We are/I am the Elgynerdeen, the creatures said in tandem. We will compose/share/enact our silence/peace/equality with this place. They swarmed forward, one climbing up the robes of a Coalitioner, and both of them faded to nothing.
“Get out of here!” Sam yelled at the maji. “Majus Cyrysi—make a portal. Anywhere!”
Majus Ayama whipped around as Majus Hand Dancer spread her hands and a portal bloomed, circled with orange and red. Majus Caroom and Majus Kheena tumbled through and the others followed.
In the back of the room, another Drain swirled out of nothing, shedding three more creatures in moments, blocking the path to the maji.
“We’re going a different way,” Sam called, making a split-second decision. “We’ll meet up at Dalhni.” It was the first place he thought of not in the Nether, because he was almost certain this place would not be safe for a long time.
Hand Dancer gave him a slow roll of her fingers in acceptance, pushed a frowning Majus Cyrysi and Ayama though. Sam caught the hasty bandage on her shoulder as she turned and stepped through her portal. It closed with a snap.
“They’re coming through, and we can’t stop them,” he told Enos and Inas. “But I know where we have to go.”
The Elgynerdeen, like enraged millipedes, swerved around the remaining Coalitioners, trying to catch one. Auras of white and green and brown sprang up around them, but they were diminished, in the presence of the invaders.
“Wait!” Inas called, and dashed through the room. Enos called to him, but he jumped over a chair and snagged the Effature’s circlet from where it had rolled under a table. One of the creatures swerved behind him, passing over where the Nether crystal had lain, instants before.
The Symphony blared in Sam’s mind, chaotic and shifting. The Elgynerdeen ate holes in it as they moved. He gritted his teeth and forced his notes between the music here and another place, fresh in his memory. Was it far enough? How did one count the distance through the Nether wall?
Like stretching a rubber band over an object far too large for it, Sam strained to keep his notes in place. The C-shaped ring buzzed hot on his finger, cleaning the notes somehow. Before him, a tiny portal opened, ringed in silver and gold. It was just big enough for a person to squeeze through.
“Go!” he shouted, as Inas panted back to them, his prize clutched in one hand. They fled, diving though his portal, Elgynerdeen on his heels.
Sam looked up into the open jaws and waving head flaps of Wor Wobniar. The Nether told him, unneeded, that xy was surprised.
“I know how the Dissolution will start,” he said.
EPILOGUE
Redirection
- All our calculations were right on target, or so we thought. Mandamon assumed the three-house maji all passed to the same place on this other plane we were accessing, and no one questioned him, even Krat. But, the way to see your own tail is to look over your shoulder, as they say. Why would a being with the ability to rewrite half of reality bother to come back and help us against the Dissolution? I also don’t know if Mandamon’s thought about that if these supposed three-house maji can pass through the dimensional tear, what’s to stop something else from doing the same?
Journal of Timpomitnob Gompt, Watcher, majus of the Houses of Grace and Potential
Mandamon picked through the wreckage of his dimensional equalizer with the other two-house maji. They’d been able to get some readings on what happened, but not nearly enough. He clenched a hand and pounded his thigh with it.
They were supposed to access a three-house majus. They had accessed something, but with no physical confirmation, it could have been anything.
Krat and Gompt trundled up, his friend scanning down a list of the last musical signals recorded by the System.
“Wherever that thing appeared, it was definitely not here,” he said.
“Arrived at unknown coordinates,” Krat added.
Mandamon let the machined arm he was holding fall to the floor with a clang. They could fix the machine, but it would take time, and he was no longer certain it was worth the cost.
“Why?” he asked. “When they could have simply walked through the pathway we opened? Is the Dissolution not actually a threat?”
Gompt shook his furry head, the tips of his long ears wobbling. “It was a portal, but it didn’t connect all the way from our side. It was—what would you call it—exploratory?”
“Did not know precise landing location of other end,” Krat said.
Mandamon frowned. “You mean it opened an unanchored portal? One end fixed here and the other just—” He waved a hand through the air. He’d never thought of his dimensional equalizer as opening a portal, but it did, in a way. And portals had to have two endpoints to open.
“Well, not quite first contact,” Gompt said. “Not any contact, since whatever came through went elsewhere.”
“Then we succeeded,” Mandamon said.
Touching Digits held up one finger.
“Fainter?” Mandamon asked. “Meaning?”
“End of song,” Krat said, and Mandamon peered over his glasses at the System Beast.
“Do you mean what I think you mean?” he asked. If true, this was bad. Very bad.
Touching Digits flipped his hands in agreement.
“Then we need to find out where this being came through and how we can help,” Mandamon said.
