With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

[Mr Zoat]

18th August 2013
15:15 GMT

Hm.

One obvious drawback about getting an Apokoliptian warship is that I am not a God of Engineering. And goodness knows that the Amazons are no help in that direction. So unless I can find someone who is, there's a limit to what I can do with the Absolute Dominion. Repair it, certainly, restoring things to specifications is what Grayven the First did using gordanian labour. But-

I feel a predictable burst of envy as one of the E.D.F.'s cruisers… The Monte Carlo, just flies right up to a Reach listening post and slaughters the entire crew with precise bursts from its purple death rays. Didn't even show up on their sensors. Unless they were faking, which is possible. It sounds like Reach people are pretty fanatical on those few occasions when it would matter.

I aim the Absolute Dominion's main gun at the Reach fleet I caught undergoing repairs on the opposite side of the system. Normally they'd be outside of engagement range, but… When your gun fires faster than light on its own… Strike Hard, Strike True

A battlecruiser disintegrates, and the docking frame it was resting in loses about a third of its mass. What's left starts spinning and shattering, collapsing in a few moments as the Absolute Dominion realigns and targets its nearest neighbour. Debris is mostly caught by the shields of the other frames and ships, but a few smaller vessels are hit by larger fuel-carrying fragments and are crippled or consumed.

"Grayven to Spider. What news?"

"The intelligence briefing was correct. The people here are fully acculturated, but they have no particular resistance to telepathy. Should I tell the genomorphs to give them new personalities?"

I shrug to myself as another docking cradle bursts, along with its cargo. No visual between ground and fleet, of course. Mr. Near nearly rolled his eyes at the very idea, though his practical argument that a transmission with more data would be more easily detected eventually won the day. Normally I'd hate the idea of mentally scrubbing people like that, but they won't be able to function without their Reach masters unless we do. And I know what trying to avoid executing her Citizens is doing to Diana. Sometimes you just can't help people in the way you'd like to help them.

"Not up to us. Offer that service to the Controllers. If they want it, they can negotiate with the genomorphs themselves."

"M."

"Any of those Scarabs around?"

"There was. I can report that when the Scarab is inactive the host is no more resilient than a normal member of their species. Also, Scarabs appear to be 'alive' for the purpose of purple death rays."

I nod. "Worth knowing. Good work."

I hear a very deliberate… Not a sigh, but a slow intake of breath before the channel disconnects. He reprogrammed the pickup just so I'd hear that. The sheer amount of work he's prepared to put in to delivering a mild near-insult…

Ah? Looks like that was a fuel hauler. Explosions in space aren't a big deal, not unless things are right next to each other and the explosion is very radioactive or exotic. Still a blow to them-.

Huh.

The ships near the one that just exploded are… Disintegrating.

Ah…

And so are the ones a little further away. That doesn't chime with anything I know about space warfare. The only thing that comes to mind is nanotech, but that wouldn't act so fast.

Log and report, I guess. I-.

Ping.

Of course they do. But I suppose that there's no sense passing up an opportunity to spread misinformation. Put them on.

Ping.

The holographic image of a Reach Negotiator appears before my command throne. Due to the fragile ego of Other Grayven, the Negotiator appears both smaller than she is in reality and below me, meaning that she has to look up while I remain sitting down. Something about the system replicates the effect on the communication system of anyone who sends messages to me. You Are Beneath Me

It's so petty that I smile every time I use it.

I steeple my fingers and wait patiently as the last battlecruiser dies.

"Lord Grayven. I was under the impression that you had left."

I smile broadly, something that immediately makes her uncertain. Old Grayven never did that, I bet. "I always have time for old friends."

"You appear to be attacking one of our research stations."

"Yeah. Using brains as computers? I honestly thought that your command of electronics was better than that."

"Ping."

"We find them suitably efficacious."

"Might need to find a new solution now."

"That was hardly our only production facility."

My smile broadens to manic levels. "I know! Your people are marvellously industrious." I shake my head. "I wouldn't expect to hear from their garrisons again. I haven't read the reports yet, so I can't give you feedback…"

"You do realise that will impede our ability to fight the Controllers' operatives far more than it will impede our ability to fight you."

"Yes? Oh! Sorry. I don't care about you."

"You did seem to care when you launched your invasion."

I shrug. "Had a bit of a rethink. Frankly, Vega had more to offer me, and I can probably just trade for the parts of the Reach that I actually want from the Controllers after they win. Which will be easier now that they aren't spitting their attention between you and me."

"You've come to terms."

"I got out of my own way. Thank you for assisting with that personal breakthrough."

"With the Controllers." She considers me for a moment. "You've changed."

