On the way to the nest, the four of them discussed what they could use to trade for information with the spider queen. The only items they had on them that were truly valuable were Drevock’s enchanted armor, Gabe’s own enchanted ring, the wyvern core that Simon had harvested back in the forest, and the extra patches of lichen he’d been able to harvest.
During that conversation, Gabe had made the decision to not tell the others about the enchantments on his necklace. As a gift from Freya and something that he was hinging most of his bets on keeping him alive when the scene from the professor’s vision comes to pass, he wasn’t willing to trade it away so freely. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the others, rather he just wanted to keep a few things in his back pocket just in case.
Simon had been the one to suggest that the queen might be willing to trade for information.
“It’s like she said before, it’s all about balance. We’re trading life mana imbued lichen for our lives, so maybe she’ll accept answers for answers.”
That led to a longer discussion about what an ancient queen of spiders living deep underground could possibly want to know. Ultimately they couldn’t come up with anything that seemed particularly likely, though Gabe was silently hoping that Drevock would be right and the queen would be interested in current food trends. The image of the large man swapping recipes with the spider queen brought a certain levity to the moment that he desperately needed. Ultimately they decided that they would offer to exchange information and hoped that they had the answers to whatever she wanted to know.
Professor Alrik spoke in a calm and measured tone. Standing there before her, the difference in size between them was all the more apparent. Surrounded by the webbed images of the spiders defeating their enemies, the queen looked all the more imposing as she focused her eyeless face towards him, her mandibles moving through the air.
“We believe that there is a repository of magical knowledge hidden somewhere within these depths, a remnant of the Vlatiryx civilization with whom you signed the accords. If you have any information about such a place, particularly its location, we will offer a trade, knowledge for knowledge. If there is anything you want to know about us, the surface, or anything else, so long as we know the answer, we will share it with you.”
For several long moments, the spider queen stood like that in silence. Gabe wasn’t sure if that was a sign that she was considering their offer or if she’d decided to let her hoard eat them. Next to him, Simon shifted in place, and out of the corner of his eye, Gabe saw him flex his fingers. He figured Simon was probably thinking along similar lines and was getting ready to fight.
The tension broke when the spider queen started chittering and her melodic voice entered their minds.
“Buried is the home of the Starfallen, with its secrets entombed within. You invoke their pact, travel with one baring their mark, yet you do not know the way. Truth hides in Illumination’s shadow, yes, yes. Secrets sought with answers bought, but what balances the debt of the dead? Connections and interweaving fates, yes, yes, but threads once entangled cannot easily be unraveled. To gain what you seek, are you willing to let go of what you’ve gained?”
Gabe was really hoping that Professor Alrikw was able to make more sense of the queen’s comments than he could. What did she mean that one of them bore the mark of the Vlatiryx? He replayed the conversation from the tunnels in his head and the only things that stood out were the comments she’d made about Drevock. Gabe cast a glance at the man to his left.
Drevock stood in the same position he’d been in when they first arrived in this area, axes in hand but not raised. His body language spoke to controlled readiness, but the way his brows were furrowed and his lips were pressed tight together spoke to an internal conflict. She had called him a ‘stalled Stalwart Titan’. Initially, he’d thought that whatever magic she used to see into the souls had given her knowledge about Drevock’s title, but he was starting to think that there was something more to it.
Gabe focused his attention back on the negotiation when Professor Alrik gave his reply.
“There is too much at stake for us to turn back now. We are prepared to bear whatever cost is necessary to reach our goals. I ask again, what would you have us trade for the knowledge of where this ‘home of the Starfallen’ resides?”
Gabe gave an involuntary shudder as the queen’s laugh echoed through his mind. It was a mirthless laugh that held no joy, only a dark, sinister amusement that sent shivers down the spine.
“You say we, but it is he who must bear the cost. You ask for knowledge but it's power you seek, so it's power that must be given, yes, yes. This is balanced, this is fair. Ancient threads connected Soul Weavers to Starfallen, threads snipped by time and battle. For guidance through the depths, old ways renew and connections reformed. You lose a Titan, but you gain so much more, yes, yes. Do we have an accord?”
“I…I need to discuss your offer with the others,” came Professor Alrik’s reply, weak and wavering. Gone was the resolve he’d showcased earlier. He took a few shuffling steps backward before turning his back on the queen and returning to the rest of the party.
“Master, there has to be another way. I’m sure we can figure out something else to trade. If it's power she wants, she might be interested in the wyvern core. I’m not sure what she’d do with it but there’s no denying the magic in it is powerful.”
Simon spoke with an optimism that seemed too forceful to be genuine. It certainly didn’t match the worried expression that covered his face. Unlike Gabe, Simon clearly knew what the spider queen was talking about. Despite the tenseness of the moment, this realization brought up feelings of anger in Gabe. Here was even more proof that key information about what they were doing in these tunnels was being kept from him.
That anger was tinged with shame and embarrassment as he thought over all that happened over the last two weeks. Despite living in Aranthia for a few years, in his heart Gabe couldn’t escape his upbringing. He was from a quiet village where tales of prophecy, adventure, and magic were things shared around a fire and a cup of ale. He recognized that his vision had been clouded and he’d been too caught up in the allure of what the professor promised him to see the truth of the situation.
