(Okay. I don't want to wait for debate. I'm ready to write now. Where the suggestions of IronyOwl and Tomcost conflict, I'll roll.)
2334th Year of Man, 4th Month, 19th Day:You ask Charlie to arrange the meetings between you and the leaders of Clans Ape and Clan Ivy. Your general responds by assuring you that she will instruct her son to do just that. She then advises you to be ready to receive dignitaries from Clan Ape in as as soon as six weeks, and dignitaries from Clan Ivy in about two months. She then adds that she will try to get the bulk of the troops from Ivy and Ape moving in the meantime, to take down Riverland Crossing; Charlie informs you that until the crossing is under friendly control, the only way for Orcs to enter or exit the Duchy en mass is by using the ferries in town, and advises that trying to get the combined forces of four mighty clans across by ferry would take months.
Next you ask Charlie to explain your hexing services to her troops for you, as you suspect they will trust her more. She reluctantly agrees to do what she can, noting that she is going to be fairly busy trying to round up mercenaries, but will try to find you some volunteers
Lastly, you instruct Charlie to focus her attention on defeating the Marlowes, as you intend to win the other two counties through diplomacy. She agrees to this, but reminds you that your forces are in no position to try and launch an offensive until the mighty clans show up.
---
You shake Reddings hand, assure him that you have no intent to hold onto power once you win back what is yours and avenge Sylvester, and share your own schemes with him. Your son-in-law listens intently, and is mostly impressed with your efforts. He does offer a tiny bit of feedback, however. His biggest concern is that the mercenaries he works with, including some of his closest friends and business partners, all despise the potion cartel with a passion, so he suggests keeping your involvement discrete lest your involvement complicate things for him. He then suggests you get him logistical information on the powder weapon supplier; Assuming the guns are smuggled in through Port County, and the intelligence of his family can be won, getting the authorities to turn a blind eye towards or even support your importer would be a simple task.
He turns down your offer to use Gregory to break up the potion cartel. The biggest issue is that many of the ferrymen live in shacks on the other side of the river, out of the mayor's reach. He also notes that one of his business partners his handling the assassinations, and that his role in the operation is to oversee the expansion of the local ferry industry once they have been done away with.
---
You briefly summarize the situation in Silver County, and request that Tivavarav pass this along to your mother in hopes that it is not to late to send a messenger to the troops she sent. The demon agrees to do so.
Next you inform him that you will purchase the soul of the elf prepared for Ghoulhood, and Tivavarav bids you to step into the summoning circle to complete the transaction. Once in the circle, you establish a link between your physical location and that of your business partner, and set the link to allow physical passage of objects smaller than yourself. Tivavarav's hand, about half the size of your body, appears before you and grabs you by your right leg, and with touch established, the demon guides you in weaving the Hex of the soon-to-be ghoul into your own soul. The process takes around twenty seconds, and once complete Tivavarav withdraws his hand from the cricle, exchanges farewells with you, and vanishes from the Projection Stage.
---
You contact your father, who as it turns out was worried sick about you. After assuring him that you are okay, and explaining the situation, you get to the business of your husband's soul. Sylvester is being prepared to be raised as a Mummy, a state of undeath that has the ability to command lesser undead, suffer less from curses, and pass along a copy of any curse it is suffering via touch. He has pushed most of his other projects aside so as to have the soul prepared in time for your birthday without sacrificing the precision required to almost perfectly maintain your husband's memory, personality, and skills.
He then notes that he has the spare soul-bits required to give your husband advanced knowledge in Archery, Dwarven Alchemy, Druidism, Hex Weaving, the Exotic Lore of Titan Rock, and/or Engineering. Gungor reckons that he can tack one of these skills on and still have Sylvester ready in time for your birthday, and could add as many as three in that timeframe if he worked quickly and sacrificed some of your husband's personality.
Gungor then offers to come to Redleaf Duchy and aid you in person once he catches up on his workload. He reckons his boss would let him contract himself out to his own daughter at the rate of 4-5 souls a month, and would let him spend up to two months on contract in the mortal realm. You rather supposes he will be caught up enough to make the trip in five to six months, but notes that if he puts the Sylvester project to the side, he would be ready around your birthday.
