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Board & Conquest 12: The Expedition
🕑 Added 2025-01-09 09:29:13 +0000 UTC------
Viviane returned from Roynimalia with a new influx of settlers two days after the near-disastrous spar.
Wepwawet immediately noticed the difference from his previous visitors. Narc’s newcomers usually came from local tribes or villages with little more than the shirts on their back. Most were farmers, laborers, or warriors.
The group from Roynimalia was a more diverse lot. It included werecat merchants, weresheep weavers, a werepenguin jeweler, and even a handful of wererats, which Wepwawet had not seen before.
Wepwawet noted a common trend with werelings too. Most of them descended from mammals with the noticeable exception of the werepenguins and wereowls, the rarest of the lot. Did they have amphibian and reptilian cousins further south under warmer temperatures?
Viviane also brought a new potential champion: a purple-feathered female wereowl dressed in elegant, noble-like garb and carrying a scepter suffused with mana. From her attire and commanding presence, she was likely a Roynimalian ambassador of some kind.
Perfect timing, Wepwawet thought. Goreville had been preparing to escort Jasper back to the magmorian general Peridot further south to deliver his message. I could turn this into an official diplomatic mission.
Moreover, the influx of newcomers finally let him reach over five hundred believers. His daily mana would increase to six with over five hundred followers near his Idol: one from the mana leyline, and five from the people. He had finally reached an amount where he could expect to slowly replenish his full reserves so long as he cast his miracles conservatively.
Most importantly, he had finally completed the associated quest!
Quest: Proselytism II, completed! You’ve earned the Animal Kingdom Doctrine Miracle.
Animal Kingdom
Tier 5 Doctrine
Unintelligent (INT ≤ 3) Beast Type creatures of Rank 5 and below within your realm of Influence are automatically Charmed. These creatures will obey your orders to the best of their ability and understanding, but the effect immediately ends once they leave your Influence’s border. Maintenance cost: 1.
New Quest: Proselytism III
Convert over 1,000 worshipers.
Reward: Doctrine Miracle.
Aha, excellent! Wepwawet immediately traded the doctrine for another copy of Longstrider, since he had already provided that blessing to most of his Champions over the last few days, and immediately cast it. His power spread for miles around his mountain in a single pulse.
Werelings were smart enough to outright ignore the Doctrine, but Wepwawet immediately sensed countless animals in the area falling under his sway: sheep, hounds, pikas, moles, birds, wolves, and even a set of foxes. All of them had no Rank nor abilities to speak of, yet Wepwawet sensed they would follow any order he gave.
The Doctrine affects every beast within my Influence, so if I had my followers drag an unruly animal inside, it would immediately become my servant. The more Wepwawet considered his options, the more excited he became. I see a lot of potential here!
Maybe he could nab a few beasts for Artemis once they met again? It had been a while since Wepwawet last saw his friends and he was sorely missing them.
Let’s hope the altar plan will work, Wepwawet thought as he materialized his spirit in front of the new settlers to greet them. The awes and gasps that welcomed him never got old.
“Greetings, Viviane,” he said upon facing her and her wereowl ally. The latter studied him with rapturous attention. “I see you’ve brought quite a few friends!”
“Yup!” Viviane replied with a chuckle. “Your Godliness caused quite the stir in Roynimalia! You were the talk of town for days!”
“I can hardly believe my eyes!” the wereowl said with a trembling voice brimming with excitement. Wepwawet quickly glimpsed at her stats and name. “Is this a magical projection of some kind? I can feel your presence all across the region.”
“Quite sharp, Sagesse,” Wepwawet replied, causing the wereowl to gasp in surprise. That trick never failed to impress. “My true form would be incomprehensible for mortals, hence why I choose to appear to you this way. My true gaze watches over this land from high above.”
“How high above? From the stars?” Sagesse immediately began to pester Wepwawet by barraging him with more questions. Her eyes gleamed with curiosity. “Do you have a physical body, or are you an emanation of magic itself? Are there more of you out there? How long have you–”
“Whoa, slow down!” Wepwawet cut in. He could already tell she would be the nosy, inquisitive type of mage. Those couldn’t keep their noses out of trouble. “You can’t expect me to answer all divine mysteries in a single conversation!”
“Oh, my apologies!” Sagesse dusted off her clothes in embarrassment. “Where are my manners? I got so carried away I even forgot to introduce myself!”
“That’s Sagesse for you, Your Godliness.” Viviane chuckled and swiftly introduced her friend. “Sagesse is a member of Roynimalia’s ruling council. My boss sent her as an ambassador for Narc.”
“It would be my pleasure to help tighten the bonds between our cities, Lord Wepwawet,” Sagesse said with a sharp nod. “I hope that we can find a solution to the magmorian problem together and present a unified front.”
“We share the same wish,” Wepwawet replied before extending a hand to her. “I was actually about to send a diplomatic mission to the magmorian leadership in order to assess their intentions. I would like you to join it, if you don’t mind. In return, I shall bless you like I did with Viviane.”
“A blessing? What kind? Will you infuse me with magic, or–” Sagesse caught herself before she could lose herself in another bombardment of questions. “It would be my pleasure on both counts!”
