Chapter 208, 1/2

The offer of Benevolencing went out at around 8 pm.

Erick did not wait unprepared. First, he told his three Benevolence dragons to watch out for fights and to minimize as much damage as they could, and not to actually get involved. They all seemed to think that they could do that rather easily, now that they weren’t crazed when seeing other dragons anymore. Erick didn’t trust them a whole lot right now, though, but every little bit of help would help, if shit hit the fan. And he wanted to spend at least a little bit of time with his new dragons.

Around 8:30 pm, Erick made better decisions and conversed with all of his Overseers in the same room, under a [Hasted Shelter], in order to inform them all of what he had done, and who he was now. That conversation went rather well, Erick felt, especially since everyone had a lot of news and problems that needed solved, apparently. Raingorl’s schools were up and running, but they needed more teachers and more money. Volaro, after being slightly upset that Burhendurur knew about Erick’s dragon-ness before him, wanted to talk to Erick about many different dragon-specific laws which he felt needed to be either codified into law, or left to culture to decide, and he needed to talk to Erick about all of that right now; before everything really got going. In Erick’s opinion, everyone should be the same under the law, but Volaro thought that a more nuanced take was necessary. They spoke about that for a while, and everyone else got involved, too.

Mox had some plots of land ready to go for the new planned cities, thanks to her own office and Kiri’s force multiplier of Sunny, but she had yet to get a single person to come to those new lands, and she needed to coordinate with Ar’Cosmos in a way Ar’Cosmos was not coordinating. That conversation took up another hour.

Zolan was the first to suggest that they could all benefit from a mass meeting like this once a week, outside of time. Erick rapidly agreed that perhaps they should have been doing this for a while now, and then they got back on track, sorting out Ar’Cosmos’s new city and what they all expected of all the new dragons coming into Candlepoint. Burhendurur and Volaro could speak on behalf of Ar’Cosmos for most large operations, but actual nuanced takes and knowing what would actually happen once all the people started flowing in, would have to happen through actual representatives of Ar’Cosmos.

The meeting ended after five hours of subjective time, ending at 8:36.

At 8:49 the first requests came in from Ar’Cosmos.

And then came correspondences from all over the world. It started as a trickle, but Erick had knocked loose one of the supporting structures of civilization itself, and the mountain started to rumble. An avalanche of requests and demands came to him, some worded more strongly than others, most espousing how much good they could do if they were allowed to act openly instead of hiding themselves behind intermediaries as they usually did. Some spoke directly of how they had seen new dragons out in the grasslands of Candlepoint, and how they would be delighted to breathe forests into existence, too, in exchange for being freed from the Curse.

Erick had another [Hasted Shelter] meeting with all of his overseers at 9:32, which lasted a while.

He came out of that meeting with a much better plan than the one he had had before.

At 10:02, Erick entered the first of his meetings with the 6 dragons Fairy Moon had requested to be removed from Ar’Cosmos.

- - - -

Under a dark sky, but inside a [Fairy Stronghold] lit with light, Erick stood in a [Zone of Peace] with a large demi woman who was not demi at all. Her name was Emprazala, and she layered robes and dresses upon herself like she was both an empress from a different era, and a courtesan, with the top halves of her bountiful assets held up by all that fabric and gently jiggling as she breathed. She was not happy to be here, but she was still here, and her presence had happened without any fight at all.

So that was a plus, really.

It was only Erick and Emprazala, though; no one else was in attendance. As the avalanche of demands and requests flooded in, those dragons became investigation targets by all of House Benevolence. Burhendurur and Volaro knew of Emprazala and these first ten people, though, and so Erick had accepted a verbal recommendation on Emprazala and ‘her people’. All the rest needed real investigations, though, and so the House was working on those.

Erick’s time was a lot more valuable right now; he just needed a bit of time with all these people, alone, in order to figure them out a bit and make the final decisions.

Erick began with, “I will be putting up a [Hasted Shelter], so that we may have this discussion without worry of time.”

Emprazala tried not to show that she was impressed that Erick knew Time Magic, but she gave that away in her face. Her voice and eyes were completely calm, though, as she said, “I agree to this.”

