Chapter 25 Rebirth
Being caught by surprise by the arrival of the Tuigan Horde was not a fun experience despite how well it turned out. As such I was determined to monitor the rest of the events I had marked down as potentially relevant to me.
Thankfully there weren't many. The invasion of orcs in Icewind Dale. The reappearance of the City of Shade in the Anauroch. The elf-dragon invasion of Cormyr. All the crazy stuff that happens with the drow.
And of course the death, again, of the goddess of magic. It's like the position is cursed or something. And they're tenure is getting shorter. The first one lasted over twenty thousand years. The second one less than two thousand. And the current one? If the timeline hasn't been derailed she lasts less than a century.
Truthfully it's this event that drives me more than anything else. Well that and Szass Tams insane war that I sadly can't remember too many details about. Just something about rituals and lots of undead. But it was the death of Mystra that shatters reality and makes me worry so much for my future.
Worse is the problem of my afterlife. Without my patron deity where will I end up? I never really worshiped even Essylliss, although he didn't hold it against me. But now where will I go? Mystra, who can't seem to stay alive? Azuth, who enslaves others such as Savras?
No. So far the plan I like the best is to just not have one. Undead don't have natural lifespans and even if I do end up destroyed I can always just a deal with the devils. From what I remember, all the deities destroy your souls to create their minions. It's just most of the deities preserve a bit more of the original personality when doing so. Which sounds nightmarish personally. If you're going to cut bits of me off, just wipe the slate clean please.
I have two choices for undead. Well only two that I'll seriously consider. The first is of course lich. Classic undead skeletons and eventually a transition to demilich. Except that process isn't documented anywhere and from the bits of lore I can recall has a serious chance of coming out flawed. All the ones I can remember from the stories had some kind of serious weakness.
And that was without the whole phylactery issue. Considering even Halaster while inside Undermountain wasn't safe, I'm not happy over the idea of having a giant vulnerable spot.
Which leaves vampire and even better vampire lord. And that I do know how to become. It's just convoluted, requiring very careful planning since a few of the details aren't completely clear. And it'll take a full century before I even find out if I got it right. Talk about nerve wracking.
However there is a way to become a vampire lord instantly. The Chaos Curse. An artifact level potion. And I just so happen to know where it ends up. The Edifice Library in the Snowflake mountains. A temple and library, I had been keeping an eye on it for over a decade. And it had finally paid off.
The scrying spells had reported the outbreak of war between the goblins and elves in the nearby forest. Which means the potion had already been used and the events of the first book were over.
I had checked and Cadderly along with his girlfriend and dwarven friends were all in the forest. Which means there isn't anyone there who can even potentially threaten me. I still teleport in with a small army of undead and constructs. I wasn't taking any chances with my best chance at immortality.
It's obvious the place isn't a fortress, no matter how it had started out. No sentries. Not even any traps or alarms. The single gardener was easily subdued with a Sleep spell.
Holy water has no effect on a construct. It shouldn't affect me either, but I wasn't sure if the divine spark was enough to count me as an outsider.
I don't drink it immediately. I teleport back. I want to be as secure as possible when I make the change.
Such a small bottle. So much power all contained with an ounce of liquid. It was potent though. The fact it was used in an Eversmoking Bottle without being consumed is proof enough of that. Without a special one like I created it just gets ignores. It was powerful enough to taint the smoke just by being in contact with it. Very impressive.
I suppose there isn't any reason to keep delaying though. I was about as safe as possible right now. Deep inside R'yleh with multiple armies around me. Not to mention traps and wards.
I take a deep breath.
Bottoms up.
O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O
The first thing I feed is hunger.
It was a desperate gasping feeling. Clawing at the walls in frustration. So much worse than anticipated. So glad I had made preparations.
I bite the elf and... it was divine. Like nothing I had ever experienced. Like hearing music for the first time. The first bite of a wonderful meal. There aren't words to describe it.
Before I know it she's dry. A shriveled husk that I make sure to burn before discarding. No need to spawn carelessly.
Already my expectations are proving wrong, which isn't a good thing. I take a moment to check over my changes and realize how much sharper my senses are. Colors are more vivid, smells stronger without being nauseating. I can even feel the slight movements of the air on my skin.
It made the world overwhelming. A rhythmic metallic clanging sound caught my attention and I looked around to only see the clock. It ticking, suddenly so loud made me want to smash the clock. I was halfway across the room before I could stop myself.
