>>434174
You forgot to mention that his other wife is Immortal. He's also got a concubine and an apprentice that he shares his bed regularly with. Vamili's been getting around recently. Doesn't that just make you regret all those years you've been apart?

As for your last location... I'm pretty sure it's in the dead zone. Vamili's got his hands on the journal of the Mage Lord of Shadowmoor, and that would seem to be where his research led him. You'd probably want to get the directions from him. Of course, if you want to learn more directly from the horse's mouth, the Mage Lord wrote something about having to report to his mistress about this as soon as possible...

>Say, are you the one known as Beloved?
No. Beloved is more troublesome than even that Nina girl, since she and VML have a certain... how does one put it... attraction that gives her a certain amount of influence over him. It is annoying to say the least.

> is VML even aware that he has a magical rift in space-time growing in his soul?
No. He is not aware, and can not be made to become aware of it. Again, there are certain spells in play that do not allow me to speak further on the matter. To answer your other question, yes, if the sparks within VML go down, the rift gets smaller. However... VML would not willingly abandon sparks, nor would he abandon the chance to get more. He is... built that way.

>I'm pretty sure it's in the dead zone.
Pit. That is... troubling. That can only be... that, and... I do not relish the idea of going anywhere near... that. Hm... I will only need it for the final project... yes, I think I can do without it for now...

As for his mistress... hm. That will have to be her... no, I suppose it could be her as well... Pit. Too many variables. I will have to tread more carefully than I thought at the next meeting... Very troublesome...

>now what was that about? Jealous much?
No. He is... well, it can not really hurt I suppose. VML is first and only prince in line for the throne of the BSD, those who Speak, and is, in case that didn't make it obvious enough, my son. My only son. Therefore, what a few of you seem to be suggesting is both perverse and completely unfounded. My concern is directed more at her lack of appropriate blood-line, general lack of elegance and her inability to be truly trustworthy of my son's secrets.

Now then... I suppose it is time I left. I have matters to attend to, and waiting around an area that VML is around will not end well for me. I focus a moment, then feel white, feathered wings rip out of my back, bringing a sharp pain to my mortal form. I curse to myself, forgetting how painful that was, then drag my attention and beat my wings against the air experimentally. Yes, they function already and seem to have no issues. Another pause to take one final look around, and then I take to the air, heading north. That is where the first piece to the puzzle lies, and hopefully the stupidity of the humans has not broken it already.

===============

I am once again somewhere that is nowhere, and feel only the reassuring call of a chaotic mind. I drift towards it, feeling it come awake in mere moments, still tired but ready to continue forward...

Ah... so you lot are back then. I'm getting better at noticing your absence. Or maybe it's more the fact that I seemed to have gotten used to having you all around. Either way, welcome back.

Now then... I'm smashed between Tongues and Isrenow, and I can verify that it is not comfortable at all. Nina is more withdrawn in her clinging, content to simply be near me, but both Isrenow and Tongues prefer the super clingy method. It did not help me sleep at all. I even woke up at one point and swore I smelt a spark source that wasn't there before... eh, probably just delusional. Either way, upon waking up, I was informed that Nina wanted to see me as soon as possible by a messenger who'd been waiting quietly in my tent. About what, the messenger didn't know, but it can't be anything too bad.

I eventually manage to extract myself from tangle of limbs that is the clingy pair, and dress myself without any rush, yawning a little as I stretch. I've still got to consume some sparks as well, so once we get that out of the wa-

"My King! Quickly! We have trouble!"

I'm jarred from my thoughts by another messenger, this one slightly more panicked than the first. I grumble in annoyance and make my way outside, silent curses directed at whatever was interrupting my morning, and follow after the messenger, still taking my time. Whatever it is, it couldn't be that pressing. I'm an immortal after all, it's not like I don't have all the time in the world. I eventually arrive in the square to fine a large group of somebodies, all wearing extremely heavy looking armor. Looks a bit uncomfortable really. Can't think why you'd want to lumber around in all that.

The crowd of somebodies seem to be gathered together into a circle, clearly uncomfortable with the number of barbarians staring at them with mild interest. Weapons haven't been drawn yet, which I guess is a good thing, but they all smell like delicious sparks. Well, enchantment sparks, which isn't quite so interesting. Except for one...

"Hey! What in the Pit is going on?"

The armored men suddenly take notice of me, then all turn to face me and move as one giant armored mass of steel. The group arrives in front of me, then parts to allow me the view of some small child. The girl glares up at me, clearly annoyed by something, and I get the feeling I'm not going to like why they're here.

"Are you the leader of this band of... rabble?"

I find myself involuntarily twitch, some part of me quite proud of what I've done with my "rabble". Bitch wants to start that...

"And I suppose your the leader of the walking deathtraps?"

The girl blinks in surprise, then frowns. "... Death... traps? How are my guards deathtra-"

I prove my point gladly, setting the poor man inside one of the metal suits on fire and happily watch as he starts screaming his head off and roasting alive inside his own little Pit. I think I freaked the hell out of everyone who was watching. I find I don't care. Burn fucker, burn...

"Anyway. What were you here for again?"

The little girl is staring in horror as the man collapses, writhing in pain, and then turns on me. "Save him! Save him now!"

"Why?" I turn my gaze on the girl, letting every drop of malice I have for the mortals around me focus on her small little body. I see no reason why I should have to help her. It doesn't benefit me at all.

"Just... SAVE HIM! I'll... I'll... I DON'T KNOW! Just...."

I find myself frowning, this little game ceasing to be fun, and sigh in annoyance. "Fine." I cut the fire and hit him with some regeneration. That should sort him out... some. "Now why in the pit are you here?"

The girl bent down to check the man, and sighed in relief once she discovered the soldier was fine. Then she turned back to me, and angry expression clearly on her face. "Why did you have to go and do that?"

"Because you wanted to know why they were deathtraps. So I showed you. Now I asked you a question. Your either going to answer it or get labeled an enemy. I don't leave enemies alive." Just in case she hadn't noticed.

The girl frowns again, then sighs. "I had heard this place was in need of a mage-lord. I arrived and found it... occupied... by someone else. I doubt the king even knows or cares about what happened here, but I do care about it, mostly because I want power, and since you seem to be the winning side, I figured I'd throw my lot in with you, and see how everything turns out. So... you want me to swear loyalty or anything like that, or should I just... start working?"

I stare at the little brat, not quite comprehending what she's saying for a few moments. This little thing wants to be a mage-lord? I don't even see how that makes any sense. I understand that she's got some skill in magic, but... gods above, I don't understand mortals. Either way, I'm busy and don't have the time or inclination to deal with this. This seems more like an administrative thing anyway. I'll let Nina deal with it. Which reminds me...

"That's not my job. You can find a place to stay I guess, until my... wife..." I frown slightly, the word leaving a an odd taste in my mouth. Not unpleasant, but not pleasant either. Ah well. "Until my wife can talk to you. She deals with all that administrative sh... stuff. I just like killing things. Lots of things."

That done, I head off again, this time to meet up with Nina. I head through the portal back to the Endless Plains, still stretching my limbs out a little as I walk, and then start grabbing random people around me to find out where Nina would be. I'm quickly directed to a large tent near the center of the slowly growing city, and I hum to myself as I enter. I spot Nina quickly, who's dressed very differently than her normal appearance, apparently in conversation with who I assume to be her mother, given the resemblance. I pause a moment, just to hear them talk a little about names or something, then interrupt.

"You called for me, Nina?"

The girl jumps, startled by the looks of it, then glances in my direction. The moment her eyes meet mine I can see her flinch slightly, then she drops her gaze, uncomfortable about something.

"Mother... could you... you leave us alone... for a little while?"

"What? But I-"

"Mother, please..."

The other woman sighs, then stands and leaves, giving me a passing glance of disgust, which I choose to ignore. Instead of stride over to Nina, who's doing her best to avoid meeting my gaze and to make herself as small as possible.

"So? What did you need me for?"

"Hm? Ah... yes... um... we... we need to do the naming... and... I... You... N-no... it's... it's nothing..." Something is clearly bothering her, even I'm not socially dead enough not to notice that. I close the distance and reach out to touch the girl, figuring that was something you lot like have me doing, comforting I mean, but the minute skin touches skin Nina flinches away, turning herself sideways, and cringing away from me. I withdraw my hand, but for some reason her behavior is getting on my nerves. I can't put my finger on it, but I don't like the way she's acting, the way she's avoiding my gaze and keeping away from my touch. I frown in annoyance, but instead of going with my normal reaction of bluntly asking what the problem is, I pause, considering my options...

Any ideas, head voices? I don't think I've done anything blatantly sadistic lately(well... tin can not counting) and I definitely haven't done anything to Nina herself...

Nina had a bad encounter with her mother in law. Its not much to worry about, although she does know who you are now.

Yup, mother dearest spilled the beans on you being The Hated One. In a rather melodramatic manner, in fact. No offense, but your mom is kind of a bitch. I mean, she kept her word, but man, that personality could grate cheese. Or granite.

She also took over one of the ladies of this town. Made your apprentice do the binding, too. See, she was the second voice in Maria's head, tagged along when she was dead. But hey, Maria now has a favour she can ask from her. I suggest you consult her on it when you find the time, and suggest she ask her what the crusty demon hole she's up to, since she's got some kind of plans going on. Ones that I think you possibly might want to disrupt, or at least learn more about. I get the feel she's got some kind of a overly complicated plan, and it requires that she eventually go to the dead zone. And getting to the town's former Mage Lord's mistress, too.

Anyway, Nina. Yes. Um. Try honesty? Tell her that yes, you ARE the Hated One, but you're not the same Hated One any more. You've actually come to care about the survival of her and hers (at least insofar that they provide you sparks. Don't mention that though.)

Also this in no way changes the way you feel about her and how you'll act (you being mostly uncaring), but if she feels the need to actually have some precautions in place to keep you from fucking up what she cares about, she's actually in a pretty good position to do so, since she's the one who handles how things actually get done apart from war.

Some weird motherfucker came along and snatched us into her mind somehow, she is older than you and actually claimed to be your mother. Kept talking in retarded acronyms and called herself TB. After possessing a young, 17y old girl, she decided to play an eccentric prophet. She came to Nina and exposed your true nature to her.
Basically Nina is deadly afraid of you right now. The only way I see to heal her is to apply prevantative sexings. So turn on your sexual ability and make her feel good. Bitches love that.
Seriously, if she loves you, she will go great lenghts to rationalyze the situation and will be with you even knowing you are Hated.
So just love her back.

By the way, your name is Vemili.

>>435087
VML, pronounced Vamili, yeah

I dunno guys, I think his mom was kind of neat, in a total jerk-face sort of way. Like Hated! You know~

Anyway, she called us WaTerJay (I /think/ that's how you say it), and Nina's been stressing about names for the baaaaaaaaybeeeee, so why don't you give it a nice name in your old language? Something like "Mayhem" or "Doom" might not be considered a 'nice' name; a translation of something like "Radiant" or "Darling" would be a more appropriate sort of name--just to give you an idea.

Anyway, don't confront Nina about any of this Hated One stuff, let her start talking about it. You starting off the conversation about it will just leave her thinking you're spying on her or something to have learned that she knows it in the first place. It'll be SO ANNOYING to deal with having to explain how you knew.

What you /can/ do is say "You're acting weird. What happened?"

>By the way, your name is Vemili.
>VML, pronounced Vamili, yea
I knew that. Technically that's just my first name, my second is CHTG, meanin- Wait a minute! How the hell do you know that?!

>TB
TB? What the hell does...

>your mother
Oh... you mean TB... I guess you lot wouldn't actually be able to pronounce the difference... or even detect the difference... shit... so TB running around... why couldn't she just die like a normal fucking mortal... Pit, this is annoying... she talked to Nina? Damn it all to the Pit...

>No offense, but your mom is kind of a bitch.
You try getting raised by her. Train this why, learn this, don't do that, do do this. Pit, it was annoying.

>she called us WaTerJay
WaTerJay? What in the hell is... oh. WTJ. That's a weird way to say it... makes it sound like you have an accent, but eh, it works I suppose. WTJ is pronounced more like... um... what was it... WaTaJa. Short sounding a's. Yeah. I think. I hope.

>Nina's been stressing about names for the baaaaaaaaybeeeee,nice name in your old language?
Uh... Darling? Radient? Hm... those... don't have exact tranlations... I'm assuming darling is something like precious so that would be... HCHB... I think... that's um... yeah. That's Precious. Pronounced HiCHoBa Radiant... meaning beautiful? That would be... FZD. Yeah. FiZiDo. Beautiful... Or was that GBR? Damn, I don't remember that one.

Well, either way, I was figuring on just calling it KMN, er... KaMaNi. First. Although, I guess if you all have a better idea, I could try coming up with that.

>apply prevantative sexings
No. I don't feel like it, and I don't see how it would be helpful to me at all. Maybe she'd be happy, but I wouldn't, and I would rather keep my head on straight thank you very much.

"Your acting strange. What happened?" My word choice might still be a little blunt, but I'm annoyed, partly because I just found out TB is back, and partly because Nina is acting funny, and I don't like it.

Nina hesitates, then begins speaking, almost too quiet to hear. "You... um... you... are you... are you... the... Ha-Ha-Ha-"

I stare at her a moment, then get fed up and finish it for her. "The Hated One?"

Nina jumps in surprise, eyes briefly focusing on me again, then she turns her gaze away again, head nodding ever so slightly. "Y-Yes..."

I pause a moment, sigh in boredom and even more annoyance, then shrug and figure the truth is best. I can always rip her mind in half later... although that seems a tad distasteful. "Yes. Or rather... I was. I don't... kill people quite so randomly anymore."

Nina stares at me again, shock plainly visible on her face. "Your... the single... the single most feared being in mortal history... your..." She can't seem to decide, her mind torn between devotion and fear. Well, that's to be expected. Still, I'd like to keep her around. It be a waste of effort to have to kill her now.

Sooooo... what do I do? I mean, I suppose I could try convincing her some more, or I could just focus on something else. We got that naming thing to do, yeah?

>No. I don't feel like it, and I don't see how it would be helpful to me at all.
Maybe she'd be happy, but I wouldn't, and I would rather keep my head on straight thank you very much.

Fine, be that way *pout*
....

By the way, your mother said that your chaotic side will take over at one point and that you will go back to your uncontroable murderous self and will destroy everything you and we worked for.
That shit sucks, man...

Not sure how to deal with nina just tell her that "the rumors about your life have been greatly exaggereted"

Also at one point you should say "Her name will be Kamani." Nina will probably be disoriented and will ask what you mean, you should answer something like "Our child. She will be called Kamani." matter-of-factly

oh
and talk to her about that weird little girl with a bunch of deathtraps

First awe her with your "deductive prowess" by describing who told her you were the Hated One and how, (Mysterious young girl, acting mad, turned into an angel then vanished) inform her that she's just met your mother, and smoothly transition to talking about baby names. I kinda do like HiCHoBa, myself.

>>435106
>We got that naming thing to do, yeah?
I would recommend naming the child something that means "Gift". That actually describes its role, as opposed to the suggestions which revolve around desired characteristics (such as beauty) or false claims (such as being precious).

>Sooooo... what do I do?
Nina warrants a significant amount of attention before you move on to other things. You've given her a great deal of responsibility when it comes to handling things you don't want to deal with, so it's more than worth the required effort to spend a little time stabilizing any crisis of faith she's having here.

So. I would recommend being relaxed, laid-back, unthreatening in posture. If there's some wine or something available, maybe drink some; if there's a chair, sit down. It's important to make it clear non-verbally that you don't consider this revelation important in any way, and have no expectation that it should change anything. Speak in a casual tone- again, like this doesn't matter, because hell, it's really no big thing. You already told her- and all the barbarians- that you plan to crush your enemies and rule an empire after slaughtering them all, that you delight in killing your enemies, that you want to gather massive amounts of sparks, and that you don't give a shit about a lot of things that normal people give a shit about- and actions are the essence of who and what you are, not some name and history.

Then say this. Turn on your persuasive-when-rambling enchantment while we talk, so that by the end of it you'll hopefully be able to issue a command and have it really sink in. "Listen carefully. The one who told you that was my mother. She has her own ideas about what my wife should be like and probably decided to see how you would react. Not sure she'd like you, but she annoys the hell out of me anyway so I don't think I care.

"Now, it's obvious that this bothers you for some reason and I'm not interested in having you flinch every time I look at you, so we need to sort it. I haven't slaughtered a civilization in several thousand years, and at the moment have priorities that don't involve hurting you or anyone you know. In fact, I'm still hoping that you'll become confident and competent enough to run my world-spanning empire while I run around having fun slaughtering people, a plan which should have been fairly apparent to you by now. If you can't stand in front of your own husband and successfully ask whether he's a god-murdering abomination or not you've clearly got a long way to go, but I'm not giving up on you yet. Work on that.

"You probably have questions. I've never been much for lying, but you'd best ask the right ones if you want to know about things like this.

This next part is the command that all this rambling was building the enchantment for, so say it like you mean it. "So have a seat and think for a minute or two- the fast kind of thinking, because I didn't give you that enchantment for nothing- and make your peace with this. I'm ridiculously powerful, you're going to end up with the world leaping when you say hop as long as neither of us screws up, our daughter will probably end up appallingly powerful and legendary in her own right, and whatever the stories about me say that was a long time ago and what's important is what I'm doing now. Decide that you don't have to be afraid, and trust me. Then ask any questions you have and we'll be done with this and I can tell you our daughter's name."

Hopefully that will effectively make this problem go away with just a tad more effort. We will help you answer her questions. Make sure she gives them to you all at once so that we can hear them all and give advice on all the answers more easily.

Once the questions are dealt with we can give our daughter a name and handle some business, like what we want Nina to do about that random girl who wants to be a mage-lord.

>>435184
This works.

For the names, I'm think KMN -KaMaNi- sounds pretty good. Though "gift" might sound alright too, you'll have to tell us.

Speaking of names, what does CHTG mean? And how does naming work in your native culture? Your mother claimed to not know your second name. Is it something one creates for themselves, or did you change it or something?

>>435205
CHTG roughly means sorrow or grief. As for the naming system, in your lifetime you end up with three names. The first your given upon birth, selected by your parents, for for me is VML. The second you get once your recognized as an adult. That's CHTG for me. Technically, you don't use either one when speaking to me though. Instead, you take the first letter of the first name, the V, and add the second letter of the second name, T. So my name, at the moment, is VT. The third name your descendants give you after you die, and I don't plan on ever getting one.

