It was thus that over the next several days, in which the Prince of Demons sought to gather his strength and to formulate his plan of action. Chief among these tasks, was to study his character record in further detail.
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| Profile | Abilities & Skills | Spells | Inventory | Journal | Map | Social |
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The menu items were inoffensively located in the top-center of his view, and could be selected, browsed, or hidden altogether via simple mental gestures. Furthermore, it did not take long for Orcus to hone the skills necessary for navigating them efficiently, and all but the last option was available to him for viewing.
The Profile tab was a detailed record of Orcus’s personal information, which included data about himself and his class, as well as the various status bars displaying his current Health, Experience, Mana, and Stamina.
The Abilities & Skills tab reflected all his class and background features, displaying data about his currently available resources as well as the traits for which he held proficiency.
The Spells tab was simply a listing of Orcus’s known arcanum, which provided details about their casting requirements or component necessities. Although his spell list was currently limited to the spells from his background, Terminus had informed Orcus that he would gain even more spellcasting capabilities at level two. The menu also appeared to possess a directory for unknown spells, but that feature was unavailable to him.
The Inventory tab displayed all of Orcus’s possessions, both equipped and unequipped, and contained a detailed system for quick access, in which Orcus could slot certain items for donning or doffing with a simple thought. There was a section that outlined his monetary gains and equities, of which only twenty-five blood coins were listed, as well as a spot for treasures, though it was currently empty.
The journal tab was vacant, and the Map tab only showed an area of which Orcus himself had traveled thus far. Otherwise, only the Social tab was greyed out and inaccessible.
“Bird,” Orcus inquired Terminus curiously, sitting on the edge of his bed as he continued to study the system overlay. Despite his resistance at first, the prolonged rest days had certainly helped the Prince of Demons acquaint himself with the Akashic systems organization, as he said, “The section of this menu that appears to be restricted, what is it exactly?”
“Hm?” Terminus cawed, shifting his gaze from the windowsill to where Orcus was sitting. He quickly fluttered over to the bed, and inspected the element for himself, “That’s the Social menu, Your Highness. It contains information about your Party, other adventurers, World Delves, diplomacy matters, and general communal items or territory information. It’s inaccessible because you haven’t established yourself with the Adventurers’ Guild yet, that and you aren’t a Party Leader.”
“Who told you that?” Orcus scowled, “Of course, I’m a leader. Anyone who fears death would do well to remember that.”
“I think you’re confused, Your Highness.” Terminus explained, “I’m talking about the Akashic Record’s party system. Either you have to create the party, becoming its party leader, or you have to be invited to one, becoming a party member. These days, the Adventurers’ Guild has a tight leash on partying up, so that’s why I didn’t bother telling you about it before.”
“Adventurers’ Guild?” Orcus frowned, “What is this entity’s function? I assumed I was an adventurer already. I have my class, after all.”
“That is technically true. But anyone who’s anyone in these lands owes something to the Adventurers’ Guild… sooner or later. They have the highest volume of resources, the largest info brokering network, the best facilities, and they have all the categorized delve spots under wraps, E through S. They’ve even managed to collect most of the GM terminals, like myself, so accessing your Record is almost impossible without them.”
“And what does it take to join this… association?”
“Guild fees, for starters.” Terminus replied, “There are monthly costs associated with being an adventurers’ guild member—or any kind of guild really—and miscellaneous fees for various items. In addition, they take a cut from all loot hauls made from internally sourced quests, and a percentage off the top for any trading done at Guild-associated marketplaces and vendors. In other words, they’ve practically privatized adventuring—they run the whole show.”
“So, a select group of mortals has conquered the spirit of adventure…?” Orcus murmured, smirking somewhat, “That is depraved, but highly amusing to me. I have seen such tactics utilized by the Steward of my council, Prince Februus. Cornering the abyssal markets and leaving sellers with nowhere else to squirm—squeezing them for all their worth—that is a truly vile strategy, and one I find to be particularly effective. Still, this guild stands in my way. Does it not?”
“Knowing you? Probably.” Terminus nodded, “Although I’m inclined to suggest that it might be better to cooperate with the Guild in your early levels. You don’t want to get on Guild Administration’s bad side.”
Orcus laughed, “Do not be ridiculous, bird. If they can be used to my benefit, perhaps I will be lenient for a time. But make no mistake, this guild of yours will grovel at my feet before long. I will not tolerate restrictions on my being.”
