Amdirlain''s PoV - Veht? - Mediterranean


    By the time Amdirlain returned from the ruined temple, Kadaklan had finished cleaning the filth from Jinfeng.


    "One ruined underground temple complex cleared," said Amdirlain. "Shall we wait here until sunset and cross at night?"


    "You''re not looking to go striding across the waters in the daytime?" quipped Kadaklan.


    "I''m still making adjustments to its enchantments," offered Sarah


    "Are you sure that’s not putting us in danger? I''ve never heard of the enchantment of objects being changed after their creation," Kadaklan said.


    Sarah grinned. "Upgrades!"


    "Would you care to translate that for the rest of us?" asked Jinfeng


    "We''ll have a movie night sometime," replied Sarah. "Why don''t you all chill, relax, and enjoy the afternoon? I''ll complete the changes needed for the open sea crossing by nightfall."


    Jinfeng looked at Amdirlain. "Was there much danger inside?"


    "Aside from the spell arrays that greeted me, nothing much. There are still a few pests in there, gigantic rats and the like, but they ran from me," said Amdirlain, motioning to the beach. "Shall we spar?"


    Jinfeng saluted and leapt down to the soft sands.


    ? ? ? ? ? ?


    As the setting sun turned the sky into warm oranges and left the water with a sense of darkened mystery, Amdirlain sat on the porch with Sarah and looked ahead as the house strode westwards across the swells.


    "You seem in a sour mood," noted Sarah.


    "I killed a Greater Werewolf who had been in the Temple''s dungeon," said Amdirlain.


    Sarah hummed thoughtfully. "When you supply minimal details, it''s a clue that you''re unhappy with the situation. Does this lycanthrope have a name?"


    "He was formerly King Demeter of Macedon," replied Amdirlain. "He was under a stasis effect in the temple''s dungeon."


    Rather than explain in tedious detail, Amdirlain shared her memories of the encounter.


    "You tried to get him to cooperate," noted Sarah.


    Amdirlain wrinkled her nose. "The guy looked at me like a piece of meat, but I''m worried I made the convenient choice. I could see the situation going wrong for others in so many ways. He was a thousand years outside his time, with a curse that would spread like a disease, and wouldn''t even discuss the situation with me because I was a disfigured woman in his eyes."


    "So the history texts about Greek culture were accurate in that respect?"


    "Or at least accurate for him," replied Amdirlain. "I have this sense that somebody assigned me to garbage detail."


    Sarah''s smirk was all the reminder Amdirlain needed about who decided her route.


    Fine, I''ve only myself to blame. I decided what the puzzle meant and didn''t have to accept the invitation.


    "Yeah, yeah, I know," huffed Amdirlain. "What do you think? If I tamed the curse and sent him to join the current-day Greeks, do you think he''d have started a war?"


    "Absolutely," said Sarah. "As soon as someone validated he was royalty, all those unhappy with the Adventurers'' Guild would have used him as a rallying point. Unlike the Gorgon, who stopped to listen after a scuffle, he still told you that you should be grateful you got to serve him. You gave him more chance than you have given any other monster."


    "Monsters don''t have souls," argued Amdirlain. "I''ve gotten a little too casual with violence."


    "People with souls can still be monstrous," countered Sarah.


    "You know that includes me as well?"


    "If he''d killed you, do you believe he''d have given it a second thought?" asked Sarah. "You''ve vented so much poison, but you''ve still wounds of the Soul to tend."


    Amdirlain huffed. "Going oops afterwards doesn''t remove responsibility."


    "He should have been dead over a thousand years. Rather than give him a chance to screw up other people''s lives, you sent him to his afterlife," said Sarah. "If I were you, I would have done worse to him."


    "Like what?"


    "Let''s just say I would have taught him an object lesson in manners and leave it at that," said Sarah, "You know, with the route we''re on, there will be a sizeable gap between the northern borders of Rome and the territories held by the Norse. Do you plan to keep the current pace so Kadaklan can continue harvesting and experimenting?"


    "There isn''t a rush," said Amdirlain. "Unless we want to be wading through snow, we might have to decide where we spend the winter."


    "How about we park where Barcelona would be on Earth?"


    Amdirlain nodded. "That''s a fairly safe option. I''m pretty sure it doesn''t snow at that latitude. Is there anything there now?"


    Sarah checked her display tablet, and her expression turned sour. "A big Lizardfolk city. We''ll have to stay northeast along the coast to stay clear of them."


    "Sounds like a problem for another day then," said Amdirlain.


    They snuggled on the porch for a while before heading to the privacy of their soundproof room.


