Dark Fate, Chapter 252

Chapter 252 – Mantles

The next morning, I had a meeting with Slave-Commissioner Sun Zhihao and Minister of Foreign Affairs Luisa Morillo. The reason was simple enough. The current holder of the mantle of Baba Yaga had reached out, and indicated that Russia had complied with my demands to end the sanctions. Naturally, I had to make a show of investigating the claim, to satisfy my obligations as Emperor, but I already knew what the investigators would find.

The mantle of Baba Yaga would not let her lie about a task completed.

Morillo looked through the reports, and nodded. “It is confirmed, your Majesty. All six hundred and seventy-one names accounted for. The Russian Federation is in compliance with the Edict.”

I nodded, having expected as much. “Excellent. Then issue a proclamation, retracting the sanctions, effective immediately. Russian-flagged ships may now pass through Ceresan territory with no more than the typical restrictions and inspections. And make sure to add a line about how the Empire hopes such a lesson need never be repeated in the future.”

Sun frowned. “You think the Russians will try something in the future?”

“Perhaps, but likely not for some time. That is part of why I structured the Edict the way I did. The ones who are most likely to have had their pride wounded, and seek revenge, are now powerless, enslaved to wives or daughters, who are not likely to allow them any leeway. But that is due to them all having to be forced into compliance. If they had chosen the other path, they might have been a future threat.”

Sun’s eyes went wide. “Ah, because even as women, being forced to carry a demon’s child, they would have still been free, and had wealth and power to call upon.”

“Exactly. But that is the trap of the more toxic forms of patriarchy, men with power cannot bring themselves to ‘lower’ themselves to the woman’s role, and accept another man, especially one that wasn’t human, impregnating them. If they had been less tied to their pride as men, they might have realized that choosing that role would allow them the ability to strike at me in the future. Instead, they had the slave’s role forced upon them, and lost all their choices.”

Sun shook his head, a wry smile crossing his face. “You worded the Edict that way precisely to keep them from even considering the option that would allow them to hold on to some of their power. They would not allow themselves to surrender like that, which meant that, when someone eventually forced the issue, they would not be able to strike back. And now much of Russia’s wealth and their government officials answers to this Baba Yaga figure.”

“Your Majesty,” Morillo cut in, “perhaps you could tell us more about these ‘Mantles’? You bore one in a previous timeline, yes?”

“Sure. Especially since we’ll probably see a few of them, sooner or later. The key thing to understand is that a Mantle is formed in the same way that gods are formed. Myth, legend, belief, all melting together and forming something new. However, while a godhead is a singular figure of veneration, the Mantle is more like an archetype, more than mortal, but less than divine.

“Each Mantle is unique. Only one can exist at a time. That is not to say that the Hero is the only Hero throughout the galaxy, however. Every planet has myths, and many of those myths reference heroes. Each planet and species has its own version of the myths. A Knelfi from Quel’thalas would not become the Hero unless they were raised on Earth, but they might become the Arraness, which is much the same thing, but with different social constructs and expectations.”

Morillo frowned, considering what I’d just said. “The Baba Yaga seems out of place amongst the other Mantles you mentioned, though. That is a very Russian myth, right? While the others are all more generic.”

“You mean more European,” I corrected, “at least where the Black Knight is concerned. The Black Knight is an archetype from medieval Europe. It just so happens that Europe decided to be heavy-handed in forcing their culture upon everyone in the world during the colonial period, which is why the archetype seems generic to most people. But that doesn’t make the archetype any less rooted in medieval European culture.

“The Slayer, meanwhile, is certainly more generic, as the idea of a lone warrior who hunts monsters is somewhat universal. The same with the Hero and the Fool. This universal nature makes them both more and less powerful than the more focused Mantles, like the Baba Yaga or the Black Knight.”

“Because of specialization?” Sun asked.

“Correct. To use the Black Knight as an example, the one who carries the Mantle of the Black Knight is a devastating warrior, able to gather allies to his side, and draw them forth like the tide crashing upon the shores. Their presence causes their allies to fight beyond their normal abilities, and they will stabilize from any wound that not is not immediately fatal, instead of bleeding out. More importantly, the Black Knight’s power can scale to meet the power of his primary foe on the field of battle.

“However, to achieve this, the Black Knight’s race is overwritten. Even when advancing in Tier, their race will continue to be The Black Knight. Their Class and Profession change, becoming something more martially-themed. When I picked up the Mantle, in the first timeline, I went from a Swordsman / Scholar to a Dark Knight / Soldier. My future options were heavily restricted, as well, binding me to that martial path. I gained the ability to fight on par with creatures above my Tier, and ensure that my warband could follow me into any battle, and have them know that any wound that did not immediately kill them would heal, in time. And the Mantle’s focus on combat probably helped blind me to the other issues growing behind the scenes, leading to my betrayal.”

