Aidan

The Realms

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Daytime

Mistvale Highlands

This time, Aidan returned to wakefulness with a clear understanding that the pain that, to him, was only a split second old was nonetheless a memory. That memory was so intense that it still left him screaming and arching his back, writhing in agony while his newly-reborn brain processed it. It took him seconds stretching into eternity to wrestle his mind back to the present and sag down to the dirt-covered canyon floor. Panting, tears trickling down his cheeks, he opened his mind to the notifications that crowded every edge of his vision.

YOU HAVE DIED

As you are Chosen, Death's door is not a one-way trip for you. Your soul has forced its way back into the Realms, but at a cost.

Each time you die, you will lose all progress towards the next level, as well as a random amount of progress in every known Skill, up to 1 full level (to a minimum of level 1.00). Additionally, it takes time for your soul to re-form your body and return to your spawn point. When you respawn, only objects which were bound to your soul and on or very near your person will respawn with you. All other objects will remain with your corpse.

Know this! Because the strength of your soul has been degraded, it took you longer to re-form your body and return to life, and you have lost more experience and skill experience. Although your soul will heal over time, there are severe consequences to expending soul energy. If ever your soul is completely depleted, not even being a Chosen will save you from final death, and there will be nothing left to proceed into the afterlife.

Well, that's just great. It's good to know these things ahead of time. Despite his internal grumbling, Aidan knew that was unfair. There had to be some sort of consequence to using his soul as fuel. He turned his attention to his Skill-related notifications.

Congratulations! You have reached levels 2 through 6 in Animamancy.

You are now a Novice of Animamancy; you gain a slight bonus to earned experience. Congratulations! You have reached levels 2 through 6 in Beast Magic.

You are now a Novice of Beast Magic; all non-sapient animals are slightly more tolerant of you. Congratulations! You have reached levels 27 and 28 in Fire Magic. Congratulations! You have reached level 4 in Magical Theory. Congratulations! You have reached level 1 in Glyphs.

Although spells can be cast with basic somatic components, manipulating manna directly allows more control over the result. Glyphs are the visible results of this manipulation, and a master mage would do well to learn them.

You are now Unskilled in Glyphs.

Glyphs is a subskill of Magical Theory. Congratulations! You have reached level 1 in Incantations.

Most spells contain a verbal component, but the effects can be enhanced and refined through the use of specialized incantations. Words have power, and master mages use that principle to empower their magic.

You are now Unskilled in Incantations.

Incantations is a subskill of Magical Theory. Congratulations! You have reached levels 3 through 6 in Riding.

You are now a Novice of Riding; your mount consumes Stamina at a slightly lower rate. Congratulations! You have reached levels 3 through 6 in Centaurback Riding.

You are now a Novice of Centaurback Riding; any centaur you ride becomes slightly more submissive towards you for the next week. This effect stacks. Congratulations! You have reached level 9 in Swords. Congratulations! You have reached levels 11 through 13 in Vivimancy. Congratulations! You have learned the spells Soothe Beasts and Fortify Soul. Soothe Beasts: Beast Magic, level 5.

Some say that music soothes the savage beast, which may be true, but Beast Magic is far more effective. Casting this spell will cause one or more animals to grow less hostile towards you and your party or Warband. Each target becomes calmer and less likely to attack. The effectiveness depends on the intelligence and Willpower of the target and the spell power of the caster. This effect continues even after the spell has ended, but is not permanent.

Cost: 50 Concentration per target. Duration: Concentration, plus spell power minutes. Casting time: 5 seconds. Cooldown: 2 hours. Fortify Soul: Animamancy, level 5.

This spell protects the target's soul from outside influences, helping to reduce damage to the soul and to protect the soul from effects that might alter or corrupt it. The target gains 20% resistance to soul damage from external sources and 25% resistance to effects that would negatively affect their soul.

Cost: 50 Concentration. Duration: Concentration. Casting time: 10 seconds.

