Ar'Kendrithyst

Chapter 117, 1/2

Relaxed in his heavy black armor, Quilatalap stood in front of two dozen Shades, while an image of the Armory hung in the air behind him, looking like a land of black bubbles. He put a hand on some papers behind his podium, and began, “The Armory serves as the testing ground for petitioners to gain artifacts that will help them in their own particular parts of the world. The Clergy makes most of those artifacts, and shelters many more. Everyone here who wished to be informed when their items went out, has been, but now is the time for an unveiling of every item that has been won.

“To that end, we have this presentation.

“This is a display of strategic assets gone out into the world.

“It is a display of power by the Clergy, for the Clergy. This is a mixer for all involved, so that plots can be strung together after this presentation, if people so choose.

“So. Before we get into the meat of the matter: Anyone have any pressing desire to display their own artifacts and associated stories? There’s always at least one of you.”

Three hands went up in the audience.

“Alright then.” Quilatalap flicked his eyes across the gathered Shades, and said, “Forin Leofield, Shade of Enlightenment. Stardust, Shade of the Edge. Toymaker, Shade of Diversion.” He shuffled some papers around on the podium, pulling three slips of paper out of the whole and moving them to the front. Erick never saw the papers before he started shuffling them. Quilatalap said, “There we go. We’ll do you three, soon enough. But first, some numbers.” Behind Quilatalap, the viewing screen shifted. Names and numbers appeared and then moved off to the side, as he spoke, “This year, like many others, the majority of petitioners came from these various lands, of which I will only separate from their continent if their country of origin has more than 10 million people. City States will only be listed in the case of a winner.

“The Greensoil Republic. 28 losing teams, 5 choosing to go on past the first death, 26 permanent deaths. 5 winning teams. 7 survivors, 21 deaths. An abnormally large ratio of winners to losers this year, and quite a lot of post-adventure murder and infighting. We’re going to see a lot of that, this year.

“The Wasteland Kingdoms. 35 losing teams, 15 choosing to continue, 97 permanent dead. There was but a single winning team. That team of twelve had been in there for two months, only passing their final Artifact Trial after Shadow’s Feast had already begun. They won. You all know what they won, but we’ll go over that later. There were ten of them alive at the time of their win, but four of them killed the other six after they won. Those four will be on the stage later.

“Assorted lands of Glaquin. 71 losing teams, 6 choosing to continue. 38 permanent deaths. 4 winning teams, 20 survivors, 3 deaths. Orcol team, orcol team, assorted Crystal Forest team, assorted Sovereign Cities team.

“Assorted lands of Nelboor. 190 losing teams, 42 choosing to continue. 218 permanent deaths. Not a single winner from Nelboor this year. Quite odd. They usually get at least one artifact, and some war always erupts over there because of it. Not this year.

“Eidolon, of Nergal. 1 winner. Not a team. A singular winner. A human girl of 17. Very odd, but very capable person, there.”

Small laughs murmured from the crowd of Shades, along with one soft, ‘Really?’ There was a response of ‘Oh yeah, it was—’ but Quilatalap glared at the offender, and the offender went silent.

Quilatalap calmly said, “No spoilers,” then went on, “Nergal, both archipelago and continental, 37 losing teams and 19 losing teams, respectively. 4 and zero willing to continue. 7 permanent dead. Zero winners.”

“Quintlan.” Quilatalap smiled. “3 winning teams, 15 survivors. No losers. No deaths.”

“What!” more than one person exclaimed.

“Favoritism!” someone called out.

“Blatant favoritism!” added another.

Quilatalap smiled, then faked a frown. “I can’t help it if they raise them better over there.” He spoke over all resulting rejoinders, saying, “Moving right along.

“Assorted islands and underwaters, including Oceanside, Stone Reef, Deadtide, and all of those. 29 losing teams, 19 continuing. 109 permanent deaths. Zero winning teams.

“Stratagold, Underworld. Zero losing teams. 4 winning teams. 19 survivors. 1 permanent death.

“Assorted Underworld. 289 losing teams. 4 choosing to continue. 21 permanent deaths. No winners.

“And that’s it for the Artifact Challengers of the Armory. Total teams: 715 teams, for a total of 3,672 people.

“As for the lesser numbers: We have the Easy, Medium, and Hard courses of the Armory Challenge. These stand at roughly 28,000 people, 11,000 people, and 6,000 people, respectively. Winning rates hold steady at 70%, 38%, and 7%. But no one cares about those deeper numbers, so there will be no total breakdown. For those who care: the average prizes won were 50-Stat items, or some Stat Fruits, which turned out to be really popular once they were available. Once they were available, they were chosen 95% of the time, for a total of almost 8000 Stat Fruits given out, with Intelligence coming out far and away more chosen than any of the other options. Roughly 60% of choices went for Intelligence, followed by Constitution for 20%, Dexterity for 15%, and Charisma for 5%.”

Quilatalap turned to the board, which listed everything behind him, and waved a hand, brushing away the numbers for the losing teams, leaving only the winners. Those winner-numbers reorganized to take up the whole screen.

Erick felt a profound sense of oddness. He, himself, had just killed a man. And now, here he was, listening to death-numbers like this was a board meeting and not a horror show. He wiped away some wet thing on his face as he pretended nothing was wrong.

