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The halls were glamorous and tall, maybe even the tallest Maria had ever seen them. Such a structure, to her knowledge, was forged by the first Miaph and true Demmi-God of Alkain. Though there have been changes to its structure ever since that time, it stands as one of the greatest works of art mankind has ever seen.

Around the halls were a series of maidservants and guards, all of them taking a few glances at Solomon and Maria. This place was hostile, as Solomon took it with an avalanche of Morse fighters the moment his predecessor was discovered to have died. How he died, well, Maria did gloat about doing the deed in the Lord’s Lands, so there is the chance at least a rumor of it reached the Miaphate.

“So, how many times have you stood next to a ruler, deliberating judgement upon men?” Solomon asked with a dastardly smile.

“A few times, though it was rare as I was being tutored for the most part.” Maria admitted with a smile.

“They must have done one hell of a job.” Solomon claimed with a grin.

“Indeed they have.”

Soon the two were at a pair of double doors, two Morse guards standing at either side. Automatically, the Morseman opened the doors and welcomed the Couple into the room. Standing next to a series of bags was a sharp looking man, clear ambition in his eyes though they were of a simple brown color.

“Tumuh Hakim, it is good to see you again.” Solomon said while giving the man a courteous wave.

“The same to you, Solomon.” The advisor said while Solomon sat himself among what Maria realized was the Miaph’s ‘Throne’, “Who is this with you today?”

“She is Elizabeth Wyvern, a girl who I have had interest in for some time. Treat her just as you would myself.”

“Is that so? A pleasure to meet you Wyvern.” He said with a bow just as he gave Solomon.

“Thank you very much, Tumuh Hakim.” Maria answered before realizing that she herself needed a place rest herself.

>Stand next to Solomon as one would an advisor
>Lay next to Solomon as a Lover, giving him prestige but also having his ear to herself
>Take a seat on the ‘throne’, but nothing more than that
>Other

The pic has no real hints to it, just what I imagine a Grand Vizier would be. I blame Disney.

>>4526272
>Stand next to Solomon as one would an advisor

>>4526272
>Stand next to Solomon as one would an advisor

>>4526272
>Stand next to Solomon as one would an advisor

>>4526272
>Stand next to Solomon as one would an advisor
Let's not ego strike the man too much

>>4526272
>Stand next to Solomon as one would an advisor

>>4526272
>Lay next to Solomon as a Lover, giving him prestige but also having his ear to herself

>>4526272
>Advisor
We only got cliff notes. No need to dive deep into the politics by standing next to him and we aren't staking a claim to him, he's staking a claim to us.
TLDR Lurk first like a good anon.

It also lets us play innocent until one of these guys trips up. eg they say we have no place at the table and we point out that our god is native to these lands, so if we have no place, then they should be banished as well.

You know I forgot the archive
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Otome

As an advisor
>>4526282
>>4526285
>>4526323
>>4526456
>>4526598
>>4526909

Lover
>>4526808

Maria simply moved herself to Solomon’s other side, the man giving a raised brow, “Not going to take a seat?”

“Maybe another time Solomon.” Maria answered with a calm repose.

“Hmph, very well. Tumuh, who shall be the first ones to see my judgement?”

“Indeed I will.” The Vizir said while giving a slight chuckle to Maria’s positioning, “The first case I have is a dispute between the City of Colair and their lord Amjad.”

“And what would the man’s relation be to me?” Solomon quickly sounded off.

“He would be your Twelfth Cousin, and before you ask no his blood has muddled too far to be considered a possible Contestant.”

“Very well, bring them in.” Solomon answered with what Maria realized was a small amount of relief within his voice.

Tumuh gave a nod to the Morsemen who were standing guard, the pair opening the door to allow a pair of people coming down the aisle. Both while not dressed as finely as those here in the palace, looked much more cared for when it came to the common rabble they were well off.

“My Miaph, the ones to come today are Abdul the Overseer of Colair and Duke Amjad of the Felchain Straight.” Tumuh announced while the pair of men bowed their heads to Solomon, “As Overseer Abdul of Colair submitted, we understand that Duke Amjad attempted to imprison Abdul without reason. Is that correct Abdul?”

“That is correct Grand Vizir.”

“What is to your defense, Duke Amjad? You have attempted to imprison a man with no reason, like one would expect from a tyrant.”

“I am well within my rights given by the Gods to administer Justice.” Amjad announced with what was obviously an anger in his voice, “What I question is the rights of you Miaph Solomon! What gives you the right to administer affairs within my region.”

The moment those words were spoken Maria could feel a pressure emanate from Solomon. Once again he has revealed his powers as a Child of Alkain, “It has been proven in that you have come before me, Amjad. If you did not recognize my authority you would have stayed in your castle.”

“I am simply here to humor you, Miaph. I always wanted to meet the youngest man to claim the Miaphate.” He announced with a laugh.

[Royal Demeanor Success]

Just glancing at this situation, Maria quickly realized what was happening. Solomon, at this point, was making a power grab to settle himself into getting more rights as the Miaph. If the Duke is allowed to go free, the city will likely rebel against him and have a fouled relationship against the Miaph.

If the Duke is persecuted, well it depends on the punishment. If he is fined then he will not have an excuse to rebel and Solomon’s power is more solidified. Imprisonment will grant Solomon greater precedent later on, but could easily cause the Duke to rebel and rub others the wrong way.

However, there is always the idea of creating a more solid case against the duke.

>Make the Duke dig his own hole
>Let him free, allowing a chance to network later
>A fine to better increase the Miaph’s power
>Imprisonment to increase terror and power

>>4527116
>Make the Duke dig his own hole
>A couple odd seemingly unrelated questions can probably whittle out some truth of this dispute. Perhaps even a little good cop bad cop with "Elizabeth Wyvern" as the bad cop can work.

>>4527118
>Make the Duke dig his own hole

>>4527118
>A fine to better increase the Miaph’s power

>>4527118
>A fine to better increase the Miaph’s power

>>4527118
>Make the Duke dig his own hole

He spoke of justice, yet gave no reason to administer it when graciously allowed time to speak of it in his defense. A fine after he digs his grave even more and perhaps even making the guy ritually submit as he is skirting his responsibility to acknowledge the new Miaph or do battle would be a nice double whammy to kick his authority right out from under him.

TLDR Assuming his demigod blood is the same as Solomon's god Alkain, Amjad's authority derives from a god that wants them to fight over who is in charge. Ergo Solomon "hires" us as a mercenary iand we get to kick some ass in a battle. Amjad has to accept the duel or else he undermines the entire base of his authority.

>>4527116
So this guy is asserting his right as a demigod, but his blood is too thin to take part in his obligation as a demigod to fight for the throne? Sounds like he volunteered to battle against Solomon by not recognizing his authority as a ruler over him? Dude dug his grave already but I feel like we should save it for later when we rattle off an absurdly long list of ways he dun fucked up.

I think offering to fight in Solomon's stead while insinuating he's too terrified of Solomon would work since backing down from this particular hole he dug makes him a bitch ass pussy in the eyes of his people. He can't even beat a little girl and he wants them to rebel against Solomon? We even get to have a slightly fun fight if he's got any skill If you rule by the laws of the gods, you have to obey their rules too. That includes the obligation to fight Solomon for the city if proxy battles are allowed. We might be able to squeeze in the gear a a fee so that we don't feel indebted to him.

Not fighting his gods given rights to do whatever is good for us since he's basically giving us authority to do whatever the fuck we think is in the interest of our god's teachings due to it technically being part of the pantheon.
We gain precedent for swinging our own god's authority around.

>>4527116
>Make the Duke dig his own hole
Once we have more reason solomon will have more of an excuse to punish him

Dig his own hole
>>4527128
>>4527147
>>4527234
>>4527256

A fine is good enough
>>4527179
>>4527182

“So what do you make of this Elizabeth?” Solomon asked while turning his head towards Maria in a voice only those close can hear, “Should I simply have him placed into chains?”

“Maybe.” Maria admitted while growing a faint smile under her hood, “Though such a thing would anger him immensely, and cause problems for others. Let me talk for a moment.”

“A wise assumption.” Solomon grew a faint smile before giving a wave of his hand, “Speak, your words are equal to my own.”

With the authority given by Solomon Maria took a few steps forward, “Amjad, is that really how one should be treating your vassals?”

“What do you mean, girl?” The man quickly said with his face narrowing in a sudden anger, “And who are you?”

“I am not important.” Maria answered the second question before giving a wave of her hands, “As for what I mean, well, a reason Vassals follow their ruler is that the Ruler grants protection to the Vassal. They may have been conquered at one point, however, that does not mean they stay under your rule forever because of their ancestors being taken over.”

“What do you mean girl?” The man began to seeth as he glared at Maria, “This is still a dispute between my right as a ruler and they my Vassal! What I do with my lands is mine alone!”

“Ohohoho!” Maria could not help but laugh at this man’s ignorance, “And you expect no supervision from those who rule you? Admit it, Duke Amjad, that you simply wanted to take over the city while its rightful liege was imprisoned in your dungeons.”

“So what if I did!”

“Then you acted out of greed for wealth and power, acts that would not bring greater prosperity to the Miaphate as a whole.” Maria stood tall, towering over the man who was starting to lose his own footing, “It is the Job of the Miaph to bring prosperity to his people, if it means squashing fools who seek to destroy the very foundation of his empire.”

Maria’s smile, which would belong to a devil, shined through her hood, “So, with that in mind, inciting rebellion within his Empire is a crime against him. Thus…”

>His head shall be lopped off, as a traitor should be.
>A prison sentence shall be given, to teach others the same lesson.
>A fine shall be given, with a share going back to the Overseer that he attempted to rob.
>They shall duel, to prove that Solomon is much stronger than him.

>>4527508
>A fine shall be given, with a share going back to the Overseer that he attempted to rob.

