Purple was learning how to create traceless poison delivered by the mana around him using his new affinity when she checked up on him. Eve watched his ever more efficient attempts morph from crude to canny over a few days. The discovery of poisoning through mana was directly due to Kudzu. A few plants were strategically placed by the green alchemist to demonstrate the principles of Poison affinity to the young man. Like a fish to water, Purple had immediately discovered the plants and their properties. It wasn’t much time at all before he started his own experiments gradually adapting his own techniques to incorporate the affinity. Without a doubt, Eve was certain that in a few months Purple would gain further specialization. Such ‘natural’ inspiration was the normal method for learning an affinity after all. She made sure to quietly dispose of all the plants once she was done watching. It wouldn’t do for some random idiot to get inspired from them.
Eve checked up on Red, rolling her eyes at the young man still wrapped up in a cocoon of enlightenment. She reinforced the barrier, and left.
Glass and White were both doing the best in Eve’s opinion. Glass had learned how to adjust her powers to multiply White’s light attacks. At the same time, both had learned to use their powers for crafting safe refuges in the wilderness. Granted their form of refuge was a massive glass house with rotating laser lights to carve up curious beasts, but if it worked, it worked.
Satisfied everything was proceeding in a decent manner, Eve finally followed up on Lily and Mark inside the Hut. Lily was receiving the start of what would turn into an extensive education by Kudzu geared towards healing. Mark on the other hand had been split between Nota and the green alchemist. From the plant, Mark would learn ink-making, while from Nota he would learn runes. It was a combination assured of producing monsters in Eve’s opinion.
Her next look-in was on the Madame and her girls, along with the Shillington heir. As expected, neither group of people was doing well but no one was in danger of being cooked in a pot, either. Good thing they were only up against goblins, for now.
Once the check-ups were complete, Eve used Spatial Step to move back to the city. Shifting her clothing and features to that of an elderly grandmother, Eve pulled a cane from inside the hut to perfect the disguise. She was hunting for entertainment, and needed to look the part. Normal thugs wouldn’t have anything that could break through her defenses before they adapted to counter the attacks but looking the part still mattered to her. Mere steel blades, spiked truncheons, or short daggers were about as dangerous as dirt without some form of enchantment or divine power she hadn’t encountered before.
Eve moved to the outskirts of the dungeon city where the aptly named Shantytown Slums were backed against the Wall. She had no doubt that particular architectural idiocy had gold dipped hands behind it. Far better for a few hundred thousand Slum scum to be killed if the beasts broke through the walls than a single wealthy individual. Eve’s steps flickered among the alleys of the Slums doing one of her favorite activities from Earth.
People watching.
As she watched people flow past the roads, buy from stalls and stores, and in general live their lives Eve pondered a current problem. Namely, the situation of being unable to attack those of a lower Tier. She couldn’t cause direct harm it was true, but that didn’t take other options off the table. However, having her allies assist was only a stopgap measure. There needed to be a more permanent solution, something that wouldn’t violate the System. As she moved among those who barely subsisted on the crumbs of the city her attention was caught by a building that seemed to radiate clean. It stood out starkly against the very shantytown around it, almost as if it had been placed directly from another world. A glance at the rune inscribed words brought enlightenment, allowing Eve to recognize the temple for what it was.
It seemed, even where gold refused to flow, faith still had value.
Faith was a particularly interesting phenomenon to Eve, as she could clearly see it was a form of Mana. Unlike normal ambient mana it was flavored, or aspected towards the deity an individual chose to worship. Mulling over the decision, she decided to enter the temple. It wasn’t like she had anything to fear from the Divine. The divinities couldn’t be expected to take revenge on someone they couldn’t even see after all, the effort just wasn’t worth it for most upstairs. Hobbling up the short stone steps Eve crossed between the small pillars of stone holding up the roof. The distinct sensation of space being manipulated was all too present as she entered the temple.
Where the outside appeared as a small temple, the interior of the building was anything but small. Statues with plaques were located in every conceivable area of the enormous coliseum. The central ring at the bottom had statues that towered up to her eye height, a clear message of superiority over the other deity statues present if ever there was one. Priests in pristine white togas moved between the statues attending to various sized basins at the base of each deity. Casting her senses through the temple, Eve’s weathered face split in a grin as she used Spatial Step to appear before a small statue with a tiny basin the size of a shot glass. Just to the side of the basin was a small plaque with words in the slash-mark language of Oozes.
Pantheon: Sand
Deity: Mr. Wiggles
Status: Minor
Favorite Offering: Food and Drink
Standing there with both hands on her cane Eve rolled through the drink’s in her mind from Earth before settling on a specialty she had swiped in the course of a mission. The Macallan 1926 had been part of a rather exotic drug smuggling operation. The team had taken down the leader of the operation who fancied himself a connoisseur. Fortune favored them as questioning had revealed the existence of the mythical drink. The bottle mysteriously disappeared from inventory before the team escaped. Eve remembered the drink because it had been one of the best she had ever had the opportunity to sample.
