Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons
The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown
Book : Adventuring with Avatars
Chapter 8: Loss
Beta:
"You'd think after dealing with Uchuulon, handling regular Chuul wouldn't be so much of a problem." Falgrim griped as he smashed the head of the nearest of the lobster like monsters that had been reaching towards him with its pincers and its mass of paralysis-causing tentacles around its mouth.
The party had been crossing one of the many underground rivers that crisscrossed the Underdark, something they had done hundreds of times before, when suddenly they'd been ambushed by a pack of Chuul that had been hiding in the depths. With half of them in the water already and thus in their opponents' favored domain, they were fighting at a major disadvantage and thus were surprisingly hard pressed.
"At least they aren't singling you out as much, Master." Taana shot back as she fried one of aberrations with a Lightning Bolt. "The damned things must know Gaul and I are Wizards 'cause they're just shy of swarming us!"
"Don't be so dramatic." Gaul said as he used Hell Flame to engulf the closest Chuul to him in a pillar of black flame. "Though the inability to use my AOE spells is a pain."
Indeed. If the Chuul weren't right in the middle of the formation, a single AOE spell from Gaul or even Taana would likely have finished the fight. As it was however, any attempt at one would likely cause friendly fire.
"We'll make do with what we have." Yorha commented as she blurred past, leaving a decapitated Chuul in her wake. The swordswoman was raking up a terrifying tally of kills today as she nimbly danced through the chaotic melee and cut down any enemy that came within reach of her sword. Considering that she seemed able to force her way into the tiniest gaps in the swarm of Chuuls attacking them, that was a lot of dead aberrations.
Unfortunately, that meant she wasn't always as careful as she could be and the corpse of her latest victim fell towards Falgrim. He knocked the corpse away with a swing of his Doomhammer but that created an opening and an enterprising Chuul shot its tentacles around his outstretched arm. It was armored but the blasted creature, through sheer luck or actual cunning, managed to snake one of its tentacles through the gaps in the armor just enough to make contact with the Dwarf's skin and deliver a dose of it paralytic power. It wasn't enough to paralyze his arm but it was enough to numb it and dull his movements, thus creating a bigger opening.
One it and the other surrounding Chuul happily capitalized on. As they used their Pincers to grab hold of him while he was too slow to fight them off and begin to drag him into the river. If they managed that then he was a goner.
"Help!" The Dwarf shouted even as he struggled as much as he could in the vice like grip of the Chuul dragging him into the depths.
"Falgrim!" Drau shouted as she began blasting away at the Chuul surrounding him and the Dwarf felt a ray of hope. Only for it to be dashed as a Fireball of all things slammed into the Dragon's back, as a squad of Drow appeared out of the gloom to attack the already heavily engaged party. As expected of the Dragon, the spell dealt minimal damage but it threw her off the effort to save him and in the short reprieve, Falgrim's captors pulled him underwater.
Guess, this is it for me. The Dwarf thought even as he continued to futilely struggle.
The last blurry image of the party that in recent months had become his family was Neia stepping in to deal with the Drow with a Rain Arrow so as to allow Drau to frantically try to rush to save him. It was too late however as the Chuul began rapidly swimming away and he lost sight of his friends completely.
Goodbye. He thought to himself as the burning in his lungs finally got too much and he let go of the breath he was holding. As the stream of bubbles exited his mouth, he knew it was all over. He was going to drown and become Chuul food. Strangely that didn't sound too bad. Not when he knew that his party would avenge him a hundred fold.
Such were the last conscious thoughts of Falgrim Doomhammer.
Finishing off the remainder of the Chuul and the squad of Drow had taken no more than five minutes, but to Taana and the party that was five minutes too many.
"Gaul, which way?" Drau demanded as they stood at a fork in the river they'd been following in an effort to find Master Falgrim.
The necromancer consulted the tiny fairy that his Blessing of Titania spell had conjured and gestured to the right.
