Now, an interesting and little known aspect of The Company is that from time to time, assuming that the potential clients can scrape together the fee, can hire agents for uplift missions. Which is what I was going to be doing. Still, it was also NOT a sort of conventional uplift based on the files of what I was looking at, because it was a very... odd world in a way. While not Dark Sun (and I would freaking refuse Dark Sun as that place was a trap), this place was apparently very similar. Mostly, as it was stone age world and culture. Mostly.

See, thing is, what exactly that meant differed a bit, as parts of the 'overview' provided for the mission, because we were being paid for this, is that in several ways it resembled an ARK: Scorched Earth themed world that doubled down on the fantasy elements and got rid of the science aspects. Which apparently is why my clone line was being tapped for this (and finding out I was a clone was... mildly unnerving), due to our preference for certain D&D 3.5/Pathfinder classes that would apparently make providing what the client was after fairly easy.

Oh, it would still take a good deal of work in several aspects, but I would be going in to basically act as a glorified source of magic that could eventually be upgraded. Sort of. As it is, they were taking a particular Cynosure mythos and altering it to better fit what would be needed for the clients. Now, the Mandate of Heaven Mythos (and I was locked into 'selecting' it) had the Fertility (Nourishment), Healing (Birth), Plant (Growth), Protection (Defense), Magic (Alchemy), Scalykind (Saurian) and Weather (Seasons). Which was in many ways less 'uplift' god and more... discount defensively focused agricultural god in a world with dinosaurs.

You know, I had the sinking suspicion that in a way, this was mostly a test to see how to create little customizable spirits/divinities for the company, to see if this particular method would be cheaper or easier... even if they were telling me nothing. One of my racial feats for being a human was locked in (Broken Empress Amalgam, for all my being a spirit needs), but they actually gave me a pair of templates. Genetic Deviant because it would help with general survivability... and Advanced Creature to generally make me just a little better.

I was not being provided much details on the clients themselves, other than they were not standard for their creature types on several levels. Which was a touch concerning to be entirely honest. But still, that was the premise, in many ways similar to Star Trek, to go to new worlds and to have adventures by boinking the locals? And I was going in as the spirit ally of a stone age tribe, with a gestalt build. I should do fine.

So, as I appeared in the cave, the elf in front of me seemed to be at once surprised and eager. Except the thing was, she was not a standard elf. Bronzed, dusky skin, many tribal tattoos, ornaments of wood, fiber and bone, what seemed to be a simple spear of wood and stone... and nails that bore a remarkable resemblance to claws. There was something about her as she looked at me that seemed a lot more predatory than usual. Then she opened her mouth and damn if those canines were not near fangs. "You are the spirit?" Her eyes narrowed as she sniffed, and gestured at a clay jug. "Make water, prove magic."

Reasonable skepticism, as I draw on that new internal mandate, as I called on my authority, a small cloud forming as water in the form of rain fell into the pot. And with that, her smile grew wide. And then she reached out and poked me with the tip of her spear. "Great spirits say you grant magic, give power." Which was supposed to be in exchange for offerings or gifts, but hey, a job was a job, as I reached out, feeling faint strings of connection between us. I mentally tugged on those strings, the essence of nourishment and dinosaurs flooding into her, as she shivered, eyes alight with something. She was grinning. "Great spirits give good gift!"

Great, she was pleased, now I opened my mouth... and she placed a finger on top of my lips. "Ah, no speak." She seemed oddly hesitant for a moment. "Rare we keep slaves long, most sacrificed to great beasts, or to spirits of land to allow safe passage." Now, her smile was knowing, as one hand reached out and I bristled at being called a slave. Hey, I knew that I was a glorified spell source, but really? "Oh, package good size, much fun later."

She nodded, a grin wide... as she moved, picking me up and placing me over her shoulder, because she was stronger than she looked, even if she was just a touch taller than myself. "Now, going to show off, mark you as mine." She looked around the cave and nodded. "Then back. Make this magic cave." And then she started to move with an easy lope along the slope of what seemed to be a desert canyon, the angle off the walls preventing me from telling exactly what time it was.

But, as we passed a twist and a bottleneck, I started seeming more elves. This time, plenty were male, and lounging about underneath overhangs. Many of them seemed to be working on stone knives or spear heads, some others were weaving what looked to be rope, eyes on me as the unnamed elf, my first cleric and technically high priestess, carried me to a central place, a fire burning there. There were also what seemed to be woven screens on the cave mouths... and a half full large basin of water as she placed me down. "I am Solryl, daughter of Throryl! I have a spirit who can make water."

She poked me and with a sigh, I gathered my energies calling up the rain, water falling into the basin as male elves muttered... and as females came out of the caves, eyes narrowing. "I claim him as mine as is my right." She lifted her hands... and as I let the first cloud go? "Matt, give me water!"

It was, even as a demand, a prayer, the 'spell' coming to me, as a part of me granted it, the rain and mist forming around her, falling from her hands... and then she nodded at one elf, bone needles coming out, along with what seemed like dyes. Great, I was going to get tattooed in public, even as she reached out, tearing my clothes off before she got to work.

This was not how I expected things to go.