A Kind of Magic (YJ Celestial Grimoire)

by gothicjedi666

Please don't review I'm just putting up a copy of this story for reviewers on QQ

8. Chapter 8

Commissioned by Noctev242

A Kind of Magic (YJ Celestial Grimoire)

Interlude - Blackfire.

The firstborn princess of Tamaran and perhaps the future queen of this magical land was able to see the kingdom as few others ever would. Unlike her potential subjects she could take to the air and look down upon everything and so far she liked what she saw.

This might not be a proper world, but it could be enough of a kingdom for her to rule over as a sovereign, and perhaps there would be chances to expand her influence from here. To show her people how wrong they had been to cast her aside for her younger and weaker sister.

From up here she could see that her suitor ruled more than just a city, there were other places she could check out later when the mood suited her. From the height she flew, she could see a village at the far end of the massive bridge that led onto the island the city had been built upon, and beyond the village, there was a great deal of wilderness.

There were also things which caught her eye. One of them had to be some sort of arena and Blackfire wondered if Archon Gothic would bring in creatures from different worlds for her to fight against if she were to request it. She would need to keep her skills sharp and not become too relaxed in the role of queen if she took it.

As she flew lower Blackfire saw the citizens of the city looking up at her with some of them pointing, but there was no hostility that she could detect, only curiosity and amazement. Blackfire wondered if she began queen of this land would they always cheer as she flew by or would they soon get used to the sight?

She saw the statues mentioned by her potential husband and how much of the city seemed to be made of fine stonework with only the poorest part having buildings made from wood. She wouldn't mind seeing her likeness here in this city.

It had been some time since she'd been able to fly so freely and simply enjoy this freedom her powers granted her, so she went higher and picked up speed. She didn't fly too far from the city as she had no idea what, if anything, was out there in the distance, she just took this chance to look around.

Some forts were scattered about, occupied by soldiers in service of her potential husband, their weapons and armour looked crude, however, Blackfire had seen enough of the galaxy to know that appearances could be deceiving and their leader had great power so his warriors could be quite formidable.

She didn't think this small kingdom could ever take on her people and win for her the throne she had been born to sit upon, but perhaps that could change if the troops could be armed with more deadly weapons and the army greatly increased in size, it was something she would keep in mind.

While flying about, Blackfire also spotted some ruins as she slowed down to admire the view. They looked mostly to have been buried by time and they looked quite different from the forts around scattered about. If anything they reminded her of the city. That was something to inquire about when she had the time.

Right now she was far more interested in simply enjoying her freedom and while she was sure her revenge would taste sweet her ability to simply fly also felt very good. A shame that she had to return to the tower, but her new position as potential queen did come with some responsibilities.

She would have to be seen at court, to let the nobles of this kingdom know that a new player had entered whatever political games they played, and she would have to embrace this role if she wanted a comfortable life. Revenge would be much easier if she had a power base.

Not long after flying into her opulent quarters, she found that a woman was waiting for her.

"Your Highness," she said, "I am Lady Arria Goldwine, the High Chancellor sent me to act as your lady-in-waiting".

Blackfire failed to hide her smile, it had been some time since she'd been pampered by servants, and even then they'd not been enthusiastic about the job due to the misfortune that took place around the time of her birth.

"The foreign ambassadors will arrive today so I am sorry to say that the seamstresses will not have time to create dresses in a style of your choosing, so you'll have to choose from what we have on offer".

Blackfire wanted to know more about the visitors as she hadn't been here for long enough to learn much about what was going on.

"Who exactly is coming to visit?" she asked.

"Some of the other kingdoms are sending peace delegates for talks with the king" explained Lady Goldwine "They might also make offers of marriage so it would be good for you to be there to show these visitors that his Majesty has selected a suitable bride".

Blackfire felt her anger grow. Yet again some bitch threatened to take what should be hers, perhaps she'd get some use out of the arena she'd flown over earlier, she doubted any of the visiting kingdoms had any warrior-princesses who could match her.

"The royal colours are black and gold" explained the lady-in-waiting "With a golden phoenix as the symbol of authority in the realm. The ruby is the gemstone that symbolises power in this realm".

Well, that explained all the dark dresses and jewellery with rubies. She assumed a phoenix to the bird on the banners. It was good that the people of this land respected those with the power of flight.

"We can have a proper wardrobe put together soon" promised Lady Goldwine.

Blackfire would like that. Women's dress styles here in Pholubalm were a bit too modest for her taste the local women didn't show off their assets enough for her taste.

"I'll make do," she said.

Truth to be told she rather liked that she was already being presented with such offerings. She wasn't even queen yet and yet the gifts were already getting sent her way.

"It will be good for you to be in court when the guests arrive," said Lady Goldwine "It will show everyone how the king already favours you".

Well, he had gone to all that trouble of freeing her from the Citadel. He wouldn't have bothered to do that and to make his offer if he wasn't serious.

"I'll be there" she promised.

While she hadn't made up her mind about staying here she was leaning closely to accepting the role of queen and she didn't want anyone to threaten it. So she would appear in court and let everyone see the woman who should be their ruler.

Commissioned by Noctev242

A Kind of Magic (YJ Celestial Grimoire)

Part 40.

The White-Gold Tower. Pholubalm.

Since this was a rather important event, as such, I was glad that it was taking place in the early afternoon as I didn't feel so bad about having a drink of wine to help calm my nerves. If it had been morning I would not have touched the stuff, even my mother had never liked her wine that much.

Not that I made a habit of drinking, and I normally didn't get this nervous, or at least I didn't dwell on my nerves. Today felt different for some reason, I wondered if my new Seer powers were giving me this sense or if it was just a case of nerves.

"You stand in the presence of His Majesty, Gothic, the Sorcerer Supreme, Archon of The City and King of Pholubalm!" a member of the Court shouted out.

To me, it sounded as if there should be some stuff about Andals and First Men in there as well, but while I had far less in the way of titles than some monarchs at least my throne was more practical and safer to sit upon. I even had cushions.

"His apprentice, Rachel Roth, and his bethroed Princess Komand'r of Tamaran!"

For a moment I could have sworn I heard someone make a noise that sounded a lot like 'what' but there were so many visitors I couldn't tell who had spoken. Was there something wrong with the acoustics?

While Raven was not my heir and would not take the Ruby Throne should anything happen to me, she was my successor as Sorcerer Supreme, so it was important for her to maintain a presence at court even if she'd rather keep her nose in a book.

Since these visitors would have already met with High Chancellor Ocato in a private meeting, there was no need to introduce him and Ocato took over the introductions from this point on.

"Your Majesty may I present the leader of the Skatarian delegation, Lady Jennifer Morgan, the Sorceress Supreme of Skataris, daughter of the Warlord".

The people from Skataris looked as if they came from a barbarian kingdom, just the kind you might see in a movie, as their clothes were too high quality and their appearances were too clean, for them to be real savages, so their look was more a matter of aesthetics than anything else.

"Lady Jennifer has requested to speak with you privately," mentioned Ocato in a whisper.

Since in terms of rulers, I was the new kid on the block, it meant a lot that they had all come to me, it meant that they took both myself and Pholubalm seriously. As such it would be wise of me to treat them with respect in turn.

"Make an appointment for her" I ordered.

Most likely it had something to do with Deimos, that dark lord could be a threat to my kingdom one day so if the Warlord of Skataris wanted more than a simple treaty of non-aggression then I was inclined to listen.

"Come forward Lady Jennifer" invited Ocato.

The barbarian sorceress did so and after a polite tip of her head, her followers brought forth their gifts. Soon I saw chests full of furs, no doubt from some terrible beasts, beadwork and other valuables such as crude coins, jewels and other shiny things.

A display of wealth no doubt meant to impress and there was a quite of lot of it. Perhaps it meant to hint at the promise of further prosperity should we become allies?

Servants came to present my kingdom's offerings to the Warlord and his daughter. Chests full of bottles of booze, mostly brandy and wine, tasty cheeses, fine fabrics and well as other luxury goods. Along with plenty of coins as well as some weapons made from metals other than regular steel.

As the chests were removed, the gifts of my people would be taken to the Skatarian ship down at the docks and their gifts to the treasury, Lady Jennifer spoke to me.

"Archon Gothic, I have been sent by my father to ensure a lasting peace between our people," she said.

The Elder Council would take care of the details so all I had to do was say a few words about how I welcomed peace between our great nations. Assuming the barbarians even had a proper nation, I had next to no idea of the political situation in their realm.

Then events moved along with the Atlantians having their turn and to my surprise Kaldur'ahm was among the delegates from Atlantis. Since he is the protégé of Aquaman perhaps I shouldn't have found his presence so unexpected. He was even introduced to me as the apprentice of the King of Atlantis.

As for the gifts, some of their people must have found the ruins of some treasure ship, as the wealth offered to me looked rather crude for Atlantis and the coins reminded me of those seen in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. I doubted that any of it was cursed, but it was wise to ask someone to check.

"I was not expecting to meet you here, James," said Kaldur'ahm.

Bit of an understatement and his bluntness wasn't received well by my court as he addressed me in an overly familiar way.

"Nor did I think to find you here, Kaldur" I replied.

There was a sense of confusion in the court that I felt needed clearing up.

"I used to work alongside Kaldur'ahm as part of a team" I explained "We went into battle together a few times".

No need to go into any detail and the Atlantis delegates had no desire for small talk. Like the Amazons, they were to ensure that I would leave them to their business and not do anything to harm Earth's oceans. Not that I had any way of harming them from this realm.

