“Oh my god. You talked! Thats amazing! Are you like some kind of super smart bird!” The blue tiefling whom I didn’t expect to meet said.

“Slow down. I can’t answer that all at once,” I said.

“Okie dokie. I am Jester. What's your name? Do birds get names?” She asked. Already a bundle of curiosity. She is only a few years away from leaving home and I am surprised she waits that long.

“Hello Jester I am Edsom. I am not a bird but a shapeshifter,” I said.

“Coool. How do you do that,” Jester said.

“It's a natural ability. Not something I can teach sorry," I said.

"Do you need to poop as a bird?" She asked.

"I can. I have other forms too," I said.

"Oh like what? Tell me pleasssse," she asked.

"I have cars, dogs, fish, crabs, horses, and a lot more," I said.

"Wow. That's a lot," Jester said.

"How did you know I was here?" I asked.

"The Traveler told me there was a weird bird on this roof. He is like super powerful and totally my best friend. Why are you on the roof next to my house? Are you trying to get a peak of the rubbyy?" She said in an insinuating manner.

"Nothing like that. I was killing time and wanted to wait here. People don't usually bother a bird. Your friend sounds powerful," I said. I fully knew who the Traveler was. The powerful archfey should fuck off and let me creep in peace. He wouldn’t have sent Jester over here if he thought I was dangerous. He is a trickster, not an asshole.

“Are you gonna come to watch the Ruby sing? Her voice is amazing,” Jester said. She is referring to her mother as the Ruby. She probably is still trying to hide that relationship for her mother.

“I might do that later. Bow since I was discovered I am going to run away,” I said and leaped off the balcony.

“AGH NO WAIT!” Jester said.

I did not wait and flew away as fast as possible. That was a little nerve-racking. Honestly, my biggest fear right now is somehow fucking up the Nein meeting each other. Once the group is together I am sure my interference will be fine then.

I flew towards the beach and Mother’s Lighthouse. I have been drained of all energy and I simply wanted to pray to the Wildmother and fly away. The Lighthouse is located in the center of the harbor. It is on a section of rock that extends past the docks. From the Nicodranas side, it is a normal lighthouse but if you looked at it from the ocean you would see a sculpture the size of the lighthouse of the Wildmother extending a hand out towards the ocean. I do something that might be rude and fly into her hand. I sit her in bird form and try and pray.

No one is around so I do it out loud. “Hey, Wildmother. I am Edsom. Kinda new to this world and all its people. My world didn’t have gods you could talk to. Like actually talk to. We definitely didn’t have any protectors of nature. We had to fight with each other on conservation all the time,” I say.

I shift back and sit on the stone palm. I spend a while talking about my time here in Exandria, the goals I want to accomplish, how I like helping people, and the issues I am having with the Soul Dream. I ask for help with figuring that place out and if she can talk to other gods about helping me out there.

“I don’t know if I am interfering with some grand design or something. I didn’t make that world and I definitely didn’t choose to come here. I promise to try my best to leave this world better than I found it,” I said.

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I was afraid of the gods. Good and evil. Scared the evil ones would capture me and drain me for power. Afraid the good ones would see me as a world-conquering threat that would consume all life on Exandria and decide I needed to be stopped ahead of time. The Divine Gate prevents them from appearing on the planet but that doesn’t mean they can’t interfere with the world. They have champions. So this little prayer to the Wildmother was me hoping/pleading that they would believe me to be a force for good they want to keep. The gods hide the secret of true divinity closely. Vecna had just ascended around 20 years ago now. He was barely a god for a few days when he nearly destroyed Exandria's oldest city and the central place of worship for the gods. I understand the lengths they would go to save this world. With my prayer done and my existential dread washed away with the waves I flew north. I have done what I needed to do and now I fly for the Empire.

…………

The Wuyun Gates was a small section of wall in the Wuyun Gorge that was between the Ashkeeper Peaks and the Cryious mountain range. This was the border between the Dwendalian Empire and the Clovis Concord. There was a long line of carts on each side waiting to be let through the border. I would hate to be one of those people. Just sitting there, waiting while some guard harassed the dude in front of me. Luckily I have wings and I can say fuck you to border patrol. I crossed some imaginary line diplomats had drawn on the map and was now officially in the Empire for the first time. Before I flew much further I landed on the side of the road and untransformed. I pulled out my sending stone and composed a message to Abaxis.

“Hey, guys. I am in the Empire. Where are you all? I want to meet up. Can fly fast now. See you soon.”

I waited for a few seconds before the voice of Carmilla came back.

“Hey, Kid. We are in Rexxentrum. At the Hofbräu in the Shimmer Ward. You will have trouble getting there. Call us when in town. See.”

