Well at Least I’m a Magic Pirate Now

Erastus 5, Morning

“These men died giving it their all, fighting tooth and nail to live. Each and every one of them gave as good as they got, and nothing is going to take that away from them. We’re alive because they fought for us. They earned a spot in Besmara’s fleet, I’d say. Who’ll drink to that?”

Cog held up a bottle of brandy, stolen from the ship’s stores, as he finished the eulogy. A dozen men, exhausted from burying their fellows, cheered their agreement. Half of them were showing early symptoms of ghoul fever, no one got enough sleep, and the smoke from the burning forest stung all our eyes. Despite all of that, no one questioned the importance of giving the dead their due. Not just because it was moral; this was a world where the dead might get pissed if you didn’t treat them right.

I’d asked Cog to say a few words, as a lay priest of Pharasma. Sandara probably would have done just as well, but it seemed best to invoke the god that was closest to my current situation. He’d been a good choice, remembering the names of every single man who’d died and calling up the person who knew them best to speak on their behalf.

Aretta Bansion had a son in Oyster Cay. Giffer Tibbs had been on an amateur Ruk team in Slipcove, whatever Ruk was. Jack Scrimshaw was sweet on a girl who lived in Shenchu Bay. Everyone got a few minutes of recognition before we placed them each in their own graves. I felt awful when nobody knew a damn thing about Old Man Bones, not even his real name. He’d been quiet, and didn’t talk to anyone. I’d never spoken to him, but he’d done his best to hold the line.

The Esobok, which had gorged itself all night on ghoul flesh, let out a low whistling noise as each body was laid down. As it did, the air around it shimmered faintly. By the tenth person, I could make out humanoid figures gathering around the psychopomp. Dozens of them, maybe hundreds. Far more than we’d brought to shore. As we all drank to the fallen, the beast looked directly at me, then vanished. As it did, the shadows faded.

I technically only asked it to kill Blackteeth. Did it stay to carry the souls away? If so, more power to it. 

The men passed around a few bottles, happy to be alive. They had the opportunity to rest. I didn’t. I wrote down every name and hometown of the dead; I had a debt to these poor bastards. It would be vastly easier to pour one out for the fallen, but they’d been entitled to a share of the loot. I was going to make sure that their families knew they weren’t coming home, and got their last paycheck. Anything less made me feel dirty.

••••••••••

Erastus 5, noon

I tried my best to repair Yael’s dress with mending, but she didn’t seem too put out about it. I supposed that it had been a free gift, not something she’d gotten overly attached to.

“Don’t fret, Captain,” Yael said comfortingly, “I have been furnished with stories to tell, and enough gold to commission a few new outfits of my own. It was quite an exciting adventure.”

“Really?” I asked, “I certainly wouldn’t call it boring, but I was a little worried you would be upset I put you in danger.”

“Danger is a reality I was raised to accept.” She answered, cocking her head to the side. “I have trained all my life to fight on behalf of my inferiors. Shethalliahaya would collapse without the smallfolk, and my home plane is no place for the weak to go without protection.”

“So… Would you be offended if I called on you again?” I asked cautiously.

“I would be more disappointed if you did not.” She answered in her hollow, echoing voice. “I gained more field experience than I could have reasonably hoped for, and it was quite nice to see the sun. You may call upon me any time, so long as you are prepared to pay my price. Perhaps, when I have more pressing duties, I shall ask you to summon me no longer. Now, however, I would be happy to engage in some occasional excitement. Finishing school is so dull.”

“You’re still in school?” I asked, confused. “How old are you?”

“We don’t use the same calendar as you, but I suspect I am not much older than you.” She said, “you elves live for nearly as long as Shae, no? Regardless, this is my first time leaving Shethalliahaya.”

“Am I likely to offend the people of your city if I do?” I asked nervously, not even trying to pronounce the mouthful of a name, “I mean, if you die here you’ll actually be dead.”

“Then make sure I don’t die.” She laughed in her echoing, unsettling way. “Father would surely seek vengeance upon you if such a thing came to pass.”

“Great.” I said with a sigh. “Well, you can stay until the magic releases you, or I can send you back now. You’ve been a real life saver.”

Yael removed her mask and leaned forward, kissing me on the cheek. Her lips were soft, but painfully cold. The point of contact ached like a bee sting when she pulled away. (1 nonlethal cold damage) She replaced her mask.

