5/10 Evening
Irma had done a good job. Tessa was looking quite good with a suit of leather armor that was just fancy enough to look like formalwear; she wouldn't be as effective if she had to fight, but combined with her sword and cool demeanor she definitely looked the part of bodyguard. Mezzo very clearly didn't approve of the ruffled dress shirt and tight black pants he'd been shoved into, based on the glare of loathing he was directing at Irma, but he looked very respectable. I was well and truly broke now, as she handed me back only 4 silver from her one gold budget.
She quickly adjusted my clothes, cleaning the dust off with a cleaning cantrip, and amusingly handing me a bottle of conjured water. "You look like you've been sweating." Once I was presentable she positioned herself behind me as we approached Auffrey's dot on the map.
It was not a nice part of Stormwind we found ourselves in. Not even a particularly nice part of Oldtown, actually. I spoke with Auffrey through the amulet, and she confirmed I was in the right place. I knocked on the door, and an old man in equally old livery answered.
"Lord Bismark, I presume?"
"Yes."
"Right this way."
He led me an embarrassingly short way to a dining room. The house was only six rooms; certainly not enough to justify having a butler help me navigate. There I met a small family of three. Auffrey was there of course, dressed in a far more elaborate dress than I'd ever seen her in before. An older woman, blonde, heavy, and clad all in black, sat at the head of the table and looked at my entourage with a mixture of pleasant surprise and distress. A slightly younger and blonder clone of Auffrey, fancy dress included, sat nervously with hands folded on her lap. There was only one extra chair at the table.
I sheepishly looked at Auffrey. "I'm sorry. I should have asked ahead of time. I knew you were in exile but I didn't realize bringing my entourage would be imposing on you. Don't worry, I'll just send them out to the tavern; I sincerely doubt I need a bodyguard here." She knew me as an orphan exile in an even worse financial situation than she apparently was. Of course she wasn't expecting servants.
Auffrey's mother cut in with a smile, "Oh that's quite alright. They are also welcome in the sitting room. It was an oversight on our part, but we aren't so poor in spirit that we can't see to their needs. Barnabus, would you scratch something together for them?" Her next statement was clearly directed at Auffrey despite her eyes never leaving mine. "We will be more prepared in the future, Lord Bismark."
"It's no trouble. This place is as nice as any I've lived in for years." True for both lives, mind you; a small townhouse with a butler would have sure as hell been too rich for my blood in my old life. "I may be presenting myself as richer than I am. I just didn't want to look like a vagabond."
"Oh that's quite alright. I was very excited to find out that Auffrey had met a young gentleman. With these results, I might need to send young Grace to Northshire as well, though she was never the adventurous one." She laughed at her little joke; Grace and Auffrey certainly didn't seem to find it funny judging by their slightly strained smiles. "So, tell me more about your family. Auffrey said you were jewelers? If the necklace you gifted her is anything to measure by, quite talented ones." As she spoke, Lady Elerian was analyzing me. Perhaps looking for signs that I was a fraud? She didn't find any. I'd eaten with Auffrey enough to at least have table manners equivalent to hers, and I was letting communication and deception talent guide me.
I actually started to zone out; I was trying to be a proper gentleman and the level of minutiae that went into the act was overwhelming. If I'd actually paid attention to the details and thought about it, I'd have probably screwed something up. There was a sweet spot of politeness that was expected.
Insincere apologies about their "poverty."
Assertion that I am not offended by my reception.
Requests for stories of my past with Auffrey.
Anecdote about my past martial ineptitude, combined with a highly edited narrative placing me as a co-founder of the Rampant Lions.
Skepticism about the decision to operate in Redridge instead of Westfall.
Apologetic economic explanation about the iron industry, mixed with assurances of long term plans.
Leading inquiries about my marital status.
Confirmation I was single, reinforced with an explanation that I was focused on my work. Complimentary noises about the women in the room for flavor.