I found myself gritting my teeth as I said that last bit. I was mostly over what happened in that first timeline. Apparently, I got my revenge once, and fought Jessica to a bloody standstill the third time. This time, I was winning over her, no matter which way you looked at things. I took a breath, pushing down those memories, because I didn’t need to think about that right now.

“Compare that to the Slayer. The lone wanderer, always seeking out strong foes to test themselves against, or monsters to hunt and kill. They rarely stay in one place for too long, because without a strong foe to fight, they grow restless. According to the System Shop, most who pick up a Mantle like the Slayer eventually find themselves facing a foe that is beyond them, and they die as they lived, alone and covered in blood both theirs and their enemy’s.

“So, that’s the Slayer and the Black Knight. One a lone hunter of monsters, be they man, beast or other. The other a warlord leading forces into battle. The Slayer’s power is greatest when he fights alone, with no one to protect or work around. The Black Knight is at his strongest when there is a powerful commander opposite him, and he has warriors around join the charge with him.

“The Hero, meanwhile, is usually a competent fighter, but rarely the best. Instead, his power is that of inspiration. He can rally the people, causing crafters and low-level fighters to band together and hold off a monster horde as they protect the city, or something like that. The mantle will force them to behave accordingly. Think of Superman from the comics books, except that it isn’t the Hero’s choice to act like a paragon of goodness. The Hero must live their life in such a way as to inspire the best in those who see them. They are trapped in that headspace, forced to be the best person they can be, as well as being a strong fighter, and caring for the weak. And, sometimes, that nature causes them to allow fools to survive when anyone could see that they are just setting themselves up for betrayal later, because everyone deserves a second chance, or some idiocy like that.”

“What of the Fool?” Sun asked.

“Ah, the Fool. The lineage comes from stories of tricksters or jesters, naturally. The core of the archetype is being underestimated. The Fool’s greatest restriction is that they cannot knowingly lie. If you told them that 2+2=3, and they knew the answer was 4, then they could say that you told them the answer was 3, but they could not say the answer was 3. However, if someone tells them something they did not know, then that they would not be lying if they repeated it.

“Beyond that, the Fool’s primary attribute is Luck, with Dexterity and Constitution following close behind. Nimble and hardy, but the main thing is that they have incredible luck, for good and bad. Their luck never seriously injures them, much less threatens to kill them, of course, but it has pulled more than one Fool out of certain death because they stumbled just as a killing spell passed through where their head was a moment before, or, when they got blown off a cliff, they luckily found a branch that allowed them to slow their fall, making it something they could survive. Unfortunately, what protection the Fool’s luck provides them applies only to the Fool themselves. Which makes them as much a liability as an ally as they would be as an enemy, at times.”

“And the Baba Yaga is a witch of sorts?” Morillo asked.

I had to laugh at that. “Calling the Baba Yaga a witch is like calling a nuke an explosion. You aren’t wrong, but at the same time, you are most definitely wrong. The Baba Yaga is a powerful mantle, when used correctly, and one of the most powerful abilities she has is to create Yagishna, the Daughters of Yaga.”

Sun frowned. “That sounds like it is more than simply adopting women into her family.”

“That is because it is. The change is contained within a title, one that only Baba Yaga can grant or remove. It allows her to communicate telepathically with any of her daughters, at any range, using them as eyes, ears, and hands. Her daughters lose either their class or their profession, and have it replaced by something else. Typically some form of ‘witch’ for the class, and a variant of ‘alchemist’, ‘healer’, ‘enchanter’, or ‘brewer’ for the profession. And Baba Yaga can learn any spell, hex, curse, or recipe the Yagishna know, and can grant her Daughters a spell, hex, curse, or recipe she knows. This means that the Baba Yaga quickly becomes a font of knowledge for any witch or alchemist, and the more knowledge she gains, the fewer the number of diseases or afflictions which are beyond her reach, for good or ill.

“However, this power comes at a price. She is bound by any deal she makes, just as those who make a deal with her are bound to it. And the Mantle will not let her lie about a task completed, either one set for her, or one she gives to others. There is also the fact that Baba Yaga’s form can become twisted over time, and that despite being a matriarchal sort, it is exceedingly hard for her to bear children of her own, which is why she adopts her daughters. There are stories of her bearing children normally, but only if the sire is a powerful magical creature, and even then, the children rarely appear human, and are often monstrous, if not monsters in and of themselves.”

Morillo cleared her throat. “Your Majesty? Not to put too fine a point on things, but would, say, a Greater Apocalypse Incubus recognized as a Demon Lord count as a powerful magical creature?”

I chuckled at the woman’s suggestion. “Why, yes, it would.”