"Before", Chapter 3: The Quest Given

[Scott of Hyperborea]

"Before" or "Romance of the Three Duchies"
Chapter Three: The Quest Given
Chapter Three Soundtrack: Amazing Flight

Against all odds, we made it to Crestfallen.

The last week of the journey was hard. We met no demons, nor did we meet raiders or Elw or soldiers or any of the other roads to violent death the Crestfall Downs have on offer. But the tension in our little group was as thick as the fogs that hid everything beyond a few feet of the path ahead from our view.

Upon waking, Cloud had immediately tried to kill the unconscious Quercia, and had to be restrained by Red. When Quercia awoke, sore and half-dead, she had tried even in her pathetically weakened state to kill Cloud, and only Red's insistence that she had promised not to, perhaps a generous interpretation of the events leading up to the demon battle, had stopped her.

Then there was the sexual tension between Rain and I. Well, the one way sexual tension. Rain was pretty clearly infatuated with me. I didn't dislike him, per se, and he had a certain silly charm to him, but he was a boy and a penniless mercenary, and I was a woman and a leader of an Audente Expeditionary Force, albeit a decimated Expeditionary Force. Despite all that, I decided to lead him on. I was a stranger in a strange land, I was going to need to escape from these mercenaries at some point, and I needed all the allies I could get. If I could get Rain on my side, I might be able to win Cloud over, and he with his encyclopaedic knowledge and tecnomaezji wizardry might be a valuable friend in any escape attempt. So I led him on. Not all the way, but I led him on. There may have been kisses involved.

Speaking of which, Quercia Ly'Maezjuser had no sooner joined our group than she began attempting to seduce people. Red was first. Her attempts, which were clearly the work of a professional, were hilarious both in their impressive skill and in the effortlessness with which Red ignored them. The entire affair eventually became so humiliating to watch that I took the magic user over in one particularly foggy valley and explained to her that Red was under some sort of a curse that forbade him from experiencing human pleasure. This seemed to satisfy Quercia - who turned her efforts to Pupil, who seemed to enjoy the attention but have no particular interest in taking it any further. At this point, I decided non-intervention was the most humane option, and left the two of them to their games.

And to be honest, I had little stomach for games at this point. The fog, the demons, this awful land of hills and valleys - it weighed on my soul. I began to hang to the back of the group with Cloud again, just so I could speak to him in Audente. He rarely answered, his mind being elsewhere - on Quercia, most likely - but just the sound of the language in my throat made me happy, far more refined than the guttural speech of Sxiro. I imagined as I spoke it that I was in conversation with a Lord of Audentior, somewhere in the forums and colonnades of Airosamente, and that the Sxirothes around me were slaves or immigrants or mercenaries or anything but my captors.

So there we were. Red as brooding as ever, Pupil and Quercia playing romantic mind games with one another, Cloud plotting Quercia's doom, Rain making google eyes at me, me daydreaming about Audentior, and Once...well, Once was just Once. It was in this state that we climbed a particularly soggy and god-forsaken hill and found ourselves looking over a blessedly fogless vista at the city of Crestfallen.

Would that I could say it put Airosamente to shame with its avenues of white marble. Would that I could say Apolytown itself was as nothing to its glory. Would that I could say the citizens of New Irvine would have been awed by its modernity.

No, Crestfallen, the goal we had sought for so long, was about three dozen wooden shacks with a few stores and a tavern in the middle.

Our glorious leader, Red himself, felt fit to address us on so auspicious an occasion. "We head to the tavern. That's where Sent said the contact would be. Keep a look out for trouble." Thus inspired by his stirring oratory, we descended the hillside into the town that marked the edge of civilized Sxiro.

The people of Crestfallen, such as they were, had the ruddy hair and skin of Red or Cloud, not the fair skin and delicate features of Pupil. That meant, I decided, exercising my shaky knowledge of Sxirothe racial groupings, that they were of Riverrun and not Goldenmoon. More than that, I noticed the bulging muscles, prominent scars, and unkempt hair that marked most of the predominantly male inhabitants. Crestfallen was a backwoods town of backwoods men, and I felt decidedly uncomfortable there even before I entered the tavern.

