[Hlaeth] Ch 25 - A Matter of Monarchs

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            The Name of the Mage meant my full Name, properly pronounced, had power, tied to my Words, and no one could pretend to claim it. The Face of the Mage meant no one could imitate my appearance and be mistaken for me, even if they looked exactly like me. Footsteps of the Mage meant I was standing an inch above the ground, supported by the world itself. Voice of the Mage meant I could be heard by anyone and everyone within three miles if I so desired, and my Voice would be mistaken for no other.

            Yeah, pretty singular appearance. In a world of shapechangers and tricksters, no one was going to mistake anyone else for me or vice versa, even if they appeared first. Truth had made certain of that.

            I felt something whelm in front of me, and then had the fairly unique experience of another’s Right of Kings come bearing down on me, testing my status, the only thing they might be able to challenge.

            I reached down to the links to my Allegiance. They were slender and extended out into trans-infinity, but they were there and hadn’t disappeared in the slightest. The Authority of this elven monarch slammed into the Oaths of Allegiance of millions of souls, and broke like a gentle breeze blowing past me.

            Broke on the wills of the souls of The Steel!

            Certainly the general Level of this kingdom’s people were higher Level than the Steel, even after years of Leveling up. The vast majority of my civilians were still Threes, some Fours.

            But I still had millions of them, their Oaths were still sincere, had not altered, and I knew they were out there, as they knew that I was.

            I was not a King, but I was a Monarch, and an Allegiance was its people, not the land they stood upon. I watched the elven king’s deep violet eyes narrow ever-so-slightly as the casual dismissal of his Royal Presence reaffirmed that I was exactly what I said I was.

            As was polite, I bowed first, to the depth required of an equal, and not an inch more.

            There was only a whisper of hesitation before the King and Queen of the Aldari bowed to the same extent. Rather unwillingly, the High Mages found themselves bowing as well, only more deeply… and behind me, the entire Court almost fell down giving their courtesy to me, those who weren’t already down on one knee from the pressure of my Presence.

            I noted the shocked Princess Amethyst and her handmaids standing off to the side doing the same thing, while the Elder Dragons, completely amused at the situation, also bowed to me freely and easily.

            They’d held my Staff. They knew. The Commander and Captain behind me were effectively the only elves who did not bow to welcome me.

            “I am come to the Court of the Aldari at the invitation of its King and Queen. What matters do the Royals have for the Magos Aelryinth of Heaven?” I asked formally and very diplomatically, as it hadn’t really been an invitation at all.

            Very obviously, the King and Queen both turned their eyes to the Eldritch High Mage, who actually flicked an eye at the unspoken reproof. This situation was very, very clearly not as he’d reported it.

            “Leave us. This is a matter between monarchs.”

            The king’s voice was steady, firm, and if there were some tones of annoyance buried deep within it, there was no discounting the demand and expectation of absolute obedience in it.

            The whole of the court of bored nobles who’d come to snicker politely at a human out of his element and not knowing his proper place could not wait to get out of there. There was no undue haste, but there was no wasting time at all, and nobody turned back to get a better look at me.

            Even the lesser High Mages just bowed to their lieges and exited the room quietly through artfully concealed side doors. The attending guards had also withdrawn when all the motion was done, the Princess and the elder Wyrms were gone, and only old Eldritch was left behind as a token defender, just in case.

            And, of course, the Commander and Captain, both nervous but not moving.

            Just the slightest gesture, a return flicker of my finger, and the royals took their seats on their Thrones, not offending me by doing so. They would have been perfectly fine standing to accommodate me.

            “There was an incident in the deep forests of our kingdom, Master Aelryinth, a matter which you were at the heart of. We have heard the reports from the High Mages sent to discern exactly what happened. If it does not inconvenience you, we would like to hear your own explanation of what exactly what occurred there.”

            I inclined my head, and stepped aside. “In the interests of completeness, I would suggest you take the reports of your military subordinates who were on site, and their impressions since that moment. When they are finished, I shall be glad to relate to you my own experiences.”

            It was a perfectly reasonable request, especially for the commander of the soldiers they had dispatched personally to oversee what was going on.

            “Commander Tellusian,” the king said warmly, plainly well-acquainted with his subordinate. The soldier promptly went down to one knee in a perfect deference to his liege. “Please stand and relate what you discovered and experienced of this matter.”

            The Commander stood back up promptly, took a deep breath, and began with, “Two days ago, a magical event of unprecedented force took place in the deep forests watched over and inhabited by the sylvan clans. This event was felt by every elf with even a breath of magical ability. I was dispatched by Your Majesty with the aerial forces of the Royal Guard to investigate promptly and set up a Focus for the High Mages to arrive to…”

            He went on to quickly summarize their flight to the area, the squadrons of pegasi, griffons, and Dragons arriving to a scene of devastation… and a human on a unique dragon setting the whole area of utterly destroyed woodlands on fire, with Captain Fyanyl standing behind him and overseeing the whole process.

