You are surrounded, and so you spin, centering your weight and not letting any of your enemies get a clear shot at your back for too long. You do your best to quell them with a glare, but the looming boys don't back down -- no, they're demons, malevolent unformed clouds only solid in their capacity to do violence -- no, it's your mother's enemies, and you can't make them out but you know that's what they are. You can't fight them, she taught you that, so you run, you run and hide, and what you see rising before you is a big house, you grew up in a big house and have lots of practice hiding there, but no, it's too bright, light pouring from every window. You have never seen such a brilliantly lit house. A lighthouse. It's a lighthouse, alone on an island in a vast black ocean. The ocean menaces you, you know it will crush you if it can, and you focus your will to keep it away from you and everyone, waiting to be rescued, but nobody can save you from the enemy only you can see, and you sink down, down, down into the darkness, but it's not the ocean at all but the night sky, and you are surrounded by stars...
You jolt awake. Early morning light filters in through your window, and you hear birds in the garden below. You sit up, slowly, taking slow controlled breaths to calm yourself. You're no stranger to nightmares -- after the incident with the dike, you had them constantly for weeks -- and are not terribly surprised to be experiencing one in the wake of being torn from your comfortable life to go across the world and fight demons. Unfortunately, being mature and level-headed and reasonable about the perfectly normal reasons you might have unsettling dreams does not actually let you skip the part where you had one and are now unsettled.
You continue your slow breathing, listen to the birds, and let your heart quiet down.
The private bathroom is rapidly becoming your favorite part of your hotel room. It's not that any one aspect of it is novel so much as that every aspect is put together to maximize comfort and ease. Every time you experimentally turn a handle, it's some feature you hadn't considered and nonetheless love. You're going to be so spoiled when you leave here. (When, not if.)
You only have the one set of clothing, but after a word with one of the servants last night, you had put it in a little labeled bag in your room which you then dropped down a discreet chute before you slept, and it had been re-deposited (thoroughly cleaned and folded) through a hatch in your door before you awoke, despite how early that had happened. Accompanying it is a small box with things that had been in your trouser pockets and which the staff thoughtfully removed before washing them. Your pocketknife would have been fine, if in need of oiling and drying, but the geomantic surveying instruments would absolutely not have been fine. Getting dressed makes you think of your mother and the years she spent as a laundress, and wondering what people are going to
tell her does a lot to dampen your shower-induced good mood. You're literally halfway across the world from her, and Anathon Grier is dead; even if the Hellgate disappears today, it will be weeks before you can get home, and money is going to be complicated. The hotel is free, but passage might not be, and getting to somewhere you can board an oceangoing vessel will likely cost. A cruise ship, if you are willing to wait? Surely they came to Vindar.
Wait, didn't Madame Delfin mention she had access to the geomantic messaging network and was willing to let people use it? This could solve multiple of your problems: if you can send a message to the university, they can tell your mother you're safe and sort out something with money. Maybe you can convince them this is a valid use of your scholarship monies? An independent study in demon slaying.
...you'll probably have to write up your experiences if they buy that, but in all honesty, there was no way you
aren't doing that at some point. Like Madame Delfin mentioned, the opening of the Hellgate was a momentous event, something that posterity was going to care about, and you have to do your duty as a participant in history to record it properly.
It's still a somewhat uncivilized hour, but you head down the stairs anyway. You can only listen to music for so long before getting restless, after all. Unfortunately, the intimidatingly well-pressed woman at the front desk is not Madame Delfin, and your business is absolutely not urgent enough to disturb her this early in the morning, so instead you settle for timidly asking what food options are available and if there was some sort of writing medium and implement you could acquire. She immediately pulls out a beautifully bound notebook and pencil, both of them with tasteful Dolphin Hotel branding, and you accept them, uncomfortably aware of how large your debt to them already is and how quickly it's growing.
She then points you in the direction of a sideboard laden with fresh-baked breads, an incredible variety of cheeses, and leftover meats from dinner, and with a perfectly straight face apologizes for the paltriness of their offerings at this hour. This hotel, you swear.
