Phantasm

We caught our first sight of Dorsay some time before arriving. So much so, in fact, that I wondered if it had been deliberately sited with visual spectacle in mind.

Built on the eastern shore of Lake Dunlead, it became visible across the waters as we approached a curve around the northern side of the lake. The lake itself seemed… off to me. The shores were too steep, and the depths were too deep. The water was preternaturally clear, but I still couldn’t see the bottom.

“Are there any legends of how that lake was formed?” I asked.

Felicia shrugged. “Stories,” she replied. “It was like that during the Empire, before that, who knows? Maybe something happened during the God’s War.”

I shivered a bit at the reminder that there were beings who had rearranged the landscape on a whim and were only prevented from doing that today by some kind of non-interference treaty.

Dorsay was nice though, a very fairy-tale kingdom. Ringed by white walls, a large castle rose above the city from the highest point. It looked like the city was built on one large hill, with the castle at the top, and two rings of buildings inside the walls. The inner ring was… something else. It looked like the buildings there had been built with some kind of prismatic building material. They shimmered in the light, like opal or mother-of-pearl.

I found out that there was a range limit on [Identify]. This was the first time since coming here that I’d looked at something thinking ‘what the hell is that’ and hadn’t immediately gotten an answer.

“Anybody heard about that shimmery stuff before?” I asked the others. They all shook their heads.

“I’ve heard it called the magical city, but I didn’t think they mean that,” Felicia said.

“Oh right,” I said and activated [Mana Sense]. “Oh wow. Are you guys looking at the mana?” I asked the ones with the skill. Felicia, Janie, and even Maslin looked at me and then out the window. Felicia gasped, Janie swore, and Maslin just froze.

Dorsay was the centre of a network of mana, of which we had only ever seen a small part. Mana was funnelled into the obelisks that were dotted all around the kingdom and then directed in great streams towards the capital.

Wherever you went in Latorra, in addition to all the natural mana, and the great gears that turned with unknown purpose, there was generally a single conduit of mana that stretched across the landscape, headed for the capital.

Here was where they all converged, diving down into the mess of magic that was Dorsay.

“No wonder it has three Dungeons,” Felicia breathed. “How much of that is used, and how much goes to waste?”

What we were looking at could best be described as a city-sized plate of misty spaghetti, or perhaps a cable-nest orders of magnitude worse than anything found behind an AV cabinet. That was probably a better metaphor, as these were all conduits for mana. They split, recombined, tangled and moved through each other, according to some chaotic logic of their own.

“Is that even safe?” I asked with trepidation.

“It doesn’t look safe, but I’ve never heard of loose mana having an effect on people,” Felicia said doubtfully. “It must be, though? We’re not the only people in the world with [Sense Mana]”

“Right,” I agreed. “Let’s get on then.”

The guards at the gate were admirably efficient. They seemed to be expecting us but still checked our papers carefully, directing our carriage into a small court inside the gatehouse to wait. They even used some sort of magical device to message the palace and get our permission to enter.

“Please take this token, ma’am,” The guard said, handing me a white-painted wooden token. “It should allow you to pass through the inner gate.” He pointed down the street. “It’s a straight shot, and not far.”

The inner wall was, in fact, quite close. We could see it looming over the well-built houses and inns that lined the street here. I’m sure there was some important reason why the two walls were so close on this side, but it eluded me.

The second gate was just as efficient. They took our token, and our papers and again checked with their command. Once again, we were allowed to pass through and given a token for the palace guards.

“The Chamberlain has been alerted, and should have someone to meet you at the gates,” he explained.

Wondering if security was so tight for everyone, I peered out the window at the regular traffic. It seemed like the tokens and paper system were only enforced for carts and carriages. Regular townsfolk seemed to walk through unchallenged. I did note though, that many of them wore tokens similar to ours pinned to their shirts or around their necks. Theirs were painted blue rather than white, but as far as I could tell the guards let them through regardless of if they had a token or not.

The inner city didn’t look any less impressive close-up. The shimmering stuff that so many of the houses were made of looked… incredible really. Like it was made of opal.

[Identification]: - Opalime Stone - Quality: Excellent - Properties: Damage resistance, Magic resistance.

Opalime Stone? Was that a pun? So not actually opal then. I wondered if the insides were also shimmery — that seemed like it would get old. A lack of variety might explain why the town wasn’t totally made of the stuff. At ground level, there was quite a lot of more natural materials.

The other thing I noticed about Dorsay on our way through was how big it was. This was the first place I’d been that was big enough that it felt like a city.

“Remember to be careful once we get to wander the place guys,” I remarked to my fellow travellers. “This place is big enough to get truly lost in.”

There were noises of acknowledgement, but not a lot of chatter. With the exception of Cutter, who looked eager at the thought of losing himself in a city, they seemed a bit intimidated by the scale of the city.

The final checkpoint was our destination. Directed by the guards, we disembarked and were ushered through the gate. In a central courtyard, we gaped like tourists at the massive palace in front of us. From where we were we could see two wings coming out diagonally from the main building. They were four stories high, at least, and the main building towered over them. Aside from decorative flourishes around the windows, it was all Opalime Stone, and highly polished at that. It gleamed.

