jmclarke
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Chapter 740: Questioning Protocol
🕑 Added 2023-12-15 22:47:22 +0000 UTCWarning: This chapter is darker
Deep within its lair, the Ravener was screaming.
Loose rock broke apart, rattling, shaking, raining from the ceiling. Its guardians yelped in fear, fleeing from what they feared was its rage.
Yet, rage was not what gripped their leader.
This time, it was not voicing its rage…this time it screamed in confusion, frustration, and horror. Its maker had etched hundreds of protocols into the midnight-black sphere. Every rule was a command and protocol laid down to instruct the black orb with the very framework and foundation of its mind.
All decisions, its entire reason for being were to be dictated by them, it was meant to follow them precisely as different situations arose.
Simple procedures, designed to guide it in every cycle of every millennia, past, present or future, were laid out for it to react with, according to specific events determined in advance by Uldar.
Despite the parameters set by the protocols, the ability to reason was still a part of the construct’s makeup. It had been granted this resource by its maker. How it would execute those protocols was its own decision to make. Most of its daily activities centred on wreaking havoc throughout Thameland and consistently testing the Heroes, while keeping the people in a constant state of fear. It had its purpose and its protocols, and all that it needed to do was execute them in the appropriate way, reacting to given situations.
The Ravener was not meant to question protocols, it was meant to execute them.
Today, that changed.
Today, it had a question.
Deep within the construct was a protocol so ancient—activated just once before—that the Ravener paused at the idea of using it. But the event that had occurred was supposed to be impossible, and its response would have to be so drastic, that it was left questioning its creator’s intent.
The Ravener would have to disrupt the current cycle in a way that even a hundred usurpers could not.
Was the action that it was supposed to take what its creator truly intended?
It seemed unlikely, even irrational.
So, the Ravener wondered.
It knew that the only way for a General to be among the Heroes would be if Uldar had changed his plan. It had no desire to disrupt its maker’s plans.
And so—for the first time in millennia—the Ravener chose not to obey its protocol. It could not perform the required actions unthinkingly and certainly, not yet.
Not without confirmation that those actions were the creator’s true will.
It understood that once it took the action dictated by this specific event…
…there was no turning back.
Things would be as they were millennia ago and the Ravener was not sure if—this time—the Thameish people would recover. Not without the maker’s help.
Would he help them this time?
For so many cycles, Uldar had been silent.
The Ravener had not been impacted by this.
It was content to carry on; it had its in-depth instructions, its purpose and its protocols; all it had to do was follow them. Further input from its creator was not needed, and the construct contentedly followed its role as terrorizer and destroyer, fulfilling its purpose.
It would be better to seek confirmation before acting.
Only then would it act.
As it had done over the millennia, on the rare times that the Ravener needed consultation with its maker, it reached out across its link to Uldar’s mind.
It asked the god a simple question: ‘Are you sure this is what you wish for me to do?’
Silence.
Silence hung heavy, as it had for thousands of years, the god no longer replied.
No matter.
There were other ways.
It knew its creator had retreated to his sanctum, and it also knew where to access that sanctum from Thameland. Yet, it could not go there, it could not leave its lair unbidden: this would be a task well-suited to the First Apostle.
The human did not have all of the information, but he would know enough to be able to speak to Uldar, and have him reach out to answer the question. Sending a Ravener-spawn to act as a messenger to Uldar’s sanctum would risk giving too much away, if it were noticed by people outside the hidden church. It discounted that idea.
It had grown anxious, something it rarely experienced before this current Fool, and it was reluctant to disturb its creator, but the protocol was too drastic to proceed without confirmation.
It must be certain.
The Ravener reached out for help from the First Apostle of its creator.
###
“Do you know what I don't get about you mortals?” the Stalker asked lightly, juggling two red gems. “A misunderstanding of futility. Sometimes you all look at situations that can be resolved and think they’re futile. Other times, you look at situations that are futile and think they can be resolved! It makes no sense!”
He shifted to juggling the gems one-handed. “I told you that if you just speak, then all of this stops! You get your lung back, you get a kidney back, you get your leg bones, you get your liver back…not to mention these pretty, pretty eyes of yours!” The Stalker grinned at the gems in his hand, his eyes returning to the crumbling form before him.
The collapsing form of Warder, the thief.
What was still intact of the high ranking member of the Guild of the Red Mouse, was trembling. His body resembled a throbbing sack of flesh splayed out on a stony beach, his eyes were no longer in their sockets, his breathing was shallow, almost absent, as he clutched his torso in agony.