"If we ever meet, I'll give you a wooden spoon."

She blinks. "What?"

I shake my head, waving my right hand dismissively. "Cultural reference. A prize of no great value, usually awarded for last place or to someone who got no points." I lean forwards slightly. "So, yeah. I'm not trying to take and hold your territory for myself, just degrade your war fighting capacity for someone else. And since I don't need to prove myself to anyone, I'm happy to just fly from target to target annihilating them as I go."

Mother Box, message Kara would you?

Ping.

"Or send someone else on my behalf."

The Negotiator's eyes widen as the alarms in the room she's in start to go off.

"You're fortunate; the flagship of the Kryptonian Stellar Navy hasn't seen action -barring a minor policing action- for over a century." She turns to flee… Too late, I suspect. "I'll send the spoon to your next of kin!"

The hologram shuts down and I sit back, pleased.

"Has Mister Near evacuated?"

"Ping."

"Good show. Then let's head back to Maltus and find out what else they want us doing."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th August 2013
09:37 GMT -5

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

By which I mean of course the Dark Elves have warded their library. Which forces me to rely on Lushun to actually find anything. I'm just fortunate that the books aren't individually warded so I can scan the contents while interrogating the man directly. He seems to find my power ring's scanning ability fascinating.

"So this… Sandro person is the only one on this entire world who has managed to leave Ashan."

"According to himself and his followers, certainly. But with him dead at the hands of the Griffin Empire's knights, and his acolytes Markal confirmed dead in the Griffin Empire and Lucretia in the wind, there isn't any way to check."

"Two necromancers… Dead?"

"I understand your scepticism, but Archmage Zehir took measure to ensure that Markal couldn't come back." He looks contemplative for a moment. "With Sandro… Who can say?" He shrugs. "But I do know that he isn't here to answer questions, and any writings he had on his experiments would be under lock and key in Talonguard… Assuming that the barbarians didn't just burn them."

"You're an admirer?"

"It's a fascinating subject, and one so few researchers touch. Even the magicians of the Silver Cities who consider themselves above godly restrictions are so besotted with the idea of copying Sar-Elam's feat of apotheosis that they've never examined their underlying assumptions…" He regards me curiously. "But how is it for you?"

"Not even my first time."

"No?"

"My original homeworld didn't have… Magic, gods, elves… We'd gotten pretty good at material technology, but I suppose you could call it all mundane stuff."

"Material technology such as?"

"Rocketry that would let us leave the surface of the planet and send people into the airless void beyond. Tiny pieces of silicon etched with metal that could think… Or at least fake it convincingly. The ability to move still living organs from a dead person and put them into the body of someone whose own organs were failing… Or the truly cutting edge where new organs could be grown. And the ability to use focused explosive charges to force dense metals to undergo energetic decay and release enough heat and pressure to destroy a city."

I sigh.

"And I went to bed one night and woke up somewhere completely different. A new world, magic, interventionist deities, machines that people back home… Could imagine, but couldn't build… And it's possible that the operational laws of our universe wouldn't let them work anyway."

"But whose laws?"

"'In the beginning was nothing, which exploded.' My original home's study of universal background radiation can't tell us anything more. Certainly, there doesn't appear to be any single creature responsible, though any number of religions will tell you otherwise."

"But if there aren't any gods-."

"There's no good evidence of gods. Here, you can just head over to their roost and talk to a dragon if you want to communicate with a demigod. And you can go to Malassa's temple and make an offering if you want to speak to an actual god. That wasn't possible on my original homeworld. But that doesn't stop people imagining, trying to… Order the world in their mind in such a way that requires a directing intelligence. It's-. This world was created by Asha, right?"

"So every nation believes."

"But the orcs don't." I gesture to what is essentially a travelogue written by a wizard who spent some time following Gotai around after he left the Seven Cities at the end of the war. "'Earth Mother' and 'Sky Father', despite knowing who Asha is and who created them."

"They are orcs."

"Underestimating their intelligence has gotten a lot of people who should have known better in a lot of trouble." I send out a filament, pick up a book on the Orc Rebellion and pointedly wave it at him.

"Yes, but… They don't even use magic."

"Their war cries require mana, so… They do. Arguably, creating a form of magic that no one else uses is a greater achievement."

"In ignorance, perhaps. How did you get here? And… The other one."

"Several versions of me went to a great many places. I imagine that whatever it was that banished me from my original world and brought me to Universe Sixteen brought him here, but I have no more idea what that was now than I did when it happened."

"No idea?"

I shrug, shaking my head. "I've found a whole lot of ways that it didn't happen." I sigh. "Okay. I need to find out whether or not my colleagues came here-."

