Astral Threads, Ch 8: The High Council (Patreon)

Aemilia stood in a vast orchard that stretched out into the horizon. Above, the sun bathed the rolling hills and the trees with light so dense that it was nearly liquid, and it hung around the leaves like nectar that was dripping from the tips. Ripe fruit was heavy on the branches, making them dip toward the rolling grass. First, they looked like apples, but as she turned to look at another tree, they were cherries, and then stranger things, some that could not have been ripe in the same season as another.

Every time she changed her view, the trees held a different fruit, but the sunlight and the rolling hills stayed the same. The buzz of bees and life filled the area. Wooden beehives dotted the orchard and beside them there were clay tablets that rested in the grass, as if they’d been tossed there by someone who had sat down for a moment, inscribed their thoughts, and moved on.

Farther out, dotting her sight between the trees, there were stone steles that were engraved with words she half-recognized in some ancient script, and then to her left there was a bookshelf standing between the trees on its own that was stuffed with scrolls in diagonal sections. It should have felt out of place in the orchard, but somehow it fit. The boughs of a tree hung low over it, the round purple fruit on the branches just brushing the top.

In other areas, there were crystals embedded in the ground that refracted the sunlight in a dozen hues, and then books stacked one on top of another in loose towers that rested between the roots of a tree and threatened to fall over. In another area, a harp was resting against one raised root and a lute was on the next. Other instruments followed.

Every time as she saw something, a heavy aura of meaning pressed in on her mind, whispering the events of the past. Each artifact had recorded an era or shaped the story about it, and she felt the echoes of time singing between the strings of the instruments and the winds that blew around the steles. As those stories came, their words poured into her mind in images and songs, each of them different, until she somehow knew that every tree was an era and every leaf a life that had lived it. Each fruit was an event that had happened in their age.

There was nothing that tried to harm her, but it was so much that she had to close her eyes and take a deep breath as she sorted out where the stories ended and she began. She stood like that in the center of the orchard until a voice interrupted her. At first, it was just a whisper of attention against her mind, but as she turned toward it, she saw an older woman smiling at her.

Well, lass. Which one speaks to you?

Her face was all she noticed at first. The woman was beautiful in her own way, but it was a beauty of time and grace, with each tiny wrinkle holding a story. The lines of her face drew Aemilia in like the pages of a story, and if you’d asked her how to describe her, she wouldn’t have known where to begin. The woman's smile made her instantly more comfortable.

I am Aesatira, the first Historian and the creator of your Class. Be welcome here to my orchard, young one.

With those words, the weight of the orchard swept off of Aemilia’s shoulders and she looked at the woman with shock. Then she gathered herself together and curtsied. As she raised her head, she saw Aesatira smiling at her as she took in the rest of the scene.

The first Historian was clothed in a white dress that was clasped with an intricate belt at her waist and she was wearing sandals that laced up her calves. Despite the age that was apparent on her features, her skin was as smooth as parchment, giving her a strange timelessness that made it seem like she was young and old at once. Thin golden and silver bracelets loosely clasped her wrist and biceps. In her left hand, she held a clay tablet, and in her right, she had a simple wooden stylus. A moment later, the tablet changed to a scroll and the stylus changed to a quill.

Aemilia had to pull her attention away before the items could change again. They had a weight of meaning that threatened to crush her if she looked at them for too long. Instead, she looked at Aesatira, studying her as she waited to find out what she was supposed to do.

You have reached your First Evolution. Aesatira's tone was light, but flashes of a romance came to Aemilia’s mind as the Historian smiled, something she’d heard long ago about a war that had brought down a city. Now it is time to choose. Do you wish to follow this path or another? To make your own?

Aesatira turned toward the orchard and raised her hand with the scroll in it, which shifted into a flute as she pointed it at the orchard.

