“The disaster that was the Reservoir project is perhaps the greatest tragedy that has befallen our city recent ages, not only for the destruction and lives that it cost, but also for hope that it extinguished in our people’s hearts. The Great Everness Reservoir was to be a wonderous thing, an answer to the dark mana and wastes that plague our city, however instead, it crippled a generation of our people and left a festering wound right in the middle of our heart.”
—The Tragedy That Was, Tasha Vane, The Golden Age, 4975
“How prepared are you for this?” The question rapidly left Norin’s fingers as they exited the clinic from its back door. “Because you’ll need more than just that stick.”
“I’ll be fine,” Vincent answered the instant that the dwarf finished signing, his hand tightening itself around his walking stick which he had grabbed entirely out of habit when they’d left, only realizing he’d done so right at that moment. Yet even so as he and Norrin continued to walk, circling the building towards the street, he found that the stick had a decent enough heft and stability to it, certainly enough to be worth keeping. “I’ve got a decent amount mana and a few combat worthy virtues on hand. I remember enough as how to use them too.”
“So I’ve heard.” Came the immediate response from the once ascendant, a single hand flashing in quickly acknowledgement before adding, “what aspects?”
It was a question that made Vincent pause, for unlike when Theo had asked him earlier, it wasn’t one that he could deflect or choose not to answer as easily. From just the short interaction that Vincent had experienced with the dwarf so far it was clear that he was competent and sharp, in addition to having once been an Ascendant. All traits that would allow him to instantly rip through any attempt of deception on Vincent’s part.
Which means that I’ll need to finally commit to a set of affinities, if at least around him, Vincent though as he quickly considered what mana he had his disposal, his insight effortlessly supplying the information so it flowed into his mind.
The Well of Eternity:
Radiant 1: 56/100 Motes
14 Fire
10 Water
10 Air
8 Earth
15 Shadow
Radiant 2: 15/100 Motes
15 Life
Radiant 3: 3/100 Motes
1 Lesser Manifestation of Slicing — Grade: C
1 Lesser Manifestation of Strength — Grade: B
1 Lesser Manifestation of Resilience — Grade: A
“Shadow, Air, Fire, and Life,” Vincent replied, seeing Norin’s eyebrows rise slightly at the news, no doubt on the account of him having four affinities, which was a rarity as things went. However that surprise lasted for only a moment before his head bobbed in sharp acknowledgement. More than that too, Norin didn’t take the opportunity to press Vincent as to how he had gotten that mana or the virtues he’d admitted to having. Instead, the dwarf simply turned his attention to the street ahead of them and picked up his pace, the two of them quickly leaving the clinic behind.
“So where are we going to start looking for them?” Vincent asked once they’d left the immediate vicinity of the building, which still had several people loitering out front.
“We aren’t.” Norin signed back as they continued to walk. “They’ve had hours to get away by now. Maybe even someone to shroud them with light or shadow on their way out. We’d be burning time trying to track them like that. No. We’re going to go find someone who would know exactly where the Hand would go to ground. We’re going to find my brother.”
“Your brother?” Vincent echoed, unable to help but be curious at the statement. “Who is he, and how would he know that?”
“You’ll find out when we get there,” the dwarf stated with a shake of his head. “Just follow as close as you can. There shouldn’t be any trouble so long as you’re with me, but be on your guard anyway. No telling what this day has in store yet.”
Well, isn’t that just cryptic? Vincent internally grumbled at Norin’s lack of answer, hoping that maybe he would add something to it as they walked. Unfortunately that development never proved to come over the next several minutes as they journeyed deeper into the slums than he’d ever been to date.
Up until now Vincent had carefully made sure to stay as close to the clinic as possible and only take the direct routes into the city proper. But as they headed eastwards, the tall, if damaged and rundown tenements that he’d been used to seeing, had given way to actual shells of buildings, or in some cases, mounds of rubble. No doubt the remnants of the disaster that Theo had told him about earlier. Even so, that didn’t mean that there weren’t people still living there however, for as the once stone buildings declined, tents, shacks, and other ramshackle dwellings began to replace them, some of the expanding on what was left, or in other cases simply building on top of it.
Oof, the amount of dark mana is definitely thicker here, Vincent noted the further that they went, its previously thin presence having built rapidly until it felt like a thick haze surrounding him. Granted, it wasn’t anything as bad as what he’d sensed over the waters while visiting the actual reservoir with Theo, but it was substantially more than it had been anywhere else in the slums. Moreover its presence was accompanied by an occasional mist of foul smelling water from above which Vincent was certain contributed greatly to the filthy state of everything around him. However more than just its presence, Vincent felt as if there was an unseen current propelling the mana, causing it to gently flow past them. Huh, that’s…strange. Could that be because of the runes Theo told me about? They’re not containing the mana consistently…so some of it blows free of the water.
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It was a puzzle that took up a notable part of Vincent’s thoughts over the remaining few minutes of his and Norin’s journey, which eventually slowed as the street ahead of them began to narrow. Where at first it had been large enough for a pair of wagons to ride through side by side, it had gradually shrank until the two of them couldn’t walk shoulder to shoulder any longer, with Vincent needing to trail directly behind the dwarf. This was a development that caused Vincent’s insight to scream an endless barrage of warnings to him, first on the account of being trapped in a confined space, and second due to the eyes, and weapons that were eventually trained upon them.
