Lilith: Origin of Succubi

The Tamin priests and paladins spent several hours discussing things among themselves, and it wasn't until after three in the afternoon that Corrine moved to approach us again. I glanced at the inside of my pocketwatch to get the time before standing up and walking to meet her one on one again. I hadn't had it long, but I was really enjoying having a reliable and accurate timepiece again.

"Lilith," Corrine said as I stood across from her.

"Have you come to a decision?" I asked.

"If your city will accept us, then we will come and respect the city's culture and ways. That includes having tolerance for friendly shapeshifters and other things that some of us may find displeasing," she said diplomatically.

I nodded. "That's the best we can truly ask for at this stage. The succubi will eventually have time to persuade your people themselves. Is everyone ready to move now, or do you need more time? It will still take a few bells to reach the city from here."

"If I may... if you are one of these shapeshifters, will you show me?" Corrine asked.

I tilted my head. I suppose I could show her my true form... Bella was currently still stuck in her true form, so she might end up seeing one of us like that eventually. Maybe this could be a show of trust. Give them a small taste of what they might expect.

"Alright," I finally said. "There are two ways my people shapeshift. A few of us older succubi have a true form that is hidden, and the rest can shift their bodies in various ways."

I held out my right hand and let it shift into that of a feline beastkin with long sharp claws at the ends of the digits. As Corrine's eyes widened, I also changed my fur and eye color before entirely shifting my face into that of a feline as well, making myself look completely different.

"The changes are significant. I wasn't sure what to expect. Are there any limitations?" she asked curiously. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

I wasn't sure how much of that was genuine curiosity and how much was an attempt to gauge my people's power, but I decided to indulge her a little. "Most of these transformations depend on the succubus's mana capacity. The more drastic the transformation, the more mana it costs. Excluding our true forms."

"And what is your true form?" Corrine asked.

"I'll show you."

I poured some mana into the light armor construct that hugged my body so that it would shift with me. It began to glow brighter as the light magic became flexible enough to shift with my body. I became taller as my exposed wings and tail were open to the air again. The changes in my personality felt less drastic over time as some of the confidence I used to gain became the norm for me. My true form wasn't that different from my regular one really, mostly just larger and slightly more voluptuous.

Corrine took a few steps back as I grew so that she could get a better look at me. Her eyes traveled across my armor as it also shifted and refitted itself over my new proportions. The glow began to fade as it settled into a more opaque look that I achieved after experimenting with the former spell I had gained. It had been tricky to relearn, but I had been really motivated by how useful it was as soon as I originally unlocked it. My wings stretched out behind me, feeling nice in the cool breeze now that they were free again. My tail flicked and coiled as I stretched that as well. I haven't been hiding either as often, even in my smaller form, so it felt nice to have them free again.

"Is the armor part of you as well?" she asked, a bit shocked by the extent of my transformation.

I shook my head. "No. The armor is a useful spell I learned shortly before system's end."

Her eyes shot back up to my face. "You are still able to use magic after system's end?!"

Oh. I had forgotten that we may be in a bit of a unique position because of Morrigan's wild magic and my ritual magic. It should have been obvious that magic use would be a lot rarer than it was now, but it hadn't occurred to me throughout this ordeal, since I spent so much time with Morrigan. They were a mixed group of priests and paladins, but their paladins might be the ones doing the actual fighting. I didn't know enough about how the Tamin church used to operate to know what their priests were capable of without even knowing the names of their deities, but perhaps they had all been magic users, rather than true clerics.

"We are," I said simply, lifting a hand and creating a simple flame in my palm to demonstrate.

Corrine sucked in a breath. "Is this something that only the succubi are now capable of? The ability to cast magic?"

I extinguished the flame. "No. With training, anyone can relearn to harness their magical aptitude again and regain most of their commonly used spells. Things you may not have used much might not be easily regained, but anything that you used often shouldn't be too difficult to learn again. Learning new magic is a bit more complicated, but possible as well."

"And we will be able to learn these secrets once we join your city?" she asked almost desperately. This had been the greatest show of emotion she had shown since we began interacting. My magic had overshadowed any of my shapeshifting abilities, and now that I'm actually thinking about it, it made sense. In a way, system's end robbed their casters of their identities and usefulness among their peers. Revealing that we learned how to use magic despite that must have been more of a shock than I really considered. I would need to be a bit more careful about revealing this information to people outside our town in the future.

"Morrigan, one of my partners, is in the process of reteaching magic to everyone again. Your people will be able to join them, provided they help protect the city and assist with our efforts farming outside the walls where they can. We can talk about it in more detail later, but as long as your people pull their own weight, joining the magic classes won't be a problem," I said.

"That is good news. We had already agreed to join your city, of course, but I think this will improve morale quite a bit, especially among the other former priests," she said. She was now smiling. It didn't look odd exactly, but I had never seen this woman smile much.

"Right. You should know that we also intend to split your people up a little once you're in the city. There are concerns that your people may attempt to take over part of the city and remain insular, so it'll be important that you integrate with the other soldiers and general populace," I explained.

Her brow furrowed. "Soldiers... not guards?"

