Startup 26a: Vishgurv

Arodus 15, afternoon.

A strapping young man helped Lubo down onto the deck of a small fishing boat. It was kind of him; most people ignored a shriveled old woman when women like Lady Aulamaxa and Lady Nendra were available to gawk at. He seemed almost guilty, and refused to look her in the eye.

Sosima was disguised as Lady Aura again, hardly looking at Lubo at all. It hurt, a little; Sosima was normally polite, if firm, with her. Apparently drow saw it as a mark of weakness to be polite to one’s lessers, and Lubo had no illusions as to her importance.

Then again, she had managed to make the pact. It was a poor pact, according to Lady Aulamaxa, which made sense. It was all well and good for a noblewoman to make demands of a being like Vishgurv, but Lubo was nobody. She could hardly look at it when she felt the cold, slimy tentacles hold her aloft. She’d screwed her eyes closed and begged for power, and that had been enough.

She had felt a well of energy thrum beneath her skin, waiting to be unleashed, ready to perform miracles. Already she felt empty without his power. Yesterday, she had called upon the strength to become a fish woman for just a few minutes. She’d been hideous, but she’d felt as strong and vital as she had when she was only a girl. Lady Aulamaxa promised that there was more to come.

“I do hope you are not exaggerating, Lady Mox’za.” Nendra said in her gentle voice, “I would hate to neglect my husband lightly. I believe he may require a firm hand.”

“I don’t see why you allowed him to live, personally.” Lady Aulamaxa said callously. “To advertise one’s disloyalty would be ample grounds for execution among my clan. Regardless, I’m sure you’ll find the rite very interesting.”

Removing Lady Nendra was of course the whole point of these theatrics. The Captain wanted things to go as smoothly as possible, after all. Lubo didn’t know why he wanted to sleep with one hundred women, but men with power did silly things. It wasn’t wise to deny them without good cause.

The boat carried them across the waves, out of the immediate vicinity of Port Peril. It was nearly dusk when they arrived on a secluded beach, sometimes used by smugglers. The ladies put Lubo to work immediately, assembling a bonfire.

“Why bother?” Lady D’Lann demanded, “it will create a beacon to make us visible, as well as waste time.”

“Part of the rite will be performed by the human. She will need light to perform adequately.” Lady Aulamaxa said, then raised her voice, “It is beneath me to do such menial labor, so she had best get enough wood while there is still light.”

Another lie, one of many. Lady Aulamaxa could not see in the murk, but could not give away that intelligence to Lady D’Lann. She chatted with her counterpart while Lubo and the fisherman desperately hunted for driftwood.

“Explain to me again why you are using such a broken creature?” Lady D’Lann asked, barely audible as Lubo started the fire while there was still just enough light to see.

“To make a point.” Lady Aulamaxa said, louder. “What use would a patron who only accepts tribute of equal value to what he gives in return be? This one is spent, but has served loyally for all her life. If I give her to Vishgurv, I will in turn be granted a servant that will last decades at the least.”

“Decades?” Lady D’Lann asked, cocking her head, “I suppose that is more than she is worth now. What is she, one hundred years old? I can never tell with humans”

“No. A rather brutal forty, I believe.” Lady Aulamaxa replied. “I relieved her from a prior owner who didn’t know how to care for his tools. A house **** should last quite a bit longer than that in far better condition.”

“Physical punishment, I assume?” Lady D’Lann sighed, shaking her head, “Mother favors the whip, but I prefer magic. Direct stimulation of the nerves does far less long term damage.”

Lubo let them chat. The kind young fisherman brought her a fish, exactly what she needed for the ritual. Vishgurv’s magic was tied to the sea, if one did not have a true seal.

“Thank you, young man.” She said, patting him on the hand. “Do not worry. I know what is to happen.”

He stared at her, skeptical, then sighed.

“Yes, ma’am.” He said, then whispered. “Am I in danger?”

“Not from my mistress.” Lubo whispered back. “If you were a threat, she would kill you, but she doesn’t kill for pleasure and this isn’t a secret.”

He was only slightly comforted by that, and watched from quite a distance away while Lubo carved a temporary seal into the sand, placing the fish at the center. She wasn’t surprised anymore when the crashing waters consumed her, but panic still took hold of her. All evidence of her senses told her she was no longer on a beach. She wasn’t on dry land at all.

She floated in an abyss, and something swam around her, just out of sight. The only things she was certain she could see were its eyes. Dreadful, glowing yellow eyes. A deep, resonant voice reached her through the water.

“Hello again, little minnow.” Vishgurv said, “Here to beg? You know what I want.”

Lubo couldn’t speak. She wasn’t drowning, the water she floated in was as air, but looking at such an entity froze her tongue in her mouth. She tried, briefly, then decided it was pointless. What could she offer? What use was it to argue when it would be a moot point in just a few minutes.

