The local rabbits know which side their bread is buttered on, and you barely have to bare your claws or steel to keep yourself fed. Recently, though, the number of locals in their burrows at night have diminished. You swear you hear more activity in the forest than usual. More footfalls, ominous chanting, and eerie green glowing than you usually expect from the Vagabond.
But you're a mere foot (paw?) soldier. You're certainly not being paid enough to start poking around in the scary woods at night.
You retire to the burrow you've claimed as yours. There's a lot of books and pots and pans and stuff. The previous owner probably didn't make out too well during the initial occupation. You're helping yourself to their torches and tea when you hear the doorknob turn. You reach for your sword, but you hung it up by your coat. The door creaks open, and a pair of hooded figures spring in. The breeze from the door blows out the torch. You're tackled to the ground, blinded until your eyes adjust to the dark.
The figures communicate in quick, alien whispers. They shove something over your head. Something hard and light, like wood or bone, with holes for your ears to poke through.
You can hear one of them banging around in the kitchen and dragging a big, heavy pot out. It lands on your chest, and then the figure sits in it to press you to the ground. The other starts hissing and whispering in your ear. It's all nonsense at first, the same inscrutable lizardtongue you hear when you crush the lizards and their gardens. You've heard lizards curse the Marquis's name in it, and you've heard them ordering each other around in it, but this is the first time you've heard it so intimately.
Something unlocks in your brain. Your breaths stutter, then deepen. The words start to make sense. A lot of sense. Words about a powerful dragon god and the beautiful peace She will bring to the forest. How all will be harmoniously united under Her welcoming wings. The same words twist your tongue, and the conversation flows through the vessel of your body.
The weight on your chest vanishes. You are rewarded with your robes and your hood.
Your eyes, rimmed with glorious green, adjust to the light. The brothers and sisters who welcomed you into Her blessing are bunnyfolk, their ears poking through the eye holes of the skulls they wear. Just like yours.
The next day, there's a beautiful garden in the village. The bunnies are much happier. And so are you. And soon, so will everyone.
]]>"Baroda."
"Baroda."
Droning chants echo from inside the immaculate marble building. Its mighty pillars stretch into the sky. Long flags frame the huge mahogany doors, each featuring a stylized version of the snake goddess herself.
You push the door open. The chanting grows louder. The walls are lined with countless potions of every color in every shape of bottle. Some of them bubble and fizz, some of them swirl and shift, and some of them simply lie in wait.
"Greetingsss!" A hooded cultist hisses to you.
"What bringss you in? Looking for a boost? A new love life? Perhaps a new life altogether?" Their cold, scaly hand rests on your shoulder. "Or something more fulfilling? We're always looking for new memberss."
You ask about the chanting. They smile and lead you past the shelves.
The chanting grows louder.
"BARODA!"
"BARODA!"
"BARODA!"
You walk into a mighty cathedral. Dozens of identical robed cultists bow to one gorgeous, golden goddess. She waves her hands, drawing motes of essence from their willing bodies.
Snippets of their lives. Personality traits. Physical strength and speed. All plucked out to be processed into potions. You're nudged towards the front. You catch Baroda's gaze.
"What have we here~?" She hisses, slinking down the aisle.
Baroda takes your chin and cranes your neck up so you can only look into her eyes. "What have we here? A new cultissst?" A smile creeps onto her face. "I suppose I could keep you around my bed once we've plucked out everything useful. You're cute, at leassst~"
You're brought to the front of the room and offered to Baroda. You gaze slack-jawed into her eyes while your clothes slip off your body. She plucks lovely little orbs from inside you. Silly memories you didn't need anyways, right? She'll replace them with pleasure and obedience.
Soon, you're so pulled apart, you're more bliss than person. You've stained your nice, new robes with your dripping, and Baroda whispers one more command in your ear.
"Sssssleeep."
You wake up as one of the many robed figures in her bed. A far cry from the elegant robes adorning the snake goddess you fell in love with, she's wearing a sweatshirt and holding someone's youthful exuberance with her free hand.
She pets you on the head. "Worship quietly, okay? It'ss my day off, and I have to go to the bank."
]]>