AbyssalRoadTrip
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Abyssal Road Trip - 433 - Line in the sand
🕑 Added 2024-07-25 12:34:42 +0000 UTCAmdirlain’s PoV - Outlands
Amdirlain appeared with Sarah at the spire’s base. Within the shadows of the canopy, a playful breeze carried an icy chill as it played with Amdirlain’s azure locks.
“Why here?” asked Sarah.
“Best place to attract attention and give them something else to worry about,” said Amdirlain. “Have them scrambling with concerns that don’t relate to me. While others will scramble to see what they might grab, and I’ll know who to watch out for in the future.”
The music from ancient memories mingled with those from the first days she regained True Song and she confirmed where the sealed entrance to the spire lay. Notes burrowed deep into the earth, moving mega tonnes of earth and foliage off to settle on distant grasslands to form a new mountain. When the song ended, they stood on the lip of a vast canyon. The revealed grey stone of the spire was unblemished by dirt, its only marking was the Titan’s seal, surrounded by a spiral of musical notations. When Amdirlain sang again, she left a golden outline to mark out the remembered doorway tight against the spire.
A Portal’s threshold appeared before the stone with darkness beyond its archway—any Mortal crossing its threshold would be sent home if well or the medical Demi-Plane if injured in any way. The themes with the Demi-Plane’s crystal stretched out from across the threshold and sought knowledge from across the planes; the songs’ strength significantly increased over the training hall’s first version.
“Legends of the Titan’s maze,” said Sarah.
“We’ll see what comes hunting now,” huffed Amdirlain. “I’ll see you back at the training hall.”
When Sarah vanished, Amdirlain hopped to amid the Custodian’s columns. The Aspect’s happy chimes echoed through the vast space. “Amdirlain, that was naughty.”
“Then tell me what you’ve been up to that’s naughty Custodian,” replied Amdirlain.
The crystal form of Custodian swept into sight, its facets reflecting the timers from the pillars.
“I didn’t expect you here so soon, Amdirlain,” said Custodian. “Have you been paying that much attention to Gideon’s to-do list?”
“I’ve not checked it often. Eleftherios told me you’d gotten up to something to get my attention,” explained Amdirlain. “What mess did you expect me to come clean up?”
Custodian hummed sourly. “That’s fair. I had predicted it would be years before you came to see me again. However, since you’re here so soon, I can let others know in time to handle themselves.”
“What have you done, and perhaps why, would be nice to know?” asked Amdirlain.
“The why is a little complex. It has been increasing its mental control over demonic hordes, so I baited it to the Material Plane,” said Custodian. “The purpose was to get you to come here. I’d predicted you’d likely come here after capturing it to confirm if it was the released one.”
“Who did you put in danger?” asked Amdirlain.
“An invasive intruder species, but I’m not going into that,” said Custodian. “Since you’re here, I’ll get word to their Pantheon to let them know there is trouble on their doorstep. Who told Eleftherios about what I’d done?”
I wonder if there is more than one, or if the Formithian.
“The only other Aspect he mentioned aside from Gideon was the one for chaos,” said Amdirlain.
Custodian hummed. “I’m glad you take care not to use certain names. If only Gideon weren’t aware of so much knowledge without his name being used. I’m sorry to say your Demi-god foe might prove useful for searching Hades’ old Domain for some soul jars.”
What!
“Why don’t you want me searching Hades’ old Domain?” asked Amdirlain. “Whose souls are in the jars?”
“Eleftherios didn’t say?” asked Custodian.
“No,” replied Amdirlain.
“Well then, it doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter,” objected Amdirlain.
“He brought them to the realm in an old Titan relic. I only became aware of them after part of his Domain’s protections unravelled. The relic must have been linked to his life force.”
“You’re being evasive,” noted Amdirlain tightly.
Custodian dimmed and bobbed slowly. “Orhêthurin’s mother and baby brothers are held in the jars.”
Memories of the hollow longing and grief Orhêthurin had experienced down the aeons swirled up, and though it battered at Amdirlain, she let the torrent wash past.
Fuck. It doesn’t explain why they went to Moloch.
