Interlude 5: The Court Beneath the Earth (Patreon)

Deep within the blackened heart of Zaun, The Chembarons have gathered in force. All the movers of the City of Iron and Glass along with their entourage have now gathered to call in session a court to decide matters that would shake the very foundation of the city. It would not only decide the fate of the single district which was now up for grabs but the very future of the undercity as well as they decide what to do with what they’ve found in the labs of the district that they were debating about.

“Order! Order in the court!” Shouted a mountain of a man as he slammed the gavel down on the podium in front of him. His jowls along with all the rolls of fat in his mighty frame jiggled underneath his fashionable coat as he tried to bring order to the gaggle of barons but to no avail as the crowded brayed and bellowed at each other, threatening violence and speaking insults about one’s mother to each other.

“It’s been fifteen years since we’ve last held court and to think we haven’t learned anything from the last session on the matters of order and civility.” Whispered Corazon to her granddaughter as they looked down upon their fellow barons from their seat near the podium. Singed stood behind her along with Vi and Jinx.

“You expect too much from these pigs in human clothing.” answered the modulated voice of the woman beside her. Dressed in an exquisitely designed white suit and accented with a black vest and a purple shirt , Reneta Glasc was quite the striking figure. Her prosthetic arm and graying hair didn’t mar her mature beauty with her well groomed and slick black hair and her confident and relaxed posture in her seat. Surrounded by her own guards, she sat among her peers while she looked down upon the less affluent and more eccentrically dressed barons beneath them.

While they were all barons here inside this hallowed hall, it was clear that not everyone was equal. The wealthier barons with their large entourage positioned themselves in the upper seats while the less affluent barons had to contend with what’s left. People jockeyed for their position and one fight just so happened to be starting just across the opposite end of the circle of seats.

“You’re sitting on my seat!” Shouted a man who wore an expensive yet ill fitting suit for his willowy frame as he jockeyed for one of the higher seats. He towered over the delicate looking woman as he tried to intimidate her. Unfortunately for him, he just so happened to pick a fight with a certain baroness with a fiery temper.

He was quickly silenced as the man was knocked off his feet by a terrifyingly fast left hook. The woman's manic smile was more than enough for the unfortunate man's guard to do nothing but drag their boss away before things got messier

"God damn it Voss! Stop punching people in the face!" shouted the fat man on the podium.

Corazon snorted in amusement as she and Renata watched the whole debacle from their seats. “I wouldn’t want to be in Eramis' position right now having to bring some semblance order to this lot.” she replied motioned for a drink. Vi, while looking uncomfortable wearing a suit, was there to attend to Corazon’s requests with Jinx following nearby. The two were visibly uncomfortable with all the barons nearby, but they kept things to themselves as they tried to remain calm and dignified.

“Your new flowers?” Renata asked as she looked upon them ascessingly, her eyes roving over them and judging them like one would access a particularly expensive breed of dog.

Vi’s jaw tensed at this but she kept shut as Corazon answered “Oh no, nothing of that sort. They’re just the sisters of my newest inventor. He’s been quite the promising young man. Passed the College’s stringent exam recently and little Jinx over here’s quite eager to follow in her big brother’s footsteps. Come on girls, introduce yourselves”

Jinx blushed under the attention as she held onto the hem of her cute dress before curtseying to Renata. Vi merely gave Renata a quick bow as she eyed the woman with barely veiled indignation.

“Adorable. If you ever want a scholarship, just know that Glasc Industries is open to support young talents'' Renata blatantly offered to which Corazon rolled her eyes

“Bah! You and your thieving ways. Go get your own talents.” Corazon huffed light heartedly.

“Whatever you say old lady.” Renata replied smugly at the much older woman.

“Says the spinster.” Corazon cheekily replied much to Renata’s annoyance.

Before the two baronesses could banter any further, the round hall was momentarily silenced as the back door was opened for some of the late comers.

“Does my eye deceive me or is Silco late?” Taunted a random baron as Silco walked to one of the seats in the upper deck, the one further away from the podium and right beside the man who represented the lanes.

“No, I’d say I’m fashionably late. It seems that the session was just about to start, isn't that right Eramis?” Silco replied as he leaned back against this seat. The fat baron spluttered a bit before he gathered his composure to finally start the session.

Clearing his throat, Eramis started “Quite so. Anywho, as you’ve all heard by now, one of our ranks broke from the peace we’ve established since the Times of Trouble and openly declared war upon another.”

