Spirit Quest

[Oshha]

[X][Cycle] Gwarlon
[X][Stag] Attempt to dominate it as you did the Shadow Spirit, perhaps an actual animal Spirit will be easier to tame?
[X] Plan Unlimited Power! + Kiss and make up
-[X][Spirit] Focus on Blessing
--[X][Spirit] Prydymar
-[X][[Spirit] Focus on Bolstering the Harvest
--[X][Spirit] Avawyr
-[X][Avatar] Visit
--[X][Avatar] Edryd at Sangere.
-[X][Avatar] Raid
--[X][Avatar] Shadow Monsters in the Eastern Hills
-[X][Avatar] Experiment
--[X] Ritually Consume the Shadow Spirit for maximum power, since it is a clear danger to everyone and seems to be uncontrollable in the long term.
-[X][Avatar] Experiment
--[X] Attempt to ease the tensions building up between your people Sangerish, and more specifically between Cadyl and Edryd. Letting such hateful feeling fester cannot be good for anyone. This should ideally synergize with visiting Edryd at Sangere
-[X][Leadership] Shadow Spirit Consumption
-[X][Leadership] Stag Spirit domination
-[X][Leadership] Easing of tensions between the Sangerish and everyone else / Edryd and Cadyl.

***​

The cycle has proven to be eventful. You have the Stag Spirit reserved for you to deal with as you wish to attempt to Dominate it. While the Shadow Monster Spirit has proven too dangerous and inhuman to handle, you hope that the Stag Spirit should prove easier to tame.

However, you do no have time to do that this year as you decided to deal with both the shadow monsters and their spirit and the Sangerish and the lingering hostility amongst your people to the southerners. Particularly the enmity that Cadyl has for Edryd.

With the shadow monsters, you, Seryn and Evatine have all been putting the pressure on them. While the Evalonish Cath Wyrs are fought back, the warriors of Avawyr and Seryn's villages have been carving up the shadow monsters with your daughter bringing some of the Sangerish Cath Wyrs.

The hills are mostly clear of shadow monsters and while there is still enough of a threat to call them unsafe, the Eastern Hills are mostly under the control of your people.

With the shadow monsters dealt with for the time being, you, Seryn and Evatine withdraw for the time being to do deal with other things whilst leaving enough Cath Wyrs behind to handle the problem.

While Evatine head back to Evalon to look after Ymaryn now that his daughter is getting older, you and Seryn head to Sangere after a short side trip to Avawyr in order to pick up Cadyl.

While there are lingering hostilities between the Sangere and the northern villages, you are mainly concerned about Cadyl's animosity towards Edryd because having your son as an enemy of the Sangerish leader and your daughter's lover can lead to nothing, but trouble.

To your satisfaction, the attempt at restoring positive relations go splendidly well. While there is initial hostility by Cadyl towards Edryd, the two of them soon gets along well with each other. Seeing a likeminded fellow in the other, Cadyl and Edryd have managed to become close friends, especially since Edryd has effectively wiped out the old Sangerish culture. You muse that things were helped by Edryd being a very attractive young woman while Cadyl has the typical young male eye for such things.

Even the whole 'tried to take you as a wife to produce my babies every year' got resolved by Edryd offering her body up to your son as an apology that had more than mere words to it. While Cadyl initially refused on the grounds that he had Wyrn and Edryd was his sister's lover, he not so reluctantly gave in after Seryn informed that neither she or Wyrn minded and Edryd offered to teach him how to do female on female properly so he might be able to properly please Wyrn in the future.

However, you know your son well enough that he just wanted to take the opportunity to be female again for a bit and to fornicate with a beautiful young woman who was not related to him.

Speaking of that, you had to make a decision on the Sangerish practice of having multiple wives. In the northern villages, you had a man and a woman in a marriage or sometimes a woman with a woman if Cath Wyrs were involved. You had to decide on whether to let the Sangerish practice be allowed in the north or to ban it and have two-person marriages enforced in Sangere.

The former would require you to back it up by taking additional wives of you own. While you had Isorine and Esclalf around to fit the bill, it would definitely upset your wife and you are pretty sure that your brother would also not be pleased. On the other hand, banning the practice might lead to problems with in west as Seryn would be unhappy with it even as she enforces in your name while the disportionate amount of women would almost certain result in a situation where women could not get married due to there not being enough men.

Fortunately, there was a suitable middle ground. The Cath Wyrs have become seen as being different to ordinary mortals so if you made it so they did not count towards a traditional marriage, allowing a man or woman to be married to multiple Cath Wyrs at once in addition to their wife or husband.

On another note, Wyrn gave birth again, this time to a girl who got named Evalyn. Lacking any cat features, you could sense some noteworthy spiritual power in her aura. And once again, Wyrn decided that she wanted to have another kid and as soon as you got back from Sangere, she was already dragging Cadyl to their bed.

Something else you discovered was that Wyrn had grown to enjoy the act of making babies in general as when Cadyl suggested that they either make a quite trip to Sangere or invite one of Esclalf's chosen to Avawyr for a fertility blessing, Wyrn informs her lover that would take most of the fun away.

Back home was interesting, Bronwyn had been strengthening the ties between Avawyr, Evalon and Prylake while Seryn finished the Bedynn Boat Pens. Under your wife's guidance with some help from Terwyn, overall leadership was being consolidated in Avawyr. The rest of your kids did their usual thing with Arwyn making an expedition into the mountains to the east and coming back with a particularly unusual green gem.

As the Cold Season came, you had one last thing to do. Setting out to the north-eastern coast of Lake Eva where you had left the Shadow Spirit Monster, you decided that the spirit was too dangerous to handle. An animal spirit like the Stag Spirit that Arwyn found would prove to be better suited to tamed while the Shadow Monster Spirit was as bad as its ilk at best and far more dangerous and destructive at worst. You decided that the best thing to do with it would be to devour it for power.

Rather than be selective in what you got and waste some of the power, you decided to consume as much spiritual energy as you could from the Shadow Monster Spirit and hope for the best.

As you devour the Shadow Monster Spirit, there is no fear or desire for survival, just the usual hatred for all humans that all shadow monsters have. It truly strikes home to you that this thing is neither person or animal, but a monster created for destroy humanity.

You managed to take in all of its power, adding it to your own being. For the most part, it adds to what is already there. With the exception of Fatherhood, your existing Aspects are all upgraded to a higher level of power. Fortunately, you are able to deal with any influence from your Spirit of Wild using your Spirit of the Chief and Spirit of Spirits to drive out any new mental influence. You also get the Aspect of Void, which unlocks a new type of magic for you along with making the usage of magic easier. To your mild surprise, you also get an Aspect of Death, being able to sense when a living creature is close to death and you have a sense that you can interact with the dead.

Another thing that your new power lets you do if make more shrines as you are certainly powerful enough to do that now.

Cycle 23 Perspective?
[] [Cycle] Gwarlon
[] [Cycle] Seryn
[] [Cycle] Cadyl
[] [Cycle] Myrlin

What to do with Southern Polyamory?
[] [Wives] Disallow it. Upsets Seryn and the Sangerish.
[] [Wives] Limited to Cath Wyrs or Chosen of Seryn. Makes Seryn happy.
[] [Wives] Make it the norm by marrying Isorine and Esclalf. Upsets Bronwyn and Evalon.
[] [Stag] Write-in.

Basic Spirit Actions: 3 Actions available
[] [Spirit] Focus on Blessing
-[] [Spirit] Avawyr
-[] [Spirit] Iron Spears
-[] [Spirit] Iron Tools
-[] [Spirit] Elairamur's Idol
-[] [Spirit] Ymar (Prydymar & Gyrgymar)
[] [Spirit] Focus on Inspiring Followers
-[] [Spirit] Avawyr
[] [Spirit] Focus on Healing Followers
-[] [Spirit] Avawyr
[Spirit] Focus on Bolstering the Harvest
-[] [Spirit] Avawyr
[] [Spirit] Ascension Someone
-[] [Spirit] Morwyn (High Chance of Success) (Wants it and miffed that her sisters are all spirits when she is not.)
-[] [Spirit] Cadyl (Medium Chance of Success) (Does not want to be spirit right now and would be unhappy with being ascended.)
-[] [Spirit] Wyrn (Medium Chance of Success) (Does not care, but wants to be with Cadyl.)
-[] [Spirit] Myrlin (Low Chance of Success) (Wants to stay mortal to learn more about magic as a non-spirit)
-[] [Spirit] Write-in.

