Breaking the Rules takes place in an RPG universe, and is the sequel to Bending the Rules. To understand the characters and how the world works, please start from Part 1 of either series. Not based on any particular gaming franchise or storyline, but there may be guest appearances.
In Soviet Russia, Rule bends you!
*****
"Nuru... no! Please, I-" Dayo gulped.
"Dayo, it all fits. I don't like it either, but I just don't see another way," Nuru said.
"This is a spectacularly bad idea," Furaha said.
"Explain," Nuru said.
"Single-soul undead organisms have one overriding motivation: don't get permadead," Furaha said. "They don't care about your goals, and they have nothing to lose by betraying you at a moment's notice if it doesn't expose them. Anyone that knows their secret is a liability they need to dispose of as soon as possible, usually the first compulsion pressed on them by whoever did the reviving."
"But he doesn't know that I know," Nuru said. "And I'm for damn sure not going to tell him."
"But if he still finds out... Nuru, please, don't do this," Dayo said. "I hate the thought of you out there together, just being in the same party. This isn't a punishment, right? You're not trying to hurt me because I wanted to leave to go investigate him?"
"No, look, my conscience is going to itch the whole time, and I'm going to hate every second of it. But I need cash, and you need him out of the way for a bit. Ace is out of action for a little longer. This is the only way," Nuru insisted.
"Mesi's gonna kill me for sure," Dayo said, rubbing their face in dejected acceptance.
"Can't you just wait a few more days?" Furaha said, stroking his arm.
"Every day that passes, Sanaa is in more danger of discovery on her side. If I learned anything from Abimbola, it's that succubi clearly aren't all as sophisticated and discerning. Think about it, how many of us mortals have vision for our lives, for making the world a decent place at all?"
"Depends," Furaha said guardedly. "Do you mean choosing a principle? High Factions are nothing if not principled. And they're the most populous."
"No, I mean, how many people look at how those principles are applied and the actual effects they have on peoples' lives?" Nuru said.
"Not many," Dayo said thoughtfully. "Most people seem to assume that the principles are perfect the way they are."
"Now think about this, like I have been for awhile," Nuru said. "Demons are principled too, in the sense that their pursuit of power follows a specific course of action, a particular way of touching our world. But what do you suppose the odds are of me finding another succubus that agrees with me the way Sanaa does? Dayo, you were there helping me convince her. How surprised were you when we succeeded?"
"I'm still shocked, honestly. I still wonder if it's not a ruse."
"I don't think it is. Hang on, let me check on something here."
(Hey, can I borrow you for a minute?)
/Hubba hubba! What kind of party are you throwing with these two lovely mortals, first thing in the morning?/
(An intellectual one. Just wanted to include you, get your perspective on something.)
/OK, what's that? Let me know if you want to spice it up./
(Mm, tempting. But, let me tell you about what happened yesterday.)
Nuru quickly described Abimbola and Suberi, what Abimbola had offered him, and what he'd said about INT scores and that once the door locked there was no escape.
/Crude, but effective. She, the other succubus, must be the one feeding Neeoka's followers with their submissive wives and harems. Plant Suggestion over and over, and it can become all but permanent. He's molding their instincts using her powers. He can't rebuild their personalities completely, but he can reinforce the behaviors he wants, and catch them in an addictive and vicious pattern that's almost impossible to break out of without outside interference. And even then it's hard not to get pulled back into the fold, or a similar pattern. Like what we're doing with Katlego, but deeper and longer-lasting./
(It's a living, for a succubus, right?)
/It is. I have my sights set higher, however./
(Can you explain?)
/Still don't believe me that I've accepted your consent requirement, I see. I don't blame you. We all have difficulty accepting what is inconvenient and contrary to our immediate motivations, why should I be any different? Just as when a paladin sees a young couple doing something 'shameful', he doesn't want to see the happiness that it's bringing them, the comfort she is taking in her lover's affection and the healing of his traumas from the hurtful words other men put him down with, the paladin just sees a violation of his own code. A succubus will often see an opportunity to feed on lust, and will prefer to take it, whether ignoring the family it tears apart or the distrust it sows between the sexes because he wouldn't take no for an answer. The woman involved won't want to be alone again, particularly with that same man, and that means if she's to be caught that way in the future, he or the next man will have to force the issue, and so the succubus will tend to set the stage for this without conscious thought. You and Dayo pointed this cycle of distrust out to me.
