Work Text:
Some nobles leave a trail of devastation when they do their work and Magnolia Reinhart was no different. In the wake of the pink carrige however, only the compusure of [Mayors] was left in devastation. The competent profit and the fools berated, but all agree that they need a stiff drink once the carriage sped off along the country trails.
"And that makes three. This trip was surprisingly productive you know, I'll believe we can have something to celebrate."
Magnolia glanced from Ressa at the preservation compartment expectantly. Her content smile slowly fading as Ressa simply smirked.
"Oh unfortunately something must have gone wrong with the preservation spell, I simply had to get rid of it while we were in the village."
The pink carriage sped along on a routine check of the villages further away from Invrisil, but even as betrayal most foul was revealed within the carriage, the fact was that this would not be the only act of culinary treason on the journey.
“The last one is Bail Olc, odd town considering it’s practically in the wilderness by itself.”
Ressa had become a master of ignoring Magnolia’s tantrums a long time ago, her employer had settled into a scowl and it was time to distract her with professional matters.
“Perhaps it will be full of [cheats] and [scoundrels], they’d certainly be more trustworthy than the snakes in my employment.”
Or perhaps not.
Thump Thump
The driver knocked on the side of the carriage.
“We’re approaching the town now ma’ams….eh madams?”
Magnolia pinched the bridge of her nose and regretted making the trip while Reynold was taking his yearly week off. Tom was competent enough but distinctly lacking in what she wanted in a driver. He even got squeamish about running over bandits. Still, Magnolia sighed, needs must.
As they got closer to the village, many words came to the two occupants of the carriage. Decrepit, ominous, and dark being particularly prominent. The buildings seemed to have been constructed by a depressed and slightly mad team of [builders] and [architects]. Dark wood constructed into asymmetrical buildings and a large oppressive building slightly leaning over the town square.
“I know the reports said it was dreary, but this is just creepy.”
Ressa spoke quietly as they stepped out of the carriage, a portly but well-dressed man walked up to them as they stepped down.
“Greeting Lady Magnolia, it’s such an honor to have you visiting our town. I’m Ferdinand, the [Mayor] of Bail Olc.”
He spoke and bowed deeply as Magnolia managed a barely strained smile.
“Well I do try and visit all the towns in my lands, though this one is certainly…unique.”
“Yes, we do try our best, but you must be tired from your journey, would you care for some tea? Or perhaps a pastry? Our local baker works wonders with the local honey.”
Magnolia’s face lit up as Ressa’s twitched.
“Perhaps that would be best mayor Ferdinand, I would love to hear about your town.”
Tom knew he had a lot to learn if he was ever going to compare to mister Reynold, and he did try his best. The most challenging thing about driving Lady Magnolias carriage, however, was that he still hadn’t learned what to do while waiting for her. In his previous employment as a [Wagon Driver] he could spend hours looking after the horses while waiting, but here there was nothing to do but stand and try and look as professional as possible.
Tom was already bored after ten minutes, even the strange buildings got old. Usually, he’d at least have people oohing and aahing over the carriage and he could stave off his boredom by keeping an eye on them. The people of Bail Olc however, were as strange as their town. Most of the people seemed to stay indoors and only a few hurried between buildings. Tom fought the urge to lean back against the carriage, hopefully things would be resolved quickly, and they could get on the road back to Invrsil soon. He would have to drive through the night as it was and didn’t want more difficulties.
As a thunderclap echoed in the distance and the first drops of rain started to fall, Tom was proud of the fact that he didn’t let the stream of curses in his mind escape his lips. He was less proud of how long it took him to remember one of Ressas security lessons.
“Remember Tom, you might think it would be easier to hear someone walking in puddles but just as the storm starts, you’ll never hear them coming.”
“Mayor Ferdinand, these pastries are simply wonderful. I have to say I’m surprised that I haven’t heard anything about your [Baker] before.”
“Well my [Lady], it’s quite hard to trade from all the way out here, but we’re hoping to make quite a bit of a splash on the market now that you’re here.”
Magnolias eyebrow crept up ever so slightly.
“Well I do tend to help the talented and ambitious, but why did you decide to settle all the way out here in the first place? ”
The jovial [Mayor] grinned, his smile never went away but just seemed to grow in a way that made Magnolia curious if the man had a Skill to keep from cramping.
“Oh, with a town like ours we’ve learned to value discretion, we think it’s best to keep out of sight while we build up so no one interferes before it’s time to harvest.”