Avatar Actions: 4 Actions available
[] [Avatar] Explore
-[] [Avatar] The Mountains to the South-West
-[] [Avatar] The Mountains to the Far South-West (Costs 2 Actions)
-[] [Avatar] The Mountains to the East
-[] [Avatar] The Mountains to the Far East (Costs 2 Actions)
-[] [Avatar] The North Lake Western Coastline (Costs 2 Actions)
-[] [Avatar] The North Lake Mountains (Costs 2 Actions)
-[] [Avatar] The Lake Eva Northern Coastline
-[] [Avatar] The Eastern Hills
-[] [Avatar] The North Lake
-[] [Avatar] The Southern Grasslands (Costs 2 Actions)
-[] [Avatar] The Eastern Forest (Costs 2 Actions)
[] [Avatar] Construction
[] [Avatar] Hunt
[] [Avatar] Raid
-[] [Avatar] Shadow Monsters in the Eastern Hills
[] [Avatar] Visit
-[] [Avatar] Evatine at Evalon
-[] [Avatar] Seryn at Bedwyn
-[] [Avatar] Isorine at Prylake (Costs 2 Actions)
-[] [Avatar] Nascien & Astorine at Belarsa (Costs 2 Action)
-[] [Avatar] Orcante at Blawain
-[] [Avatar] Trevritine at Belamour (Costs 2 Actions)
-[] [Avatar] Edryd at Sangere.
-[] [Avatar] Esclalf at Sangere.
-[] [Avatar] Stag Spirit in Bydi Forest (Costs 2 Actions)
[] [Avatar] Experiment
-[] [Avatar] Write-in.
[] [Avatar] Make a new Shrine (1/5)
-[] [Avatar] Evalon
-[] [Avatar] Prylake
-[] [Avatar] Bedywn
-[] [Avatar] Bedynn
-[] [Avatar] Sangere
-[] [Avatar] Bedygan

Leadership Actions: 3 Actions available
Leadership Actions are used to improve other Actions such as Avatar or Spirit.
[] [Leadership] Write-in.

 

[Oshha]

[X][Cycle] Myrlin
[X][Wives] Limited to Cath Wyrs or Chosen of Seryn. Makes Seryn happy.
[X] Plan Domestication + Ascension
-[X][Spirit] Focus on Blessing
--[X][Spirit] Elairamur's Idol
--[X][Spirit] Ymar (Prydymar & Gyrgymar)
-[X][Spirit] Ascension Someone
--[X][Spirit] Morwyn (High Chance of Success) (Wants it and miffed that her sisters are all spirits when she is not.)
-[X][Avatar] Visit
--[X][Avatar] Stag Spirit in Bydi Forest (Costs 2 Actions)
-[X][Avatar] Make a new Shrine (1/5)
--[X][Avatar] Prylake
-[X][Avatar] Experiment
--[X] Experiment with your knew ascension abilities granted to you by your Greater Spirit of Spirits; perhaps it will have some effect when used on the idol of Elairamur?
-[X][Leadership] Messing with Elairamur's idol
-[X][Leadership] Stag Spirit domination
-[X][Leadership] Ascension of Morwyn x2

***​

You stride down the path to the Ava Cove boat pens, doing your best to ignore the slight bounce of your chest with every step. It has been over a cycle since you got them and you still have yet to get used to them. Especially since Auntie Seryn decided to be generous as your aunt and as a result, you receive above average height for even one of Auntie Seryn's blessed and a large chest even by the standards of the Cath Wyrs.

You have not got the heart to tell Auntie Seryn that her extra gift to you have only been annoying to you.

Nonetheless, you do not mind them as the price of acquiring lightning magic. Being a woman is no hardship and while irritating to get used to, it is nothing compared to having direct access to lightning magic.

Speaking of getting access to magic, you have now acquired the ability to use metal magic, earth magic, lightning magic and void magic with only water magic remaining as the only known magic beyond your grasp.

And even then, you can easily get water magic as well by taking a boat up to Prylake and receiving a blessing from Isorine. The newest addition into the family, you are not sure where she fits in. Grandma is married to Granddad while Great-Uncle Evatine is a brother to Granddad in all, but blood. Wyrn is married to Cadyl and Dad is married to Mum while Aunty Seryn is going to marry both Esclalf and Edryd. Ymaryn shares no blood with your family, but Great-Uncle Evatine has raised her from a babyhood.

But Isorine does not fit in so easily and you at a loss to where she could fit in. Maybe she counts an adoptee like Ymaryn, but where in the family has she been adopted into. The Spirit of Prylake and North Lake is of the same generation as Granddad, Grandma and Great-Uncle Evatine, but so is Esclalf so that is not entirely clear cut.
Egh, magic is much easier to deal with for while it is much harder to figure out, learning and using magic is your greatest joy in life.

Over the last few cycles, you have made many discoveries. How the ability to channel spiritual energy and cast spells is like other physical activities and can be trained up with practice and experience. The discovery of natural spiritual lines containing vast amounts of spiritual energy, which you and Great-Uncle Evatine believe to be the lands itself channelling spiritual energy. You have also discovered how magic can potentially be used beyond its obvious physical applications.

While using it for obvious things like shaping earth, forging metal or unleashing lightning is something that all mages can do with their respective magic, you believe it is possible to use it for something more.

Rather than being limited to manipulating the physical element, you are certain that you can create magical effects that are related or associated with the magic. For example, maybe making cabbages as strong as stone or making wooden weapons as deadly as the iron versions without physically changing the material of either.

It is a possibility that you really want to look into, especially now that you have access to void magic. Unlike the previous magics, there is no clear element associated with void magic. Instead, you are sure that it is the conceptual side of things where the bulk of void magic lies and you will be the one to discover all of that.

As exciting as you are for the prospect of unlocking the secrets of void magic and the other types of magic, you enjoyed visiting your family in Avawyr. You enjoyed time with your sisters after not seeing them for so long. While they have the potential, both Aeryn and Bryn are happy to live quiet, happy lives that are uneventfully and you will not begrudge them for that.

Cadyl and Wyrn are getting along with their kids with the Evalonish woman having another girl this cycle and she was already going for another kid with Cadyl when you left. Mum and Dad are still running the village though Mum is now official in charge with Dad as her top assistant while your other aunts do their respective things. Speaking of your aunts, Granddad used his new powers to Ascend Auntie Morwyn.

Now having claimed the title of the Just One, Auntie Morwyn has two Aspects to her name, one of Judgement and the other Order. Just as Auntie Gwyn creates and Auntie Arwyn explores, Auntie Morwyn now settles disputes within the village with the backing of Mum and Granddad, making fair judgements on what should happen.

And since you are on the subject of Granddad, he has make a second shrine in Prylake of all places. You are unsure of why he made his second in shrine in Prylake. You would have expected him to do it somewhere nearer to home such as Evalon or Bedywn.

Granddad also brought home that Stag Spirit which Auntie Arwyn found, having bound it to his will very strongly and unlike the Shadow Monster Spirit, the Stag Spirit is not resisting Granddad's control.

Speaking of the shadow monsters, your family's attempts are exteriminating them from the Eastern Hills have been successful. Oh, there is still one or two left here and there from what Auntie Seryn tells you, but the bulk of them are gone even if the Cath Wyrs will be making regular patrols for the next few generations. Auntie Seryn is even thinking of bringing in new villagers to resettle Bedygan.

But none of that concerns you. As you have always done, you will engage in the study of magic.

There are various options open to you. You could go to Evalon to study the natural channels of spiritual magic with Great-Uncle Evatine with the Noble One already tapping into them to increase his own growth. You would also have the option to learn with the other Myrymar.

Another possibility is taking boat to Prylake. You could get water magic from Isorine and the potential knowledge within the usage of water magic are currently unknown to you. Going to Prylake would let you get that magic and knowledge and the fact that the Dywrymar have been around for a good many cycles now means that you will not be starting from scratch.

You could also go to Bedywn and learn about lightning magic and warfare from Aunty Seryn and her Cath Wyrs. While war has yet to draw your main attention, it might be useful to learn how to handle yourself in a fight.

Another alternative is going to Bedygan and experimenting with possibilities that Granddad's new Aspects open up. A village of dead mortals, fallen spirits and dark monsters might be a good place to sniff out any magical applications to usage of Spirits and Death.