"Ah-. Pardon, but you didn't explain how you came from 'Universe Sixteen' to Ashan."

"Oh. Well, I'm not totally sure, but I think it was a misfiring fate manipulation spell cast and left to moulder by a magician called Zachary Zor. If I were to guess, it was supposed to alter my fate so that I immediately died, but between its age, the fact that Angelica was actively destroying it when it went off and my own defences, it just sent me to a version of me who had already died... But that's highly speculative."

Ah… First step. Find out if Ashan supports radio waves.

I… Fabricate a pair of radio transmitter handsets and hold one out to Lushun.

"Quick experiment. Hold this."

"Ah." He takes it awkwardly. "What is it?"

"It uses things called radio waves to send messages." I transition to the opposite end of the room and press 'talk'. "Testing, testing. Press the large orange button on the side and then speak into the cluster of holes at the bottom."

"Like this?"

"Yes, well done." I transition back, putting the other down on the desk. "Angelica should have a radio. Mazikeen might, but I want to eliminate the possibility before considering more extreme measures."

"And if you find them… Or if you find that they're not here… You plan to leave Ashan?"

"That's my aim, but I have no idea how to replicate the-."

"Ah, well…" He runs off towards a distant shelf. "I was able to find this… Where is it..? Ah! This record of the void walking ritual." He approaches with a… Fairly thin notebook. "If it works, it would take you -and passengers- outside of Ashan. Sandro lamented that he couldn't go further because he had no idea where to go. But if you have a destination…"

"It might be possible to use that ritual as a first step." I nod. "I assume you want to come? "

"What sort of wizard would I be if I didn't?"

"Happy and alive?" I snort. "Far be it from me to tell you how to live your life. How do we get to the surface from here?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th August 2013
09:52 GMT -5

It's a bit of a relief to see daylight again. But I can't help but wonder…

"What made those underground tunnel networks?"

"Our slaves dig some passageways." Lushun squints at the light and raises his right arm to shield his eyes. "The dwarves dig their own tunnels… Rather better decorated than ours, to tell the truth. The demons have their own, and I've read reports that they have vast fiery serpents who make tunnels for them."

"Alright." I look around at the… Pleasant greenery and woodlands. Huh. Rather nice. "But there's a difference between 'slave-dug tunnel to keep our nation connected' and 'if you painted the roof blue I'd think I was outside'. Those spaces are huge."

"I'm not sure I understand. Is that unusual where you're from?"

"It's unheard of where I'm from." I look up and scan… Nothing dangerous nearby. "Are you afraid of heights?"

"I admit that I spend most of my time underground, but few elves suffer from agoraphobia. A little fresh air-"

I tether him with a filament and then fly us into the air.

"-is ohthat'swhatyoumeant!"

Green forests and grassland, blue and grey water, yellow sand, grey rock and white ice. Pretty standard for an inhabited world. I start mapping roads -few, stone paved- and major settlements.

"Um. How are we flying? I can't feel you manipulating mana."

"Do you see the orange glow around our bodies?"

"Yes?"

"Essentially, my desire for us to fly causes my rings to draw emotional energy and apply it to that purpose. I'm lucky that this pocket universe supports it."

"Is there a limit to it?"

"Less experienced Lanterns than me can end up going crazy if they experience emotions more intense than they can cope with. Rings can only carry finite charge, but we're all issued with a device which can restore their power. Unfortunately, I'm cut off from it here."

"Then, should you be using it like this? If you need an elevated location, there are mountains only a few weeks travel from here."

"No good. I don't speak your languages." I generate a radio broadcaster construct, a receiver construct and a giant orange sigil. "I'd be out of power before we arrived, and then I wouldn't be able to communicate with anyone."

"I see."

"What colour ring did the other fellow have?"

"Orange."

"Huh. Surprised that he couldn't work something out. Orange rings are usually fairly forgiving about adapting other fuel sources." Isolate Justice League frequency and transmit. "Orange Lantern to Angelica Blaze. Angelica, please respond."

"What do they look like?"

"Female humanoid with angel wings and tan skin. Long straight black hair and horns-" I trace their shape from my forehead. "-from the top of her head curling outwards."

"Is she a demon?"

"Technically, no. Her mother was, her father was a powerful wizard, and then I fed her fruit which realigned her morals and got a mad physician to attach angel wings to her back. The Host seems to have accepted her."

"I… Think that it might be a good idea to keep her away from the Holy Empire. And your other companion?"

"Also technically not a demon. But we probably shouldn't leave her in something called a 'Holy Empire' either."

"A curious choice of companions."

"I wanted to do the beckoning in a place no one would miss, just in case. That may have been unwise."