Something seemed a bit strange to Magnolia, she slowly reached for her tenth pastry and couldn’t quite put her finger on why she hesitated as the mayor continued to speak.
“To be able to freely pursue our passions is the most valuable thing for a happy life, wouldn’t you say so my [Lady]? We’ve been having such a nice chat now, unburdened by any interruptions or third parties.”
Magnolia looked around the room, empty except for the two of them, something about that bothered her.
“And the best thing about building our fine town out in the country is that everyone underestimates us. People put such high stock in skills to keep them safe, they expect the poison or the weapons, but even the most well trained forget to check under the carpets of a provincial house just because it’s rude to look for magical runes. Still, it’s a bit concerning how many of our preparations were stripped by your safety measures, then again we only needed one to slip through.”
Magnolia idly glanced at her rings, one of them was shining brightly, before she brought the pastry up to her mouth. For a moment she cursed herself for not bringing her most valuable enchanted objects, but the thought failed to gain purchase. Not even the unease as people in robes filed in stayed with her for more than a moment.
“But enough of this.” Mayor Ferdinand rose. “I do actually enjoy these talks even if they’re a means to an end, but in our line of work it’s important not to indulge yourself too much.”
There are many things a person can see right after waking up that fills them with horror. Maybe you might see the time and realize you’ve overslept. Perhaps you see what you did the night before. In some cases, you might even see that you’re not in the place you intended to sleep.
Magnolia Reinhart opened her eyes and saw a dimly lit underground space. She had visited caverns that were dug so skillfully that you couldn’t tell if they were natural or artificial, but as the shadows flickered across the walls, they gave the impression of being neither. Was it the shadows and the faint wind, or did the cavern truly grow and compress? Magnolia wished now that the old lizard had told her either more, or less, of A’ctelios Salash as she desperately hoped the makers of this cave merely tried to replicate an aesthetic.
As befitting a Reinhart, her panic didn’t keep her from methodically studying her situation and attempting to catalogue her resources. Ressa had forced her to train for these eventualities after all, but even then, they rarely considered a situation like this likely. A gag in her mouth had always been considered if she were caught as Ressa thought any potential kidnapper would be desperate to shut her up. Her artifacts were unresponsive, more worryingly [Attend Me] only caused the chains she was suspended from to light up before dimming.
As the light died down, the sweet voice of the [Mayor] rang out “Ah, it appears we can get started.” And a clump of darkness in the room parted to reveal the towns inhabitants with dark robes hiding their forms. Magnolia saw the few townsfolk she had seen when arriving, identifiable simply because they were the few who didn’t make her skin crawl. Even through the robes, most of the townsfolk would arouse suspicion. The ones with a faint glow or bulging growths would look strange, but not nearly as much as the ones whose robes jerked and moved even as they stood still. Magnolia had a moment of desperate elation when the crowd parted to reveal Tom laying on an altar. A moment before the [Mayor] unsheathed a knife, because at least now she wasn’t staring at the smallest villagers looked like.
“My friends, we have gathered here to finally complete our great task. Our experiments and hardships have all come to an end and our work will be rewarded!” The worst part of the cheers that rang out was that at their core, they still sounded human. “Blood to quench, life to burn! Blood to wake, life to rise! With this sacrifice we unlock the gates, with the next we will open them. [Sacrifice: Blood of the Loyal]”
A Reinhart worth their salt can threaten and curse even when gagged, But Magnolia could not stop the knife from plunging into Tom’s chest. She saw his eyes in that last moment, darting around desperate for anything to save him. Magnolia had seen men die before, the first time she witnessed the light in someone’s eyes going out it had made her throw up on the fields of Liscor. She had never seen the light pulled away before.
The shadows in the room softly pulsed outward as the blood pooled beneath the altar, some of the villagers were unconsciously swaying and groaning with the irregular flickering across the walls. A lifetime of intrigue and secrets let Magnolia continue to think despite her panic and cold rage. Her limited choices sped through her mind, but they all lacked one critical component, what had happened to Ressa?
Ressa awoke in a perfectly ordinary cellar. No horrors or mutations unless you counted the particularly old yellats lying in the corner. Still, not the best way to wake up considering that she was still bound in a clearly magical silver chain. She remembered fading out of consciousness during the meeting and Ferdinand’s mocking gaze, but not how she ended up here.