>>4527508
>A fine shall be given, with a share going back to the Overseer that he attempted to rob.

>>4527508
>A fine shall be given, with a share going back to the Overseer that he attempted to rob.
>Your own words betrayed you. You speak as if you have acknowledged his authority in one sentence yet mock it with the rest. If you wish to use the authority of a god then you must bow to the authority of that same god and my understanding is that your patron god chooses the rule through combat. By confronting him this day you only have two options laid out by the very authority you have invoked. Submit yourself to Solomon or do battle like a fool that has charged naked into an enemy camp.

>>4527552
>Supporting

>>4527508
>His head shall be lopped off, as a traitor should be.

>>4527552
>Supporting

A fine
>>4527514
>>4527523
>>4527552
>>4527582
>>4527649

Lopping the head off
>>4527645

>>4527831
anon, you're gonna lose your feet someday

>>4527836
Well, you know, hoping on different boards makes me remove the damn thing.

“A fine, a fine will do.” Maria said while her smile was once again covered by her hood, “You are the one who gets his rights from Alkain, so denying your superior means you are denying yourself. As such, I think you will simply dig your own grave as you have here.”

“Why you-!”

“Stop Amjad, you are making a scene of those within Alkain’s dynasty.” Solomon announced while resting upon the pillows, “You shall be fined 300 Gold, and if you try this again I will have you imprisoned. Do you understand me?”

“I… I do.” The man growled before turning around, “You will have your Gold, but do not think this is over.”

As the Duke left, the Overseer gave a series of bows in thanks to Solomon before he himself left. Maria left out a small breath, her art of talking much more than any person should really have.

“You have quite the mind, Elizabeth.” Tumuh said while turning to face the two young adults, “I believe I have heard rumors of Solomon bringing a woman to the Grand Palace, but I never expected her to be so good with words.”

“I thank you for the compliments,” Maria responded with a courteous bow.

“Quite the manners too, ah it has been a while since I have met people of such mind and ability.”

“You falter us too much, Tumuh.” Solomon said while giving a wave, “What is it you want to really know.”

The man gave a slight chuckle, “I want to know who exactly she is. Elizabeth Wyvrn is a name surely from Lordands, so you must have surely met her on your travels through them. Though, I did not think you had this kind of taste.”

“Why are you bringing that up now?”

“Because I didn’t know you had one.” The man announced with a laugh, Solomon growing the slightest bit red at the jab.

>Reveal to him who Maria is, as he seems to be a trusted ally to Solomon
>Give the man a hint, to see how intelligent the man really is
>It is a secret~

>>4527851
>Give the man a hint, to see how intelligent the man really is
wink wink

>>4527851
>It is a secret~
>"It seems your liege has dangerous taste. He must like being kept in edge." Throw in a wink to make kept on edge seem suggestive.

>>4527873
>Supporting

This. We must tease Solomon and in extension, the scribe. We don't need to say our name in front of a hostile environment.

>>4527851
>It is a secret~
>"It seems your liege has dangerous taste. He must like being kept in edge." Throw in a wink to make kept on edge seem suggestive.
This one is too good to pass up also while I would want to do hint, this is good enough

>>4527851
>It's a secret
If Solomon didn't say so himself then it's obviously dangerous and stupid to say right away and we have spies in the house right now.

>>4527851
>It is a secret

A hint is enough
>>4527858

A secret is a secret
>>4527873
>>4527918
>>4527937
>>4528107
>>4528241

Maria could not help but give a small smile, “It seems your liege has a dangerous taste, the desire of being on edge I am sure.”

“That would be hard to say.” The Vizir admitted with a small laugh, “Though drinking with the Morse certainly makes things seem like that.”

“J-just bring in the next person.” Solomon complained with a small curse in her voice.

“Very well,” Tumuh agreed while giving a slight show of the hand to the guards standing at the door. As they opened it up he gave a simple explanation, “The next few coming will be the followers of Vest and Kosp. It seems to be a dispute between who will be getting a new building outside the walls.”

“Well that sounds troublesome.” Solomon admitted as the pair of people approached. However he did not let his thoughts betray him instead simply staying relaxed in his pile of a throne.

“Welcome to the Miaph’s Court, you have come to visit him in his capacity as Overseer.” Tumuh once again went through the ritual. Once he was finished with that he gave the question, “Now both of you lay claim to some land with waters near it. Why do you see the land as such? We will start with Vest.”

“Thank you Grand Vizir!” The man announced before trying to make himself tall like a showman, “My Miaph, you must understand that the parcel of land is where our God of building instructs us to retrieve our clay! Thus we have a claim to the land unlike the followers of Kosp!”

“No, even if your God demands as such he is nothing against the one who govern this city!” The Follower of Kosp announced with a fervor, “We have rightly purchased the land from the Administrators. My Miaph, while I understand you have not given us such permissions we the Smiths of Kosp ask that you affirm their decision.”

Maria would have murmured something about such a silly thing to bring this to an Emperor, but atlast this is what happens when you take direct control. There is truly only so much you can control, thus you give permissions to others to operate on your behalf. One thing and another happens, then you get feudalism.

>Side with the Kosp, as it is honorable to adhere to deals.
>Side with the Vest, so that building may occur more readily
>It is neither of their lands but the Miaph’s, thus whoever can pay more shall be given the land.

>>4528513
>Side with the Kosp, as it is honorable to adhere to deals.

>>4528513
>Maybe a deal can be made. Vest is a building god and wants the clay, not necessarily the land and Kosp is a city god who likely intends to build and expand the city.

Depending on their real motives Vest's cult could get the clay and Kosp would get good builders for expanding.

>>4528566
And to clarify. I mean Kosp gets the land, but allows them to retrieve their clay in exchange for services or gold.

>>4528566
changing mine to this
>supporting

>>4528566
>Supporting
>Get to the bottom of their motives.

>>4528566
Support

>>4528513
>The Kosp have already laid proper claim to the land. Your god's instructions as you have spoken, were not to take the land, but to get the clay from it. Therefore the Vest should be working together with the Kosp to attain both of their goals.
>The followers of a building god and a city god that wants to expand a city being at odds with each other is the height of foolishness. Reconsider your actions before you incur wrath at ruining a cooperative attempt between the two.

A compromise is able surely
>>4528566
>>4528606
>>4528631
>>4528764

While I like the idea, this requires a little finesse, give me a d100 roll someone.

Rolled 44 (1d100)

>>4528920
hope my luck is good

Maria thought about the situation that was presented before her, as this was indeed quite the question. Who does have the right to the place, the person who was told or the person who was purchased. Such a bothersome idea for sure but something that Maria would need to work out.

“I have an understanding that the two of you want to use the lands for different activities. As I understand it,” Maria thought about it for another moment, “Vest, you are seeking the mineral rights of the area and Kosp, you seek the rights to develop upon the land.”

“Rights? What are you talking about?” The Kosp representative asked both confused and slightly angered.

“I guess the concept of land rights is not terribly understood in this region.” Or any region to Maria’s understanding, “Think of it this way, Follower of Kosp. By attaining the right to development, you are allow to build anything upon the land you deem necessary. As for Mineral Rights, well whoever has them is allowed to remove any earthly material as long as it does not impede the other.”

“That… does not sound terrible.” The Vest admitted with a sigh, “But still, it is land that was declared by our God. Are we to allow them to corrupt the soil with their fires and ashe?”

Maria was tempted to point out how they missed their chance to attain development rights upon the land. However she knew that was not the best move, “Your God values the development of the land correct? I am sure that Kosp values this as well as both of you aim to develop this magnificent city.”

“You are not wrong.” The Kosp follower admitted.

“And as a bonus, why don’t the two of you create the building together.” Maria threw in with a smile, “Why would a God of building be bothered by the idea of building a structure on sacred lands, when his followers can do it themselves.”

“Hmm, I would agree to that.” the Follower of Vest admitted before giving a nod, “Very well then, hire us to build your smithy and allow us to retain our mineral rights. We will not bother you after.”

The Kosp for some reason looked surprised, before extending out his hand in a handshake, “Of course, if the greatest builders are willing we will do just that!”

And with that they left, and maybe causing a little bit of a revolution in the process.

With that they continued to work through the morning, Maria easily whittling down the groups of men who seek the Miaph’s council.

After the tenth person Solomon announced with a smile, “Well it is time for us to eat, would you not agree Elizabeth. Shall we eat here or head out upon the town?”

>Eat in the palace, as the food was not bad at all earlier
>Head out into the markets to eat.
>Stay in the palace, but invite Tumuh so Maria can learn who exactly he is.

Making me cause the invention mineral rights since its the only way this would happen.

>>4528955
>Stay in the palace, but invite Tumuh so Maria can learn who exactly he is.

>>4528955
>Our prisoner is probably still cooped up. Let's have her be a food taster before we have a dead body on our hands.

>>4528995
>This first. Prisoner is taster.
>>4528965
>Then this.
>Stay in the palace, but invite Tumuh so Maria can learn who exactly he is.

>>4528955
>Stay in the palace, but invite Tumuh so Maria can learn who exactly he is.

Creative Idea, lets see how it is.
>>4528965
>>4528995
>>4529060
>>4529147

“We shall eat here,” Maria said while reaching a hand down to help Solomon up, “And I would like Tumuh to come with us. If nothing else than for us to talk business.”

“I do not see a problem with that, do you Tumuh?”

“I do not my Miaph, it would be like our normal schedule.” The slander man answered before moving infront of the pair, “I shall escort us to the dining hall.”

And that he did, the three of them traveled through the halls with minimal effort. It actually surprised Maria on how smooth it was, the maids taking less glances towards them now. Though that did give Maria the thought, was it because of the man guiding them or the fact she held one of their people prisoner.

Once they arrived at the place they ate before, Maria noticed both Melody and her prisoner standing in attention. That would have of course explained the pair of Morse guards outside the halls, which only added to the security they were going to enjoy.

