The 'Chosen' were already settling into their new home.
In truth, Valys wasn't particularly fond of the name. Yet the majority seemed content with it, and so it stood. Anyway, work was proceeding quickly under her leadership. The local area was scouted, so that they knew where water and forage could be found. Hunting parties were dispatched regularly, and so far had good fortune. There was no shortage of resources just yet.
The troubling part was the disputes.
Now that they were no longer constantly moving, the Vallamir could now get used to their surroundings, and therefore found more to complain about. And these complaints frequently resulted in the pettiest of quarrels. Someone was accused of eating more than their fair share of food. Two hunters felled the same animal at roughly the same time. A few complained about being given too much work. One Valla was having relations with another's lover. Nobody wanted to dig a latrine pit, and so there was usually resistance whenever she tried to assign someone.
And most turned to Valys to resolve these issues. She was expected to make compromises or take sides. But as trusted as Valys was, she was not Kalmar: they were loyal to her, but their loyalty was not unconditional, so even after she made her judgement, some still objected. It was frustrating. By all rights, the conflicting parties should have been able to resolve it amidst themselves. Yet when she had tried that, no resolutions came, and conflict only continued to fester. They had been given a common cause - to guard a holy site built by the god that created them - and yet they were still so divided. This would not do.
So instead of a completely hands-off or hands-on approach, she opted for a middle ground. Minor problems were dismissed, while severe problems fell to her to resolve. No, not just her. Taking sole responsibility for every decision was maddening. And so she found people who showed an aptitude for leadership or fair judgement, and delegated. There was a black-haired and bronze-eyed man by the name of Karlyn, who became her second-in-command. A blonde-haired woman by the name of Myla was tasked with overseeing security - watching the gate, patrolling the surrounding woods, and intervening should any disputes escalate into open conflict. A redheaded man by the name of Ewen was tasked with leading hunting and scouting parties, and it was he the hunters answered to when they went beyond the walls. And a brown-haired woman named Lena helped Valys decide upon and keep track of assignments.
And all of these leaders began to propose ideas of their own. Myla regularly trained her dedicated security force, ensuring that they possessed an aptitude for both the sling and the spear. Ewen drew crude dirt maps on the ground, planning out routes in advance, and sending out his hunters in shifts. Karlyn suggested they build crude shelters from sticks, branches, and leaves, so that they wouldn't all have to crowd in the temple - the courtyard had plenty of space, he argued, and their population would only grow over time, so why not prepare? And it was Lena who helped Valys decide which workers could be diverted to that task.
As the weeks went on, they began to feel less like a disorganized tribe, and more like a cohesive and efficient force. Everyone in the Order knew that they had Valys to thank for it, and the leaders she appointed.
Valys tries to settle into her role as leader, but there is unrest in the temple, and she soon realizes that she can't do everything on her own. She finds qualified individuals and begins to delegate or make up jobs, and we are introduced to new characters with their own skills and responsibilities. With their help, things begin to proceed a lot more smoothly.
Beginning Prestige: 2 +1 for minor role. +1 for major role. Ending Prestige: 4
Valys, who wore the cloak Kalmar had given her, over some loose garb made of more fur, nodded. They stood crouched in some bushes, watching as a wolf feasted on a recently slain deer.
"Tell me... why does the wolf deserve to live more than the deer?"
She thought about the moment. The wolf had killed the deer, proving it was stronger, and thus giving it the right to feed off the kill. Was that what her creator wanted to hear? But that made little sense. If the deer had somehow killed the wolf, would the deer eat the wolf? Likely not - Kalmar had told her that deers only ate plants. Furthermore, why was something more deserving of life just because in one specific encounter it happened to be stronger, or more clever? "It doesn't," she replied, after some thought, expecting to see either a frown or a furrowed brow.
To her surprise, Kalmar nodded instead. "You're right. It doesn't," he shifted his gaze back to the wolf. "Most creatures do not deserve death. Most also do not deserve to live. But things die and are born nonetheless. The wolf killed the deer because it needed to eat. Had the deer escaped, the wolf would have killed something else, or starved and died. If there were no wolves to keep the deer population low, their numbers would swell, and they would consume more and more - competing for food with other plant-eating creatures, which would result in more death and hunger." He looked back to her. "You see, Valys, when something dies in the wild, it is not a question of deserve. It is simply the way it is."
His words, though depressing, were sensible, and she found herself nodding in response. It was grim, but this was the world as it had been created, and it seemed some level of death and conflict was required in order to maintain it. Still, one thing did not sit well with her. "My people..."
"Your people have become part of this cycle and this balance like all others," Kalmar responded almost gently. "You do not exist above it or outside of it. Whether or not you will find yourself at the top or at the bottom depends entirely on how your actions. But I assure you, you do have the potential to rise to the top, and I will help you achieve it." he handed her his bow, along with an arrow. "Take the shot."
She accepted the bow, reluctantly. Kalmar had already showed her how to use it, and she did her best to imitate what he had demonstrated. She nocked the arrow, pointed it at the wolf, drew the string back, and loosed.
The arrow flew forward with supernatural force, but it had not been aimed well-enough. It hit the wolf's leg with bone-shattering force, and the wolf fell as it let out a sudden pained yelp. It rose to its feet and began to painfully limp away, making a desperate and futile attempt at escape. Valys winced, while Kalmar adopted a sympathetic look - whether it was for her or for the wolf, none could say.
The Hunter rose to his feet, and pulled forth a new tool from his belt. A pouch attached to a long length of string. He slipped a stone into the pouch, reared the string back, and then swung forward, allowing the stone to fly. It struck the wolf directly in the head, piercing its skull, embedding in its brain, and killing it instantly. "You will need to improve your aim," he said to her. "Try holding your breath when you take a shot, and do not be nervous. If you are to kill something, you owe it that creature to ensure the kill is as quick and painless as possible."
They skinned the wolf, and brought it back to where a dozen Vallamir were gathered. A fire was prepared, and as the meat was cooked, Kalmar took the time to address the group. "This," he said, taking the weapon from Valys, "is a bow. It can kill targets at great distances, if wielded by an accurate shooter. The problem, as my avatar discovered when he introduced it to the Selka, is that it is difficult to make, and requires a great deal of skill to learn. So I made an alternative."
He handed the weapon back to Valys, and then pulled the strange, strung pouch from his belt. "I call this a sling," he declared. "It is far easier to make, and can deal great damage if used correctly, but is far more difficult to master. But I know you are capable, so I will show you how to make and use them."
And show them he did. It wasn't difficult - it just required a bit of leather, and some sort of cord - which could be made either from more leather, a vine, or some hair. He would show more, and they would pass it on to others.
The next day, Kalmar and Valys set out, leaving that group behind. "Where are we going?" Valys had asked him.
"West," he answered in an almost dismissive tone.
But Valys stopped and frowned. "I'm new to this world," she told him, "but even I know that shouldn't be an adequate answer."
Kalmar stopped as well, looking at her with an expression which ranged between annoyance and amusement. "To the mainland. Where we will find more Vallamir," he said, and with those words he continued walking.
They reached the island's coast not too long after. Valys was about to ask how they were to proceed, but Kalmar raised his hands. The lake parted, and a great stone bridge emerged, spanning the several dozen kilometers between them and the other shore. It was supported by pillars but possessed no railings of any kind. The top was smooth and flat, while the underside was rounded.
Valys was astonished. Kalmar had told her of his power, how he had raised a continent and created entire species, but to witness a demonstration of that power was another thing entirely. And an act such as this was only a fraction of the achievements he listed...
She was snapped out of her awe when she saw that Kalmar was already striding forward, and hastily moved to follow him.
For years, Valys accompanied Kalmar. They encountered other bands of Vallamir, and shared knowledge with them. They taught them how to survive in the lands of Kalgrun, and gave advice on how to deal with the various creatures. Kalmar told them of the other gods; gods who had not created him, but still had a key role to play nonetheless. Those who stood out to Kalmar, who managed to impress him through either word or action, were invited to come with them. A sizeable group had formed, and though he gave them no name, many had begun to whisper that they were his 'Chosen.'
To be singled out by a god while thousands of others were not brought a certain sense of pride, though Kalmar was quick to warn them about letting it go to their heads. Sometimes, Kalmar would look at one of them, and inexplicably cast them out, as if they had suddenly stopped being worthy. And it seemed they had, for Kalmar always followed such an occurrence up with another warning about not becoming too proud or entitled.
Although the teachings of Kalmar, Roog, and Arae had managed to keep the vast majority alive, thousands had perished in the first winter. One of whom Valys had even grown close to. It had been a tragedy, and a heartbreak, and she nearly grew disillusioned with Kalmar and those who followed him. But then she recalled his teachings, and slowly began to regain her faith.
Many of the Vallamir had come to look upon her as a leader. She was, after all, one of the first of their species - second only to Karamir, of whom they only knew tales of - and the first to become one of 'Kalmar's Chosen.' Additionally, it was clear to all that Kalmar respected her and placed some value to her thoughts. Remembering Kalmar's warnings, she resolved that whatever authority she now possessed, she would take seriously.
Kalmar himself began to change over the years. It seemed as if the longer they travelled, the more talkative he became. As the years went on, he began to frown less and smile more. The most noteworthy change, however, was his appearance. He had been clean shaven when Valys first met him, but had since allowed his facial hair to grow out into a short beard. He once wore furs, much like they wore now, but had since changed to a new and finer attire: a long-sleeved green shirt and pants, as well as brown leather vest, gloves, and boots, and lastly a bright red cape. It was certainly well beyond their means to craft.
When she asked why he wore it, he explained it was to distinguish himself. After all, what stopped a common mortal from claiming to be Kalmar? Valys pointed out that they could simply demand he demonstrate his power, to which Kalmar replied: "And do you think most would so readily make demands of a god?" That made sense, Valys had to admit.
On the tenth year of their travels, Kalmar led them back to the Hunter's Eye.
They were at the center of the island, in woods which were almost sacred to most of them (given the island's remoteness and difficulty to reach), when Arryn came upon them.
"Master. It is complete."
Kalmar nodded. "Well done. Lead us there."
The bird nodded, and began to fly from branch to branch, Kalmar and the Vallamir following behind. Many of the Vallamir were already whispering to themselves. What was complete? What did Kalmar have to show them? Was this why they came back to the island in the first place? It was the children among them - those who had been born over the course of the journey - who spoke the most excitedly, and had to be hushed by their parents.
Eventually they came across a stone wall, perhaps fifteen-feet high. An opening, twenty-feet wide, led into a a courtyard, and in the center was a stone building - everything else was an empty field of grass.
The Vallamir marveled at it. Aside from the bridge, they had never seen anything so advanced. Yet even as they stopped to gape, Kalmar continued to walk forward, and Valys followed him. They entered the building, passing by the rounded columns before the entrance, and stepped into a dimly lit room. The room itself was almost empty - an expanse of cold stone, twice as long as it was wide, lit only by the sunlight which poured through the window slits.
At the far end was a stone totem of a bird, perhaps ten feet high, with a single eye and outstretched wings.
"What is this place?" Valys asked, as the Vallamir filed in behind them.
"I'll call it the Oracle," Kalmar said, as he continued on toward it. Some followed, a few remained at the entrance, while others began to spread out across the room in order to better take it in. There was enough space to make them all feel tiny and insignificant by comparison.
Kalmar pressed a hand against the Oracle's stone, which had been shaped to resemble the feathered hide of a bird. "Tell me about griffins," he commanded.
The eye began to glow, and suddenly a griffin appeared within the center of the room. While children hid behind their parents, every adult either simultaneously drew their weapons or made their way to the exit. One had already loosed a stone at the beast... only for it to pass straight through and shatter on the floor. "It's just an image," he said.
Tentatively, Valys approached the 'griffin' and reached out to touch it... only for her hand to pass straight through it. Nearby, an illusion of a Vallamir had also been conjured, to give the projection a sense of scale.
"Griffins are a birdlike species that resides in western Kalgrun. They have the upper half of an eagle, and the lower half of a feline. They make their nests in mountains, and have a lifespan of roughly twenty years. When hunting them, it is advised to use either long piercing weapons, or ranged weapons..."
The explanation went on. Kalmar turned to face his followers. "If you are hunting a specific type of creature, this will tell you where to find it, how to track it, and how to kill it. I have invested a great deal of my power into it. But a location like this is sacred; some may seek to destroy it, or to abuse it. I need people to maintain and guard it. Are you up to the task?"
Valys was the first to step forward. She crossed her fist against her chest and dipped her head. "We are!" she declared. Dozens of others soon followed. "We are!" they echoed. None refused.
Kalmar smiled. "Good. This is your purpose now. You will guard this location and the island it sits upon from threats, and in return you may call this temple your home. Valys, I would have you lead them. Does anyone object?"
None did. Kalmar was, after all, their creator. Not their only creator, but the chief one. It was he who raised the land that they now stood on, and it was he who created their progenitor.
A slight grin flickered across Kalmar's features. "Good. Arryn will be responsible for ensuring that the information stored within the Oracle remains up to date. As for the rest of you: I leave you to it. It is time for you to act without my constant guidance."
Some appeared saddened by this news, and one or two even looked frightened, but for the most part, Kalmar's Chosen nodded resolutely. They had been given a sacred duty by the one who created them, and they would perform it to the best of their ability. Valys, for her part, felt a certain sense of unease: she had been placed in charge, and responsibility ultimately fell on her shoulders. Would she prove herself worthy? Or would she fail?
"An entire continent? Gone?" Kalmar asked with a furrowed brow.
He stood atop the courtyard wall, Arryn perched on his shoulder. The bird nodded in confirmation.
"Might be why K'nell sent Karamir away, then," Kalmar noted, before looking up at the new star, glowing brightly in the night sky. "And you say that appeared not too long after?"
Again, the bird nodded.
"It's no coincidence," Kalmar decided. "Although we still don't know what happened. I like to think K'nell would have better sense than to erase his creations like that, but I never met him, and I don't know enough about him to say that with confidence." He stroked his chin. "It would be good to know where they went, though."
"What do you intend to do?" Arryn questioned.
"Right now?" Kalmar asked with a raised brow. "Nothing. But I will be taking a closer look at that star at some point. If it's not there by accident, then it'll be good to know what it does."
The two fell into a long silence. "A shame, though," Kalmar eventually continued, looking away so that Arryn could not see his face. "I never did get to see her again after that first meeting. Would have been..." his voice trailed off, and his gaze did not leave the star.
We begin with Kalmar giving a dual hunting/philosophy lesson to Valys. He builds a bridge so that mortals can get from the Hunter's Eye to the mainland. Fast forward ten years, they go around teaching things to the Vallamir, which are described in the MP summary.
Kalmar picks up a rather large crowd of followers, who refer to themselves as 'Kalmar's Chosen.' A bit pretentious, but he didn't pick the name. Anyway, after ten years he takes them back to the Hunter's Eye, where he has built a Holy Site, detailed below. He leaves Kalmar's Chosen to guard it, declaring Valys to be the leader.
Afterward, Kalmar and Arryn ponder over the mysterious fate of Tendlepog and Hermes. Kalmar expresses regret.
Kalmar
Beginning MP: 8 Beginning FP: 12
Expenditures -1FP (discounted to 0 via hunting portfolio) to teach the Vallamir how to make slings. -1FP (discounted to 0 via hunting portfolio) to teach the Vallamir how to hunt and track. -1FP to create a bridge on the western side of the Hunter's Eye lake. -2FP to found the Holy Order: "Kalmar's Chosen." -4MP to create a Holy Site: the Oracle of the Hunt.
Ending MP: 4 Ending FP: 9
Kalmar's Chosen Starting Prestige: 0 +1 for minor role. +1 for major role. Ending Prestige: 2
The Oracle of the Hunt is a Holy Site located atop a hill in the center of the Hunter's Eye. Imagine a Greek-style temple like the Parthenon, but it is a dark uniform grey, in the middle of a vast courtyard which is enclosed by a stone wall. Enter the temple itself and you will find a large room that is mostly empty, save for a stone totem of an eagle with only one eye.
This totem is a compilation of information regarding the various animals of Galbar: when one touches it and asks about a specific creature, it will project an image of that creature into the center of the room. In a monotone voice that sounds very similar to Arryn, it will then recite where said creature can be found, describe its strengths and weaknesses, and how to hunt it. It is Arryn's duty to ensure the information remains up to date.
As the crystal neared the surface of Galbar, Li’Kalla noticed something. There was a lot of land! And she could see most of it was covered in vegetation, and from way up there, she could feel life growing and developing.
She frowned and pressed her lips together. There didn’t seem to be any… Order, to things. Where were the big civilizations? The naval trade routes, where were the colonies and the palaces? The world was lacking. She knew now what she had to do.
There was a specific landmass though that she felt a connection to. It was a rather undeveloped island, with no sapients at all and a boiling lake. It was specifically because she felt connected to it that she nearly gagged when she laid her eyes upon it. Blurred memories flashed before her eyes before she gained her composure enough to look away.
Her destination wasn’t that island, thankfully, but the very sight of it had revolted her to a point that she now felt put off from continuing her journey. If it meant she had to fly over that wretched piece of land, then…
”Wait,” Li’Kalla ordered the crystal, and it stopped in the air. It looked as if it was hanging there from an unseen thread. Unnatural and unnerving. She was merely a few kilometers above the surface of Galbar now, and from there she could see a large continent near the island, and in that continent was a geographical feature interesting enough to warrant her time. ”Take me there, to the island in the center of the strange lake.” And so the crystal did.
The crystal landed softly on the shores of the strangely perfect island and Li’Kalla jumped off it. Without a second’s wait, the crystal took off and left her there. She spared it a single gaze and a scoff and turned toward the water. It was still enough, and she could see her reflection.
”Ah,” Li’Kalla gasped, bringing her hands up to gently caress her own face and tuck a few stray locks of hair away, ”Pure...” And even though her skin was slightly marred with the near invisible cracks, she teared up and felt her heart beat faster. After a moment, she took in a deep breath and wiped away the small tears, ”How pure… And my gown-”
She hastily patted her gown for imperfections and inspected its appearance. It was a simple thing, to her. The main color was white and it was made in a heavenly soft fabric, with smaller sections around the hips highlighted with black and gold, and a cutoff in the shape of a diamond around her navel.
The gown reached down to her ankles and did a great job at concealing her form in a way that actually highlighted her attractiveness.
”... Perfect as well. Except for being barefoot.”
Li’Kalla sighed and shrugged, then turned around and began walking into the forest.
”Hello?” She called out, hearing the sound of large, rapid footsteps from the beach she had just left.
Turning around, Li’Kalla saw a massive grey wolf come into view, dwarfing any creature she had seen thus far. It sniffed the air, and turned its head toward the treeline, revealing that one eye was missing - and had long since scarred over. The remaining eye scanned the woods, eventually settling on Li’Kalla herself.
She stared at it for a moment and chuckled, ”How do you feed yourself? I can’t imagine there being enough prey in this island for you.”
The colossal wolf blinked, then shook its head, before turning and pointing one massive paw out toward the distant coast of the mainland.
”Oh, so that’s where you hunt. Any cubs? Where’s your pack?”
Once again, the wolf shook its head.
”Aw,” Li’Kalla cooed softly, walking close to the huge wolf, ”Did they cast you out after losing your eye?”
The beast looked at her with a sudden expression of confusion, and then shook its head vehemently.
”In that case you must be the only one of your kind. That’s sad, I’m sorry.” Li’Kalla’s gray eyes became a bright silver as she looked at the wolf with pity, gently putting her hands on one of its forelegs.
The beast inclined its head as it stared down at her, but this time it betrayed no emotion.
”Depends on how you define ‘his kind’, really.” a gruff voice spoke up behind her.
Li’Kalla turned to look at the man behind her, the bright light in her eyes dulled. He wearing furs and leathers. ”Kalmar, God of the Hunt. A pleasure to meet you for sure. By ‘his kind’ I refer to huge wolves capable of eating an entire farm in one bite.” Li’Kalla said with a soft, pleasant giggle.
”Then yes, he is the only one of his kind.” Kalmar said with a nod, before furrowing his brow. ”I heard about what Vakk did to you. How did that get resolved?”
Li’Kalla raised an eyebrow and shook her head, ”I don’t know who this ‘Vakk’ is; more importantly, what’s the name of this place?”
The furrow between Kalmar’s brows deepened. ”The continent is called Kalgrun. This island and the surrounding lake is called the Hunter’s Eye. I named it that because it looks like an eye, but by coincidence, Fenris here later lost an actual eye near this very spot.” The wolf, Fenris, nodded regretfully.
Li’Kalla tilted her head, ”How did that happen? To a wolf his size?”
”A creature made by Vakk was sent here to search for something. Fenris confronted it, and the two fought. Fenris lost an eye, but Vakk’s intruder took far heavier injuries, and in the end was driven off.” Then Kalmar frowned. ”How is it that you don’t know of Vakk? Did something happen to your memory?”
”I remember a few things. The last thing I can clearly remember however is waking up in front of the Architect covered in different bodily fluids. Not his, of course.”
”I see. So the Architect decided to intervene,” Kalmar observed. ”I had my avatar looking for you, but he never found anything. It’s good to know you recovered.”
”I try not to think too much of the past, considering I’ve only been alive for a few hours at most. Were you and I close?”
Kalmar raised an eyebrow, then lowered it just as quickly. ”No, I don’t think we were,” he said. ”We only had one conversation. It was the first conversation I ever had in my existence, and you were a bit shaken up about something, so it went about as well as you could expect.”
”Ah, a shame.” She said and diverted her gaze. Then she began gracefully walking into the forest, motioning for Kalmar to follow. ”What does a God of Hunting do to pass the time? I have a feeling he does not hunt that often.”
Kalmar followed beside her, leaving Fenris behind on the beach. ”Oh I don’t just hunt. I fish, I forage, I make wood carvings. I try to maintain good relations with other gods, and prevent unnecessary destruction.” Then his expression twisted into a slight smirk. ”Oh, and every now and then some stranger finds their way here, and it turns out they’ve either lost their memory or been thrust on this world without explanation. Usually, I help them.”
Li’Kalla returned the smirk, ”What if they don’t want help?”
”Then I don’t help them,” Kalmar answered with a shrug. ”Though none of them have ever turned my help away before.”
Li’Kalla shrugged as well, ”Why is your wolf the only one of his kind? Don’t you want to further develop his bloodline?”
Kalmar shook his head. ”It took a great amount of power just to create one. To make two would have required more. To make them able to breed…” he shook his head. ”We can do much, but our power is not infinite, and giving him a mate as well as the capability to breed would have come at the expense of my creations elsewhere.”
Li’Kalla turned slightly to look at the towering wolf out of the side of her eye, pitying him once more. ”Poor pup.” She muttered, before looking forward again. ”I don’t know about you Kalmar, but I feel rather powerful at the moment. As if I could raise ten islands out of the sea.”
”I raised this entire continent out of the sea, you know,” Kalmar said as they walked. ”Let’s see… it’s been several decades since Vakk attacked you, and if you haven’t used any power since then it makes sense that you’d have a lot of it stored up. What do you intend to do with it?”
”Decades, huh? I want to create a civilization, a worthy one at that. I find this world to be too empty and wild. There must be a balance, don’t you think?”