Your final option is going to Sangere to study the various blessings in use there in a hopes to understand how the unique magic of each spirit works. If you can figure out how it works, perhaps you could figure out a way to block or reverse it or maybe even make your own spells based off of a spirit's personal supernatural abilities.

But as you get on the boat, wincing slightly at the jiggle of your chest as you sit down, you have already made your decision.

Cycle 24 Perspective?
[] [Cycle] Gwarlon
[] [Cycle] Seryn
[] [Cycle] Cadyl
[] [Cycle] Myrlin

Where does Myrlin go?
[] [Myrlin] Evalon
[] [Myrlin] Prylake
[] [Myrlin] Bedywn
[] [Myrlin] Bedygan
[] [Myrlin] Sangere

 

[Oshha]

"I am glad that you and my brother are getting along better," says Seryn as she and Edryd watch the sunset with each other, "It would have been troublesome if he continued to consider you his enemy."

"He had good reason to hate me," replies Edryd as she leans her head against her lover, "I tried to take him and Wryn as my own personal breeding stock. I wronged him and had yet to make it up to him."

"You changed Sangere so utterly that such foolishness will never happen again," says Seryn, "No more taking multiple wives so they can have your babies each year."

"But I had yet to make it up to him as a person," argues Edryd, "I might have kept my mistakes from being ever being repeated, but I had yet to make up those mistakes that had been committed to him."

"You certainly did make it up to him," says Seryn, "Cadyl definitely enjoyed his time with you. You are quite good in bed."

"Well, I do have plenty of practice and experience," agrees Edryd as she strokes her buxom smugly, "Even if most of it is in a different form to my current one."

"It has just occurred to me that I never actually asked you if you are okay as my Chosen," says Seryn, "I know you would have spoken up by now if you had a problem, but when I imbued you with my power, I never gave you a choice."

"Because I was dying and would have been dead if you had not intervened," points out Edryd, "How many would have died if Porwyll had successfully launched an uprising against my rule? How many would have died if the fighting between Sangere and the other villages had continued? No, I do not mind that you did what you did without getting my consent first. I would have given it anyway and it was all worth it."

"I am just glad that you do not mind being a woman," says Seryn as snuggles up against Edryd.

"Why would I?" replies Edryd with a grin as she rests her head on her lover's shoulder, "Being a woman is awesome! Well, being one of your permanently blessed is awesome if I want to be accurate and I am happy to be a woman. Sure it was weird at first and took some adjustment, but if that is what it takes to be able to crush any mortal warrior with ease or two. Plus being so beautiful is good as well. I am happy to be a tall and busty woman with the strength of five men and the toughness of hard stone and the ability to toss bolts of lightning."

"Most do not mind my blessing for the same reasons," notes Seryn, "Even those who would not normally want to be a woman do not mind that change if it means gaining the benefits of my blessing."

"You have an extremely nice blessing," points out Edryd.

"True, true," agrees Seryn, "Are you up for fornicating with me tonight?"

"When I am not?" replies Edryd, purring at the thought, "Since we are on the subject, when are we going to have kids? While I have many of my own, none of them are yours and frankly, there are too many for me to raise."

"Another evil of the old culture," notes Seryn.

"Yes, it is," agrees Edryd bitterly, "At least it is consigned to history along with the rest of the old culture's evils."

"At least we have done the best that we can with the children," says Seryn, "Spreading them out amongst other families so that their parents, new or old, are able to give them enough attention. It also helps with the issue of Cath Wyrs marrying each other or former male Cath Wyrs sticking with their wives being unable to have kids of their own."

"Speaking of that, how will we have kids?" inquires Edryd, "Will retake my old male form to impregnate you for a bit or shall we find someone to impregnate me?"

"Maybe both?" suggests Seryn, "You could give me a baby to carry and then we could convince Cady to come down here for a visit and do the same with you. Wyrn has certainly left him experience at deed and I feel that you gave him a good enough time when you last fornicated with him that he would be willingly to do so again. Especially if I gave him the kitty eyes."

"I do not mind the idea of Cadyl being the one to give me a child," says Edryd, "I would be honoured to have my friend show me what it is like to be the woman when a man and woman fornicate with each other. Speaking of Cadyl, how is Wyrn coping?"

"Poorly in some respects, but well enough with others," answers Seryn with a frown, "While the Aspect was nothing more than a crystallisation of the loyalty that I already held, giving it formal weight and power, it is more significant for you, Wyrn and others who bear my permanent blessing."

"I figured as much," says Edryd, "I cannot think of going against you in all, but the most impossible contexts, where you would do things that you would never do and opposing you would be loyalty to the true you."

"Wyrn does not even have that," replies Seryn mournfully, "I am unsure of whether or not she realises it, but Wyrn cannot oppose him even if she should do so. Blind loyalty, one of the worst loyalties depending on who follow. While she is safe enough to follow Cadyl, if he were to order to turn a blade on her own children, Wyrn is no longer capable of resisting such a command unless I was to revoke my blessing from her."

"Do you feel the need to do that?" asks Edryd.

"No," answers Seryn instantly, "She is loyal to Cadyl so Wyrn has no reason to fear or worry. But if it was someone else, then she might. It is something I will need to bear in mind for my future chosen, to make sure that their masters are worthy of their loyalty and will not abuse it."

"That make sense," agrees Edryd, "While it might not be a problem now with the people involved, things may and most likely will change in the future."

"Wise words," muses Seryn, "The sunset is a pretty sight tonight. Say, how do you feel about fornicating here and now instead of going to bed?"

"I would say that it sounds like fun," replies Edryd, "Let us do it."

 

[Oshha]

[X][Cycle] Cadyl
[X][Myrlin] Prylake

***​

"So are you going to ask Dad now?" asks Wyrn as your lover holds you again her.

"Tonight," you inform her, "I feel that now is the right time. The last few cycles have been good, the shadow monsters have been dealt as has Sangere while we have been prosperous with new discoveries, more iron spears and tools and strong defences for all villages and increasing trade. We can afford a war now to strengthen ourselves in the future."

You can definitely can afford to convince Dad to allow you to conquer another village. Mum has been encouraging trade between Avawyr, Evalon and Prylake and now Seryn's villages while Uncle Evatine has been producing a lot of iron equipment. The Cath Wyrs number in the thousands now with almost all of them being Lyltymar as well while there is over a thousand iron spears to go around.

Plus most of the villages have a wall with Seryn completing most of Sangere's wooden wall this cycle while only Prylake lacks any wall, even a half-completed one. Dad is spreading his influence with shrines in Avawyr, Evalon, Prylake, Bedywn and Sangere while your sisters are handling other tasks quick well.

With the villages being built up, the threats to them are also at an all time low at the moment. Sangere is no longer an enemy, but a friend while the shadow monsters have been all, but wiped out. Seryn is even planning to start bringing villagers to Bedygan to begin repopulating the village. There may be a threat in the west from Caradawg and the other Cynfanor loyalists, but if there is, there is no sign of it and you see no value in needless worrying.

Meanwhile, the local position is unsecure. You have a hostile Belarsa to the west while to the east there is a hostile and isolationist Blawain while the north has the isolationist, but non-hostile Belamour.

You want to bring those three villages under your control, to secure the control of your people. While Belamour might be persuaded to join peacefully as Prylake did, you have no doubts that Blawain and Belarsa will have to be brought to kneel with violence just as with Bedywn, Bedynn and Sangere.

You have no doubt that the Six Villages have enough strength to force Blawain and Belarsa into submission. You outnumbered them in mortals, mages and spirits greatly and they have nothing that is a match for Seryn as no other spirit in the region has become a goddess like she has. The only question is presenting the plan to Dad and getting him to agree to it. You have already approached Seryn and she has agreed to it and while he has not approved of it, Uncle Evatine has not disapproved of it either.

"So what did Arwyn find this year?" inquires Wyrn, changing the subject to break the silence that has fallen between the two of you.

Your sister has recently been rather successful in her explorations over the last few cycles. First it was the Stag Spirit that Dad has recently brought home along with the pool of unknown magical liquid. Next it was the well of power that she found deep within the mountains east of Avawyr, a natural collection of power that a spirit could drink from to increase their own spiritual weight. While Arwyn drink from it when she first found it, Dad has now reserved it for himself.

And now Arwyn has discovered a vein of metal, different to previously discovered ones. It is the sort of thing that Dad or Uncle Evatine or even some Prydymar or Myrymar should investigate. Arwyn just finds the things for other people to deal with.