When it was the turn of the Amazons, I only had a little time to admire what they had brought me as gifts, I saw fleeces, jars of what I assumed were olive oil and some wine.

Then my attention was directed to the delegates, one of whom stepped forward.

"This is Jezabul of the Amazons, the granddaughter of Queen Hippolyta" I was informed.

I was used to Kaldur'ahm being stiff around me so if he'd felt awkward about any of this he'd hid it well, and he'd never been hostile towards me. Jessica Kent was not so controlled. I was too shocked to have said anything so far and she seemed to be upset.

To be fair I'd never imagined that the Amazons would send Jessica here. Not when it seemed as if they were going out of their way to keep her isolated. What had changed?

"James, why are you here?" she demanded to know.

The court did not like how she'd just spoken.

"You're supposed to be in Tower of Fate," Jessica insisted.

For some reason, she was not happy about finding me elsewhere.

"And you are supposed to be at Mount Justice" I pointed out.

I got the impression that this could devolve into a full-blown argument and it might have done if Ocato hadn't spoken up.

Understandably I was rather annoyed at her tone of voice. It sounded as if she was mad at me for not staying in the place she expected me to be.

"My lords and ladies, honoured visitors, the peace talks will take place this afternoon and the treaties of non-aggression will be formally signed as soon as the talks are over, this evening there will be a feast to celebrate an era of peace between our peoples!" he declared.

The Mer was no fool, he knew it was a good idea to separate me from Jessica as quickly as possible. As for the other delegates, they mostly looked confused about what was going on, aside from Kaldur who had sent me a look of worry on his way out.

In that simple look, quite a bit was expressed, and I was left with the feeling that these talks were not going to be simple after all.

I decided to get out of the tower for a while so I could try to clear my head.

Vilverin. Pholubalm.

In the game, I knew this place to be a large Ayleid ruin northeast of the Imperial City containing bandits and undead, it's the first dungeon you can access upon getting through the tutorial part of the game.

Upon finding this place, I'd explored it rather well, marvelling at all the little details of the game that existed here. There were even mudcrabs.

In this reality, the ruins were empty, as if they had long since been picked clean by adventures, or rather they'd never contained anything at all, or at least this was the case in the upper level.

Why this was I didn't know nor did I understand why these ruins were here. Having the forts scattered about made a certain amount of sense as they could be used to help defend the city, but having ruins in a new plane of existence seemed very odd to me.

Still, I needed to get out of White-Gold Tower for a while and poking around some old ruins was a good distraction. Besides, there could be something interesting in the bottom part of the old city.

As I moved down into the lower levels of the ruins I even found a few undead wandering around that made good targets for my frustrations. Despite my overall bad mood I couldn't help smiling as blasted a skeleton apart with a minor bit of magic.

Not so long I didn't have enough power to do even this and now it was all so easy. I'd certainly come a long way since I'd found myself in the custody of John Constantine.

Perhaps it was my pride speaking, but I knew I'd grown beyond a need for him or the team, to become a leader in my own right, and yet despite this seeing Jessica again made me doubt myself.

Not shocking as having your ex around will always complicate things and bring up things you thought were long forgotten. It had been easy to put her out of my mind when I thought she would be remaining on Paraside Island.

I'd somehow forgotten how hot she was. Her Amazon Armour didn't show off as much of her form as the golden bikini armour I'd made for her, yet she still looked damn good.

When a skeleton archer fired an arrow at me that bounced off my magical protections I put aside the strange mix of feelings as best I could and blasted the annoying thing.

Why did the creation of this plane involve the creation of undead? Not knowing didn't bother me, if anything I liked it. I had a long life ahead of me and much to explore. There were more magical plans for me to explore than this one. So many questions to find answers to.

For now, I was curious about this place, and before too long I didn't find something of interest. I recognised the item from playing Elder Scrolls: Oblivion even if I couldn't recall why they were important.

I was about to get closer so I could inspect the item, only for the corridor to fill with swinging blades that stopped moving only once I'd backed off.

"This doesn't take a genius," I said.

I created a portal using a Sling Ring I'd gotten from the Mystic Masters. Once that was done I simply reached out and took the treasure as the other part of the portal was right next to it.

Then since I didn't think there would be anything else of value down here I decided to make a portal back to the White-Gold Tower. I could check out the other ruins at another time.

"Put this on display," I told one of the servants "Somewhere it can be seen by visitors to the tower".

I considered adding it to the treasury, but it was a fine work of art and should be admired, not left to gather dust in some private collection.

"Ah, your Majesty you have returned," said the High Chancellor "Something worrying has happened".
Perhaps it had been wrong of me to leave the city without warning, but I'd needed to clear my head.

"What has happened?" I inquired.

The Chancellor did not look happy.

"I'm sorry to inform you that Lady Jezebel has challenged Princess Blackfire to a duel of some sort," I was told.

The last thing I needed was for one of the local nobility to be causing a fuss.

"Who the hell is Lady Jezebel?" I demanded to know.

My Hand of the King looked confused.

"The Amazon delegate you had an awkward encounter with earlier today," he said.

Jezebel must be Jessica's Amazon name. Someone had likely told me the name and it had not sunk in because of how distracted I'd been.

"Why did Lady Jezebel issue a challenge?" I asked.

I had a fair idea already, but I wanted confirmation.

"As I understand the matter, Lady Jezebel does not approve of your choice of potential queens, and Princess Blackfire was insulted," he reported "A challenge was made and Lady Jezebel accepted. I'm sure I don't need to spell out for you how much of a disaster this could be if a visiting delegate were to be killed".

So this was a catfight that threatened to become a diplomatic incident. Blackfire's family didn't know she was here and they wouldn't care if she died, but if Jessica died in some fight the Amazons might either accept it as they were a warrior race, or it could result in war.

If it came to war I wasn't sure what I could do. The phoenix fire should protect us from outright invasion, but the Amazons were in theory under the protection of the gods of Ancient Greece who were not a nice group of deities, to say the least.

And if I couldn't invade them and they couldn't invade this realm then they might end up sending raiding parties to my realm, and that could become a problem.

Then I had to consider that the Amazons had allies, such as the Justice League, Atlantis and likely some other nations on Earth or even other magical realms.

Granted the League was supposed to be limited by its UN charter, but other realms might not be covered, and they might not care since it wasn't as if the UN would know.

"I'll talk to them and try to get them to calm down" I promised my Hand of the King.

He did look a little less worried.

"Might I suggest attending to Lady Jennifer" he advised "If peace with the Amazons does not become a reality we might need to make allies".

I ordered him to arrange a meeting to take place as soon as possible while I went to get changed. When I did I found the grimiore waiting for me.

300cp

+ 300cp

600cp

Bank or Roll?

I would roll as soon I might need all the help I could get.

- 400cp

200cp

Duelist Champion - Fantastic Beasts

Your skill and speed in combat make you among the most dangerous magical combatants the wizarding world has ever seen. Even highly trained Aurors can be swatted aside as little more than nuisances.

Not only is your skill prodigious but you seem to simply have more magical power behind your spells than other wizards and witches whenever you are in combat.

A power boost focused on magical combat was welcome. It wasn't quite the same as say getting my hands on another army or gaining a powerful ally, I already had a lot of personal power, but an increase in my skills in magical combat would do nicely.

Commissioned by Noctev242

A Kind of Magic (YJ Celestial Grimoire)

Part 41.

The White-Gold Tower. Pholubalm.

"Enough!" I yelled.

Often, I took pride in the fact that I was not the kind of person who thought shouting at people was an effective way to communicate. Granted a raised voice can help you to get your message across to someone, but there's a difference between that and getting into a screaming match.

Many people seem to suffer some sort of delusion that yelling will somehow make their words more truthful than those of others when in reality it just makes them look like overgrown toddlers, and women yelling at each other seem to do so simply for the sake of generating needless drama.

It was embarrassing to see Jessica act this way as she was supposed to be a strong warrior woman, not a whiny child. I had no idea what her handlers were thinking about all of this as the older Amazons who had come with Jessica interacted with me as little as possible.

Despite their lack of words, I had no doubt, that they felt insulted by her behaviour and that they were simply not letting it show to try to avoid adding to the embarrassment.

No doubt the Queen of the Amazons and Wonder Woman would soon learn of Jessica's behaviour. I would not wish to be Jessica Kent when that happened.

I assumed the other warrior women here simply didn't wish to slap down the Queen's granddaughter, and to be fair it wasn't as if they could have predicted that she would run into her ex-boyfriend.

For now, they were just here to do a job and I was happy to let them get on with it, or rather I would have been if we could get on with the formal signing of the non-aggression pact before the feast began this evening.

No wonder the Altantians had left so quickly. They'd gotten what they wanted and had no desire to get caught up in whatever this shouting match could turn into. As for the Skartarian party, they just looked confused.

"There will be no fighting between my guests and visiting ambassadors, not in my realm" I stated.

I had known for a while that Jessica was headstrong and went after what she wanted, but this childish display was off-putting and made her seem far less attractive to me.

"And anyone unwilling to act like an adult can wait for these talks to end in their room" I informed everyone.

I did not miss the smug grin on Blackfire's face. As if she'd somehow won something. No doubt the thought processes of alien females were even more unknowable than human women

"Perhaps we should get on with the signing of the treaty" offered the High Chancellor "Councilor Itinia and Councilor Jirich have already hashed out the details, once signed a copy of the treaty will be sent to Paradise Island for the queen to give her finally approval".

If she didn't approve of it for some reason the Amazon delegates would return, but that was unlikely since the warrior woman just wanted assurances that I had no designs on their island.