”Balance tends to be good, yes,” Kalmar noted. ”I was thinking this land could use some intelligent life, and I intend to get started on it soon. Are you interested in helping with that?”
Li’Kalla furrowed her brow in thought, stopping in her tracks to stare at Kalmar. After a while, she slowly raised an eyebrow and spoke, ”... Humanoids? Like us?”
Kalmar nodded. ”Yes, I made one as an experiment, long ago. His name was Karamir, and I think it’s time I make others like him.” Then he closed his eyes; the tips of his ears lengthened and sharpened, while his moustache seemed to fall away - somehow making his features appear smoother and more refined. ”He looks a lot like this.” (go)
Li’Kalla inspected his features closely, at one point bring her hand up to Kalmar’s jaw and feeling for hair, ”Ah, the males of this race have no facial hair?”
Kalmar shrugged. ”Karamir had some facial hair. Whether or not the rest of the species does depends on whether or not we make them that way. It would be helpful during winters. What do you think?”
Li’Kalla retracted her hand and nodded, ”I will help you create them, if you agree to me taking ownership of a few thousand.”
Kalmar frowned. ”I don’t see life as something that you can own,” he said. ”But I intend to make more than a few thousand, and since you’re assisting in their creation it won’t be hard to convince many of them to follow you of their own free will.”
She chuckled and shrugged, ”We should make a superior caste, with white hair and silver eyes like me, all beautifully pure. That way the species is sure to survive for eons.”
”I don’t see why we can’t just create them all equally,” Kalmar said, stroking his chin. ”But if you want to make some of them special, it’s your right to do so.”
”We shall see once we create them, so is it just you and me?”
Kalmar shook his head. ”No. There are others who might lend their aid if I ask.”
Li’Kalla rolled her eyes, ”Why the crypticness? Others such as...?”
”Well, I don’t intend to be cryptic. There’s Arae, the Goddess of Family, and Roog, a demi-god of my own creation. I worked with them recently,” Kalmar answered.
[color=turquioise]”I see,”[/color] Li’Kalla stepped back and after a moment, clasped her hands, [color=turquioise]”Well, it doesn’t seem like you’ve recruited them to our project yet, and there’s one thing I have to do. So, while you find them and speak to them, I will take care of my business. Let me know when it’s time, Kalmar.”[/color]
Kalmar merely nodded in response.
Li’Kalla stared at Kalmar, squinting her eyes, ”Say, ‘Okay’. Either that or ‘Understood’ is fine. You respond to words with words, we’re not animals here.” She said as she crossed her arms and floated slightly to look down on Kalmar.
Surprisingly, Kalmar offered a slight chuckle in response. ”Now you sound like Shengshi,” he observed. ”Alright, okay. My apologies.”
Li’Kalla cracked a smirk and touched back down, ”Those are just basic manners. I don’t expect you to bow before me, heh. And to be fair, you spend so much time around animals and inanimate wood carvings that I’m surprised you know how to form complex sentences, congratulations!” She giggled, “That said, before I go, don’t keep me waiting too long for our next meeting, will you?” The goddess said with a wink and began to walk off.
”You’ll find that actions carry more weight than words,” Kalmar warned, crossing his arms.
Kalmar wandered the Central plains of Kalgrun. Arae, Roog, Li’Kalla… all had been contacted, and now it was just a matter of waiting for them to return.
As he waited, however, he grew somewhat restless. He needed something to do, and it had been far too long since he created actual life. Perhaps creating a small species, before moving on to the mortals, would help get him back into the swing of things.
And so, he extended his hands and focused. A small lizard, perhaps two feet in height - almost like a miniature version of Pyrdon - appeared before him. He walked the fields, creating even more of them - dozens, then hundreds. Individually they posed little physical threat, but they were smart, and in packs they could be quite formidable. It would hardly compare to the mortals he eventually did intend to create, but it helped dust off his somewhat rusty skills.
Then, when he returned to the island, he sensed a divine presence…
Arae dove down from the sky, her figure a blur from the speed. Upon hitting the ground, there was a flash of light as her body disappeared into it, and she reappeared in her humanoid form. A soft smile on her face, she began to greet her brother, “Hello again, Kalmar. I see you’ve been a little busy here.” Gesturing towards the multitude of lizards, she asked, “What are these creatures?”
”Something new I made,” Kalmar answered with a slight shrug. ”Should give the land some more diversity; make it things more lively.”
“I see,” Arae said. She looked thoughtfully at the creatures, then moved on, “So what are you planning this time, exactly? Your message didn’t really tell me much.”
After his return to Kalgrun Roog had kept himself busy; his thoughts and actions had been intertwined in a dance of hurricane force that had him travelling to the many corners of Kalgrun and back again at breakneck paces. Whatever madness had taken hold of Roog, however, was quickly expunged with the arrival and invitation of his creator to partake in an act of creation; it seemed exactly what Roog had in mind. Needless to say he was quick to travel to location discussed and soon he came upon Roog and Arae in the midst of discussion.
”He seeks to create an animal to equal the gods,” came Roog’s response, his voice pouring from his partially opened jaws and dancing across the wind, ”At least, in their minds. My creator intends to create intelligent life; a worthy cause fraught with risk.”
Kalmar nodded. ”Yes. Intelligent mortals, I mean. Like Hermes or Arya, but more widespread. I made one myself - his name is Karamir, and it is he who this new species will be based on. As you can see, I modified my appearance to look like him somewhat,” he gestured to his own features.
”There is still one more who needs to join us,” he said, before looking to Arae. ”Li’Kalla has recovered, if you don’t already know.”
”Li’Kalla,” Roog declared, as if tasting the name is his mouth just by saying the word aloud, ”Another first-born. And what sort of First-Born is she, creator? A moral one, I hope.”
”The Goddess of Rain. She fell to the god Vakk, and had to be restored by the Architect,” Kalmar said. ”She remembers little, apart from being brought back. She is willing to work with us, and has given me no reason to distrust her.”
“I wish I had been there for her when she needed aid,” Arae said regretfully. “But the past is the past. All any of us can do now is look towards the future.”
”When God’s Clash,” mumbled Roog in response to Kalmar’s explanation, thoughts drifting from the present in that moment, ”Then it shall be us four who act in unison; fitting for such life to be born in such a manner.”
Kalmar nodded. ”She will be here soon.”
BOOM
The sound of thunder washed over the land, Fenris’s barking could be heard in the distance, and Li’Kalla had arrived. Flying over them with her pair of pure, angelic white wings. ”Hello everyone! Arae, Kalmar, Roog, apologies for the delay.” Quickly she landed and nodded at everyone, her eyes settling on Arae, ”This is the first time we meet, is that right Arae?”
“O-oh, yes,” Arae stammered out after a moment of stunned silence. Quickly recovering, she added, “It’s good to finally meet you, sister.”
”It truly is, why don’t we have a leisurely chat over at my up-and-coming home after all the business is done? The food and drink is on me. Think of it as a sleepover for elites.” Li’Kalla chuckled and covered her mouth.
”Great! Do you like pastries, or perhaps they’re a bit too sugary for you? I am planning on getting us a decent selection of sweet goods, as well as some different teas and, of course, more than enough servants. I can’t wait!” Li’Kalla said with stars in her eyes.
”I think it’s time we get on with it,” Kalmar interjected. Karamir’s strand of hair as well as the crystalized sample of blood floated in his palm. ”Li’Kalla, do you still want a portion of them to have white hair and gray eyes?”
”Of course, let’s make it so the stronger and healthier their bodies, the higher the chance of white hair and gray eyes. Purity at its peak, you know.” Li’Kalla smiled in self-satisfaction, nodding.
”Alright, then it would help if you gave me one of your hairs,” Kalmar told her.
”Ah, of course,” Li’Kalla shrugged and plucked one of her perfect hairs with a wince, looking at it with a sad expression before handing it to Kalmar. After the deed was done, she turned to look at Arae with a worried expression, ”I feel like I shouldn’t have given one of my hairs to a man I just met, am I the only one that feels this way?”
Kalmar said nothing. Allowing the two hairs and the blood to remain suspended in the air, he drew the Knife of Friendship and ran the blade across his palm. Just as quickly, he returned it to its sheathe, before bringing both hands up and clapping them together over the floating mass. Light shone between his fingers, and he spread his hands apart, revealing a glowing ball of white and red swirling energy.
”All three of you - add your power to this. Quickly,” Kalmar instructed, with Li’Kalla being the first to react. She added her share of power quickly and efficiently, without breaking a sweat. Arae extended a palm to it as well, channeling her own energy towards it. Roog, for his part, bit deep into his tongue and let the fiery, black blood waterfall through the air towards its intended target.
As the four divines channeled their power together, the glowing sphere began to expand in size, until finally, Kalmar stepped back from the group and launched it up into the sky.
The ball shot upward at a tremendous speed, continuing to grow and grow. Then, finally, after several thousand metres of air, it exploded outward with a sky-shattering boom, emitting a shockwave that spread throughout the sky. Arae watched in wonder, noting how the energy was spread. Li’Kalla, instead, watched on with a slightly bored expression. Roog, now in a sitting position, turned his head to watch the orb before looking back to other portions of the sky with avid interest in the movement of soul ash churning in the air.
Just then, small white spores began to drift down from the sky, almost as if it was snowing. These flakes continued to fall - not quite randomly, for there was specific ground the sought out. It wouldn’t be until several minutes later that the first of them finally reached the ground, not too far from where the four divines still stood. The second it landed, soul ash began to coalesce around it, while the spore itself began to expand and resize itself.
It assumed a vaguely feminine humanoid form, and then her features started to become more specific. Hair, eyes, a nose, a mouth, a chin, cheeks, shoulders, muscles… all took shape within the span of a few seconds. And once that was done, the glow stopped entirely, revealing beige skin, silver eyes, white hair, as well as an impressive and attractive physique.
She blinked in confusion. “Wh-what?” she uttered. Elsewhere, throughout Kalgrun, the remainder of the species was already beginning to land and shape itself.
“So this is what we’ve created…” Arae said, walking over to their newly created being and looking them up and down. Arae then smiled and said to her, “Welcome to Galbar, young one.”
The woman stared back, but seemed to relax somewhat - Arae’s smile helping to put her at ease. Kalmar stepped forward, removed his cloak, and wrapped it around her. ”Who am I?” he asked her.
“Kal… Kalmar?” she said after a moment, pulling the cloak tighter around herself.
Kalmar nodded. ”Who is she?” he asked, gesturing to Arae.
“Arae?” the woman ventured.
Again, Kalmar nodded. [color=orange]”And what are you?”
The woman stared at him, thinking, and then spoke once more. “Ka… Kalla… Vallamir,” she stuttered, somewhat nervous.
Kalmar nodded one last time. ”They all start with the knowledge of who created them, and what their species is called,” he explained to the rest. He looked back to the woman. ”Choose a name for yourself,” he advised.
“V-val… vally… Valys?” she suggested tentatively.
”Well, Valys, you have beautiful hair.” Li’Kalla said with a warm smile.
”Valys, second of the Vallamir,” Kalmar declared, before turning back to his fellow gods. ”There is more of her kind on this island. The rest is scattered across the plains, along the water and forests, in the tens of thousands. Had I put them in one area, they would have consumed all the local wildlife. It now falls to us to find them and teach them what they need to know,”
Roog watched the self-proclaimed Valys with great interest, his eyes practically devouring her in his bestial curiosity. This was the first living humanoid he’d ever seen beyond the First-Born and to see its first steps were indicators of what his own birth must have been like. The experience was almost out of body for the wolf as he observed and listened to the creature’s stumbling speech. As he did so he vaguely listened to Kalmar, too intent on Valys to provide complete attention but enough to hear his words and understand the majority of his meaning.
Of all the things that caught his attention, however, was the simple act of Kalmar providing a cloak. Roog’s eyes widened with fascination before he finally turned his gaze to the first-born around him. They all wore similar accouterments, drapings that Roog had before paid little heed to, but now considered all the more worthy of his attention. It was clearly a humanoid thing, this desire for objects to be borne upon one’s self, and Valys’ immediate recognition of its use caught Roog by surprise. A worthy piece of information gained, Roog mused, before turning to Valys with his own words full of intent.
”They have been thrown to the four-winds, alone? What of their pack? It will not do to have them wander alone as the bear; they are not strong enough for such a life.”
“I have to agree with Roog there,” Arae nodded. “They will need the support of a family to survive.”
”And a society to provide technological advancements as well as protection in numbers.” Li’Kalla said while flicking a few stray locks of hair out of her face.
”They are stronger than they look,” Kalmar said. ”And smart enough to understand the value of safety in numbers. They will survive long enough to find them and teach them, and everyone we teach can go on to teach ten more. The most important thing is that we get to them before winter - the ones who survive that should be able to withstand whatever comes after.”
”Great risk for creatures of early lives; not all will be reached and many will die. An unfortunate thing to come to pass.”
Kalmar nodded. ”Unfortunate, yes, but inevitable. Many will die regardless. The ones who manage to survive on their own initiative during the time before we reach them will be better off because of it.”
Roog considered Kalmar’s words for a minute, his gaze turning from Kalmar to that of the mortal sentient now before them. A fate this one was spared by sheer luck of being created here, in their presence. Better for it indeed. ”I understand. Life will be its own reward. I will be swift to find them, then, if only to spare many such a fate.”
Kalmar nodded. ”As we speak, my avatar waits far to the south, already preparing to aid some of them. Shynir and Gorm are also closing in, so that they may protect them against greater threats while they learn.”
Li’Kalla scrunched up her nose and turned toward Valys, ”Valys, It seems your brethren have been spread all throughout the plains with no immediate guidance or aid whatsoever. What do you think of this predicament, what would you have us do?”
Valys was stunned. “I… I don’t want them to die,” she said quietly. “Can you save as many as you can?”
Arae sighed as she shook her head. “This is quite the exercise you are making us do, Kalmar. At the very least, I can teach them how to make fire. That should help them a fair bit.”
Kalmar nodded. ”It should. Arryn and I will teach them how to hunt. Roog and Li’Kalla, I’m sure both of you can teach them things as well. We will not have to worry too much: they have good instincts, and as I said, everyone we teach will go on to teach others.”
Roog’s chest rumbled as the black flames that made up his hide flickered with a life of their own. ”Hmm . . . I shall teach them the skills they need to survive; what is safe to eat, where it is best to make a den, and how to defend themselves if need be. I shall endeavor to speak with them on other matters, to know their minds, as well.”
”We will start here on the eye,” Kalmar declared. ”Then we go to the swamp along the lake and the river. After that, we head to the forests along the outer edge of the plains. Those are the areas where they have landed. Valys, you will come with us.”
Valys nodded.
In the distance, two more of the Vallamir were now approaching; both men. One had bronze eyes and black hair, while the other had plain brown eyes and blond hair. Three more quickly appeared within sight as well: a man with brown hair that possessed a streak of silver, a woman with blonde hair, and another man with blue hair. All wore the expressions of either the lost, the confused, or the curious.
”Looks like it’s time to get started.”
Li’Kalla sees a familiar-looking island which makes her feel uncomfortable, so she ditches it and heads to Kalgrun. She arrives on the Hunter’s Eye, and takes a moment to get off. Her crystal ditches her. She meets Fenris, and engages in a one-sided conversation.
Kalmar then appears. They talk a bit. Li reveals she doesn’t remember anything. Kalmar tries to express sympathy in his own Kalmarish way. Li then laments the lack of sapient creatures, and Kalmar is like: “Hey I actually intend to make some.”
Li is like: “Cool, but only if I get to personally own a few thousand of them,” and Kalmar is like: “girl, only if they consent: slavery is fucked up.” Anyway Li has other stuff to do first, so she decides to leave while Kalmar recruits other people to help.
Fast forward an undetermined period of time. Arae and Roog show up, with Li’Kalla appearing shortly after. Kalmar begans the procedure, mixing Karamir’s blood and hair with his own blood and also one of Li’Kalla’s hair, before asking all the gods to pour raw power into it - which they do, but Roog also decides to add his own blood.
The various bodily fluids and energy condense into a shiny ball, which Kalmar yeets into the sky. It explodes, and magical spores rain from the sky. When they land, they begin to take form. The first one to appear is a white-haired woman named Valys. The gang introduces themselves to her.
Kalmar is then like: “Alright, these dudes are basically scattered all across the Kalgrunnic plains, so we have to teach them to survive before they die in the winter,” to which everyone else is like: “Wait, wtf?”
Kalmar Beginning MP: 5 -1MP (discounted to 0 via the hunting portfolio) to create the Kalzards. -2MP to create the Vallamir. Ending MP: 3 No FP spent.
Li’Kalla MP 18 FP 8 -2MP to create the Vallamir Valthumir.
Weeks had gone by, and when Karamir was not drinking, or eating, or sleeping, he was practicing.
Again and again he tried, on different items or materials, but progress was slow. At first, it had been a struggle to simply produce something on the same level as that same spark. He could levitate a pebble, make plants shake, generate soft breezes of wind, and even create small dust clouds with nothing more than his mind. It was tiring, exhausting work, but with patience and resolve, he persisted, and soon he could reliably call upon the previously mentioned phenomena. Doing anything greater, however, remained rather difficult.
Then an idea occurred to him. Perhaps he was approaching this the wrong way. Maybe he was looking at it too broadly. He was applying himself to every method, many of which seemed to require completely different mindsets. Perhaps, if he focused on one particular spell or skill, he could perfect that, and then move on to something else.
Yes, that seemed far more efficient. At least in theory.
So, he decided to focus his efforts on the air itself. Why not? Air was everywhere; there was hardly a shortage of it. Unless he went underwater, or went too high into the sky... but there was no reason to do that under normal circumstances. So, after realizing the merits the power of wind held, he quickly applied himself to it.
For weeks more he practiced, atop mountains and hills, within the branches of trees, or even while flying in the open air. He used his mana to produce increasingly powerful gusts of wind. At first the attacks were barely distinguishable from a cool breeze, but eventually he was able to send dirt, leaves, or even loose stones flying with a wave of his hands. By then, weeks had become months, and although it felt taxing, he could not deny he was making progress. Still, what he knew now would be useless in any sort of combat situation, and even outside of combat there were few uses for it.
He had to continue, and so he did. In the meantime, he also grew a short goatee, but his facial hair did not seem to want to grow beyond that. It felt strange at first, but he got used to it. Seasons passed, and his skill continued to increase.
One day, one of his sessions was suddenly interrupted.
"Karamir."
It had been decades since he heard that voice, but he recognized it all the same. Standing before him was the god who created him, who bestowed upon him abilities and gifts, who then cast him out into the world to sink or swim, who he hadn't heard from since. "Kalmar..." he said.
"What are you doing?" the God of the Hunt demanded, a familiar frown plastered on his face.
Karamir took a step back. He suspected he would see Kalmar again at some point, yet the arrival caught him off-guard all the same; he never imagined it would happen like this. The aspiring mage took a breath. "I am practicing mana," he said in a calm voice.
Kalmar furrowed his brow. "Mana? What is that?"
"It's an energy all around us," Karamir explained, gesturing with his hands. "Abanoc told me about it. Those who can wield it can perform acts that others can't."
Kalmar stared at him, and then realization seemed to come to the Hunter's face. "I see," he said. "I think I know of what you speak. I never saw much use in it, because there's little it allows me to do that I can't do already, but I suppose that to a mortal it would be invaluable."
Karamir nodded, but Kalmar continued speaking. "Now it's time to address the more pressing issue. Why did you part ways from Arryn?"
"I didn't mean to," Karamir replied, with regret in his voice. "I went ahead, and I was going to wait for him, but I saw a strange structure and decided to investigate. I didn't realize it would take me to some god's sphere, or that Arryn wouldn't have been able to find me there. Do you know where he is now?"
"No longer in the maze," Kalmar answered with a frown. "He believes you abandoned him, after he gave you a gift."
"I didn't mean-"
"That is how he perceived it," Kalmar interrupted. "And he had good reason to. You should have stayed with him. Instead you got separated, and you both went through a great deal of trouble - him significantly more."
"What do you mean?"
"You were in the maze for little more than a week," Kalmar frowned. "Arryn was there for months."
Karamir winced at that. "I... I'm sorry."
"I'm sure you are. Actions have consequences. Remember that," the Hunter said, his gaze unyielding. "Now, tell me about your interactions with K'nell."
"I was wandering Kalgrun. One of Shengshi's rivers dried up. There were a lot of fish, ready to be taken, so I went in to investigate... then the river refilled, and I was swept into the sea. K'nell's avatar, Diana, pulled me out. I wanted to be away from Kalgrun, to see the rest of Galbar, so I stayed with her until we arrived at another continent."
"And stayed with her after that?" Kalmar questioned.
Karamir nodded. "Yes. The land we arrived at was full of dangers, some even more deadly than what lived at Kalgrun. It seemed foolish to try to live there alone."
Kalmar nodded. "Sensible enough; there is safety in numbers. So long as you don't become too dependent on them."
Karamir decided not to delve into the specific nature of his interactions with Diana, so he simply nodded back. "Time passed, and eventually she decided to bring me back to the Palace. She wanted me to stay with her, but I couldn't; I had to leave. Arryn found me, and did something to fortify my body and soul..."
"Yes, as I instructed. What then?" Kalmar asked.
"I wandered Tendlepog for a few days, and encountered the Dreamers. They allowed me to stay, but quickly changed their mind and kicked me out... because of some 'great change' that was happening. Arryn gave me this cloak, and we went west, until I found the Staircase..."
Kalmar nodded. "That matches up with what Arryn told me, and I have to say I don't understand this K'nell." He shook his head. "What next?"
"I went through... 'the Maze'... and it was horrible," Karamir said, a chill running down his spine. "I thought I would die there, until somehow I ended up in Abanoc's sphere. He gave me some food, some water, told me about what I just saw, and shared some information... about his sphere, about Galbar, and about mana."
"It sounds like you owe Abanoc a debt," Kalmar observed. "So this is what you have been doing after that? Practicing 'mana'?"
Karamir nodded, unsure of what was coming next.
"Good," Kalmar said. "Keep doing it. I'd like to see where it leads; what can be done with it."
"I... alright."
"And one more thing," Kalmar added, his voice suddenly reaching a softness Karamir had never quite heard before. He reached forward and put a hand on the now-taller mortal's shoulder. "I'm sorry."
Karamir blinked. "What?"
"The way I brought you into this world, the way I prepared you for it, I made mistakes. I was too harsh, left too many questions unanswered, and some of the questions I did answer were the wrong ones." The Hunter shook his head and sighed. "I made mistakes."
Karamir could scarcely believe any of it. For so long a part of him had resented Kalmar, feeling bitter toward him, for the way he had been treated, and now Kalmar was vocally confirming that part of him was correct. On the other hand, another part of him felt indebted to Kalmar - especially after the suffering Diana introduced him to was infinitely worse, and that part made the apology feel wrong, or undeserved. He wasn't sure if he should be angry, sad, content, vindicated, or even apologetic himself.
His mouth opened and closed. Moisture began to well in his eyes but he fought it back. In the end, Karamir could only offer a weak nod.
"I once told you there was a distinction between a son and a creation," Kalmar continued. "Some would agree with me, others would not. I realize the definition might not be as set in stone as I once believed. If you wish to consider me your father, I will not object."
