Chapter 173: Kur'aktos
Aegis, Lina, Pyri, Darkshot, and Mayiera all stood a few meters out from one of the many large gates leading into The City of the White Tree. There was a wide, sturdy obsidian bridge in front of them built overtop of the slow flowing moat of magma that surrounded the city, and it was covered with armed White Tree guards who all glared apprehensively at the five of them.
They were not wearing Seeker’s cloaks, but instead their regular adventuring gear, with the exception of Aegis who wore the fancy business suit that’d been crafted for him by Yuki, to try and give the best impression possible.
Mayiera, however, wore a mended white version of the Seeker cloak. Aegis had used Emerill’s stolen cloak as a design example and remade one of the seeker cloaks to perform a similar effect, then Mayiera had it enchanted to instead change her appearance to that of a human, rather than a Dark Elf, allowing her to disguise herself alongside the others.
“Remind me…” Darkshot said nervously as he eyed the angry Dark Elf guards standing on the bridge, and atop the wall. All of them not taking their eyes off of Aegis and his companions. “What exactly is the plan again?”
“Well, I’m the Lord of Rene. I sought out an audience with Kur’aktos, and arrived here with my armed, adventuring escort party, in order to establish good relations with Kur’aktos and his people, and possibly trade.” Aegis explained.
“Shouldn’t Chax be here for this then?” Darkshot asked apprehensively.
“We’re not actually looking to trade.” Pyri rolled her eyes at Darkshot.
“It’s just so we can get in.” Lina added.
“Yeah, but then, why are we waiting outside of the city?” Darkshot replied.
“It’d be a bit weird to explain how we already got inside without them knowing, wouldn’t it? Especially with all the commotion that we caused the past few days.” Aegis replied.
“Oh, right. Makes sense.” Darkshot shrugged.
“Once we’re in the meeting, we’ll talk to Kur’aktos, and…” Aegis paused and glanced over at Mayiera beside him, who was glaring back at the guards. “Well, we’ll see what happens from there.”
“Right. Right. Sounds easy.” Darkshot said, standing stiff.
“Just relax. Act naturally. They don’t expect anything from us, you’re just my adventuring party member who helped me traverse the underrealm to reach this city.” Aegis tried to calm Darkshot down, but it seemed to have the opposite effect despite Darkshot nodding back to him in acknowledgement. He began fidgeting his fingers around and swaying side to side, looking around behind him at the wasteland scenery rather than continue to look forward at the countless angry dark elf guards staring back at him.
Eventually, though, not long after they’d arrived, the gates into the city slowly began to grind open, just wide enough for a few people to pass through. They watched as four Dark Elves stepped out of the gate and walked towards them across the bridge.
Immediately, Lina and Mayiera recognized one of the four people to be Viella, the warden of the prison.
“That’s the warden.” Lina gave a slight nod in her direction.
“Shadow dancer, got it.” Aegis nodded back as he spotted the short haired Dark Elf.
“The one beside her is the Commander of the Guard.” Mayiera mumbled, pointing out a tall, broad shouldered elf wearing sparking light pink metallic armor with beautiful engravings carved into it on the spaulders and chest area, all symbols to represent the city of the white tree.
“Is that…?” Darkshot’s jaw dropped as he saw the color of the metal and its shiny reflectiveness.
“Mithral.” Aegis nodded excitedly as he eyed the man, [Commander Krael(Elite) - Level 155] sat above his head. The other two NPCs that accompanied Krael and Viella were simply named [Royal White Tree Guard - Level 145]. Aegis couldn’t take his eyes off of Krael’s equipment, though. It all looked incredibly powerful - not just his armor, but a long flowing white cape that trailed behind his legs as he walked, and the gigantic greatsword sheathed on his back that had a magnificent hilt, reminding Aegis of Herilon. He was bald, with a dull round head but a strong sharp jawline and a scar over his right eye that resembled a downward sword slash mark.
“Greetings, Lord of Rene.” Krael spoke with a deep voice and lightly bowed his head. “I am Krael, Commander of the Guard in this city. I will be escorting you to meet with the Lord of this Land.”
“A pleasure to meet you, Krael.” Aegis bowed back as politely as he could.
“Please forgive any rude stares to receive as we traverse the city, our people are not accustomed to seeing your kind walking about our streets freely.” Krael explained while motioning to the nearby guards on the bridge who were still glaring at Aegis and the others.
“It’s no problem at all. It’s not our first time going into foreign lands.” Aegis smiled.
