by Philip Read
After the planes are the upper planets, planets that are powers unto themselves that can hold and sustain beings of power comparable to those that reside in the planes. The upper planets can defend themselves against world-eaters and other creatures that roam the universe and so have no need to appoint Custodians or share their power, though they sometimes choose to. Planets like Omega where the elite of Gaia go after reaching the 4th tier of Awakening to power.
Then the Stable planets that are mostly santient and sapient and are growing, to the extent that they may one day become Upper planets themselves. These planets are not all sentient of course, but they are categorized by being alive and able to renew themselves and all their resources like a child growing in a womb.
The Rock planets are just that, rocks that can sustain most sapient life if said life sustains the rock planet. They cannot grow and renew themselves but are dependent on outside stimuli for what they are or become.
The spirits that came to the physical realm conspired to become gods and in doing so loosened the seals that separate most of the worlds apart. The breaking of the seals would mean the almost free unencumbered travel for all beings that are able to travel from world to world with ease.
It is prophicied to be a time of slaughter and death for any and all physical beings before a new balance is reached, for even the separated planes would make war on each other if they could.
The main objective of the Conclave is in preparation for that, to some day be able to compete for and achieve the title of Custodian and use that power to further develop their utopia planet Enclave. A planet in which all Conclave members that reach a certain level of power that could be useful in the defence of Gaia and her daughter planets may reside and train.
Secondary goals include a creation of a world with a system where there is complete freedom from the burdens of the world’s if one so chooses. A utopia, not meant as a permanently occupied home but to be designed as the soul home of all Enclave members. One accessible even to beings with power comparable to inhabitants of the planes.
Deep staff this.
Chapter 88
Sachihiro
I listen to Hara recite her story as we lounge in Sergie’s back yard sipping cooled drink that the servant brings. I keep looking at Anastasia and Pherastasia with my actual eyes so I don’t miss the point in which they start laughing at my expense.
Sergei is hard to read, even with my sort of enhanced ability to study people and their intention. Something I thought was a new skill until Gorr pointed it out as the Awakened version of my gift of tongues since body language is also a way to speak or express yourself.
I’ve actually developed the skill analyze that sort of works in conjunction with reading body language since I’m yet to learn any other applications for it. Hara just keeps talking, talking about being from Omega being able to walk directly from there to Gaia through the Ascension Gates.
She speaks of some spirits or deity actively working to accelerate the timeline of these breaking of seals so that more spiritual energy may permeate into the physical realms so they can gain more power. She names names, giving me a list of cults that are particularly affective in their endeavours that the Conclave has apparently been in a shadow war with for years even before it was the Conclave as I currently know it.
She speaks of the Ancient of Days and prophesies and plans and the end of worlds. The more she speaks the more horrified I become as I think of my children, my wives,my family. The scale of the potential destruction and powers that will be at play makes me want to be by Kazimoto’s side throughout the whole affair. Maybe he could at least look after my children right?
The scariest thing is the timeline with which all this is supposed to happen.
“You’re saying within 20 years or sooner?” I ask her to repeat herself after clearing my throat. She does, I scowl and decide here and now that ima speak to my mates about this, then my mother. I don’t care what anyone says.
“Okey, I have a lot to think about. Excuse me for a while I can see myself out.” I say quickly to the servant moving towards me.
I’m irritable, and I just want to be alone for a while and so I leave the modest estate and walk towards the parks. I walk amongst the trees, touching the bark of the trees and breathing in the clean air of wilderness. I walk through and watch a sparing match which I respectfully decline to join.
I walk around the entire city eventually fully being in my thoughts, thinking that all this may be gone in a mere 20 years time. Its really unfathomable and that’s the danger isn’t it? Maybe Master Zaraya is crazy for a reason, maybe there are horrors beyond imagining out there on Omega and if they cross over…
I walk back to my modest home and give the signal for Soal to leave me alone as I realise he’s been following me the whole time. That’s how distracted I’ve been I realise and I walk into my modest home with a sigh.
Kuyoki sees me and her happy radiant smile slowly fades as her very pregnant self walks up to me smoothly. Being Awakened and pregnant seems effortless, without all the drama and discomforts of just being a pregnant mundane.
“Where are the others?” I ask as I hold her in my arms with so much love and affection.
“In the upstairs room with the children.” She says still looking into my eyes searchingly.
“We should have a family discussion.” I say after giving her a quick kiss.
*
We talk, Kuyoki, Ingwe, Mira and I. We talk for hours as I convey to them what was conveyed to me and its gravity. We talk scenarios and we try to plan and we circle around issues and we worry. Ingwe advises I take my sidhe lover as a mate so she can help protect the children and I’m stunned to realise Kuyoki and Mira also consider that an option.
We talk about ways to strengthen our family and strengthen ourselves and the best place to raise the girls with as many opportunities for growth as possible. In my mind that’s immediately under the tutelage of my crazy Master Zaraya.