Queen leaned over, whispering, “Are you okay?”

Quilatalap whipped his head toward Erick, his deep black eyes searching for problems.

Erick pulled himself together and said, “I’m fine.”

Queen sat back in her chair, shrugging.

Quilatalap nodded, slowly, then went back to the board, continuing, “A total of 18 artifact winning teams this year. 2.5% win-rate. That’s rather low compared to the Artifact Trial win-rate in previous years. My observations conclude this is due to a number of interrelated factors, including the Converter Angel and the Breach Demon, as well as the introduction of Particle Magic to the world, and the general smartening of the various Ancients around the world, due to the decrease in the generalized discombobulation of Melemizargo. For instance, this year's Unicorn Hunt over in the Sovereign Cities was particularly brutal, with the Ancient Unicorn there doing a lot more than in previous years. All that doesn’t even touch upon the existence of the Ballooning Spider Horde, though the death rates for that event was considerably lower than previous balloonings.

"Champion Yetta's successful incursion ended up enticing a lot of people to come to Kendrithyst who should never have come here.

“All of these factors acted in concert to cause people to search for ways out of those messes, and for a lot of them, it meant coming to Kendrithyst well before they were ready.

“But one happening stood out from all the rest.

“Candlepoint’s existence was frightening for a lot of nations out there, but once it was proven that Candlepoint was exactly what it said it was, that lesser experience with the Clergy gave a lot of adventurers the courage to try their hand at Kendrithyst.”

Erick felt his skin go cold.

Quilatalap continued, “I say now, with eyes open and time passed, that I feel there was not enough distancing from Kendrithyst and Candlepoint. The people who came from Candlepoint to here were NOT prepared for the true trials of Kendrithyst, and the Armory numbers show it. But even outside of the Armory, more than once, a team either wandered into the Swamp, or into the North River, or got stuck to the walls, or any other of fool places to be, where they then died to overwhelming power or vicious chance. I know some of you even saved those people, only for them to run away and into more danger, and get themselves killed.”

Far behind Erick someone spoke up, “They got what they deserved!”

A few agreements echoed around the pavilion.

Quilatalap continued, undaunted, “Whatever the case, Candlepoint is no longer under Clergy control. People will go there and then come here, expecting to walk through these ruby-purple halls and pick up treasure just sitting on the ground. They won’t expect to be tried for their deficiencies, and found wanting.”

Bulgan, standing on the edge of the pavilion, called out, “Not our problem! Complain about Candlepoint to Erick, if anyone.”

Erick felt his sight narrow, as his heart thumped hard.

“Now is not a time for discussion. Now is a time for facts and neutral perspective.” Quilatalap said, “That said, we continue:

“Many of the people who came to the Armory were reaching beyond their means in order to either save themselves or to prepare for the oncoming strife, or just because they thought they could. The Wasteland is firmly in the first category. Nelboor, in particular, is very guilty of the second. Many of the people this year fell somewhere in the third category, which we had much too much of.

“We’ve seen this before in other years of grand upheavals, and we’ll see it again.”

Erick felt like he was going to be sick.

“And now, for the artifacts and the winners.” Quilatalap continued, “Let us start with a contribution from Forin Leofield, Shade of Enlightenment.” Quilatalap gestured to the viewing screen behind him. A black book appeared. It had thick, metal covers, with white opal-like gems running up the binding. Some people in the crowd instantly boo’d.

Fallopolis turned around and muttered at the man, “Honestly.”

Leofield, an otherwise unremarkable human-looking man, just smiled wider.

The Librarian, who was near the back, said, “I like those!”

“You always like those Books of Knowledge,” said another.

Quilatalap’s voice broke over the crowd, “A Book of Knowledge. A common artifact, but one readily taken by many, since everyone knows that they are safe artifacts to hold and use. Leofield submits a Book of Knowledge every time the original is won, and there’s usually one won every other year.

“He also has other artifacts for winning, but those remain ensconced in the Armory, waiting for the right person to come along.

“Made with solid adamantine covers and with pages of the thinnest paper, the mostly-indestructible Book of Knowledge copies every nearby book within its pages. When the Book is not in this black, true form, it mimics the form of any book it has copied, and then hides in bookshelves, looking like a completely normal tome.

“When a user cuts themselves on the pages, they bind the book to them. Thereafter, when the user channels mana into the book, the book reveals its true form.

“In its true form, every book it has ever copied is shown on the pages.

“The Book of Knowledge is a multi-functional artifact with search, organizational, and other functionalities.” With a slight profundity, Quilatalap added, “And additional functions unlock when the user has a Greater Elemental Body.”

The bored crowd sat a bit straighter.

Leofield smiled wide, cheering for himself as he said, “That’s right!”

Fallopolis turned to the man, narrowing her eyes. And then the rest of the crowd, except Erick, all seemed to understand that something special had happened.

The Librarian, shocked, asked, “Finally?”

“Damn straight!” Leofield said, “Finally got it! Ask me later if you want one, ha ha!”