Another wave of magic went out and enveloped both of them, and the world outside went stock-photo still. Erick relaxed a little, and so did Emprazala.

“We’ve got hours now, if we need it.” Erick said, “Please tell me what is going on inside Ar’Cosmos.”

Emprazala’s estimation of Erick went up at that moment, but she was still wary. “It is the standard nature of Ar’Cosmos to deny all who oppose them and to demand unending fealty from those who enter their halls. You are not much better from what I have heard, but apparently the fairy did not expect all us Free Dragons to come together and simply overpower her House rule. And so, the Houses compensated. And so, me and my companions are here, somewhere in your lands, kept separate so as not to fight, or communicate, and kept docile with the promise of a real cure from the Curse; a cure that the Houses have been using to keep division amongst us for forever. If it weren’t for your own solving of the size problems of Ar’Cosmos I would think you one of those always-divisors; one of our always-overlords. You stand with their power. You stand with their backing. You use their rules and their reputations to better yourself. And now your announcement has done exactly what that fairy wished it to do; it has ruined all our plans to take Ar’Cosmos for ourselves, and to finally be free of the eternal tyranny of the Houses.” She said, “All we have to do is finally submit ourselves to them.”

“I meant the battle lines being drawn in Ar’Cosmos. I didn’t need a restatement of the politics. Has there been actual fighting? Deaths?”

“… Some. No real catastrophes.”

“Okay then. Great! So how do you want to be out here, as a Benevolence Dragon? What are your goals?”

“… You’re not going to demand something of me?”

“I will, but those demands will be in accordance with your own goals, and so the disruption to your life will be large, but it will be controlled.” Erick said, “You are from somewhere in northern Nelboor, and so you have resources and lands over there. Do you want a Gate from here to there? Or would you like to move your people and such over here? We have lots of open land in the Crystal Forest just waiting to be turned livable.”

Emprazala narrowed her eyes a fraction at Erick.

And then she started talking. Slowly at first, testing Erick for his own responses and molding her words accordingly, or at least trying to. Erick was rather good at keeping his own emotions in check, and nothing Emprazala said was worrying. Over the course of half an hour, she explained that she had already taken everything she could with her to Ar’Cosmos, while leaving behind a city that could still fend for itself well enough, and certain plots started that would see them peacefully subsumed by one of the neighboring nation states within five years. She had had plans to ensure that subsuming would happen peacefully, through intermediaries between Ar’Cosmos and Veird, but now that Erick’s Benevolencing option was here, and if he wanted, she would bring those few thousand people left in her old city to Candlepoint.

“Because I have decided to stay here, in Candlepoint, if the offer is open,” Emprazala said, “The resources I took with me to Ar’Cosmos have already been seized and they are lost to me, but having direct access to the Gate Network would be more than enough to rebuild everything that I have lost.”

“Is that all you wish, then? Surely there is more; I can tell there is more that you are purposefully leaving unsaid.”

“I do not ask for special treatment, for I would rather have never met you or been subject to Wizards at all. But. If there is political room for me somewhere, then I would have it.”

“Build your own city eventually; get a place on the Governor’s Court. Those are the people who will eventually be creating the laws of this land, though I will retain ultimate authority for as long as I deem it necessary. For now, that political body is just a way for all those who control a city to formally contact and work with each other, and a rather direct connection to House Benevolence, for my Castellan is on that court.” Erick said, “But for now, if you wish to move to Candlepoint and rebuild yourself and your people there, Candlepoint has lots of space and is getting bigger. Either option requires that you adopt the laws of the land. I have more information in a packet, if you want it.”

“… I saw that packet already.” Emprazala said, “I choose to rebuild in Candlepoint, and make a city of my own at a later date… Since lakeside land rights are not an option for me?”

“Correct. No one is getting lakeside land rights as of right now, no matter what option they choose.”

Emprazala already knew that, but she had asked anyway to be sure. “I would need to go through the City Hall there in order to make further arrangements for Candlepoint property, yes?”

“Correct.”

“I do not desire a Gate network to my old city. I desire a Benevolencing, and the granting of citizen-status of Candlepoint. I will be allowed to purchase and sell my own goods and create my own business in Candlepoint, as long as it is done in accordance with your own laws of the land.”

