Ferenike 14 - Coffins
The smell of Bronze Oxen and Giant Steel Horses surrounded her as Ferenike stepped into the shop room of the caravanners. The room was cavernous, stretching ten times above her head to the roof of the enormous wagon and it was at least forty meters long, a building on wheels.
And in racks down the walls, stacked four high, were coffins of every shape and design. She walked past them unperturbed as she followed the man she had come to see down the central aisle towards the negotiation desk at the front of the wagon. A morbid thought passed through her head that the man moving to sit behind the desk must have a booming business in recent times, as people prepared for the Trials.
At least he wasn't crass enough to make small talk
on his business.
The man in front of her was a tallish individual of a thin and wiry form, graceful in his bright yellow and white robes. On his head he wore a large circular hat in a similar style to Ferenike's favorite, shining green and white. It reminded her of the hats her mother liked to wear, like her own.
She was shaken out of her memories by a voice.
"Come, sit, sit madame. Would you like some tea?" He asked genially, his yellow robe fluttering as he gestured with both hands at his tea set set out on the desk, gently steaming.
She resisted the urge to smile. With her injuries she looked like she constantly was anyway and it pulled painfully at her remaining flesh.
"That would be quite nice Sir Rouhe." She rasped, sparks grinding on her tongue.
He smiled even wider, he hadn't stopped this whole time, as he set about serving the both of them tea. While he occupied himself thus, her gaze swept over his left shoulder to take in the two meter tall rectangular object leaning against the wall covered by a golden sheet of silk. She could feel the power emanating from it even here more than five meters away.
That'd be the Coffin she was here for.
With a clink of fine porcelain Rouhe set her teacup in front of her on a little saucer. He nodded, clean face creasing as he settled himself and took a drink. She took her own when he didn't show any ill signs and then set hers aside. It was damn good tea, she regretted she was here to only get her business done.
"Where did you find this device Sir Rouhe?" She opened, she'd prod him for his providence on the Coffin first.
"Ah, bit of a winding trail for it. I obtained it from a fellow traveler who went by the name Lady Tian at the time. She didn't stay long in these lands after that, heading north. Can't imagine why." The man said with a smug lit to his voice as he leaned forward conspiratorially.
Ferenike rolled her eyes good-naturedly. As the Trials approached travelers and traders fiercely competed to sell their products to the Golden Devils as the Clan bought up everything they could to prepare. Many were driven out entirely in the competition and only the best were left behind.
She smiled, glass teeth glinting. "I can't imagine either, but there's more to this story isn't there?" She asked him leadingly.
He nodded. "So in our little comradely talks, I found out from the Lady that she'd acquired it from a fellow roaming the Hong Xuan lands, a Flood Dragon Gang member actually. Hmmm, his name was 'Gong Rencao' and he apparently had no use for such a device himself after receiving it as a gift from the Sorrowful Blacksmiths." He said as he refilled their cups with a hand, the other pulling a stack of papers from within a desk drawer and slapping it down beside their tea.
Ferenike blinked at the name. "Huh. Small world."
Then she looked at the papers and saw the hammer and broken mask sigil of the Sorrowful Blacksmiths, with sketches of parts of a coffin-like device surrounding them.
Rouhe perked up, eyes sharpening as he looked at her. "You know this man?" He asked.
She chuckled. "I traveled with him for about a year hunting a Blood Path Villain near the Burnished Crags."
He rubbed his chin in interest. "Small world indeed. This sounds like a fascinating story, please, share!" He said with a wave of his hand.
Ferenike spent the next few hours telling it, as that was the way of things out here among the travelers. Gossip was almost as valuable as gold or Spirit Stones which were themselves half as valuable as reliable sources of food and drink.
They were deep into their sixth cup of tea, and second tray of snacks by the time she was done. She'd figured she'd done well enough in the telling, as when it came time for the negotiations of funds changing hands Sir Rouhe didn't strangle her for coin as hard as he very well could have.
The purchasing price was still mind-bogglingly expensive, and the activation price horrific enough to clean her out to the small amounts of scrip she had tucked away for emergencies. But she had a good and fair deal and a happy business partner.
He bowed from across his desk at her, the golden shine of the device behind him, reflected light illuminating his back and shoulders. "I hope it meets to your satisfaction Lady Ferenike."
