Abyssal Road Trip - 576 - Tell me

Amdirlain’s PoV - Vehtë - Laški

The temple kitchen was a combined dining area large enough to seat twenty people. It served as a junction point between the temple proper, with its hall and altar, accommodation for novices and priests, and the back courtyard. Within its stones, Amdirlain could hear the echoes of the people who had called it home before being ordered from Laški.

“We missed you,” Aggie added a scoop of mint tea into the steaming pot, and its fragrant aroma filled the air. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t come back earlier.”

“Yeah, you just went off and dealt with easier things, like fighting the Eldritch, hordes of demons, and dealing with your traumas. I know you weren’t off simply enjoying yourself.”

“Who else is alive from my time on Vehtë?” Amdirlain asked.

“Sagga currently governs a fort on the northwest border where it edges up against Dwarf territory. Most of the original enclave formed from the prisoners you rescued are dead or gone, travelling different planes and worlds. Those who didn’t die of old age perished in combat with monsters or their personal demons. Even with timely spells or blessings, the departed can choose whether to move on or return.” Aggie’s gaze darkened before she offered Amdirlain a reassuring smile. “We mourn our loss, not theirs, and I wish them the best when they’re reborn.”

Amdirlain’s gaze shadowed. “Faced with the chance to rest or to return for more conflict, they moved on to Lerina’s Domain.”

“Yes, I can understand the appeal after centuries. We’re not elves; our minds work differently, and even though my body doesn’t age now, the years sometimes sit heavily. I think the sheer time Immortal Spirit provides is part of the challenge of following a Dao. While I understand it is part of changing one’s perspective, sometimes it feels like a slow poison stealing humanity.”

Farhad certainly could be inhumane in his pursuit of the purity of law, and I ran into others who seemed to have left their humanity behind.

“Who runs the university now?”

“A trio of high priestesses from a newish sect of Lerina. They focus on education, arguing that knowledge offers the best opportunities to make choices. In seeking to expand the university, I think they focus too much on the coin the rich provide. They can afford to pay for their children’s education, so the university panders to them.” Aggie twitched. “Now I think about it, that might be the key for you to blend.”

“I should turn up somewhere and play the rich, spoiled brat?”

“No, you’d be sure to attract attention, spoiling people with sponsorships. I meant it’s a matter of your focus,” Aggie said. “You adopt a disguise with no combat classes or powers. Then whatever help you provide would have to be mundane or in secret.”

“What, do I turn up somewhere as a young orphan?”

Aggie waved her hands in protest. “Don’t go near a poorly funded orphanage in that sort of disguise. If a child went hungry because of limited funds, things would quickly escalate.”

Amdirlain raised an eyebrow. “Really? Am I that predictable?”

“Oh, how our fortunes have changed since that orphan,” Aggie clasped her hands together as if in reverent prayer. “They’ll think the lady of fortune blesses you, priests would come to investigate the miraculous incidents, and then your disguise would come unstuck. Many places have orphanages, and two types of people operate them. Those genuinely seeking to help children and those seeking personal benefits. Either type would be a problem; you’d give too much help to the first, and draw attention by exposing the second.”

“Then what are you proposing?”

“The best disguise would be someone like Zivena; no one looks twice at a guild receptionist, merchant’s clerk, or labourer. Go to a big city, pay the entry tax in coppers, and present a letter of introduction from someone known but not overly important. Get employed somewhere where several people of your supposed Class level are, so you can gauge your performance against them. If you’re looking for connections to everyday people, be normal. I can get a guild master to write a letter.”

“What would you tell them?”

“I’d tell him it’s an introduction for the daughter of an old friend, but my name would carry too much risk since she’s a meek girl.” Aggie’s hand briefly hid a smirk.

“Maybe after I’m done teaching some students magic,” Amdirlain replied thoughtfully.

“You should focus on what you need, Amdirlain.”

Surely my time training with Maker should count as time spent on myself. Sarah says no, but I’m still undecided.

“This body is an Avatar,” Amdirlain tapped her chest. “A second is with Sarah, a third teaching magic, and my primary location is in the Outlands. In a way, I’m always tending to my needs.”

Aggie gave her a stern look. “Are you? I believe I’ve heard that before, when you were fighting to free yourself from a curse. If it were true, then you wouldn’t be qualifying it. Your use of the term ‘in a way’ says everything.”

“I spent thousands of years in a time-accelerated realm learning and regaining my original memories.”

