Delvers LLC 5, Chapter 11

Sorry for the wait everyone!  I'm getting back into the saddle, so to speak.

At least the return is explosive, right?

:)

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Uluula stepped onto one of Henry’s new personnel descent platforms and felt glad she was wearing the Wing.  Most of the inventions that Henry had created actually did work, but there was something about stepping on a little floating platform with a tiny rail in mid air that created doubt.

The small descent platforms were the alpha version of Henry’s simple solution to the problem of how to drop personnel from the hull.  He’d originally worked on a way to lower the goblins, but this method would work for anyone.  It was basically an elevator that could descend and rise much faster than the Hull could.  Eventually Henry would probably enclose them, maybe armor them.  This would actually be something like drop pods that Uluula was familiar with from her time in the Areva navy.

Drop pods on Ludus, she thought and snorted.

Down below, the fading daylight cast an orange glow on the Adom city of Wakeharbor.  It looked very utilitarian from up above--mostly boxy structures or domes made of concrete.  She glanced over at the other lifts descending from the Hull.

Henry descended with Jason.  Mareen was on Uluula’s platform with her.  This time, all three of the bodyguard sisters were coming with them.  They’d insisted.  Uluula felt Jason had made the right choice by coming along on the lifts.

Philana, Keeja, and Enheduanna had already immediately purged the effects of alcohol from their bodies.  They didn’t need lifts and were floating towards the ground.  Nora floated as well.

The sky was full of harpy guards.  If the Adom attacked the ship, a few guards would not be enough to protect it.  Besides, the goblins and other crew were staying aboard.

Once they reached the ground, a group of five Adom greeted them in an empty square.  Their leader appeared to be a short, squat creature that was mostly a huge mouth with teeth.  It had three eyes that all moved independently.  Uluula’s first instinctive urge when she was the thing was to stick her jaalba through it.

“Welcome visitors,” said the mouth-thing.  “I am Retini, the mayor of Wakeharbor and governor of this province.  We do not get many visitors, so most of our residents are...hiding.”  After she heard this, Uluula noticed that two members of the mayor’s delegation, a harpy and a lizardman were visibly nervous.  The delegation began walking toward a large building, and the Delvers group automatically followed with the High Priestesses trailing behind.

Mayor and a governor? thought Uluula.  I wonder how that works.

“Hiding? What?” asked Henry.  “Oh,” he said a second later.  “There are Adom here, but also monsters, right?”

Retini winced.  “None of us here like that word.”

“Oh, sorry I guess,” said Henry.

Adom guards ahead opened huge double doors, inviting the group into the building that turned out to be some sort of large, empty conference room.  The moment she passed the threshold, UIuula felt the tell-tale tingle of anti-eavesdropping magic.

“What is the problem?” she asked.  “If not ‘Adom’ on this world, they are called monsters, correct?”

The major winced again.  Henry waved and said, “Maybe I kind of get it.”  He turned to Uluula and asked, “How would you feel if everyone kept calling you an elf?”

Uluula’s mouth twisted up.  “Understood.”  There were several sets of conference tables and one big one.  The Adom made for the tables at first but Henry and Jason didn’t follow.  It was subtle, but Henry and Jason were making it clear they were not planning to stay long.  The Adom gave up on the chairs like theyd never planned to sit in the first place and everyone stayed standing.  The guards that had been outside the door left and shut the door behind them.

Jason asked, “Sorry, but if not monsters, what do you want us to call them then, Retini?”

The major relaxed a little, small, claws arms actually losing tension.  Uluula realized she still didn’t know what gender the Adom was.  What she’d first taken as a dress could be a kilt.  “We refer to ourselves as Adom, and non-Adom.  Monsters live in dungeons.  Monsters do not seek to become Adom, to join civilization and live in peace.  They are either unthinking, or do not value life.”

“At least it’s easy to remember,” said Nora.  “I’ve worked with Adom before.  They are fine with me.”

Jason cleared his throat and obviously changed the subject..  “So we’re here.  What now?”  He held up a hand.  “We have somewhere to be in a couple of days.  If possible, we’d like to keep this short.”

“Wait a minute, dude,” said Henry.  “We all want to get going again, but I remember an Adom.  Anz’wei.  She gave me trouble back when we were traveling from Mirana.  And remember what we’ve been told?  Maybe we should get a guide.  This is one of the most dangerous places on the entire planet.”

