Ch. 64 – Astragos V (Patreon)

Felix had never been to a place that was mid-war preparations. The environment was authoritarian – armed soldiers patrolled the streets in sizable squads, very few vendors were on the streets, and many stores and shops were shuttered. Reth explained that the standing army had been fully mobilized, and all non-essential citizens were being evacuated to surrounding cities further from where the fighting would be. There was a tension in the atmosphere, as if a board was being bent to the point where it was on the edge of snapping. Everyone appeared on-edge. There was an overwhelming sense of dread at an impending doom that was about to descend.

“How long until the war is fully underway?” Tinuriel asked.

“Mobilization is almost finished. Soon the last squadrons will be sent to the front lines…and then there will be some setting up of the bulkheads on the enormous sand bar that separates our borders from theirs.” He emphasized ‘theirs’ with a sound of disgust.

“Weren’t your two empires part of one larger whole?” Felix asked.

Reth shrugged, “I’m no historian. Just a man on a mission.”

The streets were well-kept. Ornate, herringbone style stones were intricately placed in alternating brown and grey stone that directed traffic down either side of the main avenue. Following this track, they arrived at an enormous citadel created from a solid, grey stone – built into the mountain behind it. They traveled through many heavily-guarded gates – but Reth’s credentials let them pass without issue. The winding road doubling back on itself as they ascended began to wear down on Felix as his legs started to cramp. Thankfully, they reached the summit – a final guarded gate that led to the main part of the citadel. 

Reth led them inside and to a side-room. Several individuals dressed similarly to Reth gave the two he was escorting looks of curiosity, and their guide led them to a small chamber with a table, chairs, and writing equipment. “Please stay here. I’ll advise the emperor that a Versewalker is here to visit.”

“Make sure he knows I’m not the same guy that tried to kill him,” Felix stated with some concern.

Reth nodded sagely, “Don’t worry. I’ll be back!” He closed the door.

Tinuriel sat down and kicked her legs up onto the table, pulling Valiant Edge from her inventory and laying it across her thighs. Felix sat in the chair next to her and followed suit, kicking his legs up. “Thoughts?” he probed.

Tinuriel shrugged, “Either side we choose, I’ll get to fight. And in a proper war, no less.” She grinned, “I’m happy to go along with whatever you want.”

Felix sighed and rubbed his face, “I don’t want to pick a side. I want to end things amicably.”

“But the System didn’t provide that as an option,” Lucifer chimed in.

“It could be,” Felix muttered as he put his legs down and leaned forward. “We already know that the System isn’t always telling us the whole truth – whether because the Admin dislikes us, or because it is intentionally designed that way.”

“Solving a Crisis in a way not approved by the System? Querying…Huh, would you look at that. There are some instances where a Versewalker was able to solve a Crisis in a way that did not follow the System’s guidance.”

Felix smirked, “Then I just need to convince them to give peace a chance. I can propose to go and carry terms. If it prevents people from dying, it’s worth trying.”

Tinuriel sighed and shook her head, “Making things overcomplicated.” She lifted the huge blade with ease and balanced the sword – perfectly upright – on her fingertip. “We should use our skills to fight.”

The door opened and Reth was standing there in the doorway – along with ten ornately dressed guards in full plate and wielding large war hammers. “The emperor will see you.”

The throne room of Foundation was spectacular – an enormous, natural cavern that was carved out from the gigantic mountain. Several rows of benches were carved from the stone floor, as was a large dais and throne made of a singular slab of granite. Sitting on that throne was a middle-aged Earthborn like Reth. He stood up, and a young man next to him tapped a staff against the floor three times. “His highness, Emperor Quarilon, welcomes the Versewalker to his domain.”

Felix was led by Reth to a marked spot on the floor, and he bowed at the waist, “Thank you for seeing us.”

The emperor sat down, and gestured to Felix and Tinuriel, “Reth told me that you helped him upset hostile agents and were gravely injured yourself. My thanks for the defense of the Monolith Empire.”

“It wasn’t much of a threat,” Tinuriel stated as she crossed her arms and stood up straight to her full height. “Why should we fight for your empire instead of the Coralith?”

“Or” Felix added quickly, “Why give up peace negotiations?”

The emperor leaned forward and took a sip from a goblet before addressing their questions. “Peace was never an option. The game of empires is a long, hard-fought battle of politics and attrition. I desired more subjects, to unite the world in my grand image for the future. The Coralith feel the same – and such, our strife.”

I’m sure he’s hiding something, but I don’t know what.

Keep trying to read him. Felix nodded silently and pretended to contemplate the words before replying. “I know that both you and they tried to usurp via the taking of vassals.” He spotted the emperor’s eyebrow twitch as Felix implied with his tone that there was something wrong about the act. “I also know that the civil wars that occurred were to quash those rebellious subjects who wanted to be vassals of the other empire.” That was just a theory, but Felix presented it as fact. To his satisfaction, the emperor’s face became even redder – a difficult feat to pull off considering his skin was a grey colored marble. “I also know that the Coralith escalated the issue by trying to assassinate you, and instead killed your son. My condolences.”