The fae are strong beyond imagining but they accumulate their power and expertise very slowly and carefully, and time is a luxury we just don’t currently have. I bring up Shea as a potential mate with crossed fingers and a slightly increased heart rate. They just look at me funny but we talk about Shea, then Mira brings Rigdis and her relation with him into the picture and how having him as a part of the family would strengthen it.
I’m sceptical but if he remains only her lover and not a lover of all my mates I could stomach it, especially with how many women I’m interested in. Ingwe always seems happy the more mates I take but she is looking at the three of us with wide eyed judgment as we talk of including another man closer into our family.
We will need to bring ma and da into this discussion tomorrow and soon I will need to go find my brother. He needs to get ready for the coming ‘calamity’ as Hara called it. Om needs to get his ass back into gear as well, how long does it take to fully Awaken for someone who has been in a time chamber for over three months?
We decide though that I will join the Conclave of Shadow, and my entire family needs to move to the Den Compound via the Academy in preparation for what is to come. I’m gonna need to start recruiting for another expedition down to Pangaea, I haven’t been home long but what choice do I have?
*
It’s before dawn and I already have everyone gathered in my humble home a d its bursting at the seams with people. Ma and da with Sigrùr, aunt Helen with her mate Dawn and their children Eldrich and Eray, uncle Brian with his mate and their two children Cyrus, Amanda, Mist and Ander. Zhen and Freydìs with their baby, a very unlikely pair those two. Teà and Dustin with their young boy, Kiera and Vuyo with Om’s son Andrew. Gorr is with Fenrir while Tosting is with six of his mates and 12 of his children playing around somewhere.
The dwarf twins Тóma and Tatiana are present and have made a substantial amount selling gems to the south. I have also made a substantial amount selling their gems in bulk to the markets in Pangaea, though
I used a substantial sum buying Ingwe’s brother.
Soal is sitting by the door talking amiably to the twins Anastasia and Pherastasia whom I’ve invited as a curtsey. Personally having Sergei over would raise too many questions and I left a letter for Vevina with her ever present ever silent servant. As I’m about to speak Gaia walks in looking like he was in a fight with a thin dirty girl in tow.
I nod my acknowledgement point him towards the snacks consisting of fruit and juice. We mostly move to the back yard which every house has an abundance of. I look at everyone present and start talking.
The more I talk the more serious the atmosphere becomes. Rigdis holds tightly to Mira’s hand but all I see on his face is determination and resolve, good. The twins scowl at me the entire time whilst Soal looks on with a thoughtful expression, his eyes never on one place.
I tell them everything without talking about how I know what I know. Ma doesn’t seem very surprised which somehow doesn’t surprise me, Tosting snorts the whole time but doesn’t comment.
Om’s mother Tabita is also present with Kiera, Vuyo and Andrew Om’s first son. If I can’t talk to the Mountain I’ll speak to his family. It isn’t long before I’m finished and answer a few questions before excusing myself with a kiss for Kuyoki and a signal to the attractive twins.
They follow and I notice Soal follow as well, if I’ve spotted him I’m sure they have but none of us speak. I walk to Sergei’s estate and am let in without much word. I take the seat indicated but quickly stand as Sergei walks in with Hara just behind.
I bow my head, “I gladly accept a position into the Conclave of Shadow if you will still have me.”
Chapter 89
Jovanos
The route from Old-town to Northwest Orientia and the other northern parts of Sandoria is opening up to trade rapidly now that the kingdom has received another trading partner. In a matter of a few short years the Tribesmen have gone from a people in the way of the kingdom’s progress to it’s most lucrative trading partner as though by magic.The Northen State of Kimberley with semi dry regions that met most of it’s fiscal responsibilities with a modest gem trade revenues in now the largest importer of Tundra goods even though it isn’t in a direct route from Central to Paradisum.
Never before have the sidhe fae exposed themselves in this manor and though there are rumoured to be only a few in Paradisum, already the redheaded population of Sandoria is migrating up North at an alarming rate. Orientia, the northern most province of the Kingdom is now turning into a trading hub and because it has never been fully populated by the people of Sandoria the tribesmen love it since the House of Lords approved them the privilege of buying property within the kingdom; though with exorbitant taxation.
There is a large swath of unclaimed land between Orientia and the Tundra that is neutral and agreed upon will stay so by both nations to remain so as part of the peace treaty. But Orientia is turning into a hub of sorts and already has warehouses under construction though Kimberley is trying to secure exclusive buying rights from the Paradisans. The Governer Magisters in Kimberley are quick to try to attach themselves to a potential riline goose whose first few eggs are always pure flesh gold.
The mages, the traders and the business minded are buying up property in these parts fast to be closer to the progress of trade coming in and going out from Paradisum , which is my current destination. I’m walking leading a pack mule with a walking staff in hand and my ‘slave’ keeping close carrying the pack with the silver and gold.
