Lateral Movement

by Alzrius

857 - Reach Out and Crush Someone

“I told you, I don’t want anything from you.”

Ujurak’s rebuke was mumbled, his eyes downcast and his ears flat against his skull. Lex wasn’t sure if the adlet – who had separated himself from the rest of his kind, leaning against a nearby clump of frozen clouds – was being so truculent because he was frightened or if he was still in pain from his unhealed injuries. Nor did he particularly care.

He’d chosen Ujurak to be the first to have his ability to take aerial form restored because he hadn’t wanted to interrupt Solvei again. Right now, she was explaining to her resurrected kin everything that had happened, with Toklo, Yotimo, and the latter’s warriors chiming in at various points. Across their link, he was aware that Solvei was enjoying herself, and he wanted to let that continue for as long as possible.

Which meant that Ujurak, who had segregated himself from where the rest of his tribe was raptly listening to Solvei and the others recounting their adventures, would be the first to have the curse Sissel placed on him removed.

Except that the stubborn fool was still refusing to let himself be treated.

That wasn’t something Lex could ignore, since it went against his moral code to use magic on someone without their consent. No matter that it would have been to Ujurak’s benefit to simply ignore his wishes; he had an inherent right to personal autonomy in that regard. And while there were exigent circumstances that allowed for those rights to be ethically abrogated – the most obvious one being a fight against an enemy – none of those exceptions applied here.

Gritting his teeth, Lex briefly considered letting the adlet stay the way he was, wounded and crippled, unable to join the rest of his people when they returned to their village tomorrow, that being the earliest that Solvei had told him she’d be able to change into her aerial form again. But he strongly suspected that at least a few of Ujurak’s fellows – the other warriors whom Solvei had risked her life alongside him to save – would have refused to leave if this idiot insisted on remaining behind, something which would likely start a domino effect, since from what he could tell several of Yotimo’s people had loved ones who’d been among the resurrected...including Yotimo himself, at least if the female adlet clinging to him and gently stroking Toklo’s hair was any indication.

Worse, Lex couldn’t find a possible future where he convinced this idiot to stop being foolish. At least, not in the span of the next six seconds. Which meant that, just like he had so often when he’d been mortal, all he could do was guess what to say-

Lex’s ruminating ended abruptly as his foresight informed him that there was a way to get Ujurak to comply. One so ridiculously simple, he’d overlooked it in his mental examination of potential futures. It had only been because of his mild frustration that he’d countenanced the possibility at all, but if it would get things done...

“I want you to calm down,” ordered Lex abruptly as he reached out and grabbed Ujurak’s chin, making the stubborn fool look him in the eyes, “and allow me to restore you.”

“Why should...”

Just as he’d foreseen, Ujurak’s rebuttal died in mid-utterance, the tension draining from his posture all at once. His ears slowly rose back up, and he let out a slow breath, jaw hanging slack as his eyes became hooded. “...okay.”

Cocking a brow at how easy that had been, Lex momentarily pondered why such a simple and direct order had worked where – according to his trans-temporal awareness – more nuanced attempts at reasoning would have failed. But he put those musings aside almost immediately, knowing that it was pointless.

That kind of understanding had always been beyond him, and always would be.

Instead, he transferred his claw to Ujurak’s shoulder, focusing on repairing the adlet’s physical wounds first. The large warrior made only the slightest grunt as his injuries healed, showing no other reaction besides his tail starting to wag slowly.

A few seconds later, satisfied that he’d repaired the adlet’s physical injuries, Lex turned to the curse.

Nenet had told him about it; how Sissel had used a thaumaturgical spell to replicate the same thing Lex did with his dark magic. Laying curses had come easily to Lex ever since he’d grafted King Sombra’s horn onto himself, but his own notwithstanding, he’d never had any particular method of removing them.

It was time to see if that still held true now that he was a titan.

Looking Ujurak over with his supernatural senses, it didn’t take Lex long to find what he was looking for.

The spell that Sissel had used to place the curse was still there, but it took only a moment’s examination for Lex to determine that it had no readily-apparent weaknesses. Although she hadn’t been using aristeia when she’d cast it, Sissel had still been a potent spellcaster in her own right, and the underlying structure of the spell was both intricate and powerful. Resolute and self-sustaining, it wasn’t something that could be easily undone.

Not by mortals, at least.

