by Jeremy Dwyer
At age twenty-one (21), Corbin was confirmed as a Hidden Paladin and was assigned to many missions, rescuing farmers and merchants from pirates as well as killing demon worshippers and sun worshippers during their rituals. Swiftly dispatching them was essential, so that they did not have an opportunity to escape to do more harm, or to capture a Hidden Paladin and learn any of their secrets. Telepathy was another risk, and their best defense against it was through the use of an Elanatin Ocean waters ice crystal, which redirected and confused telepathic intrusions. These tools could not be precisely crafted by the Hidden Paladins themselves – the use of cold darkness to freeze the Elanatin waters could very easily create a jagged ice crystal that produced a telepathic echo and revealed their thoughts or made them vulnerable to mind control – so only their most trusted allies, specifically those who drank the Kazofen Ocean waters, could form the Elanatin ice crystals and purify them in secret.
By age twenty-six (26), Corbin had attained the rank of Major due to his high rates of success and survival. He had proven himself more adept than most at accomplishing his missions while also preserving the lives and health of the Hidden Paladins serving alongside him in the various units to which he had been assigned. The mission of all Hidden Paladins was to make the world a far safer place in which to live, which often proved to be difficult and dangerous in many ways, but self-sacrifice was not considered a virtue. Rather, the understanding was that after some time, the human body and mind would both endure enough wear and tear – hopefully, not ruin – that service was no longer an option. Living as a civilian was intended to be the next phase of life, so preserving the body and mind enough to do so was necessary. Drinking the waters of the Ikkith Tar Ocean did not make for a good farming career – Gradaken waters were best for that – though it was helpful in assisting alchemists with crystal formation and working on ships to protect valuable cargo from pirates.
From age twenty-six (26) to twenty-eight (28), Major Corbin worked as a mission leader and acted to improve training in any lower-ranking Paladins whose performance represented a risk to the mission or to themselves. At age twenty-eight (28), he was promoted to the rank of General, and continued to focus on improvements in many units across the world. General Corbin’s record of service was widely recognized, and he assumed the rank of Marshal only recently, by a nearly unanimous vote of the other Generals.
The Marshal of the Hidden Paladins gestured to another unit, consisting of four (4) Hidden Paladins, and they approached.
“Unit number thirty-seven (#37) ready, Marshal,” the four (4) Hidden Paladins said.
“Investigate Haza’Kedro’Maral Island in the Pirovalen Ocean. Follow the sun worshippers, obstruct any sacrificial rituals. Do not execute Duchess Uliana immediately. You are to learn of her plans, impede them, and protect whom you can. Execute her lieutenants at will, however,” the Marshal of the Hidden Paladins said.
The four (4) Hidden Paladins of unit number thirty-seven (#37) each drank anew of the waters of the Ikkith Tar Ocean from their respective vials and were energized with the powers of darkness. They exerted these powers to cloak themselves for the mission ahead. They exited the obscured structure, followed the secret path down the mountain and headed toward the southernmost port in Emeth. Once there, they found an available ship to take them to Haza’Kedro’Maral Island and set sail.
~~~
Aura could hear the chatter of the crowds in a busy port city as the ship approached the western coast of the Scholar’s Path land bridge. The Pirovalen Ocean waters she drank still flowed through her, although most of the energy had been exerted to perform the City of Lies song. She would have to drink again to command that level of power. The fact that the ship she was on was actually sailing across the Pirovalen Ocean – an unimaginably vast quantity of that same enchanted water – was consequential. Sounds carried across its surface waters – and, perhaps, through its depths – in a way they could not across any other ocean. The sounds of the port city became obvious to nearly everyone on board the ship at around one hundred fifty (150) miles away, regardless of what water they drank. A few drank the waters of the Lujladia Ocean and could see the city, and the captain of the ship was informed. An hour later, they arrived and disembarked, along with two hundred forty-eight (248) other ships.
Aura stepped down the boarding ramp and onto the pier. Kassia – who was carrying Arik – walked alongside her, and Daley and Claudia followed. The Chronicler Alonso stayed close to them as they entered the port city. He drank anew of the waters of the Ursegan Ocean from his vial and was energized with the power to slow time around him, thus extending his own long life and allowing him to perceive events no matter how quickly they occurred.
“According to the markings on the pier, this is the Port City of Hithagredil, presided over by Mayor Langford,” Kassia said as they stepped off the pier and into the port city proper. Hundreds of other people who also escaped from the Port of Illumination hurried ahead and made their way past the fishers and dockworkers already in the city. Alonso looked toward the other piers and saw many more ships, and many more hundreds of people disembarking and entering the same port city. He recorded as many details as were useful, and counted the number of people exactly, although his range of sight was ordinary, despite his speed of perception being most extraordinary.
“These people were all looking for jobs in the Port of Illumination before they were forced to escape,” Kassia said.
“So was I. Like them, I though the city had good opportunities. I thought it was the place to be,” Aura said.
“They still need to find work, even here,” Kassia said.
