Arc 9 Chapter XXX: Butting Heads (Patreon)

Planned on something entirely different for this one but things kinda got away from me halfway through. I choose to consider this a good thing.

Do give me some of your feedback if you feel like it. A lack of noise good inspiration does not make, and your interaction helps me find the will to keep going! (even if I may seem curt in my replies)

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(General POV)

"Don't blink."

That was all the warning they got before reality got... weird.

One moment they were staring at an almost eager grey elf, and the next all of them felt a distinct pop in their minds as a pressure they weren't even aware of simply disappeared, the scene before them shifting as the wall of the magically constructed chamber lit up with unidentifiable runes, the wards in place consuming waves of oddly familiar energy.

The sudden weightlessness in the deepest parts of their psyche left almost every single one of them falling onto their knees.

All but one.

Durge's imposing form was currently stuck vibrating in place, his expression distant and his eyes almost glassy as he stared at something only he could see.

A moment passed and his eyes returned to focus, the voice coming out from his lips carrying an odd grinding tenor it previously lacked "Fuck."

His moment of realization was drowned out almost instantly though, as all the others regained their footing and a wall of questions was thrown at the one who had just saved their souls.

(Reyvin's POV)

"One by one if you please." I commanded dryly, my voice being heard despite the cacophony. Though I did raise a hand to forestall them even as they shut up, and turned to the Mind Flayer "Thank you for your assistance, Omeluum." And tossed him his ring.

The soulless thing stared at me for a long moment, no doubt considering whether it was intelligent to call me out on timestopping an event he was meant to observe, but after my display of power the fleshy computer quickly came to the only conclusion he could "It has been... informative."

He clutched the ring and floated out of the chamber.

"Ghaikh filth." Lae'zel spat on the ground as he passed her by, but impressively held herself back from trying to gut him.

"Right." Karlach gave the other woman a cautious glance before focusing back on me "So... just like that?"

"I did promise you all salvation, did I not?" I smirked.

"Just feels..." She shrugged.

"Not sufficiently dramatic?" I quirked an eyebrow "And here I thought you would be more than happy to be free from any potential slavery."

She winced, rubbing the back of her head "When you put it like that..."

"And you are sure we are clean?" The Githyanki finally managed to stop glaring at the entrance "No taint remains?"

Rolling my eyes I made a dismissive wave "I know what I am doing, Lae'zel. You are as clean as can be, probably even cleaner than before you got infected now that I think about it."

And judging by the very pale expression on Shadowheart's face, and the heavy air around Durge, my little operation may or may not have jolted out a memory or three.

I met the albino lizard's gaze briefly and we shared a silent 'later.'

Gale, whose aura was now far more stable, was looking at me with an intensity he usually lacked. The others no doubt guessed I just fucked with time, but only the local archmage, weakened as he was, understood the implications of me doing so, especially if he caught me using the thu'um.

Some of the others asked for me to confirm and re-confirm everything was fine after that, naturally it was a bit difficult to accept the sword hanging above their necks was removed so swiftly and 'simply' but by the end of it they were all sufficiently reassured, and none seemed too eager to hightail it the moment I stopped paying attention.

Truly, my charisma knew no bounds.

'Or the implied threat of violent murder.' Scorch piped in.

'That too.' I mentally drawled.

"Oh." I snapped my fingers and turned to the local vampire "That reminds me."

Before he had any time to respond, I tossed a simple golden band his way, the pale elf catching it on reflex.

"That should solve your little tanning problem." I informed him.

He ever so slowly blinked, looked down to his hand even more slowly, and promptly shoved the ring onto his finger, immediately closing his fist as if fearing the possibility of it slipping off.

"You can do that?" He muttered in disbelief.

"Easy." I winked "Now as much as I enjoy rightful worship of the masses, we should get moving. I'd like to get our new following to the temple before the day is out."

Knowing they had millions of questions on their mind, and promptly ignoring that fact, I led them out of the building and back into the Underdark.