Alright. Ring, do a big scan. Find me…

Wait, was Angelica wearing anything technological? I assume that she had a communicator but I didn't actually check…

Circuitry. Plastic. Something the locals wouldn't have but Angelica might.

Compliance. Searching. Not found.

Darn it.

"Are there any seers around who would have picked up something arriving in Ashan from outside?"

"Perhaps… But most people assume that nothing can come from outside of Ashan. Ah, most people who think about it, I should say. It… Occurs to me that there is another way."

"Go on."

"As I said, Sandro was most curious about the subject. If we could get hold of some of his tools, I should be able to perform a ritual to track passage through the void and into Ashan. And if you intend to leave with my assistance then I would probably need them anyway."

I smile ruefully. "A fetch quest, then. What do we need?"

"Any of Sandro's more powerful artefacts would help, but I could probably make do with the Staff of the Netherworld. And perhaps the Ring of the Unrepentant, in case our actions draw Elrath's eye."

"Do you have any idea where they are?"

"Sandro's student Markal captured both artefacts in the Silver Cities during his alliance with Queen Isabelle. After his death and the chaos that followed, the artefacts appear to have been split up. Arantir supposedly gathered them before his attack on Flammschrein, but there are no reports of him having them during his attack on Stonehelm. It may be that he left them in his home in the city of Nar-Heresh, or they may be in Stonehelm, captured by one notable or other. Or they may have been stolen away by one of his subordinates after his death, or taken to a reliquary in the Holy Empire…"

"Nar-Heresh seems most likely. Someone there should at least have some idea where to look. Did he have an heir?"

"Ornella, but she died prior to his attack on Flammschrein. Beyond that, I do not know."

"Marvellous. Alright, which way to Nar-Heresh?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th August 2013
10:07 GMT -5

I shake my head as we leave the Griffin Empire behind us, heading into Heresh proper.

"In my country, we'd make a rude comment about their central keeps."

Lushun tears his eyes away from scenery to look at me quizzically. "Are yours bigger?"

"Hahhahhaha!"

"Ah..?"

"Maybe not, but I don't need to pretend!"

He shakes his head. "I… Don't understand."

"Long running cultural joke about insecure people needing to build big monuments. Also, about insecure men being insecure because they have small penises."

"Oh, I… Heh." He smiles awkwardly. "I suppose that the tower is a good deal taller than the other buildings."

There were towns that were in ruin, and swaths of farmland that looking like they'd been put to torch. But there were plenty of places that appeared to be in good condition, and most of the places that weren't were in the process of getting put back together. Saw a… Few angels around the place, but they were all wearing the blue, white and gold of the 'standard' angels rather than the white and red of seraphs and fallen angels.

I don't imagine that those are particularly popular at the moment.

Anyway, the regular kind didn't pay us any attention, so I suppose that whatever brought me here isn't so heinously unnatural that Elrath notified his agents. I could try talking to one, but given how they acted in Heroes of Might and Magic VI… Maybe not.

Alright, land… Noticeably less cultivated, Jade Ocean west and east, mountains to the south west… I hadn't realised that Heresh was a salt marsh, but I suppose that it fits…

Scan…

Ah, there we go. An obvious sign that the one in charge has been killed: armies on the march. And being undead, there's not much of what you'd call good order. Zombies just barrel through the swamp foliage, skeletons trudge with whatever weapon was close at hand when they were raised… I'm not seeing many of the stronger types of undead… Which is probably because these are led by less powerful necromancers who aren't yet able to command them. More powerful keeps… Yes, I can detect them well enough from here, and it looks like they're keeping their troops at home for now…

Ugh, I've got no idea who's in contention. My 'main' was Deirdre, but from what I remember of her description she was a crazed banshee dedicated to killing everyone. Kaspar seemed like a decent guy in VI but I don't remember what happened to him in V. Anastasya? Ugh, no, this can't just be a 'who would it be interesting to meet' thing. Even if I could alter her body to make her look older, something that no one else can do, her being a main character doesn't suddenly mean that she'd be willing to help me.

"How long ago did Duke Anton Griffin marry the then-empress?"

"A little over four centuries, during the Second Eclipse."

Then she could be anywhere anyway.

Alright, further south… I wonder what sieges are like when you can't starve the enemy out because they don't need food? And I wonder if the vampires are like the ones in V where they drink blood, or in VI where they just use it to thin down the poison in their veins?

"There!"

I see… Yes, that's a necropolis, the area around it littered with mine works and lumber yards just like I remember from the game. Quite a lot more built up than a maximum level city… And I think that's what the Necropolis Tears of Asha building looks like. None of the others had that.