"Ore of an unknown metal," you tell Wyrn as you glance at her, "Potentially interesting, but not right now. How are the kids doing?"

"Dyrfyn is getting along well with the other kids of the village while Arthyn is showing signs of natural leadership and a tendency for fighting," replies Wyrn, leaning back a bit to give you an eyeful of her buxom, "That girl is almost certainly going to take after me. Evalyn is hard for me to place. She seems to be taking after Eulyn, but I also see signs of you and to lesser extent, myself, in her. Lyndyl and Cyrlyn are both still too young."

"So are we going for another kid this year?" you ask Wyrn.

"Depends if Dad says no or not," answers Wyrn, "If he agrees to your plans, I am going to be by your side and I cannot do that if I got a baby in my belly. But if he says no, then I wish to have another child."

"That sounds fair," you agree, "So what do we do now?"

"Well, I was thinking that we could enjoy the afternoon a bit," replies Wyrn as she gives you a sly smile and her chest enlarges itself by a bit, "A small session of fornicating with each other before you go and speak with Dad."

***​

You let out a sigh of relief as you head back to your cave after visiting the shrine. With his avatar out of the village, you to speak with him via his shrine, but the talk went well. With your planning of the potential conquests being fully thought out and completed along with the backing of Seryn and Uncle Evatine, Dad gave his permission.

While he was reluctant to agree to something which would cause loss of life, Dad acknowledged that Blawain and Belarsa were unreliable wildcards that may grow into threats that need to be dealt with and that merely talking with them was unlikely to work.

Combine that with the fact that you had more than enough martial might to bring victory over the hostile and you were his son and proved your character in his eyes, Dad saw no proper grounds on which to deny your request.

Given how the Cold Season has already come, you will need to wait until at least the Growth Season before any conquest can be launched. Which suits you just fine as you will need time to put your plans into action, gather the necessary supplies and rally Seryn and her Cath Wyrs to action.

Now you just have to tell Wyrn the good news.

Cycle 25 Perspective?
[] [Cycle] Wyrn
[] [Cycle] Cadyl

Give Edryd a child?
[] [Edryd] Yes.
[] [Edryd] No.
[] [Edryd] Write-in.

Acquire Seryn's Blessing again?
[] [Seryn] Yes. You will need the advantage that it will provide you.
[] [Seryn] No. You will do this without your sister's blessing.
[] [Seryn] Write-in.

Which village do you bring into the fold first?
[] [Conquest] Blawain. The village in the Northern Hills is isolated and pinned in. With only a single spirit and no mages, you can bring in forces from all sides and surround the village before pressing in.
[] [Conquest] Belarsa. With two spirits with Aspects relating to the local terrain and far enough out that reaching it will not be easy as it is with Blawain, Belarsa will be the toughest village to take. Best to get it done and out of the way first.
[] [Conquest] Belamour. Unlike the other two villages, you do not plan to take Belamour by force, but persuade Trevritine and the Belamourish to peacefully submit just as Prylake did.

 

[Oshha]

Cycle 24 Map



Green = The Six Villages
Yellow = Belamour
Orange = Blawain
Aqua = Belarsa

 

[Oshha]

[X][Cycle] Wyrn
[X][Edryd] Yes.
[X][Seryn] No. You will do this without your sister's blessing.
[X][Conquest] Belamour. Unlike the other two villages, you do not plan to take Belamour by force, but persuade Trevritine and the Belamourish to peacefully submit just as Prylake did.

***​

"How do you plan to take Belamour?" you ask Cadyl as he looks through your records.

"Through diplomacy, peaceful talks and negotiations," answers Cadyl, "Belamour is the only village that we can possible gain without violence or even talk to without violence. I intend to make good on that opportunity to get the village without bloodshed and death."

"Sounds like you will not need me for that," you note.

"The emotional support that you provide will be useful and if the Belamourish do turn out to be hostile, I will be very glad to have you there with me," replies Cadyl, "I have had you at my side for too long to imagine not having you there."

"Same," you agree, "What are you looking for?"

"Nothing in particular," answers your lover as he looks at another record, "I am just familiarising myself with the information. It is not that I do not trust you to do them properly, but as the person in charge, I feel that I ought to have some awareness of the logistics and what we got available. Speaking of which, I am quite impressed by the work you got done."

"Thank you," you reply, pleased at the compliment, "I am the best at doing this stuff just as Myrlin is the best at magic. It also helped a lot that we have more than enough food. We could lose half of our supplies and have still have no shortage with all of the the pots that Gwyn has been making and blessing."

"Speaking of Myrlin," says Cadyl, "I was unable to convince him to join us."

"He does not want to come?" you say.

"Not quite," replies Cadyl, "He is unsure of which. He does not exactly want to come with us, but at the same time, he also does not want to not come with us. He can not seem to decide which he is going to do."

"And if he remains undecided, he will default to not coming with us," you finish and Cadyl confirms your assessment with a nod, "What do you plan to do?"

"I was hoping that you could talk to him," admits Cadyl, "I know that you are not the best at that sort of stuff, but I believe that you might be able to get through to him one way or another."

"Either I persuade him with words or with fornication," you translate Cadyl's hidden meaning with a wry smile.

"Yes," admits Cadyl, "You do not mind that? You have been complaining about the lack of it."

"Well if someone had not decided to be a fool and got without his sister's blessing, then I might be able to get regular fornication without having to worry about getting pregnant halfway through the campaign," you grumble, "But seriously Cadyl, going into battle without Seryn's blessing is like going into battle without a weapon. You can technically do it, but it is dumb and foolish and there is no good reason to do so. You are being an idiot just to prove some dumb point."

"We are not having this argument again," says Cadyl firmly with an uncharacteristic hint of annoyance and you shut up.

"How long do you think the kids will go without us?" you ask, changing the subject.

"Three cycles hopefully," answers Cadyl, "I am planning to take a single cycle to take each village though I am willingly to take longer if unforeseen problems are encountered."

"Arthyn and Dyrfyn will be six when we get back," you mutter, "Even if we are gone for four or fix cycles, we should be back in time for most of their childhood."

"Yes, we will," Cadyl reassures you.

"Unless one of us dies on the battlefield," you say, "You know, if you were to-"

"Drop it dear," Cadyl cuts you off, "It is not happening."

"If you do risk death or permanent injury, I will do it or Seryn herself will," you tell him, "We are not just about to let you get yourself killed out of pride."

"I know," mutters Cadyl, "How many Cath Wyrs did Edryd bring with him?"

"Eight hundred and fifty," you answer.

"Good," says Cadyl perking up at the news, "That increases the size of our army almost threefold. I always knew that the Sangerish would make up most of our army, but it is nice to see the actual numbers. I take you handled supplying all of them?"

"Yes," you answer, "I made sure that we have enough food, clothing and other supplies for everyone and I was even able to acquire enough iron spears for all of the Cath Wyrs coming with us."

"Good work," says Cadyl and you beam at the compliment.

***​

"Get back here Myrlin!" you cry as chase after the fleeing woman as she walks away from you as quickly as possible without outright running.

"I have business to attend to," calls back Myrlin, but you do not let him escape so easily.

While Myrlin might not be willingly to actually run, you are under no such reluctance and you dart forwards and pounce on Myrlin, pinning her to the ground as she gives out a startled yelp.

"Let us talk Myrlin," you say, giving Myrlin a dangerous smile as you turn her around so the two of you can look each other in the eye, "What was that about you implying that you did not find me attractive?"

"I do find you attractive!" replies a panicked Myrlin, "It is just that…"

"I am offering to fornicate with you," you state as Myrlin trails off, "Do you not want to fornicate with me? If you do not, I will drop the matter now and settle for you admitting that I am incredibly beautiful and attractive."

"I do not, well, not want to fornicate with you," admits Myrlin, "And you are very beautiful and attractive, but…"

"But you have no done it before," you finish, realising how Myrlin is feeling, "You want to, but are extremely nervous due to having never done it before. That is okay. I can deal with that."

"But what about Cadyl?" asks Myrlin, but you just smile at him.

"He does not mind and Seryn would not mind if you bed Edryd sometime," you reply, "Nobody in our family will object to sharing with another family member. Speaking of which, I am willingly to fornicate with you regardless of whether or not you come with me and Cadyl."

"Urr, okay," replies Myrlin, "Will Cadyl mind?"