Erick nodded. “All good with me.”

Emprazala steeled herself. “Then I am ready.”

There wasn’t much more to the meeting than the casting of a single spell.

Emprazala became a sleek white-violet dragon atop a pile of purple gore. For a long moment after her transition Emprazala stared at her previous body, trying to come to terms with how much unexpected hate she had for it. And then she told Erick to do what he wanted with it.

And so, Erick ended up with another dumpster-full of dragon parts, and a dragon of Benevolence who was very ready to begin regrowing all the political and monetary value that Fairy Moon had stripped from her.

Erick moved on to the next case.

- - - -

Over the course of an hour, Erick transformed 5 more dragons into Benevolence, and gained four more colors of scales and bones. That was it for the 6 people from Ar’Cosmos that Fairy Moon demanded gone, and which she had suggested would be good Benevolencing targets.

And now Erick faced the first of the four which Fairy Moon also wanted gone, but who were not good Benevolencing targets. She had suggested that Erick [Reincarnation] all four of them.

And after the [Hasted Shelter] went up around them, Erick needed to know why.

“The fairy has suggested I deny you a Benevolencing, Markander.” Erick asked, “Why would she do that?”

Markander was a human man of no particular looks. This was likely by design. Even as the truth of Erick’s words crashed into him, his reactions were oddly subdued, as if he was missing some part of him that enabled him to have proper reactions. But still, Erick saw as Markander switched from assured optimism to smoldering hate.

And then he said, “I’ll take a [Reincarnation].”

“… You don’t want to talk about it?”

“Not especially. Don’t like talking and you got your orders.”

“Not ‘orders’ actually. Suggestions. You’re the one who seems like he takes orders well, because it seems that you’ve already accepted that this was going to happen when you came here, because it plays into some sort of other scheme happening out there in whatever organization you got going on with Emprazala and the others.” Erick said, “She’s going to Candlepoint along with Geronial, but Baronoli and the others are going to Ar’Cosmos’s new city by the lake. So there’s some sort of political bloc being built out of you people, and while I don’t have the whole story, I have a lot of it. Just tell me what your plans are, Markander, and I might choose to allow you to remain a dragon.”

Markander frowned a little, saying, “It’s nothing sinister. It wouldn’t have been anything sinister in Ar’Cosmos, either. We were going to grow to a large enough size and power to request and then demand a seat at the House’s tables, expanding the seats of power of the Free Dragons in the Rotunda in accordance with our population. We outnumber the Houses a hundred to one, and so we would have used that clout to demand control of Ar’Cosmos. Everything would have remained the same, but we would have been in control instead of them.” He added, “The plan changed a bit when we got here. Now, we’re aiming for a seat at the Overseer’s table, or possibly control of the Governors Court.”

… ‘Not sinister’ had a very broad definition, apparently.

Or maybe all these people were truly good people? Erick didn’t know their whole story.

“I am very glad you didn’t try to lie to me, or to hide some of the truth. But why not?”

Markander said, “Because I never wanted to get involved with a Wizard and especially not a Dragon Wizard, and if you already have this much of the plot then you probably got it all, anyway. And I doubt that you would kill us for our temerity, unlike Bright Smile. If I can secure my own draconic power through telling the simple truth, I will.”

Erick breathed deep, feeling secure in his decision. “Acceptable. I appreciate your candor.” And then he looked at Markander. “But why was it suggested to me that you, specifically, not be allowed to remain a dragon?”

“… I’m an assassin.”

“Good. Glad you told the truth.” Erick gestured to his side.

Goldie, the Shade of Assassination appeared, resplendent in her black armor and with her giant black sword floating behind her back. She smiled wide, saying, “Hello, Markander! Long time, no clash!”

Markander stared at Goldie, his eyes going wide. And then he breathed out. He slumped a little. “Ahh. Hello, Goldie. Is this the end, then?”

Goldie said, “Not the end, but it is your official retirement notice! Act in accordance with your Class, and without my Lord’s express call to action, then you will be cut down. Also! You’re mine, from now until forever. You may look forward to working on the same side, if you wish! I know I will be.” And then she vanished back into the ether.

