Momonga leaned back into the soft bedding glad to be free of his nervous and distrusting companions. While he was truly curious about them being surrounded by their suspicion and caution was a trial he hadn't expected. If not for his interest in their condition he'd likely have already fled, goddess wrath or no.
His mind wondered for a moment as he felt the soft cotton bedsheets against his body. Where did the cotton come from? Was it compressed into the Secret House or was it simply created magically much like the inside of the building was larger than the outside?
Sitting up he pointed his finger forward [Create greater item] suddenly a large cushioned obsidian throne formed where he was pointing, reaching forward he felt the material again it seemed to be pure cotton. Did magic pull these materials from some ephemeral plane or were they simply created from mana? If that was the case how did the Secret Green House function? It was a magical item but it didn't require any mana to use….
He was pulled from his musing as he sensed something moving away from the camp, it took a moment for his mind to place the feeling. It was an undead presence he'd become a bit numb to over the past hours. The vampire had seemingly left camp.
It seemed rather odd to Momonga, the creature had feigned sleep for nearly four hours and then decided to abandon its ruse to leave its companions. Did it hope to rob them and vanish into the night?
He pondered letting the creature vanish into the night for only a moment before shaking the thought away. This was perfect, ever since learning the creature was infected with a parasite the questions had been piling up in his mind. His fundamental understanding of undead and brain eater physiology dictated such an infection shouldn't be possible.
No parasite could infect an undead in such a manner, even maggots and other creatures that subsisted on carrion couldn't gestate properly within zombified corpses according to the lore of Yggdrasil. The negative energy within them rejected life in all its forms. The parasite should have long been dead within the undead's skull.
Excitement rising Momonga teleported above the camp and quickly cast [complete invisibility] and [fly]. He had considered using perfect unknowable but it felt like a bit of a waste, Astarion hadn't seemed overly powerful or perceptive. Unless the vampire was hiding its strength the lesser spell should be more than enough, and if it was hiding its strength this would be a good way to draw it out.
Casting his eyes down through the darkness, Momonga quickly pinpointed the pale figure running between trees and brush, stopping to sniff the air occasionally. Not for the first time Momonga was quite appreciative of his improved senses as he followed the wayward vampire.
As he watched Astarion examining animal tracks it became rather clear what he was doing, he was seemingly hunting. What was unclear to Momonga was the why, vampires did generally desire blood and enjoy its consumption but it was hardly necessary for them. A vampire could forgo blood indefinitely with no ill effects…
Was the vampire hoping to buff itself with powerful blood perhaps? The tracks they were following seemed to be hooved, likely a boar or perhaps a goat. Momonga wasn't overly familiar with hooved beast even in his old world. Let alone whatever strange creatures this world held.
Still, it seemed unlikely such a creature would have potent enough blood to offer the vampire any buffs. Perhaps he planned to use the blood in a blood orb to cast spells? But such would surely reveal his nature to his compatriots and anyone else who saw…And that was assuming he was a high enough level vampire to even accomplish such. It was possible he wasn't even strong enough to have blood frenzy.
He continued to ponder as the vampire tackled a brown boar to the ground and sunk his fangs into its neck, watching as the pig was drained Momonga decided he'd only get answers with a direct confrontation. Dismissing the invisibility magic now fully confident the vampire's abilities didn't allow it to perceive his presence through invisibility he settled on the ground in front of the vampire, who was too absorbed in his meal to immediately note his presence.
"Ahm, enjoying yourself?" Momonga questioned with a small chuckle at the way the vampire immediately leapt to its feet.
"AH, you I was just…Gathering supplies…For…Breakfast?" Astarion scrambled for an excuse.
"I didn't know draining a corpse of blood with fangs was how it's done in these lands, I clearly have much to learn" Momonga played along
"Oh, those pesky…Cultural differences always causing…Problems!" As Astarion finished he threw a dagger, a dagger that bounced harmlessly off Momongas mask. The throw itself hadn't been completely pathetic but at Momongas level he was completely immune to mundane projectiles.
For a moment there was an overbearing silence as Astarion seemed to realize how out of his depth he was. Momonga prepared to pressure him further so he could have his questions answered but Astarion seemingly having decided fight was no longer an option, chose flight and rushed into the woods.
Astarion cursed the stars as he ran, he'd been quite hungry since waking from the strange ship, and after a quick rest, he'd hoped to find an easy meal. He was far from starving but he could feel the twangs of hunger begin to set in. More he'd wanted to get away from the mystical cabin looming over the camp. While he'd love nothing more than to not have lay on the hard ground all night and instead lay down in a soft bed the figure within was…Frightening as much as it galled him to admit it.
