Amdirlain's PoV - Outlands - Domain

Kadaklan appeared at the Domain's edge with their four children flanking him. Within their themes were the bright, resounding notes of the Immortal Spirit Power, and a mix of arcane and Ki melodies. They all had a dusky Indonesian complexion like Kadaklan's, but only the eldest two matched their father's demeanour. Within all their bodies was the theme of Protean, which held notes that showed Gail had enacted the Power's centuries-old grafting. The Domain recognised their family connection as Kadaklan led them across the boundary line. Upon arrival, the youngest removed her shoes and wiggled her toes in the grass, an innocent playfulness washed away chords of worry.

She likes the feel of grass? Did Gail give them Protean so they could blend in easily or extend their lifespan further? Its presence predates their Immortal Spirit.

"No grandkids?" Amdirlain asked.

Klipyl snorted. "I think our children take after you and Kadaklan. There is always something on their to-do list, and Yuda is like I used to be—sex is the cake to savour while children are for someone else."

Amdirlain rose to her feet and, once Sarah and Klipyl stood, she moved them close to the new arrivals.

The twin males to Kadaklan's right shared his lean build and wore matching orange and yellow robes. Their posture and composed expression were so alike that the twins were hard to distinguish except by theme. Their Celestial heritage manifested through their liquid silver hair and traces of silver dusting their skin.

Kadaklan walked forward with a smile, motioning for their children to follow. "I'm glad you've recovered enough for visitors, Amdirlain. First, this is Faisal and his twin, Rustam."

Faisal bowed. "Our parents' tales made it clear that you value directness. We'll try not to disappoint."

"I won't tell you how to behave. You're old enough to know what is comfortable for you and to choose," Amdirlain reassured. "My only disappointment is that I missed time with you growing up."

"Auntie," Rustam said before bowing. "I'm sure Bapak will be delighted to share tales with you. She likes to boast of all our accomplishments but also share the embarrassing tales of our youth."

"I'm told that mothers are required to embarrass their children to keep them grounded." Klipyl eyed Sarah.

"That's how you took what I said."

A snort of laughter came from the centuries younger male to Kadaklan's left. He stood head and shoulders above Amdirlain, his limbs heavily corded with muscle that noticeably flexed whenever his weight shifted. He wore only kung fu pants belted at the waist by a broad red sash, white Primordial flames glowed beneath the skin of his bare torso and arms. His irises were nearly solid white, with his black pupils the only exception. Besides the reinforced Primordial Affinity, Amdirlain heard the themes of all the Tier one to three affinities within him.

As Amdirlain raised an eyebrow, he ran a calloused palm across his shaved scalp. "Hi, Auntie. I'm Arief, and this one is Yuda."

With that, he nodded to their sister beside him.

"Neither are good at waiting for introductions," Kadaklan murmured.

Yuda laughed and kissed his cheek. She was a lean, youthful woman who appeared in her mid-twenties despite carrying four centuries and change in years. She stood eye to eye with Amdirlain and had her long black hair in an intricate braid secured by white jade combs. Her dark irises contained motes of green flames, an effect of her reinforced Life Affinity mixed with her heritage. She wore a very short peach qipao adorned with silver eastern dragons; a slit on one side ran from its hem at high-thigh up to well above her hipbone. A rope dart, its cable woven with mithril threads, encircled her waist, its bladed ends tucked in at the small of her back.

How many times has she reinforced it? She has a more profound connection to the Life Affinity than I did to Primordial. I'll have to ask her to demonstrate her spells.

With a wink and a casual wave, Yuda flowed barefoot across the grass towards them, the slippers matching her dress now held in her other hand. "Hi, Auntie. I'm glad to meet you at last. Don't worry about Arief. Though he has manners suitable for quarrying stone, he mostly behaves."

"This is true." Arief rumbled good-naturedly.

I won't ask about their different daos.

Amdirlain created a hovering platform that supported a circular table and deep, comfortable chairs; a brown canvas umbrella shaded the lot. "I don't have a house yet. Would you all care to have some tea and chat?"

"It's floating without Mana. Is this True Song or Psionics?" Yuda questioned as she leapt to the platform and spun along its edge.

Her Miss Social Butterfly approach is to break the ice with simple questions.