And there are a lot of troops in the surrounding… County. Different banners, and I can't tell who is hostile to who… Here there are more advanced undead-. That's a Death Knight! That's a Death Knight! Red armoured knights, the creatures that should have been the level six creature instead of those useless wraiths-.

"As far as you know, do they have any anti-air weapons?"

"Undead dragons can fly, as can ghosts and some vampires. I saw references to lamasu in the older texts, but I've not seen them myself."

"Any citywide shielding against aerial attack?"

"The liches in the towers are quite good shots, but… No. You intend to go down?"

"It's our only lead." I dimly recognise the Capitol structure. I'm going to assume that whoever is in charge is there… Or at least someone who can tell me what's going on should be.

"That seems a little bold…"

"The alternative is asking someone on the outside. I have no idea who is who and they'll have their army right next to them. An external foe might rally a fractured land but I don't particularly want to be the one they're rallying against."

"No, I… I suppose not."

Right. Fabricate new armour for me… And for my companion.

"Oh! Ah, thank you?"

"You're welcome. In the event of a fight, keep yourself out of the way. There's nothing here that worries me, but I can't resurrect people."

"That's a highly fortified city."

I smile condescendingly. "No it's not."

I transition us down, level with the Capitol roof.

The armour-clad vampire who is standing on the roof stares at us.

"Hello there. You seem to be having a spot of bother." He reaches for his green-glowing sword. "I wouldn't, but I respect your autonomy."

"Who are you?"

"I'm the fellow who can solve all your problems. For a fee."

"Hsch. I doubt that." He looks Lushun over for a moment and then appears to dismiss him. Ah, he doesn't have the green colouration of the Heroes VI version, which… Does rather raise the question as to how he keeps himself in blood in an isolated place like this. "How did you get here?"

I lift myself off the roof for a moment, let him take it in, and then land again.

"Is it gold that you want?"

"No. The Staff of the Netherworld and the Ring of the Unrepentant. In exchange, I-."

"Hah!" His laugh is bitter. "If we still had those we wouldn't be in this position. Some… Crazy knight snuck in through High Lord Arantir's portal and looted his chambers. He could be anywhere in Heresh by now!"

"Any distinguishing features?"

"Perhaps. But I want passage away from here before I say any more."

"Done. Start talking."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th August 2013
10:14 GMT -5

Yeah, it turns out that the War of the Sixth Eclipse was every bit as distasteful in reality as I remember if from the game. What happened to Queen Isabel is just horrific. Her wedding interrupted by a demon invasion, her betrothed killed, the kingdom resisting her rule, the wizard who claimed that he was able to resurrect her husband raising him as a vampire who immediately tried to eat her, the man who killed her husband getting her general on side to overthrow her, her getting kidnapped and raped by the Demon Sovereign…

I mean, I assume raped. They had a child. But I suppose the child could have been created through a ritual?

And whatever happened resulted in her soul getting ripped out, so a demon took her place in the Empire while she happily went off with the man who killed her betrothed… And then Arantir eventually released her soul, wrecking the demons' spells and causing her to come to her senses… At which point she renounced the throne and… Went back to the man who killed her betrothed, because… I guess Stockholm Syndrome exists in Ashan?

"Is Raelag an expert in mind control magics?"

Lushun looks a little awkward. "Not according to any account I have heard. I admit, the former queen's conduct does seem a little… Strange. But men with no real grudge against one another may slay each other in times of war. If Clan Chief Raelag nursed her through her… During her time of hardship, it is not so unthinkable that genuine affection might develop."

Valdrieth the Vampire just nods. "I always assumed that her soul never went back to her body. If it went to Elrath and her empty body simply agrees with the last thing it heard, it makes far more sense."

"Then Arantir tracks down the son of Kha-Beleth and Isabelle, who's a teenager. The teenager then fights his army and then him, and kills them all. And if Arantir hasn't gotten up again by now then he's probably not going to."

Valdrieth shrugs. "Not in the short term. His return would put an end to…" He looks out across the armies arrayed across the swamps of Heresh. "This. As it is, soldiers and demon cultists from Stonehelm hold much of the interior of Nar-Heresh."

"Including this building?" He nods. "So why are you still here?"

"I can't teleport far enough to get down, and I'm not well-fed enough to survive the fall." He looks down over the edge. "I was considering climbing it, but they have imps, and arquebusiers at the windows."

"Right. Do you want to be dropped off anywhere in particular?"

He shrugs. "Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving Ashan. Lushun?"

"How could I not come with you? It's an opportunity for unparalleled learning!"

"Fine, as long as you understand that I can't bring you back. Valdrieth?"

