Chapter 34: Changes at the Abbey II

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[THE SILVER SEAT - Sterling Palace - Flashback]

“Presenting Grandmaster of the Order of the Black Lamps, Erioch Baal!”

Baal waited for the herald to finish his announcement before walking into the chamber. Deep red drapery, polished marble floors. Despite the fact that few were allowed into this place, it was opulent indeed. As expected of a place tucked away within the Sterling Palace, he supposed.

There was a round table placed in the center of the room, raised on a dais. Seven seats scattered around it, with one extra large one that could only be called a throne. A few of these seats had already been taken - four, to be particular.

“Lord Baal,” said one of the men occupying a seat, nodding. “It is a pleasure.”

Kayde Wilson, Grandmaster of the Iron Bars. His poofy brown hair was the same as usual, and so was the sternness in his gaze. It seemed that work was difficult, as the bags under his eyes seemed to only get larger as the years went by.

“It’s been a while, Lord Wilson,” said Baal in return, pleasantly. “I trust that you have received my previous missive?”

At that, Wilson’s face turned darker.

“Ah, yes. That... matter,” said Wilson. “You can trust that we will have it taken care of, in our own way. Actions of that nature have no place in our command structure.”

Nicolas Tempest, Muse’s superior. The one that had sabotaged her career. Although Baal was glad that the fool had given him the opportunity to recruit a promising bright young star, that gratitude did not extend to preventing him from suffering the consequences of his own actions.

Baal nodded, and approached the table.

“Hey there, old-timer,” grinned a young, dark-skinned woman. Her eyes were bright, and she was the youngest one in the room. Her legs were crossed on top of the table. “How’s the skulking going?”

“Lady Bianca,” said Baal in return. “My investigations have been going quite well. You might want to remove your shoes from the roundtable, lest His Majesty gets here soon.”

Costa Bianca, Grandmaster of the Blue Coasts. A cheeky grin on her face and beads braided into her hair, she was the perfect picture of a pirate. The only issue is, she wasn’t one. Well, hadn’t been one in a long time.

“No fun at all,” complained Bianca. “Wish that old man Haakon was here. Man at least knows how to joke around. You can just go skulk around in the dark with the creep, then.”

The creep in question said nothing.

Moondancer was the Grandmaster of the Occulted Moons. Few knew of their true nature in the public, but Baal as one of the Grandmasters of the Hidden Seven was privy. The leader of the kingdom’s secret police was a wiry drow, a dark elf with light blonde hair.

Moondancer gave him a short, respectful nod, which Baal returned in kind, before returning to the book that he was reading. Baal gave the title a quick once over; ‘A Dummy’s Guide to Keeping Plants Without Sunlight’. The book seemed rather used, considering the marks that ran down its spine.

He had not taken the new Moondancer for a gardener, but even the heads of secret police needed their hobbies, he supposed.

“Lord Baal,” said the last figure in the room. He was a thin, wiry one with a prominent forehead. “You have yet to explain to me why your knights are assisting with my seventh precinct. I hope there’s a good reason for it, and that you’re not simply becoming curious about our police work?”

“Of course, I have no intention of meddling with your processes,” said Baal politely. “The Black Lamps have just been made aware of some interesting information that pertains to our order’s mission. A pair of knights had been sent, not to obstruct, but to assist in the investigation.”

The Grandmaster of the White Hands, Atliss Barrow seemed to accept this, at least for now. He leaned back in his chair.

Baal took his seat.

This was the Chamber of the Seven, although officially it was known as the Chamber of the Six to the general populace. A place where the Grandmasters could freely talk amongst each other regarding any official matters, as well as where they could meet with the king whenever duty required so.

“We’re only missing two, then,” he said conversationally. “Seems Lord Whitefang and Lady Randel have yet to make it.”

“The missing Grandmasters will not be coming,” said Wilson. “It seems that Lord Whitefang and Lady Randel were both out on official order business when the missives were sent. They’ll be updated on the situation at a later time.”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“I see,” said Baal.

Nothing to do but wait then.

He saw the herald move from out of the corner of his eye.

Ah, not for very long.

“Presenting His Majesty, Solomon VII, King of Greater Goethia! Accompanying him is the Lady Magus of the Wizard’s Tower, Geraldina Howard!”

The Grandmasters, despite their rank, immediately rose out of their chairs and kneeled to the oncoming figure, who was gently walking down the red carpet of the Chamber of the Seven.

A middle-aged man with long blonde hair and clear blue eyes, the king looked twenty years younger than his real age. Wearing a simple blue and white uniform, he presented himself as the figure that all his subjects expected him to be. Quiet, regal, and powerful.

Solomon VII.

At his side was an elderly female dwarf, who wore the blue robes that were emblematic of the uniforms of the Wizard’s Tower.

