Luminaries & Lies

by Jeremy Dwyer

  “I know that you are mathematically – and agriculturally – trained and experienced. However, you are more diversified, and your familiarity with Emeth is greater than that of the resource coordinators. You are a scholar, and confining your focus to a single area is not the best way to spend your time. I’d rather have you here, for now. If I need you specifically, I can send for you. I need to return to Revod for a while, however,” Emerond said.

  ~~~

  Prince Emerond was sufficiently well known and recognizable – to those who paid attention to the matters of leaders of various nations. Keegan was one such person, as he did not trust anyone in a position of power. He felt that they were all corrupt, and were particularly good at hiding secret plans. He probed their minds by the powers of the Elanatin Ocean waters that he drank, but that did not allow him to have all knowledge. Some secrets are not easily found and many leaders shielded their knowledge by also drinking the waters of the Elanatin Ocean, or were shielded by someone else who did. Some leaders didn’t actually know any secrets of use, as knowledge was divided across many different persons. This didn’t stop Keegan from searching them, however.

  Keegan spotted Emerond and drew forth a dagger. His initial plan was not to kill, but to force Emerond to reveal what he knew under threat of death. To kill him outright would not be useful. To kill him afterwards, however, was entirely justified.

  ~~~

  Another telepath was in the area, however. She was a drinker of the Elanatin Ocean waters, as well, and was finely attuned to the thoughts of those around her. She spotted hostile plans in one, and saw that they were directed at someone in a position of authority.

  ~~~

  Keegan leapt forward with a dagger in hand, ready to tackle Emerond.

  Claudia – who had sensed Keegan’s hostile plans – moved in and broke his dagger-wielding arm with a swift kick. She was far better combat trained than he was, and she swung around and broke his other arm as well, and then she stopped herself before breaking his neck.

  All this happened before Romana or Emerond could even react.

  Claudia grabbed Keegan by the neck and asked: “What did you hope to learn?”

  Emerond and Romana looked on, stunned, realizing that the man had tried to attack one of them.

  “He was coming for you,” Claudia said to Emerond.

  “Why?” Romana asked, mystified as to the reason that someone would try to attack Emerond.

  “For knowledge…and revenge. Taesa sang to you, to bring you to her in the storm. He wants you both dead. First, though, he wants to know why it happened. He lost both of his sons,” Claudia said.

  “I am sorry for the loss of your sons. None of this was brought on by me. I was part of the crew that stopped Victoria. We set out to kill her. We heard the song, but there was nothing we could do. It was the religious singer who stopped it,” Emerond said.

  “Lady Onora. She sang the Symphony of Lies song. That’s what stopped the massacre from going on. After that, we met up with Victoria again, and were able to end her,” Romana said.

  “Leaders conspire and lie! You create enemies against the people to rally us together, and think of you as the heroes, when you’re just playing us against each other,” Keegan said.

  “If I wanted to manipulate the world politics by creating a false enemy, I could have picked a better way, that wouldn’t have killed so many of my own. This isn’t my doing,” Emerond said.

  “He can’t kill you. But someone else will try,” Claudia said.

  “She’s right. He won’t be the only one who’s bitter over the loss of family,” Romana said.

  Out of the darkness, two (2) warriors appeared near them. Emerond, Romana and Claudia recognized them as the Hidden Paladins, although they did seem a lot less hidden lately.

  “Your presence is needed. You are, indeed, in greater danger. Please come with us, now,” one of the warriors said.

  “Go. If they say there’s danger, believe them,” Claudia said.

  “I’ll wait here in Emeth. I’ll send a messenger back to Revod that you are…unavailable,” Romana said.

  The Hidden Paladins extended their cloak of darkness over Emerond and disappeared.

  ~~~

  The Hidden Paladins took Emerond to a ship in the docks of Emeth. One of them said: “You will wait here. I will return with others. When I do, you will all be taken to a safe destination.”

