Amdirlain's PoV - Ijmti - Cloister Fortress

From where she landed, Amdirlain looked along the top level of the cloister’s library, eyeing the packed shelves and the stonework. The columns at the end of each row echoed those below, being carved with such lifelike details, she half expected some to move. A step took her past a carving of Ori, and Amdirlain started examining the shelves but encountered only a few texts in languages she knew. The rest of her translation spell muddled through, but Amdirlain held off using knowledge points on extra languages. Despite using Analysis to narrow options, she spent hours checking a quarter-metre section without finding a helpful text.

“I don’t suppose there are any experts about who I can talk with?” asked Amdirlain. “I’m not sure how long it will take me to find even a single text on the subjects I need.”

“I’ve sent the request for help. Hopefully, I receive a better response than the ghost caverns request,” said Dagrastûr.

Shortly after Dagrastûr dispatched his request, twenty Fallen entered the library and made a beeline for their location. The first to land was one of the reptilian Fallen Amdirlain had seen in the training hall, his black dust appearance even more disconcerting in close quarters. His long tail enforced his hunched posture and hid the fact he'd be nearly three metres tall if he stood fully upright.

He met Amdirlain's gaze and, unbothered by her scrutiny, tapped his chest where a nearly clear pendant lay with a faint red haze within. "I'm called Silpar. I know something of the deeper planes, and I’d offer my aid in this and other matters. Shall we see if I'm a suitable mentor?"

Unlike most celestials she'd heard speaking, his words were in Draconic.

"Do you want to mentor me?" asked Amdirlain, replying in the same tongue. “If someone else volunteered you for it, I won’t hold you to it.”

I wonder what Goxashru would make of him.

Silpar's nostrils flared in approval, and he gave a slow nod. "Since you speak fluent Draconic, you are off to a fine start. Hopefully, we'll work well together. Otherwise, I'll help you find someone suitable to your temperament and outlook."

More Fallen landed at the end of the rows, and one spoke up in Celestial with a lilting tenor. "You need information on the deep planes?"

"Yes," replied Amdirlain.

"How deep are you looking to reach?" asked Silpar.

Amdirlain frowned, but with Balnérith's name already in play, it seemed more pro than con. "Balnérith had the sisterhood working on a project to get to her original realm or something, so wherever layer I might find the conceptual skin."

The others froze and looked at her like she'd taken leave of her senses, but Silpar and Dagrastûr grunted.

"The deeper planes indeed. Nothing written will help navigate them, though I know somewhat of them," advised Silpar. "Have you picked up Planar Sense at all?"

"Years ago, but it's still the same Skill," replied Amdirlain.

"That's all most need. I'll help you strengthen it. It helps you find safer routes, which is essential after you get a Plane or two deeper," Silpar grunted, and he jabbed an extended talon towards the shelves. "We should still find you everything written about the primordials that lair deeper. I hope you've got a sturdy mind and plenty of patience because those texts are in the primordial tongue."

Amdirlain gave a reserved smile. "I've already learnt it by accident."

Silpar's inner lids closed, turning his eyes milky. "You're a strange one. I have no trust in Rahka or those who hold similar views. I go where you go until I'm convinced you are safe from her."

Some others voiced their agreement, and Amdirlain's brows lifted at the protective themes from all of them.

They find out I'm not a normal Fallen, and those that don't hate me go into protective parent mode?

"That makes you sound like a doting Dragon parent," remarked Amdirlain before she sent a separate message through the pendant's link to Silpar. 'Even to the outlands?'

'You spend time there?'

'The sunshine helps clear my mind.'

"We'll push your strength and get you ready to moult," Silpar hissed in amusement as his reply came through the pendant. 'Laying on a hot rock in the sun is a good way to relax.'

"What would you suggest working on first?" enquired Amdirlain.

"Being able to kill your enemies is always handy," replied Silpar, gesturing to the training hall. "If you'd leave these helpers to search the shelves, we'll get you back in the sparring circles. Hatchlings should be able to fight with any weapon that comes to hand."

