5.15 Towering

Difference: Minimal

Needless to say, Irwyn experienced perhaps the least guilty arrest of his life. Once their group was safely subdued, a group of Domain mages gathered them in an impromptu interrogation room that had just been erected. As soon as they were seated, and stared down upon by several rather angry old men, Elizabeth finally got to describe how they had breached through every anti-teleportation measure in the camp.

The moment the name Marmian left her lips, Irwyn could see every single person wearing Teal in the room groan. It was downright surreal. These were all old and powerful mages that could flatten cities in minutes if they wanted to - and weren’t opposed - yet just hearing that one magic word made them instantly understand the whole situation and come to hate it at the same time.

After that, the pressure on them lessened greatly. While the Inquisitors still insisted on finishing a full investigation with double-checked confirmations and the few mages from other Duchies were visibly confused, the ones wearing Teal were the most numerous and obviously used to their superior’s bullshit.

Their group probably would have been released in just a few minutes if not for the instigator refusing to answer those requests for confirmation. One of the Teal mages was certain that it could only be on purpose, but the Inquisitors had a point that the pattern of behaviour from their superior was just the kind of hole in security the Rot was prone to exploit.

With some bargaining, they were allowed to at least walk free as long as they stayed within one section of the camp where one of the Senior Inquisitors also planned to be doing routine inspections on protective enchantments as everyone awaited deployment. But as a side effect of their dramatic entrance, people now clearly recognised their group and chose to give them a wide berth.

That was fine by Irwyn, but Desir and Alice seemed annoyed by their immediate isolation. The Time mage mostly because, as she admitted, she had been looking forward to talking about magic with her elemental fellows and maybe even seek advice on her new bullet delivery method. Desir seemed just generally eager to socialise. At least the shapeshifter tried to funnel that energy into asking their babysitter about those enchantments he was working on.

“These are the tools to protect the members of our cleansing crusade from subversion. It is not magic freely revealed,” the man rejected coldly.

“But the Rot already knows everything there is to know about them anyway, right?”

“Yes. But they do not know which patterns we are using for which individual item. Diversity is strength in this regard, and it is advised to shuffle after every encounter.”

“So even if I were somehow a spy, the only important information would be which kind of enchantment will go to whom.”

“The answer is still no.”

“Let’s bring the argument to efficiency then,” Desir was not discouraged. “I am quite young, as you may note. Probably even younger than you think. I am also the Soul mage of a group that is similarly young, yet already in possession of Concepts. That means we are very efficient with our time, as to progress so quickly. And that time is currently being wasted, since we cannot even properly practice under all this scrutiny. You, on the other hand, could, at no cost to the Federation, teach me how to better protect the members of my party from future subversion. Does that sound like a reasonable request now?”

The inquisitor stared for a few seconds, but then surprisingly actually nodded, beckoning Desir to approach. Irwyn stared, uncomprehending and the rest of their group seemed likewise startled. Since when did people just go from frigid refusal to wholehearted acceptance just because a single argument made sense?

“He certainly knows how to frame things for an Inquisitor,” Marmian’s amused voice sounded next to them. “Though if he keeps at it, they will start to suspect him of social subversion rather than magical.”

“Now you show up?” Elizabeth turned towards him with a frown. Either she was too annoyed to show the Truth mage any deference or just didn’t feel the need to.

“Wait,” Alice said. “I think only we can see him. If we go exclaiming about how is here, I think he will just vanish again.” 

“How unfun,” the Truth mage chided. “Do you really think I would do that?”

“It’s what I would have done,” Alice shrugged.

“All evidence suggests the answer is ‘yes’, sir,” Irwyn also pointed out.

“Sir! Elizabeth, why do you lack your friend’s politeness? I am wounded!”

“Would it stop you from tormenting us, sir?” She deadpanned.

“Let’s see,” he said, then the prior council of Domain mages appeared around them again. 

For the briefest moment, Irwyn thought that maybe Marmian had remained invisible and now all the Domain mages would have to react to being teleported seemingly by their already suspicious group. But thankfully, he made his presence known. Well… under some definitions of ‘thakful’.

“Let me introduce Alilbabeb von Blackburg,” he opened. “As you know, the Duchy of Black is very particular about these things, so make absolutely sure you get the name correct every time you address her. Next are her companions Winnir, Dossier, Malice, and Waylan, who is the invisible one. And yes, I can tell which ones of you had not noticed him before and will be assigning extra drills based on that.”

“We are still awaiting our orders, Magelord,” one of the Inquisitors immediately tried to get down to business. From the despairing expressions of the Time mages, Irwyn guessed that had been a mistake.

“Of course, of course. Please, do a backflip.”

“A what?”

“It is very important, Senior Inquisitor Parado. A backflip.”

