Having been granted rulership over the city of Vanhoover, and confessed their feelings for each other, Lex Legis and Sonata Dusk have started a new life together. But the challenges of rulership, and a relationship, are more than they bargained for.
Lex saw the first rays of light spilling in through the window in silent announcement of the imminent dawn and knew that he had to get out of bed.
Despite that, he lingered, returning his gaze to where Sonata was lying next to him, having passed out in the aftermath of their lovemaking. Lex was no less tired, but had no desire to fall asleep and let his pervasive nightmares ruin his mood, and so had stayed awake. Doing so had been its own reward, allowing him to simply watch Sonata sleep.
He swept his eyes over her again, remembering how incredible she had felt, the sounds she’d made, the way she’d softly begged him…
Of course, that had been after they’d discovered that Lex’s ability to control Waterlily hadn’t worked on Sonata. Just like when he’d attempted to use it on the local wildlife, the energy had simply failed to take hold when he’d directed it towards his beloved. The realization had made her pout, but Lex had simply taken it as a challenge to show her that there were plenty of other ways he could assert himself over her.
Smiling at the memory, he reluctantly disentangled himself from her, making sure not to wake her up as he slid out of bed. Pulling the blankets around her more to compensate for his leaving, he headed for the bathroom, already planning for the day ahead. For all that he’d accomplished here in Tall Tale, Vanhoover still needed his immediate assistance, so he was going to have to expedite-
His train of thought came to a screeching halt as he opened the bathroom door to see Severance floating in the middle of the room. Lex blinked, having forgotten about the weapon after he’d discarded it previously. He regarded it silently for a moment, wondering if he should greet the thing. It was sapient, after all.
The idea of saying “good morning” to a scythe, however, was more awkward than Lex could stomach, causing him to silently wrap the weapon in his telekinetic grip and move it to the side as he entered the bathroom, closing the door behind him. As he did so, he heard Severance’s voice in his thoughts, complimenting him.
He felt his face heating up at the words. “I did not ‘conquer’ her!” he hissed, keeping his voice down since the bathroom door apparently did a poor job of soundproofing. “What passed between Sonata and me was far more profound! To say nothing of being absolutely none of your business!”
The weapon’s reply made Lex grit his teeth, but he refused to get into an argument over how to characterize what he and Sonata had just done. “Enough! I’m going to use you to replenish my magic, so be silent.” Severance made one final comment, which Lex ignored as he started to gesture and chant softly.
He had no doubts that the Night Mare’s assurance that Severance was powerful enough to serve as a battery for his magic was legitimate, but Lex was still eager to put her claim to the test. The thought of being able to make use of his strongest magic, the magic that he had created from scratch, without restriction was a heady one. Of course, it would take nearly an entire day to completely replenish his spells, but he could restore just one or two now as a trial run.
But as the first syllable left his lips, Lex stopped, eyes widening in confusion.
His mental catalogue of spells that he’d learned had some additions. Ones that he didn’t remember acquiring.
Unlike the “wizards” that he’d met on Everglow, Lex needed no external record of the various spells that he could prepare. Rather, when he had the opportunity to replenish them, he simply picked the ones he wanted to be available to him and filled their thought-form with sufficient energy, waiting to be expended via casting. As a side effect of structuring his thoughts that way, he never forgot any spell that he had taken the time to learn, regardless of how long ago he’d learned it or last used it.
Except now he was cognizant of several new additions, almost a dozen in total, to his roster. Each one was more powerful, and/or more complex, than the one before it, he intuitively could tell. In fact, the last few were still beyond his ability to cast at all, at least without taking extreme measures.
Frowning, Lex continued to stare off into space as he tried to figure out where these new spells had come from. The most obvious explanation was that they were yet another gift from the Night Mare, but that struck him as unlikely. She’d already been more generous than he’d dared to hope for when he’d summoned her, and she’d made sure to call out each of her gifts to him so that he’d be aware of her munificence. For her to do even more for him didn’t seem like her.
But what other explanation could there be? Unless he’d begun to spontaneously manifest magical abilities like an Everglow “sorcerer,” which was a far less plausible theory, there was simply no other explanation. And the Night Mare had returned his former magic items to him without being asked, so perhaps…perhaps it wasn’t so unusual after all.
Realizing that there was no more usefulness in guessing, Lex turned his attention to the new spells themselves. He focused on the least powerful of them, one so incredibly minor that he knew immediately that anypony with any spellcasting ability whatsoever would have been able to master it. And its effect…
It was a contraceptive spell.