>means "Gift"
Gift is... DLM. DoLiMa. Or HSW, HoSiWo. But that second one is more like tribute or offering.

>That shit sucks, man...
How does that suck?

>>435184
So... just got to make it out like it's no big deal? Alright, I guess I could do that... I pause to work out how exactly to do that, then launch myself into my role.

I let out a sigh of what I hope sounds like exasperation, then find myself what looks like a stool and sit, stretching my limbs out while I'm at it. Nina seems to have noticed my movements, and is watching me out of the corner of her eye, trying to not look like she's staring. I don't even have to force my yawning, as this entire issue is boring me. Either way, time to get to the talking. I fire up the enchantment, make sure to keep a relaxed, almost bored, tone and start launching into my little speech thing.

""Listen carefully. The one who told you that was my mother. She has her own ideas about what my wife should be like and probably decided to see how you would react. Not sure she'd like you, but she annoys the hell out of me anyway so I don't think I care.

"Now, it's obvious that this bothers you for some reason and I'm not interested in having you flinch every time I look at you, so we need to sort it. I haven't slaughtered a civilization in several thousand years, and at the moment have priorities that don't involve hurting you or anyone you know. In fact, I'm still hoping that you'll become confident and competent enough to run my world-spanning empire while I run around having fun slaughtering people, a plan which should have been fairly apparent to you by now. If you can't stand in front of your own husband and successfully ask whether he's a god-murdering abomination or not you've clearly got a long way to go, but I'm not giving up on you yet. Work on that.

"You probably have questions. I've never been much for lying, but you'd best ask the right ones if you want to know about things like this.

"So have a seat and think for a minute or two- the fast kind of thinking, because I didn't give you that enchantment for nothing- and make your peace with this. I'm ridiculously powerful, you're going to end up with the world leaping when you say hop as long as neither of us screws up, our daughter will probably end up appallingly powerful and legendary in her own right, and whatever the stories about me say that was a long time ago and what's important is what I'm doing now. Decide that you don't have to be afraid, and trust me. Then ask any questions you have and we'll be done with this and I can tell you our daughter's name."

Nina stares at me, not even bothering to hide her gaze, and I simply stare back, waiting for her to do something. Then she drops her gaze and closes her eyes, the enchantment tattoo on her face springing into motion. I nod to myself, then wait impatiently, fidgeting slightly as I'd rather be doing something else right about now. After a few minutes, Nina opens her eyes again and returns to the realm of normal thought, then turns to face me properly.

"You... are immortal?"

"Yeah. But uh... you mind asking all your questions at once? It would make it easier for me to anser them that way."

Nina blinks, then nods her head. "Then... our child will be immortal as well? She will be like... you? Violent, I mean. And... are you willing to help raise our child? Even the way you are? If what you are saying is true, she will need to have you around, to show her how to use her power properly. But... I don't want our daughter to love killing... the way you do. It's... not right. Not right at all... If you are the Hated One, then isn't that just a title? Immortals must have names, real names, right? What... what is yours? And... if you truly aren't going to harm me, or those around me... then... do you love me...?"

>>435250
OKay, let's tackle this one at a time...

Yes, the child you're going to have is going to be immortal.
She's probably not going to be like Hated, since you have something special going for you. If she's worried about her growing up to be violent, well, she's one of the child's parents. She will have a huge influence in how the kid will be growing up.

And Hated, you SHOULD help in the bringing up of your own child. Don't be like your mother though, in just telling her what to do. Actually try to think about what sort of things your daughter will have to know in this world, try to show understanding and care, and even if it does feel like a bother, actually try to love her. Even if for you she is going to be the first of your own army of immortals / first in line for the throne / fulfilling an obligation.

Tell her your name, though I'd stick with just Vamili. Up to you though, if you want to brag with your awesome name.

As for Nina... geez. Can you even feel love? Apart from towards Beloved. If you don't love her, don't tell her you don't. If you actually do, or think you might learn to, tell her that though. I mean, it's pretty obvious you do care for her, even if she is just a thing of convenience to have around running things for you, so even if you don't love her, you can and should honestly say that you do care about her.

Also, as much as I like KaMaNi as a name, I'm personally against it. It's your child, and it shouldn't just be a number. I recommend HoChiBa, since she should be precious, or DoLiMa, since she is a gift in three ways.

>>435250
Well. I don't see any point in lying here, so take my advised things to say as being advice for you in action as well where applicable.

"She'll be immortal and beautiful, according to the statue. No idea how much she'll take after my personality, since I've never had a child and there's so much magic that's not mine involved in this. I was planning to leave raising her mostly to you since I don't have a ton of patience and you're obviously better at the whole affection business, plus I think you care more about the details of how she turns out than I do- I don't really care whether she ends up liking killing or something bizarre like raising butterflies- but I don't have any plans to vanish or get killed so I'll be around whenever I'm not doing anything else. Can teach her plenty of magic, and anything else I know and isn't boring. But this is all a long way ahead of us anyway.

"A real name... I have plenty of real names. They're just what people call you, or what you call yourself. I've called myself a bunch of things and others have called others- VML, CHTG, VT, Hated... and now Vincent, since I broke free. I've lived a long time; there's plenty of space to pick up new names, and I'll get even more in the future.

"As for love, I'm not sure I would even know what that was if I felt it. But I've put more effort and attention into you than I have into anyone in a long time, I can't think of anyone alive that I would be less inclined to hurt, and if someone else killed you I think I would hunt down and murder them and then every one of their kin I could find. And I like you more now than I did when we first met, so who knows... maybe that is love, or will be one day.

"Now. I was planning to name our daughter DLM. It means 'gift'; fitting on several levels, I thought. Any objections?

"On to work, then. You've had a bit of time- will you be able to run the city as I asked, or are you having issues? I figured you'd be able to get the city dwellers doing what you say easily enough, since you're a lot less threatening-seeming than most of the warriors; they'll be moving out soon, and I'm hoping that there would be an implication that as long as they do what you say they won't have to deal with being slaughtered, beaten, raped, and all that again. But you're the one actually doing this- if you are having problems that you think are solvable with me giving an order, let me know. There is also some girl mage who showed up with a bunch of spell-boosted goons, saying that she wanted to be mage-lord; she has some power and could be useful, but if you don't think you can handle them without their usurping authority- which I really don't need right now- let me know now and I can kill them or force them into working for me in some other way, before it becomes a problem.

"Report on problems, plans, and requests now, please. Keep it short and to the point. You can have another couple minutes to sort your thoughts if you need them."


Hopefully we'll be able to give some useful administrative orders fairly quickly after getting Nina's assessment of the situation, and then we'll need to tell her about the Isrenow situation before we leave.

""She'll be immortal and beautiful, according to the statue. No idea how much she'll take after my personality, since I've never had a child and there's so much magic that's not mine involved in this. I was planning to leave raising her mostly to you since I don't have a ton of patience and you're obviously better at the whole affection business, plus I think you care more about the details of how she turns out than I do- I don't really care whether she ends up liking killing or something bizarre like raising butterflies- but I don't have any plans to vanish or get killed so I'll be around whenever I'm not doing anything else. Can teach her plenty of magic, and anything else I know and isn't boring. But this is all a long way ahead of us anyway.

"A real name... I have plenty of real names. They're just what people call you, or what you call yourself. I've called myself a bunch of things and others have called others- VML, CHTG, VT, Hated... and now Vincent, since I broke free. I've lived a long time; there's plenty of space to pick up new names, and I'll get even more in the future. If you want what I am supposed to be called by others, according to the culture I was born into... translated it sounds like Vati. Yes... Vati sounds about right... Use that if you want."

I pause to consider that a moment. Huh. Someone actually knows what my real name is. Or as close as it gets. Immortals tend not to care about names too much. But still... a solid name. It feels rather good having anyone know who I am. Then I continue on.

"As for love, I'm not sure I would even know what that was if I felt it. But I've put more effort and attention into you than I have into anyone in a long time, I can't think of anyone alive that I would be less inclined to hurt, and if someone else killed you I think I would hunt down and murder them and then every one of their kin I could find. And I like you more now than I did when we first met, so who knows... maybe that is love, or will be one day...

I pause again and frown. Love... it is a very difficult concept to understand for me, focused as I am on murdering anything that annoys me. But if wanting to get revenge on someone for killing a specific person IS love, then I suppose I do love Nina, in a way... Eh, it'll work itself out I guess.

"Now. I was planning to name our daughter D... ah... that doesn't work either... uh... TRANSLATED it's Dolima. It means 'gift'; fitting on several levels, I thought. Any objections?"

Nina is staring at me numbly, but shakes her head at my question, a slight smile appearing on her face. That's a good sign, right? Well, that taken care of...

"On to work, then. You've had a bit of time- will you be able to run the city as I asked, or are you having issues? I figured you'd be able to get the city dwellers doing what you say easily enough, since you're a lot less threatening-seeming than most of the warriors; they'll be moving out soon, and I'm hoping that there would be an implication that as long as they do what you say they won't have to deal with being slaughtered, beaten, raped, and all that again. But you're the one actually doing this- if you are having problems that you think are solvable with me giving an order, let me know. There is also some girl mage who showed up with a bunch of spell-boosted goons, saying that she wanted to be mage-lord; she has some power and could be useful, but if you don't think you can handle them without their usurping authority- which I really don't need right now- let me know now and I can kill them or force them into working for me in some other way, before it becomes a problem.

"Report on problems, plans, and requests now, please. Keep it short and to the point. You can have another couple minutes to sort your thoughts if you need them."

Nina nods slightly and descends into lightning thought, and I take those few minutes to consider some things myself...

I'm going to have to deal a lot with this kid as she grows up. Pit, I WANT to. It's something interesting to do. Tongues is great, but he isn't MY child. He's more an apprentice. Either way, interesting things are interesting things. But it's true that won't be for awhile. A few years, right? Kids don't grow very quickly by mortal terms. Anyway, I'll have TB to worry about as well. Bitch. Let's just hope she doesn't decide to go screwing with our world conquering thing. It's a very good diversion and gets me delicious treats.

I notice Nina waiting patiently and turn my attention back to her. "Ready?"

Nina nods, then starts twiddling her fingers together. "Um... before... before we begin... may I make a... a request..."

I don't see why not."

"Then..." Nina pauses a moment, collecting herself by the looks of it, then nods to herself. "From... from now on, no matter what, I ask that you keep me by your side, always! Please!" Nina seems to do some sort of seated bow thing, forehead nearly touching the ground, and I'm left in confusion for a moment, then I frown.

"By always, do you mean when I go out to the battlefield as well?"

"Yes! I... I feel... safest, when you are around. Feel warm. And... I can't help but feel... jealous..." Ah... Isrenow I suppose. The two really haven't gotten along at all. "So... at least let me be around to do my job as your wife at least. And... I want you to be near me. I feel like it is very important you are... near me..."

I consider a moment, then sigh. "Alright. But I'm not taking you with into the fight itself. You'll stay with a few guards away from the battlefield until the killing is done. And only as long as it doesn't interfere with your other job. Is that fine?"

Nina nods her acceptance while letting out a sigh of relief, then turns her attention to other matters. The townfolk have largely ben contained in the houses and areas with the least amount of damage to them. The surrounding farms and villages have been for the most part left alone, although those that our men have come into contact with have reacted favorably to the destruction of the corrupt government, and not so favorably to the replacement. Either way, the farmers offer no resistance and been left to live as they choose. The townsfolk themselves seem mostly resentful, and have little desire to cooperate, although Nina thinks that forcing them isn't really a good idea. However, the mage girl who showed up might actually help, as if the people have something they can connect to easily, namely a mage-lord who they can complain to, then the tension might start to ease off. Maybe... Anyway, other than that, everything else is moving along well. Of course the barbarians are happy, the dwarves are happily constructing us a city worth living in and the elves haven't really complained about anything except the lack of clean water and clothing.

Soooo... anything else I should bring up, or shall I start on the days activities, whatever they may be?

Bring Nina and the little Mage Lord wannabe together for a meeting and stay for a while, just to see how it goes. Also, get the tiny witch's actual name. Or just call her Tiny. Just something to separate her from the flock so we don't have to always use the full title, you know?

Anyway, personally, I feel like you've got a good plan in raising the Mage Lord to a position of power. I think it would make the townsfolk more at ease, and you could just set up things so that Tiny gets to sit around and listen to the people bitch and whine, and Nina gets to deal with actual ruling. Not exactly a figurehead, more like having to get Nina to agree to what she wants.

Start grabbing sparks, especially from Isrenow and other high spark sources. Not from Tiny or when she's around, though: if she's the kind of prodigy she thinks she is, she might figure something out from it, and I don't think we'll want to trust her that much yet.

After that, just wait for nightfall, grab Maria & company and Isrenow and whoever you want for a quick assault, tell Nina that she's going to stay there until the fighting is out because it's going to be a big one, and go take us a new city. We've got momentum going, let's try to keep it that way.

Didn't we tell Nina to start looking for competent people to delegate administrative tasks to?
How is that going?

If Nina is going to be with you all the time, even when you are in the field, she is going to need some way of easily communicating long distances to effectively continue her administrative duties. Enchanting a half-dozen rings/necklaces/mirrors/whatever to allow communication between the bearers and giving them to her to distribute to whoever her chosen underlings are should be sufficient.

As for the rest of the day, Nina's meeting with that mage-girl should be probably be supervised to some extent, don't want the girl to pull any power plays just because she's the more personally powerful of the two or anything.

You army is marching on Whitemarsh, but wont arrive for another couple weeks if I remember correctly. You should be able to catch up in a day or two when it becomes relevant. There are no other tactically relevant targets, unless you want to help harass the prince's forces. Which I wouldn't recommend just yet, it's more interesting to see how he will react to your forces advancing on Whitemarsh.

You can read more of the book on spark-stones and have sex with Nina. Which you totally agreed to doing. And don't give me any of that "don't like not being in control" stuff. This is different than when you first activated it, now you know what it does. If you knowingly act to put yourself in a state where you will behave in a certain way, those behaviours are an intentional product of your actions, and therefore reasonably considered under your control.

Plus, it should further quiet her worries and doubts stemming from the fact her husband is the most terrible genocider in all of history.

>>436350
The big problem with making the girl a mage-lord is that by leaving the fundamentals of the former power structure intact, you'll establish a situation where instead of having a remotely cohesive empire you have a bunch of people that work for you willingly and a bunch of other people who are just waiting for the opportunity to stab you in the back. A mage-lord who doesn't serve you loyally could do a hell of a lot of damage by hiding and supporting rebels, using mind tricks on your garrisons and administrators, and generally being annoying as hell. Sure, it'd raise morale- and be the constant potential for a thorn in your side and a knife in the back later.

Of course, it'll take a couple generations for those people to forget the mass rape and slaughter anyway. But taking steps to ensure the loyalty of your city administrator would be prudent... whether that means some kind of mind alteration, a geas, or something else. You should probably be there when Nina meets the girl, regardless, and if you're not confident that Nina can keep things in hand you can apply some sort of magical smackdown.

Has Nina been fully briefed on Isrenow? Crazy elven immortal mind mage, extremely powerful, in love with us? Be sure to explain that if we have not, and ensure that Nina knows how things are going to be- Isrenow is kind of annoying, but damned if we're going to give up a loyal that powerful because she's crazy and clingy. However, she is also very not-fond of Nina; while we'll be working on that, Nina should be careful around her and take steps to try and get Isrenow to see her as less of an insult/threat. I have no idea how she would go about doing that, but hopefully Nina will figure it out or get good advice from someone. Someone who is not going to go off half-cocked like her sister did that one time, it should be noted, because that would likely result in someone's brains being scrambled like a well-cooked egg. We should introduce Nina to Maria, as well, and order Maria to follow Nina's orders in all things except as they conflict with ours.

Aside from that, I'm inclined to let things sit for a few days. Armies take time to move, and we've got a fair bit of research that we could do given the new things that we've learned about here. We also have a second city now- Nina should probably check that place out as well; there should be much less hate for barbarians in general there which might aid in setting up a decent administration. We'll need to secure the countryside around the city, as well; hopefully its population isn't too depleted after Maria's activities in the region.

>have sex with Nina. Which you totally agreed to doing.
Yeah, Yeah. I know, I know. I'm not going to go back on it either. But... wouldn't having sex right now be a bad idea or something? She's pregnant after all, although I can't say I have much experience with this sort of thing. Anyway, if it's fine to do it, then I'll do it, but definitely not right now. We have things and work to be doing, and I doubt Isrenow will leave us alone long enough at the moment. we'll have to think up ways of ditching her at some point if we try.

Anyway, we should get this meeting thing over with, yeah? I drag Nina off to go deal with it, letting hang off my arm which seems to please her quite a bit, and we head back to Rivercross through the portal, where I get a warrior to go find me that mage girl and bring her to me. Then I take up a position in the town hall, noting that the repair work was rather hastily done and severely lacking in quality. Oh well, it's not like I'll ever use this place beyond whatever I'm doing in Rivercross. IF that... what you call her? Tiny? Yeah, that works. If Tiny ends up being the mage-lord, she can deal with it.

A few minutes later and she arrives, her bodyguards trailing a few feet behind her, the distancing widening considerably when they notice my presence. I ignore the deathtraps and gesture for Nina to take over, then simply watch as Tiny makes her petition for the post and Nina listens quietly, occasionally nodding for some reason. I eventually start to get a little bored and let my mind wander, thinking about nothing in particular only to suddenly notice a spell activation. Sparks. I snap back to reality and smile to myself. Tiny there is using some spells, although they seem to be geared towards record keeping and management. She remarks that she wanted the position, so she should be prepared for it, right? Nina seems impressed, but I find it all rather dull. If that's all the magic she knows, then she'd put up almost no resistance at all to getting killed. Maybe that's what all the deathtraps are for.

After another few minutes of talking, Nina turns to me and starts whispering into my ear.

"Um... Vinc- Vati... um... I think it would be better if... if she's made more of an assistant to me... I'm... I'm not that skilled at this yet, and I think I could learn from her... maybe..."

I stare at her a moment, then shrug. "Your the administrator. I just kill things. And look intimidating. It's up to you. All you need to tell me is what I need to know, and whether or not you want something killed."