"A new Power called Primordial Will," Amdirlain waved towards the seating. "Please make yourselves comfortable. Let me know if you'd prefer a different type of seating."

"It's okay, the seating on Qil Tris is similar." Arief hopped onto the platform and jumped towards a seat. He blurred into a turquoise Catfolk cub, his body barely the length of a cushion; his clothing adjusted with him. "Perfectly cozy."

"You're so squeaky now," Yuda laughed, dropping onto the seat beside him.

The twins waited for Kadaklan to step up and the others to be seated before occupying the spare seats.

A saucer of milk appeared on the table before Arief's seat, and he let out an amused hiss.

"Thank you for helping those from Qil Tris," Amdirlain said, after she'd ensured everyone else had a drink.

Faisal inclined his head slightly. "It was a mutually beneficial arrangement. They helped us refine our paths."

"Though some of those who'd taken evolutions inspired Arief to pack on the muscle."

Amdirlain shot Sarah a curious glance. "You skipped that part."

"Individual improvements weren't on the briefing criteria. You set them up to get Tier 7 Prestige classes. Did you think no one might push harder?"

"Take after me? Seriously, why would someone be that crazy?" Amdirlain gasped playfully.

Yuda rolled her eyes and sat up primly, lifting her chin to stare down her nose. "My total levels are in the thousands, so let's leave it at that."

Amdirlain coughed sheepishly. "I didn't say it like that, I'm sure."

Arief leapt up on the arm of the chair with his tail clasped between his hands, nodding solemnly. "It most certainly came across that way when I saw it."

"Me three," Klipyl chimed in.

Kadaklan smiled. "I was there, and it came across as a statement of fact. However, those declarations inflame some competitive people. Next thing you know, they'd pushed past the Tier 7s."

"What happened with the people gaining beyond Tier 7 classes? Evolution-wise, I mean," Amdirlain clarified.

"They end up very different depending on the evolution picked through the Class vision." Arief jumped down and turned into a massive tawny Catfolk, his hair a thick lion's mane, and his muscles taunt masses beneath his fur. "They range from this, gaining a metre or more and a bunch of muscles, or becoming more streamlined versions of themselves built for speed."

He returned to his kitten form, lifted the saucer of milk Amdirlain had provided and sipped at it delicately.

Faisal sighed knowingly at his antics. "There are some evolutions where the change isn't immediately noticeable, but their senses are sharper, and they have a general attribute improvement. All the evolutions empty their Class slots so they can start again."

"How frequently are people earning evolutions?"

"At about half the rate that the graves used to produce Tier 7 classes, but the number of people with Tier 7 classes has increased. Some cities have formed alliances around the trials. One city intentionally lets its trial regions become overrun so citizens of the allied cities can reap prestige achievements," Faisal explained. "If you wanted to witness them handling it, some are close to that condition now."

"I'll leave them to it. Have any of you earned an evolution?"

"Yes, but that would turn us into full outsiders, which would block our advancement to immortals," Rustam explained, leaning forward slightly in his seat. "We'd prefer to seek the immortality of the Jade Court than becoming independent celestials. Did you tell Aunt Sarah to leave particular things out of your catch-up?"

"Amdirlain wanted a summary, not to explore too many details," Sarah protested.

Klipyl smiled. "At least, that's your story and you're sticking to it?"

Sarah winked broadly.

"Sarah's catch-up mentioned the Catfolk have been creative with prolonged use of havens in trials. What has been your experience there? I thought I hadn't created those havens big enough to be self-sufficient." Amdirlain said.

"Let's say that self-sufficiency is doable with some magic, imagination, and a lack of aversion to eating monster meat. Even some of your plant monsters are tasty once they're properly prepared," Faisal explained. "There are other factors that make the effort worthwhile."

"Independence," Yuda interjected.

Faisal continued smoothly. "Like it's useful for an Alchemist to be on hand in remote regions when a Delver brings in rare perishable materials. Not everyone has access to a storage device that prevents decay."

Maybe I should take a trip.

"Are you going to make any more trials, Auntie?" Yuda asked.

"There are still new cities that the process hasn't connected yet," Amdirlain said.

