Amdirlain's PoV - Beijing

From the hills outside the imperial city, Amdirlain looked over the red-tiled roofs and the neat lines of the paved streets. In a variety of sites beyond its limits, she observed large fortified compounds that contained the themes of multiple practitioners. One of them had a banner of five white rings on a red background, prompting her thoughts towards the Mongolian youth they'd met in the first village. Though she hadn't heard Milad's song, he'd freely said his name to her, making him easy to track. He was now a lanky youth just short of his Class vision, yet he already had Ki moving between five chakras. Glad he'd made it to the sect and been accepted safely, Amdirlain turned her attention to the city melodies.

While many of the city streets were awash with people, she caught the Jade Emperor's location walking amid the relatively empty streets near the Forbidden City. Officials in palanquins and soldiers moved past the old man in black and silver clerical robes without a glance. Amdirlain changed her form and clothing, and settled an obfuscation around herself, before she stepped beside him. Those on the street and watching from the emperor's palace believed that two aged clerks had always been there, walking to work.

The Jade Emperor merely nodded. "Do you find the day a pleasant one?"

"It's warmer in the south," said Amdirlain. "Though I'm unsure if the news will come this far north."

"Perhaps, but rumours travel with lightning speed, outpacing official, more truthful, accounts," said the Jade Emperor.

"Do you have a name you usually use while walking?" asked Amdirlain. "Some titles can be quite attention-grabbing and ruin the mental obfuscation I've got in place."

"Usually I'm out walking with only one or two, then it's clear who is being addressed."

The gift that had started her on the trip around the courts appeared in her hands. The polished grains of the red ironbark sphere gleamed in the sunlight.

"Thank you for loaning me this puzzle," said Amdirlain.

"You've changed it." The Jade Emperor carefully collected it from her and nodded politely. "I'll keep it safe. Hopefully, you'll not need this music in another life."

The broken ley line tracer in the middle is now fixed, and the crystal core I used holds the True Song for aligning a planet with the Jade Court. That was all completed with True Song, yet he knows what I've done.

"I was once told there would be a reward if I visited you. Along the way, I realised the reward was journeying far enough to meet you unaided."

"Every path has lessons."

Amdirlain smiled warily. "There are a few paths I don't want to take."

"Are you worried you might have to travel them?"

"I accept various forces are trying to ensure I travel them. Would you answer a question for me?"

He shrugged ever so slightly. "It depends on what it is."

Nüwa might have me under observation right now, and I'd never know it, so I might as well be upfront.

"Why do people in the courts use Nüwa's name so freely? You must know where she is in this realm."

"Why did she ask to be shackled in the depths of Hell?" The Jade Emperor looked at her sideways.

"She didn't want to die like her husband. She wanted to be genuinely Immortal, or at least completely unkillable, until this realm shattered."

"Yet death is the ultimate agency of change, one she isolated herself from for billions of years. She is a shard of a Goddess of Creation, yet there is no creation without change. There is a question I'd ask you. May I?"

"It depends on what it is," responded Amdirlain.

The Jade Emperor nodded serenely. "Do you know all the primordials I act as the conduit for between the courts and the higher elevations?"

"Thank you." Possibilities flared in Amdirlain's mind, and she nodded to the puzzle box he still held. "I can't sing that song and survive at present, but you have the mechanism and my permission to use it if one of your superiors is confident. There is a planet identified within the crystal as well. They'll need someone to take the puzzle box to the planet so it can serve as a conduit."

Can two shards of the same Primordial exist in the same realm? When a shard is created, it would start in the same realm as its creator. So yes? If she's unshackled with the other shard present, would she be flung out from this realm or anchored by her other self? I designed the chains for a scenario with only one shard present.

Is that a loophole that would help or harm her? Sarah would rightly have an absolute fit if I went near Nüwa.

"That won't cause you difficulty?" The puzzle box disappeared and slipped his hands into his sleeves before him.

"I passed it to you, but you don't have the right nature to use the song. You'd have to pass it along, which creates the degrees of separation that make it safe. I've provided it so that if something happens to me, and your situation worsens, you've got a way forward."

I don't have to be the one to fix everything.

"If something happens to you, and we can wait, then it's research you've already completed for your next reincarnation?"

"Yes," confirmed Amdirlain. "Might I ask why you walk among the mortals in such an unnoticeable fashion?"

"So that I don't forget where I started, yet don't cause ripples. While their struggles aren't mine to interfere with, I should recognise their efforts and remember my own."

They walked along silently for a time. Two clerks who, it was easy to believe, were simply on their way to work. He was alone when he rounded a corner onto a busier street—her departure went unnoticed.

