Mage Tank

[What would you do with fruit?]

[The fruit is unimportant. Our future subjects should endeavor to provide tribute whenever they are allowed to bask in our presence!]

I sighed and looked around the room again. What the hell was I supposed to do in this situation?

[If this were Earth, my first move would be to tie Glow up, call the cops, and try to keep Sleepy from dying, assuming he’s still alive.]

[Glow? Sleepy?]

[I don’t know their names, man.]

[You could ask.]

[What? I was a little busy.]

I went over to Glow and knelt beside her.

“Hey,” I said. She had her arms up, covering her head while she wept, but peeked out at me with one terrified eye. “What’s your name?”

She shook as she processed the question.

“Mishala,” she croaked.

“Ok, Mishala. What about him?” I pointed at the unmoving man missing his legs from the thigh down. He wasn’t bleeding, which was not a great sign.

“Jayko.”

“Cool. Thanks.” I stood and went to check Jayko, feeling for a pulse. Amazingly, he was still alive. I inspected his legs and saw that the wounds had been partially healed, the stumps covered in thick scabs. Some sort of healing ability, I’d have to check the spell list later.

I went to the other three, finding them decidedly deceased.

“We got any rope?” I said.

Turns out, we did have rope. Some of Grotto’s supplies had come bundled together with thick cord and I spent a few minutes binding Mishala’s wrists and ankles. She was well-muscled, so I used three times the rope that I figured a normal person would take to keep tied up. She’d obviously invested in Strength.

“Alright, Mishala, I’ve got a few choices to make here, so I’ll need you to help me make them. Sound good?”

She nodded, still pale, but it looked like the effects of Grotto’s Commandment were starting to wear off.

“First, why were you and your crew here?”

“We were hired to bring you to see our client.”

“I gathered that much. Who’s your client?”

“I don’t know. Artemix dealt with the business side of things.”

I glanced over at the bisected man. That was unfortunate.

“Ok, any hints or ideas? Anything at all?”

She licked her lips.

“Probably a noble. Most our jobs come from nobles.”

“What did they want me for?”

“I don’t know. Artemix… he might have. We don’t ask a lot of questions.”

“Earlier you said that I was supposed to be a mage. Where’d you get that idea?”

As far as I knew, there weren’t a lot of people privy to my powerset.

“It was in the dossier.”

“Ok. Where’s the dossier?”

“Artemix burns it after we memorize it.”

“Great.” I took a deep breath. “Where were you supposed to take me?”

“South. To the mountains north of Ravvenblaq.”

That was curious. Did Varrin’s family have something to do with this? It could be a coincidence, since they controlled a huge swath of the country, but Mishala did say a noble likely hired them. Maybe his parents weren’t as enamored with me as Varrin thought. But why would they want to kidnap me? It didn’t make sense, so I discarded the theory for now.

“What are you going to do with me?” she asked.

“I haven’t decided.”

“If you don’t let me go, they’re going to kill me. If that’s your plan, you might as well do it yourself.”

“That’s a bit of an escalation, don’t you think?”

“Are you done with your questions?” A hint of anger had entered her voice. She was shaking off most of the effects of Grotto’s intimidation, and my own.

Maybe my soft-handed approach to interrogation was doing me a disservice, but it was hard for me to be rough with someone who was helpless. She hadn’t even been trying to kill me. She might have been trying to deliver me to my death, or endless torture and confinement for all she knew, but it’s not like she killed my dog. If she’d killed my dog this conversation would be going very differently.

Not that I had a dog. Did they have dogs here?

I opened my mouth to reply, but she interrupted me.

“Wh-what is that thing doing to Drake?”

I turned to see Grotto dragging Drake, formerly known as Warhammer, across the ground toward the obelisk. His tentacles were wrapped around the man’s ankles, and the display of strength from his tiny form was impressive.

[Hey, Grotto, what’re you doing?]

[Continue your interrogation. I am merely making use of these new resources.]

[Wait, resources?]

Grotto dropped Drake next to the base of the obelisk, and tendrils of energy began to stream from the corpse. Drake’s body shriveled as the tendrils turned to thick columns, power pouring out of the body.

[Grotto! What the fuck are you doing?]

After a handful of seconds, all that was left of Drake’s body was a blackened skeleton inside his now vastly oversized clothes.

Pocket Delve has absorbed Drake Brutuen: Delver, level 1. Pocket Delve has absorbed 28,000 mana.

Mana held in reserve: 28,000.

The Delve absorbed Drake? He was worth twenty-eight THOUSAND mana?!

[Yes. This will go far in cementing our hold in this dimensional space. Our days of limitless conquest grow closer!]

[Grotto! You can’t just EAT people!]

