Celd.

29th of Trescia, 1492.

***

As great as this time was, it was not without worry, for I could see the machinations of my goddess at work, both in and outside of this realm. In and of outside this plane of existence, the time was nigh.

"Celd, go check on the outside, will you? It's almost time."

Case in point. However… "Ugh! Why me? It's always me."

"It's your task!" Cindra sang, popping a small fireball at me for good measure.

"Fine, fine. But if I'm late, remember, dear sister, it was you who sent me."

I ducked out of the way of another fireball as I stepped out the door and plucked the nearest Tweedledees and Tweedledums as I scoured the yard for a tree. It was always such an arduous task, going outside. Finding an appropriate tree aside, the… dreariness aside, the people there were too uptight. You cast one water hose on someone and they're Hells-bent on starting a war over it. It's insane.

That said, she and thus I were right. The time was nigh. Things would surely get interesting soon- for the outside. Things were always interesting on the inside. Our Goddess ensured of that. Thus, it would only make sense for the long-awaited God to make the same true out there. He was her mirror, after all. That provided a little pep in my step once I found a tree at last. After taking some Tweedle puffs, I put on my arcane gloves and got to work pushing through the brambles surrounding the trunk of this dreary old tree. The window I drew was big. Perhaps too big. But too big was better than too small by far, for it enabled me to see the eleven bright lights scattered around a new outside.

Well, it was the same outside as before. But now it was interesting! So, rather quickly, I drew a doorway and waltzed outside to the most interesting light I could see. But not without my manners, of course.

"Why, how great it is to see you again King Dememus, I-" I halted upon entering the lands of Vruria, for I did not expect to see so many… outsiders- Maruleans, Betrarthians, and even foreign-born Youterans so close to the Nonusians. And more…

"Celd, old friend! Come! You've come at a most auspicious time." The great centurion King called from his throne.

As I approached, the drugs in my system allowed me to see King Dememus as he was in battle, when his spirit was shining brightly. He appeared as a centaur with the upper body of a great lion with black and gold fur, proudly wielding a powerfully radiant glaive. But that was more like a ghost on top of what he truly looked like. A centaur with black fur and white hooves, with brown skin and silver hair adorned with golden trinkets and jewels.

"This is Imperator Jaimess A. Corey of the Second Noctis Legion. Imperator Jaimess, this is Prince Celd'lahan Vrur." He gestured to a spectacled Marulean boy with a long-nosed mask and a spiritual plume of colorful down feathers covering his lithe body. A sight I couldn't help but laugh at.

"A pleasure to meet you as well." Jaimess huffed through his nose.

"It's a laugh of disbelief, friend," I said, raising my palms. "It's not every day you see a Marulean with arcana and the magic of the divine flowing through him. Much less anyone accompanied by Tengu. Adding to that, you have the essence of what I can only assume to be the Eternal Champion about you. And… did you just say Nox?"

I said that last part to King Dememus, who leaned forward to whisper. "Noctis."

"Ah, potato tomato!" I waved him off. But King Dememus continued.

"They are the guild of the nomadic Empire of Eotrom."

"Empire?" I rocked back as I looked at the young Marulean in a new light. He dressed as if he was unsure if he wanted to be a diplomat or a ranger. Regally, with a flowing cape and trinkets galore fastened atop a belted tunic dyed tan with hints of red, blue, and green. "I didn't take you for an imperialist."

"Not in the same sense as Polaris, if that's what you're thinking," Jaimess said. "We are an empire of scholars and explorers, not conquerors. We are militarily might out of necessity, for exploring the realms requires such might."

"It is the contrary, old friend," Kind Dememus trotted forth. "They rescued one of our fawns who was taken during the most recent intrusion upon our hunting grounds; her and the many others outside. They are our honorable colleagues, like you, for they are working to ensure they do not disturb our way of life, even while they help us; all of their own accord."

"Okay, now I'm interested." I turned to Jaimess with a glorious grin. "Please explain."

"Foremost, each legion is a self-sufficient empire existing beneath the umbrella of a larger empire, Eotrom. We Eomen are, at heart, explorers. While we are in our infancy and thus many things are subject to change in the coming years, that much will remain true in perpetuity." Jaimess began, and liking what I was hearing thus far, I urged him along. "Many of our legionaries are Nonus-born Maruleans from either here or Polaris, thus we had a firm foundation for what the Empire should not be. That was built upon by our experiences thus far, and now, those like King Dememus are sharing what they believe to be oppressive for the sake of establishing a new doctrine among the legions. The Anti-Expansionist Measure.

"In short, the Legions will only be permitted to take direct advantage of resources in hostile enemy territories. Direct, as in used for their personal or professional ends. I could not chop down a single tree in this forest, for example. The only exception would be if King Dememus requested my assistance in something that required it. The Legions provide all so we may freely explore. Thus, we take nothing from the locals we meet on our journeys. And should anything fall to collateral damage, repairs and reparations will be made and paid in excess."