All the stories of the world are gathered here in these items. Some have been walked before and some have never awoken beneath the sun. They exist as a possibility beneath the heavens, of what could one day be a story. The Classes you can choose are among them. With a wave of Aesatira’s hand, the orchard began to hum as the instruments, scrolls, books, crystals, steles, and all the other objects lit up in unique colors. Every one of them drew Aemilia’s attention.

What do you wish to be?

“I want to look after my family and help to create a place for us to live.” It took a moment for Aemilia to gather her thoughts and then words began to spill from her lips. One thought led into another as she continued speaking. "I always hoped it would be a simple life, just enough to be happy in our own home, but with every day that passes, the world presses with more force and shakes that hope apart.

"With the Trial of the Moon and the Moonlight Relic, and all the powers of the valley, I'm not sure what I will need to be...but I don't think I will get the simple life any longer." Aemilia shook her head with a trace of regret before she pushed it away and looked at the Historian. "I was raised to be a merchant, you know? Ledgers, calculations, planning to trade herbs and make a profit. I don't know if that will help here, but I don't wish to give up my abilities as a Historian or a Seer either.

"My family thought Historian was a useless class, but over the last months, I've realized the opposite. It has an incredible pull over information and the future, if it's used correctly. Every time I wrote about the death of a bounty or the Terror, the history of the Ice Sylphs, or the Moonlight Relic itself...it showed me how much larger the world is than I'd expected. There is so much out there to know and to help others understand.

"I don't want to go back to looking at it the same way now. I don't think I can. I feel like the best thing I can do is to find a way to show the world what needs to be done. Not just for Sam or my family, but for everyone's family. They need to know what the world has been before and what it could be again. There is hope in that...a light that guides us through the darkness."

Aesatira nodded slightly as Aemilia continued, but she didn't interrupt. It felt like she spoke for hours, tossing out words endlessly as she tried to frame her ideas, and at other times just minutes as an ephemeral clarity washed through her that made it feel like the world could be reduced to a single idea. Through it all Aesatira’s smile watched her, giving her the space to speak her mind.

Very well, lass. I understand, she said at last. Her voice was gentle, as if the time was no trouble at all. You have outlined what you wish and I can see the path now. You have three Marks to spend. Do you wish to incorporate them into the choice? If so, I can help you blend your Class and Subclass with your new title from the Moonlight Relic, and give you a little boost along the way. Succeeding in the Trial has also earned you the favor of the World Core, so things will be easier for this Evolution.

“Please, I would accept whatever help you can offer,” Aemilia agreed at once as relief washed over her. She barely remembered half of what she'd said to Aesatira, but it felt like the First Historian had understood it all. Speaking for so long had helped her to work through a lot of the changes that had happened so quickly in her life and it felt like her perspective had changed as a result.

She couldn't change Sam back into the little boy who had run around their house like a whirlwind, tugging at her skirts and trying to climb on the table. All she could do was move forward with the flow of time. Being a Historian was part of that. She would record what was at the same time as she looked ahead to what was to come.

"I would like to keep my abilities as a Seer," she added. "I will need them to find the path forward."

Do not worry, child. Your abilities as a Seer form many of your opportunities here and the Moonlight Relic needs you to fill a certain role if you are to be part of the High Council.

Are you ready to begin?

“Yes.” Aemilia’s response came at once as she nodded to Aesatira. She was far more confident in her choice now than she'd been before. She wasn't sure what her class would be exactly, but she could feel it forming now. It was a song in the distance that called to her.

Then let history unfold. Aesatira raised her hand and the world changed.

Before Aemilia could gather herself, she was soaring through the orchard as she headed for a tree that was growing in the distance. It was taller than some of the others around it, with dusky purple leaves and silver threads extending through the bark, and there was a harp lying on the roots that played a song as the wind blew across the strings.

As she came closer, her attention was drawn to the leaves on the branches. In one, she saw herself as a child, running along the banks of the river near her family’s home. In another, she saw Altey as a babe, held in her arms.