Part of him had wondered if he'd been going mad, he literally couldn't see the bastard's face but something about the way he looked at him…It was so like Cazador. The feeling of superiority and power. That he was looking down on him, on all of them!
Saying that it wasn't quite the same, as much as it made his skin crawl he hadn't gotten the same sadistic energy that practically oozed off Cazador, instead it almost felt as if Momonga saw them as insects, pests to be studied.
And now thanks to his stupid hunger and well-placed paranoia he was probably going to die in the woods. If he was lucky the bastard would only return to camp and reveal his nature to their companions, getting him booted from the group and his best chance at controlling the blasted parasite.
"All thanks to that tacky mask-wearing son of a bitc…." Astarion gasped as a hand suddenly gripped around his neck. Somehow the figure had appeared in front of him and before he could even register it had wrapped a gauntleted fist around his neck, lifting him from the ground.
"Son of a…Very wonderful woman I'm sure!" he pivoted with his best charming smile, despite knowing it wasn't likely to impress the large figure.
"Hm, are you quite done now?" Momonga questioned with a sigh
"Oh yes quite, I'm the one in control of this situation obviously so I can decide when we're done" Astarion mocked as he eyed Momongas other hand moving towards his mask. Seizing the opportunity he pushed with the tip of his toe against the ground launching his mouth into the figure's wrist.
"OH FUUUUUCKKKKKKK! YOU SON OF A BIT…" Astarion cried in pain as he felt one of his fangs shatter against something metallic, the gauntlets went quite far up the mage's arm…And whatever they were made of was quite a bit harder than even steel.
His fangs were incredibly sharp, he'd once gotten them stuck in a knight's steel neck guard after a…Unfortunate miscalculation. The teeth hadn't had any problem piercing the metal but retracting them out had been an embarrassing affair the other spawn had found quite…amusing.
Whatever the man gauntlet was made of was far from ordinary steel, likely enchanted considering his status. Desperation had made him lash out but clearly, it was a mistake, as blood filled his mouth from the shattered fangs he cursed harder, it was hardly the most painful feeling he'd experienced, hazard or made sure of that but teeth were annoyingly sensitive.
"Hmm, you're experiencing pain?"
"WHAT DO YOU THINK?" Astarion spat his blood onto the uncaring mask. Whatever material it was made of caused the blood to simply fall away without leaving any indication it'd been there in the first place.
"Fascinating, I not here to harm you, I simply had questions only you could answer"
"Questions? You chased me into the night, caught me drinking blood and you want to ask questions?" Astarion growled in disbelief.
"Of course, I've known you were a vampire since we met, it's rather obvious. If I wanted to reveal your nature I'd have done so when we first met. I simply wish to speak to you about your condition, as it seems a…bit different from something similar in my homeland"
"And what do I get out of answering your questions? I'M NOT A CIRCUS PERFORMER!" Astarion shouted incredulously. He suddenly felt the grip on his neck tighten, the inscrutable masked figure of Momonga going silent.
"Er…I mean of course I'll answer your questions! If you'll just put me down and let me drink a healing potion to fix my teeth I'm sure we can figure something out" Deciding caution was the better part of valor Astarion decided playing along was probably the smarter move. Even if he was lying about knowing his nature the entire time he knew now and if he didn't intend to tell the others he wouldn't have to abandon his best chance at finding out more about the parasites.
"A healing potion?! Ahem of course do you have one on your person?" Momonga dropped him like a sack of bricks as Astarion scrambled to his feet feeling more confused by the strange man's near shout at the mention of healing potions.
Shaking off the confusion Astarion reached to his belt pulling a bright red potion from his belt he downed the vile liquid. It was a special blend he preferred to keep on hand. Vampire spawn lacked the regenerative abilities of true vampires but mixing blood with a health potion would allow him to regrow his shattered fangs rather shortly. Downing the liquid he could feel the figure's intense stare.
"Er yes?" Astarion questioned as Momonga stared, seemingly intrigued by his slowly regrowing fangs.
"Hmmm, yes so many questions. Tell me what type of vampire are you?"
"Im….I'm a vampire spawn if you must know." Astarion resigned himself to answering the mad mage's inane questions until a chance to escape presented itself or he grew bored and let him go.
"A vampire spawn? AH, you were turned by a more powerful vampire then? So you're a lesser vampire?" Momongas questions seemed to trail off as he seemed to mumble the last part to himself. If not for his exceptional hearing, Astarion probably would have missed it.
