Progeny and Peas

Progeny and Peas

Year 130

Strange how information is often volunteered when ones in a position of power. Across the world, many observed the Freshlands rise, and are eager to make friends. I would not have called them allies, given their fickle nature, but for now, friendly to the Freshlands.

The temples are in conflict, of course. Political conflict, rather than actual war. Accusations appeared, perhaps from the kings and emperors, that the temples were dishonest. Its brewing for some time but the in-tree-continental tree highway added fuel to the fire.

Why do the temples demand our best forces, when the temples refuse to send their best templars?

Ive seen templars. But in our first war and the string of battles, there were just a few hundred, at most, a thousand templars. Templars. The temples military arm. Quite similar to my Valthorns, and surely, their better suited for anti-demon activity than actually fighting me. Unless their god marked me as some kind of enemy of the religion, and they get a boost fighting me. That makes sense too.

Again, free informants seemed to suggest that the temples had considered it, but their own intel suggested that their templars are ineffective against me. Simply put, the first few hundred templars were sent on a suicide mission. The temples too did not know whether the templars received any blessing or buff from fighting a non-demon enemy of the temple, their common understanding was that the blessings applied only against demons.

A common complaint, and at this point I was rather happy to be left alone. I didnt see the point in a war that proved nothing. There really was no outcome thats good as a whole. Like, so what if the temples won? Have they given up on their best chance of reclaiming the Rottedlands from the demonic corruption? The demonic corruption was weaker, after the demon kings death. The last demon king had recalled some of the demonic energies in the Rottedlands to fight the heroes.

The Rottedlands may very well undo itself if each demon king called on its residual demonic energy during the fight with the heroes.

Perhaps that is how the world maintains its current state. It would take a string of rottedlands-type explosions all over the world to terraform the entire world into demonland. However, if the demon kings recalled' the energies that power it, eventually the Rottedlands would shrink.

"There's really no daemolite left in the wreck?" The representative council asked Kavio, and Kavio asked me. Both locations?

Aeon had only explored Sabnocs location, as it is older and the corruption was weaker.

The place of the demon king's corpse had been thoroughly destroyed. I made trees through the area last year, and even now, not a single daemolite left. The heroes had really destroyed the place. Of course, I am quite embarrassed that it took me so long to put 2 and 2 together, but then... who knew?

Daemolite isn't just a great store of mana. It's also a good prison for souls. The two heroes were likely trapped in some kind of unique daemolite. Is the demon king harvesting souls too? Or only certain kinds of souls?

"Our war potential would be greatly improved by having daemolite weaponly. After the great exhaustion of the daemolites in the last few decades ago, a new attainable source would be great." The heroes didn't like daemolite. I recalled a conversation between the heroes about the perils of daemolite mining...

The global daemolite supply, which powers a small fleet of high speed cruise ships, airships and so on, have been heavily affected by daemolite shortage. Partly because during the Sabnoc era, some of the daemolite was magically turned into greater demons. Then, the two subsequent demon king's corpses were unharvestable due to the overwhelming presence of hex. It's the equivalent of poisoning a productive oil well.

It didn't help that the airships were unusable in the Rottedlands. Daemolite would interact with the demonic energies and behaved erratically, sometimes exploding. The terrain itself, hostile, meant if something went wrong, they would crash in demon hybrid infested territories.

Darn.

But wait, if the demonic influence is weakening, would we be able to use daemolite?

I had the Valthorns send an exploratory delegation to the site of the demon king Sabnoc's fight. Other than the heroes, it's the first time someone's been here.

So this is it. Where the demon king fell and Emperor Harris made his mark on the world. Faris said. Harris was naturally the most famous of the 5 who survived. Even if they all finally died.

Im more interested in where he died. Edna said. The landscape was apocalyptic. There were massive holes and gashes on the ground that 4 decades did not heal, only recently some of that damage was beginning to undo itself.

Still, its a place where the demon king and heroes fought, and so the air and ground is unsettled, disturbed by the pain that this land once saw. Though I managed to remove the demonic corruption from this location, and the ground is still poisoned from magic. Too much magic was used here. Here, magic itself is weak. Not a nice place for a [mage], as they would find their magic less potent. Maybe in a few decades, the residual drain on magic will fade, and this place will return to normalcy.

Our briefing suggested that these places were always filled with daemolite.

Its been 4 decades. Maybe the heroes mined all of them already.

As I pushed more and more of the demonic sludge away, it revealed a battered terrain. There were huge underground holes, caves that were made out of magical blasts. We could tell from the round circular shape of the caves, the smooth edges that indicated something annihilated everything in its path.

Faris was most affected by the devastation. The perils of a [aeonic great druid], their emotions are very much affected by the condition of the land. He would witness a massive crevice, and hed pause, touch the ground briefly.

You alright? Edna walked over. There were many other Valthorns, they checked the area thoroughly for any potential magical items.

Faris had to pause. Not really. This landscape... it weighs on me.

Huh?

A druid in some ways can be considered 3 main branches to its power. Trees and animals, wind and water, and lastly earth. Faris explained. Our connection to these 3 branches can be said to be almost equal at first, depending on our class, though we are usually more known for our connection to trees and animals. There are variations across classes and teaching schools, of course. Some druids are pure tree-only. I believe my [aeonic druids] are more tree focused, though Faris as an [aeonic great druid] should be similar. .

Edna got it instantly. Ah, so the earths pain speaks to you.

Something like that. Faris said. Not a nice feeling.

