No Need for a Core?

While Mordecai was contemplating his plans for their newest zone, he noticed the return of one of his messengers. Erryn's late afternoon return was slightly more notable given that a skulk of young kitsune women surrounded him. Mordecai didn't normally apply that term for a group of foxes to kitsune, but it somehow seemed fitting in this case.

This was also the moment that he realized that by basing usagisune biology on kitsune biology, he'd probably made them more attractive on average to kitsune than humans and elves were. And he'd just sent a male messenger to a clan notoriously shy of males. And these girls looked like they wanted to find some boys of their own.

He shook his head and shifted his avatar toward the edge of their territory, appearing far enough away to approach them casually and observe how the women moved a little further away from the young man they'd been crowding, but only a little. "I think I don't want to know the details of this little story," he said dryly as Erryn looked abashed, "but I suspect you need to go get some rest while I chat with your friends here."

Erryn nodded while somehow looking simultaneously embarrassed, pleased, and smug. "As you say sir."

When the messenger started to pass by Mordecai, his attention was caught by a small detail and he laid a hand on Erryn's shoulder. "Wait." He plucked a single long, dark hair that had gotten tangled around a button on Erryn's vest. A dark hair with a hint of an aura much stronger than any of the one or two-tailed vixens who had so kindly escorted Erryn home. He focused on the state of Erryn's spirit before sighing. "Never mind, carry on."

Now he turned his attention to the bright-eyed group of eager-looking women. "I think I have already figured out what sort of game you are hunting for on this visit. If you make it down to the village at the start of the river zone, you are permitted to attempt to court anyone who allows it. But I must emphasize that you have to earn your way there and that you will be competing with the usagisune women. And any other visitors who might be so inclined I presume. Given how few there currently are, I wouldn't get your hopes up too much, and you will respect any denials you receive. Now go on and find yourselves a room, there might be quite a delay in getting an open spot for the delve. Oh, and pass on those rules to your kin, alright?"

Mordecai didn't give them a chance to put up much of a protest before he started walking away. He wasn't in the mood to hear it right now.

"What was that about?" Kazue asked.

"Take a peek at Erryn's spirit." He sent back.

"Um, what happened to him? Those look like shallow claw marks, but that doesn't seem right."

That caused him to chuckle. "You are quite correct. It seems Norumi's mother passed down a certain trick, and Norumi passed it on in turn. I hadn't realized she'd left that legacy before she left. It's not particularly harmful, at least, not more so than the marks you and Moriko have left on my skin. Well, with more focus and will, it can allow a kitsune to strike a spirit creature, but that's not what happened here."

Kazue was silent a moment before she asked, "Um, does that mean Aia and Erryn...?" She let the question trail off.

"It seems so, yes."

Her next question caught him off guard. "So, is that a trick you can teach me?" Moriko chimed in too, just as eagerly.

"I have the feeling I should probably say no, but it seems I like to spoil my wives. So yes, I can. But Moriko, you can do that already, if in a different way. You already know how to channel chi to let you strike a spirit creature, and it's mostly a toned down aspect of that."

"Oh? Oh!" The half-elf replied with sudden enthusiasm. "And I have a partner right here to start practicing on tonight. Thank you both for the tip." Kazue's soul might be safely ensconced in their core, but her avatar's spirit was an extension of her own.

Kazue groaned, "That's not fair, you were supposed to be the first victim."

While his wife sulked over dramatically, Mordecai turned his attention back to his work. He already knew what he wanted for two of the bosses, and at least one new creature type, but there were still a lot of decisions to be made.

This contemplation was broken by a tug on his attention; a surging flow of confusion, worry, fear, and then finally panic. "Lord Mordecai, Lady Kazue, I'm sorry, but I do not think you should have elevated me so quickly. I am afraid that with the return of my memories, my mother will find me soon."

That was... Carmilla? Mordecai's core examined her aura to find newly unfolding patterns that had been tucked away deep into her soul. Patterns that were still very fey, and that were now being constrained by her status as a floor boss, rather than elevated.

Mordecai abandoned all thoughts of developing their new zone and began actively channeling mana into strengthening their boundaries against all forms of non-standard spacial movement. This was a rarely used trick, you had to be able to anticipate a potential intrusion and be willing to sustain the continual drain, which grew in proportion with your claimed territory.

Kazue asked in confusion, "What's going on?"

As he turned most of his attention to scanning their borders, Mordecai replied, "I mentioned before that it was a little strange for your pseudo-fairies to wake up as they hadn't been so much creatures as animated pieces of the puzzle. I also mentioned my hypothesis that the newly awakened potential drew sprite sparks from the Other Side. It seems someone decided to run away from home by hiding her mind inside the form of a spark, and I do not want to know a single thing else until I ask, not even a name."

That last sentence was emphatically sent at Carmilla, whose response carried a pleased purr in her voice. "I understand, and am pleased that even in my reduced state I managed to find such a wise protector."

Mordecai suppressed the urge to snarl at her and sent a tight message to Kazue, "Don't respond to that note in her voice or anything else like it, I have to deal with it or she won't respect it." Shadow-blasted Fae. Dealing with pixies and fairies was one thing, dealing with Faeries was another.

A slight shiver of energy at the edge of their borders told Mordecai where to focus his attention. At the border was what appeared to be a tall, refined-looking elf male in rather dapper clothing and with a mildly annoyed expression on his face. As the man made his way on foot deeper into their territory, Mordecai moved to intercept him. Normally he'd have covered most of the distance by manually shifting his avatar's location, but with so much of his core's attention being spent on strengthening their boundaries, it would be too difficult right now.