That only served to make Karamir feel numb. How was he supposed to respond to something like that? He had long since made peace with the fact that Kalmar was not his father, yet suddenly just like that there was a part of him wishing for it. "I... I'll need to think on it..." he spoke quietly.
Kalmar nodded. "Of course. Now, take this." the Hunter pulled a sheathed dagger from his belt, and presented it to Karamir.
"What do I do with this?" Karamir questioned.
"Draw it," Kalmar commanded.
And so he did, drawing a short blade as long as his hand that shone brightly in the sunlight. The hilt was wrapped in thin, yet fine and comfortable leather. It was of an impressive quality... if only it was longer.
And suddenly, it became longer, the blade extending and growing to be as long as his arm, no less shiny or impressive. Astonished, he looked back up at Kalmar. "What kind of weapon is this?"
"It can be any weapon you want," Kalmar answered.
Any weapon?
Karamir imagined it as a spear, and so it morphed into a spear, made of pure metal, the leather extending to wrap around the entire shaft. He imagined it as a bow, and so it became a bow. Yet the bow was useless - it did not come with any arrows, and being metal, it could not bend. He imagined it as a sword again, then turned it back into a dagger, and returned it to his sheathe - which he then fixed to his belt. "This is incredible..."
"And one more thing..." Kalmar reached forward again, and this time touched Karamir's forehead. A sudden chill passed over him, as he felt power flow through his body. "I've granted you a power that is not dependent on mana. I am not just the God of the Hunt, but also the God of Cold. You are now able to shoot beams of frigid cold energy. It should allow you to defend yourself, should your weapon be lost, or your mana unavailable."
"Thank you..." Karamir said.
Kalmar nodded. "Those will suffice to help keep you alive, I think. Now, there is one final matter... it is time for me to create more of you."
"More of me?" Karamir furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"
"An entire species, capable of reproduction and intelligent thought. You would no longer be the only one of your kind."
Karamir's eyes widened. He would no longer be alone. Well, he had spent most of his life with other people than without, so he hadn't been truly alone in the first place... but there would be more people like him. People who looked like him, talked like him. Who he could lead, or teach. "When... when will you do this?"
"Soon," Kalmar said. "But not here. On Kalgrun. All I require is one of your hairs, and some of your blood. The rest I can do with my own power... hopefully, with aid from my fellow gods."
"Alright, take it!" Karamir said immediately. A hair and some blood were small prices to pay for an entire species. Without hesitation, he extended his hand.
Kalmar then drew the Knife of Friendship, and with it he pricked Karamir's palm. He levitated some droplets into the air, congealed them into a fingertip sized ball, froze it, and slipped it into a pocket. Then he reached forward and sharply plucked a hair from Karamir's head. Neither of these things bothered Karamir too much; minor stings, at worst.
"Now," Kalmar said, slipping the hair into another pocket. "Let's go back to Kalgrun," The Hunter turned around, about to fly away.
"Wait... no." Karamir suddenly objected.
The Hunter spun around and looked at him with confusion. "What do you mean 'no'?"
"I... I don't want to go back to Kalgrun yet."
"You don't want to witness the creation of your own species?" Kalmar asked, his befuddlement deepening.
"No... I mean, I would, but..." Karamir sighed. "Let's say I do watch you create them. What next? What use would I be to you, or them?"
"A great deal," Kalmar answered. "You could patrol Kalgrun, help keep them safe, give them advice..."
"But I don't want to limit myself to Kalgrun, or to my species." Karamir objected. "I want to explore the world, to see all that I can. There are older species out there; if they know more than me, I can learn from them. If they know less than me, I can teach them. This cloak gives me the ability to cross continents, while this weapon gives me the means to defend myself while doing so - as will mana, once I get a stronger grasp over it." Ambition burned in his eyes as he continued speaking. "I am in the perfect position to acquire new knowledge, and then pass that knowledge along to those who need it. I will not be like the Dreamers, who hoard their knowledge to themselves and never try to share it or seek anything new." he shook his head. "Dreamers, Selka, Servants, Jotundar... it doesn't matter. I will try to help them all, once I am able."
For several long moments, the Hunter only stared at him... and then broke out into a thin smile. "Good," he said at last. "You found your purpose. A worthy one, too. I wish you luck. Goodbye for now, Karamir." he extended a hand.
Karamir accepted the handshake, and as he did, he felt something cold press against his palm. As he pulled his hand away, he looked down to see a silver ring. He looked up at Kalmar. "Goodbye... 'father'," he said, the word sounding strange and unfamiliar.
Kalmar merely nodded, turned, and began to fly away.
Karamir begins practicing various forms of mana, but realizes multi-classing isn't working out very well and instead chooses to specialize. He begins focusing on the manipulation of wind, and winds up fairing much better.
Nearly a year later, Kalmar appears. They talk about what Karamir has been up to, and Kalmar confronts him about Arryn - revealing that after a few months, Arryn eventually made it out of the Maze, but was none too happy with Karamir because of it. Anyway, Karamir summarizes his travels. When his story is finished, Kalmar... okay you know what, just read the damn post. It's a really tender moment and I'm actually kinda proud of it, so I won't spoil it. So Zee, if you just cut straight to the summary, come on man. Toast, if you just skimmed the entire thing... sigh.
Anyway, during their heart to heart, Kalmar gives Karamir some goodies, mentioned in the MP summary. He also takes a hair, and some of Karamir's blood, with the intent of using it to create an entire species of Karamirs. I can already imagine your excitement, Gold.
So yeah... that's about it.
Kalmar Beginning FP: 6 -2FP to create the Universal Weapon. It can take the shape of nearly any high quality weapon the wielder imagines. -1MP (discounted to 0 via Cold Portfolio) to Praise Karamir with the ability to shoot beams of cold energy. -1MP (discounted to 0 via Cold Portfolio) to create the Frostguard Ring, an artifact which protects the wearer from extreme heats and keeps them cool in uncomfortably hot climates. Ending FP: 4
Karamir Beginning Prestige: 16 +1 for minor role. +1 for major role. -2 to gain "The Sorceror" Title. -2 to gain "The Violent Wind" Title. Ending Prestige: 14
The North Pole’s coastline came within sight, and Vendral swooped down to the icy shore, landing with such power that he threatened to crack the ice beneath him. The great blue dragon looked around, a surprisingly content expression on his many faces.
Kalmar was the first to step off, leaping from Vendral’s back and onto the ice below. Snow crunched under his feet. ”We go on foot from here.” he decided.
“Why?” came Vendral’s immediate response.
”Azura is the Goddess of Wind. For her to knock a creature that flies out of the sky would be trivial. We can resist it, but you can’t. So we continue on foot,” he beckoned for Arae and Roog to follow him down.
Arae slid down from Vendral’s back and proceeded to give each of his heads a pat. “Thank you for carrying us all the way here, Vendral,” Arae said.
Roog, for his part, less slid down off of Vendral’s back and more leaped; for the first time he had ever left his home, flight seemed an ample way to add stress to the voyage. Despite that he had calmed after the first hour of the journey and instead had agreed with himself that he simply could not abide flying unless he absolutely had to do it. Blessed ground was what rushed up to meet his paws and he offered a silent thanks to his creators and theirs for the foresight in creating such a glorious object of solidity.
”The idea of being struck from the sky seems very unappealing.”
”Being unable to fly doesn’t sound so bad now, does it?” Kalmar asked with a raised brow.
“Yeah, it’s really not,” said Chopstick Eyes, walking past in her bomber jacket without looking their way.
Kalmar hastily stepped in her path, raising his other brow. ”Chopstick Eyes,” he greeted her with an awkward nod. ”It’s been a long time. What brings you out here?”
Chopstick stopped, looked up, and shivered. There were icicles growing from the ends of her sticks. Some of them cracked and fell as the wood shuffled to take a peek at Kalmar’s new acquaintances. “I’m looking for Li’Kalla. Have you seen her?”
Kalmar shook his head. ”I have not. Arae, do you know where she might be?”
As all of this went down, Roog looked on with a distinctly visible grimace. His bronze-gold eyes were locked on the visage of the one his creator referred to as Chopstick Eyes, the resemblance to the moniker frankly uncanny. His moonlit teeth glowed as his maw hung slightly open in an uncouth sneer born entirely of a healthy mix of confusion and disgust. It was eminently clear that this was a difficult day for the Great Wolf.
“I have no clue myself,” Arae answered. “While I could find her myself, that’ll take time that we currently do not have.” Looking at Chopstick Eyes, Arae snapped her fingers, producing a spark that quickly grew into a small flame. With a flick of her wrist, Arae sent it to Choppy, setting it to slowly rotate around her. “You seem rather cold, sister. This spark of the Hearth should help keep you warm for the time being,” Arae said.
Chopstick reflexively smacked the flame between her palms like a mosquito, realised what she’d done, then shook it off abruptly, shaking out her scalded hands. “Ow! Ow ow ow. Uh… Sorry, I’m flammable.” She scooped up the flame in a small jar and screwed it shut, tapping the glass. “There we go. I’m Butterwort, by the way, the one with the chopstick eyes. I don’t think we’ve spoken!” She bowed to Arae and the wolf-god in turn.
Kalmar held up a hand, and at once the burning sensation in her palms seemed to cool.
Arae returned the bow, and began to introduce herself, “I am Arae. A pleasure to meet you.”
”This is Roog,” Kalmar said, pointing to the wolf, having decided to introduce his creations on their behalf. He then pointed toward the massive five-headed dragon just behind them, ”...and that is Vendral.”
“Thicc,” murmured Chopstick Eyes, nodding respectfully at the party’s largest specimen.
Roog looked on dumbstruck, barely able to construct a proper response. To the wolf-deity the order of things had been quite clear, most notably how things should look; it had helped he had resided in Kalgrun for decades and enjoyed a relatively simplistic design architecture when it came to the life of Galbar. Even the most fantastical creature he’d ever laid his eyes on, his own creator Katharsos, had been relatively tame in form by comparison. So instead he simply nodded his head in some form of respectful bow when Chopstick Eyes looked to him, further increasing his dread confusion as she introduced herself as “Butterwort”. Roog was not fond of this adventure one bit.
Kalmar turned back to Chopstick, a reluctant expression on his face. ”There is something we might need your help with…” he confided. ”What do you think of Azura and her scheme?”
Chopstick cocked her head midway towards patting Roog’s, then shrugged. “Dumb. I mean… I dunno. Maybe that’s a little harsh. It’s noble, I guess. I hope it makes her happy.” She reached into her pocket and withdrew a winter-spirit, stained all over by food colouring. The resemblance to an Alma was striking. “These are pretty.”
”It’s making a lot of people unhappy,” Kalmar pointed out. ”We’re going to go find more information, and maybe get her to stop. Will you join us?”
Another shrug. “I’m on my way to thank her for an old favour, anyway.” She swung her jacket out in front of her and started digging in the pockets, soon producing a thermos and a few containers, some lidded rattan baskets and paper bags full of candy. Fresh arms emerged to carry the goods and balance her as she wobbled distractedly on the polar ice. “Can I feed any of you guys? I’ve got hot chocolate, chai lattes, and some pumpkin spice, plus a bunch of steamed tonnikala. Vegetables are from down south, candy from the Bazaar.” She heaved a shoal’s worth of dried herring from an especially capacious paper bag and lobbed it at Vendral, who received it with a snap of his jaws and gulped it down.
”I do not eat,” came the murmured voice of Roog, seemingly ever more disgusted by growth of additional limbs that Chopstick Eyes was now sporting.
Kalmar took one of the bags and peered inside. He reached in, and pulled out a round sugar-coated orange gummy which had been turned hard as rock from the cold. The God of the Hunt tossed it into his mouth, and there was a sharp earth-shattering crack! as his divine teeth knifed through it. His eyes widened slightly. ”This taste is… interesting…” he said after a moment, rolling the bag shut. ”But we need to get moving. We might still have a long way to go.” And with that he proceeded northward.
Arae helped herself to some hot chocolate, taking a sip from a thick mug. The taste was remarkably pleasant, especially in the cold weather. She didn’t have to worry about it cooling down over time either, as she could keep it warm with her ability. “This reminds me of…” Arae began to say before she realized that her mind was leading nowhere on that train of thought. “What was I… never mind. This is a good drink. Thank you, Butterwort,” Arae recovered. She slowly sipped away at her drink as they continued moving. Chopstick shrugged a ‘no problem’, bagged her remaining goods and started gnawing a sizeable block of dark chocolate.
There was another crack, as another candy entered Kalmar’s mouth. ”What happened to the ‘Slippery Soul Serpent?’” he asked Choppy.
“It started singing,” said Chopstick Eyes. “Its voice sounds like its light looks. Fish, squid, whales, you name it, they all started coming to be eaten. My clone told me about it. It’s not a problem, though. There’s plenty of fish in the sea, and my clone sprouted a floating forest above it, so that the sea there would be especially rich. She has chopstick eyes too, by the way.” Still used to Ya-Shuur’s herder-wolves, she couldn’t help but wave a bone in Roog’s general direction, dry meat stuck to it like leather.
”...Clone?” Kalmar questioned with a quirked eyebrow.
Chopstick traced the faint scar running down the center of her body in a perfect vertical line with a fingertip. “Cut myself in half. She’s the other half. We’re twins.”
”I see… that explains quite a lot.” Kalmar commented.
Arae nearly choked on her hot chocolate when she heard Butterwort had cut herself in half, unable to comprehend what would even lead to such a situation. Even if it was a way to exercise godly power, surely there would’ve been a better way to go about it, wouldn’t there? Eventually, she decided to just accept it. What’s done was done, after all, and it seemed like there were no problems with her health, though Arae decided she would need to check up on the Pantheon later.
Roog had at last had enough of the entire situation with Chopstick Eyes’ offer of meat right off the bone particularly galling. This conversation was all well and good, of course, and perhaps if he had been in a more chipper mood he might have not only tolerated but thoroughly enjoyed other intelligent conversation. But, as it were with his first flight and the frankly alien entity fittingly called Chopstick Eyes, this conversation seemed to be going in numerous circles to nowhere that just somehow managed to keep making Chopstick Eyes even more unbearable to his naturalist sensibilities.
”Perhaps we should hasten our journey? The longer we tary, surely, the sooner we will be noticed.
The party continued through the frozen wastes. Kalmar took the lead, while Arae and Roog were immediately behind him. Vendral brought up the rear on foot, his massive size dwarfing them all by far, while a head faced every direction. Chopstick, whose legs were small, had dozed off on Vendral’s back.
Before them a lofty peak had been steadily rising above the horizon which was now joined by a ring of smaller mountains surrounding it. Even at this distance, a divine's sharp eyes missed no details of their destination that were not physically obstructed. Littered across the ring range where hundreds if not thousands of small statues that bore Azura’s essence, while atop the two highest peaks that they could see two greater examples both watching their approach with cold unblinking eyes.
Around the peak of the central mountain sat an immense structure of stone. It was shaped like two wheels, one inside the other, circling the mountain top. The Alma that Kalmar had seen traveling there seemed to be headed in that direction. After they passed over the ring of mountains, soaring up in the air currents generated by the wheels to join others coming to the north from inside the Sphere, that they could sense beyond the gateway surrounding the stone building.
As they got closer one of the Alma traveling north above them broke off from its flight path and descended to the frozen floor some way ahead of them. There it patiently awaited their arrival as it projected the image of a whale from its head mounted soul Gem.
”Hello there.” spoke the whale in a slow steady voice. ”What brings you all to this far north?”
Kalmar stepped forward. ”Where is Azura?” he demanded calmly.
”In the sky bastion.” the whale responded, equally calm as the Alma waved a wing up towards the mountain’s top structure. ”I apologise on Azura’s behalf for her not coming to greet you personally, but she’s had two sets of unexpected guests today already. One bad, one strange. I do so hope you’re arrival will be good news to balance it out.” the whale did not sound confident however.
Kalmar looked at the soul crystal on the Alma’s forehead, which appeared to be powering the image, and he grit his teeth. ”That remains to be seen. Take us to her.”
”I see. Who exactly am I taking there?” the whale asked ”And will you be needing a lift?” the Alma glanced at the mighty dragon as it asked.
”All of us,” Kalmar answered, ”And we are capable of transporting ourselves.”
”I meant names. My apologies for not being clear,” the whale explained patiently.
“Apologies to you as well,” Arae said, bowing slightly. Gesturing to each being, she introduced them, “This is Kalmar, Butterwort, Roog, and Vendral. I am Arae.”
Chopstick snored.
”Thank you Arae. To repay your courtesy, my own name is Luis.”
Roog had remained silent during the entire experience, his eyes darting back and forth from the sights with intense interest. From his Heavenly Father Roog had inherited a vision most attuned to seeing the qualities borne in a soul and this “alma” carried one worthy of pause. The soul LOOKED different by every stretch of the word and the concept of an altered soul being held in such a way both horrified and inflicted intense curiosity in the Wolf of Demise. When it projected a form for itself, that of the vast creatures Roog occasionally found beached back on Kalgrun, Roog was drawn in even further. As the others said there piece and he was at last introduced to the entity by Arae he spoke up.
”How is it that you have come to be this way, whale-light. I trust your creation is Azura’s doing?”
”I was made by her in ages past, to help capture the storm now held in the maelstrom by blocking out the dark moon’s withering light. I have since grown beyond that singular purpose. If you are wondering how I am speaking with you, this avian, known as an Alma, has the ability to project sound and images seen by its fellows.” Luis explained.
”Powered by souls,” Kalmar voiced with disgust. Arae was unsettled by the thought of it as well, shivering slightly.
”Artificial souls.” Luis clarified. ”Nothing was slain to make the constructs, if that is what you are worrying about.”
”Explain; artificial how?”
”The souls you see on this Alma are known as soul gems. These are similar, structurally, to soul crystals that are made from the souls of dead life, but unlike them, they were never alive to begin with. Azura crafts the soul gems directly from soul ash, while composing rigid instructions into them to create artificial life, which, while lacking anything resembling traditional intelligence, can still perform a limited set of highly complex tasks.”
Roog watched with eyes closed to bronze slits as the Alma explained itself. It was obvious that gears turned in the mind of the Great Wolf as he continued to listen silently to the explanation. At last his maw opened ever so slightly, the pale moonlight of his fangs glowing from behind black fur. From his posture and the rising flames of his jet black fur it was clear something had caught in the depths of Roog’s psyche.
”I see.”
Arae relaxed a little upon hearing that the soul gems were not exactly alive, but was still apprehensive about them. They were still created with soul ash, the very foundation for all life on Galbar. At what point is the line drawn between life? Was it only intelligence, or was it something even more primal? At any rate, she would have to agree to disagree. This was a complicated argument, and would take too much time to unravel at the moment.
”We’ve spent enough time down here. Let’s go see Azura,” Kalmar stated, not appearing satisfied with Luis’s explanation. before leaping backwards onto Vendral’s back. Arae followed suit, hopping up onto Vendral and sat down with both legs dangling down one side.
”Very well then.” Luis said as the Alma took flight. ”If you’d please follow me, I can take you to the Sky Bastion.”
Roog, following the lead of Kalmar and Arae as they ascended the great, five-headed dragon’s hide to find a proper perch on his back. Roog lowered himself close to the ground before leaping up, landing on the beast’s back only to lay down as close to the hide as possible, maw closing on one of the spikes protruding from Vendral’s back.
The small bird led them up and over the mountain range circling the north pole. In between the range and central peak, any indication as to the vault’s true location had been masked by Ashalla’s ice sheet and a cessation of Alma to and from the vault. That flow now instead headed for the double ringed fortress that was their destination.
As they ascended, the darkness that had accompanied them on their trek gradually washed away until they reached the summit, where both Heliopolis and the Luminous Garden could be seen forever dancing away from one another. Visible too, was the Blue, stretching out endlessly around Azura’s home and filled with all manner of Tonnikala, some strange and some familiar, particularly to Kalmar. First among these creatures whas a whale of truly titanic proportions who drifted right next to the sky bastion who matched the image they had been shown below. Near them floated another whale shaped structure, out of the top of which a massive horn of smooth soul crystal grew.
”Welcome to the Sky Bastion.” Luis said without use of his Alma proxy. ”Please make your way inside.”
The lone Alma led them to a large gateway that had been thrown open to grant them entrance. Inside was a massive room that was empty save for four individuals and a large round table with seats set around it for six humanoids and two quadrupeds. A large gap was left facing the exit for Luis, and another inside for the dragon. Three out of the four people waiting for them were made of stone and had a strange red energy. One was a stone cat, another a blank faced man and the final one radiated Azura’s power along with the non Armonia welcomer. This Azura was a humanoid with turquoise scaly flesh and red fins that emerged from her hips, elbows and where her hair should be. She wore a plain blue tunic and a pair of navy pantaloons with gaps cut in the sides to allow her fins to emerge from them.
The four of them had been in conversation with someone via another Alma, but the sounds of that talk along with muffled sounds of battle where cutoff as the Divine visitors approached. The Alma left past them as the four hosts formed a welcoming party and awaited Vendral’s landing.
The floor shook as Vendral swooped down, and Kalmar wasted no time in leaping off. He looked to the metallic creature with Azura’s aura and began walking forward. ”We came here for answers.” he stated firmly.
One of the figures, a tall being that resembled a man in size but held no visible face turned to Azura and asked, “Are all of these gods so ill mannered like this one?”
Arae slid off Vendral and stepped forward, bowing apologetically. “Apologies. We do not mean to be rude, but we do have important matters to talk to with our sister Azura. Azura, please listen to what we have to say.”
”Ah Kalmar, your reputation precedes you.” the metallic Azura said merrily before the other addressed the matter at hand.
”Your questions will be answered. But first let me introduce you to Ringol.” the fish woman indicated to the male Armonai who had spoken. ”Watcher.” the stony cat nodded its head in response. ”I shall be impartaily observing this meeting in the name of Ludicium, guardian of the Void.” ”And Cerule.” The avatar bowed theatrically at the mention of her freshly minted name.
”You’ve met Luis all ready, of course. He’s let me know who you all are in advance.” the whale in question had drifted closer to the entrance now that they had entered, though left plenty of the Blue visible rather than boxing the guests in.
”Finally I am, of course, Azura. Please do take a seat and then we can get started.” she finished before inviting them to do just that.
Roog had remained on Vendral’s back for the time being, watching with distrusting eyes; this place emanated an unearthly glow to his soul-sight and everything about it seemed off. It wasn’t natural, at least the natural he had been born into, and much of that played off the voice of that beast chained deep in the back of his mind. As Azura finished her own introduction and bade them sit Roog finally hopped from Vendral’s back without a single sound announcing his descent. It was something, at least, that Azura offered answers to the questions they’d come to ask; perhaps they could even convince her to see the error of her ways and recant.
Kalmar glared at the tall, faceless man - a glare that sent a clear warning. He stepped forward, pulled out a chair, and sat down. ”You’ve been taking souls and putting all of Galbar at risk,” he stated bluntly. ”How do you justify it?”
If at all his stare phased the faceless man, it was impossible to tell. Rignol said nothing further, but did not take a seat.
