Chapter 6 - The Redwood Staff of Judgement

Back in the High Stone Mountains...

The men had led Taen through the fog to the center of the village, where a large one-story round wooden building stood. Windows lined the walls periodically. Through the double doors was a single big room with a fire pit in the center. Chairs, stumps and various other types of seats surrounded the fire pit, and a good fifty or sixty men and women were already there before the twenty men along with Taen entered the room. As they saw Taen, they all became quiet and watched as he was led to the central fire.

“Sit,” commanded one of the men. As Taen sat down on one of the chairs facing the doors, He saw an old woman who looked to be eighty or ninety years old start to cross the room towards him. She was easily the oldest woman he had seen in the village thus far.

As she approached him, he felt a strange magical aura about her. Magic was emanating from her body, though she was not accessing it as far as he could tell. It grabbed his attention and he immediately became wary of his surroundings, now angry with himself that he had gotten so drunk just before this.

“What is your name, boy?” asked the woman with a strained creak to her voice. She slowly sat down with the help of two of the men into a chair only two or three feet away. Facing him, she awaited his answer.

His brows furrowed, and he straightened his back. “Taen… My name is Taen.”

“Do you know why we brought you here, Taen?” asked the old woman, the rest of the sixty or seventy villagers looked on with silence. Stern faces told him that this probably wasn’t a good situation to be in.

“Actually, I have noooo idea....” Taen replied, trying his hardest not to sound too drunk. Smiling politely, he gave his best guess. “Did I drink too much and piss someone off by accident?”

No one was amused by his words, and it was evident by their behavior. The woman leaned forward, within inches of Taen’s face. She then stood up, and from within her robes she pulled out a redwood staff. The staff was quite plain with a knobbed end on one side, it looked like a large walking stick. This... was the item that had emanated the magic he’d felt, not the woman.

This must have been what Maltetious was looking for.

With a thrust of the staff, the woman lightly poked Taen’s chest. Within a couple seconds, the staff reacted, lighting up with a white fire that didn’t burn or inflict pain, but encompassed both the woman and Taen.

Out of nowhere, Taen’s memories began to flash in front of him.

Suddenly the old woman and Taen were standing next to a younger version of his past. He was in elementary school, he had a superhero backpack on… he was chasing one of his friends in a game of tag before his mom had come to pick him up. He didn’t even remember the friend’s name, and was trying to remember it when they came upon the next memory. Now they were standing at his cousin’s funeral, he was thirteen years old. His cousin had been drinking and driving, and had wrapped his car around a tree a week before, his aunt and uncle were both in tears. Everyone was dressed in black, he had never been close to his cousin but he still felt terrible at the time. In a flash they were on to the next memory. Taen was in college now, He had just gotten out of his car and was starting to walk up the steps to his fiance’s apartment. He got to the door, opened it with his key and walked in to her having sex with another guy that Taen had never seen before right there in the front room. It was one of the hardest memories he had to bear, he had been in love with that girl... and the only thing he could do then was sit there and stare. They stared at each other for a couple seconds before he turned around and walked away. That was the last time he had ever seen her. Then the next memory appeared, and this time he was at his medical school. It was the night before he was taken, he was studying for an exam. So stressed about how he was going to do, nothing else mattered to him at the time. He had eaten, breathed and slept medical courses then. Next thing he knew he had woken up next to a dead friend in a foreign world with a broken and bloodied body, from there the memories seemed to not skip around as much as if the woman was focusing upon these memories as opposed to the other ones previously. Taen met Maltetious with his two friends, it showed how he went through it all - struggling to cope with the idea that he’d never be able to return home. How for over two years he was subjected to torture, cruel tricks, and tests. It showed how he truly felt sad for Maltetious, remembering the time that he had come across her crying after Michael had said some things about her being a cruel cold hearted witch. Before that, Taen had believed she held no true emotions. He had never told Chris or Michael about it, and had never told Maltetious that he had seen her cry. After that it showed the first trial where the territh battled the three earthborn, and how they prevailed in the end. Lastly, it showed Maltetious drop them outside the village with Michael ranting at her, and her telling them to acquire the staff. Then, the memories stopped.

The white fire subsided and died out, returning the redwood staff back to its original form. Lowering it, the old woman sat back down to look at Taen.

“Earthborn...” she muttered softly, with a glint in her eyes. Her gnarled fingers curled around the staff more tightly as her gaze fell in thought. “You have had a very interesting life, young man. I’m surprised you were able to mentally handle all of it, and as the village elder I welcome you to our home.”

Turning to the men, she said aloud: “This man is no threat, you may all go if you wish. He is no bandit.”

With sighs of relief many of the men and women began to filter out into the village, but a few still stayed and sat around the fire pit along with the elder and Taen.

