《Origin Point》A2 Chapter 37
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AN: As usual folks, thank you for reading thus far. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to voice them.
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I shall not bore you with the details of our journey, as it took us nearly a fortnight to reach the city. During this time, there was only one notable diversion upon this route, and I shall address it shortly. For now, I must inform you of who was journeying with my person.
Those amongst my Undying chosen for such an incursion were the twins Val'ruum and Sal'ruum, Auua the metallic orangutan, and Shauu with her basilisk Brood Mother. Granted, Shauu was in fact a skeletal bear beastwoman, but was told to wear an amulet which would all her to have the same metallic skin as Rojaahn. Of whom was also of the bear tribe, and was first chosen to accompany my person. However, he opted to stay behind, as he claimed to be nearing a breakthrough in regards to his research on true immortality as opposed to the simple elixirs which only extend one's life. Thus, Shauu was chosen to accompany my person, and with her came the Brood Mother who was still without a name, but followed her commands.
The others which were chosen were, of course, my apprentices and Shoriin. The little basilisk seemed to enjoy riding atop my furred head for some odd reason, and Siuun had attached herself to any one of my limbs which were closest to her at the time. Though of course, she giggle constantly at this or that, and had the look of a crazed individual who had their mind broken not too long ago.
Yes, I've seen such eyes before, but they are usually broken either in my presence, or by my touch alone. To see such a thing happen to a child was nothing new, but it still pulled upon the strings within my non-existent heart. I desired to heal her, you see, but chose not to, as I wished to see how far her madness will take her. Will it end with her life fizzling out, or will it give birth to something new? Time will only tell, and I desired to see it come into fruition.
As to the others, we had decided to bring the Sons of Hephaestus. The others chosen for such a venture were the Daughters of Freyja or the Children of Fenrir. This was only so, as we had thought of a sort of cover in which the group travelling with my person could use once we reach the main capitol. Which was myself being lord's son sent in exile to find new roads of wonder. Yes, such a tale would have to do, as my claiming to be a conqueror would not help my person in the least.
Now, the Daughters of Freyja were, and still are, a small army of warrior females. However, not to be mistaken for the Amazons, these females are beyond beautiful. In other words, to simply glance their way, breathe in their scent, or even to hear their voices would stir the primal urges within one's being. These urges are what the Daughters prey upon in order to have their way done. Unfortunately for them, we who are Undead are immune to such affects upon the mind and senses. Thus, they have been subdued and have been placed under my thumb. Yes. I would have chosen them if I simply desired to take control of the capitol quickly, but decided to be more ruthless.
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The Children of Fenrir would have been the choice for such ruthlessness, but these are simply vessels for war. These beings are the same as the Chosen of Anubis, as they are made for war and nothing else. However, instead of jackals wielding golden sickles, these are wolves and wolf beastmen who become berserk at the first sight or smell of blood. They would attack any and all who are not liken unto themselves, until they've either calmed down, or perished. Yes. These would appear throughout many of the great wars in which I had chosen to appear in, but for now I chose a different route.
This route was one, not of war against others, but of the economies situated within this capitol of beastfolk and Kin. It was here that I would flood their markets with coin and new product in order to tip the scales in my favour. Such a thing would not be possible without the Sons of Hephaestus, of whom were greedy dwarves who chose to follow my person merely for the promises I had placed within each of their minds. To be short, the promises made were simply to allow them access to a network of worlds I would establish once our world of Terra was within my grasp once more. This would give them the ability to explore new realms in order to use whatever materials, minerals, and precious ores and stones for anything they desire.
This network of worlds would also extend to our world of Terra, but with many more restrictions as it is our home. As for the other worlds, if you were all to cast your eyes to the heavens above, you will see our five moons in perfect rotation. These moons, in fact, are the worlds conquered by my person and servants within the abyss. Indeed, whereas all other worlds are simply in orbit around our day-star with the protection of my person and others from those of whom desire them for other motives.
Now, as to what products we were bringing into this market? Why, everything of course. From edible items between the tastes of salt and savory, to sweet and spicy. These would become the prime weapons in this war, as San'yuu has expressed with great vehemence on the lack of proper foods the more common individual is allowed to consume. As for the rest, an assortment of arms and armour, leathers, cloth and silk, ore and jewels will be the main focus. For there will be many within such a place which will desire the best of the best, and we shall prove ours are the greatest.
The final pieces to be sold upon the market are the magicks I shall be deploying as an Enchanter. Yes. As many know, my first "class" after gaining my body was that of an Enchanter. Of which allowed my person in the creation of my Undying as well as the illusions I was able to deploy. Though, of course, I had a myriad of other spells which resulted in my being able to take control of our world's former authority, but this is not relevant at the moment. No. Instead, I shall be focusing on enchanting the clothes, weapons, and armour of others. As my apprentice has stated he has never seen such a thing before. These will also be the first of many such lectures I shall be imparting upon the pair.
