“A minor ascendant can STOP being a minor ascendant with enough instances of their power sources.” Sif adds, adding another potent point to her arguments. Mynassa is silent as she looks at the thronemaiden.
“And there are many instances of power sources in Etherscape for an enterprising cosmic goddess to draw power from. Especially of Mynassa’s domains. Love, lust, fertility, life, and even, to a much less direct extent, spacetime.” The thronemaiden tells everyone who is in the small room. And she is certainly correct. I’m attuned to love, desire, pleasure, fertility, and life, though no doubt to a much lesser extent than Mynassa, and with every passing second the instances of those things in Etherscape allow me to grow in power. When someone breaks the silence that Sif’s comments create, it is a surprising person.
“But don’t many ascendants benefit from the instances of the domains anyway?” Zara, a tiny green-skinned goblin and hegemonic princess, quietly asks. Her comments cause Mynassa to smile gently. Sif, to Zara’s credit, does nod at the goblin’s remarks but that doesn’t make her falter in any way.
“Yes, but that is part of the reason why some ascendants allowed for the pact in the first place. Archdemons and Cosmic Gods, which make up the majority of the pact’s signatories, can passively benefit from instances of their domains and sins even without such instances being dedicated to them. Dragon Lords and Sanguinarchs… do not have such abilities, and while both types of beings have advantages that can level the playing field against their fellow ascendants they were far more reluctant to sign the pact and took important concessions to bring to the table.” Sif replies, which intrigues me a touch. This is news to Mynassa, who decides to ask what is on my mind.
“Wait, what concessions did the other ascendants get?” Mynassa asks, causing Sif to turn and face the “Imprisoned” goddess.
“Etherscape is left alone by Sanguinarchs and Dragon Lords in exchange for curious things. The agents of Sanguinarchs, themselves vampires, are allowed to, with permission, extract essence from citizens of Etherscape in select areas in exchange for the Sanguinarchs swearing not to try and extract knowledge from those they feed on and in exchange for a binding oath not to turn parts of Etherscape into part of their dominion. Such policies are enforced by powerful Cosmic Gods who are fellow signatories of the pact. This allows Sanguinarchs to benefit in small ways from Etherscape, since it can serve as a neutral meeting ground, and also protects us from the worst of their predations.” The thronemaiden replies.
“Dragon Lords are allowed and even encouraged to trade with some hegemonies, such as the tel’Erun hegemony, as well as maintain vaults in select hegemonies, which gives them incentives to protect those hegemonies even beyond the eddicts of the pact. That said, neither Dragon Lords or Sanguinarchs grow in power passively in the same ways as Archdemons and Cosmic Gods and so even encouraged to use select areas of Etherscape to extract power for themselves they are not able to keenly focus on this part of the multiverse. It’d take too much effort to turn this place into an enormously profitable location power-wise, and that’d distract from… greener pastures that can be found elsewhere in the multiverse.” Sif says, educating the majority of people in the room.
Sif is a deeply intelligent person and very willing to share what she knows. A part of me is curious as to what would happen if someone like me became an ascendant, especially since all four types of ascendants appear to be somewhat in competition with each other.
In the days that have passed I have learned a fair deal about different types of ascendants. The two that can, in theory, most easily coexist are probably Cosmic Gods and Archdemons, since both share one domain/deadly sin: lust, and strong enough members of either type have their own unique territories in the forms of a Cosmic God’s divine realm, a space where they are at their strongest and most powerful, and an Archdemon’s hellish lair, as well as the entire region of the multiverse-spanning overhell. Plus both of them can passively benefit from instances of their primary power sources, their domains and sins, so barring things like specific disagreements and personality clashes the two could, ideally at least, get along or leave each other alone.
Every Sanguinarch in existence is in some sort of competition with other members of their kind, as one of their most powerful abilities is the ability to turn a region into part of their dominion. A Sanguinarch’s dominion is a territory that they have used ascendant-level rituals on to subjugate and transform into part of their territory, but once an area is made part of a dominion it is only under that single Sanguinarch’s control. However, some Sanguinarchs can operate under certain conditions, such as agreements to split an area into equal halves or equal parts if more than two Sanguinarchs are in agreement about conquering a place, and if other agreements are reached. I wonder how a world like Earth, a split planet untouchable by most exotics, would fare as part of a Sanguinarch’s dominion…
Dragon Lords are fully capable of cooperating and those that are interested in honing their power as ascendants can be persuaded to avoid conquest altogether. Dragon Lords do not hold territory in the same sense as Sanguinarchs and while they can benefit from conquest if they do things like tax those living in their holdings they would need to provide incentives that go beyond “Not being dragon food” if they wish to conquer for the sake of things like taxing their subjects and that requires more work than some Dragon Lords may wish to do. A Dragon Lord could easily be bribed by paying them regular tributes, and thus avoid conquest while gaining one of the big benefits from it.
