Why are you special?

I don't use the time clones for now, instead limiting the buffs I apply to David to just a caster level of twenty using the Strand of Prayer Beads with the Bead of Karma to fill the gap (which has been getting progressively smaller: I'm up to nine base, one from the Orange Prism Ioun Stone, one from the Create Magic Tattoo spell, and five from Suffer The Flesh for a 'normal' caster level of sixteen; the Bead of Karma adds four more once a day for ten minutes, Spell Enhancer gives me two more on-demand, and of course Wild Arcana gives two more when I'm casting that way and don't need metamagic).  And, of course, David is lacking my synergistic class features… well, OK, he has no class features at all, just his Dragon hit dice, skills, and spellcasting … but even so, when I'm done, he's very hard to hit, hits very hard (and accurately), has very good saves for what little he isn't immune to, has a host of immunities, a host of senses, a host of movement modes, is very fast, and of course has his spellcasting and skills (which are further enhanced), and ageless (there's a third party spell for it: One With the Cosmos). I also flag him for my Soul Vault.

David is now a very high end immortal… as long as he stays on my good side… which isn't hard. And of course, he's very hard to kill, and is a pretty good stand in for me... which is the practical point from my perspective.

And I like his looks. Does that make me a narcissist?

When I'm done buffing David up, he takes a moment to consider me, and asks a very valid question, "Are you the goddess of magic or something? You spend magic like it's water, I can't identify a single spell you're casting, effects that should only last a short time seem to last forever when you do them, and you don't leave a magical aura. Who and what are you, really?"

I chuckle, "I need a new name, as I'm being hunted anyway… what do you think I should be called? And… while I can do a lot of the things associated with deities, and it would certainly be a useful rumor for me… it's not currently true. What I actually am… is the champion of The Comforter of Souls."

David nods, "I'll need to think about a name, then… I've met - and even fought - a few Divine Champions… but I haven't heard that title before. What is that deity's role?"

I almost feel like I'm quoting again… "When bodies are too worn out or broken to continue, he frees the souls from the corpses so that they may rejoin the cycle of souls and be born anew."

David thinks for a moment, "That's a much gentler take on … that particular Lord of Creation … than I've ever heard. I can work with it. I didn't think he made champions, though."

I sigh, "He's made quite a few. It's just that his direct counterpart has… very strong incorrect reasons to hate her brother, became very skilled at manipulating her people to do what she wanted, raised a champion that was very good at killing, and set them all on a long-running campaign of suppression… and she was much better at that game than that gentle guy."

David furrows his brow, "I guess that explains a few things about The First Mother's teachings… you're using past tense, though…."

I give David another grin, "Their Father put a finger on the scales, and things are tipping. The First Mother's Champion renounced her, and is currently in the early stages of being rewritten," literally, even, "and I have some thoughts on patching up the two kids' relationship. Don't know if it'll work, though; she might be too far gone… but if nobody tries for a better outcome, then there won't ever be one, will there? I have some hoops I need to go through before I can try that, though…" namely, I can only fit so many copies of me in the thirty foot range limit of the Coven hex, so I can't manage the caster level of three hundred or so I'll need for a True Resurrection spell… which means I need to get the Spheres of Power Supreme Resurrection advanced talent, which does the same thing but doesn't have a time limit… but I don't qualify for it myself until about 18th level.  There's tricks, though….

David blinks at me, "Their fath… HE is involved? HIM?!" David takes a breath, and continues, "OK, so… normally I would say you are insane to think you have a chance to patch pantheon problems, but if HE is involved… well, the rules of common sense don't apply. So… if you have HIS blessing… and I do believe you do…"

David kneels before me, "Then my body, my life, and my very soul are in your service for as long as thou hast need of me."

I pause, reach down, and grab his hand, "Stand up. Unquestioning servants who will do as I say are easy to come by; I can have as many of those as I want, quite quickly.  Actual people, who will tell me when I'm being stupid or foolish, and are able to slowly explain to get it through my thick skull? That's harder to come by, and better in all ways. Loyalty is good, and I'll certainly take that… but do question, all right?"

David stands up, and looks directly into my eyes… hmm… "You have a strange way of thinking… but I think I like it."

I smile, "Good. Now, as for what you can actually do…" we spend some time going over his spells… several of them are permanently redundant with the spells I placed on him (Alter Self doesn't matter when Shapechange is always active, for example, and Transformation is a particularly useless spell in his case - he already has great saves, full base attack bonus, enhancement to stats… and the bonus to fort saves really isn't worth losing spellcasting)... and he doesn't know his own feats, there's just things he knows how to do. Great… I'll need to leave updating his feats for when I have a way to read them.

Still… Psychic Reformation lets me update his spells known after I give him the names of the spells to use. Nothing too fancy, really; we trade Alter Self for Web (it’s a nice Reflex save or stuck), Transformation for Greater Dispel Magic (because stripping other people of their buff spells is handy), Seamantle for Greater Possession (it’s a very nice way to take an opponent out, especially if they're in command), and a few other swaps.

David stares at me, "You can edit people, beyond just memory manipulation."

Well… "Technically that one lets you edit yourself. But if I added some mind control… yes, I can edit folks within certain limits," I can't change class levels until I hit 13th… but I do have a trick planned for that sooner; still stuck with the current number of levels at that time, however… well, unless we look at the Savage Species rituals for race and class changes… those could work… huh, what would the check be to turn David back into his Great Wyrm self… I'll want to look that up when next I'm in Death’s office. He’s got the hit dice for it, and Wish just had a chance of failure on a per-ability basis based on a Spellcraft check… I can probably ace that taking ten.  Or can I just ask?

David shakes his head, "Maybe, but… wow that could shortcut army training… make advisors much more specialized… there’s very little that ability can't improve."

Ah, right. Brine Dragons are described as conquerors and rulers by nature… might be a bad idea to put him back, then… but I should still check with The Comforter of Souls at some point… I should start getting used to Death’s new title myself. "Well… I've no interest in ruling a country…" although now that I can mass manufacture permanent time clones, it would probably be simple enough to do, as I can be everywhere at once, "... so I haven't really thought about it from that perspective. Ruling over others isn't exactly always great for personal survival."

David pauses, "As I suppose I found out, didn't I? Still… I'd have been counted a failure if I hadn't.  Hmm.…" David seems to get lost in thought.

Yeah… I can’t help much when it's your priorities in conflict, "But just because I don't want to rule myself doesn't mean I object to the concept of ruling; there does need to be someone managing conflicts, making sure laws are appropriate and appropriately enforced, guiding resource usage, and so on. And as I don't want the job, I'm going to have to pawn it off on somebody whenever I end up displacing a ruler somewhere… may as well be someone who appreciates it, no?"

David smiles, "I will cheerfully steward countries on your behalf."

I thought you would, yes, "I'll keep that in mind… for now, though, I have someone I need to rewrite. You have Plane Shift, and the purpose for which I built this place is done… but it won't expire by itself. So… it’s yours," I Fabricate the appropriate Plane Shift focus, and hand it over.

David looks at me, and then the tuning fork in his hands, "Thank you."

I smile, "Happy to help. But I really must be going."

David waves, "Take care."

I then use Greater Plane Shift to show up by my ice sculpture.