Chương 435: BECMI Chapter 434 – Of Zanzyr and Things

"You have successfully gained my attention, Lady Edge of Eistree," the Immortal Delphanna decided to acknowledge me, giving me a regal nod of interest as she looked me over, especially interested in Dread in my hand. She was clad in Delphan robes whose cut and style were over a thousand years old, I was certain, although the colors were familiar enough. She emphasized purple over blue for her personal attire, and I recalled ever-larger amounts of purple seemed to indicate higher ranks among her clergy.

It was fairly simple attire for a Delphan mage, and of course she was divinely beautiful in a way mortals could not be. I didn't show my own superhuman beauty, either. I was just a very powerful mortal elfin with the bloodline of a vampire for a grandfather. Dread was staying quite quiet around an Immortal, even though he knew I didn't actually have to be all that afraid of her.

"Eminence," I replied to her comment.

"If you will quietly confirm no one else is paying attention to us, we can speak." Curiosity quite piqued, she waved her hand casually and looked around once.

"There is no attention upon this temple of mine by my Immortal peers, elfin," She informed me confidently.

"What do you wish to speak of, that could not be communicated to me by my own clerics?" I stepped over to a table there with floating chairs. She took the cue for what it was and seated herself gracefully first, even gesturing up some wine and fetching crystalline glasses from a case nearby for us to drink. Magic poured, we both took a sip, while she continued to examine me with interest, trying to discern why I would dare call upon her.

I first flicked out a scroll from my sleeve, and it slid across the table and spun itself to a halt in front of her. She glanced at it first in idle bemusement, an expression that sharpened instantly when she saw the list of names upon the scroll.

"On the right are the names of the Immortals who are invested in what is called the Core of All Magic, possibly the greatest and most powerful Artifact upon Nown. You will note none of them are Delphan, because their project started two thousand years before any Delphans came to this world at all. The reason you don't know anything about the special powers about Zanzyr is because you and the latecoming Immortals are outsiders, and your interference in their matters is very unwanted.

"I imagine you only knew that Thaum was making matters difficult, and perhaps Gaebrel. As you can see, there are two Hierarchs involved, and are especially responsible for its very deep connection to the magical field of the whole planet." Her glowing eyes were flickering as she considered that list of Names, all of them older and more powerful than she was, with Thaum being stronger despite being younger.

"I… see," she finally said carefully, having picked up the list to peruse in silence.

"And the other side?"

"Those are the Immortals who Cursed the Artifact to drain the magic from this world of Nown if it is used as intended." She didn't need to breathe, but I still caught the quiet intake of breath. As I suspected, she had been spurred to action by finally deducing the source of the Day of No Magic, a horrible threat to Delphan strength and hegemony.

"And what exactly was this Core of All Magic supposed to do?" she challenged me directly.

"The original intention, above and beyond seeing how extremely advanced science interacted with magic, was to hook into the field of magic about the whole planet and be able to manipulate it. Unfortunately, the Immortals involved are not very familiar with high science and didn't make much headway on that," I answered calmly, sipping my wine. One of the western vintages, acceptable, although still a bit strong for elves.

"The second thing was to provide a way for mortals to easily reach Immortality in the Sphere of Energy. To wit, they must learn how to master the Radiance, the refined version of the initial alpha and betathaumic energies generated by the Core as gammathaumic energy, research the magical spells that wield the Radiance, and then research a very specific spell that taps the magic of the entire world to instantly elevate them to Immortality if they successfully Cast the spell.

"So far only one living being has been able to jump through all the proper hoops to do so. He is the Immortal you know as Thaum." The Immortal Delphanna sat back in Her chair, Her thoughts clearly racing as She sipped at her own wine, sparkles of magic flowing through and around it automatically as She did so.

"That is… most interesting." There was some strain in Her voice as She considered what She was inserting Herself into the middle of.

"And Casting this spell is what caused the Day of No Magic," she deduced swiftly.

"Technically, the Curse of the other Immortals is what Caused the Day of No Magic. They have altered the Core so that the gammathaumic energy eats at the manafield of the planet, and Casting that spell drains it. By the aftereffects, I believe at most three other Overmagi could use the spell to attain Immortality, and in doing so would drain Nown almost completely of magic." If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

She gazed at me in both anger and worry, anxiety wrinkling her forehead.

"This, this cannot be allowed to proceed!" She burst out, staring at me.

"Surely, you are an elf! This would be terrible for your people!" She stated strongly.

"That is correct. And so I did something about it." That gave Her pause. She looked at me, at that list of very old and powerful names She would be jumping into the middle of, and clenched Her jaw. Stirring up interest in Zanzyr, and Delpha moving in to take control of the place and this Artifact looked like an extremely bad idea right now.