Well, at least Fortify Soul gives me a harmless way to train Animamancy, Aidan thought to himself. Speaking of which... he checked to see how badly Soulfire Blast and Phoenix Pyre damaged his experience.

Congratulations! You have advanced to levels 11 through 16.

As a Chosen Helltouched Human, you have thirty Attribute points to distribute, and your Willpower and Charisma increase by six each. You also gain six increments of 25% advancement towards one or two Skills of your choice. Allocate these points within 72 hours, or they will be randomly assigned.You have received 108 Talent points to spend on any of your available Talents.

Honor thy Patron and follow thy heart!

"...What the fuck?!" Aidan managed to croak through his parched throat. He opened his combat log and sorted by experience gain.

Aidan Lostlorn's party has earned 3,450 experience for killing 9 Manikins. Aidan Lostlorn's party has earned 61,975 experience for killing 31 Manikins, 1 Dakhol Brute, and 1 Enhanced Human Chosen Manikin.

You have earned an additional 103 experience from Stolen Destiny.

Okay, that was all as expected...

Aidan Lostlorn's party has earned 1,068,775 experience for killing 1,236 assorted Manikins, 4,391 Dark Vines, 1 Dakhol Savage, 1 Deathbramble Heart, and 1 Ancient Tannath Taig Corruptor.

You have earned an additional 1,527 experience from Stolen Destiny.

You have earned an additional 7,634 experience from Novice rank in Animamancy.

What. Aidan's mind reeled. Twelve hundred Manikins? Four thousand Dark Vines? There were a lot of the damned things in the Deathbramble Heart's chamber, but not nearly that many! He also didn't kill anywhere near that many Manikins.

Even with that mystery, the math still didn't add up, so he continued to sift through his prompts.

You have completed a Quest! Earn Your Place Cleanse Ceallach Macht—SUCCESS

Kill the source of the corruption—SUCCESS

Prevent the wardstones from changing hands—SUCCESS Reward: 2,500 experience; increased reputation with the Starchaser tribe. Additional Rewards: 22,500 experience; increased relationship with every Starchaser centaur; greatly increased relationship with everyone who witnessed the death of the Tannath Taig. You have earned an additional 250 experience from Stolen Destiny. You have earned an additional 1,250 experience from Initiate rank in Animamancy. Congratulations! Your relationships with 85 Starchasers have advanced to Friendly.

They now view you as someone they can relate to and expect to treat them with fairness and respect. Congratulations! For gaining 85 new Friendly relationships, you have earned 46,750 experience. Honor thy friends and they will honor you!

You have earned an additional 468 experience from Stolen Destiny.

You have earned an additional 2,338 experience from Initiate rank in Animamancy. Congratulations! Your relationships with Ceirios, Ysbail, and Anwn have advanced to Admiration.

They now view you as someone worthy of their utmost respect. Congratulations! For gaining 3 new Admiring relationships, you have earned 4,125 experience. Cultivate thy admirers and new relationships may bloom!

You have earned an additional 41 experience from Stolen Destiny.

You have earned an additional 206 experience from Initiate rank in Animamancy. Congratulations! Your relationships with Cai and Llwyd have advanced to Complete Loyalty.

They would follow into the very pits of Hell. Congratulations! For gaining 2 new Loyal followers, you have earned 11,000 experience. Guard well thy followers, for they entrust their lives to thee!

You have earned an additional 110 experience from Stolen Destiny.

You have earned an additional 550 experience from Initiate rank in Animamancy.

There was also a prompt advising him that he was Tolerated by almost all the remaining Starchasers. There were still a few holdouts that only advanced to Unfriendly, and Neifion and a couple of others remained Hostile. That still left a considerable amount of missing experience, so he kept sorting through notifications. A few seconds later, he found it.

A new Age has come!

A true Miracle has been performed for the first time in over half a millennium. The Chosen champion of a deity has channeled divine energy to cleanse the world of an ancient evil and return the dead to life. A new Age is upon the Realms! The Godless Age is naught but history; today is the first day of the Age of the Chosen! As a Chosen, you now have access to Paragon Points, which may be spent at any time to gain a variety of rewards based on your Patron, Alignment, Skills, and a myriad of other factors.

