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COLONISERS: Season 3!!! (Colonisers of Krystel)
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"I don't get it." Tavern Keeper Jeremy said. "Are you real or not?"
"I told you already," Aelfdane said, "I'm a dream."
"My dream?"
"For now."
"So what does that mean. Do I like, control you?"
"Have you ever been in control of your dreams before?"
"No.
"Then why should I be any different?"
"Can other see you?"
"No."
"Are you really the Aelfdane that died at the beginning of the war?
"I don't know how many times you want me to say it. I'm a dream of her."
"Do you have all her memories?"
"How should I know?" Aelfdane laughed, "But yes I believe I do."
Jeremy poured himself a drink and hopped up onto his bar. "How is this happening?"
"I needed someone who dreams big. Someone who thought he could turn a spit of village into a thriving capital. Someone who thought they could broker peace between humans and the fae. Someone who thought they could trick the ultimate trickster." Aelfdane spoke with a smile.
"I never tried to trick you." Jeremy said.
"When you challenged us to that game you weren't really trying to have fun were you. You were trying to stop us from stealing all your stuff."
"That was a fair business exchange," said Jeremy. "We provi-"
"The concept of fairness is the greatest trick of them all." Aelfdane interrupted. "The point is, when you had the nerve to enter into my queendom and try to out trick the ultimate trickster, I took interested. I kept an eye one you."
"And I knew you would be the perfect vessel for my rebirth."
"You knew you were going to die?"
"Arima isn't exactly subtle. That was her downfall, trying to pit strength against strength. If I were leading the fae forces you would not have prevailed."
"But if you knew that Arima was going to betray you, why didn't you stop her? You lost your kingdom."
"Because there is something far more valuable than my queendom on this plain, my apprentice. And before the week is out you and I are going to steal it."
Grave robbing was a perilous task in the Twilight Capital, where darkness never truly descended upon the city, but Lady Kren had managed it all the same.
It had been six days since the fire consumed the cities leadership, and panic and laxed discipline was already beginning to subsume the city. Before Lady Kren laid three boxes. It was somewhat tricky smuggling them into this warehouse without her loyal swordswomans aid, but their sacrifice would be well worth it.
One by one she pried the boxes open. One by one she helped those inside rise to their feet.
"Oh, um, hello. I'm Invoker Jaria." The man made a puzzled face. "No that's not quite right is it? That's now what I anymore."
"No," Lady Kren answered with a grim nod. "It's not."
"Then," spoke Haleer, "Who are we?"
"You aren't a who anymore. You're a what. And what you are are Aishel's sins made manifest. Look."
Parina looked down at her hand. In an instant she saw is smolder melt and blister away as if consumed by an invisible fire. Then, as quickly as it had vanished, it returned. Parina turned and looked into her coffin. There lied the charred remains of her body. "By the spirits," Parina breathed. "She burnt us alive. All of us."
“Your letter did this contraption no justice, Ellor.”
“Still upset that I ordered you to examine this place in person?” Dame Ellor asked.
“Yes, but not as much.”
Dame Ellor sighed. That was Gulvan. Honest to a fault, clever as sin. “So, what does it do?”
Gulvan ran his hand across the metal. How the devil did they make it so smooth? “I’m not sure,” he said. “But whatever it is, it’s incomplete.”
“They didn’t finish it?”
“No. Maybe. I don’t know. What I mean is parts of this machine has been deliberately removed. See?”
Gulvan pointed at one part of the machine which to the Ellor’s eyes, was indistinguishable from the rest. “Yes,” she lied. “Can you-“
“I need you to go away now,” Gulvan said, “I’m working."
Dame Ellor smiled, she hadn’t seen her brother in three years, but even if it had been thirty, she doubted he would ever change.
Dame Ellor didn't see Gulvan again until the following morning. He walked in while she was sipping on her coffee.
"Your having coffee for dinner?" Gulvan asked.
"No. It's morning time now Gulvan."
Gulvan shrugged, and took a seat next Ellor. "So, I haven't seen you since the funeral," he said.
"No, you saw me yesterday, when you admonished me for asking you to visit and then told me to go away."
"Well I'm the older brother, I can't let you boss me around."
"Except I'm literally the boss of you."
"How do you feel about being the new heir?" Gulvan asked.
Gulvan had a tendency to shift the subject suddenly. Caught of guard Ellor said, "I'm not the heir. Mom is."
"Mom is to old to survive the initation ceremony. She'd abdicate in favor of you."
"Probably."
"Almost certainly."
"I suppose."
Gulvan poured a cup of coffee for himself. "So how do you feel about being the new heir?"
