Path of Transcendence Omnibus II, page 7
Calanth'ontreth'tar had the backing of a powerful secular clan that he was able to draw upon for resources and manpower unrelated to the Temple of Yggr. That alone gave him a completely different starting point and base of power to draw upon.
After extensive investigations by his agents. Calanth'ontreth'tar remained uncertain as to how Stegnar'shen'fal had risen to his current position. Stegnar'shen'fal was one of the last scions of a nearly exterminated clan. His rise to his current position in the Hierarchy was apparently a testimony to his personal drive and ability. He was known to recruit talented orphans. Being orphans or children born into low clans that were personally taken in by him, most of the Priest-Wizards in Gor'achen had a fanatical loyalty to him. Those that appeared to have had a falling out or an acrimonious relationship with Stegnar'shen'fal had transferred to other Temples.
Exactly how many of those transferred Priest-Wizards were actually on bad terms with him? As Calanth'ontreth'tar stared at Stegnar'shen'fal, he began to feel an unpleasant premonition growing.
"The Tren'fon Citadel has no Lord-Priest. The Temples of the Church of the Jotun Lords in the Citadel have been under the jurisdiction of the ranking priests in Tren'fon City since time immemorial!" Calanth'ontreth'tar glared at Stegnar'shen'fal.
With a supercilious smirk, Stegnar'shen'fal pointed at the crystal projector sitting on the desk. "Do you doubt the words of the Council of Hierarchs? This is a decision that has been made in response to the Greatest God acknowledging the acquisition of Gor'achen Citadel by the so-called Smith God. If you want to complain, complain to the Council."
"I do not know what games you played, or how you manipulated the council, but I will not stand by and watch. We shall see how long your coup stands after I appeal to the Hierarchs. Once, I am done; I will see you on the main alter communing with the Greatest God!" Calanth'ontreth'tar's voice was so cold, it was surprising that frost did not form in the air.
"Emer."
How much does he know? Even though Stegnar'shen'fal dropped the name in an off-handed manner, Calanth'ontreth'tar was surprised. He had been secretly trading with the Possessed humans ruling over the burgeoning town for a number of years.
In the See of Tren'fon, the three branches of the Temple of Yggr had very seldom been at each other's throats in the way they often were in other Sees. Such would only occur, if the leadership of the Central Fane was weak or careless. Calanth'ontreth'tar had long been aware of the discord building between the three branches in Gor'achen and other Sees. Using the communications devices made by the humans, the control and coordination of the Central Fane Guard under his control had improved dramatically. Seeing the effectiveness of the communications devices, both Lord-Priests of the Left Hand and Right Hand Orders had been brought further under his sway.
The technology he acquired was not exactly a secret in the Church of the Jotun Lords, but his source was. Due to the limited number of units available, Calanth'ontreth'tar had been using their supply as a method of securing influence outside the See of Tren'fon.
Could Stegnar'shen'fal have secretly used the discontent of Hierarchs that I have a lack of influence with to undermine me? Calanth'ontreth'tar stared coldly at Stegnar'shen'fal, while he considered which Hierarchs might have been manipulated by the upstart in front of him.
In the eyes of Calanth'ontreth'tar, the Church of the Jotun Lords, once again, needed to have an Emperor-Priest that would rule over all the Temples of the various Gods. Such a thing had not happened since the time of the Jotun-Dragon War when all needed to unite against the threat of the heretical Dragons. The best candidate for that position was, of course, himself.
Now, this upstart was interfering with his plans.
"I believe that is what the Possessed animals call their town. It is near that heretical abomination called Mountain View. What does it have to do with anything?"
Stegnar'shen'fal smiled. "Then, you won't get in my way, when I conquer the town and enslave the Possessed?"
Despite his iron self-control, Calanth'ontreth'tar could not keep the fury from showing in his eyes. "Do what you will. It has nothing to do with me."
Stegnar'shen'fal's smile broadened. "Farewell, for now, Priest-Lord Calanth'ontreth'tar. I assure you, we will meet again."
