Dreamer's Throne

DT4 - Chapter 11

He listened quietly as they described the terrifying adventure they had just been on, and when they spoke of the ship, he found himself mystified. There was simply too much that he didn't know, and he felt like new information was coming at him like a freight train. From traveling merchants who visited the various rulers, to strange, mysterious objects and terrifying floods, Garrett found himself almost overwhelmed. When Pax mentioned that they didn't really fancy going back to the southern part of the city, Garrett couldn't blame her. After thinking for a moment, he nodded.

"I think that's fine," he said. "In that case, focus your efforts in the east, clearing everything to the city wall. We're going to be expanding in that direction."

Sharing a knowing glance with Maren, Pax nodded.

"Will do, boss."

Pondering everything he had heard, Garrett left the inn and returned to the Dreamer's Throne. There were only a few hours before dawn, and he had a few things he wanted to do. The first was relatively simple. He took out the map and the Primordial's Dagger that he had purchased from Karn and examined them. Both looked perfectly fine, but when Garrett gathered the power of the Throne and used it to shroud the map, a faint black mark soon revealed itself.

The mark seemed to be struggling against the Throne, and when Garrett saw that, his eyes narrowed and he redoubled his efforts. The mark was simple, but to Garrett, it looked exactly like the dark markings that Karn wore on his cheeks, chin, and forehead, creating an identifying pattern. He had no idea if it was actually connected to the mysterious merchant, but Garrett wasn't about to take any chances.

How the map was made, he had no idea, though he was sure that if he could procure enough items with enough value, Karn would undoubtedly tell him. The merchant was mercenary beyond belief, seemingly willing to sell or buy anything. Some of the suggestions he had given Garrett when he had asked for the price of the Primordial Dagger had bordered on horrific, and it had taken considerable restraint for Garrett to keep from throwing him out.

Karn clearly had no regard for life of any kind. He had asked first for human souls, a request Garrett refused roundly. It had taken a considerable amount of time before they found something Garrett was willing to offer and Karn found valuable enough to trade. It had necessitated Garrett calling Delrisa to bring him a full liter of her blood, and Garrett had felt rather bad about it when he saw her gaunt appearance but after she had cheerfully told him that it would be easy to replenish with a visit to the prison, all of his feelings of sympathy had vanished, and he dismissed her with a wave. He hadn't been aware that the blood of a greater vampire like Delrisa was so valuable.

As he watched the dark image on the map burn away, Garrett considered Karn further. The truth was, he was suspicious about this mysterious figure who had shown up out of nowhere. At the same time, he recognized that Karn had the potential to be quite useful. The trick was going to be making sure that he wasn't the one who ended up being used.

It was no surprise to him that the map had some sort of trick attached to it. After all, it's exactly what he would have done had he been in Karn's position. Once the black symbol was gone, Garrett examined the map once more, paying careful attention to the areas that weren't part of his territory.

To the northwest, sprawling over the rest of the district, was an area tinged with a brownish-orange. When Garrett concentrated on it, the image of a spiked bull appeared, reminding him of the Chosen of Gath he had seen stalking the streets. The territory to the northwest belonged to the Burning Pain of Gath, and from what Garrett could tell, the Great Ruler was headquartered in an old ore refinery. That made sense given the spike-covered bull's metallic nature, but also boded ill for Garrett, who would quickly find himself in conflict with the Burning Pain of Gath if he continued to expand his influence.

Unsure what to do, Garrett turned his attention to the south. Directly to the south of the inn, across the river, were the slums, a large section of the city walled off from the nobles who were directly west, near the palace. From what Garrett understood, the slums had originally been an area built outside of the city wall. An enterprising king, many hundreds of years ago, desiring to expand the footprint of the city, had built a second wall surrounding the slums, which at that point were simply neighborhoods, and begun construction.