The [Mayor] of Bail Olc had been clever, never put a captured [Lady] and her maidservant in the same room if it can be helped, never kill your only backup sacrifice ahead of time, and make sure not to underestimate your captive’s Skills. Chains capable of neutralizing skills had been the work of the entire village for that last reason. The [Mayor] had also been wrong. Despite her snark, Ressa was dedicated. Despite their precautions, the villagers all had to be in the ritual chamber. And despite Ressa’s trained mind, years with Magnolias other servants and her circle of friends had taught her that reckless stupidity could work wonders.
The one thing anyone who uses magic or magical tools has to learn, is that you have to limit the amount of power you put into what you’re doing, or it will suffer a dramatic and catastrophic failure. It took Ressa ten seconds to test her gear and skills. After seeing her chains light up and her skill fail to activate, it took her twenty seconds to think through her options. After a heavy sigh, a quiet voice whispered in the dank cellar. “Alright, [Shapren Blade] [Swab the Floor] [Correct Error] [Casual Deflection] [Withering Look] [Professional Courtesy] [Artery Eruption] [Piercing Kick]” CR “[Instant Response: Protected Service]” ACK The now blinding chains exploded off her arms and dropped her to the floor. As expected, her skill had not managed to completely protect her, her arms had been scratched and singed while a single link of the chain was embedded in her side after ricocheting of the wall just as the skill ended. Still, within a minute of waking up, Ressa was free and kicking down the door to her impromptu cell.
Ressa had gotten the impression that the villagers were well-funded but incompetent from her treatment at their hands. As she approached the spiral staircase beneath the Town Hall, guided by a skill, she felt her judgment might have been too hasty. It was clearly carved from the earth but as she descended her [Dangersense] started whispering at her. This would be fine if it triggered due to traps or even the enemies she would face at the bottom, it was quiet, so the danger was still small. The problem was that it wasn’t activated in one specific direction or even as a general warning, her skill was very specific and told her precisely what was dangerous.
When Ressa trained with the Assassins Guild, she had to silently get through a hall where every plank had been made somewhat dangerous. It took subtlety and training to parse the [Dangersense] warnings and figure out the less dangerous steps without it all being drowned out. Before now she hadn’t encountered a place where her skill considered every pebble and grain of soil to be dangerous. Even as she descended the steps and focused intently on the surrounding danger, she couldn’t help but think that the warnings started to coalesce. As she dashed down the last steps and snuck into the great cavern where she knew Magnolia waited, her skill thrumming with every step.
As the [Mayor] slowly approached, a sickly smile stretching his features, Magnolias thoughts slowed. There was no point in thinking of different plans, in a situation like this, the old faithful Reinhart plan was the only option.
“Not to worry dear [Lady], a life may be valuable but for you we can get enough from just your blood. You will live for a very long time in our care.”
The robed figures pulled Magnolia towards the altar, she only had a moment to glance at Tom’s body before pooling her fury into her resolve. Her hand was held above the altar, the [Mayor] brandished the still bloody knife and started to speak once more. This time however, he did not get to finish.
With an effort of will, Magnolia bit down and crushed the tip of one tooth, releasing more liquid than what should have fit in such a small space. Flesh sparer acid was highly illicit, it was like any potent acid with the exception that it did not damage flesh. The fact that it still hurt as much made it a very safe form of torture, few used it to dissolve gags.
“[Unblockable Skill: Spite’s Resort]!” Magnolia screamed, droplets of acid flying through the smoking tatters of her gag as the unprepared cultists collapsed from the shared pain striking out from the taught Reinhart skill. Even the [Mayor] collapsed, opening his mouth far too wide and clawing at his face instinctively.
Her captors incapacitated Magnolia tore herself from the altar to escape but made one crucial mistake. Had she been overcome with fear she might have simply made her way to the exit without a thought to what lay around her. Magnolia Reinhart, in this moment, felt no fear at all over her pain and fury and looked at the figures who had captured her. Hoods thrown back, the cultists faces were exposed.