I glance at Sif and decide to ask her something. It’s a question I’ve been curious about for some time.
“Can someone be more than one kind of ascendant at a time?” I question, and this makes the thronemaiden turn to face me with a smile on her face.
“We are fairly certain it’s possible but it’s never happened to our knowledge. That said we do not have comprehensive knowledge of ascendants. We know more than many civilizations that are not ruled by an ascendant or their chosen servants, but I think that if I said that we know more than any non-ascendant-ruled civilization I’d be overestimating our knowledge. Especially since Sorothustra is a place that exists and even though they are far smaller than we are, their soft influence is both consistent and remarkable.” Sif confesses, with caveats.
I nod at her honest answer and file away that little kernel of unconfident trivia. I also mentally note that there is a real chance that there is already one or more ascendants that are more than one type of ascendant at once. I know that if I were a multitype ascendant I would absolutely keep that shit a secret.
Internally I shudder at the thought of someone being, for example, an Archdemon and a Cosmic God at the same time, or a Sanguinarch and a Dragon Lord. Even with my, far from comprehensive, knowledge of ascendants the thought of someone being more than one type of ascendant is truly terrifying.
All the while my clone is busy reading the names of different ascendants in the Sorothustran grand temple, filing away the names and natures of countless new individuals. Of special interest to both my clone and myself are female ascendants, particularly ones like pleasure-centric Sanguinarchs, and Cosmic Gods and Archdemons of lust. Such individuals could potentially make for interesting connections in the days and months to come…
“Getting back to the topic at hand… My lord, if we allow for Mynassa to marry you it will give other ascendants pause. At best it results in new brides, particularly daughters of ascendants, but at worst it results in a desire to revisit parts of the pact altogether. Of the different types of ascendants I suppose it’s for the best that the one that wishes to marry you is a Cosmic Goddess, since they don’t rely on turning areas into territory to accrue power from them, but this precedent is game-changing.” Sif remarks, and I can’t really refute her point. If I were an ascendant who signed the pact and I saw the new emperor marry a younger ascendant I’d certainly be curious if that were a viable path to power.
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I also wonder if there are more types of ascendants out there. If there were a type of ascendant that wasn’t focused on territory or even power-source farming I think they’d be able to do remarkably well in Etherscape. That said, such discussions are the realms of specific types of sages and not uneducated emperors.
Sif and Mynassa continue to discuss the terms of the marriage that the ascendant has offered me. I quickly learn some of the details about the goddess’s holdings. It turns out that she hails from a distant universe and that her holdings are scattered across three neighboring universes where she is primarily worshipped as a healer and agriculture goddess, and she is offering me the title of her husband, near-equal power to her in the eyes of her worshipers, and of course unfettered access to her temples. Minutes turn into hours as this political discussion intensifies, and before I know it the sun has sunk beneath the horizon.
After eating dinner, which is brought to a large room where the hegemonic princesses in my company, Mynassa, and the thronemaidens are able to eat together, the thronemaidens and I retreat to the imperial suite of the grand Iome palace. It is furnished in a manner identical to that of the imperial suite in the palace on Drinn, and in no time at all I find myself sprawled across a comfortable massage table.
The firm hands of Binah expertly massage my back as Sif informs me as to the tasks in the days to come. I listen attentively even as Binah skillfully helps me relax and unwind.
“Tomorrow the last of the hegemonic princesses, and the rare few queens who have no husbands, arrive. Among them are individuals such as Brenn tel’Eurn, the inheritor of the wealthiest hegemony in the empire, and Selussa tel’Omax, the newest hegemon to become a queen Both of their hegemonies have been dealing with some localized mischief, as there has been increased pirate activity in the Eurn hegemony and Selussa is still dealing with the chaos of transitioning from her predecessor’s rule to hers.” Sif tells me. I can hear subtle fluctuations in her voice and I realize that there is probably more to her remarks than she has revealed.