The king's untimely death left the project unfinished, however, and the king's son made that part of the city the dumping ground for anyone deemed undesirable. What had once been a meticulously planned set of neighborhoods designed to extend the noble district turned into a rat's warren of crumbling buildings built over top of one another. With narrow streets and hidden passages, the slums were jam-packed with people, and though Garrett had never been there himself, from what he understood, it was close to another world, and felt nothing like the rest of the city.

What was curious to him, however, was that on the map, it didn't appear to be a city at all. Instead, the map showed a wasteland, full of twisted rocks and tall dunes. Furthermore, it was filled with insects of all kinds, and as he concentrated on it, faint lines appeared, indicating tunnels that ran deep under the city. The longer he stared, the more complex the tunnel systems grew, and Garrett quickly realized that he was looking at tunnels that went as deep as the first tomb, if not deeper.

The entirety of the slums was under the control of a single great ruler, titled Swarm of Mektes, causing Garrett to assume that the great ruler's powers would have something to do with the insects scattered across the district. Just above the slums, across a thick wall, stood the noble district, though on the map, this area was divided in two. Half of it, directly above the slums, was comprised of hundreds of mushrooms, of all shapes and sizes, growing in and around the houses. Slightly further north, where the main gate led into the city, the houses and mushrooms gave way to a forest of swords, some small, some giant, stuck blade down into the earth.

Curiously, there were no great rulers who controlled the area of the map with the sword forest. The same wasn't true for the rest of the noble district, however, and as Garrett selected the territory, he saw that it belonged to the Rotting Tongue of Wen, a name which conjured a disgusting picture in Garrett's mind. Deciding he would be more than happy to never have to encounter that great ruler, Garrett turned his attention to the final area of the city, the palace, which floated in the air, held down by thick chains.

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It was as if the palace had been carved out from the earth, transformed into a floating island, and the chains were the only things keeping it from simply flying away. The entirety of the palace was tinged in a faint red, but to Garrett's surprise, there was no Great Ruler listed as owning that territory. He had fully expected to find the Crimson Eye of Shalmoroth in charge of the palace, but no matter how he scrutinized the map, he couldnt find the mysterious Great Ruler anywhere. Along with Garrett, there were only four rulers that ruled Insomnium in the dream world, and given what he had experienced in his fight with Agma-Yoth, Garrett knew that their power had already extended into the waking world.

It was a terrifying thought that chilled his heart, but then the warm energy of the Dreamer's throne filled him, and his breath eased. Even if the other Great Rulers powers extended to the waking world, what then? Garrett's did as well. He had defended himself against Agma-Yoth already, and not just defended himself, but conquered his opponent, gathering his power to himself.

Putting the map aside for a moment, Garrett turned his attention to the Primordial's dagger. The dagger was 18 inches long, from hilt to its razor-sharp tip, and bore no sign of tools. Its surface was perfectly smooth, with no guard, and a slight curve to the blade. The handle appeared to have been naturally formed, and it fit perfectly in Garrett's hand, though he wondered if everyone who picked it up would feel that way.

There was a hole in the bottom of the handle where a cord or streamer could be passed through, and the entire dagger shone with a white glow. As soon as he had seen it, Garrett had found it curious, and when he had attempted to probe it with his mental energy, he had discovered that it was entirely impervious. In fact, the blade appeared able to cut through mental energy with no resistance at all.

Such a weapon was incredibly dangerous, and Garrett had been willing to buy it, if only to avoid the potential of his enemies having it. He had no idea who or what the Primordial was, but clearly, the dagger was a powerful tool. Furthermore, even as old as it was, the blade remained razor-sharp, so sharp that Garrett knew if he touched it, it would cut him.

There wasn't much else to discover about it, especially since mental energy couldn't penetrate the bone the dagger was made from, making it impossible for him to bind it to himself, even when he tried to use the Dreamer's Throne. It was almost as if the dagger existed in a different space, or with a different set of rules, completely ignoring any of the mental energy it encountered.

