A Wind Full of Knives
"Fine," Hunger said, after a moment's thought. "If you've thought through the logistical implications, you can come with us, though we won't provide any guarantee of safety. This path is dangerous and will only grow more so."
He would trust Letrizia's judgement on this matter, at least for now. The young duchess was in many ways naive. It was sometimes hard to remember that she was a veteran warrior entrusted with her nation's greatest superweapon. He believed she had the wherewithal to consider matters objectively when truly serious decisions, like this, came about.
"Thank you so much!" Aeira bowed again, even more deeply than before. "Yes, I have set up an account for an escrow company into which you can deposit funds now and remotely. The money will be released to my family on a time-delayed basis, assuming you intend to pay upfront with cash, and returned to you if my service is not satisfactory. One of my classmates has an Element that allows for limited-throughput communication across the Voyaging Realm. It's not totally reliable, but we should be able to get signal at least one day in ten. That will also enable me to slowly navigate back to the Sovereignty if we must part ways. I can bunk with Letrizia and will bring my own supplies in terms of food and toiletries."
"You're prepared, that's good. We'll finally have someone responsible on the team." Hunger smiled lightly.
"That means she'll have to rein us in, hun!" Gisena grabbed his arm playfully. "How shocking! Now what will we do for fun?"
"Training," he deadpanned. "Speaking of which, Aeira, would you care for a spar? If I win, you'll give us a 10% discount, and if I lose, we'll double your pay."
Aeira made a startled noise and raised her hands. "I-I am sorry, but I do not think I can accept those terms. Even though you are being unconscionably generous, my family needs this money and I cannot accept anything less than the asking price."
"Hm." Hunger frowned slightly. "I hate to pry, but may I ask what your family is using the money for? If there are any points of leverage against you, we need to be informed in advance. We're trusting you to watch our backs against foes that are very capable and resourceful, often with varied supernatural capabilities."
Letrizia bit her lip. "Shoot. I hadn't considered that..."
Aeira smiled gently at her. "It is fine. Yes, my family is greatly in debt to government of the Elixir Sovereignty... we used to be on the founding council, but my grandmother and grandfather made several critical errors in business, wiping out our fortune and exposing us to our rivals. The back taxes alone have been crippling... All my life, my mother and father worked tirelessly to extricate us from debt, but their political enemies ensured they would never hold high station. However, I do not believe that such petty affairs in so remote a society as ours would hold much interest for your enemies."
"I see." There were a few ways such a vulnerability could come to bite them down the line, but it seemed unlikely for now. Something to keep an eye on, but it wasn't disqualifying. The main issue would be... "Your friend, who allows you to communicate across the Voyaging Realm, how does her Element operate? Do you trust this person?"
"Yes, absolutely." She nodded. "Her Element manifests only partially in the physical realm. The other half is bound not by space, but by emotional association. Only if we trust each other mutually and implicitly would the function work correctly."
"And she is diligent enough to keep you regularly updated on matters here?"
Aeira nodded again.
"In that case, welcome aboard." He reached out a hand for her to shake. Hesitantly, Aeira extended her own, pausing in the midst to remove her fingerless gloves. Her grip was firm but rigid, palms sweaty. Anxious beneath the mask.
"I know it may not seem like much to you," Aeira said, smiling timidly. "But this is truly a small fortune for my family. It will make our interest payments much more bearable. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you again!"
"Don't thank me. Just carry your weight," Hunger admonished gruffly, but returned her smile with one of his own.
"You did it! I'm so proud of you!" Letrizia leapt over and grabbed Aeira in a hug.
"Mhm!" Aeira nodded happily.
They set out on their journey to the Temple once more. This time Verschlengorge was blanketed in a cloak of silken shadow which, if one were not looking specifically for him, diminished the salience of his presence in one's mind. It was an odd effect, the colossal machine seeming almost to fade into the background... not invisible nor inaudible, but unimportant, like a cliff or hillside, the clangor of his movements like construction noises far away.
This was the power of Aeira's Element, Shadowcord, which could be garrote or spear or binding weave; an assassin's Element which, aside from its attention-negating properties, also enhanced the agility of its wielder and nulled all sound by touch. Killer and victim would conclude their business in absolute silence, unnoticed even in busy crowds.