The emperor sagged in his chair, “You’ve got the right of it,” he muttered. “The Coralith struck a deep blow. One that must be repaid in kind.”

Reth stepped forward, “They have not declared their intent for one side or the other, my liege.”

Tinuriel shot a withering stare at Reth before turning to the emperor once more, “Felix here is moral. He wants to try and bring peace.”

The emperor laughed. A laugh that allowed grief to pour through despite the lapse of demeanor. “No…no peace is possible. They murdered my son.”

I don’t think the emperor here was the target.

What makes you think that?

A true assassin would only go for their contracted target. They wouldn’t take a consolation prize. This implies that-

-The son was the intended target. “What can you tell me about your son?”

“Thaskel…my only son. He slew his mother in childbirth, maker rest her body.”

“Right,” Felix muttered before turning to Reth, “Pardon me for asking…what did he do?”

“The heir? He oversaw our lord’s libraries. A ceremonial position, but the young man relished reading books.”

“Has an inventory been taken?” Felix asked.

Reth blinked a few times and shook his head, “I don’t believe so.”

Felix looked to the emperor, “I don’t think that you were the target. I think your son was.” He turned to Reth, “Who would be the next person to ask about the inventory of your library?”

“Chronicler Sellara.” He looked to the emperor, “My lord, I ask for permission to accompany these two to investigate this possibility.”

The emperor nodded and gestured for them to leave, “They may do so.” He stood up and rapidly left the room – raising a kerchief to his face as the doors closed behind him.

“He’s taking his son’s death hard,” Tinuriel commented. She looked to Felix, “More investigating?”

Felix nodded, “Lead the way, Reth.”

The agent led them down several corridors as they came to a wing of the carved-out palace. “These are the heir’s quarters. The main library is down this hall,” he stated as they passed the room.

“Hold up. Let me look inside,” Felix stated as he went to the door.

Reth frowned, “Why? The library is where Chronicler Sellara is.”

“If this heir had something truly valuable, he’d keep it close. If not on his person, then in the room he spent the most time in.” Felix whipped out his thieves’ tools, played the mini game to pick the lock, and was in the room – all within ten seconds. Looking around the room he instantly spotted the golden spindle designating a trap – coming from under the bed. He got on his stomach as Reth and Tinuriel watched from the doorway. Using his Might stat, Felix easily lifted the bed with one hand, earning a wide-eyed look from Reth and a smirk from Tinuriel.

He disabled the trap and opened the trap door under, pulling out several books wrapped in sailcloth and oil canvas for waterproofing. “Found it,” Felix stated as he set the bed down, put the books on the nearby desk, and began unwrapping them.

Reth walked over, “How’d you find this so quickly?”

“Because he is amazing,” Tinuriel replied with a grin.

[Experience Awarded = 10]

Felix carefully peeled back the cloth. The first tome was a deep, brown almost black with silver embossing and lettering. It looked quite expensive…and old. The title read, The Diary of Pheldarm. “Pheldarm?”

Reth shook his head, “That’s the father. The creator deity of the ground.”

Felix unwrapped the next one. Similar in embossing and lettering, but instead colored a deep blue. Dhelana’s Journal. “I’m guessing this is the creator deity of the ocean?” Reth nodded, and Felix made quick work of the cloth around the last one. Fogaron’s Fables. “And this one?”

Reth shook his head, “Never heard of it.”

Felix cracked open Fogaron’s Fables and started scanning, just lightly reading the first few pages for basic information instead of a deep dive. “I think it’s just a series of stories. About the various tasks that the deities set forth to accomplish. Fogaron might be sone type of historian?”

“We should ask the chronicler. If the heir was hiding these and not keeping them with the main collection, there must be something valuable about them.”

Felix held his hand over the trio of books and used a Magic/Power effect three times in succession. Detect Properties.

[Item Description: Tremor Tome]

[Enables the user to raise earth across the whole of Astragos through an intensive, multi-day ritual. Can only be used once per millennia.]

[Item Description: Tide Tome]

[Enables the user to raise the ocean across the whole of Astragos through an intensive, multi-day ritual. Can only be used once per millennia.]

[Item Description: Fogaron’s Fables]

[A series of stories written by Fogaron, the half-earth, half-coral, first child of the deities Pheldarm and Dhelana.]

We can’t give these to either side of the conflict. The Coralith Empire would flood the world, and the Monolith Empire would do the opposite.

Time to lie.

“These two are just diaries of people who thought themselves the deities, and this one is just creation myth stories,” Felix stated with confidence.

Reth scrutinized him, and Felix tried to maintain as neutral a disposition as possible. Finally, he nodded, “Perhaps the heir thought that they were legitimate.”