Markander did not have time to recover.

For Erick made him an offer, “Rat out everyone else, accept a [Blessing of Empathy], and vow to work under Goldie from now until I deem your term of service over, and I will Benevolence you. Otherwise, it’s a [Reincarnation], and you still have to rat out everyone else. No [Blessing of Empathy] that way. You’re not leaving this place any other way.”

With no hesitation, Markander said, “I’ll accept the second offer.”

And then Markander began talking, and talking, and talking.

When he was done, and Erick felt he had truly given up all the information he could, Erick gave him a new body and Status through [Reincarnation]. Erick hit all of Markander’s requests, and the man wasn’t stupid enough to request to be devoid of emotions this time. Markander got a rather normal human male body, with a penchant for gardening and raising animals, and bisexuality.

The other three operatives of Emprazala’s group received mostly the same treatment, but with variations all around. Only one other person was an assassin, though. The other two were simply generals of small armies who had already moved to Ar’Cosmos. Those generals had been planning on rebuilding here in Candlepoint, but Erick cut that problem off at the root. On the Ar’Cosmos side of things, they were currently in the process of dismantling those armies and incorporating them into their standing forces. All those other people Erick never saw and would never know about, would have been something like loyal agents waiting for a proper time to strike, if necessary. Now, with their leaders gone, that whole plan was gone, too.

Erick would not be inviting those soldiers into Ar’Cosmos’s city by the lake, either.

Erick informed Burhendurur of all this, charging him with keeping eyes on them.

- - - -n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

After those first ten dragons were sorted, Erick felt it had gone rather well, and for many different reasons. Not only had no one even tried to fight him, but Fairy Moon’s recommendations had been appropriate, and prudent. A point back in the fairy’s favor, Erick supposed.

Fairy Moon was still rather deep in the hole, though.

- - - -

Four days later Erick was finished with the Free Dragon ‘crisis’ of Ar’Cosmos.

He had made the right choice, again. Probably.

The sky of his Gate Space confirmed that many of the darker tangles in the future were simply gone. Erick’s choice of becoming a Benevolence dragon and helping others do the same had apparently been a big deal, solving many future problems before they could manifest as anything more than simple shadows in the sky. Even the orbiting planets beyond the hundred-year-wall of problems looked clearer; more simply there

, and less full of dark spots.

The entire sky looked rather clear.

So why was Erick worrying?

Perhaps it was the pure transformation of the world he and his House had created.

Through his power, Erick had transformed 58 people into Benevolence Dragons and 119 dragons into normal people. Quite a lot fewer than his initial estimation of around 300-ish expected dragons, but then again there was no real time limit for his offer. Erick had put a stop to the transformations, for now, but he also left the door open for more people to become Benevolence dragons later. Next year, perhaps.

And so, the current crisis in Ar’Cosmos was ‘solved’.

Still felt like it was only getting started, actually.

Many of those new dragons were now raising up dwellings of their own, either out in the green spaces Kiri and Mox had created between the lakeside and the first of three curtain walls a hundred kilometers out, or beyond that wall, using their breath and their Shapings to make cities out of sand, and forests out of nothing.

Many of the new-mortals had decided not to stick around, though. They simply scattered to the wind after they got a few safe levels under their belts, thanks to the actions and help of the Office of Enforcement.

Quite a lot of things were happening all right now. Erick wanted to be a part of all those happenings, but he was just one person, and he had work, and his organization needed more people, which all the Overseer Offices were already planning on hiring as soon as they could.

The first of Ar’Cosmos’s refugees had arrived at the greater Candlepoint area on the second day of Erick’s transformation. At the beginning of the third day, the city of ‘Weald’ had gained a thousand houses and half as many apartment buildings. Erick had time enough to add a Gate at the Financial part of the Gate District to the northern coast of the Forest, as agreed, and by that evening, Weald had doubled again in size. Burhendurur went a little bit crazy organizing all the security responses, and so Erick had simplified everything by having Yggdrasil cast [Zone of Peace] across the entire Candlepoint area.