Yuda snickered. "They've built hundreds of cities. How many did you make?"

"It doesn't matter, Gilorn would have made more if they ran out. She has plans to use it as a training exercise for the Anar and Lómë."

And I still need to catch up with them in person. Roher is another person telling me to take my time. After nearly a millennium, there are so many people to meet and get to know.

"There are some groups who are paranoid that every new city will see a return of the graves. There have been some acts of terrorism trying to prevent the founding of new cities." Faisal advised.

Amdirlain frowned.

I'm not responsible for everything. I told Mor'lmes that I'd cut the graves off and included the trials so they didn't go short of the resources their society depends on.

"I'm sorry if that's bad news, Auntie."

"Some people don't like to believe anything but their fears," Amdirlain replied. "Why don't you tell me about your adventures?"

Faisal and Rustam exchanged a wordless glance.

"Our travels are fairly boring. We mainly work as alchemists now, and many of our journeys before were in a support role, not combat. Arief and Yuda could provide more interesting tales," Rustam said.

Amdirlain's eyebrow lifted. "I'm sure you're underselling your achievements, but have it your way."

"Never mind that they killed ancient green dragons with some concoctions," Arief snorted. "Or that their bodyguard fled immediately."

He went back to delicately sipping at the milk.

Faisal shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "A simple chemical reaction with the chlorine in their breath weapon. The chain reaction was fortunately strong enough to detonate the glands in their throat where the Mana gets transformed, snapping their necks."

"Arief is a capable enough boaster for all of us," Rustam observed.

Yuda winked at Amdirlain. "His Dao mates say he's orally proficient."

Arief coughed and almost shot milk out of his nose. He frantically pinched his nostrils closed and suppressed a sneeze.

Klipyl's merry laughter rang through the woods.

"I think that puts the two of you on even standing again," Kadaklan noted.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"One should always seek advancement, Father," Yuda countered primly.

"Advancement in one's profession is different to advancing mayhem," Faisal interjected, with the feeling of a familiar argument.

Yuda crossed her arms. "Say the person responsible for blowing up his lab at least once a year."

"What do you normally do when you aren't brewing up a storm?"

"We all mix teaching and delving in our various roles," Rustam offered.

"Do you teach at the Outpost?"

"No, the western reaches have plenty of skilled alchemists, healers, and combatants to teach their students. We're mostly teaching Catfolk at Jinfeng's school," Rustam replied. "We thought it fitting to give back since we took advantage of different trial surges to get our Prestige classes."

"I take it you always go there as Catfolk?"

Yuda smiled slyly. "Yes. Though some know we're not Catfolk, only Jinfeng knows Kadaklan's our father. The last thing we want to do is ignite any religious arguments, with so many cities still having laws against priests."

Rustam nodded firmly. "We're just there as Ki practitioners, helping them find their own Dao."

"Unfortunately, it more often seems to have the opposite effect. The more we help without asking for prayers, the more prayers they offer," Kadaklan sighed.

"Has this caused an issue with your advancement, Kadaklan?"

"Livia and I are both in odd positions. We'll see where the path leads one step at a time." Kadaklan's composure didn't waver. "It'll be an adventure, but we didn't come here today for you to worry about that. Why don't you four tell Amdirlain about your adventures?"

They're not in danger, but I'm still frustrated that someone took their advancement path from them. If I get strong enough, I can find a realm where cultivation-type rules would take precedence over the divinity rules of this realm.

"If Auntie wants to hear about our adventures, we should relate the tale of the first trial surge we attended together."

"I'd like that."

Yuda rattled a cup retrieved from a storage ring and thrust it towards Arief. He drew one and passed it around among them. Faisal ended up with the short straw.

"I'm not the best storyteller," Faisal warned.

"It's okay, we'll help," Yuda chimed.

"Then you should tell it."

"It's more fun to talk over you," Arief rumbled.

Faisal shook his head. "You're next. We heard about a predicted large surge because Jinfeng was in touch with Bapak. The previous surge had seen a lot of serious injuries, so she wanted more help."

"Since they were going to dose people up, we went along to smash things and gain some levels," Arief interrupted.

"Are you going to tell this or am I?"

"You are," Arief grinned.