From one to the next, the memories in the leaves filled her mind as she saw who she was and all the events that had made up her life, from her youngest memories up until the trials in the Moonlight Relic. She’d never known if she was choosing the right course for the trials, but she’d done her best. Even now, she wasn’t sure, but she could see every choice recorded in the leaves.

As she reached it, she knew that the tree was her life. Below it, there was a book resting half open on a root at the base of the trunk, its stem hidden by the grass. Along the cover, there was a title that she could almost make out. As she closed the last distance, the words began to change, but she was moving so quickly that she couldn’t tell what they were becoming.

A wind stirred through the orchard and pulled the cover open, fanning the pages of the book, which became larger as she approached, until they were as large as the world. The pages reached out around her, their edge the horizon in the distance, and she flew into them as the book slammed closed around her. The voice of the World Law echoed around her like an ocean wave.

Congratulations, Chronicler, on your First Evolution.

Class: Archivist of the Moons.

[Legendary. Domain Limited. +6 Wisdom, +2 Intelligence per Level. General Levels will provide +2 Attribute points.]

Class Ability:

• Records of the Past: Ward and secret present no obstacle to your sight. You gain the ability to recall a highly detailed history of any object you touch within your domain and that is related to it, as well as information on events large and small related to those who lived here. This ability functions only within the domain of the Moonlight Relic. You also receive a small, general improvement to Psionic Recall from your Initial Class.

For Evolving your Class, you gain +10 Constitution, +20 Wisdom, +20 Intelligence, +10 Charisma.

Subclass: Seer of the Three Moons.

Subclass Ability:

• Vision of the Three Moons: Wherever moonlight falls upon the world, there your vision may be. Distance and accuracy are limited by your Wisdom attribute and the amount of mana infused into the ability. This ability may only be used at night. Current Range: 1,000 miles.

The World Law fell silent and Aemilia found herself standing again beside Aesatira. Her eyes burned with an unfamiliar energy as her vision resolved. The Historian smiled at her and then raised her hand.

I will see you again one day, daughter, if you succeed on your Path.

The orchard disappeared as Aemilia once again found herself standing on the stone plateau at the beginning of the Trials.

---

Sam waited on the greenstone below the peak as he looked at where the Trial Arch had been. Once, this plaza might have been filled with celebrants waiting for their new council members to be appointed, but tonight only Krana, Lesat, Lenei, Altey, and a handful of Ice Sylphs were here with him. For them, it was enough, but it was a far cry from the majesty that the relic had once known.

His attention was only half on the stones where the archway had formed. Right now, they were as flat as the rest of the plaza. The rest of his focus was on the peak above. If his parents were successful, they would appear on the control plateau. They would only return through the arch if they failed. Since he was the only one who could go up there to meet them, he was waiting with the others. In the vault of stars, the three moons shone down, their light drifting across the relic like the ghosts of the past and the promise of a new beginning.

“It is almost time!” Altey’s voice chimed out across the stones as she looked up into the sky, waiting for a sign. As if her words were the marker of time, as soon as she spoke, a bright wave of power rumbled through the stones.

A twist of anxiety knotted Sam’s stomach as he looked at the stones and then up at the plateau, but before he had to wait any longer, he felt the hum of the relic’s energy flare up in celebration as two pillars of light exploded upward from the peak. Each was dozens of feet across and would be easily visible from the valley below.

The first pillar stretched upward to Caelus in the heavens like a bright blue spear of ice that struck toward the sky. A faint tracery of silver lines infused it, making it shine like the relic itself. Next to it, the second pillar reached toward Amaris. It was a dusky purple adorned with the same silver light and it tugged at his heart like the hope of a summer day fading away into dusk.

“They succeeded.” A smile split his face as he announced the result. “I wish I could take you all up to the plateau, but the relic won’t allow it. I’ll be back shortly with them.”

“Of course they did it!” Altey laughed as she looked up at the pillars. “I’ll be up there too one day!”

“Then keep studying your mana control.” Sam grinned at her as he touched the relic’s awareness. A moment later, he was gone in a wash of moonlight as the relic teleported him away.

