Chương 473: BECMI Chapter 472 – Hollow Plans

The Other Shore... None of the more advanced surface cultures had yet been moved to the Hollow World here. Actually, the only one that existed was the one from Darkmoor, which was isolated by design and pretty much minded their own business. The Hollow World was the pet Immortal Project of the very old Immortal Ssa, who might have been the oldest known mortal creature to make it to Immortality, basically an Ascended T-Rex or its equivalent.

The place was his nature preserve, where he placed natural species that were going to die out, be it by being left behind by evolution, disaster, or other reasons. Thus, the place was full of dinosaurs and ancient species not found on the surface world anymore, protected and preserved by the power of massive spells that covered the entirety of the Hollow World.

It also had the final numbers of the beastmen of Nifl there in the northern areas, fleeing my extermination of them, but their sheltering here had come at the cost of Nifl's influence over their souls being removed. They were just normal creatures now, not born to Evil, even if they were dumb and violent.

Without other humanoids around and Nifl whipping them up to prey on everyone, they were just another tribe of weird hunter-gatherers whose kids were nothing like their parents, running from the dinos and primitive beasts they now shared a world with. Nifl's attentions were solely on her efforts on the upper world, these beastmen were just lost causes to her now.

The Darkmoor Greens were unwanted, because they might interfere with this grand zoo and do typical stupid human things like hunt, expand, take territory, kill the beasts who tried to prey on them in turn, and so forth and so on. You know, natural behavior of natural animals. However, the Greens were also informed of the purpose of the place, and so were being carefully respectful in their behavior.

If their little colony was expanding, it was small in size and not great in numbers, and very obviously didn't seem to be planning on remaining there forever. Without all that attention by anything other than cavemen and primitive aboriginal tribes, I was able to move around the Hollow World with general impunity. There were no former surface empires down here yet, so no one to comment on and get alarmed by me putting up Pyramids around the place. And this place definitely needed some hidden Pyramids.

The great magic that protected the last members of a society and a species was already extant, meaning it was impossible to make anything here truly extinct. The great magic that did not allow cultures to evolve was also extant, keeping the primitive Neathar tribes in their many varieties forever frozen as primitive hunter-gatherer societies that could never evolve past the most ancient of tribal structures. I… did not like that.

The perfect zoo, slavery without knowing it, chains on bodies and souls I could do nothing about in the past… except! I could prepare to change those things in the future! I was going to do this here, and on the Far Shore, too. Subverting their damn magicks to make life more difficult and restricted in these places was the single largest instance of mindfuckery taking place on Nown, and I really didn't care if Ssa liked his little zoo. I wasn't going to put up with it, and I didn't have to…

although naturally taking him face-on wasn't a good idea. Thus, I had Pyramids to put up here, with the full knowledge and consent of Nown. Those Pyramids were going to eventually link up Domains and cover the whole goddamn Hollow World before I was through, a task that was going to take me a whole lot of time to accomplish… on TWO worlds, here in the 'past', and on the Far Shore in the present. But that was fine. That's why I was moving through Time in the first place…

I had only four Sims with me, the rest scattered and active from the past, tracking and learning things I could make use of in the future. It was enough. We were going to be moving and hiding a LOT of stone...

Back to the Far Shore... Delpha pressed in on Siricil relentlessly. It bled, certainly, but Siricil couldn't stop it, the greater magical firepower in wartime proving to be an edge that mere fighting spirit and martial aptitude and discipline couldn't overcome. Delpha pushed onto land with its forces, and started the march for the City of Siricil.

The Sheikdoms of Zakarum took the opportunity to strike across the northern border of Siricil, taking the city of Ikvanum, conquered by Siricil centuries ago and a part of the Empire ever since. The army looted it of everything it could and promptly fled back across the border, with Siricil unable to stop it. The cowardly commander of the city had thought they were the Delphan army and even let them into the city unsuspecting, when they could have easily held them off…

I had no sympathies for either side, as Zakarum was a theocratic state whose very existence was a reaction to being a pawn of Delpha and Siricil in their conflicts, and growing sick of the matter. Ikvanum was originally part of Zakarum and considered its greatest border city, outside the traditional boundaries of its land and a key holding for trade. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Conquest one way, conquest the other.

Expecting merchants to fight with valor and cunning was clearly not going to work out very well for Siricil at this time, and pressure was mounting on the Empire every day as its legions faced just too many damn Fireballs to display its greater martial might. Of course, the true goal of the Immortals was actually Zanzyr, the clash of empires was just a side-story to most of them, utterly irrelevant to the fate of magic and matters of real importance.

There was an alliance of fairly chaotic Immortals on one side supporting Zanzyr and Thaum's right to proceed as they wished, uncaring of the fate of magic, only opposing the overweening reach of the Delphan Immortals trying to impose their brand of control upon the world. In the middle, Entropics were causing havoc and creating treachery on all sides. And in the midst of all this shit, someone made a move.