“Tomorrow night is also expected to be the first night you spend with the royal harem.” Sif tells me, which somewhat alarms me. Every night I’ve spent in Etherscape I’ve had sex with the thronemaidens, but even that is just seven people. And every night the “Vitalis” energy flowing through me has empowered the thronemaidens.
Sif has begun to consciously detect the fact that she is stronger than before and confided in me that she suspects that something about me is responsible, and while I have not told her about the “Vitalis” energy, I have confirmed that some strange ability of mine is responsible for her empowerment.
Studies done by Delphi and I at night in the End of Time have allowed me to confirm a few important things with regard to the “Vitalis” energy, as Mynassa referred to both it and myself during our first meeting. The first thing the studies confirmed is that my energy is steadily growing. Night after night each time Delphi has done research on me she saw more and more of the energy. She confirmed that some of it enters someone when I orgasm, but that in response to that I gain more of it then I spend. She also confirmed that it appears to permanently empower those who are imbued with it, causing at first a dramatic increase to their power and then a noticeably smaller but still solid empowerment to them.
She has also speculated that the more people I have sex with the more vitalis energy I will produce both passively and during sex. I suppose tomorrow night I’ll be confirming this… Neither of us are sure if how much energy I produce passively and through the power I absorb from instances of love and other things like it in Etherscape will have an effect on how potent my ermpowerment abilities are, but regardless if I use my empowerment abilities on figures as potent as the tel’Glems, a queen and her daughter who are both potential brides of mine and are also a goddess and a demigoddess respectively, I’m reasonably certain their powers would climb towards new zeniths if they were empowered, which could be greatly interesting… or terrifying.
A part of me is excited to be at the head of a vast harem, and to be serviced by dozens, if not hundreds, of beautiful women but given the nature of my powers… Well, given the nature of my powers some aspects of this are more than a bit concerning. I am distracted by my own thoughts for several moments before some more of Sif’s words rouse my attention.
“In the days to come you will be expected to begin a tour of Etherscape. It’s part of a tradition that countless ancestors of yours did before the formal commencement of their reigns. At the end of the tour you will be crowned the emperor in a ceremony which serves as a combination of a wedding and coronation. At the same ceremony you’ll also be asked to formally assign the thronemaidens their roles in your government, and your queens will also be crowned.” Sif tells me. Her words bring a smile to my face.
“You’ll also be meeting with at least some of the ascendants who signed the pact during the tour. That’s a new thing, as previous emperors and empresses did that in the immediate wake of their coronation, during the first few days of their reigns. I suspect the group of ascendants pushing for that are doing so because of Mynassa’s actions. I think they’ll want to meet you and see what about you is so intriguing to her.” Sif tells me, a note of concern barely audible in her voice. I smile, though she doesn’t see the look on my face.
“So… do non-signatories just never visit Etherscape?” I ask, even as I feel other hands join Binah’s on my back.
“Some do. And when new ones do it’s always cause for alarm. I know Mynassa may seem and even BE harmless in attitude, but an ascendant with her disclosed domains can do something as devastating as absorbing the lifeforce of an entire city in an instant. If she is harmless it is only by choice.” Sif tells me.
“That said, ascendants who are informed of the pact and agree to follow its terms and conditions for non-signatories, are allowed to come visit Etherscape. We tend to discourage such behavior, unless multiple signatories vouch for the ascendant in question as every ascendant is a wild card.” Thevah adds, speaking up shortly after Sif finishes speaking.
“The idea of ascendants as wild cards is even more true for ascendants that are lesser in power, as such ascendants are more radically moved by their domains, sins, elements, and methods of acquiring essence than their greater peers are. Greater ascendants have had time to acclimate to their powers and power sources, and are more capable of complexity and restraint.” Thevah explains, which helps explain why someone like Sif is antsier around Mynassa than one might expect someone as even-keeled as her to be.
Conversation continues for a few more minutes before the massage I am being given begins to change. And when it does, I delightedly take the chance to explore the bodies of my bodyguards, joyfully, gleefully giving myself to them. As this occurs my other self keeps track of the vitalis in me, sensing its stores of the stuff momentarily deplete when I experience the apex of bodily, sinful bliss, and watching it rapidly regenerate and top off at a level incrementally higher than it could have before. Further confirmation of what Delphi has observed and told me about myself…