BECMI Chapter 10 – Butter and Poison

Karmic buffets were important places to remember, and I was not as time-loose as any elf was, even the shadelves. I wanted my Karma, I wanted my Levels, and I wasn’t going to stop until I had them, despite the fact I was only coming up on a year old. I was taking things incredibly slow by my own measures, simply because something as annoying as an Anti-Magic area of any kind would basically reduce me instantly to helplessness. Elves took about twice as long to physically mature as humans did, but a good century to ‘grow up’ mentally, by what I’d observed wandering about the Sternvult. In short, they tended to have really long teenage years, which probably accounted for a good deal of their whimsical personalities and erratic natures. They wanted to play like kids while being capable of all the deeds of a young adult. When that young adulthood took a century and could end up with a barely-adult able to throw around V’s and Master swordsmanship, things could get interesting for enemies of the people. I was not looking forward to taking so long to mature, but it was the hand I’d been dealt. I was pretty sure magicks which ‘aged’ me weren’t going to help me get more mature, they were just going to shave off my lifespan while I was still a baby, and likely really interfere with my growth at the same time. What do you do when you’re four, your body says you’re a hundred, and it’s time to stop growing? Nope, wasn’t going that route. Duum was happy to fly me around, as towing my Disk was basically effortless, since it was made to follow him. The fact he got so many good eats out of it was a different matter. I wasn’t sure about having a Bat as a Familiar, but then realized it fit perfectly with being an Edgelord and stuff, so, yeah, why not? Wasn’t like I was actually going to take an undead or demon or something. A bat would be right on trope, he just needed to be prettied up a bit and made to look like something more appropriate. ------ “Master Oglevier! Master Oglevier!” The sound of a child’s voice calling his name urgently was sufficiently different to distract the slender, serious-faced purser from his duties of arranging supplies for the King’s Palace. He turned around to see a young child trotting towards him, waving for attention. She was a lovely thing, if dressed in more dark colors than was appropriate, but the cloth was expensive, very neatly stitched, her hair cut and braided wonderfully, and she had dancing violet eyes in a face that promised to be a heartstopping beauty when she grew older. She also had the most astounding dire bat he’d ever seen riding the Disk that was trailing along smoothly after her. The creature was midnight black in hue, with thick and luxurious fur, the white of a triangle on its chest standing out, and bright crimson patterns winding to either side, down and around it. The furled wings tucked in tight had what looked like scarlet roses upon them, and white strands picking up winding stems or vines leading to the floral trim, with its dewclaws a very bright crimson indeed, its teeth very, very white, and crimson tufts on its pronounced and very black ears. The bat also had a monocle over one eye, and a silver chain attaching it to his ear! There was definite intelligence in the bat’s dark eyes as it stood there on the Disk, looking over and trailing after the much smaller young elfin dragging it around. Although the Disk was low to the ground, the bat nevertheless loomed over the little girl, and was quite enough to threaten away anyone who looked like they might want to interfere with her. Actually, standing there with its wings folded and fur like that, the supply clerk blinked and thought the bat rather looked like someone in formal attire, with a rather strange furred cloak thrown about them. Still, he wasn’t threatened. He’d met with powerful citizens and soldiers of the king’s household, and while this bat certainly felt dangerous, it wasn’t enough to overawe him. Still, such a formidable pet indicated that the girl was definitely protected by someone both important and powerful. “Yes, child? How may I help you?” he asked as she skidded to a breathless halt in front of him. Her curtsy was quite smooth, and mollified any sense of being treated rudely. “Master Oglevier, I was sent to deliver a message to you on behalf of my Mistress, the Lady Edge.” That was definitely not a name he’d heard before, and he noted it carefully. “She said that you arrange for feast items for the King’s Palace, and was wondering if you might be interested in the fresh carcass of a King Scorpion?” Oglevier’s eyes opened in sudden interest. “A King Scorpion?” he repeated carefully. Scorpions of that size were indeed not common, and intact carcasses even less so. They were usually chopped up and served as rations and rewards to the soldiers who killed them when they came scuttling out of the tunnels. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. “Several of the legs are detached, but are otherwise intact, Master! The carcass would be rendered down at the shop of Master Chlyfual, who has purchased the poison sac for his tanning business!” Oglevier considered that. Chlyfual’s business had little to do with the Palace, but he was acknowledged as a master of treating leathers, which required a master’s touch when rendering down the creatures who provided such things. He was not, however, a cook, and would have no use for the delicately-textured white flesh of a true King Scorpion! “I see. And when would this rendering take place?” he asked quickly. “Lady Edge has the creature stored in form on a scroll, and can release it anytime before three more days are up, in order that you receive it in the freshest condition.” “Excellent! The King is hosting a delegation from New Grunland, such a beast will make a fine centerpoint!” Grunland provided much food in the way of trade, so a beast like this would both salute that notion of food and provide an example of the military might of the Sternvult, and how it provided for others as well! “What day would my lord be wishing to collect the meat?” the child asked, drawing forth a rolled note and handing it over to him. Oglevier politely opened it up, raising an eye at the black and red script on the remarkably white cloth fungi paper. It was extremely ornate and eye-catching, while also being startlingly easy to read, as if the distracting scarlet accents only helped explain and accentuate the artistic black lettering. It was also a simple agreement on costs and times, with him providing his own means of delivery, and suggestions as to weight and volume. He reflected that he’d best memorize at least two of his own, he thought, nodding once. “I agree to these terms!” he stated quickly. “Shall I meet her at Master Chlyfual’s?” he asked, definitely interested in someone who could kill a King Scorpion. The child shook her hair, platinum locks swaying hypnotically. “Mistress is very busy. I run the minor errands, my lord. I will collect the payment with Duum here, and deliver the scroll. Master Chlyfual has already agreed to provide the butchering as part of his own payment for the venom.” It was an unusual method, but not so much for a powerful elf with other interests that occupied their time. The stronger elves could be extremely whimsical about their time and interests, alternating between sometimes years of intense, almost obsessive focus on something, followed by equal periods of just wasting time and enjoying what pleasures they could get out of them. It was the weaker elves who were steadier hands and the most reliable about such things, unsurprisingly. Interdependence made them all stronger, as the Verses of Gaebrel made apparent! “I shall be there in the morning two days hence,” he promised to her, and the deal was struck. ---- Duum absolutely loved his new look, the colors and patterns of whiteness against his new sable black fur making him absolutely stunning. The fact I kept him freshly groomed also helped. Also, the sudden elevation of his being my combined Familiar/Animal Companion had done very good things for him. Nobody had the slightest idea how dangerous Duum really was right now. All of which was because of him also being a Theurgic Companion, and his effective Animal Companion and Familiar Class Levels stacked for determining his benefits. Which was 7+8, as I took the Feat with my next Mystic Theurge Level, meaning he was the Animal Companion of a Fifteen, not an Eight, and had the Intelligence of a Familiar on top of it! Which meant he was much, much smarter than most Animal Companions, and much, much tougher than most Familiars… and I had a lot of experience in how to help out a Theurgic Companion in many ways. Aelryinth’s companion was Feature, who was a big ol’ Snake. While dangerous in melee, Feature wasn’t really that big a utility beast, at least until he got as a magical ability and could turn into a dragon to really increase his offensive ability. Duum could already fly, and had four limbs, in addition to his bite. Now, bats don’t normally attack with their wings and claws… but a Companion Bat is not a normal animal, and since I was the Master and it was my power shared with him that was helping him get all these abilities, I naturally was guiding him into what to take. gave him an unarmed strike… based on his Theurgic Level. Now, that didn’t work out at all, until he took , and all his natural attacks used the Arcane Fist scale for damage. Which was okay, but he only used his bite. So, and turned both of those into weapons, and suddenly my bat companion was a wing-smashing, claw-ripping, bite-tearing whirlwind of destruction! him with , and a simple Cantrip gave him the arcane energy connection to use , spending a swift action gave him a damage boost for 1 round equal to 1+1/4 Caster Levels, for another +5 damage. His wings cut like bloody scythes, his claws reaped like sickles, and his screaming jaws could deliver horrific wounds, all of it in a whirlwind thrashing of a suddenly 14 Hit Die killing machine coming in to harvest some blood and souls. My fellow shadelven citizens had absolutely no idea how dangerous Duum was, and Duum was very eager to go back out there and test his new strength in combat. When buffed up with and , he was a true monster in a fight… and I was plenty happy to turn the Karma he earned back into him to improve him further. He had a 13 Intellect now, smarter than the average elf or human, and was totally enthusiastic about the idea of getting stronger… and we’d have to fight long and hard to make it happen. Being able to tow him around meant I had to make my name known, but nobody was going to associate a powerful servant of a strong elf-mage with the real me. I was only a year old, right? It also meant I could now be seen riding him around here and there, and as his name spread, he could be seen in other places without me, and the shadelven who knew of him would just think Lady Edge sent him somewhere. He was going to earn a lot of notoriety fairly quickly once we started getting in some flying practice together. I was looking forward to it, even if I couldn’t go full edge-lord on everyone yet. I also now had a very tough friend who could totally protect me in fights out there, and I was looking forward to us beating on things out in the wild.