“Yes, and they can go find it. The city’s administrative offices are that way, according to those signs,” Claudia said.
“I’m not a telepath, but I know that finding a job is not what’s on your mind. You still want to talk to us?” Kassia asked.
“Yes. Now,” Claudia said.
Kassia handed Arik back to his mother, and Aura embraced her son. She was relieved to be away from the immediate danger, and didn’t see any need for the use of her powers at the moment. She was rare in her exceptional ability to influence others with song; yet, it was a power to be used sparingly.
Claudia gestured toward a wide building – actually, a large group of connected buildings – located near the northern edge of the port town. She was followed by Daley, Kassia, and Aura, who was now carrying Arik, and he was getting fidgety. Alonso continued to follow them.
When they approached the group of connected buildings, Claudia could see that it was a community residential center, and there were no apparent vacancies.
“You’re looking for somewhere private? If so, you’re going to have to go outside the city. It’s much too busy here, with a large population that’s growing by the minute with these new arrivals,” Kassia said.
Claudia drank anew of the waters of the Elanatin Ocean from her vial. She was energized once again and telepathically probed the area, looking for anyone who might be nearby, and who might be able to eavesdrop on their speech or their thoughts. She walked away from the crowded city center and continued probing. Claudia soon found a clearing around a dried up lake near some unoccupied wheat and corn fields.
“The lake won’t stay dry for long. Once the water is purified by the alchemists, it will be piped back in, and the farmers will return to open the valves for irrigation. We might have a couple of hours at most,” Kassia said.
“Good enough. I need to know everything you know about the central bank. Who’s really in charge? Who keeps their books and sets their rates? How do they do it? I’m no mathematician, so you’re going to have to keep it simple,” Claudia said.
“I want to help you, I really do. I hate the central bank – they’re worse than you might know. But their books are not simple. You might need a mathematician to make sense of it all. Fortunately for you, I am trained in math. It’s a matter of how much of my explanation is going to make sense to you,” Kas
sia said.
“Try me,” Claudia said.
“All of the central bank’s rates and taxes are set using probabilities. They are extremely sophisticated bookmakers in a worldwide gamble. They know insurance odds. They know about harvest yields for each crop on each continent and on the islands of every ocean – the highs, the lows, the averages and the chances. They know about mining every kind of mineral and stone from every mountain on every continent. There’s a tremendous amount of data collected every year, and they have complex equations to factor it all in and set prices. Some of the governors are really expert in that – they drink the Medathero waters to set up the calculations. They have machines – just gear-based machines to crunch lots of numbers fast – but it takes the mathematical governors and their counselors and clerks to figure out the formulas and set up those machines. That’s the basic idea, but the formulas are the key. The resource coordinators in the Jenaldej Empire do something similar for their own purposes, but they build in different risk tolerances. The central bank tolerates some risks that they don’t, and vice versa. The central bank wants to maximize profits, while the Jenaldej Empire wants to maximize surplus inventories,” Kassia said.
“I understand what you’re saying, so far. But I need details – I need those formulas and data,” Claudia said.
“We’d have to go back to the central bank’s main island to get those details. I don’t think we want to be there right now. We would need a team of mathematicians and serious military defenses to deal with the fallout from what just happened. It’s going to take more time and support than we have,” Kassia said.
“The sun worshippers were in control – they wanted to use the children for sacrifice. What does that have to do with math or money?” Aura asked.
“They’re different, but they’re both horribly corrupt. The central bank is corrupt in the pursuit of money – they tax and charge interest rates that are as high as the market will tolerate. People stay poor because of them, and they can’t afford to have large families or care for them well. That’s bad enough to hate them. Still, they do much worse than that: they hire pirates to attack ships and collect the insurance when they’re not the risk carriers; they sabotage the work of construction companies that compete with their subsidiaries. I have proof of all of this in my journals. They’ve got blood on their hands, and I know about more than a few drops of it. The sun worshippers are evil in a whole different way. They kill for their religion: money is just a tool to manipulate resources, build temples and find sacrificial victims. Their ultimate purpose is to serve their sun gods. That’s all that really matters,” Kassia said.
“Under the authority of the Chronicler’s Oath, I want to see your journals,” Alonso said.
“Not so fast. I don’t keep most them on me. They’re hidden. I just have this,” Kassia said. She pulled a small book out from an inside pocket in her jacket and showed it to Alonso.
Alonso flipped through the pages of Kassia’s journal and quickly transcribed the seventy-nine (79) non-blank pages into his own book. It detailed many specific activities of the central bank, some of which were dubious rate hiking practices, whereas others were clearly murder or theft. He then handed the book back to Kassia.
“I want to see that, too,” Claudia said.
“Here you go,” Kassia said, and she handed the journal over to Claudia.
