Five hours of running through the blizzard alongside Emmeline, and the Priestess was finally willing to allow me to rest. Running into the teeth of a blizzard was not a fun experience, and anyone who tells you different is a filthy liar. Even though I was immune to the cold, as it only dropped to just a hair below freezing, I was still having to deal with the wind in my face, and the way the snow threatened to blind me. The only good thing was that the sudden blizzard forced any monsters we might have come across into hiding, so I didn’t have to worry about fighting.
Of course, it wasn’t due to my growing weariness that she allowed us to stop, but because one of the magic items she carried was a stone enchanted with the Sending spell, allowing the bearer to send a message to a linked stone once per day. The message was limited to twenty-five words, and the other person could reply, if they wished, with twenty-five words of their own, but it was still a useful item when you needed to speak with people. Emmeline’s stone was linked to her brother’s of course. While he could not, as a paladin, join us, since we were all wicked and everything, as her brother and as Lord of the City, he was able to keep in contact with ‘valuable resources afield’ if they were serving the city’s goals. I got the idea that, just perhaps, Sir Emberlash often bent the strictures of his oaths when the greater good was at stake.
Emmeline listened to the stone, which played its message so only she could hear, and then responded, but I could not make out the words. Looking to me, she said, “Well, my most righteous brother has had his pet wizard, Aveis scry upon the gathered tribes. There are far fewer than in the last major raid the Nine Towns faced, only three, maybe four hundred men. But they have halted now that a magically created storm is in front of them, and are making camp.”
I nodded slowly. “Then that is not the whole of the tribes, but only half, or maybe slightly more. I would guess that it is Yorlunn, and those who voted with him in council. In the end, I suppose they had no choice but to try for a battle. I shamed them too much, they need something to recover from the humiliation. The tribes that did not join Yorlunn will likely continue, as they always have, and follow the herds as they migrate across the tundra, and leave him to his folly.”
“Well, the delay will only serve to make them more concerned. With the forces Arnaud is gathering, they shouldn’t need us for the battle itself, so we can head for the crypt in the morning. For now, we’ll make camp, and let you rest until the storm abates.”
With that, Emmeline handed my pack, with all my gear inside, and reached into her own bag, to pull out what looked like a perfect snowball. She spoke a command word, and the snowball became an igloo, large enough for two people. Inside the igloo there was a sleeping platform for two, and a lamp that offered heat for cooking and light to see by, but had no flame.
The Priestess must have caught my awestruck face, and said, “I commissioned an enchanter to make this for me. It is essentially a version of the Leomund’s Tiny Igloo spell, and we have eight hours until it returns to its snowball form, unless I say the word. A very useful item, I assure you.”
“How much did something like this cost?”
“If someone were to buy it in the markets of Faystrand, it would cost them just shy of three thousand gold pieces, if they were dealing with an honest merchant. I got it for a good deal less than that, of course. The Enchanter was happy to give me a discount on the item. You see, his father was a merchant, and his caravan was attacked by worgs. I happened to save the man’s life, but he and his son did not have any coin, as much of their caravan now lay in ruins. Being a cunning sort, I persuaded them into offering a discount on goods I purchased through them. Nothing too crazy, but it did shave a few hundred gold off the price. I got a deal, and the enchanter still made money, and I purchase much of the goods I need from the South through them, so everyone is fairly happy, I should say.”
She looked over at me, and said, “Now, change into something you’d fight in, and I’ll relay what I know of prestige classes that might aid you in your development.” THAT caught my attention, as she knew it would, and soon the shift was in my bag, and now I wore my cold weather gear, if only because it was better suited for shrugging off the snow than my explorer’s outfit.
Emmeline smiled, and said, “All right. Do you have a talisman to allow you to view your stats, as the world system quantifies them?” When I pulled out my crystal talisman, she nodded. “Then I will show you a new use for it. Hold it in your hand, as though you were going to call up your status, and ask about the Mindbender prestige class. This is a more common class for warlocks, and not one of the ones I spoke of earlier. But you should see what one looks like, first.”
Mindbender
Mindbenders seek to control the thoughts and dreams of others. From an early age, those destined to walk this path learn little tricks of manipulation to get their way. Later, they turn to spellcasting to enhance their already impressive skills at bluffing, intimidating, and otherwise dealing with people to their own advantage. Magic holds the promise of complete mental domination, and the mindbender realizes it spectacularly.
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Spellcasters who take this prestige class give up a great deal of their caster level advancement, but they instead gain ever-greater abilities to alter and eventually command the will of others. Anyone who is ready to sacrifice magic for manipulation is a suitable candidate for this prestige class.
Requirements:
Alignment: Any nongood.
Skills: Bluff 4 ranks, Diplomacy 4 ranks, Intimidate 4 ranks, Sense Motive 4 ranks.
Spells: Able to cast charm person, use charm person as a spell-like ability, or use the charm invocation.
Spells or Spell-Like Abilities: Arcane caster level 5th.