Quilatalap spoke over the crowd, “In the presence of a user with a Greater Elemental Body, the Book of Knowledge gains sentience, and is able to tailor the user’s reading experience to all such books that would best benefit them. It will help create a Domain. It will begin to highlight the various misinformations perpetuated by the Arcanaeum Consortium. It will eventually gain a small ability to move on its own, in the form of a [Spectral Butler].

“This year, the Book of Advanced Knowledge went to an orcol team from Wyrmrest. The book has been in the hands of an accomplished mage for six months. He was the leader of their team, and though he began with [Greater Stone Body], he has since added [Greater Water Body] to his skills, while not only joining the Cult of Melemizargo, but also rising in ranks from Follower to Leader. His team has experienced similar benefits.”

There were a few professional claps around the gathering, and a few excited claps. Leofield repeated his offer of Books of Knowledge for anyone who wanted one. Erick heard no takers, but he didn’t doubt there would be a few. The Librarian, for sure, wanted one.

Erick felt a little sick, again.

Quilatalap continued his presentation, “And now we have Stardust, Shade of the Edge, and her Void Star.”

Stardust was a female snake shifter who sat one table over from Erick. She was pale and bald, but tiny white scales ran up the sides of her neck, dappling her face and her head, while also running out of the sleeves of her loose, black dress. As her name was called out she sat taller, and smiled.

Quilatalap offhandedly gestured at the screen behind him. A dark glass orb appeared, with what looked to be an eclipse in the center. Quilatalap said, “I have been asked to say that Void Stars are extremely easy to make. Stardust has had a breakthrough on an old project, and can make one of these a day, if she wanted. They are true artifacts, too. They do not break with ten thousand uses.”

Stardust smiled wider. There were a few small, professional claps.

Quilatalap continued, “When at least 850 mana is channeled into the Void Star, one [Void Star] is produced. If not directed to a target, the [Void Star] will attempt to kill the user. But otherwise, these energetic, ethereal summons, will rapidly move to any target within sight, slipping through most intervening barriers, in an attempt to reach that target’s center. Upon reaching its destination, the [Void Star] detonates in a [Void Blast], of medium size. Simple. Effective.

“And the entire team that won it is already dead from misuse and infighting.”

Stardust paled.

Then the giggles began. Fallopolis began chuckling, then cackling. It wasn’t long before a few Shades were howling with laughter.

“You told me those people won eight months ago! How am I just hearing about this now?” Stardust sat straighter, attempting to speak over the laughter, “Were they fools?! Or was this treachery?!”

Fallopolis ceased laughing, like the sudden stop at the end of a long fall. She glared her hateful white eyes at Stardust, and said, “They won. And then they died to what they won. That’s not right, Stardust.”

All laughter ceased, as eyes turned on the snake shifter woman.

Fallopolis continued, “Were they not aware of this fault? Or did you not tell Quilatalap?”

With a cocky sort of calm, Stardust said, “I told him. It was on the placard I wrote up. The winners knew what they were getting into.” She asked Quilatalap, “Didn’t they?”

“They knew. But they were a team from the Greensoil Republic, with ties to nobility. I suspect treachery of some sort, but I cannot confirm at all. And you would have known if you had asked.” Quilatalap said, “The artifact itself is still in play, and in the hands of a young noble of Greensoil, now.”

“A noble?!” Fallopolis instantly stated, “I vote for a Reclamation.”

Leofield said, “Deny.” He added, “They fucked up. It’s out there, now.”

Fallopolis eyed the man. Leofield just smiled. Stardust almost began to speak—

But Quilatalap shorted any more discussion, saying, “MOVING right along.” The screen behind him became an image of a spherical-ish die, with a short spike on every corner. It was silver, but otherwise unremarkable, save for the brighter parts of the metal that seemed abnormally shiny, and the shadows were deeper than they had any right to be. “We have Toymaker’s Breaking Die.” Quilatalap smiled. “For once, it’s not a murder machine. It’s an unusual little piece of fun.”

Through Ophiel’s eyes, Erick eyed Toymaker, who sat two tables back. He was a dark purple incani man with much of his horns, nails, and hair, an even darker purple, while his outfit was one of a comfortable black almost-sweater and almost-sweatpants. Erick knew of Toymaker, thanks to Killzone.

The Shade of Diversion was heavily active near the western wall of Ar’Kendrithyst, with much of his creations populating that side of the city. The Shade never showed himself, but his killer golems often resembled children’s toys, up until they released their inner swords or warhammers or such, and then you had a bunch of stuffed rabbits and frogs and puppet knights, all ready to kill. No teddy bears, though; Veird didn’t have that particular cultural phenomenon.

Toymaker smiled as Quilatalap kept speaking.

“This artifact would be easy to mass produce, too, as are most artifacts made by Toymaker.” Quilatalap said, “The Breaking Die is usable once per day, with a reset time of a day. When it is used, the Breaking Die is able to grant the user a single step along the Elemental Body skill that most compliments their nature.”

Some people in the crowd gasped.

Fallopolis turned around. “Really?!”

Toymaker grinned. “Really. I’ve let three of them go in the Sovereign Cities already. Pure havoc.” He added, “The good kind!”