    Directed by the Psi-crystal that had access to the house''s sensors, their passage across the bay was undisturbed by violence. The house arrived off the heel of the Italian peninsula in the middle of the night and settled briefly in the wet sands. Its shutters flapped in silent irritation before, under the assault of local giant crabs, it started to stride up and down the beach, kicking crabs to death. When more joined the fray, the guns deployed and lit up the night; finally, an alert sounded in the house.


    The slaughter had already been completed before Amdirlain appeared in the main room and called up the outside display. Shaking her head, she instructed the Psi-crystal to come off high alert.


    When Sarah joined her, Amdirlain raised an eyebrow. "Seriously, did you model this thing''s behaviour on Baba Yaga''s hut?"


    "Right," laughed Sarah, looking over the devastation that lined the sand. "Perhaps I made the automated responses a touch aggressive to attacks."


    "We came under attack?" asked Jinfeng, descending the stairs behind Sarah. "I heard nothing aside from your alarm."


    "Some local wildlife took shots with water bolts, and the house returned the favour," explained Sarah, broadcasting the memories from the Psi-crystal to the receiver in the lounge area.


    Amdirlain grunted. "And if it had been civilised people and not monsters?"


    "The crystal will detect sophisticated minds and sound the alert sooner," reassured Sarah


    "Perhaps we shouldn''t let it travel unmonitored in the future," proposed Amdirlain.


    Sarah shrugged. "It could have easily been a wandering swarm of Sahuagin attacking from the depths. If we''d stayed on land, it might have been a local monster attacking instead. As you can see from the memories, it let crabs that scuttled off leave without attacking them."


    Jinfeng shook her head at the devastation and gazed towards the east. "How far did we travel overnight? I felt neither the trip nor the battle."


    "About a hundred kilometres," offered Sarah.


    "How fast could you complete this trip if you just had the house walk around?"


    A predatory grin lit Sarah''s expression. "It depends on how much devastation I was content to leave in my wake."


    "She''s partly teasing," said Amdirlain, tugging Sarah''s shirt as she headed for the front door. "Come on, let''s get moving. I want to see if the locals are more hospitable."


    "Are you hoping they''ll let you into one of their towns?"


    Amdirlain nodded. "Getting to know people would be more interesting than simply camping out for the coldest months before we head north."


    "When you get to know people, you''re tempted to help them," observed Sarah.


    "Maybe I''ll learn more about myself that way," replied Amdirlain. "At least you didn''t say interfere."


    "Oh, do you have a guilty conscience?" laughed Sarah, following Amdirlain outside.


    "I fail at being subtle, that I''ll freely admit," sniffed Amdirlain, starting down the steps. "Let''s get moving. The locals might have heard the house''s pre-dawn fun, and we don''t know how close towns are."


    Sarah winked and pointed northwest along the coast. "Fifteen kilometres that way is the closest fishing village."


    "Satellite monitoring. You showed your hand with the Dragon, but have you had a DIY GPS on us the whole time?"


    "Maybe," Sarah dropped from the porch and sunk ankle-deep into the sand. "There is a farming village directly inland. You didn''t want to use your surveyors because the songs would tempt you, but mine don''t carry the melodies, just images."


    "I bet you have options that put thermal imaging to shame," huffed Amdirlain.


    "Of course," said Sarah before inhaling deeply. "Nothing but wildlife nearby. I''ll have breakfast, and we can head off at dawn. We can see how the local inhabitants react to us."


    ? ? ? ? ? ?


    The group''s casual mood faded a few kilometres inland when they saw flocks of ravens and other scavengers circling in the air ahead of them.


    "Something isn''t right at that village Sarah said was ahead of us," observed Jinfeng, her black braid swaying in the strong wind. "Do we head in to help?"


    Kadaklan sighed unhappily. "Let''s pick up the pace. Given the size of the gathering, I doubt that flock only recently arrived."


    "I''ll skip us across hills with teleport," advised Amdirlain, and she acted the moment they''d acknowledged.


    When she came to a halt, they were on a hilltop overlooking what must have once been a tidy village. Around a central common, well-formed domes spread out in a spiral. As they transitioned into full farms and the gaps between them increased, the quality of the structures remained: evenly shaped stone with no mortar showing in the hairline gap between each stone. It was an orderly place, well cared for by the slain residents. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    The fields before them lacked crops; the short stubble showed they had recently missed the harvest. Two Lizardfolk with sandy yellow scales hung from crossed poles in the middle of the field, with a ring of goat corpses around them; in places, the flesh had been stripped to the bone, but the birds still competed for the remains. A head twitch and a hiss came from the closest of the Lizardfolk; his inner lid fluttered rapidly when Amdirlain appeared before him, leaving the others behind on the last hill.


