(I'm going to start
underlining things that I think may be worth adding to the character sheet somewhere)
2334th Year of Man, 5th Month, 12th Day:FridayResponding to the messages from Axebeach, you inform them that you have heard Lindwurm is fine, and that Clan Ivy is supporting the Rebels in Redleaf Duchy.
You then promise Vartalaix that you shall meet with her soon, and inform both Bloody Vadoi and Fin that you think having two military leaders is silly, but you don't have enough information to decide where you stand on the situation yet.
The following replies come in quickly:-Vartalaix says she should be available whenever you want to talk.
-Paleskin, the only human Underboss and a former subject of Redleaf Duchy, asks straight up if you are Maeris Riverland, noting she is a childhood friend of Dark Lord Bloodwalls, and likely in a position to know what is going on with both the rebellion and Port County.
-Poison also comes close to guessing your identity using the same line of logic, but she however guesses that you are in fact Dean Riverland, who she knows is being groomed for great things by the Bonedusts. You can only suspect some of the others must be thinking the same thing, and simply not being so upfront about it.
-Neither military leader responds right away, but many of your other vassals do. They all warn that picking one or the other would likely result in the spurned military leader taking his holdings and defecting. It is unlikely the situation will resolve itself until one of the pair is dead.
After dealing with the underbosses, you ask Niechbaux what he knows about the monster fishing trade, and it turns out the answer is quite alot.
To fish for Sea Monsters safely and on a commercial scale, one must have large fishing boats armored and armed with advanced materials such as those made by a demon or an alchemist. Axebeach's boats are armored with Kracken's Beak and equipped with harpoons and spears made from standard demonic material.
Most of the meat taken is sold at high prices to upper caste goblins, and other valuable bits are sold to Clan Scarab to use in their potions. 'Fin' gets all the Dire Lionfish spines, which his craftsorcs alloy with Snakeskin purchased from Niechbaux to create Gulf Gold, a substance that compares to gold in weight, steel in both sharpness and durability, and the dire lionfish it was taken from in both venom and beauty. Gulf Gold is used to create blades for Polearms, decorative weights to balance many other weapons, and bolt tips for both crossbows and ballistas alike. Equipped with venomous Gulf Gold weaponry, the warriors of Clan Sperm Whale are considered Axebeach's elite special forces.
Sea Monsters are rarely used as components to build undead for two main reasons. First and foremost, they are more valuable when chopped into parts and sold. The second problem is that Niechbaux himself forbids it under the terms of his fealty; Most of his golems come in models that are capable of traveling underwater, and as such he considers swimming undead competition.
You ask about walking undead, as presumably his golems walk as well, and he explains those are permitted. He couldn't possibly make enough golems to account for every undead raised in Axebeach, but aquatic undead is a niche market with little demand that Niechbaux's output can easily meet.
---
"I feel an object endlessly falling through a realm of air... It doesn't seem alive, but does come across as powerful. I'm going to pull it in," you warn those gathered.
With a mighty metaphyiscal tug, you pull the object back to solid ground, and it lands with a heavy crash just outside the circle. It is some type of construct made from various gems and metals, in the shape of a large quadruped grazing animal. It likely
was inactive, but the impact of being dragged across several realms and dumped on your hard cave floor has it stirring.
You let the strange golem wake up, before trying to communicate with it. It seems sentient, but speaks no language that anybody present recognizes. A wight helpfully suggests that it may be cycling through several indigenous languages from Titan Rock, but adds that such tounges are poorly documented and often short lived. After about twenty minutes of trying to talk, the construct lets out an ear-piercing shriek, likely out of frustration. Although you doubt the thing actually means you any harm, the yell makes you jump, and for a brief instant fear for your life, and that fear is all the tentacle demon decides it needs to attack.
Your demon wraps itself around the construct, and they both start grappling on the ground as neither seems equipped to do much harm to the other. Sir Evander Skorn, the wight captain, draws some sort of artifact blade, and starts hacking bits off the construct to end the fight. It takes a few swings, one of which inflicts minor damage to your demon, but the Golem is eventually deactivated, leaving you to sort through the scrap.
