NOVEL FROG (Vol 5) Chapter 25: Material World, Material Girl *
Sammy watched the revitalized, robed figure of Marjorie go, floating on a giant lily pad into the drowned forest in the fading light leading up to dusk. It was a very surreal vision. Then again, the whole experience had been surreal from start to finish.
She’s so beautiful. Ageless. Vibrant. Angelic. Dryad rebirth is really something.
Nearly all of the druids and such that had been a part of the ritual had faded away like shadows. It was just the mirrors, Bast, crickets, frogs, and one quietly waiting dryad left. Well, quiet audibly, because she was definitely loudly inspecting Bast head-to-toe. For once, he didn’t notice. He was lost in his own thoughts, staring off in the direction Marjorie had gone.
“She’ll be alright, Bast,” Sammy assured him, floating the mirror closer. “She’s tough as nails. We’ll be getting her into the mix of things in no time.”
Bast was shaken out of his meditation. He grinned sheepishly and shrugged. “When you’re right, you’re right. It’s just… hard to believe. The dryad thing. When I first saw her, it was rather… terrifying, honestly.”
Sammy nodded in sympathy. “Yeah. That's understandable. She won’t be exactly the same, but she’s definitely still Marjorie. Just with some strange tree business tacked on.”
They both chuckled and nodded.
The waiting dryad cleared her throat loudly. She had curiously changed from her bark form of a few moments ago to a rather scantily-clad blonde elf in appearance, like some extra in that old ‘Zena’ show. “If you are done here, Goddess? I need to escort this well-shaped Follower of yours out of our demesne.”
“Oh, eh, yeah, of course, sure, uh… sorry about the- I didn’t, er… I love the forest! Great ritual! I love me some dryads!” Sammy tried not to wince at herself.
Meanwhile, Bast was seeing his escort in a whole new light. He came close to leering as he rubbed at some stubble on his chin and said, “Speaking of well-shaped… you know, Miss, I’d love to discuss the finer points of human anatomy along the way. I’m in, ah, no real hurry. Do you have a scenic route, perhaps?”
The dryad smirked at him rather wickedly, then turned around. “If you insist. Come along, then. I’d like to reach less sacred areas before it gets too dark for you.” She sashayed out over the lily pads without looking back.
Bast ‘appreciated’ the focal point of that sashay for a moment, then shook himself to bow quickly to Samantha. “Your Majesty. Thank you again for what you’ve done for my mother. I fear I must hurry off now!”
He suited those words, stepping gingerly but quickly over the lily pads to catch up to the dryad, and could be heard complimenting her on her outfit.
“Good grief and oh, brother,” Sammy muttered. “He sure got over the whole ‘being terrified of dryads’ bit rather quickly.”
“A hot elf form ready for carnal pleasures will do that,” Azure replied in amusement. “In fact, I feel like I did something similar to you in a past life.”
Sammy tittered. “Fair enough.” She turned her mirror toward Marjorie’s tree. It was a towering thing rising out of the water, its base wider than the rest and knotted. It rose higher than any other tree in visible range. Her eyes dithered to the lowest branch. It was far different, a small thing with an almost bare-seeming, white outer surface.
Grafted. It was grown from the Wooden Changer, Redberry’s stationary Holy Relic — so she said. Much of the initial ritual preparation had been conducted at its secret location, channeled into a branch that was grafted into the tree Marjorie would inhabit. Redberry wanted the location known to as few people as possible, even Samantha if she could avoid it, though if it came down to necessity she would take her.
Unnecessary in this case, I suppose, because this is such a location-based matter where the grafting was necessary.
“Let’s get out of here, Azure,” Sammy offered. “I’ve got fifty-seven things to do and time for about three, I bet. Time to put back on the Big Girl Pants.”
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21 FE gained due to user belief/acknowledgment. Note: Followers of a different deity.
Follower ‘Hyginos’ lost due to disavowal of you as his deity. -1 Daily FE. -1 Devout.
-36 for various operational costs.
