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Chapter 778: Smoking out the Foxes in the Henhouse
🕑 Added 2024-02-07 15:48:11 +0000 UTC“What do you mean trying to smoke the foxes out of the henhouse?” Alex asked. “Has something been going on with the army?”
“It started with transfers,” Hart said. “Officers transferring in from other battalions. People straight from Ussex; hard people. Knights with a lot of connections at the court, and nobles who’d fought for the king before. We thought they’d come here to keep a closer eye on us.”
“I actually thought they might've been from the hidden church for a while,” Drestra said. “But if they were, they never made a move.”
“Well, they did,” Hart said. “It just wasn't against us. You see, they’d always be a little apart from everyone else, keeping their own council, as it were. That's when some of the priests and other soldiers were transferred out and sent to other parts of the realm.”
“Aye,” Cedric said. “The newest folk were the ones sent away most o’ the time. We didn’t know what any of it meant, but…”
“I get what you’re saying,” Alex said. “It does seem strange for all those people to randomly start appearing and sending soldiers away after Councillor Kartika talked to the king. Seems that’d be connected. And if the king’s moving against the secret church, it should mean he'd be a good ally for us.”
“Perhaps, but perhaps not,” Isolde said. “What you propose to tell him is that his god has been long dead. No one knows how he would react to such news…no one knows how anyone would react to that.”
“I still think it's the best solution,” Merzhin said. “As you said, it could be that the Ravener is planning to use Uldar’s body to turn all of Thameland against us. I would not have our people fall into in-fighting, so this would be one of the best ways to counter such a possibility.”
“With the highest authority in the country on our side…” Alex mused. “Yeah, that could really help. Alright, then that's one of the things we should do. I'm not sure how much we should tell him yet, but we should at least try and talk to him in private.”
“Hold on,” Birger said. “How do we convince this king that Uldar’s dead, if we do give him such drastic news? Well, if you tell him that, I mean. I doubt I'm going be there for that meeting. Point is, you don't have a body anymore. I don't know if he's going to just take your word for it.”
“What about Uldar’s recording?” Theresa asked. “We could take King Athelstan to the recording. Uldar says right in it that he was getting sick…and with the sanctum being empty, yet all of his stuff is still there…maybe the king will be convinced then?”
“We should watch the rest of Uldar’s journal first, before we decide on that,” Alex said. “We don’t know what else is in that record. Last thing we want is for us to show him the recording, just for Uldar’s last entry to be ‘I will never die, if anyone is showing you this then they have murdered me and you should kill them, immediately’.”
“That would be awkward,” Bjorgrund said. “So, you’re saying we should watch the rest of the journal first?”
“As much as I’d like to say that we should go after Uldar’s body right now…” Merzin paused. “Without having the slightest idea as to where it might be, we would simply be wasting precious time.”
“The recordings are the only source of new information that we have, perhaps, we should go through them before we do anything else,” Jules said. “If we’re lucky, his journal will lead us in the right direction. Then we can get Uldar’s body and throne back and be closer to ending this menace.”
“Something occurs to me,” Isolde said. “Will we have continued support from Generasi in the future?”
“What do you mean?” Professor Jules asked.
“At Rockmoot, it became common knowledge that our intent is to end this bloody cycle once and for all,” Isolde said. “Councillor Kartika heard that as well. But if the Ravener’s destroyed, that would effectively end the supply of dungeon core essence forever. Would that not be against Generasi’s best interests?”
Silence fell over the group.
“That thought had occurred to me too,” Professor Jules said. “But none of the council have said anything to me on the matter; no one has come to me directly to ask me anything about it, and if Councillor Kartika has any opinion on what we were trying to do, she has certainly been quiet on the point.”
“There's a relief,” Cedric said.
“I wouldn't be so sure,” the alchemy professor countered. “What Councillor Kartika heard were simply our intentions…we haven't shown any real progress on ending the Ravener permanently, yet. And, remember, she's a politician,” Professor Jules emphasised. “Considering what's been going on back home—which I'm sure is going to greatly displease Chancellor Baelin—she won't be in the best political position to push back against us for trying to destroy the Ravener. Not yet, at least. When we start making true progress toward eliminating the Ravener forever, she might not be so quiet about it.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right…” Alex mused. “But wait, What do you mean ‘what's been going on back home?’ I mean, in Generasi. What has been going on there?”
Professor Jules looked at Alex. “I suppose you weren't here for that.”
“Here for what?” the young wizard asked.
“Yeah, I'm curious about this too,” Theresa said.
“Well, from what I have heard, word of your Saint and demigoddess—the Traveller—is spreading. Rather quickly at that,” she said.
Theresa and Alex looked at each other, then at Isolde and the Heroes.
None of them looked like they knew what she meant.
