Chapter 36: Chasing Carrots

Sammy split the time her Followers’ sleep periods allowed between runebook cramming and deliberating about ranks and precepts. Not only did she want ranks in the cult to play with — and needed both priest and non-priest versions — she wanted codenames for any needed use outside closed doors. She decided to go with birds and made her own ‘form’ for the ranks.

It was a pain to summon it all up out of her memory or ‘make shit upness,’ but she was reasonably satisfied. She went around and around about the higher honorifics, but she ultimately wanted to choose things distinct from typical ‘royal’ connotations such as ‘Your Highness’ or ‘Your Grace’.

Deciding to decouple the term ‘Anointed’ from Devout was something she felt was necessary. She didn’t want it to be directly tied to the quality grade. It felt cheap to do so, and she wanted to assign higher positions regardless of her connection in that way.

At first, she wanted ‘Grand Master’ in there, but unfortunately the female equivalent (Grand Mistress) sounded like BDSM to her and maybe even ‘master’ was — and was she supposed to have a ‘normal master’ if there was a grand, anyway? ‘Yes, Master,’ ‘No, Master’... oh, hell no. No fucking Igors or slave genies or whatever the hell up in her cult. Not that they would necessarily see it that way, and it was probably respectful in other languages, but...

She scrapped it, regardless. Her problem, but her cult. If people wanted to do their own thing beyond the official, well, that was their business.

She also thought about continuing the ‘Illumined’ and ‘Luminous’ themes, and incorporating them into honorifics, but… they became even more obsequious or weird-sounding. ‘Luminous’ seemed okay, but ‘Your Brilliance’... ‘Brilliancy?’ No. ‘Your Radiance,’ ‘Your Resplendence,’ ‘Your Incandescency’-

Gah! Forget all that. This works fine. Less chance of Orswyth getting sullen about being called some ridiculous thing that offends his humility.

The runebook study went well, and she flew through the forms and strange meanings of the third one she read on through the night and beyond midnight.

The quest “Wizard Apprentice: Runebook 3” is complete. 1 exp [Wizard] granted.

“Three down, one to go.” Floofa was napping on top of Sammy’s head when she closed the book and released it to go spinning and drifting up through the air.

When her cabbit woke up soon after, she suddenly made a warning, snuffling series of sounds and poised up on her owner’s head in an instant, to leap and pounce on the book in midair, taking it down to the patio floor with it and roll around, gnawing and clawing at it.

“Floofa protect Sammy! Grrr!”

Sammy laughed delightedly at the harmless enterprise — the book could hardly be damaged in any real sense. She cheered in support. “Good Floofa! Get that nasty book!”

The cabbit went to town on it some more, grappling the defenseless book with her front legs and scraping with her hind legs furiously, fur all bushed out.

The ‘interloper’ was surely quite soundly defeated.

Floofa then suddenly hopped up and pushed it away, strolling back over to Sammy while her bushy tail curled around, ramping up her cuteness with a proud pose. “Carrot for Floofa?”

“Not just one” — a carrot appeared in Sammy’s hand — “but two!” Poof! Another glorious fat carrot appeared.

Hopping over excitedly, Floofa stood on her hind legs and took both carrots in her little arms, soon munching away on each erratically, as if unable to decide which was more delicious after each bite.

Sammy noticed Carlisle’s group was already waking up to push through the night and catch up with their froggy enemies. When Sammy related tracking info, which involved the group apparently cutting off hard to the east, Carlisle was stunned.

“Why are they headed to the Sachins? Those are woodlands under the Barony of Halsach. But it isn’t in the wildlands and doesn’t lead anywhere south much at all. It just intrudes on its far eastern side into the March of Taevorn. They have lumber camps there. So does Halsach. Much of the woods is occupied. Not all, I suppose. Woods are woods.”

Sammy was also sensing some intrigue in the matter. “Are you allowed to pursue if they enter Taevorn?”