"This way," he said as he ran down the right fork, the party rushing to maintain formation around him. "It shouldn't be far now."
It wasn't. They'd barely made been running ten minutes before a small group of Chuul tried to stop them. The party smashed through them like they barely existed. Most were felled by Taana's own Chain Lightning and the survivors were mopped up by Yorha's blade or shots from Drau and Neia. They didn't even bother to slow down as they dealt with them. Not even as more and more Chuul surged out of the water or crevices by the river's edge to assault them. They just unleashed their magic and skills to massacre everything that stood in their path until they found him.
Master Falgrim was lying on the riverbank inside the nest of a particularly large Chuul whose entire upper body was vaporized by a shot from Drau's sniper rifle even as Taana slid herself to a kneeling position next to her Master. Next to her, she was distantly aware as Gaul used Undeath Army to raise a horde of his minions to deal with the remaining Chuul and of Yorha helpfully kicking the carcass of the nest's owner aside to make way for everyone to gather around. She was too busy cradling the half-eaten body of her Master.
The Chuul hadn't managed or wanted to pry open his armor, enchanted as it was by its many runes, so they'd started with his exposed head. They'd used their tentacles to rip it off before probing their way from his neck down into the rest of his body.
"Falgrim!" Neia cried out in dismay from nearby and Taana unwilling looked over to see the Paladin collapsed on the ground cradling the Dwarf's head. It had been nibbled at, but there was still enough of Master's features remaining to be clearly recognizable.
"Neia, can you use True Resurrection?"
Taana's hope rose at that but fell almost immediately as she remembered her Master's wishes in that regard.
"Master wouldn't want us to do that." Taana told Drau with a shake of her head. "He said that if he ever died, he wanted to stay dead. No resurrections."
Neia nodded in agreement, tears flowing down her face. "He told me that too."
"Why?" Gaul said, sounding uncharacteristically kind.
"He wanted release and a chance to be with his family again." Taana told them, pulling her Master's corpse tighter against her chest.
Everyone shared looks at that. That Master Falgrim missed his family was something everyone knew. He had kept on going after he'd been forced to kill them, but only so as to avenge them and because he refused to be a coward and take his own life. Now that he had the chance to be with them… He was probably happier than he'd been in decades.
They could not take that away from him, no matter how much it pained them not to even try.
"Then there's only one thing to do." Yorha said in a quiet but firm voice. "We bury him."
They'd buried him where they had found him. In the middle of the former Chuul nesting ground. They'd debated moving him elsewhere but eventually decided it was better, more symbolic to intern him where he'd fallen. That they'd turned the Chuul that had killed him into zombies and left them to serve as the eternal guardians of his tomb was just poetic justice.
The tomb was an elaborate tower built into the side of the cavern that the underground river had carved. It had been created by Gaul's Create Fortress spell and at the very top of the tower, inside a room that appeared carved into the rock itself, they laid Master to rest inside a simple stone sarcophagus that Kuro had used his corrosive properties to hew out of a boulder. Inside they'd placed not just his body but also all his items and equipment that they'd been able to recover from the Chuul nests. A few of his rings were missing, but beyond that, everything was accounted for.
Including the will that Taana was finding the courage to read as she leaned up against Master Falgrim's sarcophagus. The others were giving her space to grieve and were outside the burial chamber doing various things to further fortify the tomb from graverobbers. She wasn't sure what the others were doing, but she knew Neia and Gaul were layering the place in protective and defensive spells. The latter was also filling the place with his undead as another layer of active defense.
"Enough procrastinating." Taana said at last. "Master always said I should keep that to a minimum. So here's go."
Despite her words, she still moved hesitantly as she unsealed the magically sealed container that contained her Master's will. The thing had been something he'd asked Gaul to buy from Felmid on one of the necromancer's supply runs to the homeworld of the gods and kept whatever it contained safe from the ravages of even the worst environments. Perfect, as Master had said, for important documents such as his Last Will and Testament.
