A Bright and Shiny Life

Not having time to let the lord overcome his drug induced slumber on his own, I plant a seed and target it with rapid growth. A minute later, a two foot tall leafy stalk has grown with red berries. I pick several berries for myself for later, but keep three separate, which I cut open to retrieve the crunchy seeds, grind them to dust and wet to create a paste. Forcing his mouth open, I smear the paste beneath his tongue and wait. A minute later, he coughs and spits out the substance and bolts up, wide-eyed in fear.

Before he can stand, I grip his chest and slam him back to a lying position.

"None of that. You're going to stay put and answer my questions."

"Who are you!?" he sputters, staring at my face completely concealed by my armour, goggles and cloak.

"I ask the questions," I calmly state. I have time. No need to rush the intimidation.

"Don't you know who I am? I'm a titled viscount working for Princep Vincent, the next emperor!"

I shrug. "Normally, that outburst would cost you pain. But, as it so happens, that was my first question. Of course, I already knew the answer, but I wanted to test how cooperative you'd be."

"…What do you want?" he asks. "What could you possibly want to warrant the imperial might you're calling down on yourself?"

"I…" Actually, what do I want? I mean, from him, right now? About the orbs, I guess. About Vincent's other allies? Yeah, that sounds about it. "Imperial might? Like the might you were going to call down on five innocent students of her majesty's central academy?"

"Innocent?" he asks.

"You know of a crime?" I counter.

He shrugs. "Acquiring fallen civilization artefacts without a licence."

"Good to know." I suppose I should have guessed that about the orbs' origins, though I know so little about them to prompt speculation. "But the penalty for that is usually just a fine, no? Not something that would warrant the land's lord to lead such a large force himself?"

"It is a lord's discretion how to respond to criminals."

"To a degree. But thirty soldiers, two knights and a mage for something that normally doesn't even call for imprisonment? I can't see a judge buying that line of reasoning."

"Depends on the artefacts," he says so hilariously smugly.

I grin at him walking into the trap. "But wouldn't you have to know what the artefact does beforehand for a judge to buy that? I mean, I can't imagine Vincent telling a disposable asset such important information."

"Disposable?!" he sputters, "He needs my family's support to be named heir!"

"Oh, but just a moment ago you said that Vincent was the next Emperor with such certainty. That doesn't sound like someone who needs the support of such a minor house as a viscount."

"Minor house? You jest! Sure, we may not be as big as…" he goes on about a handful of counts and marquises in support of Vincent and then several barons and viscounts, which he claims his house is more important than.

"And yet", I say smugly, "Vincent hasn't told you what the orbs are, has he? Whereas I interpreted a communication between Vincent and," I pick one of the 'lesser' houses at random "describing the orbs as general tokens, which he promised to give them one of to elevate them. Odd that he would make no similar promise to you."

"A general token?! Ha! Is that what he told them? That might be something they need, but we're above such things! They're no mere 'general token' but divine foci!"

I blink in surprise, not quite sure what he means. Best to continue the dramatics. "Sigh. Is that really all it took to bring you under him? Some vaguely impressive words strung together that he didn't even bother explaining what they meant?"

"What!? Of course he told me what they meant, you ignorant brute!" I ignore the fact that he just admitted to having to be told, making him originally just as ignorant as me on the matter. "Why did you think they're all scattered about? To hide them? Make them more difficult to find? No! Of course not! They're separated because it is their function to be separate. They make it easier or harder for specific gods to manifest change in the region they're placed in, and those who acquire them can decide which gods get the benefits."

I go still, staring silently at him. I'm taken aback by the revelation of how enormous the consequences of this could be. If the empire set the orbs to favour a god that favours them, then the god can grant them more boons and be more lenient in distributing curses. Whereas if an orb is placed in enemy territory favouring a god that disfavours them, then it would be more likely to distribute curses.

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How big an impact this has, of course, depends on how much easier or harder the orbs can make it for the gods. However, it's conceivable that they could make it so easy for a god to manifest in an area that they could forgo the need for contracts entirely. Since they could manifest to strengthen their domain more than what it costs to do so. Doubtlessly, any god granted such an advantage would quickly elevate themselves to a major deity and heap boons on the civilization that enabled them. Likewise, they could starve other deities out by making it too costly for them to interact with mortals even with contracts.

"I see," I say, "but why all the bother with collecting them then? Can't they just be changed to favour the correct deities while leaving them in place?"

He shakes no, smugly explaining things to me. "The orbs' power fades over the course of centuries and must be brought together again to replenish it. Not all of them are needed, but if a certain number are acquired, then the group with the most can perform the ritual that recharges them, which also allows them to set which deities are favoured for each individual orb, even those not in their possession."

