As
Lydia's words fell from her mouth, she found she could speak only the truth, as the hag's magic reached into her and she spilled her innermost desires, "I'm tired of pretending to be weak. I'm tired of being looked down upon, I'm tired of being tread on, of being told to cloak myself in a veneer of weakness or else I may face death. I am a Vampire, I am better than Man, I am Superior, I want to walk down the streets and have men bow and scrape for my mercy, I want to hold my head high and never feel Shamed for what I was born. I want to drink deep of the blood of Wolf-folk who see me as a Little Lamb, and I want them to fear me as I do it." Your words were full of vitriol, of hatred, and you felt a coalescing in your soul as you spoke your words.
"You carry a bold soul, one that seeks majesty and respect. Now you may walk with the blessing of the Eldest, young Lydia Hardhoof. Such that your bold soul may show you its strength." Agatha's face was just a small smile as her magic released you. But you felt stronger, Bolder. Part of you wanted to announce your desires to everyone, no longer compelled by magic, but by the enforcement of your Demonic Story, of who you are. You could also see that the frail hag looked weaker after speaking to you - and even as you were shunted back to the crowd, you watched as she spoke to the next and the color drained more fully from her scales, the deep black turning grayer.
Agatha has just used her own Demonic Energy to Gift you a new Trait by upgrading your Desire.
Bold - When you take action boldly, openly. and without trickery, your demonic power emboldens all aspects of your power.
As each of the Noble children were talked to, their innermost desires reinforced into potent boons before sending them into the world, your parents approached you. Lord Thystle Hardhoof and his wife Lady Patricia Hardhoof were not harsh sires, as it went. They were indeed quite caring, though they still had pushed you to master yourself, and the instincts you first awoke. Your Father was the first to lay his hand on you, each of his fingers ending in a tiny hoof, "You don't need to bring honor to us, or become Demon Queen, Lydia. You just need to not perish." His words were filled with actual concern, and you knew he wasn't just putting on a show for those around you, because Demons didn't respect that kind of familial bond, "Even if you lose, we will still be proud of you. Remember, he who lives another night has another chance." Besides his hoofed-fingers, the only signs of his horse-ness being the tail that swayed with worry as he spoke to you.
Your Bold nature warred with your father's concern - was he questioning your ability? Did he think you were going to fail? Of course not, but that didn't make it sting any less. He would never understand the pain in your soul from having to hide yourself, it's why you never revealed it to him. "I'm going to win, Father." You told him it resolutely, for the first time feeling strength in the conviction you hadn't embraced. "I will
survive and I will
win." You felt the newfound strength filling your form as you declared yourself boldly, with all of your rivals and their families around you.
Your Mother, the more animal-like of the two, let you a bleating laugh at your declaration, "Baaaahahaaahaha." Her laugh filled the halls, as the Vampire-Goat seemed oh so enthused by your reaction, "Chew them up then, darrrrling." Your goat-headed mother pat you gently on the head as she said it, "Just remember; there is strength in what we taught you. Proper planning, proper watching, can turn victory from defeat." The pat turned into an actual hug.
Meanwhile, all around you the families were heaping expectation after expectation upon their offspring. Only a few lucky Demons seemed to have families at all concerned about their safety over honor and victory; the Succubi and Gnolls amongst the few.
Your eyes were drawn around the room, as the reinforcement of each chosen child had finished; and all of the children were motioned forward by Agatha. Your mother and father giving you one final squeeze before watching you move towards the center, "I hope you have all said goodbye to your families. For some of you may never return here. Like as I would to make the rise of the Demon King easy, enjoyable, I cannot. We grow through conflict. We grow through violence. We grow through adversity. And so all of you will face these things in droves. I wish that I could say that I will save you, if true danger comes to you. But you will be on your own as you leave these halls." The old hag was soft, perhaps, but she did not beat around the bush as she warned you.
"For your first task!" A large flat piece of magic formed in the air as she waved her staff, and a handful of peaceful looking villages flashed across it, each gathering one by one with their names and where they were located accompanying it - eleven in total, "You will be assigned what is considered a 'border village'. The kind of place where no Lord resides, where few care about - the common threats will be militia, and perhaps the odd wandering Hero. Your job will be to bring down the power of Demons on this land, in whichever way you so desire, and to leave it scarred. Your time period will be a singular month. You will be scored on creativity, on the number of Infamous Deeds you produce - and the depths of those deeds - as well as in how much Demonic Energy you can harvest from these fools. The more impressive your acts, the more you will gain."
Lord Lucente, the participant of the Maou, was the first to speak, "I could destroy such a village in a single day. Surely you cannot expect this trial to last a month?" You could feel the pride dripping from his tongue as he spoke, "Is it even a fair contest if we must delay the completions to allow fairness to our
weakest?" His eyes rolled over basically everyone in the crowd - only the Dragonkin seemed to not suffer from his indignant gaze.
