Deals

“You want to imprison War,” Ryun said slowly.

The Grand Spirit of Transition inclined its avian head. “We believe that time will allow War's mind to clear, abandon this foolish pursuit,” the spirit said. “The Prison of Ages exists in all realms, it is the great pillar of existence. It is ancient, older than the Infinite Realm as a whole. But the core of it is located in the Ethereal Realm. The Warden is a powerful spirit, one whose strength rivals ours, especially in its domain. And it has a stake in your quest as well. Ra'azel was his prisoner once. If you approach the Warden I am sure that you might get the aid you seek.”

Ryun was conflicted, unsure of what he wanted to do. On the one hand, War's side was an almost easy path to take. If he sided with the army of spirits, he would get the allies to hunt the yeti, Nayra would get to learn from Death spirits and he had already learned a lot from the smith spirits. Opposing the Grand Spirit would lose them that support, and perhaps annoy Grey Horde. What Transition has promised wasn't much, its personal insights weren't tangible, though Ryun was interested, and the Prison Warden was an unknown.

Though, if they aided War, they would potentially be making a decision that could result in a lot of conflict and dead. If what the Grand Spirits were saying was true, and he had little reason not to trust their word, at least.

He wasn't sure what to do, the decision seemed larger than him alone. It felt like something the Sect Council should discuss. But, he didn't have the means to contact them, not now. It would come down to him.

He turned his attention back to the spirit as inwardly he mulled things over, and spoke. “From what I know, all interactions with the Prison Warden ended violently.”

Mysteries waved a hand. “We've heard stories of chosen interacting with the prison. That there was violence is not unexpected, would you not react with violence if someone intruded on your domain with no care or propriety? If you decide to visit, I suggest going through the front door, you will find far less violence that way,” the Grand Spirit of Mysteries said.

Ryun blinked, that was actually a good point. Ryun wouldn't be very gracious to any interlopers, especially if his home was a prison and he tasked with keeping the inmates from escaping or being free. When looked at from that point of view, the stories he heard were... much more understandable.

He sighed, or at least pretended to. More as reflex of a time when he was something more human. Now, it was just a physical manifestation of the decisions he had to make. Things were a lot simpler before, when he didn't care for what most people thought and was willing to just act. Now, he was part of something greater, his voice and decisions reflected not just on his own people but on the Sects as a whole. His name and word held weight now, he was known, actions that once might not have had consequences, now had more than just immediate ones. Perception of his actions mattered now as well.

He closed his eyes, and tried to imagine the possibilities, what could happen. For a moment he wondered what it would be like to have an analysis skill like Zach, if he could stand for a moment but think for days in his mind. Perhaps that would've made making the decision easier.

He used |Divided Mind| and ran two parallel ideas, imagined the results of his actions. In the first, he chose War. He went to Grey Horde and helped her summon the army to the Real Realm. Conflict would follow as Grey Horde did whatever it was that she planned. Her armies were powerful, with the spirits it would be nearly unstoppable. Then, the deal would be done, and War would take its army to hunt the yeti.

Ryun tried to imagine how that would look, spirits spilling across the land, searching. There were spirits who were very good at tracking, at hunting. The yeti was old and powerful, but he made moves, he caused ripples. He would be found. The army would collapse on the yeti, Ryun and his people would go with it, other powerful people that he could convince as well.

He didn't think that it would be easy, but all power had limits, even Ra'azel's. He would fall, and then... then War would remain. If what Transition said was true, War would use its army to create more conflicts. Ryun had seen what effects Grand Spirits had on the Ethereal, he could assume that they would do the same in the Real Realm. Aspects were a strange thing, and concepts even more so. What would happen to the world with the Grand Spirit of War walking the land? The worst case would be that the Aspect of War became easier to come into existence, that it took hold of people and pushed them, wrapped them up in a thrall. War would follow, death.

Perhaps they would be able to prevent that from happening, perhaps they would be able to have a plan in place and stop War the moment the yeti was defeated. But they had plans in place for a lot of things before too. Hastur had done more damage than anyone expected, and all because people didn't consider him a great enough of a threat.

And if War got stronger the longer it remained and wrought havoc... well, then her power could become a real issue.

The other part of his mind followed the second path, the one where he worked to prevent War from entering the Real Realm. War was working with the Grand Spirit of Change, going against one would probably also mean going against the other. The benefits of this path were more nebulous, they relied on convincing another spirit of helping them. The Prison Warden was an unknown, a powerful entity whose only concern in all of this was Ra'azel.

Ryun could see the Prison Warden offering something if the end goal was Ra'azel's removal from the board. That made sense to him, but he couldn't be sure what tangible gain he would get from this path. He did know what he would lose.

Ultimately, it came down to what was best for the world. And as much as he hated to admit it, the Infinite Realm needed time to recover. They were surrounded by threats on all sides, quite literally with the Domes. With the yeti running around, they couldn't afford unleashing another great threat into the world. He couldn't allow War to bring more conflict.

He looked at the two spirits and gave them his answer.

“What do you think that we are going to find something here?” Nayra asked. She trusted Ryun, but she wasn't sure what exactly they could gain from a Spirit that spent all its time inside a prison.

“We won't know until we go and see,” Ryun answered. “But if what Selia and Erdania had told me is to go by, the Prison Warden is incredibly powerful. And that Prison is a dungeon that is filled with powerful treasure. Some that might even come from the universe that existed before the Infinite Realm.”

“And you think that we can get any of that?” Nayra asked.

Ryun shrugged. “It won't hurt to ask.”

She sighed and glanced up at their destination. It was hard not to be in awe of the sight. Black stone rose up from the plains all around them, as if the world had opened up and released a black sun that had scorched everything in its image. At the top of it, a massive structure that seemed to reach into the heavens, the Felltower, which was as its name suggested, a tower. One that stretched into the sky so far that she couldn't see its end. Perhaps it was infinite, she knew that it stretched the same below the ground. It was made of stone that was rough and the color of faded gold. It was a massive structure, towering over everything. It stood out against the stone and gave a sense of an impossible age. Just looking at it she could imagine it existing at the beginning of Time, perhaps it had.

The wind moaned and whistled through the gaps in the tower, tunnels and windows that wrapped around the structure and added a haunting tune to this dusty black land.

She continued walking, keeping her hand to the side for Ryun and guiding him forward. The Grand Spirit of Transition had transported them to their destination. They had agreed to stop War, something that Nayra did agree with. The Infinite Realm didn't need more monsters with armies rampaging across territories, Hastur had been enough.

They had also met with War, and told her that they would speak with Grey Horde and see if they could help with the issue. Nayra didn't know why War thought that they could help, but Ryun had an idea as to what that delay was. And any deal with War was dependent on them helping Grey Horde with the delay.

They reached the tower's entrance, a giant engraved entrance with a door knocker ring as tall as Nayra. She glanced at Ryun, then walked over to it.

“Ready?” She asked.

Ryun nodded, and she channeled her Mantle technique, increasing her strength. With a heave she pulled the ring, and knocked. The impact on the door reverberated through the stone of the tower, shaking the ground. For a good few seconds it rumbled, until it subsided and silence grew.

Then, the door started to open with a loud sound of grinding stone.

Ryun cleared his throat as the doors finished opening, with only darkness meeting them. “Well, let’s see if we are welcome.”