NABC BECMI Chapter 498 – Changing Directions by Changing the Compass
BECMI Chapter 498 – Changing Directions by Changing the Compass
“Any we send back are going to die if they get involved in politics at all,” I stated coldly. “If they want to go as members of relief convoys, however, providing security as the Church of Morning expands its reach there… I can sign off on that.”Sama and Briggs looked at one another, and nodded together, Briggs answering, “That is workable. Of course, any Forsaken remaining here are going to be Leveling and leaving the others behind. I imagine it will be quite the choice for them.” The Bug Farms were very, very busy right now. Briggs went on, “How many made it to the Hollow World?”
“Less than a score of Overmagi and similar Priests, along with the Empress. Probably a third of the numbers that were sent off to Meandral as part of the general population. They’ve been stuck on a great floating island the size of the Isle of Kheper rotating around the landscape bellow, scrambling to make sense of their new location. Since they’ve lost most of their air fleet and dimensional travel magic doesn’t work down there, they are basically stuck until they can rebuild… and rebuilding their lives is taking priority over rebuilding their fleet, at this point.”
“They’ll eventually attempt to expand into the lower world and enslave the inhabitants, because that is what they do,” Sama snarled, having no faith in higher causes regarding the Delphans OR the Siricilans!
“I agree,” I nodded. “But the Spells of Preservation are down, and the cultures can evolve. I have a visit to make to the elves of Herriatar before they starve to death.”
“What of that other rogue of Delpha who needs to be handled? I daresay that he is going to take advantage of this opportunity if he can,” Briggs said neutrally.
“Do we have a Master team capable of taking him out?” I asked with an arched eyebrow. It was a given that I could do so, and them as well.
Sama held up three fingers. “You want I should send them all out and take apart his little operation, baws?” she said in an exaggerated Siricilan accent.
“I would like to take this chance to destroy the Purgefield from the Sheikdoms before the Immortals notice it is not working anymore, then blame it on the Pulse. I can then restore Father Myah to the surface and undo the stupid shit the Immortals pulled off there.” The river had been buried too long!
“If you do that, you’re going to potentially drown a good bunch of Wallisamp’s work, regardless,” Sama pointed out in amusement.
“Then they should get busy immediately,” I responded. “I’m taking down that stupid Artifact tomorrow.”
Both of them just grinned. “Give us a layout of his holdings and dungeons, and we’ll set the lads and lasses to it. He’s a coward and pragmatist; he’ll run when he starts getting hit, figuring that some of his enemies are finally attacking after discovering his whereabouts and what he’s doing.”
“Well, it definitely isn’t the people of the Sheikdoms!” snorted Sama, having no use for the religious zealots of their Prophet and holy book. The blind fervor which united them as a people against outsiders also divided them internally on the true meaning of the Prophet’s work.
“You’re aware the Sheikdoms are part of a Dynast’s path to power, yes?” I asked of her, raising her eyebrows.
“Aren’t they all? Didn’t the Propher Al-Mushar make it to Immortal?”
“According to Tek, yes. He’s been quite aggressive for a new Immortal, already rising to Celestial and a zealous protector of his people,” I confirmed.
“He’s not protecting his people, he’s protecting their faith. If he was truly helping them, he would have removed the Purge and restored the river Myah himself, if he even knows it was there,” scoffed Briggs, completely unimpressed. “Save for being both united and divided by religion, the Zakarum are basically no better off than their ancestors were… and they can’t even find and definitely not run off someone like Wallisamp.”
“And they are obsessed with scimitars!” Sama could only roll her eyes in dismay. “Must have been fifty of them come to challenge me in Siricil over the years, convinced that because they used a curved sword they could not be beaten in a fight!”
“It’s because it was so much bigger than a gladius, doubtless.” She chuckled in delight at Briggs’ droll observation. “It doesn’t matter. Their religion is of Law, and the two factions pivot the nation towards Good and Evil respectively as needs and times require, making them uncommitted and useless overall. There is a job to be done, so it is time to do it.”
“I’ll get them sent out and start working.” Sama frowned thoughtfully for a moment. “You know, it strikes me that you might have some really elite tunnel fighters in Umbravie there. You think some might be interested in getting in on the clearing?”
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“I will send out discreet invitations to some of the elites to see if they want to play. They seem to be more conscious of their lack of true power after coming to the surface now, strangely enough.”
“Humanoids and monsters are not the same as disciplined, civilized foes, it is true. They need more experience at the top of the game,” Briggs agreed firmly. “We can offer them time at the Bug Farm, as well. They will probably think it old home week, on steroids.”
“They’ve a lot of work to do to get their land up to par, but they’ve a much better work ethic than most Sidhe. You’ll not find them lacking in volunteers.” It was a given those who’d come to my lands were also involved with the Eismark forces and working their ways toward elite statuses. Even if they never did anything aggressive with it, more Tens around was more Tens around, and good for all their friends and neighbors back home.