    Someone had removed scales across both victims in a five-flail pattern; bright red fungi grew from the exposed meat. The gentleness within Soul Sight turned their treatment from criminal to horrendous.


    "I''ll have you down shortly," said Amdirlain.


    "Flee. They''ve laced my wounds with deadly spores. They''ll burst if you move me," croaked the Lizardfolk.


    Amdirlain nodded and projected reassurance. "We''ll deal with them."


    The Lizardfolk fitfully struggled to shoo her away, but his arms were bound too tightly against the pole. "Leave."


    "If you strain yourself too much, they''re rupture anyway," said Amdirlain. Resting a hand against his shoulder, she examined the wounds and the mushrooms using Psychometabolism techniques.


    Kadaklan and Sarah landed beside her, and Amdirlain motioned them to the other male, moving weakling on the second set of poles. "Get ready to support him. I''ll incinerate both sets of poles and the mushrooms. I can prevent the flames from hurting individuals, and even if I can''t isolate them from the mushrooms, the spores won''t survive once they''re airborne."


    She took up his weight with Far Hand and flipped on the aura as soon as they were in position. The white flames incinerated the mushrooms and poles and sent the feasting flock fleeing.


    The Lizardfolk''s eyelids squeezed shut at the brilliant white light around them. With the wounds cleaned, she shut the aura off and teleported them back to the hilltop, only to find Klipyl missing.


    "Let''s get some fluids into them," ordered Kadaklan. "Are there any other survivors? There are ravens and other birds all over the village."


    "Klipyl''s checking," replied Jinfeng.


    "Dozens of crossed poles are visible from here, but there are no complex thoughts close by except the seven of us," Sarah motioned to include the two Lizardfolk.


    They settled the two survivors to the grassed slope, and Kadaklan retrieved a waterskin.


    "I''ve warned her of the mushroom spores," reported Sarah. "She says there is a group of farmers on the far side of the closest building, but they''ve all had their throats cut. She''s checking the rest of the village."


    The two Lizardfolk weakly tried to follow their exchange, but none was in a language they spoke.


    ''What else did you get from their thoughts if you learnt of the spores?'' Amdirlain projected to Sarah.


    ''We''ve stumbled into a religious war,'' returned Sarah. ''We need to know a lot more about what is going on. Any chance of you just skipping to the north?''


    ''Did they stake out the children as well?''


    ''I guess we''re staying.''


    Golden light shone from Amdirlain''s hands, and she knelt between the two survivors, holding a hand above each of them; their open wounds healed, and unmarked scales grew to fill the gaps across their chests.


    Leaving them in Kadaklan''s care, she hopped about the village, finding more examples of butchery that included children as young as a day old. Souls hovered about many of the bodies, held in place by the gruesome death they''d suffered.


    I couldn''t tell anything about the last set of slaughtered villagers, but here I can see their souls. Do I stick to just avenging them, or do I resurrect them?


    "You''re staring off into the distance," said Klipyl, appearing nearby as Amdirlain considered the confused Soul of an innocent baby. His dismembered body lay scattered around what she assumed were his parents, with his head resting at his mother''s feet.


    I want to kill them all.


    "What sort of person does this?" asked Amdirlain to avoid airing her thoughts.


    Klipyl shook her head sadly. "Tracks are heading west."


    "Why don''t we have a chat with them?" Amdirlain asked.


    "Is that a good idea?"


    "Probably not, but I won''t turn a blind eye," said Amdirlain. "How long ago did they leave?"


    "Just yesterday. No signs of mounts and narrow strides, so they''re not hurrying much. I could find them in short order, teleporting across hilltops like you did," said Klipyl.


    "No need," said Amdirlain. "I''ll use some of the Clairsentience techniques to track them and then deal with them."


    Klipyl''s brows furrowed in worry. "Can''t I deal with them?"


    “Technically, no. They’ve priests among them of another deity. I want to stop them before they hurt others," said Amdirlain.


    "Only want to?" asked Klipyl carefully. “Ebusuku cautioned me that sometimes you feel compelled to act regardless of cost.”


    "These weeks of travelling have been good for me," said Amdirlain. "I''m not shouldering all the guilt as I used to. I don’t need to stop them, but I want to prevent more slaughters."


    Dozens of ectoplasm orbs shaped like human eyes surrounded her and blurred westwards.


    "That looked interesting." Klipyl motioned westward at the departed eyes.


    Amdirlain stared grimly north, directing her attention through the orbs. "Given they just butchered these people, where will their thoughts go if they see disembodied eyes?"


