Tree of Aeons

Year 297 Part 2

Treehome

Treehome. Our home base, and the long peace led to a decent growth in terms of population. Our measures to soften the blow of parenthood and supplying the central continent’s families with a high level of support meant we continued to see good growth in terms of population, and so, our recruiting pipeline is healthy. 

Freshka, the capital and heart of the Valtrian Order, buzzed with energy. Politically, the mood in the population was fairly upbeat. Progress was made on many fronts, and the world entered an unusual era of peace. 

It was this peace that partly enabled Emperor Erranuel’s expansion plan to the world of Shasan. It was going to be largely a one way trip for the first five years, and we intended to deploy a few Valtrian Order agents just to accompany them, and void mages would drop in once a year to help them move people or resources, as needed. 

The news of the Emperor Erranuel’s travels to the other worlds was largely kept quiet, mainly because of fear for the merchant guilds and merchant kings’ attack. However, no one was really in the mood for attack. The Valtrian Order’s consumption of crystals has reduced gradually, but the world’s smaller forces are still not ready and have not rebuilt their stockpiles of war. 

The consequences of the past war, and the fear of my punishment for now continued to deter the prospect of wider war.

Instead, the guilds came to us with a proposition. They too would like to expand to the wider worlds. I immediately thought about Raph and the White Statue, and the risks. 

I was willing to let them try expanding, though a part of me felt a little disturbed at allowing corporate forces to have a stake in expanding into other worlds. 

Right now, we had a monopoly on travel due to our void mages, but it’s likely that my monopoly over my void mages would eventually be broken. It may not happen in ten years, or twenty years, but at some point, it could happen. 

Some void mages would eventually agree to join these other folks, or maybe, they figured out how to independently train void mages. Of all people, the White Statue could discover how it’s done on its own. As a domain holder of his level of strength, if he had seen the powers of a void mage, it shouldn’t be too hard for him to start figuring out how to create one. 

After all, we learned how to create void mages through heavy exposure to void mana and constantly healing the individual from the effects of the curse. Eventually, they were able to gain the [void mage] class. If the White Statue learned how to do the same, it’s likely they would be able to do it too. 

We have a technological head start, and the White Statue would figure out how to create void mages if it tried. That would allow it to expand to other worlds. Similarly, my void mages are not prevented from mingling and talking to other mages and people, so, those of Treehome have some inkling of how a void mage is trained from scratch, even though the process of actually creating a void mage still remains elusive thanks to the various sicknesses and curses in the soul caused by exposure to the void mana. 

However, as medical and healing abilities of the general populace catch up, or if any of my level 100 and above healers joined one of these guilds, they would have the ingredients needed to experiment on void magic.

What would they do with it? 

Was this power something we should release to the world? What if the power to travel to other worlds that only destroy others?

But we are not the fairest judge of that. We’ve used our power to reach the other worlds, we’ve saved lives, but in the long run, we also harvest their societies for their brightest children to fight this war. We should intervene if they used it to harm more than good, or when our trust is broken. 

The ability to travel worlds in itself is not a bad thing, even if it may lead to bad consequences. I also didn’t see myself as intentionally policing their behavior. It felt like this was one of my usual dilemmas again. Do I allow people to do bad things with neutral powers? It’s like preventing people from flying because some people could just use flight to fight wars. 

Worlds that had this power would have an advantage over worlds that didn’t. Just because they gained access to void magic doesn’t make them more powerful over those that didn’t. If the defending worlds were like Khubor where there are existences like the Osroids, it may not be that clear cut.

Thinking that way, maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing to actually release knowledge of void magic to the wider world. Yes. It’s potentially dangerous. But right now, only the old gods and the demons have figured out how to travel between worlds, and both have left quite a fair bit of the multiverse in a terrible state. 

But, Stella was quite against it.

“No. I cannot allow that. Yes, maybe some people can be saved. But as far as I can see, void magic is as good as a nuclear weapon. The longer they stay away from it, the more we can save people. We should be the ones saving them, because I won’t trust anyone else with this power. I currently cannot imagine how any other institution can handle this power carefully, not with where these other people are now.”

“Not even Raph or the White Statue?” I countered. 

“No.” 

“Are you being biased?” 

From a net gain to the world, linking the others worlds should lead to net savings of life. It means demon-attacked worlds have an exit path. That in itself should save many lives.

“Have you not seen the people? Everyone’s a warmonger. People will be killed, and I cannot trust any of them to treat those beneath them with more care than the Order. Not yet. Maybe someday there will be a truly good society that is worthy of this, but right now, no. The angels and the White Statue have potential, but I want to see how they behave, without our threat before I’d even trust them.”

“It’s not something you can hide forever.” I countered. Void magic can be learned. 

“I know, but I will stop it as long as I can. I want to be able to pull the plug on this experiment if they misbehave. As the void domainholder, let me have this right.” 

“Very well.”

***

Lumoof landed on the world of Khubor. 

