Chương 559: BECMI Chapter 558 – Immortal Conference Continues...

"No identifier, no challenge, no negotiation. You were simply dismissed," Grimr noted shrewdly, the ancient and kingly Immortal of Thought, once again serving as High Hierarch of Thought after Sees-Beyond-Stars had stepped down, was looking quite thoughtful now.

"Someone or something is gathering worthy souls in the afterlife to some purpose, and not bothering to inform us of it, as if it is none of our business to interfere at all, and when doing so we were swatted like a fly." His expression was grim.

"Whatever is behind that expanse in the Astral is extremely powerful indeed… but not so powerful that they should ignore us so out of hand, given our influence over the souls of our own followers."

"I do not believe I have sent any such worthy souls on to your own realm recently, Lord Grimr," Anubin pointed out cordially.

"Other souls, yes, especially those zealous in belief in you and your pantheon. But no 'worthy' ones, such as they are."

"That is extremely presumptuous of them," Terra of Matter ground out roughly.

"They believe they can just take such souls as they wish?"

"If they are powerful enough to obliterate a High Eternal out of hand, then perhaps it is they who think we are presumptuous to even consider depriving them of their desired souls?" was Numzael's amused contribution, the Weaver obviously enjoying watching someone else's manipulations almost as much as his own.

"And you believe this Lady Edge's sudden increase in power is tied to all of this?" Quarizon of Energy asked in his deep voice.

"We do not know who the backers to herself or her mortal allies in the Eismark Federation are. This new Immortal Tek only appeared after their Federation began. Yet they've managed to grow with frankly astonishing speed… and are harnessing technology that has not been seen since Darkmoor, or the Herriatar Elves," ancient Grimr pointed out solemnly.

"Surely she does not have the power to move an entire planet into the solar system under our noses… but you believe she is connected to those who can?"

"If these beings are powerful enough to kill us swiftly, it also follows that they are powerful enough to unleash the havoc that has assailed our ranks these last few years," Terra reasoned slowly in her patient, logical way.

"It has escaped none of our attention that the focus of their ire has mainly fallen upon the Immortals of Entropy, and those who have dealt with them the most."

"All the more reason to act against them, lest the imbalance they have created worsen even deeper!" Nifl of Entropy spoke up quickly against that notion, removing their blame from the equation and shifting it back onto the unknown mystery foe.

"Is there any way to bring the elf here and question her as to what she might know of all this?" Eyes flickered to the vanished illusions. She had taken down a draeden with one spell. None of them wanted to be the second one she tried that trick on.

"She clearly has extraordinary knowledge of Immortal society," the young Empyreal Delphanna of Energy spoke up, standing up from the outer ring and earning attention for daring to do so.

"Elder Quarizon, that list of names I brought to you about the Nexus? It was she who provided it to me." That raised eyebrows all about, as that list of names had exposed secrets that had resulted in punishments and the toppling of two High Hierarchs, and the retirements of two others. Entropy hadn't even been directly involved in the matter, and had simply crowed about it all… before losing over a dozen of their own Immortals, including Thanatos and Delphax, openly and savagely.

"Immortal Society, or the Nexus of Magic itself?" Grimr corrected Delphanna sternly, and she could only incline her head at the correction.

"She has access to the technology of lost Darkmoor, although her compatriots conceal much of it under normal circumstances. How she gained it at her age and with such breadth of knowledge is not explained, although the hag and brute who command the Eismark are over a century old and might have discovered something. But discovering the names of those Immortals who secretly modified the Nexus… that is truly an extraordinary achievement for a mortal…"

"Is she still mortal? Could she actually be older than she seems?" Mistress Nyx of Entorpy inquired softly, her form as ever hidden behind shifting shadows and darkness.

"No," Corellin of Energy instantly interjected to refute her.

"Her birth is a matter of fact recorded among the Shaden, her mother is one of the my own Treekeepers, and she attended the College of Magic in Zanzyr as a young elfin." The elven Immortal's expression was rather confused.

"Her possessing enough power to take down one of the fabled draeden… I have no explanation for it."

"A time-accelerated realm can increase age, but one must have challenges and achievements to rise to that level of power. Such things would certainly be noticeable among mortals," High Hierarch Paras of Time remarked shrewdly.

"The only way to find such answers would be to investigate more fully. But which of us dares to do so?" he noted pointedly.

"Such a display of power is not something to take lightly at all."

"Perhaps stealth and cunning might be more effective than a grand show of force?" Nifl proposed slyly. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"Or perhaps not?" Sonr Nalljar almost, but not quite, sneered back to his new High Hierarch.

"Ten times I have attempted to infiltrate an Avatar into the Eismark Federation, disguised among mercenaries, thieves, and even settlers. Every single time I have lost the Avatar, through means I cannot recall. Is there anyone here who has managed to infiltrate the Eismark successfully?" the malign trickster asked loudly, looking around, including at old Grimr himself, ancient rivals tied by blood that they were.

"Including you, old man. I know you have tried." There was a silence in the hall of the gathering, heavy and uncomfortable. No one stepped forward, but nobody believed that no one else had at least tried...