The corners of Lex’s lips turned upward then, and he idly noted that Ujurak didn’t seem the least bit bothered by that now, reaching out with his will and grasping Sissel’s spell.

Then he began to squeeze, putting more and more pressure on it. Already he could feel it starting to give, the sturdy architecture filling with cracks-

And then Lex stopped, curiosity causing him to raise a brow as his foresight told him what was about to happen.

Who dares?! screeched a voice six seconds later. Who dares to interfere?!

The communication wasn’t quite telepathic. Instead, it was more like the magic of the spell itself was vibrating in a way that approximated words coming from it-, no, coming through it. Curses weren’t simple applications of directed energy; they required an intelligence to monitor and guide them.

According to the Libram of Ineffable Damnation, the powers of the Outer Planes were the most common recipients for such things. While Lex knew that the Night Mare or one of her divine servitors handled his own curses, the book’s author had explained that other creatures – often daemons, devils, and demons, among many others – were more than happy to carry out the hateful wishes of mortals. To them, getting to project their powers into the physical world to cause anguish and suffering was a source of both entertainment and satisfaction; they got to make the living world a little more like the vicious realms that they called home.

Even the so-called exemplars of righteousness – angels, archons, and others of their ilk – would empower curses in certain circumstances. At least according to the Libram’s author, such creatures were just as likely as their infernal counterparts to enforce their will upon the Material Plane, punishing those they deemed wicked in their eyes. All it took was a mortal to create the channel, and if the cause met with their inscrutable values, they’d take it up.

But Lex doubted that it was any such heavenly creature shrieking at him now.

I dare, responded Lex quietly, and the same way his will had been able to grasp the thread of magic itself, he knew it was carrying his response back to whoever was on the other side. Lex Legis. Slayer of dragons. Unmaker of alicorns. Champion of the Night Mare. Titan. I dare.

If the voice on the other end of the connection was impressed by his list of titles, it didn’t show it. Lex was already aware of its blistering response before it even began to reply. You are titanic only in your stupidity, for I am Dorixias! Fear me, the suspiridaemon held highest in the esteem of Norlakas, servant of Ajids, the harbinger who rides as the deacon of Szuriel the Warbringer! Tremble and beg for my forgiveness, lest I give your name to my master, who will see you flensed for eternity!

A low, rumbling laugh filled Lex’s chest then. Szuriel was, according to the Libram, one of the greatest daemons...but that title afforded him only as much power as a demigod. Someone like that, he knew, wouldn’t be eager to pick a fight with the Night Mare.

But the odds of it ever coming to that, he knew, were nil. Not with how conniving and backbiting the daemonic hierarchy was. By all means, broadcast your incompetence to your master, taunted Lex. Let them know that you couldn’t even sustain a simple curse without courting failure. See if they put themselves at risk to avenge your ineptitude, rather than replacing you with someone more capable.

I am more than capable of drawing the breath from your lungs such that you won’t even be able to scream as the flesh is flayed from your body! raged Dorixias. Your limbs shall be severed and their bones carved into stakes used to nail you to the ground! Your ribs will be laid bare, and your heart pricked with needles such that each beat will make you beg for death! Your eyes will have their lids cut away so that you cannot help but watch as everyone you care for is put through tortures to make your own seem tame, their agonized howls tormenting you for eternity!

Your threats are a credit to your kind, Dorixias, sneered Lex. Pathetic, worthless, and inconsequential.

The howl that the suspiridaemon gave then was one of impotent fury. You sniveling worm! I’ll-

Scream. Then beg. Then die.

You think you frighten me?! I have witnessed fates worse than your puny mind can possibly comprehend, and have laughed at them all! You have nothing that can-, wait...what’s happening?! What are you doing?!

What you never could: delivering on my promises.

This is impossible! You can’t-, no! Stop! STOP IT! NOOOOO!!!

Lex didn’t answer, his eyes glowing with an intensity to match his horn as he lashed out at the daemon.

The link between Dorixias and Ujurak was designed to operate in a downstream manner, allowing the former to spread its malignance to the latter, who should have been helpless to do anything about it. But the same way Lex was able to grasp that connection through his will, he was also capable of manipulating it, forcing his own power into the link and making it flow in reverse.

It was much the same as what he’d done when he’d retrieved Woodheart from Sissel’s grasp during his first meeting with the snow giant. By enlarging her connection with Littleknight, he’d been able to make her familiar have more metaphysical weight than the druid. Once he had, it had been a relatively simple task to tug on that connection, causing her to teleport to the al-miraj’s side.