“My husband has a regular date for drinks with a few of the higher ranking members of our government; not the council members themselves, but some of their aides,” Professor Jules said. “There’s been a lot of buzz going on in the Wizard Council. Apparently, our city of wizards is becoming a city of miracles. It seems it all started with some of the mercenaries who fought at Uldar’s Rise when a number of them became devout followers of the Traveller.”
Theresa looked uncomfortable. “This woman told me about her son, apparently he was one of those mercenaries,” the huntress said. “She said that all he ever talked about was this new faith he’d found at Uldar’s Rise.”
“Indeed. Few new converts are shy when they join a new religion. They tell everyone,” Professor Jules said. “But, I do understand why rumours are flying around the wizard council, you have to understand that much of the Generasi citizenry’s disdain toward deities stems from three things.”
She held up a finger. “First, being a city of wizards, we do not need the power of a deity to make reality more comfortable for ourselves. Magic eliminates much of the need for the divine.”
She held up a second finger. “The second stems from our history: the divine entity that ruled the lands that would become Generasi was, of course, Oreca. He was a cruel deity, and selfish enough to try to destroy the population when he could not get his way. They killed him, of course, and that fact is pressed into our blood and culture: Generasians are god-killers, not worshippers.”
Merzhin shifted uncomfortably.
“However, Generasi’s population has grown over the centuries,” Professor Jules continued. “It swells with people who have come to the city at the centre of creation from all over the world. When folk come, they bring new ideas, new philosophies, and new deities.”
“But none of those deities ever caught on in Generasi,” Alex said. “Probably because Generasi doesn't need miracles, and they have contempt for deities in the first place.”
“That's true, Mr. Roth, but that leads me to the third reason why worship of deities has never caught on.” She held up a third finger. “Generasi is a city that runs a great deal on commerce and exchange. Not just in coin, but in favours and ideas.”
“Makes sense,” Alex said. “You need to put something into magic to get something back out, even if that’s just mana and time. You need to bargain with otherworldly entities to get them to serve you. With so many wizards in Generasi, the idea of bargains becoming part of the culture just adds up.”
“Indeed,” Professor Jules said. “And when Thameish priests came to Generasi, they never quite understood that. They’d perform services for people, but would largely keep to themselves and serve their followers first. They would stay in their own quarter, usually only stepping into the rest of Generasi society, to push their own faith.”
“Or beg for donations,” Theresa said. “I remember seeing priests standing at the city gates asking for coin for the war effort.”
“Precisely,” Jules said. “And to the average cynical citizen of our city-state, that would not translate into more faith for foreign deities. Most of our population look at priests as somewhat untrustworthy. No offence, Saint Merzhin.”
“I am not sure if I should be offended or not,” Merzhin said. “Let's just say not, for now.”
“Thank you,” the professor continued. “In any case, the favours that foreign priests did, supposedly for free, actually came with strings attached to them. They might feed the poor, but expect those they fed to come to their temple and pray. They might heal the sick, but then quickly extend their hand for donations. They might lead others to enlightenment, and speak of an aesthetic life, then retire to temples paved in gold.”
“They couldn't all have been hypocrites,” Merzhin spoke up. “Maybe I am becoming somewhat offended now.”
“No, not all of them were,” Professor Jules said. “But those that were—and there were many, historically—did a lot of damage. In the end, priests in Generasi became associated with the idea of “hidden costs”. Meanwhile, much of what they could do was no more wondrous than what any Proper Wizard—” She grimaced. “—I hate that the chancellor’s words bleed into my vocabulary—or alchemist could do. And the nice thing about most Generasian wizards or alchemists, is that the costs are discussed upfront.”
Alex chuckled at that.
Merzhin didn't.
“So basically,” the young wizard moved on quickly. “The priests came, some of them were suspicious, and what they did was pretty mundane compared to what a lot of wizards could do. So they never caught on. The Generasians had a bias against priests in the first place, they don't serve any real role in that society, and they can't do much more than what most Proper Wizards—”
Jules groaned.
“ —can. So there’s no need to worship at a temple to maybe get what you can by visiting your local magic shop. Is that about right?”
“Very good, Mr. Roth,” Professor Jules said. “Importantly, the power priests wield is—mostly—replicable and explainable in our city.”
“But you said something different is going on now?” Alex said.
“Because…” Professor Jules looked at Alex pointedly. “…what's been happening hasn't been explainable. According to my husband's friends in the bureaucracy, people are seeing their ailments healed. Illnesses have been disappearing like they were never there. People have been finding themselves saved from danger.”
“That sounds like something Hannah would do,” Alex said.
