Chapter Text
Nearly a month had passed since the Scarlet Anguish had been vanquished and much had changed to the town of Dwarvenshire. Most notably, the town was renamed to Neebsenshire to pay respects to the valiant hero—now King—who gave his life to save them. Neebs, ever the humble gentleman, made sure to tell everyone that he had in fact died during their encounter, but had been resurrected. The tales made him seem larger than life—and with it, his ego.
Basile observed the so-called King from atop one of the pillars at the Temple of Kord. Neebs paraded around in a palanquin carried by his flock of fans. He wore armor made from the scales of Adagrandulous and carried Sadeas at his side. Jennifer Nolan, the previous founder of the Neebs Fan Club, sat next to him. Gone was the mousy woman who wore oversized glasses. Seemingly overnight, she had undergone a transformation that left her with long, blonde hair that was as smooth as silk. She wore makeup and finer clothes. She had become Neebs’ type, and it showed in how much attention he gave her.
After she became his “personal attendant,” the fan club disbanded and was remodeled as a branch of the government. While Neebs continued to spread words of wisdom and inspiration to the townsfolk, Jennifer took on the more important role of enforcing the Laws of Neebs, which stated:
- All citizens were expected to pay ten gold each week to pay for renovations and heightened security within town.
- All citizens must obey a 10PM curfew or be faced with a fine of three gold.
- All citizens are expected to have a place of residence in town. No camping outdoors.
- Whenever speaking to or about King Neebs, citizens must say “All Hail King Neebs.”
- Anyone unable to obey these laws would be kicked out of town.
The sudden change raised red flags immediately. It made Basile think of how easily Krause was able to sway the people of Modelheim into believing he had killed his father, or how Regis was able to talk his way out of taking any accountability for his actions. It made the tiefling’s blood boil, but his anger wasn’t directed at Neebs. It was toward the woman who seemed to be running the show, and he wasn’t the only one who shared the same suspicions.
“First she makes Neebs disband the Church of Neebs and get rid of the ship. Then she imposes this new tax law on everyone and kicks out anyone who can’t afford a home. What’s she gonna do next? Make everyone her slave?” Dwayne vented as he sparred with H’rathen at the center of the open-air arena. The cleric locked arms with him and shoved hard, inching the gnome closer toward the edge of the ring.
“Aye, it’s a bad situation, but what can you do about it?” H’rathen grunted. Sweat dripped over his brow as Dwayne adjusted his footing and began to regain his ground. “Jennifer is Neebs’ paramour, so she calls the shots now.”
“She’s his what?”
“His lover,” Basile clarified from the pillar above. “And we all know there’s one thing that Neebs loves more than praise.”
“Women,” the three said in unison.
H’rathen kicked at Dwayne’s ankle to knock him over, but the gnome stood firm and tried to trap him in a headlock. “There’s gotta be something we can do to stop her from creating all these awful laws,” Dwayne insisted.
Lorn’s working on it, Basile assured his friends within the privacy of their thoughts.
“What do you mea–oomph!” H’rathen asked, his curiosity giving Dwayne the opening he had been waiting for. The gnome twisted out of the cleric’s grip and tackled him at the waist, knocking him onto the dirt. Distracted by their fight, neither of them noticed the small rat scurrying near the edge of the temple. Basile slipped off the edge of the pillar and let his Fell Flight catch him, the shadow-like wings stretching from his shoulders. He landed on the ground next to Nergal and dropped his invisibility. Nergal jumped back, spooked for a moment, before running in excited circles.
“Time to meet up with Lorn?” Basile asked and Nergal squeaked in confirmation. He smiled and gave the rodent a small scratch on the head. “All right, I’ll pass it along.” Nergal flicked his tail before scurrying away to return to his master. Basile let his invisibility wash over him once more before turning back to check on H’rathen and Dwayne. They still hadn’t noticed. When you’re done sparring, head to Rhaegar’s house for official Associates business.
“I’m retired!” H’rathen wheezed from underneath Dwayne, who sat on his chest. The latter gave Basile a thumbs up.
“I’ll be there as soon as this geezer taps out!”
With that settled, Basile left the Temple of Kord to find the other Associates. He let his Mindsight stretch out to pinpoint the others. As usual, Ciaran came to him easily, a bright beacon in his mind. He also recognized the consciousnesses of Alkaid and Kass near him. Although he didn’t like spying on everyone’s thoughts frequently, he let himself take a peek into their mind and surmised that the two archers were teaching Ciaran how to crochet blankets.
Once you three are done with your crafts, meet the rest of us at Rhaegar’s for a meeting, he relayed, juggling all three telepathic messages at once.
“Okie dokie!”
“Sure thing!”
“Whatever.”