You quash your hunger pangs very agreeably, and are thinking of going back to your room to write down notes on your time so far while you wait for Madame Delfin, but the staff member asks you if you have yet taken a look at the Heroes' Room, and you make a graceful request for further information not at all resembling "Bwuh?", and...
This hotel, you swear.
Lady Durand had clearly brought your suggestion to Madame Delfin, and Madame Delfin had clearly approved of it, and some staff members had clearly worked hard on it. You suppose the night shift might not have a lot else to do, but
still. There's a bulletin board for you all to post notes to one another, yes, and paper and pencils for the leaving of those notes, but there is
another bulletin board with what look like news clippings, and along the long wall of the room is a section labeled (sigh) "The Heroes of Vindar", and at a glance you see clippings and citations, the sources for which appear to be helpfully and neatly stacked underneath the long narrow table. Possibly one of the hotel employees is a former research librarian Madame Delfin lured here for reasons unknown who delighted in an opportunity to show off their skills. You hope so, because the alternative is an absolutely
criminal waste of potential.
...perhaps you'll check, at some point. The university pays a finder's fee for faculty recommendations, you think.
While the collection of précis had sounded good when Lady Durand mentioned it, you decide to save tackling it for last. First, you look at the news board, which has two items of interest.
...funeral arrangements for the late Anathon Grier, the celebrated magus who was the first to discover the demonic threat, have been stalled by the discovery of a major disturbance in the town graveyard. The town council is investigating the circumstances of this disturbance, but as of yet no one has come forth with any substantiated information.
--The Vindar Chronicle
...meanwhile, continental politics have been rocked not only by the unprecedented demonic incursion but also by the disappearance of the Grand Duke of Omonezh (along with several other continental figures of lesser note), who were summoned to be part of the team of spirit mages assembled to combat the incursion. Speaking from his balcony near sunset yesterday evening, King Galinar pointedly implied that the presence of the Grand Duke, a notorious mind-controller, might portend poorly for the project of world-saving...
--The Herald of Gavis
You wince at the elliptical wording of "disturbance," which suggests so much but says so little, and hope that this is not yet another weight upon Miella. The second item gives you pause -- what
was Anathon thinking, bringing him here? But then again, Lady Durand had mentioned some sort of truce, hadn't she? You head over to the other bulletin board, which has just one item.
To all Heroes of Vindar: Be advised that terms have been reached with Grand Duke Pilpyas of Omonezh.
1. He shall not exert any sort of magical influence upon any person without their expressly given consent, having been first apprised of the known and likely effects, save that they are in violation of the second term.
2. No one shall harm, threaten, or restrain his person, nor interfere in any way with his possessions, nor use any sort of deleterious magic upon him, regardless of any political developments between nations up to and expressly including the outbreak of war, save that he is in violation of the first term.
3. These terms to cover the city of Vindar and its environs from now until the third sunrise following the closure of the Hellgate or other mutually agreed-upon sign of the termination of the crisis, deadlocks to be broken by Miella Leistes.
4. Lady Evangeline Durand and Grand Duke Pilpyas shall be fatebound to this common cause.
To those subject to any nation of the Latterleague: upon my authority as General within that alliance and Seneschal of the North, these terms bind you by force of law in accordance with the Treaty of Kelly. To others: I cannot compel you under the law, but I will draw attention to the fact that if you instigate hostilities with him he is permitted to respond in whatever mode he finds appropriate, and strongly advise allowing this truce to stand.
We set our agreement to this on the 25th day of Deepwinter in the 3129th year of the Nivvean Empire.
You think about that for a moment. The first thing to jump out at you is the peculiar wording of the first term; you were expecting something more like "he's not allowed to enthrall anyone," but there's an explicit carveout for people allowing him to do things to them, which suggests that one or both of the signatories here thought that was likely to come up. You're not sure what to make of that. The second thing is that it's strange to make Miella Leistes the judge, but perhaps they felt that as the closest thing anyone was going to get to a representative of Anathon Grier, she was a neutral party who could be trusted to be fair?
...you're still not sure how comfortable you are with having a famed mind-controller here, but if one of his chief military enemies is satisfied with this then that's reassuring? Unless he's already got her, but if so you're all in huge trouble anyway.