This was the weakness of becoming a vampire. Not the vulnerability to sunlight and holy items. The sheer glut of information. It was so easy to get lost in the sensations and just react. I had lost hours just studying my clothes.
Small wonder vampires hid away in small dark lairs. Any surprises must be overwhelming. So much easier to control yourself without them.
This was going to be so much worse than I anticipated. I can feel the alignment change item around my waist and wasn't even sure if it was working. If it was... Just how bad was the information overload for normal vampires? Small wonder they end up chaotic. I can easily see how just rampaging would get addictive.
Fortunately I have always despised addictions. One of my core principles was to be independent. It was why I had made a bargain with a god and drove me to become a vampire. If need be I'll resurrect myself and then turn myself into a lich.
Feeling the magic in my belt encouraging my determination I realized why it wasn't working. Vampires were immune to most mental effects. Despite it being a curse it seems to be doing nothing more than providing morale support. I don't bother removing the belt though. It's better than nothing.
I can see why so many vampires, at least the ones who aren't rabid animals, tend to be so polite. Manners provide a set of guidelines you can fall back on to figure out what is acceptable and if ingrained deep enough may even be enough to restrain more impulsive acts. Too bad I never cared much for them.
At least it wasn't all in vain. I had managed to become a vampire lord. Sunlight itched and suppressed a few of my new powers, but didn't do much else. Running water, garlic, mirrors? All perfectly fine. I can eat garlic bread while sunbathing in a swimming pool all day if I want. I don't, but only because garlic just tastes wrong ever since I've become lizard.
I'm stronger, faster and in so many ways just better than before. Yet I also can tell I've lost something. It's a subtle thing. If I hadn't been on the look out for something like it I might well have missed it completely.
I seem to have become a complete sociopath.
I thought I was a sociopath before. My willingness to slaughter people, to kidnap and sacrifice them seemed pretty solid evidence. But I had standards, very low ones, but some.
It was obvious looking back at some of my previous choices. Small inefficiencies I had accepted because the alternative had been distasteful. Extreme experimentation, torturous training methods and other means of securing myself all ignored since it would produce so much misery. Even large scale raids to secure the best subjects to spawn hadn't been conducted for the chaos it would leave behind.
None of which I seem to care about any more.
I don't immediately start rampaging about. I'm much too cautious even for my new impulses to prod me into action so easily. But I start planning.
Taking over Altumbel had shown me just how easy it was to take over an entire country. Sure I had taken over Orlumbor, but it was a single island and only had a single town.
It wasn't even that it represented a vast gain. The Mere of Dead Men, after I had expanded it, had roughly the same about of territory. The Tunlands, while it wasn't conquered yet, was exponentially larger.
It was more the fact that it was an officially recognized nation. Altumbel isn't even important. It's fall though will make political waves. Especially as people panic over the same happening to them. I have a cover story in place being backed by the Taestarrs yet I no longer care if it works. On some level I even want it to fail. To have people know it was me.
It was a heady feeling. Knowing that you just changed the political landscape of the world. Or at least a continent. I liked it. I wanted more.
I almost move right then. Only that fact that I decided to check my notes to help pick a target gave me pause. Then I found a list. A list of beings that I needed to be very very careful of. I still almost went ahead.
Except... they were my initial reasons for laying low. And none of them have vanished. Thay, Larloch, Twisted Rune, Shades. The list went on and on. The world is positively filled with terrifying beings. And getting destroyed by one of them would make turning into a vampire completely pointless.
It's nice to see my original plans stood up to my changed perspective based solely on logic. It was validation in a way that I was making the right choice. Frustrating. But it seems I'll need to be patient a bit longer.
O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O
Wish spells, despite how often I use them, are not cheap. So when I realize just how many ideas I have that require profligate use of said spell I decide to cheat.
A living spell is some kind of amorphous magical construct that contains the ability to repeatedly cast a single spell with cost. And I just so happen to know where one that holds a Wish spell exists.
It's a sad story too. One of Halaster's less useful, but very eager apprentices reduced to nothing but a resource. Eventually she escaped and hid away, living each day in terror that he'll find her and enslave her again.
I might have a few details off, but evidently I was close enough. Jhesiyra Kestelharp had apparently done it to herself in an attempt to flee. She was fairly insane by the time I found her, but more than willing to work with me in return for rescue and protection. The degree of fear she exhibited was a bit unnerving. Still, she was much too useful to ignore.