Nina nods, then turns back to Tiny over there and they start talking again. The conversation flows to even more dull subjects, such as payment and duties, and I drift off again, mind uninterested in the proceedings. I yawn, stretching my limbs out and feeling rather good about myself, only to suddenly get interrupted in my enjoyment as the doors burst open and Isrenow comes storming in like a imp out of the Pit.

"MY LOVE! Why did you leave me all alone this morning? I was looking forward t- HEY! You! Get away from my love!" Isrenow glares at Nina, who's leaning into me rather heavily, placing most of her weight on my body. It's not difficult to bear, even if it makes sitting a bit awkward, but was surprises me is Nina looking just a little bit smug, the hint of a smile tugging at her lips. Obviously, this infuriates Isrenow.

"I SAID GET OFF HIM!" Isrenow begins gathering sparks into a spell, and I decide that that is taking it a bit too far. My own glare fixes itself on Isrenow, who doesn't fail to notice, and the spell fizzles out of existence, the sparks wasted. "But... but..."

"If your going to fight, fight fair. Or at least fight in a way that won't get you caught. But NO spells. Nina is mine, and I won't have her permanently harmed. Especially cause she's got my kid in her. Understand?"

Isrenow just stares, mouth gaping at me. I choose to ignore her reaction for now, in favor of glancing at Tiny. She's staring at Isrenow, mouth gaping open in shock herself, only to rally herself to actually say something. "YOU! YOU HAVE AN IMMORTAL SERVING YOU?!"

"SERVING?! Pit no, I am NOT serving him! He's my lover!"

"WHAT IN THE PI-"

"Don't think too hard. It makes things easier."

"But... but..." Tiny just sits there, trying to make sense of it all. I wait a little, then notice that I'm hungry, for food and sparks. It's almost time for the morning spark consumption, and since I'd rather have Nina's cooking than Isrenow's...

"Nina. I have to perform the morning ritual. You mind returning to the tent and getting breakfast ready? I'll be there once I'm done."

Nina nods, then makes her way outside, grabbing Tiny in the process to continue their conversation. Tiny keeps glancing back at me suspiciously, but I just keep on ignoring her, having no real reason to care. Isrenow is fuming, and stops me from leaving so she can start her lecturing again.

"I accepted that you married that mortal, but a child! A CHILD! WHY? Why does she get a child before me! ME! I've known you longer then she has! And she's pregnant before me! I want one! I want right now!" Isrenow is practically trying to shove me to the ground, and quite a few people around us are trying very hard to pretend not to notice. I still find myself uninterested, and brush her off.

"Now definitely isn't the time for that. Furthermore, your skills are better put towards other endeavors, like killing people. Maybe once everything has calmed down and we aren't in the middle of a war I'll think about it." Or just kill her and be rid of her. Damn it, she's getting on my nerves with her clinginess. Is that a word, clinginess? It should be.

Isrenow pouts, but stops her advances. In the meantime, I head off for the morning consumption of sparks, then eat breakfast. After that's done, I take Nina(with her newly acquired assistant Tiny) to Shadowmoor and we investigate the place. Overall, the loyalty towards me is a lot better than Rivercross. I suppose not getting raped and pillaged will do that. Nina and Tiny dart off to start planning things, and I follow along lazily, Isrenow in tow, and start planning things of my own.

Namely, with the name for my coming daughter picked, and the issues dealt with, I have another issue to worry about. If TB's running around, then she'll inevitably stick her nose somewhere. I just have to make sure it's not in my way. Furthermore, that Island place that's hitting Everfrost as well needs to be dealt with, the Elves haven't sent word in awhile and I need to start finding out about the other four heroes, or rather, their descendants. This is going faster than I thought it would, so the next target will have to be found soon. The elf next? No, we need a way to get into that forest of theirs. The dwarves would be difficult as well, they don't like outsiders. That leaves the orcs or the goblins. I've heard the goblins have been pretty quiet for years now, which is unusual given their idiocy and general lack of restraint. The orcs have been pretty quiet as well, normally they'd have sent mercenaries to try getting in on the big war, but this time, nothing. Both are disturbing in a way, but I suppose something must have caused the change...

Anyway, let's get a definite plan for the time until I actually have to go meet up with the army. I want an idea of what I should be focusing my efforts on for the next week or so.

As much as I would love to help you get your kill on, I think the others have a good point. Right now, the best you can do is fortify and scout.

Enchant those items for Nina. Also it would be good to give her something that would make her immune or at least much more able to resist magical influencing. We don't want to come back to find out that Tiny's done the dirty with her mind, now do we? Or Isrenow...

I think that we should magically enforce Tiny's loyalty, too. Maybe not through a full-blown geas, but we should at least have something in place in case she decides to turn on us. Maybe an amulet we can blow up whenever we want or something? We could also consult Isrenow on this matter, actually make her see that we still have use for her.

Speaking of Isrenow, we should give her a choice. She can have our child, sure. But that will mean that she won't be going to any more fights with us, because there's no way in hell we're going to be putting out offspring into jeopardy like that, so she's going to have to sit pretty until it's born if she wants it now. Even Nina's only getting in the safer battles, and she's going to be surrounded by a large crowd of our best and brightest. Speaking of which, grab a leader, and tell them to start getting a group of their best blockers and defenders together, as an honour guard for Nina. Enchant those guys even more than regular troopers. As much as you can in fact, they're going to keep our assets safe after all.

I'm hesitant to do anything regarding the orcs and the goblins. The fact that they're not behaving as you're used to seems to indicate that they've probably had a change of leadership, just like you changed the way the barbarians behaved. And that mean it'll probably be trouble to stick your nose in it. On the other hand, I doubt that we're going to get any intel on either without personally going up to check on them, so maybe grab Maria and her goons plus Isrenow if she didn't want to carry your kid yet, and go check it out.

As for the elves, send Sticks in to see what's going on. Tell her if you don't hear from her within two weeks or so, you're coming in to check yourself.

The island can wait for now while you check up on orcs and goblins. After all, they're attacking your targets, so the longer you take, the bigger the losses on both sides, right? If it comes clear that the orc and gobbo situation will take too long to resolve or will be too annoying to resolve, we can go after the islands next.

Oh, and ask Samuel if he can do any enchanting. That would be useful for us.

Regarding Tabi, she's gone somewhere we don't know, but she'll eventually need to go to the Dead Zone. So, gear up for eventually going there, I guess? Very long term goal though, I think. Also, since she's a master Mind mage, you'll need to get Isrenow's teaching at some point. Seriously. Beef up on mind muscles. And maybe even ask her how she'd feel about meeting your mom? Hey, maybe you could even sic her on mumsy! That would take care of two annoyances, hopefully! Not that Isrenow wouldn't be useful to have around...

Also, you need to get Sticks pregnant with your spawn. Best let her know that you're going to be doing that eventually. Who knows, maybe that'll scare her off of being your concubine.

Having a child now will prevent you from spending as much time with her right now, as much of it will be spent killing people and doing that while pregnant risks the child.

I am strongly against having kids with Isrenow or Sticks.
Fuck that shit. I despise Isrenow and we would all be better off if we just killed her.

we can have a child with her later. now simply isn't the time.

>>437323
we may want to keep her around regardless of how annoying she can be, she's a mind magic expert and our mother's back in town.

Time Skip(Week) Hated 2012/07/30(Mon)18:07 No. 437613 ID: a407a5
File 134369683683.jpg - (84.80KB , 500x375 , 4136215597_5a3561f309.jpg )

Over the course of the next week, a couple of things are done, and other make some progress.

Things getting done include the creation of more communication rings, these handed to Nina for her and her subordinates use for managing this growing kingdom/empire of mine. I also add an enchantment to a necklace I found lying around and give that to Nina as well, the enchantment on it designed to shield her mind against mental assault. It's not anywhere near enough for anyone who's an expert at mind magic, but it should keep most of the lesser mages out of her head. Isrenow I don't think would dare screw with her mind at this point, afraid of incurring my wrath, but TB... well, she's is my mother after all. I doubt she'd care about my opinion overall. I also do as instructed regarding Nina's bodyguards, gathering together the best I can find and enchanting them to the limit on everything I can enchant them with, strength, speed, endurance. Every single thing that would make them better I do. Whoever tries harming Nina is going to sorely hate themselves for trying.

I don't have the time needed to go investigate either the orcs little island home or the desert sands the goblins reside, not within a weeks time, but I do map out some potential plans to do so. That will have to wait for now, Everfrost is going to taking up too much time. I send Sticks along to go see about the elves, but she arrives back relatively quickly(within a few days of leaving) and reports that the elves are busily amassing their own forces after assaulting the one town near their border, and should begin moving up to support my army within a day or two. Good news, I suppose. I also recieve reports from all my generals, and generally get the impression that things are going as well as they could. My forces moving along the eastern coast have joined up successfully with the Islands forces, and are sweeping aside any resistance they find, although the main army holds strong in Felport. My distracting force has begun moving to merge with the main force, since the prince's army apparently finally got it through his head that the capital is in danger and needs support. They are apparently moving towards Brightice and setting up defenses there. Lastely, Curmas and our main army are setup and prepared to assault the next town, Whitemarsh, whenever we deem it necessary. I told him to wait till I arrived, I'd rather not miss out on the fun.

Samuel cannot enchant, only invoke. His talents are very, very focused on the task, which makes him great at the otherwise seldom used field of magic, but he generally performs badly in every other field of magic.

> the Dead Zone.
No. Just no. I am not going in there. It's not happening. I don't care how much we want to stop TB, I have no interest in getting my self killed. No one, not even immortals and gods, go into that place. Not unless they're looking to die.

>Also, you need to get Sticks pregnant with your spawn.
Also no. I don't see any reason to get Sticks pregnant at all. I've already got one kid on the way, what do I want another one for? Particularly with a mortal that isn't proving to be remotely useful at all? Pit, she'd be more useful if we stuck a demon or angel inside he-

... Pit, now isn't that an idea? A useless elf who doesn't really NEED her body... heh. New goal, I need to find another summoning circle. A decent one.

Anyway, the week is up sooner than I expect, and I spent most of it managing things and spending time around Nina, who seems ecstatic at the my constant presence. Isrenow also tends to spend most the week at least near me, although she chooses not to try to push herself between me and Nina. Tiny has proven useful(I think) as Nina seems to have started taking lessons from her on how to deal with things regarding administration, as the week comes to an end I ready myself to catch up with the army. Last things to be done before throwing myself once again into the joys of war...

Anything last minute things to do before I head off? Or shall I get to the killing?

I would prefer you put a demon in Isrenow's body instead of Sticks.

Other than that, yeah lets go killing.

Sticks isn't really useless, she just doesn't get much use due to her specialization and the fact that she's pretty squishy in a fight. If you want to get Sticks to become more useful, instead of putting a summoned nasty inside of her, you should amp up her abilities. Get to enchanting her up, as it were. I'm guessing mind magic would be pretty good for pulling off all sorts of trickery that could help us in larger engagements, and more mages is never bad. Plus, she's been a loyal if unreliable companion. We should actually tell Nina to start fixing that. Tell her she needs to get Sticks to shape up so we can actually use her like we would a proper disciplined mage.

That said, Sticks IS a mind magic practitioner, so we should get her and Isrenow to teach us when we're done with the battle. I know you don't have much patience for teaching, but you really do need to buff up on those skills. Not the least because we'll probably eventually want to go gray matter diving in Isrenow's addled little head. Who knows what goodies are still locked away in those memories of hers.

I really do like the idea of binding angels or demons to our service, though. Maybe start doing this to any prisoners of war you catch? At least the ones that don't go to Maria outright.

Also, I am very much for you making more babies. The more babies you make, the bigger immortal group directly answerable to you you'll have. More babies = good. But yeah, let's see how the first one goes first. I might have to reconsider if you turn out to be a TB grade parent...

Take Maria and her minions with you to the battle! I've been dying to see how they field against foes who aren't death incarnate. This will also help decide whether they're worth playing around with in the future, or if Maria will have to stand up on her own merit.

>Sticks IS a mind magic practitioner
Who is in every way inferior to Isrenow, who's been trained in everything Sticks has been and more. I think you've all forgotten that Isrenow is an elf. An immortal elf, but still an elf. She spent most of her early life learning the magic elves use, or at least I'd assume as much. Sticks doesn't know anything Isrenow herself doesn't already know.

> her and Isrenow to teach us
Yeah, yeah. I'll get on that... eventually... Pit, I don't relish the thought of spending hours doing that exact same thing over and over again. It's just so... dull. Mother tried to do the same thing, and I just never got the point. I could just punch it in the face and get the result I want more directly. Why bother manipulating someone else to do it? Well, I get the idea now, at least. Minions and all that.

>The more babies you make, the bigger immortal group directly answerable to you you'll have.
What is this based on? If they are MY kids, then what happens if they turn out like me? I don't exactly follow authority well... if at all.What's going to guarantee they will? Besides the constant threat of death to their existence. Besides, if they're born immortal, they'll eventually find what they want to spend their immortal life doing, gain their title and go off doing... whatever it is that struck their fancy. That being the most boring case.

>Maybe start doing this to any prisoners of war you catch?
Binding things to prisoners? Hm... the problem with doing that is the fact that my soul isn't that of a... well, it isn't that of a gods. Gods souls are... massive... to say the least. I could probably sustain a few lower house demons or angels, I'd say... five? Yeah, five. And I could probably support a single Upper house demon or angel, and maybe two lower house on top of that. Something to consider.

>Take Maria and her minions with you to the battle!
Hm? How? It's daylight right now. They can't go out in daylight. Can't fight in daylight either. I mean, I suppose I could bring them over at nightfall, but by then the things will be done. Well, the battle will be I guess. Although... I suppose I could stay out of this one. I do kinda want to see how things will go with all those bat things... hmm.... yeah, let's go with that. If I open a portal to the war camp... then I... that'll do. Let's see how these bat things perform in open unhindered war.

I wait till nightfall, spending the day with Nina doing very little, and when nightfalls I assure her I'll bring her to me as soon as the fighting is over. Then I drag open another portal, aiming it for the war camp. I get it more or less within a mile of the place... although I'm certain the dear I cut in half didn't enjoy the experience. I stride through, Maria and Samuel in tow, and order Maria to gather her little crew of beasties and head for the town. She has permission to wreak as much havoc as she can until sunrise, then my army will sweep through and mop up. I'm fairly certain the sacrifice of a single towns worth of people isn't too much a price to pay for seeing how are new minions do as weapons.

I spend the night going over some plans with Curmas(him telling me the plan, me nodding a lot) and keeping the general ideas alone. The elves should arrive within a week or so, if we want to wait for them to join up with us, and it's not like we're on a strict schedule here. We can afford to wait awhi-

My attention, previously simply musing at the various things going on recently, snaps northward as I catch something on the very edge of my spark-sense. It's very, very far away, I can tell that, although how I couldn't say. As for the strength of those sparks... in order for me to feel that at this distance... that thing has more sparks in it than an upper house demon or angel. Possibly an arch-demon or arch-angel as well, although I've never tasted them, so I couldn't say how many sparks they have normally. Whatever it is, it is very, very... delicious. I want it sooo badly. So very badly. It's almost unbearable, the strength at which my hunger for sparks drives me to hunt it down and consume. But I manage to keep myself from heading off immediately. But gods above and Pit below, I want it...

The night passes with the screams of people dying, the barbarians huddled uneasily in their tents and me drooling at those sparks and desperately restraining myself from rushing off to go devouring the much wanted source of food.

Morning arrives, and upon entering the city we find corpses drained of blood, others hanging from buildings and still others ripped to pieces. Around the corpses of guardsman we find the corpses of those flying bat-things, which seems to unsettle the soldiers even more, at least until I point out that if a city-dwelling guardsman could kill five of the things, the a barbarian warrior should be able to kill at least four times that, by himself. They cheer up after that, but I get the feeling they are more unsettled by the fact that I seemed to know whatever happened was going to happen, than the fact that it happened. Too bad, I don'y care to explain myself right now. Of the few townsfolk to survive, only a few put up a token resistance, easily crushed.

But my attention is still only barely focused on any of that. My hunger grows ever insistent that those sparks be consumed, and I'm growing less inclined to disagree. Pit...

Anyway, this town is mine, even if it is mostly empty now. Unless you count the mass of dead bodies and the few survivors. I can literally count the latter on my hands. There's nine of the poor bastards... Didn't someone say we should use them for angel/demon summoning? There's gotta be a summoning circle around here somewhere. Later that day Samuel brings a report from his sister, who gives me the general overview of how things went. Apparently well, which I didn't really need a report to see, although she stresses that her pets have never really been tested against mage opponents. We have yet to see how a prepared force of mages would deal with them.

Ah! Last thing I've got to say as well... there weren't any mages in this place. Not even the mage-lord. I couldn't smell them anywhere. It's a bit... odd... really. Mage-lords don't just pack up and leave.

Anyway, what's the plan? Hopefully it involves that spark-source... mmm...

"My king, are you drooling?"

"Eh? Oh... yeah, probably. Let's just say that I've got something delicious on my mind right now."

"... Yes, my king..."

((Everyone give me a roll of a d100 with your post, if you please. Don't plan on making rolling important to the quest at all, but this calls for some chaos and random chance.))

rolled 82 = 82

---

Hey, that spark body could be a trap! Put there to draw you out.

Be careful. I suggest moving away so that it does not register anymore.

rolled 22 = 22

---

Hey, that spark body could be a trap! Put there to draw you out.

Be careful. I suggest moving away so that it does not register anymore.

Damn
posted twice.
This somwtimes happens when posting from the phone.

rolled 37 = 37

---

Be sure to drop Nina off somewhere before you go running after those delicious sparks!

rolled 71 = 71

---

If you go after this source of sparks, is this thing strong enough that there is a non-zero chance that you could be hitting things hard enough that shockwaves or flying debris reach this town, let alone whatever it does? If so, send Nina back through the gate, informing her that reasonable distance until the fight is over does not include the town in this instance. Make sure the occupying force does not hear this.