He could have done something similar now, bringing Dorixias here and then simply tearing him apart. But that ran a risk, however small, of putting Ujurak and everyone else here in danger. Far better to find a way to simply use the connection as an attack vector and destroy the disgusting creature in its planar abode.

Fortunately, he’d had plenty of time to confirm that he could do that, thanks to Dorixias’ unhinged ranting. And what he’d found was that while the rigid structure of a spell couldn’t be sent across the channel, raw power could be.

And that was something Lex had in spades now.

STOP! The connection shuddered as Dorixias tried to close it, but Lex kept it open, the link wriggling like a fishing line with a catch. Release me, I beseech you! I have a fortune in riches! Troves of magic! Eldritch secrets! All yours if you spare me!

As I foresaw, replied Lex evenly. First you screamed. Then you begged. Now it’s time for what comes next.

And with that, he increased the amount of dark magic he was pushing through the link.

Before becoming a titan, he had been able to use the magic of his horn to manifest his own sense of isolation in multiple ways, and that was still true. But now, he could refine that pathos in myriad different forms, including the nocuous malevolence that he was forcing onto Dorixias right now. It was an assault on the spirit, rather than the body, but that made it perfect for this situation.

Daemons, like all creatures of the Outer Planes, were spiritual entities.

With one last anguished wail, Lex felt Dorixias’ presence fade, the link collapsing a moment later as it lost its anchor. Sissel’s spell followed it immediately thereafter, the magic harmlessly imploding now that it had nothing to sustain.

A quick glance at Ujurak was all that Lex needed to determine that the adlet’s power to change into his aerial form was no longer being suppressed.

This was good, he decided. Far more so than if he’d simply ruptured the connection directly. Daemons were creatures that served to do nothing but corrupt the natural order, stealing souls from their rightful afterlives and putting them to nefarious use. To be able to destroy them while restoring the adlets was a boon for whoever those daemons would have victimized next.

That, and it made the beast inside of him quite pleased; even if it had been done remotely, it had still been quite gratifying to tear a challenger apart.

Looking at where Ujurak was still staring forward blankly, Lex glanced from him back to where Solvei was continuing to regale her people with the exploits they’d shared, his eyes sliding to Yotimo and Toklo a second later. Both of them, and the other warriors who’d accompanied them, were still cursed.

But something much worse than a curse was about to befall the daemons vexing them.

Author's Note:

Lex continues to explore what he's capable of as he works to restore the adlets!

Will this encounter prove useful later? Or is he only making more enemies?

Comments

[Booster Spice]

Tempests curse is somewhat different as Prevarious slipknotted it off to higher up the power chain at least equivalent to the full Hvitdod, which Lex will XP and level up to comparable capabilit on handling the Hvitdod encounter?

[Alzrius]

11669397 I assume you mean Thermal Draft, here.

Infernal contracts have some important differences from curses, but there are points of similarity also, one of which being that they're backed by a higher (or perhaps, lower) authority, and that confronting that authority and overcoming it can be a means of canceling the contract. Of course, Hell operates in a much more rigid hierarchy than the daemons do, and their contracts have the backing of their infernal institutions behind them. To date, Thermal Draft hasn't actually escaped her contract; even if most of its provisions were invalidated, they did so by clauses inherent to the contract itself (re: the destruction of both copies of it voiding most, but not all, provisions). But the parts of it that are still active are thus maintained by certain infernal power(s)...which calls to mind the question of whether or not Lex could deal with them as easily as he did the daemons behind Sissel's curse here.

[Booster Spice]

11669471

I was tnhinking along the line, Hell is full of Lawyers, that a fully rigidly defined heirarchy means any interventin at any point would mean notification and required demanded reaction would have to come from the final authority?

And in Hells, the Prince of Darkness feasts regularly on venison?

[Alzrius]

11669505 In theory, that's a roughly accurate description of how Hell's hierarchy operates.

In practical terms, it's not quite like that.

That's because (much like in the real world), Hell's infrastructure operates as a mass of separate-yet-overlapping jurisdictions, filled with individuals who are always trying to get ahead, and so are entirely willing (and indeed, expected) to lie, sabotage, and betray each other for their own benefit. That's on top of the fact that there are some things that superior devils simply don't care to deal with, and so delegate certain areas to their subordinates in a way that gives said subordinates effective carte-blanche.