And…another crossbow pointed right at us there, Vincent added somewhat shakily within the confines of his mind as his mental soulmeld drew another red hued silhouette behind a mostly boarded up window. That’s the…eighth one I’ve seen now. The first two would have been enough for me to turn back, but Norin just keeps—
The thought abruptly ended as the dwarf Vincent was following came to a hard stop at what was seemingly a random door that faced the laneway, his hand coming up to powerfully pound on it a second later. Enough so that the entire wooden shack that it was attached to visibly trembled and swayed. It was perhaps that reason in particular that the knock prompted the door to open quickly, revealing a weathered and angry face of another dwarf within.
A dwarf that almost stunned Vincent with the fact that his hair, skin, entire body really, was completely blue in color.
“Wut you want Norin!” The man barked in a tone that Vincent could only describe as watery, almost as if they were trying to talk through a mouth filled with water. “You o’all feckers best know it ain’t safe this way this late! Specially not tonight! Sum bad blood out about.”
But if the once ascendant looked at all put off by the water aspected dwarf’s hard words, he showed no sign of it his hands coming up to sign quickly at the man.
“I do. That’s why I’m here,” Vincent saw him say without any preamble. “A gang hit the clinic. No deaths, but it was close. Even so, they took someone. Theo, Ayre’s son.”
That was all that the other dwarf apparently needed to hear to make his expression change, one that also happened to be accompanied by a barrage of dwarven curse words, all of which Vincent relearned in that moment.
“The feckin feck what?” The man gurgled in an instant rage, his skin taking on a smooth sheen as if it had suddenly become wet. “If they did, they’re walkin soulless.”
“They certainly are,” Norin calmly replied, nodding in sync to the fellow dwarf’s anger. “Which is why I need to know where the Stonecloaks are meeting tonight. If I know my brother, then he already knows what happened.”
“Don’t doubt,” came the reply from the dwarf. But instead of going on to answer Norin’s question he turned to look at Vincent, suspicion clear on his face. “Still gotta ask. Who’s dis other fecker?”
However before Vincent could open his mouth to answer that, Norin’s hands continued to move, “he’s the Ascendant who killed the Deepchewer, and who will be helping us set things right.”
It was an answer that clearly impressed the waterlogged dwarf, his attention upon Vincent only growing more intense. “That was you? Damn. You be having me and mine thanks. Big fecker ate least one or two of us a month. Water’s a heap safer with it gone. Hopin it stays too.”
“Happy to have done it,” Vincent replied, the words prompting a nod from Norrin who immediately resumed signing.
“Now you know him, and also that everyone who works the water owes him a courtesy.” He said quickly. “I imagine my brother will feel the same way.”
The nameless man let out a particularly wet sounding chuckle at that statement, all while shaking his head.
“Not fer me to say,” he said simply as he glanced between Vincent and Norrin. “But since ya asked so nicely, the cloaks are gatherin at the Demon’s Eye. Probably now most like. Ya still remember where that is?”
“As if I could ever forget,” Norin signed back, punctuating his words with a guttural grunt, which the other man promptly returned.
That is right before he promptly slammed the door shut, leaving both Vincent and Norin standing once more on the all too claustrophobic street.
“Do I get to ask questions yet?” Vincent queried as the echo of the slamming door faded and he looked down at Norin, who promptly shook his head in response.
“No. But don’t worry, the Eye isn’t far.” He signed quickly before motioning for Vincent to follow him once more, deeper into the confined streets. “You’ll find a few of your answers there.”
“And likely even more questions,” Vincent added in a whisper, to which the dwarf simply grunted again in answer to.
Getting underway again, the two of them then set off on a seemingly labyrinthine route through the crowded slums, or at least that is how it felt at first. Eventually, after they had been walking for a time, Vincent noticed that they were steadily headed in back the direction of the reservoir, zig zagging their way through the clustered streets. A fact that was rapidly confirmed by the increasingly more potent stench of garbage and offal that started to fill the air, beginning steadily at first and gradually increasing in intensity until they walked into a thick cloud of it at the very same moment they stepped out onto a rocky beach.
With no forewarning other than the street and what few free standing buildings there still were abruptly vanishing as they turned a corner, Vincent found himself staring out at the source of the stench, that being filth covered water that filled the reservoir. Yet for as foul as the smell was, it almost instantly became the second most dominant thing on Vincent’s mind, for in addition to its presence so too was that of dark mana, the slow current that he’d felt in the streets before instantly becoming a raging river.
Ugh, that’s…that’s a lot, he thought as the dead mana blew off the water before continuing up the beach, in the very same direction that he and Norin started to walk towards. A move that quickly had Vincent dreading as to where they might be heading. Oh, don’t tell me…
It was a thought that he didn’t have to harbor for long as the two of them made their way up the beach, a well-trod path soon becoming readily visible in the sandy scree that marked the water’s shoreline. A path that Vincent was easily able to see led towards a once impressive stone building that straddled the shoreline and the escarpment behind it. However despite whatever it might have once been, it was now a crumbling edifice appearing not only older than he would have otherwise expected, but old enough that a part of Vincent’s mind recognized the metal tower protruding out from the center of the ruined building.
H-hold on, he thought with a start as an unexpected image slammed into him, one that revealed not only the original state of the tower, but also its purpose. Is…is that a Siphon Tower? Did…did they build the reservoir on top of a Ley Line Conduit?