Lex froze at the realization, nonplussed first by the sudden reminder that what he and Sonata had just shared might have unforeseen consequences, and then by the sense that mysteriously acquiring a spell to deal with exactly that problem was a little too convenient. Trying to fight the cold chill that had settled over him, he examined the spell in more detail.
It was fairly straightforward. It could be cast on a single individual to make them temporarily infertile for several days, with the exact duration depending on the puissance of the spellcaster. It could also be cancelled prior to that if the caster so desired.
Lex glanced in the direction where he knew Sonata was sleeping, silently vowing that from now on he’d use this spell on himself before they did that again. As for now…surely she wouldn’t have any objection to his using this spell on her, would she? She'd certainly understand the need for it, since she might...might become...
Knowing that this was a line of thought that would utterly consume his attention if he didn’t deal with it, Lex grit his teeth and resumed his chanting, pulling in the necessary energy to prepare the spell. Idly, he noted that at least now he’d confirmed that Severance was an adequate battery for his magic.
Once he’d gathered the requisite energy, Lex marched out of the bathroom, leaving Severance hovering in place as he went over to where his beloved was still slumbering. Gently, he reached out and placed a hoof on her, nudging her just slightly. “Sonata?”
There was no response. So he tried again, calling her name and shaking her just a little. He had to repeat the process several times before he got a response, her eyes cracking open blearily as she made an inquisitive grunt.
“Sonata, is it alright if I use contraceptive magic on you?” he asked her quietly. “I want to avoid any, er, unexpected ramifications from what we did.”
“Mmph…s’fine,” she mumbled, closing her eyes and turning over.
“Are you sure?”
“…trus’ you…” she murmured. That seemed to be the sum total of her response, as her breathing settled back into a slow and steady rhythm a moment later.
For a long moment, Lex stood there, unsure of what to do. The degree to which she had been conscious was dubious at best, to say nothing of his lack of certainty as to how much she’d have understood what he was asking even if she had been completely awake. But on the other hoof, she’d not only given him permission, but had stated that she trusted him. That was, in all likelihood, her way of issuing blanket permission for him to do whatever he thought was best, and there was no doubt in his mind that this was the optimal course of action.
He bit his lip for a moment as he stood there, considering. The reasoning wasn’t as sound as he would have liked, but it was still sufficient to pass scrutiny when held against his moral code. Nodding to himself, he quickly incanted the words of the spell and made the requisite gestures, before gently touching a hoof to her, completing the act.
Letting out a relieved sigh, Lex returned to the bathroom, eager to put the last few minutes behind him.
Instead, he turned his attention back to the new spells in his mind. There were still nine more after the contraceptive spell, and he focused on the next-simplest one. It was a spell that could be cast on multiple individuals at once, causing their tactile senses to experience short-term hypersensitivity, but only with regard to pleasure…
Lex could feel the blood rushing to his face as the theme of these new spells became apparent. Although he disapproved of blatant indulgences, he nevertheless couldn't help but imagine what last night would have been like if he'd had this spell prepared then. The thought was tantalizing, particularly since there was no reason he couldn't use it in the future. And there were still quite a few more of these to look over!
It was with a mixture of nervousness and excitement that Lex mentally reviewed a third spell, only to let out a scandalized yelp as he comprehended its effects. The first two had been somewhat embarrassing, but this was lurid! This was…who would ever…why would anypony want to…?!
For all his mortification, Lex could feel that the blood in his face was now flowing elsewhere, to his utter chagrin. Without a word, he turned and leapt into the nearby bathtub, yanking the shower curtain closed even as he turned on the cold water full-blast. As the frigid water poured over him, Lex took several deep breaths to try and calm himself down. But just remembering that spell – and that there were seven more to review, all of them of greater…efficacy – made that rather difficult to do.
Obviously, that would have to be put off for another time. Right now was a time to work hard for everypony in Tall Tale and Vanhoover, not get bogged down in such tawdry activities. However distracting these new spells might be, he had a duty to put them aside and focus on what really mattered. Closing his eyes, Lex repeated that to himself, recalling that he had been thinking about that when he’d run into Severance and gotten sidetracked. No more. From now on, he was going to stop fooling around and maintain his focus.
Even so, it was quite a few minutes before he turned the water off and exited the shower.
