Divine Apostasy Book 8 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Ruwen didn’t react to Big D’s statement, but his mind roiled.

They stepped into the cool night air and Big D glanced at him. “You didn’t think I knew?”

“Knew what?” Ruwen asked as casually as he could.

Big D laughed. “That rules out Observer, you’re a terrible liar. I thought for sure that was how you hid from me all night, and why I can’t see any of your stats. Not even my Perception works.”

Ruwen didn’t have an ability to hide information other than the privacy setting everyone had, but he’d circumvented everything by going to the source, Lir. The temple entity suppressed Ruwen’s details from everyone’s displays and did even more when Ruwen took on the aspect of the Uru’s Shadow.

“From the stories of the battle at New Eiru, I know you took Fighter for a bit,” Big D said.

Ruwen gave up the charade of not knowing. He really did need to work on his dishonesty. Or at least hiding his lying better. “I’m not sure this is the best place to talk about that.”

Big D waved a hand. “That secret’s out. When three Champions suddenly appeared and used all their abilities defending the northern cities, everyone learned the truth.”

That made sense. The war would have forced them into revealing their abilities. Ruwen remembered his mistake during the camping trip. He’d used the Observer skill Leap to cross a stream, and Big D had remarked on his use of the level four spell Jump that Worker’s had, even though Ruwen had used Fabricate to only look level two.

Then when Big D had handed out the Class insignias that lit up after the tour of Deepwell’s terium mine, she had “accidentally” dropped the Observer Class insignia in front of Ruwen before replacing it with the Worker one.

“You knew before that, though, didn’t you?” Ruwen asked.

Big D rubbed her right palm with a thumb, and Ruwen suddenly understood.

“Of course,” Ruwen said. “Which one?”

Big D had intelligence and experience and her noticing Ruwen’s slip up didn’t surprise him, but her reaction to it wasn’t confusion and questions, but the opposite. If meant she already knew he was a Champion because she’d spent time with one in the past. Big D served as a Hand for one of the three Champions he’d brought back from the Spirit Realm.

Big D glanced up at Ruwen and smiled. “What do you mean?” She said in the same tone he’d used a moment ago.

They both laughed.

Light from second and third story windows lit the street. The main floor of each building, which contained their shops, had shuttered windows. Ruwen took a deep breath, the scent of dozens of meals heavy in the air. Memories of home and his mom’s cooking filled his thoughts, and for a few seconds he let them wrap him in warmth.

They approached a building four times the size of the others, its windows shuttered to keep in the noise. Light still managed to escape the cracks, along with the smell of ale, bread, and appah stew. The Bard inside had reached the sixth death of the poor farmer in the Farmer’s Ballad. This song had been the first thing that Ruwen thought of when Bliz had offered him the Void Band path on his Ascendancy Day.

The wooden sign hanging over the door read, Flying Appah. Wip opened the door and Qip held it while his brother glanced around the inside of the bar. Wip continued in and Big D followed. The Bard started the chorus and the entire bar joined in.

In the fields he toiled in vain,

his Death Grip left him dead and drained.

Nine times it claimed the farmer's might,

and now he plows the endless blight.

The Band Bliz had sent groaned at hearing the song, and Ruwen smiled.

Ruwen stepped into the tavern’s main room, the temperature ten degrees warmer than outside. Over fifty people stood, tankards raised as they belted out the chorus. Most of the crowd ignored them, but a handful of women and a few men fixated on him, and he pulled his hat down further to cover his face.

“Your Charisma, paired with the Flying Appah’s ale, is a dangerous combination,” Big D said as she took them down the long wooden bar. “Try and slouch or something.”

Along the wall behind the bar, a well-drawn Appah piloted an air sled, a scarf trailing behind him in the wind forming the words Flying Appah. A young brown-haired woman stood behind the bar wearing a worn apron. She nodded at Big D and glanced at Ruwen, her gaze lingering as if evaluating him for danger.

Ruwen guessed newcomers, especially with all the tensions with the north, were rare here, and he would draw attention as an outsider. Realizing the other reason she might be staring at him, he quickly took off his Worker’s hat. It was bad manners to keep your hat on inside, and he nodded her an apology.

Big D turned to the left and entered another room a third the size of the outer one and vastly quieter. People here talked softly, plates of food before them. She led them to a table in the back corner and the other three sat at a table nearby.

Ruwen sat in the chair across from Big D. “Nice place.”

Big D nodded. “It is. Alexsys has a good mind for business, and she’s done well here. Her daughter, Brianna, was one of the last to be revived and is still adjusting to their new life. Alexsys’ husband used his allotment to buy some land which he farms all day, and then returns here to help with the bar. They are good hardworking people.”

“I can see that.”

“And it’s all going to burn.”

“Is it that bad?” Ruwen asked.

A young girl, maybe ten, who looked like a small version of Alexsys, apron and all, came to the table.

Big D scowled at her. “About time, Brianna. I have two hundred bushels of corn, three hundred pounds of potatoes, and seventy-five kegs.”

The young girl met Big D’s gaze fearlessly. “Kegs of what?”

Big D narrowed her eyes. “Thirty oil, twenty-five ale, and twenty salt.”

“What kind of potatoes?”

“Northern brown.”

Brianna tapped her chin for two seconds. “The corn is easy, since a bushel is one and a quarter cubic foot. Northern browns vary but I’ll assume fifty-five pounds per cubic foot, which is just under five and half cubic foot. Kegs are two each.”

Big D slapped the table. “Come on, I don’t have all day. I’m already behind schedule.”

The girl nodded to herself. “Two wagons.”

Big D sat up straight. “What? Are you kidding? Do you think I’m made of money? I can fit it all in one.”

“True, your load is only four hundred and six cubic feet, and a standard Worker wagon is four hundred fifty.”