"No, just leave me at the siege lines. None of the claimants will take issue with my former loyalties."

"As you wish. Three two one."

Our surroundings flicker and the next instant we're surrounded by mud and dying trees and armoured vampires.

"Good luck!"

Another flicker and Lushun and I are back in the air.

"Alright, so, Sareth: a pale skinned human with a short beard, wearing full plate, accompanied by a succubus, carrying a glowing staff whose head is cracking with purple lightning. Shouldn't be too hard to find."

"I wouldn't-."

"There he is." Our surroundings flicker a third time as we appear in front of the duo, and I raise my left hand in greeting. "Excuse me!"

"-be so.. sure."

Xana the succubus immediately conjures fire into her hands, while Sareth-.

I'm not sure what he's doing, but paying the main character more attention seems like a good idea. The staff is on his back, while his hands hold a bastard sword and a pistol bow. Their horses stop-.

Oh. So that's what -2 morale feels like. The Cloak of Death's Shadow is one of my favourite items with any hero, and now that I take its pushed back position into account… Yes, that's it.

"I come in peace!"

Xana's eyes narrow. "Oh really. Then why are you wearing a dead man's face?"

"Ah. You… Met my doppelgänger. That's… Complicated. As far as I understand it, he and I are both equal continuations of the same life… I'm not totally certain how I came to be on Ashan, while I… Assume that he arrived a few years ago? His ring-" I hold out my hands, rings glowing. "-wouldn't have had much power left by now, if-."

"A copy." Xana lowers her hands slightly, glancing at Sareth for direction. He… Appears to be considering me. "And what do you want?"

"Death's Embrace." She perks up slightly, the fires in her hands intensifying. "The set of magic items. I don't want you to try and kill me."

The fire dims again. "What for?"

"The Staff, to aid in my attempt to leave Ashan. The rest, because as I understand it they're designed to work with the Staff." I look around. "You don't appear to be leading an army. Might I ask your intentions?"

Xana sneers at me. "I want to take command of whatever demons are left on the surface of Ashan and establish a kingdom for us to rule. But my beloved Sareth wants to visit his mother's homeland. He is the heir to the Greyhound Duchy after all."

"Ah. Okay. And Arantir's equipment? If you're not trained as a necromancer, it won't do you much good. And I imagine that the priests of the Holy… Unicorn Empire will recognise them after all that time Markal spent using them."

"He could just destroy them. That should earn their favour. If he wanted it."

Lushun looks worried. "I wouldn't recommend that. Destroying the Staff might well tear open a passage to the void, and that wouldn't be good for anyone."

"As an alternative, I can offer a cart filled with gold and jewels, some really high quality swords and suits of armour, a device to conceal your… Demonic appearance, and a high quality pistol. I'll take the artefacts with me when I leave Ashan so they won't be a threat to anyone still here."

"A cart? On roads like these?"

"Alright, a cart with thick pneumatic tyres made of rubber and incorporating a spring suspension system. I can't promise that it won't get stuck, but it should handle the conditions better than a cart with solid wooden wheels. And I can carry you to the Greyhound Duchy and drop you off, and you can witness my departure for yourselves."

I look directly at Sareth and raise my hands, palms upwards.

"Or is there something else that you'd like? I'm open to negotiation."

He continues looking at me for a moment, and then nods. "I think that there is."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th August 2013
10:19 GMT -5

The four of us appear on the border of the Greyhound Duchy, not… Actually all that far to the north west of our former position. An abbey, burned down during the war and as yet not part of the reconstruction process. A curious choice; I know from the intro sequence that demons here have no difficulty in entering holy sites, but by that token there's no obvious advantage in performing the ritual here. Sareth's horse starts, but I turned my rings' human-to-animal translator back on to warn him before we moved so he swiftly calms down when his rider shows no concern. Xana's demonic steed has presumably been through far worse.

Xana looks at me expectantly. "Well?"

I point to the broken stone pathway leading to nearest road. Neither appear to have been deliberately destroyed -demons need roads too- but there was a battle here, and the land is blotted with blast craters from offensive magic and trebuchet projectiles.

"There?"

"Yes."

Cart design is easy enough. I've seen this sort on Themyscira plenty of times. The tires I can base on the dozens of motorcycle tires I've scanned. Sacks, Themyscira again, gold… Is gold, jewels… I've got their molecular structures stored. Ah… Neither of their horses have harnesses, so include those…

"Shouldn't matter, but the gold and jewels will have an unusually regular structure. No impurities. But I doubt that anyone will notice."

Xana guides her horse over to the cart while Sareth dismounts and walks towards… It looks like an altar, partially concealed by a pile of rubble. He kneels before it, hands clasped at his chest.

