Aidan
The Realms
Sixthday, 2nd week of the 8th month, Age of the Chosen 1
Mid-Afternoon
Ceallach Macht, Mistvale Highlands
He could make out the vague shape of the room he was standing in, but overlayed on top of that was a field of glowing energy stretching out to the horizon. Tiny trickles merged into streams and then four vast rivers of manna, all of them rushing towards him and collecting in the chamber around him. If this is what Sarpedon was talking about, he's right; calling it hills and valleys isn't accurate. The 'terrain' didn't have a third dimension, but there was a noticeable directionality to the flows. It more resembled a circuit board than a topographical map. That wasn't all there was to see, either; each of Aidan's companions had a visual representation. Cai and Llwyd were faint bundles of self-contained light. Brighid, standing beside him, was a glowing, pulsing field of orange-red. The brilliant golden-brown aura was Ailis, and the floor-to-ceiling pillar of crackling sapphire static had to be Sarpedon. At Aidan's feet was a tangled bramble of different colors of energy surrounded by a shimmering, twinkling aura of lights; Riama.
Aidan focused his attention on the altar beneath his hand and pushed his awareness at it. He felt resistance at first, like he was struggling against hurricane winds, but then it gave way and he felt a connection form. Four octahedral crystals the size of his fists materialized and began to spin around the perimeter of the room. One of them was the red-brown of fertile soil, one a light sky blue streaked with white, and the other two were opalescent white. Aidan wasn't sure what to do with them, but that turned out not to matter. The Earth crystal glowed and pulsed, sending out a single basso note of sound; Aidan felt it vibrate through his body and spark a resonance within him. The Air crystal followed with its own glow and glissando, again answered by something inside Aidan, then the two unaspected nodes.
The crystals began to spiral in towards him, glowing and pulsing in a complicated pattern, the gap between them growing shorter with every pulse. Within moments, Aidan's senses were awash in a sea of colors and music, pulsing and strobing and echoing all through and around him. The crystals continued to close in on him, the lights blinking faster, the music growing frenetic, blending into an otherworldly symphony. A prompt bloomed in his mind.
Your affinities with Earth Magic, Air Magic, and two other schools are sufficient to claim this Place of Power as your own.
Know this: although a Place of Power enhances the strength and potential of its master, it also brings responsibilities. Neglecting your Place of Power can stunt, negate, or even reverse the flow of energy. Are you prepared for the consequences of this action? Do you wish to claim ownership of Caer Macht?
Aidan steeled himself, then sent his acceptance. The crystals stopped in mid-air, flared into dazzling radiance, blasted a final musical phrase, and then shot forward into Aidan. He staggered back from the altar, his connection to the strange magical landscape gone, but notifications began to explode like fireworks in his mind.
By claiming Mastery of a Place of Power linked to Earth and Air, your power in those schools increases based on your affinity.
Congratulations! You have reached levels 1 through 10 in Earth Magic.
Clay, soil, stone, and sand, all are the realm of an Earth Mage. Although it excels in defense, Earth Magic does not lack in offense. Masters of this school can reshape the very landscape around them, raising mountains and carving canyons to suit their whims.
You are now an Initiate in Earth Magic; your resistance to earth magic and to slashing and piercing damage increases slightly.
Congratulations! You have reached levels 1 through 10 in Air Magic.
The sky is no longer a limit for Air Mages, nor is anything that dwells within it. Lightning will leap to your call, and the wind will bear you aloft. Master Air Mages are forces of nature, able to summon and control the greatest storms the Realms have ever known.
You are now an Initiate in Air Magic; your resistance to air magic increases slightly, and your senses of hearing and scent are improved.
By claiming Mastery of a Place of Power with two Unaspected links, your abilities will be reflected in your Place of Power. One of the links will take on the aspect of your highest-level magical Skill, while the second assumes that of your highest-affinity magical Skill.
Caer Macht is now linked to Earth, Air, Fire, and Dream magic.
Congratulations! You have reached level 1 in Oneiromancy.
Oneiromancy is an odd Skill, even among the esoteric schools. Unlike the rest, the magic of dreams has a limited effect on the waking world, but near-total control over the Dreamlands. It is one of the rarest schools, and other mages can only dream of what a Master Oneiromancer can do.
You are now Unskilled in Oneiroamancy.
You have learned the spells Enrich Soil, Prospector's Blessing, Magma Blast, Sound Barrier, Electric Arc, Windwall, and Shared Dream.
Enrich Soil: Earth Magic, level 1.
