Mage Tank

Etja gave us all a long look while we waited for Grotto to join us. The Delve Core was allegedly unaffected by the outside influence and was coming to assist Etja in judging us. Grotto teleported into the room, wearing his little man disguise. His c’thonic body had been destroyed, and he’d need access to an array of specific organic compounds to remake it.

I’d never asked him where he’d gotten the ‘supplies’ to make the wee gentleman he now wore, and I never would.

With the duumvirate assembled, Etja revealed her first accusation. “Arlo was suspiciously impressed with the food.”

“What?” I said. “It was good.”

“You mentioned it sixteen times.”

“I stopped when you asked me to.”

[The fact that he relented when ordered is more suspicious than his fixation on the fare.]

“I already hate this arc,” I grumbled.

“The food was good,” said Nuralie. Pause. “Etja would not let me ask for recipes.”

“We do not have any retainers,” said Nuralie.

“Exactly,” said Etja. “The question was better left unasked.”

Etja’s new role had enriched her personality with a healthy degree of assertiveness, but I also wondered whether some of her fresh confidence was owed to her ingesting a drop of avatar soul. I mused on that while watching Nuralie’s inner miser battle with her desire to hire staff so that she could acquire Littan baking techniques.

“Verdict on Arlo’s food opinions?” asked Varrin.

“Sounds like a normal Arlo flavor to me,” said Xim. Everyone else agreed, and my love of fine cuisine was exempted from evidence of my mind being corrupted.

To be clear, we were all voting, but Etja and Grotto were the only votes that mattered.

“Xim wanted to take her shirt off,” said Etja.

“It was hot,” Xim defended.

“No, it wasn’t?” I said. “It was pretty pleasant.”

“Taking your shirt off would have been inappropriate,” said Nuralie. “That would have been–” Pause. “–out of character.”

“You think so?” said Xim. “I’ve always had a relaxed attitude towards being dressed.”

“Not in front of a fucking empress, you haven’t,” I said.

“Name one empress we’ve met beside Rona,” she said. “Also, is it weird that her name is almost the same as Varrin’s sister?”

[Referring to her as Empress Littana will avoid any ambiguity.]

“Got any opinions on Xim’s state of dress, Grotto?” I asked.

[I am ill-suited to present a personal opinion on the matter of nudity, but traditionally one does not undress in front of a monarch except in particular circumstances. I did not observe any such preconditions being satisfied.]

“Verdict on Xim wanting to take her clothes off in front of the Littan empress?” asked Varrin.

“Mind-fuckery,” I voted. Everyone else agreed. Xim grumbled and wrote a note, reminding herself to keep her clothes on. There was a lengthy discussion over who she was allowed to be naked in front of, which Etja handled.

“Varrin is in love with the empress,” said Etja.

“She is an incredible woman,” said Varrin.

“Mind-fucked,” I immediately voted.

“You are simply unwilling to admit your attraction to Littans,” said Varrin, looking at me skeptically. “You should not be ashamed. I saw how you gazed into her eyes. They were like pools of golden honey, beckoning you to have a taste–”

“Did Varrin try to take his clothes off, too?” asked Xim.

“No,” said Etja.

“Did he–” Pause. “–want to eat her eyes?”

“It is a turn of phrase,” said Varrin. “Why would your mind even go there?”

“We live strange lives,” Nuralie answered with a shrug.

“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “Mind. Fucked.”

Everyone agreed, and Varrin was forbidden from being near the empress. If that wasn’t feasible, he was forbidden from expressing any opinions to the empress. Any attempt to make physical contact with the empress would result in the immediate deployment of Plan Lockdown. Nobody wanted to be the target of Plan Lockdown, so he reluctantly accepted the new rules.

[The relationship between these two aberrant desires share a common theme of disrobing in front of Empress Littana.]

“I would never be so uncouth,” said Varrin. “We would need to court for some time. And I would wait for a more intimate setting.”

“What about Sineh Duckgrien?” I asked. “Aren’t you already courting her?”

Varrin furrowed his brow and stared at the ground between his feet. He did that for a worrying length of time while we waited for him to answer. It looked like my question had him trapped in some kind of thought loop.

“I don’t agree with that connection either, Grotto,” said Xim, breaking the silence. “I didn’t care about the empress. I was just hot.”

[That is why I did not claim they were both related to sexual desire, merely that they involved the urge to undress while near her. My point stands.]

Etja had no further observations of suspicious behavior.

Varrin looked up sharply from the ground and shook his head. “What do we think about their offer?” he asked, before sitting down on a stone bench. “I doubt I am allowed an opinion at this point.”

“Honestly?” I said. “I think it’s a good idea. The Littans can map out Dungeons a thousand times faster than we could. It’d take us forever to find the right Dungeons for every skill each of us has on our own, and a mega Dungeon sounds pretty cool. If they want to lead us to water, then I say we should take a drink.”

“Wait,” said Xim. “Can’t we just ask Grotto?”

