Daggat claimed the master bedroom, as was appropriate. Who else deserved it other than the party leader?

It was a mess. But, the good kind of mess. He knew where everything was. The stack of junk books and promising books for before-bed reading. His pile of clothes that were a bit too ripe and his pile of clothes that could be worn. They had scavenged every outfit from the manor over a few weeks. Most had fallen apart, but some were made of stronger stuff and were wearable. Hunter was the only one with trouble finding something to wear, and Klaw usually only wore trousers.

His bed was incredible. Soft, warm, and huge. Once he gave it a good dusting. The roots had miraculously kept every pest away from the manor. The bed took some time to get used to, but once he did… absolute bliss. If you ignored the few food stains and the spare sock or two in the blankets, it was suited for nobility.

The others had picked their rooms. Hunter ended up moving four beds into one room. As far as Daggat knew, Elyndris curled up in a box of cloth in Anath's room. Klaw and Zuss shared a room as well. Neither slept well alone, it seemed. But Daggat never felt alone when he slept. His party was one shout away.

After crawling out of his bed, Daggat spent the mornings trying out different clothes. He knew instinctively how important presentation was, hence his interest in wine, but he had little experience in fashion. So, he needed practice. Idly, he wondered what sort of divine skills a fashion natural skill would offer him. He, and the others, had earned several minor natural skills. Basic things that just happened, like dodging, cooking, cardio, and the like.

After a quick breakfast of some sort of meat that Hunter smoked, he headed for the library. Everyone else was doing their own thing. Klaw, Zuss, and Anath trained. Elyndris worked on her magic. Hunter tidied up the place, cooked, ate, or occasionally joined the warriors in physical training.

The library was empty. Which was fine. He didn't need the distractions.

Daggat quickly gathered the books he thought were relevant to his search and began to hunt. Sifting through the text like a wolf, seeking out evidence of what he was looking for.

An hour later, he made a breakthrough. He jumped into his status void.

"Assistant, what do we have on General Donagh Battlestorm?" Daggat asked. The assistant immediately flipped to a note with plenty of information on him. This information was his prey, after all.

"Good ol' Donagh. He led the majority of the battles against the orcs in the Brine War. Master tactician and reportedly a great warrior as well." The assistant read.

"I found something else. A collection of notes and observations from the soldiers in that war. One soldier noted a particular surgeon spending a lot of time with the general."

"What are you thinking, Master? A key to more information on him?"

"Perhaps. The name sounds familiar. A dwarf named Sten Havgrim."

"Yes…" The assistant mused. He flipped to a page that held a list of books in the library. It wasn't complete yet, but there were hundreds of names. "Ah, here. Observations of a Surgeon. Diary of Doctor Havgrim."

Daggat left the status void and ran to the shelves. He found the book minutes later and copied it. He had to climb a few shelves to reach it. Being proper goblin size had its benefits, but it came with plenty of drawbacks as well. Would Hunter be willing to be on standby to grab books from the top shelves?

"Here it is, you take half, I'll skim the other half," Daggat told him.

"As you wish."

They scanned through the text like predators hunting for a scent. Any mentions of the general, even off-hand, could be beneficial to Daggat's current goal. Daggat found something. He grinned, smelling blood… or ink.

"Here." He threw the section to a note. "The surgeon spent some time with the general at the beginning of the war. He was present when the general received a quest."

"A quest… so that explains the mentions of the general's treasure." The assistant scrolled through the rest of the book, he was much faster than Daggat but didn't have as much imagination. "Here. It seems he was given Favor."

"Does it say what the results were?"

"Not directly, but it says he presented the winnings to the quartermaster for record-keeping but took them all."

"Bounties of the Brine War?" Daggat asked. It was a good thing the past lord of this manor had an interest in this war, his collection was extensive.

"That's what I was thinking." The two pulled up the mentioned book. It was a dry essay on the costs and rewards of the brine war. The text was poorly written and was hard to parse, so Daggat had put it aside. They began to comb through it. Their prey was closer, its scent was stronger.

Finally, he found what they were looking for. A chapter labeled Divine Rewards. It was a record of the quests tied to the Brine War and its rewards.

"It seems the general asked for divine gifts, as you did. With the favor, those gifts would have been good indeed."

"Is there a list?" Daggat asked. The assistant grinned at him.

"Indeed. Some rabble, such as weapons and treasure. But, one in particular is of interest. A Pitcher of Mortality."

