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IDWTBTHQ Chapter 122 - Webs of Deception
🕑 Added 2022-06-18 22:43:58 +0000 UTCThe weather grew more and more inclement as the Brettholz army made its way home. An unpleasant mix of snow and rain fell on the marching army, turning the dirt of the road into a cold and slippery mud while an icy wind blew from north east, carrying even more dark clouds with it, so that there was no end in sight for this storm.
This didn't really bother Anak'si at all. For starters she had always like rainy days, and most importantly she didn't actually have to slog out in the open, as she was traveling on a big covered wagon with plenty of blankets to keep herself warm, though she only needed them for her upper human torso, as her spider body was furry enough to not need any further covering. Sure this wasn't quite as comfortable as staying inside of an actual house, but it was heaven compared to her stay with the oni.
“Still, I'd kill for some hot cocoa with marshmallows right now.” The arachne half-jokingly thought. “It'd be great with this weather. But I guess I'll have to wait until we get to Brettholz to truly enjoy the commodities of civilization.” She chuckled. “Besides, I don't even know if they do have marshmallows in this world.”
Then, all of a sudden, Anak'si thoughts were interrupted by someone's entrance on the wagon, even though she couldn't hear or see the newcomer. She could, however, sense its presence and immediately recognized it.
“Hello, Arag.” She said out loud. “What brings you here?”
The spider goblin immediately appeared in front of her, seemingly materializing out of nowhere. But Anak'si didn't show any surprise, as she was used to his stealthiness by now. After having been bound to her by her ability, Arag had been regularly coming to visit her during their stay in Grimdale.
“You have told me to come back if I have any news that might interest you.” He replied in a neutral voice. “And so, I am here.”
“I see.” The arachne nodded. “Tell me what it is then, if you can do so without betraying your general's trust.”
She put extra care into wording this last order. Though the spider goblin was indeed under her control, she knew better than to push him too far. As she had discovered while dealing with the other Rantul Matriarchs in the Caligare Forest, strong-willed creatures were actually able to resist her commands if she tried to force them to do things that went against their nature. And Arag was so loyal to his master, the Goblin General, that Anak'si was actually afraid that ordering him to actually betray Trakk would make him break out of her control entirely.
Luckily, Anak'si had managed to get around this problem by simply never asking the goblin to commit any serious betrayal. Apart from ordering him to keep his charmed condition a secret, she mostly just made him keep her updated on current events. She had even rationalized this request to him by saying that it was just out of cautiousness, and that she didn't actually mean any harm to the humans or the goblins by it —something which would certainly make sense to a professional spy like Arag, and besides it was also mostly the truth.
“As I told you before, the marquis and the General are going to come and talk with you later this evening, when the army will stop for the night.” The spider goblin explained. “But the marquis has asked sir Marcus to also join in this meeting.”
“Marcus... is it the Vex Queen?” Anak'si asked. “The one you told me was also a reincarnated human?”
“Yes.”
“I see.” The arachne nodded, narrowing all ten of her eyes as her expression grew concerned. “Well, thank you for telling me that. Is there anything else?”
“No, that's all for now.”
“Then feel free to go now. But come back if you discover anything else that you think I might want to know.”
“As you wish.” Arag said, and immediately disappeared, leaving Anak'si alon to ponder what the Marcus's presence meant for her talk with Eisen.
“This could be problematic.” She thought. “The marquis is probably bringing the Vex Queen along to double check on the information he's going to get from me. Which means that I'll have less room to maneuver and lie.” She sighed. “It would have been easier if I didn't mention my previous life to begin with. But at the time I wasn't really in the right state of mind to care about that, so I guess I'll have to make the most of what 's on the plate right now. Besides, it's unlikely that this Marcus knows anything compromising about me. The only issue is how much he told the others about the reincarnation process... Arag didn't know anything about it, so she probably kept her mouth shut about it, but maybe she told the marquis in private. In any case, it's better to keep myself as vague as possible, and test the waters to try and check what they already know.”
And as the wagon moved down the muddy road, she kept thinking about what to say, playing several scenarios in her head in order to prepare the appropriate answers.