Driving Force of Hunger Hated 2012/08/01(Wed)16:04 No. 438189 ID: a407a5
File 134386228194.jpg - (49.92KB , 450x337 , 9680a43a-180c-4e00-966e-a6d30476a754.jpg )

Hunger. My hunger demands I go after that source of delicious sparks. I briefly feel like I should make sure everyone under my command knows where've I've gone... but the passing thought is discarded, in favor of shooting off northwards, heading for that scent hanging in the air. Hours pass as I draw closer to my target, but I soon register other sources of sparks teasing my senses. I slow, and eventually I find myself on a small hill overlooking the plain that spreads out before reaching the base of the Snowsong mountain range. Just off in the distance I can spot Brightice, the only town in my path before reaching Snowhaven, the capital of Everfrost. I sniff at the air, my senses picking up on something rather unexpected. Sparks. Vast amounts of them. Not concentrated into one source, like the thing that lured me here, but spread out, among hundreds of mages. There are varying qualities, but all the amounts I can taste would be useful in a battle. I drag my attention to the plains again as the flash of steel catches my eye, and I watch as a group of armored horsemen perform a mock charge into a group of dummies set up for the practice. Men mill about in encampments set up just outside the city, probably sharpening weapons and preparing for... well, most likely me and mine. The last stronghold before their king is threatened, so I suppose they should at least try their hardest here, of all places. Fighting is almost impossible on the mountain paths themselves, for either side, if I remember the routes correctly. I feel the flash of magic again, this time as something enters within the normal range of my senses, and I hiss in unconscious hatred. Angels. I can feel their presence. Their spark amounts not withstanding, the naturally... ORDERED... aura they give off can sometimes be claimed as painful. These ones are unaligned with any god, or they wouldn't be giving off that feeling. I try counting them, but I lose my place after awhile. There are at least two dozen of the things, but that's looking at it optimistically. At least I only felt a two or three upper house angels. The rest of lower house, and much easier to deal with.

After being suitably distracted from my original prey, I manage to get some amount of sense back into my head. Running off alone into enemy territory probably wasn't the best idea, but it seems I haven't been noticed quite yet. And if angels are showing up, especially upper house angels... that means there is a strong summoning circle down there. Taking Brightice will yield quite a few spoils. I'm tempted to divert my course and go investigating in the town itself, but that might lead to the angels taking notice of me, and I don't know how I would fair against all those mages on top of all those angels. I suppose I could also keep hunting for that source to, the scent from it is even stronger here than it was in Whitemarsh, but it keeps going northward, and the only other city of note northward is Snowhaven.

I find myself making a whimpering noise without realizing it, and quickly stop myself. That isn't something I would normally do, but I've never had to resist dragging myself somewhere before. Then again, nothing has ever smelled so delicious to me. Pit, I want it so bad...

Either way, we'd better make a decision soon. If I hang around here too long, I'm definitely going to get noticed by somebody, and a lone man on a hill will certainly seem suspicious.

((Another d100 from each of you, if you please. More randomness required.))

rolled 40 = 40

---

>>438189
Did you forget to bring the artifact that massively amplifies your spells when going into what's likely going to be a huge magical battle of one stripe or another? Dammit, man, we got you that thing for a reason. Power does you no good if it's left at home; wear your artifact. Heck, you should be doing that anyway because its leadermind will help you turn your random minions into fanatically loyal followers without relying on our direct counsel.

Anyway, either going into battle against a superior force here or charging into the teeth of the most massive spark source around is likely a sucker bet. This is what minions are FOR- to distract the enemy and make them easier to take out. The most disposable minions we've got are Maria's bunch, and it seems like the last assault was a total failure in letting us assess their actual combat capabilities since the enemy force was so weak. Anyway, the problem with taking out the force here is that ultimately we want all those mages down there to be working for us, feeding us their delicious sparks on a daily basis. Killing them would obviously interfere with that, so I'm thinking that we should avoid engagement and head north.

As a preliminary plan I'm going to say that once we reach the site of the giant spark source, we can wait until nightfall, call up a portal to bring Maria's minions here, and then use them as cannon fodder and probing attacks while we personally assault the deliciousness and try to take it for our own.

Meeting "Mother" Pt.2 Hated 2012/08/02(Thu)14:16 No. 438413 ID: a407a5
File 134394220781.png - (126.17KB , 649x1229 , magic_tower_by_vyter-d3es3ia.png )

>Did you forget to bring the artifact that massively amplifies your spells when going into what's likely going to be a huge magical battle of one stripe or another?
No. It's planted nicely on my head. Working it's magic and all. I just don't feel the need to mention it all the time. I admit, I haven't really tested the amplifying power it has... I mean, I meant to, but never really got around to it...

Eh, it'll work out on it own somehow. For now, let's go hunt things down. Namely, a very large thing. I glance again at the forces set up in Brightice, preparing for the coming conflict, then head off again, once again moving northward, up into the mountains. Unlike the mortals, I'm not constrained to the normal pathways, and I make excellent progress up the mountain. Another two hours of travel and with a few extra minutes tacked on to find a good hiding spot, and I find myself staring down at the fortress city of Snowhaven. The place is a lot like I remember it, although they've added on a bunch on the outside. Look at that, a little town, sprouting up around the thing... too bad I hate this place and the people who live in it. Bastards.

Snowhaven is the throne of Everfrost, and also serves as the gateway to a few places of interest. Those include the Mage Guild Hall even further up into the mountains, the Great Temple buried underneath Snowhaven itself and the massive stone hea- What in the Pit is a massive stone head doing there? That's... That's new. It's also not the source of the sparks I'm feeling, so I disregard it after staring at it awhile. Whatever it is, it's not my concern. What is my concern is that the spark presence is coming from even further northward. There's no major towns that far north, so I can only assume that someone dug something up, and whatever it is, it's releasing all those delicious sparks. I pause again, eying the town. My hated foes are in there, I can smell them, but I drag my attention away. As much as I want to kill them, I have something more delicious to hunt at this time. I head off again, feeling the drive to find that delicious source of sparks getting stronger and stronger, and eventually find it.

The top of what looks like a tower pokes from the top of a cliff, and while not visible from the naked eye, my spark-senses are overloaded with the amount of sparks this thing is giving off. And not only that... it seems to be collecting more. How delightful. I find myself licking my own lips in anticipation, and start to jump forward towards my prize, throwing caution to the Pit. It's only as I am almost within reach of the tower that something in my head goes off, and I step back away from the tower, jumping to the shadow of a nearby ledge, barely dodging the bolt of pure Order that smashes into my previous position. And it's then that I finally notice the others around me. Particularly the taste of the particular spark source that attacked me...

"TB..."

"Hm. Is that any way to greet your own mother? I do believe I taught you better manners than that."

"You taught me a lot. I forgot most of it. I prefer to just kill things. What are you doing here?"

"Do not question me, VML." I suddenly feel it, the force of her will, and I unconsciously flinch. I curse myself silently, some part of me has always felt a certain fear of my own mother, but I force the feeling away and prepare myself the best I can.

"I go where I please, TB. And I want those sparks."

"You will not have them. I am using them in an experiment of mine, and I can't allow you to consume them. Believe me when I say you eating them would be good for no one." TB assumes a relaxed stance, but I can feel it. Sparks are forming themselves into a spell in her right hand, and her left is filling with that hated feeling of pure Order. We both pause, waiting for the other, than my impatience gets the better of me and I step forward, appearing behind my mother and lashing out. I miss by inches, her own sense of danger causing her to begin her dodge moments before I begin my attack, and then I feel the sting of Order as TB shoves a spear of the stuff through my stomach. I step away again, and painfully pull the thing from my body, discarding it to the side and feeling it dissipate. The wound I flood with sparks, but it's not healing as fast as it should. I hiss in annoyance and pain, then throw myself backwards as TB suddenly appears in front of me, a blade of Order missing my chest by inches. I step again, but this time TB is waiting for me on the other side, keeping pace with my movements easily. I find myself forced to dodge and step and dodge again, incapable of attacking back as I desperately avoid that damned blade. After a minute of lightning fast movement, I manage to find rest, as TB stops following me once I reach a certain distance... I see, she's keeping herself close to that tower of hers. My death isn't what's she's after this time it seems.

I pause, breathing heavily for the first time in years, and mutter curses under my breath. I have numerous scratches from near misses of that blade of hers, and they're healing slowly, but at least I don't have a spear sized hole in my stomach anymore. My magic is already replacing my blood as well, so I won't bleed out anytime soon either. But still... I can see her, calm as ever, not even breathing hard. So far the only person I've ever met who could beat me into submission if she felt like I was a threat.

I need a plan. Or I need to decide this isn't worth the hassle it's going to cause me trying to get at those sparks... Give me something, voices, I want those sparks!

------------------------

The call returns. Another call. Familiar and alien all at once. It calls, so Ordered, while Chaos whimpers in fear and uncertainty. Shall you respond to this call?

Gathering sparks? Wait, is your mom trying to become like you?

Anyway, since she's going to be wary of you shadowstep attacking from behind, this time, attack from below. This only really works if the tower has a wooden floor instead of stone, though. Get to the top of the tower, make sure she follows, then shadowstep underneath where she was and let loose. I'm sure you either already have the strength to punch through floorboard, or you can come up with a spell that throws something fast that would be good for attacking her from below. Or if it's stone, maybe you can even throw splintered stone at her. You'll have to be fast though, so if you're able to, prepare whatever attack you're going to do before the shadowstep and then just let loose.

Since you're so Chaos aligned, can you do Chaos attacks the way she does Order attacks, or is that something restricted to angels and demons? I'm pretty sure she'd have as bad a time dealing with Chaos as you have with Order. Speaking of Chaos and Order... since she seems to be feeding on sparks, can you slip her some Chaos oriented sparks? Or are sparks completely neutral by themselves? Can you disrupt her feeding with your own?

Do you have some kind of a delayed blast spell? That would also be a good attack since she probably hasn't enchanted herself and needs to pour sparks into shadowstepping, while you can just use the enchantment in your legs. Step, leave blast, step away, boom when she followed.

Also, I'm pretty sure that she chose this tower for a reason. Top three contenders in my mind are elevation, range of sight and concealment. You can work through all three if you blow up the tower with a crown amplified spell, preferrably from a direction where she'll have to deal with both the explosion and thrown debris. It'll probably also call some of the mages from the city here, which would actually be a good thing for you, since I doubt she's got permission to be here doing whatever it is she does. Of course, that would mean you'd have to retreat from the fight so she'll be the one who has to deal with them, but it would seem like she'd be the one more hindered by this since she obviously chose this location for a reason while you can fight wherever. Even if she just flees, it'd still be a victory since you put her plan on hold.

Also, no way do I want to switch away to TB here.

rolled 55 = 55

---

>>438733
Oh geez, forgot to roll for it.

Nah, lets stay with Hated, I like him more.

The Use of LWV Hated 2012/08/04(Sat)09:50 No. 439232 ID: a407a5
File 134409901565.jpg - (81.38KB , 400x320 , louder-than-words.jpg )

>Gathering sparks? Wait, is your mom trying to become like you?
I think you misunderstood that. The TOWER is gathering sparks. TB is just as strong as she was last time I met her... namely, that of an upper house angel. The tower, on the other hand, is stronger than that. Significantly. It's also focusing itself towards doing something, but what I'm not really sure what that is... Although, I suppose with that many sparks being gathered up, you could use it for a god-level spell of some kind. Probably enough to change the essence of something, if you gave it some more time to gather up sparks. So... hypothetically, I suppose she could become like me using that tower...

>Since you're so Chaos aligned, can you do Chaos attacks the way she does Order attacks, or is that something restricted to angels and demons?
I've never tried to do it, so I don't know. The Chaos inside me hasn't ever made itself available to that extent, but maybe I'm just not doing it right. Or maybe it's the fact that I'm not actually a demon, just very close to it. Whatever the reason, no, at this point in time I can't pull off crazy shit like that. Maybe if something excited my demonic essence enough I could pull it off, but so far, I don't feel particularly chaotic or demonic to even attempt it. I suppose I could try forcing some sparks into myself to try, but... it might not turn out well. I would effectively trying to force my own essence to do something, and Chaos generally doesn't react well to being forced to do anything.

>Chaos oriented sparks
I don't even know what that's supposed to mean. Sparks are the manifestation of magical energy. Magic isn't generally aligned one way or another. If anything, Order and Chaos can't really be considered magic, more the manifestation of some other way to screw over the world. Or make the world make sense, in Order's case. Even if that means you make it make sense how you want it to make sense... it's confusing, and I'm not exactly an expert on Order. You'd have to ask an angel about that.

>Do you have some kind of a delayed blast spell?
Why wouldn't I? The problem with that though, is that she's wielding Order and scares the shit out of me. And is significantly better at keeping one step ahead of me than the other way around. If anything, that Order blade of hers can and will kill me if it comes into contact with any vital organs. My healing isn't going to go quickly, like normal, if you haven't noticed already. Still... I suppose laying a few delayed blast spells around can't hurt. I'd prefer to keep them ranged though. Getting too close to her is... bad. Just bad.

For the moment, I keep myself away from her, letting my wounds heal up before I try anything new. At the same time, TB seems to focus on someone else, getting into a conversation.

"Rastal! How much longer before it's ready?"

"Ah! Um... I... I'm not sure milady. Maybe a few more days before reaching the level required to awak- I mean, perform the desired spell. It's difficult to calculate though, the rate at which the tower collects sparks varies wildly."

"Pit. We have a bit of an... issue... out here. It is nothing to be overly concerned about, but..." TB sighs, then turns her attention back to me. "VML, I do not think you will just leave, but I would prefer to ask nicely before employing more magic. So... would you kindly ignore this tower and the sparks within it?"

My wounds have healed by now, and I stand, already shaking my head and setting up a few delayed blast spells. "I don't think so. That tower behind you makes delicious sparks, and has a lot of them inside it already. I'll be eating those before I go anywhere else."

TB frowns, then shrugs. "Fine then. I suppose it has been far too long since I last pounded some fear into you. Besides, calling my sphere will take some time. I don't suppose you still have yours somewhere?"

It's my turn to frown, although this time with concern. Sphere? She's going to use that? Fuck. That's not good at all. Not good at all... we'll have to finish this quickly, otherwise... let's just say I'll be convinced that whatever she says will be a very good idea. Pit-damned ancient language...

I finish setting up, then shoot forward, stepping under her form to attack from below. I met with a wall of snow, kicked up by magic, and then a spear of Order breaks through from the other side, aiming for my shoulder. I step again, the set off one of my delayed spells, a bolt of lightning ripping it's way from where I was standing, hunting for TB. I hear the a sharp crack, but I keep moving, wisely stepping again just as the same bolt of lightning misses my form. TB is suddenly there to meet at my destination, but there is no Order this time, only a hand filled to the brim with sparks. I feel my blood start to freeze inside my body, and fire off another delayed spell I'd placed on my hand, using the helmet to magnify it. There's a burst of flame, which suddenly burns hotter as the helmet's ability works its magic. TB is engulfed in the stuff, and I step away again, activating another few delayed spells, more bolts of lightning arcing into the burning form of my mother. Fuck her and fuck her plans. Those sparks are mine.

Suddenly I feel a rush of Order, and the flames are extinguished, replaced with a glowing light. My mother sprouts wings out of her back, the new additions stretching themselves out to their full length, then she glares at me and flicks her hand in my general direction. Chains made of Order seems to flicker into existence and then hurl themselves at me. I promptly step again, but the things change course and continue following me. More spring into existence as my mother starts to build up the Order she can use, hurling more and more chains at me. Eventually, I find myself pinned to the floor, chains of Order burning scars into my flesh. I growl in annoyance, the damn things hurt and I can't move, while mother dearest strides over, wings now folded against her back.

"And this is why you are not ready yet. You have fought angels before, but they were not unaffiliated with a god. Angels who have stayed true to Order and Order alone have the advantage over you, a being of Chaos who can not wield Chaos. Even I, who is not truly an angel, can defeat you like so. Although I must congratulate your use of delayed spells. If I did not have access to Order, you would likely have defeated me then. For now... ah, here it is."

I watch as an orb floats into view, the thing seemingly made of rainbows. I struggle a moment against the chains, but already know the end result. The damn things aren't going to let me go. I'm Chaos after all. The orb makes its way over to float silently over my mother's shoulder, and she nods once it arrives. Then she turns her full attention to me and smiles.

["Now then."] Gods that language. I hate talking in this language. Not that I can really talk in this language the right way. I lost my orb familiar. Which just means I can't even try to counter whatever she's going to do. I see the little familiar begin accenting her words, lending context and meaning behind the little three letter ideas she says. And I instinctively begin translating, the language hammered into my head from the moment I could comprehend language. ["Since it seems you are ever so eager to get yourself killed fighting this angel or that angel. I feel like I am going to have to drill it into your head that unless you can somehow counter Order magic with Chaos, or you make yourself more Ordered so that you become immune to Order spells, you will lose. Very, very soon. I would hate to see my own son die."] TB get a very depressed look on her face, then she wipes it away and gets back to her lecture. ["So for now, I'll say this. YOU are going SEEK a way to COMBAT ORDER, whether through CHAOS or through ORDER itself. Furthermore, you will NOT SEEK this TOWER again. You will IGNORE its EXISTENCE, no matter how much others tell you it exists. Is this UNDERSTOOD?"]

I struggle against both the Order chains and the voice of my mother, the stressed words bearing magic I hadn't felt in a very long time. Not that I had ever been very good at combating her using this kind of magic anyway. "I... I..." I feel that strong urge to feast on the tower gone, Pit, even the tower i-

... Why am I here again? What's mother doing here? Damn it all! I don't even know why I'm here! I'm sure I look confused, I sure feel confused, but mother seems pleased, nodding her head in some sort of understanding. I stare at her like she's crazy. ["It seems you've come her mistakenly... You should return to your own tasks, my son."] TB moves towards me and wraps her arms around me in a hug, which I violently try to escape only to be stopped by these chains I'm stuck in. How in the Pit did I get stuck in these?

TB remins like that a few minutes, then pulls away and stands. ["Now then, I have things to do, as do you. I will send you back to where you came from, in the meantime, try not to get into too much trouble, please? Now... SLEEP..."]

I feel my eyes grow heavy, and my body start to relax even as I struggle to keep myself awake. That damned language! Why'd she have to go using that damned langua-

I awake later to find myself in my bed, Nina hovering worriedly over me. She notices almost immediately that I'm awake, and wraps me in a hug, about the most forward I've ever seen her when it comes to physical contact. I let her do as she pleases, my head feeling like someone had shoved their fist through it and wiggled it around a little bit. "Nina... how long was I out?"

The girl backs off and rushes to one side of the tent, returning minutes later with a bowl full of some sort of soup and a spoon. "Here. You need to eat. You've been asleep for days. After you... after you left, we cleaned up and took control of Whitemarsh. The next day some of the men found you with burns all over and you unconscious just outside the encampment here at Rivercross. We didn't know what else to do other than let you sleep, so..." Nina looks tired, and very close to tears. At the same time, she seems relieved I'm awake, and I feel relieved she has soup. I take the food from her and consume it all, upon which she retrieves more. This process continues in silence for awhile, me happily filling my stomach and Nina calming down with every bowl I eat, then eventually I've had my fill and I'm ready to go.

