A Wizard's Soul (RWBY/D&D 3.5)
- Thread starter Sckribe
- Start date
- Crossover Fantasy
- Location
- US
Well fuck Blake. What the hell are you thinking?
Not precisely sure who is meant by they, but I'll answer for a few different groups of Blake&Other
Blake and:
Memnol: From Blake's perspective, they're a good acquaintance, who they see a fair few similarities in, but not nearly in the way Team JNPR is to Team RWBY, but more in the way some people form bonds with wild animals- Alright and sometimes kind of nice, but still try to be wary around them, and at least watch where you tread. From Memnol's perspective; Acquaintances/maybe friends, but he certainly isn't going to be returning the soul ownership even faintly lightly. Not even on Ozpin's direct orders if he found out, as in that matter he believes he has the greater authority- The only beings that could ever get him to relinquish a soul he'd take for himself were Asmodeus, Vecna, and Primus.
Various Current White Fang Members Blake Knew Since Childhood: Both sides feel that while the other has made a mistake in staying/leaving, they still care about the other as friends and wouldn't want anything terrible to happen. They just feel the other has been misguided in some way.
Adam: This one is Complicated with the capital C for sure. Adam was the straw that burned the bridge, and given that they had a relationship together, the split hurt them both more than if it was just a "mentor/student" thing. Blake thinks Adam's gone too far, and doesn't think he should just be loose hurting more people as his methods have gone way too far. Adam on the other hand has only further festered in his hatred of humanity since Blake left, now tinged with an intense feeling of betrayal, and a rage against nearly anything in the way of Faunus supremacy, including any 'human sympathisers'. He is pretty much in a constant state of either training or fighting against anything that could represent all that he hates. Adam wants 'his' version of Blake back, or no Blake.
I will not confirm whether or not Adam is on The List, so best of luck with any suspense I may or may not have drummed up.
Does anybody have further or other questions? Or just plot discussion with others reading this? This is a forum after all, it's part of why I posted this story here.
Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Beyond tradition, is there any reason that Memnol chose to take ownership of Blake's soul?
Does Memnol even have any USE for the soul of a female humanoid with feline traits?
Why does the phrase "Saved in some way" fill me dread and anticipation?
Why that specific order; Asmodeus, Vecna, Primus? I assume Asmodeus as "the Devil I learned contracts from", Vecna as "The God I most respect", and Primus as "The Godly Manifestation of my Alignment (Lawful)"?
Just to confirm, Memnol is Lawful Evil, rather than Lawful Neutral, right? Given his whole "dealing with Asmodeus and Vecna" I have to assume Evil, but he seems more focused on Law than Evil.
Is Memnol native to Oerth or Toril? He seems to follow Vecna, a mage-turned-lich-turned-god from Oerth/Greyhawk/Greyspace, but also has the scrolls that taught the Netherese magic and the eventual goal of recreating Netheril, artifacts and an empire from Toril/Forgotten Realms/Realmspace. Or is he like a few other high-level mages like Bigby (of "Bigby's Hand" fame) and the various wizards that have visited Earth, and has travelled both Realmspace and Greyspace?
Does Memnol even have any USE for the soul of a female humanoid with feline traits?
Why does the phrase "Saved in some way" fill me dread and anticipation?
Why that specific order; Asmodeus, Vecna, Primus? I assume Asmodeus as "the Devil I learned contracts from", Vecna as "The God I most respect", and Primus as "The Godly Manifestation of my Alignment (Lawful)"?
Just to confirm, Memnol is Lawful Evil, rather than Lawful Neutral, right? Given his whole "dealing with Asmodeus and Vecna" I have to assume Evil, but he seems more focused on Law than Evil.
Is Memnol native to Oerth or Toril? He seems to follow Vecna, a mage-turned-lich-turned-god from Oerth/Greyhawk/Greyspace, but also has the scrolls that taught the Netherese magic and the eventual goal of recreating Netheril, artifacts and an empire from Toril/Forgotten Realms/Realmspace. Or is he like a few other high-level mages like Bigby (of "Bigby's Hand" fame) and the various wizards that have visited Earth, and has travelled both Realmspace and Greyspace?
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He doesn't have much of a use for said soul beyond bragging rights YET, However the ownership of said soul gives him, in his mind, an Absolute authority over Blake. She dies but wants to stay in the afterlife with her loved ones? "Too bad you signed your soul off then. Hope this century's five minutes were nice." That and with the flexibility of Epic Spells, it would be a somewhat fair ad hoc of "No Save allowed," and/or "Only works on creatures who's souls you own."