Edna smiled and teased her friend and compatriot. Its like being sensitive, I suppose.

Faris hit her with his stick.

The next location I wanted to explore was where Guihwang, Harris and all died. I witnessed their death, of course, and the massive explosion left a large crater. That explosion destroyed the demon king, and any trees I had in the area. Since then, the area has been inaccessible due to a perpetual firestorm.

Magic storm. Edna and the Valthorns observed the terrain. Residual magic. Itll calm down eventually. Maybe in a few years. It doesnt happen all the time, though, which is strange. Its as if the gods rolled a dice whether there will be a magic storm, or not.

Well have to wait for it to calm down. I mentally spoke. There are days when the firestorm weakens a little.

Maybe theres daemolite in there.

-

Multiple kingdoms submitted their bids, despite the protests from the temples and so on. Some did so secretly. They didnt want to publicly declare to the temples that they were looking for alternatives.

The offers were interesting. Our invitation to bid went out quite generally, that the I was looking to create a transcontinental path across the Rottedlands.

Some kingdoms offered their princesses for marriage. Some offered a cut in taxes. Some outright offered control of their entire army.

I mentally nodded. Alright, theyre weak and they have every reason to cooperate with us. They also have gem mines, which I need for upgrades.

They are also a landlocked nation, so they really need this alternative trade route. Their traders are frequently targeted by river-pirates, especially once the ships travel to the neighbouring countries land, and so the main river that runs through their kingdom is an unreliable source of trade.

Alright, they are desperate.

The second best bid, in our opinion, is from the Kingdom of Tiapesok. Again, they offered five children of the royal family of our choice.

Patreeck, Trevor, maybe cut out the part on the children. Really irrelevant to me.

I believe they are relevant for our Valthorns and politically, we may dangle them as rewards for the loyal nations. Trevor said. If we must maintain loyalty throughout the vast territory, it would be good to use these as rewards.

...really? What? Is this like a game of Total War or EU4 or Crusader Kings where I matchmake royalties with deserving generals in order to maintain loyalty? Seriously.

As such, the number is important. Trevor continued. Jasmine had also corroborated that many nobles frequently fight over good marriage candidates, as such, there is political and economic value from these marriage candidates.

But where do we come in?

We control the trade routes, master. The wealth generated by the trade routes is a button we can turn on, or off.

Jasmine, Trevor and Patreeck all paused.

Also, obtaining marriage candidates is also crucial, as they are worth it for the potential hereditary skills.

Hereditary skills? Alright, what in the world is that.

From our analyses of nobility, a common trait that allowed nobles to retain their power and influence, despite the worlds constant change, is the ability to pass on certain skills and benefits to their progeny.

...what? That sounded extremely familiar. Have I had this conversation before? Was it some nobles that spoke to me about inherited skills?

Master, our proposal required that we incorporate the skillsets of nobility, to produce stronger offspring. Nobles and various races have been seen demonstrating the effects of inherited skills, perhaps it slightly stronger physical strength, or just natural learning ability, or slightly faster levelling speed.

Why did I not know of it?

Not all nobles possess the ability to pass down abilities. Only some do, and those that never talk about it.

And...

We can read minds. Patreeck responded. Some of the nobles have been hiding this hidden advantage. They dont even tell their children, until their children gain a similar skill when they reach adulthood. Some of it is just the ability to evade negative traits or just generic healthiness.

Go on.

Weve also discovered that some royal families have certain dynasty abilities that bless their entire lineage.

Damned. Even in the world of levels, the wealthy and powerful have a way to rig the game. Seriously.

As such, the children of the royals have incredible value.

Do you think its possible to spawn a super-noble, then? I mean, if the inherited skills can be passed down, and the inherited skills can come from both father and mother, surely the nobles would have been accumulating advantages over time. Isnt this like how one-for-all works?

From our observation, yes, its already been done. The nobles and royalties intermarrying suddenly makes a huge amount of sense now. But from our observation, these gifted children mostly turn overconfident and usually die young before they ever fulfill their advantages and potential.

I see.

Theres a very Mendellian quality to this entire thing. Patreeck and Trevors proposal of mixing the royals with our elites reeks of geneticism. My soul forge alters an individual. This is altering successive generations via selective breeding.

I understand Masters concerns, but the effects of skills are real. The advantages are clear. Creating super-soldiers via selective breeding is possible in the long run. It is fundamentally not much more different from selective alteration of beetles.

In a world of magic and levels, were still unable to escape the powers of inheritance and inequality.

Magic and levels amplifies inequality. It gives legitimacy over ones superior station over another.

Dammit. Just fucking gddammit.

If I go down this path, eventually I would be selectively breeding my citizens to create supersoldiers.

Master?

I need a moment.

Ive already taken one step into that path, by training Valthorns from their very young age. This is an extension of that thought, by ensuring the quality and potential of the Valthorns are high, even before they are trained.

But theres clearly a conflict here. Valthorns are mostly children who are without families. Weve taken them in and trained them. Give them a family, and skills. Give them a purpose in life, if they didnt have one, a cause and goal to fight for.

Is there a line I shouldnt cross here? Ive killed thousands. Tens of thousands?

Master?

I need more time to contemplate this. I can accept the fact that hereditary skills exist. In fact, it makes all the sense that it should. A parents love for their children may manifest itself as skills.

The Kings and nobles of the world have been doing this all this while, master. Patreeck interjected. We are just taking it a step further.

Its the difference between free range chicken and massive broiler farms, Patreeck. I need to think.