Deep in the desert, a young true-devil watched as a roving pack of canine-like monsters neared the edge of his impressive sightline. He was joined by three monstrous companions, one of which was a powerful dire-scorpion who was sleeping behind the devil and his other companions.
The other companions were two of the canine-like beasts who themselves had originated from the pack that the group watched gradually disappear in the distance, in their jackal forms.
The creatures who silently watched the canine-like monsters vanish stood or sat where the pack had just been, and as such they could still smell the scents of cooked girtablilu, and the scents that clung to the skin of humans, and canine-fur. They could still see the tracks of the recently departed pack of monsters who were now kilometers away due to a surprising lack of wind where the encampment had once stood.
The pack was obeying their master, the true-devil who had quietly watched their departure and were heading in the direction of the cathedral that Althos and his companions controlled. Althos grinned to himself as he saw the last of them vanish, and then he turned to examine the newest members of his desert-dwelling party.
The two canines who had stuck with him and his odd dire-scorpion familiar were the members of their pack who had most ardently refused to leave his side. He had gently tried to persuade them to stick with their families, but he eventually relented to their stubborn wills and very different reasons and allowed the things to stay with him.
The jackaloids were unusual in their pack in that they were in the minority of creatures in the group who preferred their jackal-forms as opposed to their hybrid or human forms. The two things clung closely to their master, in a way not unlike the dire scorpion who also served Althos and at the moment they were patiently sleeping behind their shared god.
One of the two jackals had golden-colored fur and groomed himself to the point that his fur was well-maintained and clean even in the desert. His companion was more feral and lackadaisical about her appearance, and her fur was a rust-like shade of red. Grains of sand freely flowed from her fur when she moved and covered her paws with each movement she took.
Althos's hands reached out and stroked the heads of the two creatures, gently petting them. Both of them grinned, their canine-like faces not quite giving off the same air as humanoids when they grinned, even though both of the creatures were delighted to feel the hands of their master stroke their facial fur.
This took place for a few moments before Althos quietly spoke in the language of the canines. "Come children. The desert is calling our names." He said, his mind filling with thoughts about the quest that he had set out into the desert nearly a day ago to complete.
The creatures, responding to their master, arose and waited for him to lead the way. Behind him, the dire-scorpion Althos had turned into his familiar hours ago, rose from its slumber and took a moment to ready itself for travel deeper into the desert.
And then the party quietly departed, venturing into the unknown and possibly uncharted desert wastes, in the opposite direction of the pack Althos had tamed and turned into his newest minions.
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While wandering the empty wastes, Althos' mind turned to the quest he was hoping to make some progress into soon. The first things that crossed his mind were thoughts of confusion.
I should have made some progress towards the quest, yet I didn't any notifications indicating that I made progress. Althos thought, his mind exploring the quest-menu and double-checking it to verify his statement.
When he had double-checked that no progress was made, he felt annoyed and sighed in irritation. If his followers noticed this, they were silent about it.
Why didn't I make any progress? Althos wondered. He decided to reread the quest details while he led his companions deeper and deeper into the unknown expanses of the desert.
[Quest: The Trial of Usurpation
Objectives: Throughout the desert, there exist communities of various types of creatures. Find three of those communities, and approach three ambitious individuals within them. Convince those creatures to part with their souls, in exchange for your aid in enabling them to seize control of their communities through "honorable", formal means.
Reward: The ability to promote imps into other sorts of lesser devils.
Progress: 0/3 ambitious individuals identified
0/3 ambitious souls acquired
0/3 communities usurped.
Note: "Honorable" means include public duels, votes, and other legitimate, recognized means of gaining power.]
He examined the text carefully, searching for what may have caused Camaxtli to not count. It took him a second to arrive at the two caveats that he suspected may have caused Camaxtli to be disqualified, as it were, from the quest.
Camaxtli didn't want to lead the jackaloids. He recalled with a start, realizing that his servant wanted in his own words for his body to be restored to its prime and to be treated with respect by other members of the pack, but the elder very specifically stated that leading the jackaloids wasn't his desire. But that was the first thing that in essence disqualified Camaxtli, not the only thing.
Shortly after that Althos realized the second reason Camaxtli and the jackaloids didn't count towards the quest. It was a word he hadn't noticed when he first received the quest. "Formal". I elevated Camaxtli, and the jackaloids accepted it but it wasn't as if the jackaloids themselves chose Camaxtli as their leader, through a public vote or any other way of choosing a leader. Damn it. I guess autocratic things like that don't qualify huh?
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These realizations annoyed Althos, but the devil-deity quickly realized that it made sense for a quest given by a dimension dominated by creatures of law, deals, contracts, and darkness to be particular and strict in the wording of the quest it gives to the creature who seeks to enact change within it. I'm gonna have to follow these quests to the letter, aren't I? The deity, rhetorically, asked himself.
After coming to those realizations Althos focused on the journey he was undertaking with his companions.
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Minutes after introspectively reflecting on the specific demands of the quest, Althos looked at his companions and turned his senses on them, to pick up what information he subconsciously filtered out. He was mentally aware of their conditions, like their health and stamina, at all times but he hadn't yet visually studied them while in motion.
