Ch. 81 - Heavenly Bureaucracy

With a groan, Momo flopped her head down on her writing table. An abused quill slipped from her palm, inking a trail of black on the wooden surface. Her wrists ached. Her back was most likely inflamed, and her eyes were nearly bloodshot.

“Dusk,” she whined, “I don’t think I’m cut out for this.”

Within her first week of rule, Momo had become what she feared most – productive. Shuffling Nam’Dal into a new age of leadership required a lot of paperwork – city guilds to officiate, taxes to levy, insurance policies to purchase, trade routes to pave.

Apparently, becoming ruler of a city opened a new facet of interaction with the System. Since the Gods used mortal governments as conduits for their absolute rule over Alois, ruling a city meant dealing with a lot of heavenly bureaucracy.

After wading through most of the heavenly legalese about titles, de jure kingdoms, hierarchy, dynasties and inheritance – all of which she conveniently ignored, as she had no princely babies to leave things to – she finally got to the last paper in her stack. She stared at the piece of parchment, eyes watering with exhaustion.

The Ruler of [Nam’Dal] has been reset. You, [Momo the Ripper], are now the current Ruler. As Ruler of [Nam’Dal], you must choose which deity to align your holding with. Based on your selection, your city will receive Perks related to your choice.

You may revoke or change your deity choice at any point, and you will retain the City Perks you have gained. WARNING: You may invoke undying godly wrath by doing so.

Current Deity: Mordecai, God of Thievery

Current Perks:

[Sewers and Ratways]

[Heist Equipment]

[Corrupt Officials]

[Architected for Theft]

An attached piece of parchment explained each of the current perks. From what she could tell, the perks were a mixture of architectural and political features. [Sewers and Ratways] provided the city with a pristine underground system of tunnels. [Corrupt Officials] ensured that any government official could be bribed if the price was right.

Momo squinted at the paper. I’m not sure I’d call these ‘perks.’

Your holding can gain ranks, which lead to better Perks. Ranks are gained by population increase, citizen education, prosperous guilds, businesses, and organizations, increased territory size, among other things.

At each rank, the city deity will award the holding with a Perk of increasingly greater rarity. At Rank 1, a city will receive [Common] perks, at Rank 3 [Rare] perks, and so on.

[Nam’Dal] is currently Rank 3.

Momo let the information soak in. Okay – so if she wanted to improve the city, it would gain ranks, and then consequently gain perks, which Mordecai would hand out to her. That was all nice and dandy, except for one thing. Valerica had explicitly instructed her to change the deity to Morgana, so that Nam’Dal could be considered part of the Necromage’s upstart ‘Queendom of Decay’ or whatever.

Momo sighed. She really, really didn’t like the sound of ‘invoking undying godly wrath.’ She had invoked a mild amount of godly wrath last month, and was allergic to all things warm for almost two weeks. It had been hell.

Nevertheless, she began sorting through the paperwork to the part about changing deities. It was etched with about fourteen more warnings, each scribbled in increasingly red ink. Charitibly, there was one section that detailed what the gods weren’t allowed to do in retribution.

Gods are not permitted to 1) directly execute the leader of a city, although they are allowed to hire a mortal to do so, 2) plague the city with blood clouds, pestilence, rats, beetles, or frogs, unless one has obtained a permission slip from the Plague Control Committee.

Momo was wrong. Charitable had not been the correct word. The disclaimers filled her with even greater worry than before.

She stared at Sera, who had dozed off in her seat in the center of the room. Momo momentarily considered slipping the responsibilities back to her. She seemed like someone who would be far better equipped for dealing with blood clouds, pestilence, and murder attempts.

But Valerica would be so mad. Ugh.

Before she could think better of it, she wrote Morgana, neat and clean, in the deity change box.

–

One thing Momo did enjoy about ruling was the repetition. She had a set schedule, given to her by the Bauble Chancellor, which outlined all the important meetings and projects she’d have to see to on that given day. 

In the morning, she’d bring milk and chopped tuna to Dusk’s presidential suite – a private room with a cat-sized Nether bath, courtesy of Valerica. By midday, she’d meet with a few guild leaders: seafood brunch with Teddy, cheese and black bread with Rudolph and Fromage, fancy tapas with Alexi. All the socialization was wrapped up by seven, and the time after was devoted to ‘administrative duties.’

Administrative duties, by and large, meant meetings with Valerica.

–

“Valerica, not to be impolite, but – where exactly are we?”

Valerica had reclaimed the summoning stone for herself, and used it at will – very much at will – to summon Momo to wherever she pleased. More often than not, it meant this specific room.

It was a cramped, circular chamber with large windows, overlooking a vast, endless forest. She first assumed it to be one of the Dawn’s outlook towers, but the trees outside were foreign. Purple and pink blossoms bloomed off branches, in stark contrast to the steady oakes and birches of the forests in Brulane.