  The other Hidden Paladin remained with Emerond on the ship to guard over him.

  ~~~

  Zoe and Brant were still in Emeth, walking among its buildings, looking for work. They were always on guard as defenders of the public good – they expected payment, of course, but were glad to stand up against robbers who preyed upon the weak.

  “We need to be getting back to work,” Brant said.

  “Work that pays. We have to look out for others, and ourselves, too,” Zoe said.

  “After all the trouble we’ve seen, there’s gotta be somebody who needs us,” Brant said.

  “They may be spending their money rebuilding everything that Victoria destroyed. Hiring archers and swordfighters might not be high on their list right now,” Zoe said.

  “You never miss – that’s gotta be worth something,” Brant said.

  “Wait!” Zoe said. She thought that she saw something moving in the darkness. Not in the shadows of the ordinary darkness. The Lujladia Ocean waters within her let her see what Brant could not.

  “We’re not alone. We’re being watched,” Zoe said. She used her powers to project a light on the target she saw. The light penetrated into the magical darkness, where even a flame could not.

  ~~~

  The Hidden Paladin who left Emerond behind now moved through Emeth. He watched and overheard many things while he was cloaked in the darkness and now realized that he found an appropriate agent to hire for the responsibility of guarding the group in his care. He appeared out of the darkness in front of Zoe and Brant.

  “If it is paid work that you seek, and protection that you can provide, an opportunity awaits,” the Hidden Paladin said.

  “It is. Who are we protecting? Where?” Zoe asked.

  “Go to dock number twelve sixty-seven (1267) and ask to board the ship there. You will receive your payment, and see one who is to be in your care. Soon, I will return with the others,” the Hidden Paladin said, and disappeared.

  “Where the money is, we gotta go,” Brant said.

  “And where the money goes, we have to follow. If it’s on a ship, we’ve going on a little voyage, or a big one,” Zoe said.

  “Is that a bad thing?” Brant asked.

  “Compared to going broke here, maybe not,” Zoe said.