"The dwarves of the Eismark Federation are not of my own," Clangyr of Matter, known in the past as Wulshar the Marker, very protective of his dwarven subjects, contributed suddenly.

"They are the dwarves of departed Harnadin, returned to Nown. I… have been losing the faith and following of those of my own who come into contact with them." The only remnants of such dwarves should have been some isolated clans down in the Hollow World, forever kept at the levels of mere shepherds and farmers and away from the metal-crafting and industrious growth of their ancestors.

"Did you not clear the entire surface world of the dwarves when you remade them in the past?" Ssa, the ancient reptilian Hierarch of Matter, the father of the Hollow World, inquired pointedly.

"From whence did they come?"

"I do not know," was Clangyr's grim reply.

"But they can wield the magic of stone and fire as did those before Darkmoor fell. They are definitely not born of mine." Since he had removed those gifts from their blood!

"Like a planet coming out of nowhere into our realm, then," Nyx noted with a shadow of a smile.

"Clearly there is a link between these upstarts who hunt my children and mislead your own, noble Maker!" the Mother of the undead purred slyly.

"Their Church of the Morning espouses a worthy, uplifting philosophy that could have been devised by any of our number, and seems to deliver benefits that we cannot experience nor emulate," Quarizon the Sun King offered again, bringing up another nuisance.

"Their new Immortal Patron, Tek, has chosen not to interact with most of us, but I have met him. He is definitely not powerful enough to have set up such a philosophy, and doubtless has only Ascended very recently, with his patron also unknown." He paused a moment, but went on before any other could interrupt.

"Based on Judge Anubid's description of the psychopomps, I would venture a guess to say that the same forces behind this… let us call it what it would seem, a heavenly destination for noble and worthy souls, are also behind this Church of the Morning and its rapid growth." The guess of a High Hierarch was almost as likely as fact. Whispers ran among the humanish and inhuman members of the chamber.

"Should we test their strength and guile, then? Draw them out?" High Hierarch Nifl proposed openly.

"If they are such clear backers of a mortal realm, they should react to an existential threat to their people!"

"A threat, like a draeden?" Terra asked lightly.

"I was thinking perhaps unleashing a tribulation upon them," Nifl refuted promptly.

"A threat already present there, just awoken and released."

"What manner of threat?" Quarizon asked, frowning.

"The Insect Hordes were designed for exactly this manner of use!" the Mistress of Death proposed smoothly, even a touch proudly. The startled and interested expressions of the Eternals and Hierarchs who knew of that particular location were interrupted by Corellin's amused chuckle, and even Clangyr shook his bearded head in exasperation.

"It seems Hierarch Nifl has not investigated that location recently. I believe it was among the responsibilities of the missing Thanatos and Arakne Primos? That particular tribulation is known among the Eismark military as the Bug Farms, and it is where all their elite soldiers are trained, as well as any adventurers who wish to come along." At Nifl's disbelieving stare, the softly-smiling elven Immortal went on, "Dozens of my own followers have gone through the combat training there.

It is not quite as fun as Firerose's magical Dungeon, but it certainly has been very effective in raising the competency of hundreds, if not thousands of the combatants sent through it to battle against the largest and most numerous of bugs." If there was snickering at Nifl's suddenly thwarted expression, Clangyr's resigned nod only drove the nail in further.

"Aye, dozens of my Rockborn have also gone through the training there. As I understand it, their actions are actually needed there, as Arakne is no longer guiding the vermin into killing one another, so something must kill the Bugs before they are forced out of the Caverns by their numbers to survive.

"The Devastation Spider held in reserve there is also dead, slain by the hag and her mate. If you think they do not have tools in place to destroy the entirety of the Caverns if the Bugs are to be released, then you are truly looking down upon their skill and planning," Clangyr finished with a knowing sigh.

"Firerose was a great beneficiary of the death of Gulguz and his allies in Fire," pointed out the sultry Entropic Eternal seductress Lhiannan after Clangyr finished.

"If we are investigating those who have benefited from the sudden attacks and disappearances of Immortals, the Sisters of the Primal Rose must surely rank among them?" she purred suggestively.

"The Sisters have a relationship among themselves that not even the Elemasters have been able to shake," High Hierarch Grimr noted thoughtfully.

"Were not most of them once mortals who Ascended to an Elemental state?"

"Their origins are spread across thousands of years, with Hydrosa and Jaderose actually ascending from Delpha after the Fall of the Empire, and Firerose is believed to be the very first master of the secrets of Fire from Zanzyr. One might as well assume they are the masterminds of these attacks themselves if they are connected to it!" the General, one of the more militaristic Eternals of Matter, rasped in his deep voice in response.

"They have no power to confront a draeden. Are we to assume they are this elfin's masters, yet they are so weak? No, if she has masters, they are beyond the veil of souls of this 'heaven'."

"Diplomacy might well be our only resort, if both cunning and force have failed to give us our answers," the Empyreal Oroyosam of Thought spoke up predictably, ever the Peace-Maker.

"Sending envoys and asking politely might well gain answers to the questions that we have!" he urged everyone sincerely.