“And you want to risk him getting his hands on them?”
“He’s afraid of being destroyed, and we’re playing it up,” said Custodian. “Once he gets them…”
“You’ll know when the demons retrieve them from their hiding place,” said Amdirlain. “Won’t you?”
“I don’t want you going near Hades' former Domain. It might just be because I’m protective, but he’s going to lose millions, if not billions, of demons in the process of searching for the jars. I know of all the traps Hades left to protect valuables, and these are deep within the layers of security. I had planned to tell you about them when you were much stronger.”
“So, because of that, you two roped him in of all the dark powers?” inquired Amdirlain.
“His fear of you gave him the strongest motive to succeed, and we’d rather him waste his energies than have you be harmed. He’s desperate to avoid being killed by the Titan’s Songbird,” said Custodian. “They made no promises that it would appease you, only that it was the slim chance he had to get you not to crush him. He doesn’t know of your state. It was implied you’re still waking up, and we went with that idea.”
“What other actions were suggested?”
“For him to release all his slaves,” murmured Custodian.
Amdirlain laughed bitterly. “Like that would happen.”
“Time will tell,” said Custodian. “It was pointed out that they might be more profitable to him freed. It was also proposed he destroy Balnérith.”
Someone else at her throat won’t hurt. I’m not sure what to say to this right now. It’s an issue for the future.
“That aside, what’s going on? Why the games?” asked Amdirlain. “He hinted that the Aspect of War and others had been trying some things.”
“She thinks she can traumatise you and leave you vulnerable to whatever Ori might have left behind,” sighed Custodian. “She was after the name of the worlds to which we helped Livia’s Mantle gain a connection. I told her I didn’t treasure her behaviour and refused to provide them. She might still discover where if Livia gets into big enough conflicts with other powers.”
“No good deed goes unpunished. I freed her from the blood, and so she wants to screw me over,” sighed Amdirlain.
If Laodice believes she can restore the old Ori at my expense, she’d better hope that I never regain Ori’s capabilities. I do wonder how Orhêthurin would have handled her.
“Many in the realm treasure you, and I will not cooperate with her betrayal. While I’m likely more protective than you’d prefer in some matters, I will not become involved in anything intended to harm you, Amdirlain,” said Custodian.
“How much damage has the Eldritch done?” asked Amdirlain grimly.
“They’d have slain far more if I’d left them to accumulate demonic forces. It wasn’t a decision I enjoyed, but I needed to draw your attention and it had the benefit of removing it from the Abyss,” Custodian explained glumly. “War tried to order me about and dictate my allegiances. Like all beings, I have my priorities, and she does not determine them. Her behaviour is such that she’s quickly eroding all my sympathy for her imprisonment.”
“When she broke the connection with me, I felt abandoned,” said Amdirlain. “It seems I should have been thankful.”
“I’m glad Eleftherios contacted you. I’ve prepared an item to help you, but I’ll need you to do something for me,” said Custodian. “You can use this to disguise your True Song Crystal and leave your library intact.”
A shimmering spindle hovered in the air between them.
“And the price?”
“Go to Vehtë as you had planned, but within the next week,” said Custodian. “Stay away from the deep Abyss until you’ve selected four more classes post-Malfex.”
“Can you tell me why?”
“Not without causing you problems,” sighed Custodian. “I’m trying to help you gain some insights and benefit the overall goal of Protection.”
Three hundred and sixty demi-planes wouldn’t be enough to reach my level goals, and I’d need nine nights to handle that many. Do I even want the insights Custodian wants me to have?
“I need longer than a week,” replied Amdirlain.
The spindle disappeared. “Then I can’t provide this. Please disassemble the training hall to avoid endangering Livia. Even with your distraction, they’ll keep scouring for sources of True Song until they find the creators. The events on Culerzic and Ternòx make it clear it’s not just an old ruin responsible.”
I already had figured that, or Eleftherios wouldn’t have warned me. Though I use the songs for so much, they’d eventually come knocking.
“There won’t be a trace of the True Song Crystal structures at the monastery or Xaos when I leave,” Amdirlain said.