"Not at all," you reassure him, "He actually suggested that I make this offer to you. I need to find someone else who I can fornicate with him. You cannot believe how pissed I am at him not becoming a girl. I cannot sleep with him when he is a male without risking getting pregnant."

"Um, my sympathies," mutters Myrlin, "I guess I will take you up on your offer at some point."

"Great," you reply before remembering the reason you came to speak with Myrlin the first place, "So speaking about the campaign, are you coming and if not, what can I do to convince you?"

"Let me practice some spells on you without complaint once we are done with the conquests and I will come along," answers Myrlin, "Please could you get off me now?"

"Sure thing!" you say and you sit upright letting go of Myrlin, "I will see you around."

***​

"I am glad that went well," you say to Cadyl as the two of you lie next to each other in makeshift bed that you share in your camp.

"Me too," agrees Cadyl, "I am glad that Trevritine was reasonable."

"Thankfully, we had Seryn on our side," you say.

"Yes and she managed to get us a nonviolent solution for once," says Cadyl and you give him a light slap, "Hey! What was that for?"

"Do not talk about your sister that way," you rebuke him, "She has helped out plenty of times in nonviolent ways."

"True," admits Cadyl, "I just wish it was something other than beautiful cat girls which convinced Trevritine and the Belamourish to join us."

"It was the only thing we had to offer them," you say, "They had good harvest so food was uninteresting them. They have no enemies or other threats so our offer of protection was not enough to sway them fully over. As for trade, they have survived well enough without it so it makes sense that they saw no value in it when we offered it. But beautiful and strong woman, well, that is already something they value, but have limited and uncontrollable access to. When we or rather Seryn offered it, no woman would turn down the chance to be beautiful and powerful and no man would reject the chance to have a strong, beautiful wife."

"I am aware," replies Cadyl, "I just wish it was not so."

"Strong and beautiful cat girls are just that awesome," you tell him, pushing your chest against him, "Or did you need a reminder?"

"Not tonight Wyrn," replies your lover, "I need to think about what are going to do next."

"As you wish," you say, "I will go and look at our current logistical situation."

Second Half of Cycle 25 Perspective?
[] [Cycle] Wyrn
[] [Cycle] Cadyl

While he is a man, you cannot fornicate with him without risking an unwanted pregnancy
[] [Lustful] Attempt to convince Cadyl to be a woman for the duration of the campaign.
[] [Lustful] Leave him be and make do with Edryd and Myrlin.
[] [Lustful] Write-in.

The Sun Season has ended and the Harvest Season has begun
[] [Season] You begin to move on the next village right away.
[] [Season] You wait until the start of the next cycle before moving on the next village.
[] [Season] Write-in.

Which village do you bring into the fold next?
[] [Conquest] Blawain. The village in the Northern Hills is isolated and pinned in. With only a single spirit and no mages, you can bring in forces from all sides and surround the village before pressing in.
[] [Conquest] Belarsa. With two spirits with Aspects relating to the local terrain and far enough out that reaching it will not be easy as it is with Blawain, Belarsa will be the toughest village to take. Best to get it done and out of the way first.

Cadyl's Army
Cadyl
Seryn the Mighty One, Goddess of War, Beauty and Women
Wyrn
Edryd the Master
Myrlin
935 Cath Wyrs

 

[Oshha]

[X][Cycle] Cadyl
[X][Lustful] Attempt to convince Cadyl to be a woman for the duration of the campaign.
[X][Season] You begin to move on the next village right away.
[X][Conquest] Blawain. The village in the Northern Hills is isolated and pinned in. With only a single spirit and no mages, you can bring in forces from all sides and surround the village before pressing in.

***​

"Do we still have enough supplies to launch the attack in the midst of the Cold Season?" you ask Wyrn as you gaze at the snow as enough has fallen to cover the ground in a thin layer of snow and it will only get worse as the season progresses.

While you could withdraw and wait until the Cold Season ends and the Growth Season begins, you are certain that your own warriors will fare better in the cold than their Blawainish counterparts. You certainly do not expect the Blawainish to be prepared for an attack on them during the Cold Season.

That said, you did originally hope to arrive during the Harvest Season and launch an attack on Blawain while the Blawainish were collecting their harvest. But even with Wyrn organising everything, your armies did not arrive in place until the start of the Cold Season. Still, it could have been worst as if it was not for Wyrn's hard work, you would not have arrived until mid-Cold Season and Wyrn's logistical skill is the only reason why you are not running low on supplies.

You are grateful for her efforts and when you expressed that gratitude to her, your lover promptly used it to convince you to let her turn you into a woman for the duration of the campaign. You do not particularly mind even if you had originally hoped to do this without your sister's blessing.

Foolish and prideful, you know, but you did hope that using Seryn's blessing would not be needed.

While she can still give potent blessings of the Mighty One, Wyrn is not your sister and can only give you a major blessing and not make you a Chosen of Seryn like you used to be.

Nonetheless, you have the strength and toughness of a warrior once again along with the feminine beauty that comes along with it. The latter is not a problem, but after spending several cycles as a man, you will need to readjust to being a woman.

"Yes," answers Wyrn from behind you, "We got enough supplies for everyone. Do not worry love, I have it all handled."

You have about five hundred Cath Wyrs with you and Wyrn to launch an assault on Blawain from the north while Seryn, Edryd and Myrlin have another five hundred Cath Wyrs in the south to launch another attack from a second direction. While you had to leave a couple hundred Cath Wyrs behind at Belamour, you were able to pick up another two hundred over the Harvest Season.

"Good," you say, gazing at the snow, "Hopefully this will be a quick conquest and we can be back home in time for the Growth Season."

"I hope so too," says Wyrn.

You stand there for a moment, silently watching the snow before giving a feminine squeak as Wyrn grabs your breast from behind and squeezes.

"W-what are you doing Wyrn?" you demand as your lover pushes her chest up against your back.

"It has just occurred to me that I never got to fondle your breasts," purrs Wyrn as she gives another squeeze, "You mind indulging me for a bit before we go into battle?"

"I do not see why not," you reply as you glance over your shoulder her, "Will we bed each other tonight as well?"

"I would like to," answers Wyrn, giving you a warm smile which you have no trouble returning.

***​

The fighting started alright, your Cath Wyrs moving up in various packs, iron spears at the front while archers were behind them. A couple groups of Blawainish scouts got eliminated and a couple of civilians were captured with a Cath Wyr escorting them back to your camp.

But then you ran into Orcante, everything went horribly wrong. In hindsight, you should have brought Myrlin with you so you would have someone capable of matching a spirit in a supernatural duel, but you and the others figured that Wyrn with be enough to take out any spirit in a fight.

And if it was a physical fight, then you doubt that Orcante would have bested Wyrn, but the Blawainish Spirit did not fight with physical might. Despite the Blawainish having no mages, magic appears to not be unknown to them as you have previously assumed. Whether or not Orcante did not know how to grant the ability to use magic to others or simply decided to keep his magic to himself, the Blawainish Spirit had no shortage of magical prowess.

Appearing in the midst of your force with no warning, he unleashed a barrage of bolts made from raw spiritual energy. Reeling from the sudden and unexpected attack, Orcante was effectively unresisted as he reveals his powerful and incredible dangerous earth magic.

To your horror, he had mastered the art of growing stone and improved it further as not only could he grow stone, but he could turn other things into stone with his earth magic.

Including the flesh, bone and blood of living beings such as your warriors. You almost freeze as the Cath Wyrs around are turned into statues as their bodies become stone. Ignoring their panicked and scared cries for help, you move to rush Orcante, using your own earth magic to resist the magic of Orcante.

You do not reach Orcante. Instead Wyrn grabs you and uses her superhuman strength to toss you clear of the battlefield.

Your last sight of your lover is of her stiffening in place as her body slowly turns from flesh to stone, words of her declaring her love for you barely leaving her mouth in time with only her iron sword and breastplate remaining unaffected by Orcante's twisted and evil magic.

You land on your feet as all cats do, clutching your drawn iron sword in one hand.

What do you do?
[] Retreat. Wyrn sacrificed herself to give you a chance at getting away. You cannot belittle her sacrifice and you cannot hope to take on Orcante today.
[] Charge. You can save Wyrn and the others. Your earth magic is strong enough to fend off Orcante and you are the Chosen of the Great One and the Noble One, you can wield a holy sword against an inhuman spirit and triumph.
[] Write-in.

