Amdirlain’s PoV - Culerzic

[Achievement: Legendary Liberator

Condition: Free over 10,000 prisoners through a single escape plan.

Reward: 50,000,000 experience.

Note: Practice makes perfect?]

Amdirlain drew in a shuddering breath and scrubbed away the tears that the release of tension freed.

The notification almost caused her to miss the descent of the entwined yin and yang energies. But the way the Plane shuddered around her, even hundreds of thousands of kilometres away from the plateaus, made her focus on the vista in the scrying window—its focal point a hundred kilometres from the central plateau. The black and white curtain boiled and consumed stone in a frenzy and, despite drawing in the sky’s primordial flames for less than a minute; a notification appeared.

[Combat Summary:

You do not get an itemised list! Count grouped by demonic tier:

Bestial: 12,989,467

Least: 5,195,787

Lesser: 3,896,840

Standard: 1,428,841

Greater: 25,978

Named: 119

Total Experience gained: 97,337,443,092

Fallen: +19,467,488,618

Scion: +19,467,488,618

Ascetic: +19,467,488,618

Ostimë: +19,467,488,618

Ontãlin: +19,467,488,618

Note: Gee, that list is missing a tier; I wonder why?]

“Yeah, fine, I missed Moloch,” muttered Amdirlain. The experience rush faded, and a flurry of achievement notifications hit.

[Achievement: Mistress of the Snip

Details: Your actions have destroyed the Cliffs of Lust and thus annihilated the spawning site for the Succubus sub-species native to Culerzic.

Reward:

Tier 5 Achievement - Prestige Class: Bloody Magpie Unlocked! 250,000,000 Experience Points

Note: So many Solars spend their time hunting threats against the realm and mortals into oblivion. If only you were among their number, I could have given you a nice reward.

Note: Three more major Abyssal sub-species to go. ]

[Achievement: Demonicider

Details: Your actions have extinguished all existing entities of the Scouring Plain Lurker species. You annihilated their spawning point for the entire demonic species and destroyed an abyssal industry.

Reward:

Tier 6 Achievement - Prestige Class: Wannabe Songbird Unlocked! 2,000,000,000 Experience Points

Note: The alchemists and berserkers who love the Lurker’s adrenaline gland potions won’t be happy. Too bad, so sad?

Note: I’m sure I mentioned something about easier to destroy than create.]

“Not even any credit for creating havoc and confusion?” grumbled Amdirlain, annoyed at missing Tier 7 despite having expected it. The massive destruction had raised a faint hope that the achievement had quickly dashed.

[Achievement: Hole in one

Details: Having dug over fifty thousand kilometres into a Plane with one event.

Reward: A place to hide ever so many bodies.

Note: You may have underestimated the energy’s effect?!]

[Achievement: East-ender

Details: Have unleashed an event of cataclysmic heavenly wrath within the Abyss, utilising the energies of the Jade Court.

Reward(?):

The Jade Emperor knows your name and nature (in more than just the vagueness he’d felt previously.) {{Pending successful meeting}}

Note: You’re not in a cultivation realm. Why invite a heavenly tribulation?

Note: Havoc and confusion are part of the unnatural state of the Abyss. Do you want one for making water wet?]

“Did Orhêthurin consciously decide that water would be ‘wet’ or subconsciously copy her home world’s rules in some places?” murmured Amdirlain.

[Achievement: Got out of bed

Reward: Feet on the ground.

Note: If you’d ever been in someone’s bed.]

Amdirlain resisted the urge to grind her teeth and kept her tone civil. “You are in troll mode today. Are you hassling me for considering how the basics work?”

[Achievement: Crybaby!

Details: The name says it all.

Note: Well, you were all hot with each other, even if one of you was initially blind to different tunnel exploration opportunities.

Note: Plan to take a trip down memory lane or soak in a hot river?

Note: Until your next calamity.]

“What are you on about, Gideon?” muttered Amdirlain, unsure what to make of their overly chatty state.

When the Plane’s shuddering settled, Amdirlain teleported through various facilities, ensuring none had taken damage before heading on. Planar Shift deposited her in the Outlands, where Amdirlain scrubbed the abyssal miasma from herself. Once cleaned, Amdirlain cast Invisibility and set concealments to negate her auras before she headed to Gail’s Sanctuary.

