in most jungle tribes
(in-game: Raverist was fairly knowledgeable on darts)

talk to Zl'ana about it
darts are easy to make and have some unique options that traditional firearms can't do
seeds... yeah, no; 3 damage
poison darts are most basic, no special projectile qualities, inflict poison; 10 damage
crystal darts bounce off of walls repeatedly and auto-aim towards nearby enemies, and pierce; also unaffected by gravity; 15 damage
cursed darts inflict cursed inferno and rain drips of cursed fire down as they travel; 9 damage
ichor darts inflict ichor, split into 4 shots after traveling a short distance, and are piercing prior to the split; 10 damage
decide to learn to use dart pistol

tried testing it out in the corruption
very clumsy with it, not used to using such slow projectiles, nor ones that obey gravity
see a new type of Eater, try to kill it
it shoots a blast of gray goop, striking me directly
pain instantly shoots through entire body, vision goes cloudy
manage to get myself back to the colony but something is wrong

Celia and Dryad have taken a look at me
corruption has infected me
the corruption infection that hit me was weaker than what the altar had blighted me with long ago, even with the corruption's newfound power, but it's having a much worse effect on me now
purification powder has no effect on me this time
Dryad has no idea why, and neither does Celia
scared... what's going to happen to me?

appearance has changed drastically after only one day
skin is pale, almost grayish
dark gray vein-like marks have appeared all over my body - cheeks (down towards neck), along forearms, up along shins, and basically randomly scattered on torso
hair has turned a dull silver-white, wings look dull and dry - feathers seem to be disintegrating
eyes are bloodshot, with dull purple irises
wings and hair have begun to glow and emit a smoke of some kind
white dress is now a deep red, and is also glowing and emitting smoke; bracelet is similarly affected
why the fuck is my DRESS affected...? nobody's sure about that detail
star charm necklace is vibrating, and its color seems dulled
mentally: feel it trying to eat its way into my psyche, but something is keeping it at bay
physically: everything hurts, tired, problems focusing

on further inspection, Dryad believes that the star charm necklace is somehow keeping the infection from corrupting my mind, and is slowing down the physical corruption
doesn't think it can hold out forever, and even if it does, the physical effects will kill me before too long if not stopped
I refuse to give up, but... I'm scared

guide has a theory that a certain group of powerful monsters are bolstering the corruption
just a theory, but the Dryad suspects that he's on to something
the monsters are tearing up areas of the world anyways, so they need to be dealt with
one is called the Twins, and is similar in appearance to two Eyes of Cthulhu tethered together; one shoots lasers, one shoots cursed fire streams
one is called the Destroyer, and is a mechanical worm that stretches for literally miles and miles
has no info on the third beyond the fact that it exists
certain items will call the monsters to us - a mechanical eye talisman, a mechanical worm talisman, a mechanical skull talisman
we construct an arena to fight them in

mech boss #1: Twins
my role is simple enough - run back and forth, continuously firing crystal bullets at the Twins
Celia uses a new spell to spray a corrosive magic liquid that eats away at their defense
Zl'ana uses a new bow to literally rain arrows from the heavens onto them
TGD hammers away at them with his yo-yo, constantly battering one of them
I barely even get scratched, same for Zl'ana
Celia and TGD got dinged up a bit but are fine
Twins drop strange glowing blobs of energy that float in the air, along with a strange metal, similar to what the altar-destroying hammer is made of
collect the souls of sight and hallowed ingots

hair has returned to normal color, but is still emitting smoke
wings still emitting smoke, but feathers have returned to healthy appearance
no longer suffering from constant fatigue or issues with concentrating
corruption's attempts to burrow into my mind feel weaker
the gray veins haven't changed at all
skin is still pale and ashen
eyes are still bloodshot, with dull purple irises
bracelet and dress are still their cursed red color

craft special staffs that summon tiny versions of the Twins to fight for us - one shoots lasers, one charges at things
one for me, one for Celia, one for Green, one for Zl'ana (very nervous when giving one to Zl'ana, expecting her to at best reject it, but she gladly accepts)
like my demon construct, they are sentient enough to understand vocal commands
Celia now has a squad of tiny murder eyes, along with Rdualir
while Celia is at the settlement, the squad personally take care of protecting the settlement from normal enemies, i.e. zombies and such at night
holy SHIT they are good at what they do