We knew that we were the ones that should face it. We walked to the very edges of the Khubor’s land, and wondered whether this was a hostile domain holder. Even at this distance, we could subtly feel it’s presence/

I hoped that we could come to an agreement, like Lillies. At the border between the land of the living and the land of the dead, there was a trading post. This was where the humans of Khubor traded with the undead. So, we approached the undead, and requested an audience with the Osroids. 

We declared we were coming. The undead at the border didn’t respond to us immediately, but eventually, one of the undead actually spoke with magic. 

“Please wait.”

We did.

A wraith appeared about half a day later, it probably flew from really far away. It glanced at Lumoof with its glowing yellow eyes, and nodded. “Follow me.” 

We followed the wraith on a path that headed for the center of the land of the dead.

The land of the dead was surprisingly productive, filled with mines and quarries, and factories. The undead worked, and they worked with only a little bit of rest. 

As we escorted deeper into the land of the dead, we noticed the presence of large black crystalline towers that radiated magical energy.

It was familiar. It reminded me of that dungeon core that spawned undead from my earlier days. Lumoof’s magical senses focused, and we realized these were magical ley lines that were corrupted by the black crystal. These crystals then drew on that energy to create some kind of ‘undead nourishing aura’. 

The undead consumed magical energy in their day to day activities, and the aura replenished the undead’s magical energy. In short, these was what kept dead going.

As we moved deeper into the deathlands, we noticed more of these black crystals, clustered around where the undead worked. We did notice some undead were different from others, there were large, heavily armed black knights that had a series of magical gems within their bodies. 

They drew from that undead aura, but likely were able to operate without it. 

It was around that time that we began to sense the eyes of a domainholder. It was just a sensation of someone looking back at us, whenever we looked or passed by one of those black crystals. The wraith that escorted us clearly noticed that we noticed, but it said nothing. 

I still found them fascinating. They were, in a somewhat twisted way, a post-death society. People whose souls were given a second chance to live again here, even if they were just doing more work. But they do not tire or feel pain, and they are permitted to interact with themselves. 

Even from afar we could listen to them talk to each other. Some of the undead talked to each other about their day to day life, or talked about their past. Some missed their families, but some of these undeads were family when they lived.

I wondered whether they gained levels and skills. Or they lose the ability to gain levels.

We traveled for about a day and then we stopped in one of the ‘cities’ of the dead. A city for the undead, built around one of these black crystal obelisks. This was a city of crafts, where undead and wraiths worked in workshops to build tools and weapons. Things that they used, but also things they traded with the humans. 

“You will rest here tonight. We will continue our journey tomorrow.” 

“Alright.” I could feel the Osroid’s presence in the gigantic black crystal at the heart of the city. We were getting quite good and experienced at sensing the presence of these domain holders. Bitu, White Statue, and now the Osroids all employed tools to maintain control and oversight of their territories. 

The city was clearly built to accommodate human visitors. Maybe the heroes, like the hero Gideon. We didn’t need sleep, and it was easy to notice how the undead didn’t need sleep either. The workshops continued to work even at night, though the rarely used inn had really thick walls to drown out the noise. 

On the next day, a gigantic bone dragon arrived in this undead city, and the wraith waited next to it. “Visitor, we will now take you to meet the Osroids.”

“Alright. Let’s go.” The bone dragon flew quickly, and I rated it’s power somewhere in the high level 80s. A creature able to give even demon champions a run for their money. Amazingly, it wasn’t a reanimated bone construct, but instead, also possessed the soul. Multiple souls that were linked together. The wraith stood next to us, and observed us. 

Lumoof grinned. 

“We should be there quickly with this dragon. Perhaps a day.”

“Yes.” The wraith answered. 

We flew over surprisingly fertile fields, mines, workshops, cities, and barren land. In parts of the land of the dead, bones rained. Magic woven into the land itself caused bone-like materials to appear out of nowhere. As we flew closer, I could feel it, the familiar presence of another domain holder. 

The Osroids’s home was an easily fortified valley, with a small gap. 

The dragon landed at the door to the valley, and the wraith led us along the road. The valley walls on both sides were filled with carvings. 

People. Creatures. Artwork made of gray stone, all intricately made from the valley’s natural gray colors. It was a temple, and the whole journey walking through the carvings felt serene, quiet, and even holy. 

Maybe it was once a holy place.

There were many small doors that were carved into the valley’s walls, and they all led to underground passageways and rooms. 

The wraith eventually stopped at one of the doors, where another undead awaited us. The undead was a heavy knight, it’s bones were larger and magically reinforced to be stronger, covered in enough magical armor and weaponry to be on par with the elite White Guards of the White Statue.

It was the right direction. The presence of the Osroids all over the valley at first, but as we focused, I could triangulate its location.

The knight pointed at the door, and walked it first. We followed. 

We walked on a path covered with magical traps and weapons, but somehow, not a single one of them activated. Eventually, after we went through multiple passageways and underground rooms, I saw three creatures, all physically separate yet magically intertwined. I knew they were a single being. 

“Greetings.” I answered on Lumoof’s behalf, and I felt the presence of a being pushed back against us. 