"Speed is not what is being measured here, Lucente." Agatha did not call him by his title, and you could see anger boiling in the young man's face just from that, "If you can do it in a single night, then find twenty nine other villages to end the other nights. Or find a more time consuming but impressive way to make your mark upon them. Were it only a contest of speed, I believe we both know you would not be the sole competitor - nor even the favorite."
The largest of the contestants, a red skinned Oni named Tanue, seemed unaware that almost everyone had taken Agatha's words as praising her. Instead she simply was picking her ear with her pinky finger, the Ogress not wearing any armor or carrying any of the weapons of the Oni clan. "This is boring." Is her comment as people pause to see her reaction.
"A fair assessment, my young Tanue." Agatha cackled as she said that, "I tire of this farce. You will each now pick a village that is yours for the duration of this month. Originally I was going to have each of you choose straws to decide the order in which they are picked!" The old hag cackled as she displayed the straws in her hand, some much shorter than the others, "But Lucente has annoyed me with his prattling! So now all of the upperclass will suffer the spite of an old woman!" Another cackling laugh as she waved her hands - and each stick moved towards someone. It was clear from how long the Glik's was and how short Lucente's was what the prescribed order was, "Yes! From the least respected to the most! You will gain the advantage of first choice! Choose wisely! Ask whatever you may wish."
Glik, the goblin champion, was... completely indstinguishable from any other non-evolved goblin to you. While both their (you could not tell a gender) parents were evolved-types, it seemed that none of their children were. So the little green gremlin, smaller than a half folk, moved forward with no grace, but also no hesitation, "Glik kill Dwarf-home. Glik eat dwarf meat!" He didn't wait for any description, "Gogogo. Now!" The little being was shunted through space by a portal of demonic energy, as Agatha dragged a hand down her face.
Even she didn't seem to care for Goblins much. "I don't know what I expected. Luu-rii-saa. Ask your questions."
"I have no questions." The gnoll woman was as large as an orc - and taller than an Oni, from where she sat upon her World-Devouring-Snake Monster Companion. The beast was easily twenty feet long, and it held her aloft upon its head with no problem, "Saa-rii-luu and I have agreed, we shall feast upon the homes of the Beastmen in the Village of Aeth. Let them see what a true Beast is." You recognized that place - you'd been there, briefly, on journeys into the Grand Forest. That could have given you an advantage, had it not been chosen.
"Very well. Good luck to you both, Younglings." The portal that swallowed up the gnoll and snake seemed less aggressive than the first.
"I have many questions." The young man who spoke up seemed almost refined, for your understanding of orcs. You could see the deep intelligence in his eyes, despite his people's reputation as stupid grunts. "What are the military standings of their kingdoms. What advantageous terrain exists around these villages? What dangers lurk inside or out of them? What other hostilities may target them. What is the political situation within the village? What families feud with one another?" The questioned rolled off his tongue one by one, and he just kept asking.
Agatha, for her part, answered each and every one of them. One by one. And as nearly an hour passed, Mol slowly stopped asking about the villages one by one. Until he finally said, "I shall face my trial in the human village of Everpyre. Their family feuds and bandit problems create many potential enroutes for me. Thank you." A bow of the head, as a portal swallowed him up as well.
Lilanu, the Succubi contestant, frowned a little at that, "Well, the orc asked all of my questions for me, and then stole the choice I would have made. I am simply devestated," Their voice was hauntingly beautiful, as you heard it spoke, and it took all of your strength not to fall for the charming words - even as a couple of the contestants looked genuinely sad for Lilanu's loss. "I suppose I shall take the second village of beastfolk, then. Stoking the flames between predator and prey, oh what better a show could there be?" A little haughty laugh echoed as they were whisked away by a portal.
Tanue the Oni was not nearly as picky as either before her, and was nearly as blase as the goblin about her decision, "I don't really care. Give me the one with the highest risk of encountering a Hero. Slaughtering peasants sounds boring. I suppose that leaves me with the Elf-Home." A shrug of the shoulders, as the massive redskinned Oni was swept away by the magical portal.
Lucente looked annoyed in that moment - and it didn't take a genius to tell that the elf-appearing Maou had intended to take the sole elf village from amongst what was offered.
"Well!" The little tinny voice of the tiny Fairy came from Nightshade, the fairy contestant, "Some might think, oh no, the poor fairy. Both Beast villages taken, and elf home too~" It teased as it flittered around, unlike everyone else who at most stepped forward, "But no! Why would I want to harm the few good Men in the world? No, send me to Gnomtinoplis! Or as close as you can!" A little tittering laugh, "I will free their spirit works, and show true havoc to those who do not respect the natural world!"
