Chapter 22 - The Rahama council

A few days after Yacova’s vision, a meeting at the Rahama council. It consisted of the strongest and most knowledgeable beings of the Gesha sector, some that were even at odds.

Many species were present, some were humanoid creatures very similar to earthlings but others were more animal-like with coats of fur or sharp claws and powerful senses. All came to Rahama’s palace with heists once the ‘invitation’ was sent.

None would dare offend the only god of Gesha and all desired to curry favor with the powerhouse.

The great haul was full of extravagance but not because that was the gods will. In truth, Rahama hated politics and war and simply desired to live in peace as he had done for thousands of years while watching over his homeworld. It was the only truly prosperous world in Gesha as it was the only place Rahanna ever cared for.

But when the universe shook and all the diviners reported a great disturbance in the sea of whispers, he had no choice but to convene a meeting to discover what threat may lurk on the horizon.

He never met any of the powerful beings his priests had invited but he didn’t let this intimidate him. He could overpower all the elites from the various species of Gesha with little effort, thus was the power of a god. The great doors opened on their own and in he walked.

He let his aura leak out in a show of force as he recognized the looks on the faces that had all turned to him. They all knew that they had no chance of surviving if he wanted them dead. Many heads of powerful families didn’t come personally but sent their sons or daughters in their stead, thereby still complying with his ‘invitation’ but not directly risking their own lives.

Rahama didn’t know who even half of these people represented as he was immediately focused on the white-robed priestess seated next to his throne. She was the greatest seer in the entire sector and had helped him countless times through her divinations.

She was incredibly weak despite her high magical level, that was irrelevant though since she was the most well-protected person on this side of the sector. Rahama himself even swore to protect her from anything that may threaten her, ever since she warned him of a plot to assassinate his descendants in retribution against him.

He retracted his aura once he got himself seated and nodded to his great-grandson who stood to his right. The middle-aged representative of the god stepped closer to the large table where all the various representatives were now sitting.

“On behalf of his lord Rahama, welcome to the great world of Al-zaro, the greatest and most powerful world of the sector.”

The man's voice was amplified with magic as all could clearly hear him despite how incredibly large the room was. He was visibly ecstatic that he was able to brag about their own superiority to all these great powerhouses without repercussion.

“You are all aware that something has disturbed the tranquil waters of the sea of whispers. A great catastrophe is coming but our information is sparse. We are all here today to discuss and share our findings to properly understand the looming threat.”

Most of the gathering nodded along as many eyes drifted from the throne and towards his right side where the priestess sat clade in white.

The man too looked over to her as he stepped back once again.

The woman in white looked mostly human except for her unusually long limbs and tall stature.

“As many of you know, I’m the head cardinal of the Vashiva temple and the most gifted diviner in service to our lord. A few days ago, the ripple of space became known to most of you but we diviners are more connected with the whispers.

A power has been discovered, a being that shouldn’t exist has caused our great lord to react in surprise at its discovery.”

“That's preposterous, are you saying that the lord caused that disturbance just because something spooked him? You sound like a dawm heretic, not the head cardinal of Vash...”

Before the angry young man sitting at the back of the hall could finish, his head exploded as if hit by a train. Blood was splattered everywhere but none reacted with great surprise. The man was a deeply religious person who was exceedingly jealous of the Vashiva temple and would use any opportunity to undermine the head cardinal.

Silence fell as the god readjusted his position on his throne and sighed.

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“I don’t remember ever asking for his opinion and yet he so brazenly insults the great mistress. Marbo, what house did he hail from?”

“He was the grandson of the Tulis family my lord, a small backwater family of no importance to us” He replied without any emotion about the sudden death.

“Then I declare the head of the Tulis family is to bow down in apology to the great mistress and beg her forgiveness for the great offense his grandson has caused. That is if he wishes to live of course.”

The man and woman who came with the now-dead young man nodded deeply before the man turned to scoop up his master's torso and as much of the destroyed pieces of his head as he could before making his exit.

“Please continue, great mistress of Vashiva." said the god after a few moments of tense silence. The other guests stood perfectly still and locked eyes with the ground.

“As I was saying, the ripple was most definitely a direct result of our lord Nafritese, but this rarely happens. In our recorded history, a ripple in the sea of whispers has never before manifested to the point that any powerful mage can feel it.

However, I have noticed something peculiar about this ripple. It appeared to be a mistake, as if the great lord was blocking our ability to see its source or its meaning.”