“…Mhmm.” Terminus groaned, unconvinced, “Well, you can’t officially join the Guild until you’re level two. And back to your initial question, the administration has jurisdiction over creating level-one parties. That’s kind of how they get you in the door, come to think of it. Although…”
Orcus furrowed his brow curiously, as Terminus’s eyes glistened purple for a moment.
“I might be able to bypass some of those limitations.” He murmured, “And I could probably set your status as Party Leader relatively easily. That might upset the guild, but the mission has to take priority. Right? You’d be able to build out a team, if you wanted. At the very least, it would grant you access to parts of the system that are typically reserved for guild members.”
“Do it.” Orcus nodded.
“I… can’t guarantee that the guild won’t send bounty hunters after you.” Terminus replied delicately, “Assuming they find out. I mean, if you interact with any part of the guild, without being a registered member, they’ll find out anyway. I’m guessing you don’t really care though.”
Removing himself from the bed, the Prince of Demons wandered over to the window and glanced outside.
A storm had passed through in the night, stinking the area with rainwater and mud, and heavying the early autumn air with moisture. However, the afternoon sun was out and beaming across fields of barely. Cows slept in distant, fallowed patches of grass just farther along, where a shepherding Oriax sat on the top of a wooden palisade. His maul rested along the perimeter fence, as he gazed absentmindedly into the hills, creeks, and forests beyond. Shai was down in her vegetable garden, and the sounds of old man Vurth working away in the barn resounded faintly against the calmness of that day.
Orcus did not often take comfort in beautiful things, at least not beyond the splendors of war and victory. But the landscape as he saw it was surreal in a way. It reminded him of the witherstalk fields far beyond his own palace grounds, and the distant hills speckled with a dark visage of bloodwood trees, their reddish-purple eaves blooming spectacularly. This was the visage of peacetime that he imagined to be his prize upon worldly conquest. For at the end of all beautiful wars, awaited a splendid silence like that one. This place, if anything, evoked a sense of inspiration.
“I am a conqueror, bird.” Orcus said softly, “A conqueror requires armies. And there can be no armies without soldiers. If you are saying that there is a function to this system which allows for such things, then you will make it so. As you say, I care not for the ire that it will undoubtedly stir with the mortals of this world.”
“Alright…” Terminus replied hesitantly, “It’ll take me some time though. These system protocols aren’t what they used to be. The Guild has its hands all over this stuff now! I can’t stand it.”
Orcus nodded, “Do what you must. In the meantime, I will make the necessary preparations for our departure of this place.”
“Leaving already?” Terminus inquired, “You’re eager to get started, aren’t you, Your Highness?”
“Yes…” Orcus murmured, “There is a town not far from here called Endsmeet. Vurth showed it to me on his map. That will be our first destination. Our primary objective is to gather information about the demon armies, as well as their respective whereabouts and the current hierarchy of its command. We will base our next move on whatever we discover.”
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“Endsmeet has a few guild outposts too.” Terminus added, “Not just the Adventurers’ Guild. Might be a good opportunity for you to establish some relationships; maybe even find a party? There are a few good delving sites around that area as well, also a good chance to make some headway on gaining experience. Leveling up is a slow process, after all. At your current pace, it’s going to take a few weeks to hit level two at least. And that’s if you start grinding consistently.”
“Very well.” Orcus nodded, but added, “One more thing. Is it possible for a creature such as yourself to mediate on another’s behalf? Say… Oriax?”
“Oriax?” Terminus squawked, “Yes? I mean, my primary function is to aid adventurers. He’d have to consent to confirming his class with me and not an administrator, like you did. I can manage that much, but then he’d have to join your party if your intention was for me to be his handler as well as yours. I guess if I get things rolling, that should be possible. Why? You’re not thinking of having him join your party? Are you?”
“Complete your assignment, bird.” Orcus said plainly, moving towards the bedroom door, “I will see to Oriax.”
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Whether by accident or not, Orcus had managed to ingratiate himself amongst the mortals. In fact, he came to amuse himself with their daily toils. So much so that in a mere matter of days he had unwittingly began to regard them more like people, and less like subjects.
Mortal life was simple, as the Prince of Demons understood it, but it was not especially easy.
