Chapter 119 – Castle
After our talk wound down, we agreed that I would animate the dragon skeleton outside the city gates, once the celebration was done. Doing something like that in the city would be… needlessly provocative. Undead, on their own, might not be illegal in the kingdom, but they made the living uneasy by their very nature. And dragons were dragons, even dead. It was hard to say whether an undead dragon would cause more or less panic than a live one, given that the presence of an undead dragon usually meant a necromancer was about, raising more undead. By the time a necromancer got their hands on a dragon’s corpse, they usually had a sizeable force of undead with them, after all.
There was still time before I needed to head to the castle for dinner with the Princess, so I went back to exploring the mercantile offerings of the capital. Part of it was so I could pass the time, but a larger part was so that I could be seen in the different districts. I was a Baroness, after all, and very noticeable. No matter what I did, it would send a message. The message sent by my taking an interest in the different stores, and what they had to offer, was a much better one than my hiding away in my manor, and only leaving when someone made arrangements to meet me.
The scale and mechanics were different, but the whole process wasn’t something new to me. I’d done the same in the barony, being seen by my people, when I wanted to be, and in my last life it was important that the gang saw me out in the middle of things, not sitting back and ordering people around. A motorcycle gang won’t respect someone who sits back in the clubhouse all the time and simply orders them about like a queen, after all. And if they don’t respect you, they’ll eventually turn on you.
It was in the Longfield section of the High City where I found an interesting store. It was a magic shop, but it focused primarily on ritual magics, rather than more conventional spells. The shop was full of grimoires that had rites and rituals that could cover many of a group’s weaknesses, if you had time to prepare. I decided to give the General a hand, and quickly penned a message giving him the location of the shop, and suggesting he might find the rituals to summon angels and bind familiars here. A silver coin to one of the young boys loitering about saw him all too happy to deliver the message for me.
Of course, I perused the tomes for my own collection of rituals. I was firmly of the opinion that it was better to have options that I had but never used, than to need something and not have access to it. Plus, they had supplies for many ritual types, which was always a plus. I picked up ten [Wardstones] for 100 gp each, and then dropped another 3000 gp on specific rituals I wanted to add to my arsenal.
Known Rituals
Void Passage – Open a passage between two points, (Level/5, round down) meters in width and height, circumventing restrictions on teleportation and planar travel. One of the participants must have visited the location before, or have a detailed description of the target location.
Courtesan’s Cursed Grace – Target gains +1 CHA/Level, is cursed to be unable to wear armor, and gains the Courtesan profession’s [Too Pretty to Hit] ability.
Unhallow – Permanently severs the connection between a target and their chosen god or pantheon. Divine casters lose spellcasting abilities until they either find a new patron deity, or have the curse removed.
Forced Class Change – Curse the target to receive a new class of the caster’s designation. If the target is Tier 2 or above, the caster may pick the upgraded classes as well. All skill points spent on class skills are refunded. The target cannot change their class by any means save divine intervention for a year and a day from the ritual’s completion.
Forced Profession Change – Curse the target to receive a new profession of the caster’s designation. If the target is Tier 2 or above, the caster may pick the upgraded professions as well. All skill points spent on profession skills are refunded. The target cannot change their profession by any means save divine intervention for a year and a day from the ritual’s completion.
Deathless Curse – So long as the curse remains, the target cannot die. Instant death effects no longer work, and no matter how much damage a creature receives, they remain at 1 HP. Even decapitation leaves the severed head alive, aware, and able to speak.
Forced Altered Form – The target’s physical body is reshaped to the caster’s whims, within the limits of their race. This can include force gender changes, altering the target’s physique, correcting or inflicting physical disabilities, and so on. The changes are permanent, once set. Even for creatures with [Shapeshifting] or similar abilities, the new form is considered their base, or natural, form.
Curse of Harmlessness – The target is permanently incapable of wielding weapons, striking foes, or casting damaging spells.
[Void Passage] was a ‘portal’ type of skill. It took longer to cast than [Plane Shift] or [Greater Teleport], but the size of the portal and the way it got around certain restrictions made it a very nice option to have. This was a ritual that could allow you to transport armies across continents. Of course, the portal reserved 50% of the user’s maximum MP while open, so you couldn’t have it up permanently, which meant supply lines would still be an issue. However, for a deep strike on enemy forces, and then retreating back to safety? It had a great deal of possibilities.
[Courtesan’s Cursed Grace], [Unhallow], [Forced Class Change], [Forced Profession Change], [Deathless Curse], [Forced Altered Form], [Curse of Harmlessness], however, were all nasty pieces of work, if done correctly. Those were rituals designed to make the target suffer. I didn’t typically like leaving live enemies behind, since that tended to lead to greater problems down the road, but sometimes it was not politically convenient to kill someone, and other measures needed to be taken.
