“The cyclops couldn't fit in the boat, or even two boats tied together. We had to leave him next to the camp and tell him what direction to go in so the undying wouldn't find him. But he was very slow and, it seemed to me, not overly intelligent.”
The cyclops? But he wasn't a rougarou, why had his death affected my mission?! But when I told my companion about the death of the cyclops, Chai-nee Shu got very upset and even afraid.
“That was Yuwuu, the youngest son of the cyclops chieftain. We have a treaty with our neighbors: two of my cousins live with them, and Yuwuu with us. They're all guests and, at the same time, hostages. It's an age-old tradition and something of a guarantee of peace... Yuwuu has been living with the Clan of the White Lily for a long time and was even considered an honorary rougarou... What will happen now? The cyclopes are sure to start a war when they find out what happened! My cousins might as well be dead already...”
The girl started wailing and, turning to face me, tucked her little snout into my shoulder. I embraced her and was preparing to give the unfortunate Princess words of reassurance when suddenly, in a gap in the clouds, I saw a sight that both impressed and shocked me: up to her knees in black water, holding the hem of a long dress with her hands, a huge woman was walking through the Styx. She was roughly as tall as a nine-story building! Her long dark hair was unkempt, and her eyes were flickering with a hateful orange and red fire.
The first thought to bubble up in my head was that this was the Cyclops's mother, coming to take revenge for her fallen son, but this woman had two eyes, and not one. Soon, though, VIXEN flew up closer, and the woman made another step forward in the river of death, so I could now read the giant’s name:
Hel
Ruler of the World of the Dead (unique creature)
The fog around hid me from the fearsome goddess but, just in case, I turned the Royal Forest Wyvern sharply, so I wouldn't accidentally run into the frightening lady in bad visibility. All the same, two hands popped up from the sheet of cloud and very skillfully plucked VIXEN out of the air like a dragonfly. My emerald beauty batted her wings, nearly breaking them, and tried to poke her long neck out between the giantess's fingers, but Hel was holding my Wyvern tight in the trap of her two folded hands. Chai-nee Shu gave a howling wail, and started whimpering in fear. I completely understood and shared her feelings, although I would not die once and for all.
“So, here you are, the thief who dared to intrude into my lands and steal from my guard Modgud!” the fearsome goddess was looking at me through the gaps between her fingers. “Did you think that because you'd escaped, you'd gotten away scot free and I wouldn't find you?!”
Island Duel
IN THAT TENSE moment, I wasn't thinking about myself at all, and not even my beautify emerald wyvern. With all her colossal dimensions and deadly power, Hel could easily send us to respawn. Yes, it would be unpleasant, but we only risked losing a bit of experience and time. For the young rougarou Princess, though, this would be her only and final death.
I liked Chai-nee Shu. She was fun, cute and fluffy. She also had her own point of view on Boundless Realm, a distinct character and convictions, creating a mixture of pride, high-handedness and naivete. I had already started making certain plans for the rougarou Princess and her clan, and I was thinking about ways to bring them with me on the journey up the Styx. The viewers of my video clips were sure to like such a companion for my Goblin Herbalist, while two hundred rougarou warriors with average level around one hundred would be a great reinforcement for my army. Also, I was sure I could find an application for the three hundred rougarou with peaceful professions. I had seen smiths, weavers, bakers and carpenters, and they would all have work.
But all these plans threatened to collapse because of this immortal lady, who was now looking at us through the gaps between her fingers like some silly little animals through the bars of a cage. The giantess could have easily crushed us with her huge hands, smashing us like pestilent insects, but she was in no rush.
“Don't leave my side!” I whispered to Chai-nee Shu, who was shaking in terror. “I'll try to protect you as best I can.”