Cadyl's Northern Army Remnants
Cadyl
??? Cath Wyrs

Blawainish Forces
Orcante the Evil
???

 

[Oshha]

[X] Charge. You can save Wyrn and the others. Your earth magic is strong enough to fend off Wyrn and you are the Chosen of the Great One and the Noble One, you can wield a holy sword against an inhuman spirit and triumph.

***​

Wyrn might have sacrificed herself to give you a chance to save yourself, but saving yourself means abandoning her and everyone else who fell victim to Orcante's perverted earth magic. You cannot let yourself just flee and leave the love of your life to die even if it means risking death alongside her.

Gripping your iron sword, you charge back into the fray. With superhuman speed granting to you by the Blessing of the Mighty One, you easily make your way through the stone statues that were once your Cath Wyrs.

You can feel the power that you wield vibrating as your spiritual power becomes the most active that you have ever felt it. You have the usual might and strength that the Blessing of the Mighty One grants you, allowing your transcending the limitations of mortal warriors, but you also have the fact that you are Chosen of the Great One and the Noble One showing.

The eldest two spirits, your Dad's power strengthens you as you fight to protect your family and face down with a spirit while Uncle Evatine's empowers you as you wield a sword and face down a nonhuman as a human.

And you have magic and while you might not be as practiced in a pair of magic as Orcante is, you wield twice as many.

Imbuing the blade of your sword with lightning magic and spiritual power, you stab into the right eye of an unprepared Orcante and discharge the energies within your blade into Orcante.

Howling with pain, the Blawainish Spirit sends out a shockwave of magical energy from his body in all directions and at such a close range, you are blown back. Flying through the air, you keep a firm grip on your sword and once again you land on your feet.

You get a good look at your foe. Orcante's avatar is a tall man with the bulky, muscular build of a hardworking farmer. He has a lighter shade of brown hair that does not go down past his neck while his remaining eye is a dark brown with a spark of blue power within it while the blood leaking from his right eye is still the normal red of human, but tinted with a hint of lightning blue.

Still reeling from your initial strike, you attempt to hamstring Orcante from behind with your iron sword. The spirit does not see you coming until it is almost too late and even he almost fends you off with inhuman speed and strength.

But you have inhuman ability from your sister's blessing and with the power of the Great One and the Noble One following through your body, you manage to strike the flesh of the back of Orcante's leg, dropping him to his knee.

As you expected of a spirit, Orcante quickly heals himself, restoring his eye and leg even through both injuries would only slow him down than outright cripple himself. You know from exposure to your family that fighting a spirit means wearing them down until they run out of spiritual energy to sustain themselves, heal their avatar and use their powers. There will be no lucky strike or fatal blow to end this duel early for you.

Glaring at you, Orcante forms a sickle to his left hand and a hoe in his right, creating both using magic and leaving both made of raw spiritual energy shaped into physical form. This leaves you certain that he has another type of magic outside of earth, this one unknown to you.

Both of you charge the other. Orcante attempts to use earth magic to knock you off your feet and you are barely successful in blocking him with your own earth magic. You send a bolt of lightning at him, but your foe blocks it with his own bolt of shaped magic.

The two of you made contact and you easily parry the swing of Orcante's sickle. Striking at your foe with your sword, you deflect the hoe before cleaving open Orcante's chest with your iron blade.

Letting out a yelp of pain, Orcante tries to counterattack or at least fend you off, but you are having none of it. You slash Orcante across the neck and attempt to fire off another lightning bolt, but he blocks the latter with a last-minute barrier of shaped magical energy.

Orcante scrambles backwards, expending more energy to heal himself. Rather than let you close again, where you will have the advantage in melee, Orcante attempts to strike you down with a blasted for raw magical energy. You use void magic to render Orcante's attack non-existent it flies towards you, reducing it to ambient energy.

Catching Orcante off-guard with your countering of his attack, you charge him again. Unable to react in him, you slice his left arm in two before bringing your blade down to split the flesh of his leg open. Not slowing down, you move past Orcante and attempt to stike him in the back with a burst of lightning, but he absorbs it with another magical shield.

As you prepare for another attack, you feel a new form of magic entering you from your connection with Uncle Evatine and it is almost instantly followed by another one from Dad.

Light and Darkness. Light Magic and Darkness Magic, making you now both a Gylymar and Tywlymar.

Embracing your newly gain magic, you unleash a darkness, engulfing both you and Orcante. While your foe is blindsided by the suddenly blackness and unable to see, between the your cat eyes, a minor bit of your light magic to pick out what little light remains and the fact that you are responsible for the darkness, you are almost entirely unaffected.

Orcante lights up a hand with the blue light of shaped magical energy, but all it does is give you a target as you use void magic to render Orcante's magic inert as you slice his hand off at the wrist.

Regrowing the lost limb almost instantly, Orcante looks around for you as you draw upon all of your magic and gifted power. Execedding your own reserves and drawing upon the energy of the Great One and the Noble One via your connections to him, you channel your spiritual energy and will into your iron sword, you reshape it as you imbue with the ability to hold and channel spiritual energy at a core level of its existence.

Aiming your blade at Orcante as he fumbles about in the darkness, you infuse the blade with light and lightning, with darkness and void. You hold it for a moment as your blade soaks in your borrowed energy before aiming at Orcante as he attempts to disperse your magic with his own power.

With a cry of raw fury and determination, you let loose the power gathered within your blade into a beam of magical might, right at the chest of Orcante.

You do not miss.

The beam of four magics strikes home, ripping apart Orcante's chest in a colour burst of colours, golden-white for light, midnight-black for darkness, the white-blue of lightning and the silvery-black of void.

Your attack would have destroyed any mortal without chance of survival and even Seryn would struggle to withstand such an attack. As it is, Orcante is between the two with his avatar mostly destroyed and he has to expend no small amount of power to restore it.

You do not give him the chance to finish recovering. Charging him, you blast with half a dozen bolts of lightning and light as the darkness begins to fade. Orcante attempts to block them again, but you take out his magical shields with your void magic. Reeling from the lightning bolts and still not fully recovered from your beam strike, Orcante is unable to react as you ram your blade into his half-formed avatar.

Channelling your void magic, you unleash it against his avatar, forcing it into non-existent.

With Orcante vanquished, you do not waste any more time. Reaching out with your father's power, you look about into the spiritual aura of the area. As expected after such a major battle, the local area is rife with spiritual energy. You also sense a handful of surviving Cath Wyrs, but do your grief, none of the Cath Wyrs who fell victim to Orcante's evil survived, their souls having left the statues that were once their bodies.

But Wyrn…your beloved Wyrn is barely holding on. While her body is no longer living and she should not be either, your wife is barely remaining attached to her stone body via her sheer dint of spiritual weight and power.

With a chance at saving her, you will not let her escape her grasp. Channelling your father's spiritual abilities and your earth magic, you bind Wyrn's spirit to her stone body, anchoring her soul to her non-living body using your Dad's Aspects of Spirit and Death and enforcing with the Aspects of Fatherhood and the Chief while Wyrn's Loyalty, Strength and other various Aspects make it much easier.

At the end, you have fully brought back Wyrn to the plane of the living. Tapping into your earth magic, you attempt to restore Wyrn's body to mobility, but you pause before doing so.

Earth is of Avawyr and has been tainted by Orcante's actions and Metal is of Evalon as is Wyrn. Making the decision, you attempt to repeat what Orcante did so evilly and in great number by turning her stone body into one of iron.

With your own ability to use both earth and metal magic and Wyrn aiding you with her own magic, you are successful in converting Wyrn's body into iron. From there, it is a simple step to grant Wyrn's body the ability to move on its own once again.

As your lover begins to move of her own accord once more, you let out a choked sob of joy and throw your arms around her, hugging Wyrn close to you.

Orcante has been defeated. Wyrn has been saved. Your northern army has been shattered. What do you do now?
[] Pull back to regroup and trust Seryn and the others in the south to carry the day.
[] Push the advantage while Orcante is weakened and still reeling.
[] Write-in.

 

[Oshha]

[X] Push the advantage while Orcante is weakened and still reeling.

***​

As you hold your now-iron wife against you, you enjoy the feel of her body against you even as you take in your current situation.

To be frank, it is not looking good. You have lost at least a few hundred Cath Wyrs to Orcante, leaving you with then less than half of your initial force, maybe even less than a quarter. You have expended no small amount of power, having completely drained your own reserves of spiritual power and having to draw on a significant amount of Dad's and Uncle Evatine's via your connection to both of them. Thankfully, both of them let you draw upon their power without restriction despite knowing nothing of your circumstances.