All around him were the still forms of his bodyguards.
None bore a single wound on their bodies, but it was obvious that they had long passed from the world. Along the crashing surf, screeching gulls and skittering crabs feasted on their organs. More carcasses floated on the surface of the icy Irtyshenan sea, and—further up the beach—members of the secret church stoically watched their fae ally do his grim work.
The Stalker juggled the gems faster.
Warder shuddered, retching the scant contents of his gut, dribbling green bile down his chin and onto frigid rock. There was little left in the thief's stomach but slime and air, it wasn’t the first time he’d vomited since the Stalker had gotten his hands on him.
“Disorienting, ain't it?” the fae said. “You can still see out of your eyes, and here I am juggling them, giving them a view that no mortal was ever meant to see. Your sight must be bouncing around all over the place, spinning about, shooting off in two different directions. Must be difficult. But, talking will end all your discomfort! It’ll bring an end to your problems. It's been days, hasn’t it? Why do you keep holding out?”
“I…” Warder choked out with the breath from his one lung.
“Mmm?” the Stalker leaned forward. “What was that?”
“I told you…everything…” the ruined man choked. “We’re looking for our founder’s sanctum. Someone came…that has her power…we gave him the…locations where it should be…so he could find it. We were gonna kill him when he did and take…the treasures inside…”
The Stalker rolled his eyes. “Please. You dumb bastard, I learned all that from the first one of you I gutted! You expect me to believe that's all there is to this?” His smiles and laughter faded. “Look, I’m hunting a certain quarry, and you already offended me by looking to interfere with what’s supposed to be my kill. I'm tired of these games.”
“No games…” Warder gurgled. “Would do anything for pain to stop.”
“And you expect me to believe that?” the Stalker snarled. “When my hounds and I first took you from your bed, you tried putting up some grand fight! And, when that was beaten out of you, it was the silent treatment. You kept up that silent treatment when I took some of your innards, and you didn't even budge when I got your bodyguards and started to pull them apart. You’re one cold bastard.”
He shook his head. “It was only after the first couple of days that you finally started talking…and then all you told me were lies about ‘knowing nothing’. Do you even hear those words? Do you ever really think about their meaning? No one knows nothing, you idiot! Even squalling babes know something, even something so simple as that they need to drink their mother’s milk! Your lies changed quick enough, and you spun all sorts of colourful tales.”
The Stalker reached toward several objects floating beside him. Warder’s organs and bones. He plucked a kidney from the air and began squeezing it. “It was only when I crushed one of them kidneys of yours, that you finally started telling me something close to the truth. It’s funny, but even the toughest of mortals start breaking when I begin doing some permanent damage. Yet, you still won't tell me the whole story! I tell you, it's futile!”
“I told you…every…” Warder choked.
“You couldn't have,” the Stalker snarled. “If you had, I'd know exactly where this sanctum is, or at least, how to get there. So stop. Being. So stubborn.”
Again, Stalker’s hand squeezed the organ.
Warder whimpered.
Izas shook his head, watching the gruesome torture. “What a waste of time. Our ally knows mortals, less than half as well as he thinks he does. I've witnessed Eldin conduct interrogations and have conducted my own; I know when questioning has crossed a line into common butchery, and I know when a person has been broken and is telling the truth. This ‘Warder’ broke days ago, the Stalker simply cannot accept it. Holy leader, I—”
He looked at Gabrian, then paused. “Holy leader?”
The First Apostle was gazing across the sea, his eyes unfocused, and his expression locked in concentration. He shook himself. “I apologise, Izas, I was occupied.”
“With what, holy leader?” Izas asked. “Have you received some revelation?”
There was a yearning in the Third Apostle’s voice; he was desperate for any word from their god. This last year had been devastating for the holy church. They had lost their home, failed repeatedly to strike down their enemies, and now they were on an endless hunt, far from the holy kingdom they were meant to shepherd.
Any sign that they were on the right path—that they had not forsaken their duties in some way—would have been a grand blessing.
Izas’ disappointment was immeasurable when the First Apostle shook his head. “No revelation,” Gabrian said. “A strange feeling had come over me…as though there were thoughts just at the edge of my consciousness, demanding attention. I thought perhaps Uldar or a servant of his was trying to communicate with me…but nothing followed.”
“Then we will just have to be patient,” Izas said.
“I sense patience growing thin within you, old friend,” Gabrian said. “You are troubled.”