    "They didn''t even try to disguise their trail," said Klipyl. "Would you object if I brought these people back to life?"


    "That''s your choice, Klipyl," said Amdirlain.


    Klipyl waved towards the dead. "I don''t want to leave them dead. You could bring them back unmarked by this, couldn’t you? They’re not bad people."


    "I can see that from their souls, but I can''t tell how they might turn out or who they''ll hurt," said Amdirlain.


    "Stupid plinth. Well, it better not hold them against you. This is my choice. If you weren''t here, I''d be helping them," huffed Klipyl. "Would you help me gather the bodies? Most I can use Mass Raise Dead on, but I''ll need individual blessings for those torn apart. We should ask the two survivors to help reassure them."


    "You go talk to them, explain what you intend to do and see what they say," said Amdirlain. "They might have customs that prohibit raising the dead."


    As Klipyl went to get permission from the two survivors, Amdirlain gathered up the bodies with Telekinesis and laid them out in rows. She projected a sense of predatory eagles to the birds overhead, and they scattered in all directions.


    When Klipyl returned, the larger of the two survivors was with her; the patch of scales that had regrown across his chest was visibly lighter than the rest of the pale yellow scales that covered him.


    "Dralic, this Am. Am, I''d like to introduce you to Dralic."


    "Am. Thank you for your rescue. Your companion Klipyl says she can restore the village to life," said Dralic. "I can’t thank you enough that you would spend some power on simple villagers. Though I am confused about why she sought my permission, I cannot revive them."


    "Do you know much about raising the dead, Dralic?"


    "I''ve never grown strong enough in Lady Jithlo''s service to be granted such powers," said Dralic. “I’ve never learnt more than it was possible for senior priests.”


    Amdirlain motioned to the dead. "I want to ensure we wouldn''t offend you or those who Klipyl''s trying to restore to life. If the Soul isn''t willing to return, it''s a wasted effort. Common reasons for souls not returning are not trusting the Priest''s faith, if the Priest has ill intent towards them, or if their culture is against it."


    Dralic inhaled and thrummed noisily. "I assure you I''ve never heard of such efforts spent on mere villagers, and there is no precedent or custom that you might offend."


    "I''ll get busy then," said Klipyl. She moved to the end of the line with the least damaged bodies. "This will take a while, so don''t mind me."


    The meaning of the energised words slipped away even as the Blessing spilled from Klipyl''s lips. As the energy settled into the first victims'' bodies, killing blows, and the holes opened by pecking birds slowly filled out.


    "Why was your village attacked? And are those we bring back to life in danger of being attacked again?"


    "If Kreslix and I leave, they might be safe," offered Dralic. "But those that have twisted Lady Jithlo''s tenets might also extort them. While I have long hoped the sect distorting her ways would see the truth, they''ve grown considerably stronger in the last decade."


    I guess Kreslix is the fellow who was on the other poles.


    "Your attackers serve the same Goddess as you?"


    Dralic put his hand to the regrown scales. "My fellow and I now bear her mark on our flesh."


    "Her mark? I assumed it was your enemy''s symbol," said Amdirlain.


    It looks exactly like the symbol on the plague spreader''s shine.


    Dralic''s tail drooped, and inner eyelids closed. "I''m afraid it''s both. In recent years, heretics gained a foothold in the east, and their warped outlook has spread among many clans. Now, those clans that adhere to her original precepts are dwindling."


    "You have a schism in her faith, yet she still blesses them?"


    "Life is not simple, and it contains many things that cause struggles. Yet they’ve become more twisted and grown considerably in the last decade," said Dralic. "They surged in power, as they can cause warriors who are very dismissive towards those who follow her old ways to bend their knee. The fiercest warrior fears illness that can steal their strength and will not cross those who treat her as the Lady of Disease.”


    "Why are they dismissive of her original tenets?"


    "We help the growth of crops to feed the herds," said Dralic. "They do not understand the work or value. They see the herds and value those who protect them but not those who tend to plants that no warrior eats.”


    “We’ll get you back on your feet and see this mess cleaned up,” said Amdirlain. “I’ll see what I can do to squash this schism.”


    “Would you join my prayers to the lady for guidance in such a matter?”


    “No, that’s alright. I make my own choices,” replied Amdirlain, and she offered a crooked smile. "I''m on speaking terms with a few deities I don’t need to add to my list."


    Her matter-of-fact tone froze Dralic. "You have a strange sense of humour, soft skin."


    "You are assuming I''m joking," Amdirlain replied. "Assumptions can be dangerous. Why do you still live here if the sect has grown stronger?"