"I can already use a variety of weapons in my fighting style."

Silpar lifted into the air and beckoned for her to follow. "Then let's set to it that your fighting style grows to at least counter them. What do you normally fight with?"

"Most frequently with no weapon," admitted Amdirlain, and she followed his lead back to the training hall.

"Taking down a foe with claws and fangs alone is a worthy challenge, especially given how weak those are within an Elven form," declared Silpar. "We'll start with that and then see where the sands lead us."

The training hall was less crowded, and more circles were available. Silpar led her to the first circle and signalled to two elven-looking Fallen sparring with maces and shields.

A quick Analysis showed they both had lord versions of their weapon skills, with raw numbers slightly below where Tinco had started when Amdirlain first met her.

"Come and try her mettle."

The pair laughed good-naturedly, and the taller of the two approached the circle Silpar had selected.

"Not one. I meant both of you," corrected Silpar.

At Silpar's statement, Amdirlain raised an eyebrow. "Only if I'm allowed to shift form."

Silpar shrugged. "Whatever approach you want to try, as long as it's without weapons for you. I want to see how you fight under pressure."

"If you're looking to see what I can do, I never go all out against training partners," cautioned Amdirlain.

"Best to keep it semi-civil," agreed Silpar.

"By whose definition?" asked Amdirlain.

"What definition do you normally use?" asked the taller Elf.

"I usually spar with an Immortal, and the only limit is that he's agreed to release me from the Planar Lock if he kills me," replied Amdirlain.

Silpar chuffed in amusement. "Perhaps not to that degree. If something happens to anyone, contact Dagrastûr, and we'll figure it out."

The elven Fallen moved to opposite sides of the circle and looked wary when Amdirlain moved right to the mid-point between them.

They took the high-low approach when they struck, but Amdirlain wasn't there. One mace passed through where her head should have been, and the second at hip level. Amdirlain turned back from the fly she'd become, already moving in time with their motions. Grabbing each haft behind the mace’s head, she spun, and a restrained knee strike shoved the taller towards the circle's edge. Caught in their opposing grasps, the force snapped the weapon and left Amdirlain holding a metal spike with the flanged head. Tossing the mass at the off-balance opponent, she rushed him and slid under his attempt to stab with the shattered haft. Her motion went from a slide into a roll before her kip-up became a double thrust kick that tossed him out of the circle.

The other had moved to follow her, but he backed up and struck when Amdirlain transformed into a flying insect. The wave of air caused by the weapon's motion allowed her to spread tiny wings and utilise the lift to waft out of the way. Dropping back into Elven form, she grabbed the weapon, only for him to release it and step forward with a shield slam. The shield's bottom edge passed above the beetle form she'd adopted at the spike of aggressive music. Expanding back again, she tucked her chin down and came back up underneath his chin. The impact snapped his head back, and she crowded in, frustrating his attempt to gain space. Sliding aside an attempted headbutt, she hustled him about with knees and elbows, keeping him from getting into a stable stance. He darted back, and an elbow from Amdirlain kept his shield wide before a flurry of palm-hand strikes drove him from the circle.

"You transform fast," noted Silpar and nodded to the others. "Thank you both. I'll take things from here. You both need to train more against those who use other weapons."

The taller of the two nodded. “Am has an interesting style, unpredictable but not animalistic like weaponless demons.”

After Amdirlain thanked the pair, she swept up the pieces of the broken weapon and handed them off. When the courtesies were finished, Silpar motioned for her to move to the circle's centre.

"You've used your ability to change your form extensively?"

Amdirlain nodded.

Silpar huffed happily. 'Thank you for proving my point to them. Too many are selective in who they'll fight against.'

At the discrete use of the pendant, Amdirlain titled her head curiously. 'High levels in perception. I bet you all live in each other's skin.'

'Scale mites,' agreed Silpar. "You're faster than many, but your strength seems low-range. Let's see about getting you to make use of that speed."

