Aphonion Tales (New posts 6/13, 6/15, 6/19)

[Cerebral Paladin]

The Archbishop of the Sun arrived shortly after the meeting with Sir Thistledown.

“I received a message that Your Grace wished to meet with me?”

“Indeed. Thank you for coming, your excellence. Are you familiar with the Old Ones?”

“I was briefed on them after investiture as a bishop, though I must admit, they have become more familiar of late. Father Winchell, the priest assigned to the archdiocese to watch the Old Ones, reported movements among their followers to the South. The Old Ones provide an enormous threat. You have copies of the documents about the last three risings?”

The members of the Council looked around at each other. After a moment, Dame Brionna spoke up. “I don’t believe we do, your excellence.”

“Ah. As Archbishop, I clear those of the Privy Council to read the documents, with neither prejudice nor punishment, for the knowledge within. I will have copies sent over, for your eyes only, of course.

“In any event, the Old Ones are clearly the greatest threat we face. Our hierarchs recognized the threat at the time of the ratification of the Ecumenical Council documents. The Ecumenical Council’s agreements offer so much power to forces that are neither of Light nor Order that we may form a united front against the Old Ones, rather than just Borsh’tro and his ilk. The Protector and Defender of the Faith of Paranswarm correctly identified the threat, after only one outbreak.”

“It’s that dangerous?” asked Dame Brionna. “Worse even than the Shadow?”

“We could not bring Borsh’tro into the agreement. We asked that they agree to forswear further conquests while the threat lasted, while we would have sworn to curtail our efforts to liberate areas under Shadow. The threat of the Old Ones is that great.”

The entire Council thought about that for a while in silence. Finally, Alistair spoke. “If you were willing to make that concession to Borsh’tro… what concessions did the Temple agree to with Paranswarm and the rest?”

“Our concessions were difficult to accept. Most importantly, we were required to acknowledge co-equal gods, or at least religions, equal in dignity to the Lord of Light. That was the major theological agreement extracted from us. Non-theologically, we agreed not to seek to become establishmentarian in four split countries, with Paranswarm making similar concessions. The rest of the points were easier. We were to permit Whimseyites to continue operating in areas where they are, and to permit Mider to continue operating, restricted to the areas where he has been traditionally worshipped, in ten regions. Other establishmentarian religions made similar agreements, although of course this had a greater impact on ourselves and the Dark Temple than on any others.”

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

“What can the Church tell us about the recent activities of the Old Ones, your excellence?” asked Alistair.

“Several of their old bases of power are active again. There has been a recent rising of a mountain and an island that were centers of their power in ancient times. We also know that those that are seen but not seen are abroad again, but we have not captured any.”

“Based on what we have learned, we expect an attack on His Grace from one,” said Dame Brionna. “We were hoping your excellence could give us more information on their capabilities.”

“An attack on the Archduke is a dangerous prospect. By the information in the sealed files, if one of them of any strength in this plane manages to touch a person, it can draw out a copy of that person’s knowledge. They can transform freely, but are limited to appearing as a humanoid between roughly four and seven feet. While they use the knowledge they draw out to deceive, they need to update regularly to prevent stale knowledge. Their most common method of reaching a target is to use sexual congress, if possible.” The Archbishop either did not notice or tactfully ignored the concerned looks that Dame Brionna and Kit exchanged. “One of our advantages is that there are usually not great numbers of them. They position themselves well, but never well enough.”

“What sorts of roles have they assumed?” asked Kit.

“In the past, they have taken positions as: the mistress of midlevel general; a body servant to powerful merchant who directed large amounts of grain; the assistant to a warehouse manager who could taint a supply of wine; a caravan master; and an artillery commander.”

“Do they have weaknesses, Your Excellence?”

“In the second outbreak, we determined that they were abroad. Our clergy obtained a method of shunting them from this Plane. Unlike any of us, their spirits are still bound to the plane where the goddess of the pale bone is imprisoned. The people they had replaced instantly became heaps of rotting organs when we performed the ritual. We have written record under oath that in every case the person’s mimicry was perfect. None had been suspected.”

“Is there any way to reveal them, then?” asked Alistair.

“The only known means to identify them is by checking their blood, or rather, as they do not truly have blood, drawing a sample to ascertain whether it is blood or ichor.”

“We will need an excuse to check blood samples without revealing what we know.”

“Perhaps certain parasites can be detected through analysis of the blood, Your Grace?”