Upon closer inspection, the bulk of the beast is made of up ceramic material that has been heavily modified via alchemy; One of your Wights, Lady Medusa Skorn, suggests the material is from Ashblast, one of the Titan Rock city states that is famous for using alchemy and enchantment to create clay and glass that surpasses any mundane metal, and many modified or magical ones, in terms of combat effectiveness and utility. She then adds, however, that if the golem or its creator came from a major Titan Rock city-state, it would have likely spoken a language she understood.
You recognize one of the gems on the beast as a switchboard, a device used by enchantment based Dark Mages to store demonic contacts; If you used it with the projection stage or summoning circle, you could contact whatever demons the golem was in touch with. You could also work with a very skilled enchanter to translate the stored data into proper hexes for the demons, allowing you to know their name and as much about their role and personality as their Hex effects might teach you. Four of the other gems are also clearly enchanted, and one of the Wights who practices that trade notes that they are the golem's power source, and that the technique used to enchant them does in fact point to the primitive folk of Titan Rock. The Switchboard, however, he notes, seems likely to have been enchanted by dwarven hands
+4 Enchanted Power Gems
+16 Assorted Precious Gems
+2 Tons of Unknown Augmented Ceramic Material
+New Possible Contact/Household Member - Medusa Skorn [Undead Minion]: A woman born to an elite merchant from the City State of Lagoona, who spent her youth wandering Titan Rock before marrying into House Skorn to secure a trade deal for her parents. She knows much of the lore of Titan Rock, although her information is well over a millennium out of date---
"I going to pull something out now... I have no clue what it is, but I can actually feel the darkness radiating off of it... Pulling it out now."You pull a small demon, about the size of a chubby human toddler, out of nowhere. On instinct, you wrap the creature in a tight embrace to weave your hex into it as strong as you can get it before it recovers from the shock of being summoned and starts squirming. You drop it to the ground, calm yourself with a deep breath, and examine your catch.
It appears to be a large and chubby worm, completely and monochromaticly black in color to the point that its features are difficult to make out unless it is moving. You know this is a fairly rare form of parasitic minor demon known as a Darkluster Grub, which latches onto, burrows into, feeds from, and eventually comes to control a mortal host. The preferred diet for such a demon is the radiant energy found within all gems, and especially enchanted ones, so victims of this demon develop an insatiable appetite for gems and even glass. As the scarab grows stronger, it slowly modifies its victim with inorganic features until it feels it is strong enough to dominate other members of the victim's race. It then hijacks the victim's reproductive system and sets out to reproduce, typically outputting litters that are about 1/4th fully mortal, 1/2 half demon, and 1/4th full worm.
The creature is easily bound to an unconditional contract. As soon as the contract is made, you know more about it; It does in fact understand the common language of the kingdom, but lacks the proper mouth bits to speak. You can tell it longs for a host, and that the enchanted crystals you picked off the golem would quickly give it strength to modify and properly control its mortal victim. A large animal, perhaps Fortune's snake, would be ideal if you wanted it to control a bruiser, and you are sure the orcs of Clan Ivy would line up and volunteer for the honor if you wanted it to possess a more versatile and skilled host.
You also know that some dark mages who manage to bind such a creature elect to serve as its host themselves, using their control over the worm to prevent it from controlling them. Such an arrangement would force the demonic bug to modify your body in only the manner of your choosing, and if you allow it access to your reproductive system, you could start having children again - quicker and far less painfully than the human norm would dictate. Becoming a demonic rock monster and laying clutches of demonspawn eggs, however, is the sort of action one would only take if they were willing to fully abandon the kingdom and its standards of decency.
+Unconditional Servitude Contract with an Unnamed Darkluster Grub. It is presently set to dwell in the cave.
---
"Something in the realm of emotion is feeding off my hatred and desire for vengeance... I'm going to check that one out."The creature puts up no struggle as you pull it out, and at once it dawns on you that you may have been tricked by a being concealing its true power. With a loud pop a variety of Greater Demon that is ironically known as a serene guardian appears before you. You quickly take advantage of the metaphyiscal connection created by its feeding from of you to hastily weave a weak copy of your hex into its soul before the dangerous demon gets its barrings.