“Now you may send me home, good captain.” Yael said, “I have days of coursework I must address, and my tutors will be very cross. Pray give me a few weeks at least before you call upon me again, and perhaps summon me in advance so I might prepare.”

“I’ll do what I can.” I promised, "I look forward to it.”

I dismissed the shae with a wave of my hand. Briefly I wondered if the Netherworld would be a good place to flee, should the Shackles prove inhospitable in the long run. It would perhaps be wise to cultivate this relationship.

We just got a ship and that girl caused us physical pain to touch. Calm down, bud. I’m thinking we should summon a Silvanshee and an elemental for transit, and have Litorias fly around hunting ghouls? Too many sick to bring them all on foot. 

••••••••••

Erastus 5, Evening

The healthy members of the crew huddled around a small table, hunched over a map of the island. Sosima had sketched out what she knew, and I’d added a few notes. There were only a handful of us in any state to scheme, even after Sandara sent along some of the healthy or recovering crew: Me, Sandara, Cog, Sosima, Jape, Narwhal, and Rattsberger. Everyone else was busy.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/bonewrack-isle-108365834

“Syl says it might take a few weeks for everyone to get the ghoul fever out of their systems, and Rowe’ll take a few days to plug the hole in the hull. I don’t particularly want to waste it all getting drunk on conjured grog.” I explained, “So I figure, since we’ve got a while left before we can leave, we might be able to make some money out of this whole mess.”

“Alright.” Cog said. “I’m listening. So… logging?”

“We could, but I’m not sure if that’d make us all that much money for the amount of effort involved.” I answered. “It’s a relatively safe option once the fires die down, but after the last few days I’m pretty sure we are the hardest fuckers that have ever been on this damn island. I was thinking Sosima might lead a few Salvage teams to the sunken ships, but I had one other idea I wanted to try first. Anyone here know how much ankheg shells sell for?”

“Depends on how intact it is. It can range from 50 to 750 gold pieces to an armorer, though unless you can kill it with poison, leaving it basically pristine, you’re probably looking at about two to three hundred.” Cog said, as if he hadn’t been grasping at straws just moments before. “That said, if you really want to make money you sell the eggs. They lay clutches of three to four eggs that stay in the shell for almost a year and can be tamed with proper treatment. There’s a guy in M’Gange cove that buys them for 300 gold each. He milks them for acid and harvests the hide when they reach maturity. Apparently they get territorial if you let them breed. They are a bit prone to spraying acid when spooked, so they never really caught on with human communities, but I hear goblins and lizardfolk sometimes keep them as mounts or beasts of burden.”

Sosima Appraise 10+1=11

Cog Appraise 20+5=25 Critical success. Additional information provided. 

Sandara Appraise 12+0=12

We all stared at Cog for a few moments.

“What?” He said defensively. “I read a book about them once.”

“It’s good information to have, but I’m not sure if my plan will give us an opportunity to act on it.” I hedged. “There’s quite a difference between drawing one out and killing it, and tracking down its nest. Once the elemental finishes ferrying the sick to Ivey’s cabin, I’ll take a few of the best shots with me to hunt one of these buggers. Sima, Cog, would you mind watching the ship while I’m away? I’d prefer nobody get into close quarters with these things.”

“By the gods don’t do anything too reckless,” Cog sighed. “If you die, the fallout is going to be awful.”

“Sima?” Sosima asked with a smirk.

••••••••••

Erastus 5, night

I’d invited Sosima to join me in my new room that night, and not just for the most obvious reason. Plugg had quite a few possessions neatly sorted and tucked away, and I figured a Chelish noblewoman would be able to identify more of it than I could. Besides, for the first time in days I could spare spell slots on Keep Watch and I wanted to get to know Sosima a bit better.

“I don’t know if this will shock you or not, but your former captain is an eminently boring man.” Sosima said, running her fingers across his bookshelf. “Most of the books I recognize are historical texts; half of them are about political philosophy, or ship building. A few biographies mixed in here and there, but I don’t know why someone would need two about Aspex the Even-Tongued.”

Is it a bad sign that sounds like it could be interesting reading? I’m gonna be here for a while, might as well brush up on local history and culture. 