"My classes channel my willpower more than strength," advised Amdirlain. "Its techniques let me bypass armour and magical defence enhancements if my will is strong enough to overcome them."

Silpar glanced at the two Fallen who'd moved off to talk to others in the hall. "Here I thought they were overreacting to your blows."

"I've tricks hidden in the deep sands," replied Amdirlain.

"Let's see what tricks you have to deflect my blows, and then we'll get you sparring with Te again," said Silpar.

"If you were watching, how many others were?"

Silpar chuffed. "Anyone with a line-of-sight on your circle."

He noticed, so others likely did as well; how few secrets those here must be able to keep.

Silpar's talons extended from his fingers and toes as he squared across from her. He started faster than either elven Fallen had managed, but Amdirlain deflected the raking strike to the side. He attempted to rake a taloned foot down her leg only for Amdirlain to block with a shin against his, and then the pace started to accelerate. A bite she countered with a fist to the side of his head, and then things got frantic, and they stopped standing still.

After a few minutes of slipping each other's blows, Amdirlain evaded a tail hooking for her right leg and snapped a kick into his chest as he lunged. Taking the blow, he scoured her thigh with teeth and claws. Amdirlain drove fingers into his nostrils, and the other hand seized the back of his neck before she flipped them over and slammed him to the ground. With the leverage utilised, she rapidly shifted to a bug, then Wood Elf and felt the wound was already sealed.

"What did I say about shapeshifting?" asked Silpar.

"I didn't use it to evade your attack just to disengage," observed Amdirlain.

Silpar grumbled. "Semantics."

"Oh well," laughed Amdirlain. "You could have used Flight to avoid hitting the ground."

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Where is the fun in that?" asked Silpar. "Again?"

"I never get bored of sparring," advised Amdirlain. "I will eventually need to go tend to some things."

How do I explain the demi-planes or get Gail and Isa to stretch their powers?

"You have a different perspective of things. I'll try to keep that in mind. A Fallen spending a few centuries advancing skills must seem odd to you, given you were a short-lived species."

"Gosh, don't all the details just spread about this place," laughed Amdirlain.

Silpar extended a talon towards the circle nearer the door. "I was just there, and I know you saw me when you passed both times. Easy to overhear conversations in the hallway even while fighting."

Amdirlain gave a cynical snort. "I am amused about the differences in your perceptions. To Rahka, I'm defiled, while to you, it makes you aware that I might not see things as you do."

"Amused?"

"I've got a dark sense of humour‌," clarified Amdirlain. "Another Mortal thing to consider along with my tendency to push ahead."

"You don't see the benefit in training?"

"No, I do. I don't normally sit around, but I've been known to spend a decade perfecting skills," replied Amdirlain. "Standing watch on the ballistae would drive me crazier. Fighting demons is a more preferable use of time."

"Unless you go near major towns or cities, vast regions of the Abyss are empty of demons. We can find plenty of other life forms. They're not things that try to get to the Material Plane to threaten mortals, so we leave them be unless attacked," replied Silpar.

"It is a factor that's going to make finding some demons I want to kill challenging," sighed Amdirlain.

Silpar motioned her to start and kept up the pressure for hours before handing Amdirlain to Tinco for sword practice. Tinco took her through dozens of swords, and while some felt almost natural, most felt off.

At last, Tinco extended a hand and reclaimed the latest sword from Amdirlain. "You move like that blade is part of your arm, but you've mastered none of what it can do for you. You must learn they're not just an extension of your limb. Different blades provide different strengths and weaknesses."

"True," replied Amdirlain. "The ones I'm used to using match how I've adapted my martial arts. Maybe if we stick with blades that slice for now instead of those meant for stabbing?"

"Perhaps those will at least allow you to find a starting point. Let's see if we can get you to pick up some techniques for different slashing blades," proposed Tinco.

I wonder how Cyrus will react if I spring a surge in my combat skills on him.

Amdirlain shrugged. "I'd rather learn how to improve my Mana Finesse."