As an Incorporeal Mist Fiend, Gungor would be completely impervious to almost every form of assault, but frighteningly vulnerable to holy and air magics to the point where even a moderately skilled practitioner in those arts might stand a chance at permanently destroying him. Mist Fiends like your father are known for for rendering the air in enclosed spaces toxic at will, which allows them to easily slaughter buildings full of people. They can also trap victims, with just a touch, in an unending state of uneasy sleep that can only be cured by a particularly skilled potion master or a divine caster in the service of a god that grants spells relating to healing or sleep. Your father is also a highly skilled water-elementalist and Dark Mage, and you are sure his ascent to demonhood has further enhanced his magical powers.
---
You start haggling with Yukprong, and as you do so you explain who you are. The Demon pauses to reconsider his offer...
"Hrmmm... The Chieftess wants to talk with you. I might be rewarded for getting you in touch... But I'm not going to do you a favor for free... I'll tell you what. Lets get my mistress a new puppet. Mark somebody twice with my hex, as strongly as possible. Make them compliant to the will of my mistress and her greater followers, and infatuated with the idea of demons meddling with their soul. Do that, and I will pass along all the messages you want."He allows you to give him your message now, and promises to deliver as soon as payment is received. You then inquire about other services that he offers, and Yukprong informs you that he infrequently does business with Dark Mages, but that his primary job is to acquire and nurture half-demons, and mortals can play a role in this. He is willing to pay souls to worthy mothers, those who are high-born or particularly skilled in magic, willing to bear him offspring, and also has lesser servants who are less selective and willing to serve Dark Mages in exchange for a mate.
Less disturbingly, he has many young half-demons looking for an apprenticeship contract. Yukprong explains that to take an apprenticeship contract, you have to take a Hex from a demon in the Trance organization of his choosing as collateral, which he will activate if he feels you are not putting in enough work to teach the apprentice the skills it desires to learn. Until they prove themselves, Yukprong only allows each mortal master one apprentice. In exchange for providing an education, the master gets the servitude of his/her apprentice for as long as they feel they have more to teach it, but unlike most summoning contracts, an apprentice has the right to refuse orders that it believes endanger its life.
You note that taking a Hex as collateral would likely put you in touch with another one of Trance's demonic minions, and if you are feeling sneaky, you could try to bargain for a cheaper message to clan Ivy with that demon.
Yukprong's Stock:Services:
Mate Appraisal - Yukprong examines a willing mortal female at a summoning circle, before deciding if that mortal is worthy to bear his offspring and, if so, how much he is willing to pay for their birthing and childrearing services. Dark Mages will be paid in souls, and other mates will be paid in blessings from the demons of Trance and material goods. Dark Mages will be paid a fee for finding mates and facilitating the transaction.
Contracts:
Tentacled Inpregnator - 5 Available, 2 Souls to Start Contract, Contract stipulates Inpregnator must be paired with a willing mate of a civilized species and allowed regular access to her. Contract lasts as long as the mate remains willing and healthy enough to perform her role, and sends at least one half-demon offspring to Yukprong every four years.
Orcish Spawn of Yukprong - 2 Available, Apprenticeship Contract, Interested in learning all supernatural skills and mundane combat skills.
Goblin Spawn of Yukprong - 1 Available, Apprenticeship Contract, Interested in learning all supernatural and social skills.
Orcblood Devil - 9 Available, Apprenticeship Contract, Interested in learning nature magic skills, melee combat and skills, and mundane labor/crafting skills.
Dwarfspawn Devil - 12 Available, Apprenticeship Contract, Interested in learning mundane combat and all lore skills.
---
2334th Year of Man, 4th Month, 20th Day:MondayFirst thing in the morning, you send messengers to the potion brewers that you would like payment weekly as opposed at the end of the month. You also request several strong Aura Masking potions from Zeph.
Wendle Kinkaid leaves to deliver messages to the mighty clans in the late morning.