Sosima hadn’t bothered putting much on after the night’s festivities, and her chemise clung to her in some very interesting ways. The fact that the thin garment was inherited from a fallen comrade that was both shorter and smaller in the chest probably had something to do with it. There was a small kettle in Plugg’s sea chest with a large box of Night Tea, which as far as I could tell was the equivalent of a man keeping an entire crate of condoms on hand.

“You said most.” I said, “What are the exceptions?”

“Technical manuals about binding, mostly.” She said dismissively. “Textbooks and bestiaries for the Not. Not a single novel or damn line of poetry in sight.”

She pulled one of the unlabeled books, flipped it open to a random page, and sighed.

“It’s from the Thrune Archive, but it’s still more of the same.” She huffed. “A tedious collection of known and established spirits, only these ones are forbidden. Most forbidden spirits are forbidden because they are bloody useless! Like this one, it’s essentially just an exceptionally powerful ravager spirit. It’ll possess the summoner, try to cause an incursion, and likely create mass hysteria until the pact ends. Why would anyone want that?”

Terror weapon? I don’t know what a ravager incursion is but it doesn’t sound like a fun time for all. 

“We should probably be glad he had an interest in forbidden spirits.” I reminded her. “You in particular.”

“Oh yes, Vishgurv is of course an unfairly maligned gem.” She said quickly. “But he’s the exception, I’m sure.”

I slowly lost interest as I rifled through his mail; mostly exchanges with school friends still in Cheliax. Lots of gossip about people I didn’t know, and veiled references to events I didn’t have context for. Sosima wasn’t much help.

“I’m unstuck from time, Emrys.” She reminded me, “I died on this forsaken rock nearly a decade ago, and was outcast from polite society twelve years before that. When that bitch dispelled my disguise, precious few of Plugg’s friends were likely to be out of diapers. I recognize some of the names, but he went to school near Egorian, the capital. The few friends I still had after my species was revealed are probably hoping for grandchildren by now.”

“Sorry, it’s easy to forget.” I apologized, “You didn’t exactly look old before, and you sure as hell don’t look elderly now.”

“If it were purely a matter of biology, being a tiefling would be excellent. Long life, darkvision, resistance to heat, high chances of developing sorcery, nearly eternal youth and fertility. We miscarry disproportionately often, but other than that it’s a wonderful set of benefits.” Sosima counted off the benefits on her fingers as she spoke. “Unfortunately, being a hellspawn has social drawbacks. Would you believe that in opera, even parts specifically depicting tieflings are usually played by humans in costume?”

“Yeesh. That is kinda fucked up.” I said.

Is it like that in the Shackles too? Am I going to need to deal with race relations issues if I let her wear her tiefling illusion? 

Maybe? Most people don’t care when they see me, but that might just be lack of recognition. (Secret Knowledge: Local 6+2=8)

“Whatever happens, I’ll have your back.” I promised. “As long as I’ve got a ship, there’ll be a place for you on it.”

Sosima’s heels, worn to simulate her hooves even in bed, clicked as she stepped towards me. She pulled me in for a kiss, and I shivered as her fingers ran down my spine.

“How about we stop talking about unpleasant things?” She whispered in my ear. “That seems like a good place to leave it, and I can think of far more interesting ways to pass the time.”

••••••••••

Erastus 6, morning

When I touched down on the rocky ledge, I needed to step carefully. Sick, dazed men and women lay scattered across the ground, leaving thin paths for me to walk along. I walked to the cave, and Syl met me at the entrance. She had thick, dark bruises beneath her bloodshot eyes.

“Have you considered infecting a few people on purpose?” Syl growled, “I’d really love an excuse to have the whole ship stuffed into this cave instead of just ninety percent of it.”

She undercut her words by giving me a tight hug.

“How’d it go?” She asked quietly, “sounds like it went pretty damn well.”

“As well as could be expected.” I whispered back. “I'd have preferred fewer people dead.”

“Of course you would.” She said, pulling away. “Not many people wronged you. I hear you kept the officers alive? Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“I’d need to kill a lot more than three people to keep the story from getting out.” I explained. “It’s not worth a little gratification.”

“You’re the boss,” she said with a shrug. “You think you might be able to use that silver tongue on Ivey? He’s getting twitchy with so many people around.”

“Honestly I’m hoping I can get him to come with us.” I told her, “Poor guy doesn’t need to hide in a mountain cabin if we can get him off the island, and we could use another set of hands on the ship.”