[I can acquire specific Dungeon locations in exchange for System Rep.]

“Not worth it, in my opinion,” I said. “Not when we have easy methods of finding them.”

“I… am fine with cooperating,” said Nuralie. “I will speak to the Zenithar first, but if it can help relations between Litta and Eschendur, I believe it is a worthy task.”

“Alright,” said Xim. “I want more details, but I don’t mind.” We all looked at Etja.

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“It sounds fun to me!”

“That’s settled then,” I said. “So long as Hiward and Eschendur don’t oppose Varrin or Nuralie’s participation, we’ll meet with the Littans a few more times and try to nail down how Dungeoning with Team Pio will work. In the meantime, we need to grab four Levels.”

“Dungeoning?” said Xim.

“Are we disputing my choice of verbs now?”

“I like ‘Dungeoning’,” said Etja. “It’s quick, easy, and clear.”

I gestured at Etja. Xim shrugged and withdrew her objection. “Better than ‘Closetland’,” she muttered.

“How did it feel running the talks, Etja?” I asked.

“I really enjoyed it! It was like becoming someone else for the morning.”

“You did present a completely different persona,” said Varrin.

Etja floated off the ground and began slowly rotating her body clockwise. She placed a hand on her chin.

“I just channeled Arlo,” she said once she was completely upside down. “But with a healthy dash of Varrin so I’d stay serious.”

“Probably a good choice,” I said.

“I call it the Arlin personality,” she said, right-side up again. “No, wait, Varlo!” She extended her arm with a flourish like she was going for a delicate handshake. “I am humbled to meet someone so strong and beautiful, Empress Littana. My name is Arlin Varlo, and I would like to take you somewhere intimate so that we can enjoy the wonderful cuisine of your nation and then disrobe together.”

“Is this what our children will be like?” I asked, looking at Varrin. He raised an eyebrow.

“What Delves are we doing?” asked Nuralie. “When do we leave?”

“Can we take a week off first?” I asked.

“We just had a week off,” said Varrin.

“At the end of which we rescued a king and a Zenithar, captured an avatar, and then killed the Icon of a blood god. We can take another.”

“Defer it to Etja,” said Xim. We all looked at the mage, who was upside down again. Her dress and natural bounties defied gravity to stay in their proper places.

“Let’s take a day to talk over strategy and build choices,” she said. “Another day to map out the Delves we want. Ah, two of them should definitely be Expansion Delves so we get the twelfth slots of actives and intrinsics. After that, we can take a day to shop in Eschengal for anything we need.”

Everyone seemed satisfied with that plan.

“Make it so,” I said.

“Do we each get one of those dragon statues?” asked Xim. “I assume that’s why the Littans gave us five.”

“I want the one with sapphires!” said Etja.

“We could each take a dragon,” I said. “But allow me to pitch a different idea for what to do with them.”

*****

“I have revelations of the Heart and the Stomach,” said Xim.

She, Nuralie, Etja, and I sat at a table with Zenithar Zura in Eschengal’s Temple of Geul. The Zenithar had graciously agreed to consult Nuralie on her participation with the Littans and to give guidance on our most pressing problem.

The Zenithar was surprisingly on board with the joint Dungeoning. Zura was as eager to leave hostilities in the past as the Littans were, and it was a rare opportunity to get a deeper look at how their Delving teams worked. The matter was speedily addressed, and we’d moved on to figuring out how to un-bork our heads.

“I’m on the cusp of a new revelation,” the cleric continued, “which is of the Brain. This revelation may help heal our minds, but its shadows touch more on the fluidity of reality. My dad’s Revelation of the Brain touches on the fluidity of identity, which I would feel more confident could help. However, his focuses on the mind’s relationship to the body, so it can’t help with something like this. I’ve already asked. We’d want a Revelation of the Brain that manifests internally and deals with identity or some other mental aspect. That’s the feeling I get from Sam’lia during communion.”

“Sam’lia is a goddess who exerts herself,” said Zenithar Zura. “Her revelations peer into others, peer into the world, and peer into the self, then mold and shape what her revelators see and feel to accommodate her will. While she grants powerful abilities to change one’s physicality, it is the mind exerted onto form. For Sam’lia, all of reality is shaped according to the mind. Conceptually, using her will to forcefully reshape one’s own mindscape may be a difficult road.”

Despite the Zenithar’s focus on the Eschen trinity, she was well-versed in many other pantheons. Xim was at a level where her interpretations of Sam’lia’s teachings would be revered as law within her tribe. Other Third Layer tribes would treat her as a visiting High Cleric. She still respected the Zenithar’s insights, realizing the value of her point of view.

“It’s a form of healing, though,” said Xim. “Our minds are wounded, and I seek the power to mend them.”

“A wound hinders the body from performing its function,” said the Zenithar. “Mental trauma is much the same, but what you have described to me are not wounds. Your identity has changed. You are whole and well, but different in a way that troubles your allies. You do not yourself seem to take issue with the change.”

