It was a couple of days later after Marlin reached lvl 2, tomorrow they would start their move, North towards North haven.
Bradford and Betty had struck a bargain with the chief to not only travel together but work together. A possible war from the south, trouble in the far north, yes the forging of alliances was necessary.
The far North, Faeran, home of the Giant Kin people, like Kin but ranging 10 to 15 feet. Apparently not the smartest of the bunch and neither were you smart for pointing that out.
The Giant Kin were some of the toughest folk you could find. According to Milly and the other T’jut, breaking a contract handshake or on paper, was a capital offense and punishable by death. The larger kin were considered fair but harsh like the lands they inhabited. The soil was barren and it was difficult to survive.
No one in their right mind would want to invade their nation. An army of a foolish arrogant king long ago had tried for bragging rights.
He lost so many soldiers on trying to take the first city he had to give up.
Too bad they weren’t going to the Giant Kin, they sounded awesome.
Faeran was vast, it spanned thousands of miles, touching multiple kingdoms and was sparsely populated which made it a safe haven of sorts for the soulless, Nameless and lifeless. there simply weren’t that Many Giant Kin.
Marlin’s mouth had dropped open when Milly told him she had her first period 5 years ago and wouldn’t have one for another 5. The Giant Kin Followed this trend, but their lifestyle often lead to premature deaths as well. The T’jut were far more protective of their younger members.
The fact that the scum and villainy went to Faeran in the first place was a big Dichotomy, yes you could make yourself scare in those lands, it had been years of fragmented memories of that Dark Lord and not meeting one Giant kin, yet meeting Giant Kin ,was nothing but a death sentence for the honorless and depraved, they hunted the 3 cursed ones for sport. A initiation into adulthood often included killing an orc if not multiple at once. It had been the reason the Dark Lord had been on the run.
A band of Giant Kin had discovered him, Marlin wondered how much would be left of that supposed tower if he did get to lvl 3 and somehow picked Dark Lord. Not that he figured himself one. He was still heavily drawn towards juggernaut. It fitted him so well.
“Yell at multiple enemies how much they suck? Yes please, ow il actually hurt their ego so much it inflicts mental damage? Please stop”, Marlin fantasized, Marlin had to shake his head, lvl 3 was going to be a looong time from now. He doubted he would ever meet a Dark Lord like that again, ready to keel over and hand him their precious XP.
It was early morning, most people were still asleep.
Billy came out of the shed followed by 2 female goats that came from the T’jut tribe. Marlin raised an eyebrow.
”you not scared of the lust curse”? He asked.
”goats and animals don’t get that my lord, certainly not goats of my esteem”. Billy responded, “the ladies, merely sought my warmth for the night”. He bleated.
”it’s in the middle of the summer”. Marlin smirked.
Billy sighed, “it’s not the same for my species sire, for yours, loyalty and fidelity are cornerstones for the wellbeing of good offspring, for goats, well the ladies only need me for the night and then they move on”.
“You don’t sound happy about it”, Marlin dropped the tease.
“im not sire, i was hoping for more, companionship but the very notion went over their heads”,
Marlin patted Billy on the head, “Well who knows, perhaps one day we will find you a worthy companion, your very own mistress”. Marlin smirked again. “For the time being just try to enjoy yourself? I mean you could do with loosening up a bit mister ‘im totally a gentleman not a chad”.
Billy looks up at his Lord confused, “you are not repulsed? That i shared the hay not with 1 but 2”?
“Tell me, how does ‘goat’ culture look at this”? Marlin asked.
Billy responded with hesitancy, “whichever male has the strongest seed sire”.
”Billy you must separate my notions of conduct with those of my kin and the T’jut, with yours, although i understand the sentiment of wanting companionship. You will have to trust fate for a bit. And for the time being enjoy being a chad”?
”I did not enjoy it sire, the base act is not enough for me, not anymore”.
”Ok im going to stop you right there i don’t need or want details”. Marlin stopped Billy from explaining more.
Billy nodded, “as you wish my lord, for now I must make due”.
”Make due with what”? Marlin asked.
”That bitches are temporary, Brotherhood is eternal”. Billy said resolutely.
Marlin pinched the bridge of his nose, “im not always the best influence Billy”.
”weees agrees with the knightlyz steed”. The 3 gnolls had waddled up and had joined the conversation.
Marlin could already see the growth of the demi gnolls. Or should he say Demure gnolls?
”Is that so”? Marlin asked with a smirk.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Gary nodded, he was quickly becoming the silent brooding type,
Jerry yipped “yess female gnolls laughed at meezz all the time! calls me weak! Now il stabs dem, shows dem how weak i am!”
”Is that socially acceptable among Gnolls?” All three nodded and looked at Marlin questioningly, Barry asked “doess da masta not stabs the mistress each night?”
”oooooooow ‘stabbing’ yea ok you show em how good you can stabs dem next time you see em Jerry”, jerry nodded vigorously. Marlin hoped there was no translation error.
”What about you Barry?” Marlin asked.
”Ijs will meetz my soulmate in the eternal hunting grounds, she was a good matez”.
Marlin nodded not knowing what to do with that.
“What are you 5 talking about?” Bradford walked up. He had just finished his morning routine.
“Brotherhood and companionship”. Marlin said.
Bradford chuckled, “it sounded like you were planning something sinister. No offense, tyrannic speak is unsettling to listen to”.
