My proposal for this turn action:
Dismiss Kate by telling her that so far she is nothing but the first in the line of mothers of your future children and if she wants you to spend time on her, then she needs to become even stronger and deserve a spot of a concubine in the future
I think it is a proper demonic course of action.
Take Mischa and her magic students(including Kate) to the abandoned temple that serves as the den for our brutewolves. Teach Misha and\or Kate how to control brutewolves. Leave our mage and her students in the forest with an order to study necromancy here and raise a small undead army while doing so. Mischa may get ingredients she needs for her project by ordering brutewolves to bring her some
Furthermore, take a canine form and mate with the strongest female brutewolf making sure that Kate sees it.
We should have a lot of body fragments there and it is a good source of undead. We could raise it ourselves but it spends our energy and... that low level necromancy should be done by mortal servants anyway.
Getting one more demonic child is a nice investment and Kate needs to see that our words are true.
Then travel to Nuulyd, settle in the local temple and spend days aiding your cult in recruiting more people. Spend nights corrupting dreams of townsfolk feeling their thoughts with distrust and hatred toward Tokzoku Empire and its greedy merchants. Nuulyd townsfolk should see nothing wrong in doing evil stuff against bronze-skinned savages. Cheating them, stealing from them, robbing them and even killing them should become morally acceptable because Tokzoku empire deserves that.
Our Cultists in Nuulyd deserve to see their master again. We want more evil in the world and this kind of xenophobia is great for this task. We may want to start a war later and this is a good start.
I liked the idea of training our sacred wordbearers, we should incentive them to join the training to be powerful leaders, and later help train others with less power usage.
Send at least one smokewraith to scout the situation of all the forts Nokluvgn knows the existence in the province, and maybe some others that the smokewraith could find by his own .
He should report which fort is in ruins and/or abandoned which is inhabited solely by wilderness/dark beasts and at last which are occupied by minor nobles/bandits/regular stuff
[spoiler]
Yeah? Yeah.
You breathe a plume of smoke over Kate, sending her into a coughing fit. You are not special, you remind her, you are not unique. You are merely the first to receive the honour of bearing my children, not the last, not the most important. You may be a Wordbearer, but you are WEAK. If you want to be special, WORK FOR IT.
Kate scampers away, apologising. Mischa is totally not watching and is totally not laughing.
You lead a group of nine (Mischa and her students) away from Fellshore, through the haunted woods, to the ruined shrine that your brutewolves call home. Considerable redecoration has happened since you left. Bones crunch underfoot, both human and animal. Half-eaten corpses litter the clearing, some hanging from the branches, others piled up into grotesque nests of rotting flesh. The remains of those wolves who did not survive the violent mating of the brutewolves are piled to one side.
Eight of the beasts surround your followers, snarling through gore-soaked muzzles. You command them to stand down, and they obediently lie prone, still watching the cultists through their burning eyes. You tell Mischa to give an order to the brutewolves. She does so somewhat hesitantly, commanding one to roll over. It considers her, as if weighing whether to obey her or rip out her throat, before eventually turning over onto its belly. The other cultists do less well in controlling the beasts, their grasp of evil too weak for the brutewolves to recognise them as their masters. Kate is more successful, ordering all eight brutewolves to stand on their back paws with a wave of her hand, giggling in delight as the beasts wobble back and forth. She makes to pat one of them on the head, but it snaps at her- even a Wordbearer cannot make a brutewolf docile.
You tell the aspiring magicians that this shall be their home until their training is complete- that the innumerable corpses shall serve as fodder for their experiments. At your behest, Mischa demonstrates the technique required to raise the dead. She manipulates the evil in the air with practised ease, causing half a dozen tattered bodies to lift themselves up as she raises her arms, guttural moans emanating from their rotten lungs. The cultists look suitably impressed; Kate laughs dismissively. However, her confidence proves premature, as neither she nor any of the others are capable of causing more than a few twitches. Mischa smirks, and assures them all that raising the dead is not so easy as she makes it look; they will get there in due course.
Once the cultists have made their camp in the ruined shrine, left mostly unspoiled by the brutewolves, you set about proving the truth of your words to Kate. You have the brutewolves go out and capture eight travellers, whose terrified forms you tie to stakes in the clearing. In the light of the moon you summon the strongest of the female brutewolves, whilst your cultists take blunt knives to the captives, filling the night air with their tortured screams. As the sweet melody of suffering fills your ears, you transform into a massive wolf, half as big again as the biggest brutewolf, teeth like knives, eyes like blazing torches, smoke rising from your ash-coloured fur. The evil emanating from your monstrous form, and the pained cries of the captives, sends the female brutewolf into heat, her own eyes burning nearly as brightly as yours. As Kate and Mischa look on in a mixture of horror and fascination, your bestial forms intertwine, bone-chilling howls of pleasure echoing up towards the waning moon. After a few minutes, you withdraw from the exhausted wolfess, leaving your dark seed within her.