As the door closed behind Stegnar'shen'fal, Calanth'ontreth'tar slapped a crystal mounted in the corner of his desk, and wards sprang up around his office.
"Damn that meddling bastard son of a dog of no Provenance!" Calanth'ontreth'tar's hands began to shake, and his lips pulled back in a death's-head rictus.
After regaining control of his temper, Calanth'ontreth'tar tapped a crystal in a metal box with several dozen crystals set into it.
A short time later, the same crystal lit up, and a sepulchral voice sounded from the box. The voice belonged to the Priest-Lord of the Tren'fon See's Left Hand Order. "Priest-Lord, is there something you need done?"
"With the loss of Gor'achen, Stegnar'shen'fal has managed to be reassigned to the position of Priest-Lord of Tren'fon Citadel. The Citadel will become a separate See from the Tren'fon See. In order, to show his effectiveness, he plans to conquer the Possessed in the Lands of Despair, starting with Emer. I need you to draw up plans to deal with him."
There was a long pause. "If we are caught, there will be extensive repercussions."
Calanth'ontreth'tar inwardly sighed. "Emer is a source of valuable resources for me. If it is lost, both our positions will be weakened."
As a period of silence stretched out, Calanth'ontreth'tar stared out the window of his office. From his complacent expression, few observers would even consider that he might be under any pressure.
"A former Priest-Wizard from Gor'achen, who is supposedly hostile to Stegnar'shen'fal, has been appointed to the Priest-Lord of the Left Hand Order in Tren'fon Citadel. I will deal with all matters relating to Tren'fon Citadel. Make sure the Priest-Lord of the Right Hand Order knows to not interfere with me." As the voice finished speaking, the light faded from the crystal.
Calanth'ontreth'tar smiled a very faint smile.
*** Mountain View – The Lands of Despair ***
Return: Day 308
(Brand)
*Tell Vili, if he does not disable his Spirit damping sigil, I will disable it! Return to my workshop!*
Even though he has never contacted me in this manner, there is no question in my mind who the message is from.
"Boran said to disable your Spirit damping sigil or he will."
With a slightly mad gleam in his eyes, Vili laughs. After two days straight of heavy drinking, he does not show the slightest hint of having consumed any alcohol.
"You need to learn to hold your liquor. You're only allowed one piss per keg. If you can't do that, you can't hold it you’re not a proper Dvergar."
The fucked up thing is that I am not showing any more signs of drinking for two days than Vili. I just need to piss a dozen times per keg. After being ragged on for pissing too much for almost two straight days, I am ready for any excuse to stop drinking.
"I'm not a proper fucking Dvergar; I'm a fucking human."
As we walk out of the inn, Vili turns his head slightly to look up at me. "You're soul has a trace of Dvergar in your pattern. Any Dvergar at all means that you have to do the Dvergar race proud."
Wincing, Vili abruptly snaps his head around to look in the direction of Boran's sanctuary. As he rubs his head, he mutters something I do not understand under his breath.
After being around Vili for the past five days, I have the impression that he is the class comedian and A Number One troublemaker among the Dvergar. Once we started drinking, everything he bragged about was either a fight, a scheme, or a scam, and the way he described each episode had me committing alcohol abuse, if I did not take care about when I drank. At least, he seems to be that way, when he can cut loose. He is probably a different person in the middle of a battle or commanding Dvergar in a War.
Walking through the streets of Mountain View, Vili draws as much attention as when we arrived two days ago. Nearly everyone that sees him bows to Vili. Just like before, the emotion strongest in their minds is what I believe is respect or possibly awe. I have not clearly identified the characteristics of those two emotions, yet.
What struck me most about the ordinary people of Mountain View, when I left Boran's sanctuary a week ago was the distinct lack of hate, anger, and fear among them. Instead, even from the children, I get a feeling that I can only call weariness. The people of Mountain View remind me of a group of old people that used to play chess in the park near my university on Earth. No matter, if they are old or young, they all feel like they are waiting for death.