Uluula nodded.  “Indeed.”  It was a little surprising that Henry was being the voice of reason but she would take it.  She knew that the real reason Jason wanted to hurry was because of Bezzi-ibbi, not their mission.  But rushing into the unknown, while a bad habit of the group, was usually not a good idea.

For the last couple of minutes, the three High Priestesses had been standing to one side by themselves, giving each other meaningful looks now and then in a way that Uluula recognized to mean they were speaking without words.  Suddenly, the three of them turned as one and moved towards them.

Uluula got a bad feeling.

"We have bad news,"said Keeja. Beside her, Enheduanna nodded.  Philana looked worried.  “I must interrupt you now, Mayor”  She had used a Luda version of words that made it clear the mayor was female.  "Dolos is going to make another announcement soon."

Retini goggled.  "Your excellencies. I greet you. Did you say Lord Dolos? I--"

Enheduanna waved a hand. Her voice was unusually serious as she said, "Silence.  No time for phoney pleasantries.  Your name is Retini, yes?  Lock down your city. Alert your military and your main land.  War is coming to Ludus."

"What is he thinking?" Snarled Philana.

"You know what he's thinking," replied Philana. "One of the Fallen probably requested this and Solos wants data. Plus we are running out of time. There is less to lose now...for Dolos at least."

"Could you all please tell us what the hell you are talking about?" Asked Henry.

Jason added, "This sounds serious. I would appreciate a heads up too."

Mayor Retini's head swiveled back and forth, likely not sure how to react while being before three High Priestesses.  Uluula had seen similar reactions before.  To backwards Ludans, Artifice holders were demigods.  Uluula actually found the entire thing ironic.  Most artifice holders in the universe were actually weaker than powerful orb-Bonded.  The High Priestesses on Ludus were just all just high tier Holders, obviously by design.

High Priestesses, thought Uluula.  They’re just Holders-made-admins.

Keeja held up a hand.  “Dolos had informed us earlier that he was going to begin slowly lifting restrictions on this world.  But it seems now he’s going to lift all of them, all at once.”

“Restrictions?” Asked Jason.  “What restrictions?”

“All of them,” said Enheduanna.

“So like electricity and stuff?” asked Henry.

“Among other things.”

Uluula turned to look at the three powerful Holders that had been play-acting as priestesses for Creator-knew-how-long, and felt a sickening feeling in her stomach.  These three were not the only High Priestesses on Ludus.

Nora gave voice to Uluula’s thoughts, asking, “Does this mean that all the mysterious restrictions that you have been under will be gone now?”

“Exactly,” said Keeja.

“Well, I definitely have questions, then,” said Jason.  “Like about Dolos and the universe.”

Keeja shook her head.  “They will have to wait until after the announcement is made.  Dolos didn’t tell us exactly when.  The rules are still in place until then.”

A few seconds of silence rang after that, and Uluula scanned the other Adom around them.  Besides the mayor, there were four others.  Two looked confused, and two seemed terrified, even moreso than a moment earlier when the High Priestesses had approached them.

They understand, thought Uluula.  Or at least enough to be afraid.

“So,” said Jason slowly.  “A high priestess like one of you three could really do a lot of damage to a city like this, right?”

“Yes,” said Keeja.  “And after Dolos makes his announcement, we could.  Nothing would be stopping us but each other.”

“No reason to,” scoffed Enheduanna.  “None of us are would be so wasteful or stupid.”

“What about Biivan?” asked Jason.

“She’s dead,” dismissed Enheduanna.  “Keeja killed her.”

Uluula grimaced.  “So much for pretenses.”

“What about Sidonia?” asked Philana quietly.

“Oh, that’s true.”  Enheduanna put a finger to her lips in thought.  “I rarely interact with her, or her followers.  While it would be mind-bogglingly stupid, I will concede that some High Priestesses might indulge in mass murder for fun.  So silly.”

“Has anything like this ever happened before?” asked Jason.

Keeja shook her head.  “No.”

The Adom major swayed and looked like she might faint.  Uluula ruefully thought about how her friends had literally just descended from the sky and then the High Priestesses had given them news that the world as they knew it was ending.  Then again, these...people...had basically made them come here for no good reason.  They could share the pain from hearing the announcement.

Keeja’s heart shook.  Henry, Jason, and even Nora didn’t seem to understand the severity of what they’d just been told.  “So it will be a world war, then?” she asked.

