I had a few seconds left, so I quickly delivered my speech.
"I would stop attacking if you value your undeath," I said calmly to the liches. "Let's negotiate another deal. I'm willing to spare you guys and free you from the real Kel'Caldor's clutches. How does it feel, being a minion to oneself? Knowing the original thinks you are so expendable he threw you in my clutches even after hundreds of your kind perished with inside that trap. Speaking of which..."
I threw my spear at the containnt circle and chipped the granite. The whole thing powered down and beca just arcane scribblings. The spear teleported back to my hand.
"And even if he destroys you or your phylacteries, your soul will linger here. I have one of you that possessed my granddaughter, I kept him from escaping even with the phylactery intact. But I need only one of you. First co, first served."
So of them started to open portals. I activated {Dinsional Stability Aura} and tried to block their attempts. Tried. Even the clones were skillful enough to push through and open their portals but the delay was enough for to counterspell their magic.
My immunity ended and they started to deal damage to . The hour limit on my {Acclimation} was still on and they just refreshed it.
One would think these undead spellcasters would be smarter than just attack an enemy that required a trap and five hundred of them to take down but these liches had emotions just like the living. And right now, these few around were panicking, their fight or flight response active.
They weren't running away, though. My guess was fifty-fifty between the two theories. One, without their portals, they knew they weren't fast enough to evade, or two, the original would punish them if they did.
None of them took my half-hearted offer. I used {Flash Step} and destroyed each one of the skeletal mages. Then I raided the rest of the volcanic complex.
What I found a couple hundred ters underneath the granite was appalling. Hundreds of people from several species were dead, desiccating, and lacking souls. Only the tiniest fragnts, like those floating in a Dungeon or resulting from a complete purification by , floated around. A replica of the containnt circle and the magic diagram for the chains were here on a platform above the pit of corpses and the cages behind .
Kel'Caldor was using these sacrifices to empower their magic. The bodies on top of the pile were fresh, still warm even though they were drained. The liches probably finished their stock in a hurry now that the trap was no longer useful.
I cleaned the pit and copied the magic circles for the trap and chains. Perhaps I could glean so insight to escape it easier on a future occasion.
From the sacrificial chamber, an underground complex looked as if it was hurriedly abandoned. The library was torched, the laboratory destroyed with magic, and a room that the other two sanctums I explored didn't have was filled with broken vases and scattered dried organs.
Examining a piece of the pottery, I could sense lingering traces of enchantnt on them. The exterior was lavishly ornated, with gold filigree and gems, while the interior was full of densely packed runes. These would be the liches' phylacteries. From the number of similar organs and broken pottery, about two dozen of these jars were here.
I expected Kel'Caldor to have safehouses literally everywhere. How many living mages were clones-in-training? How many survived the transformation?
I had hundreds of prospective employees to interview and I bet so of them had these answers. I looted what was left in the complex and returned ho.
Despite my worries, Cyria was still not in flas. It didn't make sense for Kel'Caldor to throw away his leverage against in a fit of rage. I had too many places around the world dear to . Atlantis, Fulgen, Aquilonia, Laconia, and Windere. Let's not forget Ackerton with The Master's assassin guild too.
I knew he would threaten before attacking one of these places. After escaping his trap and causing such loss, lashing out would be expected against a dumber opponent, but this lich spent three years infiltrating my inner circle. I knew he wouldn't just burn leverage in a fit of anger.
I couldn't waste ti. I sent a summons to Marlowe and withdrew to my inner laboratory. The wards there were nothing to write ho about. When compared to Kel'Caldor's sanctum in the catacombs, it was direly lacking. That's why I had the [Diviner Archmage] run active interference and scrying counterasures while I interrogated my... prisoners?
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Yes, let's go with prisoners.
Before I started, I checked my notifications. The stunt with the liches to let out of the containnt circle gave two points in [Diplomat]. Nine for the next Ability. I also had another one, informing that {Treaty Retreat} was active and I had a 27 bonus to evasion and resistance against "Kel'Caldor" for six days.
Not one to squander an opportunity for a freebie, I decided to grind [Diplomat] proficiency using these liches. The values shown in my last attempt were ridiculous. The liches had 234 points after their negotiation bonuses were halved. They must have a way to pool their resources and present a unified front. That wouldn't happen now, as I went through the captured souls alone, one by one.
