44.6626° N, 7.2959° E
A lone figure wandered in the misty valley of what was known as the Cottian Alps. The figure’s pitch-black outfit stood out among the vivid, chartreuse undergrowth. In front of him stood a gate made of a variety of scavenged scraps.
On the ridge of both sides, countless barrels aimed at the figure. Behind the sandbags and the ramparts, rifles and rocket launchers had locked onto him.
“I am an inquisitor, sacrilege investigation department. Where is your leader?” The figure’s voice echoed through the soldiers’ minds. His voice was filled with righteousness and confidence.
Hastily did the cultists place their fingers on a variety of triggers. An immortal trespasser could mean bloodshed and destruction for them. After all, they were followers of an unregistered immortal, and they have stolen and scavenged a whole vault of divine artifacts and old tech.
“Shit, run and go tell the Boss, we have an Inquisitor here.” The timid cultists whispered yet the wind carried all their words to the lone immortal.
“I mean you no harm, but I am in a hurry.” The inquisitor raised his arms and lifted his veil hat. “merely looking for a talking rock and its owner.” Beneath the hood was a bearded elder, smiling with sincerity and benign: a fundamental illusion, a neat trick to lower the mortals’ guard.
“Textbook illusion, man. Just like how we were taught. Tell the man to put on thermal scopes if they have. Our guest is either mind tricking us or created a puppet for us to see. And from now on, stop talking and start using hand gestures. They understand our languages, remember?”
“Most intriguing.A camp of militarized cultists.” The bearded elder threw away his hat and firmed his stance, raising his palm to the sky.
After taking a long breath, he started shadow fighting. He accelerated his movements with each punch, kick and slap. Through their thermal scopes, the cultists only saw a glowing orb gradually heating itself.
The immortal’s movements had breached the sound barrier with a flashing light, creating deafening sonic booms with his bare hands. Instantaneously, the shockwave had blown off the mist in the valley as well as his facade of a kind elder, revealing an indigo face of a horned, fanged goblin-like being.
“Retreat!” The cultist screamed at the top of their lungs and abandoned their posts. Most of them could not hear themselves or each other -- the boom echoed throughout the valley and left their ears ringing.
“What hit us? Cannons? Bombs?” Panic overwhelmed the crowd as they left the gate unguarded. With an easy leap, the immortal landed inside the land those cultists had claimed for themselves.
The immortal witnessed the crowd running away from the markets and the plaza. The view in front of him was too peaceful to be an encampment for an unregistered cult: the tanning racks, the forges, the butcher stations, the playgrounds-- the craftmanship behind the colony was crude yet practical, hideous yet cozy.
Pigs, boars, and porcupines were symbols that littered the colony. They show up on flags, doors, shields, carpets, and kids’ chalk graffitis. “Animal worshipers. Bit of old-fashioned and outdated, isn’t it?” The immortal soliloquized as he traversed deeper into the colony.
He stopped at a shrine at the center of the plaza. A clean-cut piece of rock rested in a pool of water with flower petals, candles, and letters surrounding it.
“So you are the reason why the divinity flow of this mountain is off.” The trespasser walked into the pool and placed his hand on the rock. “Let’s see if I can read you.”
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“You will not, Lord of the North Stars.” The rock talked--projected its mind upon those it made contact with. “Surprised? I am way more ancient and powerful than your little birds told you?”
Cautious did he retracted his hand. Once again, the matter he was assigned to deal with was underestimated by the intelligence provided.
“Care to explain what is going on here? Who are these letters and flowers for? Who are their devotion and oblation benefiting? ”
“What if I don’t? You are going fight me and level this place?”
“No. I would leave, and they would send a termination team and erase everything here. So help yourself by helping me. ”
“They, who? Your guild, the gods you serve?”
“Precisely. Now care to provide some answers?” The immortal started losing his patience, and he got other pressing matters occupying his mind. Namely a rampaging whale spirit in the Whitelands up north.
The rock went silent. Behind the Lord of the North Stars, three porcine orcs pointed their guns at him.
“Step away from our holy rock, please, sir. Or we will shoot.” One of them said, with mannerism unfitting to their beastly appearance.
