Tooth and Claw, Part 26


You're not sure how long you sit there for, staring up at the sky. But eventually you sense Fallhazel approach from behind. She offers you no worried questions, nor any obvious concern. Just a strong, determined focus on the task at hand.

"That energy..." she says matter-of-factly. "That was the same energy that manifested in Kovora some time ago, was it not?"

You nod absently, still staring up at those distant stars. "Yes. It happens every so often. I can't control when. And those... eruptions... are getting bigger every time. Especially the time just before this. That one was by far the largest leap in their intensity."

Then you glance back over your shoulder at her. "They come from an old Demon Lord who is trying to take control of my body," you explain. "He's trying to overwrite my soul with his own. And if he succeeds, he will turn me into a mockery of everything I ever believed in."

Fallhazel walks over to you, sitting down at your side. You can tell that she now understands the oblique reference you made to your own circumstances, during your brief conversation in her dream. You wonder how she feels hearing the full story, in light of her own situation.

But whatever her own emotions, she neither criticizes nor consoles you. Instead, her reply is blunt and to the point. "Then tell me more of this invader," she commands you. "I must obtain a deeper understanding of our prey, if I am to aid you in killing it."

Despite everything, her words bring a tiny smile to your face.

And so you spend the next hour or so recounting to the druid the events that led you to this point. Your flight from the Second Circle. Your summoning by the young Witch Queen. The relentless countdown of the runes on your palm. And how you discovered what they mean.

You tell her about the succubi. How they divined your location after the activation of the previous rune. How you helped them destroy the artifact that the Incubus King was using to infect the Abyss.

You tell her about the corrupted incubus you fought. One of the old king's servants in exile, watching and waiting for his return. Servants who are doubtless making their own plans now as well.

You tell her about Melca's offer to release her claim on Lily... in exchange for making you her mindless slave. Claiming the Demon Lord's power for herself, before the Demon Lord's will can take you over completely.

You unburden yourself of all of it. Including the plan you've come up with to give yourself a fighting chance. Through all of it Fallhazel does not speak a single word, only listens intently. Even after you've finished talking, she still holds her peace.

"Well?" you eventually say. "What do you think?"

"I think you are far too soft," is the druid's immediate, unhesitating reply. "When you alone knew where this demon lord's artifact was, you held an advantage over your succubi hunters. You should have exploited that weakness. Put yourself in a better position. But instead you shared that knowledge with them, for no gain to yourself."

"No immediate gain, perhaps," you say. "But, among other things, it was a show of good faith."

But Fallhazel shakes her head. "This... Lust Queen of yours. She is a mother bear, defending her young. You will not win her over with words or gestures. It is not a thing that can be done. So long as you pose a threat to her cubs, if she sees a chance to kill you, she will take it."

"Oh, certainly," you agree. "I didn't give them the location because I thought it would make the Lust Queen change her mind altogether. But I will still need to deal with her. And the location of that artifact isn't the only card I have up my sleeve. Even if she's ultimately aiming for my death... it may still be useful in our future negotiations for her to know that she can trust me."

The druid gives you a flat look that radiates skepticism. You exhale, turning back to look at the stars again. "And... I wanted to make certain that the succubi got the information. That even if something went wrong up here, and I ended up dying, that the Incubus King will still be stopped for good."

"Soft..." Fallhazel repeats again. There's little heat behind her words, though. Just a baffled resignation. She's silent for a while longer, studying you intently... before speaking again. "In truth... you remind me very much of her, in some ways. The Lady Alicia Silverstone."

You raise a demonic eyebrow, honestly surprised. "Well. I can't say that I've ever been compared to a holy paladin before..."

"Mmmm..." says the druid. "Certainly, you both believe in different things. Very different things, perhaps. But you both believe. Neither of you are willing to merely conform yourself to the rhythms of Creation, to the world as it is. You each carry a vision. A vision that burns away inside you. A vision of how the world could be."

Then Fallhazel chuckles. The laugh of a parent watching a child's amusing efforts. "Each in your own ways, you believe that the world can be made into a kinder place. And you will fight each other tooth and nail, to the bitter end, in service of this kinder world."

You consider what she's saying. "Well... you're right about one thing," you say at length. "I do think that the world could be a much more Pleasurable place for everyone than it is right now. But as for fighting Lady Alicia to the bitter end?" You flash Fallhazel a roguish grin. "When I'm involved, the actual endings are very rarely bitter."

The druid snorts. "We shall see, I suppose..." she says. "But you would do well to be wary. Lady Alicia is entirely beyond any heroine that you have conquered up to this point."