END OF BOOK 2
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APPENDIX I
Appendix: The Houses of the Maji
- For uncounted cycles, the six houses of the maji have worked together to uphold the Great Assembly of Species. They control the only means of transportation in and out of the Nether and between the homeworlds, and thus have a great responsibility to the non-maji members, who far outnumber them. As such, every majus has a say in the Assembly, a concept some non-maji are not comfortable with.
Houses of the Maji, often attributed to Ribothari Tan, Knower, later of the Council of the Maji
- Each house of the maji can hear and change one section of the Grand Symphony and thus affect reality, by the individual applying the notes that make up their own song. This application can be seen by other maji in a visual representation of color, often accompanied by a secondary color, personal to the individual majus. It is said each house’s Symphony is based on a certain frequency or note.
From “Memoirs of Yaten E’Mez,” Highest of the House of Communication and Speaker for the Council, 379 A.A.W.
House of Strength
The color of the House of Strength is bright emerald green, and the areas of the Symphony it affects often have to do with constitution, defense, strength, and growth, as well as soil and rock. A large portion of these maji have jobs as herbalists, veterinarians, or naturalists, though as with any house, the possibilities are n
early endless. Their Symphony diverges from the sound of a baritone resonant string.
House of Communication
Members of the House of Communication are the most common councilmembers chosen to become Speakers for the Council of the Maji. Their house color is pure yellow, and they affect quick thought, speech patterns, as well as air pressure, weather systems and avian creatures. Many of the House of Communication serve as diplomats of the maji, working less with the physical changes in their Symphony than those of interplay between the species. Their Symphony’s fundamental tone is that of a low reed.
House of Power
The House of Power deals with the play of politics, movement of societies, personal relationships, as well as power generation, and simple heat. Their house color is fiery orange. They can as easily be found in the industrial districts of the Imperium and the homeworlds as in clandestine meetings and national assemblies. Their Symphony’s base melody is of a sounding horn.
House of Grace
Those of the House of Grace are often subtle, with their control of liquids and ice, as well as efficient movement, cooperation, and coordination. Their house color is sapphire blue, and they work around transportation systems, food distribution, diplomatic intermediaries, and engineering positions. Many members are fond of kinesthetic movements such as dance, athletics, and martial arts. The founding tone of their Symphony is a passionate tenor.
House of Healing
The members of the House of Healing are best known as skilled physicians and surgeons, as the brilliant white of their house color seems to indicate. However, there is much more to the specializations of the house, including plant and animal breeding, psychology, profiling information on individuals, and even archeology through residue of living creatures on ancient artifacts. Their Symphony’s fundamental tone is a high ringing of struck metal.
House of Potential
The House of Potential is the most directly tied to science and engineering. Its members are responsible for many of the technological improvements of the ten species made in recent cycles. Their house color is a rich rusty brown, and they are, at the very simplest, concerned with energy transfer. They are known to work with the House of Power on fuel and work generation, and the House of Healing on ancient history, describing energy paths of artifacts. They deal with kinetic movement as the House of Grace does, transfer of force as the House of Strength, and energy of the weather with the House of Communication. Their members can also create Systems, or long-lasting changes in the Symphony, driven through a store of energy. Their Symphony starts with the shriek of whistling air.
The Society of Two Houses
This shadowy organization only recruited members able to hear two aspects of the Grand Symphony, though it was dissolved in 953 A.A.W., around fifty cycles before current events. There are rumors of individuals asking about these types of maji again, though the ability is regarded as a curiosity nowadays. The Society named the combinations of abilities the two-house maji exhibited as below, with examples of practitioners:
Negotiator: Strength/Communication (Laryn I’Hon)
Overwhelm: Strength/Power
Pressure Point: Strength/Grace
Biologist: Strength/Healing (Moortlin)
Fabricator: Strength/Potential
Connector: Communication/Power (Origon Cyrysi)
Dancer: Communication/Grace (Yutirei Janerea Retina)
Psychiatrist: Communication/Healing
Innervater: Communication/Potential (Touching Digits)
Engineer: Power/Grace (Kratitha, Emma)
Geneticist: Power/Healing (Gretahn)
Computer: Power/Potential
Surgeon: Grace/Healing
Archeologist: Grace/Potential (Timpomitnob Gompt, Watcher)
Investigator: Healing/Potential (Mandamon Feldo)
APPENDIX II
Appendix: The Species of the Great Assembly
- The number of species in the Great Assembly varies over the cycles. Currently it resides at ten, including the recent addition of the Lobhl. The founding members are those who, according to tradition, started the first Assembly when the maji of their species discovered each other in the Nether.
From the notes of the Effature, Bolas Palmoran, 983 A.A.W.