She bowed in return. "You are certainly well traveled Sir Rouhe," She complimented him. "I will recommend you to some of my Clan Brothers and Sisters if they require use of your connections."
"Thank you. Do you require a porter for your purchase?" He asked as he straightened, eyes glittering happily.
She shook her head and waved her hand in the direction of the coffin. It disappeared with a whoosh of air into her storage ring, leaving him nonplussed. "That will not be necessary." She said and then with a small bow turned to leave.
"Blessed travels Ferenike of the Golden Devils." He said to her as she went.
"You as well Sir Rouhe." She said back to him as the swish-swish of her robes faded from hearing.
Her manor was quiet, Ales leading the others to secure it as best they could and to ready the arrays that would guard her as she slept. She stood in her workshop of grey-black stone and before her lay the shimmering gold device.
It was two meters in length and about a meter and a half tall, a rectangular coffin carved from gold and white marble. On the sides were carved scenes of forests and mountain valleys which slowly transitioned into the writhing shapes of serpents as the carvings passed onto the lid. Carved in the lid was a sleeping figure of ambiguous gender, with long and flowing hair, sleeping peacefully as the snakes sunk black jade fangs into their veins. Their face was almost mask-like, carved from white jade with green jade needles a handspan in length jutting from the acupoints on the forehead, cheeks and eyes.
Ales already knew what she needed from him, and so her servants were busy training. If she strained her ears she could hear the old man directing them through routines and katas through the ceiling above her bare head.
In her hand she held her favorite hat, a golden thing with a pattern of white flowers around the rim which reminded her of the style her mother used to wear. What lay before her, out the other side of this device was terrifying. But what lay behind her kept her back straight and a small confidence. Things would work out in her little corner of the world, all she had to do was heal and make it so.
She set it aside and clothed only in a linen shift began to activate the Seven Venoms Serpent Coffin. Pain slowed her down as did grinding glass joints but soon its lid had eased open and the dark cushions within beckoned her. Levering herself in she pulled the lid closed. As darkness descended she felt herself be cast into the center of her mind where her crimson sea rested.
Within she could feel a change. A whispered question, floating to her on the airless void, in the snapping tongue of the flame at her heart.
What was patience?
Why did she follow it?
And she didn't know. She thought she followed it because it was her way to win, every breath a victory torn from the Heavens. And that was true, she knew that. But she was following something she didn't know, and that made her reasons for following suspect.
In that darkness she stewed, her frustration fuel for her fire as she meditated.
Time passed, her hair growing slowly longer, the only sign of its passage in this place. The only changing thing, as it hung down to her shoulders. Until something else changed. Subtly colors changed slow enough she missed it until she looked up from wrestling with the idea of patience perhaps being a facet of the need for vengeance and saw, emerging onto the surface of her glass sea, blue and green glass mixed with her normal rose and pink. Shimmering.
And it felt exactly the same. Without her spiritual eyes staring directly at the change which had overtaken her entire sea, to leave her standing atop a glimmering brass sphere, she wouldn't know it existed at all. Around her the questions plaguing her fell silent, her flames quieting. Carefully she reached out for her Qi,
was the coffin done with its ministrations, she wondered?
She nearly lost consciousness as her Qi slammed into her in a wave, gunmetal colored light blinding her as it rushed out in rays from her fire and she felt a massive force grab her and slam her back into awareness.
She awoke with a scream as she tipped out of the Coffin, its light going dim as it expended the last of its energy. She landed on the flagstones of her workshop floor with a clang,
that was different, and blinked grit from her eyes. Her blurry vision cleared and she saw a lake of iridescent purple and yellow fluids all around her, having spilled from the Coffin.
She hastily backed away from it, the warnings about the device repeating like a mantra in her head and backed up into her work desk. Then she blinked as she tried to wipe away the poisons still on her flesh, but leaving her unharmed. Her hands were whole,
she was whole and there was no pain.
She looked at them in relieved amazement, watching as the lamp light shimmered off her gunmetal skin. Brassy reds and blues and greens, just like what she had seen in her mind. Now clothing her glass bones in metallic flesh. Her nails glinted in the light, now made entirely of rose glass. They clicked pleasantly on the palm of her hand as she watched her flingers flex without any of the grinding agony that had haunted her for years.