"You're saying she's even stronger than you?" you ask.

"You did not conquer me," Fallhazel insists, crossing her arms and looking off to the side, not quite meeting your gaze. "I am... merely enjoying the pleasures you provide. Since you made such a good case for our alliance."

You make no attempt to contest anything she says, contenting yourself with a knowing smile. It's quite the adorable protest, really.

Though you do notice that she didn't actually answer your question.

With that conversation now at a lull, you eventually decide to check in on Verika. Sitting down in a lotus position, you reach out with your Dreamwalking, touching her soul with yours. She's awake, but you use the synergy with your Summoning power to invite her anyway. And it only takes a few moments before you feel the drow ranger accept the offer. Verika is pulled into your dreamscape, which you alter to match her elven village.

"Tal! How did it go with Melca's beasts?" are the first, worried words out of Verika's mouth. "Is anyone hurt?"

"We're all fine," you reassure her. "Fallhazel and I finished them off without a scratch. What about you? Was there any trouble after we left?"

Verika gives you a humorless smile. "Oh yes. You were right about Lord Edrach; he did make another attempt to bury all of this."

Curious, you shift the dreamscape to view Verika's recent memories, searching until you find the moment in question. The ranger is listening in on the fat old lord, stealthily moving through his camp while keeping out of sight. "This is ridiculous!" he rants to one of his knights, a tall, dark-haired man with narrow features and cold eyes. "Those savages were supposed to accept the deaths of the ones who actually did the logging, and let that be the end of it! Who on earth put it into their heads to come after me like this?"

The lord is pacing back and forth, eyes shifting left and right. You get the distinct feeling that having to face the consequences of his actions is not something that this coddled, petulant lump of a man is at all accustomed to. And as a result, he isn't handling it particularly well.

"Isn't there any way we could prevent the issue from coming to the Empress's attention, milord?" the knight asks.

"Not if that bitch of hers really is on her way here," says Edrach, continuing to pace like a trapped rat. "Alicia can make all the noises she wants about having 'renounced her claim to the throne', but everyone knows she still has her mother's ear. And everyone knows of her perverse, self-righteous obsession with siding with the lowborn, even against people of actual quality."

Then Edrach shakes his head. "No. No, we need to make sure this goes away before she arrives. Our voices must be the only ones who can tell our version of the story."

"Then we make a fight of it?" asks the knight. "Give those miscreants a taste of steel?"

For a few seconds Edrach just thinks in silence. He's clearly remembering the fear he felt at just how many wild animals the Forest would be able to send into the fray. But then... then you see an idea come to him.

"There may be a better way," he says. "One that will leave no evidence at all pointing back to us. What was it that witch said about these 'beasts'? That their bloodlust could distract them from their foul mission if they caught sight of us?"

The noble stops pacing, turning to the knight and giving orders in rapid succession. "Slip away from here on your horse. Ride for the old logging camp. Attract the beasts attention somehow... then ride straight through the area where those savages have gathered. They don't have anywhere near the speed of your charger. And they won't be expecting it."

A nasty smile spreads across Edrach's face. "Such a tragedy, that the savages didn't quite remove themselves far enough from the beasts' path to avoid their wrath, and that they were wiped out to the very last one. And whoever wins, our knights should be more than enough to mop up any last stragglers."

"As you command," the knight says. Then he pauses. "Though milord... your daughter... she is still among the forest-dwellers."

Edrach's expression hardens. "Then she and her traitorous servants will soon learn to regret their disloyalty."

Well. Given the man's previous actions that led to this point, you suppose 'stupid' and 'callous' were only to be expected. You're not sure that you were expecting quite this degree of stupid, however. You turn to Verika. "I assume you put a stop to this lunacy."

"Of course," says Verika. "It was just a matter of tailing the knight when he tried to slip away."

Shifting the memory ahead, you see the knight now in full plate, riding his horse through the trees. Verika stalks him from above, a silent shadow leaping from branch to branch. Then, once she's certain the knight has gone far enough that no one will hear, she makes a graceful leap down from above, planting both her feet into the knight's back and knocking him facefirst from his mount.

With a snarl he clambers back to his feet, reeling from the unexpected impact. He manages to draw his sword, whipping it around to swing at his assailant... but it's like trying to hit smoke. Verika slips effortlessly around his furious slash, weaving in close and delivering a vicious stomp to the side of his knee joint.

You allow yourself a slight wince at the sound of snapping bone. It's clear that Verika is not inclined to go easy on those who would try to arrange such a grisly fate for the innocent.