“Most likely, yes,” said Keeja.  “Dolos seems to be making a last minute play.  It may give him what he wants, but it may destroy the world.”

“That seems a bit dramatic,” murmured Enheduanna.

“Sidonia,” was Keeja’s one word reply.

“Yes, yes,” said Enheduanna with a wave.  “You have proven your point.  This is likely going to be very troublesome.”

“Just when I think everything is as bad as it’s going to get, something like this happens,” said Nora.  She shook her head.

“Yeah, this was...sudden,” said Jason mildly.  Mareen nodded.

Henry folded his arms.  “That’s a fucking understatement and a half.  I thought we were just going to meet the locals first and then be on our way, not find out that Dolos the douchebag is going to yell at the world again.”

“Don’t forget the destruction,” said Nora.

“That’s a given.  But I’ve been in constant danger ever since I came to Ludus,” said Henry with a shrug.  “I’ve even sort of died before.  At some point, you just get used to anything.  Become numb, I guess.”

“Not everyone does,” said Uluula with a shake of the head.  “But you do.  This is one reason why Terrans are feared by so many.”

“You know, I never did get to the bottom of that.”  Henry scratched his goatee.  “Mo’hali are strong and have claws and shit.  I hear that Areva have big fucking spaceships with bigger fucking guns.  Fideli literally have fangs.  What the hell is scary about some gangly dork like Jason?”  He pointed.

“Hey!”  The tall man frowned.  Henry kept a completely straight face, but Nora Chuckled.

Uluula ignored her other teammates.  She gave Jason a look, meeting his eyes.  “Want to answer, my heart?”  Her discussions with Jason on this subject in the past had not been one of her favorites.

Jason shrugged.  “Sure.”  He scratched his cheek.  “I guess humans used to actually be technologically advanced in the past, at least more than we are now.  Like, we had the same tech as Areva, stuff we didn’t necessarily develop on our own.  Back then we were physically bigger and tougher, but not as smart.  We were really, really good at destruction, though.  After the war, the angels sort of sold us out.  Areva, too.  They immediately made us way smaller, I guess.”

“That is not how I’d put it,” muttered Uluula mildly.

“Yes, but you asked me if I wanted to tell the story,” said Jason.  He smiled kindly but his eyes didn’t waver.  “This happened a long time ago, but it wasn’t fun to hear that my entire species is basically a science experiment back when Keeja told me.  Getting more details from you hasn’t exactly softened the blow.”

“Fair enough,” said Keeja.  She put a hand on Jason’s back.  Before coming to Ludus, she never would have imagined marrying a Terran.  If anything, after actually meeting Terrans, most of the old stories about them had been proven correct, just in more subtle ways.  However, she’d also found a lot to respect about them.  Tenacity.  Grit. Some of the very qualities that the Areva militaries looked for in high ranking officers.  Of course, she’d also seen Terran brutality and barbarism.  I was a mixed bag.

Her family was definitely never going to condone her marriage if she ever saw them again.  Maybe it was for the best she would likely never escape Ludus.  Her marriage was new, but she planned to make it work.

Retini began to speak again, but Henry held up a hand.  He said, “We used to have spaceships and shit?”

Jason nodded.  “I guess so.  We were tools that were considered too dangerous, so we were all confined to one planet, and the Griseus got ownership of us because of some deal lost through time.  They messed with our genetics, too.  So we’ve been evolving, changing over the years into whatever they’ve been making us into.  From what I’ve been told, Earth is like Area 51 of the universe.  Nothing is allowed anywhere near it other than the griseus or their lackeys.  Uluula told me that all of the alien sightings over the years have likely been monitoring drones, or servants of the Griseus.  Abductions, too.  I think the abductions are a stretch, though.  If the planet is actually being run by hidden powers, they could just nip into a hospital to do tests if they wanted.”

“Maybe they do,” said Henry darkly.  “We gotta get back, man.”

“I agree, but maybe we should ask Retini what she was about to say,” said Jason.

After a grateful look, Retini was about to speak again when Keeja interrupted her.  “Yes, let’s please get this over with.  I would like to be shown to the villa I will be staying at before we decide where to meet to discuss the next few days.”

“Why would we stay?” asked Jason with a frown.  “This is not a vacation.  We have someplace to be.”