I did what she said, and my talisman lit up. Instead of the information about my Status that it normally showed, it gave me the outline of a prestige class, the Mindbender. I could see the appeal of it immediately. If I went that route, I’d give up part of my progression with the blast damage of my Warlock class, and some other things, but it would eventually allow me to turn people into mind-controlled slaves, tending to my every whim. Yes, I could see the appeal of this, but the slave-mistress wasn’t really what I wanted to be in this life.
Looking over at Emmeline, I said, “This is amazing! But why have I never heard of this function before? I would think that it would be common knowledge?”
“Oh, it is well known in the churches, noble houses, knightly orders, academies, and other such organizations. The knowledge will also filter down into the common folk from there, to varying degrees. But the ability to use it properly depends on the knowledge you have. You have to know what to ask the talisman for. This is one of the reasons why a loremaster can make a comfortable living for themselves in any city, advising people on their paths.”
I nodded slowly. “Knowledge is another form of power, and like all types of power, it serves in getting you more power. And so those in power keep knowledge out of the hands of the common folk, to preserve their power? Well, that, and to keep people from gaining the wrong sort of power, and becoming something dangerous. It was the same in my old world.”
“Just so. As you saw with the Mindbender, there are many ways these paths can be used to further one’s goals. But some are dangerous, or powerful, enough that they are hidden away, either for the ‘greater good’, or to keep an unworthy seeker from ruining a good thing for those who are already in power.”
She paused, to make sure I understood, and then said, “Now, there are many paths under the Lady that you might work towards, but there are two you might consider now. Two paths, the knowledge of which have been passed down through my family line since the days when we were the Frostbournes. Ask your crystal for details on the Icedawn Invoker and Frostchylde Wardancer.”
Icedawn Invoker
Warlocks are not uncommon on the edges of civilization. When mortals make pacts with beings beyond the mortal realm, that mark upon their soul can transfer down to their children, often resulting in a warlock’s abilities. Some churches despise, and attempt to ‘purify’ these people, but the Frostmaiden’s church is not among those. All are welcome to honor the Lady of Winter, and serve her. Some warlocks following the Frostmaiden have learned to mold their abilities in Her image. This provides them with greater focus, but losing some of their warlock abilities along the way. In addition, they forever give up the ability to use spells like Fireball, even if they have them from another class.
Requirements:
Base Attack Bonus: +5
Special: Patron Deity (Auril)
Special: Eldritch Blast 3d6
Special: Must have slain an enemy of Auril with magic.
Frostchylde Wardancer
While there are many who walk the martial path, and still honor the Frostmaiden, most of those who do so are fighters and barbarians from northern lands, or rangers who stalk the tundra like the winter wind. Few consider the power of one’s fist to be useful in fighting against a bear, except as a weapon of last resort. Those who do, however, often find themselves drawn to this class, which draws them ever closer to the icy cold they surround themselves with.
Requirements:
Base Attack Bonus: +10
Skills: Perform (Dance) 10 ranks, Tumble 10 Ranks
Feats: Improved Unarmed Strike
Special: Patron Deity (Auril) or access to the Cold Domain
Special: Must kill a creature of her ECL or greater with cold damage.
I nodded slowly as I looked over the basic information on the two prestige classes. While it looked like I would qualify for both, in time, it was clear that my existence as a gestalt allowed me to see to most of the requirements far sooner than I would have thought. Both of these classes looked like they could help me in my quest for power.
The Icedawn Invoker looked like something that would give me power now, and probably had something fairly significant in it, if it forbade me from ever using Fire for anything except cooking my food. Considering all the things that feared Fire, or were especially damaged by it, that was a very hefty sacrifice.
The Frostchylde Wardancer, on the other hand, looked like something for a higher-level. The increased requirements told me it was something that would probably work well with my Battledancer side of things. I liked that idea, as getting something on both sides of my progression to help increase my power would be pretty cool.
My only gripe is that the crystal didn’t actually show me what the classes actually did. Well, to be fair, I still didn’t know what my normal classes did when you got to higher levels, so I guess that level of information was normal. I had some clues, some hints, at what might be in the future, but nothing concrete.
Looking over to Emmeline, I smiled, and said, “Thank you for teaching me about these paths, Mistress. I hope to prove worthy of both of them, in time. I can already see how this may help me in the future.”
“Ah, child. I’ve waited a long time to pass those secrets down. Unfortunately, few people seek to enter the Lady’s clergy, even in a place such as this. And if I had tried to be more forceful in my ‘recruitment’, then my brother would be forced to act against me.”
I nodded slowly. “It looks as though you both take great care to keep from provoking a reaction from each other. I can’t imagine that family gatherings are fun.”
“Ah, we are still family, after all. Even if our gods are not aligned. His oaths prevent him from associating with me, as a rule, but I know he still cares. I also happen to be one of the few healers in the city who can cure some of the more unpleasant diseases, or remove curses from people, which gives him an easy way to claim that my presence is necessary for the good of his people, and all that.”