Previous: In which slaves are rescued, overseers overthrown. | Current: In which unconditional surrender is accepted, an amulet destroyed, an amulet forged, armies trained, mines improved, resistance impressed, castles fortified. | Next: In which spies are captured, spies brainwashed, mercenaries discouraged, armies spotted, wards broken. You consider projecting images of the freed slaves and the revolt to the surrounding villages, but decide against it. The news will get out soon enough on the backs of the slaves themselves and will kill any chance you have of reaching Ferrun ahead of the word.
You tell Aloe to work the mine with paid labour and more than that, to reinvest the proceeds of the mine into improving the conditions and providing better equipment for the miners. This goes down very well with the ex-slaves looking to work on the mine, and will no doubt attract more labourers.
You muse over whether to seal the amulet away or destroy it and risk the effects of the evil within escaping. You opt to destroy the cursed thing rather than let a minor evil artefact remain in the world. Before doing so you take the opportunity to study the medallion. The enchantment on it is not especially complex, but rooted in demonic power - power you cannot (and will not) personally command. What you do learn is how the medallion channels evil energy to and from the bodies it controls.
It takes you a couple of days of meditation and study, but you have one of the more skilled freedmen craft you a matching medallion out of the local tin. You request a plain disc, but instead he shapes one with an image of yourself on it; a robed woman with six wings. The tiny votive offering makes you smile.
You imbue the new medallion with angelic energy based on the design of the necromantic medallion. It takes a little refinement, but when you are done you have a potent weapon of your own. This medallion will not allow you to control the undead as the other did, but as a channel for Good it will enable you to harm the undead and destroy weaker minions such as zombies outright by negating the bonds of Evil that hold them together. With a little time, faithful mortals could be trained to use these medallions themselves. Mortals with magical knowledge could be trained to produce them. Now that you know how to make them, you can produce more of these medallions yourself when you need to.
Now for the original amulet. You take it to a small field away from the mine and place it on a stone. You then take Mistwalker and with careful aim strike the amulet with the blade, channelling Good into it with brute force. The amulet screams, literally screams with the souls poured into it, as it cracks. Shadows spew from it, dissipating into the air with cracks of purple light. You extend a hand and the shadows begin to burn away in golden flames. Around the medallion, grass withers, blackens and then bursts into small fires. The bronze of the amulet twists and then melts, bubbling until it coats the stone below with a layer of metal.
The last of the golden flames burn out. Only harmless metal remains now, but you can feel where traces of evil have soaked into the ground about the stone. There is a stain here that will take months to fade away, but it is a weak taint and will do little more than anger and unnerve those who pass it. Having successfully destroyed one of these amulets, you will be able to eliminate further ones with less difficulty.
You present the overseers with an ultimatum: Serve you unconditionally or be utterly and completely destroyed. They capitulate to a man; apparently John has been telling people what happened to the last man who refused you. The head overseer, now that his amulet is gone, has no particular magical ability but is at least a capable swordsman. You put them under Aloe's watch for now and have them train new soldiers, warning them that you will send for them when the time is right and that earning their redemption will be a long and difficult journey to come. You brand each of them with your mark accordingly.
With the overseers having capitulated, the remaining slaves agree to serve you unconditionally. Essentially this just makes them slaves again, so their lot has not much changed. You set them to gathering food and resources from the region to support your new army until you can decide what to do with them.
You leave the bulk of your army up at Stworca's Hamlet to train as spearmen and produce simple wooden spears and very light armour (probably leather hauberks or padded cloth). Before you go, you bless Aloe as a new luxpanap that she might better serve those she protects.
You journey back to Ferrun alone save for the resistance guide and the shades. You travel as quickly as the barges can carry you, which is still quicker than walking, and arrive a little sooner than two weeks after you leave.
When you return, work on Ferrun castle's new defences is nearing completion; a stone bailey and keep with battlements and strong, reinforced gates. The population of the town has grown with additional forced labour from the nearby villages, but you hear nothing of slaves from Fere's Pike at least. The wards remain at the same strength; there is no evidence of an expected magical threat.
You meet up with the resistance leaders in person for the very first time. Your actions at Stworca's Hamlet have exceeded all promise; the resistance fighters expected you to free perhaps a dozen prisoners, maybe through a short raid or attacking the slave barges. The full power of the resistance is at your command, along with several citizens simply aiming to do good; a total of 112 people. Because the resistance is trained, most of them are at least able to wield spears and several are old veterans who can still hold a mace and have their youthful leather armour on hand to assist. The resistance leaders themselves were captains in Lord White's army once and still can lead and fight with skill.
The resistance provides you with an update on the situation here in Ferrun. Sacrifices and slaves continue to brought in as a daily trickle, but killings in the temple have only increased of late. You can feel the evil even just passing by the temple now, as the malevolent presence of the idol within grows stronger still. You expect the wards have strengthened as a result, but then so have you. With the defences almost complete, Sir Braithe is under orders to fortify his position and secure the region. Fresh soldiers have come in; macemen and a couple of necromancer captains have been called in from their slaving and conquering duties to reinforce the castle and a company of archers, macemen and swordsmen have arrived and taken up residence. They do not wear the grey cloak and uniform of Lord Thrane's soldiers, but rather a motley collection of armour and clothes. The resistance men suspect they are hired mercenaries rather than committed soldiers. Finally there is the zombie presence, which has expanded continuously with all the dead both the temple and the continued conquest produces.
The resistance puts the current fortress count at around 200 zombies, 50 macemen, 40 archers, 20 swordsmen and three necromancer captains including Sir Braithe, of which 30 macemen, all the archers and most of the swordsmen are mercenaries. The high walls, steep hill and heavy gates of the castle will make a direct assault difficult, especially once construction is completed.
On a final note, you commune briefly with John and Aloe; training of the army is as complete as you can get without additional resources and time. If you give the order to march now, they will arrive within two weeks, but the castle will likely be fully operational by then unless complications arise.
What are your plans?
Name: Lvantha Talaoia
Strength: 20 manpower (+1 Good Deed, -1 crafting, -1 destruction)
Mind: 19 menminds (+1 Good Deed)
Personal Retinue
Followers: 91 spearmen, 19 macemen, 3 swordsmen (resistance fighters)
Slaves: -
Servants: 15 shades, 5 greater shades
Stworca's Hamlet*
Followers: 1 armed luxpanap (John), 67 spearman, 2 macemen
Slaves: 8 macemen, 1 swordsman, 25 slaves
Holdings: 6r
1 village (1 Resource)
1 tin mine (4 Resources)
Slave Gathering (1 Resource)
Upkeep: 6r
>50 spearman training (1 Resource)
>50 soldiers (1 Resource)
Mine Development (4 Resources)
[Resistance provide own resources.]
Items:
Mistwalker: +2 vs undead & demons if you wield it. More effective when a mortal holds it.
Unnamed Medallion: +3 vs undead, +1 vs demons on both mental and physical atacks.
*If followers cannot leave the settlement to serve you, e.g. because they are busy as adminstrators or are not willing followers or direct slaves, then their contribution is just subsumed as part of the settlement's resource contributions.
Swordsman: 3 Str, 1 Mind. 1 hp, 12 morale, 1 mobility.
In which statblocks are going to start getting streamlined as the scale increases, partial glossaries added.
Author
Topic: Divinity. - Dreams Invaded: 2 (Read 58380 times)