However, there is also that as he owns the soul, any Lawful Neutral and Lawful Evil afterlives will accept that claim, and he could just send that soul off to one of those afterlives back when there were multiple afterlives that he had confirmed, and the soul would probably become a petitioner or some such. That and every soul potentially denied to the Abyss is effectively one more for Hell. As it is, while he hasn't confirmed any afterlives beyond "The soul isn't immediately gone on death," that isn't a known thing for him.
Also, even if he doesn't always acknowledge it, Memnol, like any powerful enough being, has a bit of a flair for the dramatic. This flair for drama does tend to manifest proportionally, and as such, SOUL.
No particular reason at all, I imagine.
Blake doesn't seem to drive the hardest or firmest bargain when anxious and panicked for the lives of her childhood friends, does she?
ON. THE. MONEY. You got it straight out. Extra reasons for Asmodeus and Vecna are, respectively, "This is kind of directly his thing first that he helped teach me," and Vecna has "I literally grew up for many of my formative years as part of your cult, as messed up as it is, you're sort of like an uncle figure or second dad to me."
But Primus has pretty much nothing else, just, "You are pure Law, so I'll be sending them there."
Once more on the money. I think I might've mentioned in a previous Author note, Memnol is Lawful before Evil. He wants a Lawful World, and won't much hesitate to use Evil means (If they don't directly conflict with his personal code).
The thing about Lawful Evil of a certain kind, is that it hides so well as Lawful Neutral, or maybe even Good, that you won't know until it's already got its hooks in.
He's Native to Oerth, but has been to both, and knows of crystal spheres, as I believe he himself muses that he's 'More than a crystal sphere or two out' in one of the chapters. Part of the cause of his initial banishment is that he was attempting to Overthrow Sehanine Moonbow, a Faerunian deity, while he himself was native to Oerth, which seemed to further step on AO's, the Faerunian Overdeity, proverbial toes than "just" meddling in who/what was and wasn't a deity, which is like the Overdeity's one singular job. Memnol had, quite frequently, just gone back and forth, using his high position in the Nine Hells, which I believe is consistent between at least those spheres, to pop in from one end and out to the other.
This, paired with lesser action already having been taken (His Wish-Ban by both of the respective Overdeities), is part of what caused that level of response. As in this lore, since it'll never be able to come up in story I'll drop it here, He was banished using a kind of exceedingly potent Epic&Deific Spell. The kind that necessitates the Solar Chain-Gate to cast, but still has not only enough backlash to kill said Solars and seriously cripple an Intermediate Deity, but also among the Mitigating factors are "Requires the Permission of an Overdeity","Instantaneously Drains 1 Divine Rank", and all the involved casters lose the spell and knowledge of it after casting, necessitating not only developing it from scratch again, but also straight out Re-discovering it's possible.
I don't believe you can straight out remove a being from your multiverse entirely with any kind of ease.
Also, I choose to like how this can partially explain how Sehanine went from Intermediate to what seems like a Lesser Deity going from 3.5e to 5e, as she was just on the cusp of Intermediate.
Everything else aside, Thank you so much for that post, you have no comprehension of sheer and raw pride and joy and such similar feelings I feel seeing that someone else has cared enough to think this deeply into the story and want to know. Thank you!
Addendum: Also, the fact that some people have been genuinely questioning if he's Lawful Evil or just Neutral fills me with an incredible pride as well, as I've actually managed a somewhat nuanced character that isn't overly obvious, even including the time he ripped out a girl's eye with his bare hand, forced her and another theif into his 'employment', and semi-joyfully taunted them over it. If even after that I've been able to have people not quite certain if he's neutral or evil, I think I've done something right.
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Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
So, as I see it, we could use the 5*5 version of the Alignment Chart and have Memnol as Lawful Impure. Technically, anything outside the inner nine of the 5*5 chart is considered unhealthy and you are seen as a fanatic, but being in one of the corners is considered insane unless you are a God (gods naturally be more extreme in basically everything including alignment), but I don't think Memnol would care all that much about being "fanatical" or "unhealthy", but would avoid being labelled "insane" just because of how it would interfere with his plans.
