by J. Langland
“I have no idea; they are not willing to share that information with anyone.”
“So they blew up their own school and disrupted the lives of all their people over a book they cannot read and which none of those affected by this upheaval knows the import of.” Hilda shook her head as Trisfelt nodded. She frowned and continued, “But the Council believes that the demon horde was here before Lenamare blew up his school?”
“Yes, that is the theory; they would have had to have been sneaked in over time,” Trisfelt said.
“And we believe they were brought here by the archdemons, Exador, Ramses and this woman who may or may not be a former goddess?” Hilda asked.
“It does not make a lot of sense,” Trisfelt admitted.
“Unless Exador expected the book to end up here in the end in any event?” Hilda asked.
Trisfelt shrugged. “That sounds consistently paranoid for Exador, or Lenamare for that matter.”
“So then, it was the arrival of Jenn and friends, pursued by Oorstemoth and the Rod, that threw the game wide open again?” Hilda suggested.
Trisfelt frowned for a moment, thinking. “So it would seem.”
“And their arrival and that of their pursuers were all precipitated by the intervention of Lenamare’s greater demon?”
Trisfelt stared at her for a moment. “My dear, I see the rabbit hole you are following. You think that Lenamare suspected that Exador may have set a trap for him in Freehold and so Lenamare summoned the demon as part of a twisted plan to thwart Exador’s army of hidden demons?”
“It worked, did it not?” Hilda replied. “He has the book again and Exador, his allies and army have become unwelcome and untrusted within Freehold.
“I do hate to say this, my dear, but I am following your logic and think you may have hit upon something! It appears we are now both thinking like Lenamare or Exador; thus, I can only conclude we have drunk too much wine!”
~
DOF +6
First Period 16-03-440
“Does it seem oddly dark out there?” Boggy pointed out the balcony window. He, Rupert, Talarius and Tizzy were playing whist, while Tom sat on the sofa lost in his own thoughts, simply relaxing and listening to the rain splash against the large metal pentagram outside his open balcony door. Their respective masters had summoned Antefalken, Reggie and Estrebrius.
Tom looked out the door. It was quite dark outside, as if it were night. He mentally dove into the Rod, moving through it to the throne and then to the complex. It did not take him long to notice a new set of runes had come online; he spent a few moments exploring them, or more precisely, inhabiting them.
“It’s nighttime,” Tom said, startling the others, who had gone back to their game.
“Nighttime?” Rupert asked.
“Yes, the complex has artificial days, just like the courts. The runes controlling the days came back online sometime within the last period or two,” Tom said.
“How do you know this?” Talarius asked.
“You remember how I sort of inhabited the Etonian runes where we found the mace?” Tom asked and Talarius nodded his upper body. “My link to the mace and the throne allows me to inhabit the entire complex. There are a huge number of various runes and spells surrounding this place. All of them have been dormant for thousands of years with no mana to power them. I can sense them, and flow into them as I did the Etonian runes. Sometimes I can get a feel for what they are doing; not always though.”
“So why are they all coming alive now? Where is this mana coming from?” Talarius asked.
“Me, at first.”
Boggy blinked and both he and Rupert turned to look at Tom. Tizzy continued to stare at his hand of cards and puff on his pipe.
“When I established my link with the mace,” continued Tom, “I blasted it super-full of mana. That mana then fed from the mace to the complex, which is what restarted the volcano.” Boggy nodded. “What I didn’t realize until this afternoon was that I never actually shut off the flow of mana once I inadvertently lit the volcano, and my mana continued to flow throughout the mountain, turning things back on. That is the big reason why I was napping this afternoon. I was feeding the entire complex with mana.”
“So are you going to go dry and pass out or something?” Rupert asked.
