Prologue, Part 10
Kelissa looks up at you, anxious and vulnerable, waiting for your answer. She wants to know if she should be afraid of you... even though she knows you're so skilled with words that she'd never be able to tell if you were lying or not. Fortunately, the answer to her question doesn't lie in something she needs to realize about you... but rather something she needs to realize about herself.
"I wouldn't need to violate you," you say, looking deep into her eyes, letting her catch just a glimpse of the ravenous, unquenchable desire burning in your soul. "You'd give yourself to me freely. All I would have to do is ask."
A shiver runs through her as she realizes the simple truth of your words. It's one thing to realize that you have no hope of winning a battle. It's another thing to realize that in your heart of hearts, you've already surrendered. "Are you..." she whispers, barely audible. "Are you asking right now?"
You smile, then shake your head. "We have work to do," you say. "I want to know more about the danger the queen is facing. The sooner we can prepare our counterattack, the greater the chance of success it will have."
Kelissa's face lights up with a smile. That simple expression of concern for her mistress—even knowing what you could have done instead—does more to banish her fear than a thousand seductions. She nods, then turns to go up the tower stairs once more. "Follow me, then," she says. "We still have a ways to go."
Upward and upward she leads you, until finally you reach your destination. Kelissa unlocks a heavy wooden door, and leads you in to where the queen's spymaster is waiting for you.
The first thing that strikes you is how cluttered the room is. There is paper everywhere, of all different kinds. Notes, reports, books, and all manner of dirty scraps collected from who-knows-where. The sheer volume of it is so overwhelming that for a moment, you don't even notice the small ratfolk sitting off in one corner of the room, watching you.
When you do notice him, however, it makes sense how he could have accumulated this much information. On worlds where the ratfolk exist, they tend to be found in every city. Small, ubiquitous and stealthy scavengers, you can think of no more perfect group of spies to hunt down such a bewildering array of minutiae.
The ratfolk stands up, walking silently over to stand in front of you. He's short even for a ratfolk, wearing dark clothes and a hood, with a black eyepatch over his right eye. "I greet you," he says, giving you a small bow. "I am known by Iskro, and I aim the gaze of the queen's Thousand Eyes. I am told that you need all that I and my clan have sought out on the queen's enemies."
"We would be very grateful," you say respectfully, returning the bow. Physically unimpressive though he may be, you know immediately that this Iskro is someone you want in your corner. "What have you learned?"
Iskro waves his hand across the entirety of the room. "All this, we know," he says. "Finding. Stealing. All that is our gift. And we do it, best as anyone. But knowing what the pieces mean? Seeing how they fit? All that is not our gift. Everything you see here is—somewhat—to do with the ones as are after her majesty's life. What you will learn from it all... that is a question for you to answer."
You nod slowly, looking around the room. It's a mountain of work... but the insights to be gained from it all could well be priceless. Beside you, Rysanial blanches, dismayed at the drudgery of the task before you. "I don't believe it..." she mutters to herself. "How could working toward the corruption of the innocent turn into something this boring?"
But there's nothing for it. Along with Kelissa, you begin to pick through the jumbled piles, sorting them, organizing them as best you can. It isn't long before the Witch Queen herself joins you, having recovered from her embarrassment enough to leave her chambers... though for the first half-hour or so the girl still can't quite bring herself to look either you or Rysanial in the eye after the display you gave her.
Still, she does start to relax more as the day wears on, as piece by piece, the four of you work through the crushing weight of paper. You keep things relatively free of teasing, reining in Rysanial when necessary. Instead, you focus on drawing out and listening to the Witch Queen's own insights on the matter. Soon she's opening up to you in a more unguarded manner, as she gets caught up in your mutual task.
You work long into the night, lighting candles to allow those with merely human eyesight to keep working. Until finally, you think you've done all you can. You're sure that there is much more this information can tell you, more secrets and weaknesses of your prey that could be gleaned from it... but even straining the limits of your intelligence, what you have here is the most you can figure out.
Finally, as the Witch Queen struggles to hold back a yawn, you look around the room. The disorganized mess is now sorted into eleven large piles, each pile grouped according to the region where the heroine is currently living. You start to take each one in turn, mentally reviewing everything you've been able to deduce.
