Confidence surged into my heart and my mind. I grinned, while located in a dark corner in an abandoned neighborhood in the city of Namira. The only living creatures around me were my allies. On one side of me was Camilla, in her jackal form, and the other side of me was Kuzco in his human form and Niqi.

This area was eerie, unlit by any source of light, and thus all four of us had to on our abilities to peer through darkness as we navigated our way out of this place. Our steps echoed here and my allies walked far slower than I did. That made sense, because they lacked the potent senses I had and because they also lacked the certainty I possessed. Their doubt poisoned their steps, and it slowed them down.

My "mind", in so much as I, the secondary will possessed one, was somewhere else though. It was in the strange place in my grander mind where domains waited, where domains watched, and where they listened.

My "mind" was there because I had made a choice: in the hours since I embarked on the latest quest I had undertaken in the city of Namira, I had settled on which of the 7 domains and 7 subdomains I had an opportunity to instantaneously gain influence over I would gain influence over. Knowing that put my mind at ease, and in my mind of minds, I sensed the domains and subdomains close in to hear which of them I would use this shortcut for.

The 14 odd, metaphysical entities were curious, and were eager, in their own ways, to hear what I had picked. I refused to keep them waiting.

[Greetings!] I greeted them, shouting into the void with my mind. I was met with silence from the things, but that didn't deter me.

[I have come here, to this odd and impossible place, to inform you of my choice of the rewards I have gained from my efforts to gain worshipers. I choose the domains of healing, law, and darkness.] I told the eerie presences I could sense watching me in this abstract place.

Healing because I want to one day possess the power to resurrect things other than extraplanars. Law because I want to know how to best control my devils and exert the influence of order over my worshipers. Darkness because I am fond of the dark and because my own realm is a place of shadows, moonlight, and dark caverns. I thought, reminding myself of the simplest and most basic reasons why I was making the choices I was making.

And now for the truly hard choices. The sub-domains. I thought as I readied my mental voice to shout once again.

[And for the sub-domains I chose the sub-domains of corruption, shape-shifting, and earth.] I informed the gathered presences, my mental voice once again shouting into a sort of aetherial void.

Corruption would make it easier for me to twist alignments. With it, I can bend creatures more easily to my will and make them more pliable. With shape-shifting I can empower my alteration, mutation, and even evolution abilities, as well as strengthen my abilities to alter my own form. My thoughts were speedy, and they weren't done yet.

And earth... the stronger my influence over the earth sub-domain the stronger I become in my subterranean territory and lairs. The more influence I have over those who dwell in my lairs and territory. Not to mention... sandmen. I thought, smiling.

At once six separate sources of power came from a place that was both nowhere and deep within me. These odd powers embedded themselves within me. They infused me with distinct, almost physical energy, potent energy that immediately began to flow freely through me.

I sucked in a breath and held it to avoid making inappropriate noises as power surged through me. Pleasant energy lazily flowed into each corner of my body. It made sense that I was experiencing such a surge of energy and power since I had just chosen which domains and subdomains I would immediately gain the lowest tier of influence over.

[Alert:

You have just gained the lowest tier of influence over the domains and sub-domains you have chosen.

The domains and subdomains you've chosen were interesting. Though they grant you an array of powers, they don't grant you a tremendous number of new creatures to create. Instead, you can now modify and mutate your existing servants in a far greater number of ways than you could before.

Your newest powers also possess strong synergy with your older powers. You can create more earthen beings than before, while blessing them with enhanced hand-to-hand fighting abilities which is an excellent fighting style for them with their powerful bodies. You can shapeshift all sorts of beings into more monstrous forms and fill them with corruption, making them easier to make yours.

Your decisions regarding your domains aren't surprising but they are an interesting mix. Darkness in this context refers to both moral darkness and actual, physical darkness. It grants you power over things like shadows, lightless places, and creatures of darkness and shadows.

Healing allows you to soothe pain, cure maladies, and even regenerate limbs. At higher tiers of influence, your healing abilities include the ability to numb people to pain, and eventually even defeat death itself by resurrecting creatures.

Of all of the domains and sub-domains you chose, law is the most abstract, the strangest, and perhaps the most powerful. Law is the domain of order, hierarchies, and government. With it comes power over judgment, loyalty, nobility, and influence over things like family, communities, and more.]

I read and then reread the notification. Wow... I thought, upon giving the lengthy text a reread. And that general thought didn't fade the moment I willed the notification away, because as I adjusted my vision so that I could properly see my allies, I could see things I hadn't been able to see before.

My allies and I had been walking the entire time I was informing the domains and subdomains as to which of them I had opted to easily gain influence over. Because of that, we had crossed a not insignificant distance. I had slightly adjusted my position so that I could obviously visually inspect my servants.