            The harsh measure was validated when undead creatures began to arise from the slaughtered creatures of the forest come the dusk, but the purging of the downed forest was accomplished before the dawn. The undead creatures were slain, and in the light of morning, great forest giants had been rendered down to new grass and shrubs, and only crumbling pits remained of miles of ancient forest laid low by alien magic.

            His report detailed his observations of me all the way up to the garden itself, including grasping my Staff and the utter deference to me of the Elder Wyrms who had also done so. Left unsaid was the fact that none of the High Mages had dared or bothered to do the same…

            Eldritch’s expression didn’t physically move, but I could sense his irritation at never having done so now.

            Captain Fyanyl’s report was next, naturally covering some of the same topics from a different perspective, especially since she’d encountered me first. The fact I had Awakened her Bloodline attracted the attention of the three elders listening, weighing the implications of that little bit of news. That she now knew how to Awaken it of her fellow sylvan elves somehow was not brought up.

            Let them think it a one-off, and be surprised when forest-dwellers with rather excellent command of magic started showing up.

---

            At last it was my turn, and their eyes turned on me.

            “Have you anything further to add, Magos Aelryinth?” the king asked politely.

            I considered everything I’d heard, and just shook my head. “Not particularly, Your Majesty,” I answered calmly. “There’s some fine points in the details from my perspective, but they are ultimately irrelevant. Do you have further questions for me before I head out of here?”

            A wee little bit of consternation coming from them. “I must admit, Magos, that your reaction is not one I’ve seen before, nor expected of one of your people. The human visitors we have had in the past have been… slightly more impressed at their surroundings,” he remarked knowingly.

            “Merely different perspectives, Your Majesty, on where we come from. While I admit I could doubtless find countless things to interest me here and wile away the hours and days, I have places to go and things to do, and just seeing the sights is something I can do some other time, or never. I did ask to see some of the human art you might have in storage, but that is for points of reference, given I may be interacting with some of those cultures, or their remnants.”

            “It might take a small amount of time to bring them from storage, but I will see that it is done,” the gold elf said agreeably, and actually hesitated a moment. “Your aid was unforeseen, but both extremely timely and extremely appropriate. We are not sure what to gift you with in return.”

            “I did not come here seeking remuneration, Your Majesty.” I’d already taken care of that aspect, actually. “Unless you’ve specific information pertinent to the reinforced Veil which is currently locking me into this world, I have already been informed of the probable source of the problem, so I know where to begin my investigations.”

            “You… intend to raise the Silence of the Gods?” the elven king asked sharply.

            Hmm. Was this dangerous ground? Did they like being able to do as they wished without any Divine powers snooping around? “Is that going to be a problem, Your Majesty?” I asked warily. I still did not want to get in a fight here if I could help it, and their xenophobia could easily rear its head again.

            “No, Magos, it is not,” he reassured me quickly at my question. “It is merely... surprising. There have been… many attempts to raise the Silence, and even punch through it and contact the gods, see if they are there, and why they have abandoned us.”

            “Gods do not abandon their followers without extremely good reason,” I corrected him promptly, without hesitation, and he actually blinked at such a casual rebuke. “We are the engine of Faith, after all. If they go silent, it is either because there is an exterior force acting on them, preventing contact by some means or another… or it is important to our survival that there be a wall between them and us.

            “Given that a wall was raised between you VERY quickly, and it seems to have been done between ALL of the gods and everyone on this world, I would hazard that there was a blanket threat that had to be contained. The events of two days ago indicate that the Veil can be breached from without, with sufficient power on the mortal side. Your claims of not being able to do so from this side means something is being contained here, not that something is being warded out.

            “This is the silence of a cage. The Veil is imprisoning something on this world, and it was very important it be kept here and cut off from the rest of the multiverse. Furthermore, the removal of Divine agents means this is a problem that must be solved with mortal power and mortal ingenuity, for having Divine forces present was more dangerous than them staying away from here.”

            The elves looked very thoughtful at that analysis, as if they’d never considered things from the meta-view.

            “I imagine your distance has kept you relatively safe from whatever was caged here, but after words with your subjects, it appears that the situation upon the continent among the shorter-lived races has rapidly collapsed and seems to be in no hurry to rebuild or improve, and indeed might be worsening,” I went on.

            “The Yellow Lands,” Eldritch the Elder spoke up suddenly in his whispery voice, as if finally deciding to make himself useful. “The lands of THAT empire,” he went on, looking at his liege, who nodded agreement.

            I flicked up the name in elven, startling both of them, but they simply nodded and said nothing as the Holo faded away. “Yellow Desert?” I inquired cheerfully, sensing something important in that description.

            “The growth of it has been slow but constant in our terms. To the human nations, it likely feels like it has always been there at his point. A magical desert with extremely chaotic natural laws,” Eldritch informed me firmly. “To go into it is to go mad and come back very changed from what one was. It somehow sustains populations that it should not be able to, and the dread of its existence prevents any and all from investigating within.

            “Even I did not dare venture into the middle of the Yellow Desert and investigate the event which brought down that Empire. I have seen powerful individuals of several races mutate wildly and go mad after entering it, and barely escaped with my own life intact.”

            Well, didn’t that sound inviting...

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