This spell causes soil in a 30 feet by 30 feet wide by 5 feet deep area to become richer in nutrients. Plants grown in an area affected by this spell grow more quickly, are more resistant to disease and pests, and have increased yields. The effects of this spell stack.
Cost: 25 Concentration. Duration: Concentration up to 1 month, at which point the effect becomes permanent. Cast Time: 10 minutes.
Prospector's Blessing: Earth Magic, level 5.
When cast, this spell allows you to know the direction to and richness of the nearest mineral vein. Increased Skill with Earth Magic may allow you to search for specific minerals or otherwise manipulate the results.
Cost: 100 Concentration. Duration: Concentration. Cast Time: 5 seconds. Cooldown: 1 hour.
Magma Blast: Earth Magic and Fire Magic, level 10.
Conjures a superheated ball of stone and propels it towards an enemy. If the attack hits, it deals 40 impact/fire damage and causes the target to be afflicted with Burning for 5 seconds as the stone cools and hardens. After 5 seconds, Burning ends (unless also inflicted by another source), and the target is afflicted with Partial Petrification.
Cost: 50 Concentration. Duration: Instantaneous. Cast Time: 1 second. Cooldown: 5 seconds.
Sound Barrier: Air Magic, level 1.
This spell stills the air in a thin dome 5 feet in radius, preventing any sound from passing the boundary in either direction. Those inside the dome cannot hear what happens outside, and vice versa.
Cost: 100 Concentration. Duration: Concentration. Cast Time: 10 seconds.
Electric Arc: Air Magic, level 5.
Sends tendrils of electricity from an outstretched hand into one or more creatures within 15 feet of you and 3 feet of each other. Each target takes 15 electricity damage per second, and living creatures with a central nervous system have a minimal chance to be afflicted with Stun.
Cost: 75 Concentration. Duration: Concentration, up to 15 seconds. Cast Time: 1 second. Cooldown: 30 seconds.
Windwall: Air Magic, level 10.
Protects the caster and those nearby with a barrier of intense winds that will attempt to deflect any attack with a physical substance that passes across its boundary. Attacks are deflected based on their speed and mass, with faster and more massive attacks being deflected less than slower and lighter attacks.
Cost: 150 Concentration. Duration: Concentration, up to 2 minutes. Cast Time: 0.25 seconds. Cooldown: 5 minutes.
Shared Dream: Oneiromancy, level 1.
Allows the caster to create a dream and draw another person into that dream with them. The caster does not have control of the dream once it is created, and this ritual will fail if the target is not asleep and near to dreaming. This spell does not force either the caster or the target to remain asleep, and if either awakens, the effects end. Nothing which happens in the dream is reflected in the real world.
Cost: 200 Concentration; can only be cast while asleep. Duration: Until one party awakens or the dream ends. Cast Time: Special.
All hail Lord Aidan, Master of Caer Macht!
As the Master of Caer Macht, your very essence is tied to the land around it. This gives you control, to a degree, over how the land is developed and used. Your decisions here will affect every facet of the land and, by extension, how your Place of Power grows.
With great power comes great responsibility, young Master.
Brighid caught Aidan in her arms as he staggered back from the psychic shock of claiming Caer Macht. He hung limp in her arms for a moment, stunned and struggling to process the barrage of notifications. He eased himself back to his feet, patting Brighid's arm in thanks, and attempted to push away all the prompts to deal with later. To his surprise, one refused to go, so he opened it.
The Dominion of Caer Macht includes an unclaimed level 0 settlement, Ceallach Macht. Do you wish to claim ownership of this settlement as well?
More work, more responsibilities, was Aidan's initial thought, and he almost declined on the spot before an idea struck him. The legends Brighid told him about the city said that Ceallach Macht was once a multi-species, multi-cultural city. If he could rebuild it that way, it would give him a power base that didn't depend on the goodwill of the Starchaser tribe. It would also mean that when enemies came for him, they would face more than just a couple hundred centaurs. And, too, there was Cai and Llwyd's faith in him. However, the straw that broke the camel's back was the implication that someone else could if he didn't claim the city. That would be unacceptable. He squared his shoulders and took another weight upon himself.
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All Hail Lord Aidan, Lord of Ceallach Macht!
You have claimed undisputed control over the settlement of Ceallach Macht! Although nothing is left but ruins, once this was the site of a city known far and wide as a place of peace, art, life, and love. With careful guidance and governance, you have the opportunity to reclaim and even surpass the glory of the past. Or perhaps a different destiny awaits the city under its new Lord? It is all in your hands, Lord Aidan!