Slowly she stood and half in a daze walked around to one of the array mirrors standing on one of her workshop's walls. In it was a beauty with cockatiel yellow hair, gunmetal brass skin and brown eyes with a red spark in her pupils. When she smiled in glee her teeth were red glass, and glinted in the light.
"So coooool..." She squealed as she patted at her face.
She hadn't looked this awesome in
decades.
"My Lady? Are you hungry?" An elderly voice asked behind her. She whirled.
"HAH! I feel great Ales!" She said and leapt to hug him, lifting him clean off his feet as he let out a whumpf of air.
"Good to see you in high spirits my Lady!" He said happily as she spun him around and then set him down in front of her, her hands on his shoulders.
She hadn't stopped smiling, it'd been so long since that hadn't hurt dammit she was going to be smiling as much as she could.
"Would you like some food?" Ales asked again. She blinked.
Then her stomach made its cavernous desires known and she winced. "
Yes, please whatever you have." She said urgently.
"Right away my lady!" He said and then trotted out of view.
She walked, wincing and uncomfortable to her chair in front of her desk and sat carefully. Sweet Imperator why didn't the warning pamphlet talk about how hungry you got?
She nearly bowled Ales over when the smell of sweet and spicy rice, chicken and stir fried vegetables preceded him down the corridor outside her workshop. The man however adroitly dodged out of the way and handed her plates which she gladly took. Together they managed to ferry the great number of them to her desk where she began to dig in ravenously.
In between bites she asked Ales, "What happened while I slept Ales?"
The old man chuckled and shook his head. "Preparations for the Trials, such as they are." He said with a quiet discontent.
She paused from chewing on a piece of chicken, confused.
He sighed. "Old Gold has made a gamble, purchasing a Technique Palace suitable for us in Essence Gathering. From what I hear you yourself and the other good seeds won't benefit much as you are already well suited to what you practice or have discovered. There will be no other protections this Trial."
She paused, laying down her utensils as she processed that. Why would he...?
"Will it finish before the Trials begin Ales?" She asked cautiously.
"Yes, and so some will benefit from it. But very little, compared to the last Trials." He said, hands clenching in front of him.
She thought. The Hunters only broke fortifications if the Clan used them to prevent them from hunting, and they had little interest in what the Clan built if they abandoned it. They would not destroy the Palace, more than likely.
She started eating again as she thought laying out what she knew of the Clan's major assets. Full strength of the previous Trials, the Golden Eye Array to seek out the Hunters and assist the Shattering Glass Spears, limited wealth as the Palace would have been absurdly expensive to purchase, the Technique Palace providing some benefits before the Trials.
She finished her meal, contemplative and weary silence. She sighed. "I am troubled by his decision Ales." She told her servant.
He sighed. "I believe I can see a little of his aims mistress. Do you have further wisdom?" He asked.
She nodded. "I can see it as well." Her eyes skated over to her Coffin, now dormant. "The same reason I felt troubled by taking this chance to heal when I could have made something to save lives, and yet still did. A part of me does not and will not agree with it, not until this is over."
She stood and turned to face her servant fully. "I think he believes that Heaven cannot strike us down in one blow here, not with how we have grown. And as I said to my friend Xiao Yi, if we cannot be killed now, we will come back stronger than ever before for the
next Trials." Her eyes sharpened.
Her servant smiled wanly and nodded as he pulled a letter of bronzy paper from his robes. "Yes mistress. It seems you are not the only one who won't simply lay down before the challenge the Archegetes has set before us. That Golden Child, Callista sent me this message a short while ago." He said as he handed it to her.
Ferenike took it and unfolding it carefully she read. When she was done she was smiling, a fierce and fanged thing as her mind raced.
"Bring me my arms and a horse Ales. We won't be facing the challenge of the Archegetes alone." She said as she looked up at him.
The old man smiled confidently, hope burning in his eyes. "Good. I trust you my lady. Do us proud out there." He said.
She bowed to him. "I will Ales. Tell the rest to prepare for battle and train them till they drop. Now be about it!" She said with a smile.
He bowed back. "As you will." He said and then left on a puff of displaced air.
She hadn't stopped smiling. She could feel the weight of what stood before her, worse even than the War but this time,
this time she felt her spirit rising to meet it.
She had so much training to do and a great many Juniors to save.
@occipitallobe have another Omake for you! Smaller one than my usual, please put this towards my Fate Bonus for this turn.
