Green Flame's Journal (Part Three)
Chandagnac
Broken Robot
- Location
- Nowhere
Ah. I misremembered that. Sorry, my memory is not infallible.
I think… originally, I had planned to have the All Devourer get in touch with Hedgy before Jerhamays and his army of never-beens appeared, but I changed that to the Forgotten God instead. The All Devourer doesn't speak, so a 'conversation' between him and Hedgy would have been hilariously awkward, to say the least.
*
Green Flame's Journal (Part Three)
"All right," you say. Immediately, you begin turning back the pages, trying to find a section that you think she will enjoy listening to. After a few moments, you read from Green Flame's notes: "I think it likely that Zinistrari took elements from both Dorian's mother and father when she made him, just to make sure that he would somewhat resemble the two of them, so that no one would doubt that he was theirs even if they thought it was peculiar that he had inherited the elven characteristics of a distant ancestor. Those 'elven characteristics' were probably because Zinistrari wasn't able to resist the urge to make the baby special: perhaps she was trying to give him elven magic or accelerated healing. When I told Carmenta this, when I said that I was convinced that Dorian really was hers and her husband's, I was very much surprised when she hugged me and wept grateful tears into my shoulder."
"Aww, that's sweet," says Jana. "Is it all like that?"
You shake your head. "No. Some of it is horrible."
Jana gives you a quizzical glance. "In what way?"
"Uh… I've been reading about how Philander's dad made a deal with one of the Demon Lords," you say. "Very creepy."
"All right, I'll let you get back to it," says Jana, making a visible effort to restrain her curiosity.
Despite what Prentigold had said, when Green Flame started investigating what had happened to Cinna the Sinner Man, her initial assumption was that Achamat had taken a piece of his soul. A person's name was an important part of their identity, soul and identity were unavoidably linked, and so the Sinner Man's surname could be interpreted as being a symbolic representation of his soul, or at least a small part of it. When used as a component in a ritual, such symbols could have great power: that was something Green Flame knew well, as did almost every other wizard.
However, as she continued to investigate, she developed an alternative theory. Having noticed that what had happened to Cinna was somewhat similar to the story of how the Forgotten God had come to be, she began to suspect that it wasn't a coincidence: in his attempts to free himself from Nymandor's control, the Elder God of Death had given up all his names and thereby erased himself from existence; Cinna only gave up his surname, but in doing so he made it so that even his closest friends and allies struggled to remember who he was, as if he barely existed at all.
She wondered if Achamat had deliberately tried to recreate the conditions that had led to the Elder God of Death erasing himself from existence, perhaps in an attempt to study the process, in the hope that he could weaponize the process, find one of the Forgotten God's missing pieces and take it for himself, or otherwise gain knowledge that would enable him to gain tremendous power.
Over the next few pages, you are unable to follow Green Flame's train of logic: there are too many crossings-out and seemingly random scribblings. The words 'true name?' have been circled and underlined several times.
If you were to hazard a guess, you would say that Green Flame was trying to find more similarities between how Cinna became the Sinner Man and how the Elder God of Death ceased to exist. The old Death God gave up all his names because his enemy, Nymandor, knew his true name and was using it to control him. Achamat doesn't know Cinna's true name and therefore can't use it against him… or can he?
On the next page after that, Green Flame finally gets around to explaining what she was thinking: do true names matter anymore? During the First Age, the Fates wanted to know everything and to be able to exactly predict what was going to happen in the future; in order to do that, they gave every living soul a 'true name' so that they could use to keep track of it and, if necessary, force it to comply with their directives. However, because Telthalus was offended by their plan to eradicate free will, he turned them into stone and ripped up their Book of Names. Thousands of years later, no one who is alive today really knows what their true name is or if they even have one; never mind the fact that, in many places, it is traditional for new parents to hold a ceremony where they give their new baby a secret name, which they say is his or her true name. It's usually a cutesy pet name such as 'Petal' or 'Bubbles'…
Or Sparkle, you think to yourself, remembering the 'secret name' that your parents gave you when you were only a tiny baby. Not even Jana knows that.
For around seven thousand years, Green Flame has only had one name. It is the only name she has ever needed. Does that mean 'Green Flame' is her true name? If so, why was it necessary for the humans who enslaved her to bind her with so many chains of mind magic? Couldn't they just use her 'true name' to force her to do their bidding? Apparently not, so either Green Flame is not her true name – which could indicate that she has a true name that she is unaware of – or true names don't have any real power. Not anymore.
On the other hand, a great many people still believe that true names have immense power. Even if, in reality, true names were not important when they were being magically empowered by the Fates, the idea of true names has taken on a significance of its own. Green Flame wondered if a canny Demon Lord could have used that as part of a magic ritual.
