Startup 39: Asset Conversion

Arodus 29, afternoon

I felt pretty clever when I first managed to convince Dovnu and Nendra that I should be allowed to sleep with Mih’Tzi, among others. After all, it would be a lot easier to pull off my exit strategy if I got another level under my belt. I forgot a fairly critical issue with that victory: they were still drow.

“Why, damn it?” I demanded, “It’s not like I need much encouragement! I took care of Vorys just fine.”

Dovnu stared at me, armed crossed. I glared right back, refusing to sit down in the chair. Next to us, a navy skinned drow woman in a sleeveless dress checked a set of syringes. Anything to avoid making eye contact with either of us.

“Sure, but that took almost an hour.” Dovnu said, exasperated, “this will eliminate your refractory period and make sure you stay in the mood throughout. Now sit down, Stud, and take your medicine.”

“This is completely unnecessary!” I said. “I’m perfectly capable of pleasing as many women as you present to me.” (Diplomacy 5+12=17 Failure)

“But not impregnating them.” Dovnu said, unmoved. “I don’t want my highest ranking women standing around for hours while you paw at them one at a time.”

“It’s about hedonism!” I said, “I’m rakshasa blooded, damn it. There isn’t likely to be another magical effect if I’m not even allowed to enjoy it.”

“Kiyon had nothing better to do than spy on your last ‘ritual’” Dovnu said with a smirk. “We both know your pleasure is tangential at best.”

“What about Nendra?” I asked, “Not to mention Mih’Tzi?”

“You’ll be given time to rest later.” Dovnu said dismissively. “After that, you’ll be escorted to your office, then when Nendra is ready for round two she’ll bring in Mih’Tzi when you’re fresh. After that, we should have the next set lined up.”

She has me there. Fuck. I guess getting through this as quickly as possible is my only real chance.

My menu helpfully informed me that this was Mad Passion, the same **** that Sinkitah had used on me at the temple. I confirmed this while my body ravaged the doctor, because of course she was the first person Dovnu wanted me to fuck. It was more efficient that way.

I could think, barely, but Autopilot was little more than a rutting animal under the effects of the cocktail of ****. A drow, usually one of the servants or officers, would be released into the room with me and I’d pounce. Some were into it, others were clearly terrified and following orders. For the latter, I arrested control of my body back for long enough to slowly ease the poor girl into the process.

“I promise I won’t hurt you.” I said to one who looked like she was in her mid teens, though Autopilot insisted she was at least thirty, “I don’t think we can get out of this. Is there anything you’d like to do first?”

Nendra watched through the bars of my cell with this disturbing, blissed out smile for most of the afternoon. Her new perk let her experience the sensations of the parade of drow women Dovnu fed to me. I’d looked it up, and it was intended to allow her to transfer injuries and status effects to herself. I found it difficult to imagine her using it for its intended purpose.

Unfortunately, she seemed to think abusing the additional sense was an excellent way to indulge in her shameful submission kink while pretending to be in charge. I was having difficulty focusing on why exactly that was bad, but I knew I needed my mate pinned under me at some point. It was important.

I passed out and was revived twice before Dovnu’s physician declared that I needed a break. Even with healing magic on tap to reinvigorate me and flush the poison from my system, it was apparently a bad sign to experience an erection lasting more than four hours. I fell asleep briefly after that, but I thankfully didn’t slip into an eternal void. I was able to wake myself up, for all the good it did me. At that point, I had only 18 hours left on the clock and Autopilot was completely burnt out. He would be useless for another hour, at least.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. I need to get my hands on two girls in specific contexts, and I don’t have my biggest piece on the chessboard.

••••••••••

16 hours remaining

I’d been assigned a squad of five dedicated bodyguards, consisting of my four mutant buddies and Xenobia, the guard captain I’d embarrassed at the docks. She was less than enthusiastic about the exchange, and I doubted that the fact I’d been railing her in a feral rage a few hours prior helped anything. Officially she was the overseer and interpreter for the mutants, since as far as Dovnu knew I couldn’t speak to them. Unofficially, I was pretty sure she was there to make sure I didn’t pull any funny business.

Funny business is exactly what I had in mind, to be fair.

