OtH 1.07 - Gaining Perspective

Wanted to get some more of this novel out, because I quite like the world. It has proven more difficult to write, because I am still getting used to the character and explaining the world. Also, quite a bit more dialogue than my other novel, but I think that is a good thing. It is forcing me to polish up an area I am not as familiar and comfortable with yet.

Now the chapter:

We entered the next room, which was wide and short. It was filled with a collection of comfortable furniture and large amounts of growing plants. Flowers perfumed the air with delicate fragrances, their blossoms a perfusion of bright colors and patterns.

All of this was noted in passing, however, because he was fixed on the view for which the room was named.

The entire outer wall was made of panes of glass sandwiched between thin strips of snowy white stone. Delicate lines of light glowed like filigree in the stone, performing some unknown task.

And beyond that lay the view.

Aarick moved closer toward the multitude of windows almost unconsciously.

Below, a vast green valley extended to the left and right as far as he could see. An impossibly far distance ahead, mountains rose up, and up, and up. Miles upon miles they rose steeply into the sky, their sides and tops as green as the valley, except where sheer cliff faces left exposed stone. And yet, even there, faint dots of greenery speckled the stone, though they were too far away for him to see much.

High above, clouds had segregated themselves into different layers. Each layer carrying its own bevy of flat bottomed and puffy white clouds. The layers continued upwards until the clouds were nothing but tiny dots in the sky

Never saw anything like that on Earth.

The distant clouds and the far away mountains both gave a similar feeling. He could sense their distance. Understand the gap that separated them. It was similar to his new sense of qi, a new extrasensory perception. Still, other things caught his attention.

The mountains were too far away. The… flatness of the valley was wrong. Something about the view was not right and he wasn’t sure exactly what it was.

In the valley itself, the first thing he noticed were towers. Dark grey towers of stone rose up, each alone, with many miles between them. The dark grey stone was punctuated by the now familiar scripts of light. It was hard to tell exactly how tall the towers were from here, but he guessed that they were each at least ten stories. And they were each fairly wide as well.

At the base of each tower were communities arranged in concentric circles. A park surrounded the base of the tower, broken up with roads radiating out like spokes of a wheel. Then buildings of various kinds surrounded the park, generally getting smaller as they went outward. The magical lines of light grew sparser on the buildings as well. Near the edges were tiny buildings.

Everywhere people bustled about, performing whatever tasks made up their days.

Beyond the buildings were vast fields, orchards, vineyards, and rice paddies. People worked amongst them, tiny in the distance.

Roads extended between each community, and there…

Is that what I think it is?

Lines of metal, perfectly parallel, extended out from the nearest city and followed the road to the next one. And there, on the rails, was a train of cars moving between them.

It wasn’t exactly a classic train. The front vehicle was covered in glowing white lines, and there was no smoke visible anywhere.

He laughed softly to himself.

Didn’t I just remind myself not to treat them as primitives just because they are using magic? Now I go and get surprised by a train and surprisingly well laid out cities.

I wonder why they are not using tractors though? Some kind of personal magic, or does cultivation make them strong enough not to need them? Or maybe they haven’t been invented yet. Their technology might be more suited for a large objects like a train car. Do they use gears, or is it just a direct translation of magic into force?

For a little while he lost himself in the potential engineering of the trains, and how he might use magic to make different designs.

A faint cough interrupted his thoughts.

“Hmm, oh!” Aarick startled slightly.

“You, sir,” his attendant began, “are an interesting contradiction.”

“I,” he paused.

What exactly am I supposed to say to that?

He tried again.

“I am not exactly sure what you mean.”

His attendant sighed.

“Lady Lurona told me you appeared to have no memories of the empire, not even the ability to speak properly. As best she could ascertain you had some level of noble status.

You had lost whatever social niceties you might have once possessed, and so I should make allowances. I will be helping you with that, sir. As such I will need to speak to you with unusual frankness.

You slip between the poise of a noble and an uneducated child. You were curious of, but not particularly surprised, by the wealth of the suite. You were critical of the comfort of the formal furniture, and I noticed disappointment at the scale of the martial facility. You loved the library and were initially disappointed by the number of texts available. You were utterly horrified at the lace outfit.

And then the viewing room enraptured you. Not for the glass or plants, which you barely noticed, but for the view itself.”

Aarick struggled to keep his face passive, not interrupting.

He noticed all of that?

“I am inclined to agree with Lurona’s estimation, not that I would have gainsaid it even if you had been utterly crass and gaped at the suite.

It appears that most of your social training was lost, but you are still instinctively familiar and comfortable with the trappings of power. And it is good that some of your good taste remains as well. Don’t fear, I will have the lace outfit removed.

Now, you were immediately unhappy with the martial suite. Why?”

“It didn’t have the proper range for a bow,” Aarick said.

“Ah,” He replied, “perhaps that was your primary weapon. Never fear, there are more extensive martial facilities available on the premises. I can arrange for their use at your leisure.