Later that evening, a small group gathered in front of the Arachne's tent. Eisen, Trakk and Marcus's copy drone were there, accompanied by a couple of bodyguards as well as Hoggs.
“Quite a group we have here.” The Vex Queen commented as soon as he saw the others. “I thought we were going to just have a chat with this spider girl, but this setup seems more like that of an official interrogation.”
“That's a bit of an overstatement, but it's not completely incorrect.” The marquis replied. “Trakk suggested that it wouldn't hurt to be careful and do things by the book.”
“It's mostly just a precaution.” The Goblin General commented. “Just a year ago the Pale Matriarch was the Blue Terror's rival and roughly his equal in power. Though she may have gotten weaker after her defeat and consequent captivity, she could still be potentially dangerous. Hence the need to ascertain her intentions without letting our guard down, at least for now.” He glanced at Marcus. “Speaking of which, I'd ask you to let me and the marquis conduct the interrogation and only talk when strictly necessary, if that's not a problem. No offense, but you're a tad too honest and straightforward for this sort of work. ”
“No offense taken.” Marcus replied, making a smirk in his real body. “I take that as a compliment. Don't worry, I'll let you do the talking.”
“Very good.” Trakk nodded. “I'd say we are ready to go then.” He turned towards the marquis. “Would you lead us, then?”
“Of course. Follow me.” Eisen replied, leading the six of them towards a large tent.
The interior was dimly lit, but to the copy-drone eyes it was as if it was noon, and the Vex Queen had no trouble seeing every detail. Not that there was much to be seen, since the tent was pretty bare, and the only thing of note was Anak'si herself, laying on a pile of pillows at the center of the room.
As it always happened when he saw the Arachne, Marcus was struck by her unnatural appearance. More than a hybrid creature between human and spider, she just looked like a humongous, white-furred tarantula with the human torso sprouting from its back like a hump. Moreover, while the human part of her body was that of a beautiful woman wearing a loose white tunic, it also looked pale and lifeless, rather like an animated corpse more than an actual living being.
“And to think I used to complain about my own body.” The Vex Queen thought. “She got an even shorter end of the stick in that regard.”
“Welcome to my parlor, gentlemen.” The Pale Matriarch greeted them with a faint smile on her human face. “What can I do for you in this fine evening?”
“Good evening, ma'am.” The marquis bowed politely. “We were hoping that we could have that chat I requested from you earlier, if that's not a problem.”
“It would be a pleasure.” Anak'si replied, her smile growing slightly wider. “These evenings can get quite boring, and having a little chat would be a nice diversion. So, what would you like to talk about?”
“We'd like to ask you a few questions.” The nobleman said. “About yourself and your plans for the future, mostly.”
“Oh, that sounds lovely.” The arachne nodded approvingly. “But it would be even better with something warm to drink while we talk. Maybe a cup of tea?”
“Of course.” Eisen replied, and turned to one of the bodyguards. “Could you get one of the servants to bring us tea?”
“Aye sir.” The soldier saluted and walked out of the tent, while the marquis turned back to the arachne.
“In the meantime, I'll start by introducing my companions.” The marquis said, “This here is Trakk, the leader of the goblins.” The goblin general bowed. “While this one is sir Marcus, the Vex Queen.” Marcus also made his copy drone bow. “And finally, the last one is Hoggs, head telemancer of my province.”
“Nice to meet you all.” The arachne replied, bowing her human torso towards them.
“Now, if it's not a problem, the first question I have for you is about your past.” Eisen said. “We have been informed of your claim to be a reincarnated human from another world. If that's really the case, could you tell us anything about your previous life?”
“Oh, there is not much to say about it.” She promptly answered. “I lived a pretty unremarkable life and I died young without accomplishing anything of note.” She smirked slightly. “If anything, my current life is much more interesting.”
“Be as it may, we would be interested in knowing more about the world you came from.” The marquis insisted. “How was it called? And what was it like? Was it similar to our world?”