There are exceptions to the norm scattered around, but the majority of those are obviously not residents of Mountain View. While Mountain View is a center of trade for this zone in the Lands of Despair, most of the traders and other visitors stay in the mercantile districts near the gates. If they wander around the city, they stand out. Their discomfort is palpable.
I do not feel any particular discomfort being in Mountain View, but I do have the distinct impression that it is not yet my time to be here.
As we pass through the school and temple district surrounding Boran's sanctuary, doors and window shutters crack open. Even though nothing can be seen in the darkness inside the buildings, there is the heavy pressure of their eyes following us. Vili does not appear to take any notice of them, but I am ready to lash out at anything that comes close. The weight of those hidden stares is like having mountains pressing down on my shoulders.
"The lost and forgotten False Gods are restless this morning. Old, dead things, whose time and place are dead and gone, shouldn't bother the living. You never know when one of the living that is irritated will rise up to be a slayer of annoying, old, dead things." Vili's clear words echo from the surrounding buildings.
The pressure of the hidden eyes recedes. The doors and window shutters close. Vili looks around with an expression of blatant contempt but does not say anything else.
I wait until we enter the sanctuary before voicing my question. "What were they?"
Vili frowns. "Beings that rose to the point of taking on Names. They became False Gods, but eventually, they were defeated and fell. As Transcendent beings, they won't die natural deaths, and now, they just sit here, hiding, wasting away. They're cowards, the lot of them."
After the limited explanation, Vili does not say anything else. He seems to be brooding about something, as we enter the caves beneath the Death part of the sanctuary.
After passing the room with the statues of Life and Death, we descend deep beneath the surface. At a guess, our destination is only at a depth of a mile or a mile and a half, but the twisting and turning path we walk is more than ten miles long. Dozens upon dozens of other tunnels branch off from the main one that Vili leads me down. Without his guidance, I am not sure I would remember the way. When I left, Boran sent a small ball of luminescence to lead me out. Now, even though I have had an exceptionally good memory since returning to my real Body, I, still, find myself confused as to which exit to take from a few of the larger caverns along the way.
As we enter the cavern where Boran's forge is located, I am startled by a ball of pure Od floating over a workbench. It is not terribly large, only around five to six feet in diameter and looks like a miniature version of the Furnace of Life and Death that powers the Labyrinth of Yggr. Like the Furnace, this ball of Od is in the shape of a taiji, a yin-yang symbol. Despite its small size, the intensity of the Power in it shakes me to the core.
Boran glances at me over his shoulder, a mortal action that he has no need of making. "I had expected you to take a few more minutes to arrive. One should be neither early nor late. Always seizing the perfect moment is a key to success in battle."
"I welcome the Second Father's wisdom." Vili has the faintest of smirks on his face.
I do not think Boran's comment is in relation to the timing of our presence in his workshop, but I get the impression that it is some long standing issue with Vili.
"Come here, Brand. Since someone is meddling where he should not, you have an opportunity that would not otherwise be available."
As I move toward Boran, the magnitude of the Od beating against me reaches the point where it becomes painful. By the time I reach Boran's side, I feel like my body is on the verge being torn apart.
"This much Od will not damage you. It will only be mildly painful."
Mildly painful? I do not think that Boran and I have the same definition of painful. In my life, I have only been subject to a few things more painful. Being burned alive barely qualifies as one of them. After ten or fifteen minutes, the intensity of the pain considerably decreases.
Boran snorts and the ball of Od disappears. With the Od gone, two swords are visible. Floating unsupported in the air, they are both bastard swords, but instead of being a matched set, they are a mirrored pair.
"Take them."
I do not hesitate and reach out my hands to grasp the hilts of the weapons. The latent power in these swords is immediately apparent, both Od and Trinity, pure Trinity, not the divided parts.
One has a black blade with silver edges, and the other has a silver blade with black edges. The guards are made from a dark blue-green metal. Looking at the guards from the point or hilt, they would appear to have an S-shape, with the blade impaling the middle of the S. The furniture on the hilts appears to have been carved from ivory for the silver blade and obsidian for the black one. The pommels of both blades are discs about two inches in diameter. In the center of both discs is a taiji symbol, but no matter how I move the blades, the taiji always retains the same orientation in relation to my point of view.
