Time started up again.

"This is promising," Toad declared. He gestured for some of the crowd to come closer. "Doug, I truly believe these pacts could be the thing that will give us the edge we need."

Might as well.

It wasn't all that hard to issue the pacts. I really did expect something catastrophic to happen. But it didn't. Shortly after making the pacts I got a new prompt.

New Achievement!

God Maker*

You have elevated a truly impressive amount of beings to divine scale. You have shattered the record. Before you, Zach held it with 7. Did he do it the legit way? Yes. Are the gods he made actual gods of the fabled Second Batch? Yep. Did you cheat the system? Oh yeah. Honestly that makes it a bit more impressive. However until you make an actual god you are going to have to live with having that asterisk next to the achievement.

Reward:

Experience withheld. Seriously this is getting ridiculous. Do you have any idea how big the back log you have built up? After the tower you are going to have to end up on a Planned Progression Path.

That could have been worse. A Planned Progression Path sounded like a legitimate threat though. There was some logic to the idea of preventing me from leveling multiple times. Yet again I was finding another significant use of power that I had neglected. Taking time to utilize my abilities correctly would likely have better results than getting more abilities.

That reminded me. I pulled another bale of Snow Lion skin armor out of my inventory. It hit the ice with a thud. I was a mass production engine with basic Uncommon Scale skins. I could Craft ten sets of gear at a time in a matter of seconds with my Divine Tools and Titanic Works 2 Perk. I also had a 28% chance to produce a duplicate item. Then just to make things Spicy there was 48% that the items I would craft would have their scale increased.

Each suit was averaged out to a Soft Armor rating of 3 for Uncommon scale and 4 for the rare scale suits. The thing is those were rookie numbers. By equipping the gear My Titanic Armor 2 perk would up the armor rating by 48 points of defense, and grant a 24% deflection rate. Sure it was soft armor and a d4 of damage would slip through for every hit that wasn't deflected, and the Deflection Skill required a roll, but that easily could be the difference between life and death.

Ten days ago the idea of crafting almost ten thousand suits of armor wouldn't have occurred to me. I was rapidly realizing though that my true function was being a force multiplier. Now every soldier in the army was getting roughly a 7 point bonus to each Attribute. This was an average and it varied heavily because of knock on effects through the chained pacts. They were also all counted as Divine Scale. That meant they were immune to possession and would be getting bonuses in opposed rolls rather than taking penalties. Then the One for All Warband Perk was granting them an additional level of Scale on top of that.

If I had started crafting gear back… That wasn't helpful. I was working in the correct direction now.

New Achievement!

Army of the Divine

Most folks try to raise hell, but seem to be able to lower heaven when the mood strikes. You have managed to assemble an army of over a thousand that is majority Divine Scale… that is not something we see every day. You aren't even dealing with an Emergence Event. Are you gunning for A Titan Death Achievement? Either way be proud, someone gonna notice this.

Of course the guy with Carnyx of Gabriel got this achievement. That said bonus points for getting it without blowing the horn.

Reward:

Experience withheld. Seriously this is getting ridiculous.Consult with Narrator about Planned Progression Path.

Dammit the prompts were threatening me again. Sure this was more round about than normal but still. Titan Death, huh? Emergence Event certainly sounded ominous too. Elijah went underground. Was that related?

Was this just a warning… I should have used the Horn on the Ictheys. Unless that dagon I literally one-shot needed to hear some brass music.

I can't go back. So move forward.

The vibes in the camp were always fairly raucous. Right now though we were getting all sorts of shouts of "LEVEL!" Everywhere. It turns out I wasn't the only one who procrastinated on Crafting. Goblins being goblins also realized that you could get experience for…

No, I am not going to be shy about this. The goblins realized there were achievements for banging someone who was Divine Scale, and a bunch of them chose to make love before going to war. Some of the shouts of "LEVEL!" were less appropriate than others.

"Janie is going to actually murder you," Angelica said, closing the tent flap.

"Why is she going to do that?" Brunhilda asked.

"Because Doug, relentlessly, cock blocked her at the Mandir, and then threw not one but two different big sex parties." Angelica explained.

"I merely chaperoned the first one. This one is… impromptu," I said lamely. I had meant to argue but realized from an outside perspective I was the villain of Janie's story.

"Janie is going to murder you though," Brand added.

"I did it to help you," I pointed out.

"And I will honour your sacrifice." Brand replied sincerely.

"It is only for experience though," Aiko said. There was more than a little disapproval in her voice.

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"You don't like this?" I asked. Adora was fairly pro… all the sex.

"Making love should be about mutual pleasure and procreation," Aiko said. "Making it about achievements cheapens things…"

On the one hand I could say a lot of high minded things about love. On the other hand I have had sex because there was nothing good on TV and we couldn't find the remote. Shit like helping your girlfriend knock one out with CSPAN going in the background, only to find out we weren't home alone. Having to pretend to have profoundly strong opinions on infrastructure bills, made me a bit hesitant to throw stones at what other consenting adults did. I also found it odd that a Priestess of Adora had a problem with folks getting freaky. Her reasoning wasn't terrible, but Adora made things transactional immediately.

I made it a point to sound curious when I asked, "So Adora's church is opposed to sex work?"

"That is a bit of a gray area," Aiko answered. Her voice had that well rehearsed tone of someone who has answered this question before. "Adora is a firm believer in sex positivity and body autonomy. That said, certain dynamics become extremely specific. By her words, 'Withholding food until someone services you is not love.'"