The place was impressive at first, for the novelty of it at the very least, but honestly after spending more than a few hours down here I was already sick and tired of it.

Blackreach was better by far.

---

The gnomes did their best, but we still spent hours upon hours trudging through the underground passages, so by the time we reached the underground Selunite temple again, I was thoroughly done with the charade, and decided to speed us along the final stretch.

With a sufficiently dramatic snap of my fingers, our entire group, including my land-shark mount of course, disappeared from the underground and reappeared in the Moonhaven Temple complex, startling the absolute shit out of the pair of Tieflings currently using the passage as a... retreat.

"Oh don't stop on my account." I drawled as the two did their best to get their clothes back on.

"We-uh... sir!" The woman covered herself in a panic while the man dutifully stepped in front of her, deep frown on his face.

"Right." I chuckled, ignoring the few snickers behind me "Apologies for that, I didn't expect the tunnel to be... occupied."

The man glared at me for a moment longer before letting out a defeated sigh "Of course, my lord. Should I go and inform Zevlor of your return?"

"Don't bother." I waved him off "We'll just be on our way and just... leave you to it."

His eye twitched, and Astarion failed to keep down another snicker.

Feeling like I had embarrassed the kids enough, I led the others past them and up into the main temple complex, alerting the few Tieflings scurrying through the lower levels, though their alarm quickly turned to relief as they realized who it was.

And the reason behind their relief was made evident rather quickly as when we finally stepped into the main temple chamber we were treated to the sight of two groups glaring daggers at each other while their two leaders bickered.

On one end were who I guessed were the Flaming Fists of Baldur's Gate and their Chancellor, while on the other stood Zevlor and his most important followers.

"Refugee or not." Chancellor Florick spoke in a clipped tone "It is your duty to follow Council orders while on Balduran land. Besides, listening to me will only improve your people's chances in the city."

Behind me, I could hear Wyll letting out a long, tired sigh.

"And I am telling you." Zevlor snapped back "That whatever authority you think you have over us means nothing, especially when we have already decided to follow another, and compared to you he has more than earned our trust."

'Mmm, loyalty.' Scorch crowed 'Me like.'

The elven woman didn't quite sneer, but it was a close thing "Ah yes, this Dagoth everyone keeps telling me about-"

"Have I been summoned?" I quipped dryly.

Immediately all of them rounded to me, a series of emotions flashing over their faces.

The Tieflings looked genuinely happy to see me, though they seemed apprehensive of the gnomes, even if it was mostly for the sake of caution.

The Baldurans on the other hand tensed, a few of them shooting looks to Wyll who was doing his best to signal all of them to immediately stand down, a command their imposing leader wisely followed.

Not the Chancellor though, oh no, the poor woman was currently radiating stress and desperation, and as one could often observe, that particular cocktail of emotion tended to make people act out in ways that were delightfully idiotic.

 "You." She pointed at me, voice accusatory "By my authority as Chancellor of Baldur's Gate, I am conscripting all of you to the rescue of Duke Ravengard, tell your Tieflings to follow or-"

Ignoring her yapping, I lazily tilted my head at Wyll "Your father surely knows how to pick them, kid."

The warlock pinched the bridge of his nose "Just- She is usually better at this."

"Clearly." I agreed dryly.

"Are you ignoring me?!" The shrew finally caught on!

And without the slightest hint of hesitation I delivered the truth "Yes."

"What-" She paused, genuinely taken aback "How- how dare you?! I am-"

'It was about time, wasn't it?' I hummed in my mind.

'Tell the n'wahs exactly where they belong.' Scorch agreed, using his best Dagoth Sr. impression.

"Your Imperial Majesty." I sharply cut her panicked rant off.

For a moment my dry statement seemed to pass everyone by, but then the words registered.

Everyone stilled.

"If we are to use rank to push at each other around." I went on despite the complete and utter silence "Then you shall use the appropriate rank and address when speaking to your betters, Chancellor."