You begin with the heroines living in the nation of Vekmar, which lies on the north-east border of Kovora. From what your mistress told you, it is ruled by a king... but an assortment of competing dukes also hold a great deal of power. The upshot is that control over the territory is not very centralized, and law and order can sometimes be a bit... looser there.
You eyes settle on one of the piles of paper, which contains all the information your ratfolk spies have been able to gather about Ceriss Zylnerios, court sorceress for the king of Vekmar. She was one of the first of the heroines to catch your eye, due to her heritage. Ceriss is a tiefling—a human with demonic ancestry. You're surprised that she managed to reach such a high position; usually tieflings are distrusted, if not outright hunted. But it seems that her talent and magical power were such that she was too useful to shun.
Mostly, she seems to spend her time between court and her mansion. The reports and receipts paint the picture of a woman with a definite taste for the finer things in life... but also a generous heart. She's noted as putting on frequent free magic shows for the populace that are highly regarded and anticipated, full of dazzling, explosive pyrotechnics.
Nor is she the only skilled performer of which Vekmar can boast. You turn to look at the next pile of papers, this one containing information about Lyra Orilana. If the tales are to be believed, she's so skilled with music that she can use it as a form of magic unto itself. Lyra's own ancestry—half-elven—might have something to do with that; you can't say.
Apparently, Lyra in turn married a human woman, and they've adopted a daughter and a son from a local orphanage. Being the most sought-after musician on the continent, she seems to be very often away from her family on performances, though she does try to return and visit them whenever she can.
Not that Vekmar doesn't have more physical heroines as well. You turn to the next pile of papers, which only has a single name associated with it: Emiko. If the human woman has a family name, no one knows it; she arrived in Vekmar some time ago from a different continent entirely. From what your spies have learned she's an extremely powerful warrior, despite fighting with no weapons. Unpleasant memories of your bout against Taharial flash through your thoughts.
She seems to have opened up a small monastery in Vekmar, teaching both the philosophy and religion of her home country—as well as her fighting style—to anyone capable of passing a series of secret tests. Apparently, not many succeed. According to this, she also makes periodic trips into the deepest depths of the Great Forest on Vekmar's western border to meditate amidst nature.
The final heroine from Vekmar doesn't live in Vekmar proper... and you're not even sure if you could really call this one a 'heroine' at all. Based on the information you read in her pile, Torild Stokke could most charitably be called the leader of a group of mercenaries... and less charitably the leader of a gang of extortionists kept one step away from outright banditry only so long as those in power kept them paid off.
The dwarven woman is legendary for her battle rages, going into a violent frenzy when she fights, swinging her axe without care for friend or foe. Apparently, she was a constant thorn in the nation's side... until Emiko defeated her in single combat. It was at that point when she decided to join the pact of heroines herself. Mostly, it seems, to keep pestering Emiko for rematches. Her mercenary camp is on the outskirts of Vekmar, though she also makes frequent trips to Emiko's monastery.
Of course, there are other heroines who have no fixed home, and the woman known only as Khaytala is one of them. And given that she's a half-orc—bastard child of the race most hated and feared by the civilized nations—it's not hard to imagine why she would not be welcome in any one place for long. She lives on the roads, defending caravans from bandits and other hazards, using nothing but her sword and the skills a life of hardship has drilled into her.
It earns her enough to survive, though it's clear from some of the reciepts the ratfolk were able to get their hands on that she isn't paid nearly as much as a human of her incredible skill would receive. Yet despite the derision with which she is treated, her steadfast protection of her charges remains extraordinary. In all her jobs, the only reports of any injury you can find are to Khaytala herself.
Most often, those jobs are on caravans passing through the Great Forest to the west of Vekmar, so Khaytala had probably encountered the next heroine on occasion, even before their pact was formed. Verika Ravahorn, guardian of the roads through the forest and protector of one of the few remaining elf villages that lies hidden within its confines.
Which you still find almost impossible to believe, even after looking at the evidence... since Verika is, in fact, a drow, one of the ancient enemies of their elvish cousins.
