I spent the next day at Othe and left the morning after. It was the 7th of Brussendar. The whole thing with the hag had only taken about 4 days. Holy shit that felt much longer. Yesterday I took the time to do some housekeeping. I called Abaxis and told them I was safe. There was some yelling about how I should have called them to help and called them back more. Abaxis also used some of his own magic to cast a sending. We ended up talking over 3 more sendings. I messaged them again today telling them my plans. Carmilla said to tell Morgana that she sent me.
In the soul dream I met all the various new residents from the hag battle. The hag herself wasn’t there. It seems I killed her in the dream destroying her soul. Scary, but she did leave behind a present that I gladly added to my growing power. There were about a dozen new residents. A few more alligators, a couple of eels, and a giant frog. He wasn’t poisonous so I just have the new legs and super long sticky tongue. The hydra was there and like I had theorized it was an amalgam of souls from several victims. A family that calls themselves Pinkmans. They were a family that lived on a farm way out of Feolinn that fell under the hag's curse. They have taken to the name of Legion after seeing a few of my memories. Hardok joined the planning committee and has begun to help fill out the world.
As for new abilities I have taken to using the hydras regeneration 24/7. I am trying to make that permanent across all forms. With this ability, I am now unkillable outside of fire or acid damage. The option to just kill me faster than I can regenerate is also there. Either way, I am now less afraid of a battle with a Roc. I will need to head to the Gravid Archipelago and hunt for its nest there. The thing probably has a hunting range from Feolinn to Darktow. I won’t find it in the wild unless destiny makes it happen. The Raven Queen is the goddess of fate in this world. I wonder what level it works on. I would probably need to go to a temple and find a priest to speak to. Actually, I want to go to Vasselheim. The hag's final words linger in my head still. My powers are what you could call godlike. She might not be wrong that I might be a rather weak demigod. I have a sort of divine realm too. This will probably be a problem later on so a trip to Vasselheim to speak with the gods needs to be on my schedule.
Now other than all that, I am flying to Port Zoon. I will reach there late around sunset and get a room for the night. I can speak with Morgana about magic and then find a ship heading to Brokenbank. That is the closest city to the archipelago and should serve as a good base of operations. It's a small city of 1500 led by the Portcaller Mazin ‘Fat Fish’ Fahreed. A catfolk that leads the city well despite all of the Revelry that may or may not sell stuff there. It is mentioned he is often frustrated with not being involved more with the Concord. They don’t see fit to involve the Portcaller.
I hope not to spend much time there because I have a different target in mind. Darktow! The isle is home to The Revelry, the pirate faction of the Menagerie coast. I know they are criminals, murderers, rapists, and some more, but I want to visit. They aren’t all bad. The explorers guide speaks of Alyson Paij, known as the Screaming Knuckle. She is an honorable captain who doesn’t attack civilians and tries to hold back the more evil sides of the Revelry. She hates the Clovis Concord and I don’t blame her for that. There is a lot of corruption throughout the system and even if the person on top is good-hearted it can be hard to defeat corruption. So if I visit the Clovic Concords cities it shouldn't be hypocritical to visit Darktow. And hey if shit happens maybe I can become King of the Pirates. Hahaha.
……….
I found a cheap inn in the Genesis sphere of Port Zoon. It was a place where students and factory workers sometimes stayed after a late night if they couldn’t make it home or where people came to do things that they didn’t want to be known doing. Not a roach motel but close enough. I didn’t need much. Sleep took me quickly.
“Hey, boss how is it going?” Rubert asked.
“Oh, it's going great. I want to get straight to work. Show me the memories of the Swavain islands,” I said. I have mostly stopped creating memory orbs. Only one could exist at a time for that memory and creating them willy-nilly created problems for Rubert and Gatsby’s system. Show when I needed something I had them guide me.
“I want to hunt the Roc that lives around the archipelago we talked about. Once I get that form I plan on making a small world tour to hunt some forms. I want to head into the Cliffkeep mountains in Taldori and get a remorhaz, some mammoths, a purple worm, and some giants,” I said.
“Quite the list boss, but I know you are up for it. Any dragons in mind while we are at it?” He asked.
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“I only know of the two. One is inside the Heirloom sphere. Not sure where that thing is. The other is the white dragon in the Graying Wildlands. Both of those are the Nein's to hunt. You know of any?” I asked.
“Well there is Tatterfang and their three children. Green dragons. Thardaxxus in the Rootgarden. Unsure of his age but you will probably avoid him for moral reasons. Karketh the Silver Despoiler. A silver shadow dragon but he might be out of your ability to kill right now,” He said.
“Avoid any good-aligned creatures and stuff too powerful for me,” I said.