With the big guy’s size modifiers and some proper Shapings, that [Zone of Peace] covered 50 meters above and below the surface, and nearly all the way out to the 100 kilometer wall, about 125 kilometers away from Yggdrasil in every direction. Erick did not know that Yggdrasil could actually do that, but he could. Apparently.

In that one act, Erick had turned Burhendurur’s job easy. No more spellslinging fights anywhere. Sure, people still punched each other when the anger of their exile got the better of them, for these refugees from Ar’Cosmos were not all happy at all. Most of them were able to deal with their evictions with aplomb, and some even happily welcomed the change. But those that did not welcome this change vastly outnumbered those who did.

Erick went ahead and had the other two refugee cities set themselves up at the same time. The Dicers got a small place to the northeast of Candlepoint, and soon they broke ground on Gambler’s Rest. The various Cultist and other miscellaneous refugees from all over Nelboor and the Letri Ocean decided to not make their own city, though, and simply move into Candlepoint, which Erick found he was very happy to hear. The former Cultists whom Erick had Blessed with Empathy were going to fit in well with the current Cultists of Candlepoint, under Mephistopheles.

And it all…

Seemed to be going…

Quite well?

Hmm.

- - - -

Emprazala lounged among her conspirators upon the finest couches and drinking finest wine they could bring together, here on Veird.

It was so much better than their usual parties in Ar’Cosmos.

Because, for the very first time in her life, and while they were all in mortal form (though they had seen each other in dragon form, and sometimes most vigorously) they were together. Together, at last! Today was just yet another day of simple talking, catching up, but it was these times that Emprazala missed the most, and now, they could talk for real. About their real lives. The ones that they never got to share with each other. They had been working for so long with each other, but they always refrained from spilling actual secrets that could lead them to one another back on Veird.

And they didn’t have to do that anymore!

Emprazala was in her preferred body; a demi woman of large tits and copious cloth. She hadn’t always had this as her preferred form, but her time as a courtesan had left an indelible mark upon her life. So far she had shared most of that story, having spoken at length of her clan in the northern chilly lands of Nelboor, and how they survived against raid after raid from other clans, building power, and how she had been behind most of that power but always hiding from true sight. Almost no one in her clan actually knew who she was, for she was just the old woman down the street, or the courtesan talking into the ear of the current patriarch, or the nanny to the next generation.

Geronial appeared to be a brash young human man, but he was anything but that. He had spoken at length about working in the Underworld all his life, mostly in shipping. He figuratively owned Grand Speedy Barges, but the only time he had actually owned that business was when he founded it over 400 years ago. His pale green eyes shimmered with the color of his dragon form, as he sipped his wine, and listened to everyone else. He seemed to have a permanent little smile, now. Emprazala had one of her own. She was looking forward to working more directly with him, now that the Curse was gone from their lives.

Baronoli was perhaps the largest surprise of their little group. He was an orcol who lived in Songli, openly and as a full-time courtesan himself. His Blessing of Beauty was strong, and everything about his real life was surprising, for normally orcols did not go for that sort of open display. Emprazala’s estimation of the man went way up because of that; it was something that she had never guessed. But maybe she should have. There were many ways for one such as Baronoli to get as much information on the businesses of the Highlands as he always seemed to have, but she had always figured him for some sort of spy. A very dangerous line of work for one such as them, and especially in that part of the world, where Redrubyflare called her home, and killed all dragons who fought in her domain. After two days of talking, Baronoli finally divulged that yes, he had gotten in one or two fights there, but Redrubyflare and he had had an understanding. Based on Baronoli’s shining black eyes as he spoke of ‘understanding’ and joked of sex, it was easy to guess what that understanding had been.

Coshena was openly appalled to discover that Baronoli was such a harlot, and said as much every time Baronoli tried to tease her. This much was understandable to Emprazala, too, for Coshena was another beautiful orcol, but a woman, with sky-blue eyes the color of her new draconic body. Normally orcols were very physically reserved, and Coshena embodied that stereotype. And thus, Emprazala joined in on the teasing, saying that Coshena just wasn’t getting enough of the good times in life, and Coshena agreed, but she also vehemently disagreed with Baronoli spreading children around like he had to be. Baronoli took offense at that, saying he always used [Envelop Item].