The jackaloids in their jackal forms were at his sides, keeping pace with him. They trotted with confidence, self-assured and conscious not only of their location, but also the terrain around them. They seemed to plan each of the steps they took, their eyes glimmering with wicked and predatory intelligence.
They were eerily silent, unlike any canines that Althos knew of either through first-hand means like the wolves he had encountered in the forest of his birth or through second-hand means like by the knowledge and memories he had taken or been given by a range of creatures. They didn't bark and their paws made no sound as they crossed the desert.
The creatures also didn't seem to sweat, but Althos figured that was because the party wasn't dashing through the desert. Instead, they proceeded at a leisurely pace, but they also weren't stopping or slowing down. They were perpetually beside Althos as if guarding him against an unseen threat.
Desert-dwelling predators, especially nomadic ones, can definitely handle this much at least. The deity thought, rightfully figuring that at their current pace the creatures would be fine.
The eyes of the jackaloids were constantly in motion and one of the few sounds the creatures did make was an occasional sniffing sound. Althos had far more sensitive senses than they did, but the creatures were still actively scanning their surroundings with their eyes and sniffing the air.
The beasts faces constantly darted back and forth, as if they suspected something was always nearby, just out of the reach of their senses. Althos knew that if nothing else, there wasn't anything with a soul nearby but he didn't want the creatures to rely on him so he let them perpetually scan their surroundings.
His dire-scorpion familiar followed closely behind the trio of creatures. Its multiple legs skittered across the desert, carrying it so easily it was like it was gliding.
The leisurely pace of the party suited the thing, as its body was far heavier than the bodies of the jackaloids, so it took more energy for it to keep up with the party. That said, a pace this leisurely was no problem for the thing even if they walked for hours.
The heavily armored arachnid's carapace blocked out much of the desert heat and kept its organs cool and safe from the warmth of the desert. To it, the party was going on a casual stroll through the desert it called home. And to it, the fact that it was doing such a thing while accompanied by jackaloids was incredible.
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So this is what it means to serve a god huh... The dire-scorpion thought, absorbing the fact that it was now in an informal pack with jackaloids and a creature who served a god.
As its many legs found purchase on thick blankets of sand its mind was constantly in motion. It considered the absurdity of its current life, a life where its master took it on adventures and together they, and whoever else joined the deity, went on hunts. A life where they battled powerful monsters like the girtablilu regularly.
I look forward to it. The scorpion thought after a few moments of consideration, happiness and a desire for adventure, for battle, and for even more delicious food like girtablilu meat, clouding its judgment and leaving an impression on its heart.
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The jackaloids were lost in thought as they trotted across the desert. One of them, the golden-furred male had very distinct, selfish reasons for accompanying his master.
If I'm with father then surely no dastardly devil can steal my memories! The creature rather selfishly thought, when asked why it wanted to accompany the devil-god. Althos' deception and the power of the memories he instilled in them while tricking them had evoked different reactions in each of the jackaloids.
Some of them, like the golden-furred creature who stood beside his master, had been terrified of the creature Althos filled their minds with images and memories of.
The golden-furred jackaloid was no brave warrior. He was a yellow-bellied coward. Althos knew this of course, and the god was aware that it was this fear that drove the thing to refuse to leave his side. Althos didn't mind this though, because it meant that the thing would forever worship him. He hadn't really tried to dissuade the thing from accompanying him, though he had acted like he had.
On the other hand, the savage jackaloid who was on the other side of Althos had a wholly different reaction to the thought of Paimon and his schemes, real or fabricated.
Master's enemy is the enemy of all jackaloids. As a warrior, it is up to me to stand by master as he faces down his foes. Paimon is the greatest of those foes. To retreat to safety and join others who worship master, is to abandon my duty to aid him and to flee from chances to face down real foes. The red-furred jackaloid was a warrior through and through.
In her eyes, Althos wasn't merely a father of sorts to the jackaloids, but a master. Her response to the false memories transformed her mind and made it akin to a domesticated dog who had always served her master loyally and faithfully.
Because of my duty, and the duty of others like me, master found us worthy. Worthy enough that even after we failed to defend ourselves from Paimon he came back to us instead of abandoning us. She reasoned. I will not abandon him. Even if it is just he and I, the master will never face enemies alone, be they singular individuals or whole armies. She swore. She had no way of knowing that her words, her thoughts, were known to the one she referred too as "master".
In her eyes, it made perfect sense for her to seek to serve Althos by staying at his side and serving as a bipedal warrior, a hunting hound, or anything else her master may need. After all, in her mind, it was clearly because of the service of warriors like herself and her fellow warriors that Althos came back at all and brought the whole tribe back to him.
Althos learned how his false memories created this distorted view of reality only after the rest of the red-furred jackal's pack began to ready themselves to head to the dark cathedral, only for her to swear to stay by his side. At that moment, after quickly making a copy of her newest thoughts, the god momentarily considered re-editing her memories, but despite his own protests and weak attempts to convince her to join her companions, he didn't dislike her warped loyalty.
And so what it took for the female jackaloid to cement her place at her master's side was a commitment to an oath she swore to herself, for the few minutes her master tested her. And somewhere in her warped mind, she was aware that her master was testing her. Even then she sensed that he wasn't being heartfelt in his efforts to keep her with the pack. Which had made it easier for her to resist her master's pleas.
The party ventured deeper into the purple-tinged desert.