Serene Guardians are tall humanoids with silver flesh and devil-like horns on their head. They feed on powerful emotion that is both negative and aggressive, such as hate and fear, leaving their victims less aggressive until the drained emotions replenish themselves. Although it is not necessarily designed for combat, it is still a greater demon, so the creature is powerful; It is likely that the force you have assembled could prevail against it in battle, but the body count on your side would be high, and it could hurt somebody important such as Dublin or yourself. To make matters worse, Serene Guardians instinctively feed off the flight or fight response of others, which means they usually land the first blow or two of any fight they are involved in. Against such a powerful demon, your untrained and weakly installed hex will only allow you to force a contract that greatly benefits the demon in question.
If the demon wasn't muting your fear, you would have likely just bound it to a whole host of favorable terms as quickly as possible to protect yourself, but as it stands, you find yourself negotiating with the beast. It introduces itself as Julslove, and helpfully points out that combat would likely go poorly for both sides, so it would be willing to allow you to simply return it from whence it came. It does, however, find the hatred you possess for your husband's killer to be quite delicious, and would much rather come to terms with you if possible.
After going back and forth, you come up with a few contracts that Julslove is willing to accept, although you could just send it back, or use binding to force it into taking a highly favorable deal of your choosing.
-Extended physical and emotional contact would allow the demon to feed on you regardless of your location relative to it, and as such Julslove would be willing to serve you unconditionally if you took it as a lover. You suppose your desire to protect and reclaim your children's inheritance would keep you motivated even if the demon was constantly feeding on your hatred for the prince, and his powers could also be used to keep Syzzik, Dublin, and any others interested in you pacified if they are hurt by the arrangement.
-You mention your skill as a potion brewer, including the fact that you can easily produce potions capable of influencing emotional states. This fascinates him, and he would agree to serve you if allowed to live openly among the residents of Groghall, as long as you ensure the mead is constantly spiked with mild potions of fear or wrath so as to allow him to farm the residents.
-Upon hearing about Glen Horton and the hatred he holds, he agrees to serve you for as long as you in turn make Glen serve him. You know Glen would despise serving as a meal for some demon... which would only serve to make his emotions all the sweeter to Julslove.
-He would be willing to serve you for four days a week if put in charge of the prison at Guard HQ for the other three; Torment is a great, but rather crude, way to bring out hate.
---
After the fishing is complete, you inform Dublin that you had fun, and ask how he might fare against stronger demons, such as a Blitzbeast or Realmanglar. He notes that those are rather specific types of demon, and asks what you have planned. You tell him about your scheme to invade a demon realm and ambush a couple greater demons who are likely to try and assassinate an ally of yours.
When you start mentioning names, his eyes light up. Yaugur is considered one of the inquisition's greatest heroes, and to fight alongside him would be a dream come true... but it is the thought of fighting Meniaop that really gets him exited. As a dangerous demon whose name frequently comes up in lore, the Blitzbeast would be one hell of a trophy. He then, dejectedly, mentions that he would be out of his depth, and that any human would be; A blitzbeast that powerful would be fast enough to slaghter several dozen humans in the time it would take him to perform a brief smiting incantation, and resilient enough that it would likely take several such hits for Dublin to disable it.
He finds the fact that you knew him well enough to extend the invitation touching, however, and proposes that the next date be a research session. He just received the latest edition of
The Inquisitorial List of the Damned, which catolouges all beings known to the Priestly Order as active or potential threats to the Kingdom's peace. He suggests spending some time trying to find a particular demon that the two of you are capable of going after together... perhaps with Yaugur's help.
As he leaves the cave, he works up the courage to mention that if you wish to give romance a shot, that he knows of a quiet spot on the river overlooking a waterfall about an hour outside of town where the study session could take place.
You thank Dublin, and promise to consider the offer, but add that you are already planning a surprise for your next date. Yaas' perception hex can offer you a degree of protection from a Sucubus' charms, but it have an inquisitor around should ensure the demon remains on her best behavior.
---
Shaman Crank is invited to Groghall for dinner, which he thoroughly enjoys, and afterward you pull him aside for a private meeting. You explain the situation with Meniaop and Tetha as best you can, and ask if he thinks Meniaop can be brought in to serve as a go-between.
He considers the offer for a second before answering.