Yawning, Nosey rubbed her eyes as she stepped out of her room. Or rather, whatshisname’s room. She could have looked him up in her notes, but it didn’t really matter. What mattered was finding a way to get some breakfast when she didn’t have a bit to her name. Luckily, being an ace reporter had taught her plenty of tricks, including the old one about interviewing someone who was in the middle of a meal so that you could pick at their food.
Now she just had to find someone to interview. The most obvious choice would be the guy whose room she’d taken, but given that he’d never reappeared after that angry mare had dragged him to the kitchen, he probably wasn’t in the best mood. In fact, she realized, it was probably better that she slip out the back, just to be sure that the grouchy pegasus didn’t get any ideas about charging her for her impromptu stay.
Exiting the building without seeing anypony else, Nosey smiled at her continuing good fortune. Now if only she could figure out whose breakfast she could crash…
After a moment’s thought, Nosey turned and started walking towards city hall. Today was going to be Lex’s first full day as mayor. As such, it was her civic duty to show him the special relationship that the government had with the press.
Lex discovers part of Kara's gift to him, and it leaves him reeling.
Meanwhile Nosey...is being Nosey.
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Lex has Cantrips L0, and Unatural Lust, L1? Trying to think what the L2 spell is, he can cast up to.. umm. Level 7 in extremis? Talk about the Pinkie special. Bard collection.
Wonder how much, if any of Sonatas Siren heritage she has left, and if Unatural Lust would actually have any effect on her, given its one of the best methods to cause hatred and conflict on a ship ful of sailors. If they all fight to get lucky, do Sirens del with any that slip through temporarily, or do they enjoy their last moments and create more servile followers from offspring?
Sonatas mind is like a newly built hill fort? massive defenses, but nothing much inside yet? Except Quicksand?
At least Severance doesnt vibrate, otherwise Lex would never get it back.
Okay...wow, Kara sure is thorough with her 'blessings' and with how Lex reacted, she gave him quite a number of unique spells to work with as Lex desires, or tempt him to at least. I would be surprised by the repertoire of spells revolving around the bedroom and related activities until I remind myself they came from a goddess of love and lust. She had plenty of time to create or acquire such spells.
Plus, imagining Lex sputtering over the new additions to his roster of spells was highly amusing, which is doubled by the fact that Severance is just hovering there observing him doing so.
Work!
It was more awkward than Lex could stomach?
he quickly what? Intoned maybe? I have never seen the word "incanted" before.
Nosey interviews Lex? Just to eat his food? That's a new low, isn't it?
7785212
Fixed!
"Incant" means to recite or utter.
It's not "just" to eat his food; there really is a special relationship between the government and the press. Nosey's just taking advantage of it.
7783980 Strictly speaking, what Kara gave Lex was a set of spells - one of each level from 0-9 - all with a strong sexual focus. While 3.X/Pathfinder typically couch those in terms of clerical domains - typically bundling them with one or more additional powers - their use here is technically decoupled from that.
In strict game terms, Kara - notwithstanding her blessing that love would find Lex - spent a point of Godfire to use the "Bestowal" ability (Eclipse, p. 78) to grant Lex the "Tantric Ways" path ("path" being the generic term for "group of nine or so spells, typically of levels 1-9, grouped together by a common theme"; there's more about this in Paths of Power and Paths of Power II, though I recommend buying the Paths of Power Complete Collection - hardcover version here - since it's more convenient to have it in a single volume, and it puts the new spells on standard class spell lists as well).
The kicker here is that the game book doesn't define what this path does, simply due to its spells not really having any measurable game mechanics. They basically make sure that everyone involved in a sexual encounter has a very good, consequence-free time. (Technically, paths don't grant 0-level spells, but I decided to add that in here anyway, simply because I think it makes more sense to do so.)
That said, I'm of the opinion that such spells - or at least, the lower-level ones - should be fairly commonplace in a society where magic is as ubiquitous, as easy to use, and as reliable as it is in most d20 worlds. There's simply no good reason for them not to be, given that there's no real disincentive to acquiring them beyond the usual time/money costs that are in place for most commodities, and there's sure to be a market for such a thing. Hence, Kara didn't exactly need to strain to have magic like that on hand. Mortals should have been making erotic-flavored magic for a long, long time without her needing to do anything.
With regards to Severance, don't forget that (insofar as we know) it can't read minds. All it knows is that Lex basically went "?" and then "!" and then "!!!" and jumped into the shower.
