We started our guerrilla warfare inside Pekothas heartland. My first target was to destabilize a region so badly they would need to send in reinforcements. With my spectral collaborators, I had plenty of inside information. Pekothas used to be a patchwork of noble factions but the recent invulnerable throne caused them to stop their squabbling and unify as one big happy family.
On the surface, that is.
The dead officers and nobles I turned into palm-sized beanbag dolls came from almost all the factions from before. Free from their mortal coils and obligations, they held no allegiance to their former homeland anymore. They just didn't have a big enough Ego score to cling to that. Now they were on my side and fed me enough information that I could filter out the faction bullshit and get to the truth.
Count Brasso was the poster child of why a hereditary power system was doomed to fail. In one word, nepotism. As each generation rested on the laurels of the former's achievements, it became lazier, sloppier, and with an inflated sense of entitlement. They lost sight of what made their land great in the past and there was no amount of promotional red trucker caps that would get them back there.
We quickly took over a plantation mansion in the outskirts of Brasso county. Our centaur allies needed a place to stay and rest while we went on incursions. While it would be glorious to march and attack with a stampede of hooves, I couldn't risk the main reason I came here, to rescue them. Little I knew I had a bigger problem in my hands regarding that, but it is a tale for later.
With our friends settled, I went to the county capital alone. It was piece of cake to infiltrate the count's mansion and find his treasure room. I cleaned that and then the mansion of all valuables, including books and reports. I didn't need to check to know the count was embezzling taxes. All nobles were, to a degree or another.
I killed all adults in the Brasso family present that night. Fortunately, I didn't have to deal with the moral dilemma of killing the children of the human nobility yet. Their ghosts proved useless as the real puppetmaster behind the Brasso county was their steward. One more murder for the road and I got the county wrapped around my pinky finger.
The majordomo, a guy that went by the name Freykon had a decent Ego score but he didn't resist me at all. In fact, he was glad to serve me so long he could get a new life elsewhere and a fat wad of cash.
Dealing with ghosts was very different from dealing with people. We didn't need to lie to each other and most specters were unable to even if they tried. I agreed to reincarnate him as a brand-new level 1 silk-folk teenager with a mildly enchanted body and a hundred platinum coins as pocket money somewhere in central Auvanini later.
Our deal complete, he became a treasure trove of information. To manipulate the influential family, he needed to be at the top of the game. In the next month, we struck all military and guard positions in the county along with bandit camps. Thousands of souls were sacrificed to the Sun's restoration. We also gathered a dozen centaurs living in the county and brought them to the plantation.
The county became no man's land. It was a matter of time before the scavengers smelled the fresh political carcass and came to take a nibble.
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We sat back and put ourselves to fortify the plantation. The chance we got discovered was very low with Marlowe running magical interference, evading the magical scans from their diviners. That was his field of expertise, after all.
A month later, two armies marched into the County. By now the whole Kingdom knew the Brasso family was extinct and their land was up for grabs. The Ambridge and Gilmore houses would fight for the prize.
I wish I'd found popcorn in this world.
They maneuvered and laid siege to the capital of different sizes. The power vacuum was quickly filled by the local mayor that went over his head and declared himself a bastard brother of the deceased Count. He converted the city guard into a militia and decided to resist the invaders for his "birthright".
The siege took two weeks only. What followed was a terrible massacre. Gilmore breached the gates by using infiltrators and invaded the city. The governor, meanwhile, spread a disinformation campaign that inflamed the local population into taking arms against the invaders. In a strategical blunder, he removed troops from the side defending against Amberridge and made it easy for the other invader to bash the gate with a ram.
The pincer attack mowed down the city's population. Fire mages, the most popular type of military mages (to the point they get one more HP per level than other mages), torched down the city. The two invading armies met inside the walls and fought to kill anything not wearing their colors.
It was a bloody urban brawl. The gutters ran red and flies from ten miles over were invited to come and fester. A veritable swarm of them formed over the city as the endless cycle of breeding and feeding happened while the two noble Houses appeared determined to fight to the last man.
Alas, the soldiers' lives were cheaper than the metal of their equipment. The peasants wouldn't even make it to the bargain bin. Such was the way of this world.
I flew over the city, catching the souls and sending them to Galbarar as they died. About twenty centaurs lost their lives in the fight, all of them at the cusp of the first tier. Those I kept with me. They would join Talysius as my honor guard.
At the end of the first week of urban fighting, both armies were tired. Most of the city had become smoldering ruins, only the stonework portion of the buildings standing up. Marlowe contacted me to tell a third army entered the county territory. The Andun House loitered for a month outside the border, waiting for the first two to exhaust themselves. They brought light skirmishers, units more suitable to urban combat, and made a beeline for the city, marching on stamina potions.
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It was a calculated strike meant to excise the two invaders and emerge as the victor as unscathed as possible so they could use these units to take control of the other cities and villages.
Their only mistake was to bring a cavalry unit composed of thirty centaurs. The leader of that elite unit? Our old friend the rancher chieftain.
Cue in the sound of cracking knuckles. I would intervene in this civil war, after all.
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I took the full team with me. Losing either of the cloth golems meant the loss of the effort, time, and money necessary to craft a new body. Nenandil was the same although my heart ached at the thought of having the fairy take wounds, much less get killed. She would come back and respawn but I didn't want that.
During the months we waited at the plantation, Marlowe taught me the repeating trick to his spells. It was a Perk but one that could be emulated with enough technique by a properly trained [Wizard], he made that notion clear. A [Sorcerer] would need a Mind score in the two hundreds to pull it off on brainpower alone.
