“Sorry, I’ve seen magic, so I’m not surprised there are gods. What I’m wondering is why there would be gods at all if this world is a mishmash of other worlds,” Sera clarified quickly.
“Oh, they came here from those other worlds too. It’s rare, because every world seems to have its own rules for how gods work, but the process of a continent being consumed by the mist is long, and sometimes they get curious. Our gods are tribal, more like immortal elders, so plenty of them came through with the tribes of Hy-Brasil.” Tiriana seemed to be in her element explaining these things, as if it was something she loved to talk about but never got the chance to…probably because it was common knowledge as she said earlier, but Sera assumed there was more to it.
“Earth didn’t have any gods, as far as I know,” Sera countered, wondering if those ‘rules’ might include a world simply not having any.
“The atlantean gods are…particularly curious, just like their people. Only one of them was left behind, and he was apparently just trying to get a look at the anomaly from the outside when it finished drawing Atlantis in.” Tiriana shrugged. “I think he was a god of crafting? I’m not as familiar with the human gods; you’d have to ask a cleric.”
“May as well have been the god of hide-and-seek, for all the presence he had on Earth,” Sera countered wryly. Tiriana had indirectly confirmed the answer to a question Sera was too afraid to ask, though, and so she knew what the elf would say before she posed it. “So, if the gods have stayed here for all this time…”
“…there’s no way back, no,” Tiriana replied seriously, clearly having been waiting for the question. “Not that anyone has found. Omichlódis pulls all kinds of things in, but never lets them go. It’s not a terrible fate, all things considered, because the Armistice Alliance has a very high standard of living, but…”
Tiriana gestured to the general area around them.
“Well, we’re nowhere near the Alliance’s core territories. I’d love to send you back there, at the very least, but we’re on the edge of the world out here. We’d have to charter an airship to pick you up, and that’s expensive.”
Sera spent a few moments in silence, contemplating that answer. It felt like the bottom had dropped out of her stomach and her spine was falling into oblivion. Just hours ago- at least, she thought it was a few hours- she’d been on Earth, putting up a fence for a stranger. She’d had her whole day planned out. A few handywoman gigs, lunch with her sister, some chores at home, and a night in watching a movie.
Now she was a missing persons case that would never be solved. Her family would never know what happened to her. They probably knew she was gone by know. Lily would have realized something was wrong when she was late to lunch. The police would be involved once enough time had passed. They might find her phone and some of her belongings at her job site, but the trail would end there.
Still, Sera was nothing if not practical. She could cry about that later. First came figuring out what she would have to do to survive here. One shuddering breath later, she returned to the conversation with her elven host.
“Are you saying you’re stranded out here too? Why come out here with no way back?”
“I didn’t say I have no way back. I said chartering an airship to pick you up would be expensive. Everyone here is an adventurer, and we all made arrangements together to purchase a two way trip. If we all decide there’s no point staying, a ship will be sent to pick up the lot of us in one go. That would mean the whole expedition is a loss, though.”
Well, even in her current circumstances, Sera didn’t think she warranted so much consideration as to have complete strangers go to those lengths for her, so it seemed that was a dead end.
“And you said you’re, what, exploring the frontier? Why?”
“For the adventure!” Tiriana did a dramatic flourish. “Being an adventurer back home is just a job. Sign up with a company, train, make regular trips into the wilderness for monster slaying and such. It’s a bit dangerous, but not really any worse than any other job, these days. If you want to find something new, you’ve gotta go to the frontier.”
“But what do you get for doing that? If it’s a job, how are you getting paid? How do you get in supplies?” Sera felt a bit mystified at the idea, though it may have been something similar to how people felt during the Age of Exploration on Earth.
“Almost anything we need, we can find out here. With a group this size the land will support foraging. And if we find nothing, we have a way back any time we want. But if we do find something- and that’s not always a guarantee- we can make serious money by selling the rights to archaeologists. The Alliance places a lot of value on cultural records from lost civilizations, especially.”
“So the basic progression is explore, find ruins, call archaeologists, profit?”
“More or less. And if we find enough, this camp might eventually become a town in its own right, dedicated to investigating and processing the finds in this frontier region. The natural resources alone wouldn’t be enough reason to build here, since we haven’t exactly exhausted what we have near the inner ring, but they’d allow the town to become self-sustaining once people are actually here!”
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Sera couldn’t help but be drawn in by Tiriana’s enthusiasm about the idea. She supposed there was certainly something romantic about uncovering lost secrets and building something new. And more than anything, she was a part of this whether she liked it or not, now. If she wanted to eat, she knew she’d have to pull her own weight.
Assuming they would have her.
“It seems I’m stuck here, so…is there anything I can do to help?”