At any rate, it certainly puts an end to his attempts to kill her. The knight crumples to the ground, clutching his knee in agony. You scan forward through Verika's memories, watching as she strips him of his weapons and armor, binds and gags him, then delivers her prisoner to the now-combined group of forest-dwellers and former loggers.

You notice that your corruption has truly taken root through the entire group. The humans were already mostly corrupted, but bringing the two groups together allows the two corrupted dryads to assist Lady Edith and her entourage with all their dryad and nymph friends.

This, however, has not escaped the notice of the two leaders, who you didn't get around to corrupting. Both Ragath and Elysandria look very suspicious about the new atmosphere among their followers. And while those followers are clearly angling to bring them in, they take care to keep their distance, growing ever more wary the more they see.

Once Verika has handed over her prisoner you search ahead even further. Soon enough, you sense that you're approaching the ranger's most current recollections. But before you reach the end, you find one more of crucial importance. A memory of a conversation taking place later that night. It involves someone else you recognize, even if you're only seeing them from a distance.

The striking, armored figure of Lady Alicia.

Verika, in this memory, watches from afar, without approaching. Looking at the mental image of her, you can tell that she feels conflicted as she watches her friend and former leader from the shadows. She believes in what you're doing, yes. But she still can't help feeling ashamed that she has turned against someone she so clearly cares for.

The paladin stands among the forest group, interrogating the captured knight. Even at this distance you can tell that he's insisting on his innocence. But despite all his urgent protests, you only see cold anger growing in Lady Alicia's eyes as she listens to his words. An anger that increases all the more when Lady Edith comes forward to convey what she knows.

Soon she's striding over toward Edrach's camp. Her mailed fist is clenched, her blue cloak billowing out behind her with the force of her advance. Lord Edrach rushes out to meet her... but he barely even gets a word in before he is cowed by the sheer force of her presence, her wrath over the fate he was willing to visit upon their innocent allies in the name of his greed. The fate he was willing to visit on his own daughter.

Her words are furious and precise, even if you don't have a good enough angle to make out most of it. You can see the full realization dawning on Edrach's face, as he starts to understand just how fucked he truly is. He may be a noble... but the nobility in Nelin doesn't have nearly the same power relative to the Holy Empress as the Vekmar nobility has relative to their king.

And you very much doubt whether the Empress will be happy with Edrach, once her daughter makes her report.

Not that she needs to appeal to her mother to make a toad like Edrach crumble before her. The sheer, overpowering force of her own personal charisma is more than enough to intimidate him into terrified submission, as she castigates him for what he's done.

It is, you have to admit, immensely satisfying to watch, considering how much annoyance and distraction from your main objective Edrach's machinations have put you through. It's interrupted all too soon, however, by an immense pillar of crimson light that erupts skyward in a raging torrent, far off in the distance. It lights up the entire sky, causing Lady Alicia to whirl toward it, her eyes narrowing.

Once it fades she turns back to Edrach, her orders taking on an even greater urgency as she thrusts her finger back in the direction of the Nelin border. Edrach, at this point, is so thoroughly cowed that he turns tail before she's even done speaking. Probably rushing off to plead for clemency. Or perhaps even to flee the country, if the punishment he expects for this utter debacle is severe enough.

Either way, you've seen what you needed to see. Lady Alicia is on her way. But you have a brief window in which to take action. You finished your seduction of Fallhazel with just a bit of time to spare.

The question is how exactly you wish to use that sliver of extra time.

You could play it safe and head back to Kovora straight away. That would be the route with the least potential for complication. And if you hurry back ahead of schedule, you might even be able to fit in an extra downtime action before you needed to head out again.

Alternatively, you could make a brief stop at the elf village on your way back. With everything you've already done, it should be ripe for the plucking at this point. If you and Verika wanted to handle it personally, you could show up yourselves, paying another visit to her mother, the priestess of Havti, and the enigmatic elder. Considering you won't be bringing Fallhazel back with you, that would give you early access to their extra food stores, as well as the services of their small—but elite—fighting force.

Or... most daringly... you could take this opportunity to confront Lady Alicia yourself, speaking with her in person. You have no illusions that you'll be able to seduce her outright in this one encounter. Nor do you expect that you'll be able to dissuade her from trying to stop you, given how she no doubt interprets what you've been doing to her friends.

Still, it could be a chance to make that first inroad with your most dangerous target. And—if you spend all the extra time between now and her arrival preparing plans with Fallhazel—you feel confident that you'll at least be able to escape.

Probably.

What do you do?