Chapter 54: Revelations of Threats

Sammy played a bit with the Mirror Sense on water surfaces… it was fairly vast but also sort of a novelty without a specific need for it. She did try the oceans but the reflections weren’t good enough with the tides, currents, general absorption with depth, and so on. As expected, the undisturbed ponds and small lake surfaces were the best.

And she could also see under such water, down into the depths, from mirrors formed on the other side of the surface.

Caneboro, where it had rained recently, was visible in many splendid angles, from puddles on the paved roads and such. Shallow water and dark backgrounds made a very nice mirror out of a water surface.

Checking in on the camp, Lord Carlisle had roused and inspired Merril finally, who was grumpily identifying items in a large tent. When Sammy touched base with Carlisle, he insisted on demonstrating an item, inviting her to a mirror.

“This was found on Thadeus if you recall,” the lord said as he put on a silver ring, then muttered a command word. Sammy was struck with sudden alarm and shock as blood seemed to spurt dramatically from his back, as from a terrible impaling. His face got paler and a little blood dribbled from his mouth.

His eyes widened and he fell to his knees.

“Lord Carlisle!” Sammy cried in terror as she shot onto her feet. She began sending for Estara to come and-

Merril scoffed, scowling down at Carlisle and then into the mirror. “Tch! You are so gullible.”

Carlisle grinned suddenly, briefly. He spoke the same command word again, and the whole illusion was dispelled as he rose.

Sammy glared at him. “Don’t scare me like that!” With a huff, she sat back down on her throne, arms crossed.

The nerve!

“Apologies, Your Majesty,” Carlisle said, and he totally didn’t mean it, either. “Dramatic license... thought it would hit home the point.”

“Yes, Thadeus’s ruse,” Sammy declared. “The arrow in the back, the ‘mortal wound’ that dropped him from his horse. Magical illusion… which is ironic, I suppose.”

“A little. This is barely a magical item. Requires imprinting with an appropriate illusion spell and mana charging. The effect can only be minor alterations at best, themed to ‘a dramatic display.’ In any case… at least this absolves Bob and the other. Maybe.”

“What — Bob?! You can’t be serious, he fought for his life with us!”

Carlisle shrugged. “True, but it helps to consider possibilities. Perhaps he was part of it, then had second thoughts.”

Merril chimed in with, “Or planted the ring on the body at some point.”

Carlisle squinted his eyes and his hand came up to rub at his chin. “He did get the keys off of Thadeus’s body…”

Sammy looked between them as if they were mad. “Guys, dial the paranoia down a notch! Clearly, Bob was fooled by a ruse intended to let him and the other escape believably to carry shifty news back to the manor. Our being closer on their heels than they realized is what ruined it all. Thaddy The Baddy would’ve called his minion to action in that fight. Possibly all that it would’ve taken to turn the tides, too.”

“It is at least true that they were not expecting us. And it wouldn’t surprise me if that scumsack double-crossed any accomplices and had them killed. Would’ve been nice to extract it from him before he died, but it wasn’t my decision. The marchioness understandably took the matter rather personally.”

“Thanks for letting me know about it. Be sure to let your liege know as well.”

“Naturally, Your Majesty. Actually, she told me to send her word when she could communicate with you directly.”

“Again, none should speak my name out loud in this area. I want to take every precaution possible so that we aren’t overheard. Also, hold on, because I want to observe Merril with his spell.”

She watched as Merril Identified a couple of items: the sickle of the frogman shaman and a potion. It was a vital shortcut in her head, feeling little bursts of inspiration from his castings that had the spell construction so very very close to completion. She wanted to rush to the spellbook immediately, feeling like the final pieces of the puzzle were red hot and waiting for release.

The potion was one of ‘Seal Major Wound,’ capable of healing a given discreet wound of any severity other than dismemberment, brain penetration, or what had already caused death. They were both impressed — apparently, it wasn’t at all a common item compared to one of Seal Minor Wound.

The sickle was called… Glogmegglog… and had most of its function wasted without its unfortunately-broken twin… Glogshmelog. Together, they halved the cost of shamanistic buffs.