Know this! As the Herald of the New Age, you gain several benefits. First, you have access to a new epithet, "Champion of the Cleansing Flame". Second, you earn 100 Paragon Points. Third and least, you receive 250,000 experience.

You have earned an additional 2,500 experience from Stolen Destiny.

You have earned an additional 12,500 experience from Initiate rank in Animamancy.

Congratulations! You have been given a new Epithet, "Champion of the Cleansing Flame"! While acting under the auspices of this Epithet, you gain 1 Paragon Point per week. There are additional benefits to this Epithet that you do not currently qualify for.

Do you wish to change your Epithet from "Lostlorn" to "Champion of the Cleansing Flame"? Beware! This Epithet will mark you clearly as a Chosen, for good or for ill!

"Fuck no," Aidan said to the air. "Not yet, anyhow."

The air, of course, did not reply. The large black-furred, glowing-silver-spotted cat that pounced on Aidan's chest immediately afterward, however, exclaimed, "Mrrow!" and sent a rapid stream of . Riama laid down on him, her head mere inches from his own and her loud, rumbling purr sending vibrations throughout his torso. Acting without thought, Aidan wrapped his arms around her. She rubbed her nose against his face and began to wash him with her rough tongue, causing him to laugh and push her away. Then, he heard the tramp of hooves on stone and struggled to his knees. He turned to the entrance of the box canyon. There, silhouetted against the sky, was Brighid's unmistakable figure. Instead of rushing over to embrace him, however, she stood trembling.

"Brighid?" Aidan called out to her. "Love, are you alright?" The only response he got was a visible increase in Brighid's trembling. Moving carefully to avoid cramps, Aidan set his familiar down, rose to his feet, and then shuffled his way to his Soulmate. As he drew nearer, he could see that Brighid's face was awash with tears, and her emerald eyes were staring at the floor. He knew she heard him because her ears twitched and swiveled to catch the sounds of his footsteps. If I didn't know better, I'd think she's struggling not to run away from me. It took much longer than he wanted it to, but eventually, Aidan came to a stop in front of the woman he loved and asked her again, "Brighid, my love, please tell me what's wrong?"

At his declaration of love, a wretched sob fled Brighid's throat, and she started to turn away. Aidan caught her arm before she could escape. Moving with slow, gentle pressure, Aidan turned her back around to face him, then placed a hand on her cheek. He sought out Brighid's eyes, but she turned her head and refused to meet his gaze. At last, her tremulous voice emerged. "How can you call me that? I do not deserve your love. I should not have come, I am sorry, please Aidan, please let me go..." She tried to pull away again, but he kept a gentle grip on her arm. Despite her overwhelming Might advantage, she did not pull free of his hand.

Aidan took a step closer and wrapped his arms around Brighid. Instead of hugging him back, she stiffened and let another sob escape from her throat. He noticed with a heavy heart that she was not wearing her collar. Being soothing isn't working. Gotta try another tack. He ordered her in a soft but stern voice, "Brighid Fireheart, tell me why you are not wearing your collar." A shudder ran through her body and she collapsed forward into his arms with a wail of grief.

"I betrayed you! I was your Soulmate, and I let that thing [content censored by Royal Road's advertising overlords] me. I wanted it to! I wanted it to keep going forever, Aidan! I am not wearing your collar because I do not deserve to! I was wearing it, wearing your token, even as I [content censored by Royal Road's advertising overlords] for a monster and begged it for more!" Her eyes flicked up to his for just a moment, and Aidan could see the all-consuming despair in them before Brighid turned her head from him again.