“Was Sarah with you?” Aggie immediately asked, her gaze locked on Amdirlain.

“I had an Avatar in this realm keeping her company.”

The cup shifted on the saucer with a scratching sound as Aggie filled her cup. “Then that sounds like you were working and had an anchor to remain sane. Did you rest during that time or continually train, work, and learn? Were the memories fun to regain?”

Amdirlain kept still, and Aggie set the pot down between them.

“No bright smile,” Aggie observed. “Should I take that as a no?”

“It’s not like I can change them,” Amdirlain replied. “There was a mixture.”

Where does her affection come from? After so many centuries, I thought most people’s feelings would have faded.

She caught a thread of a memory and traced it to a collection of hundreds of conversations between Lerina and Aggie. With all the loss Aggie had experienced, the foundation Amdirlain had once provided had grown into a touchstone of stability for Amdirlain’s former High Priestess. 

She sees me as a far better friend than I’ve been to her; I won’t hurt her with rejection.

“If you are working for others with your primary body, or all your avatars, then you’re not looking after yourself.” Aggie gave a bitter smile. “With all the increases in my Wizard classes, I found my brain stopped resting properly unless I forced it. With no Mortal restrictions, it must be difficult to stop and rest. What keeps you busy in the Outlands?”

“Baiting forces from the lower planes,” Amdirlain admitted. “Some dark powers are looking to capture me.”

“Isn’t your Domain in the Outlands? Why are you playing games there with dark powers?”

Amdirlain didn’t answer immediately but considered the temple’s calm. She adjusted her filters and found that murals covered the temple hall, noting how many depicted the faithful's efforts to improve others’ lives. One showed a Celestial figure with azure hair pushing a globe of darkness towards a golden man, while she shielded ethereal souls who streamed away to the heavens. The script below it said, “In memory of all those lost.”

Is that supposed to be me handing off the Mantle to Lerina?

“They found out I’m there, and it's an opportunity to repay them for those lost,” Amdirlain replied, causing Aggie to stiffen.

“I’d forgotten they had one of those murals here.”

Amdirlain patted Agge’s hand before continuing. “A dark Power from Hell promoted the Demon Lord responsible for Torm’s corruption in that Abyssal Transformation Site. They and their allies are now coming after me, and we’re killing their armies and trying to anger other dark powers into taking action against them.”

“Then you’re certainly not relaxing. Why are you teaching magic here if you’re running a magic academy in another world?”

“A picture paints a thousand words.” Amdirlain created an illusion of the family and their apartment around them. “Also, I found I enjoy teaching.”

Aggie’s hand twitched as if to ruffle Mieszko’s hair. “I never had a child. For a long time, I’ve felt that anyone I'm involved with would have a target on them.”

“I could ask one of my daughters to help,” Amdirlain murmured. “Some would love to be among people, and with True Song, people’s facades won’t fool them. If they answered a summons to help a friend of mine, they’d see it as icing on the cake.”

Delight from Amdirlain’s acknowledgement of friendship bloomed in Aggie’s mind as she silently eyed the phantasms that surrounded them, then slowly shook her head. “I’ve rejected so many proposals over the years, I doubt I’ll ever get married now.”

“Tell me if you find the right person to rejuvenate that dream,” Amdirlain said.

“That will teach me not to speak of my Dao with you,” Aggie chuckled. “How about I teach this family you’ve found? Then you can focus on your needs, rather than enabling the dreams of others.”

“Staying with and teaching them gives me a reason to connect,” Amdirlain replied. “Though their culture is different, their Human mindset is closer to what I had in life.”

“How terribly selfish. How do we handle Plamen and these assassins, Amdirlain?” 

“We? Since he recruited a group of adventurers to kill a guild councillor, I’m going to leave that in the guild’s hands.”

“Good, I’m glad you’re not taking responsibility for things that aren’t your problem.” Aggie reached across the table and clasped Amdirlain’s hand. “We missed you.”

“Are you going to keep telling me that?”

“Every chance I get,” Aggie said, unshed tears gleaming in her gaze. “When you got summoned into Apollo’s trap, I blamed myself for not getting to you in time. You had that summoner who tried to call you, and we let ourselves get distracted from finding the truth.”

“Why are you still carrying that guilt? Monstrous hordes were forming along the northern border,” Amdirlain noted. “Thousands of people needed immediate help, whereas my summoner hadn’t even gotten close to pulling me into the conduit, and all I had was a name to pass along.”