"Hmm." I tossed over the words in my mind. But they just didn't make sense. "How many legions are there?"

"Eleven."

"And how in Faenya's name, do you 'provide all' for eleven legions?"

Jaimess smirked childishly, making me match his fervor in kind. "You don't spend much time on this plane, do you?"

"What gave it away?"

"Your ignorance regarding common knowledge." He snorted.

I shook my head. "I don't understand."

"Come, old friend. I will show you."

I followed King Dememus through the palace without a word, uncaring of the glistening tapestries and strange centaurian architecture I was usually so fond of, for more Nonusians were clinging to Maruleans, Betrarthians, and foreign-born Youterans just like the tengu flocking around Jaimess.Once outside, King Dememus gestured his great arms to the canopy above, splitting the branches to reveal magnificent marbles of elements and energy floating above the mortal skies, under the domain of the Gods. Many more stars or… something shone around them. Small, as if countless new deities had been birthed into existence. Like the days of yore, the times before Zefroth. Before the Rending, even.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Those are our imperial lands, the woven worlds of Mani, Telin's Champion, Amun. As we are nomadic explorers, so are our lands. That one is mine. Naubuuru." Jaimess said, gesturing to the second marble from the silver one at the center. A sphere of paradise.

"I… I see." I gasped, shocked by the casual proclamation of this most awaited time. "With a… a world's worth of resources, what need is there to expand? Especially when it follows you above the skies."

"Should we ever need more, our God-Emperor has the means to make them. Forged fresh from the stars that live and die in the divine realm of Eotrom. But that's only a part of it." He strangely gestured to himself, and I had to focus to see the potent magic within his clothes. "We are also in possession of technology- enchantments that often use no magic to function."

He paused to hand me a monocle framed in wood. As I settled it over my eye, strange things began to appear in sequence, all around my field of view. At a glance, I knew my location, the time, the names of these people scattered around me, and more, I could see what was on the other side of countless scrying eyes. They showed me acorns, large enough for four people to fit inside, being carried through the forest by handshaking vines; stones that recorded sound and produced light or heat; machinations of trees and stones that… did things; mined, constructed, farmed. Tasks we often employed magic to do. Duties those of the Mortal Plane often employed or forced others to do.

"These things, the resources from our worlds, and our God-Emperor can and will bring significant change to the societies we visit, often simply by visiting them, for he is the Father of Evolution. The God of Mana, and thus the God of Change. Those changes will be both good and bad, we are aware. Thus, we have policies in place for those we conduct business with. The Assist, Overwatch, and Uplift Initiative." Jaimess proudly proclaimed. "It details how we shall conduct ourselves will friendly and allied nations.

"At the very least, allying with Eotrom or her legions comes with many boons." He smirked in that childish way again, making me giddy at the thought of hearing something even more exciting. "An alliance comes with access to the boundless knowledge of our Eternal God-Emperor. By learning these things, our allies will be guided toward developing their own flavors of technology and discovering new things in ways that align with their culture. Assistance applies to those unlike King Dememus, who wish to fully absorb Eotrom's knowledge and don't mind a guiding hand to address their most prevalent needs. Eomen and legionaries alike will migrate to their lands and vice versa, where they will work in tandem with the natives to address problems in infrastructure, healthcare, education, security, and other metrics. Divine Trees will be raised in the cities so the locals can evolve. Yet the locals will remain in power. Something akin to a protectorate, essentially.

"For our allies like King Dememus, who wish to continue about their way of life with some distant friends, we will remain out of sight and out of mind, but always in contact with the rulers as we provide overwatch from the skies. We will only protect them from existential crises or if their liberties are at stake, such as the kidnapping of one of their fawns. We'll do this until they either rise to our level of self-sufficiency on their own or until either we or they find ourselves unaligned and we part ways. In either case, their Overwatch will then cease, Eomen and Legionaries would withdraw, and they shall be left to their ends as a sovereign nation."

"I would assume the Uplift part is something akin to what's happened in Bakewia." I openly mused. 'I suppose I should see Zapp while I'm out.'

"partially," Jaimess said. "Most of what was done in Bakewia was done on request. The Uplifted are those who ask to join our empire. While we will make it known such a thing is possible from the beginning, we make it a point not to ask and certainly not to demand it. Our God-Emperor's decree is that the rulers and the citizenry must vote for it. Should the vote pass, their lands will be uplifted from the Mortal Plane and made to dwell in the skies as moons or asteroids orbiting the worlds woven above."