“That’s what I like to hear!” Wepwawet immediately followed through with his blessing, bathing Sagesse in his holy light and claiming her as his newest Champion. He was now only one count short of completing another quest! Steady progress!
A numerologist? Wepwawet knew of this class, which mostly revolved around manipulating system stats and numeral variables. The Improved Calculation Perk in particular aroused his curiosity.
Her Evasion is marked as sixteen, with the fifteen next to it likely being her stat when the variable isn’t rounded up. Wepwawet quickly ran the calculations in his head and compared these results with his previous observations. This confirms it then. Accuracy is Skill and Luck divided by two and Evasion is the sum of Agility and Luck halved, both are rounded down.
Were there other variables he wasn’t aware of? He had yet to see any hint of Health Points or the equivalent in this world. Either the System didn’t calculate those or hid them from his interface. This warranted further investigation in the future.
“How strange,” Sagesse noted. “I feel your presence within my very soul.”
“So long as you remain faithful, I shall always watch over you and guide your steps,” Wepwawet promised before recalling something. “By the way, Viviane, are you familiar with Boisblanc?”
“I know that forest like the back of my hand,” Viviane replied proudly. “Why do you ask, Your Godliness?”
“I need to secure a sacred site there in order to restore this land’s blessings.” And contact the Nexus while he was at it. “Unfortunately, my sight is shrouded. Would you know of a location that would fit this description?”
“A sacred site?” Viviane blinked. “You mean the Icefall?”
“The Icefall?” The mere name aroused Wepwawet’s curiosity. “What’s that?”
“The Icefall is an immense frozen waterfall deep inside the Boisblanc Forest,” Sagesse explained. “Wereling druids used this place for magical rites a long time ago… until they were chased away, that is.”
Now that sounded like a place that could serve as a suitable altar, though Wepwawet could tell seizing it wouldn’t be so easy. “Chased away?” he asked. “By whom?”
Viviane scowled darkly. “A demoness.”
—------
Victoire reviewed her expedition team one last time.
Considering the danger ahead and the risk of leaving Narc unattended for too long, she elected to bring only a small elite task force favoring speed over numbers. Viviane had agreed to serve as their guide, while Filou and Renarde would provide additional support. A pack of six of Lord Wepwawet’s wolves would further escort them into the forest.
Victoire hoped this would be enough. Goreville and the Roynimalia ambassador Sagesse would escort their magmorian prisoners to the south as part of a diplomatic mission, leaving Lourson, Mistouffe, and Alpine to protect Narc in their absence. The town should have enough soldiers—not to mention Lord Wepwawet’s own divine power—to protect itself from any attack, but Victoire loathed leaving it unattended for too long.
“I’m surprised you asked me to join this mission, Victoire,” Renarde the werefox noted as Mistouffe and Alpine distributed supplies to the group, from food to poultice for their wounds. The bard only chose to bring her scrolls and fan herself. “I thought you distrusted me.”
“I still do,” Victoire replied bluntly. “Nonetheless, we’re about to confront a mage. I thought it best to fight fire with fire.”
“So you do have faith in my skills, if not my person.” Renarde chuckled in amusement. “My dear, I’m touched. I will be sure to live up to your expectations.”
“Don’t push it, Renarde.” Victoire examined a glass vial that Alpine handed her. A murky, orange substance glowing like fire swirled within it. “Is this the ‘alchemical fire’ you’ve been working on?”
Alpine confirmed it with a nod. “Be very careful with it. The substance will burn as soon as it is exposed to air. Not even water will smother it, so you will need earth or sand for that.”
“We’ll treat these weapons with care, you have my word,” Victoire promised. Alpine had been experimenting with new brews since Lord Wepwawet blessed her and Lourson with newfound inspiration. She managed to create five of these alchemical fire vials, alongside a handful of healing poultices for their wounds.
“We’re ready to leave at your command, Milady,” Filou said with a pack of supplies on his back.
“The Icefall is two days away from Narc, three if we take our time,” Viviane warned them. “I’ve never approached it too closely though, so I can’t say what awaits us there.”
“Do you have any information on the demon?” Victoire inquired. She knew little about demons besides the usual tales. Their kind ruled the Zoramesh Empire to the far south beyond Lavaland, reproduced by converting others into more of their kind by infecting them with their blood, and could wield powerful sorcery.
“Not much,” Viviane confessed. “She kicked out the local druid circle decades ago and hasn’t moved since, so most rangers stay clear of her territory. Those who wander too close there are never seen again.”
“Whatever sorcery she wields will bend before Lord Wepwawet’s holy protection,” Filou said, only for his confidence to waver. “I-I mean, it has to, right?”
Victoire shook her head. “Lord Wepwawet warned me that he could offer little direct support until we consecrated the site and restored its blessing. We will have to trust in our skills until then.”
And it would have to prove sufficient.
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A/N: something of a transition chapter, but I assure you the next one will shake things up a lot ;)
Comments
Sam
Please tell me you plan to include some wereferrets or at least wereweasels or wereotters?
Void Herald
thank you kindly.
George R
Awesome chapter can’t wait to see what happens next