“No,” Xim admitted. “I’m only worried because Grotto and Etja are worried. We know these changes were not made for our benefit.”

“Would Geul grant us any wisdom?” asked Nuralie. The Zenithar sat back in her plush seat and let out a long, groaning sigh.

“The gods can only interact with this world in limited ways,” she said. “Each time they influence us directly, they expend a part of that influence. It can only be regained through the passage of time and the worship of their followers.”

Zura gestured toward a crystal-clear waterfall that ran down the temple and past a large gap in the building’s exterior. From where we sat, the water feature served as a floor-to-ceiling window. We were high up in the tower, and miles distant we could see the hole in the Left Hand mountains, created by our conflict with Hysteria.

“The gods vowed to protect our lands against a calamity such as this,” said the Zenithar. “They interceded to protect us, and in so doing, spent most of the power available to them in our realm. Geul does not deal with the mind, but even if she did, it would be up to us to make use of our gifts to make the changes we wish for.”

“Does that affect your revelations?” I asked. The Zenithar gave me a wry smile.

“A dangerous question, Master Xor’Drel,” she said. “Fishing for vulnerabilities in the Eschenden?”

“It’s my life’s mission, of course,” I said with a grin.

“Yes, you’ve always seemed like an iconoclast,” she said dryly. “Especially given your rejection of gods in all their forms.” The Zenithar chuckled and reached for a glass of ice water. She held it close, running a nail through the condensation. “Revelations can be gifted or earned,” said the Zenithar. “The gods will not be so charitable with their gifts for a time, but any that we have already received will draw on our own power, as they always have. The curious and the faithful will continue to discover their truth and gain what revelations those pursuits earn them. For most, nothing will change.”

She took a sip from her drink, holding the glass in her lap afterward. “The Zenithars are an exception to this. Many of our workings beseech the gods to intertwine their influence with our will. Losing my connection to that influence is why I was much weakened when the abomination tore me from Geul’s embrace. I am not as reduced now as I was then, but I will not be sinking any more fleets for a time. At least, not so quickly as I could have before.”

“Deijin works with the soul,” said Nuralie. “Do you believe her revelations might aid us?”

“Perhaps,” said the Zenithar. “The mind and the soul are well interlinked. Some believe they are one and the same. However, I am not aware of any follower of Deijin who wields a power strong enough for your needs, if other magical methods available to you are ineffective. Zenithar Manar is most focused on Deijin’s aspects of shaping–unifying the soul with form and substance. She does not shape the soul, however. The soul shapes the world.”

“Sounds like some symmetry with Sam’lia,” I said.

“The gods are a mosaic upon the world. Many of their edges adjoin, and many more share similar hues.”

I took a moment to digest that imagery before asking my next question. “What about Yara? We know she can protect the sanctity of the mind.”

The Zenithar nodded, though cautiously. “Yara is a comfort to her followers, but she is–” Pause. “–staunch in her tenets. I would urge you to be considerate when approaching her. Sam’lia and the Eschen triad are more flexible. Your interaction with the divine has had soft edges as a result.”

“What are Yara’s tenets?” I asked.

“Hmm. I encourage you to speak with one of her priests for specifics, but in general terms, she is a goddess of family, order, law, and expansion. More broadly, she can be characterized as a deity of civilization. She is a holy divinity, and most would describe her as ‘good’, but her followers view her righteousness as absolute. They seek to spread her teachings to all corners of Arzia, and will do it as forcefully as Imperial law allows, which–as you have experienced–grants great leeway for the use of ‘force’.”

“Which of those aspects deals with breaking mental influence?” asked Nuralie.

“All of them, to a degree,” said the Zenithar. “Invading the mind of another is a deep violation. It disrupts the order of one’s inner self, is illegal in most cases, and causes untold devastation to family members of the affected. All of these might hinder the expansion of the Littan Empire, especially if it infects the machine at its highest levels.”

“It’s not proscribed, then,” I said. “So long as you wield it in Yara’s name and according to her teachings.”

“I would expect so,” said the Zenithar. “Many Littan Delvers make use of mental magicks.”

“What do you think we should do?” asked Etja.

“Beseeching Yara will have strings attached,” said the Zenithar. “Riferiantel, God of the Whole, is a Timan deity who…”

The Zenithar worked through several divinities she thought might be able to help us, but each carried its own costs. Before we could even reach the point of making offerings or commitments, there was the matter of making contact with these unknown gods. That wasn’t something we could count on happening. Even if we assumed Xim was correct in thinking that I drew more divine notice than the average bear, I was sure there were plenty of gods that didn’t want to get wrangled.

Throughout our days of preparation, I kept waiting for the next emergency to spring up–an urgent summons from Grotto, someone in the party triggering a catastrophic subconscious command, maybe another city getting wiped off the world map. Nothing of the sort happened.

It was nice.

We planned, got our supplies, and went northwest to find our first Expansion Delve.

We were heading to the Kingdom of Ayama.

Sort of.

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