I busied myself with the accounts, checking to see if Autopilot was awake every few minutes. I started to feel a lot better once I had magic back on the menu, even if I still had the Exhausted debuff cutting my physical stats in half. She mostly left the work to her subordinates, reading a book in the hallway and occasionally sweeping the hallway for magic.

“I’d like to speak with Mih’Tzi D’Lann.” I declared. “On my mistress’s behalf, for our later appointment.”

As I spoke to her, I let out a quick charm. To my surprise, she shrugged it off. Xenobia was a grey skinned drow that kept her brightly dyed hair in a high ponytail. I’m fairly sure that was a severe weak point people could grab onto, but she did wear relatively practical armor. Maybe she just needed to make up for her lack of exposed midriff somewhere.

https://postimg.cc/21Zypq84

Damn. All the melee fighters in my party have shit will saves. Maybe she just got lucky? At least she doesn’t seem to have noticed me doing it.

“You’re much safer in a controlled location.” She said in a monotone, rolling her eyes. “I’m not about to put the Shadow of the Daughter in danger for no good reason.”

She’d only met my gaze for a moment before returning to her book. She talked a good game about keeping me safe, but I was fairly sure she was just being lazy. I wasn’t going to complain, because that made it easy for me to plan with Filli and Tam, the two who had been ordered to stand inside the cramped office with me. They were set to watch me, but they didn’t actually care if I summoned a few outsiders on their watch.

It’s not like I’m dumb enough to summon anything that can attack me, after all.

“Given the magic I have, no.” I said, “I can fly, I can turn invisible, and I can freeze people at fifty paces. I’m more **** in tight quarters by a long shot.”

She glanced up from her book to glare at me again, so naturally I took another shot at charming her.

“Look, Worm,” she said, then her face softened as a violet aura enveloped her, “If an attack does happen and you simply flee at full speed, you will be isolating yourself. If the attack has multiple prongs, we won’t be in any position to assist at that point.”

“Trust me.” I said, putting a hand on the newly charmed woman’s shoulder, “I’ve been in a few scraps recently. I understand the value of having a proper fighter there to back me up. I won’t flee lightly. However, you must know how my wife and her cousin are. If I don’t clear things up first then tonight might turn into an absolute disaster.”

She looked at my hand on her shoulder and raised an eyebrow. It was such a familiar exchange that I pulled my hand away instinctively. Plenty of girls didn’t want a big guy laying hands on them, even among friends.

••••••••••

15 hours remaining

Thus charmed, Xenobia eventually agreed to bring me to see Mih’Tzi. We took a more direct route than I had last time, but I felt much more ostentatious with a squad of hulking warriors making a square formation around me.

“Do you know what happened to my last guard?” I asked while we walked, “Azog, I believe?”

“Oh, he’s going to be reassigned.” Xenobia said, disinterested. “Matron D’Lann doesn’t waste skilled warriors just because they prove incompetent. He’ll probably be placed in the training grounds to instruct new recruits instead, once his injuries heal naturally.”

That will leave scars that magical healing wouldn’t allow, and give him time to ruminate.

The mushroom colonies were as busy as the last time I’d been there, and Autopilot’s exhaustion had the lovely side effect of making his involuntary knowledge checks a lot shorter and more infrequent. Mih’Tzi looked lovely as always, of course. I waited nearby while she quietly instructed a group of Kobolds on how to properly harvest Abyssal Shriekers without making them release deafening screams.

“Ah, Lord M’Dair.” She said, swaying up to me. “I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon after your ordeal. I trust your wife is well?”

She casually pushed a strand of hair over my ear and held eye contact. She gave me a cute little smirk. It vanished instantly as she looked over my shoulders.

“Off the wall, Xenobia.” Mih’Tzi hissed, “you’re crushing the new growth. Did you even check before you pulled out your book?”

“Tell me what to do when you’re not flirting with the Daughter’s Shadow.” Xenobia said, “I might listen then. Besides, this patch of wall is bare.”

“Because we only applied the spores a few days ago, you brute.” Mih’Tzi said, “lean against one of the mutants, if you can’t simply stand.”

The two held one another’s gazes for a few moments, but Xenobia blinked first. She leaned forward slightly, leaving a small indent in the dirt covered wall. Mih’Tzi sniffed and refocused on me.

“Did you need something?” She asked sweetly.

I leaned in close.