“Exactly,” she said. “There has been no direct cause for these events. No altruistic wizard someone can point to. No friendly priest that someone can explain. All that people know is that good deeds are being done without any apparent source, and they tend to occur around the people speaking the Traveller’s name. There was an incident where a young woman apparently spoke to one of the mercenaries from Uldar’s Rise who talked glowingly about the Traveller. This young woman laughed off the encounter, then came home to find her sick pet suddenly cured of an ailment that had plagued it for months. There’ve been other stories like that from all around the city, and it's starting to make people take notice. Really take notice.”
“Huh, Hannah's doing good, and that’s spreading her name,” Alex beamed. “Good for her!”
“I was also told of similar things occurring in the Rhinean Empire around the area where the Thameish are staying,” Isolde said. “In truth, I really did not think much of it at the time.”
“An’ that explains the things that’ve happened here,” Cedric said. “Soldiers’ve said they've been saved right from the jaws o’ Ravener-spawn! Monsters’ll come leapin’ at ‘em, only t’suddenly be pulled away, or fer the attack t’fall short.”
“Hannah must be growing stronger…” Alex reasoned. “She’s showing more power now. She’s gotta be closer to finding her way back to the material world.”
“Aye,” Cedric said. “Well, all I knows is I prays t’her.”
“You know what…” Alex said. “Maybe we can help her. We need to bring up something with the king, but first? Let's go watch Uldar’s journal.”
###
Author's Note
Hello thirty-nine cool fools, almighty chosen, wise sages, and mighty champions! Thank you for your support!
Hidden Church member: I sure hope goons to don't show up and start-
*the king's goons immediately show up*
Haha, cya tomorrow! Now I gotta go do all the launch stuff. haha
Comments
ItWasIDIO!!
Get the chair & put her in it
MurkyTruths
.
MurkyTruths
Someone is gonna show up wearing uldars skin.
Garnett Coetzee
Seems like the discussions are getting more fluffed than they need. The way jules said wizards dont need gods is painfully drawn out.
Bob Bryan
Half of Greek/roman mythology started off human/ half-human. Also, while not exactly the same, peoplw pray to saints. Pretty sure you have to pray to one of the Kim Jongs in north korea.
Joshua Little
Thanks for the chapter.
Kenshii
I mean polytheism was a huge part of human culture. Hellenistic and Norse ideology is centered around deities who have human characteristics. Your inability to conceptualize a world where people worship imperfect gods might come from the ubiquity of Abrahamic values in the Western world. I think its perfectly reasonable.
stardast24
Long may he reign
Decide
I'm kind of bummed that Jules or Isolde didn't mention that Alex was at the center of the Travelers stories. Anyway, I hope we find out more about Uldar tomorrow with absolutely no interruption. I at least hope someone didn't destroy the chair while they were gone. I mean, there's basically no one guarding the place.
Decide
I hope we don't get interrupted by more bullshit. If the Ravener spawn come back and drop Uldar's corpse just to stall the team, I'm going to be very confused.
Aidan Geverdt
I get people worshiping some unknown all powerful being. But worshiping someone who used to be human that just got strong enough to heal people is different. It’s still just a person.
Jmc mc
To add to this point we have real life examples of people convincing others their God is real with no evidence including koolaid cults, while the universe of the fool has actual deities who can wave their hands and make wounds vanish
Jordan Jones
Because they are powerful figures. I personally don’t get why people are so interested and invested in the lives of famous people, sports stars, artists, etc., but I certainly don’t think it’s weird. If those people were actual gods, it would make it even less weird to me.
BelligerentGnu
Aesthetic.-> ascetic.
Aidan Geverdt
I still think it’s weird as heck that people are worshipping hannah. Or even uldar for that matter. They were human once and humans are flawed, no matter how much they grow I can’t imagine worshipping another human.
Joshua Ross
I'm gonna miss this series, this will be my last chapter for a while as I tend to my mental health. Hope everyone the best and LONG LIVE LEADER OF THE CABAL THUNDAR SON OF GOLBIF!!!
stardast24
I hope we get an info dump in the next few chapters
wallytjr256
Keep the hits coming! I don’t know how you keep this thing getting bigger and better but you do!
Bob Bryan
Honestly balin might just get along well with Hannah. Guess it depends how she grows with immortality. Also, can the Fay lord, assuming it was him, use uldar's corpse to turn himself into a God and replace uldar. As long as he kills the people who knows he could use uldar as a cover.
Code Reed
I was certain it would be spreading because that city is a center for trade. And worshipping someone called the traveller would let them ship vast distances faster and cheaper.
mhaj58
Why isn’t anyone mentioning confrontation with the fae? Aenflynn is the best lead for answers regarding what happened to Uldar and where the Ravener is, why not try to find him and force him to talk. The unmaker in his palace will have him squealing like a pig.
Firefly Fables
God I love your series! Just want take a moment to tell you that your writing is good for my heart ❤
George R
Thanks for the chapter loved it
Patrick Brennan
Oh look at you posting early