“How do you believe this is all going to fall out among the Immortals?” Briggs asked me directly, knowing I had frequent communication with Immortals on the other side, and Tek spoke to me frequently here since I had extremely in-depth knowledge of the Nucleus of All Spheres.
“We executed multiple master-strokes against multiple Immortals. We removed a Hierarch and a Celestial of Entropy from the board entirely, as well as an Eternal of Energy. Thaum is gone, Gaebrel is basically a recluse. We collapsed the home realms of a score more of them, costing them ages of effort, totally removed access to the Nucleus from them, and as they are about to find out, completely barred dozens of them from ever entering Nown again.
“Shattering the Spell of Preservation on the Hollow World and removing Delpha from Nown are massive actions, and are still ongoing. When they shake out, even more Immortals will find themselves barred from Nown.
“I think that once they start pointing fingers at one another and finding who is to blame for what actions, they are going to be extremely pissed. But if we did it right, they’re going to be absolutely miffed that they got what was coming to them, and it will look like they are responsible for what has happened to them!”
“What could make them think otherwise?” Briggs asked calmly, huge hands clasped and his brick of a jaw resting on them as he regarded me.
“Finding the Pyramids in the Hollow World where they are would raise suspicions. At the very least, they’d want to know who killed all the Annelids.”
There were still hundreds to kill on this Shore. Master Teams used them as monthly targets for guaranteed Karma and Immortal Power harvests alike. That actually wasn’t suspicious, just very energetic. The Pyramids put in place at all those locations was proof I was being VERY busy, however!
“In the meantime, we discovered there’s another five thousand Annelids scattered through Nown’s mantle on the Other Shore, basically almost invisible to it. I had some time to work on a custom Divination spell at XII that can see the Nullsight Field around them, and I have to run it under all our lands.” basically meant I could locate one of them per Casting, and really sped up locating them back on the Other Shore.
Harvesting by Emeril, Lalo, myself, Sif, Thor, and especially the newer Eternals had followed forthwith, and the Annelid deaths by vivus and Holy energies for the greater glory of Heaven had been very helpful in building up the new Realm...
“These Annelids are definitely known of by some of the elder Entropics, and are being concealed as trump cards. Only some of the oldest members of the other Spheres might even know they are there,” I added calmly. “Some of them were moved into position under my Ringlands on the Other Shore, doubtless in preparation to cause another catastrophe.”
The smile that appeared on both of their lips was almost identical in its predatory nature. “Awwww, then that means they couldn’t complain if their Tools went missing?” Sama purred in anticipation. Eternals needed things to prey upon, too. The Mick and his team needed something to burn off energy, and, well, five thousand more hidden Annelids was a LOT of work waiting to get done!
“There was a thundering lack of reaction when I cleared them away… and no new ones have been moved there.” I glanced away toward nothing. “Of course, we did the same kind of brutal Immortal judgment there as we did here. So there might have been some distractions in the meantime upsetting carefully-laid plans...”
“I know you have three thousand years more to go on the Other Shore to bring the realms into temporal parity and allow free transition of the gods between here and there,” Sama said softly. “Is that going to be an issue?”
I eyed her calmly. “Are you referring to my level of power, or my mental state?” I inquired evenly.
“Both, since you are bringing them up,” Briggs offered genially. “We can both see you are holding back in the mental space. I’m presuming your investments in your mentals are far beyond ours, and the temporal edge is helping you immensely.”
“It is, but my Karmic needs are . The reverberations of this Masterstroke are raising me towards Sixty, what would be Eternal-Tier among Immortals. Emeril and Lalo aren’t too far behind after all these years, both only a few Tiers behind me among the Empyreals. The Requirements for Sixty are 75 in all mental Stats and 50 in all others for me, but the upper limit is 100 once I reach it.
“I sacrifice Karma with every Pyramid I build, tying it to Nown and allowing the world to use it to direct and store excess Immortal Power for use. I spend more in spell research, studying Eternal Valences and trying to work out spells that are more than Upcast Magicks. I invest more into the Ringlands, solidifying them against Immortal interference and crystallizing my own authority there.”
I closed my eyes and looked down at my hands. “I am aware that I have far surpassed you. Sif and Thor have both surpassed you, because of the time leverage involved, the authority of those two Forsaken upon the world even intimidates some of the Immortals now!
“The gods are still evolving, at the higher end of Lesser Gods now, perhaps matches for the High Hierarchs after so many centuries of faithful and energetic followers. But they, like we, have immense expenditures to make, and I know that the huge harvests from this cross-alternity Masterstroke were used up instantly as they finally managed to establish a solid and safe Heaven that could stretch between the Shores. You could potentially visit them, talk to them, and they can start reaching here to answer prayers… but they cannot come here yet, because of the temporal tides.”