Tom chuckled. “No. I don’t understand it completely yet, but this place is actually a giant mana engine. Various runes control access to the elemental planes. Fire, Earth and Air are already here, and thus fairly straightforward to tap. There is also a more complicated portal to Water; once that opened, the storm clouds started forming, and eventually it rained. You combine that with the heat of lava and fire, you get steam. Steam is the demi-element of Water and Fire. As you saw, things are rather smoky out there also. Smoke is Earth, Air and the heat of Fire. Both Steam and Smoke fill the complex and permeate the living residents—the D’Orcs and us. We provide the animus, which is the material form of the fifth element, Spirit. All of these elements rubbing up against each other—”
“Creates the elemental friction that generates mana!” Rupert said, nodding. “It’s exactly what I was taught in school!” He shook his head. “Normally it just sort of floats around until absorbed or collected by animus—a person.”
Tom nodded. “And it does here, too, but there are invisible runes all over the place that are also collecting the excess mana and using it to feed the engine. As this great big mana engine wakes up, it generates more mana to fuel itself. Thus, I have to provide less and less. In theory, at some point it should become self-sustaining and even be able to generate excess mana.” Tom shrugged.
“At least that’s what I think Orcus was doing. Apparently, when he was battling Sentir Fallon, Lilith somehow made her way here and gummed things up so Orcus couldn’t pull enough mana to overcome Excrathadorus Mortis.”
“The bitch!” Boggy shook his head.
Tom nodded. “And that’s why the D’Orcs hate her. Her treachery breached their security, a great number of D’Orcs here in the mountain died that day, and yet they feel they failed their master and were in part responsible for his death.”
“Are you saying that this demon queen, Lilith, sabotaged Orcus’s mana engine to help Sentir Fallon?” Talarius asked.
“That’s exactly what the D’Orcs say. They believe the two were allied to bring down Orcus,” Tom said.
“I don’t believe it! No archon of Tiernon would so subvert himself.” Talarius seemed quite angry.
Tom shrugged. “I don’t know that belief is required. We do know that she managed to gum up the mana flow here in the mountain while Sentir Fallon and Orcus were fighting. It could have been coincidence.”
“It must have been,” Talarius stated.
“And yet,” Tizzy finally spoke up, “someone returned that mace.” He pointed to the Rod of Tommus. “They brought it back here and sealed it in the room where we discovered it; sealed it in a buttload of Etonian runes, wards, seals and what have you. I can guarantee you no demon could have created those blessed wards.”
Talarius made a growling noise, clearly frustrated. “I admit to that point; no demon could have made those wards. They were clearly Etonian and I could easily feel Tiernon’s presence in them. They were the work of someone very powerful within Tierhallon.”
“So how would an archon of Tiernon get down into the Abyss, into these mountains, past all the D’Orcs, and seal the mace inside?” Boggy asked.
“I think someone would have noticed a Heavenly Host marching into the Abyss, and certainly there would have been tales of it in your own church history,” Rupert remarked.
Talarius growled again and was silent for a moment. “Demon,” he finally said, turning more fully toward Tom. “The longer I am with you, the more uncomfortable I get. The complexity of your machinations in putting me in my current state of mind is clearly on par with what I’d expect from a reborn demon prince.”
“Is that a compliment or a curse?” Tizzy asked.
“Both,” Talarius replied.
Chapter 101
DOF +6
Morning 16-03-440
Damien poured himself another cup of coffee and bit into his toasted muffin. He had not slept much last night. He had no idea how to digest Antefalken’s tale. It all seemed like a perfect series of coincidences, yet an unusually beneficial one for Edwyrd or Tom or whatever the demon’s name was. Antefalken seemed to think it was all completely innocent, but Damien had a hard time believing that anything involving demons was innocent.
As he sat back to take another sip of coffee, Antefalken came wandering into the dining room, stretching his arms and shoulders.
“Rough night?” Damien asked the demon.
“It doesn’t take too many nights of absence to get out of practice with the maidens. I may have sprained my tongue,” the bard said with a smile as he hopped up to the back of his chair at the table. “You look like you didn’t get much sleep.”
Damien shook his head. “I have decided to admit that your adventurers were crazier than mine.”
