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Chapter 564
🕑 Added 2023-03-15 12:00:06 +0000 UTCSome answers and a few new questions in this one.
Enjoy!
ToC
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“I’m sorry, what?” Felix wished something more refined had immediately popped out of his mouth, but Vess’ etiquette training only went so far. “I’ve never even been to Neer.”
Yorun was almost shaking in his seat. “Please forgive me, my Lord. I spoke out of turn—”
“Whoa, hey. Calm down, man. I’m not gonna kill you for telling me information,” Felix said. He winced internally as he realized that some Lords might actually do that. “Just…explain it for me. Please.”
The Gnome’s Spirit slowed its frenetic tempo, but only barely. “Alright. Well, those of us Makewrights—that’s us.” He pointed at his tabard with the golden gears overlaid by a green hammer. “We fix things. Armored carts, Manaships, Golems, you name it we got our hands in it, and it makes us useful to the nobles. Even had a commission from the Neeran Queen we were workin’ on…before.”
His expression folded, like a flimsy chair. “Anyway, we were rubbin’ shoulders with the nobles, but all of us come from the slums. The only thing anyone could talk about for ages was the System alert we all saw. ‘A New Territorial Lord Has Risen!’ No one had ever heard of you, but we all assumed you were some noble. At least ‘til a Henaari rolled into town.”
The Farwalker, representative of the Henaari, tilted his hooded head, his features hidden in shadow. “Oh?”
“Yeah. A Windcaller, dressed in those feathered shirts, come to tell stories in the city. Yet instead of going to the nobles that would pay her a hundred crowns a night, she came to the Darkwine Perch, right at the edge of the slums. It was packed that first night, as everyone and their mother was out trying to take the edge off their hunger. A good story does wonders, you know?” Yorun cleared his throat again, and licked his lips. “She sang a lot. So many stories from far off lands and ancient Ages…but then her tune changed. That was when she sang of a king, born of nothing, who rose to throw off the Hierophant’s law. Who defied the heavens themselves to claim a Territory that had once been Lost. And—and she gave us a name. Felix Nevarre. Autarch.”
Felix swallowed, but his throat had gone thoroughly dry. “Your people are spreading rumors about me, Farwalker?”
“No, not my tribe…but then, the Windcallers do not listen to Farwalkers or Synod.” The hooded Henaari produced a feather from inside his voluminous robes. It was black, but caught the light as if greedy for it. “They speak light into the dark. They serve Her.”
From somewhere far above, a bird cried out, loud as distant thunder. Pit shrieked right back, and the sound broke into fragments that tumbled into breathy laughter.
Beef spun in his seat, looking up into the well-lit rafters. “Uh, I’m not the only one who heard like, evil laughter right?”
“No. I heard it too,” Evie said. She poked the Farwalker. “Your bird is loud.”
“She has Her moments.”
Felix lifted a hand, cutting off the chatter. “Yorun. Are you saying people were upset because someone told a story?”
Yorun scratched at his arm, clearly uncomfortable. “Well, it wasn’t just that. We all know the Henaari don’t lie, and Windcallers can’t. It’s why most cities don’t like ‘em around; they find things out, tell them far and wide and no amount of gold or power makes ‘em shut their yaps. So when she said you did what you did…it got folks to thinkin’.”
“Dangerous,” Isla murmured. Zara shot her a sharp look.
“The youngest caught on quickest. They started askin’ questions. Questions none of the old folks could answer. ‘Why are the nobles in power? Why does the Queen rule in a palace, while we balance on chains over the sea? Why can’t we all be Tempered?’ What could we say? That’s just how it is? That’s what we had to endure, so—so it’s fine? All the right words didn’t sound so good anymore.
“The questions kept comin’ even after the Windcaller vanished. Grew louder when fish grew too scarce to feed everyone. And then it just…someone got in a fight. Dunno who, but a Tempered noble killed someone.” Yorun’s eyes were haunted. “The fightin’ started, with harpoons and pikes against armored guards. Hundreds died, mostly Untempered, but so did a few nobles and guildfolk. By the time the Hierocracy broke down our gates, Avet’s Mark was lit in the Azure Square and half the city was on fire.”
“Rebellion,” Zara said softly.
“And further proof of heresy, according to the Inquisition,” Mauvim added. “I do not know who scrawled the Mark, but it was not those among the slums.”
“A Mark requires a Master to make,” Felix said. “But I thought those were placed on creatures and people?”
Mauvim’s lined face twisted, her jowls shaking slightly. “It was placed upon a Neeran Queensguard, and its influence transformed him into a walking inferno before he perished. An entire district ended in flames. Someone wanted the city to fall.”