“What does your diety want from this staff?” asked the elder woman. “Do you know? I was unable to glimpse all of your memory, only pieces of it.”

This question obviously confused some of the villagers, turning to the old woman a man curiously asked: “So who is he? He is able to wield magics as we saw him clear out the fog to look at the sky. You say he is no bandit, what is he doing here if not to harm us? Mages usually do not make their way here for no reason, and we have heard reports of slavers with mages accompanying them to the south of us in the other mountain villages.”

“He is an Earthborn.” the elder replied, chuckling. She stretched, causing the ligaments and arthritis in her joints to crack and snap - but she looked relieved after she did it. “He is here for this staff.”

This caused a murmuring among the remaining villagers, and many of them began to ask him questions.

“You are from the fourteenth planet then?”

“What is Earth like?”

“Are you really as powerful as earth born are rumored to be?”

“Why do you want our staff?”

“If you are staying much longer you should meet my daughters. They’d love to meet you!”

“Are your friends also Earthborn?”

“Enough!” yelled the elder to silence the unruly group. “You may ask him questions when I am done talking to him, someone fetch him some water though - as he is quite drunk. You there,” she said pointing to a man of Taen’s age, “fetch some water before he gets sick.”

With a bow the, young man quickly turned to leave out the doors.

Taen groaned, feeling the effects of the alcohol hit him a little too hard than he’d have liked. “I’m sorry, I honestly don’t know why she wants your staff... any chance I could have it though? I’d really appreciate it! I don’t really like the situation I’m in right now, and getting that staff is one step closer to being free. SO, what can I do to get it... hmm?”

Chuckling again, the elder shook her head. “Possibly. There could be a bargain struck, but it would be costly. Do you even know what this staff does?”

Pausing, Taen shook his head. “I’m going to guess that it has something to do with memories?”

“Well aren’t you clever. Yes, it can read your memories, but more than anything it reads your very being. Your character. This staff,” she said passing it over to Taen, “Is a staff of judgement. I can tell that you are quite a genuine and good person after judging you with it, and that I can trust you to hear me out.”

Taen gave her a peculiar look and took the staff to identify it.

Redwood Staff of Judgement

Item Tier: (12) Mythic

Damage: 1

On Hit Effect: None

Bonuses: None

Requirements: None

Durability: 167/189

Specials: Upon touching another living being, the user may access the essence of that target’s character.

Taen cocked an eyebrow. “What is it that you want?”

Smiling, the elder said “I want an audience with your Numen master. I wish to speak to Maltetious.”

***

Taen turned to the elder as they approached the site where Maltetious had dropped the three Earthborn off. The fog from earlier that day was still rather thick, with the trees of the mountain looming around the clearing ominously.

“Are you sure you want to do this? I don’t think this is a very good idea. Not for your safety anyways.”

The old woman scoffed over the chirping of nearby crickets, clutching the redwood staff to her chest. “You’re getting what you wanted, do not worry about me.”

Taen held out his hands helplessly to either side, frowning as he did. “Alrighty then.”

They entered the clearing and Taen pointed to the spot where he had been thrown into this world. The many villagers that followed stopped at the perimeter of the clearing, fearful of what was to come but still wanting to see it for themselves. The elder used the staff as a walking stick, following Taen to the center. There they stood, waiting in the cool mountain air for some sign of the numen to appear. Mist and fog swirled about them slowly, and insects buzzed in the dim light of the little marsh. It was nearly sunset, though the weather was gloomy and ruined what could have been an otherwise splendid view of the mountains.

“Nothing is happening?” murmured one of the villagers in the background. Others acknowledged his words and began to talk amongst themselves as if doubting their elder’s claims of the man standing beside her.

Sighing, Taen took the staff from the elder. Waving it around like a baton, Taen began screaming into the fog. “Maltetious, stop playing games damn it! We have your stick, now come out and talk! This nice old lady wants to speak with you.”

Crickets.

Still nothing happened as they stood there for about another minute. The villagers began to giggle and laugh in amusement at his vain efforts as they started doubting him even more, but they were suddenly stopped in their tracks when an even louder, purer giggling that sounded from all around them... beyond the mist. It echoed loudly across the trees, and as it did all other sounds - even those made by animals - ceased. The villagers started to look about in fear, trying to contain their panic as a huge burst of white flames erupted before Taen and the elder. Replacing the flames, moments later, was the beautiful woman Taen had come to know so well over the past two years. There hovered the majestic form of Maltetious, glowing radiantly in the air, golden hair flowing down about her short white dress as she slowly descended to a couple feet above them with a perfect smile.

Taen’s mind blared. “You have completed the quest: Bring Me the Staff. You have gained XP.”