Edit: an additional question, actually, following after some research and your reason for Memnol being banished (trying to become a god in the wrong Crystal Sphere). Given the Crystal Sphere references, I can only assume you are using Spelljammer relations between Greyspace and Realmspace, but that says that the Inner and Outer Planes are the same in ANY crystal sphere, which is why, say, Tyr and the rest of the Aesir have a following in Faerun despite being native to or having a large following on Earth. Thus, it should not matter WHERE the God is from, only where their WORSHIPPERS are. Thus, an Oerthian mage can gather a following on Faerun and thus become a god. Ao, being the Overgod of Aber-Toril, is able to exert influence on all Godly Aspects that operate in Realmspace, but aspects of gods that exist in multiple Crystal Spheres, such as Lloth, the Olypians, the Aesir, and the like, are only influenced in their Realmspace operations, not in their Greyspace or "Solspace" (or whatever Earth's Crystal Sphere would be called). Did Memnol piss off Ao enough that he didn't even want Memnol in his influence?
Also, you have said "more than a few Crystal Spheres" away, do you mean that he was transported further than he will be able to travel back, with the properties of the sphere, or perhaps the distance in the material plane, preventing him from using his normal "hop through Baator" method of skipping using a Spelljammer? It probably doesn't matter, but I am interested in knowing.
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Ah, I see. It wasn't necessarily just Memnol trying to become a God in the wrong sphere, rather that was part of what broke the camel's back. Memnol already had a past of playing more fast & loose with reality than even a typical Bigby/Mordenkainen/Ioulaum sorta wizard, leading to AO proposing, and the Oerthian Overgod going along with, Memnol's Wish Ban, which had occurred seperately from the godhood debacle. That and, imagine you're the literal Overdeity, so powerful and important that even as a god you straight up don't grant spells or answer any prayers, only scholars know of your existence generally, and then you deign to send a message with only one degree of seperation to this Wizard that's causing a ton of strain on the local Weave.
And he responds with the damn Verbal Component to Frostfell, the arrogant and cheeky little shit, not even caring that a deity was sending an angel, a powerful divine messenger, just to him since apparently he can just handle however many Inevitables are thrown at him, which AO's suspected is not nearly as many as should've been. So Memnol was already on thin ice, and not technically overstepping his bounds but certainly stepping towards them at an alarming pace, and Sehanine goes to AO for a way to handle this problem since he's damn near impossible to actually get rid of. He rarely if ever dies, and even the one or two times he has died and they've kept a vigil and antimagic around his body afterwards, his soul just heads straight on over to the Nine Hells anyways, where the Devils on river duty know that if they see his soul, report it straight up asap, and in a matter of a day or two at most at least one Devil with enough Cleric abilities (Levels), even if Asmodeus needs to take the Ten Minutes out of his eternity himself, just slaps a True Resurrection on him, and in a matter of a couple days at most he's been re-equipped and on his merry way to avenge himself.
So when Sehanine prays to AO about this problem, decides (paraphrasing) "Fuck it, listen in Moonbow, there's this spell that exists, here's how to discover it, get your stuff to develop it, and you've got my permission to cast it since you need that." (I do still like the idea that however flowery the other gods talk, Overdeities just talk extremely casually.)
Oh, and one more very important detail; This wasn't the first time AO has suggested and approved of this spell, as one other being had managed to find one of the flaws in reality and exploit it to the point where, again, it was pretty much the only option left.
So in summary: Yeah, Memnol managed to worry Moonbow enough that she went to the overdeity, who he had already pushed to direct intervention as drastic as a wish-ban and who already had to use this kind of drastic measure before and was also on below neutral terms with, which is honestly its own special achievement to even manage that with an overdeity, and he had been acting not with disregard to any sort of cosmic balance but with outright intent to unbalance things. So, since the Varakhuts didn't seem to be doing the trick and it's also easier to justify doing something the second time, Memnol is promptly
That "more than a few" was a sort of cheeky way of saying that he got kicked out from The entire Cosmology. As in, pick any D&D world, published, homebrew, third party, etc., any method of getting between those within the D&D rules and lore- He's gone. No amount of Chronomancy can get a version of him back, no if's or and's, he's just been kicked to where Crystal Sphere's aren't even a thing, because there isn't Phlogiston, because it's a straight different cosmology that can have some fundamentally different rules. Such as, for a wild hypothetical example, Hit Points being mostly represented through Aura, at least in those who have it awakened.
He isn't ever getting back, particularly since he doesn't even want to.
Although these answer do admittedly raise two questions in response: "What was the being that had to get banished before Memnol?" and "If this is a different Cosmology, how is it so similar that Memnol can confirm all these really specific creatures (Choice Elementals and Gem Dragons) having existed?"
