Fiona brought her torso upright, then thought about getting off her knees before thinking better of it. “We came from the misty isles with nothing--” (Patreon)

--” “Except the powerful amulets you stole from Tabitha, Mistress of Illusion, before you left. And your scant magical power. Now that I’ve absorbed it, I know its scale. I drank deeply of your former powers and learned that combined they could barely slake the thirst of a moth. But continue…as you were saying, you crossed to the continent with nothing.”

Selena continued, “We were cold and wet from the journey when our raft came ashore. A kind family of farmers took us in, gave us food, and warmth.”

Fiona smiled, “We worked our charms on them, seduced the wife and the husband, and set them against each other. While they were fighting, we took what little of value they had, and left. After a day’s walk, we came to a town. We charmed some mercenaries we met in a tavern there, and hired them for far too little—not even a third of what we had taken from the farmers. That was the start of our army.”

Selena, still on her hands and knees, chimed in, “By the end of the night, we had taken control of that town. Everyone we couldn’t charm sat it its jails, and we recruited as many as we could.”

“We repeated the feat in two or three other small towns, before we felt we had a force that could storm the nearest castle. Between our magicks and the army we had raised, we succeeded, against all odds. The castle gave us wealth enough to buy the loyalty of our small army, and our charisma and the promise of riches spread our name far and wide. Our forces grew, and we could be more selective who was allowed in our army. We conquered dozens of towns and six cities across Almeria before coming here to Plouffe. This was to solidify our kingdoms,” Fiona said, “but now—“