“My oh my, I do believe you have done well Taen. You have brought me the staff in very little time, though I am confused as to why the village elder is here when I specifically told you not to let her catch you in the act.” Maltetious looked down with an obvious look of disgust upon the elder woman, who began to tremble despite asking to be there. Malktetious was an image of pompous yet exquisite beauty, descending radiance that poured perfection down onto lesser creatures that dared to look upon her. “What would a priestess of Agnude want with me? You are quite brave to come here, mortal.”

Her voice rose with a deafening power to it as she said this, causing the ground beneath them to tremble. Taen had never seen Maltetious this angry before now, but it was obvious that she was angry here with the way her power fluctuated amidst the quivering rage in her voice. Why was she mad? He didn’t know, but he was starting to get very worried. .

This had been a really bad idea.

“SPEAK MORTAL! Why has one of my champions led you here? What do you wish to tell me?”

Again the ground shook with power as the angry numen spoke.

The trembling old woman clutched the staff even harder, averting her gaze and trying to remain calm. “I… I am a p-p.. priestess of Agnude, you would not harm me here. That is why you s-s… sent them to do your work. I know this. This is Agnude’s land, so please just hear me out…”

Priestess? Taen briefly recalled that Numen like Maltetious or Agnude were often worshipped just like gods or goddesses were. It was strange to him to think about, but his thoughts were soon interrupted.

The ground beneath them erupted in lights as runic markings across the ground shown in bright white or blue and beamed up into the air about them. The earth began to shake and tremble again. Maltetious erupted in a white celestial fire with a blaze of heat that caused the onlookers to wince, power pulsing out from her presence sending a secondary shockwave that violently knocked down everyone present.

“You try my patience mortal. I do not fear your would-be god here, this place was once my shrine.” she said in an ominous unearthly voice and eyes glaring a bright white - as runes previously invisible blazed to light underneath her feet and spread out across the ground for twenty yards in all directions. “Upon this shrine, I am as powerful as if it were my own realm. Your numen would be no match in this place, you insolent hag! Do you intend to insult me further?”

As she said this, she lifted her arm as if to strike the old woman down and torrents of celestial lightning poured forth into the sky with immense force. She curled her lips with the look one would give when about to smash a disgusting bug. “YOUR PRESENCE IS AN INSULT, AND I WILL SHOW NO MERCY TO ANIMALS SUCH AS YOURSELF!”

She shot her arm forward and the storm of white lightning surged out in a frenzy towards the old woman - who could do nothing but cower in fear.

In that split second, Taen intercepted the bolt of lightning with his own body - creating a massive soul bolt as fast as he possibly could. He had no kind of barrier spell like Chris did, nor did he have the HP that Michael’s juggernaut class gave him, so all he could do was concentrate as much mana as he possibly could into his offensive blast to try and counteract the attack. It was crude, his mana bar went from 184 to 0 instantly, and pushing so much mana into the spell beyond its normal boundaries caused it to destabilize. That usually would have been bad news, but it didn’t matter too much this time because he didn’t intend to shoot it off. Maltetious’ storm hit him full force and the collision between the two magics erupted, sending shockwaves to either side of him while ripping the ground apart and exploding with the impact.

The villagers and old woman stared in awe at what had just happened, not knowing what to say or if they should run. Looking out from behind where Taen had blocked the attack with concentrated death mana, the ground was decimated in all directions in front of him for about fifty yards. Trees, plants, boulders, the small lake that had been there... they were all gone. And in their place was a barren and torn wasteland amidst the forest surrounding it.

Taen looked down at what was left of his hands out in front of his body. Most of the flesh was torn off all the way up through his forearms to expose raw bones and tendons. Some of the bones were missing, the ones that remained were charred and smoking. One of his phalanges even fell off the remnants of his right hand as he watched, and trembling he painfully brought them down against his body to sit silently and wait for the punishment that he knew was coming.

“Maltetious... punish me if you will,” Taen whispered with downcast eyes. “But there is no reason to kill an innocent old woman who has never done you any harm.”

Maltetious floated there above her glowing shrine, not saying anything. The lightning subsided, her eyes turned to normal, and the ground calmed. She eventually descended to the smoldering rubble and slowly walked over to where Taen sat quivering. She then stood there looking down on him. For a moment he thought she was going to kill him… but then she knelt down, taking his hands in her own and whispered into his ear.

“I’m sorry.”

Light shot through his body, and looking down his hands had been restored. She smiled at the bewildered Taen, slowly kissed him on the cheek and then stood up; turning to the old woman who lay pale upon the ground.

“I must apologize, priestess. For all of the many centuries I have lived, it appears I still have much to learn. My hatred is misplaced.” Picking up the redwood staff, Maltetious exhaled with a look of deep regret. “What would you speak to me of, mortal?”