“But...”

Aggie’s objection trailed off under Amdirlain’s firm stare. “No buts. I didn’t get destroyed; I ended up in the maze. It was there that I got rid of a far older curse that prevented me from hearing True Song. Consider that without the maze, I might not have gotten rid of the cursed vines around my Soul. With them still in place, I’d never have regained True Song. Without it, I wouldn’t have resolved other wrongs. Let it go.”

“You’re still acting out of Torm’s memory,” Aggie declared firmly. “Do you still carry guilt over his death?”

“It’s not guilt, but to make the individual responsible for his corruption pay. He deserves to be punched in the groin repeatedly.”

Aggie snickered. “Am. If you are really going to have an Avatar here for a century, would your current identification be fine?”

“I only asked you how I should go about blending in. You were the one trying to shoo me off.”

“Can I be greedy and ask you to stay as Jay? This way we can talk and work together.” Aggie’s gaze dropped to her cup.

Then she wouldn’t feel so alone. Level-wise, Aggie is among the most powerful mortals in the Republic. How isolating that must be?

“I’m happy to be around a friend.” Amdirlain appeared on the bench beside Aggie and slung an arm around her. “Since I failed to blend in, should I blow up a section of town?”

“Am!”

Amdirlain shoulder-bumped her and didn’t let her go. “There are those temples on the west side impacted by a failed death curse. I’ll clean up the energy, but I haven’t decided whether to bleed it off slowly or put on a show. Since this town isn’t the only place that needs a clean-up, I can restrain myself and blow up isolated spots.”

“Do you ever stop finding work to take care of?” Aggie’s shoulder shook, unshed tears clearing as amusement smothered her old guilt.

Amdirlain smiled and sheepishly scratched the back of her head. “Nah, there are always improvements to make.”

“Why would you opt for drama?”

“Not drama, I suggested a dramatic clean-up,” Amdirlain corrected. “I was going for an outcome where someone rich wouldn’t snatch up the land.”

Aggie’s lips pursed critically. “Am, it will be dramatic and then stir up drama. Given that I’ve got assassins hired by Plamen to deal with, there will be lots of drama in town from the fallout already.”

“Have fun.” Amdirlain kissed her on the cheek and vanished to the edge of the forest. 

She duplicated the stack of job papers Marcin had pulled together and leafed through them. Once she isolated all the ones involving herbs from within the forest, she set about gathering. As the dawn approached, she returned to the family’s apartment for the children’s morning lessons. Throughout the early hours of the morning, she noticed an increasing number of adventurers gathering in the guildhall. With over a hundred there, she dismissed the crowd as someone else’s problem and focused on explaining the Mana exercise that all the children got to try.

When Amdirlain finally arrived at the guild that morning, the gathering had swelled to clog the street in front of buildings on either side of the guild.

Despite the crowd, her entrance drew the attention of a group of five grizzled Norse adventurers, the youngest of whom looked to be in his early forties. With their gaze remaining on her, she took in their melodies and found them in possession of a mix of dual Tier 4 or Tier 5 Prestige classes each.

A heavily armoured man stepped from their group and pushed past the others, his booming voice drowning out the surrounding conversations. “Are you Jay?”

“That’s me. Would you share your name?”

The man slapped a gauntleted fist against his breastplate. “Gunnvaldr, leader of the Hammer Strike team.”

They all have Norse ancestry. Is that name a reference to Thor’s hammer? But why didn’t they say Mjölnir’s Strike? Is it because of Thor’s death, or that too many teams used it in the past?

“What can I help you with, Gunnvaldr?”

Gunnvaldr stopped before her. “We heard about you sparring with the High Priestess Aggie yesterday, and wondered if we could get some time in the yard against you?”

“Sparring one versus one, or as a group?”

“Do you think you can put up a fight against the five of us?” Gunnvaldr smirked.

Amdirlain offered a casual shrug, which made Gunnvaldr’s eyes narrow. “Since I don’t know what you’re looking to achieve, I thought I’d ask the question.”

Gunnvaldr huffed. “What would we gain by taking you on as a group?”

“You might want a training exercise for subduing an uncooperative unarmed opponent without causing them injury. That’s the first option that comes to mind, but I’m sure you can think of others. We can discuss some sparring sessions after I arrange some jobs. If you’ll excuse me.” Amdirlain stepped past him and weaved through the crowd to Zivena’s counter.

