While Syd contemplated what to do about Alex, the rest of Jadis quietly went over everyone’s status sheets, taking great care to make sure they weren’t broadcasting their numbers for other ears to overhear. Aila used her notes to help silently compare everyone’s attributes, which now that they knew the Lascivious Empowerment ritual had been bumped up to a full double multiplier, was easy to confirm.
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Aila of Red Tree Race: Human Primary Class: Cart Driver (25) Secondary Class: Nephilim Powered Arcanist (20) Tertiary Class: None Combined Level Rating: 45 |
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Health: 120/120 |
Magic: 500/500 |
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Attributes |
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Strength: 10 Dexterity: 15 Agility: 20 Vitality: 12 Fortitude: 15 Endurance: 15 |
Arcane: 177 Divine: 0 Eldritch: 0 Focus: 35 Resilience: 5 Will: 10 |
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Eir Aedraheill Race: Elf Primary Class: Beloved Cleric of Lyssandria (23) Secondary Class: Lustful Oracle of D (8) Tertiary Class: None Combined Level Rating: 31 |
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Health: 100/100 |
Magic: 360/360 |
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Attributes |
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Strength: 8 Dexterity: 12 Agility: 10 Vitality: 10 Fortitude: 8 Endurance: 10 |
Arcane: 0 Divine: 183 Eldritch: 0 Focus: 36 Resilience: 10 Will: 21 |
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Kerr of Clan Nox Race: Therion Primary Class: Nox Archer (33) Secondary Class: Far Wilds Traveler (28) Tertiary Class: Bonded Slut Sniper (1) Combined Level Rating: 62 |
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Health: 150/150 |
Magic: 0/0 |
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Attributes |
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Strength: 142 Dexterity: 69 Agility: 24 Vitality: 15 Fortitude: 15 Endurance: 24 |
Arcane: 0 Divine: 0 Eldritch: 0 Focus: 0 Resilience: 13 Will: 0 |
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Thea of Cold Brook Race: Human Primary Class: Imperial Soldier (28) Secondary Class: Shieldsworn Guard (22) Tertiary Class: None Combined Level Rating: 50 |
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Health: 250/250 |
Magic: 0/0 |
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Attributes |
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Strength: 25 Dexterity: 10 Agility: 12 Vitality: 25 Fortitude: 153 Endurance: 27 |
Arcane: 0 Divine: 0 Eldritch: 0 Focus: 0 Resilience: 43 Will: 0 |
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Sabina Sarto Race: Human / Elf Hybrid Primary Class: Passionate Smith (21) Secondary Class: Enchanter Smith of the Reborn (4) Tertiary Class: None Combined Level Rating: 25 |
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Health: 140/140 |
Magic: 120/120 |
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Attributes |
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Strength: 20 Dexterity: 15 Agility: 15 Vitality: 14 Fortitude: 10 Endurance: 30 |
Arcane: 0 Divine: 0 Eldritch: 127 Focus: 12 Resilience: 5 Will: 20 |
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Bridget of Clan Warsong Race: Orc Primary Class: Lantern Light Landsknecht (21) Secondary Class: Ardent Light of the Reborn (5) Tertiary Class: None Combined Level Rating: 26 |
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Health: 250/250 |
Magic: 200/200 |
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Attributes |
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Strength: 37 Dexterity: 7 Agility: 13 Vitality: 25 Fortitude: 10 Endurance: 20 |
Arcane: 156 Divine: 0 Eldritch: 0 Focus: 20 Resilience: 10 Will: 21 |
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The stat boosts were, in all honesty, incredible. Even if Jadis was upset with Jack for messing with their ritual without permission as well as invading their privacy, she had to admit that the literal hundreds of attribute points that had been spread out across the seven of them sort of made up for the dickery. Jack was a jackass, but not a malicious jackass.
Really, Jadis wondered what exactly Jack had done to make the change. If there were other ways of changing the spell, maybe they could gain even more attribute points…?