I counted on the small deviations in personality between the clones. Even if the ntal imprint from the original Kel'Caldor were constantly reinforced with mind magic, they would still have their quirks. I wanted to find one that was agreeable to serving for a ti in exchange for their freedom. In this aspect, it was good they had all these years of intel from Autumn's point of view. The prospective recruit would know I was fair and honest in my dealings.
I started with that very individual. The cloth doll hosting the spirit of the clone that possessed Autumn appeared in my hand. Examining the soul, I didn't see the tug from its phylactery. It must've been destroyed.
Did Kel'Caldor cut him down? Did they destroy the lich's most sacred object, the very vessel of their undead immortality? Surely his phylactery was one of the vases broken deep underneath the volcanic island. I had an advantage over this guy, as he had no awareness I already returned from the trap. I had to asure my words carefully. He knew about it, the volcano was his base of operations along with other clones. That told they operated in cells.
"Hello, Kel'Caldor." I had to treat him as the original one. I couldn't tip him that I knew he was a clone. "Are you ready to negotiate for your soul?"
The tiny cloth golem panicked. "My phylactery! What have you done!"
I smiled and replied sincerely. "Nothing. I promise you I took no offensive action against your phylactery, lich."
"No, no, no! They wouldn't dare break my vessel!" The doll whined.
"Well, it is a good thing you are here with then, isn't it? If they, whoever they are, are so callous as to destroy your phylactery, I wonder what they would've done to your soul. You might even think you owe , but consider this a gesture of goodwill."
Contested Charisma check successful.
He turned his silken head, his little sitch eyes focused on . "What do you want?"
"I want to be left alone by you, Kel'Caldor. I have no intention of making you my slave or keeping you in this cloth doll any longer than I have to. But I must be sure you or whoever was 'they who broke your vessel' won't take action against ."
"Forget about it. I might as well tell you. I'm not the real Kel'Caldor. I'm a clone, soone he kidnapped as a child and reshaped into a copy of himself."
I strained to keep my poker face. Thanks, {Pinnacle of...} Perks.
"And being a copy of him, you would know if he's callous enough to discard you once you were captured."
He scrunched his tiny embroidered face. "No. I... he would never do that. It's part of what makes us work together. I know I would never betray myself. Yes, they didn't break my vessel," he eyed him with suspicion. "It was probably you."
"Not . We are contracted, little lost soul. You can tell when I'm lying."
The forr haunting lich grunted. "True..."
"And on the sa asure, you won't betray the original either, isn't it? I admire that kind of foolish resolution. When faced with utter oblivion, you are still willing to sacrifice yourself to protect the original one," I cooed while I brought Pandora around and before him. "I think you know, this is my [Wisp of Creation]. I'll purify your soul, and then Pandora will absorb you. All the power the System bestowed on you will beco mine. All your Perks, Attributes, Levels, and Proficiencies. By not cooperating with , you'll make Kel'Caldor's enemy stronger."
The undead considered his un-life choices.
"Or you can help by giving the information I require. You are really choosing the lesser of two evils here. But I won't demand an answer now. I'll give you so ti to think."
Contested Charisma check successful.
Your [Diplomat] Proficiency increased by 1 point.
I sent him back to the tiless item box. I only needed one of them to cooperate, the others would beco Wisp food.
It was hard but rewarding work. They were all the sa person at their core. I felt like I was save-scumming [1] when one would reload a save ga to try all the possible choices or re-roll a random event like a treasure chest until they got the rare drop. Each of the five hundred plus liches had the sa information set and were stored around the sa ti. I just needed that 0.01% odds to land on the individual I wanted.
It was orders of magnitude more tireso than just reloading a savega, though. As I cycled through the captive ghosts, I learned quirks and subtle hints that worked on them. I left each of them with the sa moral quandary. Aid by feeding the Wisp their in no way small power, or giving information.
After a hundred Kel'Caldor clones, I had two abilities to pick for [Diplomat].
Diplomat [ 307 ]. Select two abilities.
Treatise Negotiation: You can split negotiations between two sovereign Realms in up to (Proficiency/5) small items and make contested checks for each of them. Unless you suffer a critical failure, neither of these tests anger the other party. All of them start at the sa base reaction, though.Retaliatory Strike: If you are attacked during Diplomatic Immunity, you gain (Proficiency/30) bonus to two Attributes of your choice for the duration of the encounter.
It prompted to pick two imdiately since I was still under the influence of {Treaty Retreat}. I selected Charisma and Soul. After a ten-minute refreshing nap, I dove back into the savega-scumming negotiations.
[1]:TV Tropes on SaveScumming
Reviews
All reviews (0)