With confirmation from all three, Basile began the trek toward “the left shoulder of Neebsenshire,” a stretch of land that had been cleared away for new construction. Rhaegar had commissioned a local carpenter to build a small home, and with a bit of magical assistance from his friends, he was able to have a place to call his own in only a few short months. It was a simple log cabin with an A-line roof and stone chimney. As he approached the home from the stone stairs leading down the slope, Basile could sense that Rhaegar, Lorn, and Marven were already there. With all the Associates accounted for, Basile entered inside.
“Welcome, Basile,” Rhaegar said when the door seemingly opened on its own. He held out his arms to gesture toward the empty room. “What do you think of the place?”
“It’s nice. Quiet,” Basile replied, thankful for the respite from the town’s constant noise.
“It’ll be great once you get some furniture in here,” Marven commented from his seat on the floor. His cloak pooled around him, covering his entire body except for his head, where a pair of short, black horns had sprouted over the course of the past few weeks. The very feature that the Basile felt self conscious seemed to not bother Marven at all. If anything, he embraced his newest feature by wearing a gaudy golden crown between them. If the crown hadn’t been part of Adagrandulous’ hoard, wearing such a thing may be considered treason to Jennifer, but Neebs insisted that Marven had a right to wear it considering he helped defeat the dragon.
“I let the others know to come,” Basile mentioned as Nergal ran through the front door, bumping into him briefly. The rat shook it off and dashed over to Lorn, climbing up his pant leg and returning to his place in Lorn’s pocket.
“I appreciate it. You’re much more efficient than Nergal,” Lorn complimented as Basile took a seat next to the druid. In the past, playing messenger would have annoyed Basile, but nowadays it made him feel useful; he needed to be useful, or else the others may cast him out once they realized the truth of what he was. He subconsciously rubbed at his neck, wishing he could wipe away the now solid red tint on his skin.
Not long after, the rest of the Associates—minus Neebs—arrived. Everyone took their seats on the floor or leaning against the wall as Lorn instructed Dwayne to cast a Zone of Silence spell over the house. Suddenly, they were in a vacuum. The breeze and birds chirping vanished and all of the sound within the house itself seemed louder. With their meeting secured, Lorn opened up his notebook and began running through his investigation.
“As we all know, Jennifer has been getting closer to Neebs ever since he became King. On the day I went to pick up Duarph’s legal records from his home, Jennifer’s men had already swept through and gathered everything, leaving behind only the deed for his home; which Neebs had “inherited” from Duarph. I’ve been holding onto that deed for Neebs ever since. Not long after, I noticed that Jennifer had been buying acres of land outside of town, including the ‘shoulders’ to resell. Rhaegar, how much did you have to pay for your home to be built here?”
“About 2,000 gold, which is a steal compared to the Commonwealth.”
“However, compared to the cost of Duarph’s home, as listed on his deed, a building such as this should have only cost you about 1,500 gold with inflation included.”
“Wait, are you telling me that Neebs ripped me off?!” Rhaegar barked in anger.
Lorn held up his hand passively. “I am only stating facts, not making any accusations. Besides, mark-ups on property are hardly anything to be suspicious about. However, with the latest motion to evict anyone who does not own a home does raise a cause of concern. One may argue that these laws are being put in place for the betterment of Dwar—Neebsenshire and to help it expand as a city. However, it does nothing but hurt the current residents. Not to mention the hike from a monthly property tax to a weekly tax and nearly double the rate. People such as Alsbeth and Harl, Ashisa, Caelim, and Xi-Long will find their businesses suffering…”
As Lorn continued to ramble on about his findings, Basile decided to practice a challenging telepathic skill he had read about in the Tome of Invocations. It was called Gaze of Two Minds and would allow him to experience his target’s senses as though they were his own. Basile already had some experience with this sensation, with the most intense being the sensation of drowning when the Lady of the Lake’s memories overwhelmed him or the vivid pain of Adagrandulous discovering her child’s mutilated corpse. He needed to learn how to control those intrusive thoughts, so he would practice on his friends.
What they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them; though, he had a feeling Lorn would approve of the experiment so long as they learned something from it.
He closed his eyes and meditated on Lorn’s thoughts, skimming just the surface so the druid’s thoughts echoed in his mind milliseconds before they were spoken aloud. It was easy to hijack his mind. He rode the wave of consciousness, reaching for the feeling behind Lorn’s words. His heart started to beat faster as the druid grew more passionate about his case. Flashes of images began to dance behind his eyelids, as though he were looking at the other’s from Lorn’s perspective. He felt out of his own body. He felt powerful.
“Okay, this is all great, but what can we actually do about it?” Alkaid asked with a sigh as they stroked Xylander, the cougar that laid curled at their feet. The aasimar had found the beast outside of town with an injured paw, and it had refused to leave their side after he had been nursed back to health. Now, it protected Alkaid and growled at anyone who came too close—especially Basile. “We can’t just vote a new mayor in,” they continued, “because Neebs is a King now. Our voices won’t make any difference unless there’s proof of treason.”