“Seems like the chefs have done quite the job today.” Solomon announced as he sat at the table’s head.

“What do you expect, they are the ones I selected.” Solomon laughed while sitting himself at Solomon’s left.

“Indeed it looks good, but are we sure it is safe?” Maria asked which raised a few brows, “Melody, bring the girl over. Let her take a taste of the food first.”

While of course they were surprised, none of them said a word as the girl was brought forward at essentially knifepoint. She took a piece of food from each dish, eating it for a moment before giving a shallow swallow. However nothing came of it, which soon everyone began to eat in earnest.

“Quite the punishment.” Tumuh admitted while taking a bite out of an animal wing.

“How did you guess it was one?” Maria asked with a small hint of curiosity.

“Because none of the servants would have been caught dead here.” He laughed before taking a bite out of his meal.

>Talk about how the two know one another
>See what kinda things Tumuh has cooking in his pot
>Try and learn something embarrassing about Solomon, as Tumuh seems willing to divulge

>>4529563
>Solomon laughed while sitting himself at Solomon’s left.
I think you meant Tumuh there

>Talk about how the two know one another

>>4529563
>Talk about how the two know one another

>>4529563
>See what kinda things Tumuh has cooking in his pot

>>4529563
i'd have prefered for the Vizeer to not know about the prisoner for one more day to see if he's among the people making a ruckus about our new prisoner, but I'll have to make do or trust him for now.
>Small talk to get to know each other and our connections to Solomon
>So have you heard anyone making noise about her disappearance yet? I think her inveigler wanted her to be caught to cause trouble and had no intention of paying her, but if I'm wrong, Alster should be having minor trouble with a man that no longer has a bride. (Ask what the promised husband's name was so that he can be checked out.)

>>4529563
>Try and learn something embarrassing about Solomon, as Tumuh seems willing to divulge

OP are you alright ?

>>4529563
>Try and learn something embarrassing about Solomon, as Tumuh seems willing to divulge

How they know eachother
>>4529695
>>4529708
>>4529826

Schemes upon Schemes
>>4529803


Embarrassment
>>4530104
>>4530514

Sorry for the late update, however I had a rather long day.

“You are a wise man, Tumuh.” Maria admitted while getting a small amount of meat for herself, “How did you come into service of Solomon if I dare ask?”

“That much is simple.” The man laughed with a devilish smile, “I was a simple advisor who was displaced after the death not the last one, but the fool who attacked MaKain. Simply put he did not heed my warning about attacking, and was simply decimated by the mountainous barbarians.”

[Conversation Success]

Maria could have gotten angry there for a moment, but instead held it in knowing that the man was simply ignorant, “So I take it you were displaced by the one after?”

“Indeed I was, and if not for my connections I would have been out on the streets.” The man argued before soon getting a flash in his brown eyes, “But then I met Solomon right here.”

“Do not act like it was theatrical.” The Miaph answered with a small annoyance in his tone.

“What would you expect me to think when a boy, flanked by the Valrian Guard, comes asking for my assistance.” He answered in a rebuttal, “That is the mark of someone who I would fight tooth and nail to get on the throne of our great Empire.”

“So that you may cement yourself as the greatest Vizir in this era.” Solomon finished with a shaking of the head, “Indeed your duties and skills are invaluable to me, so once again I thank you.”

“Thank you, my Miaph.”

“A charming story.” Maria said as they seemed to wrap up what a servant master relationship should be, “If you are so skilled, have you hear anything about my ‘taste tester’ disappearing?”

“I would hazard a guess that the maids already know you are holding her captive, and are likely trying to figure a way to break her out.” The man announced right off the tip of his tongue, “The information gotten from Servants is almost as valuable as those from guards. Though I have yet to figure out which is faster.”

“Warriors, I say.” Solomon answered.

“Hmm, Servants are my guess, but I can see why guards would be chatty.”

>See if he knows about the inner workings of the Cults
>Does he hold recommendations for holding in the maid
>Continue to test him, see how trustworthy he is

>>4530620
>Does he hold recommendations for holding in the maid
We need to break the enemy network and establish our own

>>4530620
>Continue to test him, see how trustworthy he is

>>4530620
>Continue to test him, see how trustworthy he is

>>4530620

>Ask about the inner workings of the cults
>Are they trying to break her out to silence her or rescue her? (does this count as asking how the cults work?)
I don't think we need to test the Vizeer since it also invites him to start investigating us. It just wastes time we could spend praying or doing stuff. The guy has nowhere to go but down right now.

>>4530620
>Continue to test him, see how trustworthy he is

Recommendations for Prisoners
>>4530637

Test his Loyalty
>>4530647
>>4530662
>>4530787

Learn the Cults of the Gods.
>>4530681

They continued to eat, finishing up their meals without much of an issue. During those moments Maria had to scheme about how she was going to test this man. The matter of fact was that Maria needed to know if the man before her was truly trustworthy. However the fact was she needed to not divulge any information about who exactly she was.

So, if that was not a fact that could cause him follow-up than there was only one other she could think of, “Solomon, I was thinking about it for a little while but I might walk around the city on my own.”

“On your own?” The man of course looked a little betrayed but simply nodded, “Alright, are you heading out this moment or later?”

“Probably tomorrow in the afternoon.” Maria answered with a smile, “Simply put I want to explore the place with my own feet guiding me.”

“I cannot stop you.” He answered before growing a witty smile, “Just be sure not to kill too many of my people while you are out.”

“I will not!” Maria answered back with a snap.

While they were talking Maria never let the edges of her eyes leave Tumuh. The man of course seemed interested in what they were saying, but what would occur of this she does not know.

Simply put, the only thing Maria could risk was her own body. While murder was out of the picture most likely, Maria will probably expect some kind of assault against her. Something that would put her in her place, or under this man’s thumb.

Though she was fairly confident that no mortal man can defeat her in combat or perception.

“My Miaph, I must inform you that Actus desires your presence at the Temple of the Gods.” Tumuh said as he slowly rose from his seat.

“Any idea what they are wanting?”


“I cannot say, however it is best to keep caution.”

>Join Solomon in his trip to the Temple
>Stay in the Palace, so that Maria can peirce the Maid’s information network
>Maybe she ought to go out onto the town now

>>4530806
>Stay in the Palace, so that Maria can peirce the Maid’s information network

>>4530806
>Stay in the Palace, so that Maria can peirce the Maid’s information network

>>4530806
>Maybe she ought to go out onto the town now

>>4530806
>Stay in the Palace, so that Maria can peirce the Maid’s information network
Always have Opsec advantage.

>>4530806
So what you're saying is that if we leave the palace, the maids might take the chance to launch a rescue?

I kinda wanted to do a body swap but I think that's too dangerous for Melody.
>Stay in the Palace, so that Maria can peirce the Maid’s information network

Stay and scheme
>>4530807
>>4530822
>>4530855
>>4531124

Going to town!
>>4530839

“Well, in that case I will stay here.” Maria told Solomon with a shaky smile on her face, “I do not feel like I can face that place yet.”

“Hmm, that is understandable.” Solomon answered while getting up himself, “In that case Tumuh you are to come with me. That way it is atleast a more fair fight.”

“I understand my Miaph.”

“Be careful, Elizabeth.” Solomon waved before leaving the room.

It would have been slightly tear pulling, but Maria was already thinking of what the hell she needed to start working on. Once the two were out the door Maria turned to her maid and prisoner, “Have you learned anything while you were here Melody?”

“Uh, kind of?” She answered while removing the veil that was covering her face, “I… am learning a little bit of the language, but I do know how to get around now!”

“Fufu, so the servant wears are working it seems?”

“Yup! As long as I make myself look busy not even the supervisors have talked to me directly!” Melody gladfully announced what her own skill has given her.

“That is good that is good.” Maria answered before giving a solemn nod, “In that case, where have the servants been congregating?”

“The Servant’s Quarters are always lively.” The girl claimed with a firm determination, “But I have also found the Kitchen to be just as lively when they are not cooking for you.”

“Interesting interesting.” Maria affirmed with a smile, “And besides those, have you spotted any places of interest in general?”

“Hmm, I have seen a couple places of worship here and there.” Melody answered with a furrowed face, “Something sketchy was happening in a few of those places. Like many are sharing letters with the priests and stuff.”

So those were the places Maria would look for. If she was not wrong, she was still in possession of her Prisoner’s previous outfit. While Maria would admit she was larger than the girl in many respects, a disguise was a disguise.

>Head for the Servants Quarters, where there is surely gossip happening
>The Kitchen is a likely place to get chatter mouth, and Maria can gain gratitude by helping them.
>Hmm, these shrines might be the brains of the operations

>>4531390
>The Kitchen is a likely place to get chatter mouth, and Maria can gain gratitude by helping them.
I want to get more info and their trust before going into the shrine

>>4531390
>The Kitchen is a likely place to get chatter mouth, and Maria can gain gratitude by helping them.
Getting information and building connections sounds good. Also it's always good to be up to date on who can tamper with your food.

>>4531390
>Head for the Servants Quarters, where there is surely gossip happening

Kitchen
>>4531409
>>4531473

Servants Quarters
>>4531595

>>4531390
>We should make some sort of pastry/sweet in the kitchen after Melody tells us what's available.

It did not take a terrible amount of time to get into the extra clothing to hide in. To Maria’s luck Melody had already gotten the clothing cleaned and prepared for an occasion just like this one. So with a few motions it was already on her body and ready for her to head out among the mass of servants.

Now walking through the halls did not seem nearly as much of a hassle as it would have been before. Of course some of the servants did stare her direction, but Maria was getting the feeling it was not in spite but instead desire and envy. Maybe it was because the clothing was just a little too tight on her, since she might be one or two sizes larger than the girl she requisitioned these from.