“Good luck with that.” Syl said skeptically. “On a positive note, I think most of these poor saps are going to pull through. Most of them are in no state to work, but a few of them are stable enough to get the fuck out of my clinic.”

“Oh, are you setting up a private practice?” I teased. “I don’t think you’ll have a steady customer base for long.”

“Shame.” She answered dryly, “I guess I’ll need to go with my backup plan. Anyway, I think Rosie is in good enough shape to go to the ship next. She’s taking up a bed we might need here, and I don’t think she’s in immediate danger anymore.”

We went into the cave to pick up my halfling friend. Her hair was a rat’s nest, but she could sit up. It occurred to me that might be the character sheet at work; my party members seemed to heal much more quickly than a normal person could without magic. Alas, that didn’t extend to regrowing lost limbs.

“Hey Emrys.” Rosie croaked, “I hear I missed a few things. I’m sorry I couldn’t help.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I said. “We managed, and no one can say you were slacking. I’m sorry too; I shouldn’t have left you isolated the way I did. That’s on me.”

“Emrys.” Rosie sighed. “I appreciate it, but don’t beat yourself up over me. Seriously, you were what? A peddler for your family? I’m not expecting you to be Taldaris.”

Taldaris was the founder of Taldane, one of the greatest empires of the modern era. Cheliax started as a western province of Taldane, breaking off after the kingdom went into decline. Presumably he was a great general or something. (Knowledge History 14+1=15)

Thanks? I could guess what she meant.

“Maybe not, but I put myself in that position.” I said. “I won’t harp on it, but I think I should feel worried if I get to the point where my friends losing limbs on my watch stops upsetting me. Anyway, if you don’t mind waiting to go to the ship, I think you might be just the girl I need.”

••••••••••

I figured that my chances with Aaron would be better if I could demonstrate that the ghoul threat was mostly gone, so ankheg hunting came first. Autopilot remembered the route fairly well, so I led a B-team down the rocky path to the edge of the fields. I added Jaundiced Jape, Narwhal Tate, and Rattline Rattsberger to my party as followers, and ordered the Silvanshee and Air Elemental to follow us and keep an eye out for ghouls. Owlbear rounded out the team, mostly because hauling the Ankheg back without him would be a special kind of hell.

“These Ankhegs are scary ambush predators, yeah?” I said as we walked, “but they are also just big dumb bugs, right? If I can summon a few ponies to draw them out, we open fire with bolts. I’ll shoot ice if I can, but it’s more important to keep the bug nice and distracted.”

Once we were on the peninsula of solid rock, near the entrance to the grindylows lair, the men all loaded their crossbows and got into position. I called up a pony to canter innocently into the field, its ash grey coat and red eyes stark against the tall green and yellow grass.

This is where the grindylows used to feed these things. They should be hungry at this point. 

The giant insect burst from the soil, snatching the fiendish pony as it emerged and snapping its neck immediately. It’s dijon mustard colored exoskeleton was coated in a cloud of dark ash as the summoned pony exploded in its jaws. Me and the boys let loose, and our initial volley was much less effective than I might have hoped. As my second turn started, I went over the ankheg’s stats again to see if there would be any trouble.

28 hit points, and we did… 6. Not terrible, but I was mathematically expecting around 13.5, assuming two of us missed. I’ve got 7 spell slots for summoning, so I don’t think we are in any real danger, but I’d rather not use them all on this thing. 

Half a dozen Ankhegs arrived in the next few rounds, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Most of the creatures had the presence of mind to flee after the second round of us shooting at them, but one pair of bull Ankhegs were too busy fighting one another to appreciate the danger they were in. We managed, with a bit of luck, to down one of them.

“Alright boys, we did it.” I said with satisfaction, “Mittens, if you would be so kind?”

The silvanshee, who I was fairly certain had given me a pseudonym, coached the air elemental through the process of dragging the ankheg onto the hard stone. The exoskeleton was badly chipped and scraped in the process, but in the grand scheme of things I considered that an acceptable outcome. There was no way we were getting an intact ankheg back to the ship anyway. Hauling it back to the foot of Aaron’s retreat was bad enough.