"Don't worry about it too much. I'm not sure what made me do it, rush off like that, but I ran into my mother, and... well, let's just say we had a conflict of opinions." At least, I assume that's what happened. I can't think of any other reason I would have been chained to the ground. As I start to get up, Nina's hand stops me, and her own face is showing defiance.

"You're in no condition to be running around. Whatever those burns were, they aren't completely healed yet, even with Helen and Isrenow trying to heal them. You should rest here, if you have anything you need done, then you tell me and I'll go get someone to do it for you." I blink in surprise, then sigh and allow myself to be pushed back into bed. It's true the burns aren't anywhere near healed, although I could easily speed up the process. But Nina looked a bit happy to be nursing me, so I'll let her do as she pleases. Besides, I have plans to make...

That army in Brightice had angels. Mother beat me easily using Order magic, something all unaffiliated angels can do. If I don't figure out some way to awaken the Chaos inside me, or some other way to counter that Order magic, winning a fight with an angel will prove difficult. Lower house angels are easy, they thing too much like animals, but upper house... they'll get the same idea TB had eventually, and then I'll be done for.

Not too mention I still need a summoning circle. Maybe the tiny mageling will be able to help. If she's so confident in her magic, she might know how to set one up. Maybe then we could summon a demon and they would be able to tell me how to get acces to Chaos.

Not to mention that we have to plan for dealing with the entire army that isn't angels. I doubt just charging the bastards will work, they look like they were at least somewhat trained. I'll have to get into contact with Curmas soon. As well as everyone else. A lot can happen in a few days...

Anyway, you voices still there? My heads a little fuzzy and I can't tell. What's the plan? What should I focus on getting done first.

>>439232
Learn to wield Chaos AND become more Ordered. plus, get your orb back if you can.

Then enslave your mother. It's the only way I can see to keep her from meddling in your affairs, she sees it as her right and duty.


Possibly have a demon take her body over. That'd be amusing whether or not it worked.

>>439236
I think this chaos and order thing is more of a essence alignment thing i.e. you can' do both at the same time.
If you could every punk would try to do the same thing

>>439232
Anyways first thing first you gotta be able to fight your mother(She is a meddlesome bitch she just won't leave you alone) and other angels eventually so the chaos thing has to come first ALTHOUGH side effect might include you wanting to kill your own men and other "EVIL GOES FULL DUMBASS" things so you might want to check up on that

We might want to ignore that angel assisted army and the city, and conquer rest of the country around then lay siege.
Also, we have elves as allies, they might know something about how defeat angels or at least get immunity to order.
We might also want to get a boon from some god or another.

I think becoming more Chaotic is risky. It gives you a power ordered beings are vulnerable to, but would increase your vulnerability. With your ability to gather sparks and eventually equal damn near anything in power, having a massive weak-spot that's best defended against with a skill your inexperienced with seems bad. I say become more ordered.

Remember the warning we got about the chaos mabob shoved inside him getting stronger the more sparks he gets. Seems likely focusing on Chaos will be detrimental to his self-control, and becoming more neutral in alignment should help

>Learn to wield Chaos AND become more Ordered
That's like saying I should heal myself by stabbing myself with a sword. How does that make any sense whatsoever?

>get your orb back
Sure... if I knew where it was. Besides, I'm not that good at that particular skill... TB is the only other person that really knows it, and she can beat me without really trying. So I can't say it's very important I get my orb back.

>Then enslave your mother.
No. Not only would I have to somehow get her into a summoning circle or geas her, she'd see me coming. I don't really feel like getting stabbed with Order some more.

>wanting to kill your own men and other "EVIL GOES FULL DUMBASS" things
Chaos does not mean evil. Sure, demons are prone to killing things, and I am prone to killing things, but we aren't evil. At least, demons aren't necessarily evil. They're supposed to be inspiring change and innovation, and it just so happens that mass destruction and war and killing tend to cause lots of change. Me though, I'm evil. I like killing things. Lots of things. Violently. But getting my Chaos, or wakening my Chaos, or whatever, we'll have to ask about that. Demons would probably be best, right?

>elves as allies, boon from gods
Hm. Both have merit I suppose. The elves wouldn't know a lot of Chaos or Order, they're mortal, but they could know something about that army up there. Like how to screw them over repeatedly. As for the gods... well, they are most likely to side with Order, as angels tend to willingly serve them, but they don't have any direct power over Order or Chaos. I suppose we could try asking one them how we could go about getting more Ordered or more Chaotic, but a boon wouldn't really do anything either way. Although, allying with another God isn't really that bad of an idea anyway...

Either way, for demons or gods, a summoning circle is necessary. Maybe Tiny know something about that. Sticks is needed to get into contact with the elves. If they come here though... Isrenow will have to be hidden somehow. Still, best to get things in motion now.

"Nina. Get that tiny brat of an assistant here. I need to ask her some things. Get Sticks as well, I need her to get in contact with the elves for me... bring Tongues as well. I need to stop ignoring him." It'll be good practice for my own child. We can't be ignoring the lump of flesh all the time after all. Nina rushes off, giving me a concerned glance just before she leaves, but I abide by her wishes and settle myself a little more comfortably. Soon enough, I get all three, Nina ushering them into the tent with instructions not to act up or she'll sick her new guards on them. Tongues and Sticks are the first to rush over, Tiny hanging back and waiting till she's wanted.

"Master! What happened? I thought you were godly but now you're all-"
"Damn it, Vincent! First you go ripping holes in reality and now your getting your ass handed to you by something out there. I just hope you have a plan for deal-"
"Shut up, you squeaky! Master always has a plan for things! It's not your place to ques-"
"Who asked you, you little brat! I'm talking to Vincent right now! Go back to playing with you feeble little firebal-"

"SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!" That comes surprisingly from Nina, who looks absolutely furious. I'm a bit grateful, my headache wasn't improving with their bickering. Nina stalks over and grabs each by the ear, Sticks looking particularly pained by the experience, and drags them away from me. "You will both wait your turn. Helen, you go first while I discipline these two... seriously, they can't even restrain themselves when he's injured..."

Tiny steps around the trio as Nina drags her charges off somewhere else, then she drops somewhat reluctantly to one knee. "Your Majesty. How might I serve?"

I raise an eyebrow in confusion, then remember she was trying to become a mage-lord. That would mean she would have some idea of court terms, wouldn't it. At least she got the Majesty part right. That is suppose to be how I'm addressed normally... well, whatever.

"You know anything about summoning circles, Tiny?"

"Tin-" The new mage-lord bristles slightly, clearly not enjoying her new nickname, but she quiets quickly though, and focuses on the more important matter. "I do know something about summoning circles. I can't say I could make a strong one, powerful gods would be out of the question, and arch-angels and demons I suppose, but... I could make one strong enough to call to upper house denizens I suppose. And lesser gods. I'd need the right materials, a place to draw it, and some reference books through. I don't have the exact runes and sigils memorized, I don't like summoning much. Relying on others always seemed so weak."

"You'll get whatever you need. Have Nina give out the necessary commands. There should be reference books around somewhere, I've looted enough mage-lords homes. Isrenow might know where they got off to. If not, try asking some of the warriors who moved the loot. I need that done as soon as possible, so focus your time on that. Nina can handle administration on her own for now."

"Understood." Tiny gets up off her knee and departs, muttering something about not being small, and I'm greeted next by Tongues, who's got the shape of a hand imprinted onto his face.

"I got to say Master, I'd like it a lot better when Nina didn't hit me."

"Maybe you should try not pissing her off. It seems to work well enough for me."

"You kidding me? She'd likely try fighting a demon if YOU told her to. She might actually win at that... but anyway, what did you need me for Master?"

"Have you been practicing?"

Tongues starts, then makes a sort of nervous coughing sound. "Um... uh... I... I can't seem to do that thing you were talking about... sorry..."

"The strengthening thing? that's alright. Didn't really expect you to be able to do it anyway. Body magic isn't really a human thing, most of the time. For now... well, you seem to have fireballs down at least... what do you want to learn?"

The question catches the body by surprise, but he leaps happily into his little dream of being able to make fire and wind and earth and water do what he wants, and summoning elementals at will, and making armies bow before him. I quickly get the picture, and seriously doubt he'll ever become THAT powerful, as that would take years. But, no point in ruining his dream. Instead, I instruct him a little in how to get conjure up water and freeze it into ice, the opposite of his little fireballs, then send him on his way. That should keep him occupied a while.

Sticks is next to arrive, although she's accompanied by Nina, who seems intent on keeping an eye on her. After giving Sticks instructions to get in contact with our elven allies, I spend the next few hours resting, and discover in the process that Nina tends to sing when she goes about her tasks. I find the sound pleasant, although the song itself isn't something I recognize, and I'm somewhat surprised I haven't noticed her doing before. Upon mentioning it, Nina simply looks embarrassed and mutters something about not being very good, and not really liking to sing in front of others. I leave it at that, and let her continue with whatever she was doing, silently enjoying the music whenever it comes up.

Just about lunch time, Tiny comes around again, an expression of accomplishment plastered on her face. She greets Nina, then turns her attention to me.

"All ready for you! Didn't take as long as I thought! I got some of the shamans- that's what they're called right- some of the shamans to help me. Just had them copy the images from the pictures onto the surface I was using, some room in the castle. Figured it would serve your purposes. All I really had to do was touch up the sigils here and there, and infuse them with some magic. Took a few hours at most. Course, the quality suffered a little, so I wouldn't try summoning anything on the upper tiers of the upper house. Seems a bit... unwise. They might break out, and that's never good. Anyway, I need to get back to work organizing this mess you call a government. No insult meant to you, Nina. It's just, you don't really have any experience with all this. Don't worry though, I'll have it all sorted out and dealt with in no time." Tiny disappears outside again, and I simply watch her leave. Well, that's something at least... I pause a long moment, then frown. I'm stuck in this bed till Nina is satisfied I'm fine, although when that will be I don't know... but that can' stop me from preparing for the summoning. I tell Nina to go find me a few books I recall from memory that the mage-lords had, and once I have them in hand I dive into my work, digging up options for summoning that I could use. This would be easier if I knew exactly what I was looking for, but I'm at least somewhat familiar with demons, not so much with angels, so I should be able to narrow down somewhat what kind of demons I'd need to talk to about this. Upper house is necessary, but even then that leaves a lot of different types and kinds... let's see...

Of the varied forms of Chaos beings that roam the Pit, not to mention the fact that many are too busy being nameless and or competely insane, I manage to drag up two species of demons we could call, as well as a named demon that might be willing to deal with us.

Species:
Erinyes- Known as Daughters of Vengeance, there are dozens of stories regarding the things, but judging from what I've gathered, an Erinyes is born from the strong desire for revenge, and will go to the ends of the earth and across dimensions in order to fulfill that obligation of their birth. Once that's done though they tend to get lazy, not really having anything to do. Typically they enter themselves into the service of the Arch-Demon Arioch. They tend to be the most cooperative of demons, if any demon could be called cooperative.

Malvorg- They're... well, they might not be the most cooperative of demons, but they'll at least be those who know Chaos the best... I hope. They tend to lead other demons in place of Arch-demons, although they themselves aren't very powerful. They also work as record keepers though, so... eh.

Named:
Railios- A demon of Chaos and Insanity, Railios is said to know of all things and yet know of nothing. If one can best him in his insanity, one can have questions answered and answers questioned. Whatever that means.

As for gods we could call up... keep it to lesser gods and we should be fine. If you can think up anything more specific for demons... well, I could try finding information on them. Also, since I'm going to anyway, I was thinking about binding some lower house demons to my will. Maybe get a few hellhounds and set them loose on people. What do you lot think?

Erinyes or Malvorg. Choose Erinyes if that is the path of less resistance

>>439644
It's simple. Healing Shivs. Chaos Theory. If you can calculate fast enough, you can predict raw chaos using nothing but math. You can find the Order inherent in Chaos. We can enhance our...processing speed?

So we learn chaos theory, and master Chaos AND Order. Simple.

Yeah, hellhounds sound awesome. Maybe a cerberus? Or is it too much? ... A cerberus puppy perhaps? That would be so cute.

As to whom summon? I don't know but Erynes seem to be more reliable if less knowledgeable. I would go with that.

As for gods, well if there are any, you could try a lesser god of knowledge... they could point you in a right direction.

Also, how is your spark count? You haven't drained sparks from your underlings for a while yet.

Can we get a link to the previous thread. Im havin some trouble finding it.

>>439644
Erinyes seem basically perfect for you since you've got a gigantic vengeance kick going on right now. I'd say whistle one up, and if that seems to go well consider investing in them heavily.

What characteristics are necessary for a person to make a good host body for a demon? What should we be looking for here?

How difficult is it to control demons? Is there any possibility of having some of the shamans or other mages summon lesser demons and control them on your behalf, so that you can field more of them overall and don't have to worry about wrangling piddly minions into obedience?

Getting a Pet Hated 2012/08/06(Mon)23:09 No. 440064 ID: a407a5
File 134431979395.jpg - (110.08KB , 1000x667 , prometheusbygunnerromanmv0.jpg )

First Thread: http://tgchan.org/kusaba/quest/res/415303.html

>Healing Shivs. Chaos Theory. If you can calculate fast enough, you can predict raw chaos using nothing but math.
That would technically mean that it was Ordered, no? Chaos can become Ordered. Same thing the other way, Order can become Chaos. It just needs something to make it so. But yeah, I don't think I can calculate anything that quickly, even if I wanted to. I wouldn't even know where to begin. How does one find the starting point to Chaos?

Also, maybe a stupid question, but what's a Healing Shiv? Or Chaos Theory?

>Yeah, hellhounds sound awesome. Maybe a cerberus? Or is it too much? ... A cerberus puppy perhaps? That would be so cute.
Cerberus? I think... hold on... hum de dum... yeah. Cerberus is technically the one, and only, upper house Hellhound. Guards the gates of hell and all that. Can talk. Apparently a very good conversationalist before he rips your body three different ways. Sounds like a nice guy. Anyway, no, I don't think we'll be getting any Cerberus puppies, given their is only one... I could try bringing over a hellhound pup though. That suffice? Although it wouldn't really be much use... maybe a companion for our child? Kids like small animals, right?

Anyway, it seems hellhounds it is. I'll start with bringing one over and binding it to my will, then we'll see about the other one. I suppose I'll need a body for it to inhabit and warp... eh, a dog will do. They usually work for the lower house. Upper house usually refuse those kinds of bodies. I get Nina to go find me a dog I can use, preferably one someone else doesn't already own, and in the meantime memorize traits for calling the thing.

>Erinyes
That will come after the Hellhound, I think. I mean, I'll have to defile the summoning circle anyway, just to reach the Pit. Erinyes won't be difficult to call at all, although I suppose I can't really specify which one, as I don't know the names of any... eh, not like it really matters. We'll get one to talk to, and that's enough for me.

>What characteristics are necessary for a person to make a good host body for a demon? What should we be looking for here?
Anyone really, as long as they accept the demon into their body. Not that hard to do, if you threaten them with lots of pain and suffering if they don't do as their told. I should know, I've done it. Suicidal people or demonic cultist fanatics tend to do just as well though, without the screaming and the violence involved. Less entertaining, but a bit faster.

>How difficult is it to control demons? Is there any possibility of having some of the shamans or other mages summon lesser demons and control them on your behalf, so that you can field more of them overall and don't have to worry about wrangling piddly minions into obedience?
Most mages can't sustain a demon's essence bound to their soul, much less controlling one. And "control" is more along the lines of "I'm stronger than you, so shut up and do as your told" among the lower house. The upper house... it's always difficult to tell if your actually in control or not. You are dealing with Chaos after all. But now that I think of it... Sticks might be able to sustain one. Isrenow should be able to hold on as well. Maybe two. That's lower house for both, upper house is definitely beyond them.

>Also, how is your spark count?
My spark cou- Oh! I haven't counted in awhile actually. And I have been eating, at least over the past weak. Haven't eaten today though. Probably because I doubt Nina would let me leave just to do that.

As for the count now... give me a moment...

Spark Count: 131,234
Roughly. Give or take a couple thousand.

For now, it's rest until Nina lets me get up. Shouldn't take too long, I'm pumping some sparks into getting these burns to go away.

The next day I'm allowed to move again, and with my headache gone and body free of burn scars, and I head to my new summoning circle right after feeding. The circle isn't difficult to find, the sigils occupying one of the biggest rooms available in the town hall, but I don't complain. Instead, I take my acquired dog(retrieved from Nina before leaving this morning) and placing it within the circle. The I chain it in place with a spell and drag out my other required ingredient. Virgin blood. Admittedly, I didn't come by this easily, a few villagers might have gone missing, but for the most part no one will miss them. Not like dozens of others aven't died recently. I pour the blood over the circle, and watch as the blood seems to naturally redden and darken the ruins covering the floor and walls. I nod to myself, then begin my work, pouring sparks into the circle, drawing in a deep breath and focusing my thoughts. The dog whimpers in fear, and I grin, preparing to send the call for a hellhound.

ThenI let out a piercing whistle and simply wait. And wait. And wait. I start to doubt it having worked after nearly 10 minutes of waiting, until I hear the dog start howling at nothing. I glare at it, hoping it will shut up, but suddenly it yelps in pain and starts convulsing, blood pouring from its mouth. I watch in morbid fascination as the things body starts to grow bigger and begins sprouting weird tentacle thing out of its face and back. It finishes its growth, but the dog continues convulsing on the floor as tentacle thing keep sprouting from it's body. Suddenly, all growth ceases and a wave of heat suddenly bursts outward, warming the room considerably. There's a long pause, then the body stirs.

And the hellhound drags itself to its feet, turning as it does so to face me. It's then I get to see the full size of this thing. It measures out at roughly the size of a large horse, and one of it's fangs is roughly the size of my forearms. I can also see, there between its front legs, a solid ball of fire and condensed Chaos, the beating "heart" of this thing. It lets out a low, deep growl at me, eyes focused on me with deadly purpose. I simply smile. This thing is mine, even if it doesn't know it yet.