You consume several of the tortured captives to replenish your energy, before transforming back into a more familiar form. You tell Mischa that the remaining captives are for her to do with as she pleases, and that the brutewolves will supply her with more should she need them. She thanks you, still somewhat shaken by the preceding display, and mentions that once she has completed testing, she will need a larger supply of victims to complete the device- perhaps a hundred to start with? You promise to think of some way of providing these to her by the time she is ready to construct the urn.
With that, you leave behind the forest clearing and its mystery shrine, travelling to Nuulyd, which you enter in the guise of a simple traveller. You find the town much as you left it, albeit with a larger cult presence, and consider how best to consolidate your control over the town. You lend some of your energy to your cultists as they attempt to recruit more members, giving their words a hypnotic quality that more easily convinces listeners to join them for some 'theological' discussion. Meanwhile, you set your own efforts to personally converting the most prominent inhabitant of the town; the mayor. She had already succumbed to a certain degree of corruption when you first starting organising feasts here, and though she has so far avoided joining the feasts of the New Way, she has done nothing to stop them, even though she must know they are happening.
You visit the mayoral mansion, asking to speak with her. The doorman takes one look at you and makes to slam the door in your face. You hold the door open with your finger and ask him again, this time unwilling to take no for an answer. He shakes his head groggily and lets you in, before looking around confused and closing the door. When you reach the mayor's office, she seems equally unhappy to see an uninvited guest in her home. You tell her that it is an honour to be visited by you, whereupon she comes to her senses and welcomes you inside, offering you a seat and a drink. You accept a glass of her most expensive alcohol, which you subsequently dump on the floor.
How can she help, she asks. You explain that you are here representing the New Way, a charitable organisation that has set up in her town. She nods knowingly, mentioning the parties to which she has been invited before. Yes indeed, you say, and you are here to once again ask her to join them at such an event. A more private event, you understand, invitation only- you quite understand that she is too busy to visit just any old party, but this one is special. Oh, no, she couldn't possibly. She is so busy, too busy. You nod and smile, but urge her to reconsider, a touch of mesmerism underlying your words. She wavers somewhat, but maintains that she has so much work to do. Maybe you could help her with her work, you say. After all, she deserves a break. She seems to consider your offer for a minute, before regretfully shaking her head. She apologises, and promises to consider it in the future, but she really cannot. Frustrated, you leave her office. Clearly more work is required before this strong-headed woman will join your cause.
You return to the temple, which has been redecorated since you last saw it, now 'restored' to a more ordinary-looking temple, the signs of your influence are harder to notice. The subtle differences between this and a holy temple render any divine protection moot, whilst seeming ordinary enough that the common people can once again be allowed admittance to the main hall, where a combination of Wordbearer-controlled priests and 'priests-in-training' (your cultists) feed them the religion they desire, but twisted and dark, blackening their souls as they listen to the heretical sermons.
Within the inner sanctum, you dream, spreading your tendrils throughout the town. Cackling Tokzukans count their riches whilst Nuulydians starve in the streets. Their distant emperor directs them to infiltrate the town in preparation for its conquest by the empire of light. The bronze-skinned foreigners whisper to each other, speaking of plans to drive the natives from their homes with honeyed words and 'fair trade'. They mix poisons with the spices they offer for sale, slowly killing those who buy their unnatural goods.
There has been peace and trade between the two nations for so long that most people dismiss these visions as just dreams, still offering smiles and kind words to their foreign friends as they pass in the street, but the seeds of doubt are planted, and you are a most patient gardener.
Three spectres and a smokewraith come before you to report their findings on the forts of Fözdoch. The three spectres go first:
An autumn leaf fell
As I looked upon the ruin
Three empty castles
The lonely bird sings;
Four noblemen made their home
In his nests of stone
A proud soldier stands
The winds blowing through his hair
Upon the olden wall
As you make strangling motions at the cackling ghosts, the smokewraith delivers
its report;
We found ten forts that have not fallen into complete disrepair. Of these, three were abandoned, and four were the homes of lesser nobles. The other three are still garrisoned by soldiers loyal to the Duke. I have marked their locations on a map, and made notes of the estimated garrisons
You decide that maybe you should use smokewraiths as scouts rather than spectres whenever possible.
Meanwhile, news comes from Fellshore that the surface of the lake has been unnaturally choppy lately, even in the absence of wind. Also, a foul smell can be smelt emanating from the water, and the fishermen say the fish are practically leaping onto their boats, as if desperate to get away from something.
