Spike the Corrupter - CYOA
Chapter 14: Sheep Cults
Previous ChapterIn the center of a Stonehenge-like circle of pillars sat a stone altar, ringed by knotted and gnarled goat horns that seemed to be growing from the ground. Sitting on top of that altar was a nude doe, a cloth gag in their mouth, their hands bound above them, and their hooves tied together. She was illuminated by naught but torches in the night.
Standing over the deer was a sheep wearing a black robe and holding a wicked blade. It wasn't the only sheep in the clearing, as dozens of others in similar robes stood around, their hands clasped in prayer. The deer screamed into her gag as the sheep raised its hands into the air, showing that under its robe it wore nothing at all save a stained layer of blood over her coat.
"My fellow Ovine! Once again we call to our master! Once again we reach into the void so that HE might hear us!" The lead cultist cried, dropping her hood to reveal the skull painted in blood on her face.
"And in that dark might he bless us!" The crowd of sheep responded in perfect unison.
"With this soul, I call to you Grogar! With this soul, I give praise to the dark!" The lead sheep raised her blade into the air. The deer started to scream even louder.
"And in that dark might he bless us!" The cultists responded once again.
The lead cultist's eyes slowly rolled back into her skull as she started to sway back and forth for a moment before with a sickening crack her head snapped to the side. Then she brought the blade down directly into the deer's throat, sawing back and forth as the sheep cultists around her chanted in a deep baritone.
Drums were beaten and horns blared as the sheep swayed back and forth in tune with their leader's sawing, licking their lips and gnashing their flat teeth as the deer gurgled and sputtered.
"AND IN THAT DARK!" The lead cultists started as the deer's blood started to rise, forming into gnashing limbs that snatched blindly at the air. With another horrific snap, the lead sheep's head snapped in the other direction as she spread her arms, the deer's head falling from her shoulders to the ground below, joining a pile of other heads. The heads of deer, minotaurs, slavers and kitsune. There was even a changeling's head amongst them, the white gem in their forehead reflecting the light of the torches.
"MIGHT HE BLESS US!" The crowd cried out in rabid enthusiasm. They balled their hands into fists and snarled their flat teeth, their fluffy little hides coated in blood and viscera from the many sacrifices that day.
The leader's laughter turned to silent screaming as she started to rise into the air, the rabid intensity of her worship not stopping for a moment. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she dropped to the ground and the blood on the altar stilled, turning back into a puddle that uselessly flowed to the ground. The cultist brought her hands up to the sides of her head and, with one last sickening crack, she righted it back to its normal position.
The sheep shuddered for a moment before she cast aside her robe, revealing her nude body to the air. With a shiver, she threw her hands to the sides. "Let it begin..." she whispered.
Even in their rabid state her worshippers heard her and cheered, before they did the same, casting aside their robes and setting upon one another... Neither of them noticed as two of their number snuck out of the circle and into the woods.
"A blood orgy?" Spike asked, his lips curled. "That's... disgusting."
He was sitting on his throne, surrounded by his three generals, with two Dragon's Concubine agents standing before him, arms crossed behind their backs. His three pets were sitting on the floor before his throne, arms wrapped around his legs. He sat there with his head propped up on his chin, humming in deep thought.
"It's what we saw, my lord," Fibula stated darkly, a grimace on her face. "Dactylus here still can't sleep after what he saw."
She turned to her boyfriend, who merely shivered. "These sheep are the actual worst, my lord."
"I'll be the judge of that," Spike said, furrowing his brow for a moment in thought. "Yeah no, they are the worst. They make the slavers I captured look like saints."
He paused looking to Ishtar. "No offense of course."
"None taken at all master," Ishtar replied with a nod.
"Still, this does breed the question of what we should do with them," Pharynx stated, crossing his arms over his chest. "If we leave them unconquered they are still going to raid our lands when we conquer the deer and minotaur for more sacrifices."
Ishtar shrugged. "Not that that's too bad of course. No offense master but I don't see much benefit to conquering the sheep, they are just blood-obsessed maniacs after all, there isn't much benefit to claiming them."
Pharynx nodded turning to Fibula and Dactylus. "Agents. How many sheep would you say there were in the cult, total."
"A couple hundred of them master. The sheep community is extremely small and tribalistic, I doubt there are more than two or three hundred of them in total." Fibula responded with a nod.
Pharynx nodded. "Well, I personally see two options master, if I may present them to you."
Spike nodded. "Go ahead, it's what I enslaved you for."
Pharynx cleared his throat. "First option is, we march in there and white gem the sheep. They wouldn't put up much of a fight with how few of them there are and it's the easiest option. However, since the white gems don't change the personality of the enslaved they will likely continue to do their blood sacrifices which would both damage your reputation and leave a permanent drain on your empire's resources as you have to continuously provide them creatures to sacrifice. Or their gems might break and they will rebel. We can circumvent that of course by sticking them at the far corners of our empire away from all population centers and using them as disposable canon fodder until such a time as they are willing to stop being so fucked up."
Spike nodded, humming. "Right and option number two?"
"We march in and wipe them all out," Ishtar replied with a smirk. "There really isn't much benefit to them, and killing them all would probably increase our standing in the global community. Nobody likes blood cultists. The slavers hate them, the deer hate them. Even Minos thinks they are in bad taste."
Suddenly, Pharynx stiffened up and burst into flames. Domination stood in his place when the fire dimmed down.
"Of course, you could also purple gem them all, though this will be a more strenuous process for you in the long run." Domination said simply, cocking his head to the side. "Though they are rather... extremely evil, the sheep do have some use in the form of their blood magic, which we could possibly find a way to harness without all of the sacrifices and murder. Of course, purple gemming all of them and changing their personalities to be somewhat less bloodthirsty will be a pain..."
Finally, Punishment spoke up in Spike's head, a deep hiss to his tone. "Of course, there is one additional option you aren't thinking of. Red gem them. Red gem them all and keep them as pets for your subjects." Punishment laughed, causing Domination to roll his crystalline eyes. "Why, white gemming them just leaves them as a future potential threat, and purple gemming them all is so much work! And the alternative to that is to just murder them all, how does that make you any less evil? Red gem them. That way they are harmless and still alive with minimal effort on your part. The best of all worlds."
Domination cleared his throat after Punishment finished speaking. "Anyway the cookie crumbles Spike, we can't leave the sheep unconquered. I support you no matter the decision, these sheep are far too cruel for my liking."
Spike nodded and hummed slightly, considering the advice of his generals.