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Board & Conquest 17: Trade-Offs
🕑 Added 2025-01-21 08:52:34 +0000 UTC-------
With the Nexus connection still unstable and straining their avatars, Miss Athena advised everyone to return to Elphion until she and the Board of Education managed to repair it. She also asked Wepwawet to provide her with a mental picture of the Shuyet’s remains so she could analyze that footage and hopefully track down the responsible party.
If someone could solve this mystery, it would be the goddess of wisdom.
Wepwawet, Ganesha, and Artemis remained behind for a bit even after their classmates had all left; mostly to identify each others’ locations and lift Ganesha’s spirits. That proved to be the toughest part.
“C-can we switch worshipers?” Ganesha begged Wepwawet with tears in his eyes. “Please?”
“Ganesha, I can’t treat my followers like a commodity!” Wepwawet replied with unease. He had never seen his friend look so distraught before. His worshipers must have truly mistreated him to provoke that kind of reaction. “Surely yours can’t be that bad?”
“They are!” Ganesha insisted with a hollow gaze. “They’re obsessed with money! They have an entire caste system based on wealth running everything and haggle over my miracles! It’s never enough for them!”
“Miss Athena said that we couldn’t change nations,” Artemis pointed out. Ganesha’s forehead immediately hit his desk in silent sorrow, causing his friends to pat him on the back. “Hey, come on, don’t cry.”
“Maybe our civilizations aren’t too far apart and we can set up an immigration program,” Wepwawet consoled his friend.
“You think so?” Ganesha asked, his eyes lighting up with hope. “Where’s your civilization?”
“I rule an icy land called Verglane, north of the main continent.” The fact that neither of his friends appeared to recognize the name worried Wepwawet. “What about yours?”
“I think I’m in the far east in a mountainous area,” Ganesha replied. “My worshipers are huge by mortal standards, hill-sized huge. They call their land Megaloria.”
“I landed in the middle of a jungle to the south,” Artemis said while slouching on her chair. “The beasties there don’t even have a name for it. I’ve been teaching them written language.”
Somehow, Wepwawet didn’t think a jungle would prosper right next to a frozen landscape like his own. Half a world might separate him from Artemis if she had landed in the far south.
“Do the names ‘Stahlheim’ and ‘Lavaland’ mean anything to you?” he asked his friends. “Those are the nations bordering mine.”
While Artemis shrugged her shoulders, Ganesha seemed to recognize one of those. “I think I’ve heard the name Stalheim. My civilization trades with them.”
Wepwawet searched his memory and recalled an important detail. “My worshipers mentioned a few other places,” he said. “Their world’s demons come from the so-called ‘Zoramesh Empire,’ elves from the ‘Kingdom of Timberan,’ and dark elves from ‘Shadazar.’”
“Oh, oh, Timberan!” Ganesha nodded in recognition. “Yes, we trade with them! They’re on the other side of a small sea to the southwest!”
Artemis also appeared to recognize one of these locations, but from her dark expression it wasn’t for a good reason. “By dark elves, do you mean elves with horns?"
“Yes!” Wepwawet confirmed. “You’ve encountered them?”
“Of course I did!” Artemis replied with a growl. “Their raiders come from the north to colonize my patch! I had to help my followers repel a few pirate landing parties already!”
Wepwawet crossed his arms and tried to form a mental map of their civilizations in his head. Renarde mentioned that the dark elves’ land of Shadazar was located very far to the south. He didn’t like the implications.
“If the dark elves invade from your northern border, then you’re likely located on the supercontinent’s southern point while I’m established in the far north,” Wepwawet told Artemis, a frown spreading on his face. “I think we’re on the opposite sides of the world.”
“Oh!” Artemis smiled ear to ear. “That’s great!”
Wepwawet blinked in surprise. “And why would it be?”
“Think, Wepy, think, this planet is a sphere!” Artemis replied with enthusiasm. “If I send an expedition to the south, it will eventually loop back into the north and we can make contact!”
While Wepwawet remained speechless out of embarrassment at his friend’s insane proposal, Ganesha cleared his throat and tried to break the news kindly. “That’s, uh… that’s not how geography works, Arty.”
“Of course it works that way!” Artemis insisted. “Sure there’ll be some water between us, but my worshipers can cross those like champs!”
“Well, at least we could try to establish lines of communication,” Wepwawet said with a sigh. His friend never changed her mind once she had a stupid idea in her head. “If only to trade.”
Artemis nodded enthusiastically. “Our civilizations will have a better chance to survive the others if we team up.”
“Huh?” Ganesha stroked his trunk. “But Miss Athena said to keep hostilities to a minimum for now. I don’t think the others will attack us anytime soon.”