“An Inquisitor?” Beef suggested. “They got flame powers right?”
“Avet’s Mark is from the god of change himself, able to be placed only by a chorister of the dark god. Like myself,” Zara explained. “It is not something the Hierocracy could fabricate. This was confirmed?”
“We only learned of the Mark after the fact, but our limited scrying has confirmed the resonance of the Mark,” Tzfell, the Dwarven Chanter, said. “I confirmed it myself.”
“Sounds like the gods are mixing in again,” Felix said. “Or at least their followers. Zara, you said no one receives messages from them anymore, right?”
“Correct…but nothing is certain anymore. Your own struggles have proven that. If the gods were well and truly gone, you would not have faced them multiple times in the last year alone.” Zara shook her head. “Change and revolution are cornerstones of Avet’s sphere of influence, but he has always been one to influence events with far more subtlety.”
“‘Of all the gods, only two bore no moon. Only two, of the light and the flame. Pathless and Avet, order and chaos,’” Vess said, and the words had the sound of a religious tract.
Huh. Interesting, Felix thought. They don’t have moons, do they?
“What I know of Avet comports with Zara’s accounting. Despite your experiences with the gods Felix, I cannot believe they would sow destruction so willingly and without cause,” Vess said.
“Didn’t Noctis just try and eat you?” Evie said.
“That was no goddess, whatever its claims,” Vess insisted. “It was mad and twisted by its long incarceration—”
“It was a true sliver of the goddess Noctis,” Yintarion said, crawling out from under her collar. Several Chanters looked at him with wide eyes, a few losing control of their Spirits long enough to let loose a strain of deep, haunting curiosity. The Wyrmling sniffed in their general direction, but focused on Vess. “I would know, little Dragoon.”
Mauvim tapped her knobby cane into the ground, cutting through the light chatter that had begun. “Whether the Mark was falsified or not, the answer is still the same: Neer has fallen, and the Hierophant is making moves to take other Territories as well. We have received word of several other attacks to the south and the east, where the Hierocracy butts up against the vast jungles of the Interior.” Despite the gravity of her words, a smile creased her face. “Only here has the Hierophant’s forces been defeated. Not only that, but according to the intelligence we’ve gathered, Nagast is now considered ‘off-limits.’”
Karys roused at that, and Felix felt the same restless curiosity. “Why?” he asked. “Because we bloodied their nose? I expected retaliation for that, honestly. It’s what happened last time: we drove the Inquisition out and the High Guard followed.”
“We do not know why,” Emelda said. “Only that every one of our sources have confirmed that the order was delivered to all of the Hierei at once in a beam of sunlight.”
“Hierei?”
“The highest ranked Priests of the Pathless, second only to the Hierophant herself,” Zara answered.
“Okay. So the Hierophant sent out a group message to leave us alone?” Felix was a bit baffled by that. “That’s…good, I guess.”
“It is,” Emelda agreed. “But the Hierophant has no recorded Skill allowing her to do such a thing. This, we believe, is the Pathless’ doing.”
“Hah,” Pit trilled. “I bet he’s scared of me.”
“The Coward in White,” Felix muttered. “What’s their angle?”
“For this? We do not know. It is likely you have proven too difficult to crack, and he is waiting for a better time. They will come, that is certain. The Pathless is a jealous god. He wishes to be the only god, and for the others to remain banished beyond this Realm. This we know.” Mauvim voice was hard. “He has found a similar mind in the Hierophant.”
Felix tented his fingers, thinking through the information he’d received. “Alright. So we have the Pathless ordering us a no-fly zone and the Hierophant starting wars all over. That brings me to my next question for you Chanters: the Unbound. You’re obviously trying to find us, but what’s the plan when we’re all together?”
Beef peered over everyone’s head toward Mauvim, clearly eager to hear the answer as much as Felix.
“As I am sure Zara has told you, our role in your summoning is sadly reactionary. The Hierophant made the move, we merely diverted your arrival as our only recourse.” Mauvim looked between Beef and Felix. “Yes, the step we have been attempting for over a year is to gather you all together. Mainly to keep you from the Hierophant’s clutches, but also to best guide your immense potential. She has already claimed one of you, and based on the reports we have of that one’s power, we cannot afford to let her take even one other. The Hierophant’s plan is unknown to us, but her aspirations are not: like her god, she wishes Authority over all the Continent, for all Territories to fly her banner. She dreams of unification, but it is a unity of blood.