"Just let me review the agreement," I said.

It was all fairly straightforward as the Amazons were not people who felt the need to make complex documents. The agreement was for me to take no hostile action against them or any nation they were allied with, which was all the UN nations on Earth, so technically if I invaded a no-UN nation they shouldn't interfere. Although I had no desire to get involved in Earth politics.

Even if I had the manpower needed to occupy a foreign nation it wouldn't be worth the expense and Earth nearly gets destroyed or conquered by aliens so often that I'd only be putting my people at risk.

At its core, it was the same agreement that I had with Atlantis, so I had no issue signing it.

"There, now we have a non-aggression pact between the Amazon Nation and the Kingdom of Pholubalm" I stated.

The treaty was rolled up and I signed a second copy for the Amazons to take with them.

"If that is all I will see you at the feast tonight" I said.

I wondered if the Amazons would make their excuses and leave, but they did not, they had different customs than the Atlantians and perhaps different orders from their leader.

If they were staying then I would need to have words with Blackfire to make sure she stayed calm this evening so as not to cause a diplomatic incident.
Until then I had another meeting to occupy my time.

The White-Gold Tower. Pholubalm.

Jennifer Morgan, the daughter of U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Travis Morgan, the man known in the realm of Skartaris as Warlord, might look like someone who should be shacking up with Conan the Barbarian. I knew that appearances could be deceiving.

Despite her style of dress, I knew that there was more to her than meets the eye. You don't become the Sorcerer Supreme for an entire realm without a lot of power and some allies.

Well, not unless you are me and you inherit the mantle because of the lack of host bodies for a Lord of Order.

Sure being the daughter of the infamous Warlord of Skartaris would have helped, I just didn't think she'd gotten where she was today simply riding his coattails to success.

A version of her in the DCAU was able to summon members of the Justice League to aid her father in his war with Deimos. I knew enough about magic to know that summoning a team of heroes from another realm was not something an amateur could do.

I certainly didn't know how to pull something like that off even if I was sure that I could have supplied the fuel for such a mighty spell given how my powers were growing.

So if this version of Jennifer Morgan was anything like her animated counterpart then she was not someone to be messed with and it would be wise of me to hear what she wished to talk to me about.

"So why did you wish to speak me, my lady?" I enquired.

The guest quarters here in the tower were opulent enough not to offend visiting royalty and Lady Jennifer certainly seemed comfortable enough.

"I want to discuss the future of our two realms," she said.

Well, I'd doubted that she just wanted to sit and chat about anything casual. A shame, it would have been a nice change from the rest of my day.

"Your Majesty, I'm sure you've heard of my father's struggles with the Dark Lord Deimos," she said.

Indeed, I knew a few things thanks to my scrying. Deimos had no magical powers, instead, he utilized some ancient technology he'd come across to fake it.

He was only pretending to be a sorcerer, not that many in Skartaris cared about the differences as they feared him for power not his knowledge of the mystical arts.

"Deimos rules the City-State of Thera. As my father's wife rules Shamballah, these two city-states are at war and we do not know who will win" I was informed "But whoever does may end up controlling the fate of Skartaris. If Deimos takes control of Shamballah he will not be satisfied. He will always seek greater power and he may set his eyes on your realm".

Not news to me as I'd discussed this possibility with the High Chancellor recently and it seemed wise to deal with Deimos before he could become a threat to other dimensions. Yet it wouldn't do to appear too eager to help because if nothing else it might lead the Skartarians to wonder if I had plans for my own for their realm.

"How large of an army would it take to make a difference?" I inquired.

I didn't want to send the entire legion in case my realm was threatened.

"Deimos has a larger army than my father, but it is held together only through fear of him," Jennifer told me "Even a thousand warriors could tip the scales. My father has called for aid from Kiro, where his old friend Machiste rules as King, but that kingdom has troubles of its own".

I had an entire legion, so I could supply enough fighters to turn the tide, and likely I could recruit more from the population to replace any losses.

"What kind of weapons is Deimos's army armed with?" I asked.

Rather than explain things to me verbally the sexy sorceress created an illusion to show me. Deimos had lizard men of some kind under his command as well as human barbarians, some of whom were carrying sophisticated weapons even if most were rather poorly armed.

I doubted the lizardmen could create such weapons so they must have a supplier. Perhaps this universe's version of the Legion of Doom or even just Lex Luthor who wouldn't be above selling weapons to some dark lord as long as it made him a profit.

"Sending a good part of my army to fight in another realm is risky, my lady" I pointed out "I do see the sense of defeating Deimos, even if he hasn't done anything to offend me, but such a risky venture requires some sort of reward".

Lady Jennifer was no fool, she must have already thought about this.

"The City-State of Thera is wealthy, once conquered we can plunder its treasury and take any ancient technology used by Deimos as the spoils of war" the foreign diplomat offered "Your people do not practice slavery, so I will not offer you prisoners of war".

I felt sure that the Elder Council would side with me if I declared war on Thera since they were all loyal to me, but that didn't mean I should be reckless with the lives of troops.

"We'd have to sign a Mutual Defence Agreement and share information" I insisted "And set up some sort of trade relationship".

The finer details of such things were for the Elder Council to decide. I did want to be able to trade with other realms as my city should be a hub of trade.

"Your Majesty, there is one other matter that I believe could bring us close together in terms of our alliance," said Lady Jennifer.

I wondered what that could be right up until my fellow mage stood up from the table we'd been sitting at as we shared some refreshments and she moved a little to the side. She then let her outfit drop to the ground to expose her naked body to my eyes.

Since she was a comic book character she was impossibly attractive. She had a lot of curves, large breasts that didn't sag, and flawless skin. Which should be impossible for someone who lived in such a savage land.

"The people of Skartaris are direct I see" I commented.

Lady Jennifer did not move closer to me or make any effort to cover herself. She simply let me look and take my time to mostly recover my wits before speaking.

"Upon our victory over Deimos I will give my body to you to do with as you please," she said, "Until I am carrying your child".

I had not anticipated the second part. Not that I'd expected her to simply get naked.

"You want me to impregnate you?" I asked.

I wasn't confused by the words I simply desired clarification and it was hard to focus when you had a naked woman in front of you who wanted you to take in the sight.

"My stepmother is Tara Morgan the queen of Shamballah, she lacks an heir and my father's absences from the city mean that she is unlikely to have another son. My half-brother was lost and so if anything were to happen to Queen Morgan then the throne would be taken by my father who is often absent".

I could almost hear the Game of Thrones theme tune playing.

"And he would name you as his heir" I figured.

Lady Jennifer nodded her head in agreement.

"To ensure that I am seen as a suitable heir it could be good for me to have a successor of my own, a son who can be raised as a great warrior or a daughter with great magical power, or they could be both. Two children would be best to secure a dynasty," Jennifer said "But I have no desire to take on a husband who might want my throne for himself".

I wouldn't because I had a kingdom to run and without a marriage, I'd have no claim to any position within Shamballah's leadership. Not that marriage seemed to be as important in that realm as in others if children born out of wedlock could be rulers.

That was not true here as any child I had within wedlock would inherit over bastard children. Martin Septim was only the heir to the Ruby Throne in Elder Scrolls: Oblivion because his true-born siblings all died.

I didn't even have a family name to pass on to my children as the surname I'd used in my old life meant nothing here. Something connected to a Phoenix would be good. That was something to work out later.

"Any children we have would be called Morgan," I said.

The fact that my children might not inherit any of my abilities did not seem to concern her, or if she did she saw no reason to mention it, no doubt she understood these things better than I did.

Lady Jennifer sat down without bothering to dress.

"So do we have an agreement?" she asked.

I'd been leaning towards bloodying my legion anyway and Deimos could one day be a threat. That had not changed.

"We do," I said, "I'll have my councillors write up a treaty".

I decided to teleport out before she could dismiss me and before I could start to get ready for dinner tonight I found my special book waiting for me. A distraction was just what I needed.

200cp

+200cp

400cp

Bank or Roll

I decided to roll.

Failed

That hadn't happened in quite some time. I must have missed out on something powerful. I'd gotten some great items and perks just by cashing fewer points than I had now, so it could have been something great.

400cp

Ah well, better luck next time.

As I changed I reached out to Raven and made use of one of my perks to talk to her telepathically via the magical chat network. I didn't often use this link as it wasn't secure.

"Will you be joining us for dinner?"

"I think I'll skip it"

There was a pause.

"Do you want to come over later?".

I gave the matter a moment's thought.

"Would you be willing to dress as a barbarian princess?"

Since Raven was a powerful empath I could sense her amusement if just for a moment.

"I'll see what I can do"

"Then I'll be over later"

With that, I cut the link and smiled. At least I'd have something to look forward to after dinner. This should make this evening's festivities more pleasant.

Commissioned by the very generous Spiral

Celestial Grimoire.

Interlude - Constantine.

Up on the Watchtower, an important meeting was taking place one that should finally take them past the planning stage and allow for the building world to begin. Assuming everyone would agree.

"So, Princess Diana, is your royal mother willing to construct a Sanctum Sanctorum on your island or not?" John Constantine asked of Wonder Woman.

Constantine, along with a few other members of the Justice League, such as Giovanni Zatara had been pushing for the creation of the Sanctum Sanctorums to create a worldwide shield that would be able to keep out many mystical menaces.

Due to there being many different locations, the Sanctums would need to be built on, this project required quite a bit of cooperation from the many allies of the Justice League as well as permission from a few nations.