The barons shouted in anger, voicing their displeasure with the actions of one of them, but Eramis powered through as he spoke louder. “The accord we’ve made amongst ourselves to rid us of Piltovers influence and show a united front to the world was broken and not just that but to have the target be to the grand old lady of Zaun is a testament to their greed and short sightedness.”

“You're too kind my dear.” Corina replied as she thanked her fellow baron much to the cheers of her supporters and some of her fellow barons

“Now, we’ve gathered here so we could talk like civil men and women about the fate of this now leaderless land. I for one would like to motion for the creation of another seat for a new family as this baron's family ended with him and good riddance I say!” The Baron added before the gathered mass once more exploded into arguments with various sides approving and opposing the motion while others argued on who should the district be given to.

“This will take a while. Wine?” Corina said as she offered her neighbor a glass.

“Hmm, I’d rather have some Brandy.” Renata replied as she pulled out a flask from her vest and took a swig. Swirling it, she glanced towards the elderly baroness before asking “Where is your little inventor? His sisters are here after all, I’d assume he’s around.”

“Oh he’s around. Keeping him as a surprise for the party later.” The elderly Vereza enigmatically replied, smiling as she watched the proceeding unfold.

And so what was a long and arduous argument soon began. While most barons voiced their opinion, some noticeably kept quiet. Silco among them even as Vander voiced his opinion, that the streets be given to the Vereza’s which was something that could only empower his competition. In the end however, a decision was made. “And so it’s decided that these districts shall be divided among the Vereza’s and their neighbor.” Eramis declared, though not too enthusiastically as his motion was defeated.

Corazon smiled as the baron all voiced their agreement though in various levels of enthusiasm. While the matters of land were settled, there were still some things left to be discussed.

“Now that matter’s settled, we could now move on to another point in our agenda for today.” Eramis paused momentarily as he read some notes before asking “What do we do with the contents of the lab? Based on the reports kindly provided to us by the Vereza’s alone, truly heinous things were happening inside there. Whatever research was going on inside seemed to have created the monster that was unleashed upon our streets. While they are Corazon’s property now, there are rumors that there was research into the void resulting in such monstrosity. It wouldn't be unreasonable for us to ask for something to be done with what clearly is a threat to our community?”

There were murmurs across the crowd as they digested this new information. It wasn’t everyday that something so intriguing was brought up. Such tantalizing yet forbidden knowledge being researched right in this very city was something that caught everyone's attention, more so than the land that they had just decided upon earlier.

“I say we burn it. That thing reeks of the void and nothing good ever comes out of those pits. Just look at Icathia and tell me that it’ll bring nothing but harm to us all. Listen to me when I say that that research is worse than what my prisoners could come up with.” Declared Voss to which her neighbors seemed to agree.

“I do have to agree with Voss over this. Research on the void is restricted for a reason. Not even our unreasonable neighbors above dare disagree with this.” Eramis admitted as he leaned forward.

“Yeah! Burn it!” agreed one from the crowd.

“Destroy it.” piped up another.

“Only a fool would use such research.” Added Voss as she worked the crowd into a frenzy. There was a general sentiment of their dislike for the void but there were some who kept quiet as the other barons worked themselves up.

"And only a bigger fool would destroy such research." spoke up a voice amongst the crowd, catching everyone's attention. Heads turned as Silco spoke up for the first time since he entered the room. Even Vander looked shocked at what Silco just said. There were varying looks of shock and incredulity in their looks and then there was Voss who fumed at the insult.

“Say that again I-!” Voss growled out before she was cut off by the man.

“A fool. A head strong fool that’s giving up the chance of a lifetime. Do you even know what you’re planning to burn, girl?” Silco asked without a care for her.

“Now things have just gotten a lot more interesting.” Renata said as she leaned forward. Even her rebreather couldn’t hide her amusement.

“You don’t say?” Corazon replied as she watched Voss turn red in anger.

“Now listen here, fishmonger, do you have any idea what you’re talking about!? This is the void we're talking about, for crying out loud!” Voss tried to reason, gritting her teeth as she tried to be reasonable.

“Hearsay at the very least.” Silco replied dismissively, waving off her concerns and her insults. “Even if it’s the case, what about it? We’ve already pushed science and magic to its very limit since the earliest inception of our city so why stop now? Why waste such an opportunity where everyone can benefit. Just think of these monsters, they were mere prototypes but look at what they could do.” and what we could have was left unsaid but it was clear to everyone else. Even Voss was getting a bit hesitant as she thought about it.

“While I often disagree with Silco over some matters, I think I might have to agree with him on this one.” Renata replied as her gaze was locked on to Silco, eyes narrowed as if trying to figure out a puzzle.

