2334th Year of Man, 5th Month, 16th Day:
Tuesday
You affectionately return the merchant's hug, before delicately squeezing his chin with your fingers.
"I am aware of the possibilities of this device, that's why I am travelling there."
You then tighten your grip, and continue, "But it is too precious to use it just to do business. You should stop thinking in silver, and start thinking in souls, that's where the power actually resides."
Syzzik pauses for contemplation, before pulling your hand off his chin and cupping it affectionately between his own. "There is some truth to that, but even in Toombs, the great city state run by dark magic, coin is still important. There are plenty of important things too mundane to waste the souls of mortals or the time of demons upon, that are still vital enough that one must have them anyway."
He grins, "That said, if you really want me to learn to think in souls, I'll give it a thought. I own some texts on the economics of dark magic; Perhaps I should get around to reading them."
Before saying goodbye, you tell Syzzik that he may send you the letters on introduction; He should have a messenger bring them to Redding, who knows to leave them on your bed for Wednesday to bring to the kinfehouse.
2334th Year of Man, 5th Month, 17th Day:
Wenesday
You chat with Virgil a bit over breakfast. Count Gulf is doing fine, considering the circumstances, and is impressed by both the gate and the castle it sits in. The demons are a bit unerving, but he knows enough about Yaugur to understand that he is fairly safe. You then ask if he would be willing to escort Joy to the highest tower and help her research Trance's religion, and after a bit of friendly prodding Virgil agrees.
Fortune, escorted by Rugath and her pet Jungle, are given permission to pass through the gate and spend the day in the Chieftesses garden. Father and Dean meanwhile, decide to take that tour of the castle.
You ask your hosts where you might find a private projection stage, and are lead back through the gate, into the empty city, and down to the damp and partially flooded basement of a large stone building where you find some Dark Magic Workstations. As soon as your escort leaves, you put a call into Talcutta. He is quick to guess why you have called.
"Found out about the joint account, didja?"
"Yeah," you answer, "whats up with that?"
The demon shrugs, and offers a grin. "The Sea-Bosses have been trying to set up a privateer fleet on Axebeach's behalf for some time now. The last Overboss was deadset against it, so they they decided not to gamble on the whims of the new boss, and make the arrangements before he or she was installed. They sent me enough souls to buy out my contract to the family business, arrange a fleet, and hopefully purchase a crew of mortal slaves."
"And you just assumed I'd be fine with this?" You scowl.
The Realmanglar glances at you sheepishly. "Honestly, the plans were in motion before Haggen picked the new Overboss. Before I knew it was going to be my own great-grandbaby, the plan was to keep my existence secret from the Overboss so we wouldn't have to cut them in. Don't worry though, I explained who you are, and the Sea-Bosses are cool with you being involved."
You sigh. "You told the Sea-Bosses who I am?"
Talcutta's grin widen's with enthusiasm. The thought that you might wish to conceal your new office from others had clearly never crossed his mind. "Yup. They are already close to your in-laws... Well the younger ones anyway. You cementing their relationship with Port County will be a huge boon, both for Axebeach in general, and the Sea-Bosses influence over the gang."
Crap. Now it is all but guaranteed Redding's brothers are going to find out about your new position, but it could be worse. The older Strongcurrent Boys are committing treason in their own right by dealing with Axebeach, something their staunchly lawful father is likely in the dark about. It is unlikely they would allow word to get out.
You learn that Talcutta is still shopping for a good deal on a fleet, and hasn't spent any of the souls yet. You could just tell him to cancel the plans and give the souls to you, but doing so would likely piss off the Sea-Bosses and ruin Talcutta's credibility with them.
---
After wrapping up your meeting with Talcutta, you meet with an escort of several Clan Ivy enforcers to make the journey from the castle to the docks and meet the arriving Chieftain Shark. Halfway down to the docks, however, you are chased down by Virgil, who manages to make you turn around with only a few fragmented sentences.
"Maeris! Come quick! Joy has gone into labor!"
At first you panic. The child is coming a month early, which cannot be healthy. Then the obvious dawns on you, and you berate yourself for not anticipating an early birth; Goblin pregnancies are typically several months shorter than those experienced by humans, so an eight month gestation period for a halfbreed might not be unusual. With any luck, things should be fine.