Amusement flickered in Klipyl's gaze, and she raised her cup higher to hide her smile. "Faisal and Rustam already had their Tier 7 classes, but Arief and Yuda hadn't at that point."

"Are you going to interrupt too, Bapak?"

"It's a family activity. Do I have to be left out?" Klipyl pouted.

He let out a deep sigh. "We got there and found the defensive position divided internally. The primary commander had groups with priests or Ki practitioners excluded from the overall planning. The third wave of the surge included the green dragons that Arief spoke of, and stopping them broke its momentum."

The trials don't contain real green dragons; they are more organic constructs controlled by psi-crystals.

"You left out so much." Yuda groaned. "At least cover the after-party celebrations, they were fun."

Faisal ignored her interruption and continued speaking. "It turned out that the commander came from a city with penalties for Ki practitioners. Afterwards, he wanted to know what we used on the dragons. Following those discussions, we sold his city many concoctions and healing potions, despite their laws about practitioners entering."

"The patrons changed the laws following one of their children being saved by one potion." Rustam tapped the side of his cup. "You are leaving out lots of details, including the drawn-out negotiations of the sale."

"It's the outcome that matters." Faisal folded his arms and stared flatly at Rustam. "Don't you join in."

His twin shrugged good-naturedly. "Think of it as an area you might improve."

"Might doesn't make right," Arief heckled.

Yuda tugged at his ear. "You should know. Talk about the after-party, Faisal, and the performers playing some of Auntie's songs. Dancers were getting their clothes off to the Honeybee song; they had brilliant sets."

Their tales painted pictures of the gradual alterations in Qil Tris society and, while everything seemed to change calmly, Amdirlain's discomfort over the situation there grew.

I need to get there. I'm not sure if it's the religion or something else. Could it be more trouble with the Eldritch? Or something else?

A cold void twisted in her guts and gnawed at Amdirlain, but she kept her composure.

They'd been talking for a time when a translucent orb appeared by Rustam's shoulder, enquiring if he'd be available for a lesson. "I'll reschedule."

Amdirlain raised a hand to stop him. "There isn't any rush. You've all given me a lot to think about already. Why don't we take a break and meet again?"

Kadaklan offered Klipyl his hand as she rose, and she squeezed it gently as she shot Amdirlain a beaming smile. "You should come see us after you've visited Qil Tris."

"Am I that transparent?"

"Only to those who know you. You've got worshippers there, so you'll want to see how things stand first-hand," Klipyl said, kissing Amdirlain on the cheek. "Take care of yourself, sis."

"I will."

"You've got old friends who are still alive to visit," Kadaklan added. "I speak to Jul'iane regularly, but please give my regards to Jal'krin, Tulne, Mor'lmes, and Wha'sin."

As the others prepared to leave, they exchanged farewells.

Sarah waited until they teleported away. "I caught a spike of something from you, but it vanished too quickly."

"Trouble on Qil Tris. I think it's still minor, but it involves the Eldritch‌."

"You couldn't hear their writings when you were there last time, and you still had to cut some of your memories away."

"I'll have filtering in place," Amdirlain reassured her. "Not that I'm going there soon. I've got to practise on planar barriers first."

"Are you going to keep going in person?" Sarah asked.

Amdirlain nodded. "I don't have an Avatar. There is an uncomfortable itch at the thought of creating one." She stopped, and a tight frown thinned her lips. "I never used one as Orhêthurin, I can't shake the feeling there was a reason."

"Have you considered it's because, as Orhêthurin, you wanted things to end, and an Avatar might have taken that opportunity away?"

"It is possible, yet even if it were a factor, I don't think it's the whole truth."

Sarah motioned towards her. "You could hand over a panel, and I can help you sort out the details of the worlds you thought to visit."

Amdirlain mentally flicked her the information the surveyors had supplied. "I've already retrieved everything I need on those worlds."

"Cheat. We could have curled up and viewed them slowly."

"The itch won't let me drag this out. I've got a starting point planned. The first stop is the lightly populated worlds. Set up the house somewhere so we can cuddle whenever I'm recharging essence?"

"The view of my inland sea is nice, and I can keep the locals away."

"I'll meet you there soon." With that, Planar Shift took Amdirlain to the first rift.