Daggat's arms shook in excitement. He pulled up the notes from Heavenly Gifts: Crafts and Boons of the Divine. It was a basic reference for non-unique divine treasures and one of the special tomes on display in the library. He scrolled till he found the Pitcher of Mortality.

"The Pitcher of Mortality," he read, "Produces five glasses of Ichor of the Mortal." Daggat smiled in victory. He had caught the prey. They had suspicions, but now he knew for sure. The general had exactly what Daggat needed to gain a mortal soul.

"It's been sixty years since the war. Surely he is dead?"

"General Battlestorm took the orc fortress as a trophy of war. He converted it to his estate. If he is dead, then either an heir has the goods, or it was auctioned off."

"Surely someone would have used the Ichor by now… perhaps we should consider the oaths." The assistant offered.

"Think about it. These people HATE us. They think we are supposed to die. Look at how they treated Anath. No way they would willingly let a monster have a mortal soul."

"Maybe. That's a bit of a stretch." The assistant mused.

"These records are forty years old at the earliest. We need to know for sure. We need to go on a journey to this fortress."

"It is built just outside of Brinehaven. At least you know people there. Well done. But, don't forget the second quarry."

"If he is alive, I can just ask. If he's not, someone in town might know." Daggat idly flipped to the page laying out what they knew about the general. He was a leader of men and dwarves. Beloved and feared. He was said to be a master swordsman, expert archer, magic user, healer, poet, and a hundred more claims. Most importantly, Daggat had found the name of his class. Circled in the center of the page was his treasure. Warcaller. Under it, he wrote the general's advanced class. Dread Captain.

He knew exactly what class he wanted. But, he needed to get the soul first, then five levels in it. Klaw was lucky they used a loophole to get him a class early.

Another issue was the Warcaller class was certainly a rare alternative to Herald. Those required certain prerequisites. Daggat did not know those prerequisites. But, he would soon.

He laughed aloud. All of his goals were in sight. Conveniently, they converged on one old man. Or corpse. Either way, he had a heist to plan.

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His victory was interrupted by a ringing sound.

What was that? Daggat thought through the changes they made to the manor. Ah, yes. The bell. Alfred had rebuilt it. It was supposed to be rung when visitors wanted to announce their presence. Who would want to visit? Who KNEW about this place?

Grumbling, Daggat marched to the controls and moved the stairs to a place where he could more quickly find out who was calling. He retrieved his spear that was leaning against a bookshelf as the stairs moved.

"Someone's at the gate." A voice said behind him as he climbed down the stairs.

"Gah, FUCK! Don't do that!" Daggat said. Zuss appeared in step with him. "Who is it?"

"A gremlin and… something else. I don't know. It's like a big lizard. They've been bickering outside the gate for half an hour now."

"A drake?"

"No, it walks. You'll see. They don't… SEEM dangerous. Want me to kill 'em?"

"Nah. I kind of want to know what a gremlin is doing out here. Get the others to back me up. Have Hunter meet me outside the front, I'll need his peace aura." Daggat could have used the experience, but gremlins were not worth much anyway. Zuss faded into shadow, off to relay his orders. Daggat smiled. That was a very warcaller-like thing to do, he thought.

Eventually, he met with Hunter at the designated space. The ogre had gruff-looking whiskers starting to form. In another year, he would have a full beard. Hunter had also put on some weight. He wasn't quite as worryingly skinny as he was before. It was no wonder, when they ate together Hunter ate more than everyone else combined. Even Klaw.

"Any idea who is at the gate?" Daggat asked him. He looked around and saw Klaw and Anath off to the sides, ready to step in if it got dangerous.

"No, but they have to be friendly. Otherwise, why would they ring the bell?" Hunter said.

"Ambush. Give us a false sense of security. Arrogance. EARNED arrogance. A sick sense of honor. There are many reasons an enemy would alert us like this." Daggat said.

"Oh." Said Hunter. He summoned his torch.

Daggat and Hunter stepped forward, stopping before they entered the tunnel bored through the large stump. He could hear the sounds of two people bickering quietly, but couldn't make out the words. Daggat activated his hypervocal chords.

"What do you want?" He called. The bickering stopped. One voice spoke up.

"Oh, greetings!" Said a voice. It had a dry quality to it and a smooth, melodic accent. "We are passing travelers. We happened to notice the warnings had been removed, then spotted the smoke from the manor. Has Titanfell been reclaimed?"

"I have claimed it, yes," Daggat called back.

"Then we beg your hospitality! We have traveled for quite a ways and seek shelter."

"What are you?"

"What?"

"What are you? Your geneseed or branch or whatever. I'm not familiar."

