Skyvenom: Chapters 36-37

Here are your chapters for this week.

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Chapter 36

After all the negotiations with Strongholds, Theo was glad to go back to the relative simplicity of the border between Occoire and Greater Ostic. He didn't have private rooms there, much less a suite, but he'd gotten used to the city in a surprisingly short period of time.

To avoid drawing too much attention, he'd set up a tent from his soulhome out near the edge, next to one of the primary metal conduits. The metal currents throughout the city were formed from a common sublime material that wasn't particularly powerful, but conducted heat in strange ways. During the day, they absorbed heat from anything nearby, which was gathered in a pool underneath the city, then released during the night.

When Theo sat up, he was surprised to find that Krikree wasn't curled up nearby. He stepped out of the tent and discovered her almost drowning herself in the conduit. Apparently she'd wandered toward it in the night, and given how chilly the nights could be here, he didn't blame her.

"Soulcraft?" Krikree heard his footsteps and popped upright, as if she hadn't just been asleep. It seemed to work like a light switch for her.

"Not today, but we do need to check in." Theo crouched down beside her and rubbed the base of her antennae. "What have you been working on?"

"All enhancements in place! Perfect cube!"

"Is that so? I'll have to take a look." In actuality, he was pretty confident she had her final formation now, if she was satisfied with it - they'd gone over her blueprint earlier and he'd corrected only a few minor issues with cantae flow, so he trusted her judgment.

"What do instead?"

"Today we're done with Occoire, unless Sartozi isn't happy, which means we finally move to Western Ostic. So get ready for a trip, but wait for me to finish talking to them."

"Liquid metal good." Krikree pushed her hands into it, trying to scoop it up. "But... not work outside hive. Not steal?"

"Yeah, we'd better not upset anyone in Occoire Court. Balancing two sides is hard enough as it is."

Normally Theo didn't like to leave work to Krikree like she was a servant, but she was already eagerly pulling up their camp and he did have a busy day ahead of him. Theo flew over Occoire toward the palace, or rather the tower that guarded one corner of it. As the sun cracked the horizon, he arrived and saw that Sartozi was waiting at the appointed time.

"Have to admit you've done a decent job," he said. "Lalye spoke up for you, too."

"But you're still supporting Esaire." Theo didn't put any anger into his voice, just mentioned it offhandedly. "I think, if we're really going to keep working together, we need to take a more significant step."

"I was thinking that same thing. You want to go to Western Ostic? Time to go."

"Then perhaps you'd better give me your side of things."

Sartozi shook his head and stared out west. It looked like farmland to the horizon, but they both knew there was desert and wasteland beyond it. "Greater Ostic is actually old," Sartozi said, "the remnants of some old empire. That was millennia ago, but they still have an ego about it. Keeping every single territory they used to control is a matter of pride for them."

"Hence the concern over Western Ostic." Theo hadn't heard that story before and it made some of Nourise's statements make more sense.

"It's basically worthless, and its court is weak, but it has its own culture. They say they actually came from across the desert, though I don't know if that's true. But what matters is that they're off on their own, and everyone just wants them as a bargaining chip. If I could take it away from Nourise, that would be a real coup."

"I don't know if I can do that. What she wants is to withdraw her forces from there, not lose a whole territory."

"Well, I'm not going to withdraw unilaterally unless I can get something out of it." Sartozi turned back to him and shook his head. "I think you're taking on too much with this one, but you're welcome to it. You need a guide out there?"

"I should be able to handle it myself." Theo took a calculated step away, then turned back as if something had just occurred to him. "Didn't you say something about information on basements?"

"Get me some kind of solution in Western Ostic and I promise you, you'll have our best soulcrafting guides."

That was about all he could hope for, so Theo flew back to his campsite - or former campsite, as all that remained was a soulcrafting Krikree. She hopped up when he arrived, antennae twitching eagerly.

"Fly?"

"No time for that," Theo said as he pulled his weirkeys free. "Now that I've traveled the region a few times, we should be able to go straight there."

They slipped away from Deuxan by weirkey, then arced back. Not far from where he started in a global sense, but he saved himself hours of flying. As soon as they arrived, the desert air closed in like they'd entered an oven. Early morning and it was already this hot... he missed the cooling metal already.

