Vermin Tide Quest


Chapter 18


As Leopold walked into the historical library, Balthsar Gelt stood up, putting down a tome as he did so. The Priest of Morr could already tell the Supreme Patriarch was not happy, both from the fact he and Arnold were practically dragged off to the castle before they could hunt the Vampire down, and from the way the Gold Wizard walked towards him. Granberia was there as well, her legs having fully regenerated with Erubeties' help, though her legs were still scarred from the knee down, and weaker then the ones the Skaven wizard blew off of her. The Heavenly Dragon Knight of Fire was able to infiltrate the Monster Lord Castle, using the various hidden passages that the Monsters used to evacuate it during the attack, and thus was hidden in the rafters above the Humans. She had a general run down on how Alma Elma had a mental breakdown from what she saw from linking into the mind of one of the soldiers. Granberia, while she personally did not want to do a stealth mission had no choice, Erubetie had run off back to Undines Spring, Tamano was at Yamatai to mourn Nanabis' death, and Alma Elma... Alma Elma was not in a position to do it, so she was sent instead to try and spy on the Imperial leader after she got enough information from Alma to understand Reikspiel and know the names of the Human Wizards. Her goal was to spy on Gelt and the Imperials, as well as capture the Human mages if possible to answer for their crimes, who are both critical to their holding out against the Monsters, and the main threat they had to deal with.

She noted that like the Skaven wizard, the Humans outwardly showed no signs of their power, which has sparked a number of theories within the more intellectual members of the Monsters going over the descriptions of the battle that occurred about their magic. From what Granberia knew, the current and most accepted theory was that they were using elemental Spirits from their world, and because said Spirits use different Elements compared to this worlds, they weren't detectable. As the conversation started, Granberia laid down Aries on the beam she was on, her Dragon steel great sword which was designed to more efficiently channel Salamanders' Fire, and pulled out a notepad and pen from a satchel she was carrying with her.

"Leopold, what in holy Sigmars' name were you thinking, just running off like that with that Monster?" Gelt said, his voice echoing hollowly behind his mask, though Granberia could feel the anger in his tone. "The last thing I need is our only connection to Morr dying on me and my army, you didn't even know if it was a trap." the Priest of Morr merely shrugged, his face hidden underneath the hood of his robes, apparently used to hostility. Granberia cringed at the way some of the bones in Leopolds' robes clacked together against his body, the symbols of death reminding her of her slain companions, and wrote down the following for the eggheads to go over when she came back:

**Imperial Human Leader known as Balthasar Gelt reprimanding Priest of Morr known as Leopold. Notable anger towards him assisting Tamano, believing it was a trap, but was not aggravated enough to actively execute him. Mentioned two names, Sigmar and Morr, possible religious significance concerning Sigmar based on wording and context of Morr being considered one of their Gods. Leopold is considered important by the Imperials, mostly likely due to his ability to send souls to Morr.**

"She had lost a comrade to a Daemon of the War Beast. If I hadn't, not only would I be breaking the commandment to not refuse a request for burial, but one of the most powerful Monsters would've had her soul devoured. If the strength I felt from it first hand would indicate anything, saying no would've been bad in the long run, especially if multiple Monsters were slain." Granberia felt her spine crawl at the last sentence, while Gelt sighed in exasperation. As he spoke up, Granberia stopped herself from writing to pay attention and not make mistakes.

"How bad was the Daemon incursion, how much damage did it cause, and how was it summoned to the physical world from the Warp?" the mage asked.

**Leopold responded with the same claim he gave when asked why he helped Tamano and our Lord Alipheese Fateburn the Sixteenth. Notably, he said that the Daemon served the War Beast, possible moniker for 'Blood God' from when the Daemon slew Nanabi. Of a most disturbing note, Leopold has claimed that the Daemons would have consumed Nanabis' soul, likely gaining a power boost of some kind from it. He also claimed not helping Tamano would have broken a commandment given by Morr stating that he was not to refuse a request to bury a body, and also felt a general idea of how strong Nanabi was. Gelt has responded by asking how much damage was done by the Daemon, as well as the scale and circumstances of it being summoned from a place known as the Warp.**

"I was unable to ascertain who summoned it, so it likely was from a Human or Monster miscasting a spell." Granberia tensed up, her mind, while not the brightest by Monster standards, was quick to realize the implications of what they meant by 'miscasting' their spells. And given some of the complex movements Gelt was observed doing when channeling his magic, this was something that made her nervous. "As for the collateral damage, it seemed that the Monsters managed to contain the problem, which is not surprising given their general strength. However, they did collapse a cave, likely where the Daemon was summoned, so it was likely that any heretical cultists responsible for bringing it to this were... dealt with." Balthasar sighed, cringing visibly with his body language.

