[Warpworld] Ch 20 – Here to Help, or Hinder?

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            The two elves were looking at one another, communicating silently behind me, not that I cared much. If they tried to get violent, things were going to get ugly.

“Is... there any way in which we might be able to help you in accomplishing your goal, Master Aelryinth?” the elder of the two elves, Master Sethanon, asked carefully.

“Be a nice, murderous distraction?” That made them both blink, as I extended Mortus Dius out and slowly swept it around me. “Gathered around the perimeter of the domain here are thousands of Warped adherents, demons, cultists, fanatics, berserkers, and the like, who dare not enter lest the vivus consume them and the gifts the gods of the Warp have bestowed upon them.

“They are, as you might guess, sitting ducks, ready to be sniped.”

Both elves blinked again, and then thin, grim smiles appeared on their faces. “So they are,” Master Artlis noted, looking off to his left thoughtfully. “How does your barrier react to magic passing through?”

“If there are no alien energies attached to it? It doesn’t react at all,” I told him helpfully. “Also, any magic you draw in on this side of the barrier is completely purified of corruption and Taint, so you need not fear wielding it. Why, I imagine I could even supply a basic Implement to your Casters that attaches vivus to all your attack spells, so that those you strike get to Burn and be fed to the Land, hastening this whole process.”

“We can... simply bombard them with impunity, until they run away?” Master Sethanon was a bit incredulous. “Surely they will not be so foolish...”

“I honestly don’t care if they are foolish or fanatical, it makes my job easier and things go faster,” I answered easily, which they could only nod agreement to.

“Is there a way they can stop your Pyramid from progressing?” Master Artlis asked directly, looking to ascertain a weakness.

“There are two,” I admitted immediately, surprising both of them. “Well, three if you consider popping the planet one of them.” Their large eyes widened at that idle thought thrown out there.

“The first is a moving area of anti-magic around a powerful attack force using completely mundane tactics. I won’t be able to use my own magic to cut them down, and although it might be very difficult for them to actually board the Pyramid and make a fight of it, I’d have to engage them physically, which would be tedious, especially if combined with a force trying to hide under a Darkveil or with Life Warding Armor that also shields them from vivic fire without impairing their abilities.

“The other is for a non-Warped force, completely lacking in corruption or taint, such as yourselves, being brought in to assault this place. Nothing in the Domain of the Pyramid is designed to inhibit living, mortal beings, and quite the opposite, really.

“I will note that your mighty steeds and guards are quite acceptable defenders in case of the former, and your array of spellcasters will doubtless be very useful against the latter.”

“What of airborne assault?” Master Arclis asked directly, wondering if I was being stupidly trusting, naïve, or was simply just optimistically honest. “It would bypass your burning Walls and reach you directly...”

“Nothing can approach this Pyramid aflight that is a threat to me, as you would have found out had you not landed. Dragons and phoenixes cannot fly, only Fly, and that is true for most things they could unleash upon me. Flocks of actual birds, swarms of insects, or similar things can be dealt with without much difficulty.” I waved off the whole array of potential threats airily.

            “Dragons and phoenixes... cannot fly?” repeated Master Artlis in some disbelief.

            “They Fly, they do not fly,” I repeated for emphasis. “Surely you can feel the aeromancy at work when they are a-wing? They are much too heavy to actually fly under their own power. And what is made possible by magic can be made impossible by magic.” I gestured toward the white wall about us. “So it is for the creatures of the Warp. Phase-shifting for dimensional let-off of mass and reality-bending for propulsion is not flying, either. Telekinesis, gravity manipulation, ley line riding, windbending, airstepping... none of that is flying.”

            “What of this chair?” Master Sethanon asked pointedly, glancing down at the space beneath it.

            “Geo-magnetism isn’t flying, either, it’s mutual repulsion. Trying to get a geomagnetic wave strong enough to replicate flying is basically equivalent to tearing an ongoing hill up out of the ground underneath you, or maybe a mountain range. If you can do that, you’ve got better and faster ways to get around that don’t involve destroying the countryside.”

            The elven High Mage hmphed, but did not press the point. “Yet it seems you have no need of our presence...”

            “’Need’ is an interesting word. I wasn’t expecting it, so my plans were all made without expecting allies or help. I’ve already told you how you can help, and why. Make your own judgments from there, elder. Is there a deeper reason why you are asking?”

            The two elves glanced at one another tellingly. I was uncomfortably observant of them. “There... is a feeling that you are being too rash with this attack of yours...” Master Sethanon stated carefully.

            “If you examine that feeling carefully, you will find its roots are not your own,” I responded blandly, even as they flinched. “You’re far too old and mentally disciplined to sprout such a subtly divisive thought with no basis in reason yourself. It is completely based upon racial arrogance, pride, and ego, with no analysis behind it.” Both elves had stiffened at my words. “Now, tell me why it is a foolish statement. You are excessively capable of proper analysis of the situation. Apply yourselves.”

            Being reprimanded like students was unsettling them, but it was plain they found me rather unnerving. That didn’t stop them from wanting to prove they were smart.

            “Your sudden appearance, coming from outside their calculations. The introduction of your vivic fire, retasking the very Nexus which... would eventually fail and start the collapse of the world,” Master Sethanon began thoughtfully.

            “Within a couple of years, judging by the degradation I noticed,” I added, and he sucked in a breath.