Vurth and his wife were steady farmers, rising in the early morning to tend to their fields. They worked diligently into the late hours of the day, well until the sun had all but departed the sky. This they did with succinct repetition, as he learned, all throughout the year in the hopes of a decent harvest. Selling portions of their yield to other mortal settlements was only a small part of their responsibility, which surprised Orcus. They did not have a master, to whom they owed all their tithe, but rather worked for themselves and their own ambitions. Otherwise, their lives were completely spent on the care of their home and their animals.
For his part, Orcus was entertained by this. He was impressed that among the heightened dangers they now faced, aged humans such as them continued to work and to command their meager domain with pride. There was no master or overlord to turn to for protection like so many wretched souls in the underworld did. It was commendable.
Oriax was no slouch either.
He helped around the farmstead in all the ways that Vurth and Shai asked of him, which wasn’t much, who otherwise spent much of his time wandering the perimeter, and then some, in search of danger to root out. Orcus had even joined him in slaying a few more pesky fiends, eager to study his fighting methods a bit more.
The Prince of Demons concluded that there was a clear contrast between Oriax when he was fighting, and when he wasn’t. The warrior in him made aggression look easy, recklessly assuming control of a battle and expressing himself with sheer physical violence. The farmhand, on the other side of things, was passive, rarely raising his voice or seeking confrontation at all. He seemed to merely enjoy a peaceful life during his downtime. Orcus had seen similar behavior in hellhounds before, not that he believed Oriax to be the obedient sort.
“Tell me, Oriax.” Orcus inquired, having come upon the man as he chopped wood on the broadside of the barn, just before the sun had set, “Why do you stay here? You could go anywhere in this world, be any kind of adventurer. And yet you linger?”
The sound of splitting wood stifled the air for a moment, as Oriax looked to him with a sweaty brow, “They’re nice people.”
“You owe them?”
Oriax shrugged, “I don’t think so. I just… want to be helpful.”
“You said that you visited the Adventurers’ Guild.” Orcus said, leaning against the wall of the barn, “But you left. Why? Did you not want to find other likeminded souls to travel with?”
“…No. It didn’t really occur to me that you could do something like that.” Oriax picked up another block of wood and set it on the stump, saying, “Or… I guess, I’ve been a wanderer on my own for a while. All those guildie people were talking about stuff I just didn’t understand. Loot, quests, dungeons… I don’t really know what any of that means. It’s like, we don’t speak the same, you know? I just wanted to fight. None of them were fighting, so I left.”
Orcus nodded, “I can see that. And you clearly have a knack for slaying demons. Have you always been this way?”
Oriax stopped halfway through his swing, glancing away from Orcus, murmuring wistfully, “…Yeah, I guess I have. Sons of bitches are everywhere. Got to get rid of em’ you know? Everyone else only does it when it’s good for them. But that’s the worst time to do it. You go to do it when it’s bad for you. Otherwise... people get hurt. Then your insides feel all weird.”
“You fight to defend?”
“Nah, that’s not it.” Oriax shook his head, “I like helping people. But I fight to fight. It’s like, you get this tingly feeling when the blood starts going. The more you stand to risk, the better it all feels. You get me, healing hands?”
“I was wrong about you, Oriax.” Orcus shook his head with a smirk, “You may be slow to the point, but you’re not completely insane. In fact, you’re exactly the kind of soldier I’m looking for.”
“Hm?” Oriax offered a puzzled look, “Me?”
“You dispense with convenience at a cost to yourself. That makes you efficient in my estimation.” Orcus explained his reasoning, “There is a primal nature in you, just itching to be set loose upon this world. I have seen the same passion in many of my champions. In your wanderings, clearly you have tasted of the musings of violence. You want to fight—to be consumed by the bloodlust, but to also be unleashed. You care not for the spoils of victory, but the slaying as its own reward. You are truly a ravager. All you lacked was the means to unlock it.”
“I… think I get it?” Oriax scratched his chin, “But I’m not sure. Are you trying to ask me for something?”
“Join me.” Orcus stated as a matter of fact, “Take up your weapons, assume your rightful class, and fight for my cause. Give me your violent appetite, and I will give you a killing feast. We will slay the hordes of hell together, until every last demon has been purged from this world. That is my oath, my very reason for being here.”
“Uhm… okay.” Oriax nodded confusedly, “Sounds good to me. I’m down to kill more demons.”
“Oh—” Orcus stammered, who had been prepared to say even more, “Just like that?”
