Starting a Cult

5/9 evening

I had a plan. It was a stupid one, but I liked it. I had two ghosts and a narrative and I was gonna use them. First, I was going to take advantage of Dremuus as a big ol living proof of concept. I didn't know what kind of community there was among these Draenei, but if I built up a mystique around my healing powers I might get more takers. I whispered to Mary's necklace "are you somewhere that you can talk?"

There was a short delay before she responded, "Yes? May I assist you?"

"I think you can. You see, the beings in this swamp are like you. Once they were beautiful, strong, and wise. But then dark magic twisted them."

She gasped; purely for effect I assume. She didn't have lungs after all. "Oh those poor things… and you're going to help them too?" Ah good, she sounded genuinely hopeful. There's still some of her own self mixed in with the submission. I had worried I'd gone a bit overboard.

"Yes and no. I can only do so much. You can help them, though. If you can possess them the way Lillibeth does, you can teach them to love me. That love will heal them; it's only the first step, but it's vitally important. Can you do that? Are you willing?"

"I can't think of anything more wonderful!"

"Good. I'll be making a few small changes to you, though. So that they might trust you more." With that I started fiddling with settings, and turned Mary into a pale silvery haired Draenei. Definitely still a ghost, but a Draenei ghost. I also gave her a validation trigger for declaring her love or allegiance to me; important for this form of capture.

In preparation, I transformed myself into a male Draenei too; the uncorrupted kind. "Lividia, do you prefer to come with me in a form like this, or to stay behind?"

"I understand you wish to do this my king, but I have no interest in turning into cattle. I'll go hunting instead, if that's all right?" Casual racism aside, I let her go. I gave Lillibeth a similar ghostly Eredar form and teleported myself to Mary. Or Maarii? Did stretching out the vowels make it a Draenei name? I guess Lividia isn't the only one culturally insensitive here.

In any event I had Mary show me the way to Dremuus's home. It was a little reed hut on stilts. As we approached, I heard aggravated Draenei voices. "I tell you, Noboru! It is a miracle, nothing less. We could reclaim ourselves, at least in part. The clarity I feel alone is-"

"No. No no no, miracles are for others, if they exist at all. This is a trick. A demon trick, or the orcs. If any but my brother came to me with such foolishness I'd break them." The second voice was snarling with anger. I was hoping for a slightly more positive reaction, to be honest.

I snuck close and watched the shouting match. The two men were staring one another down in front of the hut. I was quite surprised to see that Dremuus wasn't the taller of the two, despite his body tune up. His counterpart, Noboru, cut an imposing figure. He was thinner, but what I could see of him was pure muscle and he was a few inches taller. He brought it all together by carrying a huge, brutal looking club.

In the hut there were a few smaller figures. I couldn't tell if they were malnourished, young, or just female. One was staring from the front step with a very worried expression, seeming sure that the situation would escalate any moment. The other was butchering the crocolisk, badly according to wild talent, and studiously pretending to not listen.

The two men talked past each other, mostly reiterating their points in increasing volume. Eventually Noboru decked Dremuus, who took it like a champ. He steadied himself and then glared, crossing his arms. "I will not fight you, brother. Nor will I back down. This is too big." The big Draenei stalked off at that. Not sure what to do when escalation to violence didn't do anything for him, it seemed.

Once he left, I approached, flanked by my radiant ghostly beauties. "Good day, my friends. Ah, good. The one my apprentice spoke of. I am Elaan." I bowed with a flourish.

He looked at me warily, not sure what to expect. "How did you find me, stranger? It's a big swamp."

Time for a whopper. "Through the bonds of love you established with Alluria, of course. The healing energy flows between us all, and it is easy for the initiated to follow. I'm here to see if I can help more of your people. Are either of your companions willing to try?" The one at the entrance bounced up to me. I got the impression they were younger; young enough to be extremely enthusiastic at least. The butcher was also interested, but far more reserved.

"Open yourselves to these spirits, they will help you to establish the bond. Don't worry, they are kindly." The broken ones were obviously skeptical, but as expected I had Dremuus encouraging the two others, who I realized were women when I heard them speak. The crocolisk carver, named Norin, was adamant that she go first. Not out of greed, but out of fear for her daughter Talaada's safety. Poor dear. Going first would only seal the girl's fate, but luckily I wasn't actually particularly evil. Manipulative, but I didn't have any plans that would reduce them to a state worse than their current situation as self hating hunter-gatherers and raiders.