"Hows your research going?"
Gulvan face lit up at the question. "It's incredible actually. The first piece seems to be linked to peoples minds. No not minds. Thoughts. It eminates and seeks thoughts. What is more incredible is the second piece. It binds emotions together. Towards a singular purpose. I'm not sure I can get it working, but if we can you know what we can do!"
Dame Ellor stared at him blankly.
"I think I can turn myself into the new hivehome!"
It took a years labor, but Gulvan was sure it would take anyone else at least four. What the purpose of this device was Gulvan had no idea, but he wasn't in interested in what it was designed to do. He was interested in what he could make it do. To that end Gulvan actually wound up removing a lot of pieces, grafted other pieces on. The challenge was getting the machine talking to itself with major components missing. It wasn't pretty, but Gulvan had managed to circumvent the missing parts and feed the machine back into itself. Weaving metal from a blacksmiths forge into this masterpiece felt like a cardinal sin, but it got the job done. The process may not be repeatable, but then, Gulvan need only use this machine once.
The one thing Gulvan wasn't happy with was the user requirements. The devices were talking to each other, but in order to start up the machine it would require two people. One for each device. What's more using the device to connect Gulvan's brain with Hive would require the operator to touch dozens, possibly thousands of minds. And there was only one person Gulvan knew who could do that and not be driven insane.
Aelfdane had spent the better part of two weeks inside of Jeremy mind, and things were going even better than she had hoped. Most humans were slow, boring worriers. People who quacked in their boots rather than hid in their wooden homes rather than live their lives out in the huge world nature had provided for them. But Jeremy didn't hide from the world. He embraced it. He embraced all of it in a way she didn't even know was possible. The good. The bad. Perhaps that's why he agreed to this adventure so easily.
She watched as he carried their precious cargo down the dockyards and towards the boat. He was stopped by one of the guards as he went to board.
"Halt."
"I'm Jeremy, I've been invited by to participate the cultural exchange with the Striders."
"I know, I just have to search you."
"Probably a good idea, dangerous ruffian that I am."
"Sorry, but the Striders are very particular what is and isn't allowed on their shores." She started rummaging through the first bag, then the second, and to Jeremy dismay she quickly found the hidden pocket at the bottom.
"Wait," Jeremy said before she could open it. "I confess. I am a no good degenerate, and I have liquor hidden in there."
"Well, I'm sorry, but you are going to have to leave it behind. They don't allow food foreign food products on their lands, something about disrupting their environment. And I know you know that."
"Look, are you participating in the cultural exchange?"
"Yes. I'm going to dance."
"That sounds wonderful. I'm going to recite poetry. It's going to be terrible, but that's not the point."
She chuckled. "And I suppose you point is to get drunk?"
"The point is to bring our people together. We get together, and look at their art, they look at ours, and we call it a cultural exchange, and that's all important. But afterwards, we need to be able to share a drink or two together. They talk about their lives and we talk about ours. That's how friendships are made, and that's what needs to get done."
"I see, so you are very well-intentioned smuggler."
"Is it really smuggling if I'm giving my product away."
The woman gave him a wry look.
"Look, do you want to see a drunk stag or not?" Jeremy said with a laugh.
"Fine," she smiled. "But you better call me over when you start passing the bottles around."
"Sure thing."
A couple hours later Jeremy's precious cargo was secured, and he kipped back in one of the hammocks.
"I didn't know you were such a lady killer, Jeremy," She said, appearing on his knee.
"How do you think I was able to manipulate you into selecting me for this plan?"
"You and I both know that isn't what happened."
"That's exactly what I want you to believe," Jeremy said with a smile.
A sharp bell rang, indicating that the ship was leaving port. Aelfdane flew to the porthole and watched as the human city drifted away. This was it. Two weeks from today she would have the Ultimate Eye in her hands.
Oh deer
"I'm still not sure how this going to work," Norvin said.
"Don't you have access to dozens of brains?" Gulvan asked. "Why don't you tap into one of them that's smarter than you?"
Norvin turned towards Ellor. "Why do you let him get away with acting like a child."
"Don't talk about my brother like he's not here Norvin."
"You don't need to understand how it works," Gulvan said. "You just need to know what to do. You will operate it from here,"
"And I'll operate it from here."
"We'll activate it together. Your apparatus is all about bring things together. When we activate it, you should be able to commune with anyone as though they were members of the Vast. So when we turn it on, you need to concentrate on as many Hive's minds as possible."
"As many hiveminds?"
"No, focus as many members of the hive's brains as you can."
"And you do what?"