Summon Drink allowed her to pull the Macallan 1926 bottle into existence so that she could pour a glass into Mr. Wiggles little basin. As soon as the shot glass basin was full there was a flicker, and the Ooze appeared. Eve raised one eyebrow as the jiggly creature, causing the poor little avatar to freeze with one tendril extended toward the liquid goodness.
“Fancy seeing you here.” Eve said staring at the tiny Mr. Wiggles as he frantically explained the situation in Ooze.
The jiggling jelly explained he was only here for the delicious substance in the offering basin. Yes. That was the only reason. He wasn’t attempting to make an escape from the evil green plant alchemist that held him captive and had greatly reduced his size with horrible experiments turning him into the tiny oozling he was now. No, he was a trustworthy Ooze and wouldn’t think of going back on his word and trying to escape via the summoning possible when someone made an offering to his statue.
Eve giggled as the now slightly tipsy Ooze continued speaking.
Mr. Wiggles stated firmly if she wanted to keep that bottle it was fine. However, as the most jiggly ooze she knew, Mrs. Eve should have definitely have her liquor guarded by the greatest liquor guarding oozling in existence. Which of course was him, he was the best and most reliable for guarding delicious drinks in the entire desert. Indeed, it was so, he assured her. He promised that no matter what happened, at least one twentieth to one fortieth of the bottle would survive no matter what.
Probably.
“Oh! You poor little dearie. I didn’t know that Kudzu was experimenting on you so much you turned into a meat bun. Here, have a bottle of liquid gold.” Eve said, softly handing the open bottle of Macallan 1926 to the little fist sized oozling that Mr. Wiggles had turned into. Eve could summon as many as was needed with Summon Drink, so one less meant nothing to her. The sparkle-skin jiggly dance that Mr. Wiggles displayed showed how much her words meant to the poor Ooze. Moments later, both bottle and oozling were gone in a flicker of spatial magic as the creature returned.
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“It isn’t every day I see a worshipper answered by one of the Minor ones.” a priest said approaching from the aisle on the left. Eve turned to see a middle-aged member of the beast races. A man with wolf ears atop his head and lupine features gowned in a spotless white robe bowed slightly and introduced himself to Eve, “Greetings, I am Bishop Rightworthy. The grace of V’nor light your path forward.”
Eve said, “Greetings, Bishop. I was passing through and took the opportunity to give thanks.” She summoned another bottle of Macallan 1926 along with two small shot glasses and held them in the air with ease. Using telekinesis she poured a glass for each of them before dismissing the bottle of Summon Drink.
“To the health of those under V’nor and her light.” Bishop Nalen said with a toast.
Eve raised her glass before gripping her cane firmly and knocking the small shot back. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the Bishop’s face widening in shock as the mana charged liquid hit his palate. It was a potent brew, and one of the best her old world had to offer. While she couldn’t get drunk without extreme effort anymore, that only meant taste had a much higher priority to her now.
“Good stuff, Bishop?” Eve said vanishing the empty glasses with a wave of her hand.
“Certainly, I can’t place where it is from though.” Bishop Rightworthy said.
“It’s a very rare drink from my homeland.” Eve said dipping her head so her twinkling silver eyes were hidden by the cowl of her wrapped robes. Wrapping both hands on her cane she gave a small bow and said, “I’m honored the drink from home was able to impress a Bishop.”
Rightworthy gave a nod before asking, “Could I have a moment of your time, Elder?” Eve nodded and hobbled over to walk with the Bishop who made certain to slow his own steps to her pace.
“From the casual demonstration given, you are a mage of some skill?” Bishop Rightworthy asked as they moved among the Minor Deities in a circular route.
“Indeed.” Eve cackled as Dryad’s Scent and Siren’s Voice kept her disguise intact against the mild attempt to discover her nature. Rightworthy’s casual use of divine magic could only verify she wasn’t an active threat against the temple. Probing further would be both impolite, and warrant a response which he was clearly unwilling to attempt. She had taken more care with this disguise than the one used on Lily. Her skin was now weathered and baked as if from the sun. Even her bones were twisted to make walking rapidly a painful affair. If she suspected the Bishop let the matter drop because he wanted something from her, she didn’t let it show on her face.
“There has been a discovery on floor number seventy-four that has garnered interest from the Cardinal. She desires to open the seal that was discovered. I am loath to do so as our Seer has had nightmares ever since the choice to do so occurred. My prayers for a solution directed me to wander the Minor rings for a fortuitous encounter. It is the vaguest indicator I have ever received from V’nor in my entire life, I admit.” Bishop Rightworthy said with a sidelong glance at Eve.
“The gods work in mysterious ways.” Eve said.
“Indeed, they do. I have been circling in over a month and you are the most powerful individual I have found. At this point, I would rather gamble on someone with connections to one of the Minor than trust my own hierarchy. I suspect that the Church of V’nor has been compromised. One of those I trusted spoke out against opening the seal on the lowest level and was found dead the next day.” Rightworthy said as he lowered his voice.
“Oh?” Eve said curious.
“Yes, he drowned. In his soup bowl.” Bishop Rightworthy looked sickened.
“I suppose anything is possible.” Eve said with a shrug.
