Jjhutto_Son of Flame
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B3. Ch. 3 Alliances
🕑 Added 2024-05-13 22:09:16 +0000 UTC
Mataus looked over at the droopy-eyed man, not quite concealing his shock. The man, to his credit, softened his frown considerably as he answered, “It is good to see you continue to surprise. Your Faction, considering its unaligned nature is doing far better than it has any right to. This, of course, must have as much to do with your unique Patron as it does your obviously talented people.” He allowed with a nod towards the female lapin as she finished serving the tea. The man’s eyes briefly skated over Tilly as he considered their surroundings, and Tilly was now sure that he was taking in far more than he seemed to be.
“You’ll need connections and backing as you begin to interact with the more powerful factions on the plane, and frankly, we desperately need the resources you represent.” He admitted his voice unnaturally even.
“Corruption is wreaking havoc on the Plane. Dynasties are falling, kings are being usurped, and even our oldest enemies seem to be shifting in the upheaval. Our most powerful traditions are poorly matched against this new rising darkness, so I am here to find out as much as I can in hopes of bringing back some sort of solution, and possibly new allies to the Tower of Light. However, with that last System-Wide announcement, I can only stay for a short time…” He trailed off, leaving a vacuum in the conversation.
Before Tilly could speak, Ichiro answered, “
“We are prepared to exchange all we know for your latest information on the state of your network and the balance of Light and Dark on the plane. We will likely choose to work with you, but we want the best information before deciding to fully commit to a partnership..”
“Understandable, and in the spirit of cooperation, accepted. But know that it is a sign of how close we are to collapse that you are speaking to me at all…” The Spymaster answered fixing them all with a flat-eyed stare, which the lapins returned with serene indifference.
“I will limit this information to our immediate standing across the plane without getting into too many details until we have a more formal-”
Another rumble rolled through the ground beneath them, this one not coinciding with an announcement at all. The two lapins and Reginald’s heads snapped in the same direction while Mataus and Tilly just looked at each other in confusion. Tilly made to get up, but Ichiro lifted his hand in a calming motion.
“Whatever it is, it is coming from the Temple. We will investigate as soon as this meeting is done, Jonathan Tillman, but for now, we assume it is something to our benefit”
“Do these occurrences happen often?” The droopy-eyed spymaster asked blandly.
“More often than you would think. Although most of the time it is a little more flashy.” Tilly answered with a small smile.
“Very well… I will keep this brief. In living memory, the Tower’s primary concern has been the Blasted Lands. The Seven Thrones seek to subvert the ascension of power to a primarily demonic process, eliminating all other paths of progress. The reality is that they would have succeeded long ago, except for two main factors.” He said, lifting his two fingers.
“First is their constant infighting. There have hardly ever been seven princes to sit on the thrones. Every time it has occurred, the balance has been put at risk, yet thankfully, these times have always been blessedly short. This is primarily due to the second factor that has kept them from overwhelming the Powers of the plane: Us.
Much of the light works out in the open to oppose the darkness, we may be much smaller militarily, but we form a united front to their divided collisions and we have spent millennia investing in allies for the times when the Pits spew their filth unto the land. But there is another arm of our Order, the only visible branch of which is the Forsaken. We destabilize the hierarchies of the Pits whenever possible and have always succeeded in weakening the threat before it became unstoppable.” As he explained all of this, the bored expression slowly slipped from his features, as deep furrows of exhaustion revealed themselves.
“This last year has been an unprecedented year of silence from the West. Something new has risen to power there… Our agents have either been killed, or gone to ground and all we know is that the Seven Thrones are once again filled. For the first time in its history, our Order has failed to penetrate the shadowy hierarchies of the Pits, and we are blind to the machinations of our ancient foe. We can only assume this has to do with the advent of this Corruption across the plane. The announcement we just received further confirms my worst fears. Everything is about to change, and we are on our back foot, blind and behind the curve.” He finished gravely.
“And what news from your Patron?” Mochizuki asked in a respectful voice.
At that, the Spymaster winced, “News from the divine realm is perhaps even graver than that on the plane. Our Lady says that all of the old alliances remain unchanged on their face, no deity has declared any new alignments, but the landscape of the realm itself is changing rapidly. It unravels at the seams, and both sides are pointing at each other in blame. Due to the Divine Compact, they will limit their conflict to this plane, or risk ripping our reality apart, but She can feel her influence waning. Frankly put, we need whatever hidden player you have behind you on the field, and we need Him yesterday.” He declared, looking at each representative of the alliance in the eyes and allowing his gaze to linger on Tilly.
“Whatever Corruption is, its influence is still too hidden for us to combat, and even when we find it, it proves far more resistant to our holy magics than any darkness we have ever encountered. The only piece of information that has given us any hope is the reports of your Faction and its victories against this new enemy…” Then Reginald’s intense gaze sharpened, and the blandness surrounding his features fell away. Tilly suddenly found twin beacons of light shining behind his dark Irises, almost too bright to meet.