Quilatalap spoke before the crowd could ask any questions, “When rolled, the Breaking Die grants a step along the Elemental Body most in tune with the user. It will only stop working for that person when they have a full Elemental Body of any sort. With any luck and personal balance at all, a person could end up with a full suite of nascent skills, though that part about stopping at a full Elemental Body is more conjecture than proven fact.”

Toymaker spoke up, “The problem is that gaining a Body makes the die always roll that way!”

Quilatalap nodded, then continued, “The larger benefit of this item, is, of course, that the gain of any Elemental Body Skill automatically unlocks the Script usage for the recipient, without the need for crafting any elemental essences into armor, first.

“A hidden benefit appears when not used for ten days, and then used by any young person who has not yet Matriculated. For such a user, the Breaking Die will grant a beginner skill in all six Elemental Bodies at once, and then fall into a stupor for 10 days; unusable.”

The crowd tried to speak to Toymaker. The proud man just kept his eyes on Quilatalap; joy radiating from him like a palpable force.

Quilatalap continued, “A further hidden benefit appears if not used for 1 month. If not used for 1 month, the Breaking Die gains temporary sentience and will attempt to escape all bonds in order to find a child for whom to grant its boon. Toymaker. As we agreed, you can say the rest. Small speech only, and make it fast.”

The audience turned to the man.

The Toymaker stood, regarded the crowd, and said, “The original Breaking Die went to the Sovereign Cities team. And then I found them, and gave them three more. In Melemizargo’s name, they have already started to build a rebellion to overthrow their controlling overlords. None of them are true believers, and they likely won’t get very far —they never do— but it’s been seven months and some of them are still alive, and fighting!” He smiled. “Over a hundred people have been freed from the tyranny of Rozeta’s Registrars, and more are freed every day.”

Professional and enthusiastic claps all around. Toymaker bowed a few times, giving thanks, while a few people requested him to make more.

And then Tania Webwalker stepped out onto the stage, across from Quilatalap. A fist-sized white spider sat perched on her shoulder. The crowd stopped. Toymaker turned, and regarded the Champion of Melemizargo.

Tania said, “A good artifact. Simple. Necessary. Well made. I want a thousand. Rip out whatever functionality you need to rip out to make a working artifact of base needs. Complete this task, and you will be awarded commensurately.”

Toymaker, still standing, looked suddenly mad. He started, “That’s impo—” He paused. He forced his anger away, and asked, “What do you consider base?”

“The options for elements beyond Shadow are unecessary. Everything else is fine.”

Toymaker sighed, and with exasperation in his voice, said, “It only works because it is balanced, Tania. I have never gotten the shadow-only one to work. If I had, I would have debuted that version a hundred years ago, and the world would be a very different place.” He glanced toward Erick, saying, “This one only works because I stole his lights in that dungeon he made. That was the missing piece—”

Erick whipped around. “You WHAT!”

Toymaker pulled a frown at him, saying, “Ooh. Like you were the onlyone I stole from. Get over it.” He added, “If it makes you feel better, that light dungeon in Nelboor was trash compared to what you made.”

Fallopolis said, “I agree with Erick’s anger. Give him twenty of these Breaker Dice, and fulfill your obligation to him, first.”

Erick stared at Fallopolis, unable to come up with a counter to her suggestion, for there were too many places to start, and it would take way too long, and he’d lose anyway, and—

Quilatalap glared at everyone as he loudly tapped his papers on his podium.

Tania rolled her face toward the man, then turned back to Toymaker. “We’ll talk more later.” She snapped a finger toward the side of the pavilion, where a few butlers stood. “I want a table up front.” She turned toward the table where Erick sat, then pointed not two meters to his left, saying to the butlers, “There.”

There was an awkward reorganization. Tania and Bulgan sat down at a small table only two meters from Erick.

Soon enough, Quilatalap resumed.

He spoke of a diadem of [True Sight] that never broke, and which were able to eventually let the user gain the skill for themselves. Next came an [Onslaught] Shield, which let the user easily overcome a Juggernaut’s Unmovable with a simple [Shield Bash].

And then he spoke of artifacts based upon the laptop that had fallen to Veird with Jane.

The pavilion-full of Shades glanced Erick’s way, looking at his back, as he kept his own eyes firmly forward, but he did let Ophiel’s wander where they would. As Quilatalap spoke, and the Shades behind Erick congratulated themselves on their stolen ideas brought to fruition, Erick recalled his talks with Jane, about her hobbies when she was younger, and more recently, about all the items that had been on display in Candlepoint. As it turned out, according to what he was seeing right here, those one-off items or 50-charge wands or ‘belts of giant strength’ or ‘bags of holding’ offered at Candlepoint, were but the beginning. The versions of items won at the Armory’s Artifact Course were exactly that; artifacts that never fully broke, unlike all the other magical items created under the Script.

A weapon made of living fire, that grew with the user. A Bottled House, that came out with a command word and went back in with the same. A Robe of Tentacular Eyes, that was a conglomeration of Ophiel’s ability to see everywhere, an eldritch abomination, and that yellow eyebeam wyrm Erick killed both a lifetime ago, and not too long ago.