Her discrete arrival was fortunate, given that Gail and more than a few scores of dwarven guests occupied the banquet hall. Though there wasn’t a feast in progress, maps and diagrams covered dozens of tables. A spirited debate had voices raised proclaiming the benefit of one road-building approach over another between the Hill and Mountain Dwarf attendees.

Standing near Gail was an odd man out. The Human male was broad-shouldered and clad in leathery armour set with mithril runes and edgings. Festooned with weapon harnesses, he carried as many blades as Ebusuku had when Amdirlain first met her. As she watched, he pointed at something among the plans, and Gail crossed her arms with a defiant grin.

Not wanting to interrupt, Amdirlain traced her way back to the clearing she’d used last time, mentally reaching out to let Sarah know of her arrival as she walked. Sitting by the stream, she adjusted the shadow vines and placed her feet into the water. It seemed a simple pleasure to enjoy, but the cool motion across her skin relaxed Amdirlain while she waited for Sarah. So much so that she almost forgot to dismiss the enfolding invisibility she’d placed around herself.

When Sarah arrived, she wore a barely opaque red silk dress that reached mid-calf and sandals with diamonds spaced along the straps that crossed her feet. Coming over to the stream, she sat cross-legged, keeping her bejewelled sandals away from the water. “You planning to hide away here each time you come by?”

Amdirlain shrugged. “Gail looked like she was busy planning with the dwarves. Anything up?”

“They’ve been having planning sessions for a while now about building better roads,” explained Sarah. “The township of Sanctuary’s Cove has got those Gail sung into place, but she wanted to extend them west and north. Hasusar thinks he’s got some say in the matter, but Gail’s set on running them to every town, village, and hamlet for a few hundred miles.”

“Won’t the locals get annoyed she’s hiring the dwarves to do the work?” enquired Amdirlain.

“They’re not doing the construction. Gail’s hired the Dwarf engineering and construction crews to teach the humans how to do the work to their standards,” clarified Sarah.

Amdirlain frowned. “Then what are folks arguing about?”

“The dwarves are arguing about the best road techniques and bridges for the different areas along with the initial routes. Hasusar is arguing with Gail about road tolls,” laughed Sarah. “Gail’s insisting the Adventurers’ Guild foot most of the bill and not place additional taxes. Since she hired agents from Mechanus to help restructure the guild, she knows the state of their books and how much she’s already earned them.”

“Gail's involved in far more than either of you let on,” grumbled Amdirlain.

“Life’s like that. It was nothing you had to worry about unless you had plans for the Adventurers’ Guild,” said Sarah, and she rapidly continued before Amdirlain could interrupt. “And I know your primary concern was avoiding it becoming a tool for tyrants. Hasusar and Gail are trying to ensure that can’t come about.”

Surrendering, Amdirlain moved on. “How long do you think dealing with the broker will take?”

“As long as it takes. Ebusuku gave us use of her residence,” stated Sarah, holding out a token to Amdirlain. “That’s yours to keep. The management gets fussy when deities turn up, so Ebusuku hasn’t used it in years.”

“Do you think we’ll be in The Exchange long enough to warrant it?”

Sarah shrugged. “Depends on what this goat tells us; we could need to stake things out for months or years.”

“Satyr,” corrected Amdirlain.

“Goat,” repeated Sarah. “And a randy one, most likely; every Satyr I’ve met wanted to shag something. The way you are now, he’ll want to get between your legs, sweetie. It likely didn’t come up last time, but The Exchange doesn’t like the use of mental influence effects past the entryway; that includes your Dominion.”

“I’ll see how little attention I can draw, with only moderating my influence via Charisma,” offered Amdirlain.

“Yngvarr told me about your practice session,” Sarah countered glumly. “Some species are just going to take that as being coy.”

“That’s always going to be a risk. I won’t improve unless I challenge my abilities,” argued Amdirlain. “We should hop somewhere else. I don’t want to go straight to The Exchange from here. Let’s keep the risk to this place at a minimum.”

“Hold up, since you’re not jumping for joy, I take it no Tier 7?” enquired Sarah.

“Tier 6, and Gideon was taking digs. This time he pretty much flat out stated that destroying stuff is not challenging enough to warrant it,” stated Amdirlain, digging her fingers into the stream’s bank. “However, I got a tidy sum of experience for ‌killing demons, digging for the centre of the Plane, wiping out the spawning site for the local succubi, and exterminating the scouring plain lurkers.”

Sarah gave a slow smile. “It seems you didn’t do things by halves while I was here. Are you going to share the memory with me, or do I have to drag it out of you?”