Arae mentally sighed, then began to clarify, “What Kalmar is trying to say is that we are currently facing… well, a bit of a crisis. Because of all the souls you’ve been collecting and placing in ‘soul crystals’, there will soon be a shortage of soul ash to create new life. I’m sure you’re aware that the only way to obtain soul ash is to, well, recycle souls of the departed through Katharsos’ cycle of rebirth, and you are impeding that cycle. Fortunately, we’re still in the early stages, so there’s no immediate problem. However, if this keeps up, new souls cannot inhabit new bodies, and all life on Galbar and in every one of our siblings’ spheres will eventually end. We would like to ask you, Azura and company, if you have any solutions to our predicament.”
There was a brief moment of silence as the words settled in. Chopstick snored a little too loudly, and tumbled off the dragon’s back.
She landed in a floppy heap and cracked awake in time to catch her hat as it fell. Looking around, her sticks splayed in wonder for a moment as she took in first the architecture, then the strangers, then the smells. Sniff, sniff. Sniff…
“Azura!” Chopstick leapt in locust fashion directly onto the fish-woman who smelled of bird, fell short of her neck and grabbed her waist in a hug instead, legs trailing on the ground. “I’m so happy to see you and I just wanted to say I’m really glad you saved me that one time! It meant so much to me! Mwah. Hmm, you’re less feathery than before.” She retracted her eyes enough to kiss fishzura on the chest and turned to the rest of her crew. “Sorry for sleeping through that big negotiation thing you guys were all so excited for. How’d it go?”
”Incomplete,” growled Roog in response, his predatory gaze fixed on Chopstick as the odd-god proved once more the disconnect she felt towards the happenings of reality.
“Dang,” said Choppy.
Azura meanwhile, after a brief moment of surprise, had found a genuine smile upon her lips. One arm wrapped around Choppy while she used her other one to ruffle the little Goddess’s rubbery hair. ”Barely started in fact. Nonetheless, it is good to see you are doing well since we last met. A lifetime ago now, though I still remember it clearly.”
”You might say it was a character forming event.” Cerule said ”So in a way we should be thanking you too, as probably wouldn’t be here without your bout of misfortune.” the second divine of the wind was leaning back in her chair in a relaxed manner even as she kept a careful eye on the guests.
”Which brings us back to the matter at hand.” Azura’s smile left her lips, replaced with a patient line. ”Which is the consequences of soul ash being a finite resource. I should begin with by being upfront about what will likely be the main point of contention of this discussion. I don't currently have a working solution. My power and intellect have been put to task of building a stable, and well protected, foundation for the work that is yet to come.”
Kalmar leaned forward. ”And what if you can’t find a solution? What then?”
”There are many solutions. The problem is picking one and making sure it is seen through.” Azura said carefully ”Worst case scenario, we put the creation of new mortal life on hold for a time. A curse of infertility perhaps, or placing them into stasis till a solution is found.”
Kalmar’s expression darkened, but it was someone else who spoke first. “Should the worst case scenario occur, I cannot abide by this course of action,” Arae said with stern disapproval. “We are managing a world teeming with life. We are not playing with toys, judging the world through the view of statistics. I cannot allow the entire world to be punished when we gods and goddesses are the ones at fault.”
Chopstick unhugged herself from fishzura and gave a baffled shrug, sitting crosslegged.
Azura’s brow furrowed ”Is not being consigned to annihilation upon death also the world being punished when the gods are at fault for not making a better system than the one we have? Souls are not lifeless flesh to be returned to the soil, they are still people like you and I. And they deserve better than Katharsos’s pyres.”
”The system of death here is, frankly, cruel and unusual even compared to the pretty crap one that we had back where we came from. You can do better.” Cerule chided the goddess who had spoken down to them.
”It is not a punishment,” Kalmar growled. ”Creatures live and they die. When they die, their time is over, and new creatures take their place. The souls continue on, but those souls will continue to decay until nothing of value remains. None of us created soul decay, so don’t you dare hold us at fault for it. And if you put all life into stasis, or make everyone infertile, then all life on Galbar will end. Now, you claim you have solutions: what are they?” he demanded.
”Ok. Three things. One no. It doesn’t end all life on Galbar. Mortals sit atop ecosystems. Temporarily removing them and only them won’t cause an ecological collapse. Two. Soul decay is no longer a natural problem, as Orvus has created creatures that cause it. Three. Soul decay might not be created, but the existing system simply takes it as given, when it can be avoided.”
Kalmar looked at Azura as if she had just declared the sky to be purple. ”To your first point… mortals, animals, plants… all use souls. If you make them infertile and fail to find your solution before their lifespans run out, then yes, all life will end. To your second point: Soul Decay is still a natural problem regardless of what Orvus creates; he just made it worse. And to your last point: I ask again, how can it be avoided? What are these solutions you keep claiming to possess?”
Roog had watched and waited patiently as the greater gods expressed their qualms and snapped back and forth with their clearly well seated beliefs. This Azura had immediately proven herself to be in opposition to Roog’s initial expectations, but despite her collected demeanor he continued to find her positions at odds with his own. Nevertheless he was determined to hear out her position as best he could while his creator and Arae expressed their own. Unsurprisingly, however, a head was rapidly reached as the debate began to become more poignant.
”Goddess-Azura,” rumbled Roog, his maw dropped open as his eyes locked on her, ”Before you answer my creator, I have a query to pose; my life was born of nature, coalesced from Soul Ash naturally. What you propose would doom myself and creatures like me to nonexistence, regardless of your well intentioned aims. Consider then your solutions; by all rights, your actions will end one or more kinds of life, including my own. What solutions, then, do you have for such a doom? How will you determine which living creatures belong in your new world?”
”See, Roog gets it. Just the mortals would be prevented from multiplying for a time. Void damn it, it was just an example too.”
”You don’t understand,” Kalmar cut in. ”Mortals have lifespans. If you can’t come up with a solution before those lifespans run out, and they can’t make more of themselves, they will go extinct. And if you think that the other gods will stand by and allow you to do that to their creations, think again.”
”Ah! And there is the first threat. I was wondering how long it would take.”
”It’s not a threat,” Kalmar glowered. ”It’s a fact. If you threaten the existence of other gods’ creations, or try to forcibly render them infertile, the other gods will try to stop you. Why wouldn’t they? And if you can’t take this conversation seriously, you have no right to decide the fate of mortal souls.”
Azura ignored what she had decided was a developing feud between Cerule and Kalmar and focused instead on Roog’s question ”To address that distinction first, the line does not purely include mortals, but some creatures of intelligence a touch below them. The line itself is a concession that prevents the entire system from grinding to a halt immediately. Best case scenario, that line does not need to exist.”
”In truth, Lady of Gales, my question probes at the reasoning behind your actions,” Roog had stepped forward as he spoke, moving to the edge of the table where he stood with his head held up and out of a defensive posture, ”I fundamentally disagree with your conclusion. You view the disintegration of souls as a destruction when it is creation. The path we are on is as intended and oblivion for all things, ourselves included, is to be welcomed; oblivion is a beginning, not an end.”
Azura cocked her head to one side ”A beginning to what?” she asked
”Everything.”
“...What the fuck?” Chopstick threw some hands up around her head, unable to sit quietly and watch the conversation flick back and forth over it much longer. “Hello? Hello? Are we still talking money here? If you run a book through a paper shredder, it’s gone. Recycling the paper doesn’t bring back the book. You’d have to write it, again, and… And that’s not likely to happen. With souls. I’m talking about souls.” She took a breath. “I get that you’re all trying to make the soul ash last as long as possible. I get that! But… Like, are we really running that low? Honestly? How long do we have before all the little people stop being able to make more little guys?” She huffed. “How long do we need to keep making new little guys anyway? We’re not gonna be here forever.”
Roog looked over his shoulder at Chopstick, throwing her an unsurprised yet disappointed glance. This creature revealed much of its ideology and the very core of what Chopstick expressed as fact actively flew in the face of the wolf’s own deeply held beliefs.
”I do not understand your analogy; you deny the potential for new life. Life blossoms even after death; the world takes back what it has lost. Souls are as flames; even when extinguished their embers spark new blazes, all born of that first fire. Soul Ash is the same; though the original soul is caught in deflagration, many new souls will be born from the ashes. You see the cycle too narrowly.”
“Cycle schmycle. I’ve used soul ash, I know what it does,” said the one with the chopstick eyes. “The fact that new shit gets made doesn’t mean we’re not torching old shit that could still be good.”
”By the very nature of this act will the current path be destroyed; such a decision should not be made by one person alone.”
“Lock up your souls, then. Just spray your dudes with Alma repellent, or whatever,” Chopsticks waved. “Just… Geez, figure something out.”
”We are here to figure something out,” Kalmar interjected, voice filled with impatience. He shifted his gaze to Azura. ”You continue to evade my question. For the third time: what are your solutions?”
Azura waved off attempts by Cerule to continue bickering with the god of the hunt and actually got down to the business of laying out her current theoretical solutions. ”There are a number of avenues of research when seeking solutions. The most obvious is creating more soul ash. Initial experiments have led me to find that it is entirely possible to produce it like we would any other material, though my current method is woefully inefficient. We could brute force this solution of course, but it would be a massive power draw, one that would only increase as mortal populations do so. In my opinion this path is a last resort or a long term project.”
”The second avenue is to replace the need for souls entirely to produce a replacement metaphysical receptacle for the mind that is based on something easier to produce than soul ash. This could either reliance souls entirely or be a receptacle to place the minds of the dead within while their souls are returned to the cycle as their bodies are.”
”The third is to remove death entirely, at least for mortals. The Ihokhetlani are proof that this is entirely within our means to achieve. In ending death we stave off the soul crisis almost indefinitely and improve the lives of mortal charges greatly in the process.
”Finally we have reincarnation were the souls of the dead are reborn into new bodies wholly intact instead of as ash, creating an actual cycle of rebirth. I’ve managed to do this in a controlled environment with krill, so I know it is possible. Rather simple in fact. It would be quite the infrastructure project to spread and automate this system across all of Galbar however.”
”So. Your thoughts?” she asked finally.
Kalmar considered her words for a moment. ”Your first and fourth ideas have the most promise, I think.” he said at last. ”The problem with the first way is, as you said, the power. The problem with the fourth way would be that we would need to find a way to reverse or halt soul decay on a massive scale.”
“Perhaps Orvus may have a solution for this particular problem,” Arae remarked. “If he truly has claimed Soul Decay as part of his abilities, then perhaps it is not too much of a stretch for him to create a system that can deal with soul decay. Of course, that would depend on his cooperation as well.”
“Before we move on with that, though, I would also like to point out the issue with memories,” Arae added. “Every soul is going to retain their memories after their bodies have perished, and simply placing them into new bodies will create new problems we’d have to fix.”
”We make them forget, then.” Kalmar suggested. ”When they are reincarnated they start out fresh. A young mind is a fragile thing anyway, unable to retain much knowledge. Katharsos has experience with removing memories, and Abanoc is the God of Recording. Maybe we could ask Abanoc to find a way to store these memories, and restore them to their owners after death, which they can reflect on as they await their rebirth?” he wondered.
”I do not agree with these conclusions.”
Roog had listened once more, simply sitting back and allowing the gods to speak their mind on the subject. Azura’s proposals, of course, had proven interesting but reeked of a perspective antithetical to Roog’s own. As the Great Wolf listened he became considerably more aware of his separation from the gods by their own expressions with one after the other making it all the more evident. A displeased sigh escaped as a hiss between his teeth as Kalmar responded with his own take, proving once and for all what Roog had feared.
”The solutions you propose are flawed. They require artificial action and change to a system that is not the danger. You view the destruction and recreation of a soul as opposed to reincarnation when it is one in the same. Your perspective endangers those creatures under your care. Mortality is natural and an end to one life and the beginning of a new one is intended in the system from which all creatures are born; all but you First-Born, at least.”
Kalmar rose to his feet. ”Roog, come. I need to speak to you alone.” And with those words he began walking to the exit. ”Vendral, you will come as well.”
Roog watched for a moment before rising onto all fours and following behind his creator.
Rignol, having stood silently for the entirety of the meeting so far, spoke at last as he watched the three leave. “Perhaps it best for a recession?”
Vendral flew them onto the peak of one of the smaller, adjacent mountains. Kalmar climbed down and waited for Roog to do the same.
Roog had been silent on the short ride, lost in thoughts borne on the web of words spun in the room amongst the First-Born gods. As Vendral landed and Kalmar climbed free of the beast’s back, Roog leapt down to join him. There was a look clearly marring Roog’s visage, showing displeasure for any who had the vaguest hint of how a wolf emotes. Despite the clear need to voice his concerns Roog remained quiet, waiting for his creator to initiate.
Let me make this clear, Kalmar’s voice spoke inside Roog’s head. To any observer, the only sound would be the wind. I do not see any flaws in Katharsos’s system, and any alternative that Azura offers will be unnecessary, and perhaps even inefficient. However, it is clear that she will not listen to reason, which means the only other way to make her stop will be to use force, and do you know what happens when gods clash?
Inefficient, alternatives, avenues of research, the thoughts boomed from Roog’s mind with thunder like efficacy. There was clear power and emotion behind those thoughts, proof that Roog had been shaken to the core. His life, though short and more similar to that of a mortal beast, had been spent under the assumption that the Gods were as Katharsos and Kalmar. They had been sensible when he first was born into the world and had seemed to fit their monikers as the young wolf had expected. Each new God he met had changed this fundamental view of the world like nails in a coffin and the argument unfolding before him only exacerbated that realization.
These words sicken me, to hear them spoken of so callously in regards to life. It pains me to hear them. The Chopstick Eyed One, she speaks of wealth, while Azura speaks of Research and alternatives. Even you, creator, use their words; inefficient. A poisonous term. My interest is not in these things, creator, but in life and nature and the creatures that crawl and walk and fly.
Roog groaned with displeasure, his head held low and the fires of his tail flecking and spitting black sparks and embers towards the ground. He looked back up towards his creator with indignation burning in his bronze gaze.
I do not know what happens when the First-Born clash, Creator, but I will not slink quietly into the night so that they might find success without resistance.
Surprisingly, Kalmar nodded. Azura and Chopstick speak far too lightly on this matter, I agree. I count Chopstick Eyes as a friend, but I know she is strange and unreasonable. As for Azura… I fear Arae was right - she speaks of mortals almost as if they are toys, and does not truly value them; not as much as she thinks she does. As for me, despite the words I use I share your concern; the priority should be the preservation of nature.
[color=orange]And yet… the God of the Hunt was not finished. ...I have seen what happens when gods clash. Orvus, God of Desolation, once tried to kill Phystene, the Goddess of Nature; their battle scarred a continent, and created abominations which roam the sea to this day. Vakk, God of Speech, once tried to attack K’nell, and was nearly killed for it. Sartravius, God of Heat, and Ekon, God of Fear, both raised armies to attack Shengshi, the God of Rivers. While neither Sartravius nor Ekon were on the field personally, their armies still caused and suffered great destruction; thousands were needlessly killed, and entire forests were reduced to ash.
Kalmar allowed only a moment for that news to sink in. This is why we must work with her. The only alternative is to stop her with force, which could destroy the things we all seek to protect. But if we compromise, perhaps we can find a solution that appeases all while still maintaining a working natural order. There are already gods who seek to undo existence in its entirety; we cannot divide ourselves further.
Of his thoughts Roog suddenly became well guarded, his face becoming a mask of low emotions that appeared no different from a wolf in the wild. His maw opened gently and his voice echoed forth, sounding tinny and controlled.
”I understand. I will not forget this lesson, creator.”
The two returned to the meeting, expressions guarded, with Vendral following closely behind.
Kalmar approached the table, but he did not sit.
”Here are my conditions,” he said, speaking directly to Azura. ”So long as the creation and progress of life is not halted, we will help you find an alternate solution to Katharsos’s pyres. We will require full access to this location as well as the Soul Crystal storage. At some point we will need to reach out to Katharsos himself. He has more experience with souls than anyone, and he is not unreasonable; perhaps we can convince him to compromise and prevent open conflict. Additionally: I repeat that the progress and creation of new life cannot be halted; if a new solution is not devised before we run out of soul ash, then that may mean returning some of the crystals to the pyres so that the cycle may continue.”
”If you accept these terms, I offer you my aid in defending this place and looking into a solution. Do you agree?”
“Ooooh, contract law!” said Chopstick, clapping eagerly over the wok in which she was currently flash-frying some bright yellow noodles.
"You should not so quickly agree to this proposal, Azura." Rignol spoke at last. He then pointed at Kalmar and said, "This one speaks of his own conditions, and assumes the others will follow. A pretentious display." He said letting his hand drop."I also find this meeting lacking key viewpoints from Katharsos, God of Death and your Architect. Deciding on the future of this universe without key players would be unwise and arrogant. You can debate back and forth until the end of time about which is right and what is wrong but without those two agreeing to anything, then it is pointless. Unless you plan on overthrowing the both of them less they disagree?"
Kalmar met Ringol’s words with a glare. ”I speak only for myself, and I am suggesting that we contact Katharsos to see if he will agree. If he doesn’t then things will change. The deal I offered was for things as they currently stand. Nobody needs to be overthrown. Next time, consider your own words before you accuse others of pretentiousness.”
"Who is 'we' then? Do you speak for the others? It would make sense for a being such as yourself to assume that others would follow you. Oh what was the saying where I come from… The Alpha of a pack? Mhmm, it matters not I believe. The others will surely follow you regardless of your conditions. Forgive me if I sound pretentious, God of Hunting. I speak only so that Azura may listen. I would hate for her to be taken advantage of, given the current circumstances." Rignol said, his voice like a golden serpent. Or, as the case may be, a sizzling golden noodle.
Finally Azura addressed her guests once more ”You have, when it comes down to it, given me little reason to trust you. We are strangers to one another. To give you access to the soul crystals at such an early stage would be baring my throat and gambling with countless souls that have entrusted us with their protection in the process. If we want this to work, we will need to start with terms smaller in scope than your initial offer.”
Contract law, contract law, mouthed the one with chopstick eyes, dishing up the noodles.
Kalmar crossed his arms. ”I could say the same to you. I have an obligation toward my creations and to my worshipers. There is a chance that some of them might end up in this vault. Why should I not have access to them? Why should I trust you and you alone to safeguard them?” He leaned forward. ”Nobody in existence can truthfully claim I do not keep my word. I watch over an entire continent that I will continue to fill with life. And I have many friends and allies among the rest of the gods.” His gaze swept across the table, settling on one individual. ”Chopstick Eyes. We made a deal in the past, yes?”
“That’s certainly true!” said Chopstick Eyes, offering a bowl of curry.
Kalmar accepted the bowl with a nod. ”And I held true to my end of the deal, yes?”
“You did! He beat up an overfed fish for me, by the way,” she nodded to the rest of the assembled divinities. “I know what that sounds like, but it was really important.”
Kalmar nodded reluctantly, but that reluctance lasted only a moment, and then resolve returned to his voice. ”It was. And that was not the only deal I have ever made, or the only assistance I have offered,” he declared, in his usual blunt and serious tone.
”When Orvus attacked Phystene, I was the first to come to her aid. It was my idea to form a pact against those who would senselessly destroy Galbar. I stood against Orvus alone, to make sense of his motives and convince him to change course. I aided Asceal in the creation of one of her children, without needing to be asked or offered anything. I met another god when they were at their most vulnerable and I helped them recover at no benefit to myself. When Shengshi was attacked, even though we had our disagreements, I did not hesitate to come to his aid.” The Hunter paused briefly, slurping up a noodle, before continuing on. “If you think I’ll put a knife in your back, you are mistaken.”
Azura leaned back in her chair, chin leaning on the base of her hand and fingers curled up before her mouth as she considered this response before glancing at her past self. Despite Azura having been the one to raise the objection, out of the two it was Cerule who remained the most sceptical.
”We’re not going to believe that self professed series of accolades are we? A third of it was threats veiled as boasting about his power and influence.”
”Asceal called him a friend, and we met this child of theirs however briefly.” Azura responded
”She also called him too unreliable to be brought into this. Case and point: Orvus. All he seems to have done is made him more subtle about being a destructive prick.” the other replied, referencing the battle currently ongoing against the soul decaying infestation.
Unreliable? Kalmar’s eyebrows arched in frustration. It seemed as though Asceal had taken to slandering other gods as a hobby.
”At least unlike him these people came to talk to us.” Azura responded.
”Talk to us about destroying those we have saved. By the way, the last minute ‘I have a responsibility to my people’ kinda jars with that whole position, mate. We are not agreeing to that no matter what. ” Cerule’s fist pounded the table to punctuate the declaration of the uncrossable line.
Chopstick shuffled in her seat.
”No. We aren't. However I believe we can accept some of the rest of the parts of the offer which we can actually agree on and are immediately relevant.”
She turned back to Kalmar ”I can agree to you having supervised access to this location and the vault of souls for the purpose of reaching an alternative. I also agree with the proposed future meeting with Katharsos. When it comes to reactions to the soul crisis I believe there is a fundamental disconnect between what we find valuable about life, the system itself versus the individuals it produces, that we could argue about till the end of time. Instead of doing so, I suggest we table the matter entirely and focus on ensuring that the discussion never needs to occur. Is that acceptable?
Azura glanced over at Cerule who sighed and nodded.
”I’ll add another condition to that deal,” Kalmar said. ”The Alma who pass through my lands are not allowed to be armed, or possess any offensive abilities. My avatar watched one of them shoot a fleeing mortal in the back, right in front of that mortal’s family, so I’ll not trust them to roam unchecked among my own creations. And if we ever reach a point where our deal needs to be broken, I will expect complete and total honesty because I am prepared to offer the same; I will not tolerate betrayal or deception.”
A brief look of surprise and dismay crossed Azura’s features before she frowned. ”They aren't supposed to do that.” she said, as an alma fluttered over to her and landed on her arm. She began humming as verse spilled from the bird’s soul gems and line dup for inspection before her.
”I can guarantee” Cerule said as her younger self inspected the Alma’s instructions ”That if this pact becomes untenable we won’t be quiet about the fact.” Outside there were a few flashes of light and accompanying ‘pew pew’ sounds as Azura remotely test fired an Alma’s light breams.
”As for disarming them, that is not easy. It’d be like trying to disarm a dragon. We’d have to rip out the bundles of power in them without killing them and then try and instruct them in how to comprehend something as abstract as borders. Could do it, but it’d be expensive.” Cerule explained.
The verse retracted back into the Alma as Azura completed her adjustment. ”A tragic result of Asceal’s blessing that I severely underestimated the power of. I’ve adjusted their behavior so that they are much, much more careful and added some settings for lower intensity fire as well. The incident you described should not happen again.” she said as the bird flew away.
”As for disarmament, it might be easier to create an unarmed crystalizer from scratch if you are willing to aid in its creation?” she added.
”That would be easier,” Kalmar agreed. ”But I would expect it to prioritize my commands above all else.”
”Just you? Not you and your friends here?” Cerule asked as Azura was busy making blueprints in her mind. ”Also are any of you in on this? The more the merrier.”
“I do not desire any responsibility over them, and I would not know what to do with them if I did,” Arae said, shaking her head as she held a palm up in refusal.
“I could do it,” said Chopstick Eyes, pulling a business card from her pocket and pushing it to the middle of the table. “We only provide the highest-quality diplomatically neutral mortal soul vessels here at Stickchop Industries™. I can even think of a price that wouldn’t inconvenience any of you one bit.”
