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(Vol 6) Chapter 2: A Devilish Fraternity
🕑 Added 2024-07-19 15:14:45 +0000 UTCThe time following the deadly duel with Dreixia went quickly and smashingly for Samantha/Puck and her realm of supposed ne'er-do-wells. Dreixia’s body was stripped of possessions, put in robes, and burned in a great pyre inside the fortress. This became a backdrop for immediate withdrawal proceedings. As far as Sammy could tell, any ‘succession’ issues about who’d be the clan leader were put on hold.
Remembering Dreixia’s last words, she asked casually about an ‘Ogdellos,’ it was confirmed he was a high-ranked general present, known as a powerful fighter.
Unlike most medieval scenarios involving a formidable fortress, leaving some small force was useless due to their enemy being the magic-heavy Dominion. Without copious magic-capable or anti-magic types, the opposing army would utilize air superiority and wipe them out without much loss. Instead, they set traps and delayed spells of various kinds, to waste the Dominion’s time for the most part. If they wanted the fortress, they’d have to tediously check everything for suspicion of these traps.
Puck went to Deikmorn’s brother to insist he withdraw along with the others, pointing out that she could cleanse Deikmorn’s corruption so long as he lived to dawn. But the Naugite said he had planned that either way because he wanted to join the war effort again with the ‘good news.’ He believed in the cause and said many others did, too.
I need to get on the whole ‘Puck Followers’ thing, soon.
Dreixia’s distribution of items was up to Sammy, which she delayed to conduct in a safer location. But she was definitely taking the cracked weapon artifact and the ring. The armor was scrap no one wanted due to the corruption eating it. Identification she delegated to be reviewed later.
Because she was on a time limit, she selected her reward class for the quest: [Saboteur], naturally.
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7 exp gained in [Saboteur]. 3 exp gained in [Brute]. 3 exp gained in [Bard].
[Saboteur] level 3 reached. [Sabotage] improved to [Sabotage+1] and upgraded. Avoidance upgraded.
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Okay then.
She checked the changes in both real quick, focusing on the pertinent paragraph for Sabotage.
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Sabotage+1
To have a chance at permanent or semi-permanent breaking, you must conduct a sabotage for 10 seconds of uninterrupted, constant concentration on the act of your foci. If you spend a full minute, add +1 Effective Levels to the attempt, or +2 with an hour. Rushed Sabotage attempts at 3-5 seconds are at -1 Effective Levels and at most can only cause brief malfunctions, dependent on success level (you will know a range of time that it lasts).
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Hmm. So it’s a little more viable for quick use and combat use, then. Level 3, with [Magineer] addable as multiclass… a level 6 effect in combat. That’s worth keeping in mind.
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Avoidance
So long as you are no more than Lightly Encumbered, you have +1 to Dodge OR +1 Effective Levels to Defense as a [Dodge] modifier — this can only be bypassed if you do not properly perceive the threat. In addition, if combined with Rogue’s Luck, add an additional +1 Effective Levels to the comparison.
You have an additional +1 to Dodge for any sort of trap effect, magical or otherwise.
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I can dig it. Always the chance that a hazard isn’t detected. I don’t think I’m super specialized at doing so, either.
Sammy took a gander at the new status [Slayer], ignoring [Spirit Terror] under it, which had not changed.
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Slayer
You have a reputation (on one or more of your varied identities) for killing great and powerful foes. You can leverage and showcase this general potential and dangerousness for intimidation purposes, to impress warriors, those who need such help, and so on. Note that subtle gestures do depend on the intelligence of the target. This adds +2-4 Effective Levels to the attempt, depending on the target's susceptibility.
Specialty effects and bonuses exist based on particular slayings.
Hero Slayer (Dreixia Hillcrusher): This is particularly effective on most Naugites who knew of the specific hero — double the potential intimidation/awe bonus if at all susceptible.
In addition, against any humanoid foe of equal or higher level than you (base, with multiclass), you may add +2 Effective Levels for the purposes of wound severity, if dealing a Major Wound or greater already, with a physical weapon. This does not apply to upgraded Minor Wounds.
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Ooh. That’s nasty. That will usually boost it to a Critical Wound, I think. The soak ranges vary, though. Someone like Dreixia might still reduce the shit to Minor, even. She had some kind of huge, though expendable, pool. A pencil-necked wizard might take a Mortal Wound immediately, instead. But… a physical weapon requirement. My staff specialty increases!
Her best bet on offense amplification seemed to be continuing on that route. But perhaps she should have a backup weapon, too, instead of how she used her phantom matter blade on Dreixia. Or the random rondel dagger she used underneath Huntress.
Fuck, a weapon for close-in grapple range sure is handy, isn’t it? Even better if it can be summoned instantly somehow. Hell yeah… a specialty shank. Right up my alley. An alley where you get shanked! Hehe.
It somewhat disturbed her she was thinking like this, as her thoughts when she created her staff once upon a time were to avoid killing people. She’d tried with Dreixia. More or less… it had seemed like the best attack at the time, regardless of lethality. Regardless, it had almost caused her the very costly loss of her Avatar and an allied army.
Eh. A unique enemy. An honest mistake! We can Knockout most people!
She caught sight of the last person she’d successfully knocked out — the wizard Dart had handed off to the Naugites at some point.
His head was on a pike outside the walls.
I shouldn’t be surprised.