Amdirlain reached out, and the first vortexes soon shone in Sarah’s mind. When the show finished its fast-forward run, Sarah whistled softly.

“The way they wrap around each other looks like something from an old anime I remember you got on DVD and were disappointed with,” noted Sarah before she gave Amdirlain a grin. “That place is the pits now.”

“The star blazers wave motion gun. I watched it with Mal when I was a kid; some memories you shouldn't revisit,” laughed Amdirlain bitterly. “But really, it's the yin-yang effect. The cycling of their balance naturally turns the energies around each other when in proximity. Shall we go?”

“Something has you on edge, and it's not the lack of Tier 7,” Sarah stated.

“I hate parties,” growled Amdirlain, letting loose with the first thing that came to mind. “Why didn’t you talk Gail out of a party?”

“The party wasn’t for you; it was for the hundreds who’d be waiting for news about you,” countered Sarah. “So yeah, I knew you would hate the party, miss workaholic, but try again; that isn’t what’s got you on edge.”

Amdirlain shook her head. “Torm not being here for it, along with other things I don’t want to discuss here. It felt wrong being on the same Plane as Livia knowing…”

“We’ve got time before the meeting with the broker. Let's go somewhere secure and talk. That way, you can vent before steam bursts out your ears,” suggested Sarah.

At Amdirlain’s nod, the pair flowed to their feet. Before Sarah could ask a question, Amdirlain had them standing in the Outlands.

“Okay, now I feel like I should have pushed my levelling more,” muttered Sarah. “You did a mama cat impersonation and yanked your kitten across planes.”

“Sorry. I should have asked if you were ready,” sighed Amdirlain. “Let me get us somewhere secure.”

Teleport placed them in the outer corridor of the cell block, and Amdirlain concentrated for a moment on each song. After two days caught up in preparations, the lack of progress they’d made roiled frustration under her skin. “Damn it.”

Sarah glanced about at the bare stone walls. “Nice cell block.”

Trying to temper her expectations, Amdirlain huffed defensively. “I’ve got an image carved on the interior cell walls. I’ll put in an illusion presenting different locations later.”

Amdirlain ignored Pain Eater’s cataloguing of the purification field’s sensation pressing on her.

“Torm’s absence I can understand, but what else has got you on edge?”

“I evolved True Song,” hissed Amdirlain. “It now has a name Laergul didn’t know about, and now it won’t progress.”

“I doubt that’s all your edginess is about, but is this really where you want to talk about something like that?” asked Sarah, waving at the closest cell.

“They’re behind triple layers, including sound barriers that deaden the vibrations in stone. So they can’t hear us, and their powers can’t reach beyond the edge of the summoning circle,” countered Amdirlain. “Plus a load of other protections that the Lómë included against scrying and tracking.”

“I know that; it just seems strange. Like one of those TV shows where they’re talking super secret stuff in a cafe scene,” laughed Sarah. “Maybe talk mentally on top of those protections? That way, even psychometry won’t be able to pick up a trace.”

When Sarah felt Amdirlain’s mind touch hers, she ventured a question. “Now, what won’t progress?”

“True Song Genesis,” stated Amdirlain; trying to keep her mental tone low, she projected the memory of the notification. Unintentionally, the memory of the Titan’s forge started along with it, and Amdirlain reluctantly continued it for context.

“Do you have a primordial’s strength?” asked Sarah, and she waited with their gazes locked until Amdirlain sighed. “True Song was hers even before she chose her adult name of Orhêthurin.”

Amdirlain’s nose wrinkled, and she mentally grumbled. “I had expected to be further along than a child’s level.”

“You had an insight while trying for perfection. What was the insight?”

“Perfection is never enough,” stated Amdirlain.

Sarah nodded and tapped her nose meaningfully. “Why do you mostly hold yourself still when you sing? I’ve seen your fingers twitch, and that’s about it.”

“I’m trying to get the song perfect, not let myself get distracted,” replied Amdirlain, and she frowned at the contrast to memories of Orhêthurin in motion.

“Orhêthurin didn’t always dance or move about when she was singing. However, even where she stayed still, it was like watching a skier on the lip of a ridge about to push off. It would give me a feeling that she’d be in motion at any moment, and then the real energy would come into the song,” recounted Sarah. “I don’t know if that’s the key, but it’s one key difference. There is also something else; if you stop worrying, you’ll see it.”