"I've never heard that term used for my kind before…But it does sound rather fitting"
"And you experience pain? Actual pain? Is it any different from when you were alive?"Momongas questioning intensified as he pulled a small black book and pen from nothing. Astarion felt his eyes widen slightly, a spell to pull things from nothing? DID Gale LEARN ANYTHING USEFUL?
"Oh yes let me just share all my trauma with the monster that chased me through the woods…" Astarion bemoaned his face as the magic caster seemed unwilling to budge on his question.
"Ha, It's different I suppose, more muted at times but I think the main difference is I'm simply harder to kill so pain that would normally end a person is simply livable to me." Astarion sighed as he gave up on standing, falling backward onto the ground. He considered running but the bastard was either stupidly fast or able to teleport, he didn't think he was getting away anytime soon.
"Fascinating, I wonder if normal vampires are closer to my expectations or if vampirism is simply different from what I know. Tell me are you affected by the sun? Any other notable weaknesses born of your vampiric nature?"
"Yes let me list out all the things that can kill me…Fine, not like it applies to me at the moment anyway. Normally the sun would cause me to burst into flames, I couldn't enter homes uninvited, and crossing running water was a rather painful experience."
"And why does it no longer apply to you? I saw you in the sunlight earlier, and I'm pretty sure you crossed a river with no difficulties."
"Ever since the tadpole was inserted into my brain I haven't been subject to any of the normal fair, I can't say I understand why the wiggling worm is protecting me but it is." Astarion explained part of him was quite pleased to share how freeing the tadpole was, even if it was with rather unpleasant company.
"Fascinating! Tell me when you were infected did you notice anything strange? Did they commit some type of ritual or perhaps use an undead tadpole?" Momongas questions and enthusiasm seemed to intensify as the pen he'd pulled from nothing scribbled into the black book.
"Undead? I don't think so. It looked just like the others I saw on the ship. As for a ritual? Unless they did it when I blacked out I don't see how."
"Blacked out? You were knocked unconscious?"
"Yes?"
"Fascinating. Extraordinary even… I assumed you were pretending but now it makes more sense."
"Glad my unconsciousness is amusing to you, and while my acting skills are fabulous I haven't been pretending." Astarion glared in annoyance. He'd have loved to show off his fantastic skills but he'd hardly had a chance in the half-day he'd had with their new companions.
"As a lesser vampire are you bound to the vampire that turned you? Are you here under their orders? Or has the tadpole freed you of their control?"
"The last one, I'd really rather not…go into it" Astarion felt it was a bit meaningless to ask not to be forced to relive his worst traumas so soon after gaining freedom but desperation drove him to at least try.
Momonga stared at him silently for several moments before seemingly coming to a conclusion, jotting something down and storing the book back into the inky void it'd emerged from.
"I suppose that's enough, I still have some other questions but you've satisfied most of my curiosity. Would you like me to teleport you back to camp?" Momonga offered as he pulled Astarion to his feet.
"Wat…Thats it? No more prying, not going to turn me over to the others as a vampire? Just going to send me back to bed with a pat on the head for doing a good job?!" Astarion felt a little hysterical as he questioned the figure, logically he shouldn't probably look a gift horse in the mouth but this was by far the strangest encounter he'd had since…well he guessed it wasn't that strange compared to the mindflayer abduction but still!
He hadn't even asked too many overly intrusive questions, a lot of which he could have found in any bestiary or book documenting vampires.
"Hmm I see your point, you have helped satisfy quite a bit of my curiosity, a reward is deserved." Momonga nodded to himself, as his hand reached back into the black void he'd pulled the book from.
Before Astarion could further voice his bafflement, Momonga continued.
"You mentioned the only thing protecting you from the sun is the tadpole. Your compatriots seemed determined to have them removed. Should they succeed you'll be back to hiding from the sun and under thrall from your progenitor. These should serve you well should that come to pass" With those words Momonga dropped two rings into Astarions lap. One of them was shaped like a bat, while the other was a simple silver band with many inlet sapphires.
"The bat-shaped ring is a ring of reducing sunlight exposure, regardless of how bright the sun is it won't be able to affect you as long as you wear that ring. Similarly, the other ring is a ring of anti-dead control and banishment. It should protect you from your master's control or any priest that gets it in their head to banish you from the mortal plane" Momonga explained as Astarion examined the magical rings.
He hesitated for a moment before sliding the bat-shaped ring onto his finger, not feeling anything strange he slipped on the second ring as well. Before Astarion could question where Momonga had acquired such artifacts Momonga faced his palm towards his face.