If you're reading this then I'm dead. I'm no legalist or whatnot, so I'm not going to bore you with any legalese and just get right to the point. This here is my Last Will and Testament.
Taana cracked a smile even through her tears at the opening paragraph. Trust her Master to be all gruff like that. While he tried to be polite as much as possible, underneath all that he was a simple Dwarf and that meant being no-nonsense and straightforward.
Not that I have anything fancy to leave behind. But what I do have, namely my adventuring equipment, supplies and whatever coin I happen to be carrying or set aside as a tab wherever, I leave to my apprentice Taana Baryn Zyfyn. Just let Taana know, if she ain't the one reading this, that she jolly well split whatever's useful with the rest of the party. It's the right thing to do. Anything you guys don't need? I guess you can chuck it into whatever grave you set up for me. They'll be nice reminders of my adventuring days. Oh, and tell Taana that I love her too! She was like a daughter to me.
"And you were like a father to me." Taana whispered back in between sobs, as she wiped away tears unwilling to let them fall and damage her Master's last words.
On that note. I do have something special for my apprentice. You see shortly after we decided to permanently team up with Drau and the others, I had Gaul commission a piece with the smiths of Felmid. I'd have crafted it myself, but… Yeah… We didn't get the time. Anyways, it's a sword called Stormslash. It's an Adamantine Mastercrafted Enchanted Sword with enchantments that will allow it to channel Stored Lightning or Lightning Strike just like Joltfang does. It'll complete the set. Make sure Taana gets this sword, or I'll come back from whatever afterlife I've ended up and haunt you till she does. Got it?
Taana chuckled. Her Master would do it too, which meant she'd have to ask Gaul about the sword right after this.
Oh, and one last thing. I know I said this already but tell Taana I love her alright! That's most important, so don't forget!
"I won't." Taana promised with a watery smile.
Signed, Falgrim Doomhammer.
The Shadar-kai kissed her Master's name and sobbed a bit, before pulling away from the Will. Tucking it back into its magical case, she slipped it into her hip pouch next to the rest of her equipment. She would keep it close wherever she went from now onwards. A reminder of her Master's love for her.
Standing, she bowed solemnly to her Master's sarcophagus one last time and with tears running down her eyes she went to find the rest of her family. She had a sword to claim and vengeance to deliver.
"Are we sure this is the city where those Drow came from?" Taana asked as the party stood on a ledge high up in the walls of a large cavern and looking down on a major Drow city that dominated the cave floor far below.
The city was huge, spanning the vast majority of the cavern with its urban center and its surrounding farmlands. For a race that only moved into the continent when Laerakond became part of Toril during the Spellplague, what the Drow had achieved in building a city of this scope was beyond impressive. And it wasn't even the biggest of their cities in the region.
That said Yorha only paid the city a fraction of her attention, the majority was devoted to watching Taana warily. Whilst she looked calm and focused, that was only on the surface. Inwardly, the young Shadar-kai seethed with anger, pain and a need for painful vengeance. The whole party was much the same, to various extents. But if anyone was to boil over, it was Taana and if her emotions did get the better of her…
I'll have to stay close and make sure it doesn't happen. The android swordswoman resolved.
"Gorzoth is certain." Drau told the Shadar-kai. The party having sought the aid of the local Felmidian Devil in locating the origin of the attackers who had contributed to Falgrim's death. "Besides our attackers were wearing the same symbol that is marked all over the city."
The symbol of a stylized spider surrounded by a magic circle that had been stitched into much of the armor and clothing of their Drow attackers was indeed plastered all over the city below.
"Let's get this over with." Neia insisted, her eyes glowing an ominous red signifying she was already channeling Lord Ainz's power and perhaps his bloodthirstiness.
"Neia's right. Gaul, if you please."
The necromancer didn't play along with Drau's mock politeness like he usually did. Instead, he simply stepped over to the edge of the ledge and cast his magic.
"Maximize, Widen Magic: Nuclear Blast." He said in a voice so cold that it managed to send a shiver down even Yorha's robotic spine.
