Hard Mode

A/N: I figured out after posting this that I had built too much of my planning around the Runic Bond spell to change it, but without realizing that it could only apply to one person at a time. As a result, this is now a mild cheat storyline with one more deific pact than allowed. I promise to try and stay within the other constraints as much as possible - after all, restraints breed creativity, and we wouldn't want our scaled up necromancer to have it too easy, now would we?

As you think back through every prayer made to your falling star, one pushes its way to the forefront. Behind it, you sense a will nearly the equal of your own, and millennia of frustration and pain. The vast majority of the other wishes could be solved simply by your existence - so many are simply looking for a worthy master, or a cause to fight for, or simply a good dicking. They'll find their way to you, in time. But this one? This is a *quest*. And the reward could potentially rank among your greatest assets, if you play it properly.

"I'll be landing in Ixtacotak, as planned," you say. "And I'll grant the wish of Aamontep, last of the sorcerer-kings." The forgotten construct could hold the keys to your conquest, or become your greatest adversary. Either way, the journey to find and animate his body sounds like the kind of challenge legends are born from.

The goddess's jaw drops in disbelief. Her stunned silence lasts for what feels like an eternity before she starts to breathe again. "Haaa," you hear, quietly at first. "Haha. Aahahahahaha!" Megumin throws her head back and trembles as her laughter rises to an unconstrained, mad cackle. "I knew I made the right call backing you! You really don't do half measures at all! Oh, this dragonfall is gonna be amazing, I can feel it!"

She grabs you and starts to spin you around like a child might with a puppy. You'd like to be offended, but her enthusiasm is just too infectious.

"Tell you what," she says, letting you go. "Just for the sheer tungsten balls of that, I'm going to go a little further. Nothing fancy, just might show up as a cute little invisible ghost girl that only you can see and hear every now and then. Don't count on me showing up, but if and when I do, I'll answer whatever questions I've got time for."

"What's the cost?" you ask.

She blinks in front of you and bops you on the nose with her pipe. Anyone else would die for that, but honestly, you're starting to admire her sheer audacity. "That is the cost, silly! What I give you is one more stolen gift."

You don't even have to think about it. "If we're already making an enemy of Memnoph, let's go all the way," you reply. "I want legendary magic. I want to remove the limit on my Runic Bond spell - I'm going to put it on every companion I have, and anyone worthy who joins my service going forwards."

"Consider it done," says Megumin. She grins at you, and this time, you return it. She's right - this is going to be *fun*. "Well, it's been a blast, but I should probably let you go before we get too carried away," she says. "Talk to you soon! Meantime, you've got a hot date with the ground coming up in three, two, one--"

Final Character Sheet

Large Purple Drake (Tiny Whelp) - Location: Ixtacotac

Diet: Mana, Souls

Breath: Mana Breath 3, Spirit Breath 3, Multiple Breaths, Breath 2.

Features: Wings 1, Crawling 2, Claws 1, Fertility 3, Flight 2, Magic 3, Brain 2, Legendary Magic, Adaptive Genitalia, Pheromones, Hive Mind, Shimmer Dust

Drawbacks: Whelp, Hoarder - Subjects, Arrogant, Horny, Nightmare Visage, Guardian, Ravenous, Telegraphed Breath, Arcane Glow, Belly Scales, Environmental Incompatibility - Desert, Volcano, Leaking Breath

Spells: Balefire Torrent 2, Humanoid Form 2, Runic Bond 3, Phylactery 2, Animate Dead 2 , Blink 2, Soulbound Item 1, Counterspell 2, Heal 1

Companions: Tiana, Ignar, Ichika, Metzli, Gromna, Xixi, Nenetl, Tozi

Pacts: Dhakepra - Spectral Call, Megumin - Stolen Fist of Kings, Stolen Legendary Magic (Runic Bond) (Enemy of Memnoph)

Quests - Destroy village of Farnheim, grant wish of Aamontep