Federyn was quaking in fear. Immortals had come down to Nown, proclaimed themselves rulers of the mortals below them, and backed it up by raining down thunderbolts on hapless random mortals to cement their authority with terror. They were even taking Greek names! Zeus, Ares, Athena, Aphrodite… I goggled at the sheer chutzpah and wondered where they'd learned those names from, and why in the Holy Fuck they would pick THAT pantheon for inspiration.

Likely because it was a bunch of chaotic self-entitled fucks who did whatever they wanted, and mortals could go suck it. It couldn't last. The Senior Immortals were far too vested in Immortals not being allowed to do this shit. Even the fighting in the empires stalled at this blatant and shocking move, as Federyn was directly on the main invasion route to Zanzyr, and even encircled the Sidheduiche, whose Patron Corellin was actually a backer of the Delphans, if staying neutral in the involvement of his people.

It was a clear bar in the path of Delpha, intended or otherwise. Federyn made one attempt to attack the new Mount Olympus the Immortals lifted up to reign over Federyn, and the army was utterly obliterated, with no chance to fight back whatsoever.

Two weeks later, the thunderbolts and random edicts of everyone having to bow, of clearing fields here and planting herbs there, of erecting new temples and enforced worship, suddenly stopped, while very, very ominous black clouds rose over Mount Olympus, not reassuring anyone at all that it was over.

"Well, Tek?" Briggs asked, as we stared at the unnatural mountain raised out of the ground at the edges of Lake Federyn. -There are a lot of Immortal Powers watching this and getting ready to fight, - our Immortal technician /responded softly. -The ones who acted against these fools are Entropics, including some Hierarchs. The most powerful fellow, 'Zeus', was the only Eternal-ranked Immortal of the lot. I don't know the true identities of the others, but plainly some of the others do.

It's now all about how the whole thing is resolved, with suitable pageantry for the mortals. -It seems to be tied to the recent murders of at least a dozen Immortal Aspirants by demons, who really weren't demons. This is all part of a wider game being played. -"The scrying is completely futzed. What's going on up top?" I asked, giving a nod to Sama, who immediately began trotting forward. She, Briggs, the Mick, Hanvol, and I followed her on Disks as she began to pick up speed, heading openly for the mountain.

-The whole area has been dimensionally shifted up the scale. Instead of the first to third dimensions being visible, the second to fourth are, making this utterly unviewable by mortals. - Since we couldn't naturally perceive time, that was totally true. This whole area would be a blur of past, present, and future to us.

"Won't be an issue," Briggs growled, and I had to agree. -There's also an area of temporal reversion that is barring access to the captured Immortals. It's quite strong and cleverly done, I'm not sure how to break it. -"They are using temporal tricks around us? Are they stupid? Don't answer that," Sama tossed out.

"Now, what the fuck is this bunch of nobodies ahead of us?" There was a group of four people sailing along in a small glowing boat on the path towards the summit ahead of us. It was a lordly armored human with a greatsword of elven design over his shoulder, what looked to be a human priest leaning on a staff, an elven woman piloting the rare and famous elven Sunboat, and a tall and lean leather-clad human with two spears over his shoulder, who wasn't human at all.

They weren't moving slowly, but Sama was already in motion, and actually catching up to them. Dread tingled with the presence of Immortal power.

"Those are Immortals, not mortals," I hissed, narrowing my eyes.

"What are they playing at?" -Pageantry for the mortals, - Tek /responded quietly. -They have rivals waiting at the top of the mountain. - He paused as if listening to something. -They are copies of ancient heroes from Federyn's history, 'come out of legends to save the nation' or somesuch. -"Oh, them." With that description, I identified them instantly.

"That's Krymrill, wielding the Greatsword Banhk. He died fighting a great red wyrm on his Path. I think he's a Titan in service to Quarizon now. He's a total legend of early Federyn, considered one of the founding heroes of the nation.

"The elfin is Shoyaenen, his partner and companion on his Path. Supposedly she died in combat against a lich attacking Sidheduiche.

"The priest is Melyn, a humble healer who fought against a Whispering Demon who was empowering a plague that swept across central Federyn centuries ago.

"The spearman is actually Absoglor, after whom the city is named. He is a Gold dragon who did much to help expand Federn's borders north, and who fell in combat against an undead horde coming to raze the city being built there. They only ever found his double spears.

"None have known tombs or had their bodies recovered, just vanishing in their final battles," I finished up critically.

"How appropriate," the Mick snickered as Sama closed on them.

"There be dozens of watchers looking on as these legends head up the mountain to fight the evils assailing Federyn, aye?" Hanvol looked absolutely incensed.

"They are stealing the names of our heroes to paint a lie for their own entertainment?" he hissed out, flames igniting on his fingertips.

"A comforting illusion to mislead the mortals here as to exactly what is going on. Immortal business for immortals, mortals are just an afterthought." I just shook my head.

"Planting a seed for the cover-up to follow, no doubt, a pleasant myth to disguise their own stupidity made manifest in the mortal world."