The three undead bodies spoke at once, and it felt like I was talking to a magical twin of Lillies. Lillies’ underground roots and had the same sensation. “Greetings. Why have you asked for an audience with us?”

It clearly knew we were something. Our aura and presence as a domain holder was clear, and at this distance, I knew the Osroids was a peer of similar strength as the White Statue, though it’s power set was likely less combat focused. Just seeing it and being here answered 90% of the questions we had, but we asked the two main questions on my mind.

“We are travelers, expanding through other worlds and are here to help deal with the demon kings. Are you willing to coexist peacefully with us?”

The three Osroids answered differently. “No. Maybe. Yes.” 

Lumoof smiled, and answered sternly. “We would appreciate honesty, Osroids. You three are one, your soul is to one, even if you share three flesh. There is no need to play such tricks on us.”

The Osroid at the center paused, and then, the other two merged into it. The three boney bodies fused together into a single larger bone creature, with three faces.

“Greetings, my fellow Soul Shaper.” It spoke as one.

Lumoof nodded. “Greetings. I’ve come for two real purposes, and one goal. One, to know whether we can coexist with you, and two, to inform you of the fading hero summons. The hero’s summons will end soon.”

The Osroids paused. “We are as we always were. If you leave me be, I will leave you be.” 

“Great. That solves the first problem. Two, the demon king is a continuing problem, but the hero summons will be over soon. Are you able to deal with it?”

In my mind, I believe the answer is yes. 

The Osroids stopped, and it’s undead face transformed into one of displeasure. “Yes. But not without a great sacrifice. Without the heroes, we would have to rely on the powers of shaping the soul into a weapon. We would need many sacrifices from the living to create a weapon strong enough to defeat it.”

I had a sense that the Osroids could win without it, but it is unlikely to sacrifice itself to do so. It would prefer to win the easy way. 

Lumoof frowned. “I see. What would you do if it landed in the deathlands?”

It’s answer was also unappealing. “I would chase it to the lands of the living, until I collected enough sacrifices for the weapon. That would be our plan.”

The end of the hero summon would greatly destabilize the current balance and prosperity of Khubor. So, in my mind, I considered offering a deal. We would deal with the demon king in exchange for continued peace and non-interference. We gain the experience, the world stays as it is.

“When will the heroes’ summons end?” It asked.

“Soon. I am not certain. We were asked by Hawa to deliver the message.” I was fairly certain it’ll end the moment we inform Hawa. But I could hold it off, but that would delay my access into the inner demon worlds. Play off the time difference and Hawa’s limited information.

There was silence, but I felt the buzz of the Osroids’ mind. Its presence fluctuated like a turbulent ocean. It was in thought.

“You are strong. Stronger.” The Osroids said. “You seem familiar with the ways of the invaders, and can fight them. We have no interest in the invaders, they are something with deal with because we have to.”

Lumoof listened. The room was fairly small. Constrained. It was quite different from most of the large, airy chambers favored by other domain holders. 

“So, we will trade weapons and magic for security. Knowledge of necromancy. We are interested in maintaining the status quo, and will trade for it.” The Osroids offered. “The land of the dead will remain off limits, but we can construct a new undead city to accommodate your people. If you wish to have undead servants, we are happy to supply it. We are also capable of constructing custom souls that meet any of your more exotic desires.”

Lumoof squirmed at the last item, but decided not to dwell on it. Instead, he redirected the question. “What did you do with the heroes?”

“If the heroes are willing to fight the demons, we let them. If they are not, we use what is in their soul to make a powerful creature to battle the demon king instead. If that fails, we use the power of the hero’s soul as a weapon.”

Lumoof frowned. “In the past, have you ever harmed a hero?”

“Yes.” The Osroids answered, as if explaining itself. “Those who are aggressive get what they deserve.” 

At that moment, I felt the Osroids split a portion of itself, and that portion of itself snuck away. Maybe it anticipated a fight. Lumoof merely smiled. “It is not necessary to do so. We mean no harm.”

Lumoof and the Osroids didn’t move, and yet at that moment, we felt our two domains graze each other. The Osroids may have realized we could sense it’s soul movement, but it decided the risk was worth it.

“We will accept your offer, Osroids, with two exceptions. We will require full access to your deathlands to do battle with the demon king. Two, we do not know for certain how long the hero summons will remain, but we ask that if you find these heroes, you send them to the land of the living.”

The Osroids didn’t move, but I felt the chattering shifts of bone. I wondered whether I emit such a sensation when I was deep in thought. It spoke. “Acceptable, but my wraiths will accompany your forces.”

“Fair. That is all. We will be in touch, and we hope our peace remains.”

The Osroids seemed suspicious, but ultimately, answered diplomatically. “The peace will hold as long as it is upheld.”

Lumoof smiled, and said some nice words to end it. “It is good to meet a necromancer that isn’t immediately hostile. This has been pleasant. We will be in touch, Osroids, hopefully, in more cordial terms.”

The Osroids didn’t respond immediately, and instead, just watched us leave. 

The wraith escorted us back to the valley’s entrance where the bone dragon waited for us, and we left the world of Khubor. 

A deal was made.