"Well, they may be a bunch of lowly and abominable parasites..." he snarled, and Granberia grimaced at the gall Balthasar had to call her kin 'parasites,' and had to hold back her anger as he continued. While he spoke, she imagined that most other Monsters would have gone on a rampage right then and there on the spot, and thus was sure that was why Alice chose her to spy on them. "...but they at least know not to trust the vileness of the Neverborn, and the Heretics that follow them. Which is likely why I haven't found any historical evidence of any mass invasions from Chaos in their history." he said. This caused Granberia to pause, while Gelt noticed the way Leopold glanced at the books Balthasar was apparently reading. "The pictures can give... context to what I am looking at." he explained, his disgusted tone palpable at the books he had been reading.

"What, so the Daemons and their mortal servants have never launched any massive attacks like in the Great War against Chaos, where they were defeated by the Empire and our allies from Kislev?" Leopold asked. Gelt nodded as he sat down, offering a chair while Granberia wrote down a summary of what was said.

**Leopold responded by saying he believed the Daemon was summoned by what they consider heretics, and believed the local Monsters at the Treasure Cave collapsed the Treasure Cave of the Human Pirate Queen Selene. However, Daemons can also apparently be summoned accidentally if one is casting a spell and messed up in the process of doing so, making them a danger to magic-reliant Monsters like Succubi and Witches. Gelt has then mentioned and come to the conclusion that was why there has not been any massive invasion by Chaos, and Leopold mentioned a 'Great War' and their allying with what is likely another nation named Kislev when he asked if this was true. Balthasar Gelt is also studying the history of the world contained the Castles' public library, and is not amused with what he can gleam from the pictures in the books, which he has been reliant on for context. These Humans are egotistical enough to actually look down on Monster-kind, and at one point Gelt compared us to parasites. It is at this point that I had decided to beat his ass and capture him before returning to the camp so I personally can take him down a ladders worth of pegs.**

"So, to summarize what I could figure out, these Monsters worship a goddess of some kind, who is an antithesis to the goddess of the Angel and Human races Ilias." Balthasar said, and at the mention of the Goddess of Light and Heaven, Leopold snorted.

"Wait, there's two of those freaks running around?" a lighting bolt cracked from outside, and the two Humans and Granberia looked out one of the windows, and saw an Angel standing there menacingly with an executioners ax behind it, and a sadistic smile. Granberia shuddered at the sheer amount of Light Energy she radiated at the Humans, as well as the way she licked the blade of the ax seductively. "Try me wench." Leopold snapped as he got up with his arms spread wide, as he channeled whatever magic to cast some form of illusion spell on himself, making the shadow of a giant raven outline his body with its wings spread out and cawed loudly at her. The Angel suddenly stared in horror and her skin paled even more then normal, and flew away. "That's what I thought." Balthasar snorted in laughter, and resumed talking while Granberia stared agape, wondering why the Angel was so scared of Leopold.

"As I was saying, there was a second Goddess, and she basically mutated some of the local fauna into the first six Monsters, from whom all Monsters can trace their lineage to. Somehow, this is considered a greater feat then Ilias making Humans, as it took her much, much longer to create them and the Angels." Leopold turned his head at Balthasar Gelt. "Yeah, the goddess that actually created two races from scratch, and is capable of propagating itself is somehow lesser to the one that mutated an already existing species, and whose creations require the handiwork of another god to sustain themselves."

"Wow, they really are nothing but a bunch of parasites." at this Granberia snapped, having had enough of the Humans, Growled softly. Taking the time to put her notes in her satchel, she then grabbed Aries, and let out a roar of pure rage as she jumped off. The Human magic-users looked up, and both dodged the incoming angry Dragon Knight of Fire, as her sword cleaved the chair Leopold was sitting in to splinters, which flew everywhere in all directions. Turning to them both, she then lit Aries aflame, holding it so the light made her hate-filled glare more intimidating.

*MGQ BGM: Granberia Boss fight theme*

"A mere parasite am I?! ME, THE HEAVENLY DRAGON KNIGHT OF FIRE!?" she bellowed in Reikspiel loudly enough to shake the whole room, and then pointed Aries at the two Wizards, who looked at each other. "Gelt, for besmirching the Dark Goddess' name, and for your crimes against her daughters, I am going to-" Gelt then raised a hand and snapped his fingers, and Granberia yelped as her sword suddenly became heavier then normal then slipped out of her hands, screaming in pain when it crashed on her foot, pinning her to the ground as she fell on her back.

*Music ends*

"Is that all you got?! Fight me like a man, you coward!" she screamed, and turned to see Leopold holding a bag in front of face. When he opened it, her vision turned purple, and then black...


**POV SHIFT**


After Leopold trapped the rambling Monsters' soul in the bag, he turned to Gelt. "You were saying about there being six Monsters every Monster hails from?" he asked. The Supreme Patriarch took a moment to get reacquired, then exclaimed as he remembered their rudely interrupted conversation, and continued on like nothing happened...