Difference between revisions of "Kasiell's Disgrace"

Latest revision as of 08:58, 9 June 2022

If someone needed to speak to me, I thought to myself, they could have been a bit more direct about it. Or more courteous. I sat in the closest chair available – as ornate as the rest of the dining hall in which it was placed – at the side of the massive banquet table. Its royal-blue velvet cushions were the only ordinary things about it; the rest of the chair - and in fact, all the chairs at the table - were made from the most elaborate and unusual alloys of platinum and diamond, precisely shaped gemstone and obsidian laid into the accents. It's not like it's worth more than wood or gold. We create all of it. It's not rare.

The great doors at the foot of the table swung open with a sound a bit like a god clearing his throat. Behind them was an Advisor, in the usual blue-and-gold uniform, outlined by nothing but the star-studded blackness of space beyond the window. "Master Archmage, sir?" He bowed deeply. "I present Journeyman Thayer, sir." He disappeared as quickly as he'd arrived. Somehow, Journeyman Thayer - with his towering headdress - had been perfectly hidden behind the Advisor to this point. Thayer glided past most of the empty chairs and took a seat right next to mine, at the side of the banquet table. The great doors closed noiselessly.

"What news, Journeyman? Is something amiss, that I've been asked to wait here instead of in my tower?"

Thayer furrowed his brow, making his already wizened face develop more wrinkles. "Kasiell, you must have been told by now. There's little point in acting coy."

No title? No honorific? "Journeyman Thayer, I am usually the first to know of any major developments in our system. Surely if it's as big as you're implying, I wouldn't have to ask down the chain of command."

"But that's just it, Kasiell." Again, no title? "There isn't a chain of command anymore. Not from where you're sitting."

"If this is about seating arrangements, then I don't have time for it!" I stood quickly from my chair and made to walk towards the door. Thayer's hand on my wrist stopped me. "Clearly I'm not as important as I thought. Tell me, Thayer."

"The rest of our council have made a decision. It may not be one that you'll enjoy."

"Since when have I ever enjoyed anything the council has decided upon? They serve only to get in the way. Worlds are being created out there, Thayer, and sticking to the rules and templates will not serve to advance the universe."

"Which is precisely why the council decided to disbar you from your post as Archmage."

"Without consulting me first? At what point was I to be involved in that discussion?"

"At this point, Kasiell."

"Why hold the vote without my presence? Shouldn't I deserve to be there to receive judgment?"

"With due apologies, we decided that proceedings would go...somewhat smoother if you were not present."

"Well then, to hell with their proceedings, if they can't be bothered to tell a person to his face!"

"That is exactly what is happening right now, and you are only serving to prove the council's point." Thayer straightened the headdress - I was never quite sure how it held itself up - and gazed straight into my eyes. "As much as your experimental worlds have furthered the progress of the universe, I assume that you've noticed by now that we are running out of Matter."

"Then destroy the experiments and reclaim that which I've used."

"Perhaps being Archmage has made you complacent, Kasiell, but you seem to have forgotten that destroying a world is no simple task. Matter cannot simply be reused. Surely you of all creators should know this." Thayer adjusted his headdress again, in that incessant manner that always made me regret being around him. "Destroying a world simply scatters it across the universe. The key ingredient, Kasiell, is Life. Without Life, a world is simply a collection of mass. Life takes Matter, and converts it to more Life. And once that has happened, the Matter returns to us. Just as a plant breathes the air we exhale and turns it back into air we may inhale."

"What is this, Basic Fundamentals?" I broke his gaze by turning away. "Thayer, surely we've been floating around this portion of the galaxy for...how long, now? It must have been long enough for some Life to have run its course."

"Your experiments never produced any life. They were wastes of Matter."

"Even the worlds that followed the templates have had their problems. There is no way to prevent the worlds from eventually running out of resources, and their life dying out. I sought to find an alternative - any alternative at all - that would stop it! I wanted to make a world that would last forever!"

"But all you've created, Kasiell, is a world where Life cannot exist to begin with. And that is the basis of the council's decision."

"Then just get it over with, Thayer! You know where my Orrery is, surely you're capable of righting my wrongs!"

"They shall be righted in the manner of our choosing," said Thayer. The great doors once again opened, and the same Advisor introduced another man wearing an Archmage's ceremonial uniform identical to my own. Thayer bowed to him, then motioned towards me. "Archmage Gregor, I have spoken to him."

Gregor's tanned face beamed as if he were exceptionally proud of something. I never liked him, and it's so much worse when he's wearing my clothes. "Good, good. How did he take the news?"

"I am right here, Gregor."

Thayer ignored me. "As poorly as expected, Lord Archmage. How shall he be sentenced?"

"Sentenced?"

Gregor ignored me as well. "He's already been stripped of his rank, hasn't he? What is left to do?"

Thayer was still bowing to Gregor. "The other Journeymen suggested that he be exiled, Lord Archmage."

