The square erupted into chaos. Yeth jabbered loudly back and forth, while a wild energy seemed to course through the crowd, leaving everyone moving without purpose. Belinda had begun screaming at her daughter, but most of the words were lost over the cacophony. Callan noticed Radavan raising his hands, trying to calm the crowd, but he might as well have been yelling into the void for all the good it did him.
Then Sworv and Paeral summoned their wurmchains, and things really went crazy.
Half the crowd surged away from them, while the other half pushed even closer, causing a dozen arguments and minor scuffles to break out. Meanwhile a pair of swords had materialized in Higarth’s hands—finally confirming his identity as a priest, if a bit too late to matter—and he was now standing protectively between Callan’s priests and his own avatar.
Inside Callan’s head Xeph was trying to say something, but the words were no more audible from within than Radavan’s had been from without. It seemed like every person around him was trying to outdo each other in volume.
Paeral took an aggressive step forward, and Callan realized he couldn’t wait for the situation to calm down on its own. He had to act.
Fortunately, whatever Xeph had been trying to say appeared to align with his own thoughts. When Callan’s voice bellowed out, it was filled with the stone god’s strength as well as his own.
“SILENCE!!!”
Amazingly, the crowd responded, and the noises around him cut off like a blade had torn them apart. Callan turned towards his priests. Whatever the expression on his face was, it must have been intense. Paeral stepped back, and Sworv dropped his weapon entirely, allowing it to puff away into smoke.
“Both of you, withdraw, now.” He didn’t wait to see if his order was obeyed, instead turning to Veritas.
“I’m glad to see you are keeping a cool head about this, Avatar Callan,” the masked figure quipped. “And here I was worried you might do something rash and risk the punitive might of the Accords dropping on your head.”
“Pound sand, Veritas.” Callan’s eyes found those of the yeth woman still holding onto the other avatar’s arm. She wore that sad smile of hers, but he couldn’t bring himself to feel anything about it right now.
“Alyssa. Why?”
“It’s not that complicated, Callan. This all simply came down to which avatar I thought would finally get me out of this miserable little village.” For a moment, Alyssa cast her eyes to the ground. “I do wish you had taken me up on my offer last night. We could have made a few good memories to remember each other by. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll be getting another chance.”
“Yes, it does seem like your time as my informant has come to an end,” Veritas noted dryly. They let out a sigh. “And I had so hoped to eke out a bit more from this partnership, too. But no, the avatar just had to introduce that wildcard Dosoti into the judging.”
From the far end of the square came the sound of a distant rumble. Veritas glanced over their shoulder, then back. “It appears our ride is here. Avatar Callan, I do thank you for being such a good host. Until our next contest.”
“Wait a minute, you’re not going anywhere until we’ve set a time. Tomorrow, we—”
“Sorry, but it doesn’t work like that,” the other avatar interrupted. “Until you procure an individual we can both agree is neutral enough to decide the third contest, it appears this duel will be put on hold. Come, Alyssa. Time to go.”
Veritas spun, their robes billowing out behind them, and strode from the square, Alyssa following behind. Higarth took a moment longer to bow to the Mayor.
“My apologies, Belinda, but I think it’s time I also took my leave of this village. Consider myself as having gone into voluntary exile, wouldn’t you?”
He turned and scurried off after the others. Belinda blinked. Then her face turned red in fury.
“Wait just a damn moment!” She tore off across the square. Callan hesitated, then shook his head and took off after her.
He only made it as far as the square’s edge before bumping into the mayor. On the other side of her, he found Veritas, Alyssa, and Higarth—along with two other masked priests. Only these two were astride a pair of enormous beasts that Callan instantly recognized. So did Xeph.
Oh, dvoraks, the god casually noted, as Callan’s mind worked to process the sight. And properly war-trained ones by the look of it. See how they twitch? Trying to keep a dvorak standing still is a lot like holding back a hurricane. I imagine these two were raised—
“Not the time, buddy.” Callan grabbed Belinda’s arm before she could start forward again. The mayor struggled against him but couldn’t break free.
“Why?” she shouted after her daughter. “Tell me why! Everything I’ve done has been for your sake, daughter, so tell me, why do this to me? To your family? To the whole village?”
“If you have to ask that, mother, then you haven’t been paying attention. I honestly wonder if you ever did.” Alyssa climbed up behind Veritas onto one of the beasts. When she turned back, her gaze found Callan. She opened her mouth to speak.
“Alyssa,” Veritas said. The word was soft, but utterly commanding.
The yeth woman closed her eyes. “Of course, Veritas.”
Followers lost. Available faith decreased by 1.
Negative faith detected. Minor Debt Penalty applied.
That... that BITCH! Xeph’s voice rumbled like a volcano. It was loud enough that Callan winced.
“Apologies, Avatar Callan, but I can’t have you tracking a former follower to our destination,” Veritas noted, his modulated voice dripping with smugness. “Bad form, and all that. Still, I do look forward to hearing from you soon about that neutral party.”