Which led to even more crude, wonderful, joyful jokes, causing Emprazala to laugh with tears. Even Coshena had to laugh at a few of them.

Narakaol had been a recent addition to their little ‘draconic consortium’ about 150 years ago, but he, too, thoroughly enjoyed the stories of his good friends. The incani man wanted to get back to business, though, saying that he had quite a few contacts in the Wasteland Kingdoms, and that he wanted Emprazala and Baronoli to work with him to get Songli to allow Erick to create another Gate Network hub over there. His Wasteland interests wanted direct connections to Songli.

And so, the conversation turned back to facts and figures, though there were more ribald jokes here and there, and more secrets finally divulged, now that they could. The largest secrets came from their final member, who was perhaps the only one of them who wasn’t a permanent fixture of their group.

Orolononi was perhaps the oldest member of their group, who had originally organized the whole thing back in Ar’Cosmos, but she never participated as much as she could. Knowing that she fancied herself a goblin matriarch of the goblin city of Homeland explained all that extreme reluctance, though. She had always been big on the metal trade, but knowing now that she was only involved in the metal trade out of one city, and a very peculiar city at that, it was easy to see why Orolononi had kept herself apart. She, more than most, could not afford to speak too openly, or she would assuredly give away too much information.

It was a shame about Markander, though. And the other three, Emprazala supposed. Emprazala had never been too close with the others, for they were the warriors among their little cohort, and they never joined in any of the business dealings that the others enjoyed. But Markander had been an occasional lover when in Ar’Cosmos.

… They all had, Emprazala supposed, as she lounged on her couch and drank a nice 30-year-old wine. Really more like 300, though. It was from Phagar’s Vineyard; one of the only places in the world to openly use Time Magic…

Emprazala smiled brightly.

Because ‘the only places to openly use Time Magic had now grown by one’ and maybe—

Baronoli cut his joke short, saying, “Ohh! You already know this one! You should have said something, Empy.”

“I swear I was smiling for a different reason!” Emprazala made a shooing motion. “Continue with your joke. I am sure I will laugh at the appropriate parts.”

Light chuckles erupted all around.

Baronoli waved himself off, saying, “Then tell us your reason. I have talked too much, I feel.”

“I agree!” Coshena chimed in. “Yet another ribald tale. I say: no more.” She turned to Emprazala, asking, “What brings you extra delight this time?”

Emprazala smiled wider. “I was considering the Wizard’s extensive use of Time Magic, and how wonderful this wine is. Have any of you considered yourself a patron of the gods? In tune with Phagar? I would like more of this, and I would like less of the thousand gold a bottle price tag.” She added, “Alternatively, we could attempt to work with him and produce some wine for House Benevolence.”

Orolononi’s big green ears twitched. She pounced first. “I have considered asking for a Gate to Homeland.” She looked to Narakol, adding, “Or perhaps some sort of clearance to take part in the Songli Gate Network of Nelboor, when that finally gets set up.”

Narakaol nodded, saying, “Perhaps we should truly consider working directly for the man. He has given us everything we could have ever asked for, and if we showed competence with business and willingness to take over the Songli expansion… You don’t think he would go for that, Baronoli?”

Baronoli was shaking his head. He said, “Never. We could, perhaps, be a part of House Benevolence’s side of that structure, but Songli wants rather strict control over the Gates they allow in their lands.”

“Then let us plan for that possibility,” Emprazala said, “Because while I love you all dearly, we do have work to do. So let’s get to business a bit.”

There were a lot of nods around the group, and smaller words of approval. The party was over; for now, it was time to work.

Orolononi brought the group to order, saying, “I would first like us to locate Markander and our other martial leaders. They ran away too fast, fleeing from embarrassment, but while the old-me would have been fine with this arrangement, the new-me desires to still make use of them, in whatever forms Our King has put them in. And I miss them more than I thought I would. In a more useful sense, they still possess centuries of knowledge to better help us get a strong grasp on our future.”