However those things did not matter as she walked into the mania that was the kitchen.

“I want those dishes cleaned!” Yelled a man who was obviously the chef before he quickly turned to Maria, “You, Aqala! You come help your fellow!”

[Intrigue Success]

“Understood sir!” Maria quickly barked before running up towards the large panel where water was resting. Already there was a girl trying to get the stains out of the plates that did not want to leave, so Maria just followed suit and began working at the dishes herself.

Before long they were already working hard, and the Chef seemed satisfied enough to leave the room with a steady determination.

“S-sorry for making you help me.” The girl infront of Maria quickly said while scrubbing her latest victim, “Its just we lost another Servant just a little bit ago.”

“I understand, though its not your fault.” Maria answered back with a bit of cheer in her voice, “What happened to the last Servant?”

“She was, uh, captured by the Miaph’s Mistress.” The girl answered shallowly, “I… think she was listening in on their conversation when she got caught.”

“Pity then, that Mistress must have been a bitch for sure.” Maria answered with a sinister smile.

“I-indeed she is.” The girl answered half heartedly. Maria could tell it was only meant to agree with herself, so she would not hold it against the girl later on.

>Continue to just do work, best to get a conversation going after this mess is done.
>Try and learn a little bit more about Solomon, maybe possible Lovers
>Learn about the girl, see if Maria can learn something from that.

>>4531816
>Learn about the girl, see if Maria can learn something from that.

>>4531816
>Learn about the girl, see if Maria can learn something from that.
You talk while you work at jobs like this. There's no opportunity otherwise.

>>4531816
>Learn about the girl, see if Maria can learn something from that.

>>4531816
>Learn about the girl, see if Maria can learn something from that.

Learn more of the Girl.
>>4531871
>>4531886
>>4531900
>>4531952

They took their precious moments scrubbing away the large amount of waste that had been produced. Maria was half expecting that they were not only cleaning dishes from her own meal, but instead every since meal that was consumed within this palace.

“You missed a spot here.” The girl pointed out while handing Maria an already washed plate.

“I… guess I did.” Maria said without noticing whatever stain the girl was talking about, “Do you do this every day?”

“Indeed, that is my job.” The girl admitted with what Maria felt was a lackluster feel to it, “We can’t really get the glamorous jobs can we?”

“No, we cannot.” Maria said while disguising whatever confusion she had, “What is your name?”

“Mine, oh.” The girl’s head lowered a little bit, “I’m Albari, and yourself?”

“Lazno.” Maria quickly said without much thought in her words.

“Oh, your a foreigner!” She exclaimed with a little surprise, “How did you ended up coming here to work?”

“Well, uh, I am a Bastard Child.” Maria quickly named off, “When it was found that I was born of another man, my Mother’s Husband casted me away and I ended up here.”

“Oh my, that is dreadful!”

“Think nothing of it.” Maria answered back while waving her hand, “What about yourself?”

“Oh sorry.” She said while putting away another round of dishes, “I am the Daughter of a lesser eastward noble. My father pulled what strings he could and I was given this duty.”

“Really? That must have been one hell of an achievement.”

“Indeed, though I think it's because they needed more people to sweep the floors.” The girl admitted with not even halting the self deprivation, “Well, there we are Dishes are done! Time to go sweep the floors.”

>Suggest she take a lunch now with Maria, she wont regret it
>Join her in the sweeping job.
>Look around for some other maids to learn from.
>Suggest getting a job that is not out in the open, like organizing the wine cellar

>>4532064
>Look around for some other maids to learn from.
We should see how many other maids are tied to Nobel families. Too many and it could be this is their main way of planting spies and other kinds of observers. Effectively meaning the network mainly runs through Nobel houses instead of a direct church connection.

>>4532064
>Suggest getting a job that is not out in the open, like organizing the wine cellar

>>4532064
>Look around for some other maids to learn from.

>>4532064
>Join her in the sweeping job.

>>4532064
>Join her in the sweeping job.
She's been showing us the ropes. She can let us in on what the meido relationship chart is before we continue our undercover workplace inspection.
I was kinda surprised we didn't end up doing a "How do you do, fellow kids?"

>>4532414
>I was kinda surprised we didn't end up doing a "How do you do, fellow kids?"
We had a LOT of "training" to be a "normal" person due to our circumstances.

That and we probably saw the benefits of exercising those abilities after the fact.

>>4532064
>Look around for some other maids to learn from

Other Maids
>>4532080
>>4532125
>>4532551

Suggest other work
>>4532101

Join her in sweeping
>>4532259
>>4532414

“I will see you later than.” Maria told the girl with a small sadness portrayed by her voice.

“Oh, thats alright.” The girl said with a small chipperness, “Maybe we will see eachother in the Servant’s Quarters!”

“Maybe we will.” Maria answered back before taking her leave from the room.

In the end Maria did not mind the girl, but she was quickly getting the feeling that she was not very high up the proverbial totem pole. Of course that only made Maria wonder what kinda of Hierarchy the servants developed and how to abuse it.

Last time she did not have much trouble, though that might be because the girl who was delivering food to Maria was a high ranking member. Simply put Maria did not know very much.

“Aqala!” Maria heard someone shout, causing her to turn around to a maid who was maybe a foot shorter than Maria, “Do you not have anything to do!? Come over here and help me!”

Maria turned about fully, seeing the girl getting a large series of waterfilled pots being moved. Simply put though Maria was not liking that personality that the girl had just projected.

“What will you have me do?” Maria had to ask to get a full picture.

“You are going to help me get this water to all the flowers in the Palace!” The girl announced with a huff, “Clearly this is a job above you, but those who were suppose to give me assistance have run away to their own little corners.”

>Work with her anyways, lets see how this rolls out
>Try and outperform her, might not be that hard
>Ignore the sassy little girl, she is probably not useful to Maria’s schemes

>>4532609
>Work with her anyways, lets see how this rolls out
at least we'll get more info about the palace, we might even have to water the shrine ones

>>4532609
>Work with her anyways, lets see how this rolls out
Unhappy workers are the best sources of dirt on their "superiors." If they're friends with our prisoner, this would be the escape attempt and when they try and claim they try to claim they were doing the job we're doing now, we can immediately arrest and interrogate them.

>>4532609
>Work with her anyways, lets see how this rolls out
>Pretend to be mildly irritated at whoever isn't doing their job and helping her.

>>4532609
>Ignore the sassy little girl, she is probably not useful to Maria’s schemes

>>4532609
>Work with her anyways, lets see how this rolls out

>>4532609
>Work with her anyways, lets see how this rolls out

>>4532609
>Work with her anyways, lets see how this rolls out

Work Anyways
>>4532614
>>4532624
>>4532847
>>4532870
>>4532899
>>4532788

Ignore the Sassy Girl
>>4532833

“Understood ma’am!” Maria announced while drifting over to the wall the water was getting collected out of.

“Good good, now come on we got lots of work to do Aqala!” She said before turning around again, “You are to refer to me as Mueadal, not Ma’am. Are you from the North or something?”

“I understand.” Maria announced lifting a pot worth of water and loading it on her shoulder.

The girl was obviously not very social during their work, more on the manner of her giving out orders. Though with all the orders given Maria was not very bothered by them, as she was obviously knew what she was doing. Maria suspected the small girl would make a good croon when she grew up, though that is if she survived that long.

“Get ready, one, two, three!” And with a huff the two of them lifted the pot off the pillar that it was sitting on, setting it down on the ground. While there, the girl took the remainder of her water and dropped it into the pot with careful precision, “Now, lift!”

With that the two of them settled the pot ontop of the pillar. The two of them gave out a huff while the girl had her chest out un pride.

“Fufu, you did really well!” She announced while turning to Maria, “Normally people would have quite on me, but here you are still standing tall.”

“Thank you.” Maria announced as her body was slowly getting burnt from the workout, “I never got to ask, what is your name?”

“Mine? Alqayid.” The girl announced before she gave Maria a look over, “You carry yourself too well for being an Aqala, who are you?”

“Oh me? Well I am just a bastard child.” Maria claimed.

The girl seemed to take a moment before giving a nod, “Indeed that seems to be the case. Come, we should get something to eat since it is close to dinner.”

“Are you sure? Am I not of lower rank than you?”

“Yes but you helped me, and…” The girl went quite before simply making her way forwards without care.

>See if Maria can learn about the Hierarchy of Maids
>Learn about Solomon’s past
>Figure out this girl, as she might be of use later
>Other Topics?

>>4533132
>See if Maria can learn about the Hierarchy of Maids
We really need to learn this. Otherwise we can waste a lot of time without finding any central leaders and need to use up a lot of time following bread crumbs.

>>4533132
>Learn about Solomon’s past

>>4533132
>See if Maria can learn about the Hierarchy of Maids

>>4533132
>Learn about Solomon’s past

>>4533132
>See if Maria can learn about the Hierarchy of Maids

>>4533132
We probably could have found out about maid hierarchy without a disguise. The real thing to do is map out social relationships and our previous maid was better for that due to being more talkative.
>>4533132
>>See if Maria can learn about the Hierarchy of Maids

>>4533132
>Learn about Solomon’s past

>>4533132
>See if Maria can learn about the Hierarchy of Maids
This one keeps going quiet and likely owes us. We might need to keep tabs on her for later use.

Learn of the Maid's Hierarchy
>>4533140
>>4533145
>>4533153
>>4533240
>>4533484

Learn of Solomon's Past
>>4533142
>>4533148
>>4533435

Soon they arrived in a small room that was out of the way from most of the happenings of the Palace. Since everything seemed so calm, Maria could easily assume that Solomon has yet to arrived back from his visit to the Temple. Such a dreadful place that Maria hopes to never enter, that much is for sure.

Taking a small sandwich from the plate they had grabbed, Maria took a bite out of the meal. Of course Maria would rate it at average, what would you expect from something that Maria had to put together herself.

