Though Julia wanted to get back to helping the women or killing Gnarls, she followed Þiúðmundr and Ǫlhildr. They led her through a door a few metres behind their chairs on the hall’s rostrum. Both moved with a grace she found impressive, even with the minimal details that Analysis provided. Unlike the Jarl’s hall, the corridor they led her through had unadorned walls, the stone almost seamlessly melding into the next without a hint of mortar. Their course passed several sturdy-looking doors, the delicious smells and lively noises coming from behind one clearly announcing its purpose.

As they walked, a lively drumbeat called them forward, emanating from a partly opened door at the end. When the Jarl pushed it fully open, he stepped through without a pause and held it for his wife and Julia to enter. The space beyond bordered a large garden sitting in the building’s shadow cast by the last afternoon sun. Its centrepiece was a statue of a single-eyed Norse warrior holding a Kraken’s head aloft on the end of a spear, with his feet resting on the waves. The Kraken’s tentacles splayed outwards, seeking to wrap around small boats amid the garden beds where the figures of tiny warriors endeavoured to keep them at bay. Around the garden’s border, Julia recognised statues of more Norse Gods.

The beds were a riot of blooming flowers springing up between the battles, while the tentacles formed pathways through the garden. A young man with Ǫlhildr’s deep red hair sat cross-legged on a bench near the garden’s edge, his dancing fingers drawing forth the music, the intensity of his focus crystal clear. Even with his eyes closed, the relationship to them was just as clear, the shape of his face echoing his mother’s features, though he had his father’s build.

Before the Jarl closed the door, the young man tilted his head, and the drumbeat slowed. He drew each note out in a suddenly ominous, forbodding tone, finally bringing a palm down to still the sound. As he straightened, Julia noted the clasps down the front of his shirt shaped like minature silver hand-axes, an ostentatious display she’d hadn’t seen from others.

“Hrafn.”

The tone alone made Julia’s lips twitch in amusement, the parental frustration in Þiúðmundr’s voice, making it clear there had already been a discussion.

“Father, you asked for time to speak with Lady Eakcï first; I’m not here to speak only to listen, pretend I’m not even here. I was playing loudly enough that you’d known I was here. If you didn’t want me listening, nothing was stopping you from picking a different place to sit.”

“Lady Eakcï, this is our youngest Hrafn. Hrafn, this is Lady Eakcï. You can try to pester her with questions later. Since you are here now, just listen.” Þiúðmundr stated in an exasperated tone.

Hrafn opened his eyes and gave Julia a content smile, though the liveliness of his mother was missing from his uneven gaze. His left iris was a deep topaz blue, while the right was gleaming metallic silver, shimmering as if the iris were in motion. He shared his mother’s heart-shaped face, but his chin and nose followed his father’s genes; the same solid chin and straight-bladed nose, though his was unbroken, features unscarred.

Analysis

[Name: Hrafn Axebane

Race: Human (Norse / Roman Ancestry)

Class: Skald / Sage / Spymaster / Priest

Level: 40 / 34 / 38 / 34

Health: 2,126

Mana: 4,564

Defence: 98

Magic: 74

Melee Attack Power: 58

Ranged Attack Power: 67

Combat Skills: Short Blade [Ad] (2), Throwing Knives [Ad] (23) - Various Blessings

Details: Hrafn is the youngest child to the Lady Ǫlhildr Axebane and her husband, Jarl Þiúðmundr of Eyrarháls. A Skald and Priest in the service of Óðinn. ]

No wonder he’s all fancied up a Norse Bard, wonder if he get on with Moke.

Spymaster does he manage the family’s eyes and ears, or is he up to other things?

“Please sit,” Ǫlhildr said, gesturing towards a comfortable chair, even as she sat down on another.

“Tell us how you came to rescue the women. How did you find them?”

I will have to tell the truth delicately in case they’re not already informed.

So glad Torm explained the limits on names getting beings’ attention.

“Torm and I had been adventuring through the Para-Elemental Plane of Magma, when I had a cryptic contact from Víðarr, a Priest I’d met from the Temple here in Eyrarháls. It gave me nothing to go on regarding the situation, but rather than ignore it, I set about tracking it back. When we followed its path to the Material Plane, we were in a Gnarl breeding pen. Víðarr was there though badly injured, and he asked us to take a message to Verdandi. I tried to help one prisoner and found I could free her from the collar of Set and her unborn. After I confirmed I could help, we set about freeing them all. We didn’t risk fighting any more Gnarls in the complex than we needed to get the survivors clear. Aside from the manacles of Set, I found a Priest of Tiamat present. Torm said there were three groups of Priests. I don’t know if that included the Gnarls' Shamans.” Julia stated, trying to use straight facts.