"Then I suppose it is only fitting that he be exiled to one of the worlds he experimented with."

"Yes, that...would be a stroke of irony."

With a wave of Gregor's white-gloved hand, everything around me winked clear out of existence. I felt very cold, and then robbed of breath. As soon as my sight returned, I saw nothing but the stars before me, further away than I could possibly measure. Every single one was the work of a Creator like myself. Some of them were even my work. I pinpointed the one star I'd tried to name for myself. The one to which Gregor - who at the time, was but a Journeyman like myself - had said, "We create, but we do not name." I supposed he meant that the Life of our Worlds would come up with names on their own, but it felt so improper to create something as grand as a star, only to never give it some means to distinguish it from other stars.

A great planet seemed to appear below me. From where I floated, it seemed to be as large as the dining table in the Great Hall. The only thing I could do was try to float towards it. As the distance between us closed, I began to discern details in the landmasses, the shapes of the mountains. Of course...they wouldn't put me on an uninhabitable world. Thayer and Gregor weren't out to kill me, after all. They just wanted to teach me the error of my ways. My creations were a waste of Matter, but that didn't mean that I was. So it'd make sense to me, that of all my worlds I'd created, that I'd wind up on the only one I'd named for myself and not been shouted down. The world I'd called Kasellia.

Now that I didn't have to worry about what those over-righteous elitists were doing with my Orrery, I could retire to Kasellia. They hadn't exiled me. They sent me precisely where I'd have gone anyway.

I aimed myself for the huge sheet of ice on the southern continent, and let myself fall. It would be there that I'd begin my retirement.

Year 1 - Still cannot believe what got into them. Those fools who failed to understand what my research was for, have also failed to even punish me properly for it, and have sent me to my own planet. I'd intended to retire here anyway. Maybe that was their reasoning. Nobody lives here, to my knowledge... Or at least, I've no memory of having fired a Life Spark here myself. It was meant to be my retirement planet anyway, and I decided long ago that My Planet would have nobody on it. Just me, my landscapes, and the silence of nature itself.

Year 2 - No. I refuse to believe it, but those fools aboard the vessel sent a Spark. Life exists here now - Life that can, and will, barge in and make itself relevant however it so desires. I wished not to be bothered. Now I'll just have to deal with whatever comes. Sigh.

Year 4 - The human tribes that have formed are coming up in technology faster than expected. Only yesterday they were learning to make tools from stones. Today, I watched a tribe member set their club on fire. Soon they will be figuring out how sharpening works. I am uncertain whether to be proud of them, or whether to hide.

??? - Have stopped counting years. They're meaningless. Tribes have been studying the trees and their use in building shelters.

"You're certain this is wise, Gregor?" Journeyman Thayer's calm demeanor masked a grave concern.

"The former Archmage was banished to his own planet, only a few centuries ago, when we thought it was still barren. Somehow he is not only still alive down there, but his planet is capable of flourishing with Life, and it may be the last fragment of the Universe that is."

"Then should we not leave it to its own devices and see that it bears fruit?"

"No. And I will tell you why. The Archmage Kasiell was a selfish man, pursuant to only his own well being. His planet may bear Life, against all odds, but he will not tolerate that for long. The instant they rise to meet him, he will terminate them. Then more will rise to challenge him, and more, until there is no Life left to bother him."

"You speak as if he is not as human as us. Surely somebody can defeat him and the planet can continue its cycle of Life unabated."

"He's existed for centuries outside of the confines of this Vessel. That cannot be possible unless he's done something drastic."

Thayer removed his ostentatious hat. "You don't mean..."

"I've reason to believe Kasiell has done the unthinkable, and infused himself with Pure Condensed Matter from the last of the Vessel's reserves. If he's done so, he's effectively immortal. No being may strike him down. That is why I intend to meet him, and play the champion myself before there is too much cost of Life."

"Then what makes you so certain that you can stop him yourself? Surely you aren't planning on infusing yourself as well?"

"No, Thayer. I know what happens to those who pursue godhood in such a way. Without some scrap of humanity to tether themselves, their minds run rampant. The same shall not be true of me."

"You hope to challenge a self styled God for the future of the universe... as a mortal?" Thayer looked at Gregor as if he'd lost all reason.

"If you think me foolish, know that I'm not going without a plan." From a small box, Gregor retrieved a metal rod, etched with elaborate rectangular patterns. At a brush of his finger, the rod extended to about six feet in length as its ends began to softly glow. "I shall need the Vessel's assistance, however."

"I suspect I already know by which method."

"Knowing you, Thayer, you probably do. Once I've placed this beacon, the vessel must fire upon it. Do not hold back for my safety."

"If you should perish in the blast..."

"Then you shall be the next Creator Archmage, and the universe that Kasiell's death will preserve, shall be yours to tend."

"The other Creators may think I've killed you on purpose for my own gain."

"Is this an objection, Thayer?"

