You aren't sure how effective your shades are at dream manipulation, but you give them commands to visit the dreams of children and lure them to your cause. You head back into Lord Michael's dream yourself.
Lord Michael ran and ran, but the boys kept chasing him. Through muddy fields and pools of dank water and blood, they chased without end. Up ahead, he saw something unfamiliar, something that should not be there - a cottage of bright sandstone with a white tiled roof, stark against the dull and dark surrounds. The white oak door was open and a young woman was beckoning furiously to him. Michael ran for the house and made it through the door just before his sons caught up to him - the door slammed shut behind.
The cottage was simple, but immaculately clean. A fireplace along one wall, a pair of comfortable chairs, no sign of any bed, cooking utensils or anything else that should exist in a real cottage. The smiling, silver-haired woman sat and gestured for him to sit as well. When he did, she began to speak.You create a safe place in Lord Michael's dream and speak with him in the guise of a silver-haired woman, rather than your angelic form. You ask him about the figures beyond; he reveals as you might expect that the three who chase him are his fallen sons. Behind them, his liege Lord White lashes them on. He goes on to explain how he has always served as a loyal vassal to Lord White, even after the Mughai Empire broke apart and White became a sovereign ruler. Yet in the last five years he had fought three wars, one defensive, two offensive, and in them he had lost each of his sons and his wife. He is tired of war, wracked with grief, and cannot stand to respond to the summons of a man who has resulted in such grief to him. The realm is broken, and may remain so for decades. Why fight, when all it will bring is ruin? Another war might take from him his daughter also, the last child he has to his name.
You thank him for his time and gesture to a bed that was not there before; he may rest there for tonight, and the remainder of the night he will suffer no dreams. Michael thanks you for the kidness and lays down on the cottage bed - the dream world around you collapses and you return to your body.
To your relief, the shades report an overall success. They manage to infiltrate the dreams of the children in the guise of kindly spirits rather than horrifying shades, and speak to them, promising the coming of the angel Lvantha Talaoia.
Time to deal with business, then. You mentally contact John, Aloe and Marrham (who was sleeping, but whom you wake). John and Aloe offer you brief reports; John informs you that training of the soldiers in Ferrun is complete. You now have 121 macemen, 30 moderately armoured swordsmen, 35 archers and himself at your command, as well as that one soldier you brainwashed. He has essentially been acting like a slave, not taking initiative of his own but performing any orders John gives him in your name. Aloe informs you that the mine is working at a decent rate of production now, and seems to be stable. More men and any technical assistance could help increase its production in future, though.
Marrham is annoyed that you woke him and reminds you that you don't run the town - he does. Things are fine, and will run even better when your private army moves on their way.
You don't have a really strong cult presence in Ferrun, but you have John acquire one of the tin amulets your lukewarm supporters sometimes have and use him as a conduit to bless it - this is rather inefficient, and a lot of the power you put through the connection is lost, but you enchant the amulet to allow you to communicate with the wearer and vice versa. You'll need to train the wearer to use it as you use your own medallion. John promises to hold onto it for now and give it to someone who shows exceptional faith in you. You order him to gather the troops, head to Farrowford (taking care to avoid Ferrybridge and any armies or trouble along the way) and gather any refugees they can as well - his orders are to settle the town, and proselytise along the way. You give orders to Aloe to arm herself and meet the army, travelling with them. With no functioning roads, it will take them a month to reach Farrowford.
With your basic affairs sorted, you gather the sixteen shades you have at hand and investigate the bandit camp. You fly high, your shades invisible, moving over the forest to get a clear look.
You get fairly close to the clearing in which the bandits have built their fort, using cloud as a cover against visibility, when the sense of
prohibition hits you. It feels like a wall composed entirely of
no. You study the fort layout - palisade walls, a couple of guard towers at the north and south, lots of tents and some practice areas for fighting - and a little cobbled-together shrine to Slask, god of Forest, Violence and Murder. Mrgh. They have a priest down there, and he's warded the camp against you the same way one might ward against the undead. You can sense that the closer you get the more uncomfortable you will feel, with proximity weakening and even outright harming you. It's a fair bet the bandits have their weapons cursed too.
What do you do?
Name: Lvantha Talaoia
Strength: 14 manpower (+0 Worship)
Mind: 14 menminds (+0 Worship, -1 Amulet Blessing)
Personal Retinue
Followers: 15 cultists (Cult of the Winged Lady, Anarchic Organisation)
Slaves: -
Servants: 10 shades, 10 greater shades
Ferrun
Neutral: Marrham, luxpanap Mayor
Refugee Army
Followers: 1 priest, 121 macemen, 31 swordsmen, 35 archers, 2 armed luxpanapi (John, Aloe)
Slaves: 1 brainwashed spy
Prisoners: -
Servants: -
Holdings: 16r
~20 villages (4 Resources)
1 market town (5 Resources)
1 tin mine (6 Resources) [Aloe, a luxpanap, manager of Stworca's Hamlet]
Slave Gathering (1 Resource) [25 slaves]
Upkeep: 5r
~150 light infantry (3 resources)
~50 medium infantry (2 resources)
Items:
Mistwalker: +2 vs undead & demons if you wield it. More effective when a mortal holds it.
Lvantha Medallion: +3 vs undead, +1 vs demons on both mental and physical atacks.
Author
Topic: Divinity. - Dreams Invaded: 2 (Read 57797 times)