You don't know what Verika did to earn their trust... but it must have been something incredible to convince an entire village of elves that she was not like the rest of her kin. Still, you can hardly fault the results. She is the silent terror of all who would harm the innocent within her domain, able to move from tree to tree without detection, her arrows striking true from impossible distances.
And if Verika is the guardian of the roads and the elf village, then the next heroine is the guardian of the very heart of the Great Forest itself. No one knows much about the ancient being named "Fallhazel", only that she dwells far away from any civilization, and is so in tune with the magics of nature that she is capable of taking on nearly any form she desires, whether bestial or humanoid. If she ever had an original race, no one else remembers it—and perhaps not even Fallhazel herself.
It is rare to meet her, unless one enters the very depths of the forest, but it is said that the entire wilderness obeys her commands, and that the forest creatures march to her orders. She joined the pact when the other heroines convinced her that Kovora was a threat to the natural order, and stands poised to unleash the fury of nature against you when they move to strike.
Finally, to the north-west of Kovora, on the other side of the Great Forest from Vekmar, is the nation of Nelin, where the remaining heroines live. Far more unified than its ally, Nelin is ruled by its Empress, and guided by the official state religion that worships the goddess Selal. Most other faiths are tolerated, though, except for the worship of Melca.
And one of the most esteemed figures in the Church of Selal would be Elianna Imfiel, a Cleric and another one of the heroines. She is well over five hundred years old... but as a full-blooded elf, that time has little meaning to her. She divides her time between teaching the commands of Selal at the Grand Cathedral, and working at a large orphanage that she runs.
Most of the heroines in Nelin live in the capitol city. But there is one exception: Nevati Wrancyne. Her wizard's tower is located in a remote location, with only a small town nearby, and even that requiring nearly an hour's walk to reach. The young gnome spends most of her days locked in there, pursuing her magical research while surrounded by layers upon layers of traps both magical and mundane, as well as a number of powerful summoned creatures... along with anything else a wizard might come up with.
Though it does seem that she has been leaving her tower a bit more often since the pact has formed, making occasional trips to Vekmar using her magic. You aren't quite able to piece together the reason why, however.
It also turns out that there are less-reputable heroines in Nelin as well, though even they are not as savage as Torild's berserk fury. No one knows why, but soon after the pact was formed—before it had even accepted anyone beyond the borders of Nelin—a masked halfling thief known only as "Mockingbird" demanded to join.
Before then, she had been famous for her daring thefts from the rich and corrupt of the city, and the inability of the guard to track her as she melted into the shadows or leapt from rooftop to rooftop. No one knew her face. No one knew her real name. No one even knew what she did with all the money. Still, in the name of defeating the Witch Queen, the other heroines accepted Mockingbird into their group despite her criminal past.
And then, finally... you consider the leader of the entire group.
Alicia Silverstone. The Chosen One of Selal. The undefeated holy warrior, with the blood of angels in her lineage. The paragon of righteousness and purity that was able to pull together such a disparate collection of individuals and turn them to a common goal.
The conquest of Kovora. The end to the scourge of the orcish raids on their lands. And the death of the Witch Queen.
She is the firstborn daughter of the Empress. But, while she does live at the palace on the rare occasions when she is not traveling on one mission or another, she has forsworn any noble title in favor of her divine calling to aid the helpless and shelter the innocent. Unmatched by anyone in either martial prowess or holy power, she stands as a beacon of hope and justice for all the civilized lands.
You consider them all, pondering your next move. You'll have to start somewhere, with one of them. But which one? Certainly some of them would be far more dangerous to take on than others, especially with the limited tools currently at your disposal.
On the other hand, for this first venture you'll at least have the element of surprise; they don't yet realize how the Witch Queen has decided to attack their group. Depending on which heroines you take down, in what order, the effects will ripple out to the rest of them in different ways, as they realize what is happening to their allies and begin to respond.
And then, of course... there's the simple question of fun. Some of these women might be a lot more interesting to go after with different approaches, as you increase the options you have available to you.
However, at the end of the day—and it is the end of the day—you will need to make a decision on who your first prey will be. And you have the distinct feeling that you should go with...