"How far have you progressed with it?"

"Not quite halfway through senior master," admitted Amdirlain. "My ritual lore and magic circles are just in master rank, though I've got a knack for picking up when they're flawed."

"That's another thing we can work on together then," agreed Tinco. "My years have given me a lot of practice in all of them. Maybe we can get you to grow Mana Finesse to Mana-Lord in a few decades."

Silpar rose from where he'd been crouched, watching, and motioned for Amdirlain to follow him.

"What's up?" asked Amdirlain as she caught up to him.

"Let's get you some of that sunshine you occasionally need," proposed Silpar.

After leaving the fortifications, Amdirlain opted to head down the valley towards the sickly forest. Once clear of the wards, she guided them through the first Gate and multiple hops until they reached the Outlands. When the last Gate closed behind Silpar, she frowned momentarily but pressed on. "Might I ask what deity you served?"

"She isn't alive any longer. The mortals turned away from the path she represented. When she faded, I let my anger get the better of me," admitted Silpar. "I was told you'd be coming."

"Oh?"

Silpar nodded. "One of Bahamut's servants advised me."

"He seems to enjoy sticking his nose in on things, but I've not met him," observed Amdirlain. "I can feel him watching now, but it could be a background awareness tracking us among all the other mentions since you said his name."

"Not met him in this lifetime," corrected Silpar. "You can sense his mind?"

How much did he blab?

"It's like a pressure about us," advised Amdirlain. "What exactly did Bahamut's servant advise you of?"

"Enough to know that while Rahka’s understanding is deeply flawed, she also isn’t completely wrong regarding your past life," replied Silpar.

Amdirlain huffed and shook her head. "Bahamut, really, can you not keep a secret?"

Silpar snickered at her tone. The sound was a long, stuttering hiss of amusement. "His opposite passed a message to him. She said Moloch hunts the Songbird, and you should seek to find her first before he finds either of you. One of her Dragon priests ate the representative and his convoy that requested the information."

That is a nice subtle message, implying we're not the same individual. Why is Tiamat even taking an interest? Besides, the wound is closer to her domain than the heavens.

"He's another problem," muttered Amdirlain. "Any idea how long that crystal in the library has been there?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Amdirlain smiled. "I'm sure you'll get used to my unsubtle topic changes when I don't want to talk about something."

"Billions of years," replied Silpar, giving a helpless shrug. "It pre-dates my arrival, so you'd have to ask one of the cloister’s elders."

"Orhêthurin dropped in, gave a gift and wandered off," commented Amdirlain. "What did you do to earn your punishment?"

Silpar frowned. "You do jump between topics. What did you do?"

"It judged me from when my curse went into effect and held me to a Celestial's standards. I’ve killed many unpleasant mortals, but while malicious to others, their deaths caused suffering to their families. The benefit of their deaths was ignored, but since I took satisfaction in ridding the world of the scum that would enslave, kill, and rape, you know the rest," explained Amdirlain, and she tapped her dark red and black pendant before she stored it away.

"I convinced a Wizard to summon me and then wiped out the last city that turned its back on my Goddess to worship foreign gods. After that, I killed all the priests that had broken their vows in other places," offered Silpar. "They had let my Goddess's light fade from the heavens and, even though she had accepted her end, I felt only rage. When I wandered the streets to look at the devastation I had wrought, my eyes opened to the evil I had done. That's when I noticed the change set in. My flesh transformed into the ash I had condemned their flesh to become."

"Had her powers faded over the years?" asked Amdirlain.

Silpar’s hands clenched, and he nodded sharply. "Yes."

I wonder if that was a Mantle death like Sage and the others endured or one the Greek gods sought to avoid in their original realm?

"What was it about her path that stopped attracting followers?"

"She was a Goddess of their ancestors when they were nomads. As city dwellers, they felt no need for her care, and even the farmers had turned to foreign gods, Bahamut amongst them. It is so long ago I'm not even sure the planet still exists," replied Silpar.