You and Caddor then pay a visit to Mogpan, Peat's place of business. Heeding Redding's advice to keep your connection to the cartel quiet, you come wearing a turban and commoner garb. You tell the Orc that you accept his offer and will be reducing your share in his business to ten percent. When you shake his hand to seal the deal, you unweave the fear curse you had placed on him. You then add that you and your goblin friend will be sticking around for awhile to help make his business more profitable.
If you want to send a specific message to Clan Ape, let Peat know now. Otherwise Wendle will send you their dignitaries and try to temporarily co-opt their troops to capture Riverland crossing.Caddor gets to work performing an indepth audit of the business, while you observe the brew-room with your well trained eye for the craft. By the end of the day you spot a clear problem: the brewers themselves.
You note that Peat is easily better at potion brewing than you are, and that is taking into account the fact that he is likely holding back in your presence so as not to reveal closely guarded clan secrets. The Head Orc, however, spends much more of his time running his business than he does brewing, and his other five brewers are sub-par. Four of them are younger Orcs who are clearly inexperienced; You suspect that they lack formal training and were chosen for the job based on kinship to Peat, and the fifth brewer, an ancient female named Palm, confirms this for you when asked. Palm seems to be at around your skill level as a potion brewer, but in her hands shake in advanced age, causing her to constantly break flasks and spill easily bruised ingredients. To make matters worse, Palm despises the four younger brewers, and blatantly works to sabotage their brews.
2334th Year of Man, 4th Month, 21st Day:TuesdayYou spend the morning at
Mogpan, getting your hands dirty in the brew room and trying to teach the four younger brewers how it is done. By the time lunch break rolls around, the four have all improved noticeably, but you suspect this relates more to their utter lack of previous training than your skill as a teacher.
After lunch, Peat closes the shop early. It turns out today is a major feast day of Viper, the Orcish deity of potions and brewers. A small ceremony is thrown in the back room, at which all the non-brewing members of Peat's staff are made to present all the brewers of gifts of mead and liquor. After gifts are presented, Peat becomes furious; At Caddor for not bringing the brewers gifts, and at everybody else for not bringing you gifts. He starts threatening to cut off tongues and private bits until you spike his drink with an euphoria potion. Like all Orcish holy ceremonies, this event quickly devolves into a pure festival of booze and debauchary. Caddor, the only individual in the building who remained sober, drags you back home when one of the janitors starts propositioning you.
Back at Groghall, you sober up in time to answer a summons to Charlie's inn just after dinner. You arrive to find around seventy nine brave soldiers who have volenteered to receive your Hexes. You give them each Tivavarav's curse of soul claiming, as well as another minor debuff, in exchange for a powerful blessing such as skill with the sword or immunity to fear. By the time you finish, it is quite late.
2334th Year of Man, 4th Month, 21st Day:WednesdayYou have an early appointment with Mayor Rothwell, at which you discuss the criminal justice system. Usually minor criminals are just held at guard station until they either pay Gregory a bribe, or the mayor gets tired of paying for their meals, at which point they are sentenced to time served. You note that you are considering practicing the black arts a bit more openly, and that you may wish to incorporate this into the justice system. Gregory nervously informs you that as reigning Duchess, you have the right to walk into the guard station at your leisure and try the case of any criminal held there. He also offers to arrange public trials at the town square for the prisoners on hand, which you may preside over, if given two days notice.
At
Mogpan, most of the younger potion brewers are still at home recovering from yesterday's party, which leaves you ample opportunity to talk to Palm. You learn that she is actually Chieftess Ape's aunt, and also Peat's mother. When Peat, who you learn has an overwhelming preference for young women of the fairskined races and had never bedded an Orc in his life, was ordered to mate with his mother as part of a selective breeding regime, he appealed to his cousin the Chieftess, who assigned them both to the dangerous role of agents in the human lands as an alternative, without first consulting Palm. As a result, the old orc admits to resenting her son, his business, and pretty much everything else in life.