Custodian sighed. “I hoped you’d accept that offer, but your course is yours to decide.”
Amdirlain paused, but Custodian didn’t launch into an explanation, and she nodded politely.
At least there was no guilt trip or gaslighting.
“It would mean cutting short my levelling or other preparations,” said Amdirlain. “Take care, Custodian.”
Amdirlain shifted away, and appeared on the white sands of the vacation Demi-Plane, as she moved to wiggle her toes in the wet sand she dispatched a note to Sarah.
It was only a few minutes before Sarah arrived nearby. “A beach trip already?”
“Care to sit and wiggle your toes in the sand?”
“I’m not getting sand in my clothing,” Sarah said, striding up the beach and sitting in the shade.
“I want to talk over our travel plans with no one else chipping in,” said Amdirlain. “But first, let me share my conversation.”
Rather than repeat the words, Amdirlain shared the memory and drew a grunt of concern at the end.
“There is an upside to not taking that offered spindle,” said Sarah.
Amdirlain smiled tightly. “It’s hard to tell which aspects are on my side rather than just stringing me along. I’ll take the warning at face value for now since the whole reason the four got trapped was because of the warmonger among them. It’s such a pain having to avoid their names. I’ll see about pushing my level more, but part of the reason for not taking Custodian’s offer was certain changes.”
“Did your form change further with the levels?”
“That wasn’t what I was talking about,” said Amdirlain, and she waved her left hand at Sarah. “I don’t want others setting deadlines right now.”
The gesture to draw attention to her ring, had Sarah smiling warmly. “I hadn’t expected you to answer or it to even slow down.”
“It feels weird, and it’s taking a bit to sink in,” admitted Amdirlain.
“I sprung it on you by surprise,” said Sarah. “Give it a few weeks to sink in and you can decide if you want a party or to do something else to celebrate.”
“Tonight, I’ll deal with the training hall and make some demi-planes, but aside from the morning training for the monks, I’m taking three days off,” said Amdirlain, waving at the white sands around them. “Would you be able to clear your schedule to relax?”
Sarah’s gaze glimmered with pleased surprise. “A brief honeymoon, despite the warning?”
“I feel almost guilty taking the time, but there is always some danger,” said Amdirlain. “Would you consider it a down payment on a longer one? When we move to Vehtë, how about we relax for a month on a beach somewhere?”
“A nice Mediterranean beach vacation sounds nice,” said Sarah. “What do you plan to do with the training hall?”
Amdirlain smiled. “I’m going to shift it to one of the training demi-planes I set up for the monastery.”
“It’s still amusing you used the older style for them,” said Sarah.
“They don’t have the same industrial pressures,” replied Amdirlain. “Though I think that’s enough business talk for now.”
“What did you have in mind?”
The shadow vines withdrew into the bracelet, and Amdirlain headed for the surf. Sarah shed her clothing and hastened to join her.
♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫
That evening, after shifting her training facilities wholesale to a Demi-Plane, she seeded enchanted pillars at points around the monastery to access it. Then, she recreated the original structure, down to the grains within the wood and stone, before creating demi-planes. The experience that night fed into her Fallen species before she returned to relaxing with Sarah. Their three days savouring each other's company was a brief but welcome respite before Amdirlain set to work with the waiting Lómë. The assembled choirs of a hundred thousand experienced singers waited for her in the barren world where she’d spoken to Eleftherios.
The planet’s atmosphere was still ripe with foulness after her earlier work. It was more breathable than earlier, even without the aid of a few enchantments that the Lómë had set in place.
Isa, Gail, and Roher stood by the senior council, who all greeted her and Gilorn’s arrival with deep bows.
“Amdirlain,” said Roher. “I’m sorry our delay has reduced our opportunity to work with you.”
“We’ll see how we go,” said Amdirlain. “Hopefully, we can do the planet in eight hours without overstressing everyone.”