The girl nodded in silence and pressed herself closer to me as her only hope and protection. Of course, it was very arrogant and even naive on my part to hope even I could escape this situation, and all the more so to promise to help the Princess. Although Amra's Strength and Constitution were much higher than other level-52 beings, the immortal Goddess Hel wouldn't even notice my resistance, if she wanted to close her hand. As if reading my thoughts, she strengthened her grasp. VIXEN started shrieking in pain as the bones in her luxuriant wings crunched.
What could I do?! Could anything really stand up against such a powerful and high-level creature? Maybe... a creature twice her level? I then opened my inventory, searching for the Dark Rider's Arrow but, at the last minute, snapped my hand back, not wanting to use such a dangerous and unpleasant object. A Midnight Wraith twice the level of one of the highest goddesses of the Scandinavian pantheon is not the kind of creature you'd want in your vicinity. That would have meant certain death to everything around.
At that moment, a desperate idea came to my head to bite Hel's finger before the Goddess crushed us all. I sunk my teeth into the nearest finger, as big around as a hundred-year-old oak and with skin as tough as tree bark.
Achievement unlocked: Taste Tester (150/1000)
Regeneration improved to 50 HP/Minute
Resistance to death magic increased to 10%
Fame increased
Present value: 22
My Taste Tester had grown by fifty points in one go! The blood of the gods was much more potent than that of mere mortals.
“Ow!” I suspect the giantess shouted not so much in pain as in surprise. “A vampire?! You insolent bloodsucker! Now you'll see why I'm called the sovereign of the world of the dead. Even the undying find it extremely difficult to escape my gloomy lifeless lands and get back to the world of the living!” And here, Hel suddenly froze and slightly opened her fingers. The eyes of the goddess grew wide in surprise. “Now this is really interesting... The soul of my brother lives in your puny little body!!! Fenrir, is that you?!”
Woah! The surprise of the goddess was simply nothing in comparison with my own. Was Hel Fenrir's sister?! I'll admit, I had a poor understanding of Scandinavian mythology, so I didn't know. Now that would be an unexpected twist! But to me, it was a great chance to escape and also save VIXEN and Chai-nee Shu.
“I'm not Fenrir yet, but I am trying to become his reincarnation!” I shouted to the goddess, and she completely unclenched her fingers.
“Fool, why didn't you tell my servant Modgud right away?! You dragged away a puppy, but you could have chosen any of the grim immortal hounds of the Wild Hunt! And what use are ghostly hounds? In Modgud’s kennel, a litter was just born that included the four-eyed Garm, the 'greatest of dogs!' Now that's a pretty little animal! After he grows up a bit, he'll become the pride of our whole land. Then you'll see! Even the much-vaunted Cerberus of the ancient gods won't come close! You could have walked up to my servant like a master and just taken Garm, but you didn't. You crawled into the garden like a thief... Eh, what am I talking about dogs for, your own children are the heavenly wargs Sköll and Hati. They'd have followed you with just one word!”
The more Hel spoke, the lower my head drooped. As it turned out, on the border between the worlds of the dead and the living, in the land of the giants, there were so many possibilities I could have just extended a hand and taken, but I didn't even notice! Now though, it was too late to change anything. According to the goddess, if fate had wanted to give me something other than the pup Gjöll, I would have gotten it. But as I hadn't taken anything else, that meant I wasn't meant to have it. Somewhat strange logic, to my eye, but I didn't want to risk arguing with the fearsome goddess.
“By the way... who dared put a curse on you?!” lightning bolts of rage flickered in Hel's eyes again.
I explain
ed to the giantess best I could that it was done on my own request to help me take down a Dark Rider and a cunning Midnight Wraith. But the curse was no longer important and, if my sister were to remove it, I would only be glad.
Hel led her hand over my head, and Amra had a wave of sparking golden air flow over him. I got a message saying the curse had been removed, and that I had received quite a weighty divine blessing:
Divine Blessing!
For the next 72 hours, your character will receive 200% experience
For the next 72 hours, you will be immune to the rays of the sun and holy magic
Next to me, the Princess was laughing in joy, having received complete immunity to fear and death magic for the next three days. VIXEN then spread her beautiful emerald wings once again. All her broken bones and wounds had healed instantly.
