Theft of Decks 4, CH 33

This is the first part of the memoire of Baltasar Embertongue. Formerly a traveling tradesman between Liberty and Earth’s Ward. Now, through a grueling series of drawn-out negotiations, a leader in the Council of Liberators. Wow. I can actually call myself a leader. That feels weird. Unreal. Maybe it will settle in time. This! This was the Savior? A traveling tradesman? And I rescued his memoires from the fires? Well, most of them. The historians of Ordei are going to crown me their queen when this is done! (Book 1, Page 1.)

The next day faded into a haze of feverish activity, where one thing seemed to lead directly to another with no chance to breathe, take stock or, in any way, try to halt what was going on.

First, they put out the fire and stopped the smoke from spreading throughout the room, causing them all to cough and choke.

Cilia took to investigating the Savior, ensuring that he really was dead. She found out that the Savior’s entire robes had been a crafted item, somehow making his entire body and face look taller and more impressive than he really was, and powerful enough to overcome the effect of all of Cilia’s crafted items.

Next, they started arguing, obviously, while Sera switched cards to Warmth of the Circle to start healing Liam and Spark of Divinity to raise his Toughness, avoid any lingering issues. Only, before they got any farther, shouts arose from the far end of the room. That turned out to be a small hand mirror, formerly suppressed, that transmitted both sound and vision of what was happening in the throne room. Where a large group of guards was debating whether they could trespass in the Savior’s private rooms if it were for the purpose of his aid.

Fortunately, the momentary panic spawned by that development faded away before the soldiers made up their minds. Also, Kith’s idea that he should put on the Savior’s robes and see if he couldn’t fake being him was summarily downvoted.

The chaos as they started releasing the summoners chained to their beds and descended among the former captives did not fade. It only spread.

First came the panic.

Then the anger, the loud debates of whether they should be killed. Also, the less loud debates with plenty of fingers pointing at the room below, questioning whether they could be killed.

Yet, slowly, eventually, rare voices started asking questions. Questions which granted hard answers. About the naked summoners. About the corpse clearly dressed in the Savior’s robes not being the Savior at all. And with every question they were able to answer - or at least, where the answer didn’t strictly point in the direction of ‘These are cold-blooded killers who murdered our lord without reason.’ – opinion shifted subtly in their direction.

Things truly changed a few hours in, when a familiar, shell-shocked Pillar of Liberty came walking in, slowly blinking as she took in the scenery and their presence at the center of everything. She immediately took point and barked out a number of orders. The last of these included secluding their group in a small sitting chamber along with them and calling in the other pillars, while she figured out what was going to happen.

The look on the pillar’s face, as the ornate door slammed shut behind her was exquisite. Disbelief was front and center, but there was a core of relief, of burgeoning, unbridled joy that lay entirely at odds with the weary, cynical woman Chase and Cilia had last met. “You did it. You actually did it. We are free! Please tell me it’s not a trick!”

“It’s not a trick.” Liam rumbled. “Also… who are you again?”

She ignored him and flung herself forward, grasping Chase in a deep long hug.

Chase’s arms moved to defend himself, until he realized what was going on. Then he slowly relaxed, and patted her back, as she started sobbing into his chest.

Eventually, she backed up a bit, wiping at her eyes. “Lucille. My name is Lucille. I’d say, anybody who saves me from inevitable death can call me by my first name.”

“Oh that’s her!” Liam smacked his forehead. “Say. Would you mind answering a quick question? It’s not like we actually thought this far ahead, but I’d honestly have expected people to be a lot more doubtful that your big and mighty Savior was actually dead. Only, that’s the only thing nobody’s challenged us on. How come?”

She looked at them, then at the short sleeves on their shirts, displaying a wide range of cards that were definitely not Devotion to Liberty. She barked a laughter. Then, with a flourish, Lucille showed them the Tier one Liberty card, like that of everybody else in Liberty, visible to the world through the short sleeve of her shirt.

It was the same as always. The Savior of Liberty, painted in the darkest of blues, front and center. From all sides, streaming whirls of energy streamed toward him, in a color palette that started light blue and got consistently darker. It was megalomaniacal, intimidating, and memorable.

It was also, quite clearly, inert. The energy that always moved along the frame of cards had stilled, and there was no shimmer, no life.

“Oh. Okay. That answers that.” Liam shrugged.

“No it doesn’t!” Cilia asked. “Why would only that card cease functioning? Has everything about it stopped? What is the logic?”

“All good questions.” Lucille agreed. “Possibly ones, we should wait with, until we reassure ourselves that the lands of Liberty are not going to tear themselves apart, following your deed.” Her eyes were red, but shone with inner fire.

Cilia blinked and coughed.

The pillar continued, starting to pace, filled with restless energy. “What you’ve managed is going to change… everything. I-“ She laughed softly. “Nobody even knows your names. If you faded away right now, with the Keepers resting, nobody would ever find you. Is that what you want?” She nodded, self-assurance visibly reasserting itself. “That is a good starting point. I expect that the other two pillars will arrive within the hour, though Trevor may ensconce himself in his house indefinitely. He was ever timid. The Pristine Minds are already out in force. So, before you are expected to stand up before all and sundry, I ask you to be very clear in advance. What do you want?”

They shared glances for a while. Then both Kith and Sera burst out in laughter, while Cilia looked like a thunderstorm.

Sera ventured. “We should likely have given this some additional thought beforehand.”