"And exactly what have you done?" She demanded of me coolly.

"I have erected three Pyramids around Zanzyr, whose intent is to absorb the radiated and unspent gammathaumic energies and crack them open, reverting them back into magic and so slowly restoring what was taken out.

"They also modulate the Radiance by their existence and forbid the kind of energy draw on the manafield required for the spell of Immortality to be successful. If someone tries to Cast it again, they will fail, since it can only be Cast in Zanzyr close to the Core." She pursed Her lips thoughtfully as She regarded me.

"That is… impressive," She conceded after a moment of thought.

"Is Thaum aware that you have done this?" she inquired upon consideration of the implications of such a thing.

"I do not believe so, or he may have acted against them. He thinks they are the result of Immortal plans by more powerful Immortals of Energy, and dares not act directly against them. That they seem to be healing the magical wound in the world is staying his hand, also, which actually aids his own plans and research into the Radiance, as he need not be as cautious about its usage as he was with it doing so.

"The Pyramids all have secondary functions which are obfuscating their other use. The Elven one can potentially animate every tree in its Principality in defense of it. The Verdain one exposes shapechangers and the magically concealed in its midst, especially undead. The Transyvian one channels positive energy and weakens undead and things of entropy in the entire Principality.

"They also help further concentrate the power of the Radiance within Zanzyr and restrict spillage. This dovetails nicely with Thaum's ambitions to keep knowledge of the Radiance secret."

"Secret…" She repeated softly, and then Her hand drifted to the list I'd given Her.

"He does not know of these names?" she asked slyly.

"He knows of Gaebrel, no others. You should know that Thaum has no active involvement among other Immortals, being self-made as he is. He has no representation in Immortal society, and I suspect a fair number of Immortals do not even believe he exists."

"Except the ones on this list, who have been watching him all along." She tapped it thoughtfully.

"Obviously you have your own sources of information in Immortal society, who have sent you here, wishing to keep their involvement concealed. In many ways, mortals moving about are beneath the attention of Immortals, unless it directly involves competing Aspirants…" She considered my utter lack of reaction to that statement.

"And no, you do not have the air of such an Aspirant. Their drive to reach for Immortality is always obvious upon them." Her finger tapped the list for a moment.

"You must be aware that I have allies of my own in this matter. The threat to all magic is too extreme…"

"The threat to all magic was put in place by other Immortals. The war you are attempting to start is punishing mortals for the actions of Immortals, and I have already contained the damage. If you wish to expose them in Immortal Courts and spread knowledge of the Core further, potentially sending the whole world into a mad rush for the power it represents, I certainly cannot stop you.

"I can tell you that Thaum is not a fool and will know who to blame. If you punish his followers, he can certainly punish yours, and he will not yield the Core without a fight." I steepled my fingers before me.

"You, as the patron of a very magical kingdom, should be very, very wary of an Artifact whose cast-off power is capable of draining the magic of the entire world at the incitement of merely one spell. What it can actually do in the hands of an Immortal pushed to retaliate by powers he cannot repel without it… well, your imagination is likely on a greater scale than mine is.

I picture something like turning the Delphan Empire into a continent-wide Dead Magic Zone, or something, which I believe would utterly obliterate it." She visibly tensed up.

"You believe it to be that powerful…"

"As a side effect of the radiations it throws off, it can make an Immortal. Destroying a mortal empire seems a rather small thing with its direct power."

"What makes you think we could tolerate such a thing being in the control of someone like Thaum?" She glared at me, this representing an existential threat to Her people.

"It's had that power for the last three thousand years, and has never been used. The ones who gave it that power don't seem to mind Thaum thinking he's in control of it," I parried deftly.

"I think that they would think rather dimly of a junior and offworlder thinking she knows better than they.

"If you want the Core of All Magic neutralized and its threat contained, kindly do it at the Immortal level and leave the mortals out of it. You are stirring up flames of war which will kill uncounted mortals in a matter that is only of Immortal relevance. Convince the true masters of the Core to remove it from the mortal world, or simply realize that I have taken care of the magical threat it represents.

Thaum has obviously been deemed a suitable caretaker of the Artifact, oblivious as he might be of the fact, and his founding a native magocracy is clearly advancing the agenda of Energy.

"You have little basis for interference in what is going on, and I suspect you will be brushed off out of hand… but the Orb has been there since before the Delphans immigrated to Nown, and will continue into the future.

"If you want the Delphan Empire to control such a remarkable device and grasp the magic of this world in their fist… I suspect Thaum will react to the threat to his chosen land and the consequences will be severe. He cannot defeat you on the mortal scale, it is foolish to even think so, and so he will use the Core. It is not even a question of if, only of when and how severely Delpha will pay for its arrogance."