114 FE gained from assorted Follower prayers. 18 converted to Fate FE. 16 converted to Illusion FE. 20 converted to Mirrors FE. 16 converted to Light FE.
42 FE gained due to user belief/acknowledgment. Follower conversions successful. 42 FE gained. 42 Daily FE gained; 7 Followers have obtained quality grade Devout; 2 Followers have been authorized as Crusaders; 4 Followers have been ordained as level 0 priests (Daily FE total: 823).
895 Daily FE gained.
274 FE gained from assorted Follower prayers. 30 converted to Fate FE. 30 converted to Illusion FE. 40 converted to Mirrors FE. 50 converted to Light FE.
The first thing Sammy did was breathe a sigh of relief at getting to reset. She almost felt naked without [Alter Fate] uses.
Getting cursed to not have access is now on my shortlist of nightmares.
The next matter was to top up stuff. Popping over to the general spirit world, she regenerated her MP to max and re-cast Minor Contingency with the pooled-up energy, then materialized to her Avatar to add PFE, all focused on the efficiency of time use. She was going to cram the shit out of what was available. If events cooperated, she’d check a bunch of things off her list, and if not, at least she was more prepared.
Next up was Avatar upgrades. She had managed to accumulate FE despite various costs. A lot of the battle had used up PFE and specialty FE, mitigating costs. She’d even managed to use a bit of the temp FE from her first absorption in the fight, which for some reason pleased and somewhat amused her. In any case, she’d attained over 6300 FE after the daily reset.
On her Core Avatar, she upgraded Magic Resistance from 1 to 2 for 200 FE. Next, she moved to Green and dropped 500 FE into Quickness 3.
New Quest unlocked: “Fanatic of The Material” — Spend over 4000 FE on Avatar upgrades.
● Rewards: +8 exp in [Goddess], Avatar Upgrades maximum total ranks become Goddess+1, one chosen upgrade available per Avatar outside limits, up to -1 of maximum rank purchased.
Finally! Had to crest 3000 spent, yeesh.
She squinted and ran the numbers in her head. Next level, easy. A little more potential squeezed, and a whole new pick up to rank 2.
More encouragement to invest in Avatars. I already have unique bonuses on Faces. If I lose the Avatar, I lose all the FE invested and priceless unique benefits. Oh, and my damn Relic Armor if I’m using it. Starting to make me consider an ‘expendable’ one for riskier situations.
Zadkiel. Instead of dealing with him directly for the initial stages of the new bargaining, Sammy instructed Azure and the rest of the realm to work on a tangible contract to dot all the I’s and cross all the T’s in a meeting of minds. But she wanted it done pronto because his own realm was suffering. She needed to reach out to it and begin to set the stage for the master’s ‘glorious’ return. Not to mention, well… she had a damn quest to complete.
I both look forward to sating my curiosity on this mystery domain of his and feel great trepidation. From all the sacrificing rituals that fuck was doing, it just can’t be good.
To this end, she created the Cath Sith Servitor Sancus, with the specialty of [Contracts] to deal more directly with the matter. At the request of Jeeves and taking advantage of the Pantheon’s ‘free’ energy, she made a few more Resemblants with existing staple skills, to support the growing Follower base and spy network: Niles, Archibald, and Rosie.
In regards further to the Pantheon, she had a few members who were inclined to switch over and join the numerous adds from Redberry’s side. One such was the one-time Greenleaf Follower Ligeia, who was originally the midwife of Brackenhome, but had been increasingly inspired to move up in the organization as someone who embraced each iteration of her goddess — as well as Redberry — for decades.
Hmm. Let’s go ahead and slap Priestess on this one, then!
She lost a few Daily-style Followers… but all the while, gains hadn’t stopped, and Orswyth had dictated himself that anyone transferring had to win an ‘extra’ Follower to replace themselves.
Damn, why didn’t I think of that?!
Preliminary inquiries and scouting of the waters outside of Geirkos indicated numerous too-small and useless islands. She considered at least the potential of expanding the land somehow, but it felt a bit weak of an idea overall.