Coshena and Baranoli spoke, saying they would take this duty, while everyone else gave smaller agreements that they, too, missed the rest of their group. Even the ones who had chosen to stay in Ar’Cosmos, or divide away, once that option became available. It was a true masterstroke on Fairy Moon’s part to secure all of Ar’Cosmos under the Houses again, but that complaint had been beaten to death, [Resurrection]ed, and then beaten to death again.

Emprazala moved her thoughts onward.

Orolononi eventually continued, “Us other four will begin coordinating with the various others who have fallen away, and our own peoples. Take note of those established powers in Candlepoint and do not upset them, for Our King is busy enough, and we do not want to threaten him with our eventual power. Not yet, anyway. We will stay completely within his systems, and when we gain power, he will have nothing untoward to say. And besides that, there are a few people who I am very interested in making some sorts of arrangements with. In particular, we have Zaraanka Checharin. She is the current financial powerhouse of Candlepoint, and everything is swayed in her direction for her to keep that power. Work with her, not against her. She has heavy ties to the Wasteland Kingdoms, through that princess from… from…”

Narakaol spoke up, “Princess Weilux, of the West Bank, daughter of King Rashi.”

Orolononi ceded the floor.

Narakaol continued, “Princess Weilux was originally the largest supplier of most goods to Candlepoint, though Portal is rapidly outstripping her in all ways. She is floundering, and we can work through my contacts to boost her back to power, and ensure that we take over when she passes, as all mortals do.” He held up a hand to forestall the obvious concern, and then he voiced that concern, “Which brings us to a thing we have never had to consider before now; Our usual ways of doing things might not work here, for the mortals could be made immortal, for as long as our Our King desires.”

Emprazala had been considering that situation for a while now, so while everyone else was still giving Narakol’s words the appropriate amount of consideration, Empralaza began, “If we cannot compete at the same level as the mortals, then we do not deserve to have the power Our King has given us. We merely have to be a bit more proactive than we usually are. Four day feasts might need to become 2 day feasts, and we should seek to hire competent forces, not merely forces that obey our every whim.”

Boisterous Baranoli laughed, saying, “How about a compromise of 3 day feasts?”

Narakaol added, “I have been hiring competent forces for as long as I have been alive. It is only all of you who seem to demand loyalty more than is good for you.”

“This brings up a good point.” Concerned, Coshena asked, “Does anyone else feel that they have been transformed in soul a little bit too much?”

Ah.

And now they were getting to the truly insidious topic.

Emprazala said, “Yes. I have. Only about a 15% realignment, though. Possibly as much as 25% on certain topics, such as the… Well I’ll just say it. Bright Smile. I absolutely hate her. But she doesn’t seem so bad anymore. I was terrified of Our King, and now… I am fine with looking up to him. Still don’t want to be near him too much, though.”

A lot of eyes wandered across the room, gauging the faces and expressions of others. There were a lot of similar feelings in those gazes, and they all recognized a reflection of themselves in each other, too.

Coshena decided to speak next. “This is the better outcome for us. And for Ar’Cosmos. I cannot tell why I feel that way, but… Well. No. I can tell exactly why I feel that way. I have always dabbled in Prognostication, and I suppose I can tell you this now.”

Orolononi gasped, and she was not the only one.

Geronial, who had been silent for a while because they hadn’t been talking about his preferred topic of magic-in-business too much, decided to speak on this subject. “That is dangerous, Coshena. You could have foreseen another dragon.”

“I know, I know.” Coshena said, “I practiced it safely. But now… I can openly practice it. Just ten hours ago I had a strange inkling to depart the party for a short while. And so I did. I had brushed off all of your questions afterward, your wonderings of why I had seemed to vanish for so long, but now… I sent a message to a certain contact. That contact worked through some of the lower levels of House Benevolence, and managed to get one of Our King’s meetings today looked at more closely. Someone had screwed up something far down the line in Ar’Cosmos’s handling of the meetings. I do believe that if I did not intervene, then there would have been a dragon fight right here in the borders of Candlepoint— Or. Well. Probably somewhere out there in the grasslands. Still! It would have been a hassle for all involved, and all involved probably wouldn’t have come out of that fight as dragons.” Coshena said, “They probably would have been reduced to mortality for a screw up that had nothing to do with them at all. I know not what became of them later, but…” She shrugged. “It is what it is.”