“Good. It is quite the climb to reach the palace, at the top of our Great White Tree. Are you prepared to make the journey now, or would you prefer to rest inside first, given your long journey to reach our city?”
“We are fine to climb. I am eager to meet your leader as soon as possible.” Aegis replied.
“Very well. If you follow me, I will take you to him.” Krael smiled with another light bow before turning and walking back across the bridge into the city. Aegis gave a nervous glance to his companions before walking forward, following behind him. Aegis' party and Mayiera followed suit, while Viella and the two royal guards positioned themselves behind them and brought up the rear. Lina did her best to avoid any eye contact with Viella, hoping she wouldn’t recognize her with the seeker cloak off.
The moment the group stepped through the gate, Aegis could hear the sound of it slowly grinding shut behind them.
Entering the city as a human was a vastly different experience. Just as Krael said, every single Dark Elf that spotted them immediately stopped what they were doing to stand and stare. Some looked with wonder, others with fear. Aegis even saw some people immediately running away upon spotting him and his companions, or shielding their children as though Aegis was a monster that was going to try and snatch them up.
Still, they continued forward through the streets of the city without any incident. Krael lead them up the nearest staircase so that they arrived atop the lowest level of branches. From there, they walked towards the trunk of the tree and began traversing up the ramps and stairs that wound around it.
It wasn’t long before the group had arrived at the upper branches, stopping in front of one of the few gates that lead onto the Royal Ring. Krael wasn’t required to provide any documents to the guards that stood watch over the gate - instead the gate was opened the moment the guards had spotted him.
Krael then led the way through the gate and onto the ramp that rose upwards, leading them onto the Royal Ring. Aegis was anxious to follow behind him, knowing just how densely packed the Royal Ring was with guards. The moment they reached the top of the ramp, though, he was blown away by the beauty and magnificence of the buildings and statues that surrounded them.
Some structures were built into the thick upper half of the tree, others towards the outside rim of the Royal Ring. Buildings were primarily built out of the dim glowing wood of the tree, but there was a great deal of light gray stone and obsidian that accented and complemented the woodwork.
Not only that, but the NPCs walking about up on the ring were dressed much more eloquently than those on the lower level. There were fancy silk dresses and dress suits of a unique design that Aegis had never seen before. His first thought upon seeing it was how jealous Yuki would be of them, but then remembered he was livestreaming everything and glanced up to see that his viewership had already shot up to 100,000.
Aegis’ jaw dropped without him realizing it as he stopped walking forward and spun around in wonder, taking it all in. This didn't go unnoticed by Krael, though, and he too paused. Rather than rushing Aegis along, he smiled and waited patiently for Aegis to stare in awe at the greatest creations of Dark Elf craftsmanship.
It wasn’t just Aegis, either. Lina, Darkshot and Pyri were all staring in wonder at their surroundings. All of the statues, wall decorations, and even pillars and foundations were covered in beautiful sculptures and decorative engravings that utilized the ever-present light from the tree to accent their forms. Even the shadows they casted seemed to be intentional and a part of the art.
“Sorry.” Aegis finally realized that he’d been gawking about and Krael was waiting patiently without saying a word.
“No need to apologize. I imagine you’ve never seen anything like this on the surface.” Krael smiled.
“No, I haven’t. There’s nothing like this on the surface. How is a tree growing upside down like this even possible?” Aegis asked him curiously.
“Truthfully, we are not sure ourselves. We believe the tree is a gift, and we do not squander it. The light watches over us, though. It keeps the dark creatures of the underrealm at bay.” Krael explained. “Kur’aktos will know more about such things though.” He added another bow and motioned Aegis to keep following him.
“Right. Lead the way.” Aegis nodded. From there, the journey through the upper ring began. Aegis was able to, with some difficulty, spot out the purpose of many of the buildings upon seeing them up close. There were many craftsman halls, residential buildings, and other expensive looking shops that lined the streets. The barracks and the wizard’s tower were all built into the tree itself, side by side. On the complete opposite side of the very thick trunk, up another ramp above the Royal Ring, was the palace.
Its outer walls jutted out from the tree trunk, constructed from pure white marble to blend in with the glowing light of the tree and reflect it.
There were multiple windows built into the large wall that wrapped a long way around the trunk, but the windows were too high up above the ground level of the upper royal ring for Aegis and his companions to see inside. Instead, they were led by Krael straight to the front gate, carved out of dull white tree wood and covered with swirling elvish engravings. The two Royal Guards that flanked the gates immediately moved to open it for Krael and the others, and Krael led them inside where several female Dark Elf servants were waiting to greet them holding trays with glasses of water on them.