One of the bigger items was a Mini Box, that used an advanced form of [Adjust Size] in order to fit a meter of stuff down into a 4x4x4 centimeter metal box. The box itself was also imbued with a [Gravity Ward] that negated all of the weight of the stored items. Erick’s brief marvel that Jane’s ‘Bag of Holding’ had come true, was turned to annoyance, sadness, and disgust, all at once, after the boisterous creator spoke of breaking the Wayfarer Guild. This Shade had created a marvel! But all they wanted to do was destroy.

Then there was the Amulet of Non-Presence, that negated the ability for a person to regain Health or Mana, prevented them from using Health or Mana, but also erased their presence from the Manasphere. They wouldn’t trip [Alarm Ward]s. They could walk through [Prismatic Ward]s. Almost all non-physical magic would simply pass them by, as if they weren’t even there. And the creator Shade was happy that it had already been used to assassinate several high ranking politicians of some place called Stratagold in the Underworld.

Fallopolis must have noticed Erick’s confusion, for she whispered to him, “Stratagold is the largest Wrought City in or on Veird.”

Quilatalap said, “And now, for the final two winners. We’ll do the single winner from Eidolon, first.” Behind Quilatalap, the image of a young human woman appeared. She was walking along a skyroad holding a seafoam-green conjured sword that was easily three times her own height. It reminded Erick of Jane’s choice of sword; thin, brittle, useless if used wrong, but when used right, it was an object of pure cutting. The woman had sun-bleached hair, brown eyes, and bronzed skin, and was absolutely covered in the rotten gore of a killed umbral wyrm. Quilatalap said, “Hakina entered Kendrithyst 45 days ago by coming over the wall. She shot from level 34 to 75 in her first week by attacking the Deep Dark. A quick trip outside, and then back, had her returning as a Dragonslayer.”

The questioning gazes and interested faces of many Shades suddenly shifted to recognition. Some turned to admiration. A few Shades leaned back in their chairs, going, ‘Oh.’ A few others nodded, like it was obvious what Hakina was, and had become.

Quilatalap said, “Hakina completed three trips through the Armory. Her first two were on Hard. She selected a Constitution Fruit and an Intelligence Fruit. There was never a danger of her turning shadeling, for she was well trained in a few good soul-securing techniques that she had gained from her grandmother, who in turn, gained them from Messalina.” Quilatalap remained professional as he mentioned the Life Binder, but Erick recognized a break in the facade. What was that about? Quilatalap continued, “Hakina’s dream was to become an herb stalker, like the rest of her family, but when Messalina’s village was destroyed and the power structures she enabled were torn down, the whole of Continental Nergal went into a spiral. In Eidolon, Hakina’s family was killed by a dragon fight, that was apparently the result of trade routes shifting and two dragons coming into contact with one another.”

“Yup.” “Saw that coming.” “Of course.”

Quilatalap glanced through the audience, and his eyes landed on Queen.

Everyone seemed to know what that meant, as Queen herself gasped, and others clapped.

Queen asked, “Really?”

Quilatalap said, “Yes.”

“Finally!” Queen exclaimed, giggling as she smiled wide. “I’m so glad you didn’t tell me. I wouldn’t have been able to resist tracking her down.”

“That was what you asked for, and that is what I provided. Now, for the item.” The image behind Quilatalap shifted, to show an entire tiara made of what looked to be opal. “Queen’s Bright Crown was installed in the Armory nearly 60 years ago, and had yet to be won, until now. Very few winners had fit the item’s requirements in the last 60 years, but only Hakina had elected to actually pick the Bright Crown as her artifact.

“The Bright Crown is an artifact of automatic [Counterspell]s and [Suppression]. It allows the user to store up to half a million mana, set a target within long range, and then the crown takes care of the rest. It’s perfect for killing mage targets, of which dragons certainly qualify.

“Higher functions allow the user to, upon slaying a selected target, absorb all the essences from the currently appointed target, and to add them to your own Elemental Bodies. Dragon Essence is excluded from this functionality.

“The Bright Crown allows for the user to hold a [Polymorph] of the most recently slain target. It allows the user the ability to turn all of their mana displays invisible. And finally, the crown can be made invisible, intangible, and unknowable, whenever the user wishes.

“The Bright Crown is a narrow, but very powerful item, when in the hands of a gifted user. Hakina certainly qualifies.” Quilatalap said, “Hakina is currently on a dragon slaying rampage, working her way through Archipelago and Continental Nergal. As of two days ago, she has killed eleven known dragons.”

Goldie spoke up from the back, “Woop Woop! You go, girl!”

Now that Erick noticed Goldie, he also noticed the larger audience, with some Shades standing just outside of the main floor. He was distracted by the extra people for just a moment, as he turned his gaze upon the other dragonkin Shades. There were only seven dragonkin Shades, but they were all looking upon Hakina with something akin to joy on their faces. Ah. Right. Erick remembered now. Dragonkin didn’t particularly care for dragons, because dragons were cannibals when they could get away with it, and Erick didn’t doubt that the older dragonkin in the audience personally knew at least one kid who was eaten by a dragon.

That thought sent Erick spiraling down a few different tangents.

But the main one was: Had he just experienced sympathy for the Shades for their sympathy toward the people they had once known?

He had also just killed a man not an hour ago. Had it been an hour already?