The god furrowed his brows as he looked at her.

“Are you telling me that even though all the seers and diviners felt this ripple, none know of what it warns nor of its origin?”

“I’m sorry my lord but we have had no visions or premonitions of any kind and it is as if the entire ripple never happened. I attempted to open back up the path in the sea of whispers but the waters were silent as if it had never happened. The only way for that to happen would be because our great lord doesn’t wish this event to be known… At least for now”

A large green-scaled person that resembled a humanoid dragon only without wings then carefully spoke up.

“If you would, Head Cardinal of Vashiva, could you please explain to us about the sea of whispers you speak of and the reason for its disturbance to bring such worry?”

“Yes, of course, the sea of whispers is the realm we seers and diviners use to glimpse the future. All predictions and premonitions come from the sea of whispers and any event grand enough to affect the whole of the cosmos would cause a ripple in the sea. This ripple isn’t a premonition of what could be but a shock to the fabric of space. According to records, our noble host himself caused a significant ripple in the sea of whispers when ascending to godhood.

But it has also long been recorded in the great libraries of ancient realms, that eons ago, there was a great ripple in the sea of whispers, and all our lord’s believers were shown a vision of the destruction that the dark order had created and would continue to do if not stopped.

The reason that the ancient guardians of the past were able to stop the dark order from corrupting the multiverse was because of the ripple in the sea of whispers.

But the Absolute has never sent visions like that unless to warn of imminent danger for all of existence.”

“If that is the case, why do you believe that Nafritese doesn’t want to warn us about another incursion like the dark order?”

“That is simple, none of us were given any information or vision about what could have caused this ripple, and the Absolute himself has stopped all our seers from being able to dig any deeper.”

The lizard nodded and looked down in thought.

“And this is why you are all gathered here today.” said the god as he looked across the room at the many different faces.

“Have any of your seers been given a vision or glimpsed any clues about the coming threat?”

The room was silent for a few seconds as the different factions looked at each other. In this place, none could harm each other as the god forbade any violence in his world. But revealing sensitive information about their most valued information gatherers was not something any of them wanted to do. Many of the different factions present were at odds or even in direct conflict with each other and this valuable information would definitely be leveraged later on.

But lying to the god was a death sentence in of itself.

“All four of our strongest seers lost consciousness after they were expelled from the sea of whispers before they could see anything.”

Said a woman dressed in an elaborate and colorful dress.

“We too feared for our seers when half became unresponsive or shook uncontrollably. They have all recovered but none had glimpsed anything.” Replied another person.

“A few diviners received a strong feeling of surprise and awe from the ripple but none were granted a vision”

“Then there is hope.” Said the head cardinal.

“The very fact that some had time to sense anything from the ripple before it was erased means that the origin of the shock was closer to them than to us. As a result, we can begin to narrow down its location.

My lord Rahama, I believe that a few seers must have more information about this ripple but they are likely in hiding. I believe that the best way to learn more about this threat and its origin is to seek out those unaffiliated seers. As such, I would be most grateful if you would give them protection on Al-zora.

Seers are most sought after in Gesha and protection is vital for these talented individuals. If one such seer was close enough to the origin of the ripple, then they may have even been given a vision but won’t be able to relay that vital information for fear of their identity being disclosed.”

The god nodded along before getting up from his throne.

“Very well, from now on, any and all vagabond seers are guaranteed protection on Al-Zora in exchange for information about the ripple. Any attempt to harm or prevent a seer from seeking out my protection will have their worlds destroyed and all blood relatives and factions annihilated.

I trust the great mistress will inform me of any plot or attempt to hide such a person.”

The tale woman in white nodded with satisfaction before the god disappeared without revealing a trace.

Most of the guests looked around wearily before they made their way to the great doors and returned to their respective homes and would no doubt relay the entire council meeting to their faction leaders.

Rahama was very frustrated with the lack of information about the ripple and was now a bit on edge about what sort of threat was looming overhead. He liked the great mistress but all the others were less than pathetic in his eyes. He had no idea why his grandson had insisted on inviting them all as they had nothing of value to provide.

Marbo had assured him that they needed to remind them of the true ruler of Gesha and that he needed to demonstrate his power and authority every so often in order to dissuade any foolish behavior like the assassination plot from a few centuries ago.

Rahama was tempted to simply go out looking for the anomaly where the seers had more luck but knew that he would have no way of covering all that area even given a million years.

The only thing he could do was trust the great mistress once again and wait for the right time to strike.