Melinda.
Melinda finished anointing the night's new priestess. Watching as the woman rose from the cocoon of darkness to be reborn and accepted into her devoted ranks.
Idly, she glanced toward the prismatic bar that represented her devotion. Tapping an imaginary finger on her arm as she noted how close it was to filling.
She'd more or less tried to keep spending to a minimum, aiming to rebuild her reserve while keeping to a sort of status quo.
One goblin a night had more or less ensured her short-term and godly fiscal objectives were reasonably kept within the margins.
She didn't want to overwhelm her self-titled but no less âearnedâ and respected high priestess with too many sisters, the phrase having been coined by the woman herself. At least not before the girl was ready.
But when the time did come, Mindy would have a solid reservoir to work with.
Things had been slowly ramping up in the little goblin community. Tension, contentment, food supply, and general public works like the new latrine, which had been dug beyond the cave, all created a sort of quagmire of issues and quasi-stability that forever felt as though it were teetering, either towards the good or the bad, it really came down to a hour by hour basis.
More and more goblins were going out to forage; others, beginning to craft again, crude as it was. Both activities having found a resurgence of interest as filled bellies finally woke with energy to spare.
All in all, Mindy thought things were really coming along down there, but it was a tentative thing, a reality that âmostâ seemed to sense in the air.
Without food constantly on their minds, politics found a resurrection within the tribe. And already, new factions were emerging from within.
Many prayed nightly, asking why âtheyâ hadn't been chosen, while a sibling or friend had, the luck of the draw creating a notable sense of jealousy.
Men, for example, of whom the population wasn't barren of, constantly questioned why not a single of their own gender had been allowed to serve as the women did.
Mindy, on the other hand, really didn't care if her priesthood was unisex or not, but she still wasn't interested in corrupting any guys via sodomization. That wasâno, just noâ¦
Goblins were already pretty dirty, and she wasn't going to stick it down a sewer pipe until somebody invented baby wipes.
She'd one-hundred percent pegged a few dudes over the years, mostly when they'd asked her to, but the tendrils were an extension of herself, not just a piece of floppy silicone, and Mindy wasn't willing to play ball and get covered in dookie.
All the same, the mood within the cave was positive but restless, and the goddess could see why. Those without were looking at those who had and wondering what the âdifferenceâ really was.
An issue as old as time itself that she was trying to work on, but now that things had become routine, it wasn't the easiest thing to circumvent. At this point, people were so used to how their âgoddessâ did things that, after a single ascension, nobody really stuck around or tried asking if she'd do it againâ¦
Mix that with her inability to really talk to anyone, and it was sort of hard to find that âperfect momentâ to broach the subject.
"Maybe I can try and convey something to Gube in another dreamâ¦" She mused, eyeing the ability she'd forced into existence by hoisting it by its wrinkled neck, which allowed her to warp the dreams of her devoted.
It was called âdivine intersessionâ and had manifested in her skill tree when Mindy had taken the time to crack the very dilemma in question. After managing to alter her system initialization power for a âtypeâ of tithe for devotion, she'd had the brilliant thought to try and make a new skill altogether.
The cost had been crippling, sucking away half of her damned total reserves, but that was seeming to increase faster and faster by the day as more of her priestesses reaped souls on her behalf.
The problem with the damned skill was that, no matter how hard she tried, Mindy couldn't manifest another that would actually let her talk with people.
When she gave the whole idea thought and put it to purpose against the universe, she was just greeted with a sort of glowing hue that surrounded the ability to place images in dreams as though âthatâ was what she'd been asking for.
Annoying, but Mindy already had a few ideas on what this meant.
Her prevailing theory was that the ability had ranks, not dissimilar to her priestess who, while operating on a lesser scale, more or less shared a similar status screen. The annoying part was that no matter how many times she used it, it wasn't getting a new rank.
Logic dictated that the first level of anything was easy to get. Yet, while her goblins could level stealth while hiding in some grass tall enough to shroud themselves, she didn't have such a luxury, or so it seemed.
It either meant that she needed significantly more usage of an ability for it to rank up, a workable notion given she was a god, or she needed to pump souls into the damned thing directly, another idea that her instincts sort of floated on the edge of agreeing with.
However, Mindy was wary of just dumping the entirety of her only resource so quickly.
She was something of a budgeter, and it just irked her in all the wrong ways when thinking about leaving herself with ânadaâ as a safety blanket.
Naturally, because nothing was easy, the sense she got when prodding the skill with her devotion was that it was going to sponge it like aâwell, she supposed a dry spongeâ¦
So, yet another thing to add to the to-do list manifested by way of Mindy realizing she needed a deeper âwellâ of devotion to keep pouring into. Something she hadn't yet figured out how to do.
Oh, she had ideas, idle musings, concepts from stories and artistic interpretations of godhood provided by her own peopleâ¦
Obelisks to store her might upon the mortal plane, crystals, artifacts, avatars, soul-wells, or maybe just more worshipers.