While I spoke on autopilot, I analyzed the room with my conscious mind. It was sparsely furnished with old, poorly maintained tables and chairs. Probably bought secondhand from other noble families. They had packed their finest dresses, so they were probably still attending high society functions. Auffrey had mentioned that a cousin lived in Stormwind, but they didn't appear to be here. Who sets their family up with a whole second house in the poor part of town? Who was paying for it? As I was chewing on that I accidentally asked out loud.
"Your daughter mentioned that you have family here in Stormwind. Am I likely to meet them?"
"I'm sure you will eventually, but Varian is an incredibly busy man. I've sent several messengers to try to get in contact with him since he returned last week, but there has been little response."
"Varian… Wrynn?" I phrased it as a question while glancing at Auffrey, who blushed.
Mama Elerian forged right ahead. "Oh yes. I assumed you knew. My sister, Tiffin, was queen until those brutes murdered her."
Auffrey mumbled in embarrassment. "It seemed irrelevant. We haven't been able to get anyone to acknowledge us since the king went missing. We managed to get a letter in to Anduin early on and he decreed that we should be given lodging. But nothing since."
It checked out. I didn't know Anduin had any other living family other than Varian, but I suppose his mother had to come from somewhere. Frankly, I wasn't surprised that these three didn't make the cut for "important NPCs" in WoW. Auffrey seemed competent, but she'd been biding her time at Northshire Abbey till I came along. Lady Elerian just seemed like a pretty basic bitch noblewoman, her husband had apparently died some time back, and Grace hadn't said a single word outside of asking me to pass the bread. She seemed intimidated by strangers.
They were related to the king, however, if only by marriage. That wasn't exactly panning out for them yet, with the throne controlled by a hostile dragon, but Varian had just gotten back. I had never read the comics in full, but I knew broad strokes of Varian's story. Onyxia, somehow, had the ability to split people in two. Somewhere out there was a version of Varian that was all ego, force of will, protective instinct, and aggression. The one she'd brought back home? He was a pushover. Just a really nice guy who doesn't take anything too seriously. Which would be fine if he was a handyman or a baker, but as king it meant she had a puppet with extremely easily pulled strings.
There weren't any more shocking revelations. The family was oddly positioned in high society. They had very little influence, but their tenuous connection to the crown meant that they were given more regard than many Westfall nobles. They got the occasional token gesture mixed in with the excuses, essentially. That was where they'd gotten much of their furniture and some of their food. When the king had arrived, they'd received several party invitations on the assumption that they would have a bit of influence back. Not a single one of them had gotten to speak to the king, but Lady Elerian was only too happy to milk the advantage.
It didn't look like Auffrey's family would be providing me with money directly, but she was being invited to parties. I'll take what I can get. The dinner passed reasonably uneventfully. I brought out a bottle of Dalaran Noir as a gift; it wasn't expensive wine but they took it gratefully. I left after the bottle was finished, feeling pleasantly buzzed. I gathered up my entourage and returned to Redridge via teleportation, flexing just a bit for the noblewomen.
••••••••••
It was late, I was tired, but after a full day I just wanted to relax in the only way I knew how. Planning. I had a whole lot of necks that needed a whole lot of necklaces. I was pretty sure that at least the next few days necklaces should all go towards capturing new people again. So I started a priority list for who should get a necklace.
Major threats. If possible, always put a necklace on Onyxia.Incredible opportunities. If I find myself with Alexstrasza passed out next to me I would put a necklace on her, potential consequences be damned.Edwin VanCleef. Vanessa was in position. She could start on him tomorrowHigh ranking members of the Cenarion Circle. Not really relevant right now, but my first grand mission required me to start in on their organization.Non urgent threats. Anyone that seems like they might cause troubles if they were left alone will not in fact be left alone. If they can be tricked into a collar, then definitely do that.People who contribute directly to some plan of mine, such as a new dedicated waypoint or a personal trainer.Powerful allies that weren't captured yet. People like John Keeshan and the leadership of Darkshire fell here. So would high ranking members of the Defias once Edwin is in the retinue.Injured, old, or impaired allies. Prudence falls here, and Yanca would have.Prisoners with useful skill sets that I don't have any specific need for at the moment.Diversity initiative. Tossing them on anyone of a species that I don't already have on the books.Anything that will help with any mission, even tangentially. Worgen for 100 Wolf Moon, or Bartleby the Drunk if I can't think of anything better.Members of the entourage that didn't have their own amulets for whatever reason. Jumps up to 4 or 5 on days where I'm near my limit for amulets.