The message cuts off. She was probably going to say “See ya” or something. Sending being limited to 25 words is weird. The Shimmer Ward huh? I think that's the nobles district in Rexxentrum. What the hell are they doing there? Is one of them a noble? That would be interesting.

I transform into the Roc. I think Rexxentrum is around 800 miles away. My speed topped out at around 30 miles an hour. That means 27ish hours of flight. Rubert had informed me of an ability I had but had no idea about. Some sea creatures can sleep or enter a restful state while still moving forward. Dolphins were an example of this. I could test this ability and fly all the way to the city with no stops. Honestly, I want to do this for the whole trip. Traveling without a cell phone is boring as shit.

…………

Yussa Errenis

“Ryn. I met someone unique. Come see me please.”

The sending was made. Ryn was just the type to be interested in this individual. A realm of the dead not heard of before. Perhaps it was truly created two months ago. He is either a fool or a stupid optimist. Coming to me and just revealing almost everything. This Edsom was also very secretive about his world and how he gained the knowledge I could be trusted. That secret might be just as important. Not that I am going to harm him. Ryn would love the mystery.

I might need to alert the Arcana Pansophical about this. The gods do not tolerate fools, especially ones that interfere with divinity. The young man is going to be involved in events beyond his ability. He needs guidance and protection. Helping him acquire planar travel would be a good first step. Might speak with Oremid about this. He would know of any creatures mucking about with the ability. I am going to call Allura. This is too important for just me to know.

………………

22nd of Sydenstar

I was only an hour out from the capital. I had just passed over Druvenlode, the breadbasket for Rexxentrum. To the east was the Silberquel Ridge. On the southern end of it should be that Claret Order base. I wonder how Samson was doing. They would be the perfect group to ask about the Nightmare in the Savilar Woods. See about that later.

Once I can see the city I change from a Roc to a raven. I don’t need to scare the city guards. The city of Rexxentrum has been the capital for over 300 hundred years. It actually predates the founding of the empire by 25 years. It immediately expanded and conquered all the land from the west of the Ashkeepr Mountains and everything north of the Cyrios Mountains. Since then there hasn’t been much expansion in 300 years.

They are a totalitarian government or at least under King Bertrand Dwendal they are. A few resistance groups are trying to change the government but without either defeating or recruiting the Cerberus Assembly, the Cobalt Soul, and maybe even the Myriad it's impossible to create real change. The Empire has a spy network called the Augen Trust, its own secret wizard assassins called the Volstruckers, and a large private army.

They also restrict the worship of a few gods. They only allow the worship of The Platinum Dragon, The Law-Bearer, The Knowing Mentor, The All-Hammer, The Dawn Father, and the Matron of Death. Get caught worshipping a non-approved deity and you end up in jail for a month and a 250 gold fine. That might not be much for an adventurer but I was barely making 6 gold a week as a Zhelezo. For a normal person that can ruin their life.

All these reasons and more are why I dislike the empire. It's a country filled with good people who have corrupt leaders that constantly oppress them. If I wanted to change the empire I would need an army of my own or I would have to do something similar to the Chroma Conclave and just kill everyone in charge all at once. That of course wasn’t going to ever happen but it's the level of destruction necessary to change the Empire.

The expansive metropolis spread out before me. The city was a bumpy weird circle shape. The city walls had been built around already-built buildings so it looked messy. The inner city where the more important people live was more well-designed. Two pentagons separated Castle Ungebroch from the rest of the city. In the inner pentagon, you had the Shimmer Ward, the Candles, and the Academy grounds.

The Candles was a collection of 8 towers that housed the members of the Cerberus Assembly. Wizards sure did love their towers. On the other side of the Shimmer Ward was the Soltryce Academy. A college for anyone wanting to learn the arcane. It is a super expensive school that is full of “Love the Empire” propaganda. Most of the city has that though. The rest of the Shimmer Ward is for nobles, guild leaders, and other important figures. It does have service buildings like general stores, bakeries, and inns but they are for the wealthy. Why Abaxis and friends were there I will soon find out.

I fly over the walls of the city and land in some random ally in the Mosaic Ward. This ward was horrid a slum. Guards didn’t patrol here and children lived on the streets working for minor crime groups. I kept my hand on my bag of holding. In just 5 minutes of walking these muddy streets, I had been bumped into twice and felt a hand go for the bag. I might need to fly to a better district. I leave the Mosaic Ward and finally feel safe to give the others a call.

“I am in the Tangles now. Where should I go? Someone tried to pickpocket me twice now. I don’t like this town.”

A moment later I heard back from Carmilla.

“It can be bad. Meet me at the southern gate to the Shimmer Ward. See you soon.”

Well off I went then. I am happy to finally see them again. I really want to show how strong I have gotten. I might still get my butt kicked in hand-to-hand combat but I now have loads of raw power.