Geronial’s pale green eyes sparkled as he looked to everyone, saying, “I dabble in prognostication, too, and of the 621 Underworld cities that my Grand Speedy Barges services, 37 of them seem primed for something great.” His eyes sparked as he looked to everyone. “I have a remarkably good feeling about them.”

With her heart suddenly beating hard, Emprazala said, “I wish to invest.”

And she was not the only one.

- - - -

Burhendurur regarded the world from the depths of his bone pit, his senses extending far past the Death-laced dust, and past the monitoring systems his people had set up in the rooms beyond. He saw the world through a thousand subtly-flaming eyes inside lifeless skulls, he was worried. He had been worried about a lot, lately, and especially after all his people of Ar’Cosmos started showing up and building Weald on the southwestern edge of the lake. He did not imagine that the move would be as stressful for the people there as it had been.

But then Yggdrasil’s [Zone of Peace] went out, and everything calmed. People still hit each other, yes, but mostly there was just a lot of thick air getting thrown around. Erick had decided to keep that spell happening, for at least a while.

Burhendurur suggested that Yggdrasil should simply cast that spell every day from now until forever, but Erick had shot down that suggestion rather quickly, saying people shouldn’t rely on Yggdrasil to protect them in that way; they should protect themselves. Hence all the Denial Spheres now operating in every single major part of the Greater Candlepoint Area. There were three in Candlepoint, one in Gambler’s Rest, one in the Gate District, and 5 in Weald. All of those Spheres were working at full power, too.

He had expected all the new Benevolence Dragons to be a much, much larger problem than they were, though.

And that was where all his current worries lay.

Every single hour, it seemed like one of the new dragons was doing something odd, for yes, Burhendurur was keeping eyes on every single one of them. There was this one particular case that bothered him quite a lot. A dragon had been walking along in their human guise, using their might to help raise buildings for Weald, but then they stopped, calling a halt to the construction. The dragon then walked over to a man down the street who had been angrily staring at everything, like he wanted to burn it all down but he could not for a [Zone of Peace] was in effect. The man had been completely ignorant that a dragon was confronting him, for the dragon did not wear their horns out in the open (a problem which Erick still exemplified himself, but was also forgivable, since all of these new dragons were also still hiding themselves like they had to), so the angry man had had no problem telling the dragon off. There were a few smaller words.

And then the man began sobbing on how he had lost everything.

And then the dragon started talking to him about what sort of house he wanted.

Half an hour later, the man and his entire family was getting the house he wanted. Twenty minutes after that, the dragon went back to work on the houses they were building before the interruption.

Anyone without the Sight to see might have brushed off the ‘incident’ as some kooky dragon deciding to help an obviously-troubled man.

But the same sort of small incidents happened everywhere.

A dragon would drop what they were doing and go do something else nearby, and then go back to their original work. Usually it was just some small thing like with the angry man and his loss of house. Sometimes it was as simple as helping an old woman to cross the street so she didn’t break anything (followed by a letter sent to Erick later suggesting that the old woman be [Reincarnation]ed at his convenience, sometime in the next ten years; that incident stuck out in Burhendurur’s mind, too). Not all of the dragons were like this. One notable exception was when a dragon, standing on the second floor of a new construction and working on a window, turned and walked to the other wall, and then bumped a stack of stone. That stack of stone fell down to the alleyway below and broke the leg of a man sitting beside the wall, gambling with his friends.

A darker tangle of Benevolence, perhaps?

Whatever the case, all these tiny things added up into a disturbing new trend. Right now, Burhendurur was merely collecting information. He was making no waves, and disturbing none of Erick’s plans. But he was collecting information.

When he had a better grasp on what he and his Office of Enforcement were seeing, he would go to Erick with this information…

“And he will probably say that ‘yes, I see that. Glad it is working as intended’,” Burhendurur grumbled under his bone dust pile, “I can already tell—” He paused, and then he chuckled as he realized what he was saying. He finished his maybe-prescient thought, “I can already tell that this is going to end up in the courts, at least.”