[I didn’t eat that oversized half-wit. The Delve absorbed his essence. He will be vastly more useful to us as mana than he ever was to anyone while alive.]

[I don’t care what you call it! You can’t do that!]

[I do not understand your reticence. This is how Delves function. Those that come to conquer either prevail and reap the rewards or are felled and become one with the Delve. It is the implicit contract upon which Delves function.]

[Even if that is the case, these people didn’t expect to be Delving!]

[No. They merely wished to invade your home, remove you by force, and deliver you to an unknown fate. Yet they found themselves within our Delve. It is not our responsibility to ensure that those who grace our hallways with violent intent are fully cognizant of the risks they are undertaking. Why does this upset you?]

[I...]

That was a good point. Why did I care that much?

Mainly because it felt a lot like hiding a body. By disposing of the evidence it made it look very much like we were guilty of something. This circumstance was a clear case of self-defense, but if we started throwing the bodies into the Delve equivalent of a wood-chipper, we would start raising a lot of legal eyebrows.

While I reflected on my feelings, Grotto started dragging Tiny toward the obelisk. Mishala had begun struggling against her bonds.

“Gods be damned if I let you consume me!” she yelled, worming her body away from me.

“Hey, it’s not what it looks like!”

The room was filled with the sounds of rushing energy as Tiny’s body desiccated and her flesh turned to ash and blackened bone.

“Grotto, stop for a fucking second!”

Pocket Delve has absorbed Selenay Fintim: Delver, level 1. Pocket Delve has absorbed 28,000 mana.

Mana held in reserve: 56,000.

Mishala angled her body toward the exit and she launched away in a physics-defying display of panic. Unfortunately, her aim was slightly off and she crashed head first into the wall just left of the doorway with a meaty thunk. Her body crumpled to the ground and she went still.

I went to check on her, finding her unconscious, probably concussed, and bleeding profusely from a fresh wound on her scalp. I tore some fabric from her shirt and pressed it to the wound, uncertain of what to do aside from figuring out how to call a Hiwardian ambulance. Fortunately, my new digs came equipped with one of the magic slates I’d seen around, and it allowed me to contact a form of emergency services.

I tied the cloth around Mishala’s head, then stood to go summon the authorities.

Pocket Delve has absorbed Artemix Scapegrace: Delver, Level 1. Pocket Delve has absorbed 28,000 mana.

Mana held in reserve: 84,000.

“Well, dicks.”

*****

Myria looked over the bodies with concern, her eyes lingering on the three sets of blackened bones. A level two healer had accompanied her to my lair–I mean house–and was making sure that Mishala and Jayko didn’t join their less fortunate party members.

“You said your familiar did this,” Myria said, “to the bodies?”

“He drains mana. Aggressively.” I gave Grotto a dirty look, and the fake c’thon stared back impassively.

I’d closed my inventory portal and carried the bodies out into the foyer before the authorities arrived. My painting of the various Deaths seemed quite a bit more sinister when viewed next to the actual dead.

I hadn’t expected the gorgeous, dark-skinned woman to show up. I hadn’t really known who might show up. But when both Myria and Lito arrived, I have to admit my balls shot up into my body. It had been a little over a fortnight and I was back on their radar. This time with entire mutilated bodies, rather than just a severed head. The quality of my atrocities was advancing rapidly.

Fortunately, Myria’s presence lacked the effect that it had the first time I’d met her. That was as much of a confirmation as I needed to decide that she’d been using some sort of magical charm effect previously.

I’d already given the duo a rundown of the events, leaving out the matter of the Pocket Delve and being a bit ambiguous as to the specifics of the combat.

“This is messed up,” said Lito. The smoking man had agreed not to smoke inside, chewing on a reed instead. It stuck out of his mouth, making him look like some sort of fantasy cattleman. All he needed was a cowboy wizard hat.

“Yeah,” I said. “I guess it turned out looking a bit grisly.”

“Hmm? Oh no, not the corpses. They broke in. Fuck ‘em. I mean the fact that five Delvers were trying to kidnap another.”

“That sort of thing doesn’t happen much?”

He shrugged.

“Delvers get into fights sometimes. People die. Some others steal shit. But kidnapping? It’s rare. Tough to kidnap a Delver. And if you do, how do you hold them? If they’re Strength based, they’ll break through chains and iron bars. If they’re Intelligence they’ll fireball the fuckin’ place. Agile? Slip out of the cuffs. Only way to keep one contained reliably is to have another Delver dedicated to control effects. It’s a hassle.”

“Plus, most Delvers are high profile,” added Myria. “The list of potential perpetrators is small and the amount of scrutiny applied to the crime is high. It’s a risky endeavor.”

“Then you’ve got the fact that most Delvers are rich. Why kidnap somebody for cash when you can go do a Delve and rake it in?”