"I am not Orhêthurin," replied Amdirlain. "I've not got all the memories from that life, and I certainly don't have close to the peak of her capabilities. Honestly, I think I've barely started to get close to what she was capable of in her youth."

"You should remain merely Am, as your history would cause friction. Likely, some would seek to serve you above others, but as you saw with Rahka, many new to the path don’t have that viewpoint. Were the Greek gods from her original world outside the realm, and then she re-incarnated here?" asked Silpar.

Okay, he doesn't know all the truth.

"It doesn't matter. I've snippets of her memories, but our views are very different," advised Amdirlain. "I don't have the power to change the plinth that controls Redemption's Path, at least not yet. I didn't have access to True Song when I returned to this realm, and I couldn't hear the melodies of the objects around us."

"Do you have it now?" asked Silpar.

"Yes, but regaining it was a messy tale I won't get into," replied Amdirlain.

Silpar nodded with a restrained, nervous energy. "That's understandable, and I wouldn't ask. I don't know why Bahamut's servant contacted me, but I'll keep your secret. I merely hoped I might see it used. I heard tales of the wonders it could perform, but never saw it creating life."

Amdirlain blinked.

Okay, that's not the reaction I was expecting.

"Let's go somewhere else for a demonstration. I'll Plane Shift us with it first," said Amdirlain.

When they appeared in the darkness of a demi-plane, Silpar looked about. "Where are we?"

"A demi-plane project of mine," said Amdirlain, and she lifted into the air. "You'll want to stay airborne a bit of a distance from me."

"You're able to make demi-planes? The wizards I’ve known are limited to dimensional pockets," stated Silpar.

"It's sizeable, just under four thousand kilometres across from a nominal east to west. The two longest sections on the north and south axis are around three and a half thousand, but that's only at the widest points," advised Amdirlain.

"What are you doing with these?"

"I'm setting them up to help the Catfolk with combat and gathering training grounds. Eventually, they'll replace the ghost caverns for providing resources to their cities if the curse is broken," replied Amdirlain. "I can make these come alive pretty quickly, but I'll take my time on this first one."

Phoenix's Rapture ignited around her, but Amdirlain took her time setting in place an artificial sun. The ground beneath them took on a golden glow, and layers of rich topsoil rippled out from where they hovered mid-air. As the songs progressed, trees, shrubs, and thousands of other plants reached up from the soil towards the sunlight.

When the music stopped, Silpar inhaled deeply, savouring the newborn scents. He looked on in amusement as a blue slime slithered out of a hole in a nearby lakeshore and dipped beneath the water.

"How many creatures are now here?"

"It's more of lots of locations that will cause more to germinate, you could say, when their numbers in a region are depleted," replied Amdirlain. "I'm hoping the locals get more benefit out of them to offset the injuries and casualties."

"You'd risk setting back your progress for them?"

Amdirlain frowned. "I'm hoping since I don't enjoy them getting hurt, it won't count. However, I'm sure it will since I enjoy singing. I hope these do far more good than harm so it balances. I'd rather take the chance and give millions of people a chance of having a safer life than sit on my hands because a few might get hurt."

"Teaching some to forge steel can have the same outcome. Tools of civilisation, planting crops, and protection versus weapons of war raised against each other," admitted Silpar.

"You're welcome to watch me work, ‌or I can advise you before I plan to return to the cloister. I've got thousands of these to make."

Silpar tilted his head. "How many cities need one of these?"

"I set up a chain of them for each city with increasingly dangerous threats so they can easily grow to level fifty and beyond in multiple classes. Though the interior landscape varies, I make them all in the same rough pattern. The training complexes that anchor them have space for thousands of teams to be spread out and not get in each other's way, even when able to cover vast tracts," explained Amdirlain. "Also, the different demi-planes are progressive. I’ll let you explore a full chain if you’d like."

"Might I watch you make more?" asked Silpar with a barely contained wonder in his tone.