Roog watched with steely gaze at the precession of diplomacy that unfolded before his eyes, his emotions now guarded beneath that most feral of visages. Bronze eyes regarded those about them as they spoke but it seemed he was loathe to respond, quiet as he was despite plans and deals being bandied and bartered about. The very edges of his midnight hide flickered and bit at the air around him, crackling noiselessly. As he was addressed alongside Kalmar towards his intentions he at last spoke, his voice coming out sounding of a whisper but at the volume of a normal speaking tone.
”I will not assist; you have not compromised on your ends, only the means by which you achieve them. I will not see such creatures fly over Kalgrun by my own actions.”
Roog, Kalmar’s voice could be heard within Roog’s thoughts. Think about it. The creatures will answer to me, which means that whether or not souls can leave Kalgrun will also be decided by me. We do not need to compromise with Azura; if her solution is one that ultimately displeases us then we create our own, or put a stop to crystallization in Kalgrun altogether.
”I will not resort to tricks or betrayals,” Roog said as he stared defiantly at Azura, showing no sign that Kalmar had shared thoughts with him, ”So I will not enter into a pact that I cannot know I will always support. Unless you offer a compromise that addresses my own position, I will not assist.”
”It is somewhat difficult to compromise on a matter that has yet to be decided upon.” Azura said while spinning plans for the unarmed Alma out of verse ”Is it not better to be part of the discussion, or at least stay informed as to how it is going, than reject the topic entirely?”
As she was talking Cerule leaned over and poked a finger into the half formed blueprint. Azura responded with a flat look before shooing her off and continuing her craft.
”This is not a discussion,” Roog pointed out, his bronze eyes leaping over to match Azura’s gaze, ”The compromise is producing another form of life that maintains and propagates your goals. If you would provide some sort of compromise towards our own goals, that being the continuation of the cycle, I would be far more amenable to assist.
”Okay but this one is worse because it can't shoot lasers. And have meddling from the huntsman over here. If that’s not up to snuff then what is?” Cerule asked.
”Restrict all soul crystallization to sapient organisms while leaving all other organisms within the cycle for the time being. This is what I would need to be assured that both sides of the compromise are being forwarded. Then I would assist.”
We won’t be doing that. spoke the great whale in response. Luis been primarily orchestrating the reconquest of the vault as the meeting took place but on this topic he could not remain silent.
Azura nodded ”That line has already been drawn in a place I’ve made peace with. To deny salvation after it has been offered would be to breach promises already made. Being made a liar seems like a poor way to start this collaboration.”
”Nothing personal Roogi boy, Luis’s friendship is just worth more to her than your divine power.” Cerule added bluntly.
”Disappointing,” Rppg replied, giving particular attention to Luis, ”One day I hope you see the folly of your terror; you would have lived happier for it. If you will not provide me compromise, I shall take it into my own hands. I shall assist and the creatures over Kalgrun will be EQUALLY mine as they are my creator’s.”
”Do you agree to this, Azura?” Kalmar asked.
”Can you agree to not to instantly enforce your tightened limits upon gaining that power? Let the ‘beasts’ of the continent decide for themselves.” she asked Roog
”Let them all decide for themselves.” she said more generally to the assembled guests.
”I have no intention of violating any creature’s free will,” Kalmar told her. He turned to Arae. ”What do you think of this?” he asked her.
“If the cycle of life and death is maintained, and mortals are not in danger of extinction, then it will have to do,” Arae said after a moment of thinking. “Finer details may have to be worked out as time passes, especially when Katharsos is added to this discussion, but for now I approve.”
Kalmar nodded. ”Then let’s get to work.”
Chopstick finished her curry.
”Agreed.” Azura said, pushing the glowing blueprint to the center of the table, where it formed the rough outline of an avian woven with Verse and suspended in a translucent sphere of power. A mold into which power could be poured. The goddesses of wind both stretched out a hand to touch the orb which thrummed with energy at the contact.
Kalmar reached out to press his palm against the orb as well, with Arae following suit.
Roog watched as the pair performed their portions of the ritual, eyes flashing with considerable interest. Unable to stretch out a hand as they had Roog closed the distance with the orb and pressed his nose to the silvery sphere instead.
”Let this work mark the beginning of our pact, wrote in contract, sealed with divine power.” Azura said symbolically as the creation formed at their touch.
”And witnessed by the void. May it bless this peace and curse those who break it.” spoke the stone cat, forgotten by all, with words that had a weight all their own.
Kalmar and the gang arrive at the Northpole, where they meet Butterwort(chopstick eyes) and they talk and shit. Next they are greeted by Luis via Alma and talk again. Luis leads them to the Sky Bastion and inside they find Azura’s crew, watching the madness unfold in the vault. They quickly shut that off and a long meeting takes place. Everyone and everything pitches in and it’s just a fucking clusterfuck, jesus christ. A compromise is met, I guess, but no one is really happy because they didn’t invite Katharsos to the damn meeting so solutions are going to be looked at and alternatives explored so yay. A ‘notalma’ is agreed upon to be made by Roog, Kalmar, and Azura to preside over Kalgrun.
Unarmed and un-telepathic Alma known as (name) which obey Kalmar and Roog equally, followed by Azura.
Kalmar -1MP (discounted to 0 via Hunting portfolio.) Roog; -1MP (discounted to 0 via Demise portfolio.) Azura; -1MP (discounted to 0 via Soul Crystal portfolio.)
Justification for the discounts: Alma are supposed to seek out intelligent living mortals, which is where the Hunting portfolio comes in. They also seek out the recently deceased, which is where the Demise portfolio comes in. And of course, they create Soul Crystals - hence the discount for that.
The Windweavers, The Spellsingers.
Starting prestige: 6 +1 prestige for being in the post +1 prestige for a collab Final prestige: 8
“Look at lil Billy here,” she said, pulling a tiny camel out of her pocket, “If I cut Billy’s throat, but then made another little animal, a toad or something, would that be cool of me?” The camel, whose real name was Marwood, grunted a concerned little grunt.
“Does anyone want some fucking curry?” said Chopstick Eyes.
Karamir's cloak had indeed granted him an immense amount of speed, and as it happened that speed was somewhat faster than Arryn's. He had tried to stay in pace with the bird, but every now and then he simply couldn't resist zooming ahead, and then waiting for the bird to catch up. Arryn was understandably annoyed. He passed trees, rocks, and mountains - nothing unusual. Until now: he found himself before a most unusual sight.
"What on Galbar is this?"
Before Karamir was a rickety blue staircase, spiraling up into the heavens.
Why?
Curious, he began to ascend, shooting upward into the sky. It passed by like a blur, as he shot up into the clouds. Up, and up, and up. The stairs seemed to have no end, and then he suddenly stopped, noticing that a detail in the passing blur had changed. The stairs were now covered in sharp, twisted spikes.
And then he realized he couldn't breathe.
He would have to head back down soon, he realized. He did not have long. And so he flew into the staircase, taking care to avoid the deadly spikes, and slowly began to ascend, flying circularly and diagonally.
And suddenly, the world began to shift around him.
He was no longer on stairs, but on solid ground, and he could breathe again. There were stone pillars all around. He glanced upward, but could not see what was at the top.
Karamir had seen more than his fair share of oddities in Diana's nightmares and at the Palace of Dreams, but this... this was something else. Spheres were supposed to serve a purpose. What purpose did this place serve? Was there any logic to it? He began to wander, brushing his hands against the pillars as he passed. At one pillar he looked up, and saw that it was bent at an angle - his gaze followed it, and as he saw its tip he realized it was not a pillar, but instead a giant spike. Were these all spikes, like the ones on the stairway?
He attempted to fly to the very top of the 'pillars', shooting upward at a quick speed. Minutes passed. Then hours. Still he could not see the tops. He was not getting anywhere, he realized.
Defeated, it was time to go back down. He began to descend. Within seconds, the cold stone ground came up to meet his feet. "What..." he gaped in astonishment.
None of this made sense.
Karamir sucked in a deep breath. "Okay, no," he told himself. "You've been in strange situations before. You've known suffering before. You've known isolation before." He would not let one strange location defeat him so easily.
A quick look around revealed no sign of the way he came in. That was an even greater cause for concern, but he suppressed the panic and instead tried to fill himself with resolve. This was but a temporary setback. There was a way out of here. There had to be. Or had he, once again, gone out of the river and into the ocean?
He supposed he would find out. But there was no use giving up, or giving in. So he chose a direction at random and began to walk.
Karamir is heading west with Arryn to leave the Tendlepog and Swahhiteh region. Because his cloak is faster than Arryn, he can't help but zoom ahead from time to time, much to Arryn's annoyance. On one of these unauthorized forays, he winds up encountering the Staircase, and so he chooses to fly to the top. Eventually he reaches a point where the stairs become spikes and he can no longer leave. Before heading down he decides to quickly take a closer look, examining the spikes and the staircase itself.
The world then shifts around him, and he finds himself in the Infinite Maze - which is filled with colossal spikes that he initially perceives as pillars. He attempts to fly to the top, but after hours of flight there is not an end in sight. He then decides to go back down, only to hit the ground in a matter of seconds. Oh, and he can't see the way in. Confused to all hell, he has no choice but to continue wandering.
Karamir Beginning Prestige: 11 +1 for minor role. +1 for major role. Ending Prestige: 13
The tent given to Karamir and Arryn was, all things considered, of quite solid quality. It was roomy for two, and considering Arryn’s size, it was practically a room to Karamir. The walls kept the late summer heat inside during the chillier evenings, but they were also just airy enough not to overheat the interior. Spending the night inside would have been a considerably better experience than most other nights in Karamir’s existence - had it not been interrupted halfway through.
For at the dim of midnight, when sleep was at its deepest, the curtain of the tent was thrown open and the opening was overtaken by a shadowed face.
“Wake up,” Batu shouted. “Karamir, wake up!”
Karamir sprang into action, lurching upright and reaching for his spear, only relenting when he realized he was merely being woken up; not attacked. ”What is it?” he asked groggily, putting the weapon down.
A small heap of something was set on the floor just inside the tent. “Get dressed, quickly, and come outside.”
With a sigh, Karamir grabbed the new clothes and put them on. In the darkness of the tent, he wasn’t even sure what they looked like, but they were certainly cleaner and more comfortable than what he had worn previously.
Once dressed, he stepped outside. Part of the clothing fell neatly down around his legs and kept them nice and warm, though the garment was a little difficult to maneuver in. It was a robe, he came to realise, or at least, the same garment the Dreamers had been wearing. As he went outside, the whole family stood in a half-circle a small distance away from him.
“Ah, Karamir,” Temüjin said. The shadow of his old form waved Karamir over. “Terribly sorry to wake you up at this hour… It’s, sadly, quite important.”
”What is it?” Karamir asked, wiping his eyes as Arryn appeared on the branch of a nearby tree.
“Well, it’s, uhm…” Temüjin scratched his neck sheepishly. The other children looked in seemingly every other direction than Karamir’s.
“We’ve, uhm… Received a vision,” Ansong said quietly.
“Yes, uhm… An ominous one at that.”
That just made him more confused. ”What do you mean? What vision?”
“Have you ever woken up at night, only to have all your other family members do the same?” Batu asked in the way one would if one knows the example one is about to use already is incredibly complicated. “Oh, wait, no, that was inconsiderate of me, uh…”
“What he’s trying to say is that all of us had a dream, son,” Temüjin added helpfully. “A foreshadowing of things to come, and it’s important that, well…”
“It is important that you and His Holiness make it off the continent as quickly as you can,” Ansong finished.
”What? Why?” Karamir immediately asked.
“A great change is coming to this land, son… If you and His Holiness aren’t off this continent by the time it happens, you risk, well… Everything. It’s God’s word, son - take it and trust in it.”
A great change? Risking everything? He needed to know more than that. ”What’s going to happen?”
“We… We don’t know exactly. We can only speculate,” Batu answered regretfully. “God spoke of ‘tearing open the sky’, and we think it may have something to do with that. We don’t know what happens after that, but… God knows you have stayed with us for the night - and he told us that anyone not born of Hermes and Xiaoli must leave in all haste.”
Ansong held out a small package. “I have made you some food to take along for the journey. It’s flat cakes and sweetgrass jam and some stalkplums. Really, we are deeply sorry to just toss you out this way, but… If God is telling us a great change is coming and that you must leave before it happens, we cannot question Him.”
”Won’t the rest of you be in danger as well?” Karamir asked, furrowing his brow.
“God will not harm his own people,” Temüjin declared faithfully. “Anyone born of Hermes and Xiaoli will be safe; you, however, are born of Kalmar, and we sadly cannot vouch for your safety.”
”So anyone descended from Hermes or Xiaoli will be safe, but everything else can go ahead and leave or die, then?” Karamir asked, narrowing his eyes as a bitterness seeped into his voice. That seemed neither fair nor reasonable.
“We… Aren’t sure if the fate of others will be death, either,” Temüjin confessed, “but we know that this great change is all-consuming. What is your purpose in life, Karamir?”
”I intend to learn all that I can,” Karamir stated. ”So what is this change and why is it happening?”
“Again, we don’t know. We only know that if you intend to learn everything this world has to offer, this great change will hinder you. Please, we know we are being vague, but the truth is that we don’t know anything else,” Batu pleaded with nodding backup from his family.
“We were asked in our dream to see you off and make certain you left the continent as soon as possible. It’s a shame, really - was hoping you could held us fell some trees out back. You look like a strong lad, son. It’s a shame we never got to see you in action.” Temüjin shook his head and tugged at his graying beard. “Really sorry, son. There’s nothing more we can do for ya here except wish you a safe trip home and hope you make it off the land before… Well… Before it happens.”
”Fine. I’ll go.” Karamir said, his tone none too pleased. He went back into his tent, and returned a moment later with spear in hand. Without another word, he began walking out into the forest.
The dreamers looked at one another as he left, exhaled collective sighs, and exchanged words which became mumbles, then whispers as Karamir walked further and further away - even with his enhanced senses, he could barely hear them. To Arryn, however, the words were clear as day: The old gruff voice of Temüjin was the first to announce, “... Truly a shame. ‘Cept the clothes, I liked him a lot.”
“The ears were a bit odd, too,” came Erden’s voice.
“I never got to wrestle him…” came a whimper from Borte.
“We don’t question the command of God, Bort,” Temüjin said sternly. “The dreams told us to send him off, and so we did.”
“He didn’t even take my food,” Ansong sighed.
“There, there, my dear… I think getting sent away at this hour would ruin anyone’s appetite… Come on, let’s return to bed. Khublai’s about to fall asleep standing.”
The voices dissipated and instead became footsteps moving across the moist grass, followed eventually by the crunch of dry dirt and the grunts and groans of people attempting to sleep once more.
Once again, Arryn appeared on Karamir’s shoulder. ”So that’s it, then,” Karamir muttered. It wasn’t enough to leave the Palace; he now had to leave the entire continent? Was there truly any danger at all, or was that just an excuse to make them leave?
”It would be unwise to stay in a place you are not welcome,” Arryn noted. ”Especially when that place is watched over by a god. K’nell holds a tighter hold over his lands than even Kalmar; it’s almost greedy.”
”This change. What do you think it is?” Karamir questioned.
”I do not know. But if only the children of Hermes are truly safe from it, then countless creatures of this land could be put at risk. If that is the case, then K’nell would be a fool to allow it - more reason to leave, even if your safety was guaranteed.” Arryn explained.
”As quickly as possible, he said,” Karamir noted. ”How long do you think we have?”
”I do not know. But we should not delay. It will take months just for you to reach the coast, and from there I will have to carry you. No, we need to go faster,” the bird said, thinking. ”Stop. I have an idea.”
Karamir came to a stop, and Arryn left his shoulder, hovering in the air in front of him. The red feathers which speckled Arryn’s body were suddenly removed, pulled by an unseen force, accumulating and floating in the space between the two. New feathers swiftly grew back, only to be removed as well, joining the growing, weightless, red mass.
On and on the process continued, until the accumulated feathers were nearly the same height as Karamir’s body. They then began to take shape, binding together, forming into a levitating cloak. Karamir reached out to touch it, but it suddenly darted away from his touch, before rapidly circling around him, and he felt as though he was being judged. Then, the cloak began to speed up until it became a blur. The resulting wind ripped at Karamir’s hair and face, forcing him to shut his eyes for a moment.
And then, suddenly, it stopped. Karamir opened his eyes, but only saw Arryn. Then he felt something soft touch his shoulders, with two strings reaching out like arms to loosely tie themselves around his neck. He looked back and sure enough, he was now wearing the cloak.
”What did-” Karamir began to ask, only for Arryn to cut him off.
”With this cloak, you can now fly,” Arryn told him. ”At great speeds. I got the idea from when Hermes beat Kalmar in a race - you know the story. I decided I would make something similar, though this cloak also has some level of autonomy - it will still function and obey basic commands even when you are not wearing it, and it will ensure your safety against dangers you aren’t even aware of, but it will never defy you directly. Now go. Try to fly.”
Karamir wasn’t entirely sure what to do, but he thought of himself hovering in the air, and sure enough, he began to rise off the ground, with nothing except air touching his feet. His eyes widened, and he decided to fly even higher, so he floated above the forest canopy. He could fly he realized, as if he hadn’t quite believed it at first. Whenever he had flown before, someone else had to carry him, but now… he could fly on his own.
He glanced at the position of the Lustrous Garden in the sky, and turned to face the south. He took a deep breath, then began to move. Slowly, at first, until he began to pick up speed, and soon enough the forest itself was a blur. He began to laugh, as he suddenly felt a newfound sense of freedom and ambition fill him, causing him to briefly forget about K’nell or the Dreamers. So much potential had just been unlocked… he could go anywhere, at a speed which could rival gods.
Unfortunately, that meant he soon had to come to a stop, because Arryn had fallen well behind him. Still, even as he waited for the avatar to catch up, the smile did not leave his face.
Karamir is woken up in the middle of the night. He is given some Dreamer robes and told he has to leave. Apparently Temujin’s family received visions telling them a great change was coming, and anybody not descended from Xiaoli or Hermes had to GTFO. Karamir is pissed off but ultimately agrees to leave.
He and Arryn talk about this for a bit, with Arryn voicing disapproval at whatever K’nell is up to. Eventually he does acknowledge it is best that they leave, though, and begin talking about means to do so. Arryn then proceeds to use his own feathers to create the Red Feather Cloak - an artifact enabling Karamir to travel at speeds comparable to Hermes’s sandals, with the additional ability of being somewhat independent and possessing intelligence - both of which enable it to act independently from its wearer, if necessary or required.
Karamir tests it out and concludes that it is totally rad. His morale improves immensely.
Kalmar -2FP to create the Red Feather Cloak.
Remaining MP: 5 Remaining FP: 6
Karamir Beginning Prestige: 8 +1 for minor role. +1 for major role. +1 for collab. Ending Prestige: 11
”You said we’re almost there?” Karamir asked as he trudged through the forest. It had been days; the clothes Diana had given him so long ago were once again stained with dirt and grass. Once again, he was back to his days as a wanderer, only without the everlooming discomfort of Diana’s presence. In many ways it was refreshing, yet at the same time, the lack of the familiar discomfort was almost discomforting in its own right. At least Arryn had fashioned him a bone-tipped spear; something he had been without for far too long.
Arryn paid no heed to his internal thoughts, and simply nodded. ”Yes, it’s not far.”
And sure enough, a strange and unusual building came into view. It was a small mud hut, its walls a little rundown and its thatch roof a little smelly, even at a distance.
In addition to escorting them away from Limbo, the Warden had also given them directions. And those directions had led them here, to the home of some of the Dreamers; the descendants of Hermes.
Seeing no use in waiting, he continued forward, with spear in hand and Arryn perched atop his shoulder.
The little shack seemed rather empty from the outside. In the distance behind it came faint rumbles and grunts, answered by a few shouts and yells. As the pair began to walk past the house, the door curtain gently floated to the side to reveal a hand, and shortly thereafter, its owner - a short, young boy with his arm in a splint.
“Hey, da-... Huh?” The child eyed Karamir up and down with a slightly disgusted expression. “What kinda clothes are those? Woah, you’re ugly.”
Karamir blinked. Of all the things he had expected to hear, it was not that. But he had been called worse, and so the insults themselves did nothing to phase him. ”They were given to me. Not by choice,” he answered, before peering off into the distance where he had heard the shouts.
The boy hummed monotonously. “Suuuure - bet you just have a really weird style, huh. Want my mom to get you a robe instead?” He then eyed Arryn and suddenly completely switched around, grinning from ear to ear and nearly hopping in excitement. “WOAH! Your bird is awesome! What kind is it?!”
”The avatar of Kalmar,” Arryn answered drily.
“Woah, it even talks,” the boy giggled before putting two and two together. “Wait…. Wait, wait, wait…” It looked at the bird with a wry expression. “... Only Elder Chagatai and Elder Wenbo can talk to birds…” He gasped. “Does this mean I can, too?!”
Arryn rolled his eyes. ”No. I am no mere bird. As I said, I am an avatar. Do you know the name ‘Kalmar’?”
“Oh, sure,” the boy assured. “He’s the god of hunting. Dad, granddad and basically everyone else in my family prays to him at least once a week. I do, too!” He put his hands on his hips proudly.
”And where are they now?” Karamir asked, still scanning the surrounding forest.
“Oh, uh… Think they’re herding the tree-eaters. At least that’s what granddad said they were gonna do today.” He scratched his nose sheepishly. “Mister bird, what does avatar mean? Is it a type of bird?”
Arryn shook his head, fighting valiantly to restrain his impatience. ”No. An avatar is the representative of a god. I am to Kalmar what Xiaoli is to Shengshi, or Diana to K’nell. I assume you know of them?”
The boy made a frown. “I always thought Mother Xiaoli was Shengshi’s daughter… Huh. What do you know. So, what, want me to kowtow like we do before God, or…?”
”There is no need for that,” Arryn said, wondering what in Kalmar’s name ‘kowtow’ actually meant.
”Do you know where your family is, or when they will be back?” Karamir interjected.
“Oh, they’re just over the hill.” The boy jogged over to the nearby hilltop and pointed down the side of the slope. “There they are!” As Karamir and Arryn followed to the edge, they saw a small lake of gray and black fur, wooly creatures with enormous mouths that could almost swallow trees whole. There, among the massive clumps of hair and teeth, a few alabaster figures walked around with sticks in their hands and knives on their hips. A few of them carried baskets of wool instead, however, and lethargically followed the knife-bearers from beast to beast.
The boy thumbed himself proudly on the chest. “When you get down there, tell them Khublai the Great sent you!”
Karamir and Arryn exchanged a glance. Karamir had never seen these creatures before, but they did not appear to be an immediate threat, and even if they were, he had an avatar with him. And so, they began to descend the hill.
The pair came down into the shallow valley only to meet a young girl with a basket of wool in her arms. She hadn’t noticed them at first and dropped her basket as she did, unleashing a short-lived squeal. Karamir bristled at the sound, coming to a sudden halt.
“Wh-wh-who are you - and what are you?” the girl asked in a quivering voice and pointed an even shakier finger at Karamir.