I call up some more sparks, form them into a binding spell of chains, and hurl it at the thing. The hellhound, staggers under the sudden spell, but instinctively lashes out at me with a few of its tentacles, only to have the things bounce off the solid wall that is the circle. It growls again, then hurls its whole form at the wall, battering itself against the thing hopelessly. This continues for a solid twenty minutes, the thing roaring and growling and hurling itself at me. I simply wait, eyes watching it coldly, till it quiets down. Then I hit it with a binding spell again, to which it roars. But I don't let up, hitting it again and again, till only its face is visible though all the magical chains I called up. Then I stride without fear into the circle and stand over the hellhound and smile at it again.

"Your mine now, hellhound. You know it to. I can see it. You aren't going anywhere till I'm done with you, and I'm immortal. That could be a very long time. A very long time hunting mortal flesh. You serve me. All you have to do is bow your will to mine. I'm your... what do they call it... I'm your Alpha now."

The hellhound stares at me, then something in it clicks, and I feel it. A rush of pure Chaos, unfettered, free to warp and change the world. It isn't mine, but this hellhounds, and it's through this link I now have with it that I can tell. It will serve loyally, for the rest of its life, it is mine.

I unbind the thing and release the circles protection, and it stalks its way out of the circle, huffing slightly at the cramped conditions. I slide my fingers across its rough, almost harsh, coat, and smile. I've got a pet demon.

I suppose that proves I can do it now, all that needs doing is wondering if I should pull out a pup next. Someone mentioned the idea of puppies, and it wouldn't hurt to have a playmate for the child that's coming, right? I suppose we also have to figure out how to feed this new pet of ours without feeding it people.

But first thing that needs taking care of... pets need names.

What shall we call our new pet?

My bad. Wrong thread... heh... ignore that one up there... pretty please?

First Thread(Actual Real First Thread): http://tgchan.org/kusaba/questarch/res/299486.html

>>440064
Garmr or Bonzo the Non-Wonder Clown Dog. Either of them are fine pick your poison

"Lassie"

>>440064
"cuddles"

>>440092
I like Cuddles

>>440126
>>440092
I am not naming the demon hellhound tentacle thing "Cuddles". That doesn't suit my tastes at all. Nor does it really inspire all that much fear. Or intimidation. Or anything suitable at all. It's not even all that awe-inspiring. Although it would be funny to say "Cuddles, stop chewing on that corpse". But still, no to Cuddles the hellhound. I'll just use Garmr or whatever it is. It'll work for now. Garmr... Garmr...

I push the name through the link to the hellhound, and the beasty seems to perk up upon receiving it. I think it understands that it now has a name... I think. I can't really say for certain. Anyway, on to bigger and better things. Like calling out an Erinyes.

Before any calling gets done though... I need to acquire a body for the thing. A suitable host, if you will. I could go searching the old fashioned way, or I could go with the fast and easy way, which is enlisting Isrenow's aid. I don't really need to think too hard on which I prefer. I grab hold of my new pet and shadow-step outside, which causes quite a ruckus as warriors and people around my destination get their first sight of the hellhound. I ignore them for the most part, instead heading back towards my personal tent to see if Isrenow might be hanging around there, but on my way I'm met by an old annoyance of mine.

"What in the name of Tirfuldin is that... thing?"

Garmr reacts to the obviously hostile intent by baring its fangs and sending its tentacles into some sort of snake-like bobbing motion, but it calms when I send across the command to ignore the "threat", if it could be called that.

"What do you want... wait, I can do this... Vidrag?"

"Vodthag! Vodthag! My name is Vodthag!"

"Yeah. I knew that. Either way, what do you want?"

"I have received reports of you using a summoning circle to summon... things. But I did not expect this! I can practically feel the rage and chaos this... thing... brings into our-"

"And you will keep right on feeling it. I don't have the time or the care to worry about every little detail you find fault with. Besides. This DEMON you seem so worried about is of the lower house, and is bound to my will. I won't do anything I don't let it do. Now I have other things to do, and other people I have to talk to-"

"DEMON?! A DEMON! YOU BROUGHT A DE-"

"DO NOT INTERRUPT ME!" The man immediately goes quiet, mostly because Garmr, reacting to my anger, has bared its fangs again and is letting out a harsh growling noise, its body tense and expectant, waiting for permission to kill. "Whatever your complaint, problem or worry is, it can wait until I'm finished with my own tasks. Then you can find my wife and tell her, and she'll tell me, and then I will come find you, and we'll talk. Until that time, you have your duties to perform. Is this understood?"

"... Yes..."

"Good. Now get lost. I have things to do, and you're not included in that." Garmr calms again, settling back down now that my anger has abated, although my annoyance hasn't. This bastard isn't exactly the most helpful of people, particularly because we both seem to piss each other off, but tough shit for him, because I'm king and he's not. I stride off, Garmr following quietly behind, and I reach my tent after a few minutes of EVERYBODY staring at me and the hellhound. We meet no actual resistance though, and I enter the tent after telling Garmr to wait outside.

I find Nina inside, humming quietly to herself, and Tongues as well, who's staring very intently at a bowl of water. Isrenow, however, remains elusive. Nina glances up upon my arrival, and Tongues gives me a sideways glance before returning to his staring contest with water. I frown, then figure I should at least ask about the whereabouts of the other. "Anyone seen Isrenow? I need her help with something."

Tongues just shakes his head slowly, gaze never leaving the bowl, while Nina frowns, whether in thought or jealousy I can't tell. After a few moments though, she shakes her head as well. "I can't say that I do, my lor- Vati. Don't you have some sort of magic to find her with?"

"Not really. Finding a mind magic user is difficult, they tend to hide themselves really well when they don't wa-" Oh. I forgot about the spark sniffing, haven't I? And this bracelet thing she gave me. Let's test it shall we? I activate the magic and send through a tentative thought, mostly a greeting. Within moments I'm bombarded with a happy return greeting. After calming her down, I inform her that I need her to find me a man and a woman, both willing to take an Erinyes into them as host bodies. Isrenow hesitates a moment, then agrees to the task, cutting the link right afterward. I expect that will get done quickly. In the meantime... "Hey Nina. We're going to need a lot of meat."

That catches her attention, and the woman stands, eyes intent on me. "Why would we need a lot of meat?"

I simply gesture outside, and Nina goes to take a look, she almost immediately pulls back and yelps, Garmr apparently having placed himself to wait right in front of the entry way. Nina's reaction attracts Tounges from his perch, who performs almost the same reactions, only he does so with considerably more magic. A weak fireball is hurled at the hound, who barely registers anything happened at all, and then there's silence.

"My lo- Vati. What is that?"

"Our new dog. Sorta. Well, it used to be a dog. Now it's a pet demon. But it'll act like a dog. Mostly. Anyway, it's going to need a lot of meat. About once a week usually, unless we get into a battle, in which case it'll eat dead bodies. It's named Garmr. Don't worry about it eating our people or you, it won't do anything unless I want it to do it. Think of it like a giant watchdog. With tentacles... I don't actually know what those do... hmm..."

Nina seems hesitant to go near it, but Tongues is far more excited, and happily walks right up to the thing to touch it and investigate. Garmr ignores him for the most part, instead sniffing experimentally at Nina before huffing slightly and losing interest in her as well. It stalks off to the side of the tent and lays itself down, looking very much like a tired dog, while Tongues continues to pester it.

"I was thinking of getting a puppy one for our k-"

"NO!" Nina's response is instant and unyielding. I flinch back instinctively, Nina's outbursts as always unexpected and surprising. She seems to get worked up and assertive about the oddest things.

I suddenly feel the telepathic link open up again, and Isrenow reports she's found one of each and what should she do with them. It occurs to me that I really only need one...

So, do we want our little demon of revenge to be male or female? It might help with negotiations, depending on how we want to handle this.

Also, should I get another hellhound? Have a matching set? Look suitably intimidating with a demon dog on each side of my throne(when I get one) when receiving guests?

They are known as "Daughters of Vengeance" right? You might as well just pick the female host then.
You should get a second hellhound as a reward after you take over the next city. You deserve to treat yourself from time to time

>>440835
Ask Isrenow through the link if she wants to come watch you summon a demon. She'd probably enjoy that. And offer to show her how to summon one of her own if she doesn't know already- after all, if she's strong enough to dominate a demon it seems a waste for her not to have one to use on your behalf, doesn't it?

As far as choosing the host body- you mentioned that the upper house demons can refuse bodies; would it be practical to have both of them available for the demon's use and let it pick whichever it finds more suitable?

As far as whistling up more hellhounds, what other lower house demons are available? And how many of them do you think you could simultaneously dominate- we talking a handful, dozens, hundreds?

I think "cuddles" was much better choice

ah it's good to finally be awoken to your wonderful mind vati. it would seem that the female should be your choice as a host.
as for the demon dog, well you can never have to many murderous pets, that is of course if you can handle them.

Daughter of Vengeance Hated 2012/08/12(Sun)20:19 No. 442386 ID: a407a5
File 134482799626.jpg - (100.34KB , 600x863 , erinyes_by_scottpurdy-d3dw8v6.jpg )

>would it be practical to have both of them available for the demon's use and let it pick whichever it finds more suitable?
Eh... this wouldn't be practical. In order for a demon to converse with me on this plane of existence, the demon needs to inhabit a host body. In order for it to choose one or the other, I would have to put both bodies in the circle. But whichever host wasn't chosen by the first could get chosen by another demon that happened to respond to the call. That little incident would not be a good thing. I doubt the circle itself would be able to contain the Chaos.

> what other lower house demons are available? And how many of them do you think you could simultaneously dominate- we talking a handful, dozens, hundreds?
Let me think... off the top of my head, the lower house includes the hellhounds, imps, nightmares, harpies, hags, faceless, lupines, carrion puppets, hunger-tounges, ravelers, blood-drinkers, rat-men... there are dozens of others, but those are the first thing that pop into my head. As for the number... my soul could sustain another four of these minor demons. Less, if we bind an upper house demon/angel to my soul. I'm not exactly sure how one makes their soul stronger and more capable of handling more demons. Maybe by simply exposing my soul to things. For now though, five is the limit. Demons and angels both.

Now then, time to get the business of summoning up a daughter of vengeance. An actual daughter in this case, as the female body seems to be the general consensus. I make my way back to the summoning circle, getting Isrenow to meet me there, and I happily grab the human woman and shove her into the circle, then start up the magic again, all while explaining the general idea to the elf with me. Once it gets to the part I actually have to start chanting for, I refocus my attention on the circle.

"Hey lady, you ready for this? Demon and all?"

"Please... just let me die..."

"Oh, you'll die alright... I call you, Vengeance given flesh. I call you, fury made real. I call you, pain given release. Come before me and wield your vengeance on this world."

This summoning happens a lot faster and more smoothly than the hellhound. The woman lets out a shriek of pure pain and suffering almost immediately, then her body is lifted into the air and Chaos begins to visibly invade her form. Black feathers erupt from her back, covering the room in the things, and I see Isrenow take a step back out of the corner of my eye. A few seconds later, the wings themselves rip themselves out of the woman's back, spraying the wall behind her with blood. Her skin turns pale, then pure white, and her eyes start to spark with Chaos. Armor made of bone rips its way out of the woman's body, spraying blood everywhere now, and slides into place over the demon. Then it descends back to the floor, bone-covered feet landing gently against the ground. For a moment, nothing. Then it turns its attention to me, and I can feel it as it lets it's magic test the circle, looking for any weakness it can get it's hands on. I simply stare at it with disinterest, waiting for it to decide it won't be going anywhere. A minute passes, and Isrenow comes up to stand next to me, leaning over to whisper in my ear.

"Soooo... is she going to do anything else?"

I am, immortal. But you should hold your tongue. You are not the one who called me here. The one who tastes of Chaos, it is his voice I heard, and his voice I shall listen to. Now. To business. You have called me, a Daughter of Vengeance. What is it you require of me?

"I was hoping you might be able to show me how to wield Chaos, like you demons do. So that angels won't keep beating my ass into the ground."

Hm. You ask for something I can do without thinking... But I suppose I might have an idea of how it could work. Not for others, they are too... orderly. You though... it might work with you...

"Will it? You going to tell me?"

I see no reason why I should. I have not been offered anything in return.

Basically, offer me something. Why does it always have to be so complicated. Anyway, how shall I handle this? And what could I possibly offer that a demon, an Erinyes no less, would actually want? I suppose if she hasn't completed her vengeance yet...

"What about access to the world to complete you-"

My vengeance was done many years ago.

Damn... what else... Well, I don't really know what to offer. I suppose I could just try to dominate her will, force her into my servitude in some way, in exchange. Or I could ask her what she wants, but that leads to some very difficult proposals, as demons like to seem contradictory. Usually won't benefit me at all either. Or I could just dismiss her and try something else... Someone suggested becoming more Ordered awhile ago? Should I try that?

hell no. dont go ordered. what? you wanna be like one of those stuck up angels? learn to wield the glorious power of chaos.
as for how to deal with the demon, force her to your will if you think you've got the strength. if not, ask her what she wants.

Hmm... what would a demon want, an eryness who completed her vengeance? I am not sure what we can offer. Does she want material goods? ...I doubt it.
Maybe some sacrifices? We could snatch bunch of people from enemy settlements or somethin.
Demons like chaos and to change shit, right? Perhaps we can promise her to be able to do that?
Anyway, if all fails try to dominate her if you think you can.

What about the chance to help with your vengeance it is a pretty big one

>>442386
"Well, your vengeance might be complete, but mine certainly isn't. I'm not going to be stopping until I've torn apart every last one of the bastards who broke my power and their descendants, and the angels standing in my way are a pain in the ass. That, along with gaining enough power that my former self looks like a helpless kitten, are my only priorities here. I'm conquering the world on the way, and based on how things have gone so far, probably pillaging a sizable chunk of it. If you care at all about assisting others' vengeance, you'll help me for that alone; if you're interested in seeing anything less boring than squatting in the Pit for eternity, you'll help me for the entertainment value; if you care even a little about affecting the world in any way, then so long as you're not standing in my way or wrecking my plans and resources I see no reason not to turn you loose on the world with a smile and well wishes once I've purged the blood of my ancient enemies."

If she doesn't take that, then we might as well try and break her. "Fine, then. You're not offering any suggestions and I don't have any interest in catering to some bint who won't aid me in my revenge- Daughter of Vengeance, my ass. Let's see if I can just force the issue." Then try to dominate her.

Awakening Chaos Hated 2012/08/13(Mon)23:29 No. 442778 ID: a407a5
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>What about the chance to help with your vengeance

That vengeance is another's. I can not say who's, but I do not dare intrude.

>Maybe some sacrifices?

I am no pit fiend. Leave the sacrifice of mortals to them.

"Well, your vengeance might be complete, but mine certainly isn't. I'm not going to be stopping until I've torn apart every last one of the bastards who broke my power and their descendants, and the angels standing in my way are a pain in the ass. That, along with gaining enough power that my former self looks like a helpless kitten, are my only priorities here. I'm conquering the world on the way, and based on how things have gone so far, probably pillaging a sizable chunk of it. If you care at all about assisting others' vengeance, you'll help me for that alone; if you're interested in seeing anything less boring than squatting in the Pit for eternity, you'll help me for the entertainment value; if you care even a little about affecting the world in any way, then so long as you're not standing in my way or wrecking my plans and resources I see no reason not to turn you loose on the world with a smile and well wishes once I've purged the blood of my ancient enemies."

So you offer freedom and the chance to kill i exchange for my aid?

"Yes."

Hm. I see. I will accept your offer with a minor alteration. You will set me loose to my own devices now. In exchange, I will avoid contact with you and yours, and will give you my idea regarding your Chaos. Is this acceptable?

I pause to consider it. Demons are bound by the contracts they make, at least for the most part. And Erinyes usually don't twist wording...

"Yeah, alright. I agree."

We have a deal then. Regarding your Seed. My belief is that you need something to jump start it. Right now, you could say it is sleeping, mostly due to the small amount of Order currently containing it. Find a strong source of Chaos, and you will likely awaken that seed inside of you. Essentially wipe away the Order within. I will warn you however, you will likely begin to cease caring about thing you did before if you descend too far into Chaos. Logic will begin to mean nothing, actions that would normally seem like a good idea will be ignored. Emotion, instinct and desire will begin to rule your thoughts ans actions. I doubt that any empire you build will last long with you in that condition.

"Sooo... if I become too Chaotic, all my work up to now goes to the Pit?"

Almost literally.

I release the words on the circle, allowing the Erinyes to leave, which it promptly does, then consider this new bit of information. That would be the logical conclusion to becoming more Chaotic, wouldn't it? It would get harder for me not to follow my instinct to just eat everyone and everything... Gah! I hate all this thinking!

But the only large sources of Chaos I know anyway are upper house demons and arch-demons. I suppose I could ask around for other sources of Chaos, but I can't think of anything off the top of my head. I suppose the easy way out woud be binding a demon to my soul. That might do it. And by demon I mean upper house, because the hellhound didn't seem to do a damn thing. At least, not that I can feel. Eh, in the meantime, Chaos is the goal so let's see about finding someway to whip up some Chaos.

...So... Should I just summon up another demon then? I already got one in mind to try for this Chaos thing. Just keep in mind that if I do bind this demon o my soul, no Angel will ever deal with me again, unless they are bound to a god.

Or I suppose I could try waking my Chaos up some other way. Maybe a god would know?
Or should I try looking into Order? It doesn't cost me anything to call up an angel... except maybe cleaning up all this blood and purifying the place.
Or is there some other action I should be taking?

I was afraid this would be the case. I am against going more chaotic then, seems that you will lose control of yourself, just like when you turned on your sexy-time skill infront of Nina.You hated that feeling of not being in complete control, right? So, becoming more chaotic is lose/lose all the way.

We must find a different approach. Perhaps we should delegate? Make so that our soldiers can resist and kill angels? Or make few champions?

Calling an angel and seeing if we can become more ordered seema like a good idea too.

Call up an angel, see what kind of advice they can offer as far as the order thing goes.

Honestly, the chaos thing seems like a really bad idea. Currently, a large portion of your power, and more importantly potential power, comes from the fact that you have followers who give you sparks. You go more chaotic and maintaining any kind of resource base will become nearly impossible. Which means killing for sparks. Which means less sparks, less often, and needing to spend sparks to get them. It simply isn't economical.

It would also fuck with all of your current plans.

Yeah, I'm all for calling up an angel now. We should see if the other side has anything better to offer that won't have the possibility to be as lethal to your faculties.