No, Jadis discarded that notion. Jack had said she’d already done the most that she could for them. Whether that was in a mechanical sense or a personal willingness sense, either way meant she wasn’t going to get more out of Jack. Though maybe now that she knew of the possibility, she could direct her own skills in the direction of altering her rituals? She had one such skill already, and from what she had seen of how leveling and skill opportunities worked, the more one did certain things, the more likely they were to gain skills that would enhance, compliment, or progress those things. She would absolutely love to be able to alter her rituals to make certain aspects more convenient or, even better, maybe alter the rituals or skills of her companions. She was sure that as much as Bridget enjoyed their time together, there would probably be times when the orc didn’t want to be stuffed three ways to Sunday in order to replenish her Stoke the Ardent Flame.
Or perhaps Bridget didn’t really mind all that much. She certainly hadn’t complained so far.
In any case, as interested as Jadis was in the power that Jack had shown, she wasn’t keen on letting the Fetch use it on her again, even with the obvious benefits. Jack seriously needed to work on respecting boundaries. Jadis decided she’d much prefer to gain that power for herself, or for one of her lovers. Considering how fast they were leveling, that hardly seemed like a pipe dream, either.
“I think he might have done something like some wizards are capable of,” Aila was saying as she and Eir discussed the outcome of the Jack-altered ritual. “One of the key tenets of wizard classes is their versatility with their spells. Slower to cast than a sorcerer, but greater variety in effect. Some of the skills I’ve heard some wizards gain allow them to create multiple effects with a single spell. For example, a wizard might cast a powerful lightning bolt that strikes one target, but because of her spellcraft and complementary skills, she can add on multiple smaller instances of ball lightning that spread out and strike the area around the target. It’s an alteration, not dissimilar to the kind my class allows, though far more fluid in nature. Jack must have some skill that allowed her to tack on additional qualifiers for the ritual. Though, I’ve never heard of a class that can change someone else’s spells.”
“I have, of a kind,” Eir mused, one finger held against her cheek in thought. “Though the example I am thinking of is more of a sympathetic spell casting. I have heard that some priests are able to enhance the ritual spells of their kindred priests, allowing them to perform more powerful rituals than they would alone.”
“I get the feeling that those priests probably would have needed some kind of permission to alter those rituals though, right?” Jay asked Eir, her expression still somewhat sour though her mood was improving.
“Yes, I believe so,” Eir confirmed her suspicion. “Though I am not personally familiar with any priests of such a high level as Sir Jack. At such a high level, I have no idea what would be possible.”
“Fair enough,” Jay shrugged. “Well, I guess this means Jack is a ritualist. Or a priest, I suppose. That would make some kind of twisted sense, actually. I did first meet her, or him, in a temple to D.”
As Jay, Aila, and Eir discussed the what and how of Jack’s interference, Syd found her own musings over Alex interrupted.
“So, uh, I know none of this is my business and I’m kind of intruding here, but from what I gather your sex ritual thing did succeed, right?”
Syd’s eyes shifted away from the wriggling demonling to look at the goblin woman still sitting on the wagon. Sorcha still had her legs drawn up to her chest and she looked like she was trying to make herself even smaller than she already was. Still, she’d reached out to Syd, her eyes holding a mix of nerves and hope.
“Yes, it did go well,” Jadis agreed with a slight hum. “Better than we were hoping for, even if the final results were unexpected.”
“And, stop me if I’m wrong here, but me being here actually helped you and yours get a lot stronger, yeah?”
“True,” Syd agreed again, this time one slender eyebrow raised as she regarded the witch.
“Good! That’s certainly good. So, ah, maybe that means you’d be putting in a good word for me? I mean, with the whole cooperation I’ve been giving you, plus with me helping you all get much stronger and such, that’s worth a good word with the law, isn’t it? For whatever it might be worth coming from you, which I think probably is worth a fair deal. You and yours seem like you’ve got the ears of important people.”
“Are you trying to bargain with me for a reduced sentence when we get back to Far Felsen?” Syd asked, the side of her mouth quirking up in a smirk as she leaned in a little closer to the goblin.
Sorcha’s big eyes were drawn to Syd’s unclothed chest like magnets. With visible effort, she pulled her attention back up to her face.
“Not with you,” Sorcha clarified. “You aren’t the Magistrate. But I bet my left tit she’d listen to what you have to say about everything that went on out here. I mean, let’s be blunt here, I could use the sodding break, so if you’ve the grace to put a good word in for me, it would be very, very appreciated.”
