Where the Heart Is, Part 35

"We should focus on winning over Lyra and Elianna," you say. "The incubi might have interfered last time... but this time we'll show our cleric friend just how much she's missing."

Mockingbird shivers. You can tell that your words have pierced her to the core, flooding her imagination with images of what that will look like. Her heart is pounding double-time in her chest, as her soul is twisted between powerful emotions. Fear of disappointing her mother... yearning to be reunited with her mother... reverence for mother's noble purity... and most recently, the taboo desire to see her mother share in your indescribable pleasure.

It was one thing for Mockingbird to join you herself. But this... this is a sin that is both terrifying and exhilarating beyond anything else.

You watch the emotions war across her face, waiting as she decides how to respond. After a while, she speaks in a small voice, making single demand that she cannot compromise on. Not even for you. "Promise me," she says. "Promise me you won't hurt her."

"Hurting her is the last thing I want to do," you assure the young rogue with a reassuring smile. "In fact, my hope is to assuage all the hurt that I did cause her last time, however unintentional it was."

Mockingbird looks down, staring into her lap. Then she nods once, unable to meet your eyes. She still has no idea how to feel... but she knows that the only way to go is forward. Once you're sure that she's satisfied, you continue with your planning.

"Now we need to decide what to do with the rest of our forces," you say, turning to address the council. "There's still one more item we need to acquire before we can perform the ritual to create the dream weapon. A phoenix feather. In order to have the ritual ready before the final rune's awakening, we'll need to obtain one either this time or next time."

Lily speaks up. "Until we're ready, we can store the portrait and the pearl in my quarters," she says. "I have a safe that is probably the most secure storage in the whole fortress."

Which also means that it will be under the direct protection of any forces you assign to stay here as guards. A good precaution to take, considering how vital those components are. Nevati and Mockingbird also speak up, each offering to check over the safe themselves before they depart. And perhaps increase its security even more, combining spells and the expertise of a master thief.

And speaking of guards... "There's also the incubus who attacked recently," you say. "He's still at large. And we don't know what he's planning next. If he sees an opening, he might make another attempt."

That does trouble Lily. "The water elemental I summoned has gone off to create the lake that I promised in the negotiation for his service," she says. "We won't be able to rely on his help this time."

"Then we'll just have to take that into account," you say, considering your options. The threats to your home front are growing, both from the exiled incubi and from Melca trying to sabotage you in ways that might cause you to recall Fallhazel. The one small mercy is that, considering how horribly he was scourged by Elianna's holy fire, Zethuriel almost certainly won't be recovered enough to try anything himself.

Not yet.

There's also Melca's hunt for Ceilyn, the other girl of the Witch Queen's lineage. There's no way of telling how long it might take Melca to track her down, but you have worked out a deal with Alicia for Verika to deliver her to the paladin's protection, and leave unhindered after. You won't be able to assign a task like that openly in this council, of course. But if you did want Verika to take that on, you could assign her a boring task as a pretext—one Melca is unlikely to have any interest in—while giving her the real assignment in a dreamwalk later.

Next the warchief speaks up. "Now that our armies have taken the border town, the Twilight Fortress itself is within reach," he says. "But it will require extending our supply lines... and the allied nations will most certainly mount a response afterward. If they can retake that town, any forces staging from the Twilight Fortress will be cut off."

"What are our options?" you ask.

"There's not much we can do right now," says the warchief. "But after the Twilight Fortress falls and the humans gather their armies to hit back, we'll need to decide whether to fortify that border town for a siege... or meet the army they send in open battle."

Fortifying the town would require far fewer of your forces. But it wouldn't gain you anything either, and whatever forces you did commit there might well be trapped indefinitely, until the army is dealt with. An open battle, on the other hand, would be a harder fight. But if you can win, it would boost your armies even further with all the former enemies that you could subvert to your cause.

Fortunately, either way the army of the allied nations should be less dangerous than it would otherwise have been, since your lust cult in Vekmar is working to reduce the forces that they're willing to contribute. And what contribution they do send will have to cross the Great Forest, marching through the lust pollen that you took particular care to enhance.