“How good are you at acting?” I asked, quietly enough that Zenobia wouldn't hear.

Good enough to wrap a **** drow boy around your fingers, that’s for sure.

“Why?” Mih’Tzi asked, just as quietly. My heart started pounding as she leaned in, her forehead brushing against mine.

“I need to put on a show for Nendra.” I explained, “She wants me to humiliate you in bed. I’d really appreciate it if you played along. You know how she hates you.”

Mih’Tzi stiffened.

“What in Nine Hells are you suggesting?” She said.

“Dovnu wants me to breed with every woman in the household.” I explained, “She believes I can empower women I sleep with. I’ve done it a few times. You probably won’t get a choice in the matter, but if you get special treatment, Nendra is going to kill me.”

“And to avoid that fate, you would sacrifice my dignity?” She asked. “So, I’ll counter your request with one of my own. Tell me who you are.”

I blinked.

“Emrys M’Dair?” I said, confused. “What do you mean?”

“No, you’re not.” Mih’Tzi said, smiling and glancing at Xenobia. “Emrys was a dear, but he’s a coward at heart. I was already suspicious, but now I’m sure. He would never risk offending me like this.”

“You don’t seem very offended to me.” I said, crossing my arms. “Maybe I just figured a few things out.”

“Stay in character.” Mih’Tzi snapped, then turned away slightly, eyes down. “No, you didn’t. Not after thirty years pining after me. Not this quickly.”

“I almost died multiple times while I was away.” I said, “what makes you jump straight to me being a different person?”

Mih’Tzi gave me a withering look for a second.

“Let’s assume for a moment I’m wrong.” She said. “Given the radical shifts in your behavior, capabilities, and treatment of both myself and others, do you think I could plant a seed of doubt in Nendra? Or, perhaps more plausibly, my uncle?”

“Why would you do that?” I asked, genuinely confused, “You’ve been stringing me along for decades, why start playing hardball now?”

I stumbled over the word me, almost saying Emrys.

“Because Uncle Kiyon talks to me.” She said, tapping my nose with one finger. “I know that field will be fallow for a season no matter what happens, and I’m not so delusional as Nendra. Better to plant a new crop.”

Gods damn it! Another one! Another person putting me over a barrel!

“What kind of crop?” I asked, “If I were an entity possessing Emrys, you wouldn’t know what kind. You wouldn’t know what I want. Threatening me seems like a bad idea in that context.”

“I don’t think you want to try anything rash.” Mih’Tzi said sweetly. “You’re not rampaging through Heslandaena, despite Matron Dovnu’s complaints to the contrary, and I know you couldn’t win a fight against three assassins, so you have only grown so powerful.”

“Alright, then let me ask again. What kind of crop?”

“What do you have to offer me, in exchange for my assistance?” Mih’Tzi asked, “I do have my dignity, and being degraded for my cousin’s sexual pleasure does not appeal.”

What does she want? Well, that’s obvious.

“If Kiyon has been gossiping about me, I suppose you already know that I’m going into business for myself on the surface.” I said, choosing my words carefully. “My plan is to clear off islands and sell them to the highest bidder. I’ll certainly choose at least one to keep for myself.”

“Go on.” Mih’Tzi breathed, leaning in close, “Get to the point.”

“How would you feel about getting out from under Nendra?” I said, “I’ll need people who are at least moderately powerful to help keep the island safe, a source of food and medicines would be extremely welcome, and we’ll need to check for any caverns and might want to excavate a bit. You know, to be sure there isn’t anything scary under our feet. I think we could get you a much bigger space to work with, if you’d like that. Just an initial offer.”

“Big promises.” Mih’Tzi purred. “I’m intrigued, but what can you offer me now? How about your name?”

I met her eyes. I knew that question was a lot more loaded than it sounded. As a summoner, I could call up any outsider and bind them to my will, assuming I knew their real name. Sosima could do something similar with Spirits, though she had to use much more esoteric methods. If she had been right and I was some kind of outsider, this would be serious collateral. Of course, I wasn’t an outsider or a spirit. I was a CPA.

“Alright.” I said, taking a deep breath. “My name is Curtis Hansen, and my name is Emrys M’Dair. We are both here, and we can do a lot more together than we could alone.”