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Old questions and inconsistencies that he’d pushed to the side cropped back up in his mind. If Professor Alrik was a part of some grand organization, why didn’t he have additional guards as part of their group? Sure Drevock was strong and Simon’s magic was impressive for his age, but why not have a few extra as well. Hells, they could have hired some from the Adventurer’s Guild before they set off. Gabe hadn’t thought to question it back then because Professor Alrik had seemed wise and assured that he had a plan, yet now here they were negotiating with a spider queen and hoping she continued to honor some ancient agreement that they knew next to nothing about. Well Gabe was tired of being kept in the dark, it was time for some answers.
“I’m sorry but can someone explain to me what she’s talking about? ‘Cause it seems like you all know exactly what she means?” Gabe tried to keep his words even but some of his frustration leaked out.
Simon looked over at him with a pained expression.
“Look Gabe, it’s not that we purposefully kept this from you. There’s more going on than you realize and-”
“Of course there’s more,” Gabe interrupted him, this time not masking his anger. “I know you all probably think I’m just some village simpleton but I’m not blind, I saw the hidden glances and the way certain topics were avoided. I didn’t say anything because I figured you all had your reasons, but now I think it’s time for all the cards to be laid on the table. What does Drevock have to do with the Dwellers or the Vlatiryx or whatever they’re called and what are we really doing here?”
He hadn’t meant to explode like that but between the recent battle, being constantly on guard, and being confronted with the fact that the people he’d considered friends were keeping key information from him, he lost control of his emotions. He’d trusted Professor Alrik when he promised that he would do everything in his power to keep Gabe alive, but now that trust was starting to fracture and Gabe was beginning to second-guess his decision to take this job.
“That’s not fair. We didn’t mean to keep anything from you, it’s just that, well, we had to…” Simon’s voice trailed off and he looked down at the ground, unable to meet Gabe’s eyes.
Professor Alrik spoke next, his words apologetic and full of contrition.
“You are correct Gabriel, there are things that we have kept secret from you, and I now recognize the mistake in doing so. You agreed to accompany us knowing full well the personal dangers to yourself and that alone should have signified that you could be trusted with the truth. However, as the queen spoke, this is not my burden to bear nor my secret to share.”
He looked at Drevock. For several seconds the larger man locked eyes with the old gnome before slowly nodding his head.
“Are you certain? There will be no going back after this.”
Once again Drevock nodded his head.
“Very well.” Turning back to face Gabe, Professor Alrik continued. “You already know that even among Vidjeun practitioners, Drevock is unique in his ability to store spells within his soul. I was lying to you when I said that I did not understand how he was able to do this.”
He paused there for a few moments as he collected his thoughts. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder, but the spider queen hadn’t moved since she spoke last. Assured that they had the time to have this conversation, he looked Gabe in the eyes.
“Ever since I made the discovery about unknown compound mana types within Vlatiryx relics, I have dedicated myself to learning more about them. My travels have taken me back and forth across the Peliosian continent. Between the resources of the Pathways of Illumination and my own periodic Insights, I was able to find several obscure references to the ancient civilization.
Shortly after Simon became my apprentice, we stumbled across a weathered codex written on stretched lambskin buried beneath a burned-down church. The text was over a thousand years old and written in a very archaic language, though we were able to decipher it with a bit of magic.
While many of the pages had deteriorated over time, what remained was an account of the origin myth of a tribe living on the Delari Plains written down by a missionary. These people believed that their ancestors came from space, wielding weapons forged from stars, and capable of magics never seen before. They did not just weave spells within their souls, they wove spells into their souls, granting them immense strength, speed, and power.
Something happened that caused a schism within these people from the stars, something that led almost all of them to hide themselves away, never to be seen on Pelios again. Only a single individual stayed, stripped of his power and weapons. Despite these, he gathered a following and tried to teach them the ways of his people. The account ended by saying that the blood of this individual still runs through the tribe and that every few generations one is born who can access a fraction of his former power. The text referred to the individual as Eserik, though in the current tongue, he is known as Estariqu.”
Gabe immediately looked towards Drevock. Estariqu, Titan, this was the title that Simon had said the people of Tur’nyoc used for Drevock. The spider queen had also referred to him as a Titan several times,
“So you’re saying that Drevock is the descendent of one of the Vlatiryx? But what does that have to do with what the spider queen wants? Are we supposed to trade him to her?”
That idea didn’t sit right with Gabe. How could they just give Drevock to the queen? Who knew what she would do to him. It was one thing to fall in battle, and another to just give someone up to save yourself.
“As you have already figured out, the information in that codex led Simon and me to Tur’Nyoc where we were introduced to Drevock. The full story of our time in Tur’Nyoc will have to wait for another day, but we learned something of great importance. What I am about to tell you is the greatest secret of his tribe. It is only with his blessing and our current circumstances that I am sharing it with you, so I ask you to keep that in mind.
As you know, his people are practitioners of Vidjeu casting, and as a result, they have developed several different forms that allow them to cast magic. Among them, there is a single set of forms that does not activate any spell. For most, going through the motions has no effect. But for a select few, including Drevock here, their mana responded differently. They could weave their mana through their soul, as mentioned in the codex, stabilizing the spellforms in ways not otherwise possible. Once a person is able to go through the forms and make all the necessary connections within their soul, they earn the title Estariqu, Titan.
If I am understanding the spider queen correctly, it is not Drevock that she wants. It is the pattern of mana within his soul, that which makes him a Titan, that she will accept as a trade for a guide to the home of the Vlatiryx.”
A solemn silence fell over the group as they each thought over just what exactly that meant. Gabe wasn’t sure how the queen could do it, but if Professor Alrik was right and this Titan mana pattern was woven through Drevock’s soul, then any attempt to remove it would result in destroying his soul.