“Gentlemen, please have a seat,” the Emperor said and—as if a magic wand had been waved—a large round table appeared in the center of the throne room. While the NPCs took their seats around it, we remained standing: There were no seats for the Free Players.
“You have come here at my request with a single purpose,” the Emperor addressed the assembly, “to decide whether the time has come to change our laws or leave them as they are.”
If I understand correctly, the assembled included all thirty-three Governors who remained in Malabar after the Kartossian expansion, the Duchess as the representative of the aristocracy and the Advisors, the highest authorities in the land after the Emperor. This was in effect the Governing Committee of Malabar! The Emperor, meanwhile, went on: “You are aware of the reason for such exigent measures. Before we begin the voting process, I wish to hear your views on the matter at hand.”
“Lestran Province fully supports the Emperor’s initiative to amend the law,” the Governor of Lestran spoke up. “Free residents have long since proven themselves to be competent leaders. A portion of them should be entrusted with the management of villages and even small towns. I understand that there are risks involved—that the Free Citizens will seek to enrich themselves at the expense of the Empire, if not directly, then indirectly, so the selection of suitable candidates and our oversight of their governance must be very careful. But my opinion is that we can give them the chance to prove themselves. If the villages or towns under their administration begin to grow, we could even look the other way when…”
“The position of Lestran Province is understandable,” the Emperor interrupted my Governor—with whom I enjoyed Exalted status. “Are there others among the assembly who wish to express their views before we vote?”
“Brantar Province opposes the amendment!” spoke up a very dignified looking man—a military uniform with a plethora of medals, a military bearing, whiskers…the Brantar Governor reminded me a bit of the Mayor of Narlak. It was almost as if they were related. “The Free Citizens, especially after they appeared in Kartoss, have become the scourge of Malabar! Raids, pogroms, brigandage! It’s not only the Kartossians either—the Malabarians too have been destroying whole towns, to say nothing of the villages. Lestran’s position is unsurprising—the players recently helped save one of their towns, and the Governor has no problem looking the other way. Yet the esteemed Krondavir does not know, or does not wish to know, that in the last three months, seven of my towns were razed to the ground. Seven! Of these, only five were the fault of the Kartossians—the others were the work of our own Malabarians! Why should we trust them with the administration of our villages and towns in particular? Solely so that they can build better bases to launch stronger raids from? Solely so that they work to enrich themselves without a care for the Empire?”
“The position of Brantar Province is understandable. Are there others who wish to speak?”
Another three Governors—of Alyen, Nirriana and Shatil Provinces—expressed their support for amending the law. Four, including Governor Toad there, were opposed. The rest, including the Advisors, remained silent.
“Duchess,” the Emperor addressed the majestic lady, “do you have something to say?”
“Yes, my Emperor,” replied the lady, without taking her eyes from me. “As the official representative of the aristocracy of Malabar, I too think that the time has come to change, to grow. Not all of the current leaders have earned their positions lawfully,” the Duchess glanced over at Governor Toad, who sank into his chair under her glare, “but also not all of the Free Citizens have the right to govern. How we shall determine who is worthy of this honor and who is not—is a matter for further discussion, one at which quite obviously, the Free Citizens should be absent. But since they are already here now, I will say that I nominated these four candidates because they had earned my trust and thus the trust of the entire nobility. My advice is this: Let’s grant permission to these sentients to govern several small settlements over the next six months. After the trial period, we shall evaluate their work and make a further decision. My Emperor is well acquainted with each of these four men, so it makes no sense to detail the advantages and disadvantages of each. One should not rush headlong into uncharted territory; one should enter it with caution. I request that the Emperor make a sensible decision.”
“Thank you, Duchess,” concluded the Emperor, lost in thought. Apparently, the Imitator had begun his upgrade procedure, since it wasn’t likely that such a critical change to the game mechanics would occur spontaneously. “I have reached a decision. Advisors, I request you to bear witness and record it. First of all, four Free Citizens of Malabar shall be allowed to serve as rulers of several settlements, with a total population of up to ten thousand sentients, for a period of six months. Further! I confer upon Free Citizens Ehkiller, Ankir and Karrar the titles of Baron! Third of all, if after the expiration of the test period, the results will be positive, this practice shall be extended to all Free Citizens who meet the required criteria, which we shall determine later. Such is my decision!”
A message flashed before my eyes, repeating verbatim the Emperor’s words and culminating with two response options: ‘Accept’ and ‘Decline.’ Keenly aware that one does not decline such an offer, I pushed the ‘Accept’ button and turned to watch what the others would decide. Ehkiller’s eyes remained glassy longer than anyone else’s. The Mage seemed to be poring over the text and looking for any pitfalls. When he finally rejoined us, the Emperor continued with his speech:
“I hereby enjoin the Free Barons and the Earl here present to arrange their village administrations within the next ten days and summon a Herald to formalize their appointments. I thank all those present. I declare this meeting concluded!”