  Brant and Zoe made their way to the indicated dock and met up with Emerond and the other Hidden Paladin there.

  ~~~

  After only an hour, the Hidden Paladin returned to the Library of Tedorik and said: “The journey has been arranged. A ship has been secured, your guard has been hired, and the water you need has been supplied. Come with us, and prepare to leave at once.”

  At this, Caroline, Taesa and Judith were all cloaked in darkness and taken to a small ship in the docks. On board, they met with three (3) other passengers: Prince Emerond, Zoe and Brant.

  “Good to meet you while I’m actually awake, Taesa,” Emerond said.

  “Yes, good to meet you, even if everything around us isn’t good. It’s really bad, in fact, really bad,” Taesa said, nervously.

  “I was told that we’d be spending some time together, as no one else seems to want either of us around,” Emerond said, trying to make light of the danger that he had been warned about – and seen. The attack targeting him made it clear that he was at risk and had to move quickly. The Hidden Paladins didn’t need to say anything to convince him of that.

  “There’s too much hate here…and at home. We need to get away,” Caroline said.

  “We were hired to protect you – all of you – for as long as ne
cessary,” Zoe said. She held a chest of platinum coins with the very large payment that the Hidden Paladins had provided – which they had received from the old one.

  Where they got it, Zoe didn’t know, but they weren’t known for stealing, so she just accepted it, and took the job. It was by far – at one thousand five hundred fifty (1550) platinum coins – the highest upfront payment she had ever received. She looked forward to spending it, however, and hoped that the protection work wouldn’t waste away too much of her life.

  “So, we’re all supposed to keep really quiet, and hope nobody finds us,” Brant said.

  “And hope that we don’t get completely lost in the process,” Caroline said.

  “Seeing as we’ve lost almost everything else, losing ourselves is the last thing we actually can do,” Taesa said.

  Judith recorded all of this into her book, and the group set sail, heading northwest across the Medathero Ocean.

  CHAPTER 19: Allocation of Resources for Reconstruction

  On Yapazatoc Island in the Pirovalen Ocean, Fantine and Nathan had survived the tempest and the song Sail to Me. Fantine had not been affected by it, but Nathan had. She was able to stop him from sailing into it by holding him back and sealing the tower in which they were positioned by changing its crystal structure.

  The tempest had ended, and Nathan was now out of the enchantment induced by the song as a result of another song, which counteracted Sail to Me.

  “I don’t know if you realized it, but Admiral Gavin was lost to the storm,” Fantine said.

  “I realize it now. The storm has passed. I have to return to Revod. You are certainly invited to come with me. Your expertise in design may be called upon in the repair efforts,” Nathan said.

  “First, let me take a closer look at the results,” Fantine said. She drank anew of the waters of the Kazofen Ocean from one of her vials. She was thus energized, and used the power that it gave her to peer deep into the crystal structure of the tower. She found no signs of damage, no matter where she looked, or from what angle.

  “There is no apparent damage to the tower’s structure,” Fantine said.

  “The storm’s power would have provided ample test. This is a proven method of design and construction. In fact, even if some damage had occurred, yet the tower stood, that would have been a satisfactory result,” Nathan said.

  “How do you reason that?” Fantine asked.

  “Consider whether two (2) towers could have been built with the same effort and materials, and both stood, albeit with some damage. That would have been a superior outcome, because there would have been two (2) structures, providing more total coverage. To have sustained no damage indicates that the tower was over-engineered. Prior to the point of elevated risk of structural failure, some damage is acceptable,” Nathan said.

  “It can be difficult to ascertain what is a safe level of damage, without taking some risk,” Fantine said, troubled by what he was suggesting.

  “Careful testing will be needed to determine that. I trust that you can provide a proper experimental design for that. If not, I will design a testing matrix for you,” Nathan said.

  Fantine was doubtful that this was a wise course of action. Yet, she knew that Jenaldej resource coordinators were rather frugal with materials, and she was not.

  “I’ll need to consider many things about the crystal structure. It’s not a simple linear relationship between size and strength, I hope you know,” Fantine said.

  “I didn’t expect that it would be. A relationship can be estimated from the data from the experiments. Statistical methods can determine a curve of best fit,” Nathan said.

  “I didn’t think that you were keen on the use of probability for safety-sensitive structures,” Fantine said.

  “I’m not. But there are competing risks – the rapid depletion of our resources increases the risk of a building shortage for those who desperately need it. Additionally, I don’t anticipate the high levels of storm activity recurring in the near future. Over-planning can be as hazardous as under-planning. The resource allocation models require accurate assessments. Statistical methods can increase our efficiency in making those measurements,” Nathan said.

  “We have to start somewhere, I suppose,” Fantine said.

  “Yes. We have to start by returning to Revod and estimating the damage,” Nathan said.

  Fantine reversed her earlier structural change to the crystal tower so as to unseal the entryway, allowing them to climb down the stairs. She and Nathan then left the tower and made their way to the spare ship that had been left for Fantine to evacuate in the event that the tower’s structure had failed. The ship had sustained minimal damage so they were able to use it to sail north across the Pirovalen Ocean, then travel as an airship over Emeth, then return to sea level and sail northeast across the Medathero Ocean, returning to the eastern coast of Revod after a three (3) day voyage.