"I know the demon of which you speak, and could set the ball in motion to get him in touch with you, but I think you might be even better off if you make your visit to the Chieftess first. She has plans involving divine politics, plans you are to be a part of, and I think controlling The Girl Foretold may be to our benefit in these plans. I wish I could tell you more, but she forbids me to discuss her goals on this side of the gate."After meeting with Crank, you find Wenesday, and ask him to tail Greent. She promises to do her best, and leaves to gather her stuff for the mission.
Friday is also payday, and at long last Syzzik has whipped Peat's record-keeping into shape, so for the first time you know the exact amount you are getting. +8001 Silver for the week.
2334th Year of Man, 5th Month, 13th Day:SaturdaySaturday is the day you only teach potions. Arriving in class, you discover that Palm has already taught the students to make both healing and narcotic potions. You couldn't have taught them that in a single class, and wonder if Palm might actually have some teaching experience. She watches judgmentally as you try to lead your students through the process of brewing a potion to enhance physical strength. By the time class wraps up, most of them have got it down.
You return the old orc's glare on the way out the door. You might have gained some respect for her, but get the feeling she is rapidly losing what little she has for you.
Over lunch, you comfort Virgil again, and weave the ol' soul taking Hex onto him when you go in for a hug. Although the worst news has yet to hit, you convince your old friend to get back to work on the matter of the shrine, instructing him to ask your steward about the maps when he gets back from Dark Magic class.
After talking with Virgil, you head to another Mead Hall, where Clan Ivy is keeping your share of the orphans in the basement. Only three of the kids, including the mutt, look old enough to start in any sort of trade.
After a bit of small-talk softening the boy up, The half-breed explains that his father is a Minotaur, a rare breed of bull person from Titan Rock who does mercenary work in the Orc Jungles and had a one-off encounter with his now late mother, The Smith Joss' eldest daughter. Two years ago, his father purchased share in a company that mostly works in the south end of the jungle, and as such is based somewhere in goblin lands, so he rarely visits the Kingdom anymore. He notes he is an apprentice smith, as is his half-sister, one of the other older orphans.
---
Wednesday returns earlier than expected, as she picked up on some key dirt quickly.
"Greent is in way deeper with those orcs than we thought. From what I've seen, he is in direct control of the operations of both Clans Fig and Scarab here in town. I picked that up just from tailing him - I guess Ivy doesn't tail kin, because I didn't see any of their spooks on him."She flashes a grin,
"But that isn't all. I broke into his room. He has a chest full of letters, and almost all of them are from his halfbreed bastards. He has about a dozen, and at least three are being raised here in town at the old customs building. There are also some letters from the High Shamans of both clans... Lots of high level discourse on divine magic and lore I didn't understand... but the takeaway is the kid is some sort of prodigy, and so are his offspring." That would explain how he is controlling the Orcs, a highborn human with good genetics for divine casting is desirable enough. Add to that the promise that his offspring might someday be kin to the heir to Redleaf Duchy, and you can see why the Orcs want to get close to Greent.
This plants a nightmare scenario in your head. Greent is close to the leaders of Clan Scarab, who do business with the leaders of Axebeach, some of whom suspect your actual identity. Greent is also a loyal student and pawn of Chasity, who has proven on several occasions that she is not above weaponizing scandal to get people out of her way. One of the last people in town you'd want to find out about Axebeach is the person who is among the most likely to find out...
---
2334th Year of Man, 5th Month, 14th Day:SundaySunday is your first full and proper day off from teaching; Palm is running the potions class, and the Wights are dealing with your Dark Magic students. With class taken care of, you spend much of the day touring Joss' old holdings with Caddor. Clan Ivy left all the large furnishings, but took everything else that wasn't nailed down. Caddor's rough estimate is that it will take at least seventy thousand silver and two months to establish a proper smithy, and that is if he gets lucky and finds enough skilled professionals in town. He would be more than happy to take on the job, however, as he has little better to do now that Dean no longer requires regular torment.
You then turn your thoughts to your options in terms of enchanting. Although you don't practice the art, you posses a solid understanding of the theory behind it, and know that the biggest obstacle will be to acquire a power source to enchant with. Souls and Divine Magic are the two most viable options. Legally, only members of the High Masons may use divine magic to enchant, and only members of the Valkyrie may collect souls (which must in turn be handed over to the High Masons). Although you doubt you can find that many idle priests, especially while in some sort of state of strife against the crown, if you are not afraid of flaunting your law breaking, there are plenty of unscrupulous soul collecting enchanters to go around, and the same can be said for orcish and deep deities who support their divine casters through the craft of artifact creation.