Silco smiled as he continued on. “Still, it’s not up to us to decide. I’m sure we could all use some professional knowledge. Someone we could say might know more about the situation than we know so far. Why, I think the new owners of the lab might know more about it. After all, isn’t that Singed beside her? Why, the opinion of the most renowned researcher in Zaun should hold some weight and isn’t it her property now? She should have the last say.”

The attention that was once on Silco now turned to Corazon. She frowned a bit but didn’t let anything else show as she leaned back against her seat. She let the crowd stew in their anticipation before she looked up to the ceiling. The crowd looked up and there sitting above the rafters with his legs was a winged figure with a mask akin to that of an owl.

There was a sign of recognition among many as some of the twitchier guards pulled out their guns as the boy waved at them rather cheekily.

“Ark dear, would you be kind enough to explain our stance on this matter?” Corazon asked as Ark nodded before he slipped off his seat from above and slowly glided down the center of the room. With wings spread wide, he floated above them, demanding attention as the harsh light from above bathed his white cloaked form. With the eyes of everyone in the crowd on him, he started to speak.

“In the ancient deserts of Shurima, there exists a tale of a fantastical creature known among the locals as a genie. Spirits of untold power yet trapped in innocuous little objects such as bottles or lamps. Legends goes that whoever frees these creatures gets to have whatever they wish to come, but elders often warn that the genies are not often as magnanimous and generous as they appear. They can twist your very words and intentions against you if you wish and once they’re out, there’s nothing you can do to put them back in. Be it a good spirit or a bad one, whoever frees them must realize that they have just released something they cannot control.

This is exactly what we’ve found inside that god forsaken lab. The progress they’ve made in the field of science and techmaturgy is undoubtedly great and just as equally horrifying to behold. I’ve been inside that lab more than once. Once as an avenger looking to seek justice and another time as a researcher picking up what’s left of the place.

The cages and blood inside still haunts me from time to time. Their methods were undoubtedly cruel, yet they had results. Their actions were those of monsters but they’ve produced a wonder that even my teacher, the esteemed Doctor Singed, would find to have untapped potential and all of it written down and noted for us to study.

We’ve seen the results, fought it up close and it was a terrible thing to behold. Whatever they fielded was merely a prototype, a mere fluke after hundreds of failed experiments but we all saw the results.

Ladies and gentlemen, while we abhor the monstrosity of these experiments, we cannot burn what they’ve made and forget about it because sooner or later, we might just have another. Human curiosity will not allow us to rest until we know what it can do. Best to see the research in the light of day rather than be hidden in the deep darkness where researchers grope out in the shadows and unwittingly have something grab back and take them down a road of madness.

We ask those who’s going to pursue this knowledge to be not as cruel as the ones before us and let this shimmering light in the dark be a beacon of power for us all.”

Ark bowed once before flying up Corazon’s side. There was silence for a while as the barons digested this information before it was cut short as Silco clapped.

“Well put.” Silco replied as this seemed to snap people out of their little spell bind with Eramis blinking and clearing her throat.

“That’s one way to put it. It seems that we’ll be seeing the fruits of this research, as tainted with tragedy as they be, in the future. Now, with that out of the way, let’s move on to other issues. It will be a while since we have a gathering of this scale so I’d like to bring up...”

Things went on till it was already late at night. The barons and baroness who attended finally grew tired of the meeting and called it a day so that they could finally party. While the rest socialized, Corazon sat beside Silco. Their bodyguards were off to the side leaving them in relative peace and privacy.

“What game are you playing at, boy?” Corazon growled, clearly pissed at what Silco did earlier.

“Oh, I just thought it be a waste if I let Voss and her little toadies have their fun.” Silco replied as he took a sip from his glass of wine, savoring its taste as he watched the party unfold before them.

Corazon glared at Silco before downing her drink. “Do it one more time and you’ll find out why I stayed in this game far longer than anyone else.”

“Of course. Now excuse me while I introduced myself to your little owl. Nice catch by the way. A thinker and a fighter? Why, I think I might just try and steal them away.”Silco replied as he got up, giving her a small bow before leaving. He headed towards the little star of the show earlier and his sister.

“Ah, you must be Ark. I’ve heard wonderful things about you.” Silco replied as he extended an arm out towards the smaller boy. The boy and his little girlfriend looked up to him a bit warily while the blue haired girl between them looked a bit curious

“... Likewise Mister Silco.” the boy replied.

“Oh nothing so formal. Just call me Silco. I have a feeling that we might just be meeting a lot more in the future” Silco said as they shook hands.