Family time plan
1. Stay in the temple. Look for ways to accelerate its expansion by using our personal power.
2. Have Miklizk spend time among your cultists in a humanoid form. She should get accustomed to civilization
3. Scan dreams of Nuulyd looking for a powerful sources of good or any traces to disappearing tax collectors
4. Take Kate with you to travel in the dreamscape. Try to teach her how to do it herself. Also, have some sex with her during one of the trips, rewarding her for the nice job in your absence and hinting that her chances to become a favourite concubine are higher
5. Poke in the dreams of unborn child trying to communicate
6. Order Kate torture one captive as the first sacrifice to her own child
7. Order acolytes and Mischa to stop raising undead and start gathering&processing resources of the fungal forest.
8. Available ultraviolet imps, spectres and smokewraths should help detecting sources of good in Nuulyd
Family is important, after all.
"Like, dad, I'm, like, almost two months old. I should be allowed to, like, do what I want. People are dumb, I want to go to the forest"
"YOU SHALL OBEY"Three sets of eyes roll simultaneously. "Ugh, fine. I'll hang out with the stupid cultists. Can I at least eat one?"
"ONLY IF YOU BEHAVE"As Mkilzk reluctantly chats with three of the fattest cultists she can find, you head downstairs to oversee construction. Under your personal supervision, the cultists work that much quicker, and with your ability to effortlessly move man-sized pieces of rubble, work progresses quickly. By the end of the week, the tunnels have all been dug, and only the detail work remains- levelling floors, smoothing walls, carving eldritch runes into every flat surface. Then of course the new temple will have to be furnished, though that shouldn't take long. Work should be finished a week from now.
You spend your nights exploring the dreams of Nuulyd. You flit from dream to dream, leaving nightmares in your wake, as you search for signs of Good. A handful of individuals stand out. A baker who hands out free bread to orphans. A salesman who donates generously to the poor. A craftsman who prays for every soul in Nuulyd every night without fail, naming specifically those experiencing particular misfortune. A couple more besides. Their dreams reflect the Goodness in their hearts, and are peaceful and subtly pleasant; as such they repel your influence; no nightmares for these folk.
None of this is unusual, however, and none of it relates to the missing taxmen (or more importantly, the missing taxes). Of this you learn little in an entire week of searching; evidently they are either remarkably capable of shielding their minds, or whatever group is responsible for the disappearances has no agents in the town.
For the most part, in fact, the dreams of Nuulyd are pleasing to you. A corrupting influence has spread across the town, emanating from the temple. Those who it has touched dream of greed, malice, jealousy, spite, and other such satisfying things. You make a note of those whose dreams are especially corrupted, so that the cult can send recruiters round to their doors; no doubt they will prove eager converts.
Though Kate does not possess the mental ability to observe the entire dreamscape, she proves remarkably capable at observing individual dreams. You show her the way to enter a dream without falling under control of the dreamer, to project your presence upon it. With some effort she is capable of doing so, projecting not an exact replica of herself, but rather what she imagines herself to look like; a far more beautiful woman, several inches taller, possessed of absolute dignity. Several Nuulydians dream of this beautiful woman, of whom a handful fall in love and in their dreams proffer rings and promises. Kate watches in disgust as some of her projections accept; their actions controlled by the whim of the dreamer.
This is a danger of entering dreams, you explain to her, as you enter their dreams to tear them to pieces. One requires an iron will to remain in control.
Over the course of the week Kate continues to practice entering dreams; after a few days she is able to not only project her own image, but also summon a handful of objects, and manipulate the environment to a degree.
You decide to reward Kate for her success in expanding and managing the cult in your absence, as you take her dream-form in your hands and ravish her, to her immense delight. Throughout town people have nightmares of a horrible demon having sex with a beautiful woman in every depraved way they can imagine. Especially affected are those who earlier dreamt of marrying the mystery woman, who are horrified at the sight of their love in the embrace of another (said other being a demon does not cheer them up either).
Kate awakens that morning in a most pleasant mood, doubly pleased; once for the reward itself, and again for what it symbolises- the growing favour she enjoys, perhaps leading to an even higher status- even more power.
Meanwhile, you try to contact your unborn child. They stir at the feel of your mind touching theirs, though they do not immediately respond. The demonic portion of their mind seems somewhat weaker than in Mkilzk; when you think a few words of demontongue at her, she does not immediately recognise it. Nevertheless, after a few days of talking to her, she begins to think back in a primitive manner.
You have one of the Good people kidnapped, and present them to Kate to torture as she sees fit, in the name of your child. She has him chained to the altar and gagged, then takes a knife with which she carefully begins flaying him, taking of strips of skin at a time and eating them as he screams into his gag. Once he has lost so much skin that blood loss is liable to become a problem, she starts cutting off toes, sawing halfway through the bone before snapping them off. These too she eats, bones and all.