You tell Virgil to tell Joy that you are fetching the potion for her child, and that you will be at her side as soon as it arrives, before running back to the workstations in the empty city, and playing a two hour game of telephone with Wednesday and the Knifehouse goblins to ensure delivery of the potion. As soon as Peat's brew is in your hands, you hurry to the makeshift delivery ward.
Orcs customarily allow their men to witness childbirth, so the whole family is gathered. Several shamans, as well as the expecting mother herself, employ divine magic to keep Joy comfortable, but can do nothing to speed the process up. As time passes, several guests arrive to watch as well. You get pulled aside for private discussions with two of them.
Chieftain Shark offers you his hardy congratulations on the event in progress, before briefly getting into business. He had caught wind of your plan to directly take the pledges of Ivy and Ape, and feels insulted that the offer was not extended to him. You apologize, and explain that the arrangement was made so as not to slight the Kinkaids, and this explanation satisfies him. He adds, however, that he would still much rather pledge your cause than theirs. You will have to consider this with care; Clan Shark is an enemy of Axebeach.
The second visitor is rather significant, as it is your first ever divine encounter; A fourteen foot tall orc with electric blue skin introduces himself as Bolt, the patron deity of Clan Gruel. Bolt has come to enjoy the festival this weekend, and to parlay with some of the other orcish gods over the copper wars. As Trance refuses to give him a private audience, and none of the other members of the eighteen have arrived yet, he figured he'd stop in and honor the birth with his presence. For a god, his mindset doesn't seem all that different from that of a normal Orc, and after greeting you, he spends some time convincing Dean to mate with the Shaman Tempest when he returns to Groghall, and eventually the pair leaves to negotiate over that in private.
2334th Year of Man, 5th Month, 18th Day:
Thursday
It takes well over twenty four hours for the child to be born, and during this time you can do little but pace the floor and fret. Fortune reassures you that she sees no tragedy in Joy's most immediate future, but this assertion can only calm you down so much; Father has to escort you from the room and make you eat on several occasions.
The child is a girl, with pointy ears, a flat face, and already developed teeth and claws. Her skin-tone and body proportions are within the human norm. Joy tries to name her daughter after you at first, but Dean reminds her that they already have a cousin named Maeris as well. She then chooses Lanette, to honor Count Gulf's recently deceased wife, a choice which nobody objects to.
Force-feeding an entire large bottle of potion to the screaming infant is difficult for everybody to watch, but the child is able to get it all down. Joy is nervous about nursing Lanette seeing as the infant already has teeth, but it is pointed out to her that goblin babies eat meat from birth; A raw fish is brought in, and little Lanette quickly proves this assertion to be correct.
You get a chance to hold her - she is sweet and adorable as infants tend tend to be, but you know deep down that you cannot acknowledge her as your granddaughter to a human audience. Still, you have the better part of a week to figure out what should be done with her.
---
When the sun-sets, you manage to pull yourself, Dean, and your demonic ancestors away from your new granddaughter to negotiate kinship with Clan Ivy. Your family is represented by you, Dean, Yaugur, and Gungor, while present for Clan Ivy are the Chieftess, her demonic father Traaaacieant, and the Goddess Trance herself, who appears as a shimmering black and purple cloud.
Trance speaks first, talking briefly of political and military goals before the discussion on kinship begins in earnest. In a powerful voice, Trance suggests that she is still at least a decade or so out from assembling another two or three trustworthy gods to join the new pantheon, and as such, you shouldn't depend upon her grand scheme to solve your short-term succession crisis. She thinks you should blatantly flaunt the laws of the kingdom, and accept some sort of exile at the bargaining table when you eventually get the crown to sue for peace. By openly practicing dark magic for a spell, you will establish yourself as somebody demons may wish to serve, and by eventually removing yourself from the kingdom's politics, you will allow yourself to work on building a demonic army full time.