It was in sharp contrast to the fiery hell that it unleashed below. Centered the city's gate, the spell utterly destroyed the admanantine structure, the Jade Spider constructs defending it, the forest of Shrieker fungi planted around it that served as its early defense and much of the farmland around the city all in one fell swoop. Protected by a silently cast Shell Barrier from Gaul, the party safely weathered the titanic explosion and watched the mushroom cloud it created as well as the shockwave that leveled much of the city that escaped the initial blast. All with a certain amount of glee. Even Kuro seemed pleased with the sight, lifting up the front part of his slug like body and nodding, as if in satisfaction, as he soaked in the sight.
The party waited until the shockwave had settled down and the larger of the debris kicked up by the Nuclear Blast to finish falling back to the ground, before moving on to the next phase of their plan.
"Gaul, now." Drau ordered.
"Gate." The necromancer cast, without saying a word edgewise.
As the portal formed, the party walked through into the very heart of the city. The spell's ability to ignore any attempts to disrupt it easily overcoming the high levels of faerzress radiation that the Drow used to deter teleportation. The panicking Drow running around them didn't even notice they were there and if they did, were too confused by events to respond appropriately. They were thus unopposed as Gaul closed the previous portal and opened another Gate. This second portal led to Felmid and from it stepped out his undead army. Now numbering in their thousands they marched out of the portal like the legions of the damned that they were.
At the sight of what was clearly an invasion force, the city's defenders finally seemed to figure out what to do and Gaul was still organizing his troops when an army of slaves, Giant Spiders and Quaggoths rush down the ruined streets to confront them.
As planned, it was up to the party to deal with these rather unfortunate first responders.
"Grasscutter Sword!" Yorha shouted as she used the skill to decapitate an entire unit of slave pikemen as they tried to rush into the central square that Gaul was using as a staging ground for his undead host.
Nearby Taana was imitating a miniature lightning storm as she cut into a pack Quaggoth and their spider pets with Stormslash and Joltfang, both blades charged with electricity thanks to the Lightning Strike spell being channeled through them. It probably wasn't the most efficient use of her magic, but the Shadar-kai felt the need for some close up action as she avenged her Master and no one was going to fault her for that. Yorha was comforted though that Kuro was watching the girl's back as evidenced by how he extended a pseudopod to grab a jumping spider out of midair that would have landed on Taana. Full sized as he was, the act alone killed the giant arachnid and he easily consumed its carcass with his corrosive power. Between them, there was precious little for the undead Gaul had sent to assist them had to do at all.
Satisfied that Kuro was keeping Taana safe, Yorha absently use Sword Blitz to charge through a rank of incoming slave soldiers, killing dozens of them, so she could get at the Drow overseer cowering behind their ranks and drive her sword through her heart. Their literal slavedriver dead, the rest of the unit stood shocked and was easy prey for the conjured swords of her Sword Bloom skill. This broke the unit and the survivors were easily dealt with by the undead that she was meant to be supporting.
No new units seemed to be headed her way for the moment, so Yorha took the chance to check Neia and Drau. The two were holding the line on the road leading towards the temple district and the archer seemed to be having a field day as she unleashed Rain Arrow in rapid succession on the masses of Drow troops trying to break through from that side. In between cool downs for her primary AOE skill, Drau and Gaul's undead kept her safe.
Looks like things there are in hand too.
Suddenly the undead at the center of the square began forming up into ranks and began moving out. Some reinforced the contingents already supporting the party members, but the bulk were massing around Gaul as he began marching off towards the city's mage's district.
That's the signal. Yorha thought as she sought out Taana only to see the Shadar-kai already making her way to her with Kuro following behind her.
"Ready?" The swordswoman asked the Wizard.
"Ready." Taana said as she sheathed her still sparking blades. "Let's go."