••••••••••

Xenobia escorted me back after that, where we found a very panicked looking human wringing her hands in the doorway of my office.

“Oh thank the gods.” She said, turning to face us. “Mistress Nendra told me to fetch her Shadow. She seemed very excited about something.”

The seven of us returned to Nendra’s chambers, shuffling along in awkward silence. When we arrived, I was surprised to find that she wasn’t alone. She had a woman in a heavy robe kneeling at the foot of the bed.

“My husband!” Nendra said, rushing over to plant a kiss on my lips. “I was beginning to worry.”

She turned a glare upon the human servant, but I distracted her with a kiss. With my off hand, I gestured for the servant to leave.

“Never fear.” I said, “I was only taking a walk so she had to track me down. I didn’t want to be too predictable, you see. What did you wish to show me?”

“Well, I decided to get started on that project we discussed.” She explained, “Jan’nai here was lucky enough to survive extraction, you see. She won’t be useful for much now that she doesn’t have her magic, but I thought you might like her once she recovered.”

I looked again at the kneeling woman, and finally recognized her. I’d only glanced her real face briefly, after her illusory Nendra mask was dispelled. She’d been in a bad scrape then, with one friend dead already and her target putting up one hell of a fight, but she had kept her cool. That was all gone now. Between the thousand yard stare, the hollow cheeks, the unflattering robe, and the crumpled posture, I never would have recognized the illusionist if Nendra didn’t mention extraction.

This is what Dovnu wants to do to me, isn’t it? Take my magic and scrape it out.

She noticed I was examining her and listlessly met my eyes.

Damn it, Curtis. This person tried to kill you. Don’t think about bringing her along. Not unless she can earn her keep.

“That’s very sweet, Nendra.” I said carefully, trying not to cringe as Nendra stroked Jan’nai’s hair. I saw a single violet spark as she did. “I’m not really sure if she’s ready, though. At minimum she needs to get fattened up a little; I’m fairly sure she was underweight even before she was drained and now she’s positively skeletal. You, stand up.”

Jan’Nai looked up at me forlornly, and seemed to twitch. Her arms raised a few inches, then fell.

“Mm sorry.” She mumbled, clearly struggling, “F’give me.”

“I’m afraid she can’t, at the moment.” Nendra said, amused. “According to the ritualist, her muscles took the hardest blow. He doesn’t think she will be able to walk unassisted for some time. She has difficulty breathing at times, I’m told.”

Sounds like a ton of ability damage. Ouch. That takes a lot more than 1 day per point for normal people. Then again…

I knelt down in front of the newly enslaved woman, meeting her eyes. I kept track of Nendra’s position, and carefully positioned my body to block her view of my hands.

“Tell me, girl, do you know your numbers?” I asked, “What languages do you speak? If you are to be a gift for me, I’ll not have a useless servant. Look down when I’m speaking with you!”

“I… yes. One of mother’s slaves taught me common, and numbers.” She slurred, averting her eyes.

When her gaze was lined up, she saw my hands.

“I can help you.” I signed, “I can help you heal, maybe set you free eventually, if you’ll act as my spy. Deal?” (Bluff to convey a secret message 17+13=30)

Her eyes widened in recognition ever so slightly.

She’d been part of a clandestine team of assassins; of course she knew DSL. I know I’ll be teaching everyone on my crew a few words, at least. Way better than some weird ponytail code.

Her right hand sluggishly made the motion for yes, though her lack of manual dexterity made the normally subtle downward swipe very awkward.

Would you like to add Jan’nai to your party as a follower?

Y

I’m gonna need to leave you here, but it’s plausible Nendra will bring you along when she chases me. I’ll do what I can if we meet later.

“Good,” I said, dismissing the woman and returning my focus to Nendra, “I’ll need a secretary if we do remarry under more favorable terms. So, how long was it until we start the next batch? I believe the plan was to start with Mih’Tzi and then bring the doctor in again?” (Opposed Bluff 5+13+2(target wants to believe)=20)

“Oh, a few hours.” Nendra said, “I’m afraid I can’t stay for the whole time. I just wanted to let you see your present.”

“Well we can spend at least some time together, no?” I said, “If you have work that you can do from here, I can busy myself with my daily exercises.”

