The Tinpot Princess and Her Many Travels

As promised, here's that interlude:
For a long time, there was nothing. Not even darkness. As his soul drifted in the aether, Crisithys Pebelstien remembered nothing of himself or the life he had lived.

If he'd been left alone, he would eventually have moved on, floated free and returned to the Wheel. Perhaps the Forgotten God would have been merciful. But it was not to be.

Like a fish caught in a net, his soul was bound by strands of magical energy and dragged back to his body. No… not his body. A body, large and monstrously muscled, with pale yellowish skin that appeared almost translucent.

In that body, he felt a faint, nagging pain. He was lying on a hard, flat surface. His hands and feet were bound. There was a hazy blue light, but he could hardly see anything. His eyes refused to focus.

He lay there for a while. Hunger and thirst were like rats nibbling at the edges of his mind. He dozed fitfully.

When next he came to, someone was standing over him. A dark, slim silhouette. Straining to see, he caught a glimpse of a robed woman wearing a silver mask. Of her face, only her eyes were visible: hard and sharp like chips of stone.

'Crisithys Pebelstien, please attend,' she said in a clipped, lightly-accented voice.

'I'm here,' he mumbled. 'What have you done to me? Can't the dead rest in peace?'

'You were hired to do a job: to land on Ismar, disable the defences, and get it ready for Aspitolm to invade. But you failed. Your master, the King-Emperor of Aspitolm, was very unhappy with you.'

'I did the best I could! I died, bygods! Yslena Sayce cut my head off! What more did the Whale-that-Walks expect of me?'

Behind that impassive silver mask, the woman's expression couldn't be seen. She appeared wholly impassive. She didn't even seem to blink.

'The Aspiti Empire spent a substantial sum of money on you. Hiring your little band of mercenaries was not cheap. Transporting them, feeding them, and outfitting them ready for their mission… so many costs, all adding up. Such a high total. A monumental debt they say you must repay.'

'So, what do they plan to do? They got you to bring me back to life? Turn me into some kind of undead monster they're gonna use as a slave until I've paid off the debt?' He tried to sneer, but his face was slack and paralysed. 'I can't imagine Terry Skellybones'll be very happy about that. How many enemies d'you think Aspitolm can afford?'

'Teryn Valhraeg was already an enemy of Aspitolm,' the woman said calmly. She cocked her head to one side, considering. 'Could they make him into more of an enemy? Would it matter if they did?' She gave a small shrug. 'That's none of my concern. Nor should it be yours.

'What do you mean by that?'

'They gave you to me. For my experiments. That is what you should be concerned about.'

'Wh-who are you?'

She raised her head. For the first time, he saw her clearly. The mask she wore was modelled on the face of a beautiful woman, but around the edges he saw strips of gnarled, withered, liver-spotted flesh. 'Alikada Zinistrari. Of the Mystic Path. A mistress of life magic.'

'Life magic? What you've done to me… it's necromancy, isn't it? Not life magic at all,' said Pebelstien, trying to suppress his rising panic.

Another shrug. Indifference in her voice. 'Life magic. Death magic. Two sides of the same coin. In extending my life, I've used both.'

'Why are you working for the Aspitis?'

'Why do you want to know? Does it matter? Is this knowledge likely to make any difference to your condition?' Zinistrari laughed mirthlessly. 'Better to worry about what I'm going to do to you. What I've already done to you.'

Suddenly, to his horror, Pebelstien realised that he wasn't alone in this new body. As well as the boar spirit who'd been his companion and ally for many years, there were dozens of other souls lurking at the edges of his consciousness. He heard them screaming in fear and horror. 'What have you done?' he asked. 'Why have you done this? What's the point?!'

'An experiment. You were a werebeast. Two souls in one body: the soul of a pig conjoined with that of a human. From your partnership, you gained great strength and fast healing. Seeing that, I wondered: how many souls can I fit in one body? What strange powers would such a creature have? How would I restrain it, control it, put it to good use?' A pause. 'You are a prototype. Proof of concept, at least. I will continue to refine the technique.'

Pebelstien felt as if he were sinking into a mire. At any moment, he thought that he might sink into the depths and become just another lost, tortured soul trapped in this cage of flesh. He knew that he was being watched, that rival intelligences were waiting for him to slip, waiting for their chance to seize control of this body. 'You can't leave me like this,' he said feebly.

'Why not? You have nothing to bargain with. I can do whatever I want to you,' Zinistrari said, examining her nails. 'Know your place, down by the dirt at my feet.'

'Please! I'm begging you!'

'Ugh. You're boring me. Time for a change, I think.'

With that, Pebelstien felt himself being pushed aside. He was no longer in control of his new body. Another consciousness had taken his place. 'What… is your bidding… mistress?' it said in a low, rumbling voice.

'That's better,' said Zinistrari. 'I can work with that.'


Please vote on what to do next: (Choose one option for each of these three characters: Elys, Yslena, and Mishrak)
[] Elys had a bad dream. (Note: this event will involve the return of an old enemy.)
[] Elys tried to find out more about Samaya.
-[] She asked Samaya some questions. (Write in: what questions?)
[] Elys started to explore the island of Embalaine.
-[] She went looking for that 'village of demons' which Samaya mentioned.
[] Elys decided to spend extra time with one of her family members.
-[] Gareth
-[] Yslena
-[] Mishrak
-[] Jana
-[] Catharne

[] Yslena started recruiting allies to fight against Aspitolm.
-[] She visited Norrange to tell them what had happened.
-[] She went to Truinon and told King Marc that the Aspitis had conquered Ismar and would probably use it as a stepping stone in their planned invasion of Rivayne.
-[] She visited the elected rulers of Besigny.
-[] She visited the Count of Borthea.
-[] She visited the elected rulers of Epiny.
-[] She went to Veraciens and asked to speak to the King of Taronia.
-[] She visited Aspiny, a province of the Sambian Empire.
-[] She searched for her old friend, Hrolmar the Wolf, among the tribes of the Wranni.
-[] She summoned Teryn the god of necromancy (and Bellona with him).
-[] She tried to track down her old adventuring companion, the fire mage Artaxas Quin.
-[] She asked Flawse to speak to some of his old pirate buddies.
--[] In particular, he should speak to his former first mate, Tomasz Begg (AKA "Strong Tom"), now Captain of The Hippocampus.

[] Mishrak decided to spend some of his vast wealth.
-[] He decided to upgrade his undersea palace, making it a better place for his new followers to live in.
--[] Hire builders, carpenters, decorators etc. to work on the planned improvements.
---[] Pay extra and get them to train his new followers.
-[] Hire mercenaries to fight in the war against Aspitolm.
--[] Go to Mawroth the mercenary god and ask to hire him.
---[] Hire a fleet of mercenary sailors.
-[] Raise, train, and outfit a professional army.
-[] Pay for warships to be built.

[] Do something else (write in).