There were too many problems with Shade society. Criminal organizations that used children for shields. People dropping to the ground and kowtowing toward Erick. Erick not receiving any flak for his, quite honestly, horrific abuses of power, what with the rampant searches and spying and violence he had done not too long ago. He might have only personally killed one guy, but if speaking was non-violent, and force was violence, pretty much everything he had done to end the threat against his family was pure violence.

Erick didn’t want to be that guy.

But he would have to be that guy, wouldn’t he? As Quilatalap spoke of the last artifact and gestured to the side, where four incani stood, Erick knew he would have to be rather violent toward the upcoming Converter Angel problem, too. He had gotten rid of the Breach Demon, after all, and in order to keep his neutrality in the Quiet War, and because he had already promised to help, he would need to take an active role in eradicating the Converter Angel. Erick felt the Silver Star on his chest briefly warm, and then cool, in time to his thoughts.

The four incani were four different colors. A red man, a magenta woman, a blue woman, a white woman. All of them wore adventuring leathers; rough clothes meant to protect from most easy threats, but easy enough to sleep in, while [Conjure Armor] went over them as needed. They didn’t look too scared to be in front of all these Shades, though. In fact, they looked rather… drugged out? Yes. That was it. The four of them walked as they needed to walk, glanced around as would anyone who needed to not step into something, and took their spaces on the platform like this was just another day at the office. No irregular heartbeat. No sweating. No concern for each other, either, save to not bump into one another. No concern for where they were. No recognition in their dull eyes.

Quilatalap introduced them. “From left to right, we have the surviving members of an unregistered adventuring team that was hastily composed of multiple factions. In their case, it was a union of noble adventurers, common adventurers, and merchant adventurers. There would have been ten of them up here, but when these four commoners heard what the others had planned, the party split. The commoners won.

“Technically, the party split after two weeks of being inside the Artifact Course, and though some people tried to bring them all back together, what the nobles and merchants wanted, the commoners could not abide. After the artifact was won, the commoners took action. And thus, the commoners survived.

“From left to right, we have Rexx, Idolizia, Caizoa, and Skorka. Assassin, Hunter, Juggernaut, and Cook.”

More than one Shade laughed, as more than one shouted out, “Cook?!”

Quilatalap let that interruption happen for a while, then he said, “Skorka here was the only reason they were able to last as long as they did. Her almost mythical-level of cooking Skills provided much needed buffs for the entire team. Skorka worked for one of the nobles they killed, and was instrumental in their solution to the dangers posed by those nobles, when she poisoned them all to death. She’s actually their highest level because of that. A level 88 Cook.”

More laughter.

Quilatalap did not laugh, though. Erick could tell this was just a job to him, that this was his end-of-year report. Sure, he tried to add in some mirth here and there, but he, himself, did not join in that mirth.

Quilatalap gestured to the screen behind him, and the four incani, saying, “And now, the item they won. You all know what it was, but let me refresh everyone’s memories.”

The screen shifted.

A four-pointed hunk of blackened metal appeared. It was a brooch, and Erick instinctively knew this artifact for what it was. His own pristine Silver Star pulsed cold on his chest, almost in confirmation. This was a Black Star, like the one Silverite had shown Erick, months ago. But this one was something deeper; something inscribed in the manasphere itself. Erick felt a tug on his heart as he gazed upon a piece of Peace, taken into the fires of war, and desecrated by the realities of life and death and ultimatums.

Quilatalap said, “The Black Star. This item is an ancient artifact created by a Paradox Wizard of the Old Cosmology, hundreds of thousands of years ago, when Koyabez was born out of the remnants of a God War and was just starting to gain power. At the time, Koyabez was a minor deity, and could not prevent this warping of himself.

“Because make no mistake, the Black Star is an item of violence. Of death. Of ending threats. Since then, there have often been arguments between the Black and the Silver houses of Koyabez, but they both survive to this day, for Koyabez has accepted this darker part of himself, along with this Black Star.

“The usual argument goes like this: In order to understand the Black House of Koyabez, you must understand that peace is only true when all sides play along, in true discourse, and true goals. Harmony and peace thrive when the problems are ones of operational concerns, and not ones of one side just waiting for the day that the other side lowers their guard, so that they can murder them all.

“When systems break down. When tyrants rise. These are the occasions where ending a threat is a more peaceful action in the long run, for in playing along with those who seek to undermine and destroy, for in allowing true harmony to falter and fall and to let the harmful dictators rise to the top, all you get is dystopia. All you get are people happily living in the dirt and muck, licking the shoes of those in power, never knowing what could have been.”

A Shade in the back called out, “Too bad you can’t use it against the Script!”

Another added, “I’d like to not live in the dirt, if you ask me,” to which a good dozen other Shades openly agreed, and another ten nodded along.

“What are their plans for the Converter Angel!” demanded a third.

Quilatalap looked at the offender, and said, “I am getting to that.”

Erick, meanwhile, experienced yet another moment of surrealism. His shoulders shook. He sat straight. His hands started to shake, in restrained anger, for how could these people not see that they were the ones in power? That they were the ones that needed to die? That—

Fallopolis loudly said, “They’ll never get it, Erick. Believe me, I’ve tried.”

Small conversations ended, when Fallopolis spoke.