Oh, sure, [Deathless Curse] sounded like a boon, rather than a punishment, but the ritual’s description pretty much said that it was less a case of ‘target cannot die’ and more one of ‘target is not allowed to die’. There was a big difference between the two. A prisoner not allowed to die could endure all manner of torture and deprivation, to the point where others would have died many times over, from starvation, blood loss, dehydration, shock, or any of a few dozen reasons, but the curse would not let them die, and might do its best to keep them conscious. Even if they were decapitated, their still-living head could be mounted as a trophy for their would-be killer to hang on the wall. And there were even worse fates than being reduced to a head on the mantle, if you could not die.
Was I ever likely to need some Grade-A nastiness like that? Probably not. In fact, I would be very happy if I never actually needed it. However, if there ever came a time where I needed to make sure someone suffered eternally? I had options. More importantly, if my friends and allies needed someone made example of, well, I had options for that, too.
However, I could not spend all day shopping. As the day began to wane, I made my way to the castle, along with my two dutiful attendants. It might be a private dinner with me and the Princess, but there were still forms that needed to be maintained. Which meant my escorts needed to come to the castle, where they would enjoy food and drink outside the chambers, along with the Princess’s guards. There was a whole song and dance was about conveying trust on both sides, while not actually trusting either side too far.
The curtain wall had one main gate into the castle keep, with a solid door and portcullis at each end of the gatehouse. A quick [Appraise] told me that both sets of barriers were enchanted for durability and magic resistance, ensuring that anyone who forced their way past the outer gate would spend plenty of time under the murder holes in the gatehouse before they could penetrate the inner gate. Of course, any enemy force that had penetrated so far into the city probably had means of overcoming that defense. But then, my [Fortifications] skill told me that the main purpose of walls in a siege were to delay the enemy as long as possible, and making them bleed, hopefully bleeding them dry. This was likely a remnant (a well-maintained remnant!) of the castle’s early construction as a simple fort in the mountains.
The Kingsguard let us through the gate, obviously. I was a Baroness, after all, and we were expected. A servant that I was certain was one of the Princess’s spies led us through the castle, to the Princess’s own chambers. She wanted a private private dinner, it seemed. I glanced at my companions, and said, “Play nice, you two.”
“We’re always nice, Mistress,” Astruth said.
Zazriel chuckled. “Except when people aren’t nice to us. Don’t worry, Mistress. I’m sure things will be fine.”
Mariun Skysword
Human Female
Level 35 Rogue / Spy
Titles: Clever One, Princess, Black Widow, Spymistress
Stepping into the private sitting room, I saw Princess Mariun, who I recognized from her portraits. Her raven hair was cut short, in an almost boyish style, and her clothes were leather pants and a silk blouse, with a long-coat over it, and a cutlas sheathed on her hip. It gave her an almost piratical look. Which was fitting, considering that she was a rogue. And she was incredibly high-leveled for a human on this continent. Especially royalty. But then, the Spy profession and Spymistress title probably built off each other, perhaps even allowing her to gain XP passively whenever her subordinates did. Leader titles were like that.
For her part, Mariun looked me up and down, before nodding. “I will start by saying that these chambers are warded against sound and all the Tier 1 means of using magic to eavesdrop, so we can speak plainly. And, to get things out of the way, I am Princess Mariun Skysword, as you know. Might I have the real name and nature of my guest?”
I chuckled, and said, “If you will give your word to tell none but the King, unless there is a pressing need for them to know. I would rather not be adversaries with the Kingdom, and Ser Shadescar told me plainly that the kingdom wants no quarrel with me and mine. I respect you giving him the order to speak plainly, by the way. I know that it is against the nature of merchants, spies, or spymistresses to do such, which made it all the more welcome, as I’m sure you know.”
Mariun snorted. “Considering that it was almost certain you would have advanced to Tier 2 before reaching Crystalshield, and the only people we have in the entire Kingdom who are even close to that level are General Helecan and Guildmaster Roland, in your Windwater Towne? I do try not to be as idiotic as Longchaser and his family tend to be. Driving you at this point only weakens Dascora. But yes, I give my word that I won’t tell anyone save the King unless it is needed for actions to secure the Kingdom’s future.”
With that, I used [Shapeshifting] to take my true form, and was rewarded by seeing the Spymistress’s jaw drop. “As I told Ser Shadescar, I was reborn from another world into this one. I am known as Alis Pureheart, but my name in this world is Mhyrsha Shadowsoul, and it would seem that my father is the commander of the demon forces in Meskaele, or at least one of them, with enough pull to send a team of hunters abroad to attack me. And my race is that of a Greater Angelic Succubus.”
I took a step towards the princess, my wings spreading wide, and said, “So, whatever shall we talk about, Princess?”