I realized with a start, and with a macabre grin, what the domain of knowledge was alluding to. The first domain or subdomain I had gained power over through my own effort was that of the subdomain of necromancy. And that was what the domain of knowledge was suggesting was the key to the abolition of slavery. I spent a moment considering the implications of that."The key to meaningfully and successfully defeating slavery is to replace enslaved people with... corpses that do the work instead?" I asked myself, fascinated by the moral implications of what I had just learned.
"Slavery is objectively and undeniably evil but if it is to be successfully abolished then plans are necessary. It is not enough to have a purely emotional or "moral" response to slavery unless one wants to cause the collapse of society. Necromancers can create a new source of labor." The domain explained. It was at that moment that I heard a sinister chuckle from the subdomain of necromancy.
"Yes, they can. Do you see that Althos? I am necessary." The subdomain whispered sinisterly. I chuckled at the subdomain"s words. I could see the somewhat ruthless point being made by the domain and subdomain.
"That said... there is technically another way for you to create an alternative to slavery that undercuts the need for a ma.s.sive number of unpaid and dehumanized labor." The domain of knowledge suggested, not actually mentioning what it was just yet. I heard an annoyed sigh come from the subdomain of necromancy.
"At the moment your skills are not quite diverse or strong enough for you to fully replace the labor done by slaves, but eventually you could use your powers over things like civilization, agriculture, the earth, and more to do the work currently being done by slaves." The domain suggested, even informing me as to which domains and subdomains would one day allow me to do so.
"Well, even now you could replace the most valuable work done by slaves. You possess power over agriculture, and the growth of food is perhaps the most valuable work done by slaves throughout this entire region. Your ability to speed crop growth and manipulate the numbers of crops grown is invaluable and also legitimately society-changing." The system told me, causing me to grin.
"If you wanted to you could really hold the hands of an entire civilization. And that might be necessary, because have you even begun to consider what happens when you end slavery? Even if you"re fully successful at abolishing it peacefully, what happens to the freed slaves?" The system asked, curiously.
I fell silent for a moment and considered the question. It was an important part of determining how to proceed, and a small part of me had considered it already but I hadn"t come up with anything definitive. It took me some time to begin to come up with a real response. Time during which I was still moving, taking my time as I drew ever closer to the Morthonian mansion.
"If I successfully abolish slavery I will ask those people who are currently enslaved what they"d like to do. I will a.s.sume that they will want to leave, as this is a place of darkness and cruelty. They could come to my lair. I mean... I may have to expand it, but if they wanted to be in my presence they"d be welcome there." I told the system, explaining one part of what could come next.
"If they wanted to go back to the lands they came from, I"d be more than happy to send them back. But it"s possible and probably even probable that many of them were born into slavery and might do better in a society that strives to help them." I explained, thinking out loud as I did so.
"If they chose to stay with me, then I suppose I"ll begin to create a new civilization. Because honestly, that"s... what that"d entail isn"t it? If even a tenth of the victims of this inst.i.tution I seek to free in this city alone chose to stay with me that"s several hundred enslaved people choosing to stay with me." I told both myself and the system, as more and more realizations came to me one after the other.
I spent a moment in silence. I could sense a feeling of quiet respect emanating from the disembodied ent.i.ties I was speaking too. I could sense that they were happy I was thinking this through and actually considering what came next.
"If I freed them, and gave them the choice to live with each other and live in a safe community, many of them would stay wouldn"t they? I mean... In this scenario, I freed them from slavery and successfully helped them leave the place of their enslavement. If I gave them the choice to stay either in or around my lair it"d be perfectly rational for them to chose to stay with me." I muttered, thankful to the system for pushing me to consider this fully.
I wasn"t unhappy about it. I actually didn"t mind the thought of it, perhaps because in a sense this const.i.tuted me behaving as a G.o.d should. I was creating things and destroying other things, which was what the system once told me G.o.ds were, creators and destroyers, embodiments of power. And for this to succeed I"d need to behave more powerfully than I ever had before.
I took a deep breath and I pushed myself to enter the mindset of a powerful, arrogant, and unstoppable deity. I felt that entering such a state of mind was necessary for me to successfully create the conditions under which I could begin the work needed to liberate the slaves of this city. As I did so, I spoke to my demonic minion.
"Are you ready to help me cause some chaos?" I asked the creature, a grin on my disembodied face. I was preparing myself for what came next, now that I was beginning to have the outlines of a plan formulate itself in my mind and as I turned to face the Morthonian manor, where I hoped to gain my first allies, I felt that my demonic ally would probably be a useful partner. The demon chuckled.
"Oh, absolutely master. What do you want me to do?" The creature asked, and I could hear a grin on its incorporeal lips.
"When the time comes for you to act, I"ll lash out at a vessel I"d like you to possess. When I do, take over it." I told the creature, confusing it.
"But master... I can"t just possess any creature. It needs to be sick." The demon told me, confusion distinctly audible in its voice. Now it was my turn to chuckle.
"Sombra, I can cause people to be sick. Including the sort of sick someone needs to be for you to be able to possess them." I revealed, saying so for the first time. I decided to expand on my statement to clarify and allow the demon to fully understand how I could do that.
"I am a G.o.d Sombra. I gain new powers very easily. I can control non-magical diseases and infect someone with "Demonic infection", opening them up to your abilities." I explained, proudly discussing one of my newer powers.
"In fact, with non-magical diseases, my powers are even more potent than merely infecting someone. But for now, I merely want to use you to demonstrate my powers." I told the demon. There was a part of me that wanted to command an army of praereptor demons. With my powers, they"d be especially able to wreak havoc on those foolish enough to make themselves my enemies.