Zephyr had been grilled about an oddity that was very interesting — not by suggestion, but by the sheer willpower of Dick to extract all information when it came to a task. It was a ‘cursed’ place that everyone steered well clear of, avoided, and very few ventured to. Most didn’t return if they did, but those who managed to escape were afflicted with terrible madness.
‘Deadman’s Teeth’ it was called in the common tongue, but the elves named it ‘The Isle of Phantoms.’ This set off something like an orchestra of vibes in Sammy’s soul.
“That’s it!” Sammy declared from her throne, slamming one fist into the throne arm, laughing in glee as she pointed with her other hand down at Dick, who’d just given his report. “That’s the island upon which the tower to Heaven will be built!”
Samantha, Goddess of Fate & Illusion
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Goddess, level 7 [11/70]; Standard Deity
Domains (5/5): Mirrors, Illusion, Fate, Light, Pneuma
Faith Energy: 5621/16000
FE (Mirrors): 120 ; (Illusion): 100 ; (Fate): 120 ; (Light): 120 ; (Pneuma): 117
Followers: 602 (Daily FE Gain: 823 [905 - 10])
Devout: 110+12
Priests: 67+17+15s
Brute: 0 [1/10]
Saboteur: 2 [22/30]
Magineer (Abjurer): 7 [1/70]
Bard: 2 [12/30]
MP: 211/211
Special Skills: First Aid, Tarot Reading, Meditation, Sympathetic Targeting, Swimming (Expert), Diplomacy, {W} Comprehension (Grandmaster), {R} Rogue's Luck, Priestly Ordination, Holy Relic Investiture, Create Servitor, Consecration, Magical Invention (Grandmaster), Detect Magic+2, Ritual Cast*, Draw Mana* (1/1), Tweak Spell, Inspire Ally (2/2), Musical Talent, Jack of All Trades 2, Exploit Weakness, Avoidance, Sabotage
Special Traits: Token User, Immortal, Demiplane Domain, Conceptual Body, Fueled By Faith, Spirit Sight, Soul Companion (Azure), Detection Ward, Split Prediction, Perfect Vision, Light Absorption, Spirit Armor
Avatars: Av 1 (Core): Samantha (Mental Res 3, Magic Res 2, Quick 3, PFE: 150/150; Faces: Core (Pain Res 2), Stillwater (Charisma 1, Vital Strike +1)), Av 2: Green (Mental Res 3, Magic Res 1, Quick 3, PFE: 150/150)
Spells (MP): Allspell Zero (1), Allspell Core (3), Hard Light Layer (4), Telekinetic Thrust (6), Seeking (8), Web (10), Delicate Touch (9), False Mind (22+), Personal Levitation (12), Pillar of Force (16+), Minor Contingency* (18), Justified Dispel (18), Breath of Spell Stasis (40)
Powers: FE Utilization, Grant Prayer (Illusion, Fate, Light), Mirror: (Sense, Communication, Maze, Walk, Other, Control), Intuition, Alter Fate, Create Phantasms, Grant Invisibility, Dazzling Spectrum, False Auras, Mirroring Duplicates*, Reflect Force, Light Manipulation, The Dawn Will Rise*, Removal, Channel Domain, The Unseen Animus, Purify, Phantasmal Haunt, Sheath of Light, Deific Pneumamancy, Fated Knot
Items: Bound Staff/Scepter (+1 EL, +1 Arm Pen, Knockout, Spell Absorption 0/9), Suit of Mirrors (Relic; +2 M. Armor), Ring of Shield Projection, Ring of the Cheater, Amulet of All Defense, Dimension Closet Sack (portal DIA: 32 cm), Horn of the Wild’s Vengeance, Potion of Seal Major Wound (1)
Status: Ascendant, Big Boss, Savior of the Fae, Sponge of Knowledge, Spirit Terror, Spells of Deja Vu (6/999), Token User Promotional Bonus (29/30), Free Minor Divine Enchantment (1/use), Free Consecration (1/use)
Patreon Link — 69 Advance Chappies!
Nice.