“Finally. You’ve arrived.” A male voice called out the moment they’d stepped into the main hall of the building. It was a long rectangular room with a high ceiling, and multiple decorative wooden pillars flanking a long dark gray carpet that stretched from the entrance to a wide staircase on the far end of the room.
At the top of the stairs they spotted the source of the voice as he stepped down them slowly, waving his hands outwards in a welcoming motion. [Warlord Kur’aktos(Elite) - Level 155)] stood above his head. He had short black hair tied back into a ponytail and was wearing a fancy silk dress suit of white and dark purple colors, not unlike those that Aegis had seen worn by the other people walking around the streets of the upper ring. Like Krael, he too had a very large, imposing build that didn't fit with the typical slender elven image. The moment Aegis spotted him, he felt himself tensing up while hearing Darkshot behind him let out a nervous gasp.
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“You must be hungry and thirsty after the long arduous journey through the wasteland.” He continued to speak as he reached the bottom the stairs. As he did, Aegis watched Krael, Viella and the two accompanying Royal Guards all kneel in his direction. Darkshot wasn’t sure what to do upon seeing it, so started kneeling as well, but was interrupted.
“Please, there’s no need for that. You are guests.” Kur’aktos stopped him and Darkshot smiled awkwardly, standing back up while Lina and Pyri threw him anxious glances. A moment later, the NPCs stood up again.
“Actually, we’re not that hung-” Aegis began saying, but Mayiera suddenly nudged him from behind. “Yes,” Aegis cleared his throat awkwardly. “Yes, you’re right, we’re quite hungry.”
“Wonderful. My chefs have already prepared us a fantastic meal, of only our finest of dishes. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.” Kur’aktos smiled, motioning them to follow him as he made his way through a large door leading out of the hallway on their left.
Krael took lead, and Aegis and the others followed him. Through the door, they found themselves in a large dining hall with a greatly elongated rectangular table. The chairs on the furthest ends were quite some distance from one another and looked much more majestic and decorative than the others.
Kur’aktos took a seat in one of these end chairs, and Krael and Viella moved to sit in the chairs nearest to him on either side of the table while the two royal guards moved to stand against the back wall behind Kur’aktos.
Aegis then moved to take a side chair around the room, but Pyri grabbed his shoulders and stopped him.
“You’re the lord, dummy. You’re supposed to sit at the opposite end, in the other fancy chair.” Pyri whispered to him and motioned to it.
“Oh. right.” Aegis replied and quickly stopped himself from sitting, then moved to the far side of the table and sat opposite to Kur’aktos. From there, Mayiera, Pyri, Lina and Darkshot all sat in the chairs nearest to Aegis.
Once they were all seated, there was a good 5 meters of distance separating Aegis’ end of the table from Kur’aktos.
“So, what are your first impressions of our city so far?” Kur’aktos asked.
“It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Aegis replied.
“Oh, surely you’ve got many skilled craftsman on the surface, no?” Kur’aktos smiled. Aegis was thrown off, from the way everyone had spoke about Kur’aktos up until now, nothing was making any sense. He was sure Kur’aktos was just putting on a polite face.
“Yes, we have some. I’m one myself, actually. I’ve heard that the wood harvested from your tree actually glows, and I think that crafts made out of such a rare material would hold great value to the people on the surface.”
“I see, yes. It is quite the rare commodity. I presume it is your primary interest in our meeting today?” Kur’aktos raised an eyebrow.
“One of several.” Aegis nodded, trying to sound as proper and polite as possible. He briefly looked to Pyri for affirmation on how he was doing so far and she threw him a subtle thumbs up. “But, I must say…” Aegis hesitated, taking a deep breath. “You do not match the descriptions I was given by the Dark Elves I’d met on the surface. They warned me that you were a Tyrant, of sorts. Ruling your people with cruelty.”
“Yes, and you do not match my known descriptions of the humans on the surface. Violent brutes with thoughts of nothing but worship of their destructive gods.” Kur’aktos replied with a squinting stare. “It seems rumors have gotten out of hand on both sides.” He let out a soft chuckle, which Aegis responded to by forcing his own chuckle and nervously looked between Lina, Pyri and Darkshot, but they all just shrugged back at him.
Before Aegis could say more, though, the doors into the room opened and several servants carrying trays of food entered.