“Are you going to keep your veil on?” The girl asked as she took off the cloth to reveal a pair of pinkish eyes.

“I prefer to keep it on.” Maria claimed with a shaky smile under her veil.

“A-alright.” The girl said before taking a few bites out of her own creation, “How long have you been working here? I have not seen someone carry themselves as well as you have.”

“Oh, only a few days ago.” Maria said with a soft laugh.

“Hmm, I take it you are after the Miaph too?” The girl said with a raised brow, “Well you can forget it. Any maid who gets close will get destroyed by the Ealis and I heard recently he brought a girl to the Palace.”

“Is bringing a girl that much of an event?” Maria just had to ask.

“Indeed, many were thinking he might be spending just a little too much time with his guard.” The girl admitted before quickly scrambling, “Do not tell anyone you heard that from me! Alright!”

“I understand, I understand.” Maria answered before measuring out that such a thing was useless for blackmail anyways, “Say, is there a kind of hierarchy here?”

“Of course there is. I’m surprised no one told you that when you arrived.” The girl ruled with determination covering her face, “There are three groups of maids you need to know. Aqala; which are the lesser nobles and such who became Maids. Mueudal, people like myself who have enough diving blood that we are recognized by our respective cults. And lastly, Ealis; those who are similar to the Miaph in potency of blood.”

“So it is based on nobility, not performance.” Maria mumbled to herself with a slight irritation, “How can you tell the difference?”

“Well that would be the color of your embroidering.” The girl answered before pointing to the several lines that covered her uniform, “As you can see, mine are Silver which represents Mueudal. Bronze is on yours and if we had an Ealis here it would be gold.”

>Learn what she thinks of this empire
>Try and get some information about the girl herself
>See what are the inner politics of the Maids!
>Other Questions/Topics

>>4533598
>Learn what she thinks of this empire

>>4533598
>See what are the inner politics of the Maids!
Maid politics can be connected to divine politics. So.
>See if we can discover a faction operating here.
>See if there's anyone who would be suited as the Miaphs bride in case we decide to reject his hand.

>>4533598
>See what are the inner politics of the Maids!
Damn, I had hoped that we didn't just get the official hierarchy, but the inofficial one. Well, maybe this will get us a clearer picture.

>>4533598
>Try and get some information about the girl herself

>>4533598
>See what are the inner politics of the Maids!
A maid needs to know about all sorts of trouble like what maids are going to ditch work.

Learn of the Empire
>>4533635

Inner Politics
>>4533776
>>4533783
>>4533827

Learn of the Girl
>>4533809

“So, who is on top?” Maria just had to ask.

“Who is on top?” The girl gave a small chuckle before shaking her head, “I could care less about their pesky rivalries, but if you really want to know…”

The girl finished her meal before gaining a devilish smile, “There are two you need to watch out for, Al’aelaa of Hilder and Thaniaan of Loster. Those two have the most respect and power among all the servants in this place.”

“I recognize Loster,” Maria admitted with a raised brow, “But what is this god of Hilder?”

The girl looked surprised for a moment before her eyes narrowed on Maria, “Where exactly did you come from?”

“From the North.” Maria admitted with a sigh, “You see… my Father was of this land and I was sent here after it was found out.”

“And you ended up here.” The girl said with a raised brow, “Anyways, Hilder is the God of Cleanliness and Food. When you ever see the girl work, you will agree with me that she is the Child of Hilder.”

“So one is after the Miaph and the other is doing her job?”

“You would be correct.” The girl admitted before looking a little down, “Though there was a third. She was… well… executed by the Miaph.”

“She was executed?”

“Well she was a child of Alkain.”

“Oh, so is there any Children of Alklain left?”

“I… do not think so.” The girl admitted with a solemn look, “The Miaph was efficient in his executions.”

>Learn about the girl herself
>Solomon… murdered all his relatives?
>Thats it for now, though this girl should show up at a disclosed location later
>Head out, Solomon should be arriving now

Sorry for the short update, but somethings coming up for my midday.

>>4534020
>Learn about the girl herself
then we return, we managed a good relation with her so let's maintain it

>>4534020
>Learn about the girl herself
Always disguise your info gathering.

>>4534020
>Solomon… murdered all his relatives?

>>4534020
Solomon killing off his competition isn't really news given that we already read that the god has all of the Miaph candidates fight to the death via war.
>I heard something about how the new Miaph is decided back home. They (Children of Alkain) don't really have to fight each other to the death, do they?

>>4534020
>Head out, Solomon should be arriving now

>>4534020
>Head out, Solomon should be arriving now

>>4534121
There is also the fact that he needs to secure his power. If the clerics had the choice between him or another child of Alkain, who isn't going to marry what is basically a heretic to them then Solomon would probably face fierce competition.

>>4534020
>Learn about the girl herself

>>4534020
>Head out, Solomon should be arriving now

Learn about the girl
>>4534027
>>4534042
>>4534309

Solomon, killed how many people?
>>4534083
>>4534121

Go see if Solomon arrived
>>4534682
>>4534166
>>4534132

>>4534702
I'll change to seeing if Solomon arrived if we still need a tiebreaker. If he hasn't we can use the time to pray since we're gonna need to set aside time for that soon.

“I guess he was.” Maria answered with a hum before giving the girl a nod, “Then what about yourself? You look to carry the blood of Gods so which do you hold?”

“Mine,” The girl seemed to revert her eyes for a moment before giving a long sigh, “I am… a daughter of Baltic.”

Maria could not help but raise a brow at this, “That is the God who creates half the monsters of this land right? Do you not have the blessing that allows you to control the beasts?”

“N-no I do not.” The girl answered before shooting Maria a glare, “Leave me, I need a few moments to myself if you do not mind.”

Maria was taken back for a moment, but realized that the girl obviously said too much to Maria. So with a small push she was off the floor and out of the room before the girl could reconsider her decision.

Maria was quick through the palace now, noticing that the sun had already set in Maria’s time away in the Servant’s Quarters. Coming into her room she noticed Melody was hard at work getting trying to read what was likely a book on translation while the Prisoner was just sitting down in discontent. It only took a moment for Melody to get Maria changed once again, once her attention was gotten.

“There you go Mistress!” Melody announced as the modest cloak was finally settled on Maria’s Shoulders.

“Thank you Melody” Maria replied with a smile.

“You are welcome Mistress.” She said before taking a moment to think, “Though is there ever going to be a time to show yourself to the people of this Palace?”

“What do you mean?” Maria asked with a raised brow.

“Well, you are quite beautiful Mistress, and if I understand it Solomon wants your hand in Marriage.” She said while giving a sudden movements, “Maybe it might be good to rip the disguise off early.”

Maria was about to respond, however a knocking at the door stopped her. With a few movement from both of them, Melody had opened the door to reveal Solomon as he happily took a few steps into the room.

“Sorry I was not back earlier, they were being incredibly pesky.” Solomon said while giving a stretch, “Do you mind if we take a lap around the Palace, I still need to stretch my legs.”

>Talk to him about maybe changing the Maid Heiarchy
>Learn what he had to do at the Temple of the Gods
>Just small talk, nothing too much for now

>>4534734
>Learn what he had to do at the Temple of the Gods
The maids have a religious tie and a nobel house tie. Instead of going "I don't like your maids," it night be better to ask
>"Do you know which nobel house is the most hostile to you?"

>>4534734
>Learn what he had to do at the Temple of the Gods

>>4534734
>Just small talk, nothing too much for now

>>4534734
>Ask if there are any copies of our holy texts in his language we can find or look for. (It might be useful for teaching Melody how to understand the language)

>>4534734
>Learn what he had to do at the Temple of the Gods

>>4534734
>>Learn what he had to do at the Temple of the Gods

Temple of the Gods
>>4534779
>>4534781
>>4534840
>>4535174

Small talk
>>4534785

Miaph Holy Texts
>>4534826

The halls were grand, that much never really changed from what Maria both remembered before and now. However with the sun setting she would admit things were almost golden. That was likely because of the sandstone that was used to build this place, but Maria really could not be asked to figure is out.

“So staying in the Palace was not very hard I take it?” Solomon asked with a smirk.

“There were no problems, and I learned lots from my stay.” Maria claimed with her own smile, “Though what of you? Did the priests torture you enough?”

“How did you guess it was torture?”

“Because why wouldn’t it be?”

“Indeed, it seems news of your existence has already reached their ears.” The man announced with a click of the tongue, “Honestly it is bothersome, them trying to win favor by throwing their children at me.”

“Really, that was all?”

“Well, not all.” Solomon admitted with a sigh, “While I am secure on my throne, they are trying to curtail my ability to control the masses.”

“What can you expect, you are trying to become an arbiter of the Law.”

“Indeed that is correct. Your help earlier has been immense though,” Solomon answered with a nice tinge of joy, “That situation with the smith and builders has actually been growing for weeks. If there had been no verdict reached, than they would have surely at least tried to kill each other.”

“I… am not surprised about that.” Maria noted with the thoughts of fanatics.

“Though with that, I must wonder how to wrench their power from their hands.” He hummed for another moment before shaking his head, “However that is for later. Indeed, we should enjoy our walk, am I not right?”

As Solomon’s words finished they walked out to the gardens, the plants more golden than green. Indeed Maria could not help but feel a little skip of the heart when she saw this, the place looking to be a little slice of heaven.

“Come now, should we not enjoy ourselves?”

>Entertain Solomon, see what the man is thinking
>Start to flirt, since it might as well be fun.
>Continue this talk, Maria will not step away from such a challenge

>>4535392
>Entertain Solomon, see what the man is thinking

>>4535392
>Entertain Solomon, see what the man is thinking
Any anon want to remind me who Maria's other suitors are, or if we have her mind set on anything else besides the possibilities with the Miaph?