When Julia mentioned Víðarr’s name, her momentary focus on him made her aware of his condition through the link between them. His body was struggling against injuries and curse alike, while spells of healing were fighting against the scourge he’d anchored in his flesh and Soul by using Abyssal Runes. As she continued speaking, Julia drew that black energy along the link, and the curse came apart in a burst that left a strangely sour taste.

“Adventuring that’s a word I’ve only heard recently,” said Þiúðmundr after Julia paused and didn’t continue

“He appealed to you for aid instead of praying to Týr?” asked Ǫlhildr, her voice low with suspicion.

“When we found him, they also had a collar of Set around him; I believe he’d used a rune scroll to contact me. He didn’t have his medallion for channelling, and the collar of Set would have blocked him from doing so. I have a lot of unanswered questions about the situation. I hope he’ll provide more information when he’s recovered.”

That’s if he’ll tell me anything and doesn’t stay in the Temple to stop me from speaking to him.

“I’d like to put up a spell to stop eavesdroppers,” Ǫlhildr said, giving Hrafn a meaningful look.

“Surely you will not cut me out as well?”

“Why don’t we talk with Yngvarr, Verdandi and some others present as well? It will save me repeating answers.”

“I’d prefer to hear some answers without Yngvarr or Verdandi present first.”

“That sounds worrying,” Julia said, not exactly comfortable with the need for their absence.

“It only takes a moment, and I asked you out of hospitality. From my perspective, your origins and followers should be more worrying to us. A Lady who isn’t a lady of any kind, and you're travelling with the former Temple Guard Captain Torm. I can guess how Víðarr contacted you and how you arrived precisely at his prison from across Planes, which should also worry me. However, my son and Verdandi assure me things are unusual,” Ǫlhildr stated, her gaze even more severe now than her husband’s had been.

Oh Boy! Wait! What does she mean former Captain? He said he needed to level his abilities, not that he’d resigned.

“Can I send a message to Yngvarr? I sent two survivors to his place, and depending on your questions, this could take a while,” Julia said, examining the garden wards via True Sight while she spoke.

They look like Yngvarr’s wards around his courtyard; those wards block teleporting in, but not out.

“Why did you send two to his house?”

“A few reasons: they were slaves to a High Priest of Tiamat and may have overheard useful information. One of them became pregnant from his assaults, and when I told her, another woman threatened her. Since the one that threatened her is the daughter of a Jarl, I wanted to ensure she was safe,” replied Julia, keeping the rest of her reasons to herself.

“A Jarl’s daughter? Who?” asked Ǫlhildr.

“Her name is Ketilriðr, third daughter of Jarl Waldemar Bloodaxe. She’s cruel, but no one was getting left behind.”

“I’ll get a Captain to arrange her a room.”

“I wouldn’t trust her,” Julia said flatly, her fingers clenching.

“You told one woman she was pregnant by her rapist, and another threatens her. Why in Frigga’s name do you think I’d trust that woman?” Ǫlhildr asked. “If she is in our residence, I can assign her an escort and ask them to monitor her.”

Friends close and enemies closer. It makes me wonder which bucket they’re putting me in at present.

Þiúðmundr and Ǫlhildr exchanged a glance, and Ǫlhildr just tilted her head towards Julia before Þiúðmundr spoke.

“We wished to discuss other things without Yngvarr or Verdandi present, but best to deal with this serpent. Please send your message to Yngvarr, ask if he and Alfarr could join us. Also, send one to Verdandi asking her the same with whoever they wish to bring against this servant of Tiamat. It’s likely Master Farhad won’t consider him a foe worth bothering with, but I want him dead.” stated Þiúðmundr.

Julia sent a message off to Yngvarr and received an acknowledgment a moment later. With Verdandi and Torm she could only wait and see; but it didn’t take long either for them or others bearing symbols of Norse faiths to arrive. In the meantime, Ǫlhildr arranged for Ketilriðr to be fetched and for more seats brought. There was over a score present when Ǫlhildr released a spell that set a dome formed of interlocking Dark and Air Mana around the chairs and benches.

I need to learn more utility spells.

“If you’d tell us about this Priest of Tiamat and what you’ve seen of the complex.”

It seems they won’t get the payback I had hoped, at least not against that place.

Maybe it’s for the best.

