The Ballad of Adler Young, Canto 2.5

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SpoilerPictures! https://adleryoung.tumblr.com and https://www.patreon.com/posts/53703542

>Adler: Burnside will be fine. You actually like her better this way.
>Rebecca: Continue poking Burnside and trying to reboot her. Wonder if you can get away with giving her a more witchy(gothy) makeover.

"I'm sure she will be fine," I stated breezily, with a quick glance at Burnside. "In fact she's much better this way."

"I dunno," Rebecca murmured as she poked Burnside with her finger. The raccoon did not respond, just continued staring blankly forward. "It seems kinda creepy. Do you think she'd mind if I gave her a makeover? I need to stay in practice, and honestly with the dull look she's sporting I think I would be catatonic too."

"Go for it," I shrugged, turning back to Vernier.

"As I was saying, I need to portray myself in a way that has a broader appeal," I explained to the lovely skunk femme. "I'm having Lysander spread stories about a few of my better exploits, which is a good start, but I still need a network of followers that will act as agents and spies. From what I've seen, lowfolk never do anything without getting something in return. My supply of gold is not infinite."

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"You may not have to pay them with money," Vernier suggested. "If you do it right, you will only have to give rewards rarely if at all. There's an old proverb: 'Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, promise a man a fish tomorrow and he will follow you forever.' If you promise them that they might get something, you won't have to shell out cash and you won't technically be lying. I know how you elves are obsessed with truthfulness."

"Interesting," I muttered. "However ... First of all, I'm pretty sure that's not how the proverb goes. Secondly, it sounds kind of Unseelie to rip people off like that. It's too much like something Lysander would do. Hmmm... Promising rewards for services rendered might work, but what do I have to offer that I won't run out of?"

"I will probably regret mentioning this," Vernier sighed, "but your Orgasmic Touch would be reward enough for a lot of people. For those who are too prudish or too greedy to be satisfied with that, well, you make really good stew and you have miraculous magical powers. Is it true that Oak Marten used to be a boy? Granting wishes is the kind of thing that would induce people to seek you out. In addition to offering rewards for faithful service, you could also threaten punishments for those who cross you. There's already a local legend about how you cursed one of the rabbits with an eternal mullet, and turned another into a poodle."

"The poodle was my dad," Rebecca interrupted proudly. "He got better, but he still barks sometimes when he's excited."

>Rebecca: Burnside's makeover is going wonderfully. It's nice when the subject isn't complaining about your overuse of black.
>Burnside: You are still frozen in place, completely motionless.

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I turned to say something to the rabbit girl, but was struck speechless when I saw what she had done to Burnside.

"This is turning out pretty good, don't you think?" Rebecca giggled excitedly. "She looked scary before, but now she's going to look scary and HOT. It's nice to work on somebody who doesn't squirm or complain that I'm using too much black."