Which explains Bart's urgent need to prevent Ser Terry from gaining the same number as them. But now that I know what they do, are they something I can use? Certainly, if I got the most of them, but it seems like I'm a latecomer here. Certainly, the possibility to take the orbs from one of the groups would be appealing if I could use them to strengthen Caethlon and weaken the empire, but there's no sense in looking for them myself unless they had some function individually.

"Do the individual orbs have a function beyond this ritual then?" I ask.

He shrugs. "They make it nearly impossible for any deity, even favoured ones, to manifest in close proximity. Otherwise not really."

"You mean that someone who had one couldn't be cursed for breaking a contract?"

"Yes. Though using it that way would make it unlikely to gain contracts with anyone else."

I nod, still thinking that it may be worth it to acquire one just for that. Though it's not like I have any deities I want to terminate relations with.

"Well," I say, smiling friendly, "I suppose this nearly concludes our business. I don't suppose you were informed of Vincent's other forces in the area?"

He sneers at the implication. "Of course I was." He then describes the three groups I already knew about, plus another one positioned at an alternate entrance and a second on the main road out.

I let my smile slip into a predatorial grin. "Well, thank you so much. You've been very helpful. In fact, that was almost too easy. I thought I was going to have to torture you, but it seems you let your pride do that for me." The face he makes as he realizes how much information he just gave out in boast assures me that it was all in earnest. He sputters in protest, but I just force the smoke catcher into his mouth and hold it there until the soporific smoke drags him under.

Once he's unconscious, I eagerly rip open his shirt and apply the blood runes for sacrifice and anthropomancy. I don't think I have any pressing information needs, but I so seldom get time alone with a body before having to kill it that I might as well.

Entrails in hand, I begin asking questions. The first thing I ask is, 'if I don't act, will any of my friends die?'. The answer is a near certain yes, so I go through each one, getting an 'unlikely' response, until I get to Emily, who has another near certain yes.

I exhale sharply. Even anthropomancy will only have an eighty… ninety per cent at most accuracy on something like this with so many variables capable of being introduced. Though the negative responses are much more likely to turn out to be true, unless I intervene. But if I do interfere, I could introduce variables that cause more deaths.

So that raises the question: do I like Emily enough to risk myself to save her?... I suppose so. But do I like her enough to risk Ser Terry… No, I don't think so. But that's not the best question, since my intervention should also increase his chances for the others' survival too, even if they're already high. The only issue is the possibility that I could blunder and cause more deaths, which I have enough faith in myself not to do.

So, finding no reason to abort, I look for more information. Most of it is too abstract to plan around, but may help me in the moment. Something about rats, ill wind, failed harvests, fire and gnawed roots. Also, directions on how to follow Ser Terry, which I tie into my crystal pendulum (something I still haven't figured out how to do with the rod).

I also confirm everything that the lord said to be true (not ironically, a subject's own intestines are the best divination medium to determine if they're lying), including the presence and location of the other troops set to intercept them if they come out that way. However, there's another much larger group of more than fifty that he seemingly didn't know about, approaching rapidly from the direction I came and will be arriving mid-afternoon.

I check this last group and find that Vincent is leading them personally, giving me yet another temptation. I might be able to just kill him right now, even if every member of his group are knights and mages. The power coursing through me right now is just that potent. I could even maintain the liquifying beam while approaching concealed. They wouldn't have a chance.

But neither would I once the empress learned of her son's death. She sent an army for the insult of abducting her ambassador; how much will she do to one who murdered her child? Even if she secretly loathed Vincent, she would lead the divinations herself just to save face, and no amount of anthropomancy could protect me from that. She might even self-prophecy, if my theory of her being protected from the consequences are correct. I could potentially still escape if I abandoned my mission, but there's too much going on now for that to be worth it.

So, no killing Vincent, even though I want to. However, I do go around the hill and find the group guarding the alternate entrance. There are twenty of them, but no knights or mages. They're camping by the cave, so they were probably told to pretend to be on exercise and arrest anyone who came out. They do have some enchanted light crossbows though, so maybe they thought those would be enough. Though I really doubt it, given the users' lack of discipline.

Rather than just attacking them all, I grab them one by one and stealthily sacrifice them. I get about half before they penetrate the spell enough to notice something is up. By the time they actually spot me, they're only a handful left.

After easily dispatching them, I liquify everything and clean up the mess. I take one last look at the sky, trying to think if I'm forgetting anything, then go into the dark.