We have finally found land! It has been four months since we last left land and we had been wandering at sea since then. There were grumblings among the crew, but I know that they know that mutiny will lead to nothing. We’re in the middle of uncharted oceans and we will probably die together if they mutinied.

Luckily we spotted land as our supplies ran out. I plan to name this new land Forkspear, after the fishing equipment of the fishermen of Calipses Island who generously gave us food and supplies. My first mate told me that it was actually called a trident. Preposterous to say the least. It actually looked like a fork that the fishermen used to spear the fish.

I will name this land Forkspear over the objections of everyone. I’m the captain!

Diary of Captain Nelson Brian Charter

Discoverer of the continent of Forkspear

“I try being a Roghinian, and then a real Roghinian shows up and calls me out. Well, he didn’t really call me out. Such a nice guy actually.”

Aya wished that Isaac Gaomant was still alive. He could have made Bhorg an awesome artificial hand. Manly handshakes are not to be taken lightly. Losing one’s hand was but one of the many consequences of a weak grip. He wished that there could be an opportunity to shake Bhorg’s hand when he was in full Moltencore transformation-that would be epic.

“Well, I did promise him a favor, or getting him a new hand. I wonder what he will ask of me. Plus points for having no reactions while I squished his hand.”

Aya was talking to himself in a secluded alley near the temple while trying to test out how far he can change his appearance before the seals restraining his powers start manifesting. If he was using his void powers, they immediately showed up when he opened the void gate. It was not really a bright idea to use void magic in a city that openly hated void magic users.

“So, I’m now a Surgan lizardman who’s pretending to be human? What did that Bhorg guy call me? A Saurianziir?” Aya was holding out his hand as he transformed it into a draconian claw. It was good that the seals won’t activate if it was just the hand that he transformed.

“Hmmm, my hand does look like a Saurianziir’s. But they don’t have natural transformation ability, and, as far as I know Saurianziirs are the elite shock troops of Surga; that means all warriors. The ones who have transformation magic are the shaman species, Tiki.”

He glanced at the street to see if there were any people and proceeded to the end of the alley and hid behind a large crate that was left there. “I swear, if a real Surgan lizardman shows up and calls me out for being fake, I’m going to pretend to be a plant; surely no plant will show up and call me out for being fake.”

He placed his basket on the ground and put on the brown cloak that he bought earlier. It was thick and rugged; made from a cheap coarse material. He was wondering if he could change both of his hands at the same time into something reptilian, but he did not want to take the risk of the restraint seals activating near the temple. He wasn’t going in as a lizardman anyway.

Bones painlessly cracked and bumped each other as they changed in size and rearranged themselves a bit; he now had a stooped posture. His muscles deflated and became smaller. Patches of wiry white beard spread all over his chin faster than the most annoying weeds. His skin sagged, wrinkled as if the five hundred years of sleep finally caught up to him and aged his body. Some of his teeth even retracted back to his gums.

Thankfully he completed his change without any reaction from the mysterious blood seals. Transforming into an old man was easier than turning one’s hand into a dragon’s. At any rate, he did not want to use any illusion magic, since it would be easily detected when entering the temple. The guards don’t individually check the people coming in, but they have enough detection wards that will react at the slightest hint of magic.

He slowly shuffled his feet and reached down to reach his basket. “Dimwad, I should have gotten my basket first before transforming into an old man. My bones feel like they were not made for stooping down.” Even if a seasoned healer were to examine his body, they would not find any hint the he was more than just an old man.

“Time to go my pilgrim way,” he said in a raspy voice. He also added in a few convincing coughs for good measure. “I wonder why old people cough a lot. We should take care of them more.”

It was already late afternoon, and the skies were cloudy. More and more people were going to the temple since it was not so hot anymore. Aya joined the throng as they slowly entered the wide gates of the temple that was once his castle.

The wide steps that led up to the gate have been turned into a smooth ramp with a relatively flat incline. Many who visit the temple were the aged and the sick; it would sorely inconvenience them if they were to take the stairs going up to the massive gates of the temple.

It was a nice idea, Aya though. At least it helped him in his disguise. It was a bit of work shuffling along with small wobbly steps while being jostled by hundreds of people eager to go up the temple.

“Hello there, fellow pilgrims,” he called out to the people around him. “Good day to do pilgrim stuff.” He then let out a croaky laugh.

They all turned and greeted him. Such nice people, he observed. They saw that he was elderly and had some trouble walking so they made way for him. Someone even offered to help him up the temple but he declined. Really nice people.