7782915
In terms of trying to match those spells up to official Paizo ones, don't. Paizo, like WotC before them, has focused purely on the most "gamist" spells, which are the ones that adventurers would use. There are some utility spells in there, but for the most part the magic found in first-party supplements is strongly focused around killing things or preventing things from being killed. The sort of everyday magic you'd expect, such as spells to guarantee contraception or kill weeds without hurting crops, simply isn't there.
Insofar as what the maximum level of spell that Lex can cast goes...you guessed 7th, and I'm a bit chagrined to admit that it's higher than that. Lex can normally cast up to 5th-level spells without any modification. But he has the Amplify metamagic theorem with the Glory modifier, and so can dump up to +3 levels of amplification on a spell spontaneously, with no increase to the spells actual level or casting time, up to three times per day.
Moreover, he has the Compact metamagic theorem, and so can lower a spell's level by taking various penalties. In theory, a spell can have its level lowered by up to a -6 modifier, but it's virtually unheard of for Lex (or most casters with this metamagic theorem) to go above a -2 modifier. That's because a -3 modifier has an XP drain in the thousands to cast it (or some equivalent loss). A -4 modifier is dying to cast the spell. A -5 modifier is being permanently crippled or (nearly) irrevocably cursed to cast the spell. A -6 modifier is dying without any way of being brought back to cast the spell.
Lex will, when he has to, combine these options to cast spells of incredible power...but doing so typically takes a toll on him. Even the lower-level uses of Compact can deal major hit point or ability point damage to use (there are other options, but those include things like extending the casting time that make them impractical in a fight). Strictly speaking, that astral construct that Lex used when he fought Moss was a 9th-level spell effect; Lex prepared it as a 6th-level spell that had been Compacted down to 5th-level, and then Amplified it for an additonal +3 levels worth of increasing the effect.
You might say that that sounds hideously overpowered, and you wouldn't necessarily be wrong in that regard, but that's what's necessary when you have a character that effectively operates on their own. Being a solo adventuring party means you need to be OP just to survive.
I know that you're joking here, but you've touched on a very salient issue. Despite what I just said, Lex isn't a solo character; he has Sonata with him. However, she hasn't been very useful so far. Other than charming a waiter in a restaurant and the mayor when she was looking for Lex, all that Sonata has done was to use a deep slumber spell on Fireflower when Lex first fought him, an ear-piercing scream spell on Lex to stop him from killing Fireflower, and another deep slumber on Moss during the climactic fight...which didn't work anyway, since dragons are immune to sleep effects.
In other words, Sonata's been largely useless...and that's because I'm having a very hard time getting her stats pinned down.
Strictly speaking, I've been relying on the stats that David gave her way back in A Dangerous Sparkle, but to be honest I'm really not enamored of them. They basically typify why using class-level progression to build a pre-existing character from a series is so incredibly frustrating. Sonata's magic has a specific form of casting (e.g. singing) for a specific type of effect (e.g. mind-manipulation), but using the pre-existing d20 spells just results in a spell list that honestly looks like a mess...spells like poison and entangle simply shouldn't be there.
(And, looking at this the other way, there are several other spells that she should have but doesn't. For example, I was technically cheating when Sonata charmed the waiter and the mayor; she doesn't actually have charm person or charm monster on her spell list, despite how appropriate they are!)
I'm not blaming David for this; I think he did an adequate job overall. I just think that her build is constrained by the fact that class-level progression necessarily makes associations of powers and abilities - and, likewise, necessarily disassociates other powers and abilities - that make it very hard to make a reasonable facsimile of a character that wasn't originally built along those guidelines. As such, my use of Sonata as that write-up posits her has been halfhearted at best.
I did make my own write-up of Adagio, noting that Aria and Sonata would have nearly-identical stats, a few years ago using the Eclipse classless rules, but that was for how they appeared in Rainbow Rocks, which wouldn't apply here since Sonata's no longer dependent on having her gemstone to use her powers.
In all honesty, what I should do is sit down and make my own write-up for how I think Sonata should be now. That way I can get a firm read on her powers and abilities, and so make better use of her going forward. After all, even if she is used to being a backup singer, she's going to be much closer to the spotlight now that she's with Lex.
Who says it doesn't?
Kara? I thought it may have been Lashtada. Their portfolio's are similar at times.
8026053 Both being love goddesses, that's to be expected. But yeah, this was all Kara's doing; as she mentioned before, she gave him some spells for the bedroom.