Site 1: Firewander
Am I mad to continue, or was I already? Is it the journey that has caused this, or was it already present within me?
I cannot afford to stay in Nexus any longer. The ruins of the Firewander District have granted me little knowledge and much heartache. It was a futile endeavor.
We sought lodging in an apartment in the Bastion district and for three days journeyed to the heart of that tainted zone, searching for the ruined glories of the first age. More often we found beggars and cripples with one palm outstretched (and one concealing a dagger). If I had brought one of my healers, I could have tried to treat them; if I had brought a fortune, I could have tried to feed them. No, even then I could not have lifted the poor of Nexus with one sweep of solar glory. As it was, I could do next to nothing. In the sadness of each fading soul I saw a minute reflection of the bottomless despair in her song.
On the third day of this, while I was searching through a library that contained an interesting edition of the White Treatise, I was distracted for a moment by a vision outside the windows of blazing azure essence. A girl, not more than twelve, maybe ten, was standing on the roof of a ruined sepulcher. She was wearing a threadbare gown of hemp, her knotted hair twisting in the wind. As I walked, entranced, to the window, I saw beneath her a small crowd of spectators gathering. I listened to try to hear what they were shouting, what the reason for the spectacle was. At the last moment, I realized it was a single word, over and over. Jump. And she did.
Banishing the spell with a thought, I hurled myself across the broken streets with the speed of a striking serpent. It was not fast enough. One more soul had been eternally claimed by Nexus.
And then something in me gave way. I thought that after all that I had been through since my exaltation, I was hardened against the cruelty of this age, but I was wrong. I felt as though a dam within me had broken and a wave of molten salt filled me. I wept in the street for six hours before Kotai and Leaf were able to move me, or so they tell me… and there was no sign of the crowd or the girl when they arrived.
It was a full day before I could leave my bed, but when I did, it was as though a fog had lifted from my vision. I am now certain of what I must do. It is worth it to me… to save one soul.
Even so, I cannot and will not stay in Nexus. I will find a place where my studies will be… less distracted.
From the journals of Rivers Between Us, twilight caste sorcerer
Treacherous Ground[edit]
Hachimaru Kotai kept pressed his index fingers together. His lips drawn tight, a bead of perspiration trickling down his temple, he began to whisper in old realm a short mantra. Over and over it droned, while Rivers waited beside him with his head bowed. The words meant little to either of them. “Heaven and Creation defies thy trespass. Heaven and Creation defies thy trespass.”
A drop of gold fell from between his fingers.
The gold struck the ground and splashed like a raindrop, throwing spidery lines in five directions. Each of the lines pulsed and glowed, faintly, like cracks in a wall revealing the sun shining behind it. Then each line grew legs, and the lines extended, their branches intertwining and swirling around one another in ecstatic fits.
A dozen squalid children gathered to watch as the arcane sigil grew, spreading beneath Kotai’s and Rivers’ feet, until they were standing in the sign of the Sun Triumphant, a seal of authority and promise. As they stood in the seal a flock of glass birds rushed at them, startled, but when they crossed the boundary of the seal they fell from the sky like so many glass figurines, smashing on the paving stones. The children watched in dread and wonder, one tugging at his rags as though in embarrassment, another itching between the small pair of wings on his own back.
Rivers nodded to his amalgamated servant. “The library is two hundred yards deeper than where we went last time. Allegedly Brigid herself once donated a set of seven books containing her abridged experiments in developing the solar circle. Let’s hope that legends don’t lie.”
A Matter of Interpretation[edit]
“My name is Leaf Shakes the Wind, and this is not my true face.” V'Neef Pahul knelt across from him on the tatami mat, hands folded unassumingly in his lap. “I tell you this because it is not my intent to deceive you; it is merely a matter of course, for my protection and my brothers’ and yours.”
The Immaculate Monk smiled softly and said, with no trace of rancour, “So, you wish to deceive me without being deceitful. Interesting. Perhaps the sutras speak truth: Anathema, beautifying lies with a simple core of honesty. Its truths rot away from a core of deception.”
An acolyte entered the room and set tea in front of the two men. The familiar scent of the monkey-picked leaves drifted on the steam.
“The sutras say many things, it is true. In life, suffering. To endure ones own is noble, to prevent it for others, nobler still.” Leaf Shakes the Wind sipped his tea.
Pahul cocked one eyebrow. “Realm-born, then.”
“What?”
He nodded, making a small gesture with his left hand. “The translation you just quoted, while accurate, is slightly different from the Riverspeak texts that the Immaculate Order uses; you must have known it in the original and translated it yourself into the language we are speaking.”
“Perhaps I learned it in Foresttongue.”
“Foresttongue has some interesting grammatical peculiarities.” Pahul shook his head. “No, if you had translated it from Foresttongue, it would have been much further from the original. You grew up somewhere hearing and reading the texts in High Realm, and you are educated enough to not only remember them accurately but to translate them into Riverspeak without preparation. There are very few places where such a person could come from other than the Blessed Isle.”
It was Leaf’s turn to smile. “You play this game well.”
V’Neef Pahul’s countenance darkened for the first time since their meeting. “Do not misunderstand my easy manner. I believe in dealing with all people on courteous and amicable terms, but I am no Dynast. I do not play games with serious matters.”
“And I thought we were but conversing.”
“I am not a fool, either. You are here because you wish me to teach you the Immaculate Martial Arts. You, an Anathema.” Pahul set his cup down on the tray. “And, heaven forgive me, I am considering agreeing to it. Perhaps I am a fool.”
“If it is so disagreeable to you, why even consider it?”
“Because sometimes a teacher must answer his own questions.”
V’Neef Pahul rose to his feet and walked to the door, sliding it open. He stood, looking outward for a few moments, his hand still resting on the doorframe. “Go and commit five righteous deeds without, seeking no praise and accepting no reward. When you have done this, return, and we will discuss this matter again.”