"My mother has agreed to build a Sanctum of our own," said Wonder Woman "It will be built by Amazons using the plans provided and staffed by us. We will not have it any other way".

It would be for the best if all of the Sanctums were guarded by mages, but no one would argue with the Amazons over this as they had strict rules about who could visit their home. Besides, it was their island after all and they knew best how to protect it.

There were other members of the League in the room, including Superman, Green Lantern and Batman, the latter of which had already agreed to have a Sanctum constructed in his city as long as he had some sort of oversight.

He might be a paranoid bastard at times, however, he could see the benefits for the world if the entire planet had a layer of mystical protection, even if having part of that protection in his city might make it more of a target.

Since it was always possible that one or more Sanctum could be damaged or outright destroyed, the plan involved having more of them than required, both to create a stronger barrier and to ensure the barrier wouldn't fall easily.

The Justice League had more than resources for such a project and unlike a certain order of monks over the MCU, the League had a lot of allies. It helped that the leylines worked differently in this world.

As the final details of the plan were agreed upon, the face of Arthur Curry, also known by his superhero moniker Aquaman, the man who ruled the city of Atlantis, appeared on a large 2D screen.

"Aquaman do you have something to report?" questioned Batman.

The face on the screen nodded before speaking.

"Kaldur'ahm has just contacted me about the results of a minor diplomatic mission I sent him on as part of a group of delegates," the King of Atlantis told the League "He informed that his former teammate, the magician called Gothic, has become king of a magical realm called Pholubalm".

The members of the League with contacts in the mystical world had known about the appearance of another new magical plane, one that had either been created or somehow gotten close enough to Earth to be detected.

Planes of existence were no more stationary than planets, and the pathways between them could shift, and new connections could also be made.

"Did he seize power?" asked a concerned Superman.

Aquaman simply didn't know.

"Atlantis has little interest in the affairs of outsiders, more so when they don't share a planet with us" the king explained "Once my people had secured a treaty of non-aggression they left and the peace talks did not take long".

Well, that wasn't very helpful.

"Kaldur'ahm will have a full report for me later, but for now it is enough for me to know that my delegates saw that this new realm was no threat to Atlantis," said Aquaman "It is too primitive to match us even if they have some magical power and therefore there was no reason to stay. The Amazons may learn more".

Everyone turned to face Wonder Woman.

"My mother sent Jezebel and our delegates to this new realm to ensure peace between us, but they have not yet returned," she said "So I have nothing to report to the League".

Superman was not pleased.

"You didn't think to mention that you were sending Jessica away from Paraside Island," he said "We agreed to keep Connor and Jessica isolated. That's why I sent Connor to my parent's place".

Diana kept her cool even if it was clear that she was getting somewhat annoyed.

"You don't get to dictate what happens on Themyscira anymore than I do on your family's farm," Wonder Woman reminded him, "And I recall the plan being to separate Connor and Jessica from the League as well as The Team in case they were a danger to either, not to cut them from off from the rest of the world completely".

The discovery of hidden programming within the mind of Connor Kent had certain people worried. Given recent events it was clear that powerful forces were acting against the League and the heroes had felt it wise to limit the damage that could be done by either of the young Kents by separating them rather than risk damaging their minds by having the Manhunter try to remove the programming.

"Are we going to do anything about this Gothic taking over a planet, or plane or whatever you want to call it?" asked Green Lantern "It's not normally something we'd get involved in".

There were some murmurings about this. A few heroes didn't like the idea of having yet another metahuman ruling over a nation. More so when that metahuman has been part of their organisation.

"Atlantis has a non-aggression treaty with Pholubalm and can not be a party to this," Aquaman said before he cut the link.

Wonder Woman moved away from the table they'd been standing around while finalising their plans.

"My mother has sent delegates to Pholubalm to forge such a treaty so I will not be part of any action against Pholubalm or its king" she stated.

Constantine felt the need to speak.

"It's not like we don't have entire nations here on Earth run by metahumans and magical types" he pointed out "Black Adam still rules over the Middle Eastern country of Kahndaq, and Queen Bee is the ruler of Greater Bialya".

No one liked to admit that there were entire countries were under the command of known enemies of the League. It took the wind out of the sails for those who wanted to take some sort of action.

"Besides that, Pholubalm is another realm" reminded Giovanni Zatara "You can't just fly there and I have no intention of aiding any sort of attack force, not when we have more than enough problems here on Earth to be dealing with. If Pholubalm is a potential threat then we have more reasons than ever to put in place some mystical defences for the planet".

That didn't end the conversation.

"Weren't these plans supplied by Gothic?" questioned the Dark Knight.

Indeed they had been and you didn't need to be Batman to see that this could be concerning.

"I've been over them with Giovanni and a few other experts" assured Constantine "They are sound, and I checked them out at the source just to be careful".

There was more to be said.

"I will share any information my people have on this new realm" offered Wonder Woman "But unless Gothic proves to be a threat to the Amazons I will take no action and neither will Atlantis. There's is simply no need".

This would make taking any action more difficult as only Aquaman and Wonder Woman had access to the armies that would be required to properly pacify a nation. Not that much of the League would be willing to take things that far even if they had a good enough reason to. John had heard such ideas get bounced around the group before tempers cooled.

"Granted our UN charter doesn't cover other dimensions," stated Superman "But we can't be seen as the aggressive party, so all we can do is keep an eye on the situation, we only interfere if there is a clear danger to the world".

There wasn't much any of the other members could do other than grumble and get back to work on the project. They didn't like the idea of the mage having taken power, but there wasn't much they could do about it. Even if the discussion had gotten more heated it wouldn't have led to anything. John was sure of this.

As for Constantine, he was going to need to seek out his student and find out more about what the hell was going on. Then there was that other matter he'd been meaning to discuss with Gothic. Perhaps it was about time he enlisted the lad's aid with another important job.

Not gonna lie I got sick of the political stuff so I am skipping ahead a bit to something more fun. This isn't to say that Jessica Kent won't be back to bother her ex.

Commissioned by the very generous Spiral.

A Kind of Magic.

Part 42.

Roanoke Island. North Carolina.

As I'd known I would, at a crossroads in a forest on the island of Roanoke, I found Klarion the Witch-Boy, an old enemy of mine, doing something that involved placing a lot of mystical symbols on the ground.

While I lacked the time required to study what the symbols meant so that I could find out what he was up to, I couldn't imagine that this setup would lead to anything good given that I'd been seeing this place in my most recent dreams.

I'd not been sleeping well due to the mess the recent political meetings had been, and I was so glad they were over, I was even glad for whatever was going on here as it would be a good distraction.

Granted I'd not been a Seer for very long, but I didn't think that I'd get visions of whatever it was Klarion was getting up to unless it was important in some way. Visions tend to be important even if they aren't always clear or helpful.

Not that I had any idea if there was anything behind my visions, or if I was somehow deciding what I would see, the Grimoire hadn't given me a lot of information on the matter and divination was a poorly understood school of magic.

It didn't matter, I'd have come here without it serving a higher purpose, as I had bone to pick with Klarion. This creature had killed Kent Nelson, a man I'd cared about and I wanted revenge.

Besides, while I might not be Sorcerer Supreme for this world any more, I still cared a little for this world and for a few of the people I'd met while living here. I would not let the monster harm them.

I might not be able to kill the Witch-Boy as he was a Lord of Chaos, however, I could get in the way of his plans and hurt him. That would have to be enough, at least until I was able to find some means of sealing him away or banishing him from this universe.

"Oh, if it isn't the apprentice" Klarion mocked "Or are you passing yourself off as a teacher these days? It would explain why you brought Trigon's brat along".

Bringing Raven here was risky, and I wouldn't have invited her along if I didn't think she needed to see the kind of threats a Sorcerer Supreme needed to deal with. That Klarion knew about her parentage was concerning, but it didn't change anything in the short term at least.

"It doesn't matter," stated the Lord of Chaos "Nabu can't help you this time. He's not even in this dimension and your teacher is dead".

The Witch-Boy must have done something to lure Doctor Fate to another plane. I didn't bother to keep track of what Nabu was up to as long as I had access to his tower and he made sure to change hosts. Nor did he watch me closely, it was a professional courtesy that we extended to each other.

As for me, I doubted that I looked much different than when the last time the Witch-Boy had seen me. I wore my dragonhide jacket, I had my rings and amulets on display, a sword at my side, and a staff in my hand.

Granted this staff was much more powerful than my old one, and Klarion didn't need to know that. This was the Staff of Magus, a divine being's instrument, or rather a good replica of one, and it should be able to harm the Witch-Boy.

"When I left you I was but the learner. Now I am the master" I stated.

Klarion stopped for a moment.

"You can't quote Vader, I'm the bad guy!" he yelled.

He seemed to take my words far too seriously and tried to blast me with red-coloured energy only for it to meet my golden barrier. An action that frustrated the Witch-Boy and caused him to waste his energies trying to batter down the shield.

Once he was done with that he charged up a massive attack and sent it at me only to find that I was gone. I'd gotten very good at teleporting and he ended up blasting his own work.

"No, my pentagrams!" the creature called out "It's going to take me an hour to redraw all of that".

I was glad that I'd disrupted whatever ritual he'd been in the process of bringing about and the surprise attack I nailed him with was also satisfying. The blast of power from the staff caused Klarion to scream and for smoke to rise off his body.

"Hey, that's not very nice!" yelled Klarion.

He wasn't used to people striking him from behind and when he lashed out at me again using bolts of red energy, I made a portal, in the Mystic Masters style, which appeared behind him so he got stung by his magical attack.

"Okay kid, let me show you how to duel" Klarion offered.

