Contract Contest #11 Round 3 - Vote 1 (Patreon)

Contract 5: Quest Title: “The Iron Grip”

By:Naan78

Mila hears rumors of a strange, ancient suit of armor unearthed near an old battleground just outside Fallholt. The armor, known as the “Vessel of Valor,” was said to bestow incredible strength upon anyone who wore it, but legends spoke of a curse binding it to its wearer’s flesh and mind. Mila, intrigued by the tale, decides to investigate and meets Linn, a devout woman whose closest friend and treasure hunter, Sherry, recently acquired the armor and has become obsessed with wearing it at all times. Linn worries that the armor is influencing Sherry’s behavior, making her cold, distant, and disturbingly possessive. She asks Mila for help in convincing Sherry to remove the armor, but as they confront her, it becomes clear that the armor has already taken hold of Sherry’s mind.

During the confrontation, Sherry reveals herself as a host of the armor’s will. The amour has penetrated her orifices and has melded with her mind. She speaks of the incredible power the armor has granted her and urges Linn and Mila to wear similar pieces of the armor so they too can share in its strength, expanding the parasitic armor’s influence and feeding on the minds of its hosts. In the true ending, Mila and Linn manage to overpower Sherry and forcibly remove the armor piece by piece, destroying the cursed vessel and freeing Sherry’s mind from its control. Grateful for Mila’s help and seeing firsthand the strength she showed, Linn joins Mila’s journey. In the alternate ending, if Mila is defeated, Sherry forces both her and Linn to don pieces of the armor, binding their wills to the parasite. The three of them become wandering soldiers of the armor, seeking out more hosts to grow its power, leaving behind a trail of mindless, armored thralls.

Contract 6:  Quest Title: “Veil of the Vengeful Mist”

By:Elijah Mercer

Mila hears rumors of an ancient temple, hidden deep within the mountains near Fallholt, where treasure hunters have emerged with shattered minds and fragmented memories. She decides to investigate and soon meets Aislin, a disciplined monk seeking to reclaim her ancestral temple, which has been corrupted by a sinister creature called The Mnemora. The Mnemora, a ghostly being with hollow, absorbing eyes and clawed fingers that drain memories, feeds on the minds of intruders, turning them into her hollow thralls. Together, Mila and Aislin venture into the temple’s haunted halls, battling spectral monks and confronting illusions of their own pasts.

In the true ending, Mila and Aislin defeat The Mnemora, breaking the curse and freeing the spirits trapped in the temple. Aislin, grateful for Mila’s aid, joins her party as a skilled monk. In the bad ending, if Mila is defeated, she loses her memories to the Mnemora and becomes a wandering spirit in the temple, with Aislin meeting the same tragic fate, bound to haunt the temple forever.