“We called it Earth.” Anak'si replied. “And it was... well, not too dissimilar from this world, except that the only sapient race on it were humans and we didn't have magic or things like that. ”
In his real body, Marcus nodded, as that did indeed sound like his own Earth. However, the Arachne's answer had been a bit too vague to be sure. So, after a brief pause when a servant brought a few steaming hot cups of tea for everyone, he kept listening, trying to find more clues that would confirm that he and Anak’si came from the same world.
However, as the interrogation proceeded, this task proved to be harder than he had anticipated because for some god-forsaken reason the Arachne kept giving vague and ambiguous answers. She never outright refused to reply and she did keep up a friendly tone, but the amount of information she gave with each response was minimal. Moreover she also often tried to change the subject or evade the question she was asked, much to Marcus's annoyance.
“What the fuck is her problem?” He thought, a tad irritated by that lack of cooperation. “Why is she being like this? Is she trying to piss us off on purpose or something?”
Still, despite his frustration, he managed to keep his mouth shut while Eisen, who didn't seem at all bothered by the Arachne's uncooperative attitude, just kept patiently asking question after question. Slowly but certainly, Anak'si was driven multiple times into logical corners where she had to give a straightforward answer, and after roughly an hour Marcus had heard enough to conclude that Anak'si was indeed from his own world. Not only that, but according to her she was also from the United States of America and roughly from the same time period too, as she described some technologies that the Vex Queen recognized.
“The world you came from seems like a nice place.” Eisen commented. “Very peaceful and comfortable.”
“It wasn't perfect but it was peaceful, yes.” The Arachne replied with a hint of irritation in her voice. The verbal duel she had with the marquis had tired her out and she clearly didn't like the results. Even her friendly demeanor had cracked a bit at this point, and she was starting to look visibly frustrated.
Picking up on this, Trakk decided to intervene.
“Well, I'd say we have bothered our guest long enough with our questions about her past.” The goblin chimed in all of a sudden. “So why don't we switch the subject to the present and the future instead? I'm sure that will be a welcome change of pace.”
“Agreed.” The marquis nodded. “If that's alright with lady Anak'si, of course.”
“It's fine by me.” She said, looking a bit relieved. “I must admit that I was getting a bit tired of speaking of my past, anyway.”
“Very good. So, what are your plans for the future, milady?” The nobleman asked. “I was wondering whether you'd like to stay in the Empire or return to the Caligare Forest.”
“Well...” Anak'si paused for a moment, thinking. “If possible I'd like to remain here. I dearly missed civilization even back when I lived in the forest, and I only stayed because of my responsibilities. But now that my people are all dead, I don't really have any reason to go back there.” She sighed theatrically. “However, I don't know how well received I'm going to be. After all, while I may still be human in my heart and mind, my body is that of a monster.”
Marcus nodded his head in agreement on that last point. He could certainly sympathize with the Arachne’s fear that human society wouldn't accept her, as he had felt something similar himself in the past, and if it wasn't for the promise he had made with Trakk to not speak too much he'd have tried to reassure her. However, just a few moments later, the General himself started to talk, trying to cheer up the Arachne.
“Don't worry, lady Anak'si.” The goblin said cheerfully. “As both me and sir Marcus can attest, the inhabitants of Medelan are usually rather accepting and open-minded towards other races.” He turned to the Vex Queen. “Isn't that right, sir Marcus?”
“Yes it is.” Marcus replied. “The marquis and the others have always treated me well. I can't remember having ever been discriminated against because of my race.”
“I'm relieved to hear that.” Anak'si commented. “Though I must admit I'm also surprised. The humans of this world must be really different from those from Earth, because back where I came from people were often prejudiced against those who were different.”
“Oh, you can certainly find prejudiced and xenophobic individuals anywhere if you search hard enough for them.” Trakk said in an amused tone. “However, they are a minority here in Medelan. After all, the kingdom is an important commercial hub, and as such many different people and races pass through there. Not to mention that the Empire is technically a multi-ethnic society to begin with.”
“Indeed.” The marquis confirmed. “The people of Medelan are quite used to seeing peculiar-looking people such as you. Thulians, Baelks, Morgs... all sorts of races pass through these lands. As long as you are a law-abiding and productive member of society, no one should have any ground to criticize you.”