Confusion filled Aidan as her words crashed over him like stormy waves upon a rocky shore. But I healed her Trauma! Why is this affecting her so much? He remained silent for a moment before his mind made a connection. "If you no longer wish to be mine, you may always take off your collar and return my token. But, that is not what you are doing, Brighid Fireheart. You are punishing yourself for failing to follow my commands." He turned her head towards him and commanded, "Look at me! Look me in the eyes." Her emerald eyes snapped to his ruby ones, though they were still cloudy with anguish. Good enough for a start, he thought, and continued, "I am the Master in this relationship, Brighid. It is not for you to decide your punishment unless I tell you otherwise, and I have not. That you admit your transgressions is the mark of a good girl but trying to subvert your Master's will has earned you additional punishment." Paradoxically, perversely, that calmed Brighid down, and her eyes began to clear.

"Given my choice, I would have addressed this matter in a place more comfortable than this, but you have forced my hand, so let us begin. I will question you, read the list of your errors aloud, and determine your punishment from that list and your answers. Do you understand and agree?" Brighid bobbed her head in response.

"First, do you want to continue being mine? I am not asking whether you believe you should or whether you deserve to, but whether you want to."

Brighid's voice cracked, but she answered, "Yes, Master. With all my heart."

Relief flooded Aidan, but he didn't let it show on his face. Instead, he gave her a sharp nod and told her, "Then please put your collar back on for this. I cannot make you do it, so I am asking you to. You do not wish to leave my service, and I have not yet released you. I should not pass judgment on you as your Master while you are not wearing your collar." She whimpered and fresh tears flowed down her face, but she reached into a pouch at her waist and pulled out the familiar strip of green leather. The fact that she kept it on her is a good sign. Aidan held Brighid's lustrous crimson hair out of the way as her shaking hands fastened the collar around her throat.

"Thank you," Aidan told her. "Now that you are again wearing my token, I will ask you once more: do you, Brighid Fireheart, agree that as your Master, it is my right and only my right to pass judgment on your disobedience and determine the punishments you will suffer? That by wearing my token on your collar, you give up the right for anyone else to punish you for transgressions of the Master-submissive relationship? And further, do you agree to accept my decisions in matters of punishment without complaint or appeal?"

"Yes, Master. I do."

Her explicit acceptance of his authority gave Aidan everything he needed. "Very good. Now, when we fought the Taig, we were all captured. Did you try to break free from your captivity?"

"Yes, Master, of course!"

"And did you ask the Taig to touch you with its vines?"

"No, Master!" Her voice held a clear note of revulsion.

"Did you want the vines to touch you intimately?"

"No!" She proclaimed, shaking her head with force.

"So when the Taig's Dark Vines began to [content censored by Royal Road's advertising overlords] you, you did not want them to?"

"No! Never!"

"At that point, were you feeling pleasure?"

"No, it was horrible and painful, Master."

"And after the Taig sprayed you with pollen, did that change?"

Brighid sobbed, but said, "Yes, Master. I am so sorry!"

"Just the answers, please. Tell me how the pollen changed things for you."

Tears poured from her eyes. "The pain went away, and it felt so good. I couldn't think because of how good it felt."

"And that happened as soon as the pollen touched you and you breathed it in?" She only nodded in response. "Before the pollen, if the vines holding you were withdrawn, would you have allowed [content censored by Royal Road's advertising overlords]?"

"No!"

"Would you, in fact, have fought against the vines and tried to free me or the others, or to attack the Taig?"

"Yes, of course!" Her voice had a desperate, pleading quality to it.

Aidan nodded and patted her shoulder to soothe her. "When I cast my spell and the vines burned away, right at the start, were you still unable to think clearly?"

She hesitated, then nodded and confirmed, "Yes."

"Did that change at any point before the spell completed?"

"Yes, Master."

"About how long did it take for your mind to clear?"

She considered, then offered, "Maybe two or three seconds? I am sorry, so much was happening all at once, I am not sure. But it was before you..." She scrubbed tears out of her eyes and continued, "Before you burned away to ash and Cai came back to life."

Aidan nodded at her. "That is alright, just answer to the best of your ability. I have one final question for you: once your mind was clear again, did you attempt to fight the Taig?"

She gave a firm nod and said, "There was not much left to fight at that point, but yes, Master."