“This is hard business for us old ones.”

Aya looked to his side and saw an old lady accompanied by a little boy.

“It’s my first time seeing you here,” the old lady said. The little boy at her side was holding her hand.

“Yes, madam. It is my first time. How did you know?”

“I always visit the temple, when I have the time, with my grandson. This is the first time I have seen you.” The little boy happily waved at him. “Children should start learning about our saviour Emperor Krystfallen,” the granny said when she saw Aya looking at her grandson.

“Indeed, they should. The younger generation should not forget the ways of faith,” Aya replied to her while shakily nodding his head. “I come from the edge of the empire, to the east. I have always yearned of visiting the temple, but, alas, circumstances have kept me from leaving my small village. Now that I am old, my only hope it to visit the temple of the servant of the God Paximillon before I die.”

The people around them were listening to his story. Some of them were teary-eyed from hearing the devotion of an old man who traveled a great distance to visit the temple. Most of them were also travelers from other cities and they can sympathize with the hardships of a pilgrimage.

“I am sure that Emperor Krystfallen is watching you and acknowledges your sufferings.” The people around him were telling him how blessed he was that despite his advanced age, he still had the opportunity to visit the temple at least once in his life.

“Yes. I know deep in my heart that Emperor Krystfallen can see my poor body taking small steps into his temple.”

“He watches over us all the time,” the old lady said.

Her grandson was a little curious and went near Aya. “What’s that?”

“Oh, this?” Aya held up the basket that he was carrying.

Grakkin’ dimwad. He racked his brain for an explanation for his empty basket. It sure does look stupid carrying an empty basket into a temple. Should he have left the basket in Emelie’s villa? But if he did that, he wouldn’t have anything suitable to place the muffins he was eating. He doesn’t like paper bags. He wanted something that had an open top, so that he could easily reach for food, and has a handle- a basket.

“Granny, look! A basket. Like BasketSlayer!” The boy jumped up and down while pointing at Aya’s basket.

“Pardon my grandson.” The old lady pulled the little boy close to her. “He’s really excited about this warrior in the arena.”

“Uh… I don’t know anything about that. I don't go to the arena, such a violent place.” Aya gave his basket a melancholic look. He then closed his eyes as if remembering something from the past. “I also have a grandson. He should be in his mid-twenties by now. He left home to travel around the continent and become a great warrior. I don’t know what happened to him. He always carried around this basket with him when he was at home, but he left it behind. I brought it along so that I could say that he accompanied me in my pilgrimage.”

The people around him kept silent for a few minutes after hearing his sorrowful story.

“I also have another grandson who’s probably the same age as yours,” the old lady eventually said. “He traveled to the West to work as a forger for the army. I haven’t heard from him for a few days now. I hope he is fine.”

“Brother is strong!” the little boy bragged. “He has a shield!”

Aya and the old lady were both walking at roughly the same snail-paced speed. He began wondering why he chose an old man disguise. This plan was not well thought out. He could have just changed his hair color and made his nose flatter or crooked or something. He’s really making things hard for himself. But it’s kind of fun to pretend to be an old person.

Two large circular towers stood on the sides of the gate. No one was manning the battlements above the gates, nor patrolling the walls. Of course, no one was expecting an attack right in the middle of the impregnable capital city, Krysperium.

Flanking the entrance were four massive white golems with the symbol of Krystfallen painted on their chests. They had a single red orb in the middle of their head which they used to analyze everyone passing through. They were also about a dozen temple guards in full plate armor with temple vestments worn above their armor standing beside the golems. The seal on their shoulderplates looks like the one Aileen and Jel had.

Relatives? They do have the same auburn hair and grayish eyes that those two Fahllyrs have. Jel’s eyes were more blue than gray though.

Aya wondered why they were the ones tasked to guard the temple. It seemed that Alluverius Fahlllyr’s descendants have quite a high status in the empire so why are they doing this mundane job? They also looked young, teenagers really. But the people around them were showing respect. Hmmm. They really do have a high status.

As he neared the gate, all four of the golems focused their cyclopean eyes on him. “Tch.”

Aya quickly waddled his aged feet towards where two of the golems was standing with the temple guards.

“At last! At last! I finally arrived!” he exclaimed while standing at the side of the gate.

The temple guards looked at him with slightly puzzled faces. They probably saw fervent pilgrims pulling off various stunts in the past. A couple of them went near him.