The senior Inquisitor blinked in confusion. Everyone around him stared, unsure. Then the Inquisitor, who was an old man in a full white garb, took a step back and executed a flawless standing backflip. This did not ruffle him, as Parado immediately rejoined the circle and spoke again.

“Our marching orders, please, Magelord,” the man tried while everyone else watched him, baffled. “Naturally, if you need anyone to satisfy your addiction to whimsy, the Inquisition is at your disposal as long as it does not disrupt our regular operations.”

“And this is why everyone hates you,” the Truth mage shook his head in vivid disappointment.

“Would feigning outrage get us our marching orders faster?” The Senior Inquisitor refused to rise to the bait. 

“Fine, fine. Every deployment, we will be holding a sweepstakes to choose which major stronghold or city from a list we will be heading to. Anyone who could be technically called a leader of one of our subgroups can decide on a place to write down, but I will honestly let anyone with enough guts to step up cast a suggestion. Then we will pick someone without Concepts at random to draw the lot. Thereafter, I will teleport everyone there. In between those deployments, we will be returning to this spot in the Teal City. Any questions?”

“What…” Senior Inquisitor Parada dared speak again.

“That is a terrible question, Parado!” Marmian immediately interrupted him. “Alright, I think that is all the questions answered. Let’s get the lots organised in the next twenty or so seconds while I pick our lucky chooser.”

It did not seem to bother the man that he had not provided this list to select from. Or that the time limit would exclude anyone not already listening in. Surprisingly though, the actual preparations were manageable. A Realm mage built a ballot box from stone without even lifting a finger while someone teleported in a pile of paper slips, as well as plenty of writing supplies. Elizabeth actually took the initiative to scribble something down while everyone scrambled to get everything ready. And indeed, by the twenty second mark, they had a box full of possible destinations.

“How did you even know what to write down?” Irwyn asked in the brief lul after that.

“Spireholm is the second Beacon city of Teal. It’s obviously going to be on the list. I can get more educated on other options before the next draw.”

Soon enough, their lot drawist was revealed. Forcefully. Because it was Waylan who was looking very uncomfortable standing in the center of attention, yet seemingly unable to vanish into the background for the moment. Having no other choice, he reached into the box and brought out a slip of paper, which he quickly shoved around. It read Spireholm. In fact, Irwyn recognised Elizabeth’s handwriting.

“Did you rig that?” She outright asked, glaring at the Magelord in charge.

“Yes. Windin, burn all those handwriting remnants,” the Truth mage commanded, and it took Irwyn almost a second to realise he was talking to him. He approached the box, and when no one actually named Windin objected, he incinerated the contents, going as far as to use his Concepts of Starfire to make sure nothing remained. 

“Alright, off we are. Be sure to report in every hour.”

Then they were no longer in that small camp. Irwyn blinked and saw a swarm of flying towers of various heights, extending all the way up to the cloud cover. They were built in a complete chaos of styles. For example, Irwyn witnessed a spire of dark and brutal arches floating right next to a large cube erected from pink stone. Some contrasted with their neighbours heavily like that, while others followed a localised idiosyncracy of sorts, keeping to one style in a group.  

There were hundreds of those towers either way. Irwyn watched in amazement as they gently floated overhead, some swaying in various directions, both horizontal and vertical, while others appeared as if perfectly anchored in the skies. There was very little physically connecting the towers, though. Irwyn noticed one large pipe-like structure hosting about a dozen elevators near the middle of the whole mess, but most of the towers were completely unconnected from each other. Actually, their group had landed on a decorative platform close to one of the elevators. Getting to it would require a bit of flight, though that wasn’t a problem. 

“Careful, this place renders everything weightless,” Alice warned as she took an experimental hop around. It was not actually hard to keep themselves in place with just a bit of magic, though.

“Heeeelp,” Waylan, meanwhile, had to yell, already in the middle of floating off into the distance. Irwyn quickly caught him without a problem.

“How are we supposed to report in?” Elizabeth asked a practical question rather than being awed or acknowledging Waylan’s involuntary acrobatics.

“And we didn’t get any of those protections,” Desir added.

“Actually, we did,” a different voice startled Irwyn from the side. It was Parada again, the Senior Inquisitor silently standing behind their group. Irwyn somehow hadn’t noticed him at all. His Domain, while not actually concealed now that he was paying attention, was actively misleading any attempts to peer into its nature as well. Something to do with concealment or stealth, though that much was obvious. “I expect I was displaced next to you so that I could explain.”

“That is a very optimistic view on things,” Elizabeth grunted.

“For all Magelord Marmian can be eccentric, he is not incompetent. Since your group was the last to arrive, it is not unreasonable to let everyone else get to work rather than wait on you. An individual briefing will suffice. As for reporting and protections, you may note the new items that have appeared at the top of your spacial bags.”

“And he just breached that, damn it,” Elizabeth cursed. “I carry secretive items in mine!”