The result is a system where everyone is in it for themselves, but is still invested in the overall system enough that they don't want to tear the entire thing down nor abandon it altogether. Which means they have to reinforce the overall structure, working together even as they look for openings to step on someone else in order to get ahead.

I imagine it's a lot like working in politics.

[TheAbsoluteRadiance]

Gods are literally playing a dating-sim, Lex just got his cheat code for social situations. But then again using it without understanding why he is saying what he is saying will lead to a lot of trouble and ton of unforeseen circumstances.

[Alzrius]

11669600 A very insightful summary of the situation! With only the ability to see what reactions he can provoke, without understanding why he's provoking them, Lex is almost certainly going to face new problems from here on out...especially since his ability to read the future (with such a high degree of clarity) is limited to just a few seconds ahead.

[Not so New Brony]

Would what Lex did to Ujurak to get the adlet's compliance be considered mind control? Then again, like he said, it was to help Ujurak and the other adlets overall but such excuse would lead Lex down a slippery slope which he might not be able to foresee with his foresight.

For now, it appears that Sissel has adopted Adagio's methods with contracting demons and other eldritch beings for power. Still, if each curse has individual demons maintaining it, Lex is going to be attracting unwanted attention from Szuriel if he goes about killing the demons maintaining the curse. Of course, I somehow doubt Sissel would only contract demons under Szuriel's purview.

Looks like Lex is going to cause some waves. Here's hoping the splashback won't be too strong for him to handle.

[Alzrius]

11670023 Lex didn't use any magic on Ujurak...but the way he so easily pacified the adlet certainly seemed rather stark, didn't it? Certainly, it did to us, though this is exactly the area where Lex is deficient, so from his perspective the change of behavior likely didn't look anywhere near as significant as it did to us. It's hard to say at this point; when reality itself is more of a strong suggestion than an immutable law, a lot of bedrock assumptions about how things work suddenly become a lot less concrete.

With regard to Sissel's curses, I'll note that the underlying logic behind how exactly bestow curse works isn't actually part of the spell description in-and-of itself. Of course, that's not too surprising; the d20 System tends to take a more "gamist" approach to its overall corpus of rules, allowing individuals to flavor them how they want (even if the way they function lends themselves to certain interpretations easier than others).

Presuming we read into that from an in-character perspective, the nature of the spell suggests that the spellcaster doesn't actually make any sort of contract with a malevolent entity in order to make the spell work. Essentially, the structure of the spell formalizes (or rather, automates) the entire process of making a channel between the victim and some evil spirit possible, and then simply tosses the other end out into the spiritual realms for any sort of entity that's interested to pick it up and power it. Note that, in this case, the actual nature of the curse is specified by the spellcaster; all the spirit at the other end of the line does is act like a battery.

So why would a spirit bother using their own power like that, acting as nothing more than a battery in exchange for nothing? Because from their point of view, it's not for nothing. They might not even know who it was who cast the spell (unless they can examine the actual spell that's forming the underlying link and find some sort of signature there, and even then, how much that would tell them is highly questionable; seeing a fingerprint doesn't exactly tell you someone's name, sex, or ethnicity, for example). But they get to enforce a result that they presumably agree with, making the mortal world a tiny bit more in keeping with their own ideals and outlook.

That's actually fairly important to a spiritual creature, because they're entities of concept more than physicality. Particularly among creatures who have an alignment subtype (as many Outsiders do, such as devils, angels, daemons, etc.), their spiritual (or "numinous") substance is an intrinsic facet of their existence, and they intuitively want to propagate it. Given that the mortal world is full of souls that haven't yet completely confirmed their alignment (i.e. they're still alive, and have the possibility of changing their alignment), making things a little more how they'd like, whether by tormenting the good or punishing the wicked, is something they're predisposed to regard as a worthwhile activity.

So it might not just be daemons who answered Sissel's curses, despite what Lex assumed here...though given how closely those creatures seem to be working with Adagio, it might very well be a safe bet. But even then, they might not all work for the same factions, and even if they did, it's an open question whether or not their leader(s) would care (very much). Creatures who are inherently selfish and spiteful only tend to get involved when their own interests are threatened. Given that daemons are fairly numerous in number, losing a half-dozen or so might not even be noticed.

Or maybe it would be. Certainly, the Night Mare told Lex that he'd likely come to the attention of notable entities across the cosmos now that he's a titan, after all.