“It's time for me to go,” Hel said, bowing and carefully placing her hand on the ground, offering to let us out on the banks of the river. “If there's any way I can help you, brother, now is the time to say. If you want, I could take all the pursuers after you and bring them to the world of the dead, for example.”
It was very tempting to send three hundred hostile players to respawn, but I still refused. It wouldn't really be of any use: I wouldn't get any experience from their death, and the players would just respawn to threaten me and my squadron again. But if it was possible to stop them from getting in front of my squadron and not let them organize a siege of the Upper Fort or at the rapids of the Styx... Wait! Why was I thinking so one-dimensionally?
“Hel, if you really want to help, I need a portal for my whole squadron to the upper reaches of the Styx!”
Diplomat skill increased to level 11!
Trading skill increased to level 30!
“Could you be more specific?” the goddess clarified. “The river of death is unbelievably long and doesn't have a source. Many different small rivers and streams, which begin both in the world of the dead and even in Chaos, the first thing to exist, join up with the Styx. Where do you need to go, brother?”
Woah... I didn't know these details about the geography of the Styx, so I didn't have any idea of how to put my question more specifically. If it wasn't possible to find the source of the black river, then where did I even need to go? And how could I even fulfill my promise to the viewers, if the black river had no beginning?
“I can open gates to the very farthest borders of the land of the giants, where my territory and power ends. From there, you will find the lands of the Dark Sovereign, although I don't know much about those areas, and even less about their ruler.”
“Yes, that's exactly where I need to go!” I assured the goddess, and Hel extended me a long bright-red thread, which she plucked from her dress.
Single-use magic portal circle
“Connect the two ends, throw the circle on the ground, and gates will appear! Although I don't understand, Amra, what you want in those gloomy lands. The water of the Styx there is so cold and toxic that everything alive will die just by touching it. Eternal twilight, vast hordes of starving wights and creatures warped by magic, which no longer belong either to the living or the undead... Even I, the ruler of the world of the dead, find them terrifying!”
Chai-nee Shu gave a somewhat stupid smile when she heard these words, like a student high on pot. The rougarou girl clearly found it funny that the goddess of the world of the dead was afraid of dead things. I shook my head reproachfully. Immunity to fear wasn't always a boon to the health, and I was afraid that Hel would get offended she was being laughed at. The goddess really did look unhappily at the Princess, who had shown joy at the wrong time, but didn't say anything out loud. Instead of that, the giantess tore a dark hair from her head and gave it to me with the words:
“At least take a normal weapon to use against the inhabitants of those places. I mean, your spiky ball isn't going to do any damage to ghosts!”
Hair Whip of the Goddess Hel (unique weapon)
Indestructible
+35% chance of ignoring armor, +47% chance of ignoring incorporeity, +18 Exotic Weapon skill, +112% damage dealt to undead and dark creatures
A serious weapon! I wanted to thank the giantess for such a luxurious gift, but the huge woman just smiled, took a step back and dissolved into the dense fog. And something was telling me that there was no longer any sense in searching for her nearby. The goddess may have been hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away.
* * *
The next stage of the negotiations with the rougarou took place on a small rocky island in the middle of the black river. The Clan of the White Lily was represented by the Princess and her Regent and, from our side, I took Valerianna Quickfoot for support and advice.
“The Clan of the White Lily isn't going anywhere! This is our land, and we've lived here for centuries!” Uvari-Dor was annoyed and categorical. He simply ignored all my reasoning about the coming of the undying.
“I'm afraid, Uvari-Dor Shu, that you simply underestimate the scale of the threat.” During my speech I was stroking the red fur of the huge and ghastly level-two-hundred-twelve Guard Dog, who was lying at my feet and groaning in satisfaction. “Just an hour and a half ago, three hundred undying nearly cut down your whole clan, including nursing babies. And well, those three hundred undying haven't gone anywhere! They're roving about somewhere nearby in the fog and, sooner or later, they will find us. The twelve kilometers we put between us and the island village is basically nothing to their scouts! We need to get further away, where the undying will not find your rougarou, and using a portal is one way to do that!”