I don't want to answer these yet, but I will give hints that hopefully y'all can figure it out, and I am willing to confirm you're correct if anyone does get it. For 1. Same Edition, and for 2. The Questions are more related than you'd think once you know just what was banished in 1. 1 can help answer 2.
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This is a great story! I especially love the fact that he's grabbing the potential of this situation to the fullest, without going full soulless munchkin or social-butterfly route, although the GAME stuff hurts my head real hard (no insult to you, just how my brainmeats work). One thing I'd like to ask is, will he immediately go "MWAHAHA I AM EVIL AND I OWN YOU" to Blake, now that she is in his power (ala his interactions with Roman and Neo) or is it more of a just-in-case-I-need-em kind of contract, and their relationship won't change?
Firstly, Thank you! I'm always glad to hear someone's liking it!
As for the question, I wouldn't say it's quite that binary personally. He isn't going to immediately reveal himself being evil, and not just solely for the sake of it, but their relationship is certainly going to change somewhat. You see, before, Memnol generally considered Blake as an acquaintance roughly, that turned out to be surprisingly useful in getting an "in" with the person in charge of Menagerie, even if they were only vaguely in charge by his standards. Now, however, Memnol sees her as something similar to a very useful multi-tool of some sort; With that contract he can full well legally; Take money from her bank account at will, use any credit cards of hers at will, straight out take the money off her person at will, have her checked into or out of anything similar to a mental or physical hospital or other such place, outright murder her and keep her soul without legal recourse, and so much else.
All of that, and that's only directly against Blake, with only Blake worrying about Blake. Then consider that there are other people that really care about Blake, and he knows that.
He's heard of tales where a man in a desert traded sand all the way up to gems, so all he'd need to do is find just the right chain of people who care eachother, and eventually he could extort someone big.
For Two off of the top my head, 1: Blake -> Ghira Belladonna
2: Blake -> Weiss -> Winter (Optional, Whitley is off the table due to earlier promises) -> Jacques
I thought it would honestly take at least slightly longer than that, but no, only 2 to 3 links from Blake and you've already hit the guy that the 1% are jealous of, or just the 1 and you're at the leader of a nation. A relatively small and disjointed nation, but still. And given that souls are by their nature one of a kind unique "collectables", he extremely rarely lets go of a soul he owns, and certainly not at a 1-1 "I'll take her place" ratio.
To get back directly to the question- He's not outing himself, but the relationship is changing somewhat. While before, if you've noticed, pretty much all of his plans didn't ever rely on others - even his bringing on Team CFVY to the astral plane trips was just as extra eyes and ears while he did the actual work and as emergency Ozpin-bait - with the exception of the plans that he has, look who came up like you brought them up, Roman and Neo working on. Even then, he keeps them under direct all-but-constant watch by a pair of Ice Assassins.
Now, he has just one extra resource in the form of Blake he can use for any plans, and that knowledge is all properly tucked away and sorted, ready for juuust the right moment. Blake, her existence, and what to do involving or with her, whether or not to even reveal in certain cases what he's got now, has become one more option. And, well, it's a Wizard's options that tend to make them such threats.
(So, to cut the drama and simplify it, then you did get to the simplest core of the matter, "Just in case")
Chapter 23: Nothing Big
AN: So. It's been a while. Not apologising for it, this is a hobby that for a while I hadn't had the time for, but acknowledging it. To those that have stuck around, thanks, and hope you enjoy a long in the waiting update! To those new, the same! I had to just get this one out, honestly, rather than try to make it perfect. Well, same as usual, comments/feedback/etc.!
Later that same day, Blake tucked away the contract and drop of blood into one of the drawers of the night table beside her bed, the one that had unofficially ended up hers after enough of her late-night reads made their residence there, right beside each other, a flashlight, and some various other miscellaneous things. Most things were all Blake's, but just enough small things from the rest of the team were there as well that it wouldn't be unreasonable to check there.
It was there, placed a few minutes after getting the light out when Blake remembered, that the small contract rested, leaned slightly on the bike-lock-like Combination Key, both beside a brush and a comb, both with a few straggling hairs stuck in them.
"This certainly must be a touch unusual," thought Memnol as he was putting on his Mirror Mask in the last moments of preparation, "I believe local custom for a male of my chronological age's first date is to scrounge up whatever seems decently nice enough and go to someplace local."
After a few more moments he thought, "Well, first genuine date I suppose in the interest of being specific, as I suppose my first date whatsoever, all of them up to this point on further thought, were more for manipulation purposes. Actually, looking back, a vast majority of times it was just for an assassination or secret gathering for the cult."