“Thank you.” Antefalken grinned and bowed his head in acknowledgement.
“I am still concerned that this is all too convenient.”
Antefalken shrugged his right shoulder and nodded. “I understand; if I had not been there every step of the way, essentially every moment, I would have been suspicious myself.” The demon shook his head. “But it is legitimate; there are just too many independent actors all aligning to support what I observed. I have known Boggy for a long time, and Tizzy for even longer; they would not be in on any sort of strange plot to make this seem like a coincidence when it isn’t. For one thing, Tizzy can’t keep his head together long enough to not slip up.”
“I don’t know.” Damien shook his head and popped a strawberry in his mouth.
“You could come visit, I suppose.” Antefalken shrugged. “See for yourself.”
“What?” Damien sat up and looked at the bard as if he were insane.
“Well, as you know, Gastropé and Jenn both traveled through Tom’s cave with no problem using that cooling spell that Exador showed Gastropé. The mountain complex is actually far more agreeable than Tom’s cave, so you would probably be quite comfortable.”
“Perhaps, but I’m not sure I want to risk getting trapped there. I’d eventually run out of mana and expire,” Damien said.
Antefalken shook his head. “Tom has taken humans to and through the Abyss on multiple occasions and never abandoned them. Talarius is there now, and Tom has been more than hospitable to him. I point out that Talarius tried to kill Tom and his friends permanently, and yet Tom treats him as honorably as any king would treat a formally held noble hostage. You would be there as a friend and ally.”
“I will have to think about that,” Damien said, shaking his head once more.
“Oh come on; think what a learning opportunity this would be! A human conjuror wandering the halls of the great demon lord Orcus’s fortress?” Antefalken gave a short shake of his head and a grin. “Do you have any idea how many wizards, and demons for that matter, would sell their souls for such an opportunity?”
“Uhm hmm,” was all Damien would say.
Antefalken frowned. “Speaking of selling their souls, I wonder if Vaselle is going to want to attend the party?”
“Vaselle? Party?” Damien asked.
“Ah, I think I forgot to mention that side event.” Antefalken gave him a quick grin. “The party is going to be a celebration after the allegiance ceremony. Tom originally suggested it to buy time to get out of the D’Orcs swearing him allegiance, but we convinced him to go through with it. Vaselle, on the other hand—”
A bell chimed, indicating someone at the main door. Damien’s eyebrows rose in surprise, and he got up to answer the door himself. He had sent his assistants off on errands, as he often did when he and Antefalken had their breakfast meetings. He left the dining room and went through the main sitting room to the small entryway and opened the door. A palace valet was there with a wizard a bit younger than himself whom he did not recognize.
The page said, “Greetings, Master Damien. This gentleman says he has important information for you regarding a friend of yours named Tom? He insisted on visiting you rather than making an appointment.”
Damien looked at the wizard, most likely a conjuror, and said, “You are?”
“Ah yes, My Lord Councilor, my name is Vaselle. I work for an acquaintance of yours, Tom?” the wizard said.
Damien blinked. “Vaselle? As in Vaselle and the party?” he asked. He nodded and waved to the escort to go, and ushered Vaselle in.
Vaselle was looking quite shocked. “How do you already know about the party?” he asked. “That’s why I came; I have some items that I need to acquire for Tom and I need Council approval to get them in the quantity I need.”
“Vaselle?” Antefalken came into the living room.
Vaselle looked over to Antefalken. “The bard Antefalken, yes? I recognize your voice from the other side of the portal. Estrebrius has also mentioned you in recounting his recent adventures.”
The bard walked up and offered his hand to Vaselle, who shook it. “Nice to finally meet face to face,” Antefalken said, smiling. “How are you doing? Getting acclimated to the new job?”
“Yes, indeed. Just trying to get supplies for the party. I told Tom about the restrictions on the nitroglycerin quantities and he told me to come visit Councilor Damien. I’d wondered how I would convince him of the request’s authenticity, but clearly the mas… uh, Tom knew you were here.”
