Ellen the Wanderer thrust out her hand, and drew a water whip, drawing the evil sorcerer Alzarak the Heinous past his two massive bodyguards before he could finish the ritual that would summon the forgotten god into the world. But it had taken so much of her power, she didn’t really have much else she could do! She found herself standing before the downed Alzarak, frozen, hoping that one of her allies would be able to step in and finish him off.
She stood in the vast temple of the Forgotten God, its cyclopean structure lying all around her in a vast arrangement of ancient pillars with hard stone floor beneath her. The two foul temple guards, made of stone wrapped around terrible flesh risen from the depths of a forgotten realm, were now engaged with Regina Scarblade, an Eldritch Knight, who had cast a mighty fireball an immediately struck the crowd of zombies who’d survived behind them with a strike from her longsword. The legendary Thunder Knight in her gleaming silver armor would not be slowed even by a crowd such as this. The rest of Ellen’s party was engaging various foes, and here Ellen stood, overtop the dread Alzarak, having rendered him smote on the floor with the most powerful water whip she’d ever thrown, but fully aware he’d just teleport out of range a moment later. And both his bodyguards were bearing down on her. She'd bought the team seconds, and now she was going to die.
But an amused voice reverberated through the chamber of the Forgotten God, “Enough of that.”
Ellen stared at the flickering flames from Regina's fireball, trapped in mid-explosion. There was water leaking from a roof overhead, the droplets suspended forever. Gingerly, she reached out and poked one. It soaked her finger, once again becoming part of the current flow of reality. Time had stopped.
Ellen turned, and found herself facing an unearthly, pale woman with auburn hair in a massive pointed hat, with a bubbling black pot spewing multicolor ichor. The woman smirked, adjusting this massive black hat slightly.
Ellen asked, “Who are you?”
“I am Tasha.” The stranger said, motioning to the pot, “And this is my Cauldron of Everything.”
Ellen couldn’t help herself. She stared in amazement. She had often meditated on candles, bowls of water, earth, and wind chimes in her studies, but it was like staring at all of that and more inside this incredible cauldron. "Cauldron of Everything" was no exaggeration.
Tasha said, “I have observed people such as yourself using fighting styles where they throat-punched people with their ghosts. It was incredible.”
Ellen nodded, she had met members of the Astral Self school.
Tasha said, “You are not as incredible.”
Ellen was going to object, but she stared down at the dread Alzarak, a barely living, pale bastard who she just couldn’t kill, with his two foot beard and spindly limbs, who she’d performed a clutch technique on to pull out of position! And now, in this stopped moment in time, she knew she could not kill him, and she shrugged.
“No.” Ellen said. “The Way of the Four Elements is not.”
And it was devastating. She’d spent her entire life training in her secret techniques to combine the power of all four elements into a single distinct fighting style, and this was the best she could do. She was tearful, in fact. She had done everything she could, but at the pinnacle of her skill, she was going to fail everyone. Her style was not suited to any task she set it to, and after all this effort, what had been the point?
Tasha said, “No crying. Let’s fix it.”
Tasha thrust a magic ladle into her cauldron, and splashed Ellen with it.
“Hey!” Ellen cried out.
And then time reset back to the start of this moment, six second prior. This time, Ellen’s water whip pulled Alzarak to her, dropping him to the ground, and without thinking, she brought her leg up and around into a perfect axe kick into his solar-plexus, performing a stunning strike. Prone, stunned, useless, the deadliest sorcerer in the world was neutralized in an instant. There was no chance he’d teleport anywhere now. And as his bodyguards came running, stone covering their terrible forms molded in the abyss, Ellen found herself taking multiple hits, a shot to the gut, a shot brushing along her guard as she barely avoided a lethal hit, she’d definitely be feeling those bruises in the morning. It wasn’t easy, but it was nothing she hadn’t faced before, and the wizard wouldn’t be able to kill her as he would have in the previous timeline after he stood up. Sweating, grinning like a madwoman, Ellen held up two fingers, revealing the little red flickering orb that had formed in her fingers. The fireball obliterated the stunned Alzarak, blasting both bodyguards, and then Ellen came around with a another massive kick to one of the surviving bodyguards, sending its stone-covered form reeling to the floor as it died.
And then Regina came in, fresh from zombie slaying, smashing into the remaining bodyguard with a thundering wave of destructing, sending it flying back, and then brought her sword high overhead and slashing down into its heart.
Ellen blinked rapidly. Her technique had never been that fluid before. All that, that she had just seen? That had actually happened. She had personally slain Alzarak the Heinous? And as the rest of her party came together, clapping her on the back, cheering, she just shed a single tear. Years upon years of training and dedication had been worth it.
And as she and her party left the Temple of the Forgotten God victorious, Ellen grinned and couldn’t help but say to the confusion of the others:
“Thank you Tasha, you and your Cauldron of Everything.”
And for a moment on the wind, she heard a voice softly reverberate like an echo through the ages:
“The power was inside you all along… except it wasn’t, I had to alter the fabric of the universe, but I think everyone can agree that it was worth it…”
Ellen considered that. She shrugged. If there was one thing she’d learned after years of adventuring, it was wise not to question Witches and Wizards of sufficient power when they were helping you out. And frankly, the universe was better now.
((The Moral of Our Story: Because seriously, getting a bonus action attack any time you spend Ki on your Action BASICALLY FIXES MOST OF THE PROBLEMS with Way of the Four Elements.))