"With respect? Yes, it is. There must be a way we can preserve you in the process. Surely we could find a way to... uninfuse you, if you were to take just a little bit of PCM before you go..."

"You would not be able to get me back aboard. Dropping planetside is a one way trip as it is. The Vessel's reserves are so empty that there would be no power left to get me back after you've fired the cannon, and you know full well why we can't just land the Vessel on a planet that knows nothing of us."

Thayer sighed and folded his hands. "You'd better address the others before you go, then, if you're so certain to meet your fate. I know Aliana would want to know where you're going."

"Your concern is appreciated, Thayer. It's a bright spot in what has otherwise been a very dark time for the universe."

"You will be missed, Archmage Gregor. Thank you for everything."

"Lady Archmage..."

"No titles, Thayer. Aliana is fine." The Archmage removed her overcoat and hung it on one of the extravagant chairs of the quarters. "We've got few enough people aboard anymore that rank and file is meaningless."

"We've already lost two Archmages to this feud, Aliana," said Thayer, having already removed his tall headdress. "As much as it can be argued that planet Kasellia is the only resource we have left, what can you accomplish by following in Gregor's footsteps, without knowing what happened to him?"

"Thayer..." She sighed, folding her arms, as if it'd change anything to argue with the wisest man aboard. "Gregor had the right of it, at least. You said yourself at the meeting, last cycle, that if Gregor hadn't sacrificed himself to stop Kasiell down there, the universe would have been doomed to a slow death, over a petty need for self isolation."

"I did say that."

"Except, even though we are certain that Kasiell was killed..."

"All but certain," Thayer corrected. "There is still the remote possibility that he yet clings to his existence."

"Then you understand why I find this so troubling." Aliana dug through the drawers of her ornate armoire, not finding whatever she needed. "We didn't hear from Gregor after we were given the signal to fire. That much is a fact. Whether he survived, whether Kasiell survived, whether this is a problem we can afford to ignore, these are things that we just cannot leave to chance."

"Because...?"

"Because if Kasiell yet lives, he will seek revenge." She retrieved a small signet ring from a desk drawer, tapped on the blue jewel set in it, and slipped it on to her left thumb. It was always a bit too big for her ring finger. "And knowing him, he'll have devised some means of achieving it that we will not have thought of before."

"My Sight is proving quite useless, in that respect," Thayer apologised.

"Then perhaps he knows we've been watching him, and is covering his tracks." Aliana unpinned the Archmage's Tool from her overcoat and slipped it into a pocket.

"I still fail to see what good can come of sending you planetside. We could not bring Archmage Gregor back from his excursion, and worse, the Chief Magineer could not ascertain whether that was due to our lack of Matter, or because we had annihilated him with the main cannon. Sending you, too, is a gamble to which I cannot see the outcome, either way."

"I don't need to come back. It's been a good few cycles since Gregor's disappearance, which likely means that planetside, a few generations have passed. A strong possibility remains that Gregor may have found a foothold down there - he would not have risked it all without having some kind of fallback, after all. I'll perform a full investigation and see if he had any children, and find a way to connect with those children. Then we can see about tracking down Kasiell, and taking the necessary steps to prevent him from further damaging our chances of forestalling the collapse of the Universe."

The dapper young prince held his hand up to the massive mural, and in a few moments, the figure of the Hero King sank into the floor, leaving an opening large enough for one person to enter. "After you, my lovely," he said, motioning towards it.

Aliana stepped through into a small boxed room, lined with blued bricks and gilded rugs. Festooning most of the floor was a scattering of gold coins, some more golden than others. The walls were lined with mannequins, each wearing different regalia, and labeled with a wooden placard stating the name of the Caynean King who wore it. Up a short set of stairs, upon an ornate pedestal, sitting on a velveteen cushion, was a long staff. Aliana recognized it near-immediately. "This..." She stepped slowly towards it, eyes fixed entirely upon it. "What's it doing here...?" How didn't we pick it up from orbit?

"Ah, good eye, my dear," began Prince Bermand. "That staff is our kingdom's most precious artifact, the legendary Cloudbreaker."

She beheld it quietly, almost reverently. Something so ordinary, so common to her, became such a legend. She spotted, at its tip, a tiny red light. It's been in Recording mode...all this time? "Was it...Gregor's?"

"Why, yes, it was," he said, only too happy to explain its significance. "The legends passed down among all Cayneans, speak of the Hero King wielding it against the Ice Demon Emperor Kasiell, almost six hundred years ago." Aliana's ears twitched, hearing the former Archmage's name again. "They say that after a fierce week of dueling, King Gregor stood the staff on the ground, and commanded the sky to open, and melted the demon along with his frozen realm."

The Main Cannon! Aliana knew what this legendary weapon really was, now. This was Gregor's beacon. This was how he signaled the Vessel to strike. She reached a hand towards it, but stopped. As if to agree with her, Prince Bermand's hand touched her arm, tenderly, but firmly, as if to say, not yet, my love.