“I see.” Anak'si nodded. “That's good. But speaking of laws... I should probably have someone give me a crash course on them.” She smirked mischievously. “I wouldn't want to accidentally commit a crime, after all.”
“That can easily be arranged.” Eisen replied. “Since you're going to be my guest for the time being, I can have someone teach you our customs.”
“Thank you, milord. That's most kind of you.” The arachne bowed her head respectfully. “I wouldn't want to be a burden though.”
“Nonsense.” The nobleman shook his head. “You are welcome to stay in my house for as long as you need. After all, what kind of gentleman would I be if I were to abandon a lady in need?”
Marcus nodded approvingly at those words, going as far as making his copy-drone mimic that movement. He wouldn't have expected anything less from Eisen, who had also helped him in a similar manner when he had first arrived in Brettholz.
“I have no words to express my gratitude, milord.” Anak'si said. “I really wouldn't have known what to do without your help, and I hope that one day I'll be able to repay you for your kindness.”
“As the Saint said: a good deed is its own reward.” Eisen replied. “And since we are talking of getting you an education, I could also have one of my subjects teach you whatever trade you may be interested in, so that you can provide for yourself in the future.”
“Thank you, marquis.” The Arachne replied. “That's also a very generous offer.” She smiled proudly. “But I think I'm already quite proficient in a certain trade, maybe even enough to make a living out of it.”
“Really?” The nobleman asked. “And what is it?”
“Tailoring.” The spider girl said proudly. “Ever since I was born in this world, I had to make my own dresses, mostly using my own silk to do that. And I got rather good at it, if I can say so myself.”
“Silk?” The marquis asked, his eyes going wide. “Do you mean that you can make Rantul silk?”
“Why yes.” Anak'si replied. “Is that a good thing?”
“My dear lady, that's amazing!” The nobleman made a warm smile. “Rantul silk is a rare and precious material. You should be able to make a comfortable living just by selling it as raw material, and if you can turn into actual dresses then your profits would be even better.”
“Really?” The Arachne asked, as an excited light flashed in her eyes. “Are you sure about it? I didn't think that my silk would be that rare or valuable. After all, any Matriarch could easily produce it.”
“That may be true, but finding a Rantul Matriarch willing to trade its silk rather than eat the would-be merchant is not that easy.” Trakk replied sardonically. “As the previous ruler of your kind, I'm sure you know of how paranoid and xenophobic your fellow Matriarchs can be.”
“Oh, don't remind me.” Anak'si said, rolling her eyes in exasperation. “I had to spend most of my time and energy to make sure they wouldn't backstab each other into oblivion or ruin my plans with their silly squabbles...” She paused for a moment and then added. “Ehm, but that's in the past now. Sadly, all of the Matriarchs that served under me have been killed by the Blue Terror.”
She once again sighed mournfully, but even for Marcus it was easy to tell that her woe wasn't entirely genuine.
After that the conversation went on for a while, focusing mostly on the topic of the silk business. While the others talked, the Vex Queen mostly kept listening, since he had promised Trakk to speak only when strictly necessary but also because he didn't really have anything useful to contribute to the discussion, as his knowledge of commerce and silk market was basically nonexistent.
Then, after another half an hour, the marquis finally decided to wrap up the conversation.
“Well, it's been really nice talking to you, lady Anak'si, but I fear that it's gotten quite late.” The nobleman said. “We ought to be up early tomorrow to resume our journey, so, if it's not a problem, I would stop our chat here for tonight. I'd like to talk more with you tomorrow evening though, if that's fine with you.”
“Oh, absolutely!” The Arachne replied. “It’s always a pleasure to have a friendly chat like this!”
“I’m glad to hear that.” Eisen nodded. “We'll be on our way then. Goodnight, lady Anak'si.”
“Goodnight, milord.” The spider girl said, before turning towards Trakk and Marcus. “And goodnight to both of you as well.”
“Goodnight, lady Anak'si.” Marcus said.
