Pandora Unchained - a Cultivation Progression Fantasy

Even with Astley's ritual, it took Sorin till that evening to assimilate the knowledge he already possessed and another two days to finish the rest of his reading.

That wasn't to say that things proceeded without difficulty. The ritual, it turns out, had a time limit of 24 hours regardless of what was offered. What's more, they might be allowed to remember unlimited historical knowledge, but that didn't mean they were able to hold onto everything once the ritual wore out.

"That's it," said Daphne, tossing a book onto the floor. "I'm done. This headache isn't worth it. How exactly are you still standing, Sorin? You've read five times as much as I have."

"Probably just my strong constitution," Sorin said with a shrug. He flipped through the last few pages of his book and placed it down on a table. "I think the time was well-spent. I now have a much better idea of what's going on."

"How about you summarize it for those of us who didn't just plough through a small library?" suggested Gareth. "I take it the ritual will allow knowledge to be conveyed and summarized?"

"There won't be any problems discussion such matters, though we might have to conduct the ritual again to bring everyone else up to speed," replied Astley. "Though in the end, it's probably best to just write things down for future reference. It helps with remembering, in my experience, and even helps with the headaches."

Sorin recalled what he'd read, and with great difficulty, began to recite a condensed history of Delphi. "Delphi has been around since its initial reclamation 427 years ago, in conjunction with the other twelve cities. Human territory rapidly expanded with the reclamation of these cities, and corrupted territory was converted to 'purified' territory suitable for human habitation.

"Since then, Delphi has been destroyed a total of 3 times. Each time, its evacuated residents, along with the help of the other twelve cities and the government in Olympia, have rebuilt the city, thereby securing humanity's base of operations in the province of Parnassus."

"Let me stop you there," said Astley. "Try to remember more."

Sorin frowned and thought back to what he'd just said. "Although Delphi has been destroyed 3 times, it has also descended into extended periods of social chaos and civil strife 7 additional times," he corrected. "Each time the city is destroyed, its evacuated residents, along with the help of the other twelve cities and the government in Olympia, have rebuilt the city, thereby securing humanity's base of operations in the province of Parnassus.

"In cases of either destruction or civil strife, a large reduction in population may occur. In cases where recovery is impossible, new blood is imported from other provinces, thereby maintaining a consistent population.

"Each destructive and civil strife seems to occur at random. That being said, their recurrence and their commonalities indicate heavy tampering from the Seven Evils."

Sorin massaged his glabella before continuing. "This condensed history certainly brings up a lot of questions. For example: How have the Seven Evils tampered with the city? Why are they tampering with the city? And what are the commonalities between disasters? The texts were unclear on this matter, as though the historians themselves were affected by amnesia. Or is it the texts themselves that were corrupted?

"Also, what makes this city so special that it should be rebuilt in the same location instead of moving to a more hospitable location? Rebuilding and sealing seems like a foolish thing to do unless there was something worthwhile in this physical location."

"I imagine it has to do with ley lines, karmic luck accumulation, and special spatial nodes," volunteered Daphne. "Either of these reasons is sufficient to keep rebuilding a city."

Sorin raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps you could summarize using words we all understand?"

"Urgh, what I mean is that there might be valuable energy lines between the city," said Daphne. "Also, it's a proven fact that certain physical locations can enhance the luck of those living there. Finally, Pandora is by no means the only reality. Delphi could be connected spatially to another realm, and that connection might be the key to humanity's survival in Parnassus."

"To my knowledge, it's a combination of the three," volunteers Astley. "As for why the city would need to be rebuilt atop the old city's ruins, I believe the old city might be the key ingredient in a sealing ritual or sealing formation that locks away the origin of corruption beneath the city."

"I concur with this assessment," said Daphne. "Completely destroying a city would disperse the corruption, making it more difficult to seal. There's also something called the Principle of Commonality in rituals, which makes it possible to use a similar item in a ritual. The ruined city might be a substitute for the existing city."

Sorin nodded. "As for the 'how' part of the question, it must be through an agglomeration of corruption. It bubbles up from beneath the earth and into the city, corrupting it and its residents over time. Once the concentration reaches a certain point, conflict would eventually erupt."

Astley shook her head. "That seems like an overly simplistic interpretation. I believe there's more nuance to it. But explanation will do for now. I believe the more relevant question is why this has been done in the first place. She swept her hand and summoned a ball of silver text that unfurled to form a flowchart.

"This is a family tree," exclaimed Sorin as the text unfurled. "But not just one tree. It's instead a a combined family tree, including additions and eliminations over time."

"These entities are clans and groups I have noted as 'special'," explained Astley. "Each one shares the characteristics of possessing a divine-level inheritance. Of note, many of these entities have produced God Seeds in the past."

Sorin looked over the family tree and thought back to the history he'd learned. "Do you mind?" Sorin asked, motioning to the diagram.

"Go ahead," said Astley.

Sorin swiped his finger to separate the chart at ten different points, one for great disaster and each event of civil strife. "I think you've successfully located the 'why,'" said Sorin. "Each great and minor disaster has either eliminated or greatly harmed specific clans. Of note, the Alvin, Kramer, and Polanski clans seem to have been eliminated very quickly. It's like the three city destruction events were sent out just for them."

Gareth, who'd been silent so far, spoke up. "I've never heard of the Alvin, Kramer, and Polanski clans. Is there something special about them?"

"Alas, they're lost to us," said Astley. "Eliminated so thoroughly people have trouble remembering them. Fortunately, I've done some research in these matters, and know that the Alvin Clan was native to Delphi. The Kramer and Polanski Clans migrated to fill their vacancy, just like the Hargrave Clan was sent to Delphi after civil strife struck particularly hard two centuries back.