"These blades are not complete. The final form of their patterns will be set by you, but you will have no ability to deliberately direct that form. There will come a day when these blades pass to another. I will have an axe ready for you at that time."
A pair of scabbards appears in Boran's hands. After slipping the blades into their scabbards, I secure them to my harness.
Boran stares at Vili. "Since you are sticking your nose in this matter, you may accompany Brand. Thrall almost has the airship ready. Guide Brand through the Lands of Despair and take him to South Watch. You will take up the post of watcher with Vey at South Watch."
Vili's blatant smirk turns into a frown. "As the Second Father commands."
Boran sighs. "You cannot go to Earth. If you were to do so, you would die. Yggdrasil's primary drive is awake and active."
Boran looks at me. "The Yggdrasil's primary drive has a consciousness of sorts. It cannot be called a true sentience, but it is still highly intelligent. Nidhoggr programmed it to see Dvergar, Alfar, and the little worms as enemies. Were those of us made by Nidhoggr's hands as Transcendent beings to approach, the drive would destroy us. You are merely human, and humans were beneath Nidhoggr's notice. The drive's consciousness will not see you as a threat or an enemy. This will allow you to get close enough to contain it."
"You said this drive is what Woden used to drag Earth into the Battleground of the Damned. If it can do that and destroy you, how the fuck am I supposed to contain it?"
Boran raises his hand, and two items appear on his open palm. After he hands them to me, I examine them. One looks like a compass. It has a disc, but there are no N, S, E, or W markings on it. Instead, there is an engraved formation, with an arrow as part of the formation. The second item is a box, inlaid with patterns that remind me of the cube in North Dakota.
"You use the compass by injecting Od into it. When you are close enough, certainly no further than ten miles away, and possibly no further than five or so, the detector will point in the general direction of the drive. The closer you are, the more exact the direction will be. There is almost no chance that Woden is aware of the methodology behind that formation, so the likelihood of him having any wards in place that can block it is negligible.
"As for the box, it is a containment device, crafted with the Power of Life and Death. Just touching it to the drive will be enough to contain it. I have spent thousands of years preparing that containment device. I do not think it can fail."
I laugh morbidly. "‘Do not think’ is not so encouraging of an endorsement."
Boran stares at me. "Nothing is absolute, nothing."
Without even a gesture or a command, Boran brings up an image of Taereun. Zooming in on the southern end of the continent that would be South America on Earth. The exact point is a few hundred miles to the west of the Labyrinth of Yggr. There is a tall mountain, probably fifteen to twenty thousand feet tall, with fortifications built at various places on its slopes. In the valley below the mountain, there is a small seaport town, and sheep ranches away from the coast.
The mountain fortifications look like Dvergar work, but the town is clearly human built and occupied by humans. As Boran zooms in even closer on the town, I see a few faces I recognize. They are former players of Taereun, members of the Damned.
"The continent is most commonly called Sudnel. The mountain would be called South Watch in the tongue you are using. The town is named Refuge. There are old friends of yours waiting for you in that town. At my request, some of them will aid you. Once you gather them and any others you feel will be of aid to you, go to Bogwater."
I am ambivalent about getting any help from Refuge. To be charitable, most of the players rubbed me the wrong way. To be blunt, I dislike most of them, and as for most of the rest, I hate their fucking guts. Boran probably has his reasons for wanting me to bring them, but I do not exactly like it.
"Why go to Bogwater?"
"Slan'laad will direct you to a dimensional gate to Earth."
I am so shocked that I cannot keep the surprise off my face. "You know the frog?"
Boran smiles faintly. "The frog a somewhat apt description, but toad might be more accurate. It would certainly anger Slan'laad more than calling him a frog. I have been aware of that pathetic Daemon for thousands of years. He is a creature of Chaos but is too weak to be any real danger. I let him live, and he uses the bit of Chaos he can still control to do things that I cannot do with my own Power at times. I do not trust him."