Norin and Talaada, with the well meaning encouragement of Dremuus, declared their love for me until it took. The effects on them were just as pronounced as they had been on him. Both of the women, and from the looks of it Talaada was indeed physically an adult, straightened up to about four feet in height. Their breasts filled into modest handfuls, and they bulked up. They were hairless, filthy, and their strangely long face and lipless mouth were definite turnoffs for me, but it was a marked improvement. My ghostly girls were pretty pooped; apparently even when deliberately let in it isn't easy to push these people into an appropriate level of devotion.

"You are all my companions in this life now. I hope to take you further, restoring you fully to the glory you had under the rule of the Naaru through the power of love. I will need one volunteer from among you that I can teach, who will in turn mentor others. The other two will spread the word by whatever means you think best, bringing volunteers here for when I return." I wanted to automate this process, so I could come back every day or two to get love confessions.

For now though, Talaada was chosen to go with me. It seemed that once I went from creepy stranger into beloved prophet of love, sending her daughter first went from a massive unacceptable risk into giving her the best possible chance at a better life. I think I may have just started a cult. I'm ok with that, mind you, but it's worth noting when you do something like that.

I took her away with me, using apportation with my ghosts to disorient her until we got to that nice secure ledge. I stayed quiet, and so did she. She didn't seem like the kind of person who was used to the air being full of chatter. I wondered how much of her life had been lived as an ugly mutant in a backwoods swamp. It's even remotely possible she'd been born here, assuming Broken are still fertile and can get it up in the first place. The dark portal has been closed for a long time, and every one of these people would have come through as slaves or slipped through as scouts or ridiculously stealthy refugees.

I settled on the ledge, looking out over the swamp at the sunset. "I must reveal to you the truth before we begin. I am not a Draenei, not as you know them. I am in fact a dragon from this world, one who seeks to heal, help, and dispel darkness wherever I go. While I can restore to you the form you were meant to have, it is only through great effort on both our parts. A ritual you must learn and carry out, which I shall teach you."

"I don't know about magic. Father says it just draws attention from demons and Naaru. I never cast a spell myself." Communication talent was making connections on overtime now that I had her in a dialogue. She seemed to have been born or at least raised in these conditions. She didn't talk because her family were all quiet, terse people. She hadn't been raised with any knowledge of magic. In other words, she was kind of terrible for a first student. But you know me. Doubling down is my default.

"It is fine. I will be teaching you the magic of dragons, and the magic of love, symbolized by these amulets. There is no risk of drawing unwanted attention through simple use of our magic, unless you wish to avoid me and my companions." I laughed at that, turning it into a silly joke. Of course she wouldn't want to avoid me. She smiled with me, and while she was still nervous she was definitely more at ease than she had been up to this point. "Now, we will begin the process in the morning. No need to rush it, eh?"

This was going to take more than one day. I mean, it was probably fine. I wouldn't spend all day teaching her how to turn into a dragon, after all. I could do a lesson in the morning, see if there were any promising new recruits among the Draenei, teleport out and do some oversight or personal work, and then settle… somewhere… to relax and coordinate in the evening. Shit, I still needed some kind of home base. At the moment the only safe house securely owned by my retinue was Eva's house, which had some kids living in it that were not on my list. Abby's shack was right next to a graveyard full of undead, ruled over by a necromancer that might decide to call me on my bullshit at any time. Dremuus's house was a goddamn gazeebo in a swamp, and he was about to start making unpopular decisions, if Noburu was anything to go by. The Lions were based out of an inn, probably annoying the locals to be honest, and the ogre mound was definitely not fully under my control yet.

I needed to extend my grasp. I needed to capture more people. I needed to get myself a real base. I wasn't sure what else I'd do with my credits, but I needed more necklaces. I went into the shop and purchased Extra Stock. I was one shy of 10 credits to buy something else, but I wasn't certain what I wanted anyway.

Sadly I didn't get an extra amulet for Talaada immediately, but that was fine. I'd have one for her in the morning. I disguised her as a dwarf, though a bald one, and took her with me to Lakeshire. She slept on the floor, near the window, at her own insistence.