He formed a huge snake out of some nasty-looking fire and since he wasn't the only one with power over the elements, and because we were on an island, I was able to use water to defend myself and drown the snake.

I kept control of the water and used it to form a barrier around the Witch-Boy. He couldn't drown and he kept a shield up around himself so he didn't even get wet.

Since mimicking Dumbledore didn't work too well I would have to try something else.

"Someone's been practising" my foe praised.

I did not allow myself to get frustrated.

"Oh Bitch-Boy, you have no idea how far I've come" I stated.

Again I used the staff of Magnus, not to attack but rather to drain the magic of Klarion's shield, which he did not like, the creature called out in pain. Unlike other beings, he was his power so I was taking from him directly.

"Don't do that," he ordered "You can't handle my power".

The Witch-Boy teleported away and I remained on my guard as I knew things weren't over yet. I looked over at Raven who had disappeared into the woods. She knew to keep her distance during this fight as she wasn't ready for the Klarion.

"Get him, Teekl" I heard the Lord of Chaos shout.

Teekl, who served as Klarion's familiar and perhaps more from what I understood, came at me and transformed as it moved into a furry cat woman.

"Oh fuck he's a furry lover," I said.

I'd heard of such degenerates and how they enjoyed having hairy females. I preferred my woman to be as hairless as possible aside from their heads.

Lucky for me my own familiar had recovered enjoy to get back into the fight and served as a good distraction. I wondered if my phoenix would come out of this fight without having to be reborn from his ashes.

This meant that the Witch-Boy and I were soon back to facing each other.

"Firaga!" I yelled.

After trying to set my enemy on fire, I rolled out of the way out of some blast of magical power that did not look at all healthy and switched to trying to blast the creature with lightning bolts.

"Thundara!"

When that didn't work, as the Witch-Boy could make shields as well, I dug my staff into the ground and cracked open the earth, only for my enemy to take to the sky.

I summoned up a Dremora Lord, knowing that even this powerful Deadra would only be a distraction while preparing a much more useful spell.

As expected my enemy easily defeated the Dremora Lord only to find himself wrapped up in thick roots that dragged him to the ground.

At this point, I was very grateful that I'd managed to get some reading done between the recent peace talks and the preparations to mobilise part of my legion for war in a different realm.

Leaving the staff embedded in the ground so that it could keep powering the spell, I slapped my hands together and as they came apart I created a spear made of golden energy.

"This won't kill you, but I'm sure it will hurt," I said.

Klarion clicked his fingers and the roots I'd controlled to restrain him simply vanished.

"You didn't think it would be that easy did you?" he mocked.

Klarion clicked his fingers again and soon other people began to appear.

"I had this all set up," said the Witch-Boy "A plan to cause chaos on a scale you can't imagine".

Feliz Faust, Blackbriar Thorn and others I didn't recognise due to their hoods had appeared. I was now vastly outnumbered and outgunned by Klarion alone, who hadn't been using his full power of that I was sure.

"Everything can still work out as planned as long as we have this," said the Witch-Boy "The Ambre Jeune Perdu".

I had no idea what the gem did, I could only guess its importance, and overall it didn't matter as I wasn't going to let it be used.

"On my left" I ordered telepathically.

Portals began to appear. By now the Order of the Mystic Masters had been able to organise themselves and send a few of their number to one of the forts that housed part of my Legion.

Upon my telepathic signal, which could reach across dimensions, many mages and warriors were able to march on this spot. Not just Mystic Masters, there were also Battlemages here.

Now it was the Witch-Boy and his allies who were outgunned and greatly outnumbered. Yet they didn't run even as squads of soldiers from the Legion began to appear and the Mystic Master set up their spells.

It wasn't until my entire force had entered this world did the enemy spellcasters reacted. Until that point, they'd acted a lot like deer in headlights.

"Grab that magical gem" I ordered.

Each of the enemy mages took the sky as they were boxed in by the Mystic Masters and even when they were flying about they didn't get much of a chance to do anything as they had to dodge or shield from many attacks. Arrows and magical attacks filled the air, and this prevented the enemy mages from working together.

"No, no, no!" screamed Klarion "You are ruining all of my fun!".

I saw the Witch-Boy send out a blast of power that knocked everyone on their asses, including his allies, and I was about to try attacking him when the creature's mood suddenly shifted.

He tossed me the gem as his furry playmate returned to the form of a cat after getting called over. The creature took its place on its owner's shoulders.

"Ah well, you lose some, you win some," said Klarion.

His familiar made a meow sound.

"I know what I meant" the Witch-Boy replied.

With that, he clicked his fingers, and then he, the cat and the other bad guys were gone in a flash of red energy.

I quickly pocketed the gemstone, knowing that whatever it was, the gem could not be left in this world. It had to be guarded by the Mystic Masters.

The Witch-Boy's mood had shifted so quickly that I would rule out the gem being some sort of trap if used so it should be locked up. I entrusted Wong with this task.

"Well, that went well" commented Raven.

The young sorceress had just flown over to me as I recovered my staff.

"It could have gone better" I said "We didn't capture any of the wizards who were working with the Witch-Boy, and we have no idea what they were planning".

At least we did stop the plan, whatever it was, and I got the feeling that the Lord of Chaos had gone to some trouble to make sure Nabu wouldn't be in this world when the ritual he planned to enact would come into effect. Which means it would have gotten the attention of the Lord of Order very quickly had he been on Earth.

No one needed any instruction from me to know that it was time to leave. I had hoped for a proper battle to test my forces, but I wasn't worried as I felt sure that soon we'd get the chance and that with more experience in the field, my combined forces would serve me better.

Once I opened a portal to the private part of the White-Gold Tower. After a few words, Raven and I went our separate ways, and I found my special book waiting for me. I must have collected quite a few points by now so I was eager to find out what I could get.

400 points
+300 points
700 points

Bank or Roll?

There was no point saving up past this point as I couldn't go over a thousand points judging by past experiences and I was eager to find out what else I could get.

- 100 points
600 points

Mask of Stone - Legend of Zelda: Hero of Worlds
A plain, if somewhat creepy, mask made of stone. The enchantment within it prevents people from noticing you as easily and dissuades lower-level enemies from attacking. Will not save you from the elites.

This was rather disappointing as I'd not gotten a magic item for quite some time and this was a lousy one. Ah well, better luck next time and I could put the mask on display somewhere in the tower.

These last couple of rolls have been rather poor compared to the stuff I'd gotten in the past. I hope they soon improve.

This part of the story was commissioned by the very generous Spiral. Be like them and support my writing by going here.

A Kind of Magic.

Part 43.

Bayou Bartholomew. Louisiana.

The mage who had brought me into the community of superheroes had again called upon me, and this time to aid him in some task, and if I'd know that he was going to drag my ex-girlfriend Jessica Kent, who had embarrassed herself at the recent peace talks, I wouldn't have bothered coming along.

No that wasn't true, John had sent me a message letting me know that it had been a while since anyone had heard from Swamp Thing, AKA Alec Holland, and that he was worried about the being who called this part of the world his home.

My inner child, the boy who had once marvelled at the on-screen appearances of heroes, would never have forgiven me if I didn't come here to meet Swamp Thing, who could be in some sort of trouble.

Aside from that, there wasn't much for me to do at home. The Legion was mobilising for war in another realm and this required the creation of airships, for the movements of both troops and supplies required for a campaign, not something easily done even by the Mystic Masters and Battle Mages.

"So, when was the last time you heard from Mr Holland," Jessica asked.

Unlike myself, she wasn't impressed by the idea of Swamp Thing and since she was here to provide us with some muscle, if that was required, then it didn't matter if she was a fan or why John had contacted her. Although I doubted he'd picked her just because she wasn't busy.

"Since back before The Injustice League set up a headquarters here in the Louisiana Bayou," John told us, "I thought it odd that he didn't drive them out by himself, but he's been known to disappear for a while and it isn't as if I have any means of calling him. He doesn't carry a cellphone".

The Injustice League did indeed once have a base here, and they'd used it during their attack on cities around the world.

For that, they'd made use of plant creatures that were enhanced with Kobra-Venom, Joker venom, mysticism and radioactive energy if I'd understood the after-action reports John had shared with me. I'd have a little time to go through them before we'd come here to find Swamp Thing.

For my part, The Team and I had arrived to fight the Injustice League before we destroyed their central control plant, an action which had stopped the other plants all over the world from doing even more harm.

The Justice League later arrived, ensuring the Injustice League's transference to prisons they would no doubt soon escape.

That had been part of why I'd decided to quit at that point. It had all seemed so meaningless, knowing that the criminals who had killed so many would one day be free to do even more killing.

I could recall feeling suspicious about the Injustice League at the time as while attacking cities with plant monsters was certainly something Poison Ivy would do, it didn't make much sense for the others to get involved.

Maybe the Joker would have taken part simply to cause some anarchy but wasn't as if the other crooks would get to enjoy the money even after the ransom was paid.

Did the bad guys think that the Justice League and the governments of the world would let them all retire to some private beach somewhere after causing so much damage?

Thinking about it I couldn't help wondering if the whole thing had been some sort of distraction, and I was sure I'd mentioned this, but it wasn't my problem as my realm to concern myself with.

I was only here now because John had asked for my help and he was one of the few allies I had outside of my realm, and because I wanted to see Swamp Thing in person.

"Do you think the Injustice League did something to your friend?" asked Jessica.

I cursed the fact that while even moving through a swamp my ex managed to look good. She was distracting.