Halaster was even more insane than she was, childish and switching between tantrums and moments of brilliance. He was very upset I rescued Jhesiyra. Luckily I had used a minion to conduct the actual rescue and his homing spell killed him instead of me.
How did that even work?
He didn't stop either. Jhesiyra was now living in R'yleh with me and Halaster kept sending spell probes and random monsters at us. So I returned the favor.
I opened a gate from the Elemental Plane of Fire into the volcanic shaft at the heart of his dungeon. Besides the host of creatures that came through I thoroughly filled in a large portion of the place with tons of lava.
Surprisingly that worked. I was gearing up for an all out war when my scrying reported Halaster was busy rebuilding Undermountain and cackling about how it'll be better than ever. Hopefully he's forgotten about me completely.
Jhesiyra found it hysterical. She was also incredibly loyal. Which makes sense since she is still scared that Halaster will pop out and snatch her at any moment.
At least I now have a steady supply of Wish spells.
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Wishes it seems are an ephemeral thing. Not easily quantifiable nor so easily guided. Despite Jhesiyra's enthusiastic aid the results were... less than ideal.
She tried. Over and over again. She just... was easily distracted. Halaster had really done a number on her. Her mind was practically fractured with her emotions swinging about wildly. She was also incredibly easily distracted. Even stray thoughts could cause her to zone out.
It also turns out Wish spells are a bit more complicated than I realized since I hadn't cast any myself. They require a huge amount of knowledge to use the way I wanted. Which makes me wonder about the Baatezu I've been dealing with. Did they just know that much or had others made requests like mine before?
Between the two issue I lost an amazing number of test subjects. It was clear I was never going to be able to trust her with more delicate work. At least on anything I can't afford to make a number of attempts at.
Still eventually am able to successfully augment all the animals I'm breeding. Improving speed, strength, birth rates and other aspects. It's frankly astounding how far they can be pushed if things like their diet, health and lifespan aren't limiting factors anymore.
Once they were done I show her my armor trolls. My idea is rather than a single unique phenomena of the Mere of Dead Men they'll represent a new type of undead that arose in the aftermath of the Time of Troubles. Which given the appearance of darktentacles seems perfectly reasonable. The fact that they're actually trolls and animated by morgh should throw off most divination spells.
I realize it wasn't even efficient at this point. I was attempting to get clever with something that essentially required brute force. If I ever had to unleash hordes of zombies, the fact that they looked different would likely not slow my enemies down for long. And while the Wishes no longer cost me anything, it still took time to set up new groups. I was also sacrificing quite a bit of combat potential in return for mere aesthetics.
I just didn't care. I enjoyed the idea of confusing people on a grand scale. I was having way too much fun to bother with pure cold logic. In an abstract way it was interesting finding myself making the same choices, but this time for completely different reasons. It's comforting in a way to find myself not changing much at all.
For Echidna I changed the armored trolls to brass dragon scales despite the location. Immunity to fire is much more important than acid. Besides, brass is still mostly copper.
I also style their armor along the lines of the ancient egyptians, although I doubt they ever wore armor as heavy as the one I made. A metal headdress, full mask, scale mail tunic and guards for the arms, legs and neck.
I also switch out their equipment for a khopesh and large shield. The khopesh stats are much lower than the fine-tuned stinger it had been using, but it wasn't like I really expected much from them against Tuigan. They would serve better as bait and clean up than shock troops.
The best part is since the kobolds are sorcerers they can organize and command the resulting zombies so they are more than just a mob. Sadly I don't have any other groups set up to be able to do the same. Which really just means I need more groups.
It's nice when things work out.
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The biggest change though, even more than becoming a vampire, was the Windwalker Amulet. I had initially been torn about interfering. While stopping Liriel would leave the drow trapped in the Underdark, it would also draw the attention of two goddesses.
In the end I went ahead. It's a decision I'm fairly sure I wouldn't have made before becoming a vampire, but if I spend the rest of my unlife second guessing myself I might as well not have bothered. Besides deities had been crippled by Ao's proclamation had I was likely a match for many of them. More, any that came after me became vulnerable.
I made it quick. A scry and die ambush later and I had the Windwalker Amulet in hand. And to take away any temptation, I promptly destroyed it.
Sorry goddesses, but I do not want drow on the surface. I have enough competition as it is. Besides, the way later editions of the game had tried to make more monster races neutral had always annoyed me. When King Obould moves to establish his orcish kingdom I plan on crushing it.