Valerica giggled. She sat on the floor, cross-legged, reading a dusty tome. The room was sparse, only including a rug, some books and blank parchment, and a cot for sleeping. Momo couldn’t imagine Valerica living here full-time. It was way below her requirement of decadence.

“Oh this? Just a place for humble beginnings,” she said melodically, opaque as usual. “Somewhere the Circle of the Sun won’t bother looking.”

The Circle of the Sun. If Momo recalled correctly, those were King Jarva’s own Excaliburs. She was relieved to know that Valerica was trying her best to stay out of their line of sights.

“The view is wonderful,” Momo said softly, joining her on the floor to look out at the vista.

“Spectacular, isn’t it? Now imagine some bodies hanging off those supple trees…”

Momo’s jaw unhinged, not hiding her reaction.

“Kidding,” Valerica laughed wildly, throwing her head back. “I’ll leave using knights as decoration to Sera. I have more refined tastes than that, I’d hope you know.”

Momo’s gaze wandered over to one of the Everbright torches illuminating the room. A trapped soul bobbed in and out of view of the flame, mouth open in a silent, tormented scream. Momo still wasn’t sure she considered that refined, but she wasn’t going to branch that subject today.

“Anyway,” Valerica continued, and Momo tore her eyes away from the screaming flame. “This meeting is about you. I want these one on one’s to be an open place where you can feel free to ask any and all questions. Where do I bury a dead body, Valerica? How do I fake a funeral, Valerica? How many toes is too many toes, Valerica? Just some examples. I won’t judge you for anything you ask.”

Valerica might not judge her, but Momo was certainly judging Valerica for that list of examples.

“Oh, well, I actually do have a question,” she said, fiddling with her hands. “It said there could be some pretty bad consequences for changing the deity of a city. And I just changed it as you asked from Mordecai to Morgana. Should I be worried about… plagues, or anything like that?”

“Ah, right, that,” Valerica said with a nod. “Nothing to worry about, no. Morgana has been doing a bit of plotting of her own, you see. Her and Mordecai are close friends – allies, you might call them. Morgana saved Mordecai from the wrath of his brother, Neculai, back in the day. A debt that is being forever repaid.”

A million pounds of weight fell off of Momo’s shoulders. Thank goodness.

“But, of course, you aren’t safe by any means,” Valerica laughed. The weight from Momo’s shoulders immediately started clambering back on. “The King’s offices will hear about a change of leadership and deity, and anything involving Morgana will be reason enough to send a dispatch of Holy Knights.”

“Oh, great,” Momo deflated. “I have a few Nether wolves and a cat with an ego, but I don’t think I have the power to take down an entire group of experts.”

Valerica shook her head with a smile, ruffling the top of Momo’s head.

“Oh Momo, you forget yourself – you’re a ruler now! You don’t have to fight a thing. Your lackeys do!” she grinned, clapping her hands together with capitalistic cheer.

Before Momo could object, Valerica had already raised herself from the floor, concerned with something in the corner of the room. She returned with the green box that had been suspiciously present at all of the election proceedings.

“I keep forgetting to give you this,” Valerica huffed, placing the box down in front of Momo. “You really shouldn’t forget to claim completed quests, Momo. Especially city-conquering ones.”

Oh, right. Momo’s eyes lit up. She hadn’t had the chance to ask Valerica about the Save Nam’Dal Quest, what with all the politics to deal with. A juicy vat of 10,000 XP was still waiting for her.

A stack of parchment appeared politely in her hands. She was thankful it didn’t decide to shoot through Valerica’s windows this time.

QUEST COMPLETE!

You have completed the main objective as well as the bonus objective.

Rewards:

- 10,000 XP

- Guild Fortress (Knight’s Hall)

- Scepter of Ruin (Loot box to receive)

- Knight’s Guild Battalion (Talk to Head Knight Gorbrius)

- Thieves’ Guild Battalion (Talk to Guildmaster Teddy)

“Loot box to receive…” Momo mumbled. “Which box?”

Valerica tapped her nail to the green box before her. “Try this one.”

The puzzle pieces clicking together, Momo felt very dumb. She set down the rest of the parchment stack – which likely included many level ups, she hoped – and inspected the box. She politely undid the ribbon holding it together, tore at the corners of the green wrapping paper, and revealed an eye-catching prize.

Laying at the very top of the box was a long, wooden scepter. It was nearly the size of her – a proper walking staff. It smelled like fresh oak and berries, with a smooth, finely sanded surface. The tip of the staff protruded out into the carved face of an undead raven. It was a bit morbid, but utterly beautiful.

“Wow,” Momo said, completely gobsmacked. “I get to keep this?”

Valerica nodded. “All yours, dear. You earned it.”

As she took it into her hands, a courier informed her of its description.

[Scepter of Ruin]: A scepter only equippable by [Rulers], this weapon awards the user with the skill [Summon Familiar - Vicar]. First raised in the year 1032, Vicar is the undead bird companion of many generations of Necromantic Rulers.