* * *

The Gnarl’s pleasure den had been quiet when they arrived, but didn’t remain so. Their quick planning had selected a room above the High Priest’s quarters as one staging point, but Julia didn’t get to take part in that fun. Her role in that fight was over after delivering the primary strike team. After teleporting others into position, Julia got to her post and held herself ready. When she heard the first explosion, Julia released a Lightning Bolt through the dormitory where she’d been waiting. Some had argued about her proposal, but the Jarl had cut them off, stating simply that, ‘it needs to be done’. After that, they seemed willing to let the matter drop, since Julia was the one getting her hands dirty. When Teleport moved her to the next spot, she left behind hundreds of small, charred bodies, along with the gnawed remains of their earlier victims.

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{{ And they don’t even have training lightsabers. }}

Fuck Off!

Julia kept Soul Sight on the vicious rage and cruelty already in the Souls of her targets, making the work uncomfortably easy. When she found the fifth dormitory already scattering outdoors, she went after them, switching to Fireballs and Shock Blasts charged with one type of Mana or another. About the cavern she heard chants in Celestial dropping pillars of lightning or fire on groups of Gnarls as the fighting escalated. A wall had collapsed, leaving the interior of the High Priest’s chamber exposed, but that battle had already spilled out of the building. The High Priest was fighting the primary team with scores of draconic looking humanoid Demons she’d never seen before, providing him cannon fodder support. The battle already having cost him the fingers on one hand, and his heroic features now looked swollen and blooded.

Julia caught sight of a Demon’s destruction, even as more appeared, and it seemed like it would be a battle of attrition. As much as Julia wanted to sneak some attacks she had little desire for a friendly fire incident. Before she could get any information on the Demons, the approach of booted feet refocused her on her role. With one spell after another, she set to blunting the arriving forces.

The soundtrack B starting up from her memory didn’t distract Julia as she continued throwing spells at the incoming arrivals. A burning portal blocked her line of sight for a moment, and a BrÍn stepping from it caught her attention. His path took him towards a distracted Priestess of Frigga, whose focus was on a group of Gnarls approaching between free-standing buildings within the cavern. Julia’s emotions spiked for a moment before noticing the jagged broadsword grasped in its left hand, even as a shield appeared grasped in its right.

Analysis

[Name: Nsanga

Demonic Species: BrÍn

Class: Fighter

Level: 18 / 50

Health: 1744

Defence: 97

Melee Attack Power: 108

Combat Skills: Heavy Blades [Ad] (42)

Details: Spawned on the BrÍn battlegrounds in the Plane of ßvåge, he belongs to the faction commanded by Set, a Lesser Power in the Egyptian Pantheon. He is currently on the Material Plane via a Gate opened by the Priestess Meritites of Set. ]

As another stepped through the portal, Julia teleported beside him. His attack already started on the Priestess he didn’t have time to evade. The punch smashed through his lower ribs under the raised sword, and with Ki and Destruction Mana combined within the blow, Julia crushed its heart.

[Ki Strike, Armour Breach Success: 184 Damage - Critical attack.

Energy drain - Willpower Critical Success - Health drain 244, Stat penalty applied Strength, passive effect applied.

Ki Infusion, Armour already breached: 195 Damage.

Ki Infusion, Mana - Destruction: 585 Damage.

Death Strike Multiplier for Physical Damage x4.

Total Damage: 1,760 (184 x 4) + (244 + 195 + 585)

Death Strike [Ap](11->13)

Silent Kill [Ap] (23->24)

Demonic Shard Gained: 1]

Even as it collapsed, Julia turned the rest of the combat notifications off. White flames began screaming from her Ki Armour as she flowed towards the Portal.

There is a Priestess of Set about - watch out for her.

Julia projected the thought towards the Priestess and the others close at hand. Leaving them to find that foe, Julia slipped under a strike from the next Brin, her flurry of punches pulverising its body and dropping it to the ground. Through the Portal, Julia could see more BrÍn approaching, the landscape a desert of heat blasted sand. The sun high in the Plane’s sky burnt with a strange black light and washed everything with its perversion of sunlight. As the next tried to shield-charge her away from the Portal, she stepped into the motion. Her kick broke his shield and drove him back, dying on the Abyssal side of the Portal. Though their attempts to get through the narrow opening pushed the ones ahead off balance, making them easier to kill, she struggled to keep up with their numbers. As yet another tried to get through the Portal, Julia’s kick broke its leading knee and her elbow shattered its skull. The rush of drained health healing a wound another’s spear opened in her side.