“Right,” Syd nodded, glancing around the dark tent. Everyone was starting to calm down from the earlier excitement, and she could see that a couple of her girls were starting to pay attention to the conversation she was having with Sorcha. “Well, I was actually already inclined to talk to Vraekae about you anyway, so if it puts your mind at ease, you can expect some consideration from me.”
“Thank the gods,” the little witch let out a big sigh of relief. “You don’t know how much that means to me.”
“Of course, that all depends on us getting back to Far Felsen in one piece,” Syd mused while rubbing her chin. “You did overhear what we’re planning on doing tomorrow, right?”
“Uh, well, maybe not every detail,” Sorcha wobbled her head from side to side. “But I heard a fair bit about Dryads and dragons and demon hordes. Sounds like a real, uh, big battle coming up.”
“You don’t seem that worried about us succeeding,” Syd pointed out, motioning with one hand towards the goblin.
“Well, in truth I was a whole lot worried earlier,” Sorcha admitted. “Then Noll the Savage showed up right out of the bloody ether, which combined with that monster Fetch makes for a scary strong duo. And then, you know, you all talking about this ritual giving you huge stats and you’re, you know, not even freaking out over how big they are makes me think that the lot of you are just that used to having stupidly massive stats. So anyway, that means you’re even stronger than you already were, which translates to you all being even more powerful and dangerous than I thought. So, yeah, not as concerned as I was earlier.”
“You know what? I can’t fault that logic,” Syd nodded in appreciation. “We’ve definitely got some heavy hitters on our side right now.”
To illustrate her point, Syd raised her arm and flexed her bicep. Her inhumanly smooth and pale skin stretched as the muscle bulged, turning her already firm and powerful looking arm into a body builder’s wet dream.
“Uh, yeah, that’s… yeah. Heavy,” Sorcha stared, her gaze stuck to Syd’s flexing arm.
“However, I’ve seen that dragon. Anything that can be done to increase the odds of everyone getting out of this shit alive is something I’m willing to at least entertain.”
One reason she was feeling a lot more forgiving of Jack than she might otherwise normally be, Jadis silently mused.
“I get that you aren’t much of a fighter,” Syd continued. “But you do have some pretty powerful spells. How would you feel about putting those to use for us, rather than against us, in this upcoming battle? If you do, I know I’ll have more positive things to say and I bet others in the group will as well. Maybe even captain Willa will want to offer some considerations if you can prove yourself useful.”
“I, uh, actually, yeah,” Sorcha stumbled over her words for a second before nodding her head vigorously. “Absolutely! If it means getting some leniency, I’d be damned well happy to!”
Upon hearing Sorcha’s eager agreement, Jadis brought her companions in on the conversation. She didn’t trust Sorcha, though she did trust that the witch would do whatever she could that would be in her best interest. Including the others in the planning, she made sure there were no strong objections. There were, of course, some concerns raised, which were all fair. Still, the argument came down to the fact that Sorcha was unlikely to try and betray them simply because if she did, it would mean her own death via dragon, demon, or some other equally horrible foe. Sure, she might try to run away in all the confusion, but even if she did, it was unlikely that she would get far, not with trackers like Kerr or Noll around. And if either of those two were no longer able to track the little witch, there were much bigger problems to concern themselves with than bringing one goblin back to Far Felsen for justice.
Though, as they wrapped up the discussion on the practicality of using Sorcha’s aid, another thought crossed Jadis’ mind. There were other resources in the camp that could be used. Maybe. It was something to explore in the morning, at least worth the conversation.
The reactions she got in the early hours of the next day were about what she’d expected them to be.
“Are you serious?” Willa gave Jay a withering look as she stood sternly before her with arms crossed.
“You can’t be serious,” Stavros said at the same time, looking up from where he sat chained to his fellow Reavers.
“You what now?” Jockel asked, a spoonful of cooling porridge halfway to his mouth.
“That’s mad!” Ricket crowed, his bruised and swollen face alight with delighted humor.
“Mmrph!” Eike angrily grunted around the gag stuffed into her mouth.
“You heard me,” Jay answered calmly. “Why not use every resource available to us?”
“We’ve got to drag them with us anyway,” Dys pointed out as she motioned towards the prisoners. “And if we don’t use them, that’s more resources we have to devote to guarding them, taking away from what we would otherwise be able to put on the field.”