It was called The Downs and Out, and its crude wooden a-frame barely contained the stink, the smoke, and the sweat from several dozen woodsmen, explorers, bandits, and the like. Red pushed his way to a table close to the only window, and Rain headed up to the bar to get us some much-needed drink. I myself scanned the scene, looking for anyone who might stand out enough from the general sea of brawn to potentially be our contact.

"What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?" someone said from behind me, putting his hand on my shoulder. I grabbed his arm and spun around.

"Twitchy, aren't we?" asked the most singular looking man I had ever met. His hair was gold. Not the blonde of Once and the other Elw, but literally metallic, and his face looked like it had a completely different bone structure. It took me only a second to realize that he could not be fully human. But what

"Solor hyposoma, Micras galactosemia, Sar'Tos," said Pupil. "I thought you might be the one we found here. It's good to see you again."

"And may death spare you long, Pupil," said the nonhuman. "Red, Once. Cloud. Looks like you've made some new friends."

"I made some new friends once," said Once.

"This is Loritis, a traveller from the east," Pupil told the nonhuman. "And Quercia, a user we picked up in the Gouge. Rain's off getting drinks, should be back in a second. And Sent's with Mors now, may Semisa return him to us safely."

"Excuse me," I asked him, "but what ARE you?"

"That accent!" said Sar'Tos. "Audente, if I'm not mistaken. My, you've come a long way. I'm Sar'Tos Far'Yel, Micron. Good to meet you." He shook my hand vigorously. "Always good to meet a fellow explorer."

"You're an explorer?" I asked him.

"Aren't we all?" he said, cryptically. "Well, maybe not as such. I mean, we've got maps of the whole planet back home, so there's no exploring exploring to do. But there's always something new to see. For example, I'd never been to Crestfallen before today, and I'm getting some good vibes from the place. Must be the valley air. Nice and clean."

"What's a Micron?" I asked. And then: "Maps of the whole planet?"

"Oh, we're from the last age of the world, all wiped out, so on, so forth, you've heard the story. A few of us holed up here and there to wait out the apocalypse, probably the biggest hidey-hole off in some islands to the south. That's where I come from. Technically we're supposed to stay in city limits, doctrine of noninterference and all that, but who the PRH wants to sit on a tiny island dreaming up fiendishly difficult puzzles about moving orbs their whole life? That's all they do, you know. That and reflect on the glory of their own wisdom. I tried it for a couple of decades, and then no thanks. Decided to see the world. Just got back from northeast Apollonia. Met a guy named Gideon. Seemed like a nice chap, though on a bit of a God trip, if you get my drift. Anyway, you here for the sword?"

"Honestly," said Pupil, "I don't know why we're here. Sent handled that side of things for us, and now he's gone. We didn't even know it was you we were meeting here, just that someone in Crestfallen had a job for us."

"Do I ever!" said Sar'Tos. "You know Sent gave me a thousand erbs of gold last year? Any idea why?"

"You were going to get information," said Red.

"That I was, my man" said Sartos. "One of the good ones, Sent, and a major downer that he's gone. He told me once, Sar'Tos, you may charge outrageous prices, but thank Mors I'm the only one who's ever figured out that you're worth it."

"The information, Micron," growled Red.

"The Landssword. He wanted me to find out where the Landssword was."

At this we all got very quiet. All of us, even I, had heard the prophecy about the Landssword. That on a certain day, not too far from now, the true God-Emperor of Sxiro would prove his claim by appearing on a certain hill in Riverrun, holding the legendary Landssword as a token. And we'd all heard that ever duke and baron and petty warlord in the country was itching to game the prophecy by finding the sword and then showing up on the appropriate hillside at the appropriate time. The amount of gold someone would be able to get for the Landssword would be phenomenal. It was worth whole fiefdoms, maybe even whole kingdoms.

"Course, it wasn't easy to find," said Sar'Tos, clearly enjoying the story. "I tried all my usual sources of information to no avail. Even Pia'Sur didn't know where it was, and he likes to pretend he knows everything. Finally, on my way up north I stopped at Valakoth. Little ice island way up at the edge of the world, charming place if you like glaciers and getting eaten by bears. Anyway, the people who live there have an oracle in the island's biggest mountain, and it was kind of a last ditch option, but I went to the oracle and she had the location. Kind of where I expected, after I thought about it. Course, I only..."