You never asked for my name. When I introduced myself as being assigned as your attendant, you should have done a formal introduction.”

What exactly did Lurona do again?

I bowed my head slightly before speaking.

“I, Aarick Perdita, welcome you into my presence.”

The attendant bowed at the waist, his body two perfectly straight lines, his hands clasped in front of him.

“I, Imperial Servant Roedan Charel, am glad to serve.” Roedan completed the ritual, before continuing to speak.

“Technically, you should have welcomed me into your service. I and your tutors will help you get all the kinks ironed out. A number of books may also help.

You seemed happy to see the books, what did you feel.”

Aarick didn’t need to think about this much.

“I felt a strong desire to read them. Partially just to read them, but also to learn everything I don’t know.”

Roedan’s eyebrows rose and he had a slight smile.

“And your first instinct was to gather knowledge through books when faced with a lack of knowledge? That is actually a good sign. You were likely not merely well educated, but actually enjoyed learning in its own right. Combined with your desire for better martial facilities, you were likely well rounded. Hopefully, a large portion of that knowledge is merely below the surface of your mind and will make relearning easier.

I would have recommended a dream specialist, but Lurona said you were brought here via the Eldritch. Any dream specialist who is also resistant would be prohibitively expensive. Their services are in high demand doing mental repairs from attacks. Though, that is one thing in your favor. Should you ever face someone who specializes in mental attacks, bring up your memories of the Eldritch. They will find it a nasty surprise.

Do you have any questions for me at the moment?”

He paused for a moment before replying, still working through everything he had been told.

Looks like the Eldritch is a form of cognitohazard to most people. I would worry about that more, but there is nothing I can do about it and it is literally helping to protect my mind.

“Yes,” he eventually replied. “When I was looking out there,” for a moment his gaze went back out the windows, “I felt something. I felt a sense of distance, or depth, from the mountains and some of the really high clouds. It doesn’t feel like my qi sense though.”

“No,” Reodan replied. “That is the opposite. It is ziu familiarity. Normally even having that sense is viewed very negatively, and you would be investigated by the Empire, but I understand that you were exposed to large amounts of both it and qi. It is not something you will want to mention to anyone, except perhaps people who train you directly in cultivation. 

I will make sure Lurona knows, so she can add an official exemption to your file. She will give you a document you can show to any trainers if you want to get advice about dealing with it or refine that sense. 

Seeking out ziu familiarity on your own is illegal, as that typically requires behavior that might cause risks to others. There are official ways to obtain it, since it can be used for preventing some disasters, so it is not unknown. Such experts are well respected, but your cultivation hasn’t even begun, and you having it would merely be suspicious.”

“Why?” Aarick replied. “I get that it would be unusual to have been exposed to so much ziu, but what exactly is wrong with it?”

Reodan stared at me, his calm demeanor lost for a moment, before he recovered and answered.

“Sorry for my loss of decorum, sir. Lurona mentioned that you didn’t know anything, and I thought I understood, but you mostly acted normal enough…

Well, I let myself forget.

Regardless, to answer your question.

Long ago, demons came and almost destroyed the entire world. There used to be more immortals, once upon a time, but they died in the conflict. The five greatest immortals worked together to kills the demons, but there was no way to return their demonic energy to where they came from. So, they sealed the energies into the core of the world.

The demons were slain, and their energy sealed, but there was a cost. The demonic energy poisoned the earthly energy. Beasts, which relied upon it to cultivate, grew mad as they took the energy in. Some took in so much their bodies became foul and twisted. Gradually, much of the world grew uninhabitable for mankind. Spirits were mostly untouched by the energy itself, but their forms and thoughts are a reflection of what they are tied to. Those in corrupted lands became feral and hostile.

Ziu is inherently tied to the earth, and its concentration is greater the deeper you go. Qi does the opposite, tied to the heavens, its concentration is greater the higher you go. Now, the lowlands of the world are home to darkness and corruption. All mankind lives in the elevated lands, where the ziu is diminished.”

Reodan gestured outside.

“A low-lying mountain valley, like this, is as far down as we will dwell. And we only come down this far for the creches.

For a person to gain ziu familiarity, like you, involves large exposure to that demonic energy. They either cultivate ziu directly, which will immediately begin to corrupt them, or they gather large amounts of ziu together so they can practice. The concentrations needed run the risk of corrupting nearby wildlife, plants, or yourself. And any other humans if they are nearby, as well. When humans are corrupted by demonic energy, they become erratic and dangerous. And if it gets bad enough, they can become demons themselves.

When that happens their souls are torn open. The floodgates inside them are opened wide and they become a fountain of qi and ziu. They corrupt everything near them, and are far stronger than whatever their level of cultivation would normally allow.

Even the facilities where people properly train to gain this sense lose some of their students to corruption every year. They are culled without mercy so they don’t pose a risk to anyone else.

Of course I came to a world where eldritch beings and demons are real. Not to mention corrupted beasts and spirits.