With that the three set off at the head of a sizable undead host as they headed towards the city's military quarter. The various noble Houses of this particular city had apparently split its various clustered districts based on their primary specialties which probably made coordination, such as it was among Drow, in the case of crisis easier but which now made the decapitation of any attempts at such by the enemy easier as well. Which was exactly what the party intended.
To that end, Gaul was happily marching towards the mage's district. Fearless, he was at the very head of his column of undead and thus was right in the thick of it as a female Wizard and her Azmyth familiar and squad of apprentices and slave soldiers turned around a corner and stumbled right into his path. The scouting party, for what else could it be, panicked and turned to flee, the bat screeching in alarm the whole time even as Gaul's lead elements, a pack of zombie Umber Hulks he'd originally raised from the successful sacking of the Neogi town all those months ago surged towards the Drow.
Annoyed by the bat's screeching however, Gaul decided do the deed himself.
"Chain Dragon Lightning." He sent almost absently, targeting the scouts' Wizard leader and letting the Lung shaped bolt of lightning arc from her to the rest of her men, reducing the whole lot to nothing more than charred corpses. Corpses that he happily added to the ranks of his army through the use of Undeath Army and Create Middle Tier Undead.
The latter of which he used to raise a pair of new Death Knights and a Soul Eater with which to ride on. Walking was simply too plebeian for what he intended.
It was thus riding on this skeletal horse with tendrils of sparkling pus yellow and emerald green fog replacing its flesh and blood that Gauldoth rode into the Drow's mage's district. The resident wizards hurled all manner of spells his way but he'd deployed a wall of Death Knights enchanted with Greater Disturb ahead of him. The spell made them essentially immune to the petty spells thrown their way by the district's mages and so without so much as taking a wound, they proceeded to cut the Drow down by the dozens. All whilst their passive skill raised their slain foes as their Zombie Squires, thus swelling his ranks further.
It was thus with an ever growing bloodbath preceding him that Gauldoth marched into the center of the district where a square surrounded by ostentatious looking wizard's towers stood. Having his Soul Eater mount trot to the very center of this square, the necromancer took a moment to enjoy the scene of his minions butchering the vastly outclassed locals. The sound of their futile defiance being crushed was just divine!
But he only allowed himself a moment to enjoy it though. He had work to do after all. Not that his pause had been mere pointless indulgence on his part, it had coincided with a mental order to his troops to compress their lines a little. This gave the Drow the false impression that they were pushing his minions back and they pushed what they perceived as their advantage hard. Thus concentrating their forces, they did exactly what he wanted.
For Falgrim. Gaul thought as he sprung his trap.
"Widen Magic: Cry of the Banshee."
The spell unleashed a deadly wail that echoed through the narrow corridors of the Drow mage's district to every pocket of fighting. It sneaked into homes through barred doors and windows and found those cowering within. And all those in the hundred meters around Gaul that was its area of effect that wasn't undead and thus immune to its power… spontaneously dropped dead. With one spell, Gaul had gutted the very heart of the Drow resistance within the mage's district.
"Hunt down and finish off the survivors." Gaul ordered his minions. There were after all those outside the range of his spell that needed dealing with.
His troops were just fanning out when a Fireball came hurtling towards him from his left. It almost hit him but a vigilant Death Knight blocked the spell with its Tower Shield.
Surprised that anyone had survived his use of Cry of the Banshee, Gaul turned to his attacker to find an ancient looking male Drow Wizard glaring defiantly at him amidst the pile of corpses that might've been his apprentices.
"This isn't the first time I've dealt with instant death spells." The Wizard shouted.
Gaul ignored him, instead focusing on the misshapen remains of what once might have been a ring lying discarded near the wizard's feet.
So that item to survive protected him, huh? Well, he no longer has its protection anymore.
"Dismiss your minions, necromancer! And face me like a proper wizard!" The Drow mage kept ranting, tossing spells that Gaul's attendant Death Knights just blocked on his behalf.
"If that's what you want. Grasp Heart."