Next, you take a deep breath, and move to the bulk of the material. Collections of information about people from all over the world, compiled and presented neatly. You decide that you're just going to skim it at first, read one thing that jumps out at you from each, and then decide what you're going to dive more deeply into from the fourteen entries.
Well. Fifteen. The hotel made a section for Anathon Grier, too, and you can understand why. You'll save that for last, you think.
You can't help but look at your own section first, and the obvious thing is by far the most prominent.
Tragedy narrowly averted in the city of Osvoor! A dike system bordering the Kaillo Bight began crumbling yesterday under the pressure of severe structural defects that experts say would have caused a catastrophic flash flood into the densely populated Bouwerij district, save for the heroic efforts of a local Stonelaw Enforcer, Maria Francisca de Mello Borges, who happened to be passing by. De Mello Borges, 17, sensed the buckling of the dike walls and called for an evacuation, then held them in place entirely by herself until relief arrived, a full twenty minutes later...
--The Caruva Courant
You are not sure how to feel about that being your introduction to the others here. For starters, they got your name wrong, rendering it like a Caruvan name rather than a Vespalonian one. But for another... it just makes you itch. You just let your gaze wander from entry to entry, ready to be done looking at your name in the paper.
The Zarean contingent of the Knights of the Dream has continued to avoid many of the hardships experienced by other units tasked with defending the Empire's Zarean interests. Some members of the sect have attributed their success to the brilliant leadership of their local commander, Candidate-Master Stone Lion; others cite the diplomatic relationship that Grandmaster Lady Red Cloud has cultivated with strategic corporate allies, resulting in a unified front with corporate security forces in Zareas...
--A recent issue of Tales from the Front, a Nivvean military newsletter
A quick glance at the surrounding materials confirms that this Stone Lion is one of the other heroes (damn, now they have you doing it). You know the Knights of the Dream is one of the more traditional fraternities, so it makes sense one of their Masters (or candidates, you're not totally sure how their system works) would use their initiate name rather than their birth name.
Sebastian Kalgrave, currently the provost at the University of Gavis, will be the next Vice-Chancellor of the Academy of High Magic, effective Highsummer 11. Kalgrave is a world-renowned researcher in magical resonance theory, the Academy said in its release, and has more than 25 years of higher education experience. Chancellor Grier said he is thrilled to welcome Kalgrave, who is an Academy alum, back to the institution...
--The Fatharol People's Daily
Remy had mentioned a Professor Kalgrave last night -- this must be him. Could he be the man who had gone to speak to Miella Leistes? He had toasted Anathon Grier's memory, so it's plausible. It was hard enough for you to see Anathon die after what he did for you; it must be harder still losing a friend and colleague of many years.
Though Taranath and her beguilements ultimately represent the greater danger, the Fleshwarper is the more apparent menace, and his reputation extends throughout central Morleas. When his mistress needs someone intimidated, there he hovers at her left shoulder; when she needs something destroyed, he is the fist that smashes it. When Orolin's monsters are too weak for his liking, he assembles monsters of his own, desecrating the dead in body and soul. His blasphemies are plain for all to see, but you may be able to turn that to good. Remind the people in your care what ultimate fate awaits them should they follow the necromancers over the sea, lured by the promise of food and shelter. Horror may caution where simple piety does not.
--An open letter from the Bishop of Whitefort to the clerical leaders of Morleas
You can see other, more neutrally-written discussions of Chavash, so hopefully he won't be too offended that the hotel chose to include this one. He wouldn't take it out on the staff, right? You try to be level-headed about it, but the actual Fleshwarper is
here and that's really a very difficult subject to treat with dispassion. Children told scary stories about him.
You've told scary stories about him. Anathon must have been
worried.
For many of us who have grown up reading historical novels, the idea of a charity school might conjure images of terrifying, waspish teachers intent on upbraiding their bedraggled students at the least hint of misbehavior. Eigen Marika, the senior teacher at the newly built Red Maple Imperial Charity School, is determined to change that image. "I think it's a great privilege to get to work with so many bright young people who might otherwise never get the chance to develop their talents," explained Madame Eigen (who styles her name in the Utani fashion) as she led us on a brief but thorough tour of the building. "Especially with underprivileged students, it's crucial to focus on understanding where your students are and meet them there, rather than expecting them to meet some arbitrarily established standard. It's why I'm so grateful the Empress has allowed us the freedom to design our custom curricula to best suit our students' needs."