Traaaacieant speaks next, explaining your role in the plan. Before the Chieftess can ascend and make war against the world, she must have the following demonic assets in place: A soul cleaning operation that specializes in making undead, A soul cleaning operation that specializes in making demons, A mining/materials operation, An operation capable of producing artifacts at a steady pace, An operation devoted to the banking and transfer of souls, An operation that trades in moral slaves and prisoners, and an operation devoted to covert operations across the demonic realms. In addition, a few dozen combat-worthy greater demons will be needed to fight alongside the clan's warriors, and another few dozen will be needed to guard the as-of-now empty city where all this will be based. It is on you to assemble and manage all these demons. To aid in this endeavor, Trance's enforcers/grandsons, Tooshel and Viishel, will answer to you directly, bending other demons to your will through threat, blackmail, and force.
The god and demon then fall silent and allows Chieftess Ivy to speak of Kinship. You get the feeling Trance, who was originally a deep deity and never an orc, may not be terribly comfortable on that particular subject.
Chieftess Ivy has a handful of ideas on how your blood can become intertwined with her own. As expected, some are easier to stomach than others, and she is willing to consider your ideas as well. She notes that she would be satisfied if you agreed to two of her suggestions, but adds that more is always better.
-Ivy herself wishes to partake in the blood of your demonic ancestors. Ideally she would like Gungor to help her father you some half siblings while she awaits ascension. Your father would rather another related demon do the deed, for your mother's sake, and Ivy agrees that such a mate would be acceptable.
-Ivy wishes the newborn Lanette to found her priesthood once she ascends. The child will likely need some demonic soul tweaking to further upgrade its divine casting ability to fit the bill, even after Peat's potion, but aside from that she has no strong preference to how the girl is raised between now and the Chieftess' ascension.
-In addition to ruling Redleaf as Duchess, Chieftess Ivy wants Joy to run her clan as High Shaman, and eventually Chieftess. She notes that Joy will likely have to forgo monogamy and produce many offspring of Orcish and Demonic ancestry to properly meet the duties of these offices, but that she is willing to make it up to Redding with two demigods; One born to Trance as soon as he pleases, and one born to Ivy as her first child post ascension.
-To make room for Joy to rule Clan Ivy, she would like Dean to consume the soul of High Shaman Crank. She suggests Crank will likely offer himself willingly, but as a Light-Eater Dean should be able to take him out if needed. If you would rather use Crank to your ends in the succession scuffle first, just make sure to hex his soul to end up somewhere that Dean can get at it should he die unexpectedly.
-She then wants Dean to take over House Bonedust from your uncle, and use his hand in marriage as leverage to perhaps win the loyalty of another powerful human family.
-Noting that some Grey Orc clans practiced the institution of marriage, Chieftess Ivy asks if you would consider taking the demon Nuxhidieon, who would reclaim his mortal name of Midieon, as your husband. Being publicly tied to one of dark magic's brightest minds will lend instant credibility to all your supernatural dealings. Nuxhidieon's next project is helping you reach some sort of immortal state so that you may run the demonic organization of Clan Ivy for all time, and this will go quicker if he is living under your roof and has unlimited access to your body and soul.
-You are also informed that Clan Ivy's agents are aware of your relationship with Axebeach. She suggests that you retire there after winning back the Duchy, so that you may live under Goblin law and take multiple spouses. In an ideal world, Ivy states that you will also be married to Rash or one of her likely heirs, so that you may also control the Agents and Confessors.
-As an alternative or in addition to all the other suggestions regarding both you and the Chieftess, the pair of you could pick a single mate to share over the course of the upcoming festival, drink fertility potions to ensure that you each fall pregnant, and claim sisterhood through your respective offspring, who would be siblings to one another themselves.
-Chieftess Ivy would gladly find a suitable Orc or Demon for Fortune once she is old enough to reproduce, but states she would rather not commit to doing so until she understands the whole Tetha situation.
After hearing everybody out, Yaugur speaks up and makes a demand of you. Reminding you that House Bonedust was founded out of loyalty to the Emmit Dynasty, he states that he cannot support Clan Ivy's plans unless the blood of the current royal family runs through his heirs. The easiest way to do this, he admits in a rather sad fashion, might be to force Rubricon to give Chasity several legitimate children before executing him, and marrying one of those children to his or her cousin born of Joy. Otherwise, you could get rid of Redding and hope to get an Emmit to defect and marry Joy, or hope to get lucky, and capture a royal young enough to eventually pair off with Joy's children.