Still while your situation isn't a good one, it does not exist in a vacuum and given the current circumstances, you would hesitate to call your position a bad one. While your situation is highly good, Orcante and the Blawainish are in a far worst position. You still have yourself, Wyrn and a decent amount of Cath Wyrs while you have no doubts that your sister and the southern force had had much better success than you, especially if Orcante was not able to do anything to stem their advance.

Meanwhile Orcante has just lost his avatar and most of his spiritual power. While he can no doubt rebuild his reserves in time, there will take at least a few weeks and right now, he is incredible vulnerable after what you did to him.

So while your own situation is hardly good, your enemy's situation is so much worse to the point that it arguably makes your own one look good. Making your decision, you decide to press onwards as it is unlikely that you will get a chance to crush Orcante like this again.

With that issue dealt with you, you need to deal with your more immediate issue of Wyrn and just what exactly has happened to her and what she currently is.

"Can you save the others?" asks Wyrn quietly.

"No," you answer mournfully, "I was only able to save you because as a Chosen of Evatine, your humanity resisted Orcante's attempts to take it. The others are all gone, passed onto the next life, leaving only their bodies except as statues rather than corpses."

"I see," replies Wyrn, "I will make their legacies one of metal rather than earth so Orcante may not taint their remains with his own magic. You will not as you are exhausted. I know enough to tell that you are using gifted power after running out of your own."

"Wyrn," you say, "How are you?"

"What am I?" says Wyrn, giving voice to the question that you leave unspoken, "I am not sure. I am no longer human, not physically at least, and I do not feel like a mortal anymore. Spirit perhaps? I am certain that I am spirit though I am not sure how to explain it. You just sort know because I can tell that I am not a mortal anymore. Definitely not now that I am looking at things. I am certain that you used Dad's power to ascend me just he did with Morwyn."

"Will you be wanting Blawain as your village then?" you ask.

You are not entirely sure how to feel with your wife no longer being a mortal like you, but as Dad and Mum along with Seryn and Edryd, there is not any problems with a mortal and spirit loving each other.

"Probably," replies Wyrn, "It would be nice to have my own village provided that the locals are not too much trouble."

"And what about your body?" you ask, "What is it?"

"We both know that it is entirely iron," answers Wyrn, "But at the same time, I can still feel everything as normal even through I am no longer flesh and blood. Well, not quite normal. Touch feels a bit different as if I am part metal, which is sort of odd, because I would expect things to feel as if I am fully metal like I am. My emotions have not changed at all either and even as my body is no longer human, I still feel entirely human in my spirit and mind."

"Spirit of Man," you mutter, "Your connection to Uncle Evatine must have let the rest of you remain human even as your body is entirely iron and you have ascended to spirithood."

"You are so right," states Wyrn as the two of you end your tight embrace, pulling back to look at each other, but still holding onto each other at the same time, "Do you want to know my Aspects? None of them are particularly strong, but I got a decent handful of them."

"Do you know what your Aspects are?" you inquire.

"I just sort of know what they are," answers Wyrn with a shrug, "Like knowing how to breathe, which I just realised that I no longer need to do that. Anyway, I got an Aspect of Man as you guessed along with an Aspect of Metal, which makes sense given what my body is currently like. I also got a bonus to swords with my Aspect of Metal? It is hard to explain. I have not got an Aspect of the Sword like the Noble One does, but I retain some of sword-boost from when I was Chosen of the Noble One under my Aspect of Metal. Like with my Aspect of the Warrior. I have definitely retained some of Seryn's blessing under my Aspect of the Warrior.

I have another three Aspects as well. An Aspect of Loyalty like Seryn does and an Aspect of Love like Mum does. I think it should be obvious to you why I have those Aspects. My final Aspect is from Orcante. An Aspect of Ether, it boosts both my spiritual energy reserves and my generation of spiritual energy while also granting me access to Ether Magic. Oh, I still have all of my old magic plus Light Magic from the Noble One and have not lost them upon becoming a spirit. Hey Cadyl, do you want to receive my blessing?"

"I would be honoured," you tell your lover with a smile.

Wyrn makes her response not with words, but with a kiss. You initial recoil at sudden feeling of the metal against your lips, you soon relax your lover's power flows into you. Your love for Wyrn and desire for body is strengthen while you feel physically stronger and you gain access to another set of magic, one which you vaguely recognise as being what Orcante wielded against you. The others have no noticeable effect, which makes sense to you as you already have blessings with those Aspects.

"You okay?" asks Wyrn as she pulls her head back.

"Yeah," you reply, "It feel weird initially with you being metal and all, but now I have no problems with your body being entirely iron."

"I decided to use my Aspect of Love to make sure you were attracted to my body," admits Wyrn, "Sorry about that."

"It is fine," you answer, "It will probably solve some issues between us."

"Thanks," says Wyrn, "By the way, I think you should take my iron breastplate. I know it was your wedding gift to me, but I do not need it anymore and while you do not exactly need it either, it would be a lot more useful for you than I now."

"That makes sense," you agree as Wyrn takes off her breastplate and hands it to you.

"Are we going after Orcante?" asks Wyrn as you begin to put on the breastplate, "I want to make him pay for what he did."

"Yes," you answer as you begin to put on the breastplate, "We have the advantage and Orcante has never been weaker. We need to press the attack while we have the upper hand and Orcante does not have the chance to recover."

"Then shall I get to work on my task while you rally our surviving forces?" suggests Wyrn as the two of you let go of each other and Seryn's Blessing reshapes your new breastplate so it looks beautiful on you, which has the nice effect of making it fit you perfectly, "It looks good on you."

"Thanks," you say as Wyrn walks past you and then let out a squeak as she gropes your butt on her way past.

***​

It went well enough with Wyrn making the statues of the fallen into metal that Orcante could not easily alter with his magic while you gathered the remaining Cath Wyrs and explained the situation to them. You informed them both of your decision to attack Blawain while Orcante was still weaken and how you were unable to save their followers with Wyrn only being saveable due to being a Chosen of the Noble One.

You were able to rally only ninety-eight Cath Wyrs with just shy of three hundred having been turned to stone by Orcante. That left just over a hundred who managed to escape and you do not have time to track them down.

Leading your surviving warriors south, you strike at Blawain itself. As you make your way through the hills, Blawainish hunters attempt to slow you down or at least thin your numbers, but they are no match for your force and they are all killed with ease.

When you reach Blawain itself, you find it under attack by Seryn and the southern force, of whom all of them are alive. Joining the assault, the battle is soon overrun as the surviving handful of Blawainish warriors and hunters are killed along with the militia that the villagers tried to form in a last ditch defence of their village.

With no avatar and having expended the last of spiritual energy in an attempt to unleash an earthquake on the southern force that got foiled by Myrlin, Orcante can offer no meaningful resistance.

The death of the Blawainish Spirit is a quiet, pitiful affair. He is your foe and he slew many of your people, but there is no fiery rage or joyous triumph. Just as a sad acknowledge of another a foe's death, one he was too weak and helpless to prevent.

With her greater skill at such deeds, it was Seryn who slew Orcante, but your sister shares the energy with Wyrn, arguing that the younger spirit requires the boost more than she does.

Once Blawain is capture, Orcante is slain and explanations have been given, all that is left is to divide up the spoils and determine what happens next.

Orcante is dead and Blawain has been captured. What do you with the village?
[] [Blawain] Let Wyrn claim the village as her own for she needs a home base now that she is a spirit.
[] [Blawain] Show no mercy to the wretched Blawainish. Kill them all, take the children to be adopted by your own people and burn the village to the ground.
[] [Blawain] Write-in.

While it will take time to reorganise your force, how shall you handle the conquest of Belarsa?
[] [Belarsa] Approach via the East River.
[] [Belarsa] Approach via the South River.
[] [Belarsa] Approach via the South Fields before crossing the South River.
[] [Belarsa] Approach via the Bydi Forest.
[] [Belarsa] Write-in. (Use this to pick a mixture of the above options)

 

[Oshha]

[X] [Blawain] Let Wyrn claim the village as her own for she needs a home base now that she is a spirit.

***​

Revenge is not a happy thing nor a thing to be desired. It is in the aftermath of Blawain's capture that you realise that. Orcante is dead and the over twice as many Blawainish died as Cath Wyrs did.

