Hmm. I'm torn between overtaxation and speaking out against the priests.
...
Ah, we have some converted priests still, and turning them against us might lead to a bit more attention than we need.
Overtax the peasantry, leading to starvation and dissent.
You shall work on corrupting the courtiers of the castle.
You decide it's a bad idea to burn down Nuulyd.
The courtiers may seem unimportant, but they control the gossip and rumours of the place. With them under our control not only will we prevent the Duke from becoming isolated, which isn't what I want for him personally, but we'll maintain a facade of normality while the court slides ever deeper into darkness.
The villagers quail before the mercenaries accompanying the tax collector. The pompous official clears his throat, before reading from a scroll;
The Honourable Duke decrees, that the taxes throughout the eastern province have been too low for many years.
To rectify this issue, and to make up for lost income, taxes this year shall be doubled.
Any peasant who does not pay his taxes shall have his property revoked, up to but not exceeding the value of the lost revenue.
Any attack or protest towards the bearer of these words shall be met with due punishment.
-signed, The Duke.
The peasants murmur. Some burst into tears. One or two shout a few words of defiance, but quickly fall silent as members of the 'bodyguard' advance threateningly towards the crowd. In due course they round up what coin they can spare, find it is not enough, and round up the coin they can not spare. When this too proves to be insufficient, they are forced to hand over anything of value. The mercenaries snatch family heirlooms from weeping villagers, drag pigs out of their pens, and suggest to those families with neither that a stint of military service on the part of their eldest son may suffice. Eventually, the 'tax men' leave, carrying sacks full of coin and loot, a small herd of pigs and a gaggle of young men in tow.
The despondent villagers consider, for the briefest moment, complaining to the Duke about their lot, but agree that it would be pointless, and return to their ruined lives with hopeless hearts.
This scene is repeated all across the province. Sometimes the villagers put up resistance, and are quickly crushed. Sometimes a village has had a good year, and are able to pay their taxes without suffering all too terribly. The village of Fellshore somehow manages to avoid the attention of the tax collectors entirely. But in general, the mood is despondent. A malaise hangs in the air, a certain aura of suffering that makes the lives of those within seem even worse. It is in some sense fortunate, then, that the low-grade evil is flowing away, following the herds of pigs and sacks of coins to Brylib Castle, where it converges, suffusing the castle with a sinister atmosphere. It is in a far more accurate sense most unfortunate, for this energy is vacuumed up by the demon Nokluvgn, who for the first time in weeks experiences a true rush of energy.
In addition to empowering the demon, he directs the evil energy into the rat packs that infest the bowels of the castle. Infused with its corrupting influence, they grow larger and fiercer, and grow stubbly horns on their heads- soon three packs of Giant Rats emerge from the dungeons in a great wave, overwhelming the guards on duty, before leaving the castle and heading out into the land, to sow havoc on the crops in the fields, and breed until they are as a plague upon the countryside.
Meanwhile, the Duke addresses his court, telling them of the new taxes he has imposed, and of the feast he intends to hold with the proceeds. The courtiers murmur their assent, with only a handful of individuals raising concerns for the plight of the peasantry. The Duke laughs in a slightly concerning way, seemingly at nothing, and the court duly laughs with him.
...
You have gained strength over these past two weeks, as your efforts whispering in the dreams of the Duke, his advisers, and his court, have paid off. Though you are stretched thin trying to manage the corruption of all those different groups at once, without any of them noticing, you still managed to create a new host of minions to plague the countryside. But you begin to grow weary of this court intrigue. Perhaps it is time to move on. You decide to
-Stay here corrupting the court for a little while longer. You cannot risk them awakening from their corruption.
-Begin straight-up converting as many members of the court as possible, starting with [the Duke/the advisers/the courtiers/the mercenaries/other]
-Leave the court intrigue in the hands of Mischa, whilst you go out into the countryside to
-Assault some random village, to gain energy from its destruction.
-Begin corrupting and converting a new town or village.
-Returning to Fellshore to manage affairs there personally.
-Do something else.
Speaking of Mischa, she grows ever more desperate to acquire study materials. She has already taken to leaving the castle at night to visit the local cemetery and practice dark rituals there, but practice can only get her so far. She would surely be eager to serve you if you provide her with some avenue to further knowledge, such as
-Making her a Wordbearer, giving her an innate understanding of Evil as it courses through her veins.
-Casting out with your mind for traces of Necromancy, in the hopes of finding either a living Necromancer to tutor her, or a tome left behind by one.
-Trying once again to explain to her how to manipulate Evil. You just, you know, do the thing, you know?
-Gods above, what a needy bitch. Just focus your corrupting influence on her and she will serve you regardless. I mean, you did promise not to do so, but not all demons keep their promises.
Not such a long update this time (even though it covers two weeks), but it does finally have you gaining some more power. So long as the Duke's court remains corrupt, you should gain a small amount of power each week from hoovering up the suffering in the province.
Name: Nokluvgn
Age: 5.5 months
Physical might: 35 (+10: province-wide suffering)
Mental might: 33 (+10: province-wide suffering)
Followers:114 (85 villagers, 4 Wordbearers, 14 rich people, 6 councilfolk, 3 knights (heavily armed), 1 ex-priest, 1 mercenary captain)
Slaves: 12 (4 priests, 1 high priest, 7 guards (armed))
Servants: 13 (4 Brutewolves, two Smokewraiths, one devil-horse, 3 spectres, 3 giant-rat-packs)
Cults: The New Way (Fellshore): Low organization. 76 members in Fellshore (74 cultists, 1 Wordbearer, 1 knight (heavily armed))
Power level: 13
Of which: 4 spent gathering resources, 5 spent expanding the labyrinth, 3 spent training.
Resources: 20
Other: Training is underway (15/30). Thanks to the tunnel network, the cult can act in relative secrecy with only a minimum of unspent power. The village appears totally normal at first glance.
The New Way (Nuulyd): 36 members in Nuulyd. (11 cultists, 2 Wordbearers, 14 rich people, 6 councilfolk, 2 knights (heavily armed), 1 ex-priest)
Slaves: 11 (4 priests, 7 guards (armed))
Power level: 9 (should've been higher previously, forgot to include the slaves)
Of which: 4 spent recruiting new members
Resources: 1
Other: Though not quite as successful, the New Way manages to recruit three more wealthy merchants (one of which is female), and two more members of the town council (ditto).
Champions: Mischa Alwiz: The Duke's 'loyal' companion, now corrupted by the allure of evil.
Physical Might: 1
Mental Might: 6
Knowledge: Magic, basic Necromancy.
Other: Her efforts in the cemetery were a total failure, a mishandling of the evil energy there resulting in a small explosion that woke people throughout the area. Her nightly visits have been suspended for now, to prevent suspicion from growing.
Fortresses: Fellshore: A small fishing village nestled between a small lake and a forest (with mountains not so far in the distance), now undermined with tunnels and chambers forming a twisted maze, lit with smoky torches, where the shadows form strange shapes in the corner of your eyes.
Small tunnel network: increases secrecy of local cult. Being upgraded (40/50)
Small (hidden) altar: A suitable place to sacrifice to you and praise your dark name.
Author
Topic: Demonhood 2 -Number of giant minions lost: between 0 and 3- (Read 143891 times)