"Let me line up a few," replied Amdirlain, and she opened a series of thirty gates, each connecting the next demi-plane to the one after in the chain. "Ready for a speed run? Just follow me through the gates to see what is going on."

Amdirlain started and pushed the themes through the first two gates before she moved into the next demi-plane.

Focusing on the life blooming from the music, she ignored Pain Eater's steady notifications. In fifty minutes, she was through the first set of thirty and had gates lined up for the next set without missing a beat in the themes. Silpar followed along patiently, watching with an unwavering fascination as different creatures and plants came alive before his eyes. When Amdirlain finally stopped ten hours later, she'd completed hundreds and gained a level in two classes.

Silpar put a hand against his chest and lowered his head. "I appreciate you sharing that with me, Am."

Giving him a lively grin, Amdirlain shrugged. "I've been used to performing for an audience after six years on Qil Tris pretending to be a Bard."

"This work progresses your classes?"

"Two of my classes and the True Song Power. I used to take an experience tithe from the adventurers coming into these demi-planes from the first city, but I turned that off when I left their planet. The levy is still in place, but the energy goes towards maintenance," advised Amdirlain.

"I won't ask how many levels you must have to do such work," said Silpar, his gaze on a stone colossus sitting up and stretching.

Amdirlain waggled a hand. "My Wizard Class and first Prestige Class help with the amount of power I can channel through True Song. Then, on top of my improvement in the Power, they let me optimise its use."

"You've been bleeding," noted Silpar.

"The songs for these are too simple now. I've got to push my limits to get progress in the Power from them," explained Amdirlain. "I'll admit I was showing off a bit. I've only ever had one person want to see me create them, and you had such a clear sense of wonder about you."

Silpar scratched the side of his snout. "You make these so quickly, so I assume you can make a place even grander. Why not just make yourself somewhere to live and ignore the curse that marks you? The Anar didn't live in the heavens, and you've proven you can get to the Material Plane for years at a time."

The tip of her tongue touched her top lip, and Amdirlain froze, weighing her desire for allies in the cloister against her concern about lack of knowledge. While the wonder and concern that hummed within Silpar reassured her, Amdirlain didn't know if everyone he might trust would be the same after Rahka's behaviour. The amount that was revealed by Rahka's knowledge of Balnérith was already too much in that regard.

"Sorry if I've asked too many questions-"

She lifted a finger to ask for a moment, and Silpar stopped.

Putting her thoughts in order, Amdirlain went to the core of her situation without the details she didn't want to share. "I promised myself I'd get out, and being still marked as a Fallen isn't out. At one point, I was offered the opportunity to reincarnate outside the realm free of the curse, but then my Soul would be free, not me. I would be lost amid the memories within my Soul. I, as the person I am now, would cease to exist. Whoever I became wouldn't be me, and I will not give up on my friends in this realm or myself so easily. Maybe I'll die by seeing this path through to the end, but it will be me who will have made that choice, not the person who cursed me."

"Promises are important, especially those that involve being true to yourself and friends," acknowledged Silpar. "Thank you for sharing. I'll show you where the entrance to the next Plane lies. While I've never been to the depths you need, I can guide you through eight planes and help you gain the strength you need to go deeper."

"What took you that far down?" asked Amdirlain.

"Trailing the sisterhood, but that was the furthest I followed some of them. The distortions in the planes stop you from using Plane Shift and restrict the range of any Teleport to line-of-sight."

"Why did you do that?"

Silpar gave a broad smile that showed many long, sharp teeth; the sparkle of amusement in his gaze stole all the threat from it. “Bahamut’s servant asked me to investigate them thirty-five years ago. He didn't say why."

"That's after I met a Dragon who spoke of Orhêthurin.”

“Did you wish to make more demi-planes, or should I show you the entrance to the depths?”

“There is a particular route the sisters took?”

“Yes,” confirmed Silpar.

“Would you mind if I attempt to verify your story with Bahamut?”

Silpar spread his hands. “I fully understand.”