  When they arrived in Revod, Fantine and Nathan began to assess the damage and both of them realized that what was needed was vast. Just from surveying one (1) small coastal city, they estimated that the number of destroyed homes and shattered lives was over twenty-two (22) million. Fantine saw which structures were still standing, and which were not. She noticed something disturbing, however. She noticed that all the undamaged buildings – and there were many – were of an old design.

  Walking through the city was like looking at an architectural exhibit, from centuries or millennia ago, and seeing it come to life. It was uninspired, and did nothing to lift the spirits. Architecturally, the parts of the city which were still standing were just as dead, if not more so, than the ones that were destroyed. At least the ruined ones had potential to become something newer and better. What she saw bothered her, and she had been to Revod before. Now, however, it really made an impact on her. This city – like all the cities of Revod – was quite archaic, despite their efficiencies.

  “We must optimize for speed and the number of reconstructed homes and businesses. The number of structures, rather than their strength, is the measure of greatest concern,” Nathan said.

  “And your equations will tell you that number, after you enter your estimates,” Fantine said.

  “Correct. The amount of each variety of stone, wood, metal, and every other material of relevance will be determined exactly,” Nathan said.

  “Because you’re going to reconstruct exactly what you had, no more, no better,” Fantine said.

  “Reconstruction is not about over-engineering. We discussed this. The resource allocation models have been carefully prescribed to prevent material shortages. This should be familiar to you, from prior discussions,” Nathan said.

  “Building what you already had isn’t what these people need. They need something new, and different,” Fantine said.

  “Specifically, what would that be? And how would it be more optimal than replacing the lost structures? There needs to be a reason, rather than intuition,” Nathan said.

  “Architecture is both. We can’t hold on to past designs, just because they worked. The new designs need to be better, and…” Fantine said.

  “And what?” Nathan asked.

  “Inspiring. Rebuilding the old isn’t inspiring,” Fantine said.

  “What does that have to do with people in need? They clearly need more than makeshift shelters or sharing limited space with others, but they don’t need more than they had – that was already enough before the tempest,” Nathan said.

  “They need to grow, into something modern,” Fantine said.

  “Proven designs, and replacement thereof, is the law of resource allocation. Inspiration and artistic concerns won’t save lives or restore the damaged economies,” Nathan said.

  “Do what you believe, and you’ll have what you always had. I believe in more. You’re equations won’t take you forward – you’ll just stand still, for a while,” Fantine said.

  “I’m a resource coordinator first. You’re an architect. On occasion, there can b
e an overlap of interests, but there is no middle ground in this case,” Nathan said.

  “There’s no bridging this divide. I can’t help you do what I don’t believe in. You don’t need me to help you repeat the past and rebuild it. You have so many people here who have the skills to live in the past with you. I need to go,” Fantine said.

  “I can’t change what you believe. I can only prove that it’s wrong, and that it won’t help anyone in any real way. Perhaps an imaginary one, based on fanciful concerns,” Nathan said.

  “There’s more to this world than your resource modeling equations and laws. But if that’s all that you believe, that’s all that you’ll have. I cannot stay,” Fantine said.

  Fantine then left the city and booked passage on a ship, sailing southeastward across the Medathero Ocean, to the continent of Baradaxa, returning to the Port of Kemalorin on its southwestern coast. Once there, she returned to her alchemist workshop and began to consider what was truly needed. It wasn’t just the Jenaldej Empire that lived in the past architecturally. There were other nations and kingdoms that did not advance, and she wanted to do more. The tempest brought destruction, and destruction of the old was an opportunity to build something new.

  Soon thereafter, Sebastian arrived, as he had been notified by one of his couriers who was told to wait for Fantine. Before presenting himself, he drank anew of the waters of the Elanatin Ocean from his vial so that he could probe her thoughts.

  Sebastian entered into the alchemist shop and asked: “Do you have some time to talk? If not now, then I can arrange something for later. I don’t want to get in your way.”

  “Now is fine. What did you have in mind?” Fantine asked.

  “Everything…and everyone. And that’s who and what I want to protect,” Sebastian said.

  “That’s a tall order…but it’s the correct one,” Fantine said, smiling. She wanted to help rebuild the world, and prevent more disasters like the tempest from claiming so many lives, but in a new and inspiring way.

  “Work with me, and we will,” Sebastian said, putting his hands on hers, only to express his warmth and a sense of cooperation. He had no romantic inclination toward her – Fantine was barely attractive, and invested in the beauty of her designs, not her personal appearance. Sebastian did not actually hold Fantine’s looks against her, and he did see a feminine form. It was Fantine’s attitude that he realized wasn’t suitable – everything she thought pointed toward a singular truth: she’d rather be an architect than a lover, any day or night. Whatever good looks she might have had were being deliberately neglected in favor of the opportunity to design and build.