Chapter Two. Shamanism is a Vocation
AS I STROLLED through Anhurs, I reflected on my meeting with Tisha. I had beelined for her chambers as soon as I left the throne room. As the assembly adjourned, I had ducked a conversation with Ehkiller—the Mage had made it clear that he wanted to speak with me, but I…Well, I simply didn’t feel like hearing another fairy tale about how the circumstances had been beyond him, how he hadn’t been able to tell me about his deal with Geranika and how the whole world was tumbling into a perilous unknown…It’s not like he’d tell me anything I didn’t already know. Plus he’d find some way to make it sound like it was all my fault. So, instead, I hurried off to meet Tisha. I was looking forward to some rare quest. It wasn’t every day that the Princess invited a player to a personal appointment. In fact, the whole business was starting to smell to me like a quest chain or another scenario…
Or…nothing of the kind.
In fact, Tisha didn’t have any good news for me at all. She didn’t have any bad news either, but there certainly wasn’t any unique surprises for me like I had expected. Thanking me for my assistance with Slate, the Princess assured me of her full support and friendship in the future. Then she advised me to stop by for an audience in about a month—when the Prince had returned. At that point, this quest was marked completed. I didn’t receive a further one, despite all her kind words. After Tisha finished singing my praises, she thanked me for having found the opportunity to meet her, excused herself and went off on her way. I was left alone with a sense of deep dissatisfaction and disappointment. It was a total mystery to me why this meeting had been arranged at all. I was sure that the devs had set it up on purpose—did they wish to show me that the Princess remembered about me but didn’t have time to deal with me? All of this gave rise to nothing but further unanswered questions…
Realizing that the palace was closed to me, I went out into Anhurs and headed for the Shamanic compound. I needed to find out when I would get my powers back.
“How can I help you, Renegade?” a Shamanic Mentor addressed me as soon as I set foot on the training ground. Just like that, all of my thoughts were pulled out by their roots and without anesthesia. What did he just call me?
&
nbsp; “Renegade.” I suppose that I looked so bewildered that the Mentor decided to repeat the word for good measure. “A Shaman who has been stripped of his class abilities. When Geranika acquired the Heart of Chaos, the Shaman Council assembled and resolved to…Harbinger,” the Shaman suddenly stuttered, greeting his elder. I turned around and encountered the cool stare of Prontho, head of the Shaman Council.
“Follow me,” barked the orc, He turned around and briskly headed for the only building at the training ground. Hmm…I’m beginning to like this less and less. The Shaman Council is a very powerful institution. It doesn’t convene to deal with an ordinary player without some very substantial reason.
“Sit down,” said Prontho once he’d led me into his office. He waited until I took a seat in the only available chair, circled his massive desk which was piled high with some papers, and collapsed into his armchair.
One glance around the office sent shivers running down my spine—I was in the exact replica of the Pryke Mine Governor’s office. Even the painting of the orc warriors, depicting the glory of the orcish race, occupied the exact same place of honor where I’d last seen it. All this place needed was a horn, the ringing of pickaxes and the cries of prisoners—and I would have felt right ‘at home.’
For several moments Prontho remained sitting quietly, staring in my direction but also somewhere off into the distance, as if deciding how to begin the conversation. At last his gaze regained its clarity and he said softly:
“Kornik…”
Almost immediately, my goblin teacher appeared in the office. He looked around, smiled, disappeared and immediately reappeared again, only this time with a chair and a glass full of some liquid.
“So he showed up after all!” Despite the apparent severity of the situation, the sarcasm in Kornik’s voice remained undiminished. “Didn’t everyone tell you to keep your nose out of Altameda, you dolt? ‘And if you do go in there,’ they all said, ‘remember that you are a Shaman!’ But no, all he could think of was getting his paws on his castle. What are we supposed to do with you now?”
“Understand and forgive,” I growled the first thing that came to mind, knowing that the goblin’s question had been rhetorical.
“The Council has decided that you are not worthy of its confidence,” Prontho finally emerged from his meditative stupor. “We therefore decided to temporarily strip you of your summoning powers.”
“Temporarily?” I grasped at the lifeline.
“The Council has deprived you of your power for two months,” Kornik explained. “As long as it takes for the other Free Citizens to destroy the Heart.”
“What a bunch of malarkey,” I looked at the Harbingers with bewilderment. “If it’s my fault that Geranika got the Heart, shouldn’t I be involved in…Wait a second…Did you say that the Council made the decision? Wasn’t most of the Council assembled under Shiam?”
“It hasn’t even been six months! I’m beginning to suspect that the only time you use your head is when you’re cramming food into it,” quipped Kornik, confirming my sudden hunch—Geranika had his followers among the High Shamans of Malabar!
“But Anastaria and Plinto…” I began and fell silent, suddenly realizing the much larger plan that the developers had in mind: The struggle against Geranika was to occur not only in his empire, situated in the far western portion of the continent, but also in Anhurs, a place brimming with the spies and followers of Shadow.
“As well as the Warrior Hellfire, the Death Knight Donotpunnik, the Hunter Exodus and a dozen other Free Citizens who are the most skilled in their respective classes…All of them have been deprived of their class powers for two months, opening the way for other heroes. The situation’s so bad that the Emperor has decreed that the clan tournament shall be put off to a later date. It doesn’t make much sense to hold it when none of the best can participate.”