Amdirlain reappeared on a mountaintop east of Mammoth Lakes. Without Danu's divine efforts, the location would have supported sparse trees and scrubland at best. Instead, Amdirlain took in a thick forest for hundreds of kilometres, reaching south past Death Valley and northward until it was level with Mount Saint Helens. Other natural woodlands bordered it in places, benefiting from the weather shift driven by Danu's strength in the central line of forest.

A trio of crystal pillars appeared around Amdirlain as she mimicked the weather control emitting from Danu's Avatar. With their completion, she put the inactive units into a stationary orbit above the forest and bounced a control module on her palm.

Who do I give this to? They have her hibernation spot securely guarded.

As she considered options, she expanded the reach of her senses, taking in the savage tribes of orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, young dragons along the West Coast, and many villagers within the forest. The oldest chromatic she sensed was barely into the mature adult stage, and she wondered if the metallics and Taurë saw to purging them before they grew too strong. Within the forest and beyond, various True Song relics pinged sharp, pure notes. The possibility of her song book laying among the same wrecks that had led Gail to the royal harp niggled at her. A familiar theme within the woods decided things.

Do I check the wrecks before or after I speak to Verdandi?

She sent an image of her location and an invitation. In seconds, the energies of the Greater Teleport's focus rang next to her.

A curtain of autumn-hued hair hid most of Rana's fine angular features. The hints of mint dusting his features had inspired Amdirlain's usual guise. It had been decades since she'd first met the Ljósálfar imprisoned on the altar of Set and the years had treated him well. He wore a set of mithril chainmail over layered silk garb in forest tones, with a bow stave of silvery wood slung across his back.

"Hello Rana. I wasn't sure you'd be here after Goxashru needed to head home."

Rana nodded. "Temporarily, until he has time to start on your next task. The Lady of the Forest directed me to assist with matters here. What can I help you with today, Am?"

Amdirlain held out the crystal cube. "There are three weather units in orbit over the forest. Individually, they can duplicate the efforts your Lady's Avatar has been in hibernation to maintain. I've created three for redundancy and also to allow for finer control on specific regions."

He received it from her with a respectful reverence. "I know you offered to help, but I thought you were waiting to hear from her?"

"I might be unavailable for a while, so I set up some unit that she could get enabled if desired. The activation requires a High Priest of your Lady to cast the Greater Weather Control Blessing into that cube. It's a significant Blessing that not anyone can cast and personal faith alone cannot power it."

His eyes gained a rich amber glow, and the mingled scents of the deep forest swirled around them as Danu's presence echoed within him. "Is there anything you need, Amdirlain?"

"You've looked after the Taurë for so long. This is me just making your support of them easier." Amdirlain bowed. "I appreciate you sheltering them. I've some nice forested worlds planned when I get free. Perhaps we can work on them together?"

"We sensed you bring one back to life with the Aspect of Life."

"You looked after them for over a half a million years, so creating even hundreds of forested worlds would be minor repayment."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"We looked after each other," Danu countered. "Once you are free and well, please contact me."

"I will. If you'd take that directly to a suitable High Priest, Rana," said Amdirlain.

Rana kissed her on the cheek and vanished.

One detour down. The wrecks will be the quickest to investigate, and then I can find Verdandi. I hope she's awake. It's late evening on the East Coast.

Amdirlain tapped into her True Song satellites that had steered Gail in cleansing the world of Gnarls. They provided the musical reference for the peninsula and its surroundings. She stayed clear of the expanded township of Sanctuary Cove and teleported directly to the peninsula's tip. There she took in the fleet beneath the soil and those wrecks concealed in the ocean sands, expanding her reach to the western edge of the Mediterranean. Within the cold depths, bodies and treasures lay scattered, too many usable by those with the magic to investigate them. A stream of millions of lost True Song items in assorted forms appeared surrounding her, and Amdirlain sent all but one into storage. The last item was a tiny songbird perched on an anvil. It hovered in the air before her and a memory that Lethe sent forth from her Soul provided its commands.

Thank you, Lethe.

'I would suggest you meditate more before going to Hades. Or at least do so before the plinth.'

I'll look to put in lots of healing sessions before the plinth.

"Sing."

The songbird's eyes opened, and spreading its wings, it reared back, but the sound that emerged wasn't a bird's trilling. Instead, a woman's voice raised in the wordless melody Amdirlain had heard only in Ori's memories—her mother's voice and song. The joyous energy in the music stirred deep memories and grief but, caught within the headband's grip, Amdirlain could only experience the emotions secondhand—a translation of the themes from within rather than the feelings directly. A female Black Dragon, aggravated by the intrusion into its territory, stirred in its lair along the coast to the north.

"Stop," Amdirlain choked out. The songbird could only sing that one song, but music within the crystal provided her with hundreds of themes, including the original Anar melody to synchronise memories.