Artemis crossed her arms. “That truce won’t last long even if they manage to repair the connection, Ganesha. Trust me on that.”
Wepy scowled. “What makes you think that?"
“Think about it,” she replied. “Civilizations with fewer resources have less chances to survive a Titan Incursion compared to a bountiful land, and they’re not all equal. Who do you think the titans are going to target first?”
“The weak ones,” Wepwawet guessed, much to his dismay. Verglane’s climate and sparse population made it an ideal target. “Each nation must gain as much territory and resources as it can before the first Incursion begins to boost their followers’ chances of survival.”
“That’s how I see it,” Artemis confirmed. “Moreover, our pantheons all have grudges to settle and will push us to take out other classmates. Someone from your family already tried to take you out, Wepy. You think Horus will play nice because my big sister asked him to?”
“No,” Wepwawet replied. “No, definitively not.”
“Plus there’s the titan infiltrator to consider,” Ganesha said. “If they’ve incarnated on Elphion, then they must lead a civilization somewhere and won’t abide by any truce.”
True… could the titan infiltrator be in charge of Lavaland? Were they the driving force behind the magmorians’ aggression? Their raids started before Wepwawet even arrived on Elphion, but he couldn’t discount the possibility that their saboteur benefitted from an early lead. And if not, the truce would only last until the Board of Education repaired the Nexus connection. Hostilities would immediately resume and intensify afterwards.
Wepwawet should find which of his classmates, if any, led his direct neighbors. He had the feeling that would decide a lot going forward.
“Moreover,” Artemis said with a big wide grin. “Meeting in Elphion would let us trade Miracles.”
“Oh, true!” Wepwawet replied, having forgotten that possibility. Their decks remained bound to Elphion’s system—since many of their Miracles were native from there—but nothing would prevent the gods from exchanging cards on that world. “We could polish our decks if we manage to link-up. That would require either having our Champions serve as intermediaries or create a zone where our Influence overlaps though.”
“Hence why I’m going to send my best swimmer to you!” Artemis boasted. “Just keep an eye on your northern coast, Wepy. You won’t miss him!”
“Whoa, slow down!” Wepwawet tried to calm his overenthusiastic friend. “I appreciate the sentiment, but you shouldn’t send a Champion to cross half the world to reach me. They might die on the journey and you’ll need their help more than I do.”
“It’s still too early for me to trade Miracles too,” Ganesha said with a sigh. “I don’t know about you, but I haven’t yet replaced all my starting deck’s cards and the Miracles I collected…” The elephant god shuddered. “You won’t like them.”
“Ugh, you boys are no fun,” Artemis complained, her avatar flickering in and out of existence. “Anyway, gotta go!”
Wepwawet too felt his connection waning, so he bade goodbye to his friends and returned to Elphion. Hardly a few hours had passed since he left, a time which his Champions had put to use to unfreeze Wintresse’s victims while spirit-wolves who had the luck of being outside the board when the battle started scouted the forest for food. A camp had sprung up next to the witch’s house, with dozens of mortals now slowly warming themselves next to bonfires after years of paralysis. Most were humans, but they also included a few werelings among their numbers; a host of would-be soldiers and heroes who tried and failed to take Wintresse out over the years.
Wepwawet checked this group’s stats in case any of them had the potential to become Champions. None of them had the spark, but his Providence detected a suitable candidate nearby.
The signal is coming from inside the Icefall… Wepwawet focused his attention on it until he noticed a large shape trapped inside hundred-years old ice. A powerful creature remained trapped there in deep cryogenic hibernation. Wepwawet distinguished the outline of a mammoth, similar to the rotting creature which his mysterious enemy unleashed against his Champions earlier, but with a set of humanoid features like arms and legs. It was probably some ancient wereling. It’ll take time to unfreeze that one, but its Rank seems high enough…
Wepwawet assessed the area and examined the layout of the land with his Influence. Icefall had a lot of potential as a fortress-town under proper management, and he required followers in the area to extract more mana from the leyline anyway. He also sensed multiple other potential Altars further north and east.
However, guiding multiple communities required a lot more effort than managing one. Wepwawet was now at a point where he would have to start delegating tasks to his Champions and other mortals.
Thankfully, the System appeared to agree and offered him an appropriate quest.
You have claimed two founts of mana. You can now empower Prayer spells for divine-based classes by designing the proper Obedience—a daily ritual for mortals to prove their faith. Once you have selected an Obedience, that choice can no longer be changed.
New Quest: Shepherd of Many Flocks I
Design an Obedience ritual.
Reward: You can fuel Prayer spells for divine classes such as Clerics, Oracles, and Paladins.
