Contract Contest #12 Round 4 - Vote 1 (Patreon)

Contract 7: “The Cult of the Exigence”

By: AD0G816

Mila hears rumors that vampire servants across the land have begun abandoning their masters to join a new cult, the Church of Divine Union, devoted to an enigmatic Dark Goddess known only as “the Exigence.” Following the trail of disappearances, she travels to an ancient village buried deep within the darkest part of the woods. There, she’s greeted by serene “holy women” and their leader—vampires one and all—who warn her to keep her visit brief and not to intrude on their sacred rites unless she wishes to “accept the holy body” and join them. Their zealous talk of divine purpose raises Mila’s suspicions, and her search soon uncovers the clothing and possessions of missing vampires hidden in one of the village homes.

Pushing deeper, Mila enters the old cathedral and is ambushed by three cultists who give her a final chance to submit before attacking. During the fight, writhing tendrils emerge from their mouths, revealing they’re being controlled by parasitic organisms rather than faith alone. After defeating them and scouring the cathedral, Mila discovers notes explaining that the parasites are hypersensitive to light and that immortal vampires make ideal long-term hosts. A hidden trapdoor beneath the podium leads her into a vast, lightless cavern, where she finally comes face to face with the Exigence itself—a colossal, tentacled parasite surrounded by enthralled cultists. Speaking through their bodies, it explains how it lay buried for millennia until miners accidentally opened its prison and became its first “congregation.”

In the Good Ending, Mila brings down the cavern by destroying its supporting pillars, crushing the Exigence and freeing its victims, laying the corrupted vampires to rest before returning to her coven with grim news of what she found. In the Bad Ending, if Mila is defeated or offers herself to the Exigence, the cultists restrain her long enough for the parasite to infest her. When she awakens, she’s no longer her own master—now a vessel and devoted host of the Exigence, she spends the rest of her days serving as the cult’s most prized convert, helping spread its influence to new lands.

Contract 8: “Veins of Vespera”

By: Cherry-Monarch

Rumors reach Mila of a secluded village hidden deep in the forest where women are acting with an unsettling sense of unity, their eyes emitting an eerie, violet glow and have an unsettling smile. She soon uncovers the source: a parasitic entity known as a Vespera Root. This mind-controlling parasitic body exclusively targets women, burrowing into their brains and bending them to its will, while men are captured and used as sustenance. The infected women spread the parasite through a tendril that grows out of their mouth and crotch, implanting a Vespera seed in their womb and fertilizing it with their fluids. The female victims are then capable of laying their own Vespera spores, capable of growing into Vespera Root bodies.

Evelina, a skilled herbalist who managed to resist the parasite’s control by using a rare antidote. Together, they delve into the heart of the village, facing the infected women who now zealously guard an ancient, crumbling mansion where the main Vespera’s Root pulsates with twisted life.

In the true ending, Mila and Evelina succeed in reaching the parasite’s heart and destroying it, breaking its control over the village women and freeing the male captives. Evelina, grateful for Mila’s help, sheepishly asks to become a vampire and join her. In the bad ending, if Mila is defeated, she becomes a vessel for Vespera’s Root, a loyal guardian of the infestation. Evelina attempts to flee but is ultimately caught and joins the collective. The two are shown with their tendrils out, ready to breed and spread their spores.