“So, how about it?” Syd raised her hands in an appealing gesture. “They fight for us and, so long as they don’t pull any stupid shit, we put in a good word with the Magistrate and get them a more lenient punishment. Fuck, even if it’s years of imprisonment, that’s got to be better than the executioner’s block.”
“You are absolutely out of your mind,” Willa shook her head, staring up at the three Nephilim with disbelief.
“I believe I agree,” Stavros rumbled in his deep voice.
“I like it,” Ricket added, scooting across the ground with a pained grunt to get closer. “You’ll need someone to help set a trap for that dragon, right? I’d love to help with that! I’ve never tried to catch something that big in a trap. Sounds like a mad enough challenge to be fun!”
“Ricket, shut the fuck up,” Jockel said as he yanked on the chain connecting them to drag the man back.
“No, no, do go on,” a voice purred from the shadows, causing everyone present to jump.
Jack, still in the guise of a purple elf, only now she was wearing a set of wizardly robes that glimmered with power, stepped out from the early morning shadows.
“The world needs more mad plans,” she said, a broad grin on her face. “I’d like to hear more about this one.”
I love Ricket, he's insane
He just wants to build a trap or seven. Or a hundred.
Just a guy who wants to build trips.
D told her not to be boring. I for sure am going to enjoy how this plays out.
Ricket honestly not caring about much except being able to flex his trap goblin muscles is very amusing.
Of course Jack would be all on board with making use of the Reavers. I am surprised Stavros isn't keen on the idea of doing anything to get a more lenient sentence after he is turned in. He has to know he is going to be executed otherwise. Captain Willa has 3 dead soldiers because of him. There is blood and lives on the ground.
Also, nice, the spade work for rehabilitating Sorcha has now been laid. Soon, Goblin s*x toy will be fully acquired.
I mean, for one thing, getting that more lenient sentence does require him to live long enough to achieve it. I don't think anybody thinks that their odds of surviving this battle are great. Not terrible, considering Noll, Jack and Fortune's Favoured, but not great. And the executioner's block sounds a lot cleaner and less painful way to die than a horde of demons and a possessed dragon.
If I had to guess, Stavros's ideal scenario here is making an escape attempt while the bulk of the group are occupied with the battle, and then just legging it.
@Shade13 If I was Captain Willa, anyone who doesn't fight and is capable of doing so, gets extra tied up so they can't do squat except wait for death by demon should the worst case befall them. Blood bit*h I'd never let loose. She is too deranged and dangerous.
So it becomes a simple choice, either help and maybe live, or don't help and face execution for certainty. As Jadis rationalized, there are quite a few capable trackers with them. Two of which could easily one shot Stavros. Kerr and Noll.
So, Stavros' ideal scenario just gonne be that, a pipe dream.
I suppose some of the mercs might claim they were signed on under somewhat false pretenses, namely that they would turn to banditry to dissuade others from following them, and claim that they were unable to flee thanks to intimidation tactics and coercion by Stavros and his stronger Reavers. However, I am not sure how much clemency that would get any of them.
Hell, even if they do help Jadis, there is no guarantee that they will be able to avoid getting their necks stretched or their height shortened by a foot or so. Really would depend on the outcome of the fight to come and just how many avatars return to Far Felsen, along with the reports from Captain Willa, Jadis, and Noll.
Should be a very interesting pair of Friday postings to read!
@Maddhawk That "ideal scenario" would likely also bank on his captors not surviving the battle. Which is not an unreasonable thing to expect could happen under these circumstances.
I do think that eventually he will agree, but this is gonna need to be a very convincing plan that Jadis has.
The best bet is to sweeten the deal, get jack to agree to vouch and take one of the dryads back to Far Felsen to do the same. Then have them with Jadis vouch publicly vouch for their assistance in the dragon battle, and ask for leniency not absolvance of their crimes.
This makes it so that 3 avatar races vouched for them, and renders anything other than a slap on the wrist punishment a political shitstorm. The leniency not absolvance request makes it so that the Reavers can still be punished just not executed. Heck sending a couple to work under the dryads for a few years could work.
And Rickert though insane can be used to help improve the city defenses as long as he is supervised.