Marlin nodded, he knew what it sounded like, “yea i get that, Barry here just told me he will meet his mate in the eternal hunting grounds”.
Bradford stopped wiping his face, “I knew they had a shamanic type of religion but i wasn’t expecting an afterlife”. He pondered, “it’s odd how much information you manage to unravel just by doing your thing”.
Marlin smirked, “once you get past the scary face you will often find complexity, not just one dimensional evil. Take that Torren guy pure fucking evil, yet even I ‘straight as an arrow’ could tell that dude looked good. Yknow minus the sniveling, perverse eyes, evil smile and the whole ‘ima make you miserable’ stick”.
Bradford smiled along with Marlin, “so that signet ring, have you figured it out yet?”
Marlin heard the unasked question and answered it instead, “i have No idea if im going for Dark Lord dad.
It has a few disciplines im interested in but other then that, it doesn’t offer me all that much and to be honest, there are quite a few disciplines that don’t make sense with how ludicrous they sound it feels like a complete trap, too good to be true”.
Bradford thought for a moment, “can you give me an example”?
Dark Rule.
You gain a modified version of the Potentation skill set. The Command perk, and the Command group perk. You cannot pick any more perks from the skill set, unless gained through Dark Lord Disciplines. The potentation skill set is governed by your Domination attribute.
Command (single target)
You infuse magical power to the words you use. Combine this magic with your ability to inspire, lead, intimidate, persuade. And people will have great difficulty disagreeing with you.
by combining a verbal action from a verbal skill set with command, you double dip, attributes
Command Group
You infuse magical power to the words you use. Combine this magic with your ability to inspire, lead, intimidate, persuade. And people will have great difficulty disagreeing with
Command group functions the same as regular command except that you can target 4 (Charisma mod) sentient beings
Marlin waited for his dad to finish comprehending what the implications were.
Bradford nodded for him to continue. Marlin continued.
”Now casting command, from observing Milly takes 1-3 seconds depending how effective you want it. But for me that would make my taunts impossible to ignore. Instead of taunting multiple times i would only need to do it once, now on top of that i can expand that with command group. It circumvents my need to get second mind with intimidation and taunting roar. In fact id argue the flexibility of Dark rule outweighs it”.
Bradford smiled. “Sounds like it will do exactly what it will do on the tin Marlin. I have never told you about my abilities so im going to show you the description of what makes people fear me.
Deus Vult
You instantly move up to 40 feet to smite an enemy, before you smite, all debuffs and minor ailments are healed. You strike as if you are hidden
and just so you know. Smite although requiring focus. Is a powerful attack, that for the most part, ignores armor and all forms of magic affecting an enemy. Unless you are equal lvl or higher, it’s an instant kill.
i have 8 focus.
I can use deus Vult every second. so over a period of 8 seconds one target that really needs to die will die or 8 problems are no longer a problem”.
Bradford waited for Marlin to grasp what he just said and that didn’t take long.
“Are all manifestation classes like this?Is it the mental dominance of Dark Lord that people fear over your murder hobo capabilities?”. Marlin asked
Bradford nodded, “That and governments don’t like it when a bunch of loyal subjects are not so loyal anymore, and no Marlin im not a murder hobo”.
Marlin pondered for a moment, “and why are people with the potentation skill accepted? Milly could do the same thing”.
”Not as effective as you, against Milly their will or resolve remains effective, they can fight it, the will of those you affect, begins to crumble the moment your words invade their minds. Perform the command often enough on someone and your darkness will eventually inflict someone with what is referred to as the ‘weak mind’ affliction, and they will follow your whims like a beaten dog. Its permanent unless healed by someone like me.”
Marlin smirked, “or if you are Bron, highly doubtful he would be affected by any of my stuff, would look pretty silly if i tried to tell him to stop, looking all menacing while he cuts me in half”.
Bradford sighed, “less then 10% of warriors pick Berserker Marlin hell you have more Warrior mages running around, then Warrior berserkers, besides you can catch him off guard while he sleeps”.
Marlin raised his eyebrows, “Mindless Fury is really not that bad, Bron from the looks of it will have it mastered in about 3 weeks? Definitely not the year i heard some of the freebooter’s talk about, and wow dad, way to make it dark”.
”He is of Utt, Marlin. They have their way with these things and gain proficiency and mastery much quicker than us, and tell me, how did that Dark Lord that you slew manage to subvert an entire town”?
”He hid himself, made sure people didn’t recognize him and slowly started planting seeds, worked his way into people’s heads until they had no defense against him”.
“That’s the scary part, the insidious Nature of your dark gifts”.
Marlin finally saw it, Bradford always hid his emotions well from him but he saw it. “You are afraid il succumb, that the lure to dominate will prove too sweet”. Marlin gauged Bradford.
”I am, I see your incredible resilience, against those dark urges that i know you have, it seeps out of you when you let your rage out of its sheath. I see how if anyone could defy those odds it’s you. But im still fearful of that ‘what if’”. Bradford finished.
”i couldn’t do that to Milly, mom or you, ugh just thinking of that quivering lip of mom would be enough, or that pained look from Milly”. Marlin smiled. “I only use my dark side for good dadyo~”
Bradford clapped him on the shoulder, “I know you do, but it’s good to hear you confirm it”.