“Certainly true,” said the Archbishop. “Blood examination is an important tool to deal with efforts by the aboleth to infiltrate their agents.”

“Perfect. Our public explanation will be that we have received a report that Quinliart may have recruited aboleth allies.” Alistair drew his dagger and pricked his thumb, showing the clear line of red blood before wiping it away. He then proffered the dagger, hilt-first, to the Archbishop. “I’m sorry, Your Excellence, but we must guard against infiltration within the Church as well.”

The Archbishop breathed in heavily, clearly taken aback by the directness of the Archduke, but he took the dagger, drew blood on his arm, and passed it on to Kit and Dame Brionna. “I will send over four priests with special knowledge to advise you on this matter.”

 

[Quartz]

By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.

Encore!

 

[Artoomis]

Two days without an update or explanation?!? I am having withdrawal symptoms!!

Which is just my way of saying, "Great story hour... more, please!"

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

My apologies-- I was occupied with business travel. I'll try to give the posts to Orichalcum or Ladybird in the future.

----

“We also wish to discuss the issue of the Southern refugees, your excellence,” said Dame Brionna. “We have intelligence that some of the refugees are falling under the influence of the cults of the Old Ones. We hope that the Church will be able to provide the refugees with a more acceptable source of faith.”

“Indeed. We have been working on that for some time, although not in a particularly organized fashion. Nearly five hundred mendicant priests of the Lord of Light are spread among the refugees. Some of those priests have successfully established parishes. Others have disappeared, presumably due to the slavers and other forces of evil in the South.”

“An admirable start, your excellence, but we think more may be needed,” replied Alistair.

“I will see what we can do. I can strip out some two hundred priests from their current assignments in the areas under my direct supervision and make a request for additional priests from dioceses within the province.”

“We can provide supplies of food and other necessaries to aid in your efforts,” said Kit.

“That will be helpful. You are aware, I trust, of the presence of Paranswarmians also working to convert the refugees?”

“We are. Under the circumstances, we view that as better than the alternatives, although of course we would rather convert as many of the refugees to Glor’diadel as possible.”

“The Church is inclined to agree.”

“You should know that we are seriously considering annexing the South. That’s most likely if we make a marriage alliance with Princess Kaitlyn, since that would give us a colorable claim to the thrones of the old South Kingdoms, but we may annex at least parts of the South even without any real claim. We discussed the possibility with the Archbaroness of Mandrath. She said, in veiled and coded discussion, that the Temple of Paranswarm would not oppose that stabilization and would recognize that the faith would follow the flag.”

“That probably means that the Protector and Defender of the Faith has tacitly approved the idea. The Church would support such an effort, because of the tremendous humanitarian need and to bring the Light to the refugees.”

“What sorts of supplies do the refugees most need?”

“For the most part, farm animals didn’t make it north. As a result, there has also been overhunting, with both pending starvation and large predators turning to attacking humans. The Archdiocese has sent some cattle, but the number needed is too high to purchase on the open market or for the Archduchy to supply directly. Supplying additional animals would help.”

“We could send fertilized chicken eggs,” suggested Dame Brionna.

“And we’ll have Mahler Fife, our Minister of Trade, look into acquiring more cattle from abroad.”

“Good. Most of the refugees are farmers, but without stock and tools.”

“We’ll have the Minister of Agriculture look into the issue of tools and seed. This will take some time to coordinate, but we should be ready by the time that you have the additional priests to send.”

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

The Archbishop nodded. “Are there other issues you wished to discuss?”

“A few. You should know that we intend to send messages to the realms within Korflok that permit slavery informing them of the displeasure of the Protector of the Light at their apostasy. We will concentrate on the Glor’diadelian nobles that permit slavery, but we’ll try to pressure all of the Korflok nobles.”

“Excellent. The Church has been displeased about that for years but unable to do much directly. You should know that Korflok is one of the regions I mentioned before, where we agreed to not seek to make the area uniformally establishmentarian, in exchange for a similar agreement from the Temple of Paranswarm.”

“We will take care to be sufficiently clear in our messages to the Paranswarmian realms, then, that we do not seek to require their conversion, but only their adoption of secular laws consistent with their coexisting with Glor’diadelian states. Are there other areas where Glor’diadelian nobles tolerate slavery that we should also address?”