Erick countered, “Some of them have to understand. It’s just...” The gathering was silent. The Shades watched him, while Quilatalap gave every indication of just standing back, and letting whatever was going to happen, happen. Erick turned, and faced the crowd. He shot to his feet, declaring, “You all have all the power in this world! You are the rulers, according to all your actions, and from what I’ve heard already! If you don’t like your lot in life, then it’s your own damn fault. If you don’t—”

A male Shade stood up from their table. Incani, white skin, motley suit of various blacks. Erick recognized him as Gora, the Shade of the Arena. Killzone had warned Erick about this one, but Erick had been aware of this guy well before Killzone spoke of him. Erick recalled what he knew.

Back when Jane was helping Yetta through her trial to kill Planter, Jane had escaped from the final fight with an antirhine golem. She raced away from that confrontation with several people in her shadows, but a Shade named Porter had tormented her, causing her to drop the survivors. The victims of that arena died. But in a stroke of luck, based on time and place, Jane had reversed the dynamic between her and Porter, and gone on to kill that Shade.

But Porter was tight friends with Gora. Porter had often blipped offending adventuring teams into Gora’s arena, and now that Porter was gone, Gora’s Arena was falling out of favor with the other Shades, for the nightly shows with captured, harried adventurers were much harder to have without those easily captured victims.

At least the victims of the Armory chose to go in there.

Gora said, “You speak like someone who has only ever known the mud and muck. You truly have no idea what the gods and the Script keeps from us. Of what they’ve conned the people of this world into believing.” He said, “You are living in dirt, and you don’t even know it! Shut your mouth and learn from your betters.”

He got a few nods from the crowd, but most eyes were on Erick.

“Are you immortal?” Erick asked, knowing the answer already. “You’re not. All you’ve ever experienced was life on Veird. The only difference between you and I is one of perspective. You see trash all around you. I see opportunities to clean up, and build higher, and plant gardens, and make friends. You’ve been raised on stories of power, and then you have the gall to whine about not having enough. I’ve been raised on stories of perseverance, and—”

Tania stood. She said, “Heavy points, all around, but we can have debates another day. I will cut this short. Gora is correct. This world was built to cage magic and Melemizargo; that was the goal of the Script Builders, and they succeeded, robbing us of untold futures among the other worlds out there, and with our God. Erick is also correct. Every single person in existence can always do better. They can do more. They can achieve efficiency. They can achieve perspective and wisdom. Both of you are powerful. Both are going places. But only one of you is using your power to light the way forward. The other is apparently a Void.”

Gora’s bright eyes went wide. He glanced to the side, looking to flee, only to see Bulgan standing right there, a full head taller than the Arena master. Almost all the Shades in the audience were staring at Gora, as the man looked left and right.

Looks of glee erupted from the gathered Shades, as they turned to Gora, and smiled, their mouths full of fangs. None of them held this look quite as well as Fallopolis.

Gora’s shoulders slumped. “Fuck you, Tania.”

Tania proclaimed, “If any of you are unhappy with your existence! If any of you think that the trials are too tough! That the reward is not good enough! Then perhaps you shouldn’t exist anymore.” She snapped her fingers at Gora.

Gora became gore.

Fallopolis clapped loudly, as blood and mess pitter-pattered from the sky, like red rain.

Queen asked, “Erick? A [Cleanse] please?”

Tania turned to Queen. “You have servants for that.”

Some red thing flopped from the front of Erick’s now-red robes and landed on the ground with a slap.

Like he was suddenly in a dream and nothing felt real, Erick turned on his [Cleansing Aura]. He had several of his Ophiel, all around the gathering, do the same. Almost on autopilot, Erick turned back to his seat, and brushed away a bone fragment from his chair. That fragment vanished into thick air before it touched the ground. As he sat down his red outfit returned to pristine white. He spoke an apology to Quilatalap, but his words were lost in the absolute torrent of thick air that spilled out from the gathering, like a tornado.

The entire congregation of Shades experienced his [Cleansing Aura], and just like what had happened with Fallopolis that first time, each Shade became the headwaters of a tsunami of thick air.

An Ophiel Erick had sitting half a kilometer out, also caught the sight of that torrent. From that perspective, the occurrence made Erick think of a massive explosion, but without the fire. Windows shook in the passing of that thick air. A few windows broke. Nearby potted plants fell over, and then rolled away. Thick air usually had no physical form or feeling, but in these quantities, it did.

When the minor storm finally finished, Erick said to Quilatalap, “Apologies for the interruption.” He muttered, “What even is that thick air, anyway?”

Quilatalap said, “The thick air of [Cleanse] is a complicated topic, best left for another time. Now. Could we continue?”

Tania was already sitting. She magnanimously said, “Of course. Continue.”

Quilatalap nodded, then gestured back toward the screen behind them, where the Black Star was displayed. He said, “The Black Star was the last resort of the Peacekeepers. It has always been locked up behind heavy wards, and heavy restrictions, when not in use. Some of those restrictions are self-imposed; this is a semi-sentient divine artifact, after all.” He gestured to the four incani still standing on stage with him, saying, “Rexx, Idolizia, Caizoa, and Skorka, passed these restrictions, and gained the trust of the Black Star. Thus they have won the right to use the Black Star against the Converter Angel sent by unknowns of the Greensoil Republic.