As if that weren't enough, six voices spoke in unison, five out loud and one in his mind, "All hail Lord Aidan!" Cai, Llwyd, Brighid, and even Ailis's declaration, he set aside; they already addressed him as 'My Lord' or worse. Sarpedon surprised him, but that wasn't the focus of his attention, either. Aidan glared down at the black-furred astral jaguar at his feet and thought to her, "Traitor!" Riama blinked at him in the manner of a housecat who just pushed a plate off the table, then jumped up onto the altar and curled up into a ball.
"It was not known to us whether the city remained intact enough for this to happen; speaking only for myself, I hoped it would." Aidan turned to face Sarpedon, who continued, "I still remember Ceallach Macht at its height, and it would please me for this city to rise to prominence again. It will not be the same, but that is the joy of watching history unfold."
Ailis whipped her head around, but before she could start grilling the gargoyle for historical minutia, Aidan asked, "Am I anchored to the city now? Is it safe for me to leave Caer Macht undefended?"
"You may leave for a time," Sarpedon replied. "Now that they are claimed, neither the city nor the Place of Power will yield easily to another master. It would be possible for someone else to wrest control, but it would take both time and effort. The longer you are away, the easier it will become, but never to the point of being simple. It would be far easier to kill you and claim the Heart Crystal that way—and I say that knowing some of the advantages your nature grants you. You need not fear short absences, even several months at a time, but at this stage of your Mastery, you can only use and grow Caer Macht while close to it. It would be best if you made preparations for this to be your permanent home."
With a nod, Aidan said, "I figured as much." Turning to Brighid, he asked, "Would you mind moving your forge here, once we make proper preparations?"
Her smile was dazzling. "Of course not! I would never leave you alone, and besides, it has been my dream since I was a yearling to see Ceallach Macht rise again. It will take some time before anything here is livable, but I am with you wherever you go."
"It may not be so long as you believe," Sarpedon interjected. "One of the benefits of controlling a Place of Power is that its Master may draw upon the collected manna to create powerful effects. One of those is the ability to form magical servants. If you would please visualize your spells, I believe you should find some new options available."
Indeed there were, under a new category, Rites of Mastery.
Create Automaton: Use raw manna gathered from your Place of Power to form an Automaton, which will take on the aspects of the Place of Power. Automatons are mindless and capable of following only elementary orders, but they are tireless and can be formed into forms suitable for almost any basic task.
Cost: 100 manna. Duration: Permanent until dismissed. Cast Time: 1 second.
Create Automaton Overseer: Use raw manna gathered from your Place of Power to form an Automaton Overseer, which will on the aspects of the Place of Power. Overseers are an advanced form of Automaton with the ability to understand more complicated orders and control lesser Automatons.
Cost: 500 manna. Duration: Permanent, until dismissed. Cast Time: 1 second.
"I see. Can I—" Aidan started the ask before deciding to find out by doing instead. The sensation of casting a Rite of Mastery was quite different from a normal spell; instead of the power building up inside him and being channeled through sounds and gestures, Aidan could feel it streaming into his hands from the altar. After a second, mists swirled into a humanoid shape, then dissipated to reveal a creature that looked like an artist's mannequin made out of fired red clay. Wisps of fog leaked from its joints.
How much manna do I have access to? And how quickly does it regenerate? Aidan wondered, only for a prompt to appear before him.
Current manna available in Caer Macht: 39,900/40,000. Manna recovers at a rate of 4 per hour.
"Okay, so it takes 25 hours to recover the manna needed for one Automaton, and 125 hours per Overseer. But it isn't like I have anything else to spend it on at the moment..."
Soon enough, he had a team of ten Automatons and one Overseer. He sent them off with orders to clear the rubble in the city and stack usable blocks in a central location. It would take Caer Macht more than two weeks to regenerate back to full, but Aidan hoped that when he returned, there would be both plentiful building materials and space to build in.
He turned back to Ailis and gave her a piercing look. "Ailis, you and I are going to be spending some long nights together." She blushed, confusing Aidan for a moment before he realized his unintentional double entendre. "No, not like that! Now that you're my vassal, that isn't an option. No, I'm going to need to strategize with you; I want the Starchasers to move into Ceallach Macht. I can't help protect the tribe if I'm a week's walk or a day's ride away." Ailis's ice-blue eyes locked on his, and Aidan thought he saw a flash of disappointment in them before Ailis nodded.
"Further, I intended to make offers to all of the nearby tribes—yours too, Sarpedon—to send embassies or even relocate, if they so desire. In the past, Ceallach Macht was a city where people could meet and mingle, and I intend for that to be true again. The tribes being separate, insular entities means that each stands and dies alone. There is a storm coming, and we can only meet it together. You are excellent at getting people to do what you want them to without them realizing it; I will make use of that for the good of us all."