“Oldaster and Taevorn are staunch allies and passage is entirely allowed under two hundred men. Technically more for exceptional issues like this, though it would draw attention. We’re obviously far under it anyway. But there’s nowhere to go. The border south is no easier to cross for frogmen here than Oldaster.”

“Could they have holed up in the woods, have a little community?”

Carlisle was disturbed by the matter, clearly. “It’s difficult to believe. If so, they will inevitably be rooted out.”

“With any luck, we’ll uncover clues soon. Do you think Sir Thadeus is close in pursuit?”

There was a dismissive brushing off of the idea. “He’s either already dead along with his men or will chase air halfway to the border. Or even all the way. He’s not a man I’ve ever approved of as Agatha’s protector. More clout than he’s worth. I doubt he’s tracking them effectively. Honestly, no one would think they’d bank east to go trap themselves in the woods.”

The lord gave a mental sigh. “I need to send a couple of runners off about this. Taevorn will lend additional aid for issues in the Sachins, for sure. Better they know sooner than later.”

“Of course, Lord Carlisle. Until later, then.”

Sammy disconnected. She could feel Dax and Merril lamenting getting up so early. Estara was fairly peppy at least, even conducting some brief prayers despite the busy conduct of the dark morning.

I need to just raise her up as a priestess soon, to have one along with these questers. Her healing efforts would be boosted under the cover of her existing talents, and she could begin getting experience.

Pouring into the last runebook, she ground through the tedious first rune, finding her speed pretty much the same as the last book’s first… three and a half hours.

Rune 2… done, at something shy of three hours. Four more runes to Wizard level 1…

In the late morning, she was aware of alarms and alerts from her followers among the Carlisle group. She flashed to her throne and reached for mirrors to gain information as quickly as possible.

Merril had apparently taken a shard of a mirror and inset it into a piece of wood like Dax had, but connected to a cord around his neck like it was a piece of jewelry.

From the view at his chest, she could see a cluster of men just receiving two harried-looking fighting men, surcoats over their breastplates in red with gold flowers on a silver shield, the symbol all of the marchioness’s men had. All were on horseback. The terrain was grasslands and weeds, with scattered hills and trees evident.

“Ambush, Lord Carlisle!” one of them called in distress as he rode up. “In the early morning as we rushed into the forest. We’re the only… the only two to make it out. Sir Thadeus is fallen! Most were killed. Some were taken…”

“Knights, probably. A little extra ransom, there,” Dax muttered just loud enough to hear.

“Who did this, soldier? And what is your name? I don’t recognize you offhand.”

“That’s Bob, my lord!” one of his own men called.

“Bobaris, my lord,” the marchioness’s man said, nodding. “Bob for short. It was unmarked men, my lord, in plain clothes. Brigands or mercenaries, maybe, but they had Taevornish longbowmen and mancatchers. Bolas.”

“Longbows and bolas are Taevornish specialties,” Carlisle said with a deep frown. “Brigand longbowmen in particular are about as likely as rocking-horse shit. Why exactly did Sir Thadeus go rushing into a forest?”

“We caught sight of a frogman, my lord! As soon as he saw us he made for the woods, so we pursued!”

“You were baited, in other words.”

“Ah…” Poor Bob looked down in sudden sadness. “Yes, my lord, so it seems.”

“Cheer up, Bob!” called his friend.

“Always look on the bright side of life, Bob!” called another, almost sing-song.

“Shut up, you idiots!” Carlisle barked in annoyance.

Bob was nonetheless encouraged by their support as he looked up and nodded his appreciation. “There were a few frogmen among them, my lord, but I imagine the rest had already moved on. We fought only briefly before seeing the day was lost… Sir Thadeus called for a retreat that was almost too late for any of us. It was too late for him, as he took an arrow in the back and fell from his horse… not before he screamed at us to go. Three more were dropped as we rode hard away.”

Carlisle was silent as he considered it.

Fuck, this might be some Game of Thrones type shit, here. But who is pulling it and why?

Sammy connected with the lord mentally and sent, “Does this seem suspicious to you, Lord Carlisle?”