Now that they'd arrived, Krikree hopped onto his shoulders and he flew around to get the lay of the land. There certainly didn't seem to be much; the desert was as dry as the land on Fithe, without any of the dust-adapted plants or underground farms. Theo idly wondered whether Fithan crops would grow well, but introducing new crops across worlds would be an excellent way to cause massive unintended consequences.

In fact, as he explored the region, it seemed like the only thing they had were the lumpy, hairy beasts he'd occasionally seen in other cities. They must be considered low class, because he never saw nobles riding them and they weren't even allowed in central Ostic Court. When he examined one, it felt like a weak sublime beast, and he guessed the lumps were fat, serving a similar purpose to a camel's humps.

"Food?" Krikree asked, experimentally poking a spear at one. The beast only grumbled and shifted away.

"We'd better not," Theo said. "Seems like they need it more than we do."

"Krikree scout?"

"You know, that might be a good idea. I'll circle the region and contact both militaries, so you explore the main city. I've never heard much about West Ostic, but you might be able to find out more on the ground."

[Scout!] She leapt away and disappeared over the sands.

Once he took to the air again, Theo found the most powerful location in the region: not any of the cities or caravans, but a temporary fortress run by Occoire Court soulcrafters. A young man at Authority flew out to meet Theo and shook his head.

"This place is a dump, isn't it?" He looked over the desert with disgust. "If we actually take it from Ostic, I don't know what we'll do with it."

"Do you fight Ostic's soulcrafters much?" Theo asked.

"Oh, not often. Not worth bleeding over a place like this."

"What about the locals?"

"Loyal, as far as I can tell, but strange. They all have funny soulhomes and they get out of here if they can. Why?"

"Take a while to relax." Theo clapped the man on the shoulder and smiled at him. "I'm going to make the Ostic forces retreat for a while, so you shouldn't have to do any fighting. But the Strongholds are still at odds, so we'd better not start anything."

"We'll take it. Anything to get out of the heat!"

Now that he'd confirmed their stance, Theo took the long way around to the north, where Greater Ostic Court had established their position. It was another little fort, though a more permanent one. To his surprise, when he arrived it was Chlira who flew out to greet him. She shook her head ruefully as she hovered beside him.

"I can't believe we're fighting over this, but that's how it goes. How did things go for you?"

"Occoire Court still doesn't suspect anything," Theo said. "I promise, I'll hold off all their troops while you're gone."

"Fantastic. I can head back to Accilonia, and the weaker soulcrafters can be moved to Southern Ostic. It will be a relief, after a hardship position like this."

"Why establish an outpost here, instead of in the city?"

Chlira wrinkled her nose. "Have you smelled those wubbos? It's repulsive. Besides, a tiny city like this - really more of a town - doesn't have any amenities we can't bring on our own. I don't know if you were briefed, but the strongest soulcrafters in the region are literally two old Rulers. This place would never be worthy of our time if it didn't matter to Nourise."

"Maybe so, but symbols matter." Theo considered other potential questions, but Chlira seemed eager to leave. "Anything else I should know?"

"Whatever you do, just be back in Accilonia by the next event. This convocation is proving more profitable for us than we expected."

Without another word, Chlira flew straight east - interesting that she didn't merit a weirkey. In any case, that confirmed that Nourise was still generally pleased with his work, despite her tone. So far he'd been able to work for both sides, which wasn't so much of an achievement, because Deuxans were accustomed to double and triple dealing. The question was whether he could bring any of his schemes home.

Both Occoire and Greater Ostic wanted the region, just not very much. In the short term, he could play the sides against each other, but he didn't see any long term solution. Of course, that was the reason he'd come here himself in the first place.

Now that he'd spoken to both sides, Theo floated down to investigate the city itself. He was getting attention from caravans of the sublime beasts - apparently wubbos - and so he returned to the ground. Apparently they weren't used to seeing Authorities here... he could only hope that Krikree hadn't caused any trouble.

West Ostic, the city itself, was as modest and sandy as the rest of the region. There were no elaborate wind dunes here to keep out the sand, just stone walls. It seemed very unlikely that they had liquid metal for heating and cooling, either. When Theo passed the peasants he noted slight differences in their eyes and skin - more burned bronze than the burnished bronze from the east - but otherwise they looked Deuxan enough to him.