"It's possible" John Constantine answered "Alec and I aren't exactly friends, but I do check up on him once in a while. I'm overdue and a bit worried".

I knew first-hand that John was not dependable.

"Given that the Bayou seems to be in as good a state of health as ever I'm thinking the Injustice League did something to get Swamp Thing out of the way without doing him any real harm. I can't contact him magically so I think they rendered him dormant rather than killed him or removed him from the Bayou, if they had we'd be seeing the signs. I guess that Poison Ivy was able to take Alec out of action if she had some mystical help".

That made sense to me. Swamp Thing wasn't the kind of person who had much of a social calendar so it would be a while before he was missed.

"So Mr Constantine, how are we going to find him?" Jessica asked.

My sort of mentor smiled at the hybrid.

"You can just call me John" he offered as he picked up a couple of twigs "As to how we find Alec, we'll go a bit old school".

I was surprised by his idea.

"You want to try Dowsing for him," I said.

Even for John, this seemed stupid.

"James, what's dowsing?" Jessica asked in a worried tone of voice.

Since she was making an effort to get along with me I would do the same. As for her confusion, I could understand why she'd be a bit apprehensive given that John was now wandering around with a couple of sticks.

"Dowsing is a type of divination with the idea that if you follow the sticks you'll find something of value," I explained "It's like using a Ouji board, it's not very dependable and most of the time someone is moving the stick without realising what they are doing".

John seemed pleased by my words.

"I'm glad to hear you did your homework" he said "And normally you'd be correct to think of dowsing as a bit silly, but Alec is a part of this place as much as the twigs are. Everything here is connected and land will want us to find Swamp Thing".

Seemed flimsy to me, but it wasn't as if I had any ideas.

"We can't use a normal locator spell because he is the Bayou" pointed out John "Alec isn't a separate entity".

I'd have to take his word on that as while I'd been a fan of Swamp Thing as a boy I didn't know much about how he worked. So all I could do was follow John as he let the twigs guide us.

"See, I knew it would work" the man from Liverpool declared.

It was annoying, but he was right, he had brought us somewhere and if I was any expert then Swamp Thing was trapped inside the strange pod that was hanging off the branch of a massive tree.

"He must be trapped in that pod" John reasoned "It wouldn't be the first time Poison Ivy has captured someone I know in a pod and just left them hanging around".

It did seem to be her style, and she wouldn't have been interested in keeping Swamp Thing out of action in the long term.

"This was easy" commented Jessica "I'll just get the pod down".

I could see this going wrong.

"Wait it will be a trap of some kind" I warned.

For once she listened and watched as John drew some symbols in the air.

"This place has been alarmed mystically" he confirmed "But I don't see what the alarms are linked to. We'll have to find out if we are going to get to Alec".

I had an idea. I reached into my pouch of holding and took out the golem figures. Once in place they grew and were soon prepared to take orders.

"Good idea" praised John "None of Ivy's toxins will have much effect on them".

I ordered the golems to go bring us the pod and not long after they got moving they triggered the trap. Some sort of creatures, which could be wolves or plants in the shape of wolves, or a mixture of both, crawled their way out of the ground and attacked the golems.

There were so many of the creatures that not all of them were needed to tackle the golems and some came for us. I noticed that they wore collars and I was glad that this part of the Bayou was more solid than others as I'd hate to have to fight while partly in water.

"They're Venom enhanced" warned Jessica.

Our first mission back when we'd both been part of The Team had been to recon a Venom factory. The mission had not gone well as I recalled due to our lack of a leader and I'd had next to no powers at the time. The foundation of The Team had been handled very poorly in my view.

I watched as Jessica threw herself at one of the plant creatures, and she began to wrestle into the mud. At another time this would have been an enjoyable sight to watch.

I was touched that she still carried the golden sword I'd made for her, which she used to cut down some vines that tried to trap her during her fight with the plant creatures. The vines didn't bother me as I wasn't within their range.

Meanwhile, John had called out something in Latin and was now throwing fistfuls of magical fire at the creatures who didn't burn very well since they were mostly made out of mud and this was a very wet environment.

Even when they were damaged the plant creatures repaired themselves by drawing upon the nature around them to repair their bodies. They were more than just Ivy's work, there was some magic involved as well.

"Blizzaga!"

One of the creatures that had been about to leap at me froze in place and then shattered. It could not restore itself from that level of damage so I now knew how to defeat the creatures.

Not that I needed to do so more than a few times because John freed Swamp Thing who upon seeing what was happening Swamp Thing did something to stop the creatures from being fuelled by the nature around them. They wilted and fell apart.

"I just need to talk to Alec," said John.

That left Jessica and I to make small talk.

"So how have you been?" she asked.

"Busy," I said "Running a kingdom is a full-time job".

Well, not for me as the kingdom ran itself, but it was a good excuse to avoid getting asked to go places.

"I see that the Amazons have been training you" I commented.

She was faster and stronger than ever before if I was any judge.

"I've learned a lot from my mother's people," she said "I'm still working on fitting in with them so I was glad when John sent a message asking to borrow me for a few hours. He offered me some on-the-job training and nothing beats practical experience".

Something I knew rather well, and at least by talking about her training we got to avoid having to talk about our feelings or anything like that. Not that this could be avoided forever.

"So how did you end up on that island?" I asked.

I never did ask when she visited my kingdom, and Jessica explained about the League finding out about some programming in her brother's head. They were worried she had something similar from back when she'd been made by CADMUS and so they had isolated her, and she did not sound happy about that.

"I'm not even supposed to have any contact with anyone on The Team or the League in case some hidden programming gets triggered," Jessica told me "But I'm not exactly stuck on the island so much as I am being made to stay away from my friends. Somehow John got my mother to agree to let me come here. He made it sound like we were just running an errand for him".

Only this job had turned out to be a bit more complex than that, and Princess Diana would no doubt be annoyed when she discovered the truth. Then again compared to the time the three of us met with Lucifer this had been a cakewalk in terms of potential danger.

"Well that explains the short letter you sent," I said "I did wonder about the lack of explanation".

Jessica looked a little embarrassed.

"I wasn't supposed to be in contact with any of you," she told me.

Yet she'd messaged me anyway.

"I'm a little surprised she let me leave the island after I got into that argument with your future wife," mentioned Power Girl "I should apologise about that. It might have gotten out of hand and become a diplomatic incident".

Yet she didn't say she was ashamed of what she did, and it wasn't as if she'd attacked anyone during dinner.

"Being sent on a mission with you will upset the League".

I didn't think she needed to worry about that.

"I doubt the League even knows we are here, and I'm not going to tell them," I assured her "John isn't exactly one for filling reports, or for following the rules, and I'm sure he has a reason for wanting us both to be here. I'm just not going to waste my time trying to figure out what he's been thinking, and he's not going to simply tell us because he's a git. But I guess it has something to do with us needing to get along in case we have to work together in the future".

As if summoned by the use of his name the mage made us way over.

"It was like we thought," John said when he came over to us "Ivy had some magical help to capture Alec, he's alright, but he's been out of action for a while so he's got to make sure everything okay in the Bayou".

A shame that I didn't get to talk to him, but he wasn't the sociable type, as I'd recently reminded myself. At least I got to see him in action. That was very cool.

"I'm going to stick around for a while and undo the spellwork here," John told us.

That I took that as dismissal. I recovered my golems and made my goodbyes. I then returned to my realm only to find my special book waiting for me. I would deal with it now and then have a hot bath before I changed my clothes as I wanted to get the smell of too much nature off me.

600 cp
+200 cp
800 cp
Bank or Roll?

I would roll since I had plenty of points to work with.

- 200 cp
600 cp

Greater Boomerang - Hyrule Warriors

This appears to be a wooden boomerang with a red gem in the centre of it. More than what it appears, when the Greater Boomerang is thrown it grows several times larger, spins extra furiously and duplicates itself twice over. The Greater Boomerang can be used to cut down enemies, though because of its magical nature, it has a very tight flight path, quickly returning when thrown

Sounded like something I could have used when I was starting, but it would just be a toy to me now, and perhaps something for one of the Mystic Masters to use.

I hoped for better rolls soon, but I wasn't that concerned as my power was growing and I had a lot of resources to call upon already.

Here we have John and the MC discussing recent events just so everyone can get what has been going on. I can't see how I could make things clearer with charts and sock puppets.

This part of the story was commissioned by the very generous Spiral. You can support my writing too by going here.

A Kind of Magic.

Part 44.

The White-Gold Tower. Pholubalm.

"So you really are a king these days," said John as he looked out at the plane I ruled "I had to come and see it for myself".

It shouldn't have surprised me to find out that John could make his way into my kingdom. Not when his knowledge of magic was far greater than mine. He knew at least as much about the magical pathways as I did and perhaps more.

Yet it was odd in my view for him to be here as we didn't normally see each other so often. I'd not thought I'd see him again for a few weeks at least, and yet mere hours after we'd freed Swamp Thing he'd turned up at my palace.

"Yes, the Grimiore can do anything it seems," I remarked "

There was no harm in telling him that as he'd been aware of the book for some time. He'd been there when I'd been gifted with Phosphor and so he knew that the Grimoire had the power to create life.

Besides, the book seemed to defend itself by making people forget it existed or at least it got them not to pay it much attention. Which was one of the least impressive about it.

"We never did figure out where that book came from," said John.

Rather than meet in the throne room, which wouldn't have been suitable as this wasn't an audience, I'd decided to take to my fellow mage in one of the private rooms of the White-Gold Tower.