The plateau appeared in front of him, along with the two lights that were rising up side by side from the control pillar. His parents were standing next to it, holding hands, as currents of moonlight swirled around them like fog. The area around them was saturated with the aura of the moons and the astral energy of the relic, which hung on their skin like a sparkling cloak. They turned together to look at him as he appeared. He took in their new classes at a glance.

Jeric Hastern. Human (Bloodline of Frozen Earth). Commander of the Frozen Peak-Blessed Statesman of the Moonlight Relic. Level 100.

Aemilia Hastern. Human. Archivist of the Moons-Seer of the Three Moons. Level 100.

A sense of shock hit him as he took in his father’s new bloodline and the names of their classes. His father’s eyes had turned from their familiar green to a piercing, ice blue and the strands of silver that had been mixed into his hair and beard looked like streaks of frost in the winter. His muscles were even more pronounced than before, with every line resembling living stone. Somehow, it only made him feel like more of who he was at heart. A sense of stability radiated from him as he saw Sam and laughed.

Aemilia was a graceful form beside him, her golden hair and blue eyes like the day that met Jeric’s night. Light and dark, summer and winter. They were a perfect pair. Moonlight played through her hair and across her features, washing her in brilliant waves of color.

A laugh broke out from Sam’s chest as got over his shock and dashed forward to meet them. As he approached the control pillar, however, he felt a sudden pulse of energy from the relic, which peaked as he stopped in front of them.

A wave of moonlight so powerful it felt like it could crush the mountain poured through the area and into the control pillar as a third pillar of light joined the first two. This one was green as it stretched upward to meet Silvas in the sky. As soon as it was there, the relic’s voice rolled across the peak of Sun’s Rest like an earthquake.

The High Council is Formed: the Architect, the Commander, and the Guide.

Let the First Night of a New Age Begin.

The announcement expanded outward from the peak, rolling down the slopes until it filled every corner of the relic’s domain, echoing from wall to wall and from one strand of moonlight to another, until nothing living could have mistaken it. When it passed, the three pillars reaching toward the moons brightened to a blinding intensity and faded away, leaving Sam and his parents standing together on the peak as they looked up at where they had been.

“That sounds important.” Jeric chuckled softly as he broke the ice. “I suppose we’ll have to live up to it now.”

“We will manage,” Aemilia agreed with a smile as she squeezed his hand. “That’s why we came here. And I think our new classes will help. But look at you!” She laughed as she studied Jeric, examining the changes in him from head to toe. “I wasn’t expecting that you would look different, but you look wonderful.”

Jeric was puzzled for a moment as he looked down at himself in surprise, until Sam created a mirror of ice in front of him, and he took in the changes. His eyes widened in surprise as he stood there for a minute, examining himself. Finally, he just chuckled again and turned back to Aemilia. “I wasn’t expecting that would happen. I’m glad you like it though.”

“Now everyone in the family has blue eyes,” Aemilia laughed as she patted him on the shoulder. “You caught up. It looks like you’re going to have more magic in the future too, if your class is what I think it is.”

“Ahh, I was fine being a barbarian with a hammer, but I suppose this works too.” Jeric chuckled as his eyes and the streaks of ice in his hair shimmered in the moonlight, as if agreeing with Aemilia’s statement. “Maybe this time, it’ll all work out.”

“Let’s head down and meet the others.” Sam grinned as he looked at the two of them. Whatever they’d gone through, it looked like they had found more confidence as well. They were happier and more content than he remembered seeing for a very long time. It looked good on them. “Altey will love this.”

“We’ll take care of things as a family,” Jeric agreed as he shared a smile with Aemilia. “Now, let’s head down and show the others.”

“But first,” Aemilia laughed, “you have to teach us how to get off this plateau.”

“This way,” Sam laughed as he led them to the edge of the plateau, feeling content with all of the changes. The future was unknown and there were many things they needed to do, but for tonight, they would celebrate.