What struck him as he walked into the city was just how miserably poor it was. No guards, refuse in the streets, frequent buildings that hadn't been maintained. Anguedan wasn't that much stronger, in terms of soulcrafting, but it was far wealthier. The only metal he saw was in the sand itself.

His old self would have taken one look and left in disgust. Theo forced himself to keep moving and look deeper.

Krikree skittered up to him abruptly, carrying an enormous haunch of meat over her head. "Krikree find meat! Not strong, but tasty. Theo-sister want?"

"Maybe later. Krikree, is this place as poor as it looks?"

[Small hive,] Krikree emitted as she began to chew.

"I've seen more than a few people who looked hungry."

[Yes.]

"What do you think we should do about that?"

Krikree paused mid-chew, looking up at him with antennae upright. She then pulled her mouth back, leaving clear bite marks on the haunch. "Krikree... give meat to poor beetles?"

"We should do something, but we don't know enough yet." Theo gestured for her to hide the meat, so she hid it in her soulhome, and then looked around the desert streets. "I'm not going to make any decision until I know more. I need information... have you seen anything like a market for sublime materials?"

"Krikree scout!" She moved away, stopped, then returned to tug at his sleeve.

Theo followed her toward the center of the city and noted that she got quite a few stares. It wasn't that they were unused to people from other worlds, or even that they were welcoming... they could just tell that Krikree was a heavily armed Ruler and weren't about to get in her way. He hoped that she hadn't caused too much trouble.

When they reached the market, he almost kept looking for it, because the place was pathetic. Back when he'd first arrived in the Nine Worlds, Myufuru's market had been far more useful. A Tatian village of decent size would probably have more sublime materials. He'd never seen a part of the Nine Worlds that seemed so utterly mundane - the pottery was honestly more interesting than the sublime materials.

Once she brought him, Krikree crouched at attention, watching him for guidance. Since he didn't want to disappoint her, Theo stepped up to a market stall showing a variety of bone tools.

"Is this a spirit chisel?" he asked as he lifted one.

"Yes, my lord." The shop owner was an older man who ducked his head whenever he spoke.

"Made out of?"

"Wubbo bone, my lord."

"But these are..." Theo ran his fingers over a cube of bone that had been carved and emanated cantae instead of merely manipulating it.

"Also wubbo bone, my lord. It's what we have." The owner's eyes betrayed a deep hurt, as if Theo was mocking him and there was nothing he could do about it. Actually, Theo was resisting the urge to grin as he saw item after item, each using the same materials in a different way.

"Do the wubbos have different types of bone, or do you modify them?"

For the first time the shop owner hesitated. "You can... treat the bone, my lord. Keeps the cantae in or out. It's a family secret."

Theo was already barely looking at him as he confirmed his theories. Instead he searched for a soulcrafter - there were a few first tier soulcrafters around the market, mostly serving as guards, but surprisingly most had shielding walls. Eventually he spotted a younger soulcrafter and finally got a clear look at his soulhome.

And it was a masterwork of austerity.

Bricks baked from pure sand, unremarkable but functional. But where most first tier soulcrafters would have just slapped together some walls, a ceiling, and sublime materials, this soulhome was covered with accents and decorations. Wubbo hides to shape cantae flow, wubbo fur to line the door, wubbo horns as centerpieces, even the beasts' hooves used for construction materials.

[Theo-sister happy?] Krikree cocked her head at him, antennae twitching.

She'd realized it before he did, but she was right. Theo had never before seen a culture that did so much with so little, orienting their soulcrafting around their desperately limited resources. The idea of seeing their methods in detail was fascinating.

He'd already been planning to help them if possible, for boring moral reasons, but now no power in the Nine Worlds could stop him from learning more.

Chapter 37

Occasionally Nauda felt guilty that she couldn't help with Theo's machinations, but most of the time she was happy to stay out of Deuxan politics. It was all scheming and backstabbing outside, whereas inside she could train with Fiyu. Besides, improving her own strength was one of the most valuable things she could do for their group in the long term.

Then, while Theo was gone, they received a visitor and she realized that she wouldn't have a choice.