“We will send you a list of relevant areas, including all three of the other contested areas. The areas that remain divided between Glor’diadel and Paranswarm tend to be areas where Glor’diadelian nobles are most likely to slide into orderly evils.”

“We understand. Send us the list, and we will see what we can do.”

“I am glad to see you taking an active role as Protector of the Light in enforcing orthodoxy. I must admit that it is somewhat unexpected, but it is welcome, and the Church will back you. I will send messages to the local bishops, exhorting them to bring their authority to bear in support of your efforts.”

“Our thanks. We should also discuss the Abomination of Shur. An army from Debonai is en route to ally with the Abomination’s forces. We would like the help of Debonai, but at least to get them to stop supporting the Abomination. We are also trying to recruit the support of Augurt, mostly through the Archbaroness of Mandrath, but so far the lord of Augurt resists involvement.”

“I will contact my counterpart in Debonai, who may be able to help. I cannot assist with Augurt; we have no influence there.”

“Thank you-- we will continue to work on Augurt through other channels, then. There is one last personnel matter we should discuss. Father Waters has been functioning as something of a personal chaplain to the royal household. We largely inherited him from his similar role in my father’s household, but we find him agreeable. Would you be amenable to a formal appointment to that position for him, perhaps with an elevation to a more appropriate rank?”

“I would be happy to give him that appointment as an assignment. He does not have the scholarly background necessary for installation as a bishop, but we could make him a canon, if your grace would not be offended by having a personal chaplain who is not of episcopal rank. Elevating him to canon would also oblige him to get the scholarly background. Perhaps in ten years he would be ready for advancement to bishop.”

“That would be acceptable to us. You don’t think he would view that as too much of an obligation too close to retirement? He’s not old, but he’s also not young.”

“It will surprise him, no doubt. I cannot imagine that Father Waters ever thought he would advance in ecclesiastical rank. But I shouldn’t worry that he would view it as an imposition. I expect that he will strive as hard as he can, as he always has, and as for the possibility of retirement, I doubt that Father Waters will ever retire. He is of the type to die with his armor on, if I may borrow a martial metaphor that has a certain appropriateness given his inclinations.”

The Council thanked the Archbishop, who performed the expected blessings and departed.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Kit went to Lady Overfifer’s townhouse to meet with the Strom to discuss Duke Snatterkaz’s efforts to rescue Princess Anastasia.

“Good day, your lordship. I am Dame Katherine of Lyneham. I met Duke Snatterkaz earlier in his efforts to rescue the Princess, and I wished to find out if we could do anything to assist you.”

“A pleasure to meet you. I’m afraid that we will need quite some assistance if we are to be of aid to my lord, Duke Snatterkaz. With the voller, we could travel there reasonably quickly. It was an older, slower ship than some, certainly than the best ships of the imperial navy, but a good model nonetheless. I am not certain how we will reach His Grace in time.”

“You are traveling to assist the Duke’s efforts?”

“Oh, yes. Duke Snatterkaz is a very good liege, embodying the best virtues of the nobility. When he requested our aid, we hastened to arrive as quickly as we could.”

“Did he request your aid in particular?”

“All twelve of his vassals were called up and traveled down in their vollers; about nine-hundred troops total, mostly knights.”

“How does the Duke fare?”

“The last news we have was from two days ago. They were in room to room combat at the time. Some of his vassals may already have arrived, in strike vollers. I did not have any vessels faster than the one we took that could hold an appreciable number of troops.”

“Do you have a sense of how the battle was going?”

“They should surely prevail. If the ratmen reinforced it might be different, of course, but they don’t seem to be. There are a few demons, of course, which pose a greater threat than mere ratmen, but Lord Paranswarm gives the means to strike them down. The alternative does not bear thinking of.”

“I take it you support the Duke’s efforts out of more than personal loyalty.”

“Oh, yes. Princess Anastasia must be rescued,” the Strom said with emphasis. “Great Lord of Darkness, if she isn’t, her sister would inherit.”

“We quite agree that Princess Anastasia would make a far better Queen-Empress than the alternative--that is why we have offered our assistance to His Grace.”

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

The strom looked pensive. “I wonder where the Queen-Empress’s forces are. They have only sent scout parties, distributed throughout the southlands. They look for the Princess, but do not trust Duke Snatterkaz’s word as to where she is.”

“That is unusual in Hanal, right?”