“I assume this is the Vaselle you were just about to tell me about?” Damien asked.
Antefalken turned slightly to give Damien that same slightly malevolent smile he had used the night before. “Yes, Vaselle is Tom’s new warlock!”
~
“So this theory, which you admit is rather out there, supposes that this Lenamare is secretly a warlock belonging to the bit-more-than-greater demon?” Moradel asked Hilda. Their early morning meeting had been delayed, as Sentir Fallon had been tied up.
“I don’t know that he has to be a warlock, so much as working in collusion with the demon,” Hilda replied. “As I mentioned, I am just throwing out ideas to explain what is going on. Superficially, it seems that all these rather random events just happened. The book issue with Exador and Lenamare is clear enough, if slightly melodramatic, but why had Exador and his allies filled the halls of the palace with a demon horde, if not to trap Lenamare?”
“That does seem logical. And given what I understand of how this Council works, taking the dispute to them would be a logical step. And Exador, being an archdemon with similar allies, would have access to a demon army to assist him in capturing the book once it came to Freehold,” Beragamos said.
“So then,” Hilda continued, “we either have to believe in complete random chance that this demon would show up and completely disrupt Exador’s plans—”
“Or believe that Lenamare is sufficiently skilled to give incredibly detailed instructions to the greater demon and his student to do all the things necessary to draw both the Rod and Oorstemoth to Freehold and then expose the demon horde, and thus give the Council a reason to activate the wards Lenamare had built, and then eventually expel all the demons to be killed by Oorstemoth and the Rod,” Moradel said.
“When you put it like that, coincidence seems more likely,” Beragamos said.
“Except,” Sentir Fallon countered, “you have to add in the events with Talarius and the mana theft.” He shook his head. “Clearly this was not a greater demon. An archdemon should not have been able to break the Holy Ciphers, steal our lord’s mana, possess our priests and Rod members and then destroy Excrathadorus Mortis!”
Sentir Fallon sighed and finally sat down; he had been standing. “As you know, not even Orcus could overcome Excrathadorus Mortis. I have to come back to our earlier discussion about this demon possibly being Orcus returned.”
“In which case, Lenamare must be a warlock. Yes?” Hilda stated.
“Formally or informally,” Sentir sighed.
“Informally?” Hilda asked.
Sentir shrugged. “Basically your own argument a few moments ago. A warlock is formally bound to a demon via strong linking spells, as great as those of a priest.”
Moradel nodded. “I see your point. If he were so bound, then those wards of his would have complicated such a binding. So perhaps a more informal arrangement; not a true warlock, but a demon’s agent nonetheless.”
“Assuming the binding could expel a demon prince,” Beragamos said.
“The demon did flee the city,” Hilda noted.
“Possibly a ruse,” Beragamos said. “Clearly he must have wanted to confront Talarius so he could take our forces unaware and unencrypt our ciphers while supposedly battling Talarius.”
Sentir twisted his head to Beragamos. “So you are thinking that Talarius’s initial victories were because the demon was busy cracking our ciphers?”
Beragamos bobbed his head slightly in a nod, acknowledging his own reasoning. “That would explain much of what we witnessed. At first, I thought it might have been simply a fake-out. However, if he was, in fact, occupied in infiltrating our streams, then Talarius might truly have gotten the upper hand for a bit.”
“Devious.” Moradel shook his head. “I will need to think about this.”
“As will we all,” Sentir Fallon agreed.
“What is clear,” Beragamos said, “is that we need you, Hilda, to keep a close eye on Lenamare. He now appears to be our best link to this demon. At some point they will be in contact again.”
“That is also the sword’s reckoning,” Hilda said.
“You’ve had more contact with Talarius’s sword?” Moradel asked.
Hilda frowned. “Yes; it seems he has decided to appropriate my living room as his base of operations. He spends his downtime standing in a corner.”
“That seems a bit intrusive —standing in a corner watching you and your servant,” Sentir Fallon noted.