But yes Eike has been shown to be too dangerous not to leave her behind.
@SeriousBlueJewel They would get more than a slap on the wrist. There are 3 dead imperial soldiers.
Right now, they are just trying to avoid execution.
A slap on the wrist punishment, is an idom meaning a significantly smaller punishment than you deserve for your crime. So yes I expect them to get punished, I just expect it to be more of a token punishment that is hard enough to show look they did something bad and we are still punishing them despite the pressure from the divine avatars. Whilst still being light enough to stop the religious zealots from kicking up a fuss.
So yes I don't know how the punishment will manifest but it will be significantly lighter when compared to execution.
@SeriousBlueJewel I know what "a slap on the wrist" means. They deserve something far more substantial than that is what I am saying. Right now, they are facing the worst case punishment and rightfully so. For helping save the dragon and the Dryads, risking their own lives in the process, they deserve some leniency. Something like 20 years criminal slavery plus 10 years indentured servitude for example.
Cept Blood bit*h. She doesn't deserve leniency. Kill her and be done with it.
@SeriousBlueJewel Having a Fetch vouch for you feels politically questionable, considering their reputation.
@Shade13 True but in the presence of two other avatars, and the fetch being clr 249. I think that wil reduce the political strain somewhat.
@SeriousBlueJewel That it should. Though, it will be small, cold comfort to the family of the dead soldiers. When your loved ones perish fighting demons, that is one thing. I would expect the family members to sorta, subconsciously, mentally prepare themselves for that possibility. But, to get word they died in a ambush by illegal miners turned bandit? In a region where such, honestly, wouldn't be expected due to the extreme wilderness and heavy demonic presence? That is gonna sting to their families.
Probably be a month, real time, before Agdistis gets the story to the point of their return to Far Felsen though.
True, but the fact is that some illegal mining was to be expected. Honestly speaking others have likely contemplated it, or done other small scale theft. But the Reavers were the only ones going at it in large. Probably because they thought they were too smart/careful to get caught.
Heck if they had one more officer that had brains (or at least more than Jockel), sanity, and the strength to keep the others in line, they could have just kept to their cover story, and not gotten themselves put on the wanted list. Just lying that your company got split in half due to a demon attack and your half was taking refuge in the fort, whilst doing reconnaissance to hopefully find the other half would have been a decent enough cover story.
The officer would have looked like an idiot for not immediately reporting what happened, but the company could still have reunited and smuggled their smaller haul back for good money. f*cking hell it is a good enough excuse to go back to Far Felsen, buy a wagon fill it with winter supplies and go looking for the rest of the company. Heck most people would respect their apparent loyalty.
@SeriousBlueJewel Yeah, I agree. If Stavros just had a few more competent lieutenants then they could definitely kept the operation going better and dodged suspicion. On the flip side, Jadis wouldn't be on the verge of acquiring a goblin cock sleeve in the form of Sorcha.
@Maddhawk Fair I expect most of them to be forces to join the army supporting the Hero or rot in prison. That does make me wonder how do prison sentences work here?
Do longer lived species get longer sentences than short lived species?
I mean on the one hand it makes sense but what about snaller crimes then, those with shorter prison stints? Does adjusting them make sense?
@SeriousBlueJewel That is something to ponder. That said, keeping people in prison is costly and wasteful. The best penal structure I have seen in a story was a fantasy story on hentai foundry. An independent city state enslaved convicted criminals. Their period of enslavement depended upon their crime. What labor they could be forced to do also varied by crime. Even though they were enslaved, individuals and businesses that bought the rights to their enslavement contracts were also required to treat them in certain manners because once their time of punishment was over, they would be free citizens again.
Some activities, like pleasure slaves, came with a large number of restrictions. Certain crimes could make a convict eligible for such duty. Otherwise, a slave had to be willing to be eligible for such work. So a woman convicted of theft couldn't be forced to be a prostitute for a brothel for example. On the other hand, an elven woman, who was convicted for defacing the inner shrine of a temple in the religious district was sentenced to 5 years enslavement with s*x work one of the categories her contract permitted.
@Maddhawk sounds intresting
@SeriousBlueJewel Sadly, the author deleted all of their works and closed their account there. So it can't be read anymore.
@Maddhawk ah, sad to hear.