"These clans share certain strengths: war, strategy, and spirit. Historically, they were instrumental in taking back the twelve cities and are the reason humanity was able to best Strife on the battlefield."

"And Delphi made sure to target them first," muttered Sorin. "I wonder—was it for vengeance or for strategic purposes? Such clans would be the best equipped to deal with covert manipulations and conspiracies."

"That I don't know," said Astley sadly. "A total of twelve major clans have fallen in Delphi, and four others were reduced to the point where they could no longer pass on their inheritance.

"As for your Kepler Clan, it has been a consistent target during civil strife events. The only reason it's survived thus far is because it's received extra protection from the Pandoran Government and has taken great pains to take in new blood."

Sorin frowned. "That's very interesting and brings up even more questions. Also, there's no way others haven't realized this. All the major powers probably already know what's going on."

"I would assume as much, yes," said Astley. "There is a tendency for higher powers to hoard such historical information, which is why I was so excited to gain access to your clan library."

"If so, why would they continue playing along?" asked Sorin.

"Convenience," Gareth and Daphne answered at the same time. "You first," said Gareth to Daphne.

"I mean, it's the perfect excuse to do away with people you don't like," said Daphne. "And so what if your dislike of someone is contrived and artificial? As long as you have enough to gain from playing along, you might as well."

"Greed is definitely the key reason," said Gareth. "I do an awful lot of investigating in powerful entities, and most of the time, they already know what's going on. They just want to confirm what other people think and what their plans are to take the path of least resistance."

Sorin felt his headache intensifying. "Then there's the matter of Melinoë. There's something about her that strikes me as wrong."

"How so?" asked Astley.

"She's just too powerful," said Sorin. "I saw her tear apart a floor boss without breaking a sweat. And that's after laying a trap across the entire city and tampering with my floor boss. And she still had energy to tamper with my teleportation at the end."

"Didn't you also mention several Flesh-Sanctification cultivators being affected by her?" asked Gareth. "That in itself is abnormal, even if she is a God Seed."

"We already went over this," said Astley. "They could just be moderately affected and willing to play along."

"It's still too much," said Sorin, shaking his head. "God Seeds aren't all-powerful. There are normally limits. Yet in her case, I can't see any."

"Maybe we're overthinking the matter with Melinoë," said Daphne. "Though you mentioned her tampering with the inquiry? You'd think the Medical Association, Administrator Pollen, and the Pollen Clan would be aware of it."

"Which only makes the situation more dangerous," said Sorin. "I'll be honest here—I don't care much for my clan. The only reason I've stuck around is out of convenience, and because it's where my parents are buried. But if my clan goes down, I'll likely be going down with it. Unless I jump ship, of course, though I doubt that would go very smoothly."

"There's also the fact that the Medical Association has taken action against your clan three times," added Astley. "Each time happened to coincide with civil strife event. Melinoë was present during each of these events, though historical documents don't seem to elaborate on her actions during these events. A strange matter, since I obtained this information from your family's historical documents."

Sorin raised his hands helplessly. "What can I do? The documents are redacted so strictly that even I can't read what happened."

"How about we just focus on the Medical Association and their actions against your clan," suggested Daphne. "I really think we're overcomplicating the problem. If Melinoë is acting through the association, we just need to look at the association itself."

"A fair point," said Astley. "Sorin?"

"The first time they acted was to downgrade the Kepler Clan from the permanent leader of the association to a voting member," said Sorin. "The second time was when they forced the Kepler Clan to share its hoarded medical knowledge, greatly weakening its grip over the medical community.

"I don't disagree with these two moves. They're logical and better for everyone. It's the third move I take issue with—the ban on poison users from practicing medicine. Out of all the medical clans and organizations, the Kepler Clan was the most heavily impacted. It set medical care back significantly, and many existing processes and treatments had to be reinvented.

"I'd also like to point out that if other important entities are aware of what's going on, the Kepler Clan likely does as well. They are likely aware of the matter but have decided not to take overt action."

"There's also their relationship with the Pandora Government to consider," added Daphne. "Perhaps they already have enough support and don't see the need to fill you in on these details?"

"I'm not sure about that," said Sorin. "The Shrine Descent seems to have the government's attention. Though details on past Descents are sparse, it's the first time, to my knowledge, that multiple God Seeds are participating. Two of these God Seeds happen to have a terrible relationship with my clan, while the Pollen Clan isn't on the best terms with our clan currently.

"So, you're saying that your clan might have already requested aid from the government and been denied," said Astley.

"The timing in conjunction with the Shrine Descent event is too perfect to be a coincidence," said Sorin. "And if the government needs to pick between the fate of the Kepler Clan and whatever they are doing in the catacombs, I have no doubt which one they'll pick."

"I think you're overthinking things again," said Gareth. "You know there's a bunch of people targeting you and your clan. You want to stop them. Wouldn't it just be better to take note of who wants to harm you, who wants to help you, and who's standing on the fence and go from there?"

"Agreed," said Daphne. "Assume those who've been historically hostile with your clan will continue to be. Add in the clans that would benefit from the fall of your clan, because these will be the easiest to convince to stand again you."

"Your clan's allies and dependents are to be trusted, but verification of their intentions is key. Don't take their alliances for granted. Consider whether or not it would benefit them to transfer their allegiance."

Sorin sighed. "I guess it all comes down to whether or not the Medical Association will use reason or populism in the inquiry. We have logic on our side—in fact, this whole combining a single member's trial with an inquiry is basically unheard of."

"And that is why you should be worried," said Astley. "They're deviating from historical precedent and don't care about consistency. The inquiry has clearly been influenced by Madness, which isn't exactly the most reasonable of the Seven Evils."