“Then you’re just trying to steal my hard-earned money.”

Brianna put a hand on her hip. “You can use one wagon, but if a single oil cask leaks, you’ll ruin your entire load.”

Big D grinned at the girl. “Exactly right, Brianna. When will I ever outsmart you?”

“Never,” Brianna said confidently, returning the grin.

“I think you’re right,” Big D said. She pointed at Ruwen and whispered loudly. “He’s paying, so double your margins.”

Brianna looked shyly at Ruwen and then back at Big D. “I’ll triple them.”

“Good girl,” Big D said.

Big D pointed at the table with her men. “It’s been a long day. Keep their mugs full. And two for us as well.”

Brianna nodded and dashed off.

Big D returned her gaze to Ruwen. “Maybe she’ll be the first.”

“First what?” Ruwen asked.

“Worker.”

“What does that mean?”

Big D shrugged. “Brianna would make a superb Planner or Steward. Shortly after Uru’s Third Temple appeared, the priests informed everyone that Class had now become a personal choice.” Big D leaned forward. “Not a single Worker has Ascended since.”

Ruwen winced. He had taken away the Priests’ ability to assign a Class because he wanted everyone to exert their free will and to stop the corruption. “That’s not good.”

Big D slowly shook her head. “It is not. Why would anyone choose work when they could pick a life of comfort and wealth as a Mage? Over seventy percent of new Ascendants in the last two years have chosen Mage. Despite the vast majority having almost no aptitude for that Class. The Mage Academy is overwhelmed, and the Martial and Watch Academies are not far behind. The school are overfilled and with no room, the teens wander around unemployed with no skills.”

Big D paused as Brianna brought three large mugs of ale for the other table and placed two smaller ones on their table.

Big D nodded at the table with her men. “Thank you, Bri. Tell the boys to get a good meal, they deserve it.”

Brianna nodded and returned to the other table.

Big took a drink and closed her eyes. “Much better. I don’t know how that man gets his ale so smooth without making it bitter.”

Ruwen took a sip of the cool ale. He had never been much of a drinker or fan of alcohol, and now it didn’t matter as his Diamond body shrugged alcohol off immediately. The ale did have a nice flavor though.

In the other room the final verses of the Farmer’s Ballad started, and the crowd shouted the lyrics.

With every seed, a promise is planted,

a future harvest of wishes granted.

Let us cherish each moment we're given,

and mourn the farmer, and Death Grip's prison.

Ruwen had a terrible voice, bordering on tone deaf. Hamma thought it was cute, but it embarrassed him. Everyone had been shocked by Sift’s voice, a rich tenor, that would make people’s heads turn. He was as shy as Ruwen about singing but for the opposite reason.

Big D continued. “The teens who do graduate from the Academies, or the hundreds of smaller schools that have sprung up, have flooded the market. Wages for Mage goods have plummeted. Unemployment is widespread. This has led to a spike in crime and general unrest. Some have banded together and are harassing travelers like bandits. And the discontent doesn’t end with the teens. Many older people are angry they never had a choice and resent the teens, making the situation even more unstable. Now we get to the terrible things.”

“What?” Ruwen asked in disbelief. “That wasn’t the bad stuff?” His stomach knotted.

“Oh, not by a long shot. The shortage of Workers paired with the abundant supply of young, stupid, and unemployed has created a new market. One that kidnaps creatures from near the dungeon and uses them as forced labor.”

Ruwen couldn’t speak, his shock at how bad things had become stunning him.

Big D gave Ruwen a serious look. “This is just the tip of the appah’s nose. The result of a single change, and not even the biggest one.”

Ruwen rested his head in his hands. He had only wanted to let people make their own choices. How could something objectively good result in so much awfulness.

“When the Third Temple appeared on everyone’s maps, people rejoiced. That lasted until they realized they couldn’t bind here. You know what’s worse than not getting something you want? Watching others get it. Others who talk the same language but sound funny, dress differently, and have odd customs. In effect they are outsiders and it doesn’t take much convincing up north to get people riled up and demanding these others leave.”

“I had no idea,” Ruwen said, the results of his plans causing disbelief.

“The three Champions kept the worst of it from spreading, but when they all disappeared, things quickly got worse. Everyone felt as if Uru’s abandonment of them was complete. Priests have been attacked and the temples vandalized. Uru’s name is used as a curse in many parts of the north.”

“I sensed that here as well. In your meeting.”

“Imagine what it’s like for these people. They lived in a literal apocalypse where the gods battled in the open. Those wars resulted in them all dying. Everything they owned and built destroyed. Then they are revived ten thousand years later. Nothing is the same. Families aren’t whole for months as the revival process chugs through hundreds of thousands of people. Without choices they are basically forced to come out here to the cities and use their allotment to start over. Only to be hated by their descendants in the north. They also feel resentment toward Uru for what they’ve been through. Nobody is happy in this country anymore.”

Big D took another drink and gently set the mug down. She moved it around in a small circle, spreading the condensation that had pooled on the oak table. “All that adds to the unrest, but it isn’t our biggest problem. I can handle angry, stupid, and greedy people, but the disease that spreads from the heart of New Eiru is a different matter.”

“Gunder,” Ruwen whispered, as the image of the mark on the crime lord’s hand filled his memory. How could Uru make this man one of his Hands?

“Is that his name? No one could find out. Anyway, he wanted to take advantage of all that unrest by using the organized ring of satellite cities to push into the north and take over. They are in no shape to defend themselves. When I refused, I became a problem as I surrounded him in his city. He decided to approach things from the other direction. Use the unrest in the north to take over our efforts by force. He is very smart.”

Ruwen sighed.

“Out with it,” Big D said.

“Everything you described is my fault. I made those changes. I’m responsible for all of it.”