The notes cut off, but the lump within Amdirlain's throat remained. The songbird went into her inventory.

"Do not come out of your lair," Amdirlain's words hissed with restrained violence in the Dragon's ear. Terror stabbed through her brain and she flinched back, withdrawing her front paws from the submerged entry. "Lie back down or I will tell some powerful individuals where to find you."

Amdirlain shattered the wards around the lair.

That will keep her busy putting them back in place.

She turned Muse's Embrace off, before Teleport put her inside a fortified Greek town that matched the location Gail had described. A prickle of relatively powerful necromancy involving Artificer runes to the northwest beyond the Human kingdoms drew a frown, but she put it aside for later. A sweep through minds identified Verdandi.

After a little hop, Amdirlain moved unnoticed from an alley onto a street lit by soft ward crystals and the dim moonlight. White-washed stone buildings lined the street. The breeze wafting the swamp's odour mingled it with the day's droppings from horses and other livestock. Fortunately, the irregular flat stones of the streets only bore an average of a half-day of accumulated mess.

Her target was a three-story inn down the street with a whitewashed facade over carved stone bricks. The reasonably open taproom took up much of the ground floor. The construction relied on load-bearing columns and short wall sections scattered about the ground floor to support the upper two floors. A long bar was across the back wall, and the cooking area was in an enclosed awning, accessible through three swinging doors.

How many times have they expanded the bar?

Boisterous singing from the inn was a mix of a talented Bard, enthusiastic locals and adventurers. The surrounding businesses were already closed and, as another round led into a noisy chorus, Amdirlain winced at the off-key notes. She had to resist the temptation to put a barrier over the inn to muffle the noise inflicted on the neighbours.

Verdandi was inside the crowded inn, with the remains of a late dinner in a wooden bowl before her. Though most seats were occupied, Verdandi was alone at a small round table in the back corner. A shift changed Amdirlain to a Human woman with a unique appearance by local standards. She slipped a slight concealment around her that would nudge most to dismiss her as just another patron. With that in place, she entered and drifted through the crowd to reach Verdandi's side. Though her broad features only carried a few more lines, the slate grey in her hair was more pronounced, and her green gaze weighed down with a harsh grimness.

"Might I have a moment of your time, High Justice Verdandi?"

Universal communication had consumed all her languages, and the concepts within her inflections conveyed grieving respect.

Verdandi slowly lifted her gaze from the wooden bowl and took in the heart-shaped face and brunette locks. She cut off a greeting and glanced at a mixed group of adventurers whose garb all carried the embroidery of a candle with a chain-wrapped base.

"Julia. It's been a long time."

I'm surprised she remembered the first name I used.

"Some years felt like centuries. Might I join you for a little while?"

Verdandi nodded sharply and motioned to the chair across from her. "Yes! We should drink to old friends."

Old grief, stirred by Verdandi's familiar appearance, caused tears to well, but Amdirlain held them back. "Yes, we should. Whatever you think is suitable here."

A raised hand from Verdandi caught the attention of a server. The young Greek lady in a low-cut tunic dress to encourage tips swept over to claim Verdandi's bowl, unfazed by her order for mead.

"I never expected to see you again," said Verdandi, after Amdirlain had settled on the chair closest to the bar.

"Guilt and grief kept me away," replied Amdirlain.

"I heard the full truth of what happened to Torm from my Liege. The fault was not yours," declared Verdandi. "You caught him and stopped him from doing things he would never have done before his corruption."

Amdirlain smiled bitterly. "Feelings are far from logical."

"Is Livia doing well? She only gives me bits and pieces of news since she's not supposed to meddle here."

"Yes, she is. Though not in ways I ever expected," admitted Amdirlain.

"Torm would have been over the moon," said Verdandi. She looked around almost awkwardly. "Unfortunately, they don't have private dining rooms here."

"Should I make it so no one hears what we say unless we want their attention?" Amdirlain said.

Verdandi nodded, and then tilted her head to the server, weaving between the tables with two flagons.

She slid the drinks onto the table with a rasp of wood on wood. The lady departed with coins from Verdandi and a small silver nugget from Amdirlain. She settled the barrier to provide those around them with random chatter between two old friends speaking about folks from Eyrarháls.

"Typical adventurer, random things in your pouches," murmured Verdandi.

"I don't have any local currency left," sniffed Amdirlain dramatically. "The barrier is in place. We're talking about the food and people from The Silver Chalice."

"Make me drool, why don't you? I've tried encouraging a better inn here, but it hasn't occurred. The roughness of troops and adventurers coming and going puts off anyone who might manage it well."

"Also, a cove to the south drawing many of the best that way?"