While the other receptionists gawked and whispered about Aggie sparring with her, Zivena’s professional demeanour stood firm. “Good morning, Jay. What job were you after today?”

“Jobs, hopefully. You split Guild Master Marcin’s list by region. Are there any gathering jobs in the forest?”

Zivena nodded and unlocked a cupboard beneath her counter. “I saw quite a few while organising things. Though they’re all offering pitiful pay.”

“If providing items from stasis is acceptable, I‘ve a range of materials and herbs with me. Could we see if what I have matches any of the pending jobs? “

“It’s not an issue as long as the goods meet the quality required for the listed job.” Zivena retrieved the folders and glanced through the top folder, quickly finding the first of the jobs Amdirlain had gathered for last night. “From memory, some of these smell noxious, so you’ll need to deliver them directly to the processing hall if you have them.”

Different jobs wanted herbs from the forest’s edge, so it’s reasonable for a ranger to have them. Though delivering them all would be a giveaway.

As Amdirlain glanced around at the busy lobby and the packed waiting benches. “Why are so many adventurers here this morning? Aren’t they normally gone by now?”

Zivena lowered her voice. “Guild Master Marcin asked them to remain to witness a trial. We’re still waiting for Lord Plamen to arrive since the matter involves accusations against him.”

Despite her attempt at discretion, Gunnvaldr still raised his voice. “If he doesn’t get here soon, we’ll fetch the Goblin-fucker. I don’t know who is dumber, him, or the idiots that took the slime bag’s request.”

“What’s he accused of requesting?” Amdirlain asked, keeping her tone light and curious.

“You didn’t hear? Bastard tried to have some of our own kill High Priestess Aggie last night.”

The words stirred the crowd into an ominous rumble.

A silver-haired receptionist, who carried herself with the air of a steel rose, raised her voice; each clipped word snapped in the air like a whip strike. “You will not. There is no job offered for bringing Lord Plamen here. Anyone doing so before it’s posted will face a strict disciplinary review. You are adventurers, not vigilantes. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Olĭga,” Gunnvaldr murmured, followed by other quick agreements.

“All of you need to settle down. Guild staff can handle this matter, and I’ll remind you that you are only here as witnesses, so stop spreading rumours and agitating trouble.” She clapped her hands and pointed to the front door. “Go move that rabble out front to the training yard. Ensure they leave the supervisor’s dais clear.”

The quickest to react shoved their way out front and bellowed orders to the gathered crowd.

“It seems the morning might be busy. We can spar after dinner tomorrow night if you’re still in town, Gunnvaldr.”

“We’ll be there.” Gunnvaldr waved and, with a timid glance at the senior receptionist, he and his team followed the crowd.

Zivena finished separating the gathering jobs into two piles: those she’d accept directly and the ones for handing into the processing hall. By the time Amdirlain had handed everything over, she had twenty-seven jobs crossed off the list, and Lord Plamen had arrived. He was escorted into the training yard by Guild Master Marcin and a group of town guardsmen, who also dragged along the assassins Aggie had captured last night.

“How is it that the lord answers to the guild?” Amdirlain asked. “Isn’t he the local authority?”

Zivena cleared her throat. “It’s in the Republic charter that the Adventurers’ Guild has authority over any matter involving a guild member. It’s normally used to prevent local lords from forcing adventurers to fight their political enemies, press-ganging them into an army, or forcing them to take on jobs above their rank. I’ve not heard of a lord being arrested using that regulation.”

Olĭga approached Zivena’s counter, placed a booklet before Amdirlain, and gave it a brisk tap. “You got yourself in trouble by not knowing the guild bylaws. I suggest you at least familiarise yourself with them. Guild Master Marcan and Councillor Aggie saw fit to promote you without that knowledge, so it’s best to ensure you don’t bury yourself in more trouble.”

Amdirlain stored the booklet away, already having memorised it. “I’ll dedicate some time to it each day. I appreciate it, Olĭga.”

“They should have given you that in Southgate the day you registered. I’m just cleaning up someone’s mistake.”

Olĭga returned to tending paperwork at her counter. After Amdirlain had picked a monster-slaying job from the list she had waiting, she dropped off the smellier herbs at the processing hall. As she tended to her business, she listened to Marcin organising the packed crowd and the session ahead.

Marcin has a Wizard ready to listen to Plamen’s thoughts. Is he going to use it as an opportunity to dig into all the lord’s dealings? Oh well, not my circus, not my monkeys.