Their faces were like f̵i̸e̷l̵d̵s̵ ̸o̵f̵ ̷g̷r̸a̴̧̨̧̡̝͙̫̔́̏͜s̸̠̖͆̚s̸̺̞̯̗͕̈́̌ ̷̖̮̪̻͉̇̽͑s̷̢̻̈́͗̀͘l̸̩̮͉̪̹̔̍͛͛͆ͅo̸̢͕̜̻̺̎͋͐w̴̨̬̩̹͓̠̓͑͑̄l̵̨̳͉̺̦̙̈̆͌̾̓y̶̨͚̿̔̇́ ̸̫͓̖̍o̴̘̪̙̝͔̜͑v̴̱͕̣̰̭̖̪̝͆̓̈̿̂̀͘͠e̷̡̲͖͔̭̖̭̊̊r̷̗̞͎̎̽̑̃̏̕̕͜͝ć̸̛̺̜͍̉̇̎̍ȍ̶̺͕͆̀̕m̷̛̦̈́̑͗͌̅ē̸̳̈͝ͅ b̷̢̢̛̛͔̖͙̩̳͈͍͎̭͉̹͔͉̳̞̊͆̂͆̃̄́̔̓͘͝y̴̰̜̘͓͔̹̙͊̇̅̐̈̓̽̀̃́̿̾̒̒̑̎͆͛́̎ ̴̥̩̂̓̏͂̔̊̌̈́̀̚͠͝w̶̛̰͂̈̐͊̆́̓̌̋̏͐̀̊͛̑͋̕ó̸̹̮̣̣̦̘̗̟̌̇r̸̡̳̟͙̤͉̝̲͉̖̩͚̟͚̹̠̲̳̜̖̤̜͐̏̋͋̄̈́̃̉̿͐͛̌̐́̿̃͊̈́̆̏̈́̕̚͝m̵̡̡̭̟̯̱̺̼̰̳̰̼̭͖̠̫̰̎͌͌̄͛͐̄̔̍͜͠s̶̢̢̧̢̛͚̯̭̭̪̤̞̣͚̞̜͎̬̠̎͋̋̓̏́̄͒̇̀̐͋̅͋̾̋̍̔̍̏̀̚̚͝͠͝͝ ̷̨̡̛͍̣͙̺͉̯̻͖͓̯̈̽f̴̛̲̙͐͋̑͋͌̍̀̏̾̈́̽̃̓͌̾̕͠͠͝e̷̫̍͐̏̌̀̓̂̅̎̒̈́̈́͂̂̈́̅͋͋̉̒̊̓̈̕͘͠͝͝͝a̵̤̩͛́͌͊͂̓̀̈́̈́̈́͊̏s̷̳̙̼̈͗͊̂̅̈́͌̊͐͛́͗̑̽͂͘͝͠ͅt̵̢̡͉͇̲̼̲͈̗̝̣͚͔̰̪͖̻̹̯̫̘͙̼̚ͅͅi̴̢̢̢̛̠̤͙͈͍͍̫̦̯͖̰͇̖̊̋̓̉͑̍̍͆͊̅̿̐̒͌̿̑̈́̄͂͌̽̏̌͘͝͝͠ͅn̴̦̰̻̝̗̝̫̙̦̯͉̣̪̦̫̬̥̣͖̲̈́͌g̸̡̧̨̨̛̺̞̠̪͓̲̜̏̓̔͌͝ ̶̡͍̺͔̗̟̱̬͚̠̞͑̀̍̒͗̅̄̀̒̔͂͆͌͊̽̍͑͆̈͛͂͘͜
Ressas hand that tore Magnolias gaze from the now risen cultists was welcome. Her other hand holding one of Magnolias rings, torn from her finger, was even more welcome. Now in Ressas hand, the rubies on the ring sparked to life and the stored dragonfire, a gift after the antinium war, exploded forward over the recovering cultists and altar. Ressa pulled Magnolia towards the exit even as the walls and floor roiled. A low groan rivalling the roar of fire echoed throughout the cavern as the two women made their way to the stairs leading to freedom. Even as they escaped, a burning form still holding a knife stood and cradled the bubbling and melting altar at the center.
Magnolia and Ressa fled through the stairs and tunnels, the groan echoing through their minds even as they reached the surface and threw themselves to the carriage, it thankfully responded to Ressas touch and sped down the road or they would have likely tried pulling it themselves. It took four hours before either of them had recovered enough to think of anything but getting as much distance as possible or even to remove Magnolias last chains. Shortly thereafter, an ancient creature flew over the village of Bail Olc, or rather the vast pit that now lay in its place. Only the odd black stone along the edge indicated that any structure had been there before, but even after Teriarch had expanded the hole with the most destructive spells he knew, his scales shivered, and half remembered stories came to mind when he was near.
Magnolia Reinhart doesn’t speak about the strange town she once visited, or the reason why she never used up her remaining charge of dragonfire on any threat she’s seen since.