"There is that," acknowledged Verdandi, before raising her flagon, and Amdirlain mirrored her. "To lost friends."

Amdirlain tapped her flagon softly against Verdandi's before gulping the sweet brew.

"Did I get Julia right?"

"You were being very discreet, and I'm surprised you remembered that name."

"Aside from being a unique name among us, you made quite the impression, Amdirlain. Will you make me a promise?"

"I've been trying to avoid those," advised Amdirlain. "What do you need, Verdandi? I won't promise, but I will help if I can."

"I want a weregild extracted from that Demon Lord and that arrogant piece of shit Celestial. I should have objected to Torm's plan to join the infiltration team. He was always too rigid, caught up in someone's position and blind to intent. How could that not have caused him trouble in the Abyss?"

"That Demon Lord struck a deal with an entity in Hell. She prompted him to divinity. He brings chaos and corruption, and she chains those wanting to escape that misery."

"Týr's hand," rasped Verdandi.

"I agree. However, I already have plans for all three, though the former Demon Lord and the Celestial are higher on my list. They're not my highest priority tonight. Why are you here alone, Verdandi?"

Verdandi shrugged. "It was a long day of trials. The other priests and novices had already eaten. Otherwise, I'd be in my room at the temple at this hour."

"No. Why are you alone in this town? I can hear your aches and grief. I don't think you've let yourself get attached to anyone here."

Her shoulders slumped, and her steel grey hair seemed to dull in the shifting light of the inn. "Too many places with memories, so many centuries together, so many places we'd seen and fought side by side. Sometimes I wish channelling Týr's energy didn't slow my aging so much."

Amdirlain held in a wince at the pain churning in Verdandi's theme, stirred up by her question. "My grief had me in its grip for so long, but when it eased, I should have reached out to you."

"I'm a grown woman, Amdirlain. I've even got all the grey hair to prove it." Verdandi thumped a fist against her sternum, causing her mail to jingle. "There is all this anger and pain in me because I should have given him better advice. I should have gotten him to make a conditional commitment, not a time-based one. When he found you, it was time to stop and guard you alone. We'd lost people over the years. With all those deaths, I'd always had the consolation that they'd gone to Ásgarðr, Valhalla, or another deity's realm. That's not the case with Torm. He's gone forever because a grub considered him expendable."

Of course, Gideon wouldn't communicate that news to Týr or anyone to pass along.

"He wouldn't have stopped," said Amdirlain. "Second-guessing past choices can hurt us so much. One thing you should know, Verdandi. Torm's Soul got purified and reformed from that tainted essence."

"How?" stammered Verdandi.

"The Titan. Torm will get reborn and have a new life." Amdirlain traced the edges of the table, holding back her groan. "His Soul recently stabilised and they're waiting for a suitable family."

Verdandi reached across the table to grab Amdirlain's hands, which caught hers in return. Her eyes closed in relief and she bowed her head. "Thank you, Amdirlain."

I didn't confirm that to Livia either.

"I'm so sorry," breathed Amdirlain, being careful of Verdandi's calloused hands. "I thought you knew that was the goal."

"Týr said someone was going to try, but it's been years with no word if it was possible or not," said Verdandi. "He said we might never hear."

The necromantic energy to the northwest flared and prickled at Amdirlain. For the first time, Amdirlain caught an entire image from Precognition: a vision of the mirrored column reflecting her old fallen form with the symbol of Apollo on the floor. Analysis confirmed the name connected to the melody.

Her senses focused on the location, and she found a Lich engraving complex machinery. The magics sustaining it linked its body to a concealed Phylactery crusted with delicately precise runes hidden behind sealed walls within a Persian catacomb hundreds of kilometres south of its lab.

I'm not supposed to interfere.

She adjusted her experience gains and released a flurry of notes. The Lich form of Arch-Artificer Soranus, former Royal Artificer of the King of Crete, captor of the developing goddess Amdirlain, and his Phylactery, exploded. The melodies enfolded his Soul and shunted him to a processing unit in Atonement, denying him any chance of immortality.

[Combat Summary

Lich x 1

Total Experience gained: 34,300

Psychic Bastion: +17,150

Ki Guardian: +17,150]

"Why don't you tell me some tales from when you and Torm started adventuring? Let's celebrate his life together."

Verdandi's smile broke through the grimness in her gaze. "When my father first summoned him, I was but a young girl, given to roughhousing with the boys and exploring the woods. He disguised himself as a hound so I wouldn't object to having a bodyguard. I was always finding trouble. When he first saved my skin, I was gathering mushrooms on a late summer day."

Amdirlain smirked, remembering the name Gideon had affixed to her because of a random smartarse remark she'd made. There was no need to interject though, and she continued to listen to the tales, and how they eased Verdandi's pain.

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