As their numbers grew, Torm appeared nearby in time to intercept a rush of Gnarls from reaching to her. His sudden presence easing the pressure on the Priestess guarding Julia’s position. The first sense of his arrival brought a smile to Julia’s lips even as she sent white Lightning into the gathered BrÍn beyond the Portal; the energy ate through Demonic flesh even as it destroyed the shadows laying across the sands. Julia saw a woman wearing robes of Set knocked down on a ledge along the cavern’s wall among the swirling battle. The Gnarl archers nearby began dragging her away, claws already tearing into cloth. Soul Sight showed she was still alive and sickened by their intent; Julia cast a Fireball formed with Destruction Mana. Its blast obliterating a wall of Gnarls closing on their own ‘ally’. A BrÍn that tried to take advantage of Julia’s distraction found his life stolen, though Julia didn’t get the kill. The Priestess’ death disrupted the Portal, causing its edge to cut the charging BrÍn in half.

More Gnarls came rushing out from between the cavern’s buildings to be met by spells, blessings and blades as they fought to hold them back from re-inforcing the High Priest. Divine barricades of spears and spell formed blades killed them by the score, leaving Julia and the fighters to finish whatever made it through. When Julia spotted the High Priest drop under Alfarr’s axe, she teleported to his side, and Energy Drain drank his fading life and Soul away. The blighted thing joined the press of Gnarl Souls within her flesh, and as the others regrouped, she drew his body into Inventory. With the numbers of Gnarls pressing into the cavern, Julia and Yngvarr transported away those who couldn’t withdraw on their own.

They all reappeared at their original staging point: the training yard at the Jarl’s residence. Julia checked the others over, and while some looked very worse for wear, everyone returned relatively intact. Torm patted her shoulder as the Priestess of Frigga turned towards her. Julia could see a broad smile of thanks on her tired face, half-hidden by the helm she wore, her storm-grey eyes fixed on Julia. The armour she wore was showing marks from the battle, but the injuries seemed minor.

“I appreciate your dealing with that Demon; I only heard it hit the ground after you’d already finished it. We didn’t get introduced; my name’s Waiola,” she offered, extending her hand.

“Eakcï or Julia, whichever you prefer,” replied Julia, returning her smile as the Priestess clasped her forearm.

“Good to meet you, Lady Eakcï. I've heard your name about town and seen you spar with Master Farhad in the Temple Square a few times after morning prayers, though you look very different now. The Jarl’s providing drinks tonight, but I’d like to buy you a mug to thank you for the rescue.” replied Waiola, the curiosity clear in her voice.

“I’m just glad I was there to help,” Julia said. The open honesty of her responding drawing a smile from Waiola.

“If you have Mana left, would you set up a Life Mana Wall?” Torm asked, gesturing towards the battered members of the combatants.

“Maybe I should set up a number,” replied Julia, looking at the injuries the group was carrying.

When the first greenish golden wall appeared, Torm stepped within it, the injuries he was still carrying from the fighting visibly closing. The change prompting another Norse Fighter to step into the wall at the other end, and Julia started setting up more within the courtyard. Various attendants who had been bringing forth bandages and jars seemed suddenly unsure what to do. When the Jarl stepped into one Life Wall, others who’d been hesitating but looking worse for wear did likewise.

Julia continued casting and renewing fading walls as required, caused her skill with it to quickly improve. Verdandi was still ash-covered when she approached, and Torm let someone else take his place in the first wall. Though she showed marks of battle on her armour, she looked fully recovered.

“A beneficial talent, one Yngvarr’s still working to duplicate,” Verdandi said quietly, patting her shoulder as Torm had earlier.

“Interesting,” Julia said and smiled as Verdandi snorted, the next ‘wall’ being used by a pair of rangers with a nod of thanks. Verdandi said nothing further, just watching as Julia kept the spells flowing. She still had Mana remaining by the time everyone had recovered.

Þiúðmundr, breaking off from talking to his wife, stepped forward and raised his hands for attention.

“Let us give thanks to the Gods that aided us this day, with their blessing, and the brave folk that fought with us. While we didn’t end the menace in the complex, we dealt it some dire wounds that won’t be quick in healing. If they don’t go scurrying to find another place, perhaps we’ll inflict more wounds for those who’ve suffered.” Þiúðmundr stated, his voice reverberating in the yard as the group became quiet. “Refresh yourselves and then return for an evening of celebration. While the repast will be modest, we’ll have music, so I hope you all attend.”

Verdandi rested a hand on Julia’s shoulder as the others departed the yard.

“Do you plan to hang onto the Soul?” asked Verdandi quietly as the last group except Torm left the yard.

“That was my intention for now. I’ll need to destroy the body,” Julia said.

“He had many protective items on him, some dedicated to Tiamat. Pass them along, and I’ll see about their purification. Hopefully, you’ll be able to make use of some of them to keep yourself safe.”

“I’ll pass them along but share them out,” insisted Julia, frowning as she considered the glimpses of the fighting she’d seen.