However, for the most part, everything was conjecture.
She wasn't really ready to get too far into all that yet⦠After all, it had been what? Like eight days since she'd manifested?
If strategy games had taught her anything, it was that one needed a strong infrastructure and economy before trying to take on the major leagues.
Maybe tonight, when Gube went to bed, Mindy would try and see if she could mind-meld the idea of upping production a little.
At this point, the goddess assumed she could reasonably keep a handle on things if they churned out three Eldritch goblins a night rather than oneâ¦
She was so committed to her plan, trying to figure out the best way to frame what she wanted to do, that she was entirely caught off guard when her lovely goblin began praying to her in a strange manner.
At first, Melinda didn't really catch it; she'd learned to tune most of the voices trying to get her attention out so she could properly hear herself think.
Time sometimes flowed oddly for her where several hours might blink away in an instant, while, at others, it moved painfully slow. Thus, prayers could and would feel as though they were trying to drown her at all hours of the day.
It wasn't her intent to be negligent to her faithfulâmerely to take something of a reserved approach with those with whom she wasn't terribly invested with.
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"Goddessâ¦" Gube whispered, perhaps for more than the first time, given how practiced her words sounded. "It's Gube. Thank you for love. Thank you for choosing Gube. Thank you for powers⦠Thank youâthank you, thank youâ¦"
Melinda sighed, letting her thoughts drift away as she disregarded the girl's praise as more blind devotionâ¦
Obviously, it was very flattering and she very much desired people to venerate her with due supplication, but it did get old rather quickly.
That didn't mean they should stop, by all means, they should all worship away! But she did sort of start ignoring that kind of thing when she was busy.
She nearly allowed Gube to slip from the periphery of thought before something caught her attention, her mind fixating upon the girl, but a moment later with snapping focus.
"Wasâwondering if maybe Gube had good idea? Goddess only makes one priestess per night. Always girls, never boys. Making⦠mhm, difficult to explain why. Dark lady need power, understand, want to give more but needâmoreâ¦
âNeed more like Gube but also not Gube? Need more status but not more Eldritch gob. Need way to give to men⦠Build army, big army, make war, get lots of souls! Strong soldiers, leveled, experienced. Lots of skills to make better than other gob! Easy, promise, just need way to doâ¦"
Mindy blinked as she watched her beautiful priestess, on her knees and, astoundingly, offering her a rather unique take on her own idea.
The gobliness repeated her pitch several more times before finishing the prayer with more platitudes.
Eventually, she lay down to rest her head while her goddess just watched her, surprised and, strangely, proud.
Gube's idea was genius!
Why would Melinda have to keep making âmoreâ priestesses?
Surely she could corrupt normal goblins and give them the system without making them allâeldritchâ¦
Which, better yet, would be entirely free!
She wouldn't even have to give them better stats⦠Gube implied she could work with them as they were, and, by her own name, the girl was right.
The more they fought, even weak as they were, the more they'd grow and have advantages over their peers.
Thus, leaving Gube and her new sisters to be⦠"Like what? The leaders? Rulers? Am I going to commit to a caste system?"
She considered that for a time, wondering, for what felt like the hundredth time, if she really cared. Mindy had heard some of the stories Swift-spear told of his youth, back when he captured slaves during the last great goblin surge.
What he'd done to peopleâ¦
To people more like Melinda herself, or at least more like who she'd been compared to those she now had to deal with, less because she wanted to and more because she was admittedly desperate.
None of the creatures were good.
And at this point, with the way she was thinking and operating, Mindy was willing to admit that neither was she.
âEvilâ might be a stretch too far, but Mindy was certainly cold when not dealing with one of her chosen, her views skewing towards the amoral by the day. And, in all honesty, apathy had long since been the name of her game, even before sheâd arrived in this weird world.
She wasn't a goblin, and she didn't give much of a flying fuck about them either.
So far as she was concerned, Mindy almost wished she'd just entirely renamed her precious Gube, doing away with the whole âgobâ situation entirely and starting fresh.
But goblins were what she had, and, perhaps, in the footsteps of every good Overlord before her, they were both abundant if she understood things correctly and expendable, even to their own kind.
But how to rig it so she could corrupt as many goblins as possible?
She couldn't talk, could hardly communicateâ¦
So, should she just âspawnâ a defiler and start fucking the entire room?
No, a little too crass and distasteful for her sensibilities.
After a time, Mindy found herself eyeing the greyed-out abilities she'd manifested with. Considering the lot of them, and not for the first time since sheâd first read them.
âBlessâ was out of the question given her alignment, but⦠Bestow boon?
Could she manage a new skill where she could use her tentacles to âboopâ goblins on the snoot and grant them her power, rather than creating a dirty green kabob?
Probably not; otherwise, corruption would be pointless, and Mindy suspected the universe had its own set of rules, absent as they were to actually be seen.