They reminded him of a full eclipse, with the light almost completely obscured, and yet still shining with an intensity that had left him blinking away after images for minutes afterward. Tilly’s Identify pinged again, this time revealing a different class and level above the man’s head.
Level 113 Counter Intelligence Asset Director
Then, reality winked and everything was back to its bland normal. The Hall Attendant looked over the table at them with that same vague expression, “It is important to me that I express the truth of our dire situation, but it is equally important for you to keep in mind that we are far from powerless. Our Order has turned away calamity uncountable times, much to the thankless indifference of many of the ‘Neutral Powers’... We will do so again, but we are asking for your help. Will you stand with us?”
Ichiro took a deep breath, and looked over at Tilly, “We discussed this possibility when we sent out Mochizuki, and the Alliance is open to this partnership, especially if the extent of our political relationship remains hidden. But we need your input on this, I get the sense that our Patron is open to any and all partnership that aligns with the values we have seen from Him so far… but ultimately, we wanted you at this table if possible. What do you think?”
Everyone at the table turned toward him, waiting expectantly, and Tilly swallowed down the quick and easy agreement he had on his tongue. He typically liked to take things at face value and almost all of his interactions with these guys had been above board, but he wasn’t naive. Where there was power, there was abuse, and he was sure that as good as its intentions were, there would be parts of this partnership that would grate on them or even conflict with their goals as a new nation.
But ultimately, they were long on problems and short on allies. If they could take on an agreement with Vampires, then it would be hypocritical to deny the church of Light based on general suspicion. That wasn’t even taking Origin into account…
Tilly sighed and closed his eyes, taking a moment to school his breathing and think through his opinion on this and the ultimate direction of the Alliance. He could no longer just react, going with his gut. He had influence now and a responsibility to these people. He needed to give this moment the gravity it deserved.
As he chewed on the idea of the partnership between the church of the Light and the Alliance, the flame at his center crackled on merrily without concern. The idea did not move him either way, and he was pretty sure they had the freedom to make this agreement without reprisal. So far Origin had been very hands-off when it came to “commands” or “rules” but at the same time, Tilly hadn’t missed how much intervention there had been on their behalf as they pursued the impossible goals set before them. Whenever they had stretched themselves to the limit reaching for something far beyond them, there had always been some small piece to fall into place, making the impossible slightly more probable. So far, their goal had mostly been survival, and the question of what else Origin wanted had seemed like a problem for the future.
But here they were, the areas were getting grayer and the questions becoming more nuanced. So far as he knew, the Alliance wasn’t facing destruction in the next couple of weeks, and that breathing room gave them a lot of options.
What were Origin’s ultimate goals?
It was pretty clear that the Light wanted to protect the plane from total domination from their opposites. This goal was noble in a lot of ways, but it was all too easy for Tilly to imagine how many shortcuts could be justified for the sake of the ‘Greater Good’. Especially a ‘Good’ administered by the church itself. But just because the institution was imperfect, didn't mean inaction and apathy was the answer. The flame within him had roared in opposition to any sort of compromise or cowardice, and Tilly was very clear on how passionately Origin felt about cleansing the world of Corruption.
It almost felt like taking a step forward was much more important than doing everything perfectly. He opened his eyes and looked into Ichiro’s collected patient expression. The Lapins and other leadership had probably already thought through much of this, and would never agree to something that could be used to put them into anything but an advantageous position. They just needed to make sure there wasn’t some sort of supernatural input they were missing before moving forward.
He could give that to them if Origin had something to say, Tilly was listening, but until then, they could push forward.
Tilly slowly nodded, turning to look at the church representatives with a serious expression to underline his answer, “For what it is worth, I think my Patron would be fine with us partnering, I am not sure what His ultimate goals are, but everything I have seen from you seems to line up with what I know about Him. So as long as we don't discover some sort of twisting of the ideals you claim, we can work together.
Reginald nodded along with his words before answering in kind, “Our policy mirrors that quite closely. We will work with anyone until they show themselves actively opposed to our mission. We feel confident that you will not fall into this category, but rest assured, if you ever stray, we will know.”
At that Ichiro cracked a large smile, and pulled a scroll out from his sleeve, “Wonderful. We look forward to working out the details, but we are very much in favor of mutual support. In light of this, we have prepared a full intelligence report on our experience so far with both our enemy and the broad strokes of what we have gathered about our Patron.” He said, handing the scroll over to Reginald, who flicked his wrist and caused it to disappear.
“Very good, I’ll leave the rest of Mataus, who has been empowered to negotiate on our behalf and will be the one we leave as our representative here, if that is amenable to all present?”
“I would be honored to establish a long relationship of mutual support,” Mataus added solemnly.
Before Tilly or Ichiro could answer in the affirmative another rumble, more massive than the previous two combined rolled through the city. The group rose uncertainly to their feet looking in the direction of the mountain.
Ichiro opened his mouth, perhaps to suggest they end the meeting prematurely when a deafening roar sounded out over the valley. Followed a a voice so deep, that it it shook the stone walls of the building.
“Come and swear fealty to your new Lord, ants. I have awoken, and a reckoning is coming.”
