"Forty... Forty one casualties? What in the world did you encounter in the outskirts of the middle region? That couldn't have just been the fugitives."
Lord Pennsworth sat with his forehead in the palm of his hand. He's gritting his teeth and gripping a pen with enough force to almost snap the tool in half.
"Well? Lieutenant? On with the report, surely the men we chose are not so incompetent as to fall victim to a veritable gang of miscreants?"
"M'lord with due respect I wouldn't call those apprehended a mere group of miscreants, they did manage to plan and follow through with the assassination of one of your vassals."
"Yes, yes. Get on with it." he waves me off with the hand that a moment prior had been cupping his scalp. "Assasins or not I somehow find it difficult to believe they managed to kill over half of the men you were given command over."
"Well, yes, my lord. You'd be right. Oddly enough, they seemed to have taken a similar approach to the kingdom itself. The ruffians had two creatures working for them, a two-no, sorry, three tailed Spirit Fox and a very young Ashwing. Curiously enough, the Spirit Fox grew its third tail during the battle."
"How interesting." My lord said with absolutely no interest, he seemed rather out of it today. "I presume that these two were dealt with though, given you managed to capture the remnants of this group?"
"Hmmm, not quite... Curiously enough, the two were not bound to any prior contracts. And while the Ashwing was too badly wounded to respond at the time, we did manage to force the Spirit Fox itself into a rather one sided contract."
For the first time, my lord actually sits up and looks at me with a bit more curiosity. "So, you subdued them and managed to make a contract with one of them?"
"No my lord, we managed to catch the Ashwing off guard. The Spirit Fox grew its third tail at that point. It may well have managed to wipe out our entire force on its own if it hadn't relented to allow us to heal the Ashwing."
I shudder a bit at the recollection of the earth practically exploding beneath my feet, but now my lord eyes me curiously. He sets down the pen and sits up fully placing his hands on his desk. "I apologize lieutenant, you have my full attention. If what you say is true I may have something interesting to show at the upcoming gathering. Please, continue with your report, from the top."
I nod and hold my head low, before standing back to my full height. "Very well my Lord."
I start from the beginning as my lord requested, informing him of the assassin groups initial attempts to catch us off guard. At first they had managed to take out one or two of our men, but injuries were low. And within short order they were overpowered, that of course, was when the Spirit Foxes presence had entered the field of battle.
"It's control of magic was nothing short of terrifying. Every attack was precise and without error, illusions marred the forest and obscured it's position... And it's ability to sense magic as well as destroy others own magic was no lesser. With only two tails it had a pool of magic... Maybe two times as deep as the average magic user. The fox also had support from the assasin's in this fight, the two forces combined were exceedingly dangerous. It may not have been a problem for a more experienced squad, but with the militia we had put together in short order they were like Limals to the slaughter." I grimaced at the thought.
"The fox practically single handedly drove back our entire advance party. I wasn't there to witness this particular spell myself, and not many lived to describe it but... Supposedly, the fox was able to summon and control hundreds of individual spells at the same time with the same accuracy it had displayed time and time again before then. In the words of those who lived to describe it... It was as if the night sky had fallen down, and the stars themselves came to claim them."
"It was a unanimous decision to retreat after that, and I don't blame them. I recommend you don't punish their cowardice too harshly my lord, it was a hopeless battle to begin with." He merely nodded at my suggestion.
"After that... That was when the main group had arrived. We thought we were lucky, that the fox was still there and seemingly weakened. As well as there being an Ashwing along with it. Admittedly, we acted rather hastily." I sighed and brought my right hand to my forehead for a moment, before letting it fall back down. "Out of fear, we immediately attacked. The Ashwing shielded its companion and blocked a fireball with it's own body. We tried to continue the attack, but the Spirit Fox nigh instantly materialized a wall of earth and obscured the both of them from our sight."
I sighed again, recalling the rather horrifying pulse of magic I had felt in the presence of that... Thing.
"I'm not sure what exactly happened within it's protective cocoon, but after a few seconds of battering on it's defensive spell a pulse of magic more intimidating than anything I've ever felt surged outwards from it. The earth practically erupted beneath our feet, it was as if the world itself cried out at whatever that fox managed to accomplish."
I forced myself to continue describing what had happened, even as I began to tremble from the memory. "Even more of us died right then and there, the earth opened up to swallow them whole. I'm not sure I'll ever forget those screams my Lord. Let alone the... Never mind, it's not important." I shuddered again.
"I looked at that fox, and from what I had heard from those who retreated, the difference was immeasurable. It felt as if I was staring into an ocean of magic, so vast that it was an amount I couldn't even comprehend. The worst part? The Spirit fox wasn't even actively attacking us. It certainly wished to kill us, but it was struggling to even keep it's magic under control. Earlier I said we may have died... No, we would have died, all of us, if not for what happened next."
My lord continues to stare at me with rapt attention, for his sake I force myself to finish the report.
"It used a wide range mental spell, personally, I don't even believe it did it on purpose. But it cried out for help. One of my men thought fast, and responded to its cries. I'm not sure he was in his right mind, but astonishingly it worked." I couldn't help but chuckle, it was frankly ridiculous that any of us survived that.
"Healing, the fox asked for healing. Not for itself, but for the Ashwing that had taken the brunt of the explosion. I agreed, but asked for a condition. Perhaps it was foolish, to attempt to bargain with the creature that could wipe us out in minutes if it so chose... Yet still it did work. In exchange for healing the Ashwing, I made the Spirit fox agree to a contract."