Individually, the sickle had improved quality and penetration capacity, as well as additional effectiveness through the activation of ‘a ghostflame whip’ that was like a second attack with each swing, following the path but flaring further out. This was almost impossible to parry, but shields or armor could protect. It lasted 1 minute, with a 1-hour cooldown.

“So… who do we give this to? Dax?”

Merril yawned and shook his head. “Useless. Knights have restricted proficiencies as part of the tradeoff from Brute, and this is a crude, unbalanced weapon, not subject to the restrictions of finesse weaponry. She can swing it around, but not use it skillfully.”

“And you?”

“Obviously I’m specialized to finesse weaponry.”

“So this is for… a Brute, or anyone non-finesse centric.”

“A statement of the obvious well executed. Well, I’m tired and out of mana. Can I go now?”

“Already?” Carlisle asked with a note of disappointment. “There are a couple more items…”

Merril glared at him deadpan, then rose. “I’m going back to sleep. I think I’ve earned it after this and all the almost-dying, fucking myself over trying to be a hero bits.”

They watched him shuffle out in his generally dispirited demeanor to things, saying nothing.

When he was gone, Carlisle sighed. “He’s much changed from before.”

“Yeah… I’ll figure it out, in time. For now, send word to Marchioness Agatha, if you would. If she’s ready to swear, I’ll send the Greenleaf query.”

It was not long before Carlisle sent confirmation, and Sammy sent a mental ping and the information required.

1 FE gained due to user belief/acknowledgment. Note: not yet a Follower.

Follower conversion successful. 1 FE gained. 1 Daily FE gained (total: 23).

Immediately after, Samantha gently pinged again, then sent, “Marchioness Agatha, I am the Goddess behind Greenleaf. Salutations.”

Agatha adjusted very smoothly to the communication, despite it being technically awkward for her. “Your Majesty. It is an honor to meet the mastermind behind saving my life. I admit to being curious as to what I owe such consideration.”

“Observation while you were at Carlisle’s manor. Carlisle’s people, too, who serve a man you call friend. You are both considerate, compassionate leaders. I could tell there was a genuine love for you in your people and saw your manner with them in turn. In short, I wanted to help you.”

“A noble deity would be a departure from the horror stories publicly told… not that most reasonable folk believed them. Neither did my father who secretly told me stories of the Fae. The Dominion’s influence here has dissolved over generations. They do next to nothing but flex their brain muscles at us, collect taxes, and steal our brightest away, while we guard their borders diligently. For what? Honor.”

“I see. I’m glad to know such a high noble has reason to dislike what is obviously my natural enemy. They still send agents out here to crush any spiritual threats, I hear.”

“Oh, they have that down like clockwork, Goddess. Arrogantly so, I’d say. There used to be organizational charters. There still is one in our capital, but it’s a shadow of itself. More of a sleepy retiree assignment. The prior ruler before my late husband, his father, had a fairly formidable advisor, but when he died of old age, they never replaced him. We never had anything more than temporary visitors.”

It seemed like mostly good news about Oldaster to Samantha. Animosity, the annoyance of an aloof, foreign tax master and ‘drafter’ effectively, with little oversight. The problems were more extensive than she realized. If such resentments were shared between neighboring lands…

“Hmm. So, normally there is a male Marquess in Oldaster?”

“Yes. My husband and my sons are all dead.”

“My condolences… let me guess: your death would be a power struggle.”

There was something of a sigh. “Yes, there’s nothing I can do about that, due to unclear laws about ‘fitness’ that the Dominion would otherwise subtly control and enforce. Certain men are licking their chops about the opportunity. The man I’d prefer — barely — is the second most powerful, and despises the other, and many despise him, and so on.”

“Great. Well, whoever Thadeus would benefit from is the one we should oppose.”

“I don’t know anything anymore about who to trust. I thought he was just an asshole and mildly incompetent, not… that. As a knight, he could’ve been promised some new lordship. A barony, perhaps.”