But something in the description made Mindy consider alternatives.
What about creating an avatar?
A body she could likely temporarily inhabit to pass along her gift when needed. A good start to the brainstorm, but not one that was sustainable.
At this point, Mindy was pretty much the âbig-pictureâ girl of the operation; if she had to spend her precious devotion every time she wanted to create a new batch of leveling goblins, thenâ¦
"Not really worth it⦠And anything like âAvatarâ is sure to cost a damned arm and a leg if just spawning a freaking tentacle costs a full tenth of everything I have! Sure, it's free when coming out of Gube, but⦠Hah! Would I just hang from her stomach like some kangaroo riding its mom?â
She scoffed, letting the idea fall away as she moved on. "Honestly, it would be great if Gube could just do this all for me. I mean, she's already basically my liaison to this whole relationship and⦠huhâI wonderâ¦"
Curiously, Melinda nudged the idea to the universe, keeping it simple and to the point.
Nothing more than an ability she could grant that would, in turn, grant the ability to bestow her gifts on her behalf.
What came back, much in the same way as a writer who submitted their day's article to their editor, was a revised alternative with the flair of something that âmightâ have already existed.
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"Crown champion. Crown a chosen follower of your righteous faith to be your eyes and ears, your voice, your authority, and your beacon of light for all those to rally behind. Champions exemplify the will of their deity, dedicating themselves to their cause, devoting their lives to their will, and allowing for easier interaction for both sides between mortal and divine.
As a champion, your chosen follower will grow in power and capabilities, just as you do, all to better suit your needs. Additionally, they will be capable of acting in your stead, providing an anchor and bastion for your power to manifest and touch the world around them!
Requires nature; positively aligned. Requires follower status; faithful. Cost; ten percent of maximum devotion reserve, until the bond is broken."
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"No, no, noâ¦" Mindy grumbled, crumpling up the idea that was the skill and throwing it back at the empty darkness as though it were sitting with her in an office as they tossed around ideas. "I need something for âevilâ alignment, remember? E-vil! You're the one who labeled me, dude, the least you could do is remember the fuckup!"
There was a pause, something stifling filling the void for a moment, almost like the universe was bristling, before something else popped into her vision.
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"Enslave Overlord. Enslave a chosen follower of your vile cult to be your eyes, ears, your voice, your authority, and the dark splotch upon the world in which all nightmares might take refuge. Claim the eternal soul of your twisted follower, forever denying it salvation or redemption. Forcing them to bend to your will or break and be discarded as filth.
Overlords must concede to the will of their dark patron in all forms, lest they risk the loss of their very souls held within the clutches of evil made manifest. To better suit their dark liege's designs, Overlords are rewarded for their servitude through access to whatever scraps of power their lord deigns to bestow, growing in might should they keep their sinister sponsors appeased.
Overlords may act as vessels to allow dark guests to breach the world or act as conduits for their patron's powers. Overlords may be granted any number of unholy abilities their masters see fit to bestow; however, they are susceptible to losing their boons should they fall from favour.
Requires nature, neutral, or lesser. Requires follower status; fanatic. Cost, twenty percent of maximum devotion until the bond is broken.
Warning! This is a restrictive ability. Only one Overlord may exist at any time for any single entity. Old overlords that have lost their use must be obliterated by their patron before a new one can take their place."
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"Oh, now that's what I'm talking about!" Melinda shouted, pumping the air as she grinned. "Fuck you for making it cost so much, but, hell yeah, I need me a Saruman! Though, hopefully, one just a little more usefulâ¦" Mindy amended, wondering just how ridiculous it would feel to have some hapless hobbits just roll in and ruin her budding empire.
"Definitely staying away from pouring all my power into tiny artifacts," Mindy grumbled, actually seeing how such a pitfall might easily be stumbled into. "I make a magic sword, someone loses a battle, the blade gets lost, then found by some random group of adventurers, and bam, it's âlet's questâ to mount Min! Destroy the sword in the volcano and end her reign of terror once and for all!"
Nope, if Mindy was going the soul battery route to work with her devotion shortages, she'd be digging way the hell into the worldâs crust to hide her hopefully indelicate machinations and putting an army between them and anything that wanted to come near.
"Corridors, traps, ancient abominations, the whole nine yards! I am not going to be going out at the hands of freaking stoners with too much toe hair!"
Mentally, Mindy accepted the still-waiting ability, feeling her devotion drop like a rock back down to sub-fifty percent.
Worse, a huge fraction of it was permanently greyed out, even without her yet using the skillâ¦
It seemed the âcreationâ of new abilities had something of a similar base cost to each other, oh well, the bar was filling fast at this point, and even with her maximum reduced, once Mindy started filling the thing back up on a daily basis, she could explore how to take things further.
For now, she had a goblin to, hopefully, make up for as an apology, right before she supposedly stole her soul and warped her very existenceâagainâ¦