“We’ll switch choirs every two hours,” said Roher. “Though I’m not sure we’ll have the strength to balance you.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll keep to a steady pace,” said Amdirlain. “If anyone feels themselves close to faltering, please stop. We’ll break early if we get a large percentage of the choir at their limits before it’s officially time to switch. This is an exercise that the Anar and Lómë haven’t undertaken in multiple reincarnations of everyone here. Since I’ve no experience as a conductor, I’ll accompany your choirs.”
Roher and the council nodded their understanding, though Amdirlain sensed the determination of those gathered.
“Places,” instructed Roher.
Groups that had shifted to talk casually while waiting straightened their postures and lines. When Roher sketched the time and signalled them to start, Gilorn shifted into a crystalline woman and lifted her voice with them. Discipline honed within the Abyss didn’t allow them to falter as Gilorn effortlessly sang the Lómë side, matching Amdirlain’s voice. Gail barely suppressed her smile, but Isa’s notes drifted with merry laughter.
The surrounding planet did not visibly change during the first choirs’ efforts, but all heard the difference once they’d seeded the smallest life forms. The second rotation of choirs added grasses, mosses, and small plants across the lands and seas. While the Gilorn and Amdirlain continued to sing, the third choirs joined their efforts, and trees rose from now fertile soil and sent roots deep. None of the choirs had left the planet, waiting until the last choirs completed the work.
Only when the last note faded did a shocked council member address Gilorn. “I had thought you simply a harp.”
“Like both your species, I’m a child of the Titan’s Songbird,” replied Gilorn. “Your past incarnations all disappointed his daughter so greatly with your wholesale rejection of her design that I can’t begin to express her pain. I hope you’ll put your pride aside this time to create her dream.”
Before any of them could reply, Gilorn vanished, and Amdirlain followed suit.
“That was a bit of a clue,” said Amdirlain.
“Sorry, just listening to some of them annoyed me,” said Gilorn. “I could sense they felt their uniqueness had been usurped.”
“You wanted to break the news in stages? Do you care to guess how they’ll be next session when you sing the Anar side?” asked Amdirlain.
Gilorn sighed. “Why did Orhêthurin bring me to life?”
“I like to think you were her hope for the future, Gilorn,” said Amdirlain. “Don’t let the Lómë’s pride infect you with disappointment. Look on the bright side. That effort gave me a tiny experience reward and some insight into Resonance and singing.”
[Crafting Summary (Planetary Biome)
Complete Planetary bio-system x1 (x 1/400,005)
Total experience gained: 955,906
Olindë: +955,906
Resonance-Prince [G] (42->43)
True Song Genesis-Lord [G] (18->19)
Note: One tiny shuffle forward, one planet breathing.]
[Achievement: Life from Death
Details: Restore the bio-system of a planet that had all life eradicated.
Reward: 500,000,000
Note: The same reward has been provided to all parties involved.]
“Good, no doubt it was from balancing your notes around amateurs.”
“It makes me wonder how you can stand singing with me,” said Amdirlain. “Is that why you’re grumpy with them? I’ve worn your patience out.”
Gilorn let loose some merry chimes. “Hardly. Shall we get back to increasing your trap? It’s already claimed some demonic scouts who reported treasures and crystal before their demise.”
“Are you going to be alright doing the rest of the planets with them?”
“I’ll do my best,” said Gilorn. “In a way, I should be thankful for the self-centredness of past incarnations. She might never have created me if they had stayed true to Orhêthurin’s goals.”
Amdirlain snorted. “That is one way to look at it. If you want to look at it that way, then the pain she endured is why I’m here. I’m not sure I’m okay with anyone enduring such loneliness for my sake.”
“Then let’s put such morbid thoughts behind us. Twenty gates?”
The ring of gates opened, and the pair started singing to expand the demi-planes. As more levels accumulated hastily into her classes, the shifts in her True Form grew more apparent over the weeks of creation. With the rate of creation that the True Song evolution allowed, Amdirlain’s new Class matched the others after ten days, and she set to pushing them all towards three hundred. It was after nearly four weeks of pushing hard that the shifting within her body forced Amdirlain to stop.
When Amdirlain didn’t open another set of twenty gates partway through the evening, Gilorn chimed curiously. “Are you having an early night?”