"Greetings to you fair guest," Mordecai called out as soon as he was within a reasonable hailing distance. "I am Lord Mordecai, and it is my pleasure to welcome you to my home. What business brings you our way this fine evening?" Between his avatar's acute senses and his core's dungeon senses, the man's glamour no longer quite hid the more ethereal features of Faerie nobility, nor the faint motes of energy that his aura generated and the faerie wings on his back.

Calling the visitor a guest was a very deliberate tactic in this scenario and the brief frown on the man's face showed that he understood it. "Greetings Lord Mordecai," the visitor replied with a bow, "I am Lord Silvander, and I come here on behalf of Queen Sylphine as her seneschal. She has reason to believe that her daughter, Princess Elara, is to be found inside your territory. Would you be able to inform me as to her whereabouts?"

Mordecai wanted to strangle his newest floor boss. Instead, he returned the bow and replied, "While I am hosting some nobility, I know of none by that name and all are from the neighboring kingdom. Perhaps we should discuss this after a meal? I would not want to be a poor host after all." Best to play it safe by binding them both with proper protocol. He disliked playing games by Faerie rules. While he was capable of calling upon Ozuran's guidance to break any sort of unfair bindings, his awareness of protocol meant that fewer things would be considered unfair should he fail to take the proper steps for this dance.

Silvander inclined his head in acknowledgment. "Food and drink would be appreciated."

"Excellent, but first I believe it behooves me to make sure you and yours are aware of a current situation. We have recently dealt with a hostile incursion that is part of an ongoing threat. Due to this, we would have to treat anyone trying to obfuscate their presence as they traveled deeper into our domain as a hostile intruder. It would be unfortunate if there were any misunderstandings."

One of the motes drifting around Silvander had not faded in and out with the others; now that mote chimed with soft laughter as it floated away from the man and transformed into a woman with bright, emerald-green hair that had an almost metallic luster to it and intense, sky-blue eyes. Despite being as tall as Bellona, she still seemed somehow delicate and petite as she curtsied briefly, the layers of her white silk dress making nary a sound. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Mordecai. I am Queen Sylphine."

Mordecai carefully bowed the precise amount for a sovereign greeting a visiting sovereign. "It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty, and I welcome you to my home as a guest."

She pursed her lips thoughtfully at his precise bow, but Mordecai's bow was correct for the situation no matter what the power discrepancy might or might not be. "I see that you have dealt with the Fae before. Interesting. Very well then, let us see what lavish feast awaits us."

Mordecai led their visitors through the last vestiges of light from the setting sun as he spoke to Kazue. "Love, could you please start creating a pair of statues in the likeness of these two? Place them on the edge of our border with Kuiccihan and facing the Azeria Forest. Once you have their physical likeness, see if you can create a likeness of their auras as well."

Kazue replied, "Yeah, I can do that. Looking for backup if we need it? Are they that dangerous?"

"Probably not, if I handle everything correctly, but I do not like taking chances." He didn't see a point in sending messengers as he had previously; the help they might need would have to be faster than that and from a different source anyway.

While he'd led the two faeries to the trading post Mordecai had stopped maintaining the boundary reinforcement. Instead, he hastily constructed a new building to act as a feast hall and sent instructions ahead to their inhabitants. He had no intention of bringing these two any deeper into their territory than he had to. He had also passed messages to a few of their more welcome guests who had agreed to join them for dinner. "As I mentioned previously, we do have other nobility staying with us, and it seems rude to not introduce you to them while you are here."

Inside the feast hall, Princess Orchid waited in her original, human form to represent Kuiccihan and Shizoku to represent the Azeria clan, along with Paltira as Orchid's consort. As heir apparent to the clan's matriarch, Shizoku was equivalent to a princess even if she didn't share the title. After introductions were made and courtesies performed, the queen and her seneschal were seated at the opposite end from Mordecai, with the princesses seated on the longer sides. At Mordecai's end of the table were three chairs and he said, "I apologize that my wives are unable to be here. They are currently in the middle of a tour of Kuiccihan, and have no means to return this swiftly."

"I see. That is unfortunate, but such circumstances can not be held against you given the surprise nature of Our visit," Sylphine replied, "and you have ensured that we have fine company at least, and such interesting staff." She gestured to the laganthros serving the dinner.

Mordecai had considered the idea of having some usagisune serve instead but discarded the idea as too risky. Though they might be visually more impressive in this circumstance, they were also far more likely to be considered attractive and some of what the fae considered to be casual hospitality was morally questionable by other standards.

"I am glad you find our hospitality pleasing," he said. "We've managed to acquire some interesting foods from abroad and our chefs have been practicing most diligently, so I hope you will enjoy the food just as much. The mead is a local vintage, and we have some other drinks that might interest you as well." He wasn't going to offer up the mushroom elixir as an option; that would open the door to having a bottle requested as a gift and that would lead to him having to deny the request.

Thankfully Orchid was more than up to the task of taking up the conversation from here. Mordecai relaxed for a while, letting the conversation hum along for a while and providing appropriate responses when needed. The day had started so well too, now he was walking a knife's edge dealing with a Faerie Queen. He'd felt less endangered during the invasion.

They were well into dessert when Sylphine turned to Shizoku with a beaming smile. "You are such a beautiful young woman and with so much potential. I have a son about your age who I think would be a delightful match for you, I should bring him to visit you sometime."

Shizoku froze, her eyes wide with sudden panic.

Mordecai really, really hated dealing with the fae some days.