At his invocation, an illusionary heart appeared in Gaul's armored right hand beating frantically especially once the Drow caught sight of it and probably deduced its significance. Smirking, the armored Wizard crushed the heart and the Drow dropped dead mid-cast as the very real heart in his chest shared the fate of its illusionary counterpart and was reduced to useless offal.
"Now, are there any more challengers?" Gaul asked. No one replied. They were nothing in earshot to reply except his undead and they knew their place. And it was just the way Gaul liked it.
Suddenly a pillar of dark purple energy shot out of the city's temple district, causing Gaul to turn towards it curiously. Curiosity that turned to worry as the energy tore a hole in reality above the city, from which an enormous female Drider, easily hundreds of feet across in size, skittered out and loomed over everything.
Is that an avatar of Lloth? Gaul thought, shocked by this latest development.
Drau and Neia had been steadily advancing to the temple district. They were meeting stiff resistance but nothing they couldn't handle, though it did slow them down. Which was why they were not all that surprised when the pillar of energy shot skyward from the temples. It didn't take a genius to realize that the stiff resistance had been an attempt to buy time for the Drow clerics to complete some kind of ritual.
They were however shocked when said ritual turned out to involve summoning an avatar of Lolth. Sure the Kuo-toa had done something similar but were the Drow really that unoriginal!?
Still Blibdoolpoolp retreated the moment she knew who we were. Maybe we can get Lolth to do the same this time as well?
"Lolth!" Drau shouted as loudly as she could, knowing full well the goddess would hear her simply because she'd invoked her name. "Leave this place! Attacking us will violate the other gods' pact with the Bone Father."
Neia shot Drau a look that seemed to say 'I hope you know what you're doing', but otherwise let the Dragon do what she pleased.
I hope I know what I'm doing too.
The avatar's reply to Drau's bold statement was to throw back her Drow head and laugh. A sound that was at once both sensual and painful to hear, triggering stirrings of pleasure and agony all at once.
"I signed no such pact."
"It is enforced by Lord Ao himself." Drau tried desperately. She really didn't want to fight a god, or at least a divine avatar, if she could help it.
Lolth's response was to jump down from her perch on the spatial tear, flipping upright in the process and destroying dozens of the few still standing buildings as she landed in the ruined city.
"I wasted enough time talking with a mortal. Die fools!" The avatar of Queen of Spiders said as she raised the Drow arms of her Drider form over her head before slamming them down onto the ground, unleashing a shockwave of raw shadow energy that swept across the city.
One of these wavefronts of darkness swept towards Drau and Neia, threatening to sweep them away. Gaul's Death Knights rushed forward to present a shield wall but the Dragon knew it would not be enough. She thus activated her shapeshifting skill and transformed into one of her draconic forms.
In a brilliant flash of light, she'd become a Dragon with white sparkling scales that glowed with a faint, glittering white light and two horns on its head that curled slightly backwards. Using this new much larger, much sturdier body, Drau shielded Neia as Lolth's dark wave swept away most of their escorting undead troops and leveled much of what remained of the surrounding city.
"Neia, find Gaul. Hunker down under his barrier spell. I'll handle this." Drau told her sister, who nodded and ran off shielded by what remained of their undead entourage.
She watched her go for a moment before turning to face Lolth, who was too busy observing her new unfamiliar draconic body to do anything.
"What manner of Dragon are you?" The Queen of the Demonweb Pits asked, sounding genuinely curious. "I've never seen your like before."
Knowing that she needed to buy time for her family to reach safety, Drau decided to humor the leader of the Dark Seldarine a little. "I'm a Felmidian Dragon. We're a breed entirely apart from those you're familiar with."
Lolth hummed thoughtfully before barking out a preposterous demand. "I want you. Swear fealty to me and I'll spare you."
Fortunately, it seemed that Drau had bought enough time as she saw Gaul used a couple of hastily cast Gate spells to gather the rest of the party together and had them huddle together under the familiar dome shaped magical barrier of his Shell Barrier spell.