Well i was referring to Hated's vengeance but whatever

Angel of Mercy Hated 2012/08/14(Tue)23:37 No. 443374 ID: a407a5
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>Calling an angel and seeing if we can become more ordered seema like a good idea too.
>Call up an angel, see what kind of advice they can offer as far as the order thing goes.
>Yeah, I'm all for calling up an angel now.
Alright then. I suppose that means I should clean up all this blood now... and purify the runes, although I'll have to get someone else to do that. I could never remember how to do it. Chants or something. Anyway, I drag out some sparks and get the blood out of the way, having it all collect into a ball and then shoving it into a bucket or two that I transported the stuff here with. Then I go around town, rounding up some shamans since I hope they can perform some sort of purifying rite thing. They do so, although they aren't really sure how to do it themselves other than call out to their god, who decides to respond and get rid of the Chaos infecting the runes. While they're doing their thing, I head off into town with Isrenow, this time on the hunt for someone willing to bring an angel into their body. The search actually takes longer than others, but eventually we find one. Almost inevitably it's a woman, but that seems typical of most of the more peaceful angels. Or maybe it's just because most people tend to imagine angels as female. Who knows? Anyway, she follows willingly enough after being told the task I require of her, and I take her back to the summoning circle and have her stand in the center. Once that's done, I kick the shamans out and get to the calling, although this time for something that probably won't react well to me at all.

Ah well. Whatever. I drag out some books on angels to dig through, searching for something that might not hate me instantly. I eventually stumble across it. Something called a Merciful, whatever that is. I memorize the chant for it briefly, then stride back over to the circle. Isrenow has waited patiently, albeit with little to do herself, so I tell her she can go, if she likes. She shakes her head, although it's a lazy motion, like she can't really muster up the strength to care all that much. Whatever. Again, not my problem, I have better things to do.

I shove sparks into the summoning circle, then begin my work again, this time beginning the chant as soon as the summoning circle begins it's glow.

"Being from the a realm of birth and order. Here me and come, so that I might receive the gift you bring... Mercy."

I stand there, finishing my call, and as with the Daughter of Vengeance, the angel responds almost at once. The woman doubles over, the pain clear on her face, then something changes and her expression seems to soften into some sort of sleep or coma. Then the woman is lifted into the air and the rest begins happening. Wings erupt from the woman's back, this time the wings being white, feathers filling the air. There's no blood this time, but a sudden burst of light fills the room, and I realize it's because the angel has a Pit-damned halo. Course it would. At least the angels that fight don't have the damn things. But she's not done, the woman's clothing seeming to ripple and shift, growing larger and wrapping around her body like robes. She descends, the angel clearly having taken control from the feeling of discomfort I'm feeling right now, and she lands gently, kneeling on the ground before directing her attention at me.

"How very interesting. Very interesting indeed. A being of Chaos, calling a Servant of Order? Wonders never cease." There's the look of amusement in her eyes, but at the same time there's a clear feeling of hatred or disdain, and hostility, however small. She clearly doesn't like being around me. Well too bad.

"Yeah sure. Whatever. Look, I've been told I have this... Order thing surrounding some sort of Chaos seed or something like that. I want to know if I can... I don't know, increase the amount of Order in me. Make myself more Ordered if you want to call it that.

"Hm... how... unexpected... but unfortunately, impossible. If you were a demon, it might be possible, but you are not. I'm truthfully not sure what you are. I could look into it, but I doubt someone like you wants an angel sticking her nose in your business."

"So this was useless then. Damn it to the Pit. Fine. I guess you ca-"

"When did I say I could not help? The Order inside you keeps your natural Chaos dormant, but even now it influences you. If the Order inside of you were to increase, the Chaos would have less of an impact on your soul, and might bring you closer to Order. I believe contributing an Ordered soul to this might cause an increase in your own Order."

"... So I should bind an angel to my soul?"

"One possible method. There are others as well. One of our own is attempting an experiment to use sparks to artificially create Order. I can not say how it is going though, as she is outside my interests."

Essentially, the same thing has to occur for Order as for Chaos. Although at least Order offered an alternative. I could try tracking down this experiment of theirs, but... that seems like a long shot.

Either way, the choices still stand.

Order?
Chaos?
Another method?
Or shall we just ignore the issue for now?
And what do I do with this angel?

i have to suggest chaos. was it not you dream to bring death and destruction down upon the world? to have angels cower in fear before you and have blood rain from the sky. you are naturally a chaotic being.
and think about it, your goal was to kill the decedents of the heroes. any minions you have are just temporary tools for you to complete your revenge. you wont allways need them. perhaps you might not need to wield chaos just yet; utilize what you have until they are no longer necessary then master Chaos. but definately not order

I dont think order is good for someone like yoy. You must indeed make your dream come true. you dont need it now but eventually you should learn chaos.
All that you have is only temporary to begin with, you dont have to rule the world. You can bend it to your will.

We might as well ask about experiment. Who it is that is performing it, for example. Where they are, how long they've been working on it. Even rough approximations might help. Any identifying features of her or her work, at all. For all we know, she's working in your backyard.

I still say that focusing on Chaos is a bad idea. Becoming heavily aligned to either Chaos or Order is limiting. You don't seem the type to appreciate limits.
When I say "go with Order" I really mean "neutral". Order is the method used to reach it, but the middle ground, or closer to it at least, is the goal.

I vote for becoming neutral. Pure Chaos is to unreliable, Order is both impossible and too boring. Let's try to have a mix of Order and Chaos.

Ask about the experiment or whom to ask about it if this angel of mercy does not know enough.

>>443421
I agree with this you gotta know all of your options before you commit to something.

Angel of Records Hated 2012/08/15(Wed)23:38 No. 443766 ID: a407a5
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So the general idea, at least for now, is that we keep ourselves as nuetral as possible. Although some say going Chaos at some point is a good idea, now isn't the best time. Alright, so I just have to figure out how to get myself more neutral.

>>443421
"Who do I talk to in order to find out about this experiment going on? Preferably someone who isn't going to kill me instantly."

"Hmmm... I suppose this begins to go into the realm of deals. What then, would you offer in exchange for the information I can give?"

"What do you know?"

"You shall have to find out, now won't you?"

"Yeah, fuck you to."

The angel looks somewhat bored with my insult, but it made me feel better, so she can think what she wants. In the meantime, I let my head fall, thinking. Angels of Mercy... if everything I've read(admitadely, not much) is correct, then they tend to like making deals taht revolve around forgiving people and granting people second chances. I want no part of that, I like killing people and I'm not just going to stop because it's fun. Another angel though... Well, let's just some angels are easier to manipulate than others. They all like following rules. Very strict ones at that. If I can figure out a specific angel to summon and manipulate... damn it, there's too many varieties to just go searching randomly. I need something that would actually be useful... well, we've got an angel here.

"Sorry, I'm a bit new to the whole angel thing. You mind telling me about the different upper house angels? Maybe a kind that wouldn't want me dead on the floor the instant they saw me."

The angel blinks in surprise, then stares at me in confusion for a minute before cautiously beginning. "Well... there's us angels of mercy, we're always willing to give people second chances. Angels of Valor are the warriors, they run around killing things and such. Valkyries are similar, but are generally weaker versions of the Valor breed though. Angels of Death aid Death in ensuring that everything dies when it should, and Angels of Justice ensure everyone is judged in a proper and orderly fashion for their crimes. Angels of Love ensure that all things love as they should, and the Angles of Records ensure all things are recorded and processed without trouble. There's also the Angels of-"

"Yeah, alright, I think I get it. You angels have a category for everything. Whatever. How about an angel type that would actually be useful to me in my current situation?"

"So... you are the one taking over Everfrost, yes? Then I suppose an angel of Valor would be best suited to directly help you. I know a good one, Artidilus, a friend. Very good at the killing. As for your little Order issue... I suppose an Angel of Records might be able to help you locate information on that best. Although they aren't likely to help without you passing those trials they like to use. Usually pointless, but it is required by the Law. Um... hm. It is difficult to think of anything else that might be of use to you. All others are generally focused on something else. Now then, by Law you are required to offer me something I des-"

"Yeah, no. Your dismissed. Thanks for the help." One of the useful traits about being Chaotic. Laws mean shit of all to me.

"Wha- That's no-" A blinding flash of light, then the human woman is back to being just that, a human woman. She's lying unconscious on the floor within the circle, which is a good thing I suppose, as I'm not done yet. We've got some options now, it's just a matter of finding them out. I suppose we should go with the information gathering first. Angel of Records. Let's see...

"Being from the a realm of birth and order. Here me and come, so that I might receive the gift you bring... Records." God. The exact same chant except for one word. You'd think the idiots could be a little more imaginative.

Still, light ripples out of the girl again, but instead of dragging her into the air, the light continues to brighten, and then it simply vanishes. There's no halo this time. Instead, I'm greeted with what looks like a mage. There isn't even any wings. The woman's hair has changed color, not something uncommon considering the superiority complex of most non-mortal beings, and she's dressed in what look to be a mage's usual robes. Or rather, a stereotypical idea of what a mage should look like. There's even a staff carried in one hand. Her young appearance and general innocent look is quickly shattered though, by the first words out of her mouth.

"What? What is... oh, for the love of the Law, I don't have time for this! Do you realize how much time it takes to catalog the aftereffects of a large-scale war? With MULTIPLE races and factions getting involved? Not to mention the angels of valor that decided getting involved was somehow a good idea. FOUR THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SEVEN PAGES! JUST FOR THE ASSAULT ON RIVERCROSS ALONE! Enchanted warriors! ENCHANTED WARRIORS! And who gets put in charge of keeping track of the total casualties? ME! ME! We're understaffed as it is and they want to pile even more work on me..." The angel sighs, planting the staff in front of her and drawing a book as if from nowhere. "Alright. Fine. I've been called. Let's hurry this up so I can get back to work. Name, rank in the moral realm, reason for calling..."

I blink in surprise. I have yet to meet an angel this unconcerned with what's going on. It's somewhat... refreshing, getting to cut through all the bullshit to get right to the issue. Well, might as well finish what I started.

"Uh... Vincent. King of the Barbarians. Need information on... a few things, I guess?"

"King of Barbar- Oh! Your the ass that started all of this. Just great. Well, whatever. I suppose it's too late to care now." The angel scribbled some things in her book, then slams it shut and tosses it, said book disappearing in mid-flight. "I should introduce myself. I'm called Mitherial. I'm your Angel of Records at the moment. Now that we're done with that, I need you to fill out a request form for the information, sign it in triplicate, then take some tests for me. Minor things really."

A set of papes pop into being in front of me, along with a few other writing utensils, and I frown in annoyance. This is not what I'd like to be doing. But I sigh and get it out of the way, filling out each section rather haphazardly. Most of it is just worthless information about why I want the information. I skip past all of it with a simple "because I want to know". Fuck their rules to the Pit. Once I'm finishes, I drop the quill I was using and flick the papers towards the angel, who snatches them out of the air and barely glances at them before tossing them into nowhere again.

"Good, good. Everything in order. Law followed, records kept, everything in place. Now then... the test... eh, I don't have much time, so let's see if your even worth bothering with... a simple riddle to start with then.

I cannot be felt, seen or touched,
Yet I can be found in everybody,
My existence is always in debate,
Yet I have my own style of music.

What am I?"

I blink, then growl in annoyance. Riddles... I've never been good with rid-

"A soul."

The answer comes out of nowhere, then I remember that Isrenow is with me. She has a huge grin on her face as she comes forward to stand next to me, eyes fixed on the angel. The angel, on the other hand, looks a bit peeved.

"Wha- Where did you come from? You can't start answering his riddles?"

"Oh... but I love riddles... eh, that don't mean I can't answer them. Come on, ask another one!"

The angel frowns, then sighs. "Fine, fine. Let's see... no answering this time elf, they're supposed to be for him... hm... alright, let's try this one...

If you break me
I do not stop working,
If you touch me
I may be snared,
If you lose me
Nothing will matter.

What am I?"

Isrenow pauses for barely a moment, then looks like she can barely contain herself. I, on the other hand, feel like punching something... eh, I'll leave it to you lot.

So... what's the answer?

That experiment is intresting. Lets look into it.
Also, getting Ordered does not seem as bad as getting more Chaotic. At least you will be in control of your facilities.

"Heart"

Yeah, seems like this angel just does not give a damn and wants this all thing to be over with.

Also, you should ask her what was that up with her accounting of the war you are waging. Ask her about the Valor angels who meddle there and why they are there. If you can, try to get their names too.

>"Heart"
"Yeah, yeah. Alright. You got it. Great for you. What is it you wanted to know?"

The angel looks somewhat relieved, likely because this little summoning is going rather quickly. Isrenow looks a little disappointed she didn't get to answer, but whatever. I could care less. Instead, I focus on getting what I need in terms of information.

"I need to know about an experiment into... what was it, artificial order? Yeah. As much about that as you can give me. And what's this about recording the war? What's that got to do with the angels? Especially the involvement of the Valor types, if you don't mind."

"All that huh? You don't come unprepared. Well then, let's start with the easy bit. I record things. Anything I'm assigned to record. That's just the way it is. All the time. I don't take breaks and don't want to take breaks. It just so happens that I got assigned to recording the number of casualties during the war. That's all for that. It's just so the Arch-angels up on high have an accurate record of everything there is to know. We even have records of stuff that don't make any sense. But that's beside the point.

The Angels of Valor are in your realm cause they got summoned up, same as me. They're choosing to meddle because it suits them to do so, and because YOU seem to be disrupting the natural Order of things, although I can't really fault you for that. The smell of Chaos clings to you like dog to a bone. Anyway, the Valors are probably just going to go around stabbing things till they think Order has been restored, then come on back home. Nothing major. Unless something kills them. Then they'll be in a lot of pain.

Now then, the artificial Order thing. Some angel of ours is trying to do it, but that's not really my department, I could pull up the official records..." The angel drags a book out again, glares at it, frowns, tosses it, then pulls another book out. She stares at it a moment, then tosses that one as well and pulls another book out, her frown deepening as she repeats this process a few times. Then she's practically snarling as book after book get tossed in rapid succession. Finally, she stops in her work and start muttering curses.

"SOMEONE is blocking that record. I keep pulling up dwarves religious ceremonies. Which are not interesting, as they haven't changed at all over the past 50,000 years. Trust me, not worth the read. But that's beside the point. Someone is blocking my access to those records. Or the records got bumped up a security level. In either case, your out of luck, because I don't feel like risking my life over your interest. All I can tell you from memory is that there's supposed to be various artifacts all over the place that could potentially be used to create artificial Order, not to mention Chaos. There were... six I think. Stress on the THINK, as I don't recall too well, I only gave it a brief glance when it passed my desk back when I just catalogued the catalogues. Funny enough, there's quite a bit of interesting tidbits running around in all those. Did you know there's a religion that follows the Immortals? How stupid is that? And there's seven of them. Each following a different Immortal. Real funny if you ask me. The gods are there for a reason. Idiots.

Anyway, you need anything else from me? Or can I go? I have a lot of work I need to get done?"

So, information can't be obtained that easily. That sucks. Still, six of them huh... I just have to figure out how to go about doing it, and get one of these six artifacts, and I should be able to do it myself, right? Maybe...

"You know where these si-"

"Classified. I tried already, to get around the security requirement."

Damn... well this was ultimately useless. We barely got anything of value. Ah, whatever.

Anyway, there anything else we want to ask this angel?
Besides that, we could also try binding an angel or demon to my soul, we could look more into this artifact thing somehow, or I could try doing something else.

What's it gonna be?

Ya the artifacts seem like your best bet right now. They should let you use chaos without having to risk any changes to your mind or soul
Lets not bind any demon aor angel and move on from the topic of chaos and order until we find out more about these artifacts.

"Is there any way to banish angels without having to directly fight them?"
Also ask her how hard it is to fight them, in her opinion could our enchanted warriors take them up?

Anyway, I agree, we should aim for those artifacts and artificial order thing. Ask her if she knows what kind of angel was messing with that, perhaps that will be enough of a lead to find it.


Actually, I think there is one way to remove angels that we didn't look into. Trifuldin. We could aak his help/advice

Tirfuldin's Aid Hated 2012/08/18(Sat)15:33 No. 444795 ID: a407a5
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>"Is there any way to banish angels without having to directly fight them?"
"No. Once the mind and soul are attached to a body in this world, you can't just banish them back. They're firmly rooted in this world."

>in her opinion could our enchanted warriors take them up?
I don't need her opinion for this. The answer is easily a no. The warriors will get slaughtered. Especially cause angels tend to fly. It'll be up to Isrewnow to help fight the things, although maybe those undead bat things can help as well. Although, thinking about it a little... if we could ground the angels somehow... hm...

"Do you know what kind of angel is doing this research?"

"Nah. Most angels identify with one group or another, but this one don't. It just goes around doing what it wants. Normally that wouldn't be allowed, but she's got permission from one of the arch-angels... Azrael I think. Anyway, that angel is usually left to her own devices, and hasn't come into the records halls in a few decades, so I don't recall much. Sorry I couldn't be of more help."

>Tirfuldin
That's true, now that I think about it. These angels are getting in the way of conquest, he shouldn't be adverse to helping me out. I dismiss the records angel, who seems happy to be finally getting back to work, then I drag the woman out and get Isrenow to take her back to where we got her from. Then it's time to call up the god of barbarians. I try for a little while to find someway to call him up in one of the books, but get nothing, so then it's off to go meet what's his name to get his help.

I instantly regret it the moment I enter the shaman encampment area. Our head shaman is there to greet me, but he doesn't look at all happy about it.

"My king. It is an... honor, to have you visit your humble shamans. What is it I can do for you?"

"I need to speak with Tirfuldin. I figured you would know best how to get in contact with him."

"Yes. There are certain... rituals... that can be performed to attract his attention. But I must ask why you feel it is necessary to bother our god. I will not call for him without reason."

"There are some troublesome opponents we have to fight next. I wanted to know if he'll lend us a bit of aid in the coming conflict."

"I see... I will have the shamans prepare the necessary items. In the meantime... I wish to speak with you regarding some of my concerns over the rumors I have heard."

"Sure. Start talking."

"First. I have heard something of a deal with another god besides Tirfuldin. I wish to express my... displeasure... at you doing such a thing without consulting me first."

"You are the shaman for Tirfuldin. Not the spokesperson for our entire people. THAT is my job. I did what I did because I thought it was a fair trade, and because I felt that Tirfuldin would not be against it. If you like, we can bring up the matter with Tirfuldin directly."

