by Andur
-The writings of Dwem.
Dwem, Capital
Azir
The Great Shaman sighs. “Hard decisions require certain methods.” He pulls a coin from his pocket and flips it up into air. “Head is north and tail is south!” The coin spins wildly until it lands in his hand. “General Greywinter, Deploy all of our troops at the northern frontier.”
The old, grandmotherly woman to the shaman's right raises a finger. “Please don't play those games with us Great Shaman. This is a grave matter and the existence of our nation may depend on it.”
The Shaman tilts his head while looking at the coin. “Why? The coin never lied to me, it got me through the national exams and answered all ten thousand questions without fail.” He holds it to his chest.
The old man to the Shaman's right stomps the ground with his foot. “Nobody throws a coin over ten thousand times and gets always the right answers! You are playing with us, what led to your decision? Did you deduce who lied to us?”
The Shaman shrugs his shoulders. “Fine, let's reason it through, though asking the coin is much easier.” He stores the coin away. “I don't know who is lying, but it doesn't matter. One party is saying that Nict is a danger, the other says it is not. Until now it looked like we are forced into a war on two fronts.” He pulls a handful of beans from another pocket and throws one bean in front of Saana and Triz. “They were brought to us by the southern nations as eyewitnesses. One point.” He throws a bean in front our group. “They brought us eye witnesses too.” Another bean lands in front of Saana. “The reports say that Nict is mobilizing troops and rebuilding their fleet.”
He throws a bean in front of us. “The investigation team always reported that the fellows from Nict aren't interested in war and that we should stay calm.”
Another bean lands in front of us. “They sent us their second princess.”
And another. “None of the reports ever said that the Gejene would throw one of their family members away.”
One more bean. “I read tons of reports about them over the years and nothing ever hinted at them being cruel to their own blood. They wouldn't send us their princess and attack us afterwards.”
He corrects his mask. “And it doesn't really matter in the end. We can't fight on two fronts and if Nict suddenly turns hostile I prefer to be conquered by Nict, rather than the barbarians.”
His eyes flick to general Greywinter. “So deploy the troops to the north and secure the southern ambassadors.”
Triz steps forward. “You can't-”
The Shaman throws the entire fist of beans at Triz and Saana. The beans sprout ranks and roots in mid air, catching Saana and Triz in a tight web of plants and immobilizing them. “Nobody tells the Great Shaman what he can't do! The Great Shaman has spoken and when the Great Shaman speaks, the others listen and follow!” General Greywinter turns pale and hurriedly leaves the room to execute the Great Shaman's commands.
Whoa, I raise an eyebrow. This guy has a huge ego, but I admire his skill with the beans. I didn't see that spell coming, was it a ritual? He didn't cast at all.
The Great Shaman slides off of his seat. “The only question to me is how you got turned. I can't imagine the good old Saana to provoke a war of her own free will.”
I raise a finger. “Maybe they are under some kind of mind control? I could take a look at them.”
The Great Shaman summons another gust of wind and floats down from his heightened position. He lands right in front of me and I have to look down on him. The Great Shaman scratches his cheek with his totem. “You are that soul magician... we abhor your kind... but since you haven't done anything offensive so far we'll let you be. I am sorry, but I can't allow you to do anything to them. Your party isn't proven to be free of guilt. If I let you do something to them, you could manipulate them.” He turns away, patting the side of his head with his totem. “I had to make a decision because time is short. The coin already made the decision for me anyway, I just had to justify it.”
I snort. Is his coin just a bad joke, or some kind of divination magic? If so, it seems to be a powerful one.
Stella bows to the Shaman. “Then shouldn't we take the ambassadors from the southern nations to the task? I would like to hear their opinion about their peace treaty with us.”
The Shaman stops. “Nict has a peace treaty with the southern nations? Another point that doesn't add up.” He gestures at the guards. “Bring them here. I am sick of this. Once I have everyone in one place someone will surely falter and reveal the truth.”
Padma walks over to her grandmother with a worried expression on her face. “Grandma, why are you lying?”
Saana looks betrayed at Padma. “You are the one who is lying! How can you help those murderers!?”
“They saved us! What did they do to you?” Padma screams at Saana.
The two of them continue their heated exchange without caring for their surroundings.
In the meantime my mind turns in circles. Was Saana a double agent from the beginning, or did she get influenced somehow? Unfortunately the Great Shaman dislikes my idea to take a look into their minds. I turn to Adala. “Is there a ritual to check their minds.”
Adala shakes her head. “Unfortunately it's very hard for shamanistic rituals to influence someone's mind without damaging it. Our magic is very powerful, but that's its weak spot. If it was that easy, the Great Shaman would've done it already.”
I see, a ritual can easily guide huge amounts of magic, or achieve complicated results which seem miraculous by the standards of other magical systems. But the crude and complicated methods of a ritual are unfit to influence the mind of a sentient being. It's like trying to use a programming language that's not intended for the purpose. You might be able to pull it off, but the results will always be marginal compared to other languages. “So you don't have any people who are specializing in influencing someone's mind?”