The least populated world with a Planar Barrier recently reached one hundred ninety million Lizardfolk spread between seven continents and two archipelagos. The technology threshold didn't go higher than the Iron Age, though the various civilisations' populations were enough to create a barrier. Her passage across the weaker barrier only ripped away enough essence to kick up a tornado. As the weather disruption escalated, she drew Mana in and quashed the wind's momentum, yet it had already kicked up more disruptions she had to smooth out.

She filtered the world's themes and found the dedicated energy in divine symbols carried by the priests of Moloch and Tingeth. Though she only detected a few divine symbols scattered among an Iron Age civilisation in the centre of the largest continent, the lands to the south were thick with them. In particular, two militarised civilisations had many prominent temples dedicated to Moloch and Tingeth.

She picked the northernmost of the isolated wearers, and a scrying pane opened centred on the Priest, his black robes nearly blending with his dark green scales. In one clawed hand, he carried a blessed staff, the other was raised in praise of Moloch as he boasted about the strength he provided the worthy. Amdirlain drew the focal point of the scrying back and found him addressing a dusty market square filled with makeshift booths. He stood on a raised stage set between two paths entering the square, where there was an open area before the booths, some eight metres across, packed with locals. They wore minimal attire over the top of their scales, primarily harnesses for carrying equipment or weapons. While most onlookers paid him little attention, dozens with battered and worn gear stood listening to the Priest's smooth words.

"Beware his lies." Amdirlain projected the words into the onlooker's thoughts and showed them glimpses of collars looking around their fellow's throat. "They enslave minds and bodies to fulfil their twisted desires. Hear their true intentions."

The Priest's disparaging thoughts suddenly became audible to the crowd.

Panicked by hearing them sounding throughout the square, the Priest lashed out with a Blessing, his blasts of flame and abyssal foulness aimed at the crowd screeched off Amdirlain's barriers.

As his bodyguard readied weapons, Amdirlain shifted to a local form, appearing before them as if she'd stepped out of the listening crowd. "Drop your spears."

Sour, cruel notes came from the Priest and his senior guard, yet she caught the younger guard's ambivalence.

"You dare challenge us?" The larger of the guards hissed, a line of scales down the middle of his head lifted threateningly. "Who do you think you are? I'll kill you and the rest of these insolent worms disparaging the name of the mighty Mol-"

A blast of white flame leapt from her hand, and the super-heated bone fragments of the guard etched a shadow into the square's side wall. "He looks dead to me. I guess I won the challenge."

"Oh Moloch, I beseech you, aid me against this vile enemy."

"Shut up. You get to be my object lesson. You serve a liar and a slaver. Servant to a tyrant, know the truth, and share it."

Amdirlain's will enfolded him, transforming his mind to perceive only the truth within reality; all else would be pale echoes and screeching, unpleasant sounds. The indoctrinated lies he'd consumed about Moloch's might twisted and churned, rejected by his new neural pathways that knew Moloch's comparative strength compared to greater entities. He looked at Amdirlain and fled, screaming about white flames spilling forth all creation.

Gideon? Really?

"What? You wanted him to know the truth, and Moloch was already hunting for the Songbird; it's how Tingeth got her hooks into him. I've never had permission to interact directly with a Mortal before, beyond Class visions and important notes. This will be interesting." Gideon projected.

She heard Gideon's touch on the Priest's thoughts, correcting all the lies he'd allowed himself to believe. Against a backdrop of the screams of dismay and shock filling the air, she looked at the second, much younger guard. "Drop your spear and stop threatening people."

The spear fell from his shaking hands. "Yes, great one."

No arcane knowledge on this world, and no dragons. Let's fix the former issue.

Turning her back on the guard, Amdirlain considered the crowd, who regarded her wide-eyed. "Who'd like to learn magic not given by any god?"

As the crowd murmured curiously, a white obelisk of arcane stone rose from the ground beside her; tied to the ley line, it was indestructible. Amdirlain had set a psi-crystal at its core to share fundamental arcane knowledge and basic spell lists with those who gained an Affinity. Whenever anyone focused on it beyond a glance, the obelisk mentally broadcast instructions on how to attune to it to gain arcane knowledge.