“Rise, my subjects,” said the King.

He circled around the dais as the Grandmasters did so, and slipped easily into the larger chair at the table. The throne. The Lady Magus Geraldina Howard stood at his side. Although she was welcome to visit the room, none of the seats were for her. They belonged only to the Grandmasters of each order.

“News has recently reached me of happenings within our nation,” said the king. “From the information gathered by the Iron Bars and the Blue Coasts, the leylines have started to shift. Flooded by Divine essence, they are starting to create change within our nation’s soil.”

He looked over at Lady Howard, and she bowed deeply. Solomon turned back to his knights of the roundtable.

“The Wizard’s Tower, after consulting the readings as well as the temples within our jurisdiction, have arrived at a conclusion as to what this means,” said Solomon. “A spectacular opportunity is here for Greater Goethia.”

Baal said nothing. Wilson crossed his, a stern expression on his face. Bianca grinned, leaning forward on the table. Moondancer made no readable expression nor motion. Barrow steepled his hands.

Of course, they were not completely in the dark. Wilson and Bianca’s knights had been the source of the information that the Wizard’s tower had deciphered. Baal and Moondancer ran the two most information-focused orders of the seven. Atkiss had heard rumours through the grapevine, as his knights were wont to do.

The king raised his hand and clenched it.

“In two months, a Dungeon will open in the West Soliana Province!”

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[THE SILVER SEAT - The Lamplight Abbey Archives]

Baal finished relaying the information he had to his young knights, and waited for their reactions. They had made it out of the room with the artfiacts, and were now sitting around a table in the center of the actual archives.

The robed figures, candlemonks, ignored their chatter as they went about their business. Despite the mystery inherent in them and this place, Cain’s mind at the moment was occupied by a far greater and more immediate curiosity.

“A Dungeon?!” cried Muse. “Here? In Goethia?!”

“Wh-what’s going on?” asked Cain.

Judging from Muse’s reaction and Baal’s declaration, this wasn’t the kind of dungeon where you tossed prisoners into. That didn’t seem like the kind of place one would place things like Skill Gems and Class Gems, at least.

“Indeed,” affirmed Baal. “However, keep in mind this information is not to be made public yet. The king will make an official announcement in a month.”

“A Dungeon...” mouthed Muse. “There hasn’t been a new one on this continent in something like thirty years. And now...”

Cain looked around, somewhat awkwardly.

“Could... somebody fill me in?” asked Cain.

“If you’re not familiar with Dungeons,” said Ronove, who was at his master’s side as faithfully as ever. “They are spatial anomalies that appear when the leylines of a region become engorged with Divine essence. Great gates that lead into strange and unknowable dimensions, filled to the brim with treasures and magical beasts.”

Wait. These sounded like... video game dungeons?

That couldn’t be the case, right? The rest of the world had made sense in a fantasy-like way so far, but this almost felt like a bit of a genre-breaker. He could understand the existence of magic, and of fantasy races other than humans. But there was a difference between that and this.

Games were made of narratives and gameplay. How it felt to play the game as well as the challenges and systems, and the other things like music, lore, and plotlines. Esperanto had so far felt to him like a world that had much of the latter, but now a line had felt broken somehow.

The idea of Dungeons... They seemed more in line with the existence of Players as anomalies, rather than knights and elves and gods.

Another one of those things that seemed, to him, to clash with his understanding of this world.

“To this day,” said Ronove. “Nobody quite knows of their true nature. Some assume that they are trials or rewards sent by the Divinities, considering the upsurge of Divine essence within the earth before their arrival. But those with access to the Divinities have asked and been rebuffed consistently.”

Baal sighed.

“Even the ones that are willing to share their knowledge with us, like Aerachnid with her knowledge of medicine or Taiji with his understanding of philosophy,” said Baal. “It seems there are topics off-limits to us, if they themselves know.”

“Oh, who cares!” grinned Muse. “A Dungeon means...!”

Cain looked around him, bewildered.

“Indeed, a Dungeon Festival,” said Baal. “Adventurers from the Adventurer’s Guild will come from far and wide, and there will even be units sent from foreign nations in order to take part in the raid. People from the Six Orders will take part as well.”

His eyes gleamed.

“And that includes us. Beelzebub Cell will go. I’ll see if I can’t get some of the other cells, but they may be too busy with their duties,” said Baal.

“But, why us?” asked Cain.

“Because of what the Dungeon contains,” answered Baal. “Ignoring all the Divine Treasure and other artifacts hidden within, there are Skill Gems and Class Gems that can only be used by players. You know what this means, yes?”

Cain’s eyes widened in realization.

“That’s right,” said Baal. “Chances are good we’re going to run into more Players. And not Players like Vandamme’s young apprentice. Real Players that are here to hunt for power.”