Garrett wasn't one to fight with physical weapons, so after considering it for a while, he put it aside to join the map. There was one final thing Garrett needed to do, but before he got started, he took a moment to stabilize himself, closing his eyes as he began to examine his soul spark.

Every day, the throne and the figure on it seemed to grow more defined, details emerging as it grew closer and closer to Garrett's likeness. He knew that when he had finally made it perfect, he would ascend to the manifestation stage, and Garrett was quite looking forward to it.

Still, it took a tremendous amount of work to polish and improve his soul spark, and he could feel in his heart that if he hadn't had the support of the Dreamer's Throne continually giving him energy, it would have taken him uncountable years to make it as far as he had. This explained why manifesting stage awakened were so rare. At the same time, the closer he got to manifesting himself, the clearer Garrett understood that such powers existed around him, hidden from view. He also opened up his status sheet, checking his experience.

STATUS

NAME: Garrett Klein

PATH: Dream Ruler

SUB-PATH: Dream Gardener, Path of the Watcher

LEVEL: 6

EXP: 417/640

Ever since the sudden glut of experience he had received during the battle with Agma-Yoth, Garrett felt as if his experience gain had slowed to a crawl. He knew this was just his perception, and not actually accurate. He had been making steady progress over the last week. Balancing the growth of the family and the network of Dream Flowers with his own personal strength was tricky. He felt like he had found a good rhythm, steadily creeping forward, even as the roots of the Dream Flower network spread outward. By this point, his heart and mind had become completely calm. Closing his eyes, his fingers brushed lightly over the throne's armrests. He could feel the throne underneath him as he slowly guided the energy it produced into his body, carefully searching every nook and cranny for what he feared he might find.

In his cursory searches previously, he hadn't discovered anything, but the worrying tendency to become emotional caused him to think that something was wrong. For over an hour, he carefully examined himself, but didn't find anything abnormal. Still, he didn't get frustrated, and instead began the process again, paying careful attention to his soul spark. It wasn't until the third time he swept his body for changes that he noticed it. The faintest discoloration on part of his soul spark. As he concentrated on the slight shift in color, he immediately realized what it was.

After defeating Agma-Yoth, a portion of his opponent's power had been forcefully sucked into his body, and he had absorbed it into his soul spark, rapidly increasing his progress towards the manifesting stage. Though that power had been relatively pure, it didn't mesh perfectly with his own power, which had originated from the dreamer's throne. Once he noticed it, however, it was obvious, and he began to see more and more spots of faint discoloration all over his soul spark.

A deep sense of fear spiked through him, and as it did, Garrett saw those spots turn darker for a moment, before fading once more. Under him, the throne trembled, as if affronted that such impure energy had taken its shape, and abruptly unleashed a wave of power that nearly knocked Garrett from his seat. He gripped the armrest tightly, a low groan slipping from his lips, as the power the throne exuded began to attack his soul spark.

Faintly, as if echoing through panes of glass, Garrett heard a terrible scream, and the fear he felt spiked again. The throne's power poured into him, burning the dark spots, much like it had with the symbol hidden in the map. It was an intense experience, and though not quite painful, Garrett would have been fine for it to end at any time. Yet it continued, as the power of the throne chewed through his soul spark, inch by inch. What was left in its wake was gleaming in gold, a level brighter than it had even been before.

When it was finally done, and the power faded, so too did that faint scream. Garrett took a deep breath, his eyes flashing with a clarity he hadn't felt in days. If his suspicions were correct, he had nearly been caught in a plot, staged by Agma-Yoth. The great ruler had clearly known what would happen if he lost, and if Garrett was guessing correctly, had hidden his soul, or at least a piece of it, in the power that was torn from him as he died.

That power, which Garrett had absorbed, had carried a corrupting force, slowly transforming Garrett from the inside. Had Garrett not discovered it, and brought it to light, it's likely that he would have transformed into a completely different person, or maybe even become Agma-Yoth himself. There was no way to know precisely what would have occurred, but Garrett was sure that it wouldn't have been good.