He paused and faced a mirror in his quarters of the new Magnificent Mansion he had put together early that Saturday, "I suppose I have finally reached that 'older' state where I'd concern myself with this sort of thing," He shook his head just a very slight amount, as if sifting that bit of reminiscing from his current focus, "Now then, the plan once more; Pick Ms. Black Cloak up at the location and teleport to the date site, ask the question to begin, then depending on the answer, either continue the date, or simply abandon the prospect, and relocate and secure the crocodile to the Menagerie location the IA's and I prepared earlier today."
He gave himself one more look from behind the mask, observing the endless reflection effect between it and the regular mirror, "Although, maybe I have finally found someone of a similar mindset? I think that perhaps I will allow my hopes up a touch. Based on her actions before she is more likely than not exceptionally long-lived if not unagingly immortal, so, perhaps."
Then, quite promptly at exactly five minutes before 6 PM Vale time, he vanished to their normal meeting location.
There, he only needed to wait around two minutes until Black Cloak showed up, same Grimm styled mask as ever, and he held out a gloved hand, "Hello Ms. Black Cloak. Since we are both early, I see no reason to delay. If you would take my hand, I will teleport us both to the location."
Ms. Black Cloak took his hand with an equally gloved hand and not a word, ready to be brought over, while Memnol was noting that she had indeed been corporeal and not a projected image or such. With a rather quick word from Memnol, the two were taken to the site Memnol had chosen for their date.
There was a similar setup to the previous location, two mithral folding chairs, though now they were situated near the top of a sort of hill, overlooking a rather small village, a steady, calm, and flow movement of people shown by the flickering firelight in the torches and braziers throughout the, as Memnol knew, Menagerie village. A little ways behind the two was jungle, and indeed the hill was actually made from dirt, rather than sand as most of Menagerie was.
Different however was the small patch of area just a touch behind the chairs which was perpetually snowing, only a five-foot by five-foot square patch, and settled a touch on top of the snow and in it was a clear glass bottle filled with wine, Westgate Ruby in particular, which he chose as he could Wish for exactly 1000 Tuns of it with one Wish. Or in more commonly used measurements, 252,000 Gallons with one Wish. So, he did have quite the massive amount of Wine over at the base construction site, which had come along exceptionally far and was just needing the last touches of furnishings and such, which he'd already decided he'd dedicate some time to just Wish-ing up the mundane furniture for it at a later point and creating the needed Crunch Zones and Magical Items.
But for now, the date at hand.
Memnol led Ms. Black Cloak by the hand to the left chair of the two, and in a light jest pulled it out for her and pushed it back in slightly once she sat down, and he himself took the right chair.
After some moments of pause, while they both remained silently looking on the little village, Ms. Black Cloak said, "So, tell me, with magic as your passion and your tale of Vecna, do you truly believe someone can become a god?"
Memnol said, "Absolutely, so long as one is willing and capable of handling the other gods, particularly if supplanting one of them, as well as the tedium of the endless tide of Varakhuts."
Ms. Black Cloak was silent for a moment, before she said, "Varakhuts?"
Memnol said, "Not around anymore most likely, but a kind of being believed to be dedicated to maintaining the divine order of reality, if you want to alter a pantheon by killing or becoming a god, or assisting another in that matter, it was said that you'd have to deal with the Varakhuts eventually. Quite frankly though, against anybody with a legitimate bid on godhood, exceptionally powerful mages to put it simply and honestly, they frankly seem rather weak."
Ms. Black Cloak made a brief sound of acknowledgment, perhaps thought, and there was silence for a few moments.
Memnol broke the silence and said, "A question in return for yours then," He gestured out to the view in front of them, "In a non-literal sense, what do you see?"
After another pause, Ms. Black Cloak said, "A zit on an otherwise beautiful face. Arrived through lack of proper care, and though removable quickly, the damage would take time to heal, to let that beauty be restored. Yourself?"
A moment of thought, and then, "Potential."
Ms. Black Cloak said, "Well, now you have to go on with an answer like that. What potential?"
With a slight nod, he said, "All numbers of different kinds." He gestured slightly away from the village, "A touch in any direction and some time ahead, there lies a sea of not yet gems waiting to be taken." A vague gesture, in the air, "A step to a direction that doesn't much have a name and debatably exists, and instead, walking pillars of glass. Another step, an ocean that swallowed even the memories of a land that, then, would have only supposedly existed. Another step, and there flies a bird made of knowledge and light, weaving in and out of a great mirror." Each point emphasized by another vague wave.