“The Black Star requires a goal and a certain level of conviction in order to activate. Once those measures are met, the Black Star does many, many things for the wearer.

“As for the lesser functions, the Black Star automatically [Greater Teleport]s the user out of traps. It provides nourishment and a healthy body. It protects against disease, parasites, and all sorts of environmental harm. It provides immunity from all forms of mind, soul, or body control.

“Its larger function is to provide complete and total protection to the user, when the user is in pursuit of their goal.

“As the Black Star is very much a divine artifact of the Founding God of Veird, there are only two other greater gods on Veird that are capable of overcoming this protection: Rozeta and Melemizargo.”

There were some minor ‘booo’s from the crowd at the mention of Koyabez and Rozeta, while Melemizargo got several small prayers; it all inexplicably seemed like a game to Erick.

“The greater function is thus: When the user declares a goal in line with the goals of the Black Star, the Black Star will point the way to those who would harm all. There is no way to obscure this function, and it works through all known systems of obfuscation. Back in the Old Cosmology, this function worked five worlds away from any world touched by Koyabez, and would have only been slightly off in its guidance past that. Here, on Veird, this function is absolute.

“If the user is able to somehow, miraculously solve the problem that necessitated the use of the Black Star, without killing, then the Black Star does nothing. In such a case, the Black Star will usually choose to stay with the user. But in the usual event that the user intentionally causes a death, then depending on what the Black Star saw, it might stay with the user, or it might slay the user, and then [Greater Teleport] back to a Black Priest of Koyabez.

“All in all, it is an item of absolute self-protection, and a guiding star toward a chosen goal.” Quilatalap gestured to the captives, saying, “And now that you know the item, let’s hear their plans for this ancient artifact, from the winners themselves.”

The four incani on stage began to stir from their addled state. They blinked. They rolled their shoulders. Some sort of magic settled upon them, or rather, peeled back from their upper halves. Though they moved their legs, their booted feet came right back down on the stage, and their lower halves seemed to de-animate, just as much as their upper halves began to move.

One gasped, and then the other, as they looked out at the sea of white eyes staring back at them. The Cook schooled her face, while the others panicked, and then calmed. No one said a word.

And then the Cook looked to Erick. Skorka’s red eyes went wide, and then narrowed. “Fuck. He turned Shade.”

From two meters away, Bulgan laughed a single, “Ha!”

“Fuckin’ knew it!” exclaimed Rexx, the only man in the adventuring group.

Erick sighed, muttering, “Not a Shade.”

Fallopolis smirked as she suggested, “You should look into some cosmetic magic for those eyes of yours, or maybe just take the plunge and actually join us.”

And then there was quite a lot of bickering on stage, though none of the adventurers were able to do more than that. Erick, and the Shades, watched on, some smiling at the hatred on display, some looking a little bored.

And then Skorka brought their yelling back to Erick. “What the FUCK are you doing here with them?”

Erick asked, “What’s your plan for killing the Converter Angel? I’m already obligated to help with that, so maybe that means I’m obligated to help you.”

Skorka shut up, her mouth closing with an audible click of her teeth. The other three looked to her for guidance. No one said another word.

A Shade spoke up, “So what’s their plan? I want to hear it so I can watch it all happen!”

Another added, “They don’t seem that fractured to me.”

Quilatalap said, “They killed their opposition, so, yes, they’re not that fractured anymore.”

A bored Shade said, “I expected more than this. Why’d they go silent?”

“Operational security,” Quilatalap said. “They never spoke in full and complete terms in their journey through the Artifact Course.”

“I want to know why their trial took two months,” Tania casually demanded.

“Can we all just move on?” Fallopolis said. “They were obviously taking their time in there. It’s boring, but it does happen.”

“Yes we can!” Quilatalap readily took the offered out by waving his hand at the four adventurers, returning them to their zombie-like selves. He banished the floating image behind him, then picked up his papers, and said, “That concludes this year’s Armory presentation. See you all next year—”

“No.” Tania said, “These people are connected to Erick. I need answers. What are you going to do with those four?”

“Storage, till after the Feast is over. Then I’ll loose them outside of Kendrithyst.”

“Nonsense. It does them credit that they kept their heads despite facing three dozen of the Clergy. Not a lot of credit, but some. I want them at the party, after the Second Telling, tomorrow.” Tania said, “I want to see how they deal with Erick in a less confrontational setting. Also. Have you given them the Black Star yet?”

“No.” Quilatalap said, “As laid down by the precepts of the Black Order, the plan was to temporarily block their memories of everything beyond the Converter Angel, give the Star to them, and release them out into the Crystal Forest, all at the same time. After the Feast.”

Tania gave a sly smile. “We’ll talk.”

Quilatalap frowned at Tania. Then he put on a neutral face, and turned to everyone else, declaring, “The Armory Presentation is over. Thanks for coming. Queen has opted to provide refreshments—”

Queen gestured to butlers waiting off to the side. They began moving. A door opened, and carts with covered trays began rolling out toward the Shades.

“—so you may now begin further plans for artifacts like the Breaking Die, the Void Star, the Mini Box, and others.”

Erick got the fuck out of there.