--An article in iMage, a Nivvean magazine
Another scholar. You run down the list of possibilities in your head -- two of the women you don't know are probably too young, and one of them seemed like a military sort anyway, and Madame Eigen is certainly not Vespalonian, so this is probably the woman with the braided hair who helped fight the horde? For a schoolteacher, she seems quite powerful. You wonder if she can give you any tips.
Demetrios Harpakrides is, by all accounts, the most skilled and accomplished Forger that the world has seen in a hundred years. Potentates, heroes, and wizards across the globe vie to possess treasures wrought by his hand. He rarely leaves his workshop-home in Batra, preferring to let a network of paid agents bring him the materials and reagents that he needs for his work. He is as temperamental as he is private; his reclusion has not prevented from becoming tangled up in dozens of high-profile love affairs and blood feuds. On numerous occasions, the Drovonian Assembly has tried to install him as the Grand Artificer of Drovos, but he persistently shuns public office of any kind.
--The Morlean Arcane Register
That would be the dark-haired man with negative social graces from last night. And if he's a Forger, he's almost certainly the one who you felt leaving the battle behind. But summoning one to the Hellgate doesn't make sense unless... the demon core, right. Anathon must have known about them and told Master Harpakrides, or Master Harpakrides already knew; he certainly seemed eager to work on it. So... Anathon wanted something
made out of the demons? You'll have to check on that at some point.
Every discussion of the 311th Nivvean Games must begin with acknowledgement of Black Orchid's extraordinary performance. The Initiates division of the Games is almost always the also-ran, a category of interest primarily to those interested in knowing who to watch in nine years, when the best will be back to compete as Adepts. But this year saw the most dominant showing by any single competitor since Quelar Gehrman over two centuries ago, who went on to found the Cloud Spear Sect. And if his shade was roused by her efforts to break his record (though falling short at "only" fourteen first prizes and an undefeated record in her division's combat tournament), surely it was lulled back to satisfied slumber at the sight of his insignia worn proudly across her back.
--The Kharan Daily Times, Sporting Edition
The 311th Games were last year, and you dimly remember hearing a lot more talk about them than you expected, but you were swamped with your studies at the time and have never been very into athletics. If she's a member of the Cloud Spear Sect, then probably she was the petite woman talking to the other Nivvean, who must have been Stone Lion? But wow, she must be an absolute genius of spirit magic. You completely understand why Anathon summoned her, despite her being about your age or even younger.
Against this ostentatiously luxurious backdrop of crystal chandeliers and Zarean teak furniture on every deck of the Princess of the Waves,
the simple furnishings of Scale and Shell may seem drab in comparison. But foodies in the know swear that this fine-dining restaurant is the true gem of the cruise ship. Celebrity chef Kiliona Saluni elevates the dining experience to an interactive and educational conversation, introducing each dish by inviting guests to guess what ingredients were used in its creation, and astounding even the most knowledgeable culinary experts and critics with revelations about what can be achieved with clever and innovative preparations of commonly overlooked meats and vegetables...
--Life & Lifestyle, a Nivvean magazine
...Anathon Grier summoned a celebrity chef to save the world? Well, okay, that's unfair, you've seen this man fight and he was honestly very intimidating (some sort of Beast Soul Adept for a sea monster?), but. He's a celebrity chef on a cruise ship, and that's why he expected you to know who he was? You give yourself a moment to have a fit of giggles.
Congratulations are in order for General Evangeline Durand, 36, and husband Maurice Malet-Durand, 38, who have welcomed their first child, a son named Etienne, on Falldawn 18! The arrival of baby Etienne -- named after his paternal grandfather, the shipping magnate Etienne Malet -- was a surprise to the public, as the House of Durand hadn't formally announced the pregnancy. Nevertheless, the line of Lorania's sole noble family now appears secure for one more generation. The new parents have issued a statement warmly thanking the staff at the Monteil Regional Hospital for their exceptional care and support.