Lord Izan had me on the mission to find the reason for the child disappearances and when I reported my findings in he quickly sent me north whilst he consulted with the magisteres and the master magicians that run a lot of the day to day of the kingdom as to the best course of action against a Sorcerer of the apparent strength my team estimated. Even to me it is quickly becoming evident that we had been used as a rod against the tribes by the higher ups and the elite during the war and I don’t even have the bigger picture as a guide for figuring it all out.
The master magicians don’t usually sully themselves without great concessions from the House of Lords yet during the War With The Tribes they volunteered their expertise and power without asking for anything from the House in return. At the time it seemed like a reasonable thing for them to do with the kingdom losing a war for the first time in centuries.
But since then we at the Ministry have uncovered a number of inconsistances with the way the war was approached and with further investigation finding that the mages had received a different type of payment, but from whom and why? King Magnus doesn’t like to be manipulated especially to the extent of the loses we took so the investigation has been thorough and long these past few years and I think finding those kids may have led to our quarry. The only problem being the corrupt nature of the mages and the reputed powers of sorcerers and wizards are said to possess, something else I was determined to find out before we try to take the sick pervert.
Thus I find myself trudging up the new roads of grass walking to Paradisum in the guise of a minor merchant down on his luck looking for opportunity. There are already a number of agents up there of course, I already have a contact that is well established that I can fall back to if I lose my cover but judging by the number of the poor and freed slaves going up to the north these past few years I’ll only be another foreign face in a multitude of foreign faces.
* *
The city is everything I was told it is, I pay the toll to enter the city and I get a stamp on the back of my hand I’m told will fade slowly. The inns are full but there is a hostel like building that is overcrowded with unknown foreigners that are desperate enough to appreciate any form of cheap shelter. Though overcrowded I’m surprised to find the place is relatively clean and is run by a group of no none-sense highland women.
A young man with blue tinged skin that is about 6 feet 6 inches stands guard over the property, keeping his frosty blue eyes on all of us whilst mostly lounging about in the shade. The patrols I’ve seen roaming the roads also seem very casual about their duty and there seem to be no official policing force within the city itself.
“I suppose you’ll want to be fed as well, we have soup broth at the 50th hour beyond that you make your own way. I will be very upset if your slave starves whilst in this city and you will likely find yourself dead if such happens, we don’t tolerate negligence here.” She says looking at Astro then back at me with a scowl, so they don’t like slavery here, at least some of the report was accurate.
“We will be here at the appointed hour, thank you mistress.” I say humbly and only get a scowl in response.
We store away most of our things by the coths we are assigned and after refreshing myself I leave Astro to guard our possessions while I go out to meet our contact. Its not a very big city considering the actual sizes of cities in general, its not even a quarter the size of Capital.
But for it’s age its huge, I’ve never even heard of a city building project going so quickly that in a single generation you watch the progress os though the city is growing from the ground like a forest golem. I find the tavern relatively easily and I take a seat and start drinking and making small talk with the other customers.
I have a feather in my hat that is a symbol for those in the know and I sometimes loudly use key phrases that will identify me to my contact. This meet is a double blind meet, meaning neither of us knows what the other looks like but its only an hour after the appointed time that a man passes by me flashing the correct hand signal before sitting at the bar.
I finish the drink I bough my new friends then I go to the bar to get another. We begin loud small talk as I order another drink and after a while I buy him another, I think we’ve firmly established in everyone’s eyes that we honestly don’t know each other but are sort of kindred spirits.
We move to a booth that is being vacated by another pair, bringing the jar of ale with us. The man who only introduced himself as Shadow is mostly quiet and morose b
ut he grins and laughs at times. He stands at about 5 feet 8 inches and walks like a hunter even after so many drinks.
“Listen,” he says, “I know the prevailing concensus at the Ministry is that the Barbarians are dumb and have a shitty espionage program and that’s mostly true in a sense, they do have a shitty espionage program compared to us and their agents are relatively easy to spot in Sandoria.
“But their counter insurgency and counter espionage game is on a whole other level and most of them are very very far from dumb.” He says seriously leaning forward and looking me straight in the eye before leaning back with a sigh and another gulp from his drink.
“I told myself I’d give anyone else that came up here a heads up so they don’t have to go through what I went through. Have you been briefed on this place?”
I nod, not sure how seriously to take this person. One moment he seems like a professional and the next he is as grumpy and loud as an old man. He looks to be younger than me though, probably still in his 40s and definetely not stable, but I understand the job does that to some people.
I’ve been in this game for over 20 years and my speciality is investigation, I think this Shadow may be an infiltrator but I’m not sure. I was only told he was competent and his reports always concise, the man is too casual for my tastes though.
“What can you tell me about this place and the best way to accomplish my mission. I’m told you are the only agent to last this long here.” I say, using a bit of flattery but seeking information more than anything else.
He snorts, “Listen to me carefully.” He says leaning forward again speaking in a low voice forcing me to lean forward as well.
“After 10 days if you still want to reside within the city you will be challenged to a match at the Arena, you have to accept otherwise you won’t get anywhere here, you will be shunned. Do not hold back, that first match is the second most important match and it determines whether or not you survive.”