A small group of Deuxans in rigid robes apparently wanted to meet with her, so Nauda had Fiyu remain hidden while she spoke to them in the main room of their suite. At first Nauda was a bit surprised that the group was so weak, with only a few soulcrafters, not even Rulers... then she realized that they weren't combatants at all, even the soulcrafters. Given her experience on Deuxan so far, a direct attack might be the least of her worries.

"We wanted to speak to you while the outsider was gone," the first of the officials said. "Do you understand exactly what it is we're doing here?"

"Is your information out of date?" Nauda asked. "Or did you assume we were lying in our official statement? Esaire and his family invaded my home."

"Of course, that is a relevant conflict for this convocation. But do you understand why the outsider is moving toward this location specifically?"

Nauda's eyes narrowed instinctively and she didn't try to suppress the reaction. She was virtually certain that they were attempting to manipulate her, but she tried to draw on her old skepticism about Theo. "What do you mean?"

"You must know the basics." The lead noble gave her a very flat smile, not even an imitation of friendliness. "This began with accusations about an extinct Deuxan family, which you are forbidden to mention."

"Oh, that Teraeves nonsense." Nauda threw up her hands as if irritated and enjoyed how some of the nobles flinched at the name. "Who even is that? Esaire seems to care about it, but if you're looking for information, we don't know anything except what he keeps repeating."

Several of the nobles looked at one another and one of the older men spoke. "It is a dangerous matter of Deuxan history, one that has led many families to make foolish decisions. To simplify a complex story, many hope to acquire valuable sublime materials from a past era in which Socirro had more Dominions. These tales of riches have led to many other wars in the past, which is why we seek as much information as possible."

Either that was a new angle or they were twisting the truth. Either way, Nauda was certain that she needed to do what Theo did: search for more information while seeming like they didn't know anything. She sat back in her seat and folded her arms.

"More like take it for yourself," Nauda said. "How much would you give me if I knew something?"

"We are authorized to pay you tens of thousands of Silver Crowns."

"I wish I could take those, but all I know is what Esaire keeps repeating, and I won't insult you by trying to sell that. To be perfectly honest with you, I don't even know where this family was supposed to be from."

That got more looks, though this time she caught hints of surprise or scorn. Maybe that was something she was supposed to have known.

"The former Teraeves estates lie off the coast on a subcontinent," one of the officials told her. "If the outsider ever announces that you are going to explore that area, we would pay extremely well for advance knowledge."

"You think I can be bought that easily? I want revenge on Esaire for all this."

"We aren't standing in the way of that," a younger official said a bit hastily. "No one cares about him, they just want what he knows. Those vaults could be worth more than any Stronghold on the continent, but the risk i-"

"There's no need to bore her with Deuxan history." An older official shushed him and focused on her with another of their bloodless smiles. "Let me assure you, while we have our own interests, we are concerned about the damage this could cause. That is why any information, no matter how slight, could be important."

"I'll ask around and tell you if I find out anything," Nauda said. "But don't hold your breath."

"That is all we can ask. If you do remember anything, we would be happy to fund you in your war, so that you can have your revenge."

Nauda agreed several more times, thanking the officials as she encouraged them out the door. She thought that most of them had dismissed her and believed her claim that she didn't know anything. Not that it was difficult to fake, when she hadn't even known that the Teraeves estates were on a nearby landmass.

Now she thought she understood how rumors of this family could upset everyone on the continent. Dominion-tier materials wouldn't just be a boon to a noble family, it would upset the entire balance of power. Whatever the risks were, they were clearly no match for greed and the lust for power.

The only thing that still troubled her was what this would have to do with Theo's old ally. From what she understood, he had been manipulated by Vistgil and made to think he was more important than he was. Both his old allies that he'd looked up since then had proved to be no one of importance. Why would this one case be an exception so critical that it disrupted an entire continent?

Before she could come to any answer, Fiyu appeared behind her, cloaking them both in her stealth. "Good job appearing foolish and ignorant, Nauda."

"Are you mocking me?" Nauda asked with a smile.

"Oh my, no!" Fiyu drew back in dismay. "Did I make an accidental joke? I meant only that you acted effectively to avoid their attention."

"I hope so. We'll see what Theo has to say about it."

"But he is still in Western Ostic. We cannot tell him until he gets back."