--The Monteil Gazette
This is pretty dry, and you're not sure what to make of it. You suspect that if you were more familiar with Loranian politics, you would understand the subtleties here, but at the moment all you know is that there's more here than you know.
The Royal Museum of Vespalonian Culture and Arts held a grand opening gala for its new wing on 22 Highspring, with the dedication ceremony presided over by Her Royal Highness Adelina Sancia. Crown Princess Adelina held the crowd's rapt attention during her quarter-hour address, speaking briefly on the rich legacy of the Vespalonian provinces and their union under her ancestors. "Every Vespalonian deserves to know the unique history of their people and corte," she said. "It is my great honor to have been invited here to represent my mother and all our family for a subject we hold so dear." During a brief question-and-answer session, she spoke glowingly of the archaeological work done by Professors Gamarra and Palou of the Vespalonian Central University, featured in the new exhibits, but as usual declined to answer questions regarding betrothal rumors.
--The Las Hayas Herald
The crown princess of Vespalonia is here? The crown princess of Vespalonia is HERE? The crown princess of Vespalonia IS HERE AND GAVE YOU AN INDECIPHERABLE LOOK LAST NIGHT? Oh no. Oh no no no. You take back everything you thought about Chavash, you'd take his entire cabal over this. At some point she is going to talk to you and then, well, it was a good run but it's all over after that.
To silence the internal screaming, or at least dampen it, you keep reading.
Twenty-seven young ladies -- including Leucia Serafin, Empress Archelada Serafin's younger daughter -- are to be presented at the 131st Kharan Debutante Ball next month. The ball, an annual benefit event for the Kharan Botanical Gardens, will be held on the evening of Summerdawn 15 at the Vacrese Memorial Plaza, overlooking Jade Lake Garden. The money raised is used to further the Botanical Gardens' efforts to educate and connect people with natural ecosystems...
--The Kharan Daily Times
TWO.
TWO PRINCESSES. WHY HAD YOU EVER BEEN WORRIED ABOUT MIND CONTROL OR NECROMANCERS OR CHEEKBONES WHEN THERE WERE TWO PRINCESSES HERE TO WORRY ABOUT INSTEAD.
...actually, upon reflection this second one isn't nearly as bad as the first. For a Morlean, it's easy to gloss "Empress's daughter" as "princess", but that's not really how it works, with their strange rotating head of state. The next Emperor or Empress will be the head of a martial fraternity, not any of the current Empress's daughters. And reading between the lines, it sounds like Leucia isn't likely to inherit the Dazzling Smile Corporation either? She must be the Shadow Dancer you fought alongside, you've accounted for every other woman here.
The Waite family retracts their missing person report and request for information about their son's whereabouts, posted in this paper two weeks ago. "We have heard from Steadman, and he is well and safe and apologizes for the worry and inconvenience he's caused," said Ambrose Waite, Esq. "He also provided detailed notes regarding the cases he was working on when he departed so abruptly, and our firm will be picking up for our clients where he left off."
--The Northwick Examiner
Not much about Steadman. In fact, now that you look closely, that's literally all there is for him -- everyone else has multiple clippings or references, even you (seriously, how did they find your birth announcement, there's spirit magic and there's actual wizardry and you begin to suspect whoever Madame Delfin has working for her falls in the latter category), but Steadman Waite's just got the one. He must really have disappeared; it's a good thing Remy was around to vouch for him. On which subject, you go searching for his section and soon find him.
The days-long standoff between construction workers contracted by Earth Heart Mining and the residents of the town of Auburn Falls was broken yesterday by the arrival of Remy Morris, a traveling Purifier and beloved local icon. "I know, more than most, how deeply you have suffered at the hands of Nivvean corporations," said Morris in an address to his fellow Zareans at the main construction barricade just before sundown. "But you have to understand this doesn't mean everything Nivvean hands touch must be poisonous. How many of your children and grandchildren are you willing to lose to preventable diseases because you won't allow Nivveans to build this hospital? Give me a number. What is the price, in innocent lives, of your pride?"
--The Northdale Journal
At some point, the idealized image of Remy you've been assembling in your head is going to run aground on messy reality and imperfections. Right now, it appears, is not that point. You move on rather than let yourself dawdle in his section; you're nearly done anyway.