When I settled my vision cleanly on Kuzco, I could see more than I had been able to see before. The jackaloid wearing its human disguise looked like a tan rogue, dressed in a comfortable outfit. But above its head floated a considerable amount of information, more than some of which was brand new.

[Name: Kuzco Althosfang

Class: Rogue, Thief, Level 3

Species: Jackaloid

Faction: Althonian Honor Guard, previously: Jackaloid tribe

Alignment: Lawful Neutral (Source of law: Althos)

Personal Vice: Greed

Status: Healthy, tired.]

I studied the new information available to me with some interest. And then I received a dual notification.

[Triple Knowledge Notifications: Personal Vices, Sources of Law, and Status

The new information accessible to you comes from idle abilities that you gained as a part of your influence over law and corruption.

Vices are sinful behaviors that harm the partakers in the behaviors and others as well. These include lust, greed, wrath, envy, sloth, and more. The sub-domain of corruption brings with it a few abilities, but one idle ability allows you to determine a creature's personal vice, the one they are least able to resist, with but a glance. You can also infuse corruption into bodies of water, and food.

Corruption renders creatures more vulnerable to your influence. More corrupt creatures fall under your sway as the lover of lies quite easily, especially when offered things related to their personal vices. You can also corrupt creatures of low-intelligence quite easily, turning them into more aggressive versions of themselves that are more likely to engage in wicked behavior.

The more influence over corruption you gain the more easily you can corrupt good, neutral, and intelligent beings. By mixing the corruption sub-domain with other domains and sub-domains you can eventually overwrite creature's personal vices, corrupt all but the mightiest beings with little more than a glance, and fill them with sinful desires.

The lowest tier of influence over the domain of law brings with it an idle power that allows you to detect sources of law. Being of the lawful alignment doesn't mean adherence to an actual body of laws, it means adherence to some code of behavior or ethics. The source of law one follows could be an actual body of laws, or it could be strict adherence to the commands of a master of some sort, including a religious master.

As a deity with a level of influence over the domain of law, your ability to compel obedience in others via spells is stronger, as are your powers over things like hiveminds. This would be incredibly powerful if mixed with something like leadership or civilization. You can infuse items, particularly weapons, with lawful energy which strengthens them against chaotic creatures.

If your influence over the lawful domain increases you gain access to legendary spells, feats, and more which rely on law, including things like the geas, a potent and divine skill which punishes those who refuse to obey you, inflicting pain and afflicting them with terrible conditions.

"Status" notifications are now added to your "Identify" power. These notifications allow you to visibly learn about the health of those you detect. The main power you've gained through the healing domain is an idle power that increases the potency of your healing magic and anything you create that reduces pain, but don't underestimate the potential of your ability to see statuses.]

Nice. I thought, feeling the dual powers of corruption and law surging through me. My eyes could see more than they ever had, and I felt... devilish. After willing away the notification, I took a second to truly study my servant, the thief named Kuzco.

The thief who had joined me long ago was dressed in a simple outfit. It was one which allowed the tiny creature to blend in even among the much taller giants who were the primary residents of the city of Namira. It consisted of long but loose purple pants and a comfortably large, button-up shirt.

In the time since we began adventuring regularly, I had outfitted each member of my party with appropriate gear. In Kuzco's case that required outfitting the party thief with clothing that had plenty of pocket-space, bags for holding loose gear, and a variety of handy tools that allowed him to break into abandoned buildings in more delicate ways than I possessed experience doing, even though I could technically do such activities.

At the moment the thief had a satchel on his hip. The thick brown thing was heavy, and it was heavy enough that our thief was visibly the slowest member of our party. It was packed with sand, eldritch, once animated sand. I had cast a spell on it to seal it shut and ensure that no sand leaked out of the thing.

"Do you want someone else to carry the bag?" I asked, making direct eye contact with Kuzco. The jackaloid was fast, even while burdened with the bag, but I could tell its weight was beginning to strain him. Sympathy flashed in my gaze, and he studied it for a moment. Then he nodded.

"Toss it over here." I told him after he nodded at me. The creature leisurely tossed me the bag, and I snatched it out of the air and put it on my shoulder. It is heavy... for a mortal anyway. I thought, capable of feeling the weight of a shore's worth of sand but thoroughly unbothered by it.

"Thank you." Kuzco muttered, walking a bit faster now, unburdened by the remains of our fallen foes. I chuckled and we continued on our way.

In a matter of minutes, we neared the gate that would lead us from this strange, abandoned part of the city. Along the way, we began to converse.