Waiting in the courtyard were two men. Richly dressed, they wore sleeveless tunics over tight-fitting silk doublets and hose. The tunics were dyed red and embroidered in gold with complex patterns. While they looked like a uniform, the patterns were subtly different… did that mean that each official’s job was encoded somehow on their uniforms? That might take a while to learn…

[Identification]: - Chamberlain Uniform (Deputy) - Quality: Excellent - Properties: None.

[Identification]: - Master of Ceremonies Uniform (Assistant) - Quality: Excellent - Properties: None.

Or I could just rely on [Identify] to tell me. Thanks [Identify]!

Both of them bowed as I approached, so I curtseyed — with a quick glance behind me to make sure my rag-tag group of adventurers was doing the same.

The Deputy Chamberlain (or an imposter wearing his uniform, I suppose) spoke first. He was tall and thin, with skin more noticeably tanned than his partner.

“Greetings, my lady, and welcome to Dorsay, and to the palace. I am Stefanos Gereas, Deputy Chamberlain for the palace, and this is Victor Moore, an assistant to the Master of Ceremonies.”

I formally introduced my own crew. [Charm] led me through the formalities as I gave their names and roles. Janie looked uncomfortable in her dress, but her tattoos were covered up now, which counted as a win in [Charm]’s accounting. Felicia was dealing with her fancy clothing with more grace, though no doubt missing her protective skirt. Kyle, as a bodyguard of the physical type, was actually entitled to wear armour.

Cutter and Maslin were officially apprentices and hopefully were below anyone's notice. As such, they had new, clean clothing, but nothing fancy. Cutter had his long-knife, but he was keeping it hidden.

Absent from the lineup was Cloridan. I’d had to leave him behind to manage things in Talnier. Losing him from the team hurt, but I needed someone I could trust to be there.

“As expected,” Stefanos said, sounding pleased. I guess a lot of delegations just showed up with whoever they felt like. “Rooms have been arranged in the guest wing.”

“Thank you,” I said graciously. “Is it too early to know when we will be granted an audience with His Majesty?”

Stefanos glanced at Victor, and the man jumped to attention. He was the older and smaller of the two and was clutching a folder of stiffened leather.

“Ah yes!” he exclaimed. “My lady, the next welcoming ceremony is in three days, and you are required to attend.”

“I’m not familiar with that,” I commented.

“Ah, well, it will be your first opportunity to see His Majesty, but it is unlikely that you will be able to talk with him. The ceremony is to both welcome new guests and familiarise the King with them.” He opened his folder and pulled out a piece of paper.

“Um, are any of your party able to read?” he asked nervously.

“Of course,” I said, taking the paper from his hand. He sighed in relief.

“That has a reminder of the time and place of the ceremony, as well as the basic protocol. Essentially, all the guests line up and kneel, and his Majesty walks along the line. He may address you, in which case we strongly advise you keep your answers confined to ‘Yes, your Majesty.’”

He pulled out another sheet of paper. “This is the schedule of public events being held in the Palace for the next three weeks. They provide an opportunity for you to get to know the court socially. His Majesty may attend some of them, but he is very busy. Not all the events are actually open to the general public, there is a notation of who you will need to approach for invitations.”

Ah, networking opportunities, I thought. A quick glance over the sheet showed mainly balls, hunts and dinners. I was surprised by the number of things scheduled, but it looked like a number of the events were hosted, or sponsored by nobles or visiting dignitaries. Very organised.

“This is in answer to my question, is it?”

Victor coughed. “A number of visitors try to speak with the King during these events and get their spot on the schedule elevated. I can’t say it never works, but it does so only rarely.”

“But where am I on the schedule now?”

“The King will make that decision after your welcoming ceremony,” Stefanos interjected. “Now, if you would follow me?”

We left Victor behind, and the Deputy led up some side steps to one of the side wings of the Palace.

“The Palace really is huge, isn’t it?” I said.

“Five hundred and thirty-six rooms,” the man said with some pride. “The Kingdom inherited it from the Empire, and it has been carefully maintained since the transfer.”

“Is it actually the reason that the capital is in Dorsay then?” I asked.

“One of them.” The deputy glanced at me appraisingly. “His Majesty’s ancestral lands are on Risurn Island, which was deemed too remote for a central administration.”

So the King is kept separate from his power base, I thought. I wonder who thought of that?

We were led up to our rooms on the third floor. Stefanos showed us around our suite, pointing out the facilities. As befitted an Empire-era building, it was outfitted with enchanted toilet facilities, which I resolved to promptly make use of.

After showing us everything, Stefanos paused, and I suddenly had a flashback to a few anxious moments spent in American hotel rooms, remembering at the last minute that I was supposed to tip. [Charm] told me not to tip the official though, so I held off.

“One final thing,” he said. “Obviously we do everything we can to maintain security throughout the palace. You passed the guards stationed here. But this wing is where we house numerous visiting dignitaries that insist on providing their own protection.”

He nodded at Kyle and Janie. “That is why we permit other guests to bring their own bodyguards. But with so many armed and Levelled individuals of random alignment… we do our best to prevent any incidents, but they have happened in the past, so please be wary.”