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As to how each of these wares are being transported? Well, they all reside within my Void Space in order to keep their freshness, and to avoid the greed of others. However, this does not mean we did not have any decoys deployed. In fact, we had a full caravan of empty boxes with a simple pentagram etched inside the containers. These pentagrams are all connected to my Void Space, and will allow us to access the weapons and ammunition needed to win our war over their economy.
Ah, but enough about this. For I shall tell you of the only interest upon our journey from our small base of operations to the capitol of the beastfolk and Kin.
This occurred within ten turns after our departure, and the night had come upon us. It was here that we set up camp, as there was not a single light in the heavens to guide us. For you see, there is nothing within the Abyss; no other worlds or stars, only darkness.
As I said, we had set up our little camp with the caravan circling around each other in order to protect those still living, and to allow us some protection if we needed to fight against the unknown. No. Nothing ever came after us, but it was necessary nonetheless.
Now, what occurred upon this night, as we set up our torches of emerald and sapphire flames, was of a female Avian which flew towards us with a squawk. However, instead of gracefully landing, it crashed into a wheel of one of the carts in our caravan. This destroyed the wheel, which caused many of the dwarves to curse and shout, as they went about fixing it. Whereas the Avian was brought to my person in the centre of the ring where a large tent had been erected. This tent was to be used as sleeping quarters for those of whom needed to rest, whilst I and my Undying did not.
Within the tent was a multitude of cots situated in rows of ten by three, if this gives any inclination as to how many of my servants needed to sleep. However, this was only the first half of the space. The latter was separated by enchanted cloth which dulled the noises which would come from the former, and looked much like that of a general's space. What with a multitude of chairs surrounding a rectangular table of wood and stone. Upon such a thing were a few goblets filled with wine and beer, and scattered about the centre were parchment and maps of the surrounding area and the capitol.
The space itself was lit by a dim orb of light, which was casting a myriad of horrific shadows upon the walls. These unknowns caused San'yuu no end of grief, whereas Siuun and Shoriin simply attacked them until they appeared elsewhere. In a way, such antics calmed my mind enough to instill the same peace I had when the kobold pups were upon my lap so long ago. However, this was interrupted by the presence of a new face. One of which I had never seen before until that point.
"Oh?" I raised my left brow at the tattered appearance of the female in front of our persons. Sitting around my person were the chosen few sent to accompany my self in this endeavour, as well as a few black haired dwarves in leather and platemail. Each of these dwarves stood up with their axes and great swords, ready to attack such a creature if it posed a threat, but I waved away their concerns until they sat down with a grumble.
"And what, pray tell, is this?"
"An Avian, Lord, and looks to be female," whispered San'yuu in awe of such a creature, "They are considered very rare, and are usually enslaved whenever found."
"Oh? And what are they used for when enslaved?"
"I do not know," he shook his scaled head with a sigh, as my own nodded towards one of the dwarves who desired to speak.
"Mayhaps it's a songbird like from home?"
"Bah," grumbled another as he belched from too much beer, "Prob'ly taste good with its fea'rs plucked and skin crisped."
"You always have food on the brain, Flint."
"Shaddup." The others around the pair groaned and pounced on their bodies to silence their argument, whilst I simply chuckled before turning towards the odd creature.
"How do you know it's a female, San'yuu?" I asked the old Dragonock, of whom shifted uncomfortably for a time.
"I've bedded one," he sighed as the back of his head was rubbed by his right clawed hand, whilst his left pointed towards its off head, "It's the eyes. You can see they are much larger than normal, which denotes its femininity. Also, they're much shorter than the males, of whom are quite beautiful whilst the others have dull features."
Indeed, this one did have dull colours about its features, and as to its shape... Have you ever seen a stork? They are a type of bird which is found in a variety of books, as well as towards the southern part of this continent. In any case, think of a standard bird within your mind and add long legs to it. Now stretch its body by half a metre, and fluff its body up with the bottom half full of dark coloured feathers, and the top half with white. This creature's wingspan is about twice its body length, and has a long neck and beak.
Quite the odd creature, a stork is, and this one was much like it. Save for the fact that it had the height of an adult female kitsune, and about the same build as one, but with feathers, a beak, and wings instead of fur.
"It looks to be coming back around," muttered Sal'ruum, of whom pointed towards the avian who had been seated into a chair in front of our persons. This caused the commotion from the dwarves to halt, as they turned with curious and glinting eyes full of greed towards such a creature.
"Wha-?" It squawked softly, then gasped, "The children!"
Of which caused my Undying to groan audibly, as my eyes narrowed with anger. "What children?"
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