Buy some basic books from the VBV.

Done. 15 VC spent. Going to make a switch?

Mhmm. Can you swap them if I make sure he can’t see what I’m doing?

As long as you can touch the tomes.

Felix began to re-wrap the books in the sail and oilcloth, making sure to pull up the edges that were facing Reth first to hide his rapid switch from the man. He added the three books to his inventory, finished rewrapping the books, and handed them to Reth. “Here you go.”

Reth glanced down at the bundle of books in his arms and set them on the bed, “I can deal with them later. Let’s talk to the head chronicler.” He turned around and squeezed past Tinuriel – who intentionally blocked the doorway with her frame before allowing the man to pass. She gave Felix a smirk.

The main library they entered was shaped in a cylinder. Several levels ascended the enormous tube with shelves carved out of the walls. Two tall ladders slid on a rail system around the room. In the center were several tables and chairs. A middle-aged woman, wearing a light-blue set of robes, stood up and bowed. “An agent of the Vigilant Gaze. My, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

Reth gestured to Felix, “Sellara, I present Felix, the Versewalker. He had questions about the…former heir.”

Felix nodded, “Pleased to meet you. I need to know, the heir, what section did he spend the most time in?”

She pointed up to the top-left corner on the highest shelf, “There’s a reading nook up there that he would hide out in and be reading until all hours of the night. He was a great mind, but not very duty minded.”

Fallen Flight.

Felix manifested the spectral wings and flew up, finding a cozy looking space. He ignored the gasps of the two below him. This is a nice little reading nook. Cushions, blankets, an oil lamp with a cover. There was nothing up there that was noteworthy. Pretty sure I found what this Archon was trying to find. A weapon to end the war for good.

There aren’t different races. It’s not like being on land is going to mess things up too horribly.

It’s about knowledge. I’d bet that a Coralith Empire – I don’t know, kelp farmer – would not be able to till soil and plant terrestrial crops. And vice versa. It would necessitate reliance on the other side almost instantly to just survive.

You really think through bad situations, don’t you?

Always good to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. That was a mantra that was drilled into him by his grandfather and had served him well most of his life. Felix glided down and deactivated Fallen Flight. “Thank you, Chronicler.” He looked to Reth, “Do you have somewhere we can talk privately?”

Reth nodded, “Follow me.”

Reth eventually led them to a balcony far on a wing of the palace that was caked in dust – a visitor wing that had not seen use in months. “We can talk here.”

Felix nodded, “I took the books. Those are fakes in the sailcloth.”

Reth’s eyes narrowed, “I figured as much. Why tell me?”

“Because I had an idea,” Felix continued. “One of the tomes enables me to raise the earth across all of Astragos, the other the waters.” Reth’s eyes widened in shock. “That’s what your heir, this Thaskel, was hiding. And probably what the assassin was after. Not actually killing Thaskel but finding these books.”

“And this idea?” Reth asked.

Tinuriel looked at Felix with curiosity and some disappointment, “Yes, do tell.”

“What if we gave the opposite tome to each empire? It would ensure a permanent ceasefire.”

“How do you figure?” Tinuriel asked.

“Where I came from, we had these horribly powerful weapons. Many countries had them, and there was this idea of Mutually Assured Destruction. Basically, the first person to use the weapon would instantly be retaliated against with the same weapon.” Felix gestured to the ocean lying far off on the horizon, glimmering in the setting suns. “But, instead of giving the earth tome to the Monolith Empire, and the water tome to the Coralith Empire – we switch it.”

Tinuriel cackled evilly, “That’s devilish.”

“But…we tell them that it will raise their side’s desired result instead. That way if they do use it – they will be self-destructing.”

That’s pretty messed up. “That’s pretty messed up,” Reth and Lucifer’s voices overlapped.

Felix shook his head, “It’s the most ethical way to go about things. Whoever pulls the trigger first will result in their own doom. It’s the ultimate test of trust. And the side that breaks that trust will suffer the consequences for breaking it. It doesn’t punish the person who kept the peace.”

Putting it that way…Even though I know everything about you and what you’re thinking, you still surprise me with your wisdom.

I may not have been the strongest or smartest back on my Earth, but I did listen to people smarter than me.

“But” Tinuriel followed up, “We’d have to give it to both people at the same time. Both emperor and empress.”

“I have an idea for that, too. I have two Multiversal Charges. We can set one up here, in the throne room just like I did on Dirge and Ethdellin in Heficyre. Then, I’ll close it temporarily. We then go to the Coralith Empire and do the same. Bring both rulers in, present the terms, and vie for peace.”

Reth scratched his scruffy, short beard on his chin, “It’s a solid plan. But if I don’t report this, or if I help you, then it may be considered treason.”

“What would you prefer? Death, despair, and poverty…or a chance for a lasting peace? Where if your side kept the peace, then nothing bad would happen to them as a result?”

Reth looked down and took a deep breath.

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