2334th Year of Man, 5th Month, 19th Day:
Friday
The festival starts tonight at Sundown. You and the Chieftess had negotiated deep into the night, and both consequently slept in as a result. Your dress for the evening is of the sort that takes several hours to properly put on, so in short, you do not have much free time today.
Mortal dignitaries are pouring into the nearby inns, many of whom you know or have political connections to. You likely have time to make a visit or two and catch up or talk politics with one or two of the following people before the party:
-Chieftain Scarab runs a Sacred Clan that is pledged to Greent and Chasity, and that also happens to be one of Axebeach's major trade partners
-Dark Lord Haggen is represented by Faerix Bloodwalls, his wife and your old friend
-Axebeach is represented by Chieftain Sperm Whale and Underboss Roundup
-Clan Shark is represented by its Chieftain
-Dictator Garlelux of the Fiend's Eyes, a known enemy of Axebeach, is in attendance
-Oldur Brax, the Court Mage of Count Horace Marlowe is here
-For some reason, Lady Natalie Pence, Mayor of your husband's work in progress naval city of Penceport in Southjungle County, is at the party
-Clan Spear is represented by Elder Fox, believed to be the half-breed bastard of Phineas Kinkaid
-Clan Ape is represented by several master mages, including Coal, their head brewer and Peat's half brother
-Ralph Kinkaid, Charlie and Phineas' nephew, is here representing his family
As for the party itself, you have a choice to make. You will attend the opening speech, that is a given, but after that you must either choose to stay at the festival, and mingle with mortals of all races and upbringings, including the dignitaries above, or leave for the Chieftesses' private party on the other side of the gate, where you will be rubbing elbows with various demons, angels, and gods.
Word from the Knifehouse arrives as you are getting ready for the day. Redding reports that Trevor has been disposed as planned, but that the bad news you have been expecting about Virgil's family has also arrived.
Wednesday informs you that there is nothing substantial to report on either Redding or Greent.
Syzzik sends you three letters of introduction to get you in with several movers and shakers from Titan Rock whom he expects to show up at the festival.
The first letter introduces you to Kray-Kay Masthead, the eldest daughter of the owner of Lagoona's Piracy Guild. Syzzik notes that Lagoona is the only Titan Rock city state actively hostile towards the kingdom, and as such they may be friends to your cause. Kray-Kay is currently running pirate raids against some of the Goblin shipping lanes just south of the Gulf, which Syzzik suspects are actually official privateer missions sponsored by the Lagoona Government. Kray-Kay has access to advanced warships that are superior to anything in the Kingdom's fleet, save for captured Lagoona vessels of their own.
Inara Vice is a very skilled dark mage who was born to the ruling family of the City State of Toombs. She fled to orc lands to escape an arranged marriage, and makes a living performing dark magic for Clan Python and its allies. Your relationship with Clan Python is likely complicated; They are closely tied to the Cartel (they help Syzzik Smuggle and house Peat's goons), but they are also at war with your friends in Clan Gruel over copper. Syzzik notes that in addition to her Dark Magic, Inara is a practicing Titanic Priestess of Bog'Mortha. Divine Casters of the Titans are almost unheard of in the kingdom. You have never seen one in person.
Chieftain Ash was once a master glass-smith from the titanic city of Ashblast, but was exiled for teaching the cities' exclusive techniques to a non-native student, and since then has set up a small Orcish Clan. Using the Divine Casters of the jungle orcs as a power source, Ash can create high quality gear with little more than sand and a furnace. His clan puts Trance at the top of the Pantheon, and as such he is loosely aligned with Clan Ivy, whom he is trying to goad into joining the copper wars to win him better materials to work with.
Syzzik strongly encourages you to purchase Lagoona built ships, and to look for ways to end the Copper Wars quickly.
Considering Syzzik's offer, you then summon Chieftain Foot to help you out with your Orcish social activities, and mentally prepare for the day's business...