"So, in short, your duty is that of the guilds of yore. Back when they were honorable. You will go across the mortal plane and pass along the knowledge of evolution to the descendants of those who entered Telin's gates, scattering themselves across the realms." I openly mused before looking at this young Marulean in a new light. "Fascinating. With all that power, this is your chosen purpose? Why?"

"Well, the simple answer is, it is the God-Emperor's will." Jaimess shrugged. "Not so long ago, he taught us that if we are to help someone, we are to truly help them, and in every way we can. We are to take care of not just the slavers that raid their cities, but their lack of food, shelter, security, resources, or anything else. The place where we learned that lesson is now the capital city of our empire, located in Maru. Even before then, however, from the time we first left our homeland, we've mainly seen the impoverished, and the disenfranchised populating the realms. Such things got old and boring after the first time we saw them. So." Jaimess shrugged again. "Amun decided to make those dreary places more interesting. Even if it means trouble."

"Heh. Hahaha! Ahh, I see! I see at last!" I cackled madly, smiling widely at the woven worlds above in ways that brought a tear to my eye. "So this is the great era Telin's Champion will bring? Not an era of arcana, as we so thought. Not entirely, no!" I cackled louder, spreading my arms to the vibrant sky- to Him; and Her, his mirror. "This is to be an Era of Prowess! Prowess of any kind! Magic! Might! Skill! Knowledge! Classes! Culture! Nothing is out of bounds in this era of His, the Eternal Champion! Haha! How exhilarating! I can't wait to meet him!"

"I'm sure you will in due time. In the meantime, however, are you up for a little play?" Jaimess childishly smirked.

"Play of what kind?" I smirked back, then felt it die down with his next words.

"The Tengu kind." He snorted, then full-on laughed at my wide-eyed silence. "No matter. To answer your earlier question, we are affiliated with the Nox by virtue of our Guildmaster, Amun of the House of Cole, a Sovereign of Death. Thus, the dead tells us their tales. Thus, the slavers we killed told us their secret. Tales of their headquarters in Ligin's Khuld Territory."

"I may not dwell on this plane," I began. "But all the same, my… interference would still be frowned upon. Especially in Ligin."

"Well." Jaimess sighed to pet his disappointed tengu. "Whose to say you can't watch?"

There was nothing to say I couldn't watch, and so I did. Right there next to King Dememus, staring out of the window through one eye while the other looked through that monocle to witness this Era of Prowess firsthand.

Of course, it showed Jaimess' Legionaries huddled inside massive bugs of metal as they flew at great speed, doing much the same as I was doing now- learning all they could about their enemy from the small windows and annotations flooding their senses.

"This is unbelievable!" I wowed, tapping my monocle. "I'd heard of the Champion being one of the new Grandmaster Artificers, of course. But seeing is believing."

"Indeed." King Dememus mused. "We are forever good friends and thus allies with Eotrom and her legions, regardless of anything. Yet, I believe her to be a waking ancient giant. I cannot begin to fathom her scale. That's the reason I chose the overwatch. Being uplifted is too abrupt a change for my people. Especially considering recent events. And there is much for me to learn about Eotrom, her Legions, her other allies, and her Emperor before asking for assistance. If I even do."

"All fair points. But…" Reaching down, I palmed the ground to feel for the energy billowing from the Bodhi Trees' roots, feeling much less heat than ever before. "Things may not be so simple, old friend. The Bodhi Tree is the epicenter of this era."

King Dememus had known me for a long time. He knew what I meant. And if he didn't, it didn't matter, for we were quickly enraptured by the sight of Jaimess' Legionaries leaping from their metal bug in the dead of night, kilometers away from their intended target. They dove through the skies like mad lads, relying on the enchantments within their clothes to bring them to a gentle landing sprint amid a swamp, spread between two rivers.

At the forefront were those who grew close with the Tanuki over the past days, commanded by ones Melek Jubal and Gwenddydd Grandspire who remained in the far distance, watching their subordinates use their Tanuki-given abilities to shapeshift and meld into the crowd of those they were hunting. They caused discord by stealing information, spreading misinformation, causing distractions, and freeing those the raiders had captured; sneaking out just before the other group swept in to perform an elegant dance of destruction.

As we watched, so too did Jaimess, using another of those glass things to observe more of his legionaries entering the fray to secure the hostages, consolidate enemy equipment and information, provide healing, or engage their enemy, at least until the bandit leaders appeared in their midst. Then Jaimess darted into action, fighting to his heart's content while his subordinates seamlessly moved in to support him with levels of efficiency I'd never seen before.

They didn't even talk, which stupefied me until the Tweedledee and Tweedledum wore off, allowing me to sense the subtle ripples of mana cascading in and out of the monocle I was so focused on.

"Of course! Mana! That's how it works!" I slapped my head. Then tossed the remaining bulbs in my hands with contemplation. "I gotta stop using this stuff."

Sighing, I took another puff. "Eventually."