Once it was there, I sent Mittens and the air elemental to fetch Rosie. She wasn’t technically a full party member anymore, but she still had the highest survival check of anyone I had access to. If anyone was going to skin an Ankheg successfully, it would be her. All of the rest of us helped as well as we could, compensating for her missing left arm, as she carefully removed the plates of carapace and put them on an outstretched cloth. 

“Sometimes these things would show up on the farm back home.” She explained cheerfully, “you have to clear em out quick, or you’ll definitely lose people. First time you see a fence post pushed up out of the ground, that’s when you call Raffles’ boys. They’ll take it away for free, and pay you for the shell. My brother Liam taught me how to skin one; you go for the joints here and try to keep the plates intact. The meat isn’t toxic once you drain the acid, but it tastes like shit.”

Rosie Survival 6+7+6(help)=19 basic success!

When she was done, we didn’t have a full, intact exoskeleton. Instead we had dozens of modestly sized plates. They would be much easier to carry and work with, but would probably sell for less. Thankfully, they still counted for my mission.

Acquire the exoskeleton of an ankheg

1 exp, Masterwork Ankheg Breastplate 

••••••••••

“I swear by anything you like that it’ll be worth it.” I assured Syl, leading her down to one of the broader spots on Ivey’s path. “I think this might be the best chance I have to show you something.”

“Alright.” She said skeptically, “you’ve got me for thirty minutes. Explain.”

“You know how sometimes I do things a little erratically?” I said. “Get extra focused on one thing or another, or do random little things for seemingly no reason, or pull magic items out of my ass?”

“Yes?” She said. “You also stare into the distance with a glazed look in your eyes, suddenly change topics of conversation, and I sometimes worry you’re possessed. You are not a normal person, Emrys.”

Shit. I thought I was being subtle. 

“Oh. Right. Well, all of those have a reason.” I said, feeling a prickling heat in my cheeks, “I guess you could say it’s related to how my magic works. I’ll admit I don’t fully understand how it all fits together.”

“Go on?” She prompted, crossing her arms. “I assume it’s important if you want to share it.”

“I have a voice in my head promising me rewards if I do certain things.” I said, speaking quickly so I wouldn’t stop myself. “Mostly stuff I’d have probably done anyway, like that whole thing with the Grindylows. That's how I learned how to bind outsiders. That's where I got these boots.”

“So you have some kind of patron?” She said, clearly unsettled. “Do you have any idea what it is?”

“No, but if I had to guess I’d say Besmara?” I hedged. “Most of what it asks me to do is very piratey. Steal shit, make a scene, fight, fuck, flex.”

“So you think you might be an oracle, not a sorcerer?” Syl asked, perplexed. “Or a witch, maybe?”

An oracle is a divinely inspired spellcaster cursed by the gods and invested with a fragment of their power. This is rarely with the consent of the oracle. I use arcane magic, so I’d be a very strange oracle. A witch is empowered by a patron, though generally the patron serves as a mentor through the medium of a familiar. An intelligent animal, for example. (Knowledge Arcana 7+8=15 success)

“If I am, I’m some kind of very strange one.” I said, “I don’t think most witches or oracles do this.”

I focused on my mission log, and turned in the Ankheg hunting mission.

Who will the Masterwork Ankheg Breastplate be sized to fit? Party members proficient in medium armor: Sosima, Sandara. 

Uh. Sosima. She needs heavier armor than Sandara I think. 

At my feet, a small pile of glossy black armor pieces flickered into existence, neatly stacked on top of one another. I gestured at them, prompting Syl to raise an eyebrow. She knelt down and picked up the heavy front plate, leaving the black padding, back, and skirt of overlapping plates on the ground.

“Feels organic.” She said, before narrowing her eyes with suspicion. “Is this related to you being so insistent on hunting Ankhegs while we recovered from a crisis?”

“Guilty.” I answered sheepishly. “In my defense, I was promised something big.”

“Unless this is much more impressive than it looks, I think you were swindled.” She answered, “It looks well made, I guess?”

“It’s complicated.” I told her. “I was promised a big bonus if I could finish most of the to-do list before a time limit. That is the reward for killing the ankheg. The reward for being a completionist is…”

I mentally tapped the popup.

Hero of a Thousand Stories perk unlocked. 

Reward: The reward for good work is more work- You have unlocked the Plots tab

“Oh son of a bitch!” I said, “you might have been right. I’ve been rewarded with the opportunity to do something else. Bullshit.”