"You worship Elrath?"

"No. But I suspect that my mother's people will expect it."

"I would recommend not lying to gods. They can be remarkably short-tempered."

"I'm not lying. I genuinely do hope that Elrath accepts the soul of your other self."

"You were friends?"

He thinks, then nods slowly. "He gave me counsel at a difficult point in my life."

Xana glances over from where she's rifling through the sacks, looking decidedly unimpressed. "Surely it wasn't that difficult, my love? Still, it was good advice."

I raise my eyebrows. "'Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law'?"

Xana nods. "That was the core of it. Decide what you want to happen, and then make it happen."

"Xana, you hate Leanna."

"She made an excellent distraction. And you were thinking about releasing your father."

"I wanted a place in the world." He stares off into the distance, to where I can just about make out one of the Duchy's towns. "But I think that I'll prefer finding it in a world that isn't on fire."

"You-?" Lushun stares at him, shadows moving around his fingertips. "You are the Dark Messiah Sar-Shazzar wrote of. I seem to remember that prophecy being fairly unambiguous."

Sareth doesn't appear to have noticed Lushun preparing a spell, but from the tension in her wings and lengthening of her talons I see that Xana has. Lushun's eyes move to me and I give my head a small shake to try and discourage him.

"If the prophecy was unambiguous, then why did Arantir waste his time in trying to kill me?" He shakes his head, then strolls through the ruined wall into the main courtyard. "If both of them truly come from outside of Ashan, perhaps he could not see them. In any case, the barrier around Sheogh is made whole, though not so perfect as it would have been had Arantir been able to murder an entire city to fuel his ritual."

"I see." Lushun dismisses his spell, but still regards Sareth cautiously as we follow him inside. "Excuse me if I take the time to confirm that for myself."

"Be my guest. And if you encounter Arantir's shade, banish it for me."

"You left Leanna in Har-Heresh?"

"Xana's hatred is mutual, but… I like Leanna. She has an army and a fortress, and she has a portal to flee if she needs to."

"I just thought that you might be trying to pull a Kiril."

He raises his eyebrows. "Kiril? I'm not familiar with the name."

"Younger son of House Griffin during the War of the Second Eclipse. He was tricked into becoming a demon, and ended up in a long term relationship with a Fallen Angel named Sarah and… A succubus whose name I've forgotten."

Xana glares at me. "You don't need to pretend. There's more than one succubus with the name 'Xana'. I never even met him." She snorts. "Sharing with an angel. She's an embarrassment to succubae everywhere."

Sareth shakes his head. "That wouldn't be an option. I doubt that Leanna would ever fall. On the other hand, I'm not a demon."

"Your… Father..?"

"I had wondered if his intent was to leave me as weak as possible until after he was freed. Perhaps even then. Certainly, I never benefitted from having demon blood in me."

Xana coughs loudly.

"I apologise. His demon blood. Your demon magic was extremely important." She momentarily seems mollified, then he smiles impishly. "Though I must admit that I would like to hear more about this 'Kiril'."

Lushun steps closer to him. "I believe that we have met your requirements?"

"Yes." Sareth nods and takes the Staff of the Netherworld from his back. He regards the skull set into the head for a moment, and then holds it out towards Lushun.

Lushun takes it from him and holds it before himself, going into a slight trance. I assume that he's making sure that it will work as intended. "Yes. Yes." He blinks. "This will work excellently. And the rest?"

Sareth passes him the Ring of the Unrepentant, which he slips onto his left ring finger. The Amulet of Necromancy, which he hangs around his neck. And lastly the Cloak of Death's Shadow, which he pulls over his robes.

And wait for betrayal in three…

"Right." He takes the staff in both hands. "Shall we begin?"

Two…

"Opening a portal to the void… Takes a good deal of energy, but with this staff it is not complicated." Purple mists swirl around the head of the staff, and then flow out to form a vertical disc in the air. "Surviving passage to Ashan's exterior is difficult… You had best shield yourself."

I nod, strengthening my environmental shield as purple mist flows over his robes and is… Drawn into them.

"And lastly, we need some way to track your companions. Without one, all I could do is try retracing your entry and following your path back to your home-."

"Oh, that's easy. I imbued Mazikeen with a small amount of orange light before we left." I generate a mote of orange light and have it float over to him. "Can you trace that?"

"I don't know." His eyes narrow as the purple mist envelopes it. "I think… I… Yes. Yes, I can!" He turns to me, smiling broadly. "Are you ready?"