The man starts to faint, but she brings him back into consciousness with her mental abilities, so that he can witness her cutting open a vein so that she can drink his blood. Once she has drunk her fill, and the terrified man is starting to look quite faint, she bandages the cut so that his agony can be drawn out that much longer. For an hour longer she plays around with him, cutting off fingers and eating those, cutting him, beating him, et cetera. Once she has grown bored, she plucks out his eyes and slits his throat, letting his blood spill down the altar. She then calls another cultist over and commands him to butcher the remains and have the meat preserved, for when she next grows hungry.
The baby is quite appreciative of this display, though it is somewhat difficult for it to be properly praised without a name.
Reports continue to come in; not only tax collectors, but also patrolling bands of soldiers who were enforcing the Duke's laws are disappearing. This is probably related to something you have noticed yourself: the province-wide suffering that you have been siphoning up for the past few months is diminishing- clearly the people are feeling better about their lot in life than before. Something or someone must be behind this. You will
-Do nothing for now. Wait for them to reveal themselves.
-Hunt them down. I mean, you don't know where to look, and the province is pretty big, but how hard can it be?
-Have the Duke redouble efforts to oppress the population, and reinforce his patrols with your minions.
Not much to add, really. Maybe I should've made this update two weeks long, given that nothing much has changed.
...well, too late now. I'd have to rewrite too much.
Name: Nokluvgn
Age: 11.25 months
Physical might: 51 (+1 p/w: province-wide suffering) (-1: leakage)
Mental might: 75 (+1 p/w: province-wide suffering)(+1 p/w: Worship)(-3: leakage)
Followers:505 (290 cultists, 14 cultists (armed), 7 magically trained cultists, 50 Nails (armed), 1 Finger (heavily armed), 40 mercenaries (armed), 47 soldiers, 26 senior soldiers. 3 Lesser Wordbearers, 4 Wordbearers, 2 trained Wordbearers (armed), 1 Wolfmaster, 7 knights (heavily armed), 7 mining engineers, 1 Mayor (lesser Wordbearer), 1 Duke)
Slaves: 18 (4 priests, 1 high priest, 7 guards (armed), 6 captives)
Servants: lots (4 Brutewolves, 3 Smokewraiths, 10 spectres, 4 giant-rat-packs, 10 black imps, 4 ultraviolet imps, 20 skeletons, 4 Hollow Remnants, 6 fungal druids, 20 zombies, 3 Klrntvs)
With Malkus:(10 smokewraiths, 26 spectres, 10 black imps, 5 midnight imps, 32 skeletons, 10 hollow remnants, 150 zombies, 8 Wights, 5 rock trolls, 5 cryptbrains)
Cults:
The New Way: Medium organization. 417 members (290 cultists, 13 Acolytes, 50 Nails (armed), 1 Finger (heavily armed), 40 mercenaries (armed), 3 Lesser Wordbearers, 2 Wordbearers, 2 magically trained Wordbearers, 2 trained Wordbearers (armed), 5 knights (heavily armed), 7 mining engineers, 1 Mayor (lesser Wordbearer), 1 Duke)
Slaves: 18 (4 priests, 1 high priest, 7 guards (armed), 6 captives)
Servants: 28 zombies, 4 skeletons.
Power level: 31 (20 used)
Of which: 8 spent recruiting, 4 spent constructing underground temple in Nuulyd (82/100), 4 spent harvesting from the fungal forest, 4 spent training new Nails (8/30)
Secrecy estimate: Fine
Resources: 1128 (+20 p/week: Duke's income)(+5 p/w: Copper mines)(-18: constructing underground temple in Nuulyd)(+12: fungal forest)(-8: Kate's recruitment)
Locations: Nuulyd: Merchant & town council & jail connections. Mayor converted.
Castle Brylib: Court connections+.
Oegorda: Nokluvgn may have been detected here. No wizards to be found.
Fözdoch Province (misc): No special features.
Other:
The Arms of He Who Beckons: Medium Organisation. 73 members (47 soldiers, 26 senior soldiers)
Power level: 8 (5 used)
Of which: 3 spent on extra training to stand out, 2 spent recruiting.
Resources: 0
Locations: Barracks near the capital.
Other: One senior and three regular soldiers are recruited. Plans continue to be made regarding further promotions for the cult's members. The conclusion is that they will need some experience before earning any real promotions, given their lack of wealth or nobility.