“That is true, Jason Booth,” said Keeja.  “But we will still make it there on time if you take a break, and if High Priestesses can do whatever they want, don’t you think it’s possible you might meet one of us in the future who is hostile again?  Like Biiva?”  Then in English pig latin she said, “Oo-ya eed-nay oo-tay actice-pray--orld-way ar-jay.”

“Ooh,” Henry said slowly.

“Did you get that?” asked Nora.

Jason adjusted his belt and said, “I’ll tell you later.  She has a point, though.  And actually, no matter what happens, we should probably do more training.”

“But why here?” asked Henry.  “We could train using that thing on the fucking Hull.”

Nora’s eyes widened.  “Oh, that.  Yeah, that’s true, both things.”

Keeja sighed.  “Maybe we have some other things to do, too.  Did you not understand how much this announcement is going to shake up the entire world?  Perhaps you should just trust me for once.”

Henry’s eyebrows came together and he looked like he was about to object, but if so, he immediately thought better of it.  “Alright, Keeja.  I think you’ve done enough now to get at least that from me.”

Philana nodded and smiled at Henry.  “That was smart.  Would you like me to try killing you tonight?”

“Maybe.  It depends on what goddess cowboyboots over there says and--”

“Could I please speak now!” snapped Retini.  When nobody talked over her this time, she continued, “I have held my silence, but I am the leader of this city.”  Her teeth flashed in a grin that could be friendly or predatory.  “So many High Priestesses here is surprising, but if what you are saying is true, Your Excellencies, the entire world is about to be plunged into an incredible amount of chaos.  I must have an audience with you, today, and I must insist.”

“See?” said Keeja mildly with a wave of her hand.  “Other things to do.”

“Wait a second,” demanded Nora.  “We have three High Priestesses and a flying ship.  Why do we need the go-ahead of a bunch of Adom before going anywhere?”  She gave a little bow to Retini.  “No offense, Governor.”

“None taken, we don’t usually get Berbans or Tolstans here.  This is a good opportunity to respond to something said earlier, too.”  She nodded to Henry.  “This one stated that you might need a guide.  He was correct.  There are very, very powerful Adom, and allies to the Adom on the main continent.”

“Don’t you mean, ‘non-Adom,’” asked Keeja.

“No, I meant what I said.”

Keeja lifted an eyebrow and thought for a moment before she understood.  The Adom generally described people by their races or nationality unless they were monsters.  Monsters they classified as either Adom or non-Adom.  ‘Monsters,’ were the wild creatures that ate adventurers’ faces.  She got the suspicion that intelligent monsters that had no desire to be Adom, but also didn’t fit the mold of wild monsters must exist, too.

Jason must have understood as well.  He put a hand on Henry’s arm before his friend could say something unfortunate and just bowed.  “I understand.”

Henry looked between the Adom present, to Jason, then back.  “Oh, okay.  Adom politics.”

“Exactly,” said Retini.  “Thank you.  A lot has been introduced in the last few minutes, and I must meet with my advisors now.”  The other four Adom in the room, all different races, nodded.  Retini continued, “The guards outside will show the High Priestesses to villas we have set aside for their use, and the rest of you to visitors quarters in the nearby guard barracks.”

Uluula thought that sounded reasonable and was already turning to the door before Henry said, “Wait, why do we go to guest quarters and they get villas?” asked Henry.

“That’s an obvious rotting question,” said Nora with an eye roll.  “They are high priestesses of Dolos.  Next you’ll be asking other obvious rotting questions like why people change after getting dirty.”

“Not necessarily,” said Jason.  “I think he knows where he’s going with this, and since we have to stay here, I’m not sure I have a problem with it.  Despite all the reasons why, I’d rather keep going.  We don’t know what is going on with Bezzi-ibbi.”

“That’s true,” said Nora.  “But they are High Priestesses.  We are adventurers.  Even me, I’m just engaged to the king.  It’d be different if I were noble before, but I wasn’t.  This is another continent, run by Adom, and I’m getting the picture about some serious power over here.  Other than the flying ship and the High Priestesses, none of us are special, at least not to our hosts, here.”

“Oh,” drawled Henry with a grin, “Don’t be so fast.”  He turned to Retini and said, “You better give us a nice house to stay at, too.  Me and Jason are actually priests of Dolos.”  He pulled up his sleeve and said, “Dolos gave us the D.”