“He was harder to take down than I had expected; I’ve no idea how he arranged that stream of Demons coming to his aid. Without your seeking more survivors we might never have known he was there. I’m sure the others would consider his things a suitable reward; we’ve our own equipment.”

“I don’t feel right doing that. I didn’t fight with you, and purifications will draw attention in places I need to go.”

“Some of his equipment might be ordinary enchantments and not be dangerous. If nothing else, we can arrange a reward for the purified items if they are useful beyond becoming an offering.”

“Will Víðarr be alright?” Julia asked. “I’d like to hear what happened.”

“I’m told he’s resting. The curse on him suddenly dissipated while a Priest was seeing to him. Know anything about that?”

“Maybe,” Julia replied. Verdandi just nodded.

“I’ll let him know he owes you in more ways than one. Once his condition improves, we’ll see to regrowing his legs and eyes. Time will tell how that goes.”

“How did he end up in the breeding pens?”

“A Priestess of Set was trying to break him, by showing him how much weaker Týr was than her master.”

“Then how did he get his hands on the rune scroll he used?”

“It was in his Oath stone. He’d been planning to burn it as an offering to Týr when he came back to Eyrarháls. He’d sealed the stone in a wound when they seemed sure to capture him. Though he knew they had to be around, he hadn’t seen the other prisoners till they locked him in with them. He waited till night and reopened the wound. You know the rest,” Verdandi answered with a shrug.

“I’d like some more details, but I’ll wait to see if he’ll talk to me.”

“He told me he wanted to talk to you, but I’ll leave that to him.”

* * *

She felt like she’d peeled herself creating more blankets than she wanted to count. Afterwards, Yngvarr’s guest bath was a welcome luxury even if she felt guilty for using it. Yngvarr and Alfarr had already returned to the Jarl’s Hall for the evening’s celebrations, and she’d found Gellamel and Aggie already asleep. Rika’s eyes had looked haunted, and Julia could only imagine what sorts of memories the situation might have stirred up about her mother.

The combat summary already dismissed, she looked through the other details in the log. Some achievements it listed turned her stomach, Fry Master, Butcher of Children, and even worse, but Julia just flipped the system a mental finger. There were four that she had no problem with at all.

[Achievement: Guardian at the Gate I

Condition: Hold back forces attempting to attack allies at a choke point. 3:1 ratio

Reward: Prestige Class option unlocked for Tier 1, requires Fighter and Scout at level 30 or higher]

[Achievement: Guardian at the Gate II

Condition: Hold back forces from overrunning allies at a choke point. 10:1 ratio

Reward: Prestige Class option(s) unlocked for Tier 2, requires Fighter and Scout at level 40 or higher]

[Achievement: Guardian at the Gate III

Condition: Hold back forces significantly outnumbering allies at a choke point. 20:1 ratio

Reward: Prestige Class option(s) unlocked for Tier 3, requires Fighter and Scout at level 50 or higher]

[Achievement: Merciful Death

Condition: While under attack and defending others granted an enemy a merciful demise they’d denied to others.

Reward: Prestige Class options unlocked for Tier 3+, requires Death Affinity, and a Class related to an Outer Plane. ]

{{Should have let the Gnarls teach her what she’d allowed to happened to those women. Traitorous Bitch! }}

I’ll do what is needed, not indulge in cruelty.

{{For now. }}

You’re putting yourself into the same corner as Lêdhins’s Id by taking that approach B.

{{It was a friendly warning. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, oh that’s right can’t go there. }}

With the Soul gem of Setau turning over in her fingers, she concentrated on it and saw a glimpse of his life. Images of the interior chambers of a Temple where he’d conducted his initial training and sacrificed his sister rose from his Soul.

Mentally shifting through the Souls within her, she pushed the foulness of the Gnarls aside and brought Birkir’s Soul to the surface. Hidden within but a thin layer of the Abyssal Heat, she focused Soul Sight on him, the foulness making the refreshment of the bath insignificant. After some time spent focusing, she drew an image from his Soul that made her smile, as the exterior of a Shrine of Tiamat became apparent in her perceptions. Julia shifted her focus and dug into the Soul’s history, looking for more places the cultists called their own.

[Soul Sight [Ad] (20->21)]

“How many places of Tiamat’s worship have you seen in your lifetime?” Julia asked aloud, the words but a gentle questioning murmur as she pushed her will against the Soul to dig up more secrets. A light tap on the door beckoned, and she let the Soul sink under the Abyssal Heat again.

“Who’s there?” Julia asked.

“Me silly, I’m back from helping with dinner at the Temple,” replied Livia. “Come out, stop moping.”

“I’ll be out shortly.”