“He faked his own death, however…”

A bitter, humorless laugh. “Ah. I haven’t had the chance to tell even Carlisle, but he taunted me a bit. He denied anything more than a vague ‘master,’ but he did mention the plan: I’d be cut up to bleed out, then he’d carry me out with a story of heroics, a big made-up lie from the ‘apparent’ death to a daring escape then a rescue, but not quite in time to keep me from a mortal wound.

“He’d say I fought hard to live even in agony and weakness, but my body failed me. Take it back to the manor while Carlisle was still chasing shadows… crying over my corpse, bloodied, raving about the plot of frogmen and Taevorn, one that wanted a valuable sacrifice for power and another wanting a death to cause chaos in a supposed rival. Implication of vile agents in Taevorn.”

Sammy grimaced. What a fucker. “You’d have no doubt praised his heroics before you passed.”

“Of course. Perhaps wish he could be the heir, such was his noble and humble nature, his capability and grit. So gallant it makes me want to puke.”

“I mean this slightly ironically, but I suppose I was premature in thinking Oldaster was a righteous land if there were others in on this plot. Or even without, considering the greed for power issue.”

“Yes, well… I’m sorry to spoil your innocence there. Understand, neither man seems terrible exactly, but something changes in people when a rival might take something and lord it over you. All it takes is a few snubs, or flying words after too much to drink, or some unfortunate rumors of secret liaisons… and then rivers of blood must flow to stick it to that son of a bitch. The game is on. That’s politics.”

“And the Dominion has no interest in helping?”

“None. I tried several times, early on, but they do nothing, even when they ‘visit.’ ‘We’ll pass it up the chain.’ As long as we’re here like a stumbling block for any Southlands invasion or skirmishes… and as long as we’re sending our tributes, they don’t otherwise care.”

“Well… one day, hopefully, it can be resolved more amiably. Until then, we’ll keep you alive, if you don’t mind.”

A bark of a laugh. “I’ve got a few more good years in me at least, Your Majesty, stars willing.”

Sammy bid her farewell with the promise of more in the future. At the least, one day she’d arrange for proper conversion and her real name shared. But it could wait.

She strongly wanted to hit the book and finish up Identify, but there was something that for fuck’s sake could not wait a minute more! It was getting on her last damn nerve!

With all the Insistent Mind Yelling power in her level 2 Goddess self, she sent shittons of alarm and urgency to Redberry.

“Fucking answer me, damn it! It’s important!”

She may have felt a slight annoyance come through, so she kept doing it.

“Answer-me-answer-me-answer-me-answer-me-answer-me-answer-me-answer-me-answer-me-answer-me-”

Finally, with nothing more than a sigh and a sway of tall weeds, Redberry answered, as though in agonized long-suffering to have to. “Can I really not just blot you out for a few months or years? I’m not in the mood for dusty, annoying flutterings. Shoo. I have a headache.”

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« Chapter 53 | Table of Contents | Chapter 55: Not Exactly a Nympho »

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Samantha, Virgin Goddess of Mirrors & Illusion
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Goddess Level 2; Minor Deity

Domains (2/3): Mirrors, Illusion
Faith Energy: 1002/2000
FE (Illusion): 9
Followers: 17 (Daily FE Gain: 23 [25])

Devout: 3
Priests: 3

Brute: 0
Rogue: 0
Wizard: 1 [8/20]
Bard: 0 [2/10]

Special Skills: First Aid, Tarot Reading, Priestly Ordination, Holy Relic Investiture, Read Runes, Spell Construction, Detect Magic

Special Traits: Token User, Immortal, Demiplane Domain, Conceptual Body, Fueled By Faith

Powers: Faith Energy Utilization, Grant Prayer (Illusion), Mirror Sense (at will), Mirror Communication (at will), Create Illusion, Grant Invisibility, Dazzling Spectrum, False Auras, Mirroring Duplicates, Reflect Force, Mirror Maze

Status: Token User Promotional Bonus (5/30), New Deity Grace Period (5/7), Free Minor Divine Enchantment (Accessory; 1-use)