Adala shakes her head. “We don't have mind magicians like in Nict. The only ones who practice mind magic are the techno mages, but they aren't capable of twisting someone like this.” She gestures at Saana and Triz.
Suddenly I get an idea. “Great Shaman? It might be problematic if someone from Nict checks on Saana and Triz, but what if we gave you a tool to do so? You could check the tool's function yourself before you use it on them. That way you could be sure that they aren't influenced.” I am thinking of my memory mirror. We just have to touch it and show them our memories. Then they can take a look at their own memories and see for themselves that it works properly. As a little side effect I'll get a little peak inside the Great Shaman's head!
The Great Shaman looks at me and licks over his lips. “It doesn't hurt to take a look. Bring it.”
I turn to Ivy and smile at her.
My servant rolls with her eyes. “I understand. Go and fetch the mirror.” She leaves with the elevator, accompanied by one of the Shaman's guards.
Stella walks slowly to my side and whispers into my ear. “I hope the mirror won't show any problematic scenes this time?”
“Of course not, what are you thinking.” At least I hope it doesn't.
The Great Shaman shakes his totem. “Why is it taking so long to fetch those guys from the southern nations. Are they having a picnic in the outer layers of the city?”
One of the guards bows in respect. “Indeed, you instructed us to give them quarters as far away from you as possible. You said that you don't want their sick ambassador anywhere close to you.”
The Shaman glares at the guard. “Indeed. There was an order like this.”
Then he continues to walk nervously in circles around the room and studies his totem like it could grant him new knowledge. After a while I can't stand his nervous attitude any more and offer him something that always helps me to calm down. “Why don't you eat something sweet while we wait. It helps to relax.” I pull the chocolate bar from my chest pocket and offer it to him.
He glares at the bar and shakes his totem above
it. A test for poison? I hear people gasp, but don't get their problem. Finally the Great Shaman accepts the chocolate bar and takes a hearty bite. After a while he nods. “That's good stuff. Maybe you aren't a bad guy after all.”
I smile satisfied, of course it's good, I buy only the best quality. Upon turning around I find Stella looking like she wants to hide somewhere. Adala has a sick expression, while Eliot and Padma are looking somewhere else.
56. ~Uncovered.~
“The Great Shaman's coin is one of the most powerful divination artefacts in existence.”
-The writings of Dwem.
Dwem, Capital
Azir
The elevator's doors open and Ivy appears, pulling the huge memory mirror into the room. Seems like she refused the guard's help once again. Is she trying to train her body? Finally she arrives in the middle of the room. “Done!” She pulls a towel from a pocket of her skirt and cleans the mirror dutifully.
I walk over to the mirror while the Dwemer are watching the mirror with suspicion. “You were fast, Ivy.”
She smiles and places her hands at the sides of her hips. “I rewired the stepper plate in our house to teleport directly from there. That way I saved some time.”
The Great Shaman comes closer and looks at the mirror without touching it. “So this thing can show someone's memories?”
I nod and touch the mirror. “It's not hard to use at all. You touch the mirror and concentrate on the memory you want to show.” A scene of Ghost appears while he is hunting our gardener. “Whoops... that's my pet, sorry. Of course you have to concentrate really hard, or something else from your subconscious might show up.” I steady myself and try again. This time it's my point of view from the night when the Dwemer's mansion got attacked.
“Having no sound weakens the show a bit, but it was hard enough to get the thing to the point of showing pictures. Some people might think that it should be easy to access sound once you can read images inside someone's mind, but that's not how the brain works. Sound and pictures are processed in different ways and therefore it doesn't necessarily mean that you can easily access both at the same time. I could've pepped the thing up to add the sounds on its own, according to the user's imagination. Though that would've enabled the user to betray reality. This mirror only shows what the one who is touching it experienced himself.”
The Great Shaman scratches his chin with his totem. “Those images are awfully detailed. I am proud of my memory, but even I can't call up such detailed memories. Are you directly accessing the soul's memories?”
I shake my head. “It would be much too hard to read the information directly from the soul. If I knew a way to do that, I could access all the memories of my soul's entire existence. No. This device only reads the lingering electromagnetic effects in your current body's brain. Everything you ever see or hear leaves an echo behind. That's what we call a memory. If the echo is strong enough you can access it and remember something. This device filters this echo and amplifies it. In other words, it can only show what you really experienced with your body.”
The Great Shaman nods and gestures for a soldier. “Try it.” The soldier does as told, calling upon a memory of him drinking something in a bar. The soldier testifies for its accuracy and the Great Shaman orders a few others to test the device, even telling them to imagine something which didn't happen. On those cases the mirror either showed nothing, or something which happened.
After a few experiments the Great Shaman touches the mirror himself and I get to see a scene of him handling some feathers and beans. The scene switches again to his point of view, looking down on us from his seat. He throws his coin and catches it again, showing tails. A skilled flick of his thumb turns the coin to the head's side.
“I knew it! The stupid coin never gave you the right answers! It's all a trick!” The old man who seems to be the Shaman's aide shouts from his seat.