"Perhaps... another thing. It has come to my attention you have married an... elf..."

"Yeah. So?"

"Yet Nina remains without a child?"

"She's already pregnant. Next issue."

"The matter of the elf is still not settled. I can stand for allowing marriage to an elf. She has not become one of the tribe, she isn-"

"So essentially, she hasn't beaten someone half to death?"

"Um... a blunt way of putting it, but yes."

"Easily remedied. I'll have her do it whenever your ready for this fight to occur. She'll probably kill the guy though, she's not the kind of person to hold back."

"Er... yes... well..." The shaman is saved by the arrival of one of the lesser men, and we all head out to an open area to speak to Tirfuldin. There' s a lot of chanting and drum beats already, but I just look bored for the most part. I never liked the overly complex ceremonies, maybe because I was forced to sit through dozens of them as a kid. Either way, the ceremony seems to last for hours, but eventually we get something. More like, I feel something, and the others get to hear it. A crack of thunder overhead, rain begins pouring down from the sky, and then I hear the voice of the god come down from on high... damn theatrics...

I have heard your call and answered. What is it you call me for, King of Barbarians.

"There are some angels in the next city we seek to conquer, and I alone can't fight them. There control of Order is... making things difficult for me. I seek aid, and if you might be willing to help and all that."

Hm... I can't help directly... but perhaps... yes, I suppose that might work... Head Shaman! Bring me the most deserving warrior!

The shaman jumps in surprise, then sends some of his juniors off. A few minutes later, a warrior, standing just a few inches below my God-King height, is brought into the clearing. The warrior looks confused, but simply stands in awe as the voice of his god is heard.

Warrior. Your tribe, your king and your god require your service. If you have family, they will be taken care of. If you have possessions, they will be returned to those who they belong. But now, your god asks of you, give up your mortal life, your mortal soul, to receive my angel of war.

The warrior just nods dumbly, and then there's another burst of light. The sound of drums accompanies the angel's arrival, the world seems to turn grey, and bolts of lightning and the crash of thunder is filling the skies around us. The ground seems to quake under our feet, although I have no trouble keeping my footing, and I can see cracks breaking out over the surface of the ground. I can hear vaguely the sound of people crying out in fear, awe and respect, but my attention is focused on the warrior as a light seems to drop from the sky and crash into the man's body, sending him to his knees and cracking the ground around him. The man's body is literally starting to rip itself apart. Skin, bone, muscle and blood are being separated from each other and reformed, taking on an appearance that I can't really make out yet.

Then the god speaks again, his voice now directed at me.

Chosen King of my people. You have pleased me, and shown your strength of resolve. Choose for yourself which of my angels shall accompany you in this war, and in your life. They shall serve you forever, and question not your will or your way.

Gilrenthal, the aspect of peace, and the protector of that peace. Her form is that of a great bird, master of thunder and lightning, and she will serve as both a warrior and lover for eternity.

Ithaniell, the aspect of war, and the bringer of blood. He takes the form of great bull who makes the ground shake and tremble, and will serve as a companion and a trusted lieutenant for eternity.

Make your choice, King of Barbarians, and then once again show me your strength and your resolve.

I say go with Gilrenthal if only because we could use the lightning and thunder to knock those pesky angels out of the sky or at least attempt to. I don't like the fact it's a being of peace which may cause it not to fight unless it's protecting the "peace" which is something we need to ask about.

zegaza 2012/08/18(Sat)18:42 No. 444979 ID: 4c4f27

so we risk dealing with another girl for all eternity, probably not as annoying as isrenow. though honestly they seem easier then the guys to deal with for some reason. Yeah the thunder and lightning aspect does seem best suited to are needs, i mean if its on the ground we can deal with it no problem, and she might be able to make things easier whenthings start to quiet down. we don't plan to always be at war. So yeah i say female angel.

Ya i think the peace angel is our best bet. While we might have to deal with a possible anoyance in the future, the benifit this choice brings us should out weigh any discomfort. Especially the ability to properly combat angels.

Thunderbird and WTJ's New Trick Hated 2012/08/18(Sat)20:58 No. 445064 ID: a407a5
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"Glirenthal"

As you desire.

The rumbling of the ground ceases, but the flashes of lightning and the clap of thunder intensify, deafening sound around the city. A bolt of lightning rips its way out of the sky, striking the ripped up pieces of the warrior, then another bolt follows the path of the first. Another follows, then another and another, bolts of lightning seemingly to endlessly strike the same thing over and over again. With every bolt, a clap of thunder is heard, and the mass of flesh, bone and blood transforms, taking the shape of a massive bird. A final bolt of lightning, larger than the first that accidentally fries a few shamans nearby crashes to the ground, and then there it is. The massive bird stands above me, arching its neck to get a look at the area around it. The storm clouds above are slowly disappearing, almost as quickly as they arrived(although it occurs to me I never noticed their arrival, and as they depart, I hear one last thing from Tirfuldin.

Gilrenthal, you know what you must do. Young King, a last piece of advice. While your newest servant may aid you, she can not be everyone at once, and binding herself to you will change her nature greatly. So I advise you... seek more allies. Be they servants or friends, you need them. Go to the elementals. Their kind have not seen the mortal realm in many, many years, and I doubt they would refuse the chance to walk the mortal realm again.

The god's presence disappears, and I'm left alone, with a massive bird on my hands and a bunch of very shocked shamans. I sigh to myself, then turn my attention to the angel.

"So. Your to serve me now."

"So I have been told, young King. Shall I swear my oath of service now, or later?" The angel's voice seems to simply appear in my head, not unlike Tirfuldin's, but her's is far more gentle sounding, soft, patient, and accommodating.

"Might as well get it over with now."

"As you will it."

The bird seems to perform a sort of bowing motion in my direction, then her voice rings out across the whole clearing.

"LET IT BE KNOWN TO ALL MORTALS, ALL DEMONS, ALL ANGELS, AND ALL GODS. I, THE GOD PROCLAIMED ANGEL OF STORMS, GILRENTHAL, DECLARE MY LOYALTY, BODY, MIND AND SOUL, TO THE SERVICE OF THE ONE BEFORE ME. MAY THE HEAVENS STRIKE WHOEVER DARES TEST MY OATH!"

The angel flaps her wings at the end of this little proclamation, as she does so there's a clap of thunder and sparks seem to slide down the length of her wings. At the same time, I feel it. The sensation is very different from the feeling I got from the hellhound. Garmr's loyalty and devotion was wrenched from him, won through strength of will and domination. Gilrenthal's was given freely, her devotion absolute because she willed it so. I can't explain the difference any better than that.

Still, the same process takes shape. I feel a connection, a link, spring up between me and the angel. The only difference is the lack of Chaos or Order. Instead, I feel myself giving to her. The thunderbird collapses suddenly, garnering gasps of surprise from the crowd of shamans surrounding us, as a flood of my essence shoves its way into her own existence. I can feel it. My Chaos, my beliefs, my desires, they are warping her mind, her soul. She is becoming, in essence, an aspect of myself.

The thunderbird, after a few minutes of absorbing all the changes occurring, struggles to its feet and directs it's attention to me. "I see. Yes, I can finally see... you are far more than you ever told... my will is yours, my God."

That catches everyone, including me, by surprise. The thunderbird let's out a screeching cough thing, which I assume is laughter.

"Do not look so bewildered, my God. My essence is bound to you now. I serve you, and through you I will serve Tirfuldin still."

But through our link, I can feel her thoughts and desires. She will serve me, yes, but she will only serve Tirfuldin as long as I desire it so.

Either way, I find myself suddenly tired, perhaps from having a very powerful angel bind itself to me, and I find a place to sit and sit, cradling my face in my hands. Pit, I this is going fast. Still, we have another ally, perhaps the most loyal one we will ever have. She won't go against my will. She literally can't, and just as literally doesn't want to. I hear rather than see the massive bird stomp its way over to me, leaving clawed indentations in the ground behind it, and feel its beak rub gently against the top of my head. I absentmindedly reach up and stroke the side of her head, the soft feeling of feathers and the tingling sensation of electricity greeting my touch, but I otherwise ignore her, trying to come up with a plan of action.

"My God. You are troubled."

"Yeah. I have a lot going on right now... You know who I am now?"

"Yes. I also know your desire for it to be kept secret, and I shall do so. Everything you wish hidden I will keep to myself. Everyone who knows I know.

"Good..." I retrieve my hand from her head, rubbing my temples I try to organize my thoughts. The chatter of the shamans is getting annoying though, especially because they aren't shy about pointing, staring, praying and otherwise making idiots of themselves in the presence of the massive bird.

"Gilrenthal... that is your name right?"

"My God, that is my name only if you wish it so. That was my name as I was to Tirfuldin, before that I was Hasramiel, before that, nameless."

"Right... just use Gilrenthal until I think of something else or decide to stick with that. In the meantime, make the shamans go away. Preferably without killing them, they feed me."

"By your will."

The bird's presence disappears from above me, but I hear a screech and the sound of many shamans running. The silence that follows is beautiful.

Now then... we need a plan of action. Elementals are no small thing to summon, unlike demons and angels there are no lesser houses. They are all powerful, living incarnations of the element they represent. If I do end up summoning one... we have to be damn sure we know what we want to do with it, because summoning circles don't hold those things unless they want to be held. On top of all that, my knowledge of elementals is... very limited. I know I need an offering of some sort, and unlike other summonings, I need to do them at particular places, but other than that I have nothing.

Still, it's a start. I also have an idea about how we could hunt for those artifacts. Samuel had that finding stone thingy, we could use that as long as we had an idea of what to look for. Artifacts that powerful must have legends about them, so if we hunt through all the old legends, we might stumble across something. If WTJ has any better, faster methods for doing this, that would be appreciated as well.

I've got the strength in my soul left to bind a lesser demon or angel to it. I suppose I should show Isrenow how to do it as well, as every little bit helps. Someone said saving that little bit for some other time, but... well, I figured I'd bring it up anyway. Gilrenthal took a lot out of me. I can't imagine a normal human being able to withstand this.

Sticks is off to see the elves, and about hurrying them up a little. Hopefully that works out. There's also those Island people to the east, maybe I should see about seeing them and getting them to be meat shields as well. I could be over there pretty quick... but at the same time, that could take awhile. I'm not too good at the talking thing to begin with anyway. Damn it. Still, I could try bringing that army I sent that way back to mine. The Islanders seem to have that side tied up pretty well. Not like I won't just be taking it from them eventually anyway.

My mother is loose up north. We'll have to stop her eventually, but for now she has to remain out of the picture. I don't really see a reason for her to be up in the mountains for no reason, but whatever. She was always crazy bitch anyway. Besides, this angel that the recorder lady was talking about seems to concern me more. Finding her might be of use as well.

Argh... all the options...

"My God." Seems that Gilrenthal is back. "I understand you have many things to do, but do not forget you have me now as well. I can act in your stead. That is what I am for, partially. Your will and desire is mine. If you require it, I could perform a task you do not have the time for."

That... that is rather helpful... hm...

For now, here's what we have to do WTJ. It'll be a week or two(hopefully) before the elves get here, so that's how long we have to do some of this.

-Track down Artifacts and/or the angel trying to use them.
-Hunt down information regarding TB, or at least figure out what the hell she's doing in the mountains.
-Research types of elementals, find a place to summon them, find a suitable offering, and then summon one.
-Possibly deal with the Island of Seven Shadows to the east in some way.
-Possibly rename our new angel.

Anything else I'm missing? And then... what should I do?

-----------------

WTJ(aka you lot) can now freely issue "suggestions" to Gilrenthal(temp) and Garmr without leaving Hated's mind. You are assumed at that point to be using Hated's link to them to be exerting your influence upon them.

Garmr is far more responsive to random suggestion, while Gilrenthal(temp) will weigh her own desires and those of Hated against the suggestion, deciding if it goes against either before performing the action.

I just really hope the angel experimenting isn't your mom. She is a angel in the grand scheme of things due to the deal she made with an Arch-Angel and she did admit she really just works for herself which spells all kinds of bad things for you.
If that is the case though let's look for those artifacts because for one you want them and two whatever she is doing can't be good for you but who knows maybe she stop being so controlling (yeah right).
If she isn't behind the experiments well no harm done because you needed the artifacts to begin with and the angel (If not your mom) will follow the artifacts back to you and you can make deal, threats, etc depending on what needs to be done.

>>445086
Not sure WHERE to start though but yeah don't say I didn't warn you so prepare for the worst. Hopefully Isrenow would know some legends I mean she is an immortal and an elf which I assume would know a lot of stupid legends about things like this but I'm kinda grasping at straws.

Our main objective right now should be finding those artifacts. We can deal with TB later. Perhaps our alys might be able to help us learn more about the elementals.
Finally if there's nothing left for us to do here we should probably go check on our army around the islands and see if we discover anything new.

I'd say the easiest thing at the moment would be to ask the shamans any legends they might know that sound like the artifacts as well as anything about elementals and the like or if any of our allies might have more clues. i mean you have a ton of them may as well put them to work.

God DAMN I love it when Hated breezes through objections like that.


Anyway, I think you should send Garmr to mom-finding duty. Tell him to stay out of sight at all costs, though, since you don't want your mom orbing him or smiting him or anything. After he's done with that, he should be put on artifact finding duty with the same stealthy approach.

Speaking of which, where IS your orb? Can you get it back?

You should ask the elves about the artifacts. They seem to have intelligence gathering up to a fine art.

Put Tiny and your shamans into researching the elementals, or do it yourself if you feel up to it. Seems a bit boring to me though, so you might want to delegate it away if you feel they'd do a reasonably adequate job.

Gilrenthal should actually be put to Order teaching duties. We want to be able to fight angels, that's what started this summoning gig.

We could also summon up an Angel of Records again, and ask them about elementals and possibly your orb too if you don't know where it is. Also ask about the religion that worships immortals and especially the one that worships you if there is a religion like that.

Possibly also summon up Artidilus for Isrenow if she is able to sustain an Angel of Valor. We could also summon up Azrael to ask about the experiments, but I think that's really risky.

End of Chapter 2 Hated 2012/08/19(Sun)13:10 No. 445313 ID: a407a5
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Alright then. Artifacts seems to be the major task we need done, so I think I'll personally focus on that. Gilrenthal can help as well. Garmr... yes. I think that'll work. I doubt mother will care much about a hellhound that isn't bothering her. I send the necessary mental commands, feel acceptance get reported back through the link, and then I can only assume that the dog is off to do what he's been told to do.

>Speaking of which, where IS your orb? Can you get it back?
I have no idea where I left the damn orb. That was... I don't remember when I lost track of it. I think I gave it away to somebody for some reason... can't recall what for though... hm... But yes, I could recover it and use it again if we found it. The thing is something like construct, as long as I stay alive, it should still be floating around somewhere.

>Gilrenthal should actually be put to Order teaching duties.
Gilrenthal is affiliated... or was... uh, how to explain... She doesn't have access to order anymore. Her essence was changed to match that of the god she pledged herself to, and by extension, that essence change has carried over into her service to me. She can't wield Order. She's effectively severed her connection to the Birthplace. So no Order teaching is going to come from her.

Tiny and the Shamans are next up on the list. Tiny is probably preoccupied with administration and such, but she can help when needed. I stand up and head off to find the Head Shaman, and when I do, I tell him what I need. Namely, he's going to find out as much as he can from whatever sources he can about calling up elementals. Books, people, spirits, whatever, he has any resource he need at his disposal, short of those that follow me personally. I need them for other tasks. The Head Shaman looks a little unhappy, but accepts the task without complaint.

I also take the opportunity to ask about any legends they know about, but it's all mostly about legendary beasts and the warriors that killed em. Nothing to do with ancient artifacts at all.

Tiny helps out a bit more in that regard, I find the girl with Nina. After introducing the pair of them to our newest addition, and quite a few respectful bows from Nina to the thunderbird, we finally get down to business. From the brat I receive two possibilites, along with the general idea of where I might find them.

Somewhere far to the south, within the goblin realm, there's supposed to be the one artifact that the goblins possess that has any magic whatsoever. The Drums. Where exactly they are kept no one is certain, mostly because no one has ever entered the region for long and come back out with any useful information. Either way, the Drums are supposed to be a goblin equivalent to draw upon magic, and somehow whenever the drums beat the world seems to bend and warp to accommodate the little buggers. Theories suggest the Drums pull out the natural Order and Chaos of the person who hears them, while other theories state that they can be used to provide Order or Chaos. In all, it seems this is one of the possibilities.

The second is located farther north. Some towe-

So it seems the only one we have to go for is this Drum thing, at least based of the information that Tiny gave us. Collecting more will be annoyingly difficult, but that's fine to. The elves... Sticks just left, so I doubt we'll encounter them anytime soon, and by the time she gets back I doubt I'll have the time to go investigating anything if we wait.

So, for now, I think I'll focus on those Drums. Besides, if we do this right, we can get the Goblins under our control and hunt down the hero descendants of the bastard goblin. But to begin with...

"Gilrenthal, as intimidating as you are, I doubt you'll be able to do much of anything important other than kill things in that form. You got a human one you can use?"

"Of course, my God."

"M-m-my god?"

"Yeah. It's... complicated."

Gilrenthal seems to warp her body, feathers literally falling off her form in massive clumps, and she gets smaller and smaller with every patch that falls. Eventually, her form is about the size of a human, and then her whole body wrenches itself in random direction. Then suddenly she's human looking. Blackish hair, eyes an electric blue color, and she's garbed in a sort of loose attachment of rags and beads and such. Her angelic wings are still present, light flaps producing more electricity and tiny booms of thunder.

"Is this sufficient, my God?"

"Yeah. That works. Your coming with me, we'll be heading south. Have to look into these drum things. We'll probably be gone awhile. Nina, you to, since you want to stick close to me. Go gather some supplies. Isrenow will come with us as well... Tiny." The brat mutters something but turns her attention to me again. "I need you to run the place for awhile. And see if you can't teach Tongues a few things. I admit, I'm not the best teacher, but he's always willing to learn."

That'll get Tongues off my back for awhile. Now I don't really have too many worries. It should be a week or two for the elves to get here. The Islanders aren't hostile at the moment, and I don't think we have the time to deal. That army defending the next city won't be going anywhere anytime soon...

Time to go goblin hunting.

Woot goblin killing and/or subjugation! Oh and damn your mother and her stupid magic.