”Karamir of Kalgrun,” he answered, deciding it was as good an introduction as any, before continuing his descent down to the rest of the Dreamers.
The girl blinked at him in a frightened manner. She scurried to pick up the spilled fur, snatched up the basket and ran up the hill behind them. Meanwhile, as Karamir and Arryn approached the actual flock, a few tree-eaters gave them lazy stares as they munched on some splintered logs. A third face came out from between the beasts, followed by a fourth and a fifth. They didn’t immediately notice Karamir, and one of them said, “I thought I heard Badma scream. Where is she?”
“Look!” said the fourth one and pointed at Karamir. They all grimaced at the sight and whispered to each other. The middle one, seemingly the oldest, stepped forward an additional step, stuck the butt of his staff in the ground and placed his other fist on his hip. With a stern look, he spoke, “You there, stranger - forgive us, but we haven’t seen you around here before. Did you see a girl around here?”
Karamir nodded, maintaining his calm demeanor. ”She ran back up that hill,” he pointed. ”Toward the hut, I think.”
The two in the back whispered to one another again, followed by muffled snickering - which was quickly met by a glare from Arryn. The speaker nodded slowly. “Alright, that’s all good, then. Now, uh, forgive me for asking, but we’ve never seen one of your.. Uhm… Appearance around here before. Who are you and where are you from?”
”I am Karamir, of Kalgrun,” Karamir repeated.
”And I am Arryn, avatar of Kalmar,” Arryn added.
“Oh, snap - did that bird just talk?” one of the back dreamers went.
“Wait, did it say avatar of-...” The two dreamers in the back looked at one another; the dreamer in the front appeared stunned. “The avatar of-... Kalmar…” All three then fell to their knees before the pair.
Karamir blinked in surprise. ”What’s all this?”
”It is how some mortals choose to address divine beings,” Arryn said. ”A show of faith, or appreciation.” The bird shifted its gaze down to the kneeling dreamers. ”Rise.”
“O-oh. ‘Course, Your Holiness!” All three of them scrambled to their feet again. The front one spoke, “It’s just so incredible! I mean-... You’re--snap, Your Holiness is the avatar of Kalmar, the Great Hunter! Oh, Mother Xiaoli told us all about Him! He’s helped us out more times than we can count, I tell you!”
“Many more times,” the two in the back agreed.
”You are hunters, then?” Arryn questioned.
“Guilty as charged - well, hunters and herders, of course. Batu’s the name, eldest son of Temüjin. Behind me are my brothers, Erden and Nugai. There are a few more of us between the tree-eaters, but we’ll get to those eventually.” The three all grinned the cheshire grins of their elder mom. “So, what brings you two to our humble patch of Tendlepog?”
”It is a long story, so I will keep it brief. I was created by Kalmar long ago, and I spent the past five decades travelling with a woman named Diana - the avatar of K’nell. She brought me back to the Palace of Dreams, and I spent some time there before deciding to leave. Arryn found me soon after. We were given directions on where to find civilization, and they led us here.” Karamir explained matter-of-factly.
“Snap, you’re fifty?” Nugai exclaimed and gave Erden a look of disbelief, receiving one in return. Batu snickered.
“Dad would be snapping jealous if you told him that, not to mention mom.” The three giggled to one another. “Well, you’ve found, uh… Some semblance of civilisation, I guess. What’re you looking for here? Work? A place to stay? Stories?”
“Oh, we got a few of those,” Erden went.
”All three of those will do, I think,” Karamir answered. ”Right now I have no purpose beyond learning all that I can.”
“Well, that’s as good a purpose as any, innit?” Nugai said with a cackle and dove back into the flock. “I’ll go fetch dad,” he hollered over the groans and grunts of the herd. Erden stepped a little closer to Karamir, running his eyes up and down his stature. “Gotta say, Karamir, you’ve got some muscle. You a fighter?”
Karamir shrugged. ”I was, once. But it has been years since I last fought anything.”
”Kalmar blessed you to be a legendary fighter,” Arryn interjected. ”That skill will not fade so easily, and your recent gift has only made you stronger.”
“Snap, a legendary fighter, huh,” Erden thought out loud. Batu nodded with an impressed smile.
“Better not tell Borte and Chinua - they are big fans of wrestling. You might get challenged.”
“Pfft, you know Chinua would back off as soon as she saw him.”
“Yeah, not to slander our sister, but she would,” Batu agreed. “Borte still might show, though.”
”And how good are they?” Karamir asked.
The two brothers looked at one another, then began to tilt their hands up and down. “Eeeeeh… They’re enthusiastic?”
“Yeah, that’s a good way of putting it.”
“Yeah, yeah.” They nodded at one another.
”I see…” Karamir said. ”How many of you are there in total?”
Batu let out a sigh through vibrating lips. “Well, Qadan just had her third, so, what, uh… Guess that makes us, uh… Twenty? Twenty-four?”
“Twenty-five. Sarnai had her first a few weeks ago, remember?”
“Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, twenty-five,” Batu confirmed.
Karamir’s eyes widened. ”That’s more than double the people I’ve met in my entire life,” he said.
“Man, you think that’s many? You should see Zhongcheng’s family - neither he and Laia nor their kids wasted any time,” Batu said with a snicker.
“Like rabbits, that whole clan,” Erden agreed.
”Population sizes like this are not unusual,” Arryn noted. ”In my time amongst the Selka, tribes tended to range from twenty to one hundred people.”
Karamir sighed. ”And somehow up until this point I only met… eleven people. Two of which were dreams. No matter, I’ll adapt.”
“Snap, only eleven people? The last fifty years ain’t been kind to you, huh,” Batu condoled. “Well, we oughta see if we can change that. How would you like to have dinner with us tonight? You and His Holiness are both welcome.”
Karamir nodded. ”Alright. Thank you.”
A moment later, the herd scattered ever so slightly again and out came Nugai followed by a much older man, two young women, three young girls and another adult male. All seven of them looked at Karamir and Arryn in awe before the elder exclaimed, “Are-... Are you the avatar of Kalmar?!” and pointed a shaking finger at Karamir.
Karamir shook his head.
”He is not. I am.” Arryn corrected, somewhat miffed.
“Dang it, dad, I told you it was the bird!”
The old man mumbled to himself. “Huh, so you did… Anyway, welcome! Welcome to Temüjin’s humble abode! Well, okay, this is the herding grounds, but you‘ve already seen the abode. You’ve probably already shared your stories with my boys, but what do you say you’ll share them with me and my family over some nice stalkplum stew, eh?”
”I’m not sure what that is, but I could use some food,” Karamir agreed with a nod.
“That’s exactly what it is! Good food, too! Come on, now - my wife’s probably just started cooking. Gotta tell her to set the table for two more!” Temüjin cackled and began strolling up the hillside with a joyous gait, followed by the three young girls. The remaining three newcomers stood staring at Karamir still until one of them, one of the women, asked assertively. “You a fighter?”
“Borte, not so direct!” the other lady cautioned.
“Oh snap, did you tell her, Nugai?” Batu said with a wry smile.
“Tell her what?” Nugai smirked.
”I am a fighter, yes.” Karamir answered with some reluctance.
Borte grinned from ear to ear, assumed a wide-legged stance and put one hand on her hip - the other, she pointed straight at Karamir’s face. “Hah! Then I challenge you to a wrestling match!”
“Gods, Borte, can’t you--”
“Shut up, Chinua, this is happening!”
”Now?” Karamir furrowed his brow. ”This doesn’t seem like a good time.”
"Challenging people to wrestle is exactly what auntie would've done, so I'm doing it, too-- Hey, w-what's the big idea, Khorr?"
The third male left, presumably named Khorr, grabbed Borte by the hand and dragged her up the hill with a frown on his face. "After dinner, you dolt…"
"But Khoooooooorr!" the arguably grown woman complained as she was dragged along, followed by her twin Chinua. Nugai and Batu snicker to one another.
"Every time… Hey, Karamir, come on. We'll head up, too."
Karamir followed without another word, confusion etched upon his face. The group headed up the hillside, where the previously seemingly empty shack was ablossom with life and noise. A number of neat little carpets woven with grass fibers laid in a circle on a small clearing in the grass, surrounding a bubbling iron pot complete with a clay ladle and a small tower of clay bowls in various shades of brown, black and beige. Sitting on the carpets already were Temüjin, Khorr, Borte, Chinua, the three young girls, and the mighty Khublai. The young lad gave Karamir and Arryn a proud salute with his non-broken arm.
“Welcome, guests! Welcome to my tabl-UGH!”
The lad keeled forward as Khorr shook his fist free of pain. “Khublai, show some respect, would ya?”
Khublai rubbed his stomach with a sniff and kept his mouth shut. Temüjin snickered. “Make yourselves comfortable now, friends - sit wherever you like. We don’t bite - well, ‘cept Borte. You can avoid her.”
“Dad!” Borte pouted to the cackles of the old man.
Karamir raised an eyebrow as he surveyed the scene, and suddenly found himself faced with a dilemma. Where would he sit? Who would he sit next to? He had never been in the company of more than three people at a time. After a few moments of thought, he eventually decided to throw caution to the wind and subvert expectations… and so he sat a few feet away from Borte, setting his spear down beside him.
The young woman, as well as everyone else around the iron pot, eyed him with surprise. Temüjin let out a single laugh and nodded slowly. “S’pose he thinks I’m bluffing, huh,” he mumbled to Batu who sat right by. Borte, however, gave her father a proud grin and gave Karamir a smirk.
“So, Karamir - you like to hunt?”
”I used to, but I’m a few decades out of practice,” Karamir admitted, causing Arryn to shake his head disapprovingly. The bird flew from his shoulder and landed on the carpet, beginning to strut the circle around the pot. ”Until recently I haven’t needed to, and the creatures of this land are still unfamiliar to me. It won’t be hard for me to learn, but it will take time.”
Temüjin nodded. “My other boys are out for a hunt as we speak, trying to track down a shadow badger. Their pelts are nice and solid, and their tough meat makes for great jerky. They should be back tonight if they don’t catch it, so you can tag along with them tomorrow. If not, we’ll arrange something by the end of the week, I reckon.”
”This shadow badger… what does it look like?” Karamir asked.
“Uhm,” Temüjin hummed.
“It’s like someone took a wolf, shrunk it and rolled it in tar. They’re pretty crazy and have bitten Nugai a bunch of times.” Batu nodded over to his brother, who confirmed the statement by showing his three-fingered left hand.
“Snappin’ badgers’ll take worse than fingers if you’re not careful,” he cautioned.
“Oi, Annie! Can we eat yet?!” Temüjin suddenly called at the house.
“... Just a moment…” came a faint call from inside, inciting a quiet groan from the old man. “Sorry ‘bout that,” he went.
Karamir bristled slightly at the missing fingers, and then glanced over to the house as Temüjin called out to it. He shifted his attention back to the conversation. ”I think I killed a shadow badger just two days ago,” he mentioned.
“Snap, really?” Batu went with an impressed nod. “How big was it?”
With a shrug, Karamir extended his arms to indicate the length. The dreamers nodded first at him, then to one another.
“Impressive, friend,” Erden stated to the agreeing hums of his family. “Must’ve been at least a young adult, that. They’re pretty fierce around that age. Did it get at you?”
”I wasn’t injured, if that’s what you mean. It came at me and I stabbed it before it could get too close,” he explained, gesturing to his spear.
“Yeah, that sounds like a shadow badger, alright,” Batu, Nugai and Erden agreed on. “Crazy mutts, all of them.” Erden gave Karamir’s spear a lookover. “That bone-tip any sharp?”
At the same time, an elderly woman came out of the house with a basket of flat cakes and a pot of something with a rank, sour smell. In her hair sat an odd little cloud that seemed to eye Karamir with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity.
“Sorry, sorry, the flat cakes took forever to make today-- Oh, hello! Sorry I didn’t get to introduce myself earlier,” the lady said with a smile and sat the containers down by the pot. “Now, forgive me - it’s been a while since I exercised proper manners (marrying this idiot will do that to you)...” She eyed Temüjin with a loving smirk, at which the old man snickered. She then got down on her knees before Arryn and Karamir and lowered her torso and hands to the ground, placing her forehead just above soil level. “This servant is named Ansong, fourth daughter of Hermes and Xiaoli. It is a great honour to host His Holiness Arryn and His Exaltedness Karamir at our home.”
“Sheesh, really taking it all the way, huh,” Temüjin snickered.
“It is what Mother would have done,” Ansong replied with a smile.
”I don’t think that’s necessary,” Karamir spoke with uncertainty.
Arryn turned his head. ”Yes. It is appreciated, but there is no need,” the bird said.
Ansong sat back up. “Oh, you are so modest, you two. Oh, wait, snap-- His Exaltedness and Holiness are--”
“Annie, I think they get it,” Temüjin went. Ansong deflated a little, then sighed.
“Oh, well. Was worth a shot, I suppose. Anyway! Dear guests, please help yourselves to a bowl and some stalkplum stew from the pot. Take some flat cakes to dip and add some kefir for flavour. I cannot recommend it enough.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Temüjin went and reached for a bowl. Ansong slapped his hand away and the old man looked at her with a look of betrayal.
“Guests first, you oaf.”
“A’ight, sheesh…”
Karamir was somewhat befuddled by the strange customs at play, but decided not to comment further. He retrieved a bowl, filled it, took one of the cakes, and returned to his spot. Arryn, meanwhile, decided to abstain from eating and instead continued to make his rounds around the carpets, studying each Dreamer carefully.
Temüjin filled his bowl first with some of the stinky, white liquid from the clay pot, then ladled in some stew and popped a flat cake in his mouth. His children and wife did the same. The old man slurped the stew from his bowl and rolled it around in his mouth with a smile.
“As always, Annie, it’s perfect.”
Ansong giggled. “Thanks, dear, you know I had to make it extra good for our guests.”
“I think it tastes the same as it always does, though,” Khublai protested, receiving a bump in the back of the head from Khorr. The family did a mixture of a giggle and a sigh before Batu looked at Arryn with a curious expression.
“Your Holiness, why don’t you eat? Do holy beings eat differently or something?”
”Divine beings do not need to eat at all,” Arryn revealed. ”And when I do, it is normally only creatures that I or my master have killed ourselves.”
Karamir, meanwhile, slurped from his own bowl, paused for a moment, and then gave a slight approving nod at the taste.
“Huh… So gods don’t eat?” Batu mumbled.
“Does that mean all the sweetgrass pies we offer them are for nothing?” Nugai pouted with a frowned.
“Pfft, ‘course not, kid,” Temüjin assured before looking at Arryn. “Right?”
”Gods can eat, and some of them do,” Arryn clarified, ”But they don’t need to. Though unless you were given something in exchange for those pies, you would have been better off keeping them for yourselves.”
Ansong pouted, “... And here I was hoping Kalmar liked pies.” Erden patted his mother on the back. “They weren’t in vain, mom - at least the squolls enjoyed them.”
“That doesn’t help, Erden!” Chinua challenged with the point of a finger. The three young girls snickered to one another. One of them turned to Karamir and removed a flower crown from her head. She showed it to him and asked in a sweet voice, “Can you make flower crowns, Karamir?”
He looked at it for a moment, trying to figure out what value it possessed or what purpose it served. ”No,” he said, ”I cannot.”
The girls giggled to one another again. The youngest one put her crown back on her head and said with a grin: “I can! Want me to show you how?” The adults snickered among themselves and had some more stew.
”Maybe some other time,” Karamir suggested.
The giggles stopped and the girls instead silently and poutingly went back to their bowls. Temüjin slurped a loud mouthful, swallowed and pointed at bobbing finger at Karamir in thought. “Say, Karamir, you ever worked as a herder?”
”No,” Karamir answered with a slight shake of his head. ”I don’t know what that is.”
“Now y’see, son, hunting’s all well and good - and it really is, Your Holiness,” Temüjin said and bowed his head to Arryn. “Buuut, see, for a nice and steady source of food, fur and wool, herding tree-eaters is the way to go.”
”Too easy,” Arryn said dismissively, coming to a stop in front of Temüjin himself. ”The hunter should not feed its prey, and the prey should not offer itself up willingly.”
Temüjin gave Arryn a sideways nod. “Eh, see, with all due respect, I’d love to agree, Your Holiness, but it ain’t always easy - not even here. Sure, hunting works well to start off, but, well, sooner or later, there won’t be any beasts left. Herding makes up for those periods of the year, y’know.” His family members nodded in agreement.
”You are saying this land does not allow you to sustain yourself on hunting, fishing, and foraging alone?” Arryn inclined his head.
Everyone in the family shook their heads. “Winter kills all the berries and roots, and most of the animals retreat to either the Forbidden Forest or the Moving Mountains at the first snows,” said Batu and shook his head. “As for fishing, there are few good lakes and rivers around our house. Closest one is by Chagatai and Altansarnai’s and that’s half a day.”
“Yeah, having your own animals is just… More convenient. Saves time and effort - lives, too, I reckon,” Temüjin proposed.
“Yeah.”
”Why not move with the animals?” Arryn questioned. ”The snows make them easier to track, and many will be in hibernation.”
“Well, then we’d have to abandon our home, wouldn’t we?” Temüjin said as if it was obvious. “Sleeping outside for the whole winter’s awful for your health, too.”
“Makes it hard to keep warm,” Ansong added.
”With enough furs and enough fire you can keep warm,” Arryn argued. ”And eventually you will get used to it. Overcoming adversity makes you stronger.”
“Ain’t much stronger if you die in the cold,” Erden said with a chuckle. “Overcoming challenges sounds like something for Wenbo. Then again, he’d probably also be against sleeping outside in the winter.”
“He specifically told me not to do it when I last went to him for some health advise, if I recall,” Temüjin thought out loud. “Wenbo’s a really smart guy, though - second oldest brother in the flock, that one. Shame’s he’s also a bit of a, well… He’s got his ambitions.”
”What ambitions?” Karamir suddenly asked, cutting into the conversation.
Temüjin blinked and cleared his throat. “Well, uh… He had heard this proposal from His Lordship Shengshi, y’see… Something about eternal wealth and health and whatnot for the Dreamers who’d come along with him and settle off Tendlepog. He’s always had a thing for big plots and divine plans, so, well, we went along with it and tried to get us to follow him.” He sighed. “Turns out, he really only wanted to go ‘cause he wanted to see the world. Think to risk all our safety and comfort here for a few nice views? No, no, not for me.”
“I thought there was something to it,” Chinua mumbled quietly. Temüjin shot her a stare and shook his head.
“Ain’t nothing but death off Tendlepog, Chinny. Don’t fall for it.”
”There’s plenty of life outside Tendlepog,” Arryn interjected. ”Thousands of living, intelligent mortals make their homes elsewhere, with their own communities and traditions.”
“Really?” went Chinua, backed up by some curious expressions from the three young girls, Khublai and Khorr. Temüjin frowned and pursed his lips.
“Hey, Annie - we got dessert tonight?”
Ansong blinked out of the conversation and hummed pensively. “Uhm… Yeah, I think so! Let me go check.”
Temüjin nodded. “Chinua, could you take the girls and help her look?”
“But dad! His Holiness is--”
“Please?”
Chinua grunted angrily. “Fine. Come on.” She and the three girls got up and went inside with their mother. Khorr, reading the mood, followed along. Once they were out of earshot, Temüjin sighed.
“Sorry ‘bout that. They were really taken by Wenbo’s promises of adventure. I love my brother, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t want my youngest going on a suicide mission with him.”
”Why do you assume it’s suicide?” asked Karamir. ”What is wrong with wanting to see more of the world?”
Temüjin gestured around. “Look around ya, son. Here, we got food all around the year; we’ve got our houses and family; and most importantly, God watches over us here. We’re under His protection at all times in this land. Going outside means sacrificing all that - He told us so himself.”
Nugai, Erden and Batu all nodded in agreement, Nugai raising his bowl to the heavens in salute.
”But if Wenbo is willing to give up that protection, and trust in the protection of another god, or choose not to have any protection at all, then what’s wrong with that? It’s his choice, isn’t it? You have food, house, and family, but there’s more to the world than that, and many will want to see it.” Karamir argued.
“Oh, he’s free to do as he wishes. My daughter Chinua, though - she ain’t yet to be married. Khorr’s barely past his teens and Khublai’s not even started them. Don’t even want to think about my three littlest grandchildren out there.” He shook his head. “Keeping the family going’s as much of a purpose as any, I reckon, one that truly shows the value of a man or a woman. Reckless exploration, however…” He shook his head again. “Call me old, but exploration almost got my two oldest brothers killed in their youth, and that was with God’s protection. Ain’t about to let the same happen to my own blood.”
Batu eyed his father up and down. “Want me to get some milk wine, dad?” Temüjin nodded.
“Bring cups for everyone, too, son.”
Batu stood up and walked inside.
”They won’t be young forever,” Karamir pointed out. ”What happens if they get older, decide they want to leave, and are given the opportunity to do so?”
“You ever had kids, Karamir?” Temüjin asked with a raised brow.
”I can’t,” Karamir answered, meeting his gaze.
“Oh,” Temüjin said with a weak nod and closed eyes. Nugai and Erden gave Karamir sympathetic looks. Meanwhile, Batu came out with a short tower of cups and a clay jug sealed with a woven lid.
“True shame that, son, true shame. Though from your views, it’s not hard to tell,” the old dreamer said and accepted a cup of an even more reeking liquid than the kefir. Batu proceeded to offer a cup to Karamir, as well.
Karamir accepted a cup, but did not drink yet. ”So what were you saying?” he asked.
“When you have kids, son, you begin to realise what truly matters - it ain’t that you should go explore; it ain’t that you should think about a purpose in life: Purpose’s already there for you.” He slurped the stinking drink and grimaced. His sons did the same. “See, your purpose becomes raising that kid, and your mind’s set on that. To see that little lump of hands and feet and a soft, little head grow up to be the most… Wonderful little kid there ever was.” He flashed his sons a loving smile, and they returned it each with one of their own. “Family’s everything, son - the self comes, well, second at most.” He sipped his drink again and swallowed reluctantly. “Does that make sense?”
”I can see why you might believe that, but that does not apply to everyone,” Karamir said.
”There comes a point when a parent and child must part ways,” Arryn interjected. ”They may decide or have to leave, and you may not be in a position to stop them. By the time they are ready to make that decision, you have done their duty, and should not hold them back.”
“Half of ‘em aren’t even close to old enough to leave,” Temüjin said a little impatiently. “And Chinua will part ways with us when she moves in with her husband-to-be, as everyone else has done. Well, almost everyone else - Laia and Zhongcheng had some thoughts on that system. Bottom line is that none of them are ready to really made that decision. Wanting to leave the safety of paradise ‘cause of wanderlust is proof of that.”
“Dad, perhaps you’ll want some water, eh?” Batu suggested and took another sip of his drink.
“Fine, fine, fetch some…” Temüjin conceded and Batu once again rose up.
”But at some point they will be old enough,” Karamir pointed out, continuing the debate. ”And when that time comes, will you stop them?”
“There’s only one chance, as far as we know, and once you leave, there’s no coming back.”
”Why not?” Karamir asked. ”If you can leave a place, surely you can return to that place in a similar way? Even if you can’t, why do you assume there isn’t somewhere better, or the same, as this? Wandering the woods of this place hasn’t felt too different from wandering the forests of Kalgrun. If somebody understands the risk and is willing to take it, that is their right.”