“And that is what I’ve been digging for,” Lorn said with a confident grin; Basile felt a foreign sense of pride rise up in his chest. “Upon my first meeting with Jennifer’s men at Duarph’s house, I noticed what I believed to be some sort of enchantment over their minds. I’ve been watching carefully and think I’ve cracked the case.”
“Okay, Detective Lorn. Just tell us already,” Dwayne said.
Lorn frowned, his fun squandered. With his rhythm broken, the mental connection Basile had forged severed, leaving his head feeling heavy. “Mass Suggestion. A mind domination spell that simply requires a trigger phrase to activate. Whenever anyone obeys the fourth law, that spell is triggered and the speaker falls deeper into the compulsion. Has anyone said those words?”
Marven scoffed. “Hell no.”
“To test my theory, does anyone want to say the magic words?”
Dwayne shrugged. “Sure, I’ll be a guinea pig, All hail King Neebs.”
There was no noticeable change in magic, but Lorn observed Dwayne closely. “How do you feel?”
“I feel…fine, I guess? Am I supposed to feel different?”
“Do you think Neebs is a good King?”
That’s when Basile felt the subtle change around them, almost like how the air smells different right before it’s about to rain. Dwayne perked up and grinned. “Neebs is a fantastic king! He’s the best thing that could have ever happened to Neebsenshire!”
Lorn mimed using scissors with his fingers and said a quick word in druidic. The strange magical sensation disappeared as Lorn dispelled the compulsion. “Do you still think Neebs is a good King?”
“Yeah, he’s…” Dwayne blinked. “I mean…I guess he’s fine. Other than these damn laws he’s promoting.”
Rhaegar whistled, impressed. “Damn, Lorn, you were right on the money. So we just have to avoid saying that phrase and we’re safe?”
“What if we think about it?” Kass wondered, looking over toward Ciaran, who was sitting between Lorn and Basile on the floor. When in doubt, look toward Ciaran to find his imaginary friend. “All Hail King Neebs.”
Do you think Neebs is a good king? Basile asked.
The raptoran grinned. “Not at all. Thanks, for helping me test that out!”
“So, we all agree that we think Jennifer is the one who is causing this compulsion over everyone, right?” Alkaid asked.
Kass nodded. “She’s the one who started the whole thing back when she suggested Neebs become king.”
Lorn looked toward Basile, somehow always managing to catch the tiefling’s gaze. “Basile, you’re in a unique position to spy for us, because Jennifer doesn’t know you exist.”
“Unless Neebs blabbed about him,” Rhaegar interjected.
“He wouldn’t,” Basile assured. Despite the terms of their agreement having been met, they were both respecting their ends of the bargain. “I can keep an eye and ear on Jennifer and report back. Everyone else should keep acting like normal.”
With their meeting adjourned, Dwayne broke the silencing spell over Rhaegar’s house. The sounds of the wind and wildlife returned, along with the voice of the town crier shouting at the top of his lungs. “—Marven Ebonfire is not allowed into town!”
Marven immediately jumped to his feet, rushing over to throw open the window. “What did he just say?”
“I repeat,” the crier called, “Anyone with the last name of Ebonfire, other than Marven Ebonfire, is not allowed into town!”
“Hey, at least you didn’t get kicked out,” Rhaegar said.
The fire in the dragon-gnome’s eyes returned as he stormed out of the house. “This is worse than that.”
The Associates trailed after him, sprinting up the path that led back into town. They arrived to see that the town crier was standing on the ledge of the well, speaking to a gathering of people. Off to the side, Neebs sat on his palanquin and observed. Jennifer wasn’t with him.
“Neebs! What the hell are you doing?” Marven shouted, storming through the crowd. Everyone stepped away as he rushed up to the king. His guards rushed forward to stop Marven from getting closer, but Neebs stood up and clapped his hands to stop them.
“Marven! There you are.” The raptoran grinned widely and tipped his own crown in greeting. “Glad to see you could make it. Did you hear the good news?”
“Kind of hard not to,” he growled. “What’s the meaning of this?”
“Well, I was thinking about all of the great things we’ve done for the city, and I remembered you telling us about your crazy sister. I know it’s been months since she killed Delvin and she hasn’t really shown her face, but I wanted to make sure that you didn’t have to worry about her coming after you. So, I’ve made it an official law that anyone named Ebonfire, except for you, isn’t allowed into town. Problem solved!”
Marven’s eye twitched with annoyance. “That’s not going to stop her from trying to capture me, you idiot.”
“Don’t speak to King Neebs in such a manner,” the guard warned. “All hail King Neebs!”
