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Dealing with beastmen and bandits was relatively easy. Dealing with Chaos cults was significantly more challenging.
Chaos was an insidious force that found the weaknesses in people, cracks in their mental fortitude and personal flaws before exploiting them. Nobody was perfect, and the fall to Chaos usually didn't start with human sacrifices and depraved rituals. It started with small things. It offered change, relief, restoration, glory, help in a dilemma, aid to a loved one, revenge, solutions to communal problems, and even justice. But it always came at a price. Not a large price. Not at first. Something small. Something you were willing to exchange for what you wanted. But things escalated. Further issues cropped up, and the temptation to use the easy solution was always there. None of the steps you took felt out of proportion with what you’d done before. Only, with enough steps taken, you ended up in a place unrecognizable from where you started. The spikes and murder-orgies came later down the line, and by that time, you no longer cared.
And yet, finding the cults was the easy part.
As a result of the gradual slide to depravity, it wasn’t easy, for most people, to tell who might be a secret cultist. And more often than not, the members of these cults were “upstanding” members of the community. Not all, of course, but enough. And the communities usually didn’t take it very well if someone suddenly just showed up and accused the mayor, or the priest, or the lady next door of being a secret Chaos worshipper. They especially didn’t like it if those accusations were made by a random group of mercenaries coming from another world.
The soon-to-be emperor knew this. That's why Seraphiel's group had another way of dealing with these cults. Ironically, they and those like them were exactly the right people to uncover such cults. Not the least because they were a neutral party that could be objective and detached from the power plays of the world. They had no reason to make false accusations or to spare anyone. However, they were the wrong people to haul these people to justice. That was left to witch hunters and the Empire's secret police. Seraphiel's group helped locate the cults, before reporting their findings to either party to handle. If significant resistance was to be expected, they also helped in apprehending those implicated, but they would not kill or judge them unless those captured forced their hand.
Unsurprisingly, Kaede specialized in this type of covert information gathering and espionage. She had several Skills that allowed her to not only move about unnoticed, but also infiltrate tightly guarded locations, and even locate information that might implicate those she investigated. It was rather easy to find evidence when you had a Skill-based sixth sense that was pointing where to look. And when she needed something or someone particular found and her sixth sense was not enough, Seraphiel’s artifact came in handy.
Seraphiel on the other hand had plenty of Charisma, which she used liberally to chat up people, to gather news, rumors, and all sorts of handy pieces of information that required investigation. Everybody loved to talk to a pretty girl, no matter what the subject. Show enough cleavage, and the higher brain functions of most races just stopped working.
Because of this, their group fell into a comfortable pattern as they moved around the Empire's provinces. Seraphiel and Kaede would usually gather information and investigate within the city or town, while Yoruichi and Tatsumiya would seek out leads outside the city and follow up on any leads Seraphiel gathered about bandits of beastmen. Wrex on the other hand usually dealt with local monster problems, or just smashed local gangs and criminals, something the Krogan was eminently qualified to deal with.
They’d mostly focused on the northern provinces due to the heavier Chaos presence, partially because the Draenei had decided to focus their efforts on dealing with the Vampire problem in the southeast. The province of Sylvania in particular was a hotbed of Vampiric activity, and unlike the forces of the Empire, the Draenei had no qualms with just marching in and smashing anything remotely undead. The Draenei had plenty of experience dealing with necromancers and undead after having dealt with the Scourge, and the Light was a very effective tool.
As they traveled, Seraphiel’s group also got news of other parties being hired as mercenaries. Soul Society being one such obvious example. The conflict had attracted other actors as well though. They’d also heard rumors of someone particularly effective at hunting down the Chaos cults, known as John Constantine, the name coming up with increasing frequency.
"I'm somewhat surprised Kenpachi hasn't found us yet," Yoruichi commented as they reached the capital city of Altdorf. They couldn’t really fly around on their ship, so they’d been forced to travel on foot. They’d been offered local mounts, but all of them could move faster on foot than on horses, Yoruichi and Seraphiel especially, and while riding a demigryph would’ve been cool, those were not offered.
“I’m not. That man has the worst sense of direction I’ve ever seen, and we haven’t exactly been standing around in one place for him to find. He never was the best when it came to his spiritual senses either, except maybe in combat.” Seraphiel retorted.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Perhaps. But he also has the best nose for battles of anyone I know, and well…you’re you. A trouble magnet. He should be attracted to you like a moth to a flame.” Yoruichi teased. “He used to be at least.”
“Bah!” She didn’t dignify such slander with further response.
The city was abuzz with activity as they arrived. For the technology level of the world, Altdorf was a flourishing and relatively densely populated city. It was even known as the City of Spires, although all of the members of the group had seen other cities more worthy of that name on other worlds. Aside from being the most common capital city of the Empire, which changed depending on which elector ruled as the emperor, the city was also the capital of the largest electoral province of Reikland, and an independent imperial city in its own right. It was home to the Colleges of Magic, the focal point of magical study in the Empire. It was a city that attracted all sorts, from merchants to assassins, thieves, and cultists, to adventurers, scholars, and wizards. It was also home to the Imperial Engineers School, the home of all the inventions that were taking the country by storm.