“More than unusual-- it is perilously close to an insult to the Duke’s honor, which could lead to a challenge in the House of Lords, and then open war. Except that would be disastrous, so Snatterkaz will treat it as a minor insult, be hostile, and refuse to speak to the Queen-Empress for a couple of years. Then Princess Anastasia inherits, then her daughter or son inherits, and all is well.”

“How close might the succession be?”

The strom chuckled. “You mean will Queen-Empress Thyastis die before she can do any more damage? Her death was closer last end year than this.”

“Was she ill?”

“No. A couple of the saner nobles tried to hurry things along. They did not succeed. But now… She could last twenty years, but more likely only five or ten. Once the bouts begin, they get worse rapidly, with a steady pace of increases.”

“The bouts, your lordship?”

“Bouts of insanity, not remembering what was done afterwards. It skips some generations, but always recurs. A representative from the Holy See said that it had to do with the piping in the capital, but I don’t understand how that could be true. We’ve used lead for hundreds of years.”

“You mentioned that the Duke was in room to room fighting. Do you know anything about how the Princess is?”

“I don’t know much, but the last I heard about Anastasia’s personal condition was that she was resistant to whatever they were trying to do. I must admit that I did not much understand the message. Perhaps she is resisting the curse of the ratmen, and they are trying to turn her into one of them? I hear they can do that, partially by putting their spittle on their blades.”

“I think that those are wererats. As far as I have seen, ratfolk are different. I’ve never heard of them transforming a person into a rat creature.”

“Ah. We will see when we get there. I fear it will be quickest if we wait for our replacement voller. Traveling by land would get us there after the battle has been won.”

“How many troops do you have?”

“About fifty men, plus the surviving members of the voller’s crew.”

“We should be able to teleport a group that size down without much difficulty.”

“My thanks, but that was what we tried first. We were unable to teleport across the border; the mage said it felt like crossing an impenetrable barrier.”

“Oh, really? That’s very interesting. I’ll speak with some of our mages to find out what the problem is. Is the mage with you?”

“No, I don’t have a mage with me. The mage was the personal mage to one of my allies, who should already be there. We sought to travel down together by magic but then took our vollers when the teleportation failed. I have no mages now, only a couple of mild psions.”

“Be careful relying on them for communications. We have had some psionic communications with the Duke, but our psions sensed what may have been eavesdropping by the enemy.”

“Thank you for informing me. We know that they have some psions. Fortunately, their magical support disappeared about two weeks ago.”

Kit rose. “Thank you for your aid to Grokken. We will see if we can get you to the Duke’s aid faster than waiting for another voller.”

“I only wish I could have done more for your people. Grokken reminded me of the siege of the City of Crystal, some twenty years ago. The Queen-Empress commanded that siege. The City was built by the elves, but abandoned, and then occupied by humans. We charged, but the walls did not fall. So we besieged it for six months. They ran out of food, sortied, and we seized the gate. After that… it was short. I prefer not to remember that. It was then I learned what we had gained as Empress. She commanded death to all within the walls.”

“All the more reason for us to work to recover Princess Anastasia, your lordship,” said Kit slowly after swallowing hard at that description.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Kit reported her conversation with the strom to the rest of the Council. “I’m worried about the block on teleportation. I don’t know what it means, but it’s worrisome-- and it will make it harder for them to get Princess Anastasia out? Maybe Lady Constance will be able to suggest a way to deal with the problem?”

“Why not ask the Minister of Magic?” asked Dame Brionna. “He’s also an archmage, and unlike Lady Constance, he isn’t in league with devils.”

“But Lady Constance has been so helpful in the past,” said Kit.

“And teleportation is a form of conjuration magic. A summoning specialist like Lady Constance will know more about the dimensional lock or whatever it is than a generalist like the Minister would.”

Lady Constance arrived shortly. The Council described the problem, and she nodded thoughtfully. “Drift is beginning, then.”

“Drift, Lady Constance?”

“The forces in the South are largely extraplanar. More importantly, they are routinely gating in demons, ratlords, and other extraplanar creatures. That is causing their territory to drift out of alignment with the Prime Plane. Teleportation is more difficult because of the drift. If a mage is inexpert in planar travel and adjusting a teleportation, it would be like striking a steel wall.”

“Drifting out of alignment with the Prime… do you mean that it is becoming overlayed with the Abyss, like in the Shadowlands?”

“It is the same process, but it will be decades before the South becomes like the Shadowlands with a permanent connection to the Abyss. At present, it is just less connected to the rest of the Prime Plane.”