Claymore emerges from the mines at long last!
wearing a new suit of armor made from, of course, adamantine - he finally found it
his personality has changed drastically - seems far more sane, less obsessed with mining, easier to reason with, etc.
has basically no idea what's been going on since he dug the hole to hell and talked with Rdualir for the first time
we spend time getting him caught up, getting his equipment upgraded, etc.

mech boss #2: Destroyer
entire fight was a clusterfuck
all fighters badly wounded
fight goes out of control, Destroyer attacks settlement and causes severe damage before we can take it down
witch doctor, dye trader, and Holly the Nurse, who'd been there since before I'd first arrived, all killed
I take their deaths very badly, especially Holly's
feel guilty for not protecting them; if I'd just fought harder, maybe we'd have been able to kill it before it attacked the settlement
we claim the soul of might

hair stops emitting smoke
necklace no longer vibrating, though still a dull gray
bracelet returns to original appearance
dress is still a glowing red, but has stopped emitting smoke
no longer suffering from constant soreness
some, though not all, of the vein marks vanish
corruption's attempts to infect my mind are now barely anything more than a slight nagging at the back of my mind
eyes aren't nearly as bloodshot; still slightly bloodshot, and irises are the same color of purple
skin is still pale, but is now longer ashen
wings are still emitting smoke

rebuilding settlement
new dye trader, nurse, witch doctor
starting to get used to dart pistol

third mechanical monster reveals itself to us, showing up at the settlement itself
Skeletron
we immediately get ready to fight, but he assures us he has no intention of attacking the settlement, or us... not there, at least
explains how he's still alive
we destroyed his body, but his soul, though badly shredded, remained
slowly built a new body for himself, a much stronger body
taunts Celia - he wasn't able to possess her or even kill her, but she only survived because she "sacrificed herself to the ever-hungry spirit of the planet"
clearly shows disgust towards the spirit of nature
he is PISSED at us for what we did at the dungeon
personally challenges us to a fight; if we refused, next time he showed up he would raze the settlement
none of us have any doubt that he'd be able to do so before we could bring him down
we start preparing

meet Skeletron at the arena
"you even brought the land's avatar... good, good"
Celia - "land's avatar? you mean me?"
Skeletron - "not you, the green-skinned child"
TGD demands that Skeletron explain himself and reveal what he knows about the green-skinned clan
Skeletron starts to explain, but cuts himself off and abruptly latches onto TGD's soul, trying to possess him
Celia's magic is able to promptly force Skeletron to release him
now Skeletron ACTUALLY explains
the green-skinned clan are the avatars of nature's spirit, which he refers to as Gaia - manifestations of it, if you will
not the same as dryads
dryads, like Celia and the settlement's dryad, have souls of their own - their souls are directly tied to Gaia, yes, but they're their own souls all the same
the souls of the green clan, on the other hand, are fragments of Gaia's own soul
Gaia uses them them to experience what "living" is like for herself - not as a planet, but as actual mortal beings
"greedy as always, Gaia wasn't content to simply watch life on the planet she controls; she wanted to experience life, too"
with the advent of the corruption, Gaia's soul has weakened considerably as she struggles to maintain her hold on nature
this means that her avatars, like TGD, are highly susceptible to having their souls possessed, displaced, or destroyed
Skeletron wanted to take over TGD for two reasons - 1) as part of his revenge on us; 2) as a slap in the face to Gaia
Celia asks Skeletron why he helped us fight the corruption by directing us to the jungle, if he hates the Mother
"We once shared control of nature, Gaia and I, long ago. Her domain was that of the physical, the sun, and life; mine was that of the spiritual, the moon, and magic. But Gaia became greedy, and seized control of my domain, banishing me from the heavens."
Celia starts to protest his accusations but Skeletron cuts her off
"Don't you try to preach to me, wench of Gaia! Your goddess is no pure, flawless divine being who can do no wrong any more than I am! The Dungeon was my final stronghold, the magic within my last remnants of my old domain. Its captives were my revenge on Gaia for her transgressions... minor as that revenge was. And you four took away what little I had left. That is why I am here before you now. That is why I despise you. That is why I want revenge on you. That is why I have now sided with the Corruption, even as it consumes and perverts the world I once held dear."
I approach him
"Since we're getting answers anyways: Do you know anything about me? Why did I sprout wings? Why is the Corruption having such a severe effect on me now?"
Skeletron pauses for a second, looking at me
"...I see. Gaia's latched onto you as well. Without your consent, too, it seems. She granted you those wings. Because your soul is now tied to hers, the Corruption holds far more power against you, since it's directly attacking her soul."
"Why angelic wings? Why not leaf wings or something like Celia?"
"She controls nature, but she is still a goddess at her core - a divine being of the heavens. You have no strong tie to nature, and didn't offer yourself up to her, so she had to take action not as nature, but as a goddess. Hence, you get angelic wings."
Skeletron starts to say something, but stops
"Ah, but it seems I have spent too long talking; the day draws near. Return here tomorrow; we shall have our fight then."
vanishes