Amdirlain spent the hundreds of attribute points she’d been hoarding into Willpower and felt the pressure ease. “I might be close to my limit.”
I could have pushed higher if I hadn’t placed so many points into Quickness, but I needed better balance.
“You could just rest on one of your demi-planes and let students come to you,” proposed Gilorn.
“I’m so afraid of whatever I’m going to look like after the species change that I just want it done,” admitted Amdirlain.
“Sometimes the anticipation is worse than the reality,” said Gilorn.
“Precisely, and I’m tired of the fear of it hanging over my head,” said Amdirlain.
Gilorn hummed. “You’re sixteen levels off, though you’ll need to do some items piecemeal to avoid wasting experience progressing classes. Not that it matters. It’s not like you’re slaughtering foes to eke out another level beyond these.”
“Have you gone up in level at all with the work on the trap?” asked Amdirlain.
Gilorn’s laughter startled birds out of nearby trees. “Dear one, I’m fully into what you and Sarah call stupid number territory. I’ve not gained a single level with all our combined work.”
“If I create one more Demi-Plane with you and put the experience into Scion, that evens it out. Then, if I do five of the knowledge-gatherer levels and set the experience to Ascetic Triumvirate, it leaves me with thirteen levels between Olindë and Primal Maestro.”
“Might I suggest you take a few days?” asked Gilorn. “More than your evening relaxation time that you spend curled up in Sarah’s arms.”
“A week, and then we’ll get Qil Tris sorted out,” said Amdirlain. “After that, I’ll get back to levelling.”
“Good, now away with you. I’ll try to behave better with the Lómë on the planet next week,” said Gilorn. “Roher’s report said it’s taken the weakest of them a lot longer to recover than expected. They’re switching over some singers this time, and those who minded their children last time will take part.”
That news drew a smile from Amdirlain.”I’m glad you’re okay with talking to Roher.”
She teleported to the moved training hall and perched on a workbench near Sarah’s focused students. When Sarah’s demonstration ended, she tasked them to set a minor enchantment and joined Amdirlain.
“You’re here early,” noted Sarah.
“All the levels are catching up to me,” sighed Amdirlain.
“Has Gilorn given you an early mark for the rest of the day?”
Amdirlain smiled shyly. “I’m taking another week off so I can disrupt your schedule. After that, we’ll fix the ghost caverns, and then I’ll push the last levels into place.”
Sarah grinned broadly in return. “I’m sure I can get someone to cover some classes. If you’re that close to being done, we’ll be heading off soon, I take it?”
“Yep,” Amdirlain said. “Not sure if going on a trek covering thousands of kilometres is a honeymoon.”
“It is in my books,” replied Sarah. “We can easily provide for ourselves.”
“Time for us to be completely alone except for the odd monster trying to eat our faces,” quipped Amdirlain.
“Poor monsters. At least it will save me hunting when that happens,” Sarah sighed dramatically.
“Should I comment about you eating everything?”
Sarah smiled slyly.
♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫
Amdirlain had left the construction of the trap primarily to Gilorn and focused on the Demi-Plane training facilities for Qil Tris. By the time she’d evened her classes at three hundred, even putting additional points into Willpower wasn’t holding back the unsettling feel of her shifting True Form. As the experience from the last set of demi-planes clicked into place, a shudder ran through her flesh.
“We should deal with Qil Tris,” sighed Amdirlain. “It’s getting close to the deadline I put to Mor’lmes.”
“Do you think they’ll have convinced the other territories to take your notifications seriously?”
“There are some training facilities that haven’t seen activity,” noted Amdirlain. “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink. When the ghost caverns are inaccessible, we’ll see if that prompts them to try the training facilities.”
Gilorn hummed. “I’ll summon you somewhere remote, shall I?”
“That’s likely for the best,” Amdirlain said, waving a hand at herself. “It’s pretty horrible under this flesh now.”
“Since Sarah isn’t present to correct you, I’ll point out that only the curse’s shell has an ill aspect,” countered Gilorn before she vanished.
When the summoning pulled her into the conduit, smoke and hissing corruption clouded her view of the summoning conduit’s walls.