"I know." Nauda sighed and wished they had better methods of communication, but even the Landguard seemed to have limited supplies of such artifacts.

Regardless, he could probably wait a few days. Once he returned, they could touch base about the development, which would no doubt make him more paranoid. Then again, judging from how the Deuxans had flinched at the name as well, everyone was equally paranoid about this. The mysterious problem that had dogged them from their first visit to Deuxan might really be coming to a head.

Hopefully whatever Theo was doing was worth the delay.

~ ~ ~

Theo wasn't sure how much time he had spent messing around with bones, but it was probably more than he wanted to admit.

Of course, he'd been very disciplined in doing other soulcrafting, and he hadn't let himself forget his overall objectives entirely. He'd continued digging out his basement, which was becoming routine by now, and had cleared out seven of nine rooms. The coalrag also continued to absorb skyvenom from his clouds, without any apparent trap or disaster.

During that time, he'd also spoken to the noble families of West Ostic. They might be poor, but they were as proud as any Deuxan - more, if anything, and far more uptight than the relaxed atmosphere in Central Ostic. Overall the community seemed extremely isolationist, though he could cut through some of their barriers because he was so far outside their context.

One of his first potential plans had been to give a heavenspear to one of the two Rulers in town, but he had rejected that after meeting them. The old man at the head of one family was reasonably strong, just so old he probably only had a few years left. The old woman who was his fiercest rival had managed to reach Ruler, but her soulhome was very sparse, with whole sections weakly containing cantae via tarps and canvas. Neither would serve for his purposes.

His most interesting meeting hadn't been with any of the nobles, just a young man who helped manage the wubbo herds. Theo had noticed him first because he was an Archcrafter, then because of his raw soulcrafting ability. Even though he only had one day left, Theo left the city to meet him one last time, hoping he would agree.

Victon was a painfully skinny Deuxan man wrapped in ragged clothes that made him look a bit like a scarecrow. Theo always thought he looked too young, but physically Victon was probably just a few years younger than his body, that was just Theo's spirit talking. In any case, Victon raised a hand when he approached.

"Hello again, outsider. I've thought about what you said."

"And?" Theo asked as he touched down.

"I will permit you to observe my soulhome directly. Given your ability, I fear how many of our secrets you will deduce, but..." Victon smiled weakly and patted the side of one of the wubbos. "You can see what my life is here. I'm willing to take the chance."

"It may be hard to believe, but I don't intend to use the information against you. You won't regret this." As soon as Victon's shielding walls lowered, Theo began analyzing his soulhome as if this was his last chance.

As with the others, Victon had a first floor built of solid sand bricks, but unlike the rest of Western Ostic, he had discerned that the material wasn't suitable for an Archcrafter floor. Instead he had built an extraordinary ribbed tent structure, similar to a yurt, that locked into the first floor without any gaps or other cantae losses. Theo had seen such excellent sublime tents before, but not created by a lone soulcrafter.

He identified every element of Western Ostic that he'd come to know: sublime pottery as a base material, wubbo rugs to accent rooms, horns and hooves crafted into art pieces. They all existed here in the finest quality, with stronger base materials than he'd seen before.

But where Victon truly distinguished himself were the details. Ropes were nonexistent, so he'd produced a chain of finely carved bone links, fired by some sort of process that strengthened them. The usual sublime foods derived from wubbo fat, blood, and milk were present, but arranged in unified form, like he had intuited the worth of a feasting chamber all on his own.

Theo could have crushed him as an Archcrafter, maybe even at the peak of the first tier. But not due to any failing on his part, Victon had just been born in a location without the materials to really use his talent.

"Well?" Victon shifted closer to his wubbo defensively. "I know it isn't up to your standards, but-"

"Your soulcrafting is exceptional." Theo didn't try to flatter, he just stated it so bluntly the boy couldn't disagree. "How did you get horns and furs at Archcrafter tier? Are there stronger wubbo herds?"

"That's supposed to be a secret, but... if you let the wubbos live long enough instead of harvesting them for their meat, and feed them certain plants people can't eat, they'll grow to Archcrafter." He was usually shy, but grew more excited as he spoke. "And I figured out that killing them actually weakens sublime bones, for some uses. It's good for spirit tools, of course, but their bones keep more cantae if you let them die peacefully of old age. And if you let the bones sit in the desert, cantae on the wind will... what?"