Izas nodded toward the gruesome scene taking place further along the beach. “I am not one to shy away from blood or suffering, as long as it is in Uldar’s name, but this has grown senseless. We are no closer to destroying one of Uldar’s great enemies than we were months ago…and yet for a time, I thought we had him. We were tightening the noose around his neck, and he just disappeared. I fear that we will have to return to Thameland with more failure clinging to us. I do not like the feeling of failing our god, holy leader.”
“Patience,” Gabrian advised. “The duties of our order have stretched for thousands of years, and when it comes to such enduring duties, one only fails when one either gives up, loses faith, or dies. We have done none of these. We have not failed our god yet.”
“Our enemy seems to have some infernal ability to adapt, and strengthen himself,” Izas said. “While we wait here, watching our ally engage in senseless butchery, he could be preparing for us even now.”
“Yet, we are on the right path.” He looked back over his shoulder to the island behind him. It was far from where the Fool had searched for the missing sanctum. Deep within a cave a good distance from the beach, was a gateway left by Kelda of Clan McCallum and also used by the Guild of the Red Mouse. Warder had led them there, and the hidden church had taken the portal for their own. “Even now, our priests work to understand how the gate works, even as we defend it from the thieves' Guild. With time, when we are able to fully understand it, it will lead us to the Fool; I believe Uldar has seen fit to guide us to this place. With the right miracle, we should find a way to this sanctum.”
“I am sure we will,” Izas said. “I cannot help but feel that the situation is growing more dire.”
“It is, but we shall rise to meet it,” Gabrian said. “Do not worry for Thameland. Our realm is old and strong, with Uldar’s eye watching it, it will keep.”
Falling back into Silence, the two holy men watched the Stalker do his preferred work.
Behind them, their priests worked to unlock the secrets of Kelda's portal.
###
The Ravener pulled away from the First Apostle’s mind.
He was at too great a distance—somewhere to the east—from Thameland for Uldar’s construct to reach him.
So it would have to send a messenger.
A Ravener-spawn would find the First Apostle by travelling over the roads provided by the Ravener’s newest ally.
###
Author's Note
Hello thirty-seven cool fools, almighty chosen, wise sages, and mighty champions! Thank you for your support!
And so the bad guys are floundering for once, and we learn a little more about the Ravener here. Tomorrow, back to Alex!
Cya tomorrow!
Comments
lenkite
Lol, are the general fae just going to allow Ravener spawn to travel their roads without formal authority ? I would think very, very little of the Fae if so.
Jonas Jalad
The first General was probably the only other General other than Alex, so Uldar patched the mark after just 1 cycle. That probably means the patch is part of the entire design and not a blunder on Uldar's part
Zachary LaCount
So our next chapter is going to be a training montage, right? I really want that training montage.
George R
Awesome chapter and it’s super cool the scene with ravener
Kevin Squalls
refresh,...... refresh
Aj jain-perkins
I guess we’ll see. Right now it feels like watching a massive spaceship launching off the pad and then, just before leaving the ground, jumping to a commentary on the personal life of some C-list celebrity. An orchestral crescendo jumping to Row-Row Row your boat. It doesn’t flow to me….
FillerArc
While I agree with your frustration, the way it switches POVs will flow better as more chapters are written. Some 2 months later, readers with ready access to the next 20-30 or so chapters will find it nicer.
Aj jain-perkins
Suggest reshuffling a little bit - ie this chapter prior to the last - in the final release. At least then people can skip ahead to get the goodies if they want (though I imagine without the threat of a 24 hr delay it won’t be so annoying for your readers) but won’t have the momentum stalled. This is THE grand story arc — Alex needs to fly and show what an unfettered Fool - ie General - of Thameland can do. In that context, the importance of the chapter will get lost with the placement.
Josh
Lol it was secretly just a pissed off Baelin who killed Uldar
Thomas Keller
That honestly sounds like a recipe for disaster, so what I'm thinking is that FB escapes, then Alex Summons him back and kills him then.
MinE
I think its just a training tool for heroes and faith farm. I heard someone else had a theory it was for Uldar to start a new pantheon of ascended heroes.
Decide
The last resort is probably freeing the real Ravener. If a fool beat the mark, then that means they'll be strong enough to do what Uldar couldn't? Maybe?
Decide
My guess? The real ravener feeds on the same stuff as the fake one. By having the fear directed at the fake ravener, the real one can't eat or regain its power, forcing it into hibernation.
