Sum'gial was curious: when would Selithrae and the Orchid Cult Goddess realize they were related? An undead and former High Priestess of the Moon Goddess; an Orchid Cult goddess and the daughter of that former High Priestess. When they finally met, it would be an interesting sight for Sum'gial.
One chose revenge and rebirth for the moon elves; the other chose despair and death. All that remained was for him to set the stage and enjoy what followed. Sum'gial was certain that after this stunt he would be left alone for at least a century or two. If not, he would cover Orbisar in an undead calamity and destroy it.
As idle thoughts raced in his soul-fire, he sought inspiration to complete the mechanical eye he had promised to Muck. Slimes aren't meant to see; their tactile senses surpass those of any other living or non-living beings. Any mechanical eye he created would be shoddy compared to that astonishing touch.
Sum'gial doesn't do shoddy work. Ther'vassi scholars divide sight into Darkvision, True Vision, Devil Vision, and Magic Vision. From Steve's memories, he knew eyes see only a slice of the light spectrum. He reckoned magic was visible across a spectrum as well.
To Sum'gial, magic was energy governed by equations. He carried mana in his body; using it, he could affect ambient magic. The magic network made it easier. Even so, he treated magic as a five-dimensional equation.
He would need thousands of experiments to turn the partial Ther'vassi blueprint into a real eye. His obsessions stirred. He wouldn't make just one eye and be done; he would make thousands.
—
Jacob POV
Jacob received news that his half-brother Malvek was on his way to E'nathyr. He understood his father's aim there: to be left alone. However, for reasons he couldn't grasp, the matrons wanted to control the Tower of Bones with or without Sum'gial. He was bait for whatever Sum'gial intended.
Sum'gial wanted chaos in E'nathyr, so he would create chaos. As Jacob waited for the Orchid Cult representative in the former House Baey'Ra, he remembered the advice Sum'gial had given: "Don't fail me, or I will recycle you myself." He finally understood that he—and the undead sent here—were trash in his father's eyes.
He, a legendary warrior who had spent countless years on the edge of the sword, was trash to the lich. He used to fantasize about meeting his father—hugging him, talking to him—and had hoped unavoidable circumstances, not malice, had separated them. When his mother explained the contract on her deathbed, he went after him to avenge her.
After killing the drow who had tormented his mother, he relaxed and thought, Now I can finally have a family—be the father I never had. How naive he was. Plagues and undead took his home. With Malvek's help, he learned his father had come back—as a lich this time. He sent his only living relative, his son, to the Northern Academy under the tutelage of the Northern Rose.
He was determined to finish what he hadn't done before—to release his father's soul. Three years later, he gathered an army and attacked the Tower of Bones, yet he failed again. The phylactery was broken, but his father returned yet again.
He made a deal with him to finally end their conflict—only to learn that his experiment on me had ended the moment I smashed the phylactery.
He finally lost all familial affection for his father; from this point on, he was only the lich Sum'gial. His mouth might still say father, but his only remaining familial affection was for the son he might never see.
He was the sacrificial piece in this game. He looked forward to getting out—going north and never coming back.
A slight knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts. He was surprised when the apprentice priestess Vess'ri entered the room. He was expecting an Orchid Cult representative, not a Mushroom Priestess.
"Wasn't expecting me?" Vess'ri asked with a slight smile.
"No, I wasn't. Would you like some mycelbrew?" Jacob said, gesturing to the kettle.
"Why not?" Vess'ri said.
"So, tell me—how did an apprentice priestess get involved with the Orchid Cult?" Jacob asked as he poured a cup of hot mycelbrew.
"I wasn't always an apprentice priestess. House Haet'Ra has a rule for females: you must have your own power before you can become a priestess—a warrior, a wizard, a rogue, anything that wouldn't leave you defenseless should the Mushroom Queen's favor be lost. As House Baey'Ra, a cadet branch of House Haet'Ra, did the same, Priestess Xalianthra copied Haet'Ra's rule one-to-one," she said, sipping her tea.
"And how does that connect you to the Orchid Cult?" Jacob asked patiently.
"You were the one who captured me, dear uncle!" Vess'ri said sharply. "One of your raids near the Tower of Bones seized us—me and my sister, who was standing guard. Then you handed us over to a slave merchant; we were promptly sold to the Orchid Cult and sent back as spies and saboteurs," she finished.
Words stuck in Jacob's mouth. Unsure what to say, he poured another cup of mycelbrew.
"My sister and I were the reason House Baey'Ra lost the grace of the Mushroom Queen. We would have died had another house made the move—but we met you again," Vess'ri said calmly.
"Am I your uncle? I was aware of Sum'gial promiscuous past, but how many children does he have here in E'nathyr?" Jacob asked, clearly changing the subject.
Vess'ri gave a knowing look and said "There are about hundred and fifty children, and countless grandchildren here at E'nathyr. You met Veyn'dor, in the academy of Xil Arath, five of the fifteen instructors are of Sum'gial's loins. Many of his children hold a position of power.".
"Will any of those assist me, or the orchid cult?" Jacob inquired.