When she asked around about a cloaked figure in gray armor, she got a lot of blank and puzzled looks. It wasn’t the Twin, who was a surprisingly average-looking chap in simple leathers — easy to miss if he wasn’t the only human in the army.
Looking out for the individual turned up nothing, either. I got a mysterious someone’s attention. Tall enough to be a Naugite, certainly. Here’s to hoping it was a good thing.
Puck aided the withdrawal of the army by taking some heavier gear and the wounded back toward Merrington, through disguised mirrors she made look like warped, twinkling ripples supposedly utilizing [Pandemonium] to slip people in and out through dimensions. This included Deikmorn, naturally. It was too costly to do for everyone, but noticing the sheer need, she lent her Dark Pegasi to the retreat efforts as well.
It massively sped up their movement by removing the drag of supplies and the injured which was the real limit on their speed. The Naugite endurance was such that they could jog for stretches on the march if their encumbrance was mild enough. Coordinating with Ba Ra and the generals, Puck motivated them to go for it while she and her Servitors screened and dealt with stragglers.
Dominion skirmishers were a constant potential issue, but her brutal ambush had apparently made them cautious and they never appeared. Several times, she was aware of vague magic in the distance. Investigation with Resemblants indicated some teleportation but mostly the auras of clairvoyance and scrying use.
You can look, but you can’t touch!
Operation: Early Morning Jog worked smashingly, and they covered the entire distance to Twin Wells, where an exhausted army broke for camp. When the dawn came, Deikmorn was still alive, and she had her little session to cleanse him of Entropy, though he would still be weakened. Lessened though he was, Deikmorn undoubtedly remained a powerful warrior. Besides that, she kinda liked him, the gnarly curmudgeon that he was.
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The hidden quest “Clannish Purification” (Specifications: Save Daekmorn Brakka’s life) is complete. 20 FE gained. 2 exp gained in [Goddess].
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Surprisingly, the moment their eyes met, she knew he would be her Follower. She didn’t think that would be immediate, though — unlike his brother, who was ready and rearing.
Before she wrapped up her Puck Time, Sammy configured her Ritual of Conversion form for the deity.
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Ritual of Conversion Form (Puck)
(Note: Do not add superfluous text to this form.)
Requirements: Perform a trick, play a prank, or make a joke, then recite, “I, NAME, hereby swear to pray to, praise, and honor the goddess Puck the Magnificent, Puck Hillraiser, may she steal hearts, luck, and maybe a little gold for all of time!
I will spread her name, deeds, and wild aspirations far and wide like wildfire! In so doing, luck will come to me, for she holds its keys.”
Religious Experience: Feel-good high (60%), and inspiration (30%).
Authorized Officials: N/A
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With that done, she solicited Deikmorn’s brother, Heskar, to become the first Follower, and he readily agreed. Once he was caught in the drunken haze of that first REX, he swore he’d recruit more. In between giddy laughter, that is.
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New quest unlocked: “Lies Like Wildfire” — Acquire 44 Followers and 1 Devout under the Puck persona, and obtain 77 FE (Illusion) from their prayers.
● Rewards: +33 FE, +33 FE (Illusion), 5 exp in [Goddess], 3 exp in [Bard], [False Priestenses] synergistic enhancement added to [Priestly Investiture].
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Oooh! False Priests? But if they can do what [Priests] do, they aren’t false! Haha. This is gonna be good. And oh my goddesses, what a pun!
Puck decided to spend a little time among the soldiers bantering and entertaining, sometimes at the expense of this or that mark or another, whether by witty verbal setup, not-so-witty verbal setup, or a cheap jump scare. Though she hadn’t really intended it, she got some requests for songs, and she went for it, knowing the weary warriors could use an uplift during what amounted to their dinner before passing out, dawn or no.
Invoking [Bard] with support from [Goddess] was rather miraculous in producing things right out of the ether. So they were infused with Earth’s pop hits and a little too much of Swift, so what? They loved it!
She told a few stories, too, drawing once again from Earth. Figuring the Naugites could handle it, she did her go-to campfire story she’d heard her dad do dozens of times if not more — Bloody Mary, the witch burned at the stake who’d come to kill you if you spoke her name three times in a dark mirror.
They nodded along soberly and someone said afterward they had a similar tale, only her name was ‘Twisted Blue.’
A remnant from Azure’s past life? Crazy.
In every case of her roaming through the camps, she picked out people to offer Followerhood to, especially the jokesters, the charismatic folks, the gamblers, and the easygoing, more free-minded among them. Having intuitively screened them through interaction, she was almost always successful. A few declined, two of them simply flat out saying they were Followers of Zadkiel. But she snagged over twenty just like that. A few she didn’t even ask — they came to her.
And so she acquired the first crop of Puck believers, sure to multiply with great speed. She was not too concerned with perfect screening, ultimately, having been selective mainly to identify those who’d best pull in others of reasonable like mind. Puck was not going to be the head of a rigid organization with sensitive secrets. It was more informal.
She gave a Phantom Construct bronze disk to each of them, just over twelve centimeters in diameter, just big enough a Naugite could palm it at a stretch. It was slightly curved like a shield, and the outside was emblazoned in red with a kind of eight-pointed star, but each edge was a different size so it was asymmetrical. It otherwise appeared unremarkable, but it had an illusion over it. In actuality, it was all polished perfectly into a mirror. Puck simply said that if it was kept pristine and undamaged, communication with her was possible through it physically.
Pretty damn sneaky if you ask me!
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