Most godly systems allowed for the creation of specific classes whose Perks drew their power from a deity. This allowed a god to spread their teachings and observe the world through their missionaries’ eyes without constantly relying on their Champions.
The Obedience requirement bothered Wepwawet. Should he go for a public ritual so his followers would be forced to advertise their allegiance? Or should he go for a subtler and simpler ordeal in case he wanted his priests to act in secret?
Two new tasks open for each one I complete, Wepwawet thought as he put those questions on the backburner. He needed more time to figure this ritual out. I should attend to my current followers’ needs before thinking about recruiting more.
Wepwawet then manifested spirit back into the camp, much to the newly unfrozen men’s surprise. “Be not afraid, for I am Wepwawet, god of this land! Your god!” he boasted before turning to his Champions. “How has it been?”
“We’ve… freed the captives, Lord Wepwawet,” Victoire said. She looked just as subdued as before, even after her wounds healed. Wepwawet decided he would need to have a chat with her on her own time. “Most were thawed out without issue.”
“See?” Wintresse said, the mere sound of her voice chilling her former victims more than the frost. “It wasn’t so bad.”
Viviane glared at her, but decided to move on. “A few of these people should still have living families in Roynimalia, Your Godliness, but many of them have nowhere to go.”
“Then we will host them in Narc,” Wepwawet decided before pointing at his Altar. “Viviane, would you kindly put a hand on my statue?”
“Uh, sure.” Viviane followed through and immediately disappeared in a flash of light, much to everyone’s astonishment.
Wepwawet observed his dumbfounded Champion teleport from his Altar back to his Idol’s feet in Narc, and quickly materialized his spirit there to welcome her.
“Surprised?” he told Viviane, delighting in her bewilderment.
“This… this is Narc?” The ranger stared at the sprawling town below the Idol, and then touched the latter again in her excitement. Wepwawet immediately teleported her back to Icefall in an instant. “Awesome! No more backtracking!”
“I can transport anyone touching my statues to another across the land,” Wepwawet told his followers. “Narc and Icefall are now a mere touch away from each other.”
“The town of Narc, you said?” Wintresse’s eyes widened with fascination. Wepwawet doubted she ever teleported farther than a hundred meters. “Incredible… I know no displacement spell powerful enough to cover such a vast distance in a blink of an eye.”
“At this point, I am not sure if we can truly call Lord Wepwawet’s achievements magic,” Renarde said. Wepwawet noticed that she uttered his name with a lot more respect since surviving her first B&C battle. “These are not spells, but miracles.”
“You’re damn right, and I shall dispense more miracles soon,” Wepwawet boasted. “Victoire, Renarde, Filou, Viviane, your bravery in battle today entitles you all to a greater blessing. I shall imbue you with greater strength according to your preferences.”
Renarde’s head perked up with interest. “I may choose my boon, Lord Wepwawet?”
“From a set of them,” Wepwawet confirmed after checking her stats. Renarde’s stats granted her the largest array of available classes among his followers: Werefox, Bard, Witch, and Archeologist of all things. “Your potential can take many forms, Renarde. You can take the path of the fox or that of song, both of which you already walk; or new ones, such as witchcraft and the pursuit of the past.”
“My, my…” Renarde chuckled to herself and hid her smile behind her fan. “I knew I was special, my lord, but those are quite the many gifts you’re offering. I feel spoiled.”
“What about me?” Viviane asked with excitement. Teleporting across the world seemed to have renewed her enthusiasm. “Which boons can I pick?”
“I see that two paths open to you, Viviane,” Wepwawet said after checking her stats. “That of the ranger, on which you currently walk; or that of the sniper, mistress of the bow.”
Viviane didn’t take long to reach a decision. “I’ll stick with what I know, Your Godliness.”
“My answer has not changed either since last time, my lord,” Filou said with a firm nod. “My only wish is to serve Milady to the best of my ability.”
His words caused Victoire to look a bit embarrassed, doubly so when Wepwawet questioned her next. “What about you, Victoire?” he asked his first and greatest Champion. “Yours is the Snowheart’s power, but I can also bless you with a holy warrior’s strength.”
Ranking her up in Paladin wouldn’t yield too many results at the moment, since she wouldn’t be able to access its Prayer-based Perks yet, but he couldn’t see anybody else performing better in that role than Victoire.
“I’m…” Victoire cleared her throat and looked away. “If you wouldn’t mind, Lord Wepwawet, I will need time to think this through.”
Whoa, she’s truly unwell. Wepwawet studied his first Champion for a moment before assenting to her wish. “Take as much time as you need, Victoire,” he consoled her. “There is wisdom in patience.”