"Now then it's getting late and you've already eaten your fill I assume, so back to camp with you [Greater Teleportation]" Momonga stated and in the blink of an eye, Astarion found himself instead of laying across the grassy ground staring at the tree tops, instead on the sandy outcropping near the camp. As if he'd never left at all. Glancing around as he returned to his bedroll he found all his companions asleep seemingly none the wiser to his absence. For a moment he entertained the idea of waking them from their slumber, telling them Momonga was a vile monster and fleeing into the night before shaking it off as a rather silly idea. If Momonga wanted him dead he simply wouldn't have made it back, running off and trying to turn everyone against him seemed rather...Pointless.
Staring at the rings now adorning his figure he pondered if he should ask Gale to examine them. He could tell they were enchanted by he was no wizard, he had no way to determine if they actually did what Momonga claimed. Saying that if they were what he described, showing them to Gale risked revealing his true nature.
Leaning back into his bedroll he settled on asking Gale…Later, when he figured out a better plan. He reached into his pack and pulled out a book he'd stolen before his unfortunate abduction, it was a noble's journal and the juicy gossip held within would likely raise his mood as he waited for his companions to wake.
With a feeling of elation, Momonga looked to the sky. All things considered, he felt things went well. The fact he'd gotten Astarion to accept the rings, while it wasn't a total lie to call them a reward, as they did exactly what he'd described the real benefit for him was he'd be able to find the vampire regardless of where he went with divination magic and subsequently as long as they all stuck together the rest of the group.
He was also now sure that Astarion didn't resemble a lesser vampire in anything other than his relationship with his master.
Considering what he'd learned it might very well be undead in general were incredibly different from his understanding. He'd noted down all his discoveries in a blank journal he'd had lying about his inventory. Later he would transcribe information from his own encyclopedia to compare notes.
Still, this left him with another important question. Reaching out a hand he activated his skill [Create low-tier Undead – Vampire Bride]. With those words, a black mist emerged from Momongas hand. With some shock he watched it slosh from his hand to consume the boar corpse left behind by Astarions meal. The black sludge consumed the beast, and with the sound of squelching flesh and shattering bones, a pale figure appeared.
It took the form of a gorgeous woman in a pale dress with red eyes. Vampire brides were unique among vampire-type monsters in that they had a naturally beautiful appearance rather than the hideous bat-human hybrid monsters. He honestly felt rather embarrassed to have the ability to make it as it had taken a lengthy quest, materials, and some real-world cash to unlock it…And he'd only done it so Perinchino could be sure they were "hot" enough to serve as Shalltears concubines in lore…
Shaking free of the embarrassing time sink and memories he gazed at the undead kneeled before him.
Satisfied that the skill had worked despite the rather strange…Way it worked he pulled a simple steel blade from his inventory dropping it on the ground. He could feel the vampire in much the same way he could feel the staff of Ainz Ooal Gown. with a simple mental command had the creature pick up the knife and gouge its eye out.
The blade hit the eye digging in slightly but even with the vampire's strength, it found no purchase. This was due to vampires' natural resistance to mundane weapons.
Nodding to himself he tossed out a silver dagger and had the vampire repeat the process. The vampire stabbed into the glowing eye with little issue but as the blade was removed the wound closed as if it'd never been there at all. It appeared the vampiric regeneration innate to all vampires still functioned. The creature also didn't seem to have experienced any debilitating pain.
He ordered it into the flowing creek and again nothing. It seemed vampires and undead created by him functioned as he'd expected. Which implied they similar to himself were still bound by the laws and rules of Yggdrasil.
His thoughts were interrupted by a rustling, glancing towards the dirt path just beyond the tree line he could make out light. Assumedly someone with a lantern or torch. Looking at his vampire for a moment he ordered it to hide in the forest. He had originally planned to simply destroy it but it would fade on its own within the next few hours. He was better served just leaving it to fade on its own.
With a cast of [Complete Invisibility], he approached the trailing light. The sight that greeted him was…Unexpected to say the least. A woman in a green dress was struggling with a wheelbarrow, a lantern tied to her hip to light the darkened path. Inside the wheelbarrow was a rotten corpse.
Curiosity battled sense for a moment before winning out. Such a strange sight demanded answers. Quietly moving behind the woman on the path he dismissed his invisibility.
"Ho, out for a nightly stroll I presume?" Momonga opened trying to keep his voice light
"AHHHH! FUCK! WHO!? WHERE…WHAT?" The woman screamed as she nearly toppled the wheelbarrow over. In her panic. Turning to face him Momonga noted her thick curled red hair blocked her vision and nearly got in her mouth during her panic. Whatever makeup had once surrounded her eyes had run down her face clearly from crying.