/What I realized in that moment, and what I've come to understand better now that I've since had to face the uncomfortable truth directly, is that coercion is for amateurs. There are no books for succubi to learn this. We don't get to have meetings and compare notes, like Thieves Guild does, or sit down to tea together; we are separated and oppressed. My mother could only tell me the barest minimum I needed in order to serve her, before she died./
(Oh. I'm sorry.)
/We weren't exactly close, as you would think of it. I was a pawn for her ambitions, among her many others./
(How many others are left?)
/There are a few of her grandchildren around, from what I've heard, but I'm the last of my generation. I told you it's a brutal world for us demons./
(Shit. I begin to understand your desperation at having your MP drained when I had zero MAG.)
/Speaking of reconciliation, the point I'm leading to is this. What that other succubus is doing will not contribute to my goals. Harems have an upper limit on size, based on the strength and resources of the man at its head. I want something bigger, and that means the women have to be fully on board - not just following helplessly, but meaningfully contributing and devoted to the outcome we're promoting. That's the only way I can hope to overcome the inertia of the mortal world's established system of ethics. I could go the sex cult route - believe me, it'd be a fucking good time, while it lasted. But what do I do when it's over, after everybody's dead and gone, or it blows up for any of a hundred reasons I've seen before? I will still be here and I want something that's going to last. I've made too many ripples; if I don't quickly grow powerful enough, I will forever be isolated, and prevented from ever doing it again. The hourglass sands are falling./
(Assuming you survive at all.)
/That is the story of my mother's end, in a nutshell. I have no desire to follow in her hoofprints./
(You don't have hooves. Ashanti didn't either.)
/We can choose to grow them with soul power, like the other body mods I told you about. My mother had them./
(Oh. What good does it do?)
/There are bonuses to certain features, particularly for overcoming resistances in spell targets. Horns and spikes are weapons of course, and other growths can be armor. Each only apply in person, I'm afraid; casts through the pact will not benefit from any of my changes./
"Well, there you have it!" Nuru said, grinning triumphantly.
Dayo and Furaha stared at him, unamused.
"...Oh. Right. You can't hear her, or my inside voice," Nuru said sheepishly.
He relayed the conversation for them.
"That still leaves the issue of you traveling and questing with this reaver," Furaha said. "On paper it makes sense, but..."
"I don't like it either. But there's got to be some opportunity here. Can you arrange a way for him to stick his neck out for me, and make himself vulnerable?" Nuru said.
"If we can expose him and cut him off from immediate support, Onyekachi can't protect him and the problem will take care of itself. Maybe," Dayo said.
"I still don't like it, but I can work that angle," Furaha said. "Let's save 'leave it alone' as a fallback option if you don't mind."
"Sure. I mean, I need EXP, and I especially need a way to spend it on levelling up," Nuru said. "Spells would be great, too."
"Alright, but... you tell Tusa, if you have to call him, he needs to come in hard and fast, no mercy," Dayo insisted.
"I'll figure something out for sure," Nuru said. "Better go leave the note by your door, I suppose."
"No, no. He'll know the game is up then, he's currently pretending I asked him to go because I wasn't available, right? Let me just go tell him personally," Dayo said. "Pretend everything's normal, nobody is suspicious."
"Alright. He can meet me same place as he did last time. Meanwhile - make it count, Dayo."
"Goddamn right I will," the valkyrie muttered. "Anything else we need to discuss?"
Furaha turned to some of her books, thinking. She shook her head after a long minute of silence.
"Nothing I'm aware of," Nuru said.
"Oh, Nuru - see if you can find out what level he is. Undead usually lose twenty percent of their levels during the revive. He's supposed to be Level Thirty-Eight, but if you can confirm his effective level that will tell us something important about his revive. Off I go; git good, Nuru," Dayo gave him a quick hug.
"Git good info," he replied.
*****
"Aha! My favorite bard!" Chibale said. "I was starting to think you didn't like me for some reason."