>>4535392
>Continue this talk, Maria will not step away from such a challenge
A daughter of makain never flees also to answer solomon, he should turn the priests against each other and have them bleed each other while he only helps one side a bit if the others are winning too much so that by the end the winner will be too weak to resist execution or something else

>>4535392
>Continue this talk, Maria will not step away from such a challenge

>>4535423
Albert obviously and other than that no one, an option is us taking solomon as a war bride and Albert as husband but no clue

>>4535392
>Start to flirt, since it might as well be fun.

>>4535446
Taking the miaphate over and Solomon as a war-bride. . I know our spiritual liege would take kindly to the first part but would he and the pope not object to polygamy? Plus would Albert and Solomon even accept that arrangement?

>>4535423
Changing my vote like I'm Dominion software.
>Continue this talk, Maria will not step away from such a challenge

>>4535466
>Changing my vote like I'm Dominion software.
Who ?

>>4535392
This might be my autism flaring up, but I have no idea wtf this challenge is. I hope it's a swordfight.
>Continue this talk, Maria will not step away from such a challenge

A modern courtroom probably would actually work rather well in this setting since our god would burn the tongues of anyone lying in his name or officials being corrupt since they'd have to swear an oath of office.(Assuming that bandit was correct)

The royal plotting is probably about to get into high gear.

Continue to meet the challenge
>>4535444
>>4535445
>>4535466
>>4535687

Entertain
>>4535417
>>4535423

Flirt
>>4535450

>>4535466
I recognize I did this wrong but meeting the challenge still won out.

>>4535756
It's ok Jim. Thanks for doing the recount anyway.

“Sure, we can enjoy ourselves.” Maria answered while turning around with a stern determination about her, “However I still cannot neglect exactly what you are telling me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Even if you have no fear of losing the throne, you will already be losing power against the Cults as they continue to try and whittle you down. It seems we may need to figure out exactly how to prevent that.”

“Do you ever take the moment to relax?”

“Not when an ally is in trouble.” Maria announced with a stern order in her voice.

“Well then I thank you for thinking of myself like that.” Solomon answered with a small chuckle to himself, “If we are talking about ways to harm them, we could probably start setting them onto one another.”

“So your standard for dealing with rivals?”

“Indeed, though that would bring harm to our Empire.” Solomon answered back, “Especially if the Desert Gods decide to participate. Death and despair will surely follow them wherever they go.”

“Well, there is always another thought.” Maria announced with a hum, “Have you ever considered creating a system of courts for the Empire?”

“Courts? Do we not already have them?”

“Not the ones I am speaking of.” Maria thought for a moment to summarize what she was scheming, “Think of them as an arbiter in agreements, however their word is final. Unlike yourself, they will hold not tangible land or military power but instead are backed by your military support.”

“That… does not sound bad.” Solomon admitted before shaking his head, “Though it would take a while to perform, maybe even years. And how would I convince my people that they actually have the authority? It would be much harder than making men fight one another.”

>Focus on the rivalries, that will give the best results for now
>Time to form a court system, like a protastant. *Give me details on this*
>Leave things for now, Maria shall scheme for later

>>4535918
>Focus on the rivalries, that will give the best results for now

>>4535918
>Focus on the rivalries, that will give the best results for now
It would be best to prep this ottoman empire for our take over. Perhaps let the gods of wat come to blows with each other. Or let the gods of agriculture and the gods of hunting come to spite. Once an issue in any sector gets bad enough the Miaph can bring a third party in to settle it. This will soften the empire enough that we can eventually rival it to the point that we could even start spreading our own gods influence into their realm.

>>4535918
>Time to form a court system, like a protastant. *Give me details on this*
First we don't give them any great authority. They will be a third party in disputes and try to reconcile the opposing parties or make mutual beneficial deals. If this has failed it can go up to the Miaph like before. Once this practice has been accepted and people have seen the benefits (shorter time until they can be heard, less travel necessary, etc.) of it we can slowly give the courts more power until they actually can decide cases.

>>4535964
You are jumping way ahead here. We do not have anywhere close to the military necessary, because Chloe is still a problem and could easily become queen, banishing us to the Miaphate.
There is also nothing that unites more than a common enemy and if our god starts taking territory, you basically generate the perfect enemy to unite against.

Leaving that aside I'm also not a fan of starting to sabotage our ally and friend, just so we can later start a war and backstab him.

>>4535918
>Focus on the rivalries, that will give the best results for now

>>4535463
Take a joke

>>4536013
Chloe can't banish us making is an independent nation and not part of the fantasy hre

Or well I suppose she could but she would need to annex makain to do so

>>4535918
>Focus on the rivalries, that will give the best results for now
It's better we do this because first of all were not a dirty protestant and second it's better to bleed the cults first so that when the courts punish them it will be easy to kill them all

>>4536112
*Makain

>>4535918
>Leave things for now, Maria shall scheme for later

>>4535918
When I was talking about a court system, I meant back home. A court system with all these gods just leaves to petty infighting and corruption unless our (or some other reasonably powerful) god willing to control courts suddenly gets authority and power to deal with this clusterfuck. Otherwise we're just passing the buck to the gods that will start fighting over some follower being a twat and getting what they deserve.
It's a nice idea in theory, but a bit hamstrung by the fact that evil gods can have a valid opinion about what people should do. Maybe if some work was done to say that monsters are beyond the domain of man in that court, so any monster cult worshipers are still subject to regular laws?
A court system needs general public and governmental security before getting started up anyway and this country doesn't really have that when it's at the whims of misc cult machinations.
>If you want some fun, the next time they throw women at you, suggest that you have several unmarried Morseman generals. It might even be a valid but dangerous tactic.

>>4536013
We'll have to kill chole one way or another. Keeping on the miaphs good side is necessary but we should also be looking at him as a possible threat. After all he could end up attacking into europe later. I don't see anything wrong with weakening the gods of the miaphate since they'd also want us dead just as chole would likely do to us.

>>4536206
We don't know for sure we need to kill chloe even if it's likely we went here to go find an alternative

Rivalries for now
>>4535928
>>4535964
>>4536077
>>4536118

Form a court
>>4535985

Who did make the modern court system?

Maria had to think about it more, and that was the thought of her court system. The more she thought about it, the more valuable something like that would be if performed correctly. It could help raise people from the feudal state that they suffer right now and progress into something resembling modernity. Though there was also the fact that these cults could seek to influence the courts, and unless there was some God of Justice out there Maria was sure the corruption would be rampant.

For now the idea will be placed on hold, “In that case we should focus on forcing a wedge between the groups.”

“Indeed we shall, though where to start.” The man seemed to be in thought for a moment.

“What about Sarhar and Baltic? Is there a division among the Gods involving those two?”

“Indeed there is.” Solomon answered with a smile, “While it is not noticeable now, they tend to bring the largest wedge between everyone. Though there is always the chance Monster roam cities if they ever do.”

“That is right, though I have the feeling they would always look for a way to fight.” Maria summarized before giving another thought to Solomon.

“Indeed you are correct.” Solomon answered before giving a solemn nod, “Tomorrow, on your day away from our palace, why don’t you look for something within the Coliseums.”

“Why there?” Maria asked with a brow raised.

“Thats where the younger members of both Cults work. I have a feeling you will find something useful there.”

“Hmm, I will look into it.” Maria agreed before her brow once again rose, “What do you mean ‘our’?”

“Why not ‘our’?” Solomon said with a charming smile, “What is mine will be yours as well.”

“But we are not married yet.”

“yet” Solomon clarified with a chuckle, “Your insights from just today are as intelligent as you are beautiful. It is a shame I have barely caught a glimpse of your face these last few days.”

“You know it is for my own safety as well as yours.”

“And of course that only makes me want to see it more,” Solomon exclaimed before giving a smile, “Do not worry, I have made sure all the Servants were cleared out of the area before we arrived.”

>Indulge him, and have a little fin as well
>Take the hood down, but keep things temperate
>No, the Hood stays up, Solomon.

>>4536411
>Take the hood down and replace it with a proper knights helm so that it's more effective concealment and protection

>>4536411
>Take the hood down, but keep things temperate

>>4536411
>No, the Hood stays up, Solomon.

>>4536411
>Take the hood down, but keep things temperate

I think I prefer austin.

>>4536411
>No, the Hood stays up, Solomon.

File: 7e7.jpg (65 KB, 600x516)

65 KB JPG

>>4536411
>No, the Hood stays up, Solomon.

>>4536411
>No, the Hood stays up, Solomon.

LoL
>>4536415

Hood down, but temperate
>>4536416
>>4536460

Nope
>>4536430
>>4536490
>>4536517
>>4536573

>>4536206
We don't need to backstab/weaken Solomon, but at the same time, we really don't need to be buffing up the people that use the lives of our citizens as as a convenient invasion ground for the sake of petty politics.

“Hmm, I prefer not too.” Maria answered with a stern, inhumored face, “You never know if there is anyone around that could see things.”

“You are right, you never know.” Solomon relented before shaking his head, “You have humored me for quite a while though. Why is that?”

“What?” Maria could not help but raise her brow to Solomon’s question.

“You are of great help to me, more than even my advisor Tumuh only within a few days. If it was my decision, it likely would have been that I just took the property and sold it off to whichever party could pay me more. Brutal, but it makes people understand their place in my court.” Solomon admitted before shaking his head, “Tomorrow you will go out to visit my people on your own, to see how they act under the guise of uncaring Gods. What do you think you will find?”

“Well, I cannot say so for sure. What should I expect?”

There was a pregnant pause for a moment, as if Solomon was considering something. The golden shine upon the garden had finally dimid. However there was an uncanniness that the light was died a shade of red, something Maria had not seen in quite some time.

“I have an idea, but I feel that telling you would only taint your view early.” Solomon said before giving a sigh, “I want you to test the water, and learn if my people will be malleable to a change of direction.”

“What kind of direction?”