After a moment, Ms. Black Cloak responded with a single faint half-scoff half-laugh, and said, "Certainly quite fanciful, that. If I can guess, you write?"
From that, the longest pause, and then Memnol replied, tone as neutral as ever had been, "Novels and such, I take it you mean? No."
After that, he got up, and held out a hand as if to help her up, saying, "I'm afraid something has come up that I have just been notified of. I can teleport us back for now, and perhaps we can speak further another time?"
After a moment, she began to reach for the hand and speak, "That sounds agreea-" Yet the moment the touched it she was cut off, for she had disappeared, and Memnol had stood there, not having teleported himself with her. Why would he? The destination was one of the few that that would've left him dead and lastingly so in his current state. Well, until he got a few Stasis Clones set up or a phylactery, though upon the thought of it the earlier option did worm its way into his to-do list.
Elsewhere, Ms. Black Cloak had just long enough to understand her location, before light and heat overtook her.
Memnol raised up Loom, and vanished back to Beacon, returning to the dragon continent to relocate the Crocodile, and then to his quarters to indeed research Stasis Clone, and since he'd have the time before calling it a night, Greater Anticipate Teleportation, which would soon find its way into his morning and nightly preparations, alongside his usual Mind Blanks.
For those not in the loop on those, Stasis Clone would make an inert physical clone of Memnol, that his soul could flee to and inhabit should he die, but unlike the normal Clone spell, the clone wouldn't rot if not fled to immediately, instead remaining in, per the name, stasis, each one created effectively serving as an extra life. Greater Anticipate Teleportation would simply last for 24 hours, akin to Mind Blank, but rather than protect against mental attacks, would protect against teleportation, informing Memnol of and delaying incoming teleportation in a radius around him. Greater, as it delayed it by around 18 or so seconds, quite the time to set up.
Elsewhere, far into the Dragon Continent and very late into Vale's night, Salem reached her way from the bottom of a Grimm Pool back to the surface, her soul now in a remade body, after the previous one had been destroyed, as had the mask and cloak she had, in quite the fashion.
After some brief time, Salem mused to herself, "I have horrid luck with men. The brother gods deny and curse me, my husband tries to leave me with the kids, and now after my first date in ages he sends me INTO THE SUN."
She would send a look to the pool, "I had wondered if that would work," sending a scowl at it, "It didn't."
Then, she shifted, and faced the pool, dipping her hands back in, while already the shape of a beetle-esque Grimm began to slowly and meticulously take shape as she carefully guided it.
"No matter," She thought, a malicious grin growing on her face, "That magic of his can be put to better use, after it's ripped out of him, slowly, piece by piece."
A small village in Menagerie would that night repel an attack of Grimm, a touch larger than average. Nineteen sustained long-term non-permanent injuries. Five died and were buried on the nearby hill the following day. One caught a cold, trying to find a near-surface deposit of ice-dust at the inexplicable snow, which they later assumed must have gone off entirely during the attack, rather than merely the surface most Dust being agitated.
"Soo, Memnol," Yang said to Memnol the next day, Sunday, as he and the two teams ate breakfast together, "How was it? What happened?"
Memnol said, "It was alright. Nothing big happened."
Ruby asked, energetic self as usual, "Are you two going on another date?" She was really hoping for a yes, because, well, if the Power of Love was basically an even bigger version of the power of friendship! It would absolutely be able to convince Memnol he could be good!
Right?
Memnol said, "No, we won't be seeing each other anymore, though I believe we split decently enough."
At this, Ruby deflated a touch, and Jaune asked, "Any reason why not?"
Memnol looked back to his breakfast for a good moment, observing his reflection in a knife, and said before continuing, "A fundamental difference in views."
Later that same day, Blake tucked away the contract and drop of blood into one of the drawers of the night table beside her bed, the one that had unofficially ended up hers after enough of her late-night reads made their residence there, right beside each other, a flashlight, and some various other miscellaneous things. Most things were all Blake's, but just enough small things from the rest of the team were there as well that it wouldn't be unreasonable to check there.
It was there, placed a few minutes after getting the light out when Blake remembered, that the small contract rested, leaned slightly on the bike-lock-like Combination Key, both beside a brush and a comb, both with a few straggling hairs stuck in them.
"This certainly must be a touch unusual," thought Memnol as he was putting on his Mirror Mask in the last moments of preparation, "I believe local custom for a male of my chronological age's first date is to scrounge up whatever seems decently nice enough and go to someplace local."