“God said we couldn’t return once we’d leave. In case you haven’t noticed, Tendlepog’s got a Warden, and he guards the outer deserts. If you ain’t invited, you ain’t getting in. As for why the feeling’s the same, you aren’t protected by God, son. It’s hard to explain to a foreigner, but… It’s like the mind’s always at peace, thanks to God.”
“Yeah, the thought of not having him be, well, everywhere’s kind of chilling, really,” Erden admitted and took another gulp of milk wine.
“That’s why I feel the young’uns simply don’t get the risk. They think that if things go sour, there must be some way back or something, or God’ll be on their side in everything. Nope - said so himself. If we leave, we’re on our own.”
”He forbade you from returning?” Arryn asked, his eyes clearly disapproving. ”Why? That doesn’t make sense.”
Temüjin shrugged. “He said there was no guarantee - knowing God, that’s basically a no.” His sons nodded. The old man accepted a cup of water from Batu who had just returned with a jug of the stuff. “Ain’t no secret that God wants us here, but ain’t no secret that he wants it ‘cause he knows it’s the best for us. He’s made paradise, and we’re lucky to be here.”
”You can’t call it paradise if you have nothing to compare it to,” Karamir pointed out.
”If it is best that you stay, then K’nell shouldn’t need to threaten you with exile to keep you here,” Arryn pressed. ”If the rest of Galbar is worse, then he shouldn’t have to worry about any of you leaving permanently. But what happens if Wenbo finds a better life out there and wishes to share it with you? He can’t.”
“God doesn’t threaten us - he’s given us a reason to stay. You two seem like fine folk, truly, but I trust wholeheartedly in God when he tells me this place is better than the world outside. Why else would he make such a system to keep it out?” Temüjin asked and had a slurp of water.
”K’nell is not the only god,” Arryn pointed out. ”You should not be so quick to place his word above all others.”
“Maybe not the only god, but he’s our God, and he’s done more than enough for us to deserve our trust and loyalty.” He drank the rest of his water and put down the cup. “We’ll have a fur tent set up for you out back, son. You can sleep there for the time being.” He nodded at Karamir and then at his sons, who stood up and went towards the house to set it up.
”Thank you,” Karamir said, remaining seated as he glanced down as his untouched drink. The conversation had given him much to consider, and frankly, he didn’t understand these Dreamers. Why did they so blindly accept whatever they were told? Why did they have no wish to leave, or learn anything more than what was directly in front of them?
‘I would be rather insulted to be the cause of any sort of pause in the advancement of higher thinking,’ K’nell had once told him. Yet it seemed K’nell had been doing exactly that. The God of Sleep continued to prove himself inconsistent, even frustratingly so.
Arryn looked as if he was ready to continue the argument, but everyone else had already moved on, and so the avatar decided it must be saved for another day.
Karamir, meanwhile, took another sip of his drink, still ruminating on his own thoughts.
Karamir and Arryn wander a bit, until they find a house. A Dreamer child named Khublai greets them, and they ask where the others are. They follow Khublai’s directions and see the Dreamers herding some Tree-Eaters. They go down to introduce themselves, spooking a small child in the process.
Karamir and Arryn explain who they are and where they came from. The Dreamers are surprised. Some back and forth ensues, in which they learn more about each other, and eventually Karamir is introduced to Temujin, who invites him to dinner. Some girl named Borte wants to wrestle him and Karamir is like: “nah maybe later.” Another smaller girl wants to show him how to make a flower crown and he is like: “nah maybe later.”
They talk some more, and Karamir hears about Wenbo, as well as the decision to leave Tendlepog - which Temujin seems to disapprove of. A debate ensues over whether or not he was right to do so, whether or not it is better to risk leaving everything behind in search of something better, and whether or not K’nell is right to be so restrictive of Tendlepog.
Karamir considers K’nell’s previous words about not wanting to restrict higher thought, and comes to the conclusion that K’nell was probably lying through his teeth at the time. Anyway, the Dreamers set up a tent for him, and he will be staying for a bit.
Karamir Beginning Prestige: 5 +1 for minor role. +1 for major role. +1 for collab. Ending Prestige: 8
They had followed the Warden for some time, as he led them away from Limbo. Now, the Warden had parted ways, leaving Karamir and Arryn to their own devices. Karamir had more or less remained silent during the journey, but now that they were alone and had stopped for a rest, he finally decided to say what was on his mind.
Arryn, on the stump of a recently fallen tree, quirked his head. "My master told me to find you."
"Why?" Karamir asked next.
Arryn shrugged. "You had not contacted him in decades. He wanted to know what became of you."
"Why couldn't he contact me himself?" Karamir demanded.
"Why didn't you just contact him?"
Karamir sighed, and he knew he was beaten there. He couldn't criticize Kalmar for not reaching out - not without criticizing himself, for he was guilty of the same. He changed tactics. "So why send you instead of appearing himself?"
"He had other business to attend to." Arryn replied.
"Like what?" Karamir asked, eyes narrowing.
"Many decades ago, I take it you met a bird that gave you a message?"
Karamir nodded. It was such a distant memory. At the time, he had been confused. Kalmar had not told him what awaited people after death. Yet the broadcast claimed that all souls burned and suffered. If the broadcast was to be believed, of course. At the time Karamir couldn't help but note how, despite claiming to want to save souls, Azura had allowed a soul to be burned simply to demonstrate what the Pyres did. Furthermore, she herself had admitted she violated the free will of the souls who were already at the Pyres, which suggested she might do it again. And so he was left with two options: either allow his soul to be burned, or blindly trust himself to a mysterious unknown god who would freeze him forever, where who knows what could happen.
In all honesty, he hadn't been sure which one was better, and after a time it had faded from his mind as the more pressing details of everyday life took precedent over his distant demise. He had almost forgotten about it, and to have it suddenly brought up after all this time got him off guard.
"Well, you might not know this, but much of that message consisted of lies and half-truths. The intent was to manipulate the viewer. Katharsos burns souls so that they can make new souls; without him we would have no functioning souls at all. Most beings, yourself included, are a product of this system. But for some reason Azura finds it appalling. Now, our creator seeks to track the birds down to their source and see what can be done about this so-called 'Soul Crisis.' Which, frankly, only became a crisis because Azura made it into one." There was a great deal of annoyance in the bird's voice.
"You seem to have a great dislike for this Azura," Karamir noted.
Arryn nodded. "I do. She speaks of free will, only to admit to violating it. She claims she wants mortals to see the truth, yet resorts to lies and manipulation. She claims she wants to save all, yet I watched one of her Alma shoot a fleeing man in the back as he tried to get his family to safety."
Karamir blinked. That sounded... horrible. "So she is not to be trusted, then."
Arryn nodded. "She is not to be trusted," the Avatar confirmed.
"So those are our only options, then?" Karamir wondered. "Burn into nothingness or fall asleep into nothingness? Is there no alternative?"
Arryn shrugged. "The only known alternative is to allow yourself to decay into madness. If there was any other way, I'm sure that Katharsos or the Architect would have found it."
Karamir frowned. Must a world filled with gods who can make and shape it as they see fit deal in such absolutes? Even if Azura's intentions were true, her way could still turn out to be a dead-end. Meanwhile, Katharsos's system was functioning but it left nothing to look forward to after death. At the same time, however... Karamir was created from the soul ash produced by Katharsos's pyres. If Azura had her way from the beginning, then he never would have been allowed to exist - neither would Atalantia, Pyrdon, Diana, Arryn, or Arya. "I see..." he said, as that realization dawned.
If the Sky of Pyres had created him, in a sense, then perhaps it would be fitting if he ultimately returned there. If souls had been burned to create him and many others, then wouldn't it only be fair if they suffered the same fate? On other other hand, could it also be said that he had no obligation to the thing that created him when he never asked to be created in the first place?
With a sigh, Karamir rose to his feet. It seemed as if there was still much that needed to be learned before he could decide which course he truly favoured. Fortunately, his death was a long way off, so it was not something he needed to contemplate any time soon. He picked a direction at random and began walking.
Arryn followed, perching on Karamir's shoulder.
"So now that you found me, why are you continuing to follow me?" Karamir questioned.
"To make sure you don't get yourself killed."
He scowled at that. "Kalmar gave me what I needed to survive on my own."
Arryn was not satisfied by that. "When I followed your trail, I noticed that you walked with an avatar. And when I found you, you had exited the gateway of another god's sphere. When was the last time you were truly alone?"
"Doesn't matter," Karamir dismissed the question. "What was it you did to me back there? I feel..."
"...smarter, stronger, faster, taller," Arryn interrupted. "Your soul is also fortified against decay, your body will no longer age, and you can go longer without food or sleep. Our creator told me to do it."
"He did?" Karamir asked, wide-eyed. Kalmar had made it abundantly clear that he did not wish to expend the effort necessary to give Karamir a longer life. So what changed?
"He had a change of heart," Arryn explained.
Another surprise. Even in Karamir's limited interaction with others, Kalmar had never struck him as someone who was easily moved. Still, he did not let this surprise show. The revelation was still sinking in... he was fortified against soul decay, and his body would never age. He need not fear death. Not natural death, at least. And although he was more than a head taller, he had already gotten used to walking around with his enhanced height.
"So you're just going to keep following me around, then?" Karamir asked next.
"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"
Karamir took some to think about that. "No," he said. "I have some questions..."
Karamir talks to Arryn. He asks why Arryn came to find him, what Arryn did to him, why Kalmar couldn't show up in person, and so on. They talk about the soul crisis a bit and Karamir ponders the implications of both Katharsos's and Azura's options. As part of his personal quest to find more information about the world, he decides to ask Arryn some more questions.
Karamir
Starting Prestige: 3 +1 for minor role. +1 for major role. Ending Prestige: 5
Once more, Karamir had more or less been left to his own devices. Keibrik was gone, and Karamir doubted that K’nell would bring him back again, so for now he would wander on his own. Taking a brief look around the gardens, he set his gaze down the path leading back to the Palace, and began walking.
His walk took him past rows of crooked apple trees and many fine bushes trimmed into bizarre shapes. A few that stood out were ones in the shapes of great bull-men, and a few strange feathered people, the trim work being such that each feather was sculpted from fingernail sized leaves -- there was even one that looked like a mix between a grotesque man and a shrimp. Eventually Karamir passed through the bronze gates of the palace.
Inside the gates, the visuals took on a more simplistic face, with alien flowers and vine fruits tangling alongside the cobblestone path. Eventually that too was cut short as the steps to the front door pushed out from the walkway. A few steps more, and he found himself face to face with the large door, a handle he didn’t notice the first time awaiting him. Taking a breath to prepare himself for whatever came next, Karamir grabbed the handle and pushed the door open.
The outside air rushed in behind him as he along with it spilled into a long hallway. He went to close the door behind him, but five slender fingers suddenly gripped it from the outside, forcing it back open. With two clicks of a boot, Diana slipped through the doorway, letting the door slam behind her.
“Not going to hold the door for a lady?” She chastised behind a curling smile. Past the poison of her voice, perhaps there was a little acknowledgment in the words -- something was different about her.
“Before I came here I had never even seen a door,” Karamir pointed out, eyeing her warily. What did she want now?
“Ever the defensive,” Diana mused, “But what treasure could you possibly be protecting?” She asked as if she was instructing a lecture before putting on fist on her side.
Karamir furrowed his brow in confusion. “Treasure? I have nothing. What do you mean?”
A pitying grin took Diana’s face and she began to walk down the hall, “Oh I know, dear. Now come, you don’t want to be late.”
“Late for what?” he asked, falling into step beside her despite his distrust.
“I decided to throw a ball,” Diana looked over her shoulder at Karamir, “I had a new dress made and everything.” She rubbed the fabric of her ‘new’ dress, but it didn’t seem much different -- perhaps it was longer.
“Doesn’t look that new to me,” Karamir commented. “Why make a new one if it’s almost exactly like the old one?”
Diana gave him a hurt look, “Maybe to the untrained eye it looks the same, but I assure you it is very different. It even flows differently, couldn’t you tell? Don’t tell me quality is lost on your eyes, or lack thereof.”
Karamir gave a non-committal shrug. “And what is going to be at this ‘ball’?” He asked her. K’nell had told and shown him what a ball was, but somehow he suspected Diana’s version of a ball would be rather different.
“Music, dancing,” Diana smiled, “New friends -- I took the liberty of inviting a few you had mentioned to K’nell in fact. Isn’t that grand?”
“You did?” Karamir asked, somewhat surprised. Now he found himself worrying about what Diana might have in store for them as well as him. Strange, considering he had never actually met these people yet. And how would K’nell feel about this anyway? The god had not strictly told him no, but also hadn’t said yes. Though surely he had to know it was happening?
“And why shouldn’t I?” Diana held out her elbow for Karamir, “I’m your friend, am I not? This is what you wanted?”
Reluctantly, Karamir linked his arm with hers, doing his best to ignore the unpleasant sensation that usually arose from such contact. “It is what I asked for, yes…” his voice trailed off.
“Oh you don’t have to hide it, Karamir,” Diana cackled, “You can be excited.“
“Excitement doesn’t come easily to me, you know,” was all he could think to say.
“But you will still come, won’t you?” Diana frowned, “We are practically there.” She looked ahead at the golden door at the end of the hallway.
“I might as well,” he answered, wondering why she had to ask the question at all when he was here walking with her.
“Good choice,” Diana smiled and stopped in front of the golden door. There was a soft pause and then it suddenly creaked open, a cloud of dreamweavers pushing it wide.
Inside the ballroom the throne was empty upon its dias, and all around dancers in slim suits and flowery dresses bobbed to the sounds of a ghostly violin, a strange high pitched shed almost competing with a soft plucked melody for the stage. Along the walls, dark shadows watched the dancers with a certain curiosity -- and come center stood a woman wearing a crimson dress. It was strapless upon her glowing white skin, and flowed down her figure. Her hair, also glowing, was held in a tight bun, save for a few loose strands running down the sides of her face. As she danced to the music, with her eyes closed, the dress moved like water behind her.
For a moment Karamir stared at her. He had never seen anyone who looked like that. Then, slowly, he unlinked his arm from Diana’s and stepped forward. “Hello?” he said to her.
The woman in red spun around to face the voice and opened her eyes to reveal to black orbs. She paused her dance, coming to a stop as she faced him. Slowly she began to smile warmly. She then said, ”Oh hello!” her voice excited and sweet as she walked towards him.
Karamir took another quick glance around the room, to see if anyone else was present. “My name is Karamir,” he said to her, “and who would you be?”
She cocked her head, raising one of her eyebrows at his name, before stopping in her tracks a short distance away. She eyed him up and down before saying, ”I always wondered what became of you, Karamir.” A sad smile fell on her lips, before returning back to her cheery self. ”But to think I’d meet you here, at long last.” she gave a small curtsy. ”My name is Arya.”
Arya. One of the mortals Kalmar had told him about, and one of the people he had asked to meet. Vaguely recalling the manners that Diana had taught him, Karamir returned the curtsy with a slight bow. “You know who I am?” he questioned.
She nodded, ”Of course! Kalmar told me about you a long time ago. I was sorry to hear how he raised you however, I did not think it right in the slightest but he said he was going to reach out to you to ‘catch up’ as he put it. Did he?” she asked, crossing her arms.
What? Kalmar had spoken to her, but not to him? Why? What had she done that made her so much more important to contact? And so long ago, apparently. “No,” he answered bitterly. Then again, he hadn’t made any attempt to contact Kalmar either...
Arya visibly frowned and narrowed her eyes, looking past him for a moment, a smiling Diana in her sight. She then let out an angry sigh before looking back at Karamir with a soft smile. ”I’m sorry to hear that, Karamir. I have a few choice words for him, but that can come later when I wake up.” she said beginning to walk towards him. ”Would you like to dance?”
“Dance?” Karamir questioned, raising his eyebrows. “I don’t know how.”
”Perfect!” she exclaimed happily, now standing before him. She was tall, very tall. She then arched her back and outstretched her hand in his direction. He looked down at her hand, then up at her eyes. After a moment, he set his basket down and reached out to take her hand.
Without hesitating, Arya took his hand within her own and pulled him forward in one fluid motion. She nodded at Diana and then took Karamir’s other hand and began to step backwards towards the center of the room. ”First things first, relax. Let your mind empty, listen to the music and breath. Just breath. If you do that, I can do the rest.” she said enthusiastically.
So, he did. He wasn’t quite sure how he was supposed to keep his mind completely empty, but he did his best to restrain the various thoughts and concerns swirling about in his head. And he breathed, which was somehow calming. Then there was the music, which now that he took the time to listen to without worrying about potential threats or hazards, was actually relaxing in its own right.
”Can you feel the music?” Arya whispered, ”How it wants to flow through you? How it desires to move you to match it? You’ll have to trust me next, Karamir but shut your eyes and let the rhythm move you.”
That wasn’t quite how he would describe it, but he nodded back at her anyway. And he did have some reservations about trusting someone he only just met, or closing his eyes in a large room, but K’nell had once told him the only danger here was his own mind, so he closed his eyes.
Step by step they began, slowly moving their bodies with the music. With elegance, Arya took the lead, guiding Karamir as best she could. They practiced parts over and over again, through failure and success she taught Karamir the basics, and not a word was said between them. Just the steady rhythm of the music and breathing of the two. Eventually, once he had most of the movements memorized, he opened his eyes. And then Arya spoke. ”How was that?”
For a moment he was speechless, and it took him a few seconds to find the words. “That was…” his voice trailed off with what seemed to be uncertainty, only for him to suddenly regain his composure. “...Fun,” he concluded with a nod and a slight smile.
Arya beamed a smile at him, ”Good, because now we put it altogether. Don’t worry about messing up, just go with the flow.” and she tightened her grip on his hands as she began to dance step pulling him in tow. Arya maintained focus on Karamir as she danced with fluidity. ”So tell me. How do you know Diana?”
The question caused Karamir to stumble, and although he tried to recover and resume dancing, his movements were no longer in sync with the music. “I… it’s a long story…” he began, clearly uncomfortable.
She gave him a look of concern, but nodded, falling out of sync to bring him back in. ”Don’t worry, I understand, Karamir. You don’t have to tell me anything that you don’t feel comfortable with sharing. Forget I even asked.” she said softly, squeezing his hands again. Slowly she brought him back into sync and then said, ”You can ask me anything you want.”
Anything? “Why did Kalmar speak to you but not me?” he found himself blurting out.
”Well that’s simple, I prayed to him.” Arya said, surprised. ”He seldom seeks any out, Karamir. But you’d think the God of Hunting would be a bit better at that sort of thing. I’m just as angry at him as you are.”
“Maybe I should pray to him, then…” Karamir spoke quietly.
”I think you should. He might now show it, but he does care. He just has a very… Difficult way of showing it. But when you do finally speak to him, hit him with hard questions.” she said, giving a playful smirk.
“I will keep that in mind,” Karamir noted thoughtfully. “I have another question. What gods have you encountered?”
She pursed her lips in thought. ”Hmm. Well there’s K’nell, Shengshi, Kalmar, Arae, Choppy and Orvus I do believe.” she said, briefly pressing herself into him before stepping back in step.
“And what were they like?” he asked next, his cheeks briefly reddening at the closer contact.
Arya smiled cheerfully. ”Well you’ve met K’nell I’m sure. He is a gentleman, and a kind soul. Shengshi is wise, kind, but duty and mannerisms come before anything else. He, along with K’nell, taught me many things and for that I will always be grateful. Kalmar… As we both know, difficult, stern and blunt. Beneath his exterior though, kindness and willingness to change. Just a bit.” she said with a giggle. ”Arae is, perhaps the kindest Goddess I’ve met. She is motherly and will listen to whatever you say, offering sage advice in return. Choppy is perhaps the strangest of all the gods, but I like her. I did a quest for her actually and through it I met some amazing people.” she said with a sad smile. ”As for my father, I once thought Orvus was cruel and hateful but as time went on, I realized he was simply misunderstood. He’s changed so much since the day I was born. I like him now.”
“I see…” was all Karamir could say. Some of those descriptions matched what Kalmar had told him, while others seemed to contradict them. One or two of those gods, Kalmar had not met at all. “I only met Kalmar, Phystene, and K’nell,” he confided.
”I’ve always wanted to meet Phystene… To apologize for a mistake. But what’s she like?” she asked.
“I only met her briefly,” Karamir said. “She was friendly, but I was young and angry. I had questions she couldn’t answer, and I left in frustration,” he confessed with a touch of regret in his voice.
”We all make mistakes.” Arya said sadly. ”I once left Shengshi and Kalmar in anger after blowing a hole in the Jiangzhou. Those were the days.” she chuckled.
“I heard about that…” Karamir said, his tone turning neutral. “What happened after?”
”Ugh, who told you? Was it Kalmar?” she said, rolling her eyes playfully.
“He told me of every mortal and god he encountered up until my creation,” Karamir revealed.
”Of course he did.” she said with a laugh. ”Well after that I got so flustered with myself I didn’t know which way was which. I wanted to go back you see, to apologize but by the time I that happened I was across a vast desert. A sand storm came and I had to escape it. So I flew, faster than I ever have since and found myself at the World’s Scar, where Narzhak lies. That was where I met Split, a Kostral. The chosen warrior race of the Pit. We went on Choppy’s quest after that, but that’s another story entirely.”
“I’d like to hear it.”
”Well, It all started with a delivery…” she began, telling Karamir about the harrowing journey over the Dragon’s Foot, their meeting with Chopstick Eyes, of Penelope the giant Jackalope, of the Volcano erupting and their journey through the Market. She spoke with enthusiasm, recounting the tale as if it was just yesterday. Then her voice grew quiet as she spoke about the monster that attacked them, of the Penelope being hurt and running off, and her own injury. She then told him about Hermes and Xiaoli and how they found her upon Tendlepog and her life there and the conversation continued on as they danced.
Throughout it all, Karamir listened attentively, asking the occasional question or making a comment. During certain points of the song he even attempted to take the lead in their dancing. He was enjoying himself, he realized.
"...And so that was how I began my journey on the Zhengwu. Another story and one I would rather not get into today." Arya said sighing. She tilted her head to the side and looked at Karamir again and suddenly said, "What will you do when you wake up?"
“Wake up?” Karamir asked, raising his eyebrows. “I’m not sleeping.”
She blinked before her eyes went wide with realization. "You mean… You're actually here? Physically here… How… Oh, I see. At least you're in the Palace. Limbo can be a very dangerous place. When will you leave?" she asked.
When would he leave? Even someone who did not know of his dilemma was already pressuring him to make a decision, however unknowingly. If he chose to stay with Diana… all those years of suffering, he did not want to go through again. She had granted his request when K’nell had not, and so far had nothing had gone wrong… yet Karamir had to wonder if she was only doing this to get him to stay. He thought of the basket which he had left on the floor; how if he did not restrict his thoughts, he would never have true privacy. Then there was K’nell himself, who seemed unwilling or reluctant to aid him. If he did stay, what awaited him here? But if he left, what awaited him on Galbar?