2334th Year of Man, 4th Month, 22nd Day:ThursdayIt is a busy day at
Mogpan. You arrive to find Peat taking stock of several animal carcasses his hunters brought him. He begins to theorize and scheme about the potions he can make with them, and at one point asks you for an opinion. When you answer that you know hardly anything about brewing with animal parts, Peat offers to teach you.
Throwing his business interests aside for the day, Peat brings you into his office, where he keeps a private still, and begins to try and teach you orcish brewing. You find the lesson difficult to keep up with, in part because the subject matter is difficult; The few humans who practice meat brewing have to use thick volumes of charts and formulas while they work. It dosn't help that Peat is moving way to fast for you; You have heard the rumors of bloodlines within Clan Ape to whom the art of brewing potions comes as naturally as walking or breathing, and your new business partner is clearly living evidence that at least a grain of truth exists to them. He just assumes you know things that you do not, or that you solve problems as quickly as he does, which makes trying to keep up with him nearly impossible.
The day's lesson is interrupted twice. First by Syzzik, who stops by to discuss stock and logistics with Peat. He expresses regret that you have not stopped in to continue your lessons in gun play and asks what you are doing at Mogpan. When you explain that you are trying to help Peat run his business better, and that your goblin friend is conducting an audit, the foreigner tracks down Caddor to tell him what he knows of the Orc's business practices.
The second interruption comes from Peat's men, who ran a sweep of the market and caught three people trying to sell potions beneath cartel prices. The first is a drunken dwarf mercenary who whipped out a healing potion and beligerantly tried to sell it to Peat's men for a single silver, clearly he was just provoking them. The second is a lowborn human merc who had bought a few potions in Orc lands for the journey back home, and was just trying to get rid of his extras. The third man, a merchant, you know as the bastard son of Baron Teal, one of Sylvester's minor vassals in Cleanriver County who you assume is now taking orders from the prince. The young man calls you out as the Duchess, and curses you for fraternizing with a monster like Peat.
Peat, seemingly a bit too happy to have the opportunity to kill, calls for his axe, but you order him to stop, saying that you would rather use dark magic to punish their transgressions. You order them sent to the basement of Groghall and bound while they await your judgement. You don't think that any of them deserve death, but you note that letting the bastard live would likely make your involvement in the cartel public.
2334th Year of Man, 4th Month, 23rd Day:FridayCharlie Kinkaid visits Groghall to meet you first thing in the morning. She informs you that she has gathered enough men, and intends to march on Riverland Crossing this evening. She still seems genuinely friendly and loyal, and has a couple a favorable offers to help legitimize your reign.
First, she would like to know if you would object to her son Dublin traveling to Groghall to court your affection. You know a bit about the potential suitor in question; Dublin is in his late thirties, and like yourself a single parent. He is a member of the inquisition, which would make him a valuable asset in hunting down dark mages to bring under your control, but also dangerous should he turn against you. Like most inquisitors he is skilled in divine magic that focuses on identifying, negating, and destroying practitioners of illegal magic, and fighting with the crossbow. He has a reputation for being a bit of a doormat; He was the only one of Charlie's children, out of those old enough, not to lead troops in the war against your husband, and he more or less gave his first wife his blessing to run away with her mistress to Titan Rock.
You note that Sylvester would roll over in his grave if you were to slap Kinkaid at the end of your name, and that you will likely receive all sorts of interesting offers for you hand should it look like you are coming close to winning back the Duchy, but allowing somebody to court you is far from the same thing as agreeing to marry them.
Next, she offers to set you up with a Court Mage, High Priest, Master-at-Arms, and Steward, noting that you would seem much more like a proper ruler with all the important court roles filled. You are sure you could fill all those roles on your own in time if you tried, but the Kindaid Family is nothing if not large and skilled enough to help.
Charlie also adds that if you ever need funds or a couple hundred trustworthy non-mercenary troops, that you should feel free to write Edward Taft, the Steward of Riverwatch, who she has instructed to be of assistance to you wherever he can.