Feeling particularly annoyed, I rubbed my beard and added "Honestly, if this is how Baldurans treat foreign dignitaries it is no wonder you are considered the Coast's stinking armpit."

Usually, words like mine would simply have a person laughed out of a room, for to claim royalty, much less imperial royalty, without some heavy proof or reputation was to declare yourself the room's designated jester.

Fortunately for my most august self, I was possessed of the ability to simply charge the air with the simple and absolute truth of my words, and the rest was as they say, history.

It was quite ridiculous what a bit of aura could do. I didn't even need to tell them which empire was the one I ruled!

The poor woman looked like she just consumed something particularly vile, with how paralyzed her face became "I-"

But despite my patience, she still deserved some light admonishment for her arrogance, and so I repeated, in that tone one might reserve for talking to a child "Your. Imperial. Majesty. It really isn't that difficult."

And to add the slightest touchup to it all, I added the tiniest bit of my true presence to the statement.

Which is exactly when the dear Chancellor realized she made a... diplomatic faux pass, as they call it in the business, and promptly began feeling like the world was crashing around her.

Really, having active empathy was such a mood killer sometimes.

Depressive feelings always tasted so gods damned oily.

Thankfully the determined bravery of one of my followers swiftly banished my annoyance.

"Please, don't take her words to heart." Wyll spoke loudly for all to hear, his usually relaxed tone completely gone and in its place the trained cadence of a noble son "The loss of Duke Ravengard has hit us all hard."

I let the words settle for a long moment, staring into the determined man's eyes while channeling my 'I hold the lives of millions in my hands' look all the while.

Naturally, the moment the air started turning tense again I let out a loud snort "No need to go that far, kid. I am just fucking with her."

Wyll's face flashed with both embarrassment and irritation.

But any response of his was preempted by Astarion's drawl "So you aren't going to smite the poor mortal, oh Imperial Majesty?" His voice was teasing, and his emotions spoke of someone completely and utterly unsurprised by the revelation.

Was I getting predictable in my old age?

Don't answer that.

"Of course not." I rolled my eyes "She was getting annoying and I did promise a proper introduction to you all." I tilted my head "This was all just a-" I trailed off while rubbing my fingers.

"Happy little accident?" The vampire quipped.

"Quite." I deadpanned "You can ask your questions when we are alone, but for now." I turned back to the gawking plebeians "How about we get the poor soul some water and get to the actual point of this gathering?"

All of them were more than willing to acquiesce.

"So..." Wyll licked his lips nervously as the crowd began dispersing "Which empire do you rule?"

"Tamriel." I answered honestly.

"Never heard of it." Astarion quipped.

Instead of immediately answering them, I faced Gale who was looking at me with dawning realization in his eyes "I would be really surprised if you did."

-----

Some half an hour later, most of the mooks had found spots around the main chamber to camp themselves in, and while most of them were somewhat standoffish against each other, mostly the gnomes being the paranoid little shits that they were, they were all peaceful enough not to warrant me telling them off.

'Good enough' I decided, and focused back on the contents of the ex-throne room turned meeting space currently occupied by the leaders of all parties and those companions of mine interested in any potential planning.

"Now that we are all calm." I began as I took my seat before the fire "I trust that all of you understand the true purpose of this gathering?"

"To hunt the Cult of the Absolute." Beldron, the leader of the Ironhand gnomes said, looking at me with far more trepidation than before.

"My first goal will always be the safety of my people." Zevlor cut in with a small shake of his head "But we are more than willing to help the rest of you out." He said, eyes narrowing "That is if you reciprocate."

Seeing my raised eyebrow he cleared his throat "We will of course follow wherever you lead, your-"

"'My lord' will suffice, Zevlor." I waved him down "And I was merely surprised that you were so willing to lead your people into potential danger."