“Ah, here, the food has arrived.” Kur’aktos smiled as the servants began placing the food around the table, primarily at the ends. Once the trays were set down, the servants lifted up the lids to reveal the strange looking, but delicious smelling dishes. The line of servants kept coming, almost endlessly, until the entire table was filled with a wondrous, diverse feast.
Following this, plates, eating utensils and cups were placed on the table in front of everyone, and a final servant came through with a tray of various bottled liquids.
“Would you care for some Trelyion Wine?” The servant asked politely.
“Just water, please.” Aegis replied politely, and the servant bowed before filling his glass with water for him. Darkshot, Lina, Pyri and Mayiera all copied this request.
“Wonderful. Feel free to try a little bit of everything.” Kur’aktos declared excitedly while motioning to the feast. “In particular, the hydramar steak is delicious, and quite a delicacy.” He motioned to several of the dishes containing strange, yellow colored meat.
Aegis was hesitant to eat anything, but once he saw that not only Kur’aktos, but Viella and Krael were eating, he felt like he had to. He reached out for several dishes and gathered food from them onto his own plate, then as subtly as possible, he began casting enchant object on the food just to confirm none of it was poisoned or anything before biting into his first bit of meat.
It was unexpectedly delicious, and the moment he’d eaten some he saw in his interface that he received a stamina recovery buff. It wasn’t as good as the ones provided by his fisher kebabs, but it removed his concerns that Kur’aktos was looking to poison them and he was able to eat the rest of the food much more relaxed.
Seeing Aegis eating, Darkshot, Lina and Pyri joined in. Mayiera, however, refused to do anything more than sip her water.
“And?” Kur’aktos looked over across the table at Aegis expectantly after seeing he’d finished chewing and swallowing his first bit of food.
“It’s wonderful, like nothing I’ve ever tasted before.”
“Ah, you’re too kind. I’m sure I would react the same if I were your guest, tasting your surface foods.” Kur’aktos smiled. “I find that everyone is much more open to speaking when their stomachs are full with good food.”
“Yes…” Aegis said as he stopped eating and put his utensils down. He had to shake himself off and resist the urge to get caught up in the flow of things, reminding himself that he’d come here for a purpose - to discover Kur’aktos’ true nature.
“Before we are able to establish any specifics on potential trade agreements, I’d like to know a bit more about this city, and it’s leader.” Aegis motioned towards Kur’aktos.
“Certainly. And I have some questions for you as well.” Kur’aktos replied, also putting down his utensils and taking on a more serious expression. From here, the two stared intently at each other, as if scoping each other out. And in that time, Aegis noticed that everyone else had stopped eating, and tensions began to rise.
Aegis didn’t want to waste anytime, so he thought carefully on what question to ask that could get him right to the core of the answers he needed, without Kur’aktos being able to politely weave his way out of it with smiles and flattery.
“Is it true that you killed your brother?” Aegis broke the silence with this question. It somehow got even more quiet after that, so silent you could hear a pin drop on the floor.
“I see. So even events like that have reached the ears of those on the surface. No wonder I have such a poor image painted of me.” Kur’aktos replied calmly, though Aegis could tell he was holding anger back behind the forced smile that he continued to put on display.
“But you’re not denying it is true?” Aegis raised an eyebrow.
“It’s not so simple as if I killed him or not. There are many things you’d need to understand.”
“Please, explain, so I can learn more about you.” Aegis asked as politely as he could, but quite insistent.
“Easy…” Pyri whispered to Aegis nervously.
“Very well. There’s no avoiding it. You ought to know how things are really like down here, if you are to truly establish a good relationship with me and my people.” Kur’aktos sighed and cracked his neck white Krael and Viella looked at him anxiously.
“Roughly 100 years ago, my father, Koff’aktos was the ruler of this city. But he was cruel and monstrous. He forced our people to work day and night, with very little rest. He believed that only those necessary to the functional protection of the White Tree, or those necessary to run the city, deserved respect, or rest. So he constructed this Royal Ring to separate those of the lower city, from the upper.
Naturally, those on the lower city felt oppressed under his cruelty. They were given sparse amounts of foods and water, handed only the scraps. He continued to instill this idea into them that if they worked hard and made themselves worth more, they could live a better life up on the Royal Ring. But in truth, no one from the lower tree ever made it to the upper tree, and he liked it that way.
At first, in my younger years, I believed the system was necessary for our survival. I, and I presume you, have seen first hand just how deadly the underrealm can be, and that's not including the threats that make their way down from the surface, or up from the abyss.” He paused and gave Aegis a chance to nod back in acknowledgement.