"You've done so much with so little." Theo sighed and stared back toward the city. "I wish I could help you more, but you'd have to trust me."

"What are you getting out of this?"

"Nothing. I'm here for the art of soulcrafting."

Victon stared at him suspiciously and Theo couldn't blame him. The silence stretched on and on until Krikree suddenly skittered up beside him.

[Theo-sister!] "Krikree ate a wubbo!"

"You did pay for it, right?" he asked. She was mostly fine on her own, but he worried about a Ruler of her intensity here.

"Krikree chased down demons, got meat as pay! Good beetles."

That might help a few people, but it couldn't save Western Ostic. Not from its poverty and not from the much larger courts on either side. Her arrival also meant that the day was ending and he was out of time. He needed to go back to Accilonia to join the others for whatever they'd face next.

"Alright, you need to decide." Theo turned back to Victon sharply. "I'll be back, but if you don't decide now, I don't know when the next chance will be."

"And you're offering to train me?" Victon asked hesitantly.

"I wish I could. I really do." Theo ran his hands through his hair as he thought about all his obligations and realized that there just wasn't enough time. "No, this is what I'm offering: I'll use my weirkey to take you somewhere else on Deuxan where you'll have a chance to use other materials. Given what you can do with so little, I'm interested to see what you can accomplish with more."

"But... what will I eat? What will happen to my wubbos?"

"Take them along, see what happens when they get richer feed. As for you, I promise it will be taken care of. If you don't like it, I'll bring you back here next time I stop by."

Victon took a deep breath, then began tugging on the halters of his wubbos. "Alright, I'll do it. If this is just a scheme to steal my wubbos, I guess that's my fault for believing."

Theo didn't have the heart to tell him that his wubbos were worth a few hundred Silver Crowns at most. Instead he smiled encouragingly and expanded his weirkey to cover all of them before he whisked them across Deuxan back to Anguedan.

On the other side, Victon dropped onto his hands and knees to vomit. His wubbos also lowered their heads, but only to chew on the grass nearest them. Their journey had been perfectly estimated, leaving them not far from the walls of Anguedan. This grass wasn't particularly valuable, but to desert animals it was probably more than enough.

"Poor beetle," Krikree said, patting him on the back. "Not vomit."

"That just... I don't..." Victon still looked queasy, so Krikree added another hand to pat his back more.

Meanwhile, Theo flew toward the city to attract one of his allies. In some ways Bimanu would have been ideal, and he hoped to meet up with Nanjuma again, but Janne was the one who showed up. After they confirmed that nothing was wrong, she floated down with him to discuss the situation.

"This is Victon," Theo said. "He's one of the most talented soulcrafters I've ever met, but he's never had a chance to work with more than a few sublime materials. If you see his soulhome, you'll understand."

"It doesn't sound like he's joining Blacksilver," Janne said. "Are you asking me to do this out of the goodness of my heart?"

"Do it as a favor to me personally. Besides, isn't the opportunity to experiment with so many Deuxan materials worth something to you?"

Janne looked like she didn't need more convincing, but Victon was staring at her without blinking. Theo looked between them, realizing that there might be a problem that he'd never even considered. Victon was still a young man given to passions, after all, and Janne wasn't that old herself. Perhaps if Bimanu was still there, he might-

"Are you from another world?" Victon asked, then cringed at himself.

As they made introductions, Theo shook his head at himself. He was so used to Fithans, he basically forgot that Janne had red skin and fangs. To someone who had only seen Deuxans his entire life, she must have been a shock. But Victon seemed to be adapting, and his herd was still chewing away, so it looked like it would work out.

They both could have talked to him longer, but Theo needed to get back. As he departed with Krikree, Theo saw the awed look over his shoulder. From Victon's perspective, Theo must have seemed like a benefactor that flew out of nowhere and showered him with riches for no reason.

Just like Vistgil had, long ago with Theo. Hopefully this would turn out better.

-

In most progression fantasy, there are always more powerful organizations setting up opportunities for the protagonists to advance, recognizing their potential and sponsoring them, and so on. Rarely do you see the protagonists advance beyond this point, much less take such roles themselves. This is part of my ongoing desire to do something slightly different with TWC, for better or for worse.