He inclined his head briefly in understanding before nudging it in the direction of the very quiet Chancellor "While she may have been a bit heavy handed in her approach, Chancellor Florick was right when she said helping save the Duke would give us the leverage we'd need to settle in Baldur's Gate."

He let out a long exhale "Besides, the closest way to the Gate is through Moonrise, and that is where the cult's base is located. Something tells me they wouldn't just let us pass if we asked nicely."

"Oh we'll ask them nicely alright." Beldron muttered, an odd rolling accent tinging his voice briefly "A right Ironhand handshake we'll give them." He practically spat.

"Does that satisfy your demands, oh Chancellor?" I asked the thoroughly drained looking elven woman.

"Yes, thank you. Your Majesty." She answered mechanically before forcing herself from her fugue state "Apologies for my display earlier, any help any of you offer will be both appreciated and dully rewarded."

"Accepted." I shrugged.

And the poor woman's shoulders immediately slumped.

"Since we are all in rather unanimous agreement on what is to be done next." I clapped my hands "We should move to the most exciting part of any operation... Logistics!"

To my disappointment, there were no groans of despair that followed my proclamation, and they all quickly got to work discussing our route and supply rations on the way to moonrise.

All of it ended up being pretty straightforward, a five day march through the nearby highlands with the only real place of interest on the way being an abandoned monastery of the god Lathander.

Something told me that place was going to be all kinds of fun.

We went over the plan a few times more just in case, and by the time we were done the sun had already started setting in truth. The Balduran Chancellor and Ironhand Quartermaster left to inform their people of their marching orders for the following morning, while Zevlor's own second Asharak went to inform the Tieflings.

Speaking of the devil-blooded man, he spoke up the moment the two others left "We were hoping for an extra day of rest-"

I could have interrupted him with an offer to wait but I felt he had more to say.

"-But we are still ready to move. However there is an issue with the supplies."

"Hm?" I raised an eyebrow "Did you not say we had more than enough?"

"Exactly." He nodded "The food was meant to last a much larger band of goblins and their allies for an extended period, and their supply of alcohol was also considerable. There is no way for us to carry it all with us."

I could have offered to do it but fuck that. I was no one's pack mule.

My new pet would happily haul some drink if I asked though.

"So?" I prompted.

"I feel we should throw a feast for everyone." Zevlor said bluntly "The goblins hounding us were driven off, and we have been joined by many others who could probably use the time to relax for the first time in gods know how long."

"And you want to get shitfaced." I added for him.

"And." His lip twitched up slightly "I want to get shitfaced."

Laughing at the admission, I clapped his shoulder "A feast sounds great right about now." I chuckled darkly and added "Who knows how much time will pass before you have another chance."

He did an admirable job at hiding his shiver, and offered a curt nod.

Just then, one of the Tiefling lookouts entered the meeting chamber, and immediately saluted upon seeing us "Sirs, the Druid Halsin is here, he brought his apprentice with him."

"Which one?" I asked.

"The bit-" The Tiefling cut himself off with a fake cough "Kagha, sir."

Holding back a snort at his behavior, I lightly tugged at my beard for a moment before allowing my inner menace into my voice "Did he now?"

(General POV)

While the others were busy with their own matters, or with helping to prepare for the feast, Durge found himself sat alone atop the lookout tower in the outer temple, his lightly glowing red eyes scanning the distance.

He was completely unsurprised when he felt a familiar burst of power behind him, and the stench of blood that came with it.

"My lord, what a jubilant day!" The scratchy voice of his golbinlike fiend of a butler greeted him with all the enthusiasm of a mass murderer "At last you are returned to us, just like I knew you would."

Durge said nothing as he stood up, slowly turning to the pale-faced goblin, a deep growl building up in his throat.

Before the fiend could so much as blink, the dragonborn's clawed hand was around his throat "Hello Sceleritas." The Bhaalspawn behind the creation of the Cult of the Absolute snarled "Here to check on me for my traitorous whore of a cousin?"

Despite the hand currently threatening to rip his throat open, the demon grinned.