[Alert: You have received a number of different prayers. One of them is from the human village of Comillas, several are from the goblin tribe, a handful are from members of the swarm, a few are from forest inhabitants, one is from one of the dark elves you healed, and many are from slaves you"ve healed. Would you like to hear them?]
The notification I just received was intriguing to me. I informed the system that I would be happy to hear the prayers since I was intrigued by them. I opted to begin with the prayer from Comillas.
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[Alert: Beginning with the prayer from Comillas. This prayer comes from the Comillian named Alma. After this, we"ll prioritize prayers from creatures you know.
"h.e.l.lo Cosecha. I hope you are having a good morning. I am convinced that you are... something. I don"t know if you"re what you say you are, but I received the apple you created for me, and I also felt the soothing effect of your magic. Which is precisely why I am praying to you. I have a request for you.
My granddaughter is currently sick. Her condition is somewhat serious and she"s presently wasting away. Her mother hasn"t even told her husband, who happens to be my son. Could you cure her somehow? If you can"t, could you at least increase the quant.i.ty of the food her father produces? His name is Gustavo. He"s been stressed about this year"s harvest and could really use the support.
If you helped him produce more food, I"d be deeply grateful to you. If you cured my granddaughter I"d even tell him about you, if you wanted me too. I recall you mentioning that you seek to gain more followers. I love my family, and my son and granddaughter are my whole world. I haven"t seen either of them in days. Please help."
The second prayer is from the goblin named Mawby.
"h.e.l.lo, Cosecha! I hope you"re having a wonderful morning. Thank you for coming yesterday. I wanted to start today off by apologizing to you. I wanted to tell you about the myths my people tell each other, but when you got here everything became a bit chaotic.
I thought about simply praying and informing you as to the contents of the myths, but Xiax is insisting I invite you to come back here and listen to the stories themselves. I think he might be jealous of the fact that I pray to you and can get a response? He hasn"t prayed to you himself, but he"s shy about it for some reason. Anyways, last night was great and we hope that you come back sometime soon.
Oh goodness, how do I end this? Umm... bye-bye? Have a good day? Sure. That sounds right. Have a good day!"
The next is from one of the coyotes who you saved from Sombra"s ability to charm creatures.
"h.e.l.lo, Althos! You were a G.o.d this whole time? Wow, wow, wow! No wonder it felt like you saving us was super easy, barely an inconvenience. This is good news because it turns out that the forest will probably need some saving soon.
Anyways, we wanted you to know that we detected some hyenoid footprints, which probably isn"t a great sign. They tend to only come here when they are really hungry. And usually, they send a few preliminary scouts to investigate the state of the forest before coming in a large number.
Since this forest is now your territory it might be worth acting quickly to establish contact with them and see how you can prevent a feeding frenzy from occurring. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we think that"s a good idea!"
Here"s another prayer, this one from the myrmekes queen who guided you into the world beneath the world.
"Good morning creator. We have begun a careful exploration of the region you created, while steering clear of the tower in the distance. With your permission, we"d like to begin building in the region.
Also, as you no doubt know, many of us are evolving. There are now over 10,000 myrmekes ants in my colony alone. If you"ve taken command over other ant colonies... well the number of myrmekes ants under your control would be staggering. What are your commands? If we are to serve you successfully we require your guidance."
The next prayer is from a dark elven evocation-mage named Qu"Ren. She was one of the dark elves who you cured of blindness.
"h.e.l.lo? h.e.l.lo. Sorry, prayer is weird for dark elves. You"ll find that we"re a very... prideful species. Prayer is something we"re uncomfortable doing.
My name is Qu"Ren. I am a member of a n.o.ble dark-elven family, and I lost my sight when I failed to properly cast a powerful evocation spell. You restoring my sight was both an act of great power, and also one that was very kind. I recognize that.
But I know better than to think that acts of great kindness are acts that are done freely. I also know that you are a G.o.d. If you"re unsure of why, like the system said you"d be, then you should know that it"s because of the system. I asked it how I was healed, and it told me about you.
I want to reward you and to meet the one responsible for the restoration of my sight. Please come visit me at some point in the near future. If you introduce yourself as Althos to any of my house"s guards, they"ll know to send you to me."
Here"s the prayer that actually caused you to receive the notification, it"s the most recent prayer you have received.
"h.e.l.lo, Althos. You probably don"t know me on a personal level, but my name is Seamus and I am one of the slaves who healed by you just a few minutes ago. I wanted to find a way to thank you, and the system informed me about "prayer".
It"s funny, back in my homeland of Arthurstown we actually had folktales about prayer but I never believed they were more true than false... To think that a G.o.d can actually hear prayer? That"s incredible. Anyways, if you need help freeing us, please let me know. I"m sure if I can communicate with you, you can communicate with me somehow. You may find the help of a druid useful."
Here"s another prayer sent to you by someone who is currently enslaved.
"h.e.l.lo, Althos... Oh goodness, how do I do this? Gah, I guess I"ll just do my best with it. Anyways, my name is Aoife and I am praying to you because the system asked me too. I am a warrior, and the system informed me that it might not be a bad idea for me to pray to you before you did anything else.
If you"re really trying to free slaves, it told me that it was a good idea for me to serve as your advisor. I think it might have been trying to do you a favor? This whole thing is weird, so please if you"re interested in gaining an advisor, it"d be a good idea for us to come into contact but I did my part so I guess I have to wait to see if you send me a message somehow."]
Reading through the prayers I received reminded me of the first time Mawby prayed. And it made me realize that I really needed to establish a way to pray that helped increase overall knowledge of prayer and established a tone to take when praying. It was weird to hear so many different tones taken by those who prayed.
By the time I was done sorting through the prayers I had received, I found myself ethereally standing in front of the Morthonian mansion. I grinned and walked right through the front door leading in and out of the place, a gigantic thing made from ma.s.sive slabs of some sort of red stone.