“You should already have a guess.” Solomon answered as the sun finally left the sky to welcome night, “Come now, it's time we head to our beds. Come, walk beside me.”

“Yeah, I guess it is time.”

With that the two of them went back to their rooms, not a single word spoken between them. Maria would have claimed the atmosphere was cold, but that would be too harsh of the Young Emperor. No Maria felt that it was Melancholic.

In a flash night had turned towards day, and while they did have breakfast together there was no real words spoken between them. However eating Maria noticed that Solomon had lost the Melancholy in favor of anticipation.

What exactly did he expect her to find out in the open streets on her own?

>Head out in Maria’s normal disguise and an armament, nothing else should be needed.
>Head out in the Maid disguise, that should grant Maria atleast more weight among the masses
>Seek out one of the Maids to help Maria travel, they will know the city more *Which one?*

>>4536645
>Head out in Maria’s normal disguise and an armament, nothing else should be needed.

>>4536649
+1

>>4536645
Well I was getting a little bored with being in the palace to begin with.
>Set a trap for the meido prison break.
Officially one extra meido goes out with us along with a morse guard. In reality the meido we requisitioned is to spend time in the prison room cleaning up and secretly guarded by the morseman that captures everyone.
Our prisoner went out shopping for us at misc places with a Morseman guard who may or may not have a nice date as a result.

>Head out in Maria’s normal disguise and an armament, nothing else should be needed.

If all goes well we have some test subjects to see if the ability to depower demigods is weakened by being so far from the Lord's lands or empowered by being so close to the origin/holy lands. (Since demons and gods are the same thing according to Saint Almer, logically we can temp depower some demigods but have nobody we can safely do that to until these maids dig a hole for themselves)

You can judge a society by how it treats its lowest and be invisible to those above you. The hard part is making a good sword look like a dirt cheap sword we saw bounce off a cart or something.

>>4536688
Supporting this. Should be sneaky but effective.

>>4536688
>Set a trap for the meido prison break.

>Officially one extra meido goes out with us along with a morse guard. In reality the meido we requisitioned is to spend time in the prison room cleaning up and secretly guarded by the morseman that captures everyone.
>Our prisoner went out shopping for us at misc places with a Morseman guard who may or may not have a nice date as a result.

>Head out in Maria’s normal disguise and an armament, nothing else should be needed.
>If all goes well we have some test subjects to see if the ability to depower demigods is weakened by being so far from the Lord's lands or empowered by being so close to the origin/holy lands. (Since demons and gods are the same thing according to Saint Almer, logically we can temp depower some demigods but have nobody we can safely do that to until these maids dig a hole for themselves)

You can judge a society by how it treats its lowest and be invisible to those above you. The hard part is making a good sword look like a dirt cheap sword we saw bounce off a cart or something.
>Bring an axe as our weapon not a sword.

Normal Disguises
>>4536649
>>4536688
>>4536708

Quick reminder that I do not count votes if they do not use green text. Keep that in mind if you want it to count next time.

“Fufufu, do you all understand what shall happen?” Maria asked the Morse guard who were standing at attention before her.

“We are to lead your prisoner about the markets, right?” The bulky man asked with a hum.

“Indeed that is the case.” Maria answered with a devilish smile, “Just walk her around and chat, if there is anyone out to get me you are to take them alive.”

“Hehe, quite the devilish thing plan you got. Though what should we do if the girl tried to escape?”

“Capture first, but if you are not able to killing her should be your second option.” Maria confirmed with the thought that if she escaped she might leak something. Tying up loose ends would be preferable to that.

With that over Maria turned around and made her way out of the door, a war axe on her back. A cumbersome weapon for sure, but it was something no one would bat an eye at someone possessing in a place like this.

So with a few steps Maria was out the door, exiting the Palace from a walkway guarded only by the Morse. It seemed Solomon was making liberal use of these forign men, but Maria also recognized them as his most loyal followers. As for their reason for loyalty, well Maria could not be too certain exactly what it was.

Since it was close to about the end of the morning the streets were for the most part cleared. There were of course the few merchant and workers who made a living making this time their selling time, but for the vast majority that was going to come in an hour.

Of course Maria could go to the markets anyways, but she almost always goes there. Her memories of incense were already crawling back into her mind when she first went through there. Indeed, if she wanted to know more though that would be the place to go.

On the other hand Maria could go towards the coliseums, where Solomon recommended Maria go towards. It would be a place where Maria could quickly get somekind of dirt. Such dirt would be useful for her to disable a large suave of the Miaphate into a minor civil war, but in the end Maria wondered if thats what Solomon was wanting her to really find out now.

Lastly there are the two residential areas, where the wealthy elite and the extremely poor live. Both instances might shed some light on what the people desire and how malleable they are. Though what she would find, Maria was actually just a little afraid to see.

>Head for the Markets anyways
>Go to the Coliseum for a little spying
>To where the poor and undesirables live
>To the rich and elite!

>>4537220
>To where the poor and undesirables live
Time to spread the hope of God the Father.

>>4537220
>To the rich and elite!

>>4537220
>To where the poor and undesirables live

>>4537220
>>To the rich and elite!

>>4537220
>To where the poor and undesirables live
We can go to the coliseum for some recriational combat afterwards

>>4537220
>To the rich and elite!

>>4537220
>To the poor

We're supposed to see oppression by the gods. The poor is the best place to see that in action and we don't want to go there after buying tons of stuff that can be robbed from us or make us attractive to looters. It'll get in the way of trying to see how things are. Secure our stuff so that it can't be stolen. do they have the technology for wire reinforce bags/string?

Who knows, we might find some useful demigod orphan bastard child to be an underling or inventor.

My mind is coming up with a blank on date spots for that moreseman to take our prisoner but I'm sure there are lots of wonderful tourist destinations and romantic restaurants where he can hand feed her as the stockholm kicks in.

Poor
>>4537224
>>4537257
>>4537330
>>4537414

The RICH!
>>4537239
>>4537323
>>4537389

Did not think it would be this close.

Indeed, the best place to see what the Miaphate is really like would be the dreadful underbelly of their most grand city. Only then would Maria realize the true extent of how this theocratic like state treats the downtrodden.

So Maria walked, navigating through the main streets before finally breaching that Maria would call the extravagant part of town. With that over with Maria simply took a right, walking the random street while making sure to remember the sights to navigate her way back from the bowels.

The first thing that hit Maria was an odd stench, one that she did not realize was there until it was mixed with others. It was incense, the smell seemingly even more than within the greater streets. She held for a moment, thinking that she would hear the countless cries of clergy trying to work on the poor.

But there was none.

Curiosity got the better of her, and Maria traveled further down through the alleys. The houses of course never really lost their form, but whatever luster one shining upon them when made had been rotted away with the depressing atmosphere. However she started to notice a common theme upon them, and that was a small series of sticks erected off the sides of the buildings.

It would explain the smell of incense Maria smelled. The people were burning as if it was some sort of ward against evil spirits.

“Hey, you there.” Maria quickly turned to see an old man who was sitting upon the ground, “You don’t look to be from ‘round here. Who are ya?”

“Elizabeth Wyvern.” Maria sounded off without a thought to keep her cover, “Yourself?”

“Rajul Eajuz.” The man answered before his eyes studied Maria a little bit more, “You’re walking ‘round without an offering, are you lookin’ to get yourself killed?”

“An offering? To who?”

“Marad.” The man answered with a stern stare, “Do you think yourself rich enough to be immune to his blight?”

“I… have other reasons to think myself immune.” Maria announced before taking another moment to think, “What about yourself? Are you not afraid of him?”

“I’m too old to be paying my tithe.” The man announced with a stern look at Maria, “Death will come sooner than later, and I won’t make my children spend the extra copper just for my old ass.”

>How much is this much incense costing everyone? *Also write in your questions if wanted*
>See if there is a place where the sick go, so that Maria might help them.
>Continue to explore, so that Maria can learn more

>>4537613
>How much is this much incense costing everyone?
>For how long have people been paying this tithe and if there's an alternative protection

>>4537613
>How much is this much incense costing everyone?
>Where would I acquire an offering?

>>4537613
>Why does Marad like incense in particular?

>What sort of blight is it?
(Luckily we're probably decently protected and wearing a mask to blend in or keep sand out, but trying to avoid disease during this time period is probably near impossible until we do major restructuring that our home country has priority on.)
It could also be some easy disease to treat (by figuring out it's just bad water) like cholera, which could make a rise in worship of our god in the region. Hopefully we don't piss off some disease god by revealing how he/she gets shit done

>>4537613
>How much is this much incense costing everyone?
>For how long have people been paying this tithe and if there's an alternative protection.
>Why does Marad inflict blight upon his Followers?

>>4537613
>How much is this much incense costing everyone?

Plenty of Questions
>>4537668
>>4537846
>>4537876
>>4537894
>>4537929

Maria looked over the man, noting how his bones looked to have been slightly withered from the time he was alive. How that did not mean he was obviously well built. If Maria had to guess he was quite the able body when he was much younger.

However for now, “How much is all this incense costing you? How much of your time is devoted into getting it?”

“Really?” The man looked confused for a moment before shaking his head, “It costs us a quarter of a days work, if you are lucky that is.”

“Thats a grave amount.”

“Indeed, when I was younger I was able to make it only a tenth. But now, well Im out here now.” The man answered with a tinge of lamentation in his voice.

“What sort of blight is it?” Maria asked while pondering her mind for knowledge of modern medicine, “Do you feel weak, or have diarrhea?”

“Yeah, of course thats what everyone feels.” The man answered with a hollow laugh, “You are taking an interest in this girl, you should just back away now.”

“I will not, not when my fellow man is suffering.” Maria answered sternly before giving a harden glare to him, “Why would he inflict this disease on his Followers? Killing all of you would be counter to the purpose of a God.”