"There's another tactic we could try," says Ghazar, leader of your orcish commandos. "Something we could do right now to prepare. If we pushed even deeper into Nelin territory—if we took one of their bigger cities at the same time as the Twilight Fortress—then they'd need to retake that city first before they could even think about hitting the border town. Even if we fell back from that city later on, they'd still have to waste time re-establishing control. And that would buy us some breathing room to go after the Underworld."

You can see an eager glint in Ghazar's eyes at the thought of getting back into the fight, after spending all his time recruiting other orcs over the previous mission. And his idea does have merit... albeit coming with its own set of risks. Just like the other plans, in their own ways.

You consider each one, weighing the costs and benefits. You also consider the other factors you can't voice, such how you plan to obtain a relic of Feyal from the Nuati rebels. And you'll also need to figure out what to do with Rokaviel, given that you can't trust him to fight non-lethally.

Nevati is next to speak. "I-if you wanted, I c-could spend some time l-looking at the knife that Rysanial brought back," she offers. "The c-curse causing it to attack you is p-powerful... but it's not inherent to the artifact. It was c-cast on it later. With enough t-time, I could probably find a way to r-remove it."

That could give either you or Rysanial a significant advantage were you to wield it. Though you'd have to weigh that against other possible uses of Nevati's time.

Of course, talking about that "gift" brings up another related issue. "There's also another risk we need to be aware of," you say. "I've learned that the Lust Queen has a pleasure cult of her own in the Vekmar capitol, and that they're trying to summon a demon as well. Most likely an assassin. And as if that wasn't enough, one of the incubi is also in that area. Trying to hunt them down and kill them before they can pull it off."

If you don't intervene, there's no telling how it might play out. Will the mad incubus find the pleasure cult first, and torture them all to death? Or will the cult succeed in summoning the Lust Queen's agent before that happens? If the latter, you might find yourself with yet another powerful demon after you. And unlike the incubi, this one would have no need to capture you alive.

"If you send me to Vekmar, I know I can find them," Rysanial urges. "I know exactly how cults like that operate. And I can wrap them around my finger. If I bring them back here, then we can arrange a little surprise for the queen's assassin when they bring her through. See if she still wants to kill you after you've fucked her into a puddle."

Your eyebrows go up in surprise at the heat in your succubus' voice. That, and the fact that she would suggest doing that to one of her sisters. Especially given how unsettled she's been ever since learning about the geas. She notices your look. "They had a chance to work together with us," the succubus insists. She's acting tough, but you can see the hurt in her eyes. "They didn't take it. So they can't complain if we start to play a little rougher in return."

Rysanial tries not to let it show, but she's still feeling betrayed by how she was almost the vehicle of your death. And beyond that, you can still see a little fear that you might not trust her as much after this. That you might wonder if she did know what the knife would do. She wants to prove her loyalty. To prove that she's on your side, not theirs.

It is a feasible plan. If you did have Rysanial subvert the Lust Queen's cult, it would avert the threat of the assassin. And it would be possible to have the cult summon that assassin in controlled circumstances later, to be subverted to your service.

Alternatively, you could just have the cult summon a different type of demon with the ritual they were preparing. Though it probably wouldn't be as strong as the one arranged with the Lust Queen herself. Either way, though, it could give you an extra summoning, performed by others, and one that doesn't use up one of your own limited slots.

And Rysanial is correct that she would be the best person to send, since she possesses both the required investigative know-how and the necessary seductive skill. In fact, she's likely created numerous such cults herself over the years.

That said, there is also the matter of the incubus stalking the cult. If you send Rysanial alone, she could simply have the cult flee to Kovora once they're under her sway. On the other hand... if you sent additional assistance along with your succubus, then in addition to her seducing the cult, they could also lay a trap of their own, aiming to eliminate one more of the threats targeting you from the shadows.

Either way, you'll need to say something to Rysanial. Which, in turn, also means that you'll need to decide how you feel about the attempt on your life. Do you feel angry? Betrayed? Or understanding?

And finally, in addition to working out possible plans for the next phase of your campaign, you'll need to decide who among all the fortress inhabitants you wish to take into your bed tonight.