“So the motive would more likely be political,” said Myria. “Or revenge. But if it’s revenge, why not just kill Arlo?”

“Torture,” said Lito. “Could also be trying to get information out of him.”

“So which are you?” said Myria, turning her hazel eyes upon me. “Someone’s political tool, someone’s enemy, or someone with valuable secrets?”

“I’ve done nothing to get involved with politics,” I said. “Not voluntarily. If that’s the reason, it would probably be because someone has something against Xim or Varrin.”

“Oh, some people definitely have problems with Varrin,” said Myria.

“I’d also imagine my list of enemies is small. As far as I know the only one I’ve had here is dead.”

“Hognay’s allies?” said Myria, raising an eyebrow at Lito. He looked exasperated.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “Why bother trying to figure it out on your own? Stop messing around and just ask that girl, Myria.”

“But making predictions is fun!” she said, pouting. Lito glared at her as he chewed on his reed. “Fine. Kitha, please wake up the patient.”

The healer nodded and placed a hand on Mishala’s forehead. Her eyelids fluttered open and she looked around the room, dazed. After a few seconds her eyes went wide and she sat up, starting to struggle against her bonds.

“Stop, dear,” said Myria. Mishala looked up at her and froze. Myria smiled down at her.

“Please tell me your name.”

There was a weight behind Myria’s words and Mishala’s expression went from fear to serenity.

You have observed the spell Suggestion.

Suggestion

Physical/Spiritual

Duration: 10 minutes

Cost: Variable (Dependant on the strength of the desired effect and the target’s mental state)

Cooldown: One session per target per day.

Requirement: 20 Charisma

You make a request of a sentient entity who, if affected, will do their best to comply with the request. Once the target is affected, additional requests may be made for the spell’s duration. The target is more likely to resist if the request is complex, or is likely to result in immediate physical or emotional harm to the target. The target must be able to understand your request and the effect will end if the target is subjected to a sudden shock, such as taking damage or hearing a loud and unexpected noise. While affected by this spell the target enters into a state of extreme relaxation, but will otherwise act normally.

“I’m Mishala Houndel.”

“Nice to meet you, Mishala. I’m Myria. Could you answer some questions for me?”

“Of course.”

“That’s great! First of all, why did you come here?”

“I am part of a Delver party known as the Artemix group. Our party was hired by a client to locate and retrieve the Delver known as Esquire Arlo.”

“Who hired you?”

“I do not know the name of the client. We were contacted by a broker known under the pseudonym ‘Typhoon’, who provided us with a dossier that included details of the assignment and known information on Esquire Arlo.”

Lito grunted when he heard the name, but said nothing.

“Please tell us about Typhoon.”

“Typhoon is an information broker and fixer agent here in Foundation. I can’t tell you what he looks like because I’m under the effects of an Oath spell that will kill me if I do. What I can say is that he’s got a lot of non-Delver thugs employed that handle the normal stuff–intimidation, collections, enforcement–but he’s also known to hire Delvers on occasion for jobs. The rewards for the jobs are usually something better than notes.”

“Where do you meet with Typhoon?”

“We receive orders through dead-drops. Dead-drop locations are also part of the Oath spell.”

“Who administered the oath?”

“I don’t know their name.”

“What do they look like?”

“They look like an oath that will kill me.”

Myria sighed.

“I hate oaths. Ok, different angle. What does the client want with Esquire Arlo?”

“I don’t know.”

“Where were you supposed to take Arlo?”

“South. To the mountains in the north of Ravvenblaq. There’s a cave with an old Delve inside. Artemix has a ring with the location inscribed on it.”

Lito turned to the bodies and I pointed out Artemix’s bisected corpse. After a brief search through the man’s pockets, Lito produced a simple copper ring. I inspected it.

Ring of Calvani

This ring grants access to Delve 0102: The Calvani Caverns. The coordinates for the Delve are engraved on the inside of the band.

“That’s interesting,” I said.

Lito tucked it into a pouch at his waist. Myria turned to him.

“Anything you’d like to ask?” she said.

“Why are you risking your status as a Delver by becoming a criminal? You could be stripped of your titles; have your access to the Delve portals revoked.”

“Please answer Guardian Lito’s questions.”

“I don’t have a status,” said Mishala, an edge creeping into her otherwise sedate voice. “I hold no titles. I already can’t use the regular Delve portals. I’m not and never was a noble.”

Lito growled low at that.

“How did you sneak into the Creation Delve to become a Delver in the first place?” he asked.

“I didn’t,” said Mishala. “I never went through the Creation Delve.”

“What?” said Myria. “Then how are you a Delver?”

“The Creation Delve isn’t the only way to become a Delver.”