No betrayal? Or maybe he's leaving it to later. Either way…

"Yes, I am. Let's not leave them hanging in the wind any longer."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th August 2013
10:25 GMT -5

"Then let us be away."

Lushun holds the Staff of the Netherworld and then strides forwards, towards the purple disc.

I follow shortly behind, reforming my heavy armour outside of my basic armour to the best of my non-magical ability. Hopefully my tattoos and light armour can make up for the lack of magical defence. "You're sure that your protections are adequate? I'd hate to get stranded by myself. If there's anything that you need, I'm happy to provide it."

"No. I believe that this will-"

We pass through the disc.

"-do."

And… Here we are. Like the Phantom Zone, there's nothing here. Rather than grey, the background is a sort of washed out purple and green. Sight lines are less obstructed-. Xen! That's what the place reminds me of!

"We appear to be intact."

I nod, though I imagine that my heavy helmet obscures the gesture. "We do indeed."

"Now… Based on Sandro's records…" He slams the butt of the staff onto… Nothing, and a platform of dull grey rock appears beneath us. "I can make a small part of the primordial void behave as though it were part of Ashan. Remaking a part of the prison outside of the prison seems a little perverse, but until we reach somewhere with laws and definitions, we will have to make do."

"I should probably warn you that I tend to absorb exotic energies used in my vicinity."

"If I'd known that then I would have offered to expose you to more. Is it a natural ability?"

"No, something I had a group of magicians bind to me. Since I lacked an arcane presence, I needed a way to gain one. I warn you because I don't want to throw off your readings."

"Do not trouble yourself." Holding the staff in his right hand, he raises his left, with the purple mists swirling around the orange mote. "This is more than sufficient."

He taps the butt to the ground twice more, and we're off.

"Will Asha be unhappy about this?"

"Perhaps, but it's unlikely that she'll take any action. Sandro was attacked by religious necromancers and by people who hated necromancy, but never directly by Asha herself."

"The religious necromancers weren't in direct contact with their deity? I didn't think Ashan's deities were that illusive."

"They were in contact with an embodied aspect of Asha called the Mother Namtaru; a giant three headed spider-like creature."

"Did they check?"

"Hm? Check what?"

"Well, if I was a giant three headed spider and wanted a bunch of necromancers to obey me and I knew they didn't have a direct communication channel to Asha, I-."

He grins. "You think that she lied? That she played them for fools?"

"It's a basic question in Philosophy of Science: how do you know what you think you know? I mean, I thought that Asha was a dragon and that her children were dragons."

"I would be astonished if that were true, but I can't claim to have confirmed it for myself."

"Well, there you are. It's just good advertising."

"But how would you explain the fate spinners?"

"Oh, that's easy. I wouldn't."

"No?"

"Get a dead giant spider and a dead woman, and a saw blade and a needle and some fine thread. Cut off the spider's face, sew the woman's torso on, then necromancy the whole thing back to animation."

"They were really more like crabs."

"Then use a giant crab. I'm not a necrotechnician."

"That is technically plausible, but… Given the tremendous size and power of Mother Namtaru, I doubt that the explanation is anything like that… Simple."

"Probably not. Funny though. And what's Urgas-." I see… Something, out of the corner of my eye, but when I turn to look again it's gone. "Does anything live out here?"

"I doubt it. We're in the void here. It's a realm antithetical to definition."

"Does that make it Urgash-type chaos, or something else?"

"Chaos can only exist without a framework that contains laws. As far as I'm aware, the void should just be nothing."

"Then how are we here?"

"We exist in this little part of Ashan I've brought with us. But… Observe."

There's a tearing noise as with a flicker of green a small part of his inner robe is sliced off the garment and floats towards the edge of the platform. As it goes over the edge, it…

Oh.

It… What happens is a combination of boiling, melting and merging, but after a few moments there certainly isn't any cloth left.

"And how long will we be here-" Another flicker in the distance. "-for?"

"I have no idea. We're definitely getting closer to something else which contains your energy, but beyond that I can't say. I haven't found any records of anyone getting this far into the void before."

"Getting in was easier."

"If Zachary Zor wants to share his methods with me I will happily use them henceforth."

"Fair enough." There it is again. "Did you see-?"

"Yes." His eyes remain resolutely fixed forwards. "I think it was a darkness elemental."

I look down and fail to see any sort of shadow, including where the light from my orange glow should cast one. "How?"

"There's a great deal about the void we don't know. And they might be some manner of void elemental, though that would defy everything I think I know about this place."

"Ah."

"I know! Fascinating, isn't it?"

"Technically, yes."

"I wonder if any part of it can survive within the laws of Ashan?"

"I suspect that we are about to-"

The thing appears before us!

"-find out."