"The sword, Sar'Tos," said Pupil. "Where is it?"

"Lodermotsrik" said Sar'Tos.

"Of course," said Cloud.

Red and Pupil both looked at Cloud; so did Rain, who had just come back with the drinks. "Of course?" asked Pupil. "You know where that is?" asked Rain.

"Lodermotsrik," said Cloud. "One of the sacred sites of the Elw. In their language, it means 'place where the rivers meet.' It's where the two branches of the Eluin come together. But river isn't always meant literally in that tongue. It can also mean the stream of time, the path of fate. In his work on the Elw, Kartane translates it as 'place where the fates converge', although his derivation from proto-Elw is quite frankly..."

"Cloud," said Red. "The sword."

"Right," said Cloud. "Taken literally, it refers to the place where the two streams of the Eluin merge, a few hundred leagues north of here. The legends have always associated it with strange visions and occurences, and as far as anyone can tell it's geographically the exact center of Sxiro. And it's so far away from everything that it's totally plausible no one's found it yet. It's exactly the sort of place the sword would be."

"What'd I tell you?" said Sar'Tos. "There we go. Well, ta. I've been hearing about a dynastic struggle in Babkha I'm itching to go watch. If you need me, I'll be in Goldenmoon City in a couple of months."

"Wait," I said. "You've been to Apollonia?"

"Ah," said Sar'Tos, "I've confused the lady. Yes, my people have tecnomaezji far stronger even than Cloud. We can fly through the air at the speed of sound. Apollonia is but a hop and a skip for me. Why? Got a message for your friends back home?"

I fell at the Micron's feet. "Please, take me with you! I need to get out of here!"

The others went quiet. Pupil began to protest.

"No," said Red, ever the honorable one. "I told her she needed to come with us to Crestfallen. She has. The debt's paid. If she needs to leave, she leaves."

"But Loritis..." said Rain. "I thought...I thought..."

Poor kid. "No," I said kindly. "I like you. But I need to go home."

"Are you saying there's nothing between us?" asked Rain, and I saw him choking back tears. "Nothing?"

"You're young," I said, and I was trying to be kind, but I couldn't help making it sound like a condemnation. "Not everything works out. You'll understand, some day."

"I hate to rain on your whole emo parade," said Sar'Tos. "But I operate alone. And the craft's only got room for one. I'd love to help you, lady, I really would. But I fly solo."

Still on the floor, I grabbed his leg, which was thinner and bonier than any human leg would be. "Please!" I said. "I'm thousands of leagues from home and surrounded by demon fish and gods know what else and I'm tired of slogging through swams and I'm tired of digusting taverns in disgusting cities and I WANT TO GO HOME!"

Sar'Tos looked at me with some compassion. "So do I," he said. "But when I broke the laws of noninterference and left the City of the Sun, they told me I'd better not ever come back. So I didn't. I live in the world now. Sometimes I like it. Sometimes I can't stand it. Sometimes I do my little bit to make it a little better. But I'm always alone. Quintessences bless." And he pushed me aside - such strength for such small legs! - and proceeded out the door.

I ran after him. Rain ran after me. Cloud ran after Rain. Pupil ran after Cloud. Red ran after Pupil. Quercia just sat at the table, sipping her beer and displaying only passing interest.

"I lived in the world once," said Once to Quercia, from across the table. The user ignored him.

I caught up to Sar'Tos just a few steps outside the tavern and grabbed him again. "If you don't help me," I told him, "I'll never make it back to Audentija. I'll be stuck here forever. I don't know much about Microns, but you've got to have some mercy, some compassion."

Sar'Tos shook me off and continued walking to the outskirts of town. "Don't make this harder than it is," he said.

"Loritis," said Pupil, "we could use your help going after the Landssword. There's a lot of wild country and Elw between here and Lodersmotrik, and you've as good a sword hand as anyone, even Red. And we split the spoils evenly. We get the Landssword, we're all rich as kings, and in good graces with whoever becomes God-Emperor. You can afford a whole fleet of ships to bring you back east, if that's what you want."