The province of Reikland was also the wealthiest province in the Empire, which naturally meant that much of that wealth flowed through the capital city. In the distant past, that had been mostly gold and grain, but as this world had become one of the Core Worlds, many important magical materials also flowed through the city. It made the city an important place of commerce for off-worlders as well, especially since this world was one of the few that openly sold many of the rare materials to anyone with the wealth to buy, instead of hoarding them or only supplying a small group of influential buyers.
The population of the city had been counted just around a million before, but with the influx of off-worlders and the resulting increase in the local populace, the city now boasted several million people, half of which were races not naturally seen on this world. Or at least a different version of said races. In fact, it was interesting to see that the city had more off-world races, than members of the races native to this world, as the other races of this world were often hostile to the Empire. Even those not hostile had a tenuous relationship at best.
Ironically, this large number of off-worlders also made it the safest city in the Empire. Most of the people didn’t stay long enough to succumb to the corruption of Chaos, and attacking and razing the city would’ve meant angering many powers off-world, something most hostile forces didn’t want. Thus, anyone attacking the city would give everyone within an advance warning to leave, meaning nearly no one would mount a surprise attack on the city.
Aside from the old city, there were several districts dedicated to these off-worlders. These districts were a chaotic mix of styles as the differing styles of the various races clashed, almost competing in their garishness and weirdness. The clockwork structures of gnomes stood right next to the futuristic buildings constructed by races like the Asari and Protoss, and right next to them, you could find the crude works of the Horde and many others.
As they stepped into the “Alienage” as the quarter was often called, Seraphiel suddenly stopped in place. She sensed something she had not expected. Yet it was something she really should’ve guessed would be present. “I can sense someone channeling One Power.” She announced. “Several people in fact.”
“Oh?” Tatsumiya suddenly got a lot more attentive as well. “They’re here then. I heard word of the Empire reaching out to the Black Tower. I didn’t expect them to respond. Both the Black and White Towers tend to be really insular. The presence of Asha’man or Aes’Sedai could really turn this war around if they're present in any numbers.” The two terms referred to the male members of the Black Tower and the female members of the White Tower.
"I didn't know that world was even present in this universe," Seraphiel commented almost grumpily.
This changed things. Magic came in many forms. Some were more dangerous than others, some were more flexible than others, and some were more powerful than others. Channeling the One Power was all three. The notable thing about the One Power was that the direct combat applications were much more effective than almost any other magical power. A single channeler could easily take several other combat magicians of other types in combat, and part of that was sheer speed and the brutal nature of the power.
The power also tended to be inherently corruptive. She’d never met any channelers that weren’t at the very least completely full of themselves and jackasses, if not borderline evil or zealots. And in a world that was rife with Chaos corruption, that wasn’t a positive thing.
"Let's hope they don't stay long," Tatsumiya commented, immediately realizing the danger.
“Our employer must be desperate to bring them here," Seraphiel muttered.
As they went deeper into the city, they began to realize that the city was more filled with activity than usual. There were signs of previously held parades and celebrations, and the place seemed to be bursting at the seams with people. “Did the elevation of the Emperor already happen?” Yoruichi asked.
Kaede focused for a moment, in a way the others now associated with her controlling one of her shadow clones used for information gathering. “No. In fact, those proceedings are currently underway. The Elector Counts have gathered in the city to cast their votes. From what I was able to gather, the whole thing isn’t as clear-cut as the prospective emperor wanted us to believe, as the votes are split three ways. No one holds a majority.”
“And while the election is underway, the leaders of the Empire are busy.” Tatsumiya pointed out. “Leaving them vulnerable to attack in many ways.”
“A decapitating strike at the electors.” Wrex pointed out.
"Several simultaneous attacks with the Empire ill-equipped to answer," Kaede added.
"Internal strikes with everyone busy maintaining security around the elector counts," Yoruichi added. "And a dozen other ways to use this opportunity."
"No wonder the man was desperate enough to ask for help from the Black Tower," Seraphiel grunted. "Come. We must report our recent work and claim our rewards."
The weeks they'd spent here had been very fruitful in many ways. For their group, they'd managed to complete many missions that rewarded many materials that each of them could use in their next Class evolution. For Seraphiel specifically, she'd gained many levels in all her Classes. Some of the work they'd done was definitely above her level grade so to speak, which meant that while the others in her group may not have gained too many levels, she gained them aplenty. And each level gained was more stats and power. Most of all, it meant some of her old power returning.
It seemed rather obvious Mother had sent her here specifically because of all the opportunities to gain levels. The embattled Empire was a treasure trove of opportunities for someone like her. Not only were there countless enemies to fight, but the many varied situations allowed her to utilize a wide spread of her Skills in action and not just training, easing their leveling by several factors. And it seemed the situation was only accelerating towards more battles and encounters instead of clearing up.
She'd always known this world was fucked, and every day here kept proving her right, as even with all the external help and cleared problems, things only kept getting more complicated.
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