"My part of the apparatus is all about bolstering the mind. So I will be focusing inward, building my mind up until it can accept permanent contact with the members of the Hive. Essentially you will go wide and I'll go deep. When I'm ready you will transfer your connection the the Hive members minds over to me, and I will cement them in. Do you understand?"
"Why are you doing this? Surely it would be easier to turn a member of the Hive into the next Hivehome."
"It has to be me. No one else understands this machine like I do. I have the best chance of pulling this off."
Norvins face softened. "You could teach what you know to a member of their species. You don't have to do this. I know you've... struggled with human connections. If you're looking for companionship, you could always join the Vast. I'd-"
"I don't like you, and I don't want you or any of your kumbaya passive bullshit friends looking at my brain," Gulvan said. "And this isn't about me. It's about whats best for the hive. I am there best chance at becoming whole again."
"Very well," Norvin said. "Should we get started?"
"I should tell you, this could be a very dangerous process. If you don't want to do this, I'll be mad, but I suppose I should give you the chance to back out."
Norvin nodded, but he didn't have to think about it. They were both Elta's. Risking and sacrificing their lives for the good of the people was what they were born to do. "Let's get started."
Dame Ellor hugged Gulvan. "I love you."
Gulvan blinked. She was always bring that up at the weirdest times. "I love you too," he said.
Norvin and Gulvan took their seats, and activated the apparatus. He expected it to scream, screech, or shake with power, but instead all it did was issue a light hum. So low you could barely hear it. It was almost mesmerizing.
Norvin closed his eyes and reached out with his mind. He expected to be overwhelmed by possibilities, but he wasn't it was tranquil. As though before him laid thousands of beautiful doors, and he could go through any one of them with ease. He reached out to one of them, and before Norvin unspooled a member of the hive's entire life. He watched as it was born, nurtured, labored. He saw it's joy as it worked as a carpenter. Is despondence when his sister died. Every triumph, every agony. It was beautiful. It was transcendental. Norvin smiled as he reached for another door.
Gulvan's mind stood before him like an ugly, lopsided tower. A pile of bricks shuffled together, then forgotten. It could be so much more. Gulvan began shifting the bricks, removing some here, adding others there. And with every change Gulvan's understanding the structure grew clearer. Stronger. The tower was no longer leaning. Every once and a while he'd find himself stumped, only to make a minor change, and discover a myriad of moves that now seemed obvious. He labored tireless to to turn his mind into a mighty edifice. A tower that could blot out the sun itself. Then all of the sudden the ground underneath Gulvan shifted. Something was wrong with the machine. It did not like being used this way. It was reaching out for it's missing pieces.
The doors in front of Norvin were gone. Before him stood... Norvin wasn't sure what he saw. A fortress? A mountain? A god?
(As badly as I want to take credit for this card I can't. This is another @Monkeypirate2002 original)
He felt the entity reach towards him, and he reached back. It lifted him into the air, and before him orbited thousands upon thousands of doors. Norvin heard that low, near imperceptible hum again, and then they all burst open at once. This wasn't like before. He couldn't choose the doors. He couldn't look away. He should stop the ritual. Turn off the machine. This isn't what they wanted, and peoples lives were in danger.
But then Norvin saw the lives, thousands of them, play out before them. He saw two boys playing in a field. He saw how one of them grew to love the other, and how he killed him for it. He could see the regret that haunted him the rest of his life. He could see a thousand thousand different things. each one of them a single line in a beautiful tapestry. After seeing the tapestry how could he go back to looking at strings?
No. Peoples lives were at risk. His among him. This wasn't a fantasy to indulge in, this was peoples lives. Norvin began to pull back with his mind, return to the waking world. But then he felt something stir within him. Something he hadn't felt since the day he participated in the ritual that kept Uhthulc at bay. A deep, unceasing hunger.
Norvin returned to the tapestry. He reached out and started plucking up the strings. His senses were flooded with words like honor, sacrifice, heroics. A people so alike and yet so different from his own. He needed to know more about them. Much more. He needed know everything.
Gulvan could feel the landscape fall away around him. Something was wrong. Very wrong. But if he focused on anything else, the tower, his mind, would fall apart, and he could never build it up again.
More and more doors opened before Norvin. Too many. No. Not enough. He needed to open more. He wasn't just looking as the stories anymore. He was touching them. Feeding on them. The essence of thousands of delicate lives lied before him, and it was such a simple thing to reach out, and take them.
Thousands of miles away and hundereds of feet underground, the Interface of Authority whired and whired. It's operator asked much from it, but it was up to the task. The operator wanted bodies. Minds. And above it, the Interface found many to provide. With the aid of the Sprocket of Unity and the Dial of Autonomy, tt whired away as it fused metal armor to flesh, merged swords into hands, snaked circuitry into brains.