In light of this news, you decide to
-Return to Fellshore, to welcome the beast(s) from the lake to your service.
-Return to Fellshore, to prepare to fight the beast(s) from the lake.
-Stay in Nuulyd, continuing to corrupt the town's dreams and convert its people.
-Do something completely different.
You may also want to describe what kind of thing you want to see from your Brutewolf offspring. Again, you don't know how the demon/wolf nature will be distributed, but you can decide on what
kind of things you want to see. Also, you can choose the gender, if you care (otherwise I flip a coin).
Name: Nokluvgn
Age: 7.75 months (.25)
Physical might: 49 (+3 p/w: province-wide suffering)
Mental might: 45 (+3 p/w: province-wide suffering)
Followers:246 (157 cultists, 8 cultists (armed), 29 trained cultists (armed), 40 mercenaries (armed), 6 Wordbearers, 7 knights (heavily armed), 1 Duke)
Slaves: 12 (4 priests, 1 high priest, 7 guards (armed))
Servants: 52 (8 Brutewolves, 3 Smokewraiths, 15 spectres, 3 giant-rat-packs, 10 black imps, 8 skeletons, 4 Hollow Remnants, 3 fungal druids, 6 zombies)
Cults:
The New Way: Low organization. 196 members (107 cultists, 8 cultists (armed), 29 Nails (armed), 40 mercenaries (armed), 6 Wordbearers, 5 knights (heavily armed), 1 Duke)
Slaves: 12 (4 priests, 1 high priest, 7 guards (armed))
Power level: 26 (18 used)
Of which: 4 spent improving the labyrinth in Fellshore, 3 spent recruiting in Nuulyd (sneaky-like), 3 spent recruiting & replacing in Brylib, 6 spent training cultists (18/32), 2 spent training cultists (magic, 6/10).
Secrecy estimate: Somewhat at risk in Oegorda (you think), but fine everywhere else.
Resources: 1143 (+40 p/week: Duke's income)(-7p/w: building labyrinth)(-10: Mischa's experiments)
Locations: Fellshore: Fortress
Nuulyd: Merchant & town council & jail connections.
Castle Brylib: Court connections+.
Oegorda: Nokluvgn may have been detected here.
Fözdoch Province (misc): No special features.
Other: Recruitment continues in Nuulyd. With your help, seven new recruits join the cult, increasing your control over the jail. In Brylib, conversion goes slowly, although the two converts who did join were both knights. With their new environment, magical study goes easier, and good progress is made. Also, two Wordbearers join the cultists in combat training, quickly catching up with the others thanks to their increased strength.
Champions:
Mischa Alwiz: The Duke's 'loyal' companion, now corrupted by the allure of evil.
Physical Might: 1
Mental Might: 7
Knowledge: Magic, adequate Necromancy.
Possessions: Grey imp (knowledge of human & demonic magic, disguised as a crow)
Other: Early attempts at extracting souls from her victims go quite well, as her -until now- entirely theoretical soul-binding spell works almost perfectly. I mean, of course it did, she designed it, after all. She now begins work on designing the containment unit, using the considerable resources of the cult to acquire all the materials she could ever want.
Malkus Rom: The captain of the mercenaries in the Duke's employ, he proved an especially eager convert, requiring only the most minor of rewards before pledging his loyalty to you.
Physical Might: 9 (+2: Devil-horse)
Mental Might: 2
Knowledge: Competent Tactics.
Possessions: Devil-horse (A huge black horse with demonic strength and intellect; +2 physical strength, greatly increased mobility)
Other: Travels between Brylib and Fellshore, organising the training of the cultists there.
"Kate": A female Wordbearer, trained in combat and provided with arms and armour, now the vessel for your demonic offspring.
Physical Might: 6
Mental Might: 4
Knowledge: Adequate Mesmerism, basic Magic.
Other: 1.25/9(?) months pregnant. After being chastised by you, she redoubled her efforts to learn magic, and much to Mischa's frustration, has acquired an understanding of all the basic principles of magic.
Demon-Brutewolf offspring: 0/2.5(?) months to birth
Physical Might: ?
Mental Might: ?
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 many tunnels and chambers forming a twisted maze, lit with smoky torches, where the shadows form strange shapes in the corner of your eyes.
Smallish labyrinth (10, increases secrecy)(being upgraded to Medium Labyrinth 42/200), Crude wall (construction halted. Defence value of 5. 32/100)
Hidden altar: A suitable place to sacrifice to you and praise your dark name. Recently upgraded to a nicer version. Mostly a cosmetic upgrade, though.
Author
Topic: Demonhood 2 -Number of giant minions lost: between 0 and 3- (Read 143948 times)