I used it to cast several {Siege Fireballs}, feeding each of the half-dozen magic circles with enough Energy to shoot ten times over. I triggered them and the bombardment started.
The skirmishers scattered but the spells were set to target the nearest human in each direction from the center of the target area. The new fireballs just shot at an angle, aiming to intercept the fleeing units.
I used the chaos to land near the centaur unit and polymorph back to my normal form. Talysius also grew to his full size. Once the rancher chieftain saw me, he growled in anger and stared at me.
"Well met! I'm Snowdrop and I am challenging your leader for control of this band," I shouted at them.
The rancher moved his gaze to the cloth centaur next to me. "Talysius? Is that you?"
My second snorted and scoffed, "Indeed, Stephano. I heard terrible tales of you. On how you subverted our rules to take a two-year filly into your band by force."
They both looked at me. I shrugged.
Rancher chieftain, or Stephano, asked, "Talysius, she is an exile! Did you take her into your band? You weren't at the peninsula. How did you come this far into human lands?"
The cloth chieftain looked at me but I nudged forward with my head. I was too busy hearing the fireballs roaring and burninating [1] the countryside. Burninating all the people.
"She is no longer an exile, Stephano. The elders and Queltphion declared her the [Heritor]," he said and I took my spear from storage, twirling it around my arms. "She was the one that took me into her band. And we came here as true centaurs should've come, by raiding every single human settlement between here and the plains."
I could hear the burn sizzling in their pride. Stephano and his centaurs didn't believe we came here raiding the humans so I produced a pile of treasure as tall as I was. Coins, gems, and jewelry. More wealth than these savages ever saw in their lives. Before they could shake off their bafflement, I returned it to the item box.
"I can show you the heads too if you still don't believe." I noticed the rancher... Stephano's gaze was locked in the spiral horn of my spear. "Yes, it is the real deal," I answered his unasked question.
"A challenge then!" He shouted and rubbed his hands. "If I win, you'll give me that spear!"
Greedy as ever. Time to raise the stakes. "This spear is bound to me. By divine mandate, only death can take it from my hands. You are not worthy." The spear hummed in approval of my speech. I felt one step closer to my goal but not quite there yet.
He lurched forward but stopped when he met the flat side of Talysius' sword. "In my presence, you'll respect the rules of our people," the silk centaur warned.
I didn't like the implication that Enantinos was weaker but I let it slip.
"A duel to the death, then! No restrictions but a ring of our brethren!" Stephano boastfully declared.
"All perks and spells allowed," I added.
He just nodded. The centaurs, including Talysius, surrounded us. They were free to jeer, push, and even strike the combatants if they didn't mind getting dragged into the fight. A quick scan showed no other sentients around us, especially no humans as I had both types of detection.
I stood my ground, the spear in a vertical position next to me.
"Ready!" Stephano shouted and dashed forward.
"Stand down!" I issued a {Royal Order}. "Submit to the true [Heritor] of the Unicorn King. Witness my might and kneel!" A {Geas} this time.
> Contested Charisma check won.
>
> Contested Charisma check won.
>
> Contested Ego check won.
He gasped and started to take damage for resisting the geas. I stood, lofty and proud and regal. My fur shone under the light of the burning fires around us. The fireball circles shot their last charge. The invading army was all but routed. As he kept resisting, I activated {Royal Aura}. The ring of centaurs expanded as they all walked a step backward.
The spear approved. It was all a show for the System and our invisible spectators.
"I am Snowdrop, [Heritor] of the Unicorn King. It is my right to rule over all centaurs," I proclaimed in a very haughty tone. "Before the Gods, before the centaurs, before the world itself, I declare myself [King] of all centaurs. We shall follow Queltphion's guidance as we always did, and I invite Him to be our patron. I wage war in His name. May the System recognize my right to rule!"
> ACKNOWLEDGED. Criteria for Dynastic Charter achieved. Issuing quest.
> Queltphion offers you a Quest!
>
> Found the Centaur Kingdom.
>
> You must have a territory populated by centaurs. Establish governance and rule over it to earn the title [Unicorn Queen] and start your dynasty. Erect a mighty church to Queltphion in your capital.
>
> Rewards: Centaur Royalty Perk. 1 Heritage Perk related to Queltphion's domains. Queltphion's divine protection over the centaur species.
The mood along the ring of centaurs changed. They noticed the pressure of divine attention and recognized what was going on. All of us trial winners did. On the ground, still fighting the {Geas}, Stephano stared at me with awe and terror.
> Champion's Challenge
>
> Death Contract
I used {Flash Blink Step} and drove the spear through the nape of his head, severing the spine.
> You reached Petitioner Centaur Heritor level 20.
>
> You reached Centaur Marauder level 20.
>
> You do not meet the requirements for a rank-up.
The body didn't vanish. I needed it visible for what was coming next. I shouted, "It is not over! Chieftain Stephano, your duty is not over."
I called the ghost and materialized it. The awestruck centaurs cowed at the sight of the spectral chieftain. I channeled a trickle of Energy into {Soul Shepherd} to remove his negative emotions.
"I will offer you the chance to serve me. The centaur you were is long gone. But I have the power to give you a new existence. You must swear undying loyalty to me."
The ghost knelt. "My Queen. I was blind by greed and pride. I'll serve under you until the day you deem me no longer useful."
The spear was overflowing with joy and approval. "So shall it be."
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[1] I shouldn't be surprised that "burninate" has a wiktionary entry. But I was. As for where it came from, if you lived under a rock (or just is too young to know the father of memes), google it.