Because Cinna had been born into an old and prestigious noble family, his surname was of great importance to him. He was proud of his aristocratic ancestors, even if he had inherited hardly anything from them other than his name, a worthless plot of land, and a crumbling mansion. He felt that he was better than everyone else because he had the purest noble blood. Although he may not have realised until it was too late, his surname, which had been passed down through his family since before the city of Tyrepheum was founded, was the most precious thing he owned. Did that mean that it was his 'true name'? Or was it merely a 'symbolic representation' of his true name? Either way, Green Flame thought it was likely that Achamat could use it to take control of the Sinner Man anytime he wanted to. Presumably, the reason that he hadn't was because it amused him to watch the crime lord desperately trying to escape his clutches without realising that he had no hope of success.
It occurred to Green Flame that if Cinna's family had been so very noble and distinguished there would probably be some record of them in Tyrepheum's official histories. She was nonplussed at how easy it was to find the information she needed: after only a few minutes in the archives, she was able to find out that Cinna's original surname, the one he had traded to Achamat, had been Beli-Zephalos. Undoubtedly, it would have been similarly easy for him or one of his minions to find it as well. The fact that he hadn't suggested that some kind of mental block was preventing him from seeing, hearing, or noticing his original name in any way. That was Achamat's doing, no doubt.
Green Flame considered telling Philander what his family's original surname had been. Would he enjoy knowing something that his hated father didn't? If so, would it cause him to act rashly, as he so often did? Or would it only cause him pain, since she didn't have a solution for any of his family problems?
While she was trying to find out more about the Sinner Man, she discovered several other things that caused her a great deal of worry and concern: apparently, he had been the ruler of Tyrepheum's criminal underworld for five or six decades, or possibly even longer, and yet he was not an old man. According to rumour, he'd had other children before this latest batch, all of whom had been similarly named after vices and other negative qualities – Torpor, Avarice and Spite, for example – and they were all long gone, presumed dead.
It was possible that immortality was one of the things that Cinna had asked for when he made his bargain with Achamat. However, human bodies weren't designed to be immortal and, for that reason, immortality always came with a heavy price. For instance, Green Flame's immortality was fuelled by the awesome power of one of the Elder Gods, other elves were created by fey spirits who used their souls as fuel for the ritual that made them seemingly immortal, and she had heard horror stories of people who had horribly cursed themselves and everyone else around them by trying to make themselves immortal. So how had the Sinner Man lived such an unnaturally long life? Why was he so well-preserved after living for more than six decades? No doubt Achamat could have used his divine powers to extend his thrall's life and keep him looking relatively youthful, but it would have cost him a great deal, so why would he bother?
After much thought, Green Flame began to suspect that Zinistrari was the one who had sold the Sinner Man the magic object, spell, or whatever it was that he was using to extend his life. More than that, she suspected that he was sacrificing his children in order to keep himself alive: perhaps literally, by draining their life and youth and taking it for his own.
She had noticed that Philander looked very much like his brother Simony, despite the fact that they had different mothers: if their births hadn't been separated by several years, they would have looked like identical twins. Also, Philander's sisters, Ferocity and Indulgence, looked exactly like him, even though they were female, much younger than him, and their mother was different to his. Green Flame had vague memories of Philander's other siblings who had attended the Tyrepheum Academy; she recalled that Hubris, Envy and Acedia had looked suspiciously similar. It was obvious to her that he had done something to all of his children to make them look the same, but she didn't know how or for what purpose.
It occurred to her that maybe the reason why Cinna had so many different mothers for his children was not because he quickly grew bored of his women – or, at least, not just because of that – but because he didn't want them to notice what he was doing to their children. Perhaps one of his previous mistresses realised what he was doing and confronted him, or ran away with her child, or tried to betray him to his enemies. If something like that ever happened, Cinna could have made it his policy from then on to quickly dispose of his mistresses after they bore him a child, so that there was no risk of it happening again.
Also, something Philander said – that he'd been to a slave market and been traumatised when he saw a slave with the same face as him – made Green Flame suspect that the Sinner Man was creating more children somehow. Her theory was that Cinna was using one of Zinistrari's devices to clone himself, or clone his children. Perhaps he was trying to make sure that if any of his children died of natural causes before he was able to sacrifice them, he would nevertheless be able to replace them. But why would any of them end up being sold at a slave market? Did he think that some of his clones were defective and decide to get rid of them? Or was there some other reason?
And why did Cinna name all of his children after a sin? Why were they seemingly compelled to act in accordance with the name he had given them? Was it just a private joke, a reference to his famous nickname? Or was it for a more sinister reason? Did it enable him to control them somehow?