Liam snorted. “It’s not like any of us really thought we’d be able to pull through and succeed.” He held up his hand, stopping any complaints. “What? I’m just saying what we all have thought. Anyway, what we want is easy. Some friends of ours and their friends have been imprisoned within the past day. Reen, Nordon, a lot we don’t know the names of. We want them out, and free, as unharmed as possible.”

Lucille strode immediately to the door, slammed it open, and barked an order outside, before closing the door behind her again. “Done. What else?”

Liam blinked. “We want a deck. Also, we want for the people of Liberty to be free of tyrants like that insane Savior up there.”

She nodded brusquely. “What else? I remind you, we likely have little time before the actual negotiations start.”

Liam looked at the others uncertainly. “Erm. I think that’s it?”

Lucille did a double take. Then she furrowed her brow. “Come now. Unless you’re hiding something truly nefarious, I fully intend to be on your side.”

“That is all.” Sera rounded on her, her visage open and earnest. “We came into Liberty Lands with one goal in mind. We wanted a Liberty deck, because that would enable us to create a Wellspring with all five decks and create a proper home, a safe home, for all.”

“She’s making it sound so warm and fuzzy, isn’t she?” Kith smirked. “We were gonna steal the deck, Lucille. Not heroes.”

Sera brushed him off before acknowledging the point with a grudging nod. “He is not wrong. We were also planning to help our imprisoned friend be in a position to eventually help you all stand up against the Savior.”

“True. That’s when we met you. Trying to figure out a way to sneak into the palace.” Chase tapped his lips. “Okay, I have a thought. Lucille. You are clearly trying to look for the catch here. Like, what’s going to be the hidden cost? What are our hidden motives? When are we going to take over as the new overlords?” He snorted. “Thing is, we don’t care about any of that. We’re simple people. Especially Liam.”

Lucille’s wide eyes, confused, taking everything in, slid toward Liam who was nodding happily in agreement.

“But.” Chase said, drawing her eyes back on him. “Nobody’s going to believe that. Who kills a ruler, only to walk off into the sunset? Nobody, that’s who. So, I say we’re going to come up with a short list of entirely fair demands, that aren’t going to bankrupt Liberty. That way, we get to walk off with our pockets filled, and nobody in Liberty will need to be afraid that we’re going to come back and take over, because we’ve already gotten what we want.”

“I love this plan!” Kith burst out.

“What are we talking about here?”

Chase shrugged. “A cart or two filled with… quality crafted items? Food? Books, for Cilia, obviously.”

“I also want to peruse the Savior’s crafting stations. I’m dead sure he took all the best crafting material for himself, and I want some.” Cilia said.

“I want a fancy helmet.” Liam beamed. “Something with a feather.”

Their gaze turned to Sera.

“I do not need anything. I also do not like the idea of extorting them, but… the logic is sound. If this is what it takes for Liberty society to start over with a clean break, then so be it. Honestly, I would just want to know that things are off to a good start before we leave. Knowing that your society will not devolve into squabbles and warfare would be a boon to me.”

Hoarsely, Lucille shook her head. “Let me be entirely clear about this. Nobody. Nobody expected the Savior to die. For him to be replaced… the initial expectation would be that you step into his place. If you have no intentions of doing that? It will be a confusing period.” She hesitated, then pressed on. “To be honest, having you here, in the background, while we figure out where to go from here, is likely going to be the best deterrent to anybody tempted to grasp for the reins of power in the interim.”

They talked for a while, before Lucille was proven right. One other pillar had arrived, along with dozens of minds, and soon, everybody was clamoring to learn what was going to happen.

They decided to move the setting. Or, rather, Lucille did. Following their chat, she was like a transformed person. Lit with an inner fire, she took charge and corralled everybody to the room holding the huge, magical map over the Liberty areas.

There, she took charge, explaining what had happened, reiterating all she knew, as well as what their group wanted. Following that speech, everything devolved into utter chaos again.

Everybody was waiting for somebody to take the lead and explain what was going to happen. When Lucille said that, whatever happened, she would push for a society where no one leader would set the course for their lives, the weight of what was happening seemed to coalesce into clarity for a lot of them. People started speaking up, most coming up with issues, but a few offering ideas, propositions for reform.

The evening passed. Night fell. Still people argued, asked questions, demanded answers, reassurance, guidance. There were constant explanations about what had happened.

At some point, somebody brought news that Reen and Nordon had been located and released. They had not been treated well, but were resting and recuperating, while healers attended to them.

Their group didn’t talk much. They explained their situation and reasoning once, then stepped into the background, letting the locals do the talking.

The next day dawned. Not much had been decided, though the numbers of people present grew as the news of what was happening spread like wildfire in Salvation.

Eventually, Kith yawned loudly enough to be heard even over the ever-present chatter of a hundred constant ongoing conversations. “Listen, Lucille, I don’t know about you all, but I’m beat. I need a bed, and the chance to sleep. Besides, it doesn’t feel like there’s going to be a lot decided tonight.”

She nodded. “You may be right. I’m still not missing any of it.” She held a hand in front of her mouth, hiding a yawn of her own. “We might end up retiring for a few hours, soon. I think we will need to decide on a few vital things first, however. Do you need a place to stay?”

“No.” Cilia announced with finality. “I believe it’s best that we stay in a place where anybody with a grudge won’t be able to find us. We’ll just slink off into the darkness.”

“Yep. Just doing one thing before we take off.” Chase grinned, wide enough you barely noticed the bags under his eyes. “I’m nipping off to grab a deck for us. Imagine that we came through all of this, only for some bloody thief to steal ‘em all before we did!”