“We had intended to provide a safe haven for you Unbound to grow, and it is a profound twist of fate that we have instead come to you for the same. Still, we will provide the guidance we promised, training you all in the Grand Harmony. For it is the power of Creation that will be able to best the Ruin.”
Atar frowned before speaking for the first time. “Chanting. That’s just boosting our Skills with Affinity and Intent. How is a slightly better Sparkbolt going to defeat a being that erases history?”
“If that is what you think the Chant is, then you are not paying attention,” Mauvim said. Her hard eyes bore in Zara’s direction. “Or your teaching has been lax.”
“So you’re saying you can teach us, Beef and I, enough that we can match the Ruin?” Felix asked.
“Alone? No. There is little one person can do against the Ruin. It is a force that even the gods respect. But nine Unbound united? Working together, we will shake the heavens.”
The way she said that resonated in the Hall of Songs. Felix couldn’t help it; he got goosebumps.
“That sounds good,” Pit chirped.
“It’s also incredibly unspecific,” Felix pointed out, ignoring his chills. “What does that mean?”
“We do not know. The Nym’s records are gone, we operate only under limited information. The Path of Arrival is a fragmented record, with only the summon ritual itself surviving unscathed.”
Felix had heard that term before, but it took him a few seconds to place it. His Adept Mind whirled through his memories like walking through a vast palace. He snapped his fingers. “I might have a solution for that, but I’ll need to organize a trip to find out.”
Karys leaned over him, eye-fires narrowing. “Where, my Lord?”
“Khasma. To see Paxus.”
“Ah. Of course. Do you expect him to be well enough to answer questions?”
“I mean, I hope so. It’s been months,” Felix said.
“Where exactly do you intend to go?” Mauvim interrupted. She was stone faced again, but it was obvious she wasn’t thrilled about something.
“Short trip into the Ghreldan Hills. Shouldn’t take longer than a few days,” Felix said, waggling his fingers. “A week, tops.”
“You are far too important to risk on such a mundane journey. Allow my people to undertake it for you.”
“No. I have people for this,” Felix said. “Lavix, would a few of your people be willing to escort a few Claw members into Khasma?”
The War Naga hissed—it was an agreeable sound that Felix had gotten used to, but some of the Chanters pulled away. “Of course, my Lord. My people would relish the opportunity to see Haestus again, even only in passing.”
“I appreciate it.” Felix looked back at Mauvim, and if anything, her stone face had turned into granite. “Now. The last and maybe most important point to address: have you found any of the other Unbound?”
The old lady clenched her jaw a few times before answering. It was absolutely clear she did not like how Felix was controlling the conversation. “We have members of our order searching the Continent for all of them, save yourself and Beefhammer. However, we are certain of only one other, and she is under the thumb of our enemy.”
“Imara,” Felix said. “The one the Hierophant caught already.”
“Yes. But Corrupted or not, she gives us hope,” Mauvim said. “She has remained in one location for many months because she is hunting another Unbound. A Gnome that goes by the name of Archibald.”
“Where?” Felix asked.
“As of our last missive, the Rimefang foothills. Heavy snow has locked this Imara in place as she scours the mountains for the Gnome Unbound. It is the primary reason we still believe Archibald is still there…havoc descends whenever the Corrupted draws near him, leaving a trail of destruction all across the Dwarven Holds.”
“Why are you calling Imara ‘the Corrupted?’” Felix asked.
“Because she is dangerous,” Emelda stated. “For she has been bent to the Hierophant’s will.”
Felix recalled touching upon the connection between him and Imara. It had been strong, but it had also been very, very strange compared to all the rest. Dangerous. Might be something to that, he decided. “Why don’t we take Imara down first, find this Archibald, and then bring them both back?”
“The power the Corrupted holds is incredible, Autarch Nevarre. Entire Dwarven armies have proven ineffective against her, and she has breached many of their greatest defenses. Alone. It is uncertain what Tier she has reached, but she is not to be underestimated.” This came from Tzfell, and it was the first time the Dwarven Chanter had been anything except calm. She sounded terrified. “I do not think you are a match for her.”
“As well, a contingent of Priests and Inquisitors are on their way to support her,” Emelda added. “Archibald is alone and on the run. If we cannot find the Gnome soon, it may be too late. The Hierophant will have him.”
“And if that happens, then we may as well open our arms to the Ruin now,” Mauvim said. “For we will be well and truly Lost.”
Comments
Timothy Dana
Is today the release day for the next chapter?
themanthat staresatstripes
I really hope the armored women is the chick he saved on the yacht and not his sister.
