Challenge #04737-L353: A Different Kind of Bull

A trio of elves are using their longevity to rig long-term investments in a rather prosperous region, pretending to be a family of knowledgeable businessmen by taking turns as son, father, and grandfather with magic guises. Needless to say, they have amassed a fortune immiserating the humans of these valleys for generations. Though if Wraithvine were to show up it seems unlikely that their scheme would go unnoticed. -- Deathshead419

It was the kind of thing only a long-lived being would notice. Dragons or fellow Elves would spot it in a mere handful of decades. Humans on the other hand, with their much shorter lifespans and near-microscopic patience, missed it completely.

To the Humans, the Ambergris 'family' looked like market geniuses who were always one step ahead of the share market. And they certainly appeared to be regular Humans, like everyone they spoke to.

Following behind them only lead to ruin. Not that that stopped people trying. Anyone with a little extra money to spend on a little gamble trailed after the Ambergris family like an eager duckling. And their investment for their children or grandchildren always wound up as... birdseed.

Only a handful of Humans were able to see it. Those born with devil horns were reviled and exiled as prophets of doom. Those who were more normal were merely reviled as lunatics, because of course this time the people following after the Ambergris 'family' were going to make it big. The investment of a lifetime was going to elevate them because this time it was going to all work out so their dreams could come true.

Wraithvine had been listening to iterations of the same circular argument all around the impoverished little town. The instant anyone got a little bit ahead, they invested in the Ambergris tips. They built their hopes on those feet of clay, and were old by the time it came crumbling down. Leaving them in ageing poverty for their remaining, reduced days.

Yet the Ambergris 'family' kept growing richer, and therefore smarter. Their wealth, their brilliance, was too large to be ignored. More and more people in this town pinned their hopes on coppers pooled to follow the Ambergris investments.

The answer was that it was all a scam.

Wraithvine "just happened" to follow the Ambergris trio on their way out of the town. When they camped, the Ambergris' dropped their magical Seeming and revealed themselves to be Elves. They had been running this scam for five hundred years, and were plotting to run it for at least a thousand more. Chatting and laughing about how they could get more involved to help perpetuate the 'Ambergris' fortunes for thousands of years more.

They were running this on a hundred little towns, in a circle around a mountain chain. The lawgivers, suitably bribed, let them get away with everything.

Clearly, these unrepentant grifters were overdue some Kharmic realignment.

Wraithvine called on the spirits of those they wronged, with the help of hir goddess, and set them on haunting the fraudsters. Meanwhile, ze set about making three anti-magic charms to nullify any spells they might use. Just before the grifters descended upon the next town, Wraithvine employed the local Brauniin to sneak the charms into something that would never leave them and not cause direct harm.

Then ze took a post in this town's dilapidated square to watch the ensuing chaos.

First, nobody recognised them because their Seeming failed. Second, a lot of these remote towns were highly insular and often speciesist against non-Humans trying to sell them a line. Third, owing to their reliance on the Seeming, they looked like rootless vagabonds and were run out of town in less than a day.

Further, someone - perhaps a pack of enlightened Brauniin - had stolen a decent percentage of their extant wealth. Other someones found their stashed crocks of wealth as the grifters went seeking them. It was almost as if someone - Wraithvine - had got ahead of their intended path and sabotaged every single one of their plans.

Which just happened to co-incide with a mysterious penitent rich man going through each targeted town handing out wealth to any who had fallen for the grifter's ill luck. The only price? Promising that the recipient would never gamble on stocks for the rest of their life.

The grifters didn't even make it through three towns before they had to rely on the kindness of strangers.

Who pressed a few coins into their palms, and advised them to invest in the shares recommended by the Ambergris family. Who had mysteriously vanished, this year.

[Photo by Hans Eiskonen on Unsplash]

If you like my stories, please Check out my blog and Follow me. Or share them with your friends! Or visit my hub site to see what else I'm up to.

Send me a prompt [27 remaining prompts!]

Support me on Patreon / Buy me a Ko-fi

Check out the other stuff I'm selling