It won't teach the follower of any deity, but someone who learns from it can teach whoever they choose. Hopefully, these will provide the northern cities enough of a head start over Moloch's and Tingeth's followers.

She checked in the north and across other continents and picked key points to raise more obelisks to the arcane to counter the growth of Moloch and Tingeth in the south. The rest of the occasions were less dramatic, and she had soon planted the seeds of arcane mastery throughout the lands. With the white obelisks in place, she shifted to the Demi-Plane and happily sank into Sarah's embrace.

It took months of slipping through the planar barriers on hundreds of worlds, enjoying time with Sarah, or sometimes recharging alone, before Amdirlain managed a clean transition to the Material Plane. Some of her misadventures caused Mana surges so severe that various lesser dragons found themselves empowered enough to match their greater kin. Other worlds were so saturated with surplus Mana that even creatures and plants with minor sensitivity were affected. Civilised races that had been callously dominating their surroundings experienced a surge of trouble when their polluted landscapes came alive with magical versions of creatures already twisted by pollution.

Among them were some Formithian worlds where they maintained breeding stocks of plants and animals to feed the nests. There, the tiny natural habitats experienced a surge of growth that sent greenery rampaging across the countryside. The wild growth strangled the entryways into multiple nests as the surrounding ley lines continued to pulse with energy. The energised landscape opened rifts to matching elemental planes, allowing elementals and arcane versions of animals that the Formithian 'farming' had obliterated to invade the depths of nests.

She'd broken out onto the third Formithian world, where they had ground it beneath their nests' regimentation, when a memory stirred: the name Umbas and an Analysis result.

Are those elves even still alive? There are so many places out of balance. Where do I start? Obviously, with the two worlds I know about before I go looking for more.

[World: Umbas

Age: 4.7 billion years

Sun: G-Type (yellow dwarf)

Landmass Type: Assorted small continental land masses and archipelagos

Average diameter: 13.8 thousand kilometres (Earth-type)

Planetary Orbit: 362.7 days

Tilt: 23.2%

Environmental range: Temperate, Continental, Dry, and Polar. The southern polar region is a permanent ice pack with no land mass beneath it.

Status: Developed

Local civilisation advancement levels:

Cultural: Cities

Technology achieved: High-Quality Metals

Magical advancement: Full spell lists, embedded enchantments

Local primary species (average population percentage of total sapient species):

Elven, single variant (2%)

Intruder species:

Formithian (98%)

Population: 2.2 Trillion

Incursion Status:

Frequent (Broad range of Elemental and Outsider visitors throughout history)

Local Pantheon Status:-

Classification: Organised

Priest Types: Priests

Worship Types: Organised religion

Foreign Pantheon Status:

Formithian Pantheon: Organised. Dominant control of the planet. ]

They drove the other species that used to be there into extinction. The ratio of elves in the population has declined, and that is not just because of Formithian breeding. The Formithian population should be a lot higher, given their breeding rate and use of spatial locations here. Did they have a war recently, or did some emigrate to a new world or Plane?

A surveyor placed in a high orbit provided details. Millions of dimensional pockets across the planet flared bright notes through the sensors, showing how they fit so many people worldwide. While the Formithian lived crammed in passageways, the elves all inhabited spacious complexes. Yet the elven communities seemed on a wartime footing, with everyone trained in weapons and magic, including children. Scars showed regions of the world blasted and dismantled with arcane energies. The themes told of spatial rips entwined with massive death sites forty or more kilometres across, the oldest of them saturated with elven genetic material.

The Formithian started the last war with devastating strikes, but then the elves bloody their noses to get them to stop?

Amdirlain returned to the Outlands and messaged Gilorn and Roher. "Would you have some time to meet me, please? Let me know when it suits."

Using one of the newly created worlds is probably a bad idea; there could be too many differences in microorganisms. The solar radiation impacted the Andúnë, which led to infertility. There are so many elves that they could spread across five or six worlds and still have enormous populations. We could create new worlds matching Umbas's original song for the remaining elves. Rescue the elves, and then smack the formithians.

The memory of creating the species and the initial frantic establishment of the realm dug at her.

I created them so ultimately they are my responsibility. I need to either calm their breeding, or there will be a slaughter.

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