“Yes,” the deep voice said, “that’s right. Just trust me, and you’ll get what you came for.”

Uncountable tentacles reached out from the shadows and seized Lubo by the arms, legs, throat. They squeezed, wrapping around her, encasing her in a cocoon. She couldn’t see, she couldn’t breathe, she could hardly think.

Lubo fell to the sand, staggering from the fall. She’d been lifted only a few feet off the ground during the ritual. She shuddered, but the sense of disgust was a fading dream next to reality. She had power, even if it was only a seed. It could grow, with his guidance. Soon, she would never be without his guidance.

Lady Aulamaxa did her a great service; Lubo never saw her coming. It was painful, by all the spirits and gods it was painful, but it was quick too. In seconds, her soul returned to the waters. Vishgurv laughed.

••••••••••

Lady Aura’s blade caught the firelight, refusing to allow blood to cling to it. Her strike had been quick and brutal, more so than Nendra expected. The thin woman’s corpse crumpled to the ground, her head a few feet to the side.

“Is that how House Mox’za ritually sacrifices people?” Nendra asked dryly, “I’m used to slightly more ceremony for such things.”

“Vishgurv does not care how they die, only that they die at the proper time.” Aura said, sheathing her blade and turning towards the ferry boy. “Stay. I have no desire to row the boat back myself.”

“So now what?” Nendra asked. “I am thus far unimpressed.”

“Patience, friend.” Aura said, smiling at her. “The replacement may take time to arrive, but I’ve made the proper pacts to ensure that they do. We wait.”

Nendra grew ever more irritated as an hour passed them by with Aura staring into the flames. At long last, a figure trudged out of the water. Nendra attuned her sight to see the figure’s puppet strings, in case she needed to defend herself, but nothing of the sort proved necessary. The young woman knelt before Aura, kissing her hand. The new **** was a pretty thing, looking mostly like a young human woman except for the scales.

“You kept your promise, and so shall I.” She said, “I shall serve, for I owe you my life.”

“Think, Nendra.” Aura said, looking up, “To take old, broken servants and transmute them into these. They are loyal if compensated properly; perhaps more loyal than those you might hire.”

Nendra approached the girl and examined her, prodding at her. Primarily human in body structure, but with patches of scales interspersed with her soft skin; in the dying embers they appeared red. She had long dark hair, which must be quite curly to remain so while wet. Shockingly good teeth, the kind most wealthy women paid healers for. She appeared compliant, but then of course she would.

https://postimg.cc/tYBXtxJt

“It won’t do,” Nendra said, shaking her head sadly. “I am intrigued, but one can not trust blindly in the gifts of such beings.”

She glanced at Aura meaningfully, including her in the accounting. Her eyes flashed, a parlor trick to emphasize her magic sight. Aura and the girl both radiated near-identical auras of power, differing only in intensity. Nendra prepared for a fight, just in case.

“This thing is certainly possessed, as are you.” Nendra said, “You mask your form with magic, and offer supposedly loyal slaves who thrum with eldritch energy. How would we suppress a rebellion of even a few hundred of these? Unmask yourself; I know you are no drow.”

The ****, at least, would be no real threat alone. Father’s bird would be able to dispatch her alone, in all likelihood. Aura, of course, was darkblind. She’d tried to mask it but it was painfully obvious to one familiar with the habits of **** species. Likely she could see by the stars, but not underground.

“Alright.” Aura said, smiling. “I don’t think this illusion will be of much further value.”

Aura changed rapidly when her illusory aura faded. Her hair took on blue highlights and scales spread across her rapidly lightening skin. She casually put one hand upon her blade.

“You think to infiltrate my people?” Nendra asked, cold disdain creeping into her voice. “With such a paltry trick, no less. Tell me, now, if there is anything you can truly offer. We are willing to deal openly, but such deception does not amuse House D’Lann.”

“What can I say? I live to serve Vishgurv.” Aura answered, seeming amused. “The broken are usually willing to take what they can get. Your slaves would be a magnificent seedbed.”

“A few gold pieces are quite enough to pay to replace my servants, thank you.” Nendra said, sidling up to the man in the boat. She was fairly certain he was only a hireling. “Return us to Port Peril and I will pay your fee. Stay, and you will as like as not to be dragged beneath the waves.”

Aura only smiled, watching them go. Nendra was unsure as to why, which bothered her. Could Emrys be involved? Unlikely; mother had reported two humans and a tiefling among his servants. Dovnu D’Lann would have certainly noticed if one of the humans had scales.

Damnation, a wasted day. Well, it’s not as if I could have burnt down the temple, though he deserves it. I’ll need to ask how things went when I return.