It wasn't exactly scientific and would need to be updated, but it helped me to think. A decent first draft. Based on this, I would probably be spending a necklace on VanCleef tomorrow, and maybe try to make a gift of one to one of the Draenei when I visited the dreamers' settlement. Then the next day he might get Eva to give a gift to Commander Ebonlocke in Darkshire and I'd offer one to Keeshan in Lakeshire.
The other thing I really wanted to think through was how to use the ritual rod. I only really had two real uses for it; capturing Onyxia or capturing a ton of worgen all at once. Of the two, the worgen were by far the lesser threat to me. So I started examining what I could do with the rod to a single target.
The first thing I'd need would be a link back to Onyxia. A bit of blood or hair, for example. I didn't think I'd be able to arrange to have legal authority over her, and I wanted to be quiet about it so I did not think I'd be able to bait her into saying her own true name to me. In a pinch I could also use a possession or relative of hers. She was called the broodmother; I was pretty sure I could find a child of hers. As I considered options, the rod grew warm or cold, letting me know if something would function. Lividia was confirmed as being a close relative to Onyxia, for example; she'd either be worth an extra point of resonance or could serve as the conduit for sympathetic magic.
The amount of resonance I could gather seemed like it would be key. I wasn't in any kind of huge rush at the moment, so I could probably afford a moderately elaborate setup. I could think of one relatively cheap and easy ritual I could do just based on what I already had on hand that would probably get me a solid three resonance all on its own with maybe an hour and half of work including the prep. The most elaborate ritual I could imagine capped out at eight, assuming I could use Lividia as a supplement instead of as a conduit. That one would require that I put everything on hold for around eight hours for the ritual itself, bringing in half of my retinue to participate.
As far as what I could do? Well, there were three different methods that might work.
The first and most direct was also the most expensive by a long shot. It was the most efficient and certain method, though. The aptly named Art of Enslavement required 5 resonance to subdue someone like Onyxia, who was in tier six according to my app, and pushing the upper end of that by my estimation. It was the only "art" that scales with the target's power level. I didn't think I could add any bells and whistles to this one; according to the description it was "emotionally intense" for the target and I didn't want to risk a long ritual if there was any chance she'd be able to track me by the connection and burn down the countryside to stop me.
Second was to make her fall in love with me. It was far more modestly priced at three resonance. It wouldn't instantly capture her, but it would turn her into a tsundere for me, at minimum. She would no doubt initially resist the compulsion, but according to the handbook that would just make it stronger. Three resonance also gave me some breathing room for bells and whistles if I wanted to catch some more people in the crossfire. For example, I might target the castle itself instead of Onyxia, targeting everyone inside. I'd be happy to add some royal guards and ambassadors to my retinue. Or a highly submissive version of Varian Wrynn, with or without gender bending.
The cheapest option by far was to compel her to put on one of my necklaces for a measly one point of resonance. She'd be aware of the compulsion and probably find it suspicious; that wouldn't matter. Once it was on, I won. I could prevent her from acting against me. Once again, the additional resonance would be a powerful addition. With a big enough ritual I could give the compulsion to wear my jewelry, with a few restrictions to avoid giant street brawls over them, to everyone in Stormwind City. Sure, I'd need to manually give jewelry to everyone but I'd be able to just have Keryn or Darcell leave the necklace on their bedside table and they'd pop it on. They might hold off on it for a while, but they couldn't help themselves for long.
It was late and I was having grandiose visions again. I couldn't help but smile. All of the plans I had were doable within the week. This one was going to be a big one.