(TLDR: Norvin and Gulvan accidentally activated the Interface of Authority hidden in the lands of Nihoja. In the process they transformed a dominated a portion of their populace. Plague of Metal represents my final push against the Nihoja Coalition.)
However, once these little affairs are over, we will come back to collect what is rightfully K'Thrilia's. Salvation will arrive.
Snap the afflicted out of it and then tell him that he can have some more.
[Neither are my entry and they're just here to fight lore with lore. On a vaguely related note, you cannot imagine how annoyed I am at having made a couple of samurai constructs for previous challenges thinking "I might post this. No, that could be a better idea." Ironreave Ronin's one of those older concepts, Plateguard Exterminator's new.]
Jeremy's recitation of humorous poems were well received. By the humans at least. Jeremy didn't know what the sound of an elk laughing would be, but he certainly didn't hear it. That's ok, probably the less of an impression he left the better, but it still stung. As the festivities continued, Jeremy maid himself more and more scarce, until he eventually faded into the darkness. A few twists and turns later and Jeremy found himself in an open field. He started padding his way towards the forest when a voice projected into his brain.
Halt.
Jeremy would have found it disconcerting, but he was growing used to hearing voices in his head. He smiled and turned to see:
"Is there a problem?" Jeremy asked.
The cultural exchange is limited to the confines of the foreigner quarters.
"Well that was the original plan, but I explained that in order to truly understand each other we have to know where we all come from. I am a poet, and I wish to construct a poem about your forest. Volkota invited me to inspect your home forest, and return with some berries. Food is also an important part of a cultural exchange."
It seems unlikely Volkota would permit this.
"In all honesty, I think Volkota was simply hungry, and annoyed at my constant requests. I think he was glad to be rid of my presence for a little while."
The strider shifted it's head to the side. That contradicts my orders. I cannot allow you entry into the forest.
"I get it, your doing your job. How about you come back into town with me and you can ask Vokota himself? I have to warn you though, he's in a bit of a mood."
The elk shifted his head again. It won't be necessary to disturb Vokota. Simply leave your bag and you may continue on your way.
"Well I need it to carry back the berries. But I can empty its contents for you."
The strider watched as Jeremy removed his waterskin, harmonica, and other odds and ends from his bag. The Striders were a vigilant people, but they were novices when it came to manufactured goods. The hidden pocket the city guard so easily spotted went unnoticed by the elk.
Very well. Walk carefully, I know humans can't see very well in the dark. Listen for the stream and follow it's path, and you will find berries in no time."
"Thank you, my friend."
As he stepped into the forest Aelfdane manifested again on his shoulder. "Must have been a woman."
"Who did what?"
"No that elk must have been a woman. That handsome face of yours is always getting you out of your stupid mistakes."
"She's a beast."
"I bet she is. What? She's sentient, your sentient, it-"
"We are talking about something else now."
"Like what."
"How about you tell me how you even know about this eye in the first place."
"Not so loud," Aelfdane said. "Noise carries in this forest. Besides you need only whisper and I'll hear you."
"Well how about it?"
"The Fae and the Striders were close since our very first days on this plane. We were both forest dwellers, we both specialized in magic of the mind, we seemed like natural allies. Besides they had nothing of value to steal. Or at least that's how it seemed."
"But in reality?"
"I kept a very close eye on them as we continued to expand. My people make natural spies, able to snwak into minds as well as vaults. When I learned about they eye, I started making plans. I needed to draw the striders out. Not an easy task, but I found a way."
"Your death."
"And the war that followed yes. There world outreach project was an even greater boon than I could hope for. With the Striders looking ever outward and everyone thinking I'm dead... Well this the best, perhaps the only opportunity we've got."
"Where do you learn to move like that anyway? Aelfdane asked.
"My first boyfriend had a vigilant dad."
"I didn't realize you went that way."
"I go all ways."
"Ah so when I was talking about that stag-"
"Not that way."
"Don't ever do that again," Aelfdane said.
Despite his pale face Jeremy managed a smile. "No promises.
"That was actually fairly impressive." Aelfdane said.
"Don't you main fairyly?"
"What?
"Done in a matter similar to a faeries? "
"Ugh. The sooner I seperate from you the better."
(And now my actual submission:)
(Either tomorrow or tonight I will put up a post depicting what Aelfdane intends to do when she finally reaches the Ultimate Eye, but Daring Heist represents my final push against the Striders.)
Yeah, sure, knock yourselves out