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Ellen the Wanderer thrust out her hand, and drew a water whip, drawing the evil sorcerer Alzarak the Heinous past his two massive bodyguards before he could finish the ritual that would summon the forgotten god into the world. But it had taken so much of her power, she didn’t really have much else she could do! She found herself standing before the downed Alzarak, frozen, hoping that one of her allies would be able to step in and finish him off.
She stood in the vast temple of the Forgotten God, its cyclopean structure lying all around her in a vast arrangement of ancient pillars with hard stone floor beneath her. The two foul temple guards, made of stone wrapped around terrible flesh risen from the depths of a forgotten realm, were now engaged with Regina Scarblade, an Eldritch Knight, who had cast a mighty fireball an immediately struck the crowd of zombies who’d survived behind them with a strike from her longsword. The legendary Thunder Knight in her gleaming silver armor would not be slowed even by a crowd such as this. The rest of Ellen’s party was engaging various foes, and here Ellen stood, overtop the dread Alzarak, having rendered him smote on the floor with the most powerful water whip she’d ever thrown, but fully aware he’d just teleport out of range a moment later. And both his bodyguards were bearing down on her. She'd bought the team seconds, and now she was going to die.
But an amused voice reverberated through the chamber of the Forgotten God, “Enough of that.”
Ellen stared at the flickering flames from Regina's fireball, trapped in mid-explosion. There was water leaking from a roof overhead, the droplets suspended forever. Gingerly, she reached out and poked one. It soaked her finger, once again becoming part of the current flow of reality. Time had stopped.
Ellen turned, and found herself facing an unearthly, pale woman with auburn hair in a massive pointed hat, with a bubbling black pot spewing multicolor ichor. The woman smirked, adjusting this massive black hat slightly.
Ellen asked, “Who are you?”
“I am Tasha.” The stranger said, motioning to the pot, “And this is my Cauldron of Everything.”
Ellen couldn’t help herself. She stared in amazement. She had often meditated on candles, bowls of water, earth, and wind chimes in her studies, but it was like staring at all of that and more inside this incredible cauldron. "Cauldron of Everything" was no exaggeration.
Tasha said, “I have observed people such as yourself using fighting styles where they throat-punched people with their ghosts. It was incredible.”
Ellen nodded, she had met members of the Astral Self school.
Tasha said, “You are not as incredible.”
Ellen was going to object, but she stared down at the dread Alzarak, a barely living, pale bastard who she just couldn’t kill, with his two foot beard and spindly limbs, who she’d performed a clutch technique on to pull out of position! And now, in this stopped moment in time, she knew she could not kill him, and she shrugged.
“No.” Ellen said. “The Way of the Four Elements is not.”
And it was devastating. She’d spent her entire life training in her secret techniques to combine the power of all four elements into a single distinct fighting style, and this was the best she could do. She was tearful, in fact. She had done everything she could, but at the pinnacle of her skill, she was going to fail everyone. Her style was not suited to any task she set it to, and after all this effort, what had been the point?
Tasha said, “No crying. Let’s fix it.”
Tasha thrust a magic ladle into her cauldron, and splashed Ellen with it.
“Hey!” Ellen cried out.
And then time reset back to the start of this moment, six second prior. This time, Ellen’s water whip pulled Alzarak to her, dropping him to the ground, and without thinking, she brought her leg up and around into a perfect axe kick into his solar-plexus, performing a stunning strike. Prone, stunned, useless, the deadliest sorcerer in the world was neutralized in an instant. There was no chance he’d teleport anywhere now. And as his bodyguards came running, stone covering their terrible forms molded in the abyss, Ellen found herself taking multiple hits, a shot to the gut, a shot brushing along her guard as she barely avoided a lethal hit, she’d definitely be feeling those bruises in the morning. It wasn’t easy, but it was nothing she hadn’t faced before, and the wizard wouldn’t be able to kill her as he would have in the previous timeline after he stood up. Sweating, grinning like a madwoman, Ellen held up two fingers, revealing the little red flickering orb that had formed in her fingers. The fireball obliterated the stunned Alzarak, blasting both bodyguards, and then Ellen came around with a another massive kick to one of the surviving bodyguards, sending its stone-covered form reeling to the floor as it died.
And then Regina came in, fresh from zombie slaying, smashing into the remaining bodyguard with a thundering wave of destructing, sending it flying back, and then brought her sword high overhead and slashing down into its heart.
Ellen blinked rapidly. Her technique had never been that fluid before. All that, that she had just seen? That had actually happened. She had personally slain Alzarak the Heinous? And as the rest of her party came together, clapping her on the back, cheering, she just shed a single tear. Years upon years of training and dedication had been worth it.
And as she and her party left the Temple of the Forgotten God victorious, Ellen grinned and couldn’t help but say to the confusion of the others:
“Thank you Tasha, you and your Cauldron of Everything.”
And for a moment on the wind, she heard a voice softly reverberate like an echo through the ages:
“The power was inside you all along… except it wasn’t, I had to alter the fabric of the universe, but I think everyone can agree that it was worth it…”
Ellen considered that. She shrugged. If there was one thing she’d learned after years of adventuring, it was wise not to question Witches and Wizards of sufficient power when they were helping you out. And frankly, the universe was better now.
((The Moral of Our Story: Because seriously, getting a bonus action attack any time you spend Ki on your Action BASICALLY FIXES MOST OF THE PROBLEMS with Way of the Four Elements.))