Broken clock twice a day I guess. No, wait, that is basically what she held over Angelica's, Celeste's and my heads at her safe space. Go figure she was a rules for thee but not for me sort of goddess. Adora is the worst.

"It's not like they are having a mass orgy or anything out there," Brunhilda argued.

Someone else shouted "LEVEL!"

"I think," She hedged.

"The fuck is going on!" Nanny Shank demanded. The last shout had snapped her awake.

"Basically yeah," I said. I think I am funny.

She blinked at me, rubbed her eyes, and then took a swig of her medicine. "Hand me my cane please."

"You are just going to hit me with it," I pointed out, not moving to grab the cane.

"Yes, but then I will use it to get up and go see what is going on," She explained.

I decided getting hit once was easier than explaining what was happening.

Nanny Shank wasn't surprised. Nor was she embarrassed. She was a little annoyed. I could tell because when she got back in the tent she whacked me across my shins a second time, "You have a way of upsetting plans."

I held out a hand to help her get into a chair. "If only I could use these powers for good."

Nanny Shank snorted, "Don't let Grimset hear you say things like that." She tried to laugh but that immediately switched to a coughing fit. The rag she used to cover her mouth was bloody when she pulled it away.

Watching someone slowly dying from a disease is one of the worst things in the world. I am not downplaying sudden loss, but the acute nature of it can prevent the worst of the trauma from setting in. People are often far more sensitive to immediate pain and suffering. It is when things take longer than six months that folks start to wonder why you haven't gotten over it. The answer is obvious, they're not dead yet.

It is the waiting that is the worst part. At some point during the process, them being dead becomes a relief. But, they aren't dead yet. That thought sounds hateful, but it is just wanting someone who is suffering to find peace.

What else can you do but wait with them?

I did have another option.

"Nanny Shank, would you take a pact If I offered you Titanic Toughness, and Titanic Regeneration?" I said finally. When she stared at me I explained, "The two perks combined would let you endure your condition, if not undo the worst of the damage. It is probably enough to de-age you some. Give you more time."

Nanny considered that for a very long time. The moment would have been extremely tense if not for the intermittent cheer of "Level!" from goblins outside the tent.

"Hypothetically, what would you want for that?" She asked.

"Watch out for the young ones while we are away at the tower," I said, quickly.

Nanny Shank sighed. I could hear the ragged edge in her breath. Finally she spoke, "No."

"What?" Brunhilda asked.

"I am not going to take that pact," Nanny Shank said. She pulled her pipe out of her pocket. After a second she thought better of it and put it back in her cloak.

Brunhilda considered her words briefly, she kept her tone neutral as she spoke, "As a healer, I would strongly recommend you take that pact."

Nanny Shank snorted, "It's news to no one I am dying." She shrugged.

"The pact will stop that," Brunhilda pointed out.

"I understand," Nanny Shank said, "Do you know how long I have been the oldest? Seven years. I spent the majority of that time doing everything the way my Nanny taught me. It didn't work. We can't keep doing the same things and expecting it to work. Hell, when I was a kid this place had a Spring. We could grow crops other than mushrooms."

"I am not making the connection," Brand admitted

"I've had my time. The best thing I can do now is make a way for the next generation to build something new. At some point that means stepping aside. I've done this too long and I am not strong enough to just stop." She pulled the bottle of medicine out of her pocket and took a sip.

"Wouldn't someone with your perspective be necessary to achieve that? Surely someone with your," Brand paused for a moment choosing his words carefully, "experience would know better than say a child?"

"Thinking like that is how we got into this mess," Nanny Shank said. She wasn't angry but she was having none of Brand's ideas. "I don't care how old someone is. They don't know better, at best they know more. That doesn't mean they understand everyone and can do what is best for everyone. Us old guard need to stop leading and start teaching and if asked advising."

"So your solution is for elders to hand over control and let the young lead?" Brand asked.

"No, it is to force our leadership to better represent everyone," Nanny Shank said. "The only way to take care of everyone is for everyone to work together, and means everyone needs to have a say."

"And that requires you to die of old age?" Brunhilda asked.

The old goblin shrugged, "We all gotta go some time. Besides, I am tired. When you've seen Debbie as many times as I have at some point you just aren't afraid of her any more."

I had been keeping quiet until this point. I respected Nanny Shank's stance. However, I didn't trust myself to speak. I would probably end up trying to make another appeal to why she should take the pact. That last statement needed to be followed up on.

"What?" I asked.

Nanny Shank took another sip from the bottle before putting it back in her cloak, "Old folks sometimes see beyond the veil. Debbie is always there waiting for us. The other day I woke up and found her standing over me. If she hadn't coached me on how to steady my breathing, I would have probably died then. My heart isn't that great anymore either."

"Debbie stopped you from dying?" I asked.

"Yeah," Nanny Shank seemed to think that was a weird question. "She told me: Keep going, I believe in you. It took some doing but I managed it eventually."

Brunhilda looked a little disturbed, "She's the Goddess of Death."

"I don't think any of them are actual gods," Nanny Shank said.

"She kills people. I have had to fight her my entire life. She is the enemy of healers," Brunhilda argued.

"Debbie, loves healers," I spoke up.

Brunhilda stared at me, 'You can't just let that hang buddy."

"As far as I can tell, Debbie just collects the souls of the dead and guides them to… wherever they are supposed to go. I am pretty sure she spends most of her time on the other side of veil rooting for everyone to survive."

Angelica was quiet for a moment, "huh. I don't hate that."

Commune check… Successful

After the prompt my vision was full of blood.

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