21) Dominion [ Now the place just had to be somewhere below a tavern ]

  Could I adopt the Ratling? Make them part of my race so they could get classes?

  Give the Unity, and the Unnamed God more work…

  I checked, and the question at least made Unity smile before she shook her head.

  So I could make the Ratling safe in my Domain by taking all the Chaos in my Domain myself, and make them inhabitants of my Domain. My Domain, which is now associated with Purity, another God, and a type of magic.

  Can I do anything with that? “Unity?” I explained.

  The Liaison shook her head again. “They would be very healthy, but Chaos always finds a way pass anything set up to defend against it, except for the direct power of the Gods to use it for their own purposes.”

  My Core is blind outside of my Domain, because I am my own Domain as much as I am my Core. If I bind someone to me, as a Domain, then they are a part of me as well, aren't they?

  Even if I can’t adopt them as members of the Living Core race, can’t I bind them as part of myself?

  Me, my Domain, and its parts.

  “All right Unity, what about this? Give me a power for gaining Merit points from the Denizens of my Domain as extensions of my Domain. If my Summons can leave my Domain, then my Class powers should be able to extend past the outer edges of my Domain. Therefore, my Denizens should be able to do so, without stopping from being Denizens.”

  “Right?”

  My Liaison's eyes closed as she became lost in thought, then opened again.

  This time, her eyes were blank white orbs as Unity stared straight forward. “Fell. You could gain a class power that would keep your Denizens linked to your Domain by linking them to your Core by way of your Domain.”

  The Liaison's wings twitched, “But this ability would do very little for you since it would give you no Dominion over these Agents. And you would be limited to only being able to maintain your connection to them at a distance in feet equal to three times your Spirit Score beyond the border of your Domain, the same as your Summons. You need to push it for this ability to do more for you.”

  Was that the limit to how far I could send my Summons? I think I had known that, but it had never been much of an issue.

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  But, if I could make the creatures like the Ratling, who were separate beings from my act like extensions of my Domain by way of me being a Living Core through my class…

  “What if I bound some of my Magic to a Denizen. The same way some of my Magic gets tied up into my Summoned creatures.”

  Not that I wanted to tie up a bunch of my Magic into the Ratling, but hey, I was just throwing out ideas here.

  Unity slowly closed her eyes. “While you could not Summon them to you like Viola, or call them up again if they are slain, you can mark them with your Magic and tie them through your Class to your Domain. But you would not be able to pull your Magic from them unless they were in the reach of your Magic.”

  Unity blinked, then her eyes and expression returned to normal. “But your Magic will fade from them if they stay outside your Domain for too long, based on how long it takes for it to drain out. Does this seem worth taking as your seventh Level Ability Fell?”

  Does it?

  This would give me something to offer the Ratling, which should make them stop being a danger to me. But only for the moment. They would stop them from becoming Beasts by absorbing Chaos until they developed a Core, but they would be stuck having to stick close to me, or return every day or two. The Ratling would be dependent on me for the rest of their lives.

  And what would I get out of this arrangement once the immediate danger they posed to me was no longer an issue?

  I wouldn’t be able to control them like a Tamer or one of my Summons. They would be around all the time, doing all the things fleshy creatures did. Eating, defecating, making messes... Wanting things from me.

  ...Suddenly, I felt like I might understand my God, the God of Indifference, a little bit more.

  And it wasn’t like they could fight for me. One death and they were gone, and they weren't even that tough. A typical Rankless, Coreless Ratling was a tiny, scrawny thing without even any special powers.

  How was I supposed to even keep them fed?

  All in all, wasting the power I could get with another ability by taking this one would be a massive waste.

  Hrmmm… So maybe instead of asking what I would do just to keep them from becoming Beasts, I should ask myself what they could do for me?

  If I did this, I would not own them.

  But they would owe me.

  I could put them to work, send them out to explore the areas around my Core, and get information about the city above. If I had money, I could send them out to buy things for me.

  Like more Cores for Totems…

  I could have them spy on the four people I had agreed to let back into my Domain to fight my Summons.

  What if I could have them go get jobs, and then pay me for rent, I could then use to have them buy those Cores for me?

  Suddenly, this deal was sounding better and better to me. And I could not keep the Ratling waiting forever.

  “Unity. Do it. Just like we talked about.”

  My Liaison nodded, and then I remembered.

  Viola. I needed to offer her an ability to trade in an old Flower Fairy class ability for a more Domain appropriate power. And I only had the time it took for Unity to finish issuing me my new Class Ability to do so.

  Think. Think. Think…

  “Offer Viola the ability to directly feed the Denizens we bind to my Domain with Magic.”

  Unity began writing something to that effect out on a scroll even as my vision of the Tower faded away to the sight of several crumpled up sheets of paper lying on top of my Core, and further away, eight Ratlings impatiently lurking around in the outer corridor of my Domain.

  One of whom was leaning against the wall opposite my stairs, staring up at them with his one eye, and a club in his hand.

  Yes. I got something for you.

  For Viola, I got a way for her to feed her Goat without me having to spend money buying food for it, or figuring out how to get that food to my Domain.

  But right now, I had something else to deal with before I headed out to make a deal with the Ratling.

  “Blinky. Show me my notices.”