“Then expect the Magelord to jokingly threaten you with revealing them, but not actually follow through. His habits are well known to the Inquisition at this point. Remember, report every hour or in case of an emergency. I will leave you to your own investigations,” the man adviced, then quickly left.

In the meantime, Irwyn had been examining the protections he had been forcefully gifted. It was seemingly a small hair ornament that had been placed into his bag. The design was simple, just a red statuette of a flame. Were those… individualised? Or maybe just assigned to the people from the Duchy of Red already wearing carmine anyhow. Irwyn noted one of the Domain mages had been donning such during their brief meetings, though there had been no chance to talk.

“Please, at least wear it properly,” Desir exclaimed. Irwyn thought he was talking to him before realising it had been directed at Waylan. Not that Desir actually spared him once he actually noticed Irwyn’s idea of how such an ornament should be placed.

The effect was noticeable though. Even without extending any effort, Irwyn could feel a new shell had been erected around his Soul. That was probably intentional, as even though he was not a Soul mage, he would be able to feel anything causing noticeable damage. As to how durable it actually was, Irwyn couldn't guess.

“This is probably the same kind of thing we have already been doing,” Elizabeth conceded. “Just as a part of a larger group and probably with more civilians around.”

“You got the communication device, I assume?” Desir asked.

“Yes, two. Desir should hold onto the backup,” she decided, then threw the shapeshifter a blue crystal embedded inside a metallic frame. “Best we stick together for now, though.”

“We need to get to the elevator and then to one of the high platforms. Probably stealthy, just to not cause a disturbance,” Alice advised. 

There was no need to say more as Elizabeth erected a veil while Irwyn carried everyone down with his magic. Though he was faster than any of the elevators. The platforms Alice had just mentioned were thicker sections built around the elevators every few hundred meters of elevation. Irwyn approached carefully just in case someone might mistake them for attackers, given the ongoing Lich war.

“Have you been here before?” Desir asked as they began that descent.

“Just once, for a few hours. One of my uncles used to own a tower here, before he lost it to a legal challenge. He wanted everyone in the immediate family to come say goodbye, before it got demolished. I think he had been planning how to get a new one built without getting strangled by my grandfather over the expense before the disaster.”

“Do people break those… often?” Irwyn questioned, gesturing towards the nearest tower.

“Look all the way down,” Alice just chuckled.

So Irwyn did, and realised he had underestimated the sheer depth. Besides reaching all the way up to the clouds, the towers also spanned countless kilometers deep beneath them. So deep he was pretty sure that the clouds should have been far lower. And at the very bottom, there was a pit full of rubble. With All is seen Irwyn could easily tell that it was literally kilometers deep, just filled with countless tons of discarded stone and furniture.

And now that the down had been pointed out to him, Irwyn took a moment to properly look to the sides. Spireholm was enclosed in a Teal barrier that he had previously mistaken for the sky while dazzled by the many floating towers. He roughly estimated it was about fifty kilometers in radius and perfectly circular, though only Alice would actually know. 

“This is some kind of pocket dimension,” Irwyn realised.

“Not exactly ‘pocket’, but the space is definitely artificial and heavily expanded,” Elizabeth said. “There is a major military base guarding the physical entrance, but almost everyone can just teleport inside because of the Beacon. Foot traffic is a lot lower than in Abonisle, I assume.”

“Most non-mages in Spirehold are aspiring architects, laborers, or adjacent artisans that make a good but competitive living by helping build and furnish all the new towers,” Alice added.

“Is the weightlessness an Edict?” Irwyn wondered.

“Probably, since it’s just not realistic to run as an enchantment on this scale,” Elizabeth opined. “It’s selective, if I remember correctly. I haven’t actually been personally before.”

“As soon as you enter a building, your weight returns to normal,” Alice confirmed. “Speaking of, let’s go in!”

Irwyn had paused them outside one of the platforms surrounding the elevator as they had talked. With Elizabeth’s stealth, it was not difficult to enter through one of the ceiling holes. The sudden return of gravity did not even shake Irwyn’s firm hold on everyone as they joined into a small crowd.

The platform seemed to be a market of sorts, with stalls and performances happening in several places. Though Irwyn couldn’t quite tell what goods they were even selling past some trinkets. He also noticed the absolute abundance of portals and teleportation platforms. Some were seemingly open to the public while others had something like a polite checkpoint, with well-dressed men and women talking to anyone before they were let through.

“Aren’t portals notoriously dangerous?” Irwyn had to question.

“Only if they get cut off while you are going through them,” Alice shook her head. “And these will be incredibly stable with the beacon, not to mention well-maintained. With me along to keep an eye on any possible timed sabotage, we are not even in danger.”

“And those portals probably lead to the individual spires,” Elizabeth noted. “Except there is not nearly enough for all of them. So some are actually connected more exclusively. We should try to wander around and see if Irwyn maybe doens’t pick up a smell.”