He knelt down on his bony knees and bowed his head to the ground repeatedly. At the sides of his eyes, he could see that the two golems were still looking at him. “Eighty years I have dreamed of stepping here!” His voice was hoarse from shouting to get the attention of the guards. Can’t his disguise get any real? It was also really uncomfortable kneeling on bony knees.

“Excuse me, sir. You should continue on inside.” The young lad firmly but gently grabbed his arm and pulled him up. “There are many people that are entering the temple. We can’t have a traffic build up here.”

“I’m sorry,” Aya replied tearily, his voice cracking. He hugged the temple guard. “I have dreamt of this for so long. I am here at last. At long last!”

The temple guard that he embraced does not seem to know what to do. His fellows looked at him while sniggering. All of the guards were looking at them. They were quite bored with guarding the gate all day. This was a welcome distraction for all of them.

Aya released the guard that he was hugging and went back to bowing to the ground. People were already crowding behind them. The young guard he hugged was all red and flustered after being laughed at by his peers.

“That’s enough all of you.”

The Fahllyrs stopped snickering and stood at attention.

A Fahllyr that looked older by a couple of years than the ones guarding the gate strode out to meet them. His reddish-brown hair was swept back. He had gentle but stern eyes and a strong chiseled chin. He knelt by Aya and assisted him in standing up. The Fahllyr then gave his younger relatives a disapproving look and told them to go back to their duties and stop joking around.

He also noticed all the four golems were looking at the old man. “Go back to scanning the others entering here. You shouldn’t direct all your attention to one person at the same time,” he rebuked the golems. He shook his head while saying, “They’re supposed to be top of the line golems from the Gaomant House but they are so easily distracted.”

Aya was led by the arm into the palace. The Fahllyr waved him off. “Take care of yourself gramps. Just go with all the other people. Straight ahead is the courtyard.”

“Hmmm, those golems might have noticed something different about me but can’t pinpoint what it was.”

He passed a couple more gates before reaching the end of the guardhouse and the beginning of the vast rectangular courtyard. The perimeter walls were actually quite low, punctuated by a few towers. The palace courtyard was an annex to the castle of Krystfallen. It was not meant to be heavily defended, and it would be useless to try and hold it in the event that the enemy actually breached the city walls and sieges the palace.

Trees were planted near the wall to obscure their view. Aya guessed that the people who planted it wanted the temple to have a feeling of peace and calm. Walls and towers do not necessarily invoke feelings of peace; they also don’t look very temple-y.

An internal colonnade ran the sides of the actual palace courtyard. Before each column was a sculpture. That’s new, relatively new from his point. Saints? Religious figures?

Aya didn’t bother going to the far side of the courtyard just to examine the new statues. He would take all day if he tried walking over there. He decided to just go with the tide of people. There were a few thousand pilgrims inside the courtyard; if he decided to go another way it would be just like a ship trying to get out of a whirlpool.

He had debated earlier whether to break in by going at the top of the tower of the outer temple and sneak inside all the way into the inner temple, or enter from the palace courtyard. Since the palace courtyard was constructed after the main palace was completed, it had a direct connection to both the inner and outer temple. If he went through the outer temple, there would be many corridors, hallways, and floors that he needed to pass through, increasing his chances of detection. The part of the palace with the least amount of magical security was the courtyard, and people go in and out all the time.

Obviously, it would be stupid to enter from the back of the inner temple since it sits on the edge of the seventh level of the city. A person climbing from the level below the temple or flying in directly into the inner temple was certainly not a pilgrim and would immediately be apprehended.

With only his draconic transformation powers to rely on, he chose this route. Besides, he had something that he needed to pick up from the courtyard.

It took him quite some time to traverse the courtyard. The people were all moving forward slowly. It was hot and stuffy; the people seemed to be intent in packing close to each other. It was just a claw chip, Aya thought while rolling his eyes. On the other hand, it was his claw chip, so it was guaranteed to be the coolest claw chip ever. Weird though. It’s like people wanting to see your toenail clipping.

Then he saw it. A seamless silver column growing out of the ground.

The claw chip was levitating on top of the silver column. It can hardly be seen, but the rising hairs on his skin indicate that a very powerful shield was protecting the artifact. The pilgrims were not allowed to go near the display for an ornate railing, about hip high, ringed it, keeping the devotees about fifteen meters away from the silver column.