“Goodnight!” The Goblin General said as well. “This has been a very pleasant conversation indeed, milady.” He smiled and added: “Before we go, however, I must really compliment you for your Imperial. You have a virtually perfect pronunciation, which is really impressive considering that you came from the Caligare Forest.”
“Uhm... thank you.” The Arachne replied, sounding a bit flustered all of a sudden.
“Out of curiosity, how did you learn to speak so well?” Trakk inquired with an innocent-looking smile on his face. “If you know a particular method, then some of my subjects could also use it. There are quite a few of them who struggle to speak proper Imperial.”
“Uhm... well... you see...” Anak'si mumbled hesitantly. “I... I think it just came naturally to me. I mean, maybe I just have a knack for the Imperial language, or something like that.”
“I see.” The goblin nodded, apparently taking the arachne's explanation at face value. “That's a nice talent to have. Anyway, I won't take any more of your time. Goodnight again, milady.”
And with these words, the people of Brettholz walked out of the tent.
Only when they were far enough to be sure that they couldn't be overheard, Marcus finally spoke, letting out all the words he had repressed so far.
“Alright, could anyone explain to me what happened there?” He asked, the voice of his drone completely neutral as usual but still somehow managing to convey his irritation. “Why was she being so bloody vague when we talked about her previous life? We basically had to squeeze the answers out of her. That was so annoying! What was she hoping to achieve, anyway?”
“I can't be completely sure, but I think that she was trying to find out how much we know about your previous world, by baiting us into asking specific questions that only someone with previous knowledge of that world would make. Though if that was the case she failed, because lord Eisen managed to avoid asking those kinds of questions.” He made a respectful nod towards the nobleman. “That was really well done, milord.”
“It was nothing, really.” Eisen humbly said. “Though I may rule over a remote region, I'm still a noble after all. Being able to conduct this sort of interrogation is part of my professional repertoire.”
“I see, but why was she doing that?” Marcus insisted. “Why did she feel the necessity to know what we know about Earth?”
“Again, I can't be sure, but if I have to take a guess it's probably because she wanted to know how far she could go with embellishing her story in order to appear in a better light. Can't say I blame her. Since her well-being is reliant on our goodwill, trying to get on our good side by telling us a more sympathetic story is a perfectly valid tactic.” He paused and turned towards the Vex Queen. “By the way, does everything she said about her world check out?”
“Yes.” The Vex Queen replied. “Everything she said about her world is also true about mine, so we probably do both come from Earth.”
“Excellent.” The General nodded once again.
“I have a question too.” Hoggs, who so far had remained completely silent, taking notes about the conversation, suddenly intervened. “What was that last remark? The one about her knowledge of the Imperial language?”
“Oh, that was because I honestly found it rather weird how well she speaks the Imperial tongue.” The goblin replied. “It's definitely something I would not have expected from someone who had spent her whole life in the Caligare Forest and came out just a few days ago.”
“Doesn't the majority of goblins speak Imperial though?” Marcus asked. “And even the orcs did, if I'm not mistaken. Couldn't she have just learned from one of them?”
“If that was the case, she'd share their accent.” Trakk replied. “But she didn't. As I told her, she spoke virtually perfect Imperial, with no accent whatsoever.”
“Well... maybe that has something to do with her being a reincarnated human?” The marquis suggested.
“I don't think so.” The goblin shook his head. “After all, we have ascertained with an acceptable degree of certainty that both she and sir Marcus hail from the same world, and sir Marcus’s Imperial is not nearly as good even though she spent months in Medelan already.” He turned towards the Vex Queen. “I mean no offense, by the way. Your Imperial is actually very good, just not as perfect as that of the Pale Matriarch.”
“No offense taken.” Marcus replied. “Anyway, what are the implications of her being able to speak Imperial so well?”
“I have no idea.” Trakk admitted. “I just found it weird and I decided to investigate it a bit further. And judging by her reaction, I probably struck something that she meant to keep a secret.”
“She’s plotting something then.” The Vex Queen declared.