After a few more moments he thought, "Well, first genuine date I suppose in the interest of being specific, as I suppose my first date whatsoever, all of them up to this point on further thought, were more for manipulation purposes. Actually, looking back, a vast majority of times it was just for an assassination or secret gathering for the cult."
He paused and faced a mirror in his quarters of the new Magnificent Mansion he had put together early that Saturday, "I suppose I have finally reached that 'older' state where I'd concern myself with this sort of thing," He shook his head just a very slight amount, as if sifting that bit of reminiscing from his current focus, "Now then, the plan once more; Pick Ms. Black Cloak up at the location and teleport to the date site, ask the question to begin, then depending on the answer, either continue the date, or simply abandon the prospect, and relocate and secure the crocodile to the Menagerie location the IA's and I prepared earlier today."
He gave himself one more look from behind the mask, observing the endless reflection effect between it and the regular mirror, "Although, maybe I have finally found someone of a similar mindset? I think that perhaps I will allow my hopes up a touch. Based on her actions before she is more likely than not exceptionally long-lived if not unagingly immortal, so, perhaps."
Then, quite promptly at exactly five minutes before 6 PM Vale time, he vanished to their normal meeting location.
There, he only needed to wait around two minutes until Black Cloak showed up, same Grimm styled mask as ever, and he held out a gloved hand, "Hello Ms. Black Cloak. Since we are both early, I see no reason to delay. If you would take my hand, I will teleport us both to the location."
Ms. Black Cloak took his hand with an equally gloved hand and not a word, ready to be brought over, while Memnol was noting that she had indeed been corporeal and not a projected image or such. With a rather quick word from Memnol, the two were taken to the site Memnol had chosen for their date.
There was a similar setup to the previous location, two mithral folding chairs, though now they were situated near the top of a sort of hill, overlooking a rather small village, a steady, calm, and flow movement of people shown by the flickering firelight in the torches and braziers throughout the, as Memnol knew, Menagerie village. A little ways behind the two was jungle, and indeed the hill was actually made from dirt, rather than sand as most of Menagerie was.
Different however was the small patch of area just a touch behind the chairs which was perpetually snowing, only a five-foot by five-foot square patch, and settled a touch on top of the snow and in it was a clear glass bottle filled with wine, Westgate Ruby in particular, which he chose as he could Wish for exactly 1000 Tuns of it with one Wish. Or in more commonly used measurements, 252,000 Gallons with one Wish. So, he did have quite the massive amount of Wine over at the base construction site, which had come along exceptionally far and was just needing the last touches of furnishings and such, which he'd already decided he'd dedicate some time to just Wish-ing up the mundane furniture for it at a later point and creating the needed Crunch Zones and Magical Items.
But for now, the date at hand.
Memnol led Ms. Black Cloak by the hand to the left chair of the two, and in a light jest pulled it out for her and pushed it back in slightly once she sat down, and he himself took the right chair.
After some moments of pause, while they both remained silently looking on the little village, Ms. Black Cloak said, "So, tell me, with magic as your passion and your tale of Vecna, do you truly believe someone can become a god?"
Memnol said, "Absolutely, so long as one is willing and capable of handling the other gods, particularly if supplanting one of them, as well as the tedium of the endless tide of Varakhuts."
Ms. Black Cloak was silent for a moment, before she said, "Varakhuts?"
Memnol said, "Not around anymore most likely, but a kind of being believed to be dedicated to maintaining the divine order of reality, if you want to alter a pantheon by killing or becoming a god, or assisting another in that matter, it was said that you'd have to deal with the Varakhuts eventually. Quite frankly though, against anybody with a legitimate bid on godhood, exceptionally powerful mages to put it simply and honestly, they frankly seem rather weak."
Ms. Black Cloak made a brief sound of acknowledgment, perhaps thought, and there was silence for a few moments.
Memnol broke the silence and said, "A question in return for yours then," He gestured out to the view in front of them, "In a non-literal sense, what do you see?"
After another pause, Ms. Black Cloak said, "A zit on an otherwise beautiful face. Arrived through lack of proper care, and though removable quickly, the damage would take time to heal, to let that beauty be restored. Yourself?"
A moment of thought, and then, "Potential."
Ms. Black Cloak said, "Well, now you have to go on with an answer like that. What potential?"