Gisena welcomed their newest party member warmly, though Aeira seemed powerfully intimidated by the superhuman Sorceress, unable to raise her voice above a whisper when addressing Gisena directly. Most of the time, Aeira stayed with Letrizia in her cockpit, the two teenagers chatting happily about Imperial society and the differences in its Elixir offshoot.
"That poor darling," Gisena smiled sadly, sitting alongside Hunger on Verschlengorge's shoulder. With the aid of Aeira's shadow, the number of Astral incursions targeting Verschlengorge had indeed decreased, though oddly not to zero. Thus there was no pressing need for comprehensive surveillance from its shoulder-side staff.
"She looks up to you," Hunger said, "She just can't express it very well."
"I know," Gisena replied airily, "But if it's that bad now, just think how tongue-tied she'll be after I finish my meditations! And your own force of presence has been steadily increasing as well. Soon it'll be difficult for either of us to speak plainly with ordinary people."
"Needs must," Hunger said. "The Apocryphal Curse will not stop escalating, so neither can we." This small sliver of inhumanity was a trifling price in the face of vengeance, though it did unsettle him slightly. But what was to be done about it? He frowned. Perhaps there was something to be done.
"Though," he continued, "as the Nullity Sorceress, one would think
you would be most equipped of anyone to bring us back down to earth."
"And surrender this beautiful visage?" Gisena gasped. "I would never do that to you. Worry not, my captain, I could hardly bear to deprive you for even a moment! The teeming masses shall just have to withstand it."
Was she referring to the reduction of her presence, or his own? Down either path lay a trap, and if called out directly she would feign obliviousness, thus framing his observation as paranoia. Hunger shook his head amusedly.
"You're too clever for your own good, Gisena. What if you applied that genius to actually finishing those meditations of yours?"
She idly kicked a slender leg, leaning against his shoulder. "I can't, Aeira took the spot in the cockpit I was using to meditate! Don't worry, I'll be finished up and completely evolved by tomorrow morning, ready to help you take down the Temple. So enjoy my delightful presence while you can!"
"Good. You can keep watch while I take a nap."
Already they could see the Temple at far remove: the towering spires of its moon-clutching claw, the ivory swell of its dome against the wavering blue horizon. As before, they would have to navigate around to reach the front gate, a trip of several hours more. Hunger leaned back, settling in for the final leg of their journey.
Soon, he promised mentally, addressing the imprisoned Ring, willing his own to act as conduit. He did not know if the Rings could actually speak to one another, did not know if it was merely a futile gesture, but sought to offer whatever hope he could: the strength, perhaps, to resist for one day more, to deny its exploiters whatever power it could, here in this final hour.
One way or another, your suffering ends soon.
---
The winner was
[X] Fine. In light of your new Arete total, the build vote will be concluded below.
You have about
27 Arete. You may spend up to
28 with Arete debt.
[ ] Forebear's Blade: All-Defeating Stance - 28 Arete
Woe to he who would presume to resist the Forebear, for neither spell nor song nor storm of swords would find purchase against his impervious guard. Bowed kings, bowed wizards, bowed warriors of legend and worlds themselves, for there was no chance of triumph without knowing the form of victory, and to stand against the Forebear was to know only defeat. Consumes and replaces its pre-requisite stances.
+++++All Stats
5x Power of Ruin against all targets.
Powers deriving from the Forebear's Blade are perfectly defended from nullification of any kind, even that stemming from a lack of fundamental metaphysics.
All-Defeating: All external effects natural or supernatural which would harm, impede or negatively alter the wielder must contest the amplified Power of Ruin or be destroyed before reaching the wielder. Effectively the character automatically applies an incredibly powerful conceptual-level counterattack against all hostile effects.
In practice, this mitigates all Curses as per Magic-Defeating Stance and renders the character nigh-immune to most forms of harm, as all attacks are intercepted by an imperishable well of ablative Ruin. Only the mightiest of effects can even hope to pierce through, and often with severely reduced outcomes. Even the effects of enemy Pressure are largely nullified unless that Pressure is substantially mightier than the wielder's Pressure and Power of Ruin combined.
Holy Shit: To stand against the wielder is to know only defeat. The wielder's enemies know when they are beaten. Double the wielder's Charisma and Manipulation against characters individually weaker than him. Innate awareness of the character's strength penalizes any attempts to form organizations or conspiracies opposed to him.