A great deal, he realized. He recalled the library. Countless books chock-full of information about stories, ecosystems, species, and people. Apparently all of that was on Galbar, and somehow, during the several decades he spent there, he had missed it. But now that he knew it existed, perhaps he could find it…
And in that moment he knew he had made his decision. “Soon,” he told her.
"And where will you go?"
“I don’t know. Somewhere. Everywhere. Depends on what I find.”
"The dreamers are not far from Limbo. You could stay with them for awhile if you wanted. Just tell them you know me." she pulled. "Or you could come to the Eye. I know father would come and get you. He's very fast." she giggled.
“The Eye?” Karamir spoke with confusion. “I did not think Kalmar would have allowed your father on Kalgrun.”
"Oh, right. I meant the Eye of Desolation. Not the Hunters Eye." she laughed.
“And where is the Eye of Desolation?” More importantly, what was it? It hardly sounded like a pleasant place to live.
"It's in between Kalgrun and the large continent to the south. It's a lovely place, a paradise really. Orvus has built much there." she said joyously.
“I’ll think about it,” he responded. “I’d prefer to go my own way, for a time.”
There was a brief moment where Arya looked sad, but it quickly disappeared with a smile as she gave him a small nod of her head. "I can respect that." she said twirling, "Then I hope our paths cross again."
“So do I,” Karamir nodded.
"Be careful out there." she said, once again pressing her body against his as the song ended. She then pulled away and dropped his hands. "It was nice meeting you, Karamir."
As the music slowly faded, another clash of instruments took its place. The dancers surrounding the pair once again bobbed into the musical rhythm, a clash of brass urging them into a quick paced waltz.
"Perhaps not." Arya murmured, looking around before grabbing Karamir again and helping him with the waltz. Karamir went along with it, but was clearly thrown off by the sudden change in tune.
The music waltz with them, dying just low enough for pleasant conversation while still being able to enjoy the music. A soft cello whispered against a lone trumpet, a set of wind following shortly behind.
Karamir glanced at the sound, but looking over Arya’s shoulder all he saw was the ghostly instruments and an empty throne.
"Just dance with me some more." Arya said unperturbed by the change. "We dance until the music stops. So tell me, what do you want to do with the rest of your life?"
“Find answers,” Karamir told her. “How the world was created, why it was created, who the gods are, where they came from, why they created the things they did…”
She looked at him with a soft expression, her eyes lighting up as she listened. "A most noble quest. But let's say you do find all the answers to your questions, what then?"
Karamir thought for a moment. “Share them with others,” he decided. “See if the knowledge can be put to use in some way.”
"Admirable. But know not all questions have answers and some have answers best left never to be found. If you learn everything about everything and then teach the world all that you know, there would cease to be mysteries and surprises. Life would be dull if we knew everything, Karamir. At least, that's what I think anyways." she said warmly.
“Life would be just as dull if we knew nothing,” Karamir argued. “Some surprises can only be found if you look for them. And who knows? Maybe new questions will accompany the answers. Either way, I intend to learn as much as I can.”
"Just don't get so caught up in your pursuits and future that you forget what lies right in front of you, Karamir. There are small surprises all around us that are ignored, and those are the best of them."
Karamir nodded. “The small questions interest me as well, and I may need to answer those to get to the big ones. But really, this just gives me something to work toward while I live my life. A purpose. Or as K’nell might call it, a distraction.” He shrugged, and then a thought occurred to him. If his main goal was to learn all that he could, then wouldn’t anything that prevented him from doing so be a distraction? Not that he didn’t mind this distraction, of course, but in hindsight the God’s words seemed rather strange.
"Distractions can be interpreted differently by many. Do you call this a distraction or living your life?" she asked.
“Distractions occur while you live your life, don’t they? So in a way, it would be both. But as far as distractions go, it’s a good one.” He smiled.
"What really is a distraction other then one of life's surprises." she said happily.
“Well, not all distractions are surprises, and not all surprises are good,” Karamir noted. “Though Kalmar might say that any surprise is good if you can use it to make yourself stronger or smarter. But is a distraction really a distraction if you gain something from it?” he mused.
"Perhaps. Just another question you'll have to find an answer too." she said playfully with a smile.
“Of course it is,” Karamir said with a roll of his eyes, while retaining a slight smirk.
She giggled, then twirled again. "So, what did Kalmar teach you, if you don't mind me asking?"
“How to fight, how to find food, how to make a fire… all the basics. Everything else he left for me to find out,” Karamir recalled.
"I see. His teachings are necessary in the world as it is. I'm sorry that he didn't teach you more." she said softly.
“I…” Karamir began, but his voice trailed off, unable to find the words. He looked away from Arya. He couldn’t help but think. Would things have turned out differently if he had simply prayed to Kalmar once during all those years? Had he been too proud and bitter?
"I know that look." Arya whispered. "Karamir. Don't beat yourself up over what could have been. It does no one any good. All we can do is move on and learn from our mistakes." she squeezed his hands gently.
“I understand,” he said softly. “Thank you.” Then he let go, stopped dancing, and turned to face Diana, but she wasn't there. Frowning, he went to retrieve the basket from the floor. “I’ve made my decision,” he announced aloud, assuming that either K’nell or Diana would hear him.
The music got louder behind them, a sharp violin playfully plucking over the brass. It increased in speed and skill, a whirlwind of notes chambering along with the melody -- a soft grainy hum following it.
Karamir turned around and there standing on the dias was a young looking K’nell, eyes closed as his arm pumped the bow of the violin at rapid speeds, inciting a clicking stream of sounds. Karamir decided he would wait for him to finish.
Arya turned to the dias and stopped dancing as her eyes fell upon the younger K'nell. The look upon her face was one of surprise and so too did she wait to see what would happen.
The tune took on a playful light streak as he descended the stairs one by one, his long black coat hitting an unseen breeze as he hopped from the last step. With sudden sharp jabs he made his way to Karamir, his eyes finally opening.
Slowly the violin floated out from under K’nell’s chin, the bow still striking across it at a quick and punishing beat. The strings rasped as the instrument and bow bobbed away in the air, flitting around Arya in a dance. K’nell came to a sudden stop in front of Karamir. He folded his elbows square behind his back and with a white smile he tilted his head.
“When would you wish to leave?” His voice threaded between the notes of the violin.
“Soon,” Karamir repeated. “Where is Diana?”
“I’m afraid tonight's event may have been too much for our Diana,” K’nell winked, “Alas, she does know your decision, same as me -- so fret not.” He put a finger to the tip of his nose for a moment, “You said soon, no?”
“I did,” Karamir confirmed. “I just wanted to speak to her before I left.”
“Impossible for the moment, I’m afraid,” K’nell tsked, “But luck is on our side, as the music still plays -- so we have time for one final dance while she gathers herself.” He held out a hand behind him, “Besides, it has been some time since I’ve seen this ward of mine.”
“Alright,” Karamir nodded.
"K'nell!" she exclaimed, giving a slight curtsey. "It's good to see you, it's been far too long."
“I heard you had left my Kingdom, but I didn't have the chance to see you go,” K’nell turned to Arya completely, “Have you been enjoying your dreams?”
"Sweet as always, though I must ask… Ava and Lily have nightmares from time to time. Why is this?" she wondered.
“Have they caused you any distress, my dear?” K’nell slipped around Arya, as if inspecting her. His eyes flicked up from her dress and he smiled, “Had they ruined the dress you had been gifted from my wardrobe?”
"Well… No and no. The dress is fine, I simply wanted to try something else tonight." she said standing a little straighter.
“A marvelous choice,” K’nell mused, “I’m sure your company is not a slight bit disgraced by your savvy.” He turned his head as to include Karamir in the conversation, “But these nightmares, they are concerning to you, no? I admit the simple answer is nature. They have young minds afrollick with all sorts of conundrums and concerns, of course -- a literal storm of thought on this side of reality, you see. They are making sense of what is what, but should you find their little hearts too fragile and your compassion a little swollen, try a warm drink before bed, yes?”
Arya scrunched her nose and furrowed her brow before relaxing slightly. "If you say so."
“A-tut!” K’nell scorned himself, “I can hear it in your voice that this answer will simply not do -- shall we take a walk, then?”
"Well, okay. We haven't walked for awhile." Arya said at last, glancing at Karamir.
K’nell turned his head to the man, “Fancy joining us?”
Karamir glanced back and forth between the two. “Alright,” he said after a moment, stepping forward.
“Very good,” K’nell held out his elbow to Arya and she looped her arm in his. The gentleman took soft steps towards the golden door, the music fading away in the background as they approached. A stream of weavers spun into existence before them, eagerly opening the door for their Lord. K’nell tipped his head briefly as he walked through the door.
Time seemed to wave as they all took their first steps onto a smooth cobblestone pathway instead of the hallway -- the Palace far in the distance behind them, the backdrop of the glittering void covering the sky. The sound of fountains and tiny song birds tittered and filled the air, accompanied by the woosh of the small orchard tree leaves.
“Ava and Lily,” K’nell thought out loud, “Two of my very earliest creations, those two.”
"So I've heard. They are sweet girls, with big hearts. They'll grow up well." Arya said, looking around at all the sights.
“Of that, I have no doubt,” K’nell agreed, “If I may, how often do they have nightmares?”
”Some nights, not very often. I was just concerned. I’ve never seen other mortals have nightmares. I mean… I’ve never even had a nightmare. I was just curious as to why the exist, now, after all this time.” she mused.
“I see your thought process,” K’nell nodded his head and closed his eyes, “Arya, you have never in my memory displeased me or shown that you were anything but clever -- so I wonder, why do you think they exist?”
”I’ve put a bit of thought into it, yes. I believe this question has already been answered though, or at least confirmed. You said it yourself, it is only natural. I had thought it had something to do with balance after all. We can’t always have pleasant dreams, I suppose, even if that would be ideal. I would have asked sooner about it, but I didn’t really notice until we left Tendlepog. I wonder if… Well, I’ll have to ask her when I wake up.” her mouth turned to a straight line, and she looked back at Karamir, before turning to look ahead.
“A thoughtful explanation,” K’nell looked up to the void sky, “But why now, then? Why not at creation itself -- why did I wait? Well let me answer that for you and then after I do, let me gift you some comfort for future dealings with such strange things as nightmares.” He gently unlatched his arm and reached forward, an easel jumping from the cobblestones.
With the sudden flick of a brush, he had slapped together a quick painting of a dark and brooding mountains, “Ah, so let me start at the base of this question -- through our lives we gather experiences, no?” He looked over at Karamir and then Arya, a wink on his left eye, “Some great, some not so much.” He frowned. “Those pesky negatives again,” He mused, “And as we sleep our subconscious decides it is time to deal with such matters our conscious intellect has disregarded as small or tedious -- the very crumbs that make up our mountains here.” He slapped a thick spattering of white paint over the mountains, “So here we have our pleasant dreams, a sweet reprise from this mountain of madness -- oh so sweet. And if you’re anything like me, also a great tool for learning without potential physical harm -- but I digress.”
He paused and slowly the darkness began to bleed through the white pain, “And there we have our problem,” He spoke again, “As our world becomes increasingly complex, so does our psyche -- and once when a simple coat of paint was enough to hide an anthill, it won’t do for a mountain. Some days, this mountain is really dark, and if we ignore it -- our waking life and future will be affected by its negative attributes. Do not think of these nightmares as punishment, or even harsh hells or purgatories, but as a different outlet to use in your learning. Your mind needs to dump somewhere, and if you cannot organize it while awake, I’m afraid it will bleed into the night. The diligent weavers of this palace do their best to extract this terribleness each night in an appropriate dream, be it nightmarish or nice.”
K’nell cleared his throat and the easel disappeared, “Another use of the dream among the rest, you see. With a snap of my fingers I can erase nightmares from Ava and Lily’s sleep for the rest of their lives, but I cannot bring myself to do such a thing just yet. I trust them, I have faith in them, that they will come to terms with their own minds as they grow, and that someday they will have no need for a nightmare.” K’nell smiled at nothing, “They are smart and wise.... But I am not without a soft spot in my heart.” He turned to Arya and his smile turned serious, “Should you find it too much, or should they -- I promise to you, a warm drink, and they will only find a pleasant reprise on the other side of reality that night.”
”That… That makes sense.” Arya stared, before looking at K’nell again. ”Thank you, K’nell.” she smiled sweetly.
“But of course, my dear,” K’nell flashed his cheshire grin.
“And what about me?” Karamir asked quietly. “In your eyes, where do I stand in all this?”
“Are you referring to your spat with Diana?” K’nell flickered his eyes over to Karamir, his voice gentle, “Or well, more than a spat, unfortunately.”
“Only nightmares for five decades,” Karamir pointed out. “I don’t believe that’s normal. Do other creatures get the same treatment? If not, that would make me an exception. Why does Diana only cause nightmares?”
Arya’s eyes went wide at Karamir’s account and a sad look crossed her face, but she said nothing.
“It isn’t normal, save for one unlucky dragon who also crossed her path,” K’nell raised his brows, “I will gladly answer your questions, but first if you could indulge one of mine?”
“What’s the question?” Karamir asked.
“What did you feel upon waking from your first nightmare?” K’nell knitted his brows,and gave his full attention to Karamir.
“I…” he tried to think. It was so long ago. They had been on the umbrella, she had pulled out the orb, and when he woke up he had… thanked her? “I felt refreshed, I suppose.”
“If I may,” K’nell lightly tapped Karamir’s shoulder, the exact same wave of euphoria he had felt upon realizing he was alive and well so long ago suddenly crashed through the man’s body. It felt cool, as if it had protecting him from the peeling sun, and hydrated, as if it had pumped back what the dryness had been stolen from him. He felt the silk of his skin released under the crust of salt, and furthermore he felt relief -- he felt amazing.
He stumbled backward, the sensation catching him off guard, and breathed heavily. He was at a loss for words.
“Once you figure out that basket of yours, I doubt you’ll have another nightmare for the rest of your life... or at least I hope,” K’nell mentioned idly, as if glossing over the reaction, “But you have quite the journey ahead of you -- oh!” The god smiled, “I never answered your question... Diana is a contrast, a being of difference and nightmares in the land of dreams. She didn’t hurt you intentionally, or well she did, but she didn’t usually mean it in a malicious way. She was birthed from perfection, and the only way she really knows how to portray perfection is by colouring in everything around it. Genuinely, she thought you were her friend.”
“What does she think now?” he asked, suddenly feeling a twinge of guilt.
“Who can tell?” K’nell asked out loud, “Such a spark is gentle and tiny in the mind; it’s very hard to trace in a being as vast-minded as Diana. It only makes sense, considering her relation to myself and her trace of divinity.” K’nell paused, “Knowing that, I wouldn’t give it too much worry -- though she’d certainly like that.”
”What a fate to have lived through.” Arya mumbled under her breath as she looked at Karamir.
Karamir offered a weary shrug in response. “It is what it is. It brought me here, and now it is time to move on. I would like to speak to her before I go, though.”
“And you will,” K’nell offered, “I would mention that the choice is yours, but in this case -- it just so happens to be a shared choice.”
“What do you mean?”
“It is Diana’s choice to see you before you leave, just as much as it is yours to see her before you leave,” K’nell explained.
“I see…” was all Karamir said to that. Had his decision truly affected her to the point where she might not even speak to him?
"I wouldn't force it, Karamir. If she wants to see you, then she will." Arya said while looking back at him.
“I’m not trying to force anything,” he corrected. “I just wanted to know what she has chosen.”
She gave him a nod of approval, then looked away and back at K'nell. "I should probably wake up, Wreanon will get angry if I sleep in again. There's never pleasing that sword." she sighed happily. She then looked back at Karamir, "We will meet again, Karamir. Upon Galbat next. Until then, look after yourself." she then beamed a warm smile at him.
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about time," K'nell idled with a cheshire grin, "You should know that it moves differently on each side of reality." He cleared his throat, "But I won't keep you, have a pleasant day... Although, visit me again soon. The world is changing and I wish to depart some information into your care at a future date." K'nell's heavy words floated on a light conversational tone. With a classic smile, he snapped his fingers and the woman seemed to disappear from existence altogether.
K'nell turned on his heel to face Karamir, "And what shall happen now?"
Karamir did a quick scan of his surroundings. “I suppose I might as well get going,” he said reluctantly.
"You're more than welcome to wait a while," K'nell offered.
Karamir nodded. “Alright.”
K'nell seemed to stifle a grin, "If you don't mind me asking -- what's on your mind, Karamir?"
Karamir quirked his head. “What do you mean?”
"I beg your pardon. I meant, what are you thinking about," K'nell clarified.
“Well it seems wrong to leave without speaking to her,” Karamir began. “She did bring me here, and she did set up that ball, so I do owe her some thanks. I’d also prefer to explain my decision to her in person.”
"Understandable if I must say, though I do have one correction," K'nell folded his elbows square behind his back, "It was I who set up the ball." He waved a hand, "Semantics, though. I can respect your desire to talk to her, and so I hope she feels the same."
“If you set up the ball, why did she take credit?” Karamir asked.
"Ah, I misspoke -- we set up the ball, is a more correct statement," K'nell tsk'd himself, "Do you wish to be alone with your thoughts or is there any question I could relieve from your mind?"
Karamir nodded. “Yes. Thank you for your role in setting it up, but you didn’t seem willing when I first asked to meet her. What changed your mind?”
"Nothing," K'nell answered with a shrugging smirk, "I always intended for it to happen, just at a different angle than you were expecting. I'm afraid face value is hardly a currency on this side of reality."
“I see. I have no other questions,” Karamir decided.
"So there truly is a first time for everything," Diana mused from behind the two. K'nell swiveled slowly on his heel, while Karamir tensed visibly.
"Ah, very good." Was all K’nell managed to say.
Karamir turned to face her, but found himself unsure of what to say. Perhaps it would be best if he let her speak first?
Diana stared at Karamir for a moment before frowning, "Ah, nothing to say -- this truly is a day for firsts."
K'nell looked about, "Would you two care for some privacy?"
Karamir nodded and with a sudden flash, K'nell was gone -- leaving him along with Diana. The avatar crossed her arms and raised both of her eyebrows in a high arch.
“Thank you for your role in setting up that encounter,” Karamir told her.
"It lost me a bet," Diana closed her eyes nonchalantly, "So much good that was, if I had to talk about it."
“A bet?” Karamir raised his eyebrows. “You and K’nell had a bet on whether or not I would stay?”
"No," Diana cackled, "How boring. I always knew you'd leave."
“Then what was the bet?”
“It doesn’t really matter now, you’re leaving and this place won’t be much more than a spark in the night to you,” Diana crossed her arms.
“Well, I do still need to sleep. And you yourself said you won’t stay cooped up here forever. It’s not like our paths can never cross again,” Karamir pointed out.
“I know,” Diana looked down from her nose, “Was there anything else, or are you ready to leave?”
“So if you knew I was going to leave, do you understand why?”
“To think, the simpleton whose questions I spent the last fifty years answering is asking me if I understand,” Diana made a face, “I have an itch that what you are looking for in this conversation, you’re not going to find.”
Karamir shrugged at that. “Goodbye, Diana,” he said, and then his voice softened. “For what it’s worth, I am sorry.”
“I’m sure you are,” Diana’s frown flicked into a gritting smile. With a flick of her wrist, a door of white light appeared off to the side, “Take your leave as you see fit.” With a two second stare, she finally turned on her heel and began to walk down the path back towards the palace.
Karamir stared at her as she left, and then his gaze shifted toward the door. His decision had been made, for better or for worse. He could not let any lingering feelings of guilt or regret change that. The departure didn’t go quite as he had hoped, but he should have known better.
With a sigh, he stepped through.
Heliopolis peaked past the ring of trees that surrounded the gateway to Limbo. Evening birds chirped wildly, and cloudlings popped around the flowers that erupted from the ring of vegetation. Karamir’s eyes slowly adjusted to the light, himself splayed on his back, the heat of the blackstone warming him gently.
There was a loud bestial snort, his peripheral’s noticing a large black horse, with a man dressed in thorns on top. A voice not unlike a grinding stone rang from the helmet, “You lay on holy ground, I am to escort you out of his Lord’s forests.” A distinct smell of wet soil followed the commanding voice.
Before Karamir could respond, he saw movement in the corner of his eye. A strange bird fluttered up onto a nearby tree branch; brown feathers speckled with red, with beak and talons that were an unusual shade of yellow. It set its gaze on the Warden.
The Warden followed Karamir’s gave and let out a disappointed grunt, “The Avatar of Kalmar approaches Limbo without invitation?”
Karamir was taken aback. An avatar of… Kalmar? Like what Diana was to K’nell? ”I can escort him out,” the bird stated.
“I can escort you both out,” The Warden pulled on his reins, “If you’d follow me...” His voice trailed, tinged with frustration.
With a sigh, the bird extended its wings and flew past the Warden, coming to a stop in front of Karamir, floating in the air. Karamir stared back at it in confusion, taking an involuntary step back, only for the bird to come forward and press the tips of its wings against the side of his head.
Suddenly, Karamir felt power flow into him. He grew taller, the dark circles under his eyes vanished, his muscles seemed to expand, and his energy felt not only replenished, but greatly expanded.
“What did…” he began to ask, but the bird had already turned away to face the Warden.
”Lead on, then.”
Karamir walks back into the Palace where he meets Diana, who invites him to a ball that she and K’nell had prepared.
Karamir goes, and he meets Arya. She teaches him how to dance, and they end up getting along. They share some details about their lives and their pasts. Karamir realizes he is enjoying himself. At some point during the conversation Karamir finally makes up his mind about whether or not he wants to stay at the Palace: he wishes to leave.
He turns to inform Diana, but she is gone. K’nell arrives, and the three go for a walk. Arya reveals that Ava and Lily have been having bad dreams, so K’nell explains the nature of nightmares to her. Karamir asks some questions about Diana, which K’nell answers.
Arya wakes up, leaving the Palace. Diana shows up again, and K’nell gives them some privacy. Karamir thanks her for the ball, wants to know if she understands his reasoning for leaving, and apologizes. Diana comes across as her usual inconsiderate self, and conjures a doorway for him to leave.
Karamir appears in the forest of Tendlepog, with the Warden ready to escort him out. However, Arryn then appears and claims that won’t be necessary, much to the Warden’s annoyance. The Warden insists on escorting them both. Arryn decides to allow it, but not before making Karamir a hero.
Kalmar: 2MP to make Karamir a hero.
Ending MP: 5 Ending FP: 8
Arya: The Learner, The Martial Dancer, The Compassionate, The Wanderer, The Teacher, The Sailor, Last of the Zhengwu +31 Prestige Starting +1 For Major Role +1 For Minor Role +1 For Jolly Collaboration = +34 Prestige Ending
+6 Prestige on Fighting +6 Prestige on Dancing +6 Prestige on Martial Dancing. +1FP for flight. +2FP for ‘evil eyes’ ability. Causes nightmares to those that distress Arya.
Karamir. Beginning Prestige: 0 +1 for Minor Role. +1 for Major Role. +1 for Collab. Ending Prestige: 3
“I should write a pamphlet -- no... a brochure on emotional and intellectual consent one of these days,” K’nell mentioned idly, “This isn’t the first time I’ve had to explain this, and I really doubt it’ll be the last. Did you know that every dream you acquire is private between myself, the palace and you? No other god may look at it, nor any creature below.”
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