Speaking today in Biryukov Square to a crowd of thousands, eight months after inheriting the throne, His Grace Pilpyas declared that the Duchy of Omone was no more. "We never chose to be Omone," he said, flanked by members of High Command, Privy Council advisors, and representatives from the historic Principalities, including ones currently part of other nations. "Omone was foisted on us. We were nibbled away, betrayed, and outright defrauded, forcing us to be less than what we were. Even our name was made to be less than what it once was. No more, I say. For weeks I have been speaking to every general, minister, and noble, and we are fully united in our resolve. Today marks the end of the Duchy of Omone, and the rebirth of the Grand Duchy of Omonezh!"
--The Nation, International Desk
When this speech was given, you had not yet been born. Omonezh has been at peace since you were nine, but it's been an uneasy peace, and the prevailing attitude in Caruva is that the peace will surely end, either when Omonezh resumes its conquering ways or when it becomes vulnerable. You find yourself considering that Pilpyas is, if not an old man, within easy sight of that status, and there is no declared heir in Omonezh, and by all reports it is held together through magically enforced personal loyalty to him. Begrudgingly, you find yourself respecting him: Anathon called him and he
came, without any of his support, leaving his nation behind. Does he think the Latterleague is going to attack while he's gone? What's his
plan? How bad did he think the Hellgate
was, that he came anyway?
Your eyes fall upon the last entry on the board, the last Hero of Vindar, the one who will never see this.
Anathon Grier is a space-twisting magus with a once-in-a-millennium sort of talent. He is possessed of a very rare gift, and he has brought that gift to towering new heights. And yet the sheer staggering power of his magic is somehow less important, and less impressive, than what he has chosen to do with it. He is, perhaps, the first true citizen of the world; he has come closer than anyone to seeing all of Orolin, and to doing everything in the world that there is to be done, and to knowing everyone in the world who is worth knowing. He has made friends with princes and peasants, executives and eremites, across three continents. He has studied with priests of a dozen faiths and with scholars of a hundred schools. He has explored the reaches of southern Zareas, where no one else can reach, and promises that someday he will write of the wonders that he saw there. He travels constantly, and wherever he goes, he finds a way to help people; his contributions have earned him the Caruvan Golden Star, the Medal of Great Chivalry, and the Nivvean Order of Merit, along with countless other honors. And he does all this while serving as the Chancellor of the Academy of High Magic in Kelly.
--Great Mages of the World, Vol. IX
So much. He'd done so much. If you live to be twice his age, will you do that much? Half that much? Sure, he had an unfair advantage, but that clearly wasn't the only reason he was the man he was. But all that's gone, now, so you bow your head and pray to Saint Heinrich that when future generations look back on all this, they will agree that the result was worth the price.
You have some time to go into more detail in your reading. Maria Francisca will spend time learning more about the TWO options with the most votes.
[] Stone Lion
[] Sebastian Kalgrave
[] Chavash
[] Eigen Marika
[] Demetrios Harpakrides
[] Black Orchid
[] Kiliona Saluni
[] Evangeline Durand
[] Adelina Sancia de Vespalonia
[] Leucia Serafin
[] Steadman Waite There is no supplementary information available about this person!
[] Remy Morris
[] Pilpyas
Your eyes fall on the reference materials available. They aren't Heroes of Vindar, but there are other people you could learn more about, should you so choose.
[] Xiomara Delfin
[] Miella Leistes
Oh god that was so many words, why did I ever think that a quest revolving around fighting demons alongside a dozen fleshed-out characters was a good idea, but I made it in under my deadline so clearly I will learn nothing from this
From now on, whenever you pass by this room near the entrance of the hotel, you'll automatically duck in and check to see if there are any updates, either from the hotel's little news service or from other heroes.
The roll to see how much you had time to learn about other heroes was done
here. Standard success meant two, failure would be one, botch is zero, each threshold success would add one additional but you only got a single success despite rolling six dice. Alas.
At some point tomorrow there will be a new Informational threadmark for Dramatis Personae to collect everything you learn about the other folks in Vindar, which will be kept up-to-date because engaging with the other heroes is one of the narrative pillars of this quest, but right now it's just going to have the stuff from this post.