“Is there any way to stop or reverse the process?”

“A very simple way,” said Lady Constance dryly. “Take back the territory. When the Shadowline advances or retreats, it is decades or a century before the land is fully absorbed into the Shadow or returns to the light. The Shadowline itself is a border that becomes a physical manifestation of the difference between the Prime and the foreign plane. Lands that have been absorbed and are retaken gradually must shift back.”

“Does the presence of the ratfolk inherently cause the shift?”

“I should think not. While they are not native to this plane, the South is barely out of kilter currently. If they did not continuously open uncontrolled dimensional rifts, it would not get worse just because they live there. But the rifts are a deliberate effort to let free willed beings through-- demons in the case of Shadow, sometimes demons but usually ratlords in the Southlands. In theory, the South could slip out of the Prime into another world completely. In practice, that has only ever happens in Shadow.”

“Another reason for us to push against the ratfolk, Your Grace,” observed Dame Brionna.

“Indeed. Lady Constance, could you help us teleport a small contingent of troops into the Southlands? We would like to assist the troops that were on the voller that recently landed in the City to reach their destination.”

“How many?”

“About fifty knights. Ideally, we would also want to be able to extract some troops back in a few days time--these knights are part of a rescue force, and there are some politically important people in the Southlands.”

“We could bring fifty knights down easily, with a gate. For the return, we would need a contingent of knights and scouts to secure our position, so we can then open a second gate for extraction.”

“Your Grace, the palace guard will be perfect for that mission, especially because they understand how to fight defensively.”

“Good. Pick out a company of your best guards, and let’s get them through.”

Lady Constance bowed slightly and began her preparations as Dame Brionna organized the guards who would accompany the mages.

* * *

Later that day, while doing one of her regular full patrols of the palace, Dame Brionna prayed for Glor’diadel to provide her with a vision of her warhorse. She walked and walked and prayed and walked and prayed. As she crossed the catwalks on the top of the palace, she heard a sudden whinny. A pure white horse with wings and a horn stood on the wall.

Dame Brionna’s eyes widened. “Lord Glor’diadel, I am not worthy.” She knelt by the unipeg, not before it but with it, and then gave a full round of prayer. It waited patiently, understanding what she was doing. She then extended her hand with a bit of honeycomb. The stallion ate it and whinnied again. Dame Brionna opened her mind to it, and the unipeg communed with her a bit before flying down to the courtyard to wait. Dame Brionna traveled down to it, and together they began the process of teaching her to fly on it safely.

[End Session 25]

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

[Session 26]

Before the Council formally assembled the next morning, Dame Brionna pulled Kit aside. “I’d like to have a word with you about Abigail.”

“Sure. What about her?”

“I would like to make sure that she receives a proper religious education. Too many people from the South Kingdoms have either no faith to speak of or even bad faiths. I would like to try to make sure she’s loyal to Glor’diadel. I know that you and the Archduke miss many of the morning services, but if you don’t object, I’d like to bring Abigail with me to the morning services. Or the noon services, if you would prefer, and I would not ask for her to come on days when you have specific duties for her. I’m not trying to intrude in your education and governance of your squire, but…”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re her family. Of course you can take her to services if you would like to. Why don’t you plan on regularly bringing her to the morning services? I rarely have tasks for her to do in the early mornings. And when I do, you can bring her to later services.”

“Thank you.” Dame Brionna’s gratitude was so clear, over such a minor matter, that Kit had to suppress a smile. “I didn’t want to intrude on your role as her knight, but…”

“Like I said, don’t worry about it. She may be my squire, but you’re her family.”

Alistair came into the room and greeted his counselors. They chatted briefly and then turned to the day’s work. Alistair asked if they had received a report from the Duke of Brightspan’s efforts to investigate his cousin who was aligned or worse with the Unseelie, the former privy secretary’s mother. A little investigation determined that the Duke’s troops were still marching towards her manor. The Council ordered a voller from the Sky Guard to offer its services in moving the troops along. They still did not want to intervene directly without giving the Duke a chance to deal with the matter first-- the risk that they would offend him further was too great. But the sooner they could get more information, the better off they would be.

With that dealt with, they turned to the issue of Debonai’s support for the Abomination of Shur. Kit reported that one of her contacts through the fan was well placed in Debonai, but that she had not had time to get a full report yet. The Council adjourned to allow her to do so.