They kicked their heels, and the dvorak shot forward. Yeth dove out of the way as the two beasts charged out of town, and in seconds they were little more than specks raising a cloud of dust in the distance. Callan watched until even that faded away to nothing.
“Well, shit. This day certainly could have gone better,” he mused to no one but himself. Of course, it was never just himself listening these days.
Yes, the yeth’s betrayal was a bit of a blow to our efforts here. It remains to be seen what effect this will have on the town’s opinion of us. Xeph’s words rang ominous in his ears. Then the god’s tone lightened. There is, however, a bright side to all of this.
“Really?” Callan perked up at that.
Indeed. We’ve solved the mystery of that dvorak on the lud plateau at last. If Veritas is training the beasts, it’s highly likely one escaped and made its way there. I had been so curious about that, the poor creature seemed completely out of its element.
“You—are you for real right now, Xeph?”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Why would I not be? the god asked.
Callan opened his mouth to retort, flapped it uselessly a few times, then gave up. Only then did he notice he still had a hold on Belinda’s arm. He released his grip.
“Hmmph. About time.” She glared at him as she massaged her arm, then turned to look at the crowd. Any sign of shock and anguish was gone off her face like it had never been there in the first place.
“Everyone, I know this is a blow to our community.” Her voice echoed across the square. “To lose both our potter and our blacksmith on the same day will mean difficult times for all of us. But do not lose heart! We still have one more contest, and once the avatar has proven himself the stronger, Veritas will depart this plateau along with all who support them. New potters and new smiths will settle here, you will see. Trade will resume. Life will improve. You need only trust in me, as you always have, since the beginning. I promise I’ll see you through this, on my honor as your mayor.”
Callan gaped at the woman. She couldn’t be serious... could she?
Inside his head, Xeph chuckled. Ah, never underestimate a yeth’s sense of priorities. Notice how quickly her own daughter simply becomes ‘the blacksmith’. By tomorrow she’ll act like Alyssa never existed at all.
For better or worse, it seemed most of the town shared Callan’s sentiment. Belinda’s speech met a wall of blank stares. Someone coughed in the back, and then the crowd began to break up and drift away. Belinda’s head darted one direction and the next.
“Wait, I still have more to—we can’t lose hope over—come back here! I order you as your mayor!”
No one listened, and in a few minutes there was no one left besides Callan, Kivi, and the lud brothers. Even Radavan departed, though he at least cast a pitying look back at his mother before slipping away.
The mayor stood in the empty street, arms still half-raised, looking for all the world as if she’d been frozen in place. She jumped when Callan’s hand landed on her shoulder.
“C’mon, Mayor, I think we’d better go talk about our next move.”
“I—yes, of course. That would be wise.” She glanced at him. “You’re not—we can still defeat Veritas. This isn’t over yet.”
“Nobody said it was.” Over her shoulder, Callan shared a concerned look with Kivi. Maybe the situation was still salvageable, but at the moment he couldn’t quite see how.
“Let’s return to my house. I’ll make us some tea.” Belinda started to turn away, only to glance back at Callan. “By the way, what was that nonsense Veritas was spouting about the Accords?”
“Honestly, I was hoping you could tell me.”
----------------------------------------
Callan collapsed into a seat while Belinda set to busying herself around the kitchen. The stiffness in her shoulders made it plain she wasn’t ready to speak yet, so Callan let her be.
Instead, he focused inward and pulled up his stat sheet.
Name: Xeph-Zul-Karatl (3rd Sphere)
Avatar: Callan Whitlocke (Trueborn Human)
-STATISTICS-
Brawn: 19
Momentum: 17
Fortitude: 41
Concentration: 17
Influence: 17
Piety: 18
-BOUNTIES-
God Bond: Gypsum – I
Manifestation: Mountainform
Orison slot 1: Shape Stone (Gypsum - I)
Orison Slot 2: Wurmchain (Talc - X)
Orison slot 3: Rock Sling (Talc - II)
-DISPENSATIONS-
Perk 1: Wane
-DOGMA-
Total Followers: 99
Available Faith: -1 (Minor Debt Penalty)
Conviction: 10/10
Conviction Rate: 5.5/week
Temples: 2/2
Domain: 18 yd
APOTHEOSIS: 18/27.5%
His eyes were immediately drawn to the words ‘minor debt penalty’ practically flashing in his vision. The last time that had happened to him was during the fight against Ligo, and with all the chaos, he hadn’t really had a chance to investigate it before all the additional villager faith washed it away. He focused on it now.
Minor Debt Penalty
While this penalty is active, apotheosis will accrue 25% faster and will decline 50% slower.
Callan winced. Yeah, that’s going to be a problem long-term. Alyssa really did a number on us today.
Thinking the yeth woman’s name sent a spike of pain through him, like someone clutching at his heart. He hadn’t really been attracted to her, had found her advances more off-putting than anything, but he couldn’t deny that he’d thought they were at least friends. This betrayal was hitting him harder than he would have expected.