"It's true," said Red. "Stay with us."

"Stay," pleaded Rain.

"I want to go home," I said. "Now. No more deamon fish. No more fog. Home. Now."

There was a clearing, just outside town, hidden from the view of passers-by but easily accessible from the main road. It was to this clearing that Sar'Tos Far'Yel of the Microns had brought us, and in it was a gleaming metal egg, larger than a man. Sar'Tos touched it with his spindly hand, and a door opened into it.

I ran toward him. Sar'Tos waved his hand, and a wall of force pushed me back.

"Don't make this harder than it is," he said. "I feel for you, lady, I really do. But I'm in enough trouble taking this stuff from Solaria without giving people joyrides, and there's not room for two. I hope you find your way home. Really do. Remember, Lodermotsrik. Ta!"

The egg closed and rose into the air. I grabbed it as it lifted off. Rain tried to stop me, and I hit him. Not hard, but enough to hurt. He looked at me, mouth agape, and then he ran off, close to tears. Despite it all, I lost my grip, and Sar'Tos and his egg flew up into the air and disappeared in an instant.

"Piyareitja," I cursed. "P. R. H."

"Come back to the tavern," said Pupil. "I'll buy you a drink, and we'll talk Landssword."

So, holding back tears, I let myself be led back to the Downs and Out, where Rain had joined an already very drunk Quercia and Once in spending some of the last of our Musican gold on ale. I let myself go, and drank cup after cup, drowning the pain of exile. When we were all totally smashed, Red stood up. He'd had as much to drink as any of us, but he didn't even seem tipsy. His frown was as serious as always.

"Tomorrow, we head to Lodersmotrik for the Landssword. If we make it, we're all rich. Who's with me?"

"You'll need...hrgh...my expert...expertise," slurred Cloud.

"Uh huh," grunted Rain.

"I had a Landssword once," said Once.

"Fuck it, I'm in," said Quercia, possibly the drunkest of all of us.

"Yeah, fuck it," I said. "I wanted to fucking see Sxiro, guess I got my wish. Gods curse it all."

All eyes turned to Pupil.

"I'm not doin' anything for damn Ju'Uliave fucking Mercaja," said our second-in-command. "I don't care if he offers us all the fucking gold in Goldenmoon, I'm not his goddamed errand boy. Red, we're not gonna make that piece of shit Mercaja God-Emperor of Sxiro, are we?"

Red looked pensive, but said nothing. It was Cloud who finally spoke. "He and Na'ami would offer the highest price," he said. "But Riverrun and Musica also want the sword. Musica can't afford it, but that leaves Duke Daniel E'lipov and his bastard brother Baron Rennard. Dan's a bit cautious from what I understand, yet Rennard, who rules Riverrun's western dominions, has offered prodigious sums for the blade."

"Then," said Red to Pupil, "we will sell the blade to Rennard E'lipov. He will be the next God-Emperor."

We sat for a second, pondering the momentousness of the decision. God-Emperor Rennard I. It had a nice ring to it.

"I used to work with a tecnomaezj in Rennard's employ," said Cloud. "I'll contact the temple here in Crestfallen and arrange for him to negotiate a deal with Rennard. We'll have one of the E'lipov brothers' representatives meet us here in Crestfallen on the way back to deal. If they can't help us, we'll reconsider Musica or the Mercajas."

"So be it," said Red.

And so we spent the night at the Downs and Out tavern in Crestfallen, the last time we would sleep in real beds for a very long time. Pupil told us all to enjoy it.

And damned if some of us didn't. I awoke in the middle of the night to muffled noises. It was Quercia and little Rain, going at it like dogs. Did I like Rain? No, not really. Was it any business of mine who he chose to sleep with? Of course not. Even if it was a slut who'd tried to seduce half the company before settling for him? I supposed not. Still, it stung. It made the pain of being in this cold wild corner of Sxiro somehow worse. And I resolved that if Cloud did come up with some plan to kill the user, the way he'd kept threatening, I for one wasn't going to stand in his way.

[Harvey Steffke]

Well, you were right. I did like this one. And I think that's about the fifth time you've made a reference to those orb puzzles. I'm going to hae to create more someday, just for you.

[Andreas the Wise]

Love the references