"What'd you think of our foes?" I asked, interrupting a polite conversation between Niqi and Kuzco. Silence fell over us, while my servants reflected on my question. The foes we had faced today had been eerie, monstrous beings; fey-creatures but unlike any I had seen so far outside of Mahmud's memories.

"They were... unlike anything I had ever seen." Kuzco said, breaking the silence. "Were they... some sort of golem?" The jackaloid asked, a mixture of wonder and fear audible in his voice.

"No... they were some sort... of fey-elemental." Camilla responded, her voice gruff and animalistic in her jackal form. I nodded at her, knowing full well what the eerie sand-monsters were.

"They are sandmen. Weird monsters that are... intimately tied to Mahmud." I informed my party, somewhat cryptically. I recalled the species knowledge entry on them that I had gained while exploring the memories of the deceased Sultan of Namira, Mahmud Suti. And one fact in particular about that species.

[Species Knowledge Notification: Sandmen

Sandmen are fey-elementals who are born in and live in deserts. These odd beings are aggressive to everything but their own kind, fey-lords, or gods, barring some sort of magical compulsion or orders by their eerie, immensely powerful masters.

Sandmen are simpleminded fey embodying the ferocity and transformative power of the desert itself. They don't evolve into other creatures, and they are amorphous, almost slime-like beings who freely mold themselves into whatever form best suits their current needs. Typically they loosely resemble people and shape their arms into weapons.

Their attacks are corrosive and mutative, capable of transforming limbs of those who survive them into dense piles of sand and foes killed by them can spontaneously arise as even more sandmen.

They obey gods who have any influence over the earth subdomain and reverently worship such beings.]

And so... Mahmud and I now have something in common. I thought, smiling. And with this... I can finally begin to take control of the city. And hurry this quest along. Impatience flashed in my eyes, just for a moment, but it was enough.

My allies and I sped back to the gate; their desire to get home speeding them along and my impatience speeding me along. After all, I had to get back to the Onyx Obelisk.

The sound of soft waves lapping the shore greeted me. As did the sound of boots crunching sand. I watched the scene before me with interest, all while gently running idle fingers through the hair of one of my dwarven creations: Lisabeth, the second dwarf I had created by hand.

Lisabeth clung closely to me, her hands against my bare chest. She wasn't fond of the ocean, unlike her sister, and had spent this entire trip by my side, whereas her sister had gleefully explored this new environment. Currently, Lisabeth was seated in my lap, and the two of us were inside of a manor I had built beside the ocean in my realm specifically for our familial outing.

I stared at the rest of her family, my creations, from through a gigantic wall made of faintly tinted glass. The dwarves walked close to the ocean, but they stood just beyond the reach of the low tide.

Rebecca, her older sister, was playfully exploring the shoreline. She was dressed in a simple swimsuit and accompanied by a pair of her younger, more muscular brothers.

The trio of them had begun making maps and cataloging the sorts of creatures they had seen in the ocean and on the shoreline. Occasionally they'd examine something, chat amongst themselves, and then excitedly look up at me, amusement visible in their eyes.

Lisabeth sleepily placed her head on my chest and murmured gently. "Are you sleepy?" I asked, smiling. I felt her nod. I chuckled and turned my gaze on the young dwarf.

I couldn't see her face, aside from her sharp nose, due to her head's closeness to my chest. Her long blonde hair got in the way and kept me from seeing her youthful features. She had the same large green eyes that her older sister had, and her facial features consisted mostly of more joyful versions of her sister's. She was in some ways the opposite of her sister.

Lisabeth had a warm personality and radiated joyous, often childish energy. Or at least she did when she was fully awake and active.

When she was sleepy she was far more infantile, and I had long discovered that the dwarf struggled to fall asleep by herself. Oftentimes her sister came and aided her, but every once in a while she refused her sister's attempts to placate her and urged that I take her older sister's place, even praying that I'd come to her. It was cute, in its own often distracting way.

"Go to sleep princess." I warmly instructed her, referring to her by the nickname her own siblings had given her not long after the family had been created by my hand. She nodded again, weaker this time, and I chuckled softly.

So... law, healing, and darkness, as well as earth, corruption, and shape-shifting huh? Wow. I thought, in response to the energies that had surged through me earlier in the evening. I felt far stronger now than I had before, but the energies that surged through me were odd and distinct. I looked forward to beginning to experiment with them.

It would take Lisabeth perhaps five minutes to fully fall asleep. When she did I gently wrapped the girl in a soft teleportation aura, and whisked her away to the bed she had in a room in the manor, placing her in a comfortable bed and allowing myself to move without disturbing her.

Well... I suppose I ought to go and experiment, shouldn't I? I remarked to myself, a grin on my face.