Claudia flipped through its pages, reading nowhere near as quickly as Alonso could, and looked for any indications of activities that affected the Jenaldej Empire. She did see crimes against the Ihalik Empire as well as tax and rate hikes that affected the farmers and miners guilds in the continent of Meridianus. She also saw formulas for rate and tax hikes, but did not understand those as well as she did the raw numbers. Nothing therein, however, directly or obviously affected the Jenaldej Empire. “I see problems, but nothing against the Jenaldej Empire. Where are the rest of your journals?” Claudia asked.
“Like I said, they’re hidden. Just in case something happens to me, a few other people know where they are. The central bank wants me dead because of what I know about them. So let’s not be too hasty and rush into anything. I don’t exactly have an army to back me up,” Kassia said.
“If you can show me proof of what I need, I will work to get you that army,” Claudia said.
“I just showed you evidence. You’re not convinced that the central bank is horribly corrupt?” Kassia asked.
“I’m willing to believe that the central bank is guilty of the crimes you’ve shown me, and that there’s a lot more that you’ve written down in the rest of your journals. I’m going to give my report, and then I want to find you again,” Claudia said.
“I’ll be here for a while. But don’t count on getting an army. The Jenaldej Empire isn’t known for having a competent military. They’re rich, but they’re still coasting along from victories from millennia ago. The world isn’t too wild now, but if a real war breaks out, they’re not ready. If you don’t believe that, you’re not thinking,” Kassia said.
“We can do more than you give us credit for,” Claudia said.
“I’ll be giving her cover. We can’t stay out in the open for long,” Daley said.
“I know,” Claudia said.
The sound of rushing water was noticed by Aura, who looked toward the dried up lake. “I hear water flowing quickly,” she said.
“I don’t see anything,” Claudia said.
“It’s in the pipes below us. Her hearing is far better than ours,” Kassia said.
A few minutes later, the dried up lake began to fill with water: the water level rose quickly at first at the narrow lake bottom, and then slowly, as the lake tapered outward from bottom to top.
“The farmers will be back soon. We need to stay out of sight,” Kassia said.
“So do I,” Aura said.
Daley drank anew of the waters of the Ikkith Tar Ocean from his vial and was energized. He exerted his powers of darkness over himself and Kassia, then over Aura and Arik.
Alonso watched as they vanished into the darkness. Because he could not see them, he headed back into the nearby Port of Hithagredil to record events there.
~~~
Claudia also returned to the port city, and then paid one (1) platinum coin for transport on a ship headed northwestward across the Pirovalen Ocean toward Emeth. After the one (1) day journey, she arrived in the City of Emeth. From there, she paid two (2) platinum coins for transport on a ship headed northeastward across the Medathero Ocean toward the eastern coast of the continent of Revod. After a two (2) day journey, she arrived in eastern Revod.
She traveled along inland riverboats and soon reached the large castle that was the Jenaldej Empire military headquarters in northeastern Revod. She entered the castle and made her way to the office of Prince Trahaearn. He was there, along with General Joshua.
“I have a preliminary report on the central bank, your imperial majesty,” Claudia said.
“Yes, Claudia. What is the report?” Prince Trahaearn asked.
“I wasn’t there long before the city had to be evacuated. Along the way I found Aura, the singer who served under King Xander and controlled the population for him,” Claudia said.
Prince Trahaearn and General Joshua looked at each other in surprise and then looked toward Claudia.
Prince Trahaearn then said: “Take it a step at a time. This sounds much more significant than I expected.”
“The woman, Aura, who served under King Xander, was one (1) of four (4) sisters. Her voice was powerful and used to enchant and control populations. Her sister, Rivka, was a Zovvin drinker, and used her spirit powers to resurrect King Xander from the grave. Earlier in life, Aura and Rivka were jealous of their other sister, Lyssa, who was a Trerada drinker, so she was much more attractive and had many lovers, whereas they had none, so they poisoned her. Aura and Rivka were fiercely competitive and jealous of each other, but they were both power mad and managed to cooperate long enough to cause pain for eve
ryone else. During the subjugation, Aura wanted King Xander to produce an heir through her, but he refused, and took Rivka into his bed in place of her. Aura found out, became jealous and killed even her. There was another sister, Kassia, whom they both thought was dead. She faked her own death years ago because she was investigating the central bank’s fraud and needed to go into hiding. I learned this telepathically when I first met them in the Port of Illumination,” Claudia said.
“This is disgusting, dangerous and a bit surprising. Yet, like so much of life, we’re responsible to learn the unpleasant truths and confront them,” Prince Trahaearn said.
General Joshua listened intently and said nothing, for there was not yet any action to be taken.
“Aura lost her trust and loyalty to King Xander because of his earlier preference for her sister. When Xander thought that some travelers had found the unified waters he was obsessed with, Aura became fearful that the king would actually obtain them. She sang a song – Faraway – to free the king’s slaves and prevent anyone from giving those waters to him. She fled the Ihalik Empire, and she was pregnant by a guard at the time. She has a son – a boy named Arik. Aura traveled to the Port of Illumination, hoping to manipulate the central bank and gain influence over their money system. Instead, she met her sister, Kassia,” Claudia said.