“You wouldn’t be much help except as an assistant around camp unless you learn magic, but I would love to have company on my next expedition. Most of the other explorers are loners.” Tiriana seemed to pause to think, though Sera guessed it was more for dramatic effect than anything. “And while we’re out there, I can teach you how to use magic.”
“I thought you said I didn’t have much mana. I can still learn?”
“Of course. No one starts with any but for the mana they breathe in. You’ll have to decide if you want to be a mage or a warrior, though.”
“Both mages and warriors use magic? What’s the difference, then?”
Sera felt like she’d fallen into a trap when Tiriana grinned. The woman was quite the exposition fairy, and may have had a calling for teaching.
“Let’s start with warriors. They circulate mana throughout their body to strengthen themselves physically. The name makes it sound like being a warrior is all about fighting, but that’s just because the term has been in use for so long. Anyone that isn’t a mage learns how to circulate, because it’s just that useful.
“Being a warrior means being stronger, faster, and tougher. You need less sleep, and you don’t need to exercise to stay fit. It also closes the physical gap between men and women- for atlanteans, anyway. Elves don’t have dimorphism. Circulating mana alters the body over time, and the end result is the same: denser muscles and bones with more strength and stamina. It’s great for physical laborers, soldiers, and adventurers alike, but even house spouses benefit.”
Here, Tiriana paused, holding up a finger and staring Sera in the eyes as it lit on fire, cycling through every color of the rainbow.
“Or you could be a mage. Mages concentrate their mana in their core, forming a mana crystal like monsters do. Over time we purify that crystal to increase our capacity, allowing us to cast spells that are larger in scale or duration. Anyone can use basic magic, even warriors, but advanced spells with permanent effects require a mana crystal. It does require a higher level of education, though, because you need to understand what you want your magic to do before you can do it. Making water is relatively easy, but I still need to know what a hydrogen atom is and how it’s arranged before I can make one. Questions?”
Tiriana saw Sera’s hand raised, stopping her explanation before she could really get going. Sera didn’t necessarily mind, because it was interesting, but she wanted to clarify something first.
“What happens if you do both? And what is basic magic?” That got her a head shake.
“People do it, but it’s a lot harder. It can take years to form a crystal while also circulating, and it slows down your progression quite a bit. Battlemages are a force on the battlefield, but it takes at least an extra decade to get there. I don’t recommend it; it would take too long for you to learn it out here.
“As for basic magic, it’s the art of moving mana. Advanced magic creates matter or directly affects the world. Basic magic creates the illusion of that. If you make water, it can physically effect the world around you, but it will vanish the moment you lose focus. It has its uses, because you can indirectly light a fire by using basic magic as a temporary heat source. Translation magic is a form of basic magic, by the way- permanently altering the brain is a very bad idea.”
“I was actually kind of worried about that, not going to lie…it’s good to know that I can learn that no matter what, though. I’d almost forgotten we’re speaking different languages.”
“It’ll be the first thing I teach you. It’s rude to use magic like that on someone else, and it’s difficult to do once you start manipulating mana and have some magic resistance anyway.”
Sera tried, unsuccessfully, to fight off a yawn. It wasn’t that Tiriana’s lecture was boring, but she was increasingly aware of how exhausting her day had been. Tiriana couldn’t hide a look of disappointment, but anything else she said would likely go in one ear and out the other anyway.
“Sorry, I didn’t consider you might be tired by now. I’ll show you to an empty room and we can talk more tomorrow.”
Nodding, Sera followed Tiriana to a room on the second floor. She barely processed Tiriana shutting the door behind her as she sat heavily on the simple bed and, at long last, allowed herself to break into tears as everything hit her all at once. She was still crying when she fell asleep.
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Codex Entry: The Armistice Alliance
Currently the oldest government on the plane, the Armistice Alliance is a union formed between the elves and the atlanteans some decades after the event that created Omichlódis. At the time, fear, distrust, and confusion had led to an ongoing conflict between the two species that neither the high elves nor the gods were able to mediate. The situation was exacerbated by the fact that the atlantean warrior and noble classes had left the continent en-masse prior it being fully absorbed by the mist, which had been gradually thickening over the course of weeks and was seen as an ill omen.
Ultimately what caused an end to the war was the emergence of a mutual threat. Ambient mana levels had finally reached the point where dangerous monsters began to emerge and ravage both populations. An armistice was called between them, but when both elves and atlanteans realized the problem wasn't temporary, they formed a more permanent alliance that eventually led to the formation of a joint government. What began as a tongue-in-cheek colloquialism was adopted as the official name of this new nation.
Three millennia later, the Alliance has advanced significantly in both magical technology and culture. Extremely dense, vertical cities have risen along the coasts of Hy-Brasil and Atlantis, composed of shining crystal spires adorned with plentiful plant life. Although the continents are on the whole extremely dangerous to live in, this concentrating of the populace into cities with a small horizontal foot print makes the population centers themselves very safe and easy to defend.