we upgrade the arena - crystal darts can now cause some serious havoc

mech boss #3: Skeletron Prime
Celia uses the Golden Shower spell to eat away at his defense
TGD beats the shit out of him with the yo-yo, same as he does everything else - he's good with that thing
Zl'ana dumps a frostburn arrowstorm on his head
Claymore... just kinda gets smacked around some
I start out firing cursed bullets blindly upwards, not entirely sure what to do and struggling to keep up with him without getting in range of his attacks
suddenly have an idea and start firing cursed darts skyward, raining cursed fire onto the battlefield
can't see if I'm helping at all, but the DPS meter on the phone doesn't lie, I was eating away at all of his parts
the fight is drawn out but we slowly, methodically chip away at him
eventually defeat him once and for all
**some kind of interaction should happen here, I have no idea what**
we claim the soul of fright
a strange warmth starts to spread through my body; I can feel the last of the infection vanish, and feel significantly stronger than just a moment before
my wings suddenly grow in size, the feathers expanding and becoming more... ornate?
they start to glow a brilliant white, and each flap sends out a shower of glowing particles
the necklace begins glowing a bright gold, as does the bracelet
the dress shifts colors to a brilliant glowing lavender, sparkling under its own light
my hair changes color to bluish-white
my entire body starts emitting a dim glow

ask the dryad what's happened to me now
apparently, fighting off the corruption entirely caused my body to change and grow stronger
she describes the glow as "pure and calming"
"So Celia became a dryad and I became... whatever it is you'd call me now. An agent of Gaia, or something, I guess."
dryad practically topples out of her seat at the mention of Gaia's name; grabs me by the shoulders and demands to know how I learned that name
tell her about what Skeletron said; about TGD's origins, about dryads, about me, and about the conflict between Skeletron and Gaia
**some reaction or explanation from the dryad**

Zl'ana says that she feels something drawing her towards the jungle; TGD says the same
we decide to explore
stumble across a strange green... metal? it seems almost biological, like a plant, and is growing in the jungle mud
it also has otherworldly hardness
mine some and take it back

witch doctor calls it "chlorophyte"
says it's a legendary ore from the jungle that was thought to have vanished
some kind of hybrid between plant and metal, it grows when planted

--session 5--

two new people arrive in the settlement: a pirate captain and a woman who describes herself as a "steampunker"
steampunker has some very unusual tech for sale, including a teleporter

made chlorophyte farm
set up teleporters to the chlorophyte farm, the dungeon, and the jungle

smelt some of the chlorophyte into ingots
fashion myself a set of armor from it
as soon as I equip both the gauntlets and greaves, a large floating crystal with a crystal leaf frozen in the center of it just... pops into existence over my head
crystal launches razor-sharp crystal leaves at nearby enemies, slicing them apart