The runic markings upon the ground now completely cleared away and vanished as the old woman got to her feet. The villagers all cowered upon their hands and knees in respect for the numen as the wary old woman took a few steps towards her.

“I did not mean to offend you, numen, I was merely fearful for my safety. I am sorry I angered you, great one.” She bowed with one quick motion, and was still scared but kept her composure now that Maltetious had calmed. “Thank you for taking your time to listen to me. I came to bring you this staff as an offering because we need your help.”

Maltetious was obviously puzzled. “Go on…?”

“You see, many of my people have been butchered as of late. We have no trade and no access to the southern villages, and the north pass is too dangerous for us to travel because of the ice and treachery of the mountains.”

Maltetious looked even more confused. “Who is butchering your people?”

The elder woman shook her head and put out her hands to either side while still remaining in a respectful posture. “We do not know his name. He is a mage and leads a group of bandits that have already burned many other villages to the ground, taking the women and children and sending them into slavery while killing the men. They come back every year for more slaves, and our country is in a civil war. We have no aid from the lords of the land as their armies are killing each other. We are not fighters. Our numen Agnude has abandoned us, ignoring our prayers. The only time we ever see evidence of his might is when we stop our rituals and offerings of prayer to him, and then he curses us with plagues.” The elder stretched out her trembling hands with tears in her eyes. “We are fearful for our lives, our village might be next and already some of our families have been taken from us while traveling. We found some of their corpses not long ago, their throats slit with little effort to hide the act. We ask you for your guidance and help.”

The old woman ended the plea with another low bow, groveling upon the ground shamelessly.

Taen looked over at a grinning Maltetious, who winked at him and turned back to the elder. “As you know, my power and influence is far from what it used to be since the genocide of my followers nearly two hundred years ago.”

Stepping toward the frail woman and putting her hand on the shoulder of the village elder, she nodded in understanding.

“I cannot enter Agnude’s territory without risking my own life, he would take note of my presence outside the perimeter of my shrine. With the amount of my followers reduced to nearly nothing, I’m not sure I would last outside of my shrines for more than a few minutes before my power waned and I was sent back to my own realm anyways.”

Turning again to Taen with a look he couldn’t place, Maltetious eyed him readily.

“But I am able to send my champions in my stead. I am certain that they would be more than able to handle a simple mage and a group of bandits. Tomorrow they will set out to destroy your enemies, and take your vengeance. They are far more skilled than their levels portray, as their training included the setbacks of death numerous times where they lost their progress. I promise you, you will not be disappointed with them.”

Looking up at the numen, the woman smiled with tears in her eyes. “Thank you numen, you have our gratitude, and we will not forget.”

The elder got up, took Taen’s hands in her own and whispered: “Thank you son.”

Hugging him with her small frail body, the village elder left with the small group of others that had accompanied them there. Many of the villagers were caught looking over their shoulders in disbelief and awe at the perfect vision of beauty that stood next to Taen, meeting their gazes as they departed.

When they finally were alone, Taen turned to look at Maltetious and blinked a couple times. They just stared at each other for a moment in the fog before the girl smirked.

“You’ve really got a pair of balls on you.”

Taen raised an eyebrow, still looking at this newly healed hands. “Where’d you learn that phrase?”

“I’ve spent over two years with you three. As if I wouldn’t pick it up!” She walked over to him, putting her hand on his chest.

“Did it hurt?” She asked, smiling and looking up into his eyes.

Taen replied while smirking back. “Quite a bit actually. I thought I was gona get fried afterwards too. I’m surprised you let me off.”

“Don’t let it get to your head, it’s only because you’re cute.” Maltetious sent a small jolt of electricity through his body and she laughed as he doubled over in pain. “There’s your punishment. Now go help your newfound friends, you have work to do tomorrow. You have completed the trial, but I require you to take on a new one as well. Your job is not complete until you destroy this mage and his bandits, come back to me when it is done.”

The mechanical voice ensued: “You have been offered a quest: Destroy the Bandits and Slavers - Kill the bandits who have come to enslave the villagers living in the High Stone Mountains. Completing this quest will result in a large sum of XP as well as increase your reputation with the people of the High Stone Mountains. Do you accept or decline?”

Maltetious began to walk away and then paused. Her fist turned into a ball and she shot Taen a deadly serious look. “Oh... I almost forgot. Tell Michael that if he tries to persuade the lot of you not to follow orders again, I will cause his genitals to explode so that he will never again have so much fun with that red headed girl from the bar. The quest you accept will transfer to them after you tell them of it, be sure to explain it in detail.”

With a flick of her hair, Maltetious then vanished... leaving Taen alone to collapse exhausted within the mist.