25th Slate, 210, Mid-Spring
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Rith the deluded Duke is in the tower tugging away at his lever. Meanwhile, just around the corner, the child prodigy Ineth Olinurol is taking the floor apart because I told him he could have some +River spirit biscuits+ if he did. We don't really have +River spirit biscuits,+ or for that matter, any type of booze biscuit period. The image of a child slowly chipping away at the Duke's only path of escape from his fate is indeed an image of progress.
...And then Ineth got thirsty and left the job undone. Unbelievable... you'd think a child just does as it pleases! The child Mebzuth Febiden comes around later - Rith, amazingly, still pulling that lever like his life depended on it (really, his life depends on
not standing there pulling that lever, but we won't tell him that!) and finishes removing the floor. Immediately, I order a wall to be built in its place, which is set by Fikod Rig̣thishen.
The lever, truly, has no function other than to direct Duke Rith to a specific spot within the tower while we work. Eventually something
will happen, but it will be due to a different lever being pulled. Rith will be none the wiser.
"The tower is ready," Quietust tells me. "With the alterations you've made it should now work as intended."
"Excellent. By the way, what was all that nonsense Rith was going on about with me earlier? He called me a 'he' and said all sorts of things like I was... I don't know, royalty or something."
"Better than that... a
god."
"...Beg pardon?"
"I have told Rith no lies, Zon. I told him about the far away dwarven culture of The Violet Ink. Among their pantheon is a very particular god which took to Rith's interest..."
"And that would be?"
Quietust presented me with a masterfully engraved slate depicting the image of a mighty dwarven god, beard flowing and spread wide as if caught in a terrible tempest, his judging gaze peering deep into me. My eyes wandered lower to the inscription beneath the portrait... and my heart nearly leapt from my chest.
"You are a god, Zon. At least, you share a name with one in a foreign land. But as far as Duke Rith is concerned, you are the walking physicial embodiment of The Violet Ink's god of order."
"Quietust...
you convinced Rith that I was this god?"
"Indeed. I didn't even need to lie... I simple left out a few key details."
"Do you think... perhaps you could convince others of this?"
"Perhaps... but Rith is simple-minded. He didn't even notice that you are female, a direct contradiction to the depiction of this god here. If you want me to help you with this, find a skilled liar to make an appropriate forgery."
"You really would help me... but why, Quietust?"
"As I explained, you are my case study. Grave decisions are being made by your hand, all on account of your royal mission. The nature of the mission is affecting your psyche in ways never before examined, and I am fascinated by the path you take. Some very big things are going to come of this, and I want history to remember what a dwarf can be driven to do under the right influences."
"Yes... yes, you're correct! We're making history here! After this mission kills me, the world should know about what happened here! All the world should know my name - and until then, let them worship it!"
The Wise Quietust nodded sagely. "Ah, I see now what it is that motivates you, Zon. It should have been obvious once I deduced that you weren't in this for profit. The number two reason why someone would go forward with your plans."
I motion to a particular lever in the dining room - one that had been pulled once before, but was met with unflattering results. "Ladies and gentledwarves, it's time! The Molten Tower of Zon is complete! In the names of our masons who constructed this holy landmark stone by stone, and in the names of the mechanics who saw to the completion of the tower's machinated heart, I give you, without further ado, the first launch of the Igneous Path!"
"Igneous Path?" Asob piped up. "You can do better than that!"
"I wish my husband were here to see this!" exclaimed the soon-to-be-widowed Duke Consort Kib Snakesrelic.
((DFMA)) ((Movie)) "Pull the lever!!"
Author
Topic: Severedcoils - Consort Accumulation Challenge (Score: 5) (40d + DnD 5e) (Read 130412 times)