The Cult of the Wolf: Low organisation. 15 members (14 cultists (armed), 1 Wolfmaster(armed))
Servants: 16 wolves, 6 brutewolves
Power level: 4 (4 used)
Of which: 1 spent worshipping Nokluvgn, 1 spent worshipping Mkilzk, 2 spent recruiting wolves.
Resources: 40
Locations: 2 weeks out of Seiyojin. They must first travel north for two more weeks, before heading west for another week to reach the lands of the Ura.
Other: Still travelling and recruiting wolves from the forests.
Champions:
Mischa Alwiz: The Duke's 'loyal' companion, now corrupted by the allure of evil.
Physical Might: 2 (+1: the Vessel)
Mental Might: 15 (+5: the Vessel, +1: Burnt Silver Medallion)
Knowledge: Magic, competent Necromancy.
Possessions: Grey imp (knowledge of human & demonic magic, disguised as a crow), the Vessel (An urn containing 100 souls and a chunk of Nokluvgn's essence; +1 physical and +5 mental, enhances spell-casting stamina. Large and unwieldy, requires knowledge of Necromancy to use), Necromancy study book (enables further Necromancy progress), Burnt Silver Medallion (+1 Mental, attracts Evil and repels Good)
Other: Mischa and her acolytes head to the fungal forest. The mold groves yield a bounty of ingredients, some of which can be sold, others of which will be directly useful in cult rituals.
Malkus Rom, the Black King: The captain of the mercenaries in the Duke's employ, he proved an especially eager convert, requiring only the most minor of rewards before pledging his loyalty to you. He now serves as the Black King of the East, ruling from the ruins of Seiyojin over an undead empire.
Physical Might: 11 (+2: Devil-horse, +2: Blade of Eternal Ash, -1: Black Staff)
Mental Might: 4 (+1: Burnt Silver Medallion, +1: Blade of Eternal Ash, -1: Black Staff)
Knowledge: Competent Tactics.
Possessions: Devil-horse (A huge black horse with demonic strength and intellect; +2 physical strength, greatly increased mobility), Blade of Eternal Ash (+2 Physical, captures souls of its victims (increases Mental by 1)), Burnt Silver Medallion (+1 Mental, attracts Evil and repels Good), Black Staff (-1 Mental and Physical. Enables raising zombies (max 20 p/week), basic magic attacks, and minor mind control)
Other: Malkus and his cryptbrains continue to raise the dead as zombies (slowly). Construction on the walls continues as well. Malkus decides to leave raiding until the wall is completed.
"Kate": A female Wordbearer, trained in combat and magic and provided with arms and armour, now the vessel for your demonic offspring.
Physical Might: 6
Mental Might: 6 (+1: Burnt Silver Medallion)
Knowledge: Adequate Mesmerism, basic Magic, novice dream-explorer
Possessions: Burnt Silver Medallion (+1 Mental, attracts Evil and repels Good)
Other: 4.75/8(?) months pregnant.
Mkilzk: The child of Nokluvgn and a female brutewolf. Triplets. They have wings, bladed tails, and horns. Her fur ripples like smoke, yet is solid. They only has one soul.
Physical Might: 8 (youngster)
Mental Might: 4.5 (youngster)(+1: Worship, +1: Burnt Silver Medallion)
Knowledge: Understands demontongue. Capable of (limited) transformation. Smoke manipulation.
Possessions: Burnt Silver Medallion (+1 Mental, attracts Evil and repels Good)
Other: 1.75 months old. Growing quickly. Mkilzk graciously agrees to only eat one leg each of the cultists she 'befriended'. Per your orders, she remains in a humanoid form, though she does grow her teeth out a little to help her bite through.
Fortresses:
Fellshore: Was a small fishing village nestled between a small lake and a forest (with mountains not so far in the distance), it has now been razed. It is undermined with many tunnels and chambers forming a twisted maze, lit with smoky torches, where the shadows form strange shapes in the corner of your eyes.
Smallish labyrinth (10 defence, increases secrecy)(upgrade to Medium Labyrinth halted: 76/200)
Hidden altar: A suitable place to sacrifice to you and praise your dark name.
Copper Mine: A recently reopened mine. Converted engineers and Black Imps oversee the work of the prison labour.
Copper Veins: Generates income (5 resources p/w) if fully staffed (requires 100 workers and 10 overseers)(currently at 100 workers and 12 overseers, generating 5 r p/w)
Seiyojin: Formerly a monastery/garrison perched precariously on the edge of a steep mountain, Seiyojin was attacked by Nokluvgn, and captured after a brief siege. Now the home of Malkus Rom, AKA the Black King.
Defendable approach (provides defensive bonus against assaults), Parital walls (7 defence. Being upgraded to crude walls: 30/50)
Author
Topic: Demonhood 2 -Number of giant minions lost: between 0 and 3- (Read 141582 times)