I return to my tower and continue fixing it up. Putting in defense between my area and the second floor. Mostly in the form of a couple Iron doors with magical locks and adding another level above with a conical roof and a smaller 'captains walk' atop that with a rain roof over it so I can stand and look around at this small city from my roost. This makes the tower effectively 6 story's now and the tallest building around. From here I can see the limits of the land around the tower and I set to putting a 20ft high wall around it with a door in 2 places for the road to pass through. I set it so there is an outer door and inner door on either side, thinking defensively. They both open outward, to make them harder to knock inwards. I add in some magical locking and moving magics so I need no one to open or close them. Then I add in bushes and a fountain (by magically tapping in to the underground spring near my original waking place.) Making it prettier around here and more livable.
I also work on the other tower as well, putting in a magical gate between the two in a hidden place so I can move between them easier. The second tower, once I get it mold and 'crap' free I start to turn in to a kind of apartment building / homeless shelter / kitchen for the poor of that district. The Historian is still pissed with me and I think I accidently broke some kind of magical field when I sealed off the lower levels, cause he looks Older. More grey around the gills so to speak. Whatever fell magics that were keeping him alive are gone now that I have taken control of the tower. I point this out to the heads of the Gnomish guilds and they all start to notice things about him to that they had overlooked before. Or so I am told, though no one elaborates on it.
All in all this takes over a month, even with magic. During that time I keep mostly to myself, only visiting with my blood thralls and keeping my hand in controlling as needed for My domain. Which pretty much runs itself most of the time. It is Gebralter who explained to me one evening, what they had been trying to tell me is I have the right to claim the Princes seat now, if I want it. I once again explain I don't. I don't really want the Primogens seat either. I rather loath politics but will play them if I must. As for the two who came, they are from my past and I don't recall them and not sure I want to. I am moving forward, not backward after all. As for their thrall, to me she is a walking meal nothing more. If they try to give her 'back' to me, she will end up dead in short order as I really don't care for her beyond her looks.
Once I am done I sit and wait. I am waiting for the 'other shoe to fall' cause my past few memories show the Gods always have something they want done and they are not loath to give the job to me. So far they seem happy that I stopped Dreth again. But I feel there is something brewing in the wings so to speak and it will wander in to my lap at some point or other and try to suck me in. Of course the idea has occurred to me that I may have reached a point of being TO powerful and that is why they tried to take me out last time. Only I came back, damaged, but still exceptionally powerful. As such I may be thought of as a wild card now, something they don't want to play in case I decide to root for the other team.
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While I 'wait' I study my magics, build a power base of thralls (both mental dominants and blood thralls) as well as a stable herd of mortals to feed from or play with as I desire. Jon and Jase are still very important to me and I keep them close, though not enough to smother their specialness. Jase turns out to have a great deal of passions, like me sex and magic. She proves to be a good apprentice to my forms of magic and other pursuits as well.
Of the Scary one. She Finally left when she learned Jase had taken the crazy mage as a lover. It was the last straw. I am not sad to see her go to tell the truth. Though I did learn, before she left, that the comment Hathor made to me about 'removing my evil influence from her people' referred not so much about Scary but about Alma-Tep, whom was once a person Hathor wanted as a servant. Never mind that Alma-Tep did not want to serve her at all and actually loathed Hathor's church. From a fractured memory, the Egyptian gods were not beyond manipulation and deceit to get what they wanted. And like some other gods I can think of, they get pissy when they are denied these things and peoples. Seems a lot of the Old Gods suffer from this problem. Not that I am beyond that myself but I do try and not get to upset when a plan fails.
Of my ships, I told Jon I had two old ships in storage. He talked me in to getting them out.
These ships had been built during the experimental stage of building the frames first. They had 2 and 3 mast, but oars to. They were sleek and fast designs used by warriors and pirates over 5 centuries ago. They also bore the names Black Rose and Blood Rose. The Crimson had been lost in a battle a long time ago.
Isabel about clobbered me when she learned I had her old ship, fully repaired and ready to sail but for the need of a crew. From what little I know (from a journal I found on the ship while Jon and I had been looking the restored ships over) I had taken the ships, which had been very badly damaged, shrank them then saw to repairing them while they were toy sized. Things started to happen and while I had managed to fix both ships, they were no longer needed as we had newer better ships. So they ended up on a shelf in my magical store room, kept safe, in case we ever had need of them again. Or for the fond memories of sailing on them.
Only problem is I don't remember. All I have is this journal, written in my hand, of things I don't recall at all. Though Isabel Logan figures prominently in them and I thank Sune repeatedly for bringing her in to my life. Seems at that time I was madly in love with the daring pirate captain and she with me. Quirks and Undead and all. Wish I could remember that. Sounds like a lot of good happy memories.
I don't recall who Sune is either. Something about a fictional goddess but that is all. For all I know it could just be the name of the person who introduced us.
Jon teases me about my tendency to fall for scoundrels and pirates. I point out he is lucky to have me. Often and in such interesting ways. He agrees with that and loves me and my abilities to control others as we both Finally got Nancy the Nasty in our bed and showed her our painful loving's are something wonderful to experience - I just don't tell either of them I had to play a little with her mind to make it so she enjoys being our sexual plaything. I did nothing that would detract from her ability to be a fine tactician and pirate, she is just a touch more sadistic with a slight masochistic tendency that actually ends up adding to her fearsome reputation.