You were next up, as the portal swallowed up Nightshade and sent them to the land of the Gnomes. A dangerous choice to be certain.
Five villages remained; enough for the three of you and two others, it seemed. And you had to choose one.
[x] A. Broggi-Ville
belonged to the singular Human-Dominant nation that did not claim descendence from the Hero-Emperor's empire. Instead this series of islands formed a nation that was a fiercely independent lot, with a culture more openly warlike than other Nations of Man, outside perhaps the Beastmen. Every Norgian is expected to learn the basics of fighting. However, these villages are fiercely indpendent - few would call upon assistance from outsiders, and while Heroes do exist in their midst, most would never deign to visit a small village such as this. These villages can also be a breeding ground for feuds building under the surface - for when hundreds of men live in close contact with only each other, small slights add up. The titular Broggi-Ville takes up an entire small isle in the hundred isle kingdom, with only sea vessels allowing travel to and from.
Pros: Little chance of reinforcements.
Little to no chance of Heroes.
Disharmony.
Cons: Trained for battle
Nowhere to run.
Sheep-Out-Of-Place
[x] B. Honey-Hills
A half-folk village at the very edge of the Folk-For-Freedom-Kindness-And-Love Collective's territory, it can be described as... an extremely typical half folk village. There exists no militia in this village, for no Half-Folk would choose to learn to wield violence. Instead the plentiful farms, established meaderies, and excellent chefs employ a Hero as guardian of this village. There is only one problem - the new Hero has yet to arrive, after the last departed their role. This is an easy target, ripe for the taking, simple to destroy with great speed; or perhaps a target to subvert, to turn against a Hero they had invited. Regardless, this is a place of innocence and plenty - it would be a truly evil act to destroy it, but perhaps not an impressive one.
Pros: No guardian (currently)
Weak, easy half-folk.
Time to prepare
Cons: Weak, easy half-folk
Little to no chance of valuables.
You're basically bullying the most pathetic people.
An Unknown Hero
[x] C. Dwarven Outpost 2273
A dwarven 'village' created by the Center of Dwarven Expansion and Preparation as a quarry-village. Set up in a remote region of the CoDEaP territories, its only job was to strip mine all of the useful hard stone from the region, before dismantling the outpost and returning to base. The Dwarves of this outpost have no interest in gold, iron, or any similar 'useful' materials - their quota's demand stone, and so stone they provide. Dwarven territories are intensely paranoid, however - and outposts set up with many around them to provide support in case of a threat. A potential treasure trove, but also a potential danger.
Pros: Full of treasure.
No proper Warriors.
No Heroes.
Underground Halls
Cons: Dwarven Paranoia
Ease of Reinforcements if Discovered
Sheep-Out-of-Place
[x] D. Rustleberg
A human village of the Kingdom of True Roedane; the nation you technically as nobility of. While far from your family's territory, this village features many similar features to all True Roedane villages; including the excessive care put into their Church, dedicated to Lumesa above all others, but technically dedicated to all of the twelve gods. Your knowledge of the local culture is impeccable, and despite your odd looks, True Roedane does have a small-and-growing population of displaced Prey Beastmen, fleeing the oppression of their Predator kin. So long as you can avoid or neutralize the threat of the Priest, the militia would pose little threat to you, knowing what you do about their organization. However, you risk your family's status being put at risk if you are discovered.
Pros: Easy to blend into.
Knowledge of village.
Church treasures.
Cons: Family At Risk
Powerful Church/Priest
Harmonious Village
[x] E. Johannasburg
Buy, sell, grow, repeat, the Merchantry of Roedane claims to follow the truth of the Hero-Emperor, who once held more gold in his coffers than the rest of the world combined; money is power. Everyone is welcome in the Merchantry, so long as they bring gold - and it is said that loyalty only lasts so long as wages are paid on time. The village of Johannasburg exists like most Merchantry villages; a local resource (in this case, beavers and their skins) was discovered, and those seeking to make a fortune flocked to the land. In less than a year, now stands a fully functioning village; that just happens to have more gambling parlors, taverns, and temporary lodgings than it does homes or farms. Only a few seek to make permanent residence of this town, after all - the rest are simply here to compete, and then to leave. And outsiders wait, ready to take 'tolls' or lives from those who try to partake of their fortune elsewhere.
Pros: Greed blinds
Disharmonious
Bandit troubles.
Outsiders welcome.
Cons: Self sufficient residents
High chance of Heroes
No trustworthiness
Sorry for the delay. I got injured at work and sitting up at my computer was a massive pain, and I hate to phone write.