And yet you feel nothing, but emptiness. Nothing will undo the deaths of your warriors and no amount of Blawainish killed in turn will relieve the ache that you feel. If anything, it makes you feel worse as all you are doing is removing more lives from this world.

The fight for Blawain has given you perspective and you feel more in touch with Dad. You have gained an appreciation for his views on life, death and the taking of life, something that you did not realise you lacked until you no longer lacked it.

As for the fate of Blawain, you let Wyrn claim it. Seryn, Dad and everybody did not contest her and almost all of them supported it. Setting up her shrine in the centre of the village, Wyrn takes swift action to dealing with the upset, fearful and ultimately disloyal populace of her new village.

With the Cath Wyrs making sure that they all came within range of her shrine, Wyrn used her Aspect of Loyalty to impose loyalty to her upon all of the Blawainish survivors. With her Aspect of Man helping interact with these humans, Wyrn was able to render any last Blawainish man, woman and child completely loyal to her, willingly to follow her every command and lay down their lives for her.

You are unsure of how to feel about it. On the one hand, it is easily solves the problem of dealing with the unhappy populace of a conquered village. On the other hand, the whole altering of one's mind creeps you out. Having Wyrn reinforce your love for her so her new body did not weaken what you had before is one thing, but having someone's entire loyalty be rewritten?

Still, Wyrn is loyal to you and it is something of an open secret at this point that she is not capable of disobeying you or otherwise going up against you, so you definitely have some say over what she does with the Blawainish. You just have to decide on how you will have Wyrn command the Blawainish if you excise your influence at all.

Speaking of Wyrn, your wife has picked up on your sadness and general state of mild upset and has been doing her best to relieve it. Part of that is her old standby of fornication, which is odd now with her new body. While her new body is iron, Wyrn's new nature means that it does not act like iron. She can feel emotions and the physical world like everyone else whilst controlling the physical make up of her body with her Aspect of Metal. She can make it softer and flexible so it yields like flesh under your grip rather than remaining cold and unmoving like mundane iron.

It makes for interesting nights in bed through the two of you have yet to test if Wyrn can still get pregnant.

Otherwise, Wyrn attempts to make life more comfortable and enjoyable for you, providing you with that luxuries and good views of her body. She even attempts to spar with you, but every duel ends with your defeat as you are no where near as good as your wife even if your skill has increased during this campaign.

Even as Wyrn attempts to cheer up you, you find yourself split between organising Blawain after the conquest and preparing for the invasion of Belarsa in the Sun Season. Seryn and Edryd help with rallying troops from the villages to replenish your losses while Dad and Mum help integrate the Belamourish into rest of the nation.

With the aid of your family, something which you are grateful for, you are focus on planning the invasion of Belarsa. The last village in the region which has not fallen under the rule of your people, Belarsa will be tough to take. It has earned fear of outsiders and is prepared accordingly whilst also having two active spirits, who control most of the terrain around Belarsa between the two of them.

With that in mind, you feel like making the approach via East River. Doing so should allow you to approach Belarsa via the hills and grasslands and avoid the terrains which the Belarish spirits will have the advantage. While the most time-consuming and taking the most unknown path, you will it is worth it.

As for the forces available to you, you have a thousand and four hundred Cath Wyrs joining you and Wyrn has barely scraped together enough boats, iron spears, food and other supplies for the force. You will also have Arwyn joining you this time around as she wants to explore the coastline of the East River that you will be passing through. Seryn is coming along, but due to a growing baby belly, she is planning to refrain from personal fighting if possible and command from behind the front whilst leaving Arwyn and Wyrn to handle the hostile spirits that you will encounter. Edryd is also saying behind as while her blessings will compensate for the limitations of her own pregnancy, Edryd does not want to risk anything happening to her child and is electing to remain in Avawyr for the conquest of Belarsa, where your family will look after her.

Myrlin is also coming along and he has convinced you and Wyrn to take the lull between campaigns to assist him with experiments. While he originally planned to have Wyrn help him try out some new spells and theories, your nephew is now taking the opportunity to help Wyrn figure out what is capable of.

The most interesting bit is their attempts at replicating what you did to your iron sword, which you have taken to calling Forged Will due to how you reforged in the middle of battle using your sheer willpower instead of any skill or planning.

The end results are Wyrn's iron swords becoming Iron Bolt and Iron Bright. Beyond the usual blessings that all of Uncle Evatine's swords have, Wyrn's swords are known superior when being wielded by female, especially if the female is a warrior, loyal or beautiful so which pretty much describes any one of your people's warriors.

Both swords also passively generate magic, lightning magic for Iron Bolt and light magic for Iron Bright, and that magical energy can be discharged from the blade. And by discharge, you mean magical attacks.

Other bits end up involving you as for some of it, a second person is required.

***​

"You want me to do what?" you ask as Wyrn and Myrlin stand in front of you.

"I want you to wear me as armour," repeats Wyrn, "I can change my body into other forms as long as they remain metal and are mostly human. When we tested it earlier, I was able to hollow out my body into full-body iron armour, but nobody has tried to me in that form. I wanted you to the first one to wear me."

"And you think this is a good idea?" you ask Myrlin, looking past your wife to stare at your nephew.

"It is an idea," answers Myrlin with a shrug, "I have no clue if it is good or bad."

"And you want to do this?" you say to your wife as you turn your attention back to Wyrn.

"Just try it once for vetoing it," replies Wyrn, "If it works, it means that I can protect you properly and you will be much stronger and tougher in battle. You have far better protection and I will always be there to defend you."

"Are you sure that this is safe?" you ask.

"Perfectly," answers Wyrn, "I have already taken this form a few times now."

"Wyrn's avatar is not like her body," says Myrlin, "When you strip away all that she does with it, her avatar is nothing more than iron controlled by her spiritual Aspect of Metal. The fact that it acts like a human body is nothing more than Wyrn leveraging her old instincts, experience and Aspect of Man to achieve such results. If she wishes to take a different form with her avatar, it is perfectly safe. And quite frankly, this is the safest way to learn about this new form of magic because a spirit can do things without suffering the same risks as a mortal and unlike the rest of the spirits in our family, Wyrn can actually do stuff like this."

"So it is safe?" you ask, already knowing what the answer will be, but still reluctant to agree to this.

"Yes," answers Wyrn swiftly, "What is your problem with this?"

"I find the idea of wearing my wife to be…" you admit, unsure how to describe it.

"It will be fine," insists Wyrn, "I can protect you best if I am always with you and if I am physically on you, it is much harder for us to be separated."

"I suppose we could try it," you reluctantly agree to at least give her proposal a try.

***​

It proved be weird as you expected. Wearing Wyrn's iron breastplate was one thing, but to have iron armour cover your entire body. And for it to be alive and talk with your wife's voice…

Nonetheless, it worked and Wyrn look good with her armour form looking like a hollow out version of her own body, but adapted for someone to wear. As Myrlin said, she had no problems controlling her avatar in that form and controlled it just like her normal form.

Just another reminder that your love is no longer a mortal like you, but a spirit like your parents and sisters.

Another strange part of wearing Wyrn's avatar as armour was that neither of you were truly in control, you could still act as normal provided Wyrn did not seize control of her avatar. But if she did take control of her avatar, you were not stronger enough to resist her and were forced to let her direct your body unless you told Wyrn to let you take control.

As far as Wyrn was concerned, it was a success and she wants to acts as your armour and personal protection in the upcoming attack on Belarsa and if possible, any future fights.

How will you excise your influence in Blawain if you do at all?
[] [Blawain] Have her make the culture more like Evalonish culture.
[] [Blawain] Have her make the culture more like Avawyrish culture.
[] [Blawain] Have her make the culture more like Western culture.
[] [Blawain] Have her make the culture more like Northern culture.
[] [Blawain] Have Wyrn make no changes to the Blawainish culture.
[] [Blawain] Do not exercise your influence.
[] [Blawain] Write-in.

Wyrn has desires to have her avatar act as your armour in order to better protect you in battle. Do you go along with this?
[] [Wyrn] Deny it.
[] [Wyrn] Allow it.
[] [Wyrn] Write-in.

Belarsa Campaign Forces
Cadyl
Seryn the Mighty One (Limited Capability)
Wyrn the Loyal One
Arwyn the Adventurous One
Myrlin
1,400 Cath Wyrs (Mixture of Iron Spears & Bows and Arrows, all have Lighting Magic)