"Thank you for answering my questions. That concludes my investigation into the incident with the Taig. There is another matter before me today, however. Tell me again why you removed your collar."

Brighid blinked at the sudden shift in context. "Because I betrayed you and submitted to the Taig."

Aidan shook his head at her and let his voice grow stern again. "No, I believe that is two steps removed from your reason. Try again. Take your time and think it through."

She was silent for a while before replying, "Because I do not believe I have a right to wear your collar anymore."

"It is not my collar, it is yours," Aidan corrected, voice gentle. "That is close enough to the truth, I think. I have heard enough and am ready to present my findings of fact in these matters. Fact one: the accused, Brighid Fireheart, was captured and bound beyond her ability to resist by the Tannath Taig. Fact two: the accused was penetrated sexually without her consent by the Tannath Taig. Fact three: the accused was then infected with a disease called Mindfog Pollen Infection, which impaired her ability to think and changed how her body reacted to stimuli. Fact four: once the infection began, the accused was not mentally capable of consenting to sex." Brighid's eyes grew wide at that.

"Fact five: as soon as the disease was cured, the accused resumed fighting against her captor. Fact six: despite claiming that she 'was' my Soulmate, the accused is currently sitting in a place which only I am supposed to be able to enter." Brighid's eyes opened even wider. "Fact seven," Aidan continued, allowing a hint of anger to creep into his voice at last, "the accused did take it upon herself to remove her collar, not because she wished to end our relationship, but to punish herself for her rape. Does the accused dispute any of these facts?"

Brighid stared at him for several long breaths, then shook her head in denial.

"Then we are in agreement on the facts in these matters." At this point, he allowed a little levity to break the tense atmosphere. Aidan turned to Riama, who had been sitting by his side the entire time, and asked, "You have heard the same questions and answers as I and heard the facts. What is your judgment?"

The astral jaguar blinked her eyes at Aidan, then turned to Brighid. She stood up on her hind legs, placing her front paws on Brighid's shoulder for balance. "Mrrow!" She vocalized while sending Aidan a blast of .

Aidan gave the feline a slow nod and said, "My thoughts exactly." He turned back to Brighid, catching her eyes with his again to demand her attention. "We judge the accused innocent of the crime of betraying her Soulmate. She was captured and [content censored by Royal Road's advertising overlords], then subjected to magic that took away her free will. In truth, she went beyond the mere denial of consent and fought against her captor with everything she could. The only guilty parties in that matter have already been tried, found guilty, and executed for their many, many crimes." Brighid's eyes once again filled with tears and she opened her mouth to speak, but Aidan snapped, "The accused will be silent! This court will remind her that she knowingly and voluntarily gave away her right to complain or appeal the verdict. Our judgment is final, and any further disobedience will result in punishment." Her mouth shut with an audible click of teeth. Aidan continued with a gentler tone, "We do, however, find the accused guilty of violating her Master's exclusive right to punish her. The fact that she did nothing to deserve punishment only exacerbates this disobedience. This court will remind the accused again that while she wears his token and does not violate any law of the greater Realms, only her Master has the right to punish her. For this violation, the accused, Brighid Fireheart, is sentenced to one night of sleeping on the couch for each day she took it upon herself to decide and enact her own punishment." Aidan stared into Brighid's eyes and let his love, admiration, lust, and possessiveness for her fill him. "You are mine, flame of my heart, and do not forget it again."

That finally shattered Brighid's ability to deny herself what she wanted all along. She lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Aidan and sobbing great, ugly sobs of mingled sorrow, relief, happiness, and anguish. His shoulder and chest were soaked with tears before she managed to regain her composure enough to protest, "But, Master... I do not own a couch." Her voice was raw with emotion, but she had regained some of the mischief that Aidan had grown to love.

He feigned a look of surprise and said, with artificial severity, "Why, I do believe you are right! That being the case, your sentence is suspended until a couch is available for you to sleep upon." Brighid giggled and squeezed him even tighter. The last little bit of tension that had crept its way up Aidan's spine released at the joyful sound.