Diplomat skill increased to level 12!
It was obvious that the Princess was prepared to approve my plan and take her whole Clan of the White Lily far away from the impertinent undying, who were becoming the scourge of these regions. But the girl either was not accustomed to making such serious decisions without the approval of her experienced advisor, or simply didn't have the right. And the conservative druid was categorically against resettlement, so the negotiations had come to a standstill. Just then, a private message came in from my sister, and I took a break to read through it.
“What are you dawdling for, Tim? The two hostage cousins of the Princess you told me about have already been executed by the cyclopes, so the overall opinion of the Clan of the White Lily is now equal to the arithmetical mean of the opinion of the Princess and this stubborn Druid. They’re the last two key NPC's, so their whole clan's opinion depends on them. The Princess is completely loyal and, if she were to become the only key character, the whole clan would follow you to the ends of the earth.”
Technically, my sister was suggesting I simply kill the stubborn hard-headed druid and thus gain control of the rougarou clan through the Princess. It was harsh but, clearly, the forest nymph no longer saw any other options. I'll admit, I had already lost my patience with the unsuccessful attempts to convince the regent. All the same, I tried one more time to solve the issue diplomatically:
“Advisor Uvari-Dor Shu, as you can plainly see, I am one of the undying. Let's not argue whether that's good or bad for the rougarou now, because there is no conclusive answer. But I am aware of a few plans, and can assure you that those three hundred undying we saw in the Lower Fort are just a pitiful advance party before a truly huge army! Soon, tens of thousands of undying will be passing through these lands, and the Clan of the White Lily won't have a single chance of survival. I sincerely want to help your clan! I like Chai-nee Shu, and don't want the sweet young girl to die!”
Successful check for Chai-nee Shu's reaction
Check for Uvari-Dor Shu's reaction failed
“How can I know whether your words about an undying invasion and desire to help are true and not a lie??? For now, I see an obvious trap. You're suggesting that my clan leave its homelands, and pass through a portal to such wild and dangerous places that only undead and mutants live there, where the water is poisoned, and there isn't enough light to grow grain! A
fter the portal is closed, we will not be able to return, and will die in those ghastly lands!”
The regent had now built up to a hysterical scream, which clearly didn't make him more convincing in the eyes of the Princess, more likely the opposite. Unlike the advisor, I spoke in a calm and confident voice, and could feel with my very skin that my reasoning was being accepted by Chai-nee Shu:
“The lands under control of the Dark Sovereign are expansive. There are plenty of dead places, but also places that are just fine to live in. Our shared mission is to achieve an audience with the Dark Sovereign and, after assuring him of our fidelity, obtain fruitful lands for both for orcs and rougarou where the undying cannot come.”
Diplomat skill increased to level 13!
Check for Uvari-Dor Shu's reaction failed
“Never in my life would I believe it was possible to meet the Dark Sovereign himself!” Uvari-Dor Shu went back into a hysterical shout. “This whole fairytale looks too fantastical and adventuresome! No, no and no again! My clan will not follow outsiders and, what is more, will never follow a bloodthirsty and cunning vampire!”
The yellow marker of the druid on the mini-map changed color to a fully hostile red. I don't know if Chai-nee Shu had told her advisor what the goddess said about “bloodsucker,” or if the druid found out my secret by some other means, but the racial penalty of vampires giving minus fifty to the reaction of any living creature was coming at a very bad time! Convincing the already obstinate druid had become practically impossible...
“My clan?” Chai-nee Shu suddenly perked up her ears. “Since when, advisor Uvari-Dor, does the Clan of the White Lily belong to you?”
A Trap for the Potentate Page 27
