"Do you know what you've done you fool..." Gorm whispers hungrily as Alexandria glances between the necromancer and myself, her emerald eyes wide with curiosity. Ignoring the ghoul I squat down and smile gently at the small woman, her body reminding me of a doll instead of some type of mythical being of great power.
"I summoned an elemental using a stolen skill and by sacrificing a legendary reagent. I made a new follower of something valuable but worthless to me personally and now have more power to help me move forward. Now is it alright if I call you Alex little miss? And can you explain all that you can do so I have an idea of where you best fit with us?" I ask the small dryad gently as her face alights with happiness as she nods her head enthusiastically before pulling herself to a sitting position.
"Yes! Alex! Is fine my master! I can heal and cure poison, and have access to nature, light, and divine magic. I'm small now because I'm new but as I level I'll start to grow larger and more mature! I can also smell a demon master, its a bad one and is corrupting the nature in this area. We should vanquish it so I can purify the land!" Alex says happily, her eyes closing as she tilts her head to the side with an innocent smile before standing up and climbing towards the floor. After reaching the floor she walks forward before looking up to Gorm and smiling, the necromancers eyes shrinking in suspicion.
"You wield death magic! It's still new but beautiful! Once we both become stronger and since your a vassal of my master I can offer you a class that combines your death magic with the magic of life, it would be very powerful and with it you could avoid becoming one of those nasty liches. I'm gonna explore, if you need me just summon me master!" Alex says as she skips out of the room humming a strangely beautiful tune as Gorm watches slack jawed before snapping out of it and looking towards me.
"As I was saying Noortain, it was foolish to summon a being as powerful as her. There will be ripples from having such a legendary being attached to you through a pact, even now I can guarantee the hell spawn and various other death and dark aligned creatures know a new power has emerged and are attempting to find her. We need to get back to a safer area before they lock on to us and attempt to siphon her essence away." Gorm says nervously as I nod before snapping my fingers and smiling, a flash of white smoke appearing next to me before the form of Alice Silver comes from the smoke and kneels.
"Alice with your new class you have the ability to block detection abilities correct? Then I want you to stick close to Alex and keep her safe. Also keep an eye out for any enemies lurking." I say casually while I watch for any type of disgruntlement or anger from the former spriggan queen. Watching her closely I can see several questions playing across her face before she nods once and stands to face me.
"Your will shall be done but I have questions and wish to speak to you privately to ask them. For now I shall shadow the small one and make sure she stays out of trouble but once we get back I ask that you spare a few moments for myself?" the spriggan asks, her voice sounding unsure but not hostile which is surprising. Nodding to the woman I notice a relieved smirk appear and fade from her face in the blink of an eye before she seems to fade away.
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"Master! Master! The plants! They're screaming in pain, the hellspawn corrupts them and forces them to become unnatural! We must help them and the plant people! I can feel them, they're not far! Please sir!" Alex yells as she runs back into the room, golden tears flowing from her eyes as she runs into my leg and hugs it with all her strength before sobs wrack her small body.
"Easy there little one, take a breath and explain it to us. Of course we'll help these plant people if we can but we need information first." I say gently as the small dryad sniffles and wipes her eyes on my fur, the droplets of golden liquid seeping into my body and instilling a refreshing lightness where ever they fell.
"I can feel their screams, the fear they feel, the pain they are in. It rides upon the winds and through the roots of this region like a disease. It inflicts itself upon those unwary enough to allow it access and then forces itself onto those who were strong enough to avoid it through violence and corruption. We must stop this quickly before it begins to rot away at the border of this land and allow more hellspawn to crawl through the weakened barrier." Mumbles the dryad as she points northeast, her hand shaking gently as I nod my head and glance towards Gorm.
"We should heed her words Noor but from my knowledge the only thing in that direction are the rot fields. Only things that live there are oversized pests and such so if there are vine folk there they have kept themselves hidden. I would ask the two elders you brought with you." The ghoul says before bowing slightly towards Alex before leaving the room with his pack filled to bursting, the meazel phantom following at his heels before being sucked into the top of the necromancers staff.
Following the ghoul outside I find Gulag and Yo gathering up the surviving slaves, the crab and lobster looking creatures speaking excitedly while the other varied races mill about while watching the two elder monsters organize everything. Walking up to the two I loudly clear my throat and watch as they both turn to me with curiosity in their eyes before acknowledging me and motioning for me to speak.
"My new familiar says that to the northeast there are groups of plant monsters being corrupted by the hellspawn that's causing all this. Gorm told me that there are only the rot fields there and now living sentients. Do either of you have any idea of what we might be dealing with or be interested in helping us investigate?" I ask as both monsters look to each other and nod before speaking.
"It may be the Thorncallers. They're a guild of plant monsters that wander the swamplands doing odd jobs and acting as mercenaries. They're extremly secretive though and nobody has ever been able to find their hidden base of operations. If what you say is true this could be both a great boon and a disaster at work, they are some of the most trained and useful recruits we could hope for with a variety of trade and combat classes that could turn the tide. I will come with you while Yo takes the survivors back and summons reinforcements." Gulag says with a worried tone before his body glows brightly and a variety of well loves leather appears across his stone like form.
"Excuse me sirs, did you say that you were heading to the base? I may be able to offer my assistance." Says a feeble voice from beside us, the sound making me think of a whining child mixed with a scared teenager. As we look to the where the voice came from my eyes widen in confusion as a man made of pond scum and moss stands before us, his hands fidgeting nervously as he awaits an answer,