“Well, then that's it for all the known dragons. You know, the nine only need Gelidon for her dragon breath to make the metal to fix Fjord's sword. You might inherit that power if you kill her,” He said.
“Don’t want to risk it yet. I can’t fight her until I can either become immune to all forms of cold or at least mostly resistant,” I said.
We moved on to other topics. A trip to Vasselheim might be possible with a Roc form but it would be better if I get the services of a mage with a portal or teleport magic. Rubert had checked and there are almost no nonspellcaster enemies with the magic innately. If I get the spellcasting abilities of sorcerers or other casters with natural spells then I might be able to get the spell. But I don’t know of any targets.
We then brought up the League of Miracles. They were an order of spellcasters who operated as mercenaries and builders in Taldori. They could fight enemies and then put stuff back together all for a fee. The general public of Taldori loves them but the people in charge of Taldori are nervous as they are becoming a powerful political force. Their leader is a nameless individual known as the Wonderworker. Whoever they are, there have only been three sightings of them outside of secretive league meetings. He stopped Kraghammer, a dwarven city, from collapsing into the mountain beneath it. Next, he appeared and instantly made a castle which was cool. And lastly, he healed the mind of the corrupted silver dragon Saldrathoryn. This group both amazes me and worries me. While any organization will understandably want to gain influence and power, they have loose member requirements. Several of the mages in the order are confirmed Remnants, the cult of Vecna. Don’t like that at all.
“Are you sure you want to leave Wildemount? If you want powerful forms there is a lot of stuff in Xhorhas. The Blighted Shore is filled with powerful monsters,” he said.
“You are not wrong. I can get all the big frost monsters I want if I head to the graying wildlands. It sounds super fun too,” I said.
We continued this back and forth for a while. Right now my course is set for Brokenbank. If I am to travel independently without teleportation magic I need a fast-flying animal. The Roc is the perfect target. Anything else is just icing on the cake.
………
I woke up well-rested and ready for the day. The first stop was the magic shop owned by Morgana. I didn’t check the name of the shop but it wasn’t too hard to find after looking for it in my memories. A nice one-story building with a brilliant white and black color scheme. Morgana’s Mystical Menagerie. How quaint. I open the door and a bell attached to the frame jingles.
“Coming just a second,” a voice from inside sounds.
I look around the shop and see many magical curios. Enchanted weapons, scrolls, potions, and magic furniture. That last one was interesting. Might see about a rug that can fight my enemies. Eventually, the obsidian glass woman appears behind the counter.
“A new customer. How can I help you today with any mystical, magical, means?” She asked.
“I am not entirely new. I came here before with the help of Carmilla's group about a month ago,” I said.
“Oh yes, I remember. The shy boy that got out of here quickly,” she said.
I don’t remember it being like that. Was I like that? “I guess that's me. Carmilla recommended you to me for a purchase and an identification for a magic item,” I said.
“Easy enough. What is the item you are looking to purchase,” she asked.
“Just a simple bag of holding,” I said. She priced that item at 600 gold. Oof, my wallet. But the purchase was worth it. No more carrying all my shit. Straight to the bag.
“And for the identification?” She asked.
I hadn't been wearing the vambrace. I didn’t know how to use it yet and didn’t want to show off a magic item of its worth yet. “That would be this. I have reason to believe it is a powerful relic but am unsure which it is.” I said.
She took the vambrace and spent a minute with a crystal eyepiece. She looked all over the item and after the minute the spell took she nearly dropped the armor. She fumbled it and I had to catch it. “What did you see?!” I asked.
“Where did you get that?! I must buy it! I will pay you 10,000 gold! NO, 20,000!” She said in a hurry.
“No thank you. I know what this is and it will be of great help in the adventures to come. Now come on. What can it do?” I said. It's not a good idea to show off a vestige like this but I needed to know.
“Uugh. Okay fine. You are Carmilla's friend. I can understand why you want this. Well as you guess this is an artifact from the Calamity. A Vestige of Divergeance. This is the Changeling’s Arsenal. It is a shapeshifting weapon and armor. It will provide protection and offensive weaponry in almost any form. It's especially useful to those who can shapeshift because the armor can change with the wielder to provide continued protection. Right now it is in a dormant state but vestiges have been known to regain their former glory and grow with their wielders,” she said.
I was giggling at this news. No fucking wonder it called to me. It's my soul mate. Hello, new best friend. We are going to do great things together. “Thank you. This is perfect for me. I have a little bit of a malleable body,” I said.
“Oh really,” She said. I think I know where this is going. I am not good with this.
“Thank you for the help,” I said and left the store. I am just a poor young boy and that predator will devour me.