“Not necessarily. Having a few secrets doesn't actually imply that she’s plotting something.” The goblin corrected him. “Still, trusting her blindly wouldn’t be a good idea. We should keep an eye on her for the time being, at least until we figure out what she’s hiding.”
“Agreed.” The marquis said. “Luckily, since she’s going to be a guest at my palace, I can easily have a few people watch over her during her stay.”
“That’s good, but remember to have your palace cleaned out of all webs.” The goblin replied. “Otherwise, she could take control of the spiders that inhabit your home and use them for her own purposes.”
“Yes, that would be prudent.” The nobleman nodded. “It’s a shame we don’t know more about her powers, and what she can do exactly. I meant to question her about it this evening, but sadly I was sidetracked a bit by the other topics.”
“It’s just as well that you didn’t, milord.” Trakk said. “After all, she could have easily lied or omitted anything she didn’t care to tell us, and unlike as it was with the topic of her previous life we don’t have someone who can tell whether or not she’s telling the truth.” He paused and added: “Besides, we can always ask her tomorrow. As you said before, it’s gotten quite late, and we have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow.”
“Indeed. Better rest up as much as we can tonight.” The nobleman said, stifling a yawn. “So, if it’s not a problem, I’ll retire for the night.”
“I’m going to do the same.” Trakk replied.
“I won’t.” Marcus said jokingly. “But only because I already did so an hour ago.” He made the copy drone smirk, while in his real body he tugged himself further under his blanket. “I must admit these proxy bodies are really convenient for meetings and stuff like that.”
“So it would seem.” The General agreed. “Good night then, sir Marcus.”
“Good night.” The Vex Queen replied, and then she laid down and finally closed his eyes, quickly falling asleep. Part of his consciousness remained vigilant though, controlling his drones and keeping tabs on everything, with the information he received from his drones flowing into his mind like lucid dreams.
Comments
Valentino Conti Angeli
Had some trouble with the foreshadowing, as I was either giving away too much or too little information. Hopefully I should have managed to balance things with my latest edit.
Nilbog
4 days of editing this is wild
Pawzom Lz
Marcus also needs digger drones. Not those worm ones she had but ones that literally dig and transport dirt from one location to another. What she can do with this is dramatically increase the defense of her hive by digging a ditch, transporting the dirt to her hives side of the ditch to serve as a wall, stabilise the wall with mold wax, then keep doing this, making the wall higher and the ditch wider and deeper til it eventually becomes something akin to a chasm. She will need a way to drain it off rain though. Or fill it with acid from acid producing drones. Then the internal hives structure will have silk in strategic locations to disrupt/catch enemies/infiltrators. Not all over the place as that will make the hive vulnerable to fire. Marcus should try to do this to her entire territory(or most of it), and make it all into one colossal hive. The right kind of drones makes it possible, just time consuming. She can also offer the digging/dirt wall service for Eisen's city if he is interested as this is how defensive fortifications are made. Dig a ditch, place dirt on one side, make wall on top of the dirt. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPGdOXstSyk&ab_channel=Insider (time 3:05)
Pawzom Lz
Now that the orcs are dealt with Marcus needs to get started on support and auxilliary drones, the most important of which should be a drone that can make silk. While it would be useful for high quality clothing, the main reason for it would be its use for defense of her territory/hive and trapping creatures with interesting traits. Spider silk is absurdly powerful and with proper traps will allow the takedown of seriously powerful creatures that Marcus' drones normally wouldnt be able to take down, like those stone gorillas that appeared a while ago or even the forest dragon with a sufficiently created trap. The forest dragon's ability was to manipulate the forest itself, which it could not do on the mold wax. So kiting/baiting powerful creatures onto the mold wax where all kinds of traps are waiting will allow for Marcus to take down creatures her drones normally would not be able to. She also needs more of those mosquito/collector drones. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mefngoooZwU&ab_channel=SciShow Marcus also need to acquire some hide/bones remaining of the forest dragon to its traits and try to get Anak'si's traits. Isnt this EXACTLY what her mosquitos would be perfect for? Where are they? They look like mosquitos so they are inconspicuous and nobody will expect they are hers...