Adjusting her position so she could use her own body as another layer of shielding. At the same time, she began channeling her power for this form's breath weapon.
Only when she felt her insides churning with the primal power at her disposal, did Drau reply.
"Never." The child of Ainz Ooal Gown spat.
"Then I'll kill you and learn your secrets from your corpse."
Drau's response was to dislocate her jaws and like a snake snap them open impossibly wide and unleash this form's Explosive Breath by spitting out a fireball that promptly exploded upon leaving her mouth, a blast that stained the world with a blinding white flash and drowned out all noise with its thunderous roar even as it caused a tremendous heat flare.
As the flash faded and the roar dulled down, they were replaced with cries of terrible pain that struck all those who heard it down to their very souls and the sight of Lolth's avatar collapsed on the ground with two thirds of its body already reduced to ash and the remainder twitching in agony as it struggled to fight the inevitable.
"I-I will have your h-heads for his hu-humiliation." The Dark Mother of the Drow warned threateningly as the fatally wounded avatar's remains faded away into nothingness.
Drau did not respond, instead sweeping her great draconic head across the glassed edges of the massive impact crater her Explosive Breath had created to make sure that the Queen of Spiders' presence had fully retreated. It was only when she could not sense any trace of the goddess that she transformed back to her normal human form and promptly collapsed to her knees.
I'm never using that form again. She thought as her vision swam in and out of focus. It's too draining.
It was with this thought that she tipped over into unconsciousness and collapsed into the arms of Yorha as the rest of the party exited the Gate that opened up in front of her.
"You sure you're okay?" Neia asked Drau worriedly as the party gathered in the heart of the ravaged Drow city. Not only was it mostly in ruins thanks to Gaul's Nuclear Blast, a good chunk had also been completely vaporized by Drau's Explosive Breath. So much so that the glass edged crater had even eaten away a corner of the central square in which they were now standing.
"I'm fine." Drau insisted. "Or don't you trust your own magic? You're the one who healed me, remember?"
"I know. I'm just worried." Neia confessed. "I've never seen you look so weak…"
Drau ruffled Neia's hair affectionately as the Paladin trailed off. "No need to worry. I'm not lying. I'm fine. Just get started with the ceremony already."
Why does she like messing with my hair? Neia thought with a pout even as she fixed the mess Drau had made of her hair, but nevertheless moved to do as she asked.
Reaching the center of the square, now filled with throngs of the Drow's freed slaves supervised by Gaul's undead, Neia walked up a makeshift altar of stacked stone and stood in front of a bench where the offerings of the ceremony - the severed heads of all ten most high ranking heads they could find intact - were laid out. She surveyed the masses with her eyes glowing red with the Bone Father's power and cowing the crowd of former slaves into silence.
It took a few minutes but there was soon a respectful silence enveloping the whole square. It was only then that Neia began her ceremony.
"Subjects of Ainz Ooal Gown," the Paladin of the Supreme One said, addressing the liberated slaves who whether they knew it or not were all her Lord's subjects. "Revel! For today by the Bone Father's will you are free! Rejoice! For today by his generosity, he welcomes you into his warm embrace!"
Responding to her prompt, a series of Gates opened around the square connecting the ruined Drow city and Felmid, allowing Momons in all their undead glory to stalk out ahead of columns of lesser undead, all of them carrying relief supplies.
"Today, we mark another great victory against the enemies of the Supreme One! Against slavery! Against the dark gods who support it! Today is a great day!"
A cheer of agreement erupted from the crowd and Neia let it continue for a while before gesturing for silence. Enthralled by her charisma, by her passive skills as an Evangelist, they obeyed.
"But today's victory is special. For it is the completion of an act of just vengeance! The Drow of this city was partially responsible for the death of a dear comrade of mine, a fellow Chosen of Ainz Ooal Gown, the Dwarf Runesmith Falgrim Doomhammer. Today, by this city's destruction, he is avenged!"