With a slight nod, he said, "All numbers of different kinds." He gestured slightly away from the village, "A touch in any direction and some time ahead, there lies a sea of not yet gems waiting to be taken." A vague gesture, in the air, "A step to a direction that doesn't much have a name and debatably exists, and instead, walking pillars of glass. Another step, an ocean that swallowed even the memories of a land that, then, would have only supposedly existed. Another step, and there flies a bird made of knowledge and light, weaving in and out of a great mirror." Each point emphasized by another vague wave.
After a moment, Ms. Black Cloak responded with a single faint half-scoff half-laugh, and said, "Certainly quite fanciful, that. If I can guess, you write?"
From that, the longest pause, and then Memnol replied, tone as neutral as ever had been, "Novels and such, I take it you mean? No."
After that, he got up, and held out a hand as if to help her up, saying, "I'm afraid something has come up that I have just been notified of. I can teleport us back for now, and perhaps we can speak further another time?"
After a moment, she began to reach for the hand and speak, "That sounds agreea-" Yet the moment the touched it she was cut off, for she had disappeared, and Memnol had stood there, not having teleported himself with her. Why would he? The destination was one of the few that that would've left him dead and lastingly so in his current state. Well, until he got a few Stasis Clones set up or a phylactery, though upon the thought of it the earlier option did worm its way into his to-do list.
Elsewhere, Ms. Black Cloak had just long enough to understand her location, before light and heat overtook her.
Memnol raised up Loom, and vanished back to Beacon, returning to the dragon continent to relocate the Crocodile, and then to his quarters to indeed research Stasis Clone, and since he'd have the time before calling it a night, Greater Anticipate Teleportation, which would soon find its way into his morning and nightly preparations, alongside his usual Mind Blanks.
For those not in the loop on those, Stasis Clone would make an inert physical clone of Memnol, that his soul could flee to and inhabit should he die, but unlike the normal Clone spell, the clone wouldn't rot if not fled to immediately, instead remaining in, per the name, stasis, each one created effectively serving as an extra life. Greater Anticipate Teleportation would simply last for 24 hours, akin to Mind Blank, but rather than protect against mental attacks, would protect against teleportation, informing Memnol of and delaying incoming teleportation in a radius around him. Greater, as it delayed it by around 18 or so seconds, quite the time to set up.
Elsewhere, far into the Dragon Continent and very late into Vale's night, Salem reached her way from the bottom of a Grimm Pool back to the surface, her soul now in a remade body, after the previous one had been destroyed, as had the mask and cloak she had, in quite the fashion.
After some brief time, Salem mused to herself, "I have horrid luck with men. The brother gods deny and curse me, my husband tries to leave me with the kids, and now after my first date in ages he sends me INTO THE SUN."
She would send a look to the pool, "I had wondered if that would work," sending a scowl at it, "It didn't."
Then, she shifted, and faced the pool, dipping her hands back in, while already the shape of a beetle-esque Grimm began to slowly and meticulously take shape as she carefully guided it.
"No matter," She thought, a malicious grin growing on her face, "That magic of his can be put to better use, after it's ripped out of him, slowly, piece by piece."
A small village in Menagerie would that night repel an attack of Grimm, a touch larger than average. Nineteen sustained long-term non-permanent injuries. Five died and were buried on the nearby hill the following day. One caught a cold, trying to find a near-surface deposit of ice-dust at the inexplicable snow, which they later assumed must have gone off entirely during the attack, rather than merely the surface most Dust being agitated.
"Soo, Memnol," Yang said to Memnol the next day, Sunday, as he and the two teams ate breakfast together, "How was it? What happened?"
Memnol said, "It was alright. Nothing big happened."
Ruby asked, energetic self as usual, "Are you two going on another date?" She was really hoping for a yes, because, well, if the Power of Love was basically an even bigger version of the power of friendship! It would absolutely be able to convince Memnol he could be good!
Right?
Memnol said, "No, we won't be seeing each other anymore, though I believe we split decently enough."
At this, Ruby deflated a touch, and Jaune asked, "Any reason why not?"
Memnol looked back to his breakfast for a good moment, observing his reflection in a knife, and said before continuing, "A fundamental difference in views."
- Location
- United States
hmm. alright. cant say i expected him to go for Suddenly Murder, let alone to teleport her in to the sun. but i can understand why he made that decision.
Thanks for the update.
Thanks for the update.
- Location
- Texas
She really shouldn't have brought up the zit, he's a delicate flower.
I find it endlessly entertaining that he's the strongest on that world possibly strong enough to pull tier 12 magic because mystra isn't monitoring the weave and maybe even kill the brother gods and all he does is get into weird social situations abuse wish and make OP gear