Green Flame didn't know what to do. She wasn't sure what to tell Philander or how to protect him. All she could do was write down everything she had learned in her journal, and wait, and try to come up with a plan. You see a few scrawled notes about that – the phrase 'kill Cinna' appears several times – but it doesn't seem like she figured out exactly how she was going to do it.
After that, there aren't many pages left: a few have been written on, the rest have been left blank.
Spread across two pages, Green Flame wrote down her concerns about the man who had 'rescued' Isolia from her life on the streets, paid her school fees, and seemed to be trying to use her in an elaborate con trick. Humferth Hygmalion was his name. He was a wizard who had formerly been a professor at the Tyrepheum Academy, until Prentigold sacked him for "gross misconduct".
"If he does anything to hurt Isolia, I will kill him," is what Green Flame wrote in response to that.
As far as she was able to find out, it seemed that "gross misconduct" meant that he had been encouraging his pupils to commit criminal acts, which meant that at least one of them had been killed or seriously injured and this had brought the school into disrepute.
Also, it seems that Dr. Hygmalion had been a teacher at the Tyrepheum Academy at the time when Galadan the headmaster disappeared and the Mystic Path briefly took over the school. In which case, he might know more about them than Green Flame does…?
On the next page, Green Flame started writing about Garanhedd the Giant, but evidently decided that Cadre 1F already knows everything they need to know about him. Therefore, she crossed out what she had already written and replaced it with a warning not to trust him. Apparently, if Garanhedd made a promise to someone, he would probably keep it because the lesser spirits of the land might not accept him as their king if he developed a reputation for breaking his word. But then, after he'd kept his promise, there would be nothing to stop him from destroying the city of Tyrepheum and killing the one he'd made a promise to – and the spirits under his command would probably approve if he did that.
No context is provided, but it seems that Green Flame wants to fight someone called 'The Elm King': "I could probably beat him in a fair fight," she asserts.
There is a paragraph about you as well: apparently, you seem rather nice, but maybe you shouldn't be trusted. Your friendly demeanour might be a mere façade, especially considering that you are the Chosen of Mishrak, a god who has never been particularly friendly to humanity and who devotes most of his time to creating ferocious sea monsters. Still, a supplementary note says that Mishrak has a reputation for giving generous gifts to his relatively few human worshippers, from time to time.
Finally, on the last page that she wrote on, Green Flame's handwriting is an almost illegible scrawl. It takes you some time to decipher what she has written, but it seems that she has very much enjoyed working at the Tyrepheum Academy as a teacher, even if she wishes that she wasn't a slave. She feels very close to Dorian, Isolia, Philander and Venta – and several others you haven't met, such as Anthikares Neroth – almost as if they were members of her own family, although she doesn't really know what that's like. It had made her wonder what it would be like to have a child of her own, if that's even possible – she has heard of elves who were able to sire or bear children, but they're not common. And if it was possible, who would she want to have a child with? She can think of no one: all the men she knows are thousands of years younger than her, which makes things awkward. Also, she remembers being used as a sex doll by some of her former masters and has no desire to relive those memories: she doesn't really like the idea of having sex with anyone. And anyway, would she be any good at being a mother? While she was trying to teach Dorian how to defend his mind, she accidentally hurt him so badly that he spent a night in the school's infirmary. If she had a baby, she could very easily hurt or kill it without meaning to, so… maybe it's for the best that it probably won't ever happen? And so on.
These confessions are so deeply personal and candid that they make you feel uncomfortably hot. A fiery blush spreads across your cheeks.
Jana notices your discomfort, grins at you, and says, in a teasing voice, "What're you reading now?"
"Um… I think Green Flame's getting a bit broody," you mumble.
There is a pause while Jana tries to work out what you mean. "Broody like she's brooding, or…?"
"Like a mother hen, I mean."
"Cute," says Jana, with a nod. "That's why she's got Cadre 1F crowding around her like a nest of chicks."
"Well, there's more to it than that…"
When you go to Tyrepheum to tell Cadre 1F about the contents of Green Flame's journal, do you want to tell them everything? (Choose one)
[] Yes. Be as honest as possible.
[] It would take too long to tell them everything. Just tell them the most important things.
[] There are some things Cadre 1F don't need to know…
-[] For example, Green Flame would probably be very embarrassed if you told them about her confessions on the last page.
-[] And they don't need to know that Green Flame was suspicious of you and Mishrak.
-[] Write in: is there anything else you don't want to tell them?
Ugh, this took a while. Oh well, I hope you enjoy it.
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