"None of those people will help you or the orchid cult without sufficient payment." Vess'ri replied simply.
"What does the orchid cult want in E'nathyr?" Jacob asked.
"We, the orchid cult, want to gain more members in E'nathyr. We are going to hire you as a mercenary, as you are well aware that in E'nathyr males killing females is forbidden. As long as you hand over the female population intact, no one cares how many you kill. " Vess'ri answered.
"After that?" Jacob asked again.
"We will get there, for now, I need to leave." Vess'ri answered matter of factly, got up and left.
Jacob decided to report the latest developments to Sum'gial as he finished his mycelbrew.
—
Sum'gial POV
Sum'gial was working on true vision v15, one could see through objects and 360 degree vision, when he received the report. As he read, he understood what the orchid cult wanted, unlike Jacob he was well versed in politics. The orchid cult wanted the whole E'nathyr. They were slowly corrupting priestesses, people in power. Like a plague they would take over the city, quietly.
Sum'gial didn't like that, but he could use this to his advantage. A war between mushrooms and orchids was to his advantage. The orchid cult was at a disadvantage, even the orchid goddess was weaker than the mushroom goddess. He would help out to even the odds, at least in E'nathyr. A one-sided war would be over in a matter of months, an even war would take decades, centuries.
Sum'gial reckoned the elven pantheon was helping out as well, otherwise no matter how much the orchid goddess wanted she could never manage to infiltrate the underdeep.
Putting aside the political problems, he needed a way to connect the mechanical eye to a slime's mana core. He knew that the undead slime liked to eat other slimes mana core's. He would connect the mech eye to another mana core, and Muck would eat the core connected to the mana core thereby gaining access to the eye.
The mechanical eye needed no optic nerve, wireless connection sounded great to Sum'gial. He didn't need to limit the size of the eye either. It would need no battery either, most of the slime's liquid was an excellent conductor for mana.
The mechanical eye needed no irises or pupils either, despite being an eye, the slime core had no processing center for visual images. In a sense, the mechanical eye for a slime would be a bat's radar. It would be using the great tactile sense of a slime to create visual images.
It would not need dark vision nor devil vision, but a combination of mana and true vision would be perfect for a slime. Since seeing the mana was possible for the mechanical eye, he would add an antimagic ray to it as a bonus.
—
Selithrae POV
As she drank the mycelbrew with one hand and held the worry beads with the other, she was unsettled. She wanted revenge and now she had the opportunity for it. She didn't know how Sum'gial found out about her past. Forums of the damned were bustling ever since they announced their alliance. Yet, she had no joy.
In the land of eternal winter she would stay, train her troops, accumulate strength and she would have her revenge.
When the moon goddess fell, the soul accumulated in her kingdom of god fell into her hands. She was going to hand those souls to the goddess of the sun, but before handing over, she wanted to find those who want revenge among them and train an army of wights.
Till now, she was acting alone, from this point forward she would have armies to do her bidding. She needed an armory, generals, a solid fighting system suitable for the undead. She needed more allies.
The forums of the damned was the place she would get those. Trading, stealing, lying, she would get whatever she needed. Sum'gial gave a rough timeline for their actions, merely six months. Then, E'nathyr would become their battlefield.
As she sipped her festive spice mycelbrew, she contemplated.
Muck of Slimewood Forest
Muck was back at its abode, it was unconcerned with many things. It didn't know why it had to sign that contract, but it did sign it anyway. Its philosophy of going with waves, saved its life many times. It would not do its best for Sum'gial, Selithrae nor for Vyrgil. It would help though, there were endless slimes born in its forest.
Some even surprised it, whoever heard of a slime that was capable of using magic? Those slimes warlocks had eaten a black dragon and somehow managed to teach their warlock abilities to other slimes. Slimes becoming wizards was oddity itself. Some others learned monk abilities. Some slimes learned rogue abilities, warrior attacks etc.
Whatever experiment Ther'vassi artificers did to those slimes changed them, no slime was supposed to gain such talents. It didn't mind though. It was curious what changes this alliance could bring. Whatever slime survived would bring in benefits to it.
Vyrgil POV
Vyrgil didn't understand why he had to sign that treaty, his luck insisted on signing it, so he did. He understood the class stratification problem in the Ther'vassi empire. It was the greed of the goblin nation that destroyed the goblin nation. As he understood the problem, he made his move. His blood slaves had eternal life same as himself, they would never be satisfied to be under him for eternity.
The class stratification was a problem he had with his servants. Despite his luck, he was not immortal. He would release whomever served him more than five hundred years as long as they found a replacement to his luck's liking.
The other problem he found was that his luck became ineffective in the tower of bones. When he asked Sum'gial, the lich stayed silent and gave no answer. If there was one place, his luck became ineffective then there are probably other places as well.
Vyrgil knew in other undead's eyes, he was naive, even innocent, but he wasn't stupid. Vyrgil didn't know how his luck formed, but he knew he wasn't always so lucky.
Since his luck had its limits, he would form an army. He was a poor vampire with a lot of weaknesses after all.