            “Then, to stop now... merely gives them time to adjust to you,” Master Artlis reasoned thoughtfully as he broke in. “By the time there is any sort of agreement to proceed by others seeking to profit off what you are doing... you will fail.”

            I inclined my head towards him. “They are gods. They can simply encircle the entire area with inert stone mountains I can’t go through or over, and all I could do then is shrink the Warp Zone, not end it. With enough promises and manipulations of normal mortals, they could conceivably destroy this Pyramid, and if not, well, it just gives them an absolute size of their Warp Zone to work with, and certainly doesn’t restrict the Warped Moon up above or their greater influence and final authority over the trapped souls of this world.

            “Then they just end the world and start the play over, and it’s irrelevant.

            “I came directly here from your Vortex for a reason. Time was one luxury I simply did not have. The Gods of the Warp would make sure there was no consensus among invested parties, and the dithering would continue until annihilation is upon you once again.

            “If the pattern is to be broken, it must be broken. That’s really all there is to it.”

            Both elves frowned, but they could not deny my words. Delays only gave the Warp Gods more time, it did not actually accomplish anything for them that they did not already know.

            “What... will be the results if you succeed?” Master Artlis asked cautiously, perhaps even daring to hope a bit.

            “The influence of the Warped Gods upon this world will plummet like a rock. Their influence will at best rival that of any other nominal god here, and likely be less, as they will start losing worshippers right and left due to their own infighting and lethal societies without the gods there to make the accumulations timeless and agglomerate servants from across lives and past realities together to make their hordes.

            “Magic will be far more structured and reliable. The interference of things from beyond the planetary Veil will be obstructed and obfuscated to a greater and higher degree...” I finished thoughtfully. “Huh, didn’t consider that before. You want to profit from this?”

            “If... that is possible?” Master Artlis hedged carefully.

            I pointed over and up. They both turned, and stared at the Warped Moon that had just appeared to the south of us, blurringly visible through the vivus.

            It had a hot white point on it.

            “Retask your Nexus and reverse the Vortex’s flow. Pull the vivified energy out of the Warped Moon and send it down into the land beneath the Nexus, fortifying and strengthening it, including the very spells that raised it from the ocean in the first place.

            “Right there is your profit, sailing the stars in a burning galleon. Harvest those flames, elders, and you will find your profit.”

            They clenched the arms of their Disk-chairs in sudden thought and urgency. There was a LOT of raw magic tied up in that moon. It could totally do everything I said, and much more!

            “That is indeed something that would be of great benefit to our people,” Master Sethanon murmured, his eyes gleaming, no doubt with thoughts of paying the Warp Gods back for his long imprisonment. “You will not pursue it yourself?”

            “That is a working of days and months and years. I won’t be here long enough to, and I doubt the humans here have the infrastructure in place to take advantage of such a thing. The whole world will benefit in the end, you’ll just benefit more. It does not bother me if you do the work to set it up,” I answered honestly.

            “The lizardfolk,” murmured Master Artlis. I turned my head slightly. “They may have designs on the moon if they know it is... available.”

            “Forgive me for being speciest, but I’ve often found the ways of reptilian races to be quite unpalatable and uncaring of others in what they think and do. What are the motivations of these lizardfolk?” I inquired directly.

            The elves looked at one another behind me, and it was the elder who spoke first. “We... do not truly know. They claim to be the first servants of the Great Elders, the beings who created them, and, some say, all life on our world. Supposedly their greatest city was built at the pole of the world, where a massive Gate to other times and places kept them in contact with their kind.” Master Sethanon looked north thoughtfully.

            “And the Warp Gods went ‘Whee! This should be fun to poke and take advantage of, thanks for opening a dimensional gateway into the mortal plane!’” I sighed, spreading my arms theatrically as the elves snickered blackly at the irony. “So... these faithful servants of the Great Elders want to, what? Bring their bosses back? Finish some great uncompleted plan? Take their place as the dominant race of the world? Destroy the world so it won’t finish another cycle of souls? Remove all wild factors from the equation so they can continue on with the cycle?”

            Both elves hesitated at my pontificating. “Possibly... all of them?” Master Artlis admitted after a moment. “The leaders of the race are ancient beyond any but the eldest of demons themselves. Their thoughts and motivations are often inscrutable, even to one another. Some remember serving the Great Elders directly, some have gone mad with time or the influence of the Warp. We’ve seen them fighting one another over ancient relics they purport hold the will and thoughts of the Great Elders. They... are also the most powerful users of magic on the planet. Even the servants of the Warp Gods cannot declare they can wield power greater than that of the Elders of the lizardfolk, at least without the direct help of their masters.”

            “In combat or in ritual? Those are very different things, Masters,” I pointed out.

            “In ritual, absolutely. The whole arrangement to disperse the raw magic from the Warp Zone throughout the world is of their making. The Vortex I wrought simply took advantage of it and took it one step further,” Master Sethanon clarified.

            “Mmm.” Well, didn’t that bode... something. “So, because I am an unpredictable random factor, they could conceivably try to stop me from kicking the Warp off this planet, simply because it was not they who set this into motion?”

            Both elves tensed just a bit. After all, that had been their thoughts, too. “It... is certainly possible,” Master Sethanon finally stated. “Although I can say nothing for certain. Their plans and desires were inscrutable to me then, and they’ve doubtless only gotten worse with the ages.”

            I had to smirk. “Senility in the near-immortal always tends to end grandly and badly,” I agreed.

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