“All hail King Neebs!” the crowd shouted in unison. Now that Basile knew what to look for, he could feel the faint static-like feeling of the compulsion in the air. I can’t believe I never noticed it before. It’s very well disguised.
“Yes, all hail me!” Neebs replied back, stretching his arms out to bow toward the crowd.
“Thank you, your highness, for looking out for your friends,” Lorn said as he grabbed Marven by the shoulders and pulled him back before he launched himself at Neebs and got himself arrested. “In fact, if you accept, I have a few ideas I think you could implement to better protect our town.”
Jennifer isn’t around, Basile realized. Which means this is our chance to speak with Neebs privately and figure out if he’s in any danger.
None the wiser, Neebs waved Lorn in. “Fantastic! You’ve always got great ideas. Guards, let him through.” Lorn squeezed past the crowd and climbed into the palanquin. As the crowd began to disperse, Basile summoned his Fell Flight and followed behind as they headed back to the old Neebs Fan Club building.
I’ll watch for Jennifer and let you know if I sense her coming back. Do whatever you need to do, but make it quick.
“It’s been a while since we’ve been able to chat,” the druid began, keeping his voice light and conversational. “Great work you’ve done with the city.”
“I appreciate that, Lorn, I really do. Neebsenshire is going to become the next big thing. I’m thinking tourism, exports, and…eh, whatever else a town needs to become a city. Jennifer handles all of the logistics,” Neebs replied, clearly not fully grasping his role as King.
“Ah yes, she’s been coming up with some pretty innovative ideas. Quite a brilliant mind on her.”
“And a pretty amazing body, too,” Neebs bragged. Basile rolled his eyes and he could feel Lorn’s own annoyance cross his thoughts.
“I see you’ve also surrounded yourself with plenty of guards, as a King should,” he continued, before lowering his voice. “However, as your friend, I believe you may be in danger.”
“Impossible! I’m a king!”
“Better to play it safe, don’t you agree? I’d like to cast a Dispel Magic spell over you to ensure there are no evil magics affecting you.”
“That’s not necessary, Lorn.” A flash of anger surged in Neebs, surprising the tiefling at the sudden defense.
Is that actually Neebs, or is it the compulsion?
“You know I would never recommend anything to hurt you—”
“I know, but I trust my advisors to protect me.”
“Frankly, I don’t share the same level of trust as you do. I’m only looking out for you.”
“I don’t need you to look out for me!”
Basile felt a twinge of pain behind his eyes as tensions continued to rise, their minds racing as Lorn tried to outplay Neebs, and the suggestion enchantment tried to hold strong. Basile barely noticed the split second decision in the druid’s mind before speaking the words aloud. The tiefling shot upwards to avoid being caught in the range of his spell and watched as the guards flew into a panic, dropping the palanquin and rushing in to drag Lorn out. They threw him to the ground, throwing him into handcuffs and accusing him of harming the king.
Neebs poked his head out to watch, confusion, satisfaction, and anger crossing his features. Basile focused his telepathy on Neebs and found himself lost in a hazy web of thoughts: Arrest the traitor, don’t hurt my friend, why did he attack me, he didn’t attack me, what are they all doing, what am I doing?
Basile focused his thoughts to cut through the tangle and reached out for Neebs. Stop them! Lorn didn’t do anything wrong!
“Halt!” Neebs shouted, standing up and nearly hitting his head on the edge of the palanquin. He stumbled out and reached for his guards, yanking them away from Lorn. “Release him at once!”
“But your majesty, he attacked you,” the head guard argued, but Neebs held up his hand to shut him up.
“Lorn is an Associate. He is my ally. He wouldn’t ever hurt me. Let him go.” Begrudgingly, the guards let go of Lorn and Neebs helped him to his feet. The raptoran dusted him off and looked at him quizzically, as if looking at him clearly for the first time in a long time. “I’m sorry for the way they responded. They are quite protective.”
“As am I,” Lorn said cautiously. “I’ll take this as a warning.”
“All hail King Neebs,” the guards said.
Don’t say those words. It’s a trap, Basile warned Neebs. Although he could still feel the lingering effects of the suggestion spell on Neebs’ mind, he could tell that his words had reached him more easily. Neebs nodded in response.
“It was good talking with you again,” he said, though it was unclear who it was directed to. Lorn stepped back as Neebs returned to his palanquin and his guards carried him away. Basile landed next to Lorn, who rubbed at his wrists idly.
“That was…illuminating.”
I could feel the compulsion when I read his mind and spoke to him, Basile confirmed. Your spell helped me break through to him for a moment, but it’s not entirely gone.
“It’s likely dormant, waiting for the trigger phrase to be spoken again.”
I told him not to say it. Hopefully he listens.
“Since when does he ever listen?”
Basile sighed. This was going to be trickier than they expected.