Stylemys
But Uldar would have intervened normally. Alex literally had to cut away the god’s divine power to unmask the Fool. No way would a living Uldar have not immediately noticed that and intervened. Hell, the Ravener’s extreme protocol was likely designed under the assumption that Uldar would be notified and responding already.
ZCochraine!%
To actually add to my comment, imagine how dangerous the Ravener would be with the mark of the General, perhaps that being as a part of the deal. The Ravener goes to exterminate the Fae and possibly to avenge Uldar(and stays in that side), and in exchange it gets the ultimate improvement tool (if not maybe all its monster designs and now to make dungeon cores and core material). Only people who loos are the fae, and their bigger assholes. And could be Alex’s test to se if he could replicate the General without a soul/as and enchantment so he could give it to Claygon, or any future golems he makes, or as a spell to benefit all of magical kind.
ZCochraine!%
Consdering Alex was already a great summoner with the Fool interfering, that The Traveller’s power can boost that, now that he likely will get actual help from the General with learning spells, and he know one of the fae’s names, he could summon the guy and use the domination summoning to bring him in and take him. Likely also putting on as many of the horrible and nasty things a summoner could do to a dominated summons just o be sure and to be extra vengeful. The guy is no longer a problem, the church looses its powerhouse and backer, and Alex gets a not insignificantly powerful fae summon under is complete and absolute controls.
Josh Cothran
Sigh
Munirah Hutchinson
From how the Ravener was thinking, it seems that it actually required too hard of a mode to have the General and it seems it was often too much for the Thamish people to overcome without direct intervention from Uldar.
Thomas Keller
So, it looks like it's going to be a Home Alone: General Edition set up, with Alex doing prep and training while the Hidden Church and Fae Bastard work on reverse engineering Traveler Power to force a portal to the Sanctum, at which point Alex gets to play with traps, summons, and skirmish tactics, until he's whittled them down enough that he feels confident fighting the Villain Units. Then the question becomes, do they escape and does Alex manage to bring in his allies for the fight beforehand?
Thomas Keller
Huh. I guess I was wrong about the Ravener being a run away construct, Uldar apparently designed it to function exactly like it is. Unless the General Protocol is becoming essentially subservient to the people of Thameland, but the mention of prior activation suggests otherwise to me. So, I guess Thameland was Uldar's personal playground and sandbox, and once before he cleared out existent history of Thameland and rebuilt their society from the bottom up. Then, he set up his ant farm how he liked it and set up the process again, but *why* is the question now. What was Uldar harvesting from all this? A more devote population? Fae relations? What?
Laura López
I dont think theyll find the sanctrum, theyll probably get interrupted by ravener spawn or by Alex comming out.
Silver Beard
We know Thameland natives can influence Cores- perhaps the connection can go the other way as well. Anyone within 'its' influence could be taken over... at least anyone without the divinity or magic to resist. Just turn the whole population against the General.
Silver Beard
I'm not sure the throne is right. The Fae Lord was talking about taking a seat at the table which is why he wanted a Hero removed. I'm more curious about this last resort the Ravener is waffling over. Mass conversion of the population who worship Uldar into beasts...excluding the clergy ofc? That sounds like the kind of thing a 'God' would be needed to recover from.
ZCochraine!%
Maybe thats what will happen instead, not kill it, just teleport it to Uldar’s realm and shown it that its creator has been long dead, and talk it out of its evidently pointless original purpose. Maybe it could continue the intent without the murder. And I hope it goes completely rogue on the Fae, those psychos deserve an unstoppable apocalypse. Or thats what dine instead, trap it in the Faewilde and let it be their unstoppable problem.
Reds
I agree, it is likely similar to Claygon. I am nearly 100% certain that later in the story we will see more parallels between Claygon and the Ravener. Along with differences. I wouldn't be surprised if in the future, Claygon and the Ravener have a long talk; Claygon would either convince the Ravener to do something differently or at least come the closest to convincing it.
Theory time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . BBEG = Fae lord who made a deal with uldar and then betrayed and assassinated him. The rav and the cycles were the deal as it gave uldars people more reason to worship him for help, aaand the fae were enriched with their time of plenty. Now fae lord guy wants uldars throne. The one position that would make him more powerful then he currently is as a lord of the , im guessing, summar court. A moderate level God. Just a theory. :)
Stylemys
I’m starting to think that Uldar was trying to raise a pantheon of gods by mimicking the circumstance under which he rose to godhood. Each hero has to suddenly become a leader of their people at a young age, gather the faith of Thameland, and fight off a hoard of enemies. Them being born on the same day makes me think their souls are preselected at birth as well, but others can get substituted in when circumstances lead to better options like Hannah popping up or being needed. The General probably got nerfed because it was too much of a force multiplier and removed the challenge for the other Marks.