    "We here on this peninsula are the last holdout of her original teachings," explained Dralic. "It was only weeks ago that the stronghold of Kralash fell. Now our order doesn''t even have a High Priest left."


    "How did you learn of his death?"


    "It was our attackers who brought the news," said Dralic.


    "I don''t understand how they turned the precepts about growing crops to disease," said Amdirlain.


    "A Wizard discovered that a tiny lifeform, invisible to the naked eye, caused the plague," explained Dralic. "He called it the seed of death, and our Lady bids us to tend the seeds so they might grow. That some twisted the Lady’s instructions on nurturing seeds to apply to the name a non-believer gave to the source of a disease I find revolting."


    The technique Amdirlain had continued to support spotted a group of Lizardfolk, and she created an illusion of the group between them. "Is this them?"


    The thirty-eight Lizardfolk wore the segmented metal plates Lizardfolk used for armour to protect vital organs.


    Dralic gaze snapped wide. "Yes. How did you find them so fast?"


    "Which one is the Priest?"


    Without hesitation, Dralic jabbed an extended claw at a mottled grey male in the group''s centre.


    Amdirlain swooped the manifested eyes through the group, causing them to halt; they fearfully swung about, missing the orbs with their wild swings. The figure he''d pointed out wore a pendant with the five-headed flail depicted in blackened metal over top of his armour; a full-sized version hung from his weapon harness.


    She dropped the illusion and teleported right before the Priest. Before he could react, Amdirlain delved into his mind and confirmed he was wandering, purging villages with priests who followed Jithlo''s original tenets. At the rush of images from destroyed villages, she plotted a path to slay the rest of the group, then grabbed him and pulled at his Soul with Energy Drain. Black lines glistened sickly across her forearm, a pulse of the Power leeched colour from his scales, the drain cascaded through his flesh, and his body turned to ash. As he fell apart, the lines on her forearm whirled outwards and flayed her surroundings, and the rest of the group crumpled to the now lifeless ground beneath her feet. For a hundred metres around her, the wind stirred up the ashes of Lizardfolk, plants, and animals. The souls of those she''d killed streamed into her body.


    [Combat Summary


    Lizardfolk x32


    Total Experience gained: +49,120


    Empress Malfex: +49,120


    Empress Malfex Levelled Up!


    Enervating Aura gained!


    Enervating Aura (1)


    Energy Drain [S] (96) merged into Enervating Aura (1) -> (S) [15)]


    Caught by surprise, Amdirlain hurriedly turned the ability off, but the group, shrubs and grasses, were already dead. Her skin buzzed with their stolen health, but with the Power disabled, the feeling bled away.


    [Enervating Aura


    Details: This aura drains the health out of any living organism within the area of effect, providing health to heal the possessor’s injuries. The possessor''s magic rating determines the amount of health consumed from each entity in the aura.]


    I wanted to grab his Soul, not kill everything.


    "Fuck!" spat Amdirlain.


    With how easily she''d activated the new Power, she considered the others included in her species details: Greater Mana Drain, Greater Mana Rift, Enervating Aura, Planar Gate, Greater Energy Recovery, and Amplified Energy Efficiency.


    I''ll have to see about getting those last two; more than likely, I''ll need to use up more Mana than I''ve consumed lately. For now, let''s see if I can trigger Planar Gate.


    Focused on the white clouds of Judgement, Amdirlain didn''t cast a Spell but pushed with her will for an opening to form.


    [Planar Gate gained!


    Planar Gate (1)


    Gate (Lesser) (1) merged into Planar Gate (1)


    Planar Shift (Self) [Ap] (5) merged into Planar Gate (1) -> [Ap] (1)


    Note: Playing with something besides Sarah for a change?]


    And I see you''re back to being a gaslighting arsehole. I wonder if Nicholaus is ever tempted to smack you or if he''s so focused on his crafting that your bullshit doesn''t matter. You would have known how much pain Ori was in for so long. Did you ever do anything to help her feel less lonely? Do you know your failings, Gideon?


    A jagged hole tore open before her, its serrated edges resembling a maw widening as if to consume her. It wavered briefly but stabilised, and Amdirlain released the souls into the white clouds of Judgment before releasing the Power. The edges snapped together with the ominous chomp of a bear trap.


    Though tempted to confirm the ability''s reach into the Abyss, Amdirlain set that concern aside. Not wanting to leave the dead patch, she restricted Resonance to a hundred metres and restored the grass and microbes with True Song before she closed it off again. Gathering up the equipment and spoils the group had been carrying, Amdirlain returned to the village. Dralic had turned his attention to those being revived, so Amdirlain set the loot down and waited.