As the day rolls on, each of your business partners sends a messenger with payment for you. Peat dosn't bother sending any documentation with his bundle of silver coins and bars, but you doubt he would cheat you. The other two combined claim to have sent you 6800 Silver, but you can't know for sure if they are being honest unless you get somebody to count it. Zeph's delivery woman also brings three gallon-and-a-half jugs of aura masking potion: easily enough to keep your aura under wraps for six months or so.
You and your family spend the evening on a hill just out side of town, watching your forces march out of town, following the river East to Riverland Crossing. It will take about four days for the men to march the distance, but once Charlie gets set up there, you should be able to send messages by horseback in significantly less time.
2334th Year of Man, 4th Month, 24th Day:SaturdayWhile Caddor remains at Mogpan, wrapping up his audit, you and Mackie spend part of the morning counting out 1000 Silver, which you set aside in case you should need it, before summoning Chieftain Foot. You show him the silver, and tell him that it is at least 5800. The two of you haggle for a bit, and he eventually agrees to sell you the library for the cash present and two reasonable favors that he may call in later. After shaking on the deal, Foot invites you to send some of the Groghall Orcs to his apartment to gather the books when it is convenient, before leaving with his silver.
You then join Caddor at
Mogpan, and spend some more time brewing with and teaching his younger employees while the goblin finishes up his work. One of the young brewers, a half-breed named Hilltops who claims to be Peat's daughter, is picking up on your lessons especially fast. As the day approaches its end, she approaches you and states that she would like to quit the shop and become your student if you would have her, although she is afraid her father might hurt her when he hears her decision.
When you arrive home, Caddor formally presents his Audit to you, which lists all of Mogpan's failings and the amount each costs the business monthly.
Audit Summary-Peat is a terrible business leader. When faced with a problem, his first instinct is to throw money or manpower at it, and gets fusterated if neither of those solutions work or apply to the situation. Costs at least 4000 Silver a Month.
-Peat engages in the fine orcish tradition of treating payroll as an excuse to throw money at friends and family. He keeps eight janitors when he needs at most one, and twelve shelf-stockers when he needs at most two. Costs at least 8000 Silver a month.
-Peat is disorganized and backwards in gathering supplies; He determines what he brews based on what his hunters and gatherers bring in, rather than having his hunters and gatherers target specific ingredients to brew what the market demands. Costs at lest 3000 Silver a month.
-Peat's cashiers and salesorcs are often openly rude towards non-orcish customers, and mock mercenary customers endlessly about the power of the cartel. Costs at least 3000 Silver a month.
-Palm's jitteryness alone costs the business around 1500 Silver a month in ruined ingredients product.
-Caddor dosn't know enough about potions to put a price on this, but aide from Peat himself, all the brewers at Mogpan are various degrees of incompetent.
Although you hadn't planned on dealing with Peat and Company today, the Orc shows up at Groghall. After you scold him for showing up without a disguise, Peat gets on a knee and offers you his most sincere thanks. Perhaps unable to think like a business oriented human, your partner thinks you have been helping him out of friendship and the kindness of your heart.
To show his gratitude, his gives you a glass bottle full of black liquid, and informs you that it is a Clan Ape secret formula that he brewed up at great personal expense (the main ingredient being rare Kracken Ink). He explains that Caddor told him that there would be a birth in your household in the near future, so he took the liberty of making this for the baby. Supposedly, if a newborn is forced to drink the contents of the bottle before taking its first sip of mother's milk, its potential for Divine Magic will be greatly increased. If this is true, it could yield one hell of a Priest: Joy herself is good enough to be part of a Priestly Order, and the Strongcurrent bloodline has produced some powerful divine casters as well.
While you have him present, and are on the topic of divine magic, you ask him if what Charlie Kinkaid said about Chieftess Ape, and her fascination with human priestly orders, is true. He answers in the affirmative, stating that she once brewed a temporary sex change potion, which you know costs several hundred thousand silver in ingredients alone, just so she could make a member of the Steel Sisterhood father one of her children.
Over the course of the week, you have noted that your daughter Fortune has been making friends with two of the mercenaries from Caiman Swarm. You are happy that your daughter is coming out of her shell, but also a bit worried as most of the people outside the family Fortune allows herself to befriend are not long for this world. Fortune invites the two to the grand table to dine with your family tonight.