Besides two white golems standing on the sides of the silver column, only the priests were allowed inside the railings and they were conducting some sort of ritual. Aya counted fifteen of them, some doing chants and prayers, others waving incense and other baffling religious paraphernalia. In front of this railing were more temple guards. They were holding back the people who wanted to jump over the railings to get a closer look at the claw chip.

They did not seem to be having the time of their lives. Aya surmised that they were probably ordered not to use magic in holding back the people. He could see in their faces that they wanted to just trap all the annoying pilgrims under a force field.

“Sorry relatives of Aileen. I have to make your job a wee bit harder.”

He turned his attention towards the claw chip. Grey with lightning patterns all over. Fulgurian Dragon. One of his favorites. This is going to be easy, he thought with a smile on his face.

Breathing in slowly, he focused on the claw chip, attempting to establish a connection with it. It was five hundred years old but he was sure it retained some of its powers. He also started edging towards the railings, pushing people away with uncharacteristic strength for an elderly man; an ordinary elderly man anyway, he surely was older than most people that are considered elderly.

“Excuse me, old person coming through,” he croaked. “Just an old person fulfilling his lifelong pilgrimage dream."

Several people found themselves suddenly pushed, but when they looked back at who pushed them, they couldn’t find anyone. This mysterious phenomenon, coupled with the events that will occur a few moments later gave rise to the urban myth about the ‘mysterious pushing pilgrim’.

“My toenail clipping on display. This is real success,” he muttered sarcastically. He continuously waded through the tide of pilgrims, and finally reached the ornate railings separating the pilgrims from the priests and the religious relic.

“Great, those golems again. The descendants of Gaomant are really good.” A sneer crept along his face. “But not good enough.”

The blood runes were stirring, he could feel them rising, creeping his skin; maintaining his transformation as an old man while attempting to power the claw chip was straddling the limits of his restraint curse. He crouched low and hid his arms and hands inside his robe so that no one can notice the blood runes glowing.

Of course, the golems will pick it up, and so will the magic detection wards, since they were set to sense magic that has not been programmed into their data orb, but that really doesn’t matter.

The two golems suddenly swiveled their heads towards his direction. A low beeping can distinctly be heard over the noisy prayers of the pilgrims and the priests. The temple guards had a surprised look on their faces. It was probably the first time they had heard the detection wards actually detect something out of place.

A fizzing sound and a blinding flash of light.

Everyone was silent.

A low murmur buzzed as people questioned each other about what just happened.

Aya waved his hands to get the attention of the crowds. “It’s a miracle! A miracle is happening!”

Everyone looked at him, still puzzled.

He pointed his frail finger at the claw chip. “The Emperor speaks to us! He is sending a sign!” It’s really hard to shout with an old man’s throat, but he had to get their attention.

The pilgrims, the priests, and the guards all looked at where he was pointing. The golems were still staring at him, their eyes were focusing and whirring as they tried to analyze what he was.

The claw chip was crackling; sparks were flying all over it, bouncing on the shields that protect it. The people gasped but still didn’t quite understand what was happening. Suddenly, a vicious lighting slammed out from the chip and smashed against the shield. There were screams from the crowd; there was a hint of burning air that can be smelled.

Aya sent some more of his draconic power towards the chip. Several tongues of lightning lashed out from the claw chip. He hid his arms once more as the runes were already faintly glowing. The golems started walking towards him.

“Oh come on, is it still that hard to understand?” he mumbled. A slight hint of magic to amplify his voice a bit should do the trick. “It is a miracle! The Emperor is showing his powers to us! Repent! Let us wash our sins away! Open your eyes and see the miracle!”

Pandemonium. That was the only way to describe it.

“The Emperor is alive! Praise be to Paximillon!”

“Heal my ailments O Dear Emperor!”

“Forgive my sins! I will offer my life to you!”

“I can’t believe this is happening! Let's get closer!”

Everyone started pressing forward, many of the people were crying and waving their arms, they clambered over the temple guards and the railings. Everyone wanted to get close to the claw chip. A claw chip that was spatting out lightning. Nice logic, Aya thought. He hoped that no one would get gravely injured by the commotion.

The priests all stopped what they were doing and prostrated themselves and chanted at the top of their voices. The praying priests stopped some of the people, who joined them in prayer, yet others still continued forward. The golems were swallowed by the horde of believers. The young Fahllyrs were shouting at each other, unprepared for this kind of situation.

“What do we do? What do we do? Who's in charge of us?”