I really did need to catch up on my fitness. Emrys’s body had hit a plateau pretty quickly, but that was no excuse to neglect my strength training. Being repeatedly beaten into **** and barely escaping **** would be a perfectly acceptable excuse, of course, but I had already missed too many workouts.

I was about to miss another one, in fact. When Nendra left with Jan’Nai in tow, perhaps an hour later, I finished my set and hopped to my feet. I couldn’t sneak out the newly barred window, but Nendra had forbidden Xenobia and the mutants from entering the room unless they had reason to believe something was wrong. I had a little bit of space to breathe.

Xenobia was routinely looking up from her book to scan the hallway with Detect Magic, but her senses couldn’t pierce the stone walls. The doorways, yes, but not the walls. My own magic sight had the same limitations as hers, other than the fact that mine never turned off. I was able to use my own sight to pick out a corner of Nendra’s room where I couldn’t be seen, and get to work.

Thirty minutes and a disgusting number of spell slots later, I had a trio of outsiders ready to go.

“I hope you are not offended,” I said, bowing to a pair of Atomies. “My friend Dierdre recommended you in the strongest terms. I hope you will accept this onyx as payment.”

I wish I could have just called her. She picked up a lot when she turned into a pixie, but she lost the one spell I need here.

The third was another Zebub, one I’d noted as a potential asset a few days prior. He didn’t know Port Peril, but he had been in the vicinity of a few other Shackles ports.

“Did you meet with my patron as I commanded?” I asked.

“I did.” The Zebub said. “The necromancer attempted to kill me before I revealed my allegiance.”

“Good enough.” I said dismissively.

I waited on the other side of the door for Xenobia to do another sweep with detect magic, cast Invisibility, then slowly, carefully opened the door. I put a finger to my lips as Bartok made eye contact with me, then slipped past Xenobia. It was easy; she was reading again. My three flying companions stalked behind me on silent wings.

I slipped from alcove to alcove, avoiding people as much as I could. Servants were generally fine, but any drow would cast detect magic immediately if they had reason to suspect someone invisible. I needed to be swift if I wished to retrieve my treasures. Eventually I reached the infirmary, where I waited for someone from the training grounds to enter and followed them closely. Within, I hugged the wall until I reached my true destination: the morgue. (Opposed Stealth 8+12+20 (invisible)=40)

Autopilot left after listening at the door and choosing an opportune time to slip inside. I found myself in something that looked distressingly like an operating theatre from a horror movie, the stone floor covered with bloodstains.

Do I even want to know what the hell Vorys was doing in here?

Corpses were stored in small alcoves in the walls like morbid bunk beds. Nearly one in three glowed the dark royal blue of Necromancy. I felt my heart quicken at the sight until I realized they were merely being preserved with a common spell, meant to keep bodies fresh for later reanimation or resurrection, or merely to keep them from stinking too badly.

Oh, good. He’ll like that.

I moved quickly from alcove to alcove, looking for the cleanest, most intact corpses I could find. Most weren’t exactly fresh, even with the preservative magic, and relatively few were actually intact. Many of them were riddled with holes from the firing range, and several were missing limbs. Only a few were in good enough condition for my plan, and they were mostly the very freshest corpses here. Three orcs, a hobgoblin, and an incredibly pale half-elf.

Ma’ra.

Her name floated through my mind, only heard once in the heat of combat. It was joined by a flood of intrusive thoughts that I was certain did not come from Emrys.

You’re a murderer.

She was only there because you were showing off.

You can do nonlethal damage. You just chose not to.

All of these people are dead because of you, and you only care about the one you recognize, you narcissist.

I squashed those thoughts down, closed my eyes, and pointed at two of the bodies. Ma’ra’s was one of them. She had mostly bled out because of the bullets, nothing that would severely damage the internal organs. She was pretty, long lived, and in peak physical condition. Ideal, from what I knew.

The two Atomies nodded and flew over. Each threw a handful of sparkling dust over their respective corpse, and it shrank down to the size of a doll. Shrink Item, a stronger spell than Shrink Person, but one she could only use on things that were not alive. Small enough for the Zebub to easily lift, and thus small enough to teleport.

“Bring them back to Jerry, allowing no harm to come to them.” I told the little devil. “Tell him… tell him he can probably expect more of the same in the future. I’ll expect payment to be ready within two months.”