For the first time in awhile, lord Pennsworth asked a question. "And... What were the contents of this contract, what did you... Get them to agree to?"
"To swear complete fealty to the Arbre kingdom."
My lord laughed out loud, before glaring at me with a cold look. "To the kingdom? Not to ME?!"
"I-I-what? Pardon me, my lord?"
"Such contracts require precise wording you fool! They may be unbreakable without express consent from both parties, but loopholes can easily be found! Both in the true owner of the contract and it's contents! Is this your first time creating a contract you miserable buffoon!? If any relatives of the crown are to find out about this they could easily take control of this creature! With all that power available at my finger tips-how could you possibly have such a crucial FUCK UP?!"
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
"I-I-"
"Get out of my sight! Do not inform anybody of the specifics of this contract, or so help me Lieutenant I'll have your head on a pike before the end of the hour! I want to see this creature by days end! Get out!"
I nod and take my leave before my lord decides on any actual punishment. I hadn't even gotten to how we had taken care of the assasins, but I had the feeling m'lord wouldn't care. They'll be put on the gallows soon enough. For now, I was going to do as told.
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Bestiary
Limal
Very common herbivores found all throughout the world. They are completely non sentient creatures, as well as only living in captivity as domesticated animals.
Limals are large, fluffy animals with low mobility and magic proficiency. They have been selectively bred to be as weak as possible, completely unable to live on their own without their colonial domesticators. Either their wool or milk is harvested throughout their life, usually both, and shortly after they stop producing milk they are slaughtered for their meat. It is fortunate that they are not sentient, as it's a rather dull life to live as one of these creatures.
Limals do not truly have any understanding of how to use magic, nor are they capable of using any advanced forms of it. The most they can accomplish is simple uses of physical strengthening during life threatening situations.
Limals live fairly short lives, reaching maturity by two months old and proceeding to live as mature adults for approximately two more years. Taking about half a month to give birth after conception. During the last four or so months of their lives they are effectively useless. It is at this point that they are slaughtered.
Limals are pack animals, exclusively living together under any circumstance, even in the rare occasions where they've lived outside of of colonial captivity for short periods of time. They will frequently mate with any Limal within the pack, and as such they do not mate for life.
There is no recorded instance of a Limal growing strong enough to alter it's physical form, unlike many other creatures around the world. Their wool stays white and their size stays consistent.
Similarly to the above statement, There are no recorded instances of Limals greatly extending their life spans through the increase of their own power.
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Dictionary
Magical contracts
Contracts are voluntary restrictions placed upon oneself and others through making a vow. The way that they operate is rather nebulous, in that their actual functionality can vary wildly based on an individuals perception of them.
Contracts can only be nulled should both of the proponents of the contract choose to forgo it. Otherwise, those bound by the contract are forever bound to it, unless there is a way to escape it through means within the contract itself. Additionally, if a contract should serve to benefit another individual instead of the one who created it, those who are bound to serve would need to seek out those who they are compelled to serve, rather than the one that made the contract with them, in order to null it.
Those involved in a contract MUST fulfill what the contract demands of them. Should they choose to, or be forced to, disobey the contract, their ability to use magic will be violently taken from them. Ripped away by the world itself, all of their magic dispersed to their surroundings once they break the terms of their contract. This process, for all those who have experienced it, is said to be EXTREMELY painful. It has also been said, that the world feels hollow to all who have experienced this. Most of the time, they do not live much longer after this occurs. And not because they die of old age.
Contracts are exceedingly easy to create and use. Provided an individual has any basic level of control over their own magic, they can offer another individual a contract. It's easy to tell when somebody is attempting to create a contract, as magic from their surroundings will begin to coalesce around them. Curiously enough, it's been proven to be impossible to create contracts in locations with absolutely no natural magic, barring the individual attempting to create the contract themselves.
Regardless, the nuance in the creation of contracts is because of a contracts nature, it is very easy to find loopholes within a contract. Provided that a condition can be interpreted in a certain way, those confined by the contract can find ways to "cheat" its terms. As such, it generally takes a degree of skill to create efficient contracts, and such skills are highly valued.
Oddly enough, the way that contracts truly work has never been actually figured out. Either lost to history, or never explained by whoever created them in the first place, the workings of a contract in terms of the actual magic behind it has never been figured out. Despite anybody and everyone being able to use them should they so make the attempt, nobody is privy to the actual information of how they work. It's very odd, that something which would seemingly be a more complex application of magic, is likely one of its easiest uses.
Additionally, it is also possible to make a contract with oneself. However, this is only possible in naturally magic rich locations. Placing a contract upon oneself functions differently from creating a contract with another. You are still bound to its terms, and will suffer the exact same consequences for choosing to ignore it, but in return for whatever bindings you place upon yourself, you may also grow in terms of magic. For a simple example, if somebody were to forever forgo the usage of flame magic, they may see an exponential increase in their ability with water magic to match.
One... Less savory example of such a contract, would be the Demonization Contract. A somewhat popularized, yet EXTREMELY illegal process, literally everywhere across the world. Nobody wants demons running around in their territories. There have been a fair amount of similar contracts, both more positive, and some even worse, but none quite as notorious as this one. It has led to... A great many problems.
Less permanent contracts can also be placed upon oneself, such as creating a contract with yourself to not use flame magic for a single day, but generally much lesser benefits are seen from these when compared to a more permanent affliction. Though, let it be said, the boons of these contracts are still nothing to sneeze at.