“Can I freeze them? Let’s freeze them!”

“Get to the column! Let’s make a wall!”

The temple guards finally gathered their wits about them, quickly jumped over the stampeding mass and guarded the silver column, forming a tight circle. They used earth magic to from a wall of stone around to column to keep the pilgrims from reaching the column.

Nobody noticed an old man showing nimbleness befitting an athlete by jumping over the railings and snaking his way through the maze of people, searching for something. He quickly reached his quarry.

A priest kneeling in feverish prayer.

Another miracle happened that day when said priest suddenly lost his outer robes. Aya doubted if the priest actually knew he had been undressed given his concentration on praying.

He needed to get out of the crowds. The alarm of the detection wards steadily grew louder. The heads of the golems were rotating wildly. There was too much magical interference from the claw chip. But it wasn’t going to last long. The claw chip was expending the last drops of energy it has stored for a half millennium.

Quickly putting the stolen robe on and hiding his basket inside the robes, he slowly changed his appearance into that of the priest from whom he stole the robe.

These people need to calm down now. Quickly, think of something, he prodded himself.

“Prostrate yourselves!” Aya shouted at the hysterical masses.

A priest appeared in the midst of the people. He raised his arms to the high heavens. “Prostrate yourself before the Emperor!”

Few of them knelt down, then others followed, then hundreds.

“Pray with your heart! Show your devotion to this sacred relic! It is a sign from the Emperor!” Aya continued his sermon while walking among the people bowing their heads to the ground. He walked quickly towards the other end of the courtyard, while continuously shouting all the generic religious platitudes that he could think of.

Darl Fahllyr was inside the massive building behind the palace courtyard. It formerly housed all the administrative offices of the Empire in its early days. Now, it was home to the priest of the Church of the Dragon. At the end of this building were two corridors, one going to the outer temple, the other towards the inner temple.

He adjusted the vambrace that Jel lent to him. Actually, Jel forced it upon him. The vambrace had a panel attached to it where the controls of the security of the temple can be managed. He tried asking Jel why she was giving him the task of managing the security for the day, but she just evaded his question. She was probably off doing something that could get her into trouble if she got caught.

“Guess I’ll just cover for her.”

Darl realized how stressful Jel’s job was of leading all of them. He had to be all over the temple to check on all of the trainees posted on guard duty. Just a while ago he had to assist an old man into getting inside the temple. The new trainees just sniggered while the pilgrim hugged one of them.

Darl massaged his temple while thinking were to go next when an alarm set off on his vambrace. “The palace courtyard? The detection wards are all picking up something.”

He quickly rushed towards the entrance to the building followed by half a dozen temple guards.

There was a commotion in the courtyard. Priests and Initiates were going out of their quarters to see what was happening.

They saw an incredible sight. Pilgrims in the hundreds were bowing down to the silver column that held the precious claw chip, while others were moving towards the columns.

A frown formed on Darl's face as he saw that the ones assigned in guarding the claw chip has formed a stone wall by the base of the silver column. Dozens of pilgrims were trying to climb over it. "What are they doing? Why are the golems having a seizure on the ground?"

Darl, the temple guards, and the priests rushed out to the open courtyard. They saw a priest running out from the multitude of prostrated pilgrims.

"A miracle! It's a miracle!" The priest run up to them and pointed at the top of the silver column. "The relic of the Great Dragon Emperor has activated itself! Lightning proceeded from deep inside it! It's a miracle, I tell you!"

The priests behind Darl had an excited look on their faces and started weeping and praying. Darl still did not understand what was going on. The claw chip produced lightning? Was it really a miracle? Or were the priests just eager to find miracles even if there were none in the first place. Miracle or not, he had to stop the people who were climbing over each other and over the stone wall. There were probably injured ones out there. He pressed the rune on the vambrace calling for healers.

"I must inform our brothers," the priest who delivered to them the news excitedly said. "I must tell everyone the message of deliverance! Praise be to Krystfallen!" The priest continued running towards the building at the end of the courtyard while continuously yelling that there was a miracle.

Darl had to quickly act. He inhaled deeply and exhaled a purple smoke. The smoke expanded and rolled along the length of the courtyard, covering everyone in it. He decided that the best course of action was to put the crowds to sleep for the meantime while they sort everything out.

It was actually surprising that they did not stampede over each other. He knew that most of the pilgrims were overly zealous. He silently thanked the heavens that most of the multitude decided to just kneel down and pray.