“…Yeah. I like it here, but the grass makes me itchy. It’s kind of hard to kill demons like that, you know what I mean? Demons are easier to kill on the road. You don’t have to clean up after.”
Orcus, not even sure how to respond to that, bypassed the entire thing and said, “Good. We leave in the morning. Oriax, prepare yourself to travel.”
“Oh, about that… can I finish chopping this wood first? I told Vurth I’d do it for him. Would hate to let the old man down. He doesn’t have a great back, you see.”
“What—will it take you until tomorrow?”
“No… don’t think so.”
“Then we’ll still leave in the morning?”
“Oh. Yeah, morning should work.”
Orcus wanted to roll his eyes. This man truly was an idiot! But he was Orcus’s idiot now, and that’s all that really mattered.
However, the Prince of Demons left Oriax to tend to the firewood without another word. There was still one more thing he needed to do before their departure. Thus, he carried himself through the tall grass of the fields for a time, all of which appeared gray beneath the starlit sky above. A slight breeze gave small sound to an otherwise tranquil landscape, as Orcus searched for what he was looking for.
It was then that Orcus came upon the faint swirls of purplish-black vapor wandering aimlessly through the filed. And he grimaced.
Gathering bits of necrotic essence to him—the last remnants of the manes still swirling in the field around him—Orcus ripped several bones out of one of the decomposing carcasses and tossed them on the ground. He then set to the diligent work of casting Reanimate I. With a drop of his blood on each of the bones, an acidic hissing noise filled the air, followed by the haunting moans of trapped spirits. When the ritual was finally complete a minute later, three bone-like structures somewhat resembling small crows took shape.
They cawed and snapped at one another, but the Prince of Demons was in control here.
“Silence.” Orcus commanded, and each of the three skeletal birds ceased their chattering, as he said, “You will beg for your freedom by the time we are done here. And perhaps, should you serve me well, I will overlook your transgressions against me the other day.”
The birds shivered, saying in unison, “We live to serve, Your Highness.”
“Indeed, you do.” Orcus nodded, “Tell me what you know of my subordinates plan. Well? Speak quickly.”
“There is not much to say, Your Highness.” One of the crows spoke, “The Lords have divided themselves according to their own whims, coming and going as only they see fit. Their plans clash, their armies scatter, but there is still a great threat between them.”
“And the mortals are not as unified as one would think.” Another said, “Some curry favor with the Demon Lords, while others ride out to meet them in battle freely. There is much chaos, Your Highness.”
“Abyssal energy yet spews from Hades with little regard, Your Highness” The Third said, “The commanders do as they please, while the Lords squabble for territory. Your leadership is sorely missed.”
“Do not flatter me.” Orcus hissed, “I am well aware of what my absence has done to this campaign.”
“Your Highness…” They all bowed in fear.
“Still…” Orcus pondered, “It has occurred to me that I do not understand the lay of these lands. I will need information on my journey. Thus, you will go now hither into this world. You will become as my eyes and my ears. And when you are called upon, you will tell me all that I seek to know. Or you will face my judgement most severely. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes.” They cooed, “We will please, Your Highness.”
“And you will pay careful attention to something called the Adventurers’ Guild.” Orcus added, “They may yet prove to be my biggest opponent, and I wish to know all their weaknesses.”
“It will be done.”
“Then go.” Orcus said in a hushed tone, his true voice carrying terror like the depths of a nightmare.
Scrambling into the air, the skeletal birds took off in different directions, flying fast until the sounds of their fearful cries could be heard no longer. With any luck, his undead minions would spread to the great cities of that land, and nestle in for the long haul, ready to serve Death when it came knocking on their door.
Orcus relented a weary sigh.
His first few days back in the mortal world had not gone exactly to plan. Nevertheless, these were the circumstances he must now live in. There would be no turning back after today. All there was now, was the call to adventure and to glory. The first steps on a path toward conquest. He would make good on his promise, that much was certain.
A sudden gust of wind swept across Orcus’s bangs and his dark cloak, as he peered up into the night sky above. Silent and contemplative, the twinkle of a million stars burned brightly, and he chuckled at them.
“Look down upon me, father, and despair. Your son has returned, and his time has come.”
Yesterday, the Prince of Demons had everything stolen from him. Tomorrow, the Prince of Demons would take everything back. But today… today the Prince of Demons was content.
A foolproof plan was in motion, and the last eve before a great journey was nigh. Thus, with his affairs finally in order, Orcus retired for one final rest.