MockingBird
So Uldar wanted to create limitless power, by having his mortal followers in a forever war. I'm guessing the previous General uncovered this, and in retaliation Uldar patched the class, and made it into the fool to mock them. But with the General nerfed, he needed to tweak the difficulty of the cycles or everyone would die. Now with Alex back, it's hard mode again. Still doesn't explain who killed Uldar, or if they're even involved in all of this.
Philipp Battenberg
Well, the Ravener seems quite loyal to Uldar, disregarding drastic protocols in fear of messing up his plans. So, it might be possible that the Ravener seeks to avenge Uldar. It could rampage for a bit, but it might ally with Alex to defeat the big bad evil. And let's see who is quicker, the church in figuring out a way into the Sanctum or Alex with his preparations, ready to invite them in.
CentaureHeart
Mmm really hope the Stalker gets stalked/hunted /killed
ItWasIDIO!!
I'd also add that the Ravaner is a good boi just like Claygon but with a bad master as he doesn't do the board flipping scenario right away
Dennis
Yeah that is a good question would it just continue to follow its orders or for the first time do whatever it wants, which could be very very bad.
MinE
I pity the Ravener, it’s literally just doing what is was made to do. Uldar really had a couple of screws loose for making a sentient training machine/trial/murderbot. P.s I wonder if the saint could just order the Ravener to check if Uldar is alive
ItWasIDIO!!
I like that like but I'll also add its a wipe the board & start over if the centuries between the the General & the Fool is to show how long it takes a broken people to forget something
Dennis
Yeah but only because the next step is so horrific that even it isn't sure that level of destruction would be good.
Dennis
No from it's thoughts the ravener was created to fight the hero's and kill the people in the kingdom. The ravener didn't go crazy but is simply executing it's orders.
ItWasIDIO!!
Well fuck
Al
Hmm, fae tryna usurp faith 🤔
Silver Beard
Wonder how the Heros would take Ravener spawn on fae roads or the fae either?
Owen Kaz
Ok, so in order here 1) The Ravener wasn't a usurped creation of Ulder, it has been carrying his task out for ages. 2) the Mark of the General was altered by Ulder himself since the protocol to kill userpers already existed in the Ravener. 3) The Ravener doesn't know of Ulders death and is in no way responsible for it. 4) The Fae have royallllllly fucked up for once. They have made a deal for passage with servants of the Ravener, which means the Ravener can use Fae gates to get anywhere now. I bet the Ravener will eventually activate whatever protocol it was speaking of, and for once it will be a worldwide threat.
stardast24
The Ravener Seems lost and doesn't know what to do, And when is the real bad guy supposed to show up
Fleetpanda
My guess is that the current system with the fool is the ‘safe mode’ of the cycles. Maybe the last general messed up somehow. The General mode for the cycle probably is scaled up considerably. No monsters held back and full open warfare
Sam
This was pretty interesting. Funny to see even the Ravener having doubts about Uldar's plans.
mhaj58
I wonder if the Ravener is similar to Claygon, a golem Uldar loved but was turned into a monster by others. What would happen to Claygon without his family?
Voror
Very interesting getting more of the thought process of the Ravener. It really is just a construct following orders. But apparently the break glass in case of General is so drastic even it isn't sure. I wonder how it would take learning Uldar was dead. Freak out maybe. Stalker just not accepting he's been outfitted and no one can answer what happened. I guess we have a clue how they'll access the sanctum. Figure something out with the portal. Hope Alex has enough time to really cram.
Code Reed
What a tease. Yeah, I'm leaning towards the Fae being at the root of this. Well, Uldar was a bastard for setting up this horrid Divine infrastructure. But I'm thinking he started having second thoughts after a few hundred cycles and the Fae weren't going to have their annual playground disturbed.
Jamarr
The last line is ominous, it means Ael has formed a contract with the Ravener. Also seems like the Ravener fears something worse happening if the cycle is broken. Likely whoever killed Uldar, if they still exist. But I can definitely see this book ending with the cycle broken only for things to get worse.
Wensber
Thanks for the chapter!
Xyminimal
I’m looking forward to seeing Alex show off the power of the general. That 9th tier summoning magic as well
Kronos
👀