Other than my familiar it was just the two of us here, and while my phoenix had gotten through the fight with the Witch-Boy in one piece he wasn't yet mature so he'd sat out the mission to discover the fate of Swamp Thing. Which wasn't something that took very long so the magical bird hadn't missed out on much.

"I wanted to see this place for myself because there has been some talk among the members of the League about you ruling your own nation," John informed me "Nothing is going to happen because none of them agree on anything, but a few members are worried".

I could understand why given how little they knew about me and I'd not exactly won many friends during my time with The Team.

"A few think you've seized power for some vile purpose" John mentioned "I'd like to be able to go back and tell them that they have nothing to worry about, that they should mind their own business".

Indeed, the League should have nothing to do with this realm. They had an entire universe to interfere with.

"This nation isn't part of Earth, or even the Milky Way" I stated "It's not their concern and I didn't seize anything. I was granted this plane by outside forces".

John knew this.

"I suspected as much given your situation. You've grown a lot in terms of power, but I doubted you could hold into an entire kingdom even if you could seize one. Besides, you never seemed the type to care about having power over other people and from what I've seen everyone here seems happy".

To be fair I could have chosen a much smaller city to rule over. I'd not given it as much thought as perhaps I should have, but I was pleased with my choice.

"Did you ask the Amazon delegates about the state of this place?" I wondered "Or did anyone from the League even bother to enquire about the details".

Somehow I didn't think so.

"A few members of the League can be quick to judge" John admitted "But they just don't know you, they never bothered to, and so they don't know what to think about you. Thankfully we have some more politically minded members who know it would be a bad idea to come rushing in here and mess about with the leadership".

That rarely worked out well on Earth and often the result of overthrowing a power structure seen as corrupt was that once the invading force was gone a similar system was created by the locals because the underlying problems were never dealt with.

Getting rid of me would have just left this realm open to attack from other planes and potentially made things much worse for my million or so subjects. And that was without giving any concern about my fate.

I didn't want to be seen as a threat to the League in case they chucked me into the Phantom Zone, as unlikely as that was to happen.

"The Amazons and the people of Atlantis get that it would be a bad idea to interfere with this realm's affairs" said John "And they won't let the League interfere with this place, but you might have some trouble with a few members of the League who don't like the idea of metahuman taking over a nation despite it having happened before under their watch".

I wasn't as concerned as I had been about outside interference. Mostly because if anyone from Earth who knew about this place was going to act they'd have done so by now.

Still, I was well aware of what the members of the League could do if they got out of hand. I had seen that Flash movie when the entire world was destroyed because Wonder Woman and Aquaman started fighting.

"Can't say I care much about their opinions" I told John with a frown on my face, "They can't keep their world in order and so they have no right to interfere with mine".

The magician didn't argue on that point because he had no reason to. He was on my side.

"I figured it was a good idea if the League has a reason to see you as one of the good guys" said my friend "That's partly why I decided to drag you along to help me find Swap Thing".

This made sense.

"But that wasn't the only reason was it" I stated.

John decided to sample one of the local dishes on offer before he responded.

"I decided to see for myself how tense things really are. That's partly why I got you and Jessica together for a quick mission" he admitted "She seems to have calmed down from when she was here with the Amazon delegates and you two can get along so I don't see any reason for the League to worry about you".

Of course, I'd know he had a motive for doing that beyond wanting some backup, there were plenty of hard hitters in the League.

"How did you convince Wonder Woman to let Power Girl off the leash?" I enquired.

John helped himself to some more wine before speaking.

"Wasn't that hard" he replied "The idea was to isolate Connor and Jessica for a short time, just to get them away from the League and The Team for a while, not to separate them from the world".

A sort of quarantine then. Jessica must not have thought it would last long enough for me to move on.

"Wonder Woman understands that and I didn't tell her you'd be there just that I was looking for some extra firepower" admitted the magician.

Not odd behaviour for John who often had his reasons for doing things and didn't feel the need to explain himself. It wasn't unreasonable for a teacher to expect you to figure out things on your own rather than be spoonfed every little detail.

"Weren't you worried that whatever programming Jessica has in her head might have activated?" I asked.

If it hadn't happened during her visit to this realm then there was no reason to think it would at any other time.

"Not at all" said John "I don't think she even has any programming. We only for sure that the clone of Speedy was meant to do something and that was enough of an excuse for Superman to send Connor away since the Wonder Twins were created by CADMUS as was the Speedy Clone. If there's more to it than that then the League didn't tell me".

I felt sure that there was more going on and that it would be pointless for me to enquire.

"Those two just do not get along for some reason and it's worrying because Wonder Woman is starting to warm up to her unexpected daughter" John said "It's like there's something about Conner that his father just can't accept".

It was a startling contrast to the way Martha and Jonathan Kent treated their grandchildren. At least Wonder Woman had the justification of coming from a society where people didn't normally raise children. Clark Kent had no such excuse.

"Anyway, I thought I best seek you out to explain a bit about what was going on," said John "I meant to do so sooner, but I put off looking for Alec for too long".

If someone from the League had just sat down like this and explained things it would have made things easier for me.

"You do have some supporters in the League, or at least people willing to give you the benefit of the doubt since we are moving forward with your idea to ward the world against mystical threats" John informed.

I was glad to hear that, and I would have mentioned as much if not for a servant needing my attention because someone else wanted a word with me. I'd rather have finished talking to my visitor first, but it could be urgent.

"Excuse me, John," I said, "I'll be back in a few moments".

He didn't mind waiting and I headed to a different room to find Blackfire waiting for me.

"Can I help you, Princess?" I enquired.

Ever since the Amazons had left she'd been distant from me. I didn't blame her for being embarrassed or offended.

"I've been giving this whole queen idea some thought and I've decided to accept your offer" Blackfire told me, getting down to business "Despite the behaviour of your ex-girlfriend I do like it here".

Women might be a mystery to me, but even I could see how it would be awkward to have a potential husband's former lover making a scene. I wasn't as disappointed with Jessica as I had been now that I understood that our breakup hadn't been her doing.

No doubt Jessica had just been lashing out because she'd not even wanted to be separated from me. It was all complex and a bit dramatic, and it was a part of my life that I hoped to put behind me soon.

"So you'll be my queen," I said.

This was pleasing to hear.

"Just don't invite any Amazons to the wedding" insisted Blackfire "Or any former lovers of yours, or other princess. I don't want the competition around".

Not that I had planned to invite any such people, and it wasn't as if I had any other ex-girlfriend, not in this part of the multiverse.

"And that includes the barbarian mage who I am sure offered you something personal in exchange for your help" said Blackfire.

Indeed she had and I shared what it was. My future wife didn't much concern herself with the idea that some other woman wanted to have children with me.

"As long as the brats aren't here I don't care what you do with some savages who won't have your family name," she said.

I had a royal name these days, Marcus Fenix. I needed a formal name to sound more like a king because the royal family needed a surname.

"I'm sure my father has a few illegitimate children scattered about" Blackfire mentioned "Speaking of my father I still want to kill him, but after we've dealt with those slavers".

It would be wise of me to keep any bastards I'd sired out of this realm and not to let them use my royal surname. Not that wars of succession were a big concern when you are immortal.

I was sure that Blackfire and I would talk more about such things once the slavers had been dealt with.

"Anything else?" I asked.

Blackfire gave it some thought.

"No, I'll organise the wedding" she said "Just let me know when we'll be going to pay back those slavers for what they did to me. I wouldn't mind stretching my legs if you know what I mean".

Hopefully, I wouldn't get distracted again as I had been with the Witch-Boy and Swamp Thing, although those events had each been a good test of my growing powers, and it didn't hurt if the League found out that I was still willing to lend a hand.

"Then I'll leave you to it," I told Blackfire as I made my way out of the room, "Spare no expense, I can afford a big wedding".

If it risked emptying the treasury then I knew where to go to refill it, that was what my resource world was for.

Before going back to John to learn anything else he wanted to share with me, I was driven to check my special book.

600 points
+200 points
800 points
Bank or Roll?

I rolled and hoped for something pricy as I had a lot of points.

- 300 points
500 points

Three points getting spent was a decent amount.

Oathkeeper - Kingdom Hearts

You know about the relationships between people and items, so much so that you can bind an item to someone's soul within a few hours of meditation with them and the item. This allows them to summon and dismiss the bound item/s at will. To start with, you can bind one item per person, but given a few years of practice, you might be able to bind up to six items to each individual.

Items bound in this way will be repaired while resting in the person's soul, though it may take a while if the damage is too severe. Separating something can be done, but it's a very painful process unless you take a few hours every week for a few months to do so, so make sure you're really sure before binding something to someone's soul.

An interesting trick and one to discuss with John while he was here in case he had any ideas on the matter. It would be nice to spend an evening with him discussing magic without having to worry about the League or what my former teammates were getting up to.

I'd consult Raven to as magic involving the soul was something she was familiar with.

This part of the story was commissioned by the very generous Spiral. You can also commission parts of a story by going here or just tip me a dollar to help fuel my writing.

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A Kind of Magic.

Part 45.

Slaver's Citadel. Unknown Planet.

In a more traditional style of warfare, my army would have needed to lay siege to the alien fortress, to break open its walls before my troops could enter the base and overwhelm its defenders.

Doing so would have been costly in lives and materials as the stronghold was defended by the technology of a civilization beyond that of Earth. Tech that was beyond my understanding.

The slavers had massive guns on the outside of their fortress meant to drive off anyone who tried to reclaim their taken kin as well as scanners to identify such threats.

I figured that the walls of the alien stronghold were not made of stone, they were some sort of metal, and I doubted the metal that was simple steel, it would be something much stronger.