“Yes, Your Majesty, not that I’ll say it out loud. You have everything from an ambitious agent in Taevorn conspiring, to a capable master of the T’shaki simply securing aid, to conspiracy in Oldaster, to a flat-out frame job to consider. I guess the most likely is an effort to sow doubt about who actually obtains the ransom. I hope it isn’t an intent to damage relations between Taevorn and Oldaster.”

“You would know your politics better than I, my lord, but I’m getting extra worried about this venture.”

“It is the sort of quest men die on, after all.”

“You’re not helping. Are you walking into a trap for you, too?”

“Hard to say. Did whoever plotted this know all of my dealings? How quickly I’d return to my manor? I was two days ahead of schedule.”

“Okay, now that makes me feel a bit better. Your forces are stronger?”

“Yes. A better-led veteran fighting contingent, not honor guards with a few notables among them and a shit-for-brains at the head. She wasn’t traveling with any anticipation of the level of force the frogmen brought, though she would usually have a wizard with her. Reckless of her to not reinforce her retinue without him, but a raid like that might’ve taken him out too.”

“Why did she even have such a blow-hard at the lead?”

“Politics and routine. It would have been an offense for him not to, as the appointed Second Guardian of Oldaster. She still had capable warriors — even he is a solid fighter — but it wasn’t up to snuff.”

In the real world, Dax cleared her throat loudly.

Snapping out of his meditations, Lord Carlisle said, “We’ll be pursuing. Cautiously, with scouting. They’ll be able to outpace us that way, but this ambush earned them that. Hopefully, they don’t know we’re coming, as happened to your unfortunate group. Now, who is the better fighter among you?”

Bob and the other glanced at each other, then Bob turned back to the lord solemnly and said, “Definitely him.”

“What?!” cried the other man incredulously.

“Just a final joke, mate. It’s me, Lord Carlisle.”

“Bob’s a fine warrior, my lord!” called his friend amongst Carlisle’s men. “Seen him chop a man in twain!”

“Maybe you did on the berry wine, ya lushy bastard!” said another, to scattered laughter.

“Quiet!” Carlisle barked. “Bob, you’ll come with us. Whatever your name is” — the man chirped, “Dale, my lord” but the lord wasn’t paying attention — “you can ride back to the manor and deliver the news there before heading back to Mot Mekess. The majordomo will send whatever bloody pigeons we have left out. Go.”

“Yes, my lord!” Dale said, then started out on his horse.

“Let’s get going, then. We camp before the woods regardless.”

Before she withdrew, Carlisle sent to her, “When this is all over, or began as you get the chance, Your Majesty, I’d like you to find the spy in my manor. If possible.”

Sammy’s eyebrows rose as she took a deep breath. “Are you sure there is one?”

“No. But it seems likely. I noticed the frogmen didn’t attack the servant’s quarters, though servants elsewhere died. Whether they killed the fool or not deliberately, I can’t know. But if you can use your eyes and ears, it might at least rule things out.”

“I’ll try.”

Briefly in her head, Sammy asked the System, “Are there hidden quests? I imagine this one might not pop up, since it could reveal the whole point of the matter.”

Yes. In some instances, the System assesses quest declaration to be too revealing. Minor meta-knowledge is acceptable, however.

“One other thing,” Sammy sent to Carlisle. “I will make Estara a priestess when next you camp.”

Time to start your new life, girl. Now don’t fucking lose it.

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Samantha, Virgin Goddess of Mirrors & Illusion
____________________________________________________________

Goddess Level 1; Fledgling Deity

Domains (2/2): Mirrors, Illusion
Faith Energy: 854/1000
FE (Illusion): 10
Followers: 10 (Daily FE Gain: 14 [15])

Brute: 0
Rogue: 0
Wizard: 0 [9/10]
Bard: 0

Special Skills: First Aid, Tarot Reading, Priestly Ordination

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

Status: Token User Promotional Bonus (3/30), New Deity Grace Period (3/7)