You should eat something, mortal, Xeph said, interrupting his introspection. With that penalty in effect, maintaining a higher cooldown rate will be more important than ever. Let us just be glad that it is only a minor one.
“How does that work, exactly, anyway? You never really explained the first time.”
Only because we were in the midst of combat, and I felt there were more important matters on your mind! Xeph paused, then continued, There are four levels of penalty—minor, medium, major, and severe. Try to avoid that last one. It is not quite as dire as reaching the limit of your apotheosis, but it is a close second.
Callan frowned. “No offense, but I kind of feel like avoiding it is sort of out of my control. It happens when we lose followers, right?”
Essentially, yes. There are steps you can take to mitigate it, however. For instance, most avatars will begin to maintain a reserve of available faith rather than spending it all upon receiving it. Having a buffer can ease the risk if there should suddenly be a crisis of faith.
There are also some tactical advantages, he continued, Such as being able to apply additional faith during combat to gain a sudden edge against your opponent. Though that has limited applications and shouldn’t be relied on to turn the tide.
“What about—” Callan began, only to pause as a teacup slid in front of him. Across the table, Belinda settled into her own chair.
“Alright, let’s get this sorted out. First and foremost, Avatar—do you have a plan for our next move? How do we force the final contest with Veritas?”
Dismissing his interface, Callan considered the idea. Finally, he said, “I have no idea. There’s nobody left in the village who can be trusted by both Veritas and myself, and even if we could get someone back from our own temple, they’re no more neutral than your own villagers.”
“What about someone from another village?” Kivi asked. “From one of the nearby plateaus?”
“Hmm. Possible.” Belinda considered. “It would have to be one that you’ve had no contact with, so that Veritas can’t claim they’re secretly a follower or some such nonsense. Only two places north of here I can think of, and one south. South is the easier to reach, but...”
“But it goes right by where we think Veritas might be,” Callan finished.
They all sat in silence, digesting that.
“What about these Accords Of Divinity?” Callan finally asked. “Veritas mentioned them at our first meeting, but neither Xeph nor I are familiar with them.”
“Really? Interesting.” Belinda gave him an appraising look.
“What is it?”
“Avatar, are you possibly not from this continent?”
The question caught him off-guard. He took a moment before answering. “In a manner of speaking.”
“Hmm. That does go a long way to explain some things about you. After all, any god native to Urslang would be intimately familiar with them.”
“Can you explain to us what they are, Mayor?” Kivi asked. “I have also neither heard of them, nor has anyone back at our temple. Yet you act as if they are common knowledge.”
Belinda shook her head. “Not common, no, but... well, all cards on the table, I’ve never actually read the Accords myself, but my husband had. He spoke of them on occasion.”
“That still doesn’t explain what they are.”
“Yes, yes, I was getting there. The Accords of Divinity are a set of codified laws established by the gods of the Northern Alliance. They take the much older established divine traditions and add to them. All the gods of the Northern Alliance tend to enforce them rather zealously.”
“So they’re more rules about duels.” Callan tried not to grin over his little rhyme. No one else appeared to notice.
“Not just duels, Avatar, but everything pertaining to the gods and how they are to engage with one another.”
“And these Accords apply here to the Badlands as well?” Kivi asked.
“Well, now, that’s an interesting question.” Belinda sucked at her lips. “You see, they are a product of the north, and as such they are enforced wherever the gods of the Alliance hold sway. That includes all of the territories in the Southern Reach as well these days, but down here... I would be hard pressed to believe they care enough to ever impose them in the Badlands.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because if they did, then Zavastu would have been hauled away in chains decades ago. That bitch of a goddess had been violating a dozen of the Accords since coming here—and those are only the general ones I’m familiar with. Your village is a prime example, High Priestess.”
Kivi blinked in surprise. “It is?”
“Indeed. One of the primary rules of the accords prohibits the enslavement of people unassociated with any god. Were we living anywhere else on Urslang, Zavastu would never have been allowed to dominate your village, let alone take away your people for her own purposes.”
“That’s...” Kivi trailed off. She seemed shocked beyond words by this revelation, and Callan couldn’t blame her. He wondered idly if they could have used this knowledge of the Accords back in her village. Perhaps they could have simply negotiated for its freedom rather than fighting.
That thought led him to another. “So, these Accords don’t really apply here, but Veritas seems to think they do. Could we use that to our advantage?”
“I—I don’t know.” The mayor looked thoughtful. “My husband kept a copy of the Accords somewhere. I’ll start looking for it right away. Perhaps I’ll learn something useful.”
“Then that seems like the best path forward.” Kivi rose to her feet. “In the meantime, the avatar and I will speak with our home temple and see what other avenues might be open to us.”
“Just a minute,” Callan said, holding up a hand. “There’s one more matter we need to deal with.”
“Avatar?”
Leaning forward, Callan made sure he had both of the women’s attention. He drew in a deep breath.
“I need another follower.”