“The drakes cursed the shotgun in my hand. It is meant for shooting immortals. So don’t try us or we will give you some nasty scars to remember. ” A more intimidating voice said.
“Are you threatening an immortal?”
“Yeah, we are holding an immortal at gunpoint. Lord Moccus must be so proud of us.” The third one--the biggest and strongest one of the three said.
“Gunner, you dumb pigman. Shut up before you give away more intel!”
“Both of you, shut up! I will do the talking. Can’t you see? We are all alive because this immortal let us.” The pigman slapped both of his companions in the head.
“I assume you are the one they call Boss.” The Lord turned around and greeted the three with a nod.
“I am Boss, and the gun guy is Geek. The all-brawn-no-brain guy is Gunner.”
“I am Kui, guardian of scholars, the guidance of travelers, pursuer of truth, and Lord of the North Stars. I am here on behalf of my guild and our Starry Lady Astr...”
“Sorry to interrupt, but the less we know, the better.” Boss bowed and apologized. “We are not some unregistered cult. We are refugees, deserters, heretics, and outcasts. This colony is an experiment, a gift from the immortals of Norashu. Lord Moccus was the one who saved us.”
“Yep. Lord Moccus and a paled-beak, owl-looking birdman.” Gunner added. “He brought us back from the brink of death and granted us freedom and power.”
“You skipped the part we were almost beaten to death by his Golem.” Geek added.
“Norashu? How quaint. They disbanded, and we took some of them in. Huh, does your Lord Moccus has an absurd craving for tobaccos and have the appearance and the temper of a caged boar?”
“You are correct.” Boss nodded.
“And the pale-beaked owl guy has a mouthful of blackened teeth and carries a stick with a snakehead on it?” Kui asked.
“You are right. That stick broke like---a hundred pairs of arms that day. Tsk tsk, brutal.” Gunner shook his head and explained.
“Of--bloody--course, it was those two.” Kui’s devilish amber eyes rolled up and sighed. “Why the name Moccus?”
“We came up with one. He never mentioned his name.” Boss replied. “It was a lot easier put name in front of all the actions and teachings.”
“Teachings?”
“We three have dreams at night. In our dreams, Lord Moccus and Lord Pale-Beak teaches us, advises us, and guides us.”
“I am positive that is Dalang’s idea and Dolus’s work.” Kui interrupted. “What do they teach you and what orders do you receive?”
“So you know Lord Moccus personally.”
“I took him in. I took both of them in. You are the army they are preparing for me. ”
“How do you know?” Boss frowned.
“Because… it does not matter. Wow, I am surprised by his progress. How long does it take for you to establish all this?”
“My Lord, do you have any solid, personal proof of your relationship with our Lord Moccus?”
Kui threw a golden coin at Boss. A boar on its head, and spikes on its tail, engraved with nordic runes. “He always carries one of those around. And I see similar design everywhere in this town.”
Boss caught the coin mid-air and took a bite on it. “Solid Gold. Not illusion.” He returned the coin to Kui. “No offense, we were taught to handle objects given by the immortals with extra caution.”
Kui gently pushed Boss’s hand back. “You can keep it. It sure means more to you than to me. And also, what is up with that rock? It is from the Nine States.”
“Oh, that is Lord Moccus’s first trophy. He asked us to find it in the southern Americas. It took us years to find it and get it here.” Geek holstered his Malice Striker shotgun and explained.
“Hmm, he never mentioned it to us. Your hog lord sure hides a lot of secrets from this world.”
“To Gunner and Boss, he is a savior. To me, immortals, gods, and daemons make no difference.” Geek turned around and grunted with his porcine nostrils. “He taught us how to kill just about everything in this world, is he not worried we might use our skills against him?”
“STOP talking such sacrilege, Geek! He gave us longevity and purpose; we are serving him, not worshiping or enslaved by him.” Boss yelled at Geek. “We were disposable slave soldiers before we are engineers, gunslingers, and leaders. NEVER FORGET THAT AND BE GRATEFUL...”
“Sorry, you have to see that, m'Lord. Please follow us and let us show you around.” Gunner led Kui away and left Boss yelling at rebellious Geek. “This way, my Lord, let me show you the vault and the proof of a coming war.”