Less commonly used, but still viable, means of powering enchantment include tapping the river with an Enchanter's Wheel, the sort of complicated construction you are sure Virgil would love to help you build, and capturing or importing a steady stream of magical beasts or demons to drain of their energy. Harnessing lightning is also possible, but somewhat undependable unless you intend to keep a dozen or so air elementalists on your payroll. Of course the best power source for enchanters is a live volcano, but no such thing exists in Redleaf Duchy; The nearest one, Mt. Hellstorm, sits where the Ironheart Mountains meets the southern coast, deep in goblin country.
Power source aside, the techniques and tools used to perform enchantment varies greatly between those who practice the art. It might be wise to select one of the many enchanters you know for the job, and ask them what they would require to run a large scale operation.
Returning home from your exploration, you bump into Virgil again, who has just wrapped up his survey of the maps, which he managed to get Dreamer to give him without tipping the half breed, and consequently Can Half-Moon, off to the existence of the Lost Shrine.
Of the four main entrances, two seem inaccessible, located underneath sturdy orcish buildings constructed since the city was split, the other two, however might still be usable.
One is located in the old Underdark Duggout, a long and wide tunnel used as a marketplace by the deep races during the cities' heyday. The Duggout is now the home of Clan Tunnel, one of the larger and more aggressive ruins clans. There is no way Clan Tunnel would not demand a cut of the Shrine Loot, but they are closely affiliated with both Clan Spear and the Kinkaids, so it might be possible to use your allies and broker a favorable deal.
The other entrance is located in Dead Leper's Cave, an often flooded former dark mage's hideout on the south bank of the river, now home to many feral zombies, a handful of particularly nasty sentient undead orcs, and the thirty foot long semi-demonic alligators that they breed. The Ruins Clans, and some clanless orcs in town, use it as a place to dispose of defective infants and the otherwise infirm. As it is not within the Kingom's limits, the inquisition has ignored it for so long that you are sure cleaning it out would be a huge job, especially as most of the Ruins Clans consider it sacred ground, and may attack interlopers trying to gain access.
Both entrances are metal staircases with false bottoms, that can be opened with a prayer to whichever god the Shrine is actually for. Getting in is a matter of putting somebody with a head for the lore of the Orcish Pantheon on the stairs, and having them pray to gods living and dead until the correct one is guessed.
When you retire to your room for the night, you receive quite the shock. A middle aged commoner woman is lying on your bed, wearing the sapphire studded undergarments Sylvester got you for your 40th birthday. You hadn't brought them with you when you left your husband for the last time, meaning the one of a kind article of clothing should still be locked up at Cleanriver Castle.
The intruder offers a confident smile, and introduces herself as Zeph's sister.
"I was told we had business to discuss, m'lady. My husband and I are interested, assuming you can meet our terms and conditions. Our price is simple; We have amassed vast wealth, and simply want what money cannot buy for our children."She casually rolls herself up in your blankets before continuing.
"My three youngest, two boys and a girl, shall each receive the proper titles, names, and acknowledgement of nobility, as well as their pick of spouses from among those captured counts and barons disloyal to your cause and their children.""My eldest daughter," she continues,
"obsesses herself with the unholy, and wishes to bear the offspring of mighty demons. For as long as she wishes, are to look after her, teach her the dark arts, and help arrange the encounters required to create the children she desires. If one of the children turns out to be passable for a full blooded mortal, it is to be declared and treated as nobility.""My terms are non-negotiable," she concludes, putting her feet upon the baseboard of your bed.
"If you agree, my husband and I will move into town, and at least one of us will be at your disposal at all times. We will also invest five million silver in your cause to start, and may contribute more money should it seem like your cause is a winning one."Alright. I will have some time tomorrow. Just give me suggestions for a full turn, and I'll see what I can do.
Author
Topic: (SG) The Redleaf Epic (Formerly Widow: A Duchess Scorned) (Read 66281 times)