- All members of the Great Assembly share basic similarity in form and function, though the species are physically spread far across the universe. The Nether helps to form connections despite differences, to the point where some scholars wonder whether the Nether has some impact on the species that find it.
From “Assumptions on the Nature of the Nether” by Festuour philosopher Hegramtifar Yhon, Thinker
Methiemum
The Methiemum homeworld is known as Methiem, and hosts a species well known as traders and decent scientists. They were one of the first to discover the Nether, as they are entrepreneurial and prone to adventure, though perhaps at the expense of long-term planning. However, this cannot have affected them greatly, as the common trading tongue of the ten species is derived from one of their dialects. In addition, they were the first to suggest an Assembly of all species who discover the Nether, probably to secure trading rights with the others. They are the most prevalent species of the ten, of medium height and coloring ranging from a dark mahogany to very pale peach, even with cases of albinism. They often have fine hair restricted to the tops of their heads and sporadically over the limbs and torso, more so on the males. Common Pronouns: he/him, she/her, they/them.
Kirian
The inhabitants of Kiria are known for their philosophy, debate, and ancestor worship. They were another species to discover the Nether early and became a founding member of the Great Assembly. They make fine statesmen, though they have a convoluted natural dialect in many of their nations, which does not translate as well inside the Nether as other species. Kirians do not let this stop them from expounding on any subject they know of, and some they do not. The males of the species favor long colorful robes in many cultures, while the females prefer to leave their arms and legs bare to show off their fine feathering and delicately curved nails. The species is generally tall, with wrinkled, liver-spotted skin, and feathers creating expressive crests on top of their heads. Males may also cultivate moustaches and thin beards, and both are sparingly feathered on the torso. Their pointed teeth can be unnerving when bared in smiles, though their dentation is mainly for gripping in their diet of grubs, beetles, and other slippery creatures. Common Pronouns: he/him, she/her, they/them.
Lobath
The Lobath are often looked down upon by the other species as dull and uninteresting, much like the prevalent mushroom farms on their rainy homeworld of Loba. However, Lobath are found at every level of society, from the menial to the most intellectual, and are one of the founding members of the Great Assembly. Consistently, they are defined as hardworking, compared to the other species, and tend to fill more physically demanding jobs. They are usually savvy with technology, especially new inventions. Other species may joke of the permanently surprised expression on the Lobath face, arising from their unblinking silvery eyes. They have a large range in coloring, from yellow, to orange, to red and brown, but are more easily identified by their squat neck-less bodies and three head-tentacles sprouting from the crown of their heads. The tentacles are often braided or tied together in certain styles. Males may have small rubbery growths above and below the mouth, while females have thinner head-tentacles and wari, the third gender, are generally of slighter, taller, build. Common Pronouns: he/him, she/her, zie/hir.
Sathssn
The Sathssn are unusual in that over eighty percent of the culture of Sath Home subscribe to various sects of the Cult of Form, based on perfection of the physical body. This invades every aspect of their society, from dark cloaks, robes, and gloves, to marriage rites, where the participants must be examined by other family for any illness or disfigurement, to livestock, bred to only descend from the most reputable lineages. The inhabitants of Sath Home are espec
ially prone to cancers and tumors, and their winnowing practice began as a necessary response. Like many such things, it became religion. A notable exception is the Southern Coastal Coalition, a nationality where scales are allowed to be shown, and some may even go about without cowls and gloves and in short sleeves, to the dismay of the rest of their species. In the rare occasion skin is shown, the Sathssn body is covered in tiny scales, ranging from yellow to green. Sparse hair may be present on the head and face, and eyes are red with yellow slitted pupils. Some Sathssn antisocial tendencies have caused interspecies conflicts in the past, yet they remain in good standing as a founding member of the Great Assembly. Despite their almost worldwide religion, many become scientists or statespeople. Common Pronouns: he/him, she/her.
Etanela
The long-lived Etanela are described as inherent pacifists, though the planet of Etan provides its fair share of malcontents, adventure seekers, and revolutionaries to the Great Assembly, of which they are a founding species. The Etanela typecast comes from their love of music, painting, sculpture, and literature. Many accepted great works were either created by an Etanela, or funded by one. Lots of educated Etanela are gifted speakers, and love to argue. Physically, they are the tallest of the ten species, with the largest individuals rising head and shoulders over even Kirians. Their skin tends to light blue, revealing aquatic origins, also noted in their large eyes and long fingers, and small, streamlined noses. The only hair the species exhibits is in a mane surrounding the head, often left to trail to the shoulders. The species is largely divided into four genders, with both dominate and subordinate versions of those who carry young and those who do not. Their mating rituals are often obtuse to those not of their species. Common Pronouns: he/him (dominate), he/him (subordinate) she/her (dominate), she/her (subordinate).
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