The Celestial Forge
By: Schin Ka'Tharos
CHAPTER 14
(Part 1)
We reach for things we cannot grasp. We look for things we cannot see. We listen for songs that cannot be sung.
~
For those of you living in places outside the touch of the Seekers Guild like Krevat I will briefly explain its significance to Ildarans and the surrounding lands. The Seekers Guild is one of the three Supreme Guilds of Ga’el. I have already written within these pages about one of the three Supreme Guilds, the Merchants Guild, and the Seekers Guild along with the Blacksmith Guild stand with it at the zenith of power and influence in our world. There exists no Sect or Clan throughout Ildara that dare show disrespect to the Seekers Guild or any of the Supreme three.
Similar to the Merchants Guild the Seekers Guild was born in the age following the Great Celestial Rain. The value of the falling manna of heaven became apparent immediately and techniques and roles arose around exploring, finding, and collecting the Rain. The Guild was formed over time and with it their role evolved and grew to encompass nearly any exploratory or adventuring task. For the Seekers Guild their status and power relies on the techniques that give an edge on fulfilling their role as a Guild. They hold a monopoly on efficient techniques for locating manna, the use of skiffs and propulsion, and celestial rain fidelity containment to name a few. All techniques that they guard mercilessly. While the Seekers Guild is looked upon by most with respect and admiration and known to be fair, there is also an understanding that there is a vicious and ruthless side hidden in the shadows.
“Oh you noticed his emblem on his chest did you?” Adeon said.
“Yeah it sort of stuck out to me as your blade jutted out of it.” I replied. I finally began to shift from my seated position which I had been in for over half a day. Pain still racked my physical body and my soulcore still ached but I was far better off that I was when I had first awoken.
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I had indeed stabilized the essence from the celestial Rendings within me but that didn't mean I had completely assimilated the entirety of the essence nor had I burned the Cinder. I had integrated the maximum initial amount of essence that I could and would continue to assimilate the remaining essence of the Rendings over the coming weeks. The remaining essence would become integrated with me through natural assimilation or when I could manage to soulforge some more. My hope was that any remaining spiritual pain would recede as I assimilated the remaining essence.
I began to stretch as much as my body would allow while we spoke.
“We really should move if you're stable, Schin. We can fill you in as we go, but I have a feeling this piece of rubbish contacted his brother.” Ciara said as she finished looting the dead man's body. “Which will be a big problem for us. We need to move.”
“Go where? Do you really think we should head back to the city in this condition?” Adeon interjected without moving from his position on the floor. “Or should we roam around out in the Unending Waste some more? You know it’s unending right?”
“We will figure it out as we move.” she said moving on from the body to start gathering up their gear. “We need to make some distance from this place. Since your dead friend here is a Vice-Captain I know they’ll have some way to track him. They probably somehow already know he's dead. I couldn't find any mechanism that stood out to me but it is The Seekers Guild after all. They’ll find him and be able to track where he had been. Even if we move the body.”
“Ashes, I was just getting comfortable.” Adeon slowly picked himself up and stiffly shuffled towards the exit of the cave. “I guess I’ll go and gather anything useful from the other guy I danced with up top.”
After some deliberation I joined in the preparations and helped Ciara where I could. Once done we exited the cave to encounter the remains of two more Seekers Guild members. One body was missing a head completely while the other looked like it had tried to hug an exploding star. The front half of the body was mostly burned away and what remained was covered in small holes that ran all the way through revealing the ground beneath.
“You didn't leave much to pick over here.” I said, a little queasy at the sight. Death and gore were not new to me, but this was exceptionally grotesque.
“No, and unfortunately there’s not much left of the Screamer either.” She bent over and picked up pieces of a broken weapon that lay scattered around the body. “Neither Adeon nor I have any smithy skills but I can't bear to just leave these behind. Especially this. Even though it looks irreparably damaged.”
She held up a small golden cube covered in intricate geometric patterns expertly carved around all sides. There were hairline cracks covering four of the six sides and a white glow leaked out. I held out my hand and she gave it to me to inspect.
“I may be able to do something with it.” I said. “I have some limited experience in Blacksmithing though it may not be up to this task. Plus, I am unable to stabilize it in its current state given my current condition.”
I handed the cube back to Ciara and finished my internal deliberation.
“But more importantly, I may be able to repay some of your kindness with a solution for our current situation.“ I said with a slight bow. ”But, you never gave me your House name earlier. Let me just ask you this. What is your family name?”
Next Chapter...
Chapter 14: We Reach For Things We Cannot Grasp (Part 2)