“But why me? What about Antsinthepantsa? And surely there are a hundred other Shamans that could trounce me in a heartbeat…”
“Unfortunately, or fortunately, no one knows what happened to Antsinthepantsa. Last anyone heard of her she had gone to Astrum and became one of its subjects. As for the hundreds of Shamans…You’re right—there are many of us in Malabar, but practically every single one of them is stuck at the Elemental rank. You are the only High Shaman who has a chance, however small, to become a Harbinger. That is why they decided to limit you. Altameda had nothing to do with it.”
“So we have to smoke out the traitors?” I decided to take the bull by the horns. All of this really felt like a quest was forthcoming. But it would take forever for these two NPCs to get to the main point.
“Agreed. They need to be found,” agreed Kornik. “Only to do so we’ll need either Beginner Shamans, or Elemental Shamans that have followed the right path. Do you know where we can find any?”
“Why only Beginner Shamans?” I asked baffled. How come I wasn’t eligible for this quest?
“Because we need someone who’ll smoke out Geranika’s followers. We know roughly who may be a traitor, but we need to confirm it to avoid a witch hunt. The only way to identify the traitors is to give them the opportunity to seduce a Free Citizen to Geranika’s side.”
“In that case, you have no way of ensuring that the Free Citizen won’t agree,” I went on pressuring them to give me the quest. This just wasn’t fair, after all!
“You’re right—there is no guarantee. If the Free Citizen decides to join Geranika’s army, that’ll be his choice. Before issuing such a quest to a novice, we will ask them what is important to them as far as this world is concerned and what they are trying to accomplish in it. We must keep in mind that a time of changes is upon us.”
“But that doesn’t explain why you can’t simply use me as the bait!”
“Really, you do only use your head as a convenient conduit for shoveling grub into your belly,” muttered Kornik. “You, my dear knucklehead, have been marked by the Lord of Shadow. No traitor is going to approach you about joining Geranika. Besides, Geranika has deemed you his personal nemesis, so…Shall I go on or will you try and think for yourself for a change?”
“What do I have to do then?” I asked in surprise, realizing with a slight shock that I had just been removed from the game for two months.
“There’s no point in continuing your education at the moment,” Kornik said pensively. “You’ll forget everything in two months anyway. So I can only recommend one thing—go back to Altameda and work on being a good ruler. Once your ownership of the castle becomes permanent, we’ll start your training.”
Quest update: ‘The Way of the Shaman. Step 4. Training’ — Your training has been delayed for a period of three months.
“Three months? If we don’t take the Heart of Chaos from Geranika, then Malabar won’t have three months! What’re you thinking, Harbingers?”
“Stop acting like a Mage!” Prontho cast me another grim look. “Your Shamanic powers are blocked for the next two months. That’s a hard fact we can’t avoid. After that, the clan competitions will begin—the Emperor has pushed them back until everyone regains their abilities. Somehow I doubt that you’ll choose training over competing alongside your clan. As for Geranika…Bear in mind that what I’m about to tell you is a strict secret. If the other Free Citizens find out about it, I’ll know who spilled the beans—and I’ll make the appropriate conclusions. If the Free Citizens fail to destroy the Heart of Chaos in the next two months, then Eluna will intercede. No one has any desire to see Barliona sink into the depths of darkness. The goddess is therefore prepared to sacrifice her divinity and destroy the Heart. If she does this, the higher planes will descend to chaos as the various powers fight for control of the empty throne. Despite all that, Barliona will be saved.”
“Is there no way at all for me to get my powers back?” I made one last attempt. Prontho had just regaled me with one of his longest orations and I think I was supposed to be rubbing my chin in deep contemplation—but the thought that I’
d be without any access to my Spirits for two months gave me such a sinking feeling that…
“Come here, Draco!”
“Coming.”
“Heh,” I heard Kornik’s satisfied chuckle, after which the goblin turned to the orc and intoned unctuously:
“This is why I didn’t bother arguing with you. I know my student too!”
“Brother…Harbingers,” Draco greeted everyone present. “Nice little conference you’re having here.”
“Don’t bother with the Spirits. They are definitely blocked,” Kornik went on, noticing that I was trying to summon a Healing Spirit. “In fact, theoretically, your ability to summon your Totem is blocked too. If you’d summoned him the way the other Shamans do, nothing would’ve happened. But Draco is more than just a Totem for you. He is an extension of you and how can anyone prohibit a sentient from using a part of his essence? Shall I tell you about another nice feature of your abilities being blocked?”
“Shoot…”
“Don’t interrupt! Since theoretically you cannot summon your Totem, you didn’t actually summon anyone just now. As a result…Well? Do you get it?” Kornik gave me a testing look as if I was supposed to experience some epiphany.
“No—you know—with a student like this, I’ll lose all faith in the youth of today,” erupted Kornik when my eyes didn’t go wide from amazement. “There aren’t any limitations to the summons, you ninny! Your Totem may remain in this world for the entire two months. He can study, play, interact…Oh Supremes, why do you punish me like this?”
The Karmadont Chess Set (The Way of the Shaman: Book #5) LitRPG series Page 4