The pair, a lowborn human named Dunlap from a hamlet just outside Cleanriver Castle, and a Harpy named Greywing, are clearly romantically involved. Dean calls them out on the strange relationship, and Dunlap confesses. Greywing adds that the Orcish Clans are the only ones who accept their union, and they have two offspring being raised by the clan childminders. Redding opens his mouth to mock them, but Fortune tells him to shut up, ominously stating that
"everybody deserves to have the delusion that they wont die alone."2334th Year of Man, 4th Month, 26th Day:MondayYou had planned to return to
Mogpan today, and start implimenting changes based on Caddor's audit, but your plans are quickly changed when an agent from the Knifehouse sends word that your wight Watcher is waiting for you there.
Changing hurriedly from the disguise you use to visit the cartel, to a proper outfit fit for a duchess to hit town in (having decided to practice dark magic more openly, you decide there is no real reason to hid your association with the Goblins), you make your way to the basement of the restaurant, where you find your creation waiting for you.
"M'mlady..." he begins without making eye contact,
"I heard the news awhile ago. My apologies that it took me this long to track you down. I have come to... um... make sure you are okay, to deliver my monthly report, and see if these recent happenings have changed your agenda involving the local members of your... community."You try your hardest not to laugh at Watcher. As a respectable gentleman, he feels like a horrid monster such as himself has no right to be in the presence of a lady such as you. You rarely deal with him in person, but doing so gives you a sick guilty pleasure.
"Look me in the eye, Watcher, your mistress orders it... there. Now give me your report."The wight stammers for a few seconds, before producing his document, and reading it aloud to you.
Watcher's Report for the 3rd Month:-There is nothing significant to report about The Torzizs. Their eldest son just created his first sentient undead, and they insisted that Watcher pass the joyous news to his master.
-Dougpo was quite happy as of his last meeting with Watcher. He claimed to have foreknowledge of some serious political changes about to occur, and was in position to benefit from it. Could he have been talking about Sylvester's assassination? Chasity and the Marlowe twins are connected to the Nature Mage's guild.
-Nezbit Krane is looking for the hex of a demon relating to insects or the jungle, and would be willing to trade a favor to get one. You are sure Dean could find such a demon without much trouble.
-Shaman Pork reiterated his offer to become your second in command and help you organize the local dark mages. He told Watcher that the omens suggest you might be more agreeable to the idea by the time the message reaches you.
After listening to Watcher's report you ask him about the corruior Tyger, and where he can be found. The Wight explains there is a ruined tower in King's Road County where shrines to several elven gods are kept, and the quickest way to get a hold of Tyger is to leave a message with the priest there. Since you don't expect to make it to King's Road County anytime soon, you ask watcher to send Tyger your way at the next opportunity he gets.
Watcher is ready and willing to impose your will upon the Dark Mages of the Duchy.When you return to Groghall, you find Chieftain Gruel waiting. The Orc explains that his men have arrived, but because a bunch of the ferrymen were recently assassinated, they can't make it across the river, so he will instead cross to them on his own canoe. He apologizes for not being of more help right away, but that an allied clan was having a problem and he had already agreed to help them before catching wind of Sylvester's death. He suspects he will be back in three to four months, hopefully with many warriors to pledge to your cause. He encourages you to make yourself at home in Groghall, and wishes you best of luck with what is to come.
Just before bedtime, Chieftain Foot returns. You had sent him each of Mackie's children to examine, and he has the results of his tests. Mackie's oldest daughter, 18 year old Shelly, and her 10 year old son Tim, each have the potential to become proper divine casters. Her 15 year old girl Hannae also has limited potential, and might be able to pick up a few tricks. He would be willing to train either Shelly or Tim in the divine magic of any of the 18 Orcish Gods, but notes his prices have risen above his previous offer of 'food and rent', so negotiation would be required.
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Topic: (SG) The Redleaf Epic (Formerly Widow: A Duchess Scorned) (Read 66533 times)