This meant the siege engines of the Legion would have been useless somehow enhanced by magic enough to counter the superior technology, but even if that were the case the siege engines could have been taken out by the aliens before they bring down any of the xenos built walls.

None of that mattered at all as the Mystic Masters simply opened portals for the Legion and the Battle Mages, allowing them to directly enter the enemy base, completely bypassing any external threats.

All the walls, the defensive emplacements, and any energy barriers the aliens could have put up meant nothing to us and my troops marched into the base directly.

This meant that I could have just sent a bomb here to take out the whole base in one attack, however, while this would have been the most practical way of handling the situation it wasn't the best way.

Aside from the fact that Blackfire wanted revenge, and she wanted to carry it out in person, this was a chance for me to bloody my Legion in a minor battle before we went to war in the realm of Skartaris.

Another advantage of attacking this way was that within their citadel the Gordanians couldn't take the air and use their ability to fly to give them an advantage over my troops.

Blackfire was certainly embracing her role as the future queen of my realm, and she was willing to lead the troops into battle.

The fortress was built somewhat like a castle, as such it had a main hall, a space large enough for the troops we'd brought here to spread and try to secure. I got the feeling that this was slaves were brought so they could be sorted and moved to cells.

Before my warriors could do that a double set of doors opened up and I had to levitate myself to see over the crowd to see who had entered the large room.

"That's their leader," Blackfire told me "That Clorbag Vorblernelk".

I got the sense that Clorbag was an insult rather than part of the creature's name.

"I'm going to take his helmet as a trophy" stated Blackfire.

We had to win the battle first,

"Shields up" I commanded.

Since the Mystic Masters were not a military force they would be focused on defence and transport. The actual fighting would be handled by the Battle Mages and the Legion.

The slavers opened fire with weapons that Blackfire called Photon Blasters, they were Staff-like weapons used by the Gordanian warriors. The blasts of those weapons met the overlapping shields of the Mystic Masters which protected my people.

Since the shield was one way that meant my people could still fire at the enemy.

"Archers!" I yelled.

The aliens used their staffs and wings to protect themselves as best they could. Mostly it was their toughness and thick lizard hides which protected them. To make things worse for every slaver who died two more made their way into this large room.

This was when the alien's leader shouted out something and the xenos charged. Most of them utilised their staffs to try to bludgeon their way into the lines of the Legion as others used different melee weapons.

A few of the hostile aliens were blasted by Blackfire or the battle mages before the hostiles got too close to be blasted without risking our forces.

"Sheilds and spears!" I yelled.

It was good that I took some time to familiarize myself with how the Legion fought in different combat situations.

The Legion quickly formed a defensive line, with shields raised and spears extended to repel the charging aliens. Normal men would have broken when facing these fearsome aliens, but the Legion was disciplined.

By the look and sound of things, the clash was chaotic, even if it wasn't that much of a mess for my people, what with the clang of weapons and the shouts of combatants filling the air.

The aliens fought with a savage determination, but the Legion held firm, their discipline and training proving to be invaluable. Each member of the Legion fought with skill and determination, pushing back against the onslaught of the slavers.

Amid the chaos, I focused my magical abilities, unleashing powerful spells to support our troops. Bolts of arcane energy streaked across the battlefield, striking down our enemies as they entered the massive room.

With each spell cast, I could feel the raw power of magic coursing through me. Once my power had been a small flame within me, now it felt like a firestorm, and I wondered if I could have won this battle by myself.

As the battle raged on, the tide began to turn in our favour. The aliens, unable to break through the Legion's defences, started to falter, their ranks thinning under the relentless assault of the Legion.

Sensing their impending defeat, the remaining slavers attempted to retreat, but the troops pursued them relentlessly, cutting them down one by one until none remained standing.

"We have achieved a great victory," I declared, my voice ringing out with as much authority as I could muster. "Yet our work is not yet done. There are still slaves to be freed and justice to be served. Go forth and capture this stronghold!".

Not that I gave much thought to the slaves or the remaining slavers since the main objective was to bloody the Legion and to get Blackfire her revenge, but it sounded good.

The Legion's morale was high as they began to spread out as we set about the task of liberating the captives held within the citadel.

Minotaur shock troops led the way and I had no doubt they would prove the match of any alien slavers they encountered.

Those we liberated could either stay on this planet or come to my realm to live as free citizens, in time the Mystic Masters should be able to get them home via the portals.

Blackfire, ever eager for the spoils of victory, made good on her vow to claim the alien leader's helmet as a trophy. She returned triumphantly, the helmet clasped firmly in her grasp, a smug grin playing on her lips.

With the battle won and the captives liberated, our attention turned to the aftermath. The alien fortress was still intact and could be reclaimed by the slavers, but since I lacked any WMDs there wasn't anything I could do about that.

At least I could have the Legion strip the base of any technology we could carry off and we would take any other valuables. Such spoils could later be divided between those who followed me to this planet. If other slavers came here then they would only get the fortress itself. Even the food supplies could be carried off.

"Marcus, let's go find a bedroom" insisted Blackfire.

It took me longer than it should to figure out why she'd want to do that, and it was odd for her to use my Imperial name.

"You know, I can just open a portal to my bedroom" I pointed out.

Blackfire grabbed my arm and tugged me along a corridor. Since she seemed to know exactly where she wanted to go it became clear to me that she'd seen more of this base than her cell when she'd been a captive here.

"That's not the same" she insisted "It's more humiliating to our enemies to fuck in their fortress while your warriors drive them out in the forest outside".

If it made her happy then I was willing to go along with her idea and before long we found a huge bedroom. Which as it turned out was occupied by a person I guessed to be a Gordanian female.

She was larger than any of the males I'd seen and naked for some reason, so it wasn't hard to tell she was female even if it didn't make sense for a reptile to have noticeable breasts.

"How dare you enter...!" shouted the alien.

Whatever the female alien had been about to say I never heard in full as Blackfire dropped her trophy and then slammed herself into the ugly xenos, before began raining blows down on her.

The alien female knocked my future wife off her with a single swipe of a powerful arm.

"She's a Gordanian Queen!" called out Blackfire.

Apparently, that was important, and since the alien was a threat I opened up a portal beneath her clawed feat. Like the rest of her kind, this alien was strong and durable, but she wasn't fast and she seemed to lack the wings of the male of her species. As such she soon fell into the portal.

"Where did you send her?" I was asked.

Nowhere pleasant.

"Into a small sea of magma," I answered.

To be precise I'd dropped her into a large lake of lava I'd seen while exploring the netherworld in the Minecraft plane. A good place to dispose of trash.

Rather than talk about that any more Blackfire decided that we should start kissing. She'd gotten worked up in the fight and short of dunking her in an ice bath I didn't think anything would cool her down.

Despite us not being safe here I found myself wanting to take part in what my future wife planned. I began by moving downward, kissing along her neck, and her chest, finally reaching her breasts which were covered in cold metal.

Blackfire wanted to feel more so she began removing her armour, something that didn't take very long considering how much she was wearing.

She became very focused on freeing her ample breasts from their confinement, and when the boobs were free she pressed my head into them. She was making it very clear what she wanted me to do.

Before long I began sucking her nipples, making her groan with pleasure. Her tits weren't as big as Jessica's massive mammaries, yet that hardly mattered when they were pressed into my face like this.

"Oh, Marcus, Oh," Blackfire said "Please lick my pussy!"

She went and laid down on the big bed, which must have belonged to the alien queen. This was not the most hygienic place to have sex, but it was insulting to our defeated enemy.

Once the princess was fully naked I kissed down her flat stomach, and across her curvy hip which she would be putting to good use when she got pregnant, and I planted kisses on her thighs before finally giving her what she wanted.

After positioning myself between her legs, I pushed my tongue inside her pretty pussy. As I moved my tongue in and out of her, as if I were fucking her with it, Blackfire grabbed my hair while screaming out my name. She'd gotten very worked up very quickly.

While this day seemed to be about her, however, I felt that I indulged her enough. It wouldn't do for her to forget who was the king around here.

As she watched, I quickly undressed, and she just lay as I did, enjoying the view and perhaps wondering what would happen end.

I wanted to fuck her, so to that end, I flipped her over, and then I lifted her by the hips before I shoved my hard cock into her cunt, which I had nicely lubed up for the main event. Blackfire looked submissive as I began to fuck her from behind and while that was odd for her I found it enjoyable.

"You were supposed to wait for the wedding night" she weakly protested.

No way was that happening. I wanted her and I would take her. Besides, I'd never agreed to wait for a wedding night before we fucked.

I was staking my claim by using her body like this, and all she could do was take it, or at least that was all she was willing to do.

"Call me Daddy!" I ordered.

She didn't so I smacked her ass.

"Yes, Daddy," she said.

Blackfire grunted and moaned as I made use of her. The sound of our two bodies meeting made a lot of noise and it was easy to drive my hard cock into her pussy as it felt wet enough to drown someone.

Given all the noise it was odd that no one came to find out what was going on, not that I cared I just kept pounding Blackfire into the mattress until she was a drooling mess and she had my cum spilling out of her well-used cunt.

I let her spend a little time recovering while I dealt with my special book which had just appeared.

500cp
+200cp
700cp

Bank or Roll?

I wrote to Roll.

- 100cp
600cp

Clever Craft - The Elder Scrolls

Having been trained as a mage, you know basic spells from each of the schools of magic, and can easily learn new spells.

Knowledge of more spells was always useful and I had plenty of points so I was happy enough with that.