The Great Shaman lets go of the mirror. “Ahem. It seems like this device is working accurately.” He turns around and shakes his totem at the old man. “And never, ever doubt the coin's answers! The coin knows everything! It's just hard for it to share its knowledge since it can't speak. Of course the coin's revelations aren't always easy to interpret. It's the questioner's job to come to the right conclusion.”
Then he faces our group. “Please take turns to show me your side of the events.” One by one we get to see how everyone experienced the night in question. Ivy kept staying beside the mirror for the entire time, guarding it like a watchdog.
When it is Eliot's turn the unimaginable happens. His eyes flick towards Ivy and a problematic scene appears in the mirror. It's Eliot's point of view while he is lying naked on his back. The huge rack of a well endowed girl fills his vision while her hips move in a certain rhythm back and forth. Eliot hastily lets go of the mirror and the image disappears. “It isn't what it looks like!”
The Great Shaman says nothing while he is staring at Eliot. The silence within the room is complete and Eliot looks like he wants to die on the spot. After a while the Great Shaman points at the mirror. “Try again.”
Eliot turns to the mirror and this time he succeeds and lets out a sigh of great relief. The Great Shaman only scratches his neck in a disinterested manner. “Tch! I wanted to see her face.” Then he shakes his totem at Eliot. “Boy, from now on you visit my tower every day!”
Eliot turns pale. “It was just once! And I'll regret it my entire life! Please spare me!”
The Great Shaman looks surprised. “Only once? And I thought that I had found a formidable teacher. Well, even if it's like that... persuading such a nice girl only once is more than I ever achieved. You'll teach me how you managed that feat!”
The dwarf turns to Saana and Triz, then he gestures with his hand and the vines and roots which are holding them. The roots move them closer to the mirror and let go of Saana's hand. The Great Shaman gestures at the mirror. “Prove your story.”
Saana looks at the mirror with an expression of dismay. She touches the mirror, but nothing happens. After a few moments of strained staring new images start forming. A hooded man is standing above her and Triz. A strange red glow is coming from a magical circle around them, but that's not what piques my interest. He is holding a very familiar amulet with a hexagon. The amulet is glowing and the man gives instructions to Saana and Triz.
Saana lets go of the mirror and the picture vanishes. Her eyes show a crazed expression. “I failed my master!” She tries to claw at the Great Shaman, but the roots catch her free hand and secure it.
I click with my tongue. “I guess they were bound with enslavement magic.”
The Great Shaman grumbles. “That amulet. The symbol stood for the emperor...” He turns to the guards. “Take them away! They are tainted. Secure them and make sure that they can't harm themselves!” Then he faces me. “I think the southerners have a lot of explaining to do.”
The amulet is a symbol for the emperor? I tap the mirror with my fingertip and concentrate on a certain scene. A black magician appears with a deformed black wing on his back. He is holding a very similar amulet to the one which we just saw.
The Great Shaman shakes his totem at the figure. “The same amulet! Who is that?”
I let go of the mirror and shrug my shoulders. “Someone I killed a long time ago. The amulet just reminded me of him.”
In the meantime the guards had taken Saana and Triz away, but we don't get to relax. The elevator's doors open and five new people enter the room.
They are clad in expensive, red tunics and jewellery is covering their necks and fingers. I squint my eyes and inspect them closer with my mana sight. The mana distribution in their bodies is somehow off, but I don't know why.
The lead figure steps forward. He immediately got my attention since his face and hands are covered in bandages. A slimy, red liquid oozes out through them and the stench is breathtaking. The man's voice sounds like he swallowed something and is choking on it. “I see that you got visitor
s...”
The Great Shaman gestures at the new arrivals and the summoned roots and vines encircle them in respectful distance. “Indeed. They brought me interesting news. News which question our alliance with the southern nations. I suppose you know what I am speaking of?”
I slowly slide away from my position and over to Stella's side. “Is there a sickness which can't be treated with magic? Why does he have those bandages?”
Stella shakes her head. “There are some germs which are problematic, but advanced, medical spells are able to heal almost everything. I never heard of something like this.”
The man finally decides to answer. “I see that you must've dealt with our little diversion. It's bothersome, but it won't change the outcome of this conflict. You'll only delay the inevitable.”
The Great Shaman points his totem at the men and shakes it. “So you admit it? Whom are you working for!? Tell me, or I'll beat it out of you.”
“Hahahaha!” Mr. Bandages laughs with glee. “I am sure that a small man like you would have a hard time in trying to do so.”
He spreads his hands and bows slightly in a familiar manner. “The Master is working hard to regain what rightfully belongs to him. We'll give you the chance to surrender now. If you offer us the princess as a little present, then we might consider to stop the barbarians from slaughtering everyone.” His eyes turn to Stella.
The Great Shaman shakes his totem and the roots shoot out in an attempt to spear the group of enemies, but an invisible force blocks them.
Mr. Bandages speaks disappointedly. “It's sad that you aren't as smart as everyone says.” He gestures at the Great Shaman and the small body is flung away and against the nearest wall. I immediately start gathering mana, these guys seem to be strong.