"By your will, Lord Aidan. You have fulfilled your end of the bargain, so I shall fulfill mine. We have to approach this with caution; change brings unrest, and this particular change will be worse than most. The tribes have been divided for more than a millennia. I do not know if it is possible for you to unite them, but if anyone can..." Ailis looked into Aidan's eyes again, searching for something. "Well, you have a good heart, and you are beginning to show steel in your spine. As a ruler, you will have t be firm and decisive. You will never be able to please everyone, and making the attempt will weaken what you are trying to do to the degree that it may all shatter. Compromises are one thing, but you are Lord of Ceallach Macht and Master of Caer Macht; you must live up to those titles."
Aidan gave Ailis a sharp nod, then turned to Sarpedon. "Thank you for the assistance, Sarpedon. Know that I am a man of my word; I will fulfill my part of the Quest. Animamancy is not an easy Skill to train, but I will work on it as best I can while dealing with my other responsibilities. While that happens, I want to invite your people to relocate to Ceallach Macht, if they wish. You already heard what I want from the city, and I believe our interests may align somewhat in that regard. I understand that you value your privacy, and I am willing to dedicate a portion of the city or the surrounding area to be an enclave of the Sapphire Sky Horde, where your own laws and traditions govern, subject only to the overall laws of Ceallach Macht. I also want to extend an additional invitation to you personally. I find myself in need of advisors, and you know more about Places of Power than anyone else in my circle. Would you be willing to take up such a position?"
The gargoyle cocked his head and thought for a moment, then nodded. "I do believe I will, young—that is, Lord Aidan, so long as you respect my judgment on what information to provide."
Aidan gave Sarpedon the same piercing look he'd directed at Ailis, but it was somewhat harder to win a staring contest with a living statue, and impossible to read his expression. Eventually, Aidan proposed a compromise. "If you accept, your job is to advise Lord Aidan, ruler of Ceallach Macht and Master of Caer Macht, not Aidan Lostlorn, the lonely human. I don't care if you withhold information that would affect me personally, but if your inaction hurts the people under my care, I will be extremely displeased."
The gargoyle's facial expression changed, but the differences were too subtle for Aidan to make head or tail of Sarpedon's thoughts. Was that a hint of sadness? He just didn't know. Regardless, Sarpedon bent his head forward and said, "Very well, my Lord, I accept your terms. May I ask when you intend to return to Ceallach Macht? There are matters I must attend to and messages I must pass along."
"Two weeks from now. That will give the Automatons time to work and allow all of us to make our preparations."
"Two weeks it is, then. By your leave?" Aidan nodded his permission, and the gargoyle left the chamber on astonishingly quiet feet.
Aidan gathered Riama up into his arms, then led the centaurs out of Caer Macht. Once they reached the entrance of the tunnel, Aidan faced west and looked at the sun, just beginning to set behind the distant mountains; after a moment of quietly soaking in the beauty of the Realms, he swung his leg over Brighid's back and settled his familiar in front of him. "Back to the village; there is much work to be done, and time waits for no man."
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Ansovald, called by some the Nighthawk, by some the Carrion Crow, and by other coarser names besides, studied the report on his desk, reading it from start to finish for the third time. At first, he dismissed it as more of the internecine inter-tribal warfare among the subhumans, but something about his informant's words nagged at the back of his mind. Centaurs traditionally do not have high affinity for fire magic, nor do any of the tribes which surrounded their territory. For a Fire Mage with Skill sufficient to master a spell capable of being seen from miles away to have slipped by unremarked until now was troublesome. Perhaps it was an exaggerated story; his informant had not witnessed the supposed battle first hand, nor had the one who told them. Ansovald, however, did not rise to his current power by being lackadaisical about his information gathering. He lifted the small silver bell from his desk and rang it once. Immediately, the door leading out of his office opened, and his manservant entered and bowed silently, awaiting his Lord's command.
"Sel, send for Kaleb. I’ve got a job for him out in the Wildlands."
"At once, my Lord," replied Sel in a soft voice, bowing and slipping out from the office to complete his task. Ansovald did not even hear him, having already dismissed his servant from his mind. After all, the magic in the heavy iron collar around the Elf's neck prevented its wearer from acting in any way to harm the one who it was keyed to. Lord Ansovald, Spymaster of the Kingdom of Gilhardt, Chosen of Rathar, the God of Cunning, Patience, and Detachment, prided himself on being thorough.