"Perhaps we can share stories over some tea?" The voice suggested. Daggat mulled it over. They didn't seem dangerous. And he WAS curious. He lowered his voice.

"Hunter, go let them in and guide them to the grand hall. Don't say anything. Just be big and menacing."

"Okay… but why?" He asked.

"To set a proper first impression. These things are important. Now, wait a minute, then get them." Daggat headed to the grand hall. Klaw and Anath stepped up to him. "You two, we've got some guests. Your job is security. Stay near me and keep an eye on them. And look menacing." Klaw growled and grinned. Anath looked almost sick with worry. Zuss was… somewhere. She'd step in if it was needed. Probably.

In the grand hall, Daggat ran to the kitchen. He quickly poured himself a glass of wine, they were getting worryingly low on it, and then ran back to the hall. He sat in his chair at the end of the table. He needed to give the proper presentation.

He held his wine lazily in one hand and kicked his feet onto the table. Then he activated hypnotic gaze, just in case. Perfect. He waited.

A moment later, Hunter pushed open the door and two figures entered. The largest was slightly taller than Klaw. It was humanoid with a drake-like head at the end of a long, serpent-like neck. It walked hunched over and long whiskers dangled at the sides of its mouth. Its scales were a silvery-grey and they seemed to sag in places.

The other figure was much, much smaller. It was indeed a gremlin. Though it had an eye patch and a sour look on its face. There was something off about the gremlin. It was more wrinkled than usual and its ears were tatters. It also had a small, white beard. Daggat didn't even know gremlins could grow beards.

"Welcome to Titanfell Manor, guests. I am Daggat, lord of this house. Who is it that comes before me?" Daggat said with his hypervocal chords. Both figures looked nervous, glancing at Klaw and Anath, who also looked nervous. Hunter shut the door with perfect timing. He would need to reward him later for that.

"Um… we, I…" The lizard person began, then cleared his throat. "I am Kraxith. This is my companion, Skiz." He bowed. His long neck stretched forward like a snake to avoid touching the ground. The gremlin grunted. "We are Sages of the Four Sage Court on a journey to pay a friend a visit. We seek shelter and to sate our curiosity."

Daggat

True Name: Daggat Soul: Monster Genseed: gremlin [ 3 Str, 4 Dex, 3 Con, 2 Int, 3 Wil, 3 Cha; Regenerating Teeth, Rot Resistance; Tiny Size] Genbloom: goblin [ +2 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Con, +1 Int, +1 Wil; Scavenger; Small Size]

Monster Level: 8

Attributes (0/6): Strength: 11 Dexterity: 11 Constitution: 11 Intelligence: 20 Will: 10 Charm: 12

Feats: Encounter: True Angel Ability: Mighty Intellect Act: Fledgling Alchemist Knowledge: System Knowledge Act: Devotion [Layered feats] Act: Usurper Act: Touch of Death

Skills(0/4): Alchemy: 1 [Source: Fledgling Alchemist] System Aptitude: 1 [Source: System Knowledge] System Assistant: 2 [Perk: Semi-sentience] Mind Codex: 1 [Synergy: Mental notes + Copy Tome] Party Leader: 1 [Source: Usurper]

Notable Natural Skills: Literacy: Apprentice

Biotraits (0/8): Base size: Small [Source: Goblin] Regenerating Teeth [Source: Gremlin] Enhanced Night Vision [Source: Gremlin] Disease Resistance [Mutations: Rot Resistance; Source: Gremlin] Hypnotic Gaze [Mutations: Dominating Gaze, Mesmerizing Gaze] Temperature Resistant Skin [Synergy: Fire Resistant Skin + Cold Resistant Skin] Scavenger [Source: goblin] Death Sight [Source: Touch of Death] Increased Pain Tolerance Hypervocal chords

Transformations: Drakeheart Form: +2 strength +2 charm Extreme Temperature Resistant Scales [Synergy: Fireproof scales + Temperature resistant Skin] Fire breath

Night Stalker form: +2 strength +2 dexterity Dark vision [Night Vision Enhanced] Deepen Shadow

Other: Variant: +10 Intelligence Skill potions used: 1/5

Notable Gear: Strange pure-white sword shard Spear of Bracing 2 Mihr Contracts

Party Loot

Magic Gear: Inkbeast Scroll (Serpent) Assassins Ladle

Wealth and holdings: 15k+ Gold 5k+ Gold worth of treasure Titanfell Manor

System Resources: 5 Tokens (+5 from Anath) party tracker Experience Recycler

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