“The man was allergic to the soup he was drowned in. There’s no way it would have cooked something he was allergic to just to commit suicide with it.” Rightworthy said as he clenched his fist before relaxing.
“Well, yes, that does put a bit of a strange twist on the death. Afraid you’ll be next if you say something?” Eve asked.
“Absolutely. The temple Seer has foreseen my death if I attempt to say anything.” Rightworthy said stopping to look at a Minor statue. In a whisper he continued, “I need someone powerful enough to follow the team down without arousing suspicion. Someone who doesn’t look threatening, someone no one, not even a spy on the inside would suspect.”
“These statues of the Minor Deities, what is required to get one approved?” Eve said a small plan forming in her mind.
“I could approve a statue, but why would you want one? Each of the Minor is at minimum Tier Six.” Rightworthy asked, his expression confused.
“I have a Patron. She is interested in gaining more Pacts. Adding her into the Minor will allow for doing such things, yes?” Eve said glancing at Rightworthy. Patrons were those that granted power through Pacts. Eve had taken interest in the paradigm that mimicked the various divine priesthoods. There was a limit to the number of Pacts able to be granted, unlike the number of priests possible in a priesthood. On the whole though, Eve felt the entire setup was far more to her liking that attempting to carve out a portion of Faith from those already on top.
“Well, yes. However, your Patron will be required to Tithe a part of all Faith she gains to V’nor, will that be a problem?” Rightworthy asked directly.
“Not at all. She would have no issue with that from what I understand.” Eve said. Which was true, she would have no issue with it. Faith was merely mana in another form for all the priesthood might claim otherwise. Once she had a big enough sample Eve could convert ambient mana to Faith if she wanted some.
“Then we have an agreement?” Rightworthy said with a raised eyebrow.
Eve reached into her robe pulling a scroll out and said, “As soon as you sign on the dotted line we will, yes.”
“So untrusting of a man of the cloth?” Rightworthy said, taking the scroll to look the contract over.
“Habit of old age.” Eve said with a smirk. “I trust strangers less and less the closer I get to the end.”
After reading through the entire contract twice, the Bishop signed before handing it back to Eve who repeated the gesture. Once the parchment scroll had vanished into light particles, Rightworthy directed Eve to follow him towards a small door set into the temple’s stone walls nearby. A dizzying array of bland corridors later, and the two arrived at a small antechamber filled with a small quantity of furniture.
Ritual of Mapmaking had added the entire route into her Map, but Eve felt it wasn’t something she should mention. Observing the room, she took note of the five adventurer’s spread out in various states of disarray. Two melee specialists were snoring on separate well-padded upholstered couches. A young priestess, most likely the healer, was in deep discussion with a bookish female mage. Last, but not least, the leader of the party was studying a map on top of the shield in his lap. As soon as she entered the room with Rightworthy the party leader stood placing his shield on the side of the chair he’d been using.
Bishop Rightworthy introduced her as the leader approached to stand before them, “Miss Eve, this is Rex Enztra, leader of the Enztra Family. They are all Platinum Tier adventurers, recently minted, with solid records.”
Rex bowed slightly and said, “Greetings. The two sleeping idiots are Mal and Tal. While they don’t look reliable, each specializes in traps. Mal for mundane, and Tal for magical ones. We’ve been waiting for a second magic user for some time, as our last one attempted to sell us out to our competitors. Our healer is provided by the Bishop, and happens to be his niece, while our sole mage is a specialist in fire spells.”
Eve grinned at the emphasis on fire Rex placed, it was a code among adventuring types that placing emphasis on the word meant a singular thing for the mage in question.
Explosion magic. Lots of explosion magic.
“Greeting, child. I am Eve, servant of the Silver Witch. I am both a mage, and warlock. This is my badge.” Eve said flashing her orichalcum plate in a manner that didn’t allow Bishop Rightworthy to see it. Rex’s eyes widened imperceptibly before he recovered and gave a nod.
Excellent. So he knows that anything an Orichalcum Plate is involved in is likely to be serious. The Adventurer’s Guild doesn’t throw around powerhouses without a care, after all. Eve thought. Flashing her plate had been a calculated play, ensuring that the party leader wouldn’t ignore her if she detected something amiss. It also provides a solid boost in confidence, knowing that he’ll have a Tier Six available if something goes wrong.
After introductions were complete, Eve had another set of contracts which were signed by the adventuring party. It wasn’t an uncommon practice, so Bishop Rightworthy didn’t raise an eyebrow. There was a short discussion on how to proceed before the Bishop departed.
Once she was certain there was no one listening in, Eve sat down in the chair beside the party leader and said, “Now, tell Granny Eve what problem a Wellington brat is up to, Rex Enztra.”
The disguised drow across from her froze for a moment as he sat down before he recovered and said, “You know grandfather?”
“Me and my associates supply Jeffery with BH2, brat.” Eve said giving the young man the gimlet eye. It was a rather diabolical glare considering she practiced it for hours in order to make weeping babes silent. It worked great on mice, too.
“Oh! Well, in that case, it all started like this…” Rex said as his will collapsed under the stare of his elder, proceeding to spin the tale of their group’s current circumstances after a short check on the truth stone hidden in the folds of his clothing.