Cheers erupted again. This time Neia did not silence them as she continued.
"Today we have shown the Drow and the world that the Supreme One does not forget any slight against him or his faithful!" Neia said, her voice carrying over the cheers of the crowd even though she had not raised her voice. "So join me today, my brothers and sisters, in giving praise to our lost champion, my lost brother, Falgrim Doomhammer."
The mesmerized crowd chanted Falgrim's name rapturously.
"And give glory to our Lord and Master. Ainz Ooal Gown!"
The fervent, reverent cries for their god roared across the cavern and brought a smile to Neia's face. She'd done it. These people were her god's now. Now and forever more.
It was an hour or so after the ceremony dedicating the latest victory in honor of Falgrim and to the glory of the Bone Father, and the whole party was taking a break. With the Momons having taken charge of the freed slaves, they had nothing to do for the moment, so they'd set up camp for the day next to a water fountain. They'd originally intended to bunk in one of the former Drow dwellings, preferably the more opulent the better as a final insult to its previous owners, but the plethora of traps they'd encountered when they tried to enter the house they'd chosen had dissuaded them of the idea. Gaul had next suggested that he use Create Fortress to conjure housing for them, but Drau had overruled him, reminding him that the spell had a cooldown that measured in days and that he should save it for situations when they needed to camp in a hostile environment.
"At least we have readily available water?" Neia told a pouting Taana as the latter eyed the opulent houses surrounding the small courtyard they were camping in.
"I wanted to sleep in a proper bed for once." Taana whined. "Then trash it for good measure."
"There is no need for such vindictiveness. The dead are dead and can no longer suffer from your insults." a smoothly cultured voice said suddenly, causing everyone to spin around to its source.
Standing in what had been empty space in the center of the party's camp just a moment ago was a elderly man and dressed in the traditional black uniform of a butler. His hair and beard were completely white and immaculately well groomed. He had visible wrinkles on his hollow face, which gave him a gentle appearance that almost offset the eagle eyed intensity of his sharp eyes.
"Lord Sebas," Neia said at once falling to her knees to honor the god of duty. "To what do we owe the honor of your presence?"
At realizing just who had decided to pay them a visit, everyone else fell to their knees as well.
"Rise," the god ordered them kindly. "I have come to make a delivery."
With that he snapped his fingers and a set of plate armor made of scintillating material appeared in front of Gaul.
"This good necromancer is the Flail Snail Armor you commissioned." The god said, gesturing to the set of armor. "Use it well."
"I will, my lord." Gauldoth said with a solemn nod.
"Beyond delivering that, I have also come to commend you all on your good work." Lord Sebas said looking each of them in the eyes in turn. "Your efforts have greatly pleased the Supreme Being. So much so that when you need him most, the Supreme One has decreed he shall send forth his greatest servants to your aid."
Why does that sound ominous? It's like the Bone Father expects us to need his aid soon?
"He honors us, Lord Sebas." Drau said, biting her lip nervously for some reason. "But I hope that won't be necessary."
"The wise Lord Ainz predicted you would say that," Lord Sebas said with a comforting look for their leader. "And told me to tell you that and I quote, 'It is better to have the option than to need it and not have it.' Do you understand Draudillon Oriculus, daughter of my Lord?"
"I understand, Lord Sebas."
"Good." Lord Sebas replied with a satisfied nod. "Then I will take my leave. Good hunting, Chosen of my Lord."
With that, the god vanished as suddenly as he'd come leaving behind a worried party that scrambled to make sense of what prompted a visit from one of their gods.
Done!
So Lolth got owned. A little unbelievable? Well, recall just what Drau is and maybe things start looking more fair. She's an avatar of Ainz Ooal Gown, knows it and thus can access fragments of his power. Taking that into consideration her being able to stand toe to toe with other divine avatars, even those directly piloted by other gods, is logical. Well, to me at least. Let me know if you think otherwise.
That's it for me this chapter so till next time zàijiàn!