“It’s an Apprentice-rank Power-”

“That absorbed Senior Master ranked powers. Maybe it will take much more to level,” interjected Sarah, and she gave Amdirlain an exasperated eye-roll.

Amdirlain closed her eyes and forced herself to pause. “You said one key difference. What’s another?”

“Orhêthurin sang and danced because she loved it. She didn’t create purely because she had to; Gail says she finds creating addictive. The joy of seeing new things come into existence brings out smiles from her,” clarified Sarah. “When was the last time you smiled because you created something? Have you loved anything you’ve done with True Song lately? Even enjoy it at all? Or was it simply a tool in your arsenal?”

“Corruption clings to memories,” declared Amdirlain.

“And?” Sarah asked with a mental huff before tossing Amdirlain a mental image of jumping between rail tracks.

“I’m scared that if I can’t dilute the corruption, I’ll have two options, both of which will cost me Torm.”

“If there are only two options you see now, learn more until you find a third or fourth. Keep going until you find one that gives a path back.”

“Option two gives him a path back,” argued Amdirlain.

“Then why would it cost you, Torm?”

“Caltzan failed Torm and the rest. I could entice the corruption to Caltzan’s memories instead, then Torm would be free of the corruption, and he could start to heal,” explained Amdirlain. “I was thinking of using stalker boy, but Torm’s too old, probably too many memories coated in corruption to scrape off that way.”

Her suggestion had Sarah whistling softly. “I would have been fine annihilating them; it would release their energy into their Home Plane. But you’d corrupt an angel for the chance to save Torm?”

Amdirlain shrugged and jabbed a hand towards the ceiling. “I’m sure I could avoid corrupting them, but the process would be comparable pain-wise to the Abyss’ inferno for ascending. Caltzan's presence on the heavenly plane would burn the corruption out of them as it arrived; the effect would be far stronger than the purification field. So from what I can hear in these two, it would certainly hurt like someone pouring acid across every fibre of their being.”

Sarah straightened and gave a displeased grunt but continued the mental exchange. “What’s the purification field doing to you?”

“It hurts, but they’ve been here for far longer already,” growled Amdirlain, her hands slowly clenching into fists. “I so want to share their pain with Caltzan right now.”

“Any sign of a change?” asked Sarah warily.

“No, but I didn’t expect it to work fast,” spat Amdirlain, no longer speaking mentally. “I can hear the corruption boiling and hissing, but there isn’t any sign of it lessening in them yet.”

“You burnt the corruption out of Livia through a link,” proposed Sarah, deliberating hanging onto the mental link Amdirlain had extended. She sent an image of Amdirlain locking her mouth shut and tossing away the key.

Amdirlain gave her a sullen glare, but she resumed using their mental link.

“No, I pulled the abyssal heat—not corruption—out of her and fed her my Ki in return. The abyssal energies taint a Soul and influence it towards malicious acts,” corrected Amdirlain, and she exhaled hard to release tension before scrubbing her palms across her face. “But the difference is of Mortal Soul versus a formerly Celestial being. I don’t know what would happen if I pulled corruption into me.”

“Forget I mentioned it; I’d misunderstood your explanation,” Sarah hastily said. “We don’t have to find an answer immediately, you know. Celestials stand on guard duty in the strangest places with absolutely nothing to see for centuries at a time.”

“Such as?” interrogated Amdirlain.

“Guarding dangerous objects that cultures have cast out to drift among the stars or between planes,” stated Sarah. “Those are ones that quickly come to mind.”

Amdirlain sighed. “I suppose you’re right.”

“Gail commented on you being extremely loud. A third option I see you could look into is exercising control. Letting a fire hose of power out is fine, but I’d imagine controlling it so it can still be a mere whisper would be harder,” offered Sarah, redirecting the conversation. “Precision and control showed up in much of what Orhêthurin did emotionally and physically. While I can’t hear the energy with the True Song, I can’t imagine she wasn’t that way using it.”

“Control is more your thing,” laughed Amdirlain.

Sarah pressed on the tip of Amdirlain’s nose. “Planning is an attempt to exercise control, and as you said, you control your motion in combat.”

Mock snapping at Sarah’s finger, Amdirlain huffed in frustration.

“Hold up,” Sarah said, cutting Amdirlain off. “I’ll create you a little magical item, one sensitive to excess energy. Let’s see how you go duplicating it.”