*In light of this capacity, Hunger will pursue a military-based strategy against the Temple, discarding his earlier plans. Events such as this occur sparingly if at all, but changing circumstances are inescapable, and needs must.
*Hunger can defeat Avecarn with only moderate difficulty and has decent odds of soloing the entire Temple himself.
*A highly synergistic build: You've taken lots of +Might (and +Willpower, and the Stance grants both), which is multiplied by Edeldross, which scales the power of Ruin, which is quintupled by the stance, which reflexively opposes all hostile effects. Hunger becomes a nigh-invincible juggernaut for his power level, and his offensive might is tremendous due to that Ruin itself. He can safely focus on developing esoteric capabilities with Cut Through.
*There are situations where one might prefer to have Guile-Defeating Stance instead of All-Defeating Stance, and taking the latter does consume the former.
[ ] The Ring of Power: Crimson Flare - 25 Arete. (0 picks, but requires Chief Dominion)
Call'd the ring in direst hour;
Azure's brethren faces turned.
Yet came the Lord its cause to flower;
then saw its keepers, to ruin burned.
Forgotten not, the debt of Time
when all its kind had turned their backs;
Not Hunger ring, its steed to ride,
brought Temple low, rapine and sack.
And debt unpaid shall not abide.
The crimson jewel blazes with a hallowed, piercing light, its glory to outshine sun and stars, all made abject by its presence. This is attainment of a height that disdains mere power, the Jewel of Blood unveiled in truth.
Elevates the wielder's Rank by a variable amount [Currently: to 5]
+2 Rank for purposes of wielding the Chief Dominion.
If the Azure Ring is saved:
Further increases the scope, power, and control of the Chief Dominion, beyond even the limits of the Ruling Ring.*
Obsoletes and refunds: Augment Dominion: Blood, Sublime Transfusion, Ennobling
The Azure Ring will submit to the Crimson in the next contest of primacy.
*Example effects: Individuals can be Ennobled in hours, small populations in days, large populations in months. Levels above Ennoblement can be researched and acquired, potentially without Arete expenditure. Verschlengorge can be healed to Rank 6 in hours, to Rank 7 in days, to Rank 7.5 in weeks. Enemies of Rank 4 or lower can be rendered comatose with a gesture; those of merely equivalent Rank (5) would suffer crippling disadvantage.
*Hunger will try diplomacy first before moving onto combat
*He can offer them much, though it would still be a difficult task to sunder Avecarn from his civilization: stability is worth more than promises written on wind, and Hunger does not really have much interest in taking care of the Inner Temple society.
*Good odds in combat, very good odds of survival.
*Build towards the Trinity Special Advancement.
[ ] Renaissance Woman - 28 Arete
Not merely a genius of one generation, nor of one era; hers is a greatness of mind and spirit that arises perhaps only once in the lifetime of a species. All-conquering talent that bestrides all fields and masters them beyond compare: only this genuine polymath can be said to embody the complete essence - the
true quintessence - of humanity in the Maiden's image. Only so exalted a paragon can glimpse the mortal facings of Heaven's Lathe and depart with mind unshattered.
A singularity of findross births a Sorceress. A meta-singularity of findross, births a Maiden.
*Gisena immediately acquires the Maiden-level Graces: True Perfecting Blade, True Nullity, and True Quintessence.
*Gisena, through observation of the mortal-perceptible components of Hunger's Progression, replicates the effects of the Lesser Remittance, Retinue, for up to one cardinality of infinite escalation.
*True Perfecting Blade: Massively improves Gisena's STR, AGI, CON, WITS and APP. Her physical parameters are modestly superior to Hunger's own. Her Wits and Appearance are tremendously superior to Hunger's own. Parameters will continue to increase over time.
*True Nullity: Gisena applies the effects of Grand Nullification upon all of Hunger's Curses; her nullity strikes with absolute force. This may improve over time.
*True Quintessence: Gisena is treated as if possessing the Total Eclipse Advancement.
*Her outrageously superhuman Appearance, Charisma and Wits can be classified as a high-grade memetic hazard, making infiltration of the Inner Temple quite trivial.
*Does not build towards a Special Artifact Advancement but also does not commit you to a path.
---
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