Light enfolded Amdirlain as she crossed the threshold into the Material Plane. Before she could fully adjust the summoning circle’s restriction, the mirrored barrier vanished. Unrestricted, she expanded across an expansion of ice, snow and rock at the base of a glacier.
Amdirlain’s claws gouged long furrows in the frozen soil, sending a spray of ice and rock into the air. The ice that flew outwards mingled with the foul sludge that oozed from every spike that had breached her skin. Reflected in the blue-white ice of a nearby glacier, her recent levels had morphed the bone plate across her face into a smooth, elongated pseudo-avian beak, except for the solid serrated ridges where her teeth had once been. A series of bony plates stuck up like bladed fines and ran from the top of her skull down either side of her spine along the now four hundred metres of her corruption oozing form. Her prehensile tail made up nearly two-thirds of her body length. Her smoky wings left a spoiled oil slick across the glacier’s face, muddying the view.
She pulled her form inwards and shifted into her Wood Elf shape with the improbable azure blue hair.
“You’re not taking on a Catfolk form?” asked Gilorn.
“I don’t plan to be seen by anyone on this trip,” said Amdirlain. “If I’d been smart about it, I’d have avoided being seen on my first trip until I’d learnt more about them. Do we have to move from here? I’ve already tuned into the themes of the ghost cavern thresholds.”
“True. We only need to alter the thresholds of a few thousand gates,” agreed Gilorn. “Fiddly, but it doesn’t require our proximity. Will you collect the souls from the conduits afterwards?”
“I’m going to send the details of the conduits through to the Eldest and allow the cloister members to earn some redemption,” replied Amdirlain.
“That’s a good idea,” chimed Gilorn. “Clearing the lingering undead and the gestating spawning abominations could be time-consuming. As we seal each, I’ll pull the military staff back onto the Material Plane.”
By the time they had the first dozen entrances sealed, Amdirlain heard some souls crossing the new threshold and sensed a glimmer of this world’s region of Judgement. Legions of aged and battered souls stood waiting for deities to sort them into their proper afterlives or return them to the cycle of life. Many within her reach bore wounds that echoed the undead of the ghost caverns, showing how their passage through the cursed conduit had scarred them.
The militaries of numerous territories and city-states were arrayed on plains outside the cities that had played unwilling host to the various ghost caverns. At the poles and in remote locations around the globe, additional portals were set to allow stray souls passage to Judgement without crossing through the Astral Plane.
[Achievement: Vengeance Bane
Details: Successfully stymied a deific scourge against a species.
Reward: 33,500,000,000
Note: While the reward for each is small, the affected population makes it a ‘large’ reward.]
Amdirlain snorted at the last addition to the Class.
Gilorn hummed. “Gideon is rude.”
“What did they say to you?” laughed Amdirlain.
“The first ‘note’ I’ve received from them, and I don’t want to repeat it,” huffed Gilorn. “They should have their facets scratched up.”
“I’ll see you back at the monastery,” said Amdirlain, and Planar Shift took her away.
Comments
CringeWorthyStudios
Ah! Exact same reason I was awake too! 🤣
Peter Gerganov
Hell yeah, dark ascension time! Thanks for the chapter
Glenn Wright
Insomnia - I've slept a lot the last week and a half of the flu, and it decided to pay me a visit tonight.
CringeWorthyStudios
Edited the original comment too. Had to send it in stages since Patreon kept deleting it when I left it as a draft. Also, I know I’m a hypocrite in asking but why are you awake before five bloody am in the morning? lol.
Glenn Wright
The earlier mention must have fallen victim to editing.
CringeWorthyStudios
“Why don’t you want me searching Hades’ old Domain?” asked Amdirlain. “Whose souls are in the jars?” > Soul Jars weren’t mentioned before this point in the conversation, unless it was last chapter, so I’m not sure how Am knows what Moloch is looking for… Aww, kinda disappointed that she didn’t go poke the catfolk, but oh well. At least it was very nice to see the Lome realise just a little more of what they had missed out of due to their previous lives’ actions. Thanks for the chapter!