"Sorry, I simply saw your lantern and thought I should investigate to ensure everything was all right, I was quite shocked to discover a woman wandering these paths at night alone and figured I should introduce myself."
"IM...I'M NOT ALONE! My husband…My husband is right here" She gestured towards the corpse.
"...He seems a bit…under the weather?" Momonga ventured, double-checking his senses he was rather confident the only undead nearby was himself and his summoned vampire. If the corpse in the cart held an undead spark he couldn't feel it
"He's dead, but that's fine…The h…The witch will fix him right up! She promised to bring him back!" The woman shouted hysterically, sounding like she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else.
"Truly? A witch capable of resurrection?" Momonga felt his curiosity grow, witch was a class that usually specialized in the creation of potions and arcane magic rather than resurrection. Technically someone could have witch class levels and be capable of resurrection but he'd never heard of the two being conflated. Perhaps the witch had access to wands or other artifacts to achieve such feats.
"Yeah, she's a great witch, makes the best potions, and does magic like it's nothing she can bring him back no problem!"
"I see, and what does she get out of reviving your husband? Are you perhaps old friends?"
Rather than answer, the woman fell to the ground letting out another sob.
"...Are you all right?"
"No…I…I promised her my baby. She'd take it and teach it magic. Make it her own…In exchange I get my husband back" She practically whispered as she clutched her legs.
"Ah…I see. You're having a difficult time of it, aren't you? How about I push that wheelbarrow along and in exchange you let me meet this witch?" Momonga offered. He was quite curious to meet this resurrection witch. More he wanted to know what the witch wanted with a baby. The child wouldn't be able to learn magic for several years and it seemed like it'd be far easier to just have her own.
"I…You're not gonna try and stop me?" The woman asked as she stared at him seemingly gobsmacked
"Why would I? It's your child and your husband, if you think this is for the best I don't really see why it would be my place to interfere." Momonga answered honestly. Perhaps if the baby was already born he'd feel differently at the very least he'd have to deal with Yamaiko scolding him within his mind but the child wasn't even there yet. It didn't seem that different from selling eggs or giving the child up for adoption. However the latter had fallen out of fashion for numerous reasons.
"I…You're the first person that hasn't called me crazy or told me I'm being stupid" The woman mumbled as Momonga moved to grip the handles of the wheelbarrow.
"Well you don't seem overly stupid to me, perhaps a bit hopeful and foolhardy to wander these roads at night but we do strange things for those we love." Momonga for a moment about the sleepless nights spent grinding for the final parts needed to finish the staff of Ainz Ooal Gown.
"Myrina…My name is Mayrina. Sorry for…Being a mess."Mayrina apologized as she wiped away her tears.
"Think nothing of it, Momonga by the way. It's lovely to meet you. Now why don't you tell me a bit about yourself as we wander these dark paths." Momonga asked hoping to lighten the mood further
"Well, I was raised in…." Mayrina began with a sad smile.
Ainz tuned her out for a moment and chuckled, they made quite a sight, a tear-stained woman, and a large man speaking of happier times with naught but a corpse to accompany them. He really couldn't wait to see this witch for himself
So here we see Momonga learning just how different things are to his expectations and testing many things to try and ascertain why. In Overlord an undead can't be infected by a mind flayer, nor can they suffer from unconsciousness, they can't drink potions either. So Astarion being knocked unconscious, sleeping, etc is quite a shock. Similarly Undead don't experience pain in the traditional sense ainz describes it as the sensation of taking damage. Something that's not even truly unpleasant.
But as we see with Astarion he is very capable of feeling pain, seemingly so are other vampire spawn. Possibly vampires in general.
So in bg3 you generally always know what a magic item does, regardless of how it's found. But in dnd proper there's a bit more to it, you need to appraise it/study it essentially. Wizards have spells for identifying mystical artifacts as well.
Astarion, the roguish trickster doesn't know jack about magic and thus he's kinda stuck. He can tell they're magic, he sorta has a feel for it but he doesn't really know what the rings do and has good reason not to ask Gale as he's not ready to be revealed yet.
Vampire bit, Im not sure Momonga has the skill necessary for it, as he's never summoned a vampire before. But we also don't have a full list of what Momonga can create with his tiers of create undead so… Meh I rewrote it a few times, feel free to point out any errors with this one.
I honestly really wanted to get to the ethel meeting but I realized this was a more natural stopping point, don't worry aunty will be here next time!