Or at least his mother always said that was the case. Victoire thanked Wepwawet with a wordless nod, with her silence clearly bothering her squire. He had picked up on her strange behavior too.
By now, Renarde had finished considering his proposal. “What would these paths entail for me, Lord Wepwawet?” she inquired. “Would I wield magic rivaling that of our dear Wintresse here if I take the path of the witch?”
Wintresse couldn’t suppress her laughter. “You are years if not centuries away from rivaling my sorcery, fox, though I applaud your moxie.”
“I cannot say what exact shape my gift will take,” Wepwawet conceded. Elphion’s system didn’t allow him to see what a class’ next Perk would be. “All I can say is that the fox path will let you tap into your kind’s unique ancestral potential, while the others are skills open to others.”
“A potential unique to us foxes?” Renarde smiled ear to ear. “How could I resist such a lure, Lord Wepwawet? The path of the fox I shall take then!”
“Then it’s decided,” Wepwawet replied with a nod. He extended a hand at his Champions and blessed everyone except Victoire with the light of a Rank-Up.
Filou has ranked up in Squire! +3 STR, +3 AGI, +3 VIT, +3 SKI, +3 MAG, +3 INT, +3 CHA, +3 LCK! He has gained the Man-At-Arm I Perk!
Man-At-Arm I: You are adept at carrying heavy equipment; your total equipment’s weight is reduced by 3 points.
Viviane has ranked-up in Ranger! +2 STR, +4 AGI, +1 VIT, +5 SKI, +1 MAG, +2 INT, +4 LCK! She has gained the Favored Mark I Perk!
Favored Mark I: Select a Type of enemy. Attacks made with weapons covered by your Long-Range Master Perk always inflict the appropriate Slayer supereffective effect on them (Selected Type: Elemental).
Renarde has ranked-up in Werefox! +2 STR, +2 AGI, +3 VIT, +3 SKI, +3 MAG, +4 INT, +5 CHA, +1 LCK! She has gained the Nine-Tails Perk!
Nine-Tails: You gain an additional tail per Rank (max 9) empowering you with magic and fortune. Each tail grants you +1 MAG and LCK.
Unfortunately, Wepwawet soon encountered the bane of all Champions when he tried to bless Renarde.
The four-Perks slot syndrome!
Warning: A Champion can only learn four Perks beyond their innate one! Choose a Perk to be overwritten, or abandon Nine-Tails.
“Renarde, my power will come at a cost to you,” Wepwawet warned the werefox. “I will have to remove my gift of tongues to bless you.”
“Oh?” Renarde stroked her chin in surprise. “Why me alone?”
“Well… the truth is that a mortal can only bear so much divine power without negative effects,” Wepwawet explained. All Systems approached the problem differently, but the four Perks limit was designed to enforce a certain competitive balance for Titan Incursions. Since titans could create monster servants from nothing, restricting all units’ abilities prevented the enemy from escalating with ever more powerful horrors in return. “I won’t go into the boring esoteric details, but I cannot grant you more skills without removing others first. If my new power bothers you, I can at least switch it back to your old gift of tongues.”
“In other words, I am simply too good.” Renarde pondered the proposal and then folded her fan. “Very well. I have already translated my scrolls anyway, and I’m certain my lord’s new power will trump that.”
“It will,” Wepwawet promised. He overwrote the Translation Perk—which he could teach back to Renarde anyway another time—with the new one. Renarde’s silvery tail immediately split in two in response, both shuddering with magic.
“Ooooh…” Renarde immediately stroked her new appendages. “I feel power coursing through me.”
“A power that can change the body and the soul…” Wintresse muttered to herself before bowing to Wepwawet. “What would it take for you to bless me with ever stronger sorcery, master?”
“We’ll turn Icefall into a new fortified town, and I’ll assign someone to manage its construction soon,” Wepwawet replied. He thought Goreville would probably appreciate this task and thrive in it. “Since you’ve overseen the area for years, Wintresse, I will have you advise my chosen representative. Work hard and you’ll eventually be rewarded with your own fief.”
Wintresse nodded. “A simple enough task, should your choice of a commander prove wise enough to listen.”
Wepwawet had little doubt about that. All was going well on this front so far, and he hoped that Goreville had found similar success in his own mission. He hadn’t focused on the werewolf since the B&C battle and should check on him soon.
Carrying a message to the magmorians and bringing Jasper back home couldn’t have been that difficult, right?
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A/N: currently working on a 'stat archive' for miracles and units for you to consult. Otherwise current schedule is Tuesday/Thursday for this week while DW is in its launch phase.
Comments
George R
Awesome chapter
Void Herald
It's the Fossil Pokemon of that world ;)
Publius Decius Mus
So, a weremammoth champion? That sounds fun!