I nodded. "There'll be more time to explain later, but for now, we should get ready to return to the city. The forest becomes more dangerous at night when the demons are more active."

"Of course," she said with a nod, quickly slipping back into the stoic attitude she showed earlier. "Give us a bell to finish packing up our camp, and we'll return with you."

I walked back over to my friends and summarized my conversation with Corrine while she was busy organizing the priests and paladins to get ready to move. Even from a distance, Corrine's mood had improved a lot, and it seemed infectious, judging by how many of the people she spoke with reacted. I emphasized how surprised Corrine had been at our ability to use magic.

Morrigan crossed her arms and furrowed her brow. "Wild mages are rare, but I thought that they would be common enough that what we're doing in Traehall wouldn't be too out of the ordinary. I can't imagine I'm the only one who was able to get people back on track with their magic."

Torien tapped a finger against the handle of her bow. "There were lots of riots and chaos after system's end. It's possible that some of the wild mages were lost in the fighting."

"Or they're hoarding their newfound power," Cecilia said. When I turned to her, she must have took it as a sign to elaborate, because she continued, "After system's end, magic just stopped working for most mages, and now wild mages who were looked down on as inferior, suddenly have all the power. There are definitely some that would take advantage of the situation to lord it over everyone else."

Torien shrugged. "It's possible. I think most who learned wild casting did it as a scholarly pursuit though, so it might just be because the various libraries of Sorsette are in disarray. I have no idea what is happening to her libraries. Nothing like this has ever happened before. When Erimikai was killed, his temples didn't operate as anything but military training yards and were quickly dismantled by the opposing paladins."

"If our city has a uniquely strong grasp of magic, wouldn't that make us a military power that not many others could challenge?" Cecilia asked cautiously. "I don't even think the elves would be immune from the setback of losing the system if they weren't able to relearn how to use magic from wild mages."

Morrigan shook her head. "If we're the only ones who could use magic, we should share that knowledge. Knowledge isn't meant to be horded."

"You're forgetting that is a teaching of Sorsette, and she was killed for that belief," Torien pointed out. Morrigan gave her sister an angry look, but didn't argue.

("I think that any advantage we have will be limited by time.") Lori was sitting in a tree overlooking the ex-Tamin camp, joining the conversation through the bond. ("Even without wild mages, enough of the information is out there in Sorsette's libraries that someone will learn how to cast again eventually. It could be someone who takes the knowledge from the libraries by force, or the former followers of Sorsette themselves who figures it out and hoards it. They don't exactly have a goddess to scold them for hording knowledge anymore. It might even be necessary for them to protect their libraries. There were already some places where the libraries weren't very welcome by the land's rulers. It might be wise to get what we can out of our advantage now, before the information spreads enough that it won't be unique anymore.")

Morrigan sighed. "I don't like the idea of withholding our knowledge of magic from people, but I can see how it might be necessary to protect Traehall."

"I'll bring this up to the council. I think we underestimated how quickly other places would be able to relearn magic. It seems my favorite wild mage is a bit more impressive than we already thought," I said, teasing her.

Morrigan blushed and looked away shyly.

I scratched the base of my horn and looked down the road that eventually led to Goldenhearth. "We haven't announced our intention to go independent from Torlimal yet. I think this would make good leverage to make a clean break without risking a war over it. Eastern Torlimal is in a weakened position right now. We might be able to share what we know about magic to negotiate for our independence while maintaining an alliance with them."

"It would be important to loop the elves into the deal, or they might decide to take us over themselves," Cecilia added.

"That's a bit more hostile toward the elves than I thought you would be," I pointed out.

Cecilia pursed her lips. "Trust me, as someone who grew up in elven lands, that they are not as nice as they seem. As much as they like to project a kind and even-tempered nature, the elves are not perfect, and the queen is shrewd and calculating. It's better that they view us as friends, because they make for difficult enemies. We found out that the Cult of Amphores was trying to start a civil war, but the elves were happy to step in and help it play out the moment the option became available."

"I suspected as much," I agreed.

Cecilia turned her head in mild surprise. "I hadn't expected that reaction from you. I thought you had a purely good view of the elves from our interactions so far."

"I think they make good allies, but my dealings with Feylaria Winethorn and Routil Tangleleaf made me suspicious of them. I also hadn't forgotten that Tarklin originally sent you to spy on me. I chose to work with them because I believe our goals were aligned, not because I trust them implicitly. I do have a good opinion of the elves, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't operate under the belief that they won't stab us in the back if the situation calls for it," I said.

Cecilia nodded. "Right, which is why I think it might be important to approach Eastern Torlimal and the Northern Greens if there is any discussion of sharing around magic information."

I nodded, then gave Cecilia a long look. "There's also Fellia Winethorn. It hasn't escaped my notice that she doesn't seem to have any intention of returning to the Northern Greens despite everyone thinking she had been murdered. There's more to that story that she hasn't told me, but it might be necessary to hear it if I'm going to be dealing with the elves again."

Cecilia frowned. "I'll... talk to her about it. It's not my story to tell."

"I understand," I said with a nod. "We have some more pressing matters anyway." I waved toward the half-disassembled camp that the former Tamin priests and paladins were working on taking apart.