“But as I got older and matured, I slowly learned of other ways to keep a city safe under these harsh circumstances. I of course tried to share these ideals with my father, but he was not interested in any of it and had me thrown in prison immediately for speaking out against him for 100 years.
Fortunately, my younger brother Kagil’aktos was able to free me from the prison, as he too agreed that my father’s way of ruling was wrong. We both agreed that, if we could find a new source of power to protect our people, we would be able to convince him to change his strict method of ruling to allow our people more freedom in their lives, and therefor more happiness. So, we both sought out the power to do exactly that.” Kur’aktos continued, but as he did, Aegis noticed Mayiera begin clenching her fists under the table.
“I decided I would seek out power through ancient weapons, while my brother, Kagil’aktos, sought it out through ancient magic. My quest eventually led me to discover the long lost art of forging mithral.” Kur’aktos said as he suddenly drew out from his inventory a beautiful, light pink colored longsword to show Aegis and the others for a moment before putting it back away.
“My brother, on the other hand, was led down a darker path, in the ruins of Belmiure. He discovered that an ancient dark lord of void had corrupted the fallen king of the city, which led to its destruction. He sought to utilize and wield that dark lords power for himself, but such dark magic cannot be so easily controlled. Unfortunately…” Kur’aktos paused as he looked down at his table with regret in his eyes.
“He was taken advantage of, and instead, the magic of this dark lord took control of him instead, and attempted to use it to destroy this very tree and bring down our city. I was forced to stop him. Not long after that, with regret and hatred in my heart, I too, brought an end to my fathers rule once he refused to see any reason. I used the power of this mithral to end both of them. But I did it for the people of this city.
So I am sure that many people see me as a cruel, tyrant warlord. But I hope, as leader to leader, you can understand that I did what was necessary for the good of my people.”
“If you hadn’t done what you did, we’d all be dead now.” Krael reassured him as Aegis saw frustrated tears swelling up in Kur’aktos’s eyes. Aegis then looked between Mayiera, staring daggers at Kur’aktos, and back to his companions, and took a deep breath.
“But, you haven’t changed anything, have you?” Aegis asked him curiously, surprising Kur’aktos and the others. “I mean, from what I’ve heard, your people work 72 hours and rest only 10, right?”
“Yes… that is a great change from my fathers rule. He only allowed 1 hour of rest for our people. When I made this change, our people rejoiced… is it done differently where you are from?” Kur’aktos looked at him with a confused expression.
Aegis, Pyri, Lina, and Darkshot all stared at each other and let out long, drawn out sighs.
“He’s not evil, he’s just kind of an idiot.” Darkshot whispered.
“What about the ban on religion and worship?” Aegis asked him curiously.
“The war between the gods of light and dark is what tore our world asunder. Why would I invite such forces into our walls?” Kur’aktos replied as if this was obvious.
“That kind of makes sense.” Pyri shrugged awkwardly.
“But, you normally arrest anyone who isn’t a Dark Elf, right?” Lina jumped in with her own curiosity.
“That would seem true from an outsider's perspective, but in actuality we simply require non-Dark Elf outsiders to undergo specific tests, to prove they are not members of certain cultist groups. It just so happens that all of the surface-dwellers that have attempted to enter our walls thus far, did so with nefarious intentions. As you can see yourselves, we have done nothing but show hospitality towards you all.” Kur’aktos explained.
“Even the Plashrim?” Aegis asked.
“Plashrim are not immune to the corruption of evil down here in the underrealm.” Kur’aktos shook his head. “It is more than simply dark and light, and void. There are wild creatures that can blend in and take on appearances of other things or objects. There are parasitic beasts that utilize living hosts to accomplish their goals. Creatures that teleport, or manipulate the minds of those unsuspecting. So many deadly threats, that we must be incredibly cautious every time we open our gates.” Kur’aktos explained. “Which is why…” he cleared his throat. “I am hopeful that our discussions go well. It is the first time for me to speak with a lord on the surface, and I hope that through trade and good relations, we could improve the lives of each other's people greatly.” Kur’aktos finished.
Following his words, there was another long silence as Aegis thought on what to say next, briefly watching his companions to try and understand what they were thinking through their eyes. Eventually, Aegis’ eyes landed on Mayiera who had been glaring angrily up until now.
As he’d remembered just how dangerous a situation they were actually in due to her, he watched as suddenly her glare faded and was replaced by a wide grin. Aegis wasn’t sure what’d caused the grin, but quickly looked back across the table and saw that Kur’aktos had just taken a drink from his glass of wine.
Quest Complete!