The moment Maria finished her statement the man suddenly broke out in laughter. It was as if his bones got a jolt of life shoved into them and that he regained plenty of years on him, “Ha! What kind of Gods do you worship girl?”

“W-what do you mean?” Maria could not help but stumble at the man’s abrupt question.

“In the deserts Baltic and Sarhar fight, while in these cities the cultist of Decim and Loster try their best to placate hungry Gods.” The man’s eyes became sharp as knives, “We are the men of the earth, simply renting it from the Gods and their temples. It is only their fickle whim that we live to even talk to one another.”

Maria was about to say something, she heard something at the edge of her hearing. It was not a cry for help or a scream, but a whimper.

“Tsk, if you think Marad survives off worship, girl, you are mistaken. We only appease him with incense, what he really wants is our bodies to rot so that he may breed worse monsters.”

>Run towards the sound of inevitable death.
>Leave, this is something Maria does not want to catch right now
>Snatch some incense of the way out, as that might protect Maria
>Other

>>4538168
>Snatch some incense of the way out, as that might protect Maria
Playing with a god disease is something I don't think is worth gambling without our relic

>>4538168
>Snatch some incense of the way out, as that might protect Maria
We might come to enjoy the title of Godslayer soon enough if this is what passes for Miaphate's up-jumped elementals.

>>4538168
>Snatch some incense on the way-
>to Runnning towards the sound of inevitable death.

>>4538168
>>4538204
+1

>>4538168
We're kicking his ass if he tries anything through the power of modern japanese hygiene practices and I refuse to protect ourselves from him through blastphemy at the cost of half some poor family's wages. We are a saint.

>Run towards the sound of inevitable death.
What are the chances we picked up on the feeling of healing somebody after needing it done a few times?

>>4538210
Don't forget to green text your vote.

>>4538170
When you say relic, do you mean the finger or the sword, cause i didn't pick up on us leaving the finger behind and our "holiness" has been steadily rising so we shouldn't immediately succumb.

>>4538168
>Snatch some incense of the way out, as that might protect Maria

>>4538170
You have your Finger.

>>4538363
Is the saints finger the middle one?

>>4538372
Might be, you never asked.

>>4538373
I NEED TO KNOW!!!!

>>4538374
Well you got a one in 4 chance of it being one.

File: 1de.gif (940 KB, 627x502)

940 KB GIF

>>4538375
We need to make an immediate detour to the pope NOW!!

(Not a vote)

>>4538363
Alright then, changing my vote to
>Run towards the sound of inevitable death.

>>4538168
>>Snatch some incense of the way out, as that might protect Maria

>>4538168
>Snatch some incense of the way out, as that might protect Maria
>Leave, this is something Maria does not want to catch right now

Shame on you guys, robbing from the poor at th drop of a hat.

>>4538490
We have money. We can literally buy it for double or triple the price and be doing them a favor.

>>4538513
How bold of you to assume they'll live that long without their incense "protection" or that it won't start a minor slum war as they fight each other over who stole the incense.

Snatch some Incense
>>4538171
>>4538204
>>4538252
>>4538442
>>4538453

Run towards Inevitable Death
>>4538211
>>4538423

>>4538649
Bold of you all to assume you'd have enough time to figure out the purchase.

>>4538688
That and we don't even know the family. We could easily just get scammed by some asshat pretending to live there when we try to pay.

>>4538513
Imma assume you guys are not willing to steal. Reasonable? Reasonable.

>>4538710
Just throw a gold coin on his way

“Damn it damn it!” Maria mumbled to herself as the old man simply shook his head.

It would have been at this time that Maria simply expected the man to laugh a laugh of evil, but there was nothing. He was simply an old man who was going to go out with a whimper.

First Maria determined that she needed some of the incense, something to help her ward off the god’s might. Her first and instant thought was running to a door and giving it one hell of a knock, “Hello, anyone in there!? I need to buy your incense! I will double whatever you have paid for it!”

However even as she knocked on the doors there was not a single response. She knew people lived there, they had incense burning outside of their door, they just never responded.

“Damn it damn it, fine.” Maria clicked her tongue before traveling deeper into the alleys. So the only thing she could do is take a small stick in exchange for sticking a small golden coin in its place.

It was not long however, as Maria finally found the scene she knew would occur. Sitting upon the ground looked to be a young girl, roughly Maria’s own age if she was not mistaken. However what was sitting in her arms was a young child, but it was not crying anymore.

This would have been a normal death, Maria was aware that death was a constant when it came to young children. She herself would have ‘died’ if it was not for the help of a magus and his harrowing ritual. But something was around the child, hanging in the air upon the infant corpse.

The girl did not notice it, as if it was invisible to the naked eye. It was almost like... the disease was a thing.

Slowly as Maria witnessed it, the mass had inched its way off the child and onto the girl. A small cough was announced upon contact, which only solidified the existence of the creature in the eyes of Maria. It was a disease, in the form of a dangible monster.

And here she thought good hygiene was going to help…

>Offer the thing the stick of incense
>Give a prayer to the Lord, in hope that it will be banished
>Leave them be, survival of the fittest.

If you guys can throw in your reason for choosing it. I will want to know them.

>>4538753
>Leave them be, survival of the fittest
If the child doesn't die here she'll die of poverty

>>4538753
>Give a prayer to the Lord, in hope that it will be banished
We've seen the faith in the lord help against the monsters and if we plan to expand here we need to see what it can do to the monsters and deities here

>>4538753
>Give a prayer to the Lord, in hope that it will be banished
This will end badly but let's see what happens.

>>4538753
>Give a prayer to the Lord, in hope that it will be banished

>>4538753
>Time to start making local enemies. Power of the lord to banish it.
I expected our time with solomon to be a road trip to all of the idiots in his way. being stuck in one place is making the future journey way more dangerous since we're giving the gods more time to get pissed off at us.

>>4538753
>>Offer the thing the stick of incense

>>4538753
>Give a prayer to the Lord, in hope that it will be banished

>>4538800
I feel like you're presuming stuff because we aren't granteed able to banish it considering the lord holds little sway in these lands so we might need something else and we sadly can't banish a magic death plauge with a stab to the throat

>>4538753
>Give a prayer to the Lord, in hope that it will be banished
God said get the fuck out!

>>4539029
It's not that I'm presuming, it's that nobody wanted to experiment when we had the chance, so now I'm taking it

>>4539029
I'm also gonna point out that while influence is weakened, it isn't removed. We wouldn't need the finger if it wasn't possible for Miaphate gods to encroach, therefore the opposite must be possible. The fact that we killed off a second demigod sorta confirmed our plot breaking abilities or God championing us.
The same logic can be applied to the misc demons. The territory clearly belongs to our god, but they can still do minor influences or buff followers.

>>4539065
We can just add weapons to the banishing attempt. If prayer fails we can jam incense I to it's fat eye.

>>4539072
It doesn't have a physical eye we can jab that's why I'm not confident it will die to a blade or insence granted mustard gas might work

>>4539045
Okay makes sense

>>4539065
Oh yeah I forgot it's not insanely major weakening the lord definitely, as for the second demigod it died due to heavy metal poisoning not anything magic and the plot hasn't really been something that requires a gods backing to break it just needs the enemy to not have divine intervention help them and Chloe has the divine helping her. Granted our god championing us was caused by us killing demigods but he did not play a part in it

Survival for the Fittest
>>4538769

Prayer to the Lord
>>4538776
>>4538785
>>4538786
>>4538800
>>4538969
>>4539038

Offer the incense
>>4538849

Maria inched forward, slowly getting closer to the girl who was snuggling the newborn corpse. The thing seemingly settled on the girl’s skin with only a shiver in response to it. There was of course the idea of just leaving the girl there to die, but Maria quickly shook that idea away.

She was not a monster.

The next was to use the incense that she retrieved. To use the Pegan ritual to try and satisfy this… demon.

No, that would be against Maria’s values. She would not lower herself into just appeasing a simple disease thing.

Maria is a follower of the Lord, the one who has given humanity a place in this world. Who seemed to risk his very existence to keep his little piece of humanity safe from all these damned dangers of the world.

So with that Maria walked towards the girl, placing herself right infront of the girl who looked up to her in confusion. Purple eyes met red, but Maria did not really care now. Taking in a breath, Maria folded her hand and began to pray.

“My Lord, the one who looks over humanity from above. I ask you, grant me the power to wash away the evils that corrupts this wayward soul.” Maria removed the Saint’s Finger from her neck and presented it towards the creature. Slowly the bone finger that Maria presented began to glow with a soft radiance, soon moving to consume Maria’s entire hand.

“In the name of the Lord, I purge this creature from the world.” Maria settled her hands upon the writhing mass, the form shuttering at her touch, “Begone.”

And like that, the mass of death was consumed in a quick flash like a flame touching propane. It was gone, consumed by Holy Flames.

As the flash settled Maria’s eyes were once again settled upon the girl, who looked relived as could be. Though she lacked meat upon her bones and who knows what else.

“... thank you…” She spoke despite the issues presented before turning towards her child, “I am sorry… Dayie.”

And with that she fell unconscious, though Maria knew she was still alive by the movement of her chest.

>Load her in a cart and take her to the Palace
>Leave the girl here, she is cured now at the very least.
>Go around and see if others need the help, cover is already blown.

>>4539283
>Load her in a cart and take her to the Palace
Gotta make sure she survives through and that the gods don’t come for her looking for clues about us

>>4539283
>Load her in a cart and take her to the Palace
Time to start a nunnery, and I don't mean whorehouse.

>>4539283
>Load her in a cart and take her to the Palace

>>4539283
>Load her in a cart and take her to the Palace

>>4539283
>Load her in a cart and take her to the Palace

You know, I thought you guys would runaway to keep your identity secret, but this works too.
>>4539301
>>4539306
>>4539325
>>4539334
>>4539464