Pulling out a bar of silver and a set of inscribing tools, Sarah floated them about her. Fine filaments streamed from the block and wove into a braided ring barely large enough for a toddler’s pinkie finger. The formed ring hovered in front of Sarah, and she began inscribing tiny runes along each braid.

Amdirlain waited, patiently watching with True Sight the delicate patterns of Mana that Sarah was setting across the metal. The primitive type of enchantment she was doing gave the object a piece of fragile, tinny music interwoven within the silver’s song.

It took Sarah half an hour to complete, and she thrust it towards Amdirlain with a discontented look. “Here, that’s your sample. Try to sing another one.”

“That deflection field doesn’t sound like it would work against a spitball,” commented Amdirlain as she claimed the ring.

“Maybe a paper plane,” countered Sarah.

The first notes Amdirlain tried came out far too loud, and she stopped shaking her head. “Can you set up some items staging down to this for me? This feels like pouring an Olympic-sized swimming pool into a thimble.”

The moment Sarah nodded, Amdirlain thrust the ring back to her.

“I don’t want it back,” protested Sarah.

“Too bad. Give me a complete set once I’ve got a new house set up,” instructed Amdirlain.

The news caused Sarah’s eyebrows to lift. “Where do you plan to do that?”

“I thought I’d make a bunch of mithril and sell it at one of the larger Outlands towns. See if they’d let me buy a house instead of living cut off from everyone,” explained Amdirlain. “I want to live somewhere there is sunshine for a while.”

Sarah blinked. “That would be interesting. Should I contact the cloister representative at The Exchange? We might see him before meeting goat boy.”

“It makes sense,” admitted Amdirlain. “I think we’ve been here long enough.”

Amdirlain caught the music of the representative’s name when Sarah sent a Message and quickly received an acknowledgement to meet.

This time, Amdirlain didn’t yank them between planes but opened a Gate into the Elemental Plane of Air. Unfussed by the empty blue sky before her, Sarah just stepped out and concentrated on remaining before the Gate. As soon as Amdirlain was floating beside her, the Gate closed, and another opened into the wide foyer of The Exchange.

The broad space contained the most entities Amdirlain had yet seen at the entryway at one time, to the point of almost overflowing. Most of the entities were queuing for entry towards the shorter-term stays, but Sarah’s path cut across them towards the resident entrance at the far end.

The Exchange’s varied skyscrapers soared towards the brilliant silver sunless sky, the Demi-Plane’s illumination provided by the sky’s constant glow. The volume of the noise within the foyer today competed fiercely with that generated by the crush of activity beyond the entry gates. Through the crush, Amdirlain could see the same unadorned entry gates she’d seen on her previous visits. Yet, except for the express lane Farhad had taken her through, the queues streaming arrivals inside today seemed to move at a glacial pace.

A heavily armoured Storm Giant, with a frosted white beard, and electricity dancing across its skin, tried to pretend he couldn’t see Sarah. However, his attempt to step into her path found his foot held off the ground by a lone hand, and he almost fell when she shoved him back.

“Try that again, and I’ll hunt you down outside The Exchange and eat your face,” growled Sarah. The reddish glow that radiated off the giant’s armour made it clear at least her eyes had shifted.

The giant wisely held still at Sarah's proclamation, allowing them both to pass unhindered. Arriving at the last gate along the row, Sarah pulled out a duplicate of the token she’d given Amdirlain and presented it to the adamantine barrier at arm’s length. The gate lifted and slid aside, allowing Sarah to move beyond it, where she turned to wait for Amdirlain. When Amdirlain presented the guest token to the gate mimicking Sarah’s action, a voice murmured in her ear.

“It’s prohibited to use Dominion or any other mind-altering effects beyond the entrance area except in a private residence with the owner's permission.”

Despite her foreknowledge, Amdirlain briefly felt an anxiety prickling before deactivating the Power. The moment she did so, the barrier swung open, and Amdirlain stepped forward, considering her options.

The further she moved from the entry, the more eyes followed her flowing movements. In mid-step, Amdirlain reached a decision and released her true form. Though the wards kept her from towering over the surrounding pedestrians, that wasn’t necessary. The appearance of her wings and black-eyed gaze was enough to have others diverting their attention, suddenly finding anything more alluring.

Sarah led the way through the streets, keeping them at ground level. “The meeting place he uses overlooks a market close to here. Almost as bad as a stupid cafe, but it's a public space covered by The Exchange’s wards punishing violence.”