“Never trust a deal that looks too good to be true.” Syl cautioned. “Even if it is Besmara, she’s a notorious bitch at heart.”

I opened the new tab, and was slapped with another popup.

Plots are clusters of linked missions with escalating rewards. They are separate from chapters, which are time sensitive and scaled to your level. Plots can be completed in any order, but typically are presented in rough order of difficulty. New plots are rare, as they represent the core narrative of your assigned story.

Active Plots:

The Free Male- Emrys M’Dair, sorcerer of Heslandaena, will never know peace for long until he resolves the threat posed to him by his own family. Rewards: Drow Perks

Rags to Riches- In the Shackles, no one gives a shit about your past. Anyone could rise up and take the throne if they are hard enough. Anyone, even you. Rewards: Political Perks 

The Unseen Menace- You are fated to clash with someone who wishes to conquer the Shackles. You might encounter them anywhere you go, especially when you are pursuing some kind of mission arc. Rewards: Nemesis Perks 

“You know what? I’m not reading all this right now.” I said with a sigh. “You may be right, Syl, but this thing hasn’t led me astray yet. I’m pretty sure we’d all be dead if it weren’t for this patron, so I’m willing to play along until it asks me to do something I don’t want to.”

“Alright. I suppose I can respect that.” Syl said grudgingly. “Forgive me if I stay skeptical.”

“Forgive?” I said with a smile, “I told you because I wanted a second opinion. There’s nothing to forgive.”

“Good; now let’s get back to the peak.” She commanded, turning on her heel, “We are going to have some long, long conversations about what this patron has asked you to do in the past, but I have patients.”

“Yeah. There is more to talk about when we have time, a lot more.” I said with a sigh. “My past is a lot more complicated than I’ve let on and I’m not really sure how to explain it yet.”

“It can wait till we are on the ship,” she said over her shoulder. “Unless you think it might put us in danger?”

“I don’t think it’ll be a problem immediately, but I can’t completely rule it out,” I admitted, “That said, I need to talk to Ivey. I’m trying to decide what to do if he refuses to come with us.”

“What, is that one of your tasks?” Syl asked as she resumed walking.

“Yeah. The reward isn’t great but it’s not useless either.” I said. “I also just don’t think he’s very happy sitting alone on top of a mountain.”

“Is that your opinion, or your justification?” Syl called back. “Best start asking yourself that question a lot.”

••••••••••

A Renegade Male - More powerful perks will be offered with each successful task

Return to the subterranean town of Heslandaena.

Ensure that the drow of Heslandaena will not attempt to control you with force or threats.

Have at least one female drow submit to your authority without active supervision

Be recognized by the Shackles Drow community as a hero, paragon, or leader.

Become the highest authority in Shackles Drow society.

Sample tier 5 Drow perk:

A Mirror Brightly: All Evil aligned residents of Heslandaena (including those on ships with Heslandaena as their home port) are affected as if by a Helm of Reverse Alignment. This may emphasize their strongest positive traits, rework toxic traits into more healthy variants, or cause them to become their own antithesis (depending on how depraved they are.)

Rags to Riches: More powerful perks will be offered with each successful task

Own a ship that is legally backed by at least one pirate lord or the Hurricane King.

Gain enough notoriety to be recognized on sight by a total stranger with no specific effort on your part.

Complete a task assigned by the High Pirate Council

Become a Pirate Lord able to speak on the High Council

Become Hurricane King

Example Tier 4 Perk:

Like Gentlemen: you may adopt a code of conduct. So long as you hold to the spirit of this code, all others who deal with you (including enemies) will need to make a will save to act counter to your code in relation to you or anyone subordinate to you.

The Unseen Menace: More powerful perks will be offered with each successful task

Discover the face and name of the enemy

Counter one of the enemy’s schemes intended to weaken the Shackles.

Destroy the infrastructure the enemy has built to facilitate work in the Shackles

Unmask and destroy one of the enemy’s most powerful allies in the Shackles

End the threat the enemy poses to the Shackles permanently.

Example Tier 3 Perk:

Ordained Hero: Gain one level of the Evangelist prestige class, a class which makes the user a blessed champion of one god of your choosing. The Evangelist’s Aligned Class class feature makes this a direct upgrade over Sorcerer with no drawbacks, save that they must broadly align themselves with the god in question.