Author's Note: I had been solicited by people I knew from ArenaNet to submit a resume and a writing sample/proposal for an opening in their Narrative Development team. Long story short, I learned it had been tossed in the trash without consideration by the people in charge of hiring. So being moderately salty about it, I'm just going to toss the proposal up here because hell, why not? Since ArenaNet's bosses aren't the slightest bit interested, I figure someone here might be interested with what could have been.
What (Could Have) Happened Between
2089 AL – Utopian Reckoning
"Okay, I think we're ready. Right, Narm?"
The small Utopian asura (even for his kind) was clearly annoyed as he replied, "As ready as we were the last fifty-three attempts." Whether that annoyance was due to the fact that they had spent the last seven days playing with this experiment, or that this was the fourth time he had asked Narm that question in the last five minutes, or because he was so short that he had to stand on a stool just to reach the console he was working from, or some combination of the three, was unclear.
"Don't be like that," he chided, moving into position yet again at the north wall of the Ancient's Spire interior, on the other side of the scrying pool from the spire's entrance. This was where the pool had said the entrance to the lower levels was... provided he had the code sequence right this time. "And you're sure you've inputted the sequence correctly?"
Narm sighed heavily, followed by an irritated growl, "I've put in the sequence exactly as you dictated it to me, Atton."
Atton looked down at his hands, then at his asuran partner, then at the seemingly nondescript wall. "Alright. Activate it."
The asura hit the key that would send the code sequence to the spire, and highlight the pathway to... wherever... that Atton had seen two seasons ago in that first fated dive into the scrying pool.
But this, like all the other times, resulted in nothing. No pale blue outline, no hand outline, no sliding open of the wall... nothing.
The scholar cursed loudly, a most undignified shout for someone who was supposed to be composed. "What are we doing wrong?" He exclaimed in frustration, then asked Narm tiredly, "I take it you get the same failure response?"
The asura shrugged in resignation. "Invalid command. Like the last fifty-two attempts."
Atton sighed. The very first time they had attempted to activate... whatever it was he seen in the scrying pool, the console had given a message to "Clear generator array."
He assumed it was redundant information that was causing a malfunction, and the recent code he had composed should have told the console to stop generating this array that was causing the problem. But apparently, that sequence wasn't a command the console recognized either. He didn't understand why. He and Narm, through trial-and-error if nothing else, knew how the spire communicated through the consoles. He had copied the context that the console required precisely, and was nigh certain that they understood enough of the ancient human language to have composed a command to clear any arrays.
Why wasn't it working?
"As much as it would pain our professors to hear this from my lips," Narm said forlornly, "I don't think we're going to get any closer today. Let eat, let's get some sleep, and we can try again tomorrow morning. It's not like this thing is going anywhere."
As always, the asura's mind was on food. Atton found it amazing that a being so small ate damn near as much as he did at any given meal. Where was all that food going? But when his own stomach protested very loudly at the thought of food, the scholar had no choice but to relent. "Alright, Narm. Let's get dinner."
The tiny asura took the lead out of the scrying pool chamber and into the landing. It was depressing to see the space empty, when more than two thousand years ago, it would have had to have been bustling with humans, and only now, after nearly half that time abandoned, his people were only now starting to return.
Of course, his ancestors had good reason to abandon the island site. Evident once they were outside, and getting ready to return to the outpost. Atton stopped to examine the spire, the evening sun giving good illumination to the west side face. The island that the Ancient Spire rested on was in fact a long dormant volcanic island... until a thousand years ago when it had unexpectedly erupted, burying much of the eastern face and the top of the spire in now black rock, now dotted with grasses and weeds.
It was a sign of the ancient human knowledge that they created a building that could survive direct contact with lava, and somehow keep it from being completely consumed by the volcano on top of that. It was a shame that Atton couldn't see the spire in what records describe; with its actual spire of shimmering rainbow crystal not buried under the volcanic earth.
Perhaps one day, when they learned more about how it was constructed and with what, they could fully excavate the spire and restore it to its former glory.
"Atton?" Narm interrupted with a hint of impatience, "Dinner isn't going to eat itself."
The scholar shook his head animatedly. That little runt and food...
Their excavation camp was nestled up right against the coastline, just off the sand of the beach. It offered reasonably solid ground, close enough for evacuation in case they were overwhelmed by the animals that somehow still lived on the island or gods forbid another unforeseen eruption, as well as close enough to the Ancient's Spire that it wasn't an onerous walk back and forth.
Diana was the first one to greet them, almost as sunny as the sun itself as she chirped, "Welcome back, you two! Did it work this time?"
Atton regarded his sister darkly, not in the mood for her cheer. She really was his mirror opposite, as their parents loved to mention. Light hair and complexion, compared to his near black mop and bronze skin. Bright and optimistic compared to his more cautious and realist nature. Even their choice of disciplines were in contrast; where Atton had devoted his attention to study of the past and the now mysterious magic their ancestors used, Diana preferred modern magical applications and doggedly tried to create infinitely new ways to manifest them.
Fortunately, both of them were very intelligent and observant people, because Diana immediately cringed and stepped back upon catching her brother's baleful eye. "No luck, huh? Sorry?"
Atton didn't respond, letting his slouch speak for him as he slipped around Narm and towards the fire pit, where the cook had a pot of some sort of thick brown stew simmering. He quickly identified it as pork stock with small slices of the meat mixed with a medley of vegetables no doubt from the stores brought with them from Utopia.
His eyes drifted off to the east and the mainland several miles away, barely visible over the horizon. While it was almost assuredly impossible, Atton felt like he could see the city from the island especially as the sun set and the city started to light up in preparation for the coming night.
Utopia itself had two names, depending on whether you were human or asura. If you were human, you called the city Utopia. If you were asuran, you tended to call it Rata Rah, the City of the Sun. Though lately even the asura were starting to adopt the human name, if for no reason but simplicity.
Utopia itself had been a joint effort of serendipity. The same eruption that caused the humans to evacuate this island had forced the asura up from their normal underground homes. After what had been a justifiable period of wariness, their ancestors decided that cooperation guaranteed a better chance for thriving in an environment neither were entirely familiar with.
It had helped when the asura demonstrated just as much curiosity and thirst for knowledge as the humans had, if not more, and that shared interest in learning and expanding that learning had blossomed into a surprisingly productive and amiable relationship; with the asuran tendency for reckless study tempering and being tempered by humanity's more measured approach.
He heard two thumps to each side of him, his left belonging to Narm, and his right Diana. "You'll figure it out, Atton," his sister said confidently. "There's never been any problem that's stumped you yet."
He didn't want to feel alone in his misery, so he poked at his sister, "How about you? Any luck prying loose a sample of the spire for our metallurgist to study?"
She frowned. "Nope. Nothing I or my elementalists try have any effect. We even got a mesmer to try and shatter off a piece with chaos magic. Whatever the Spire is made of, it's tougher than any metal or rock I've ever seen. Poor Duggan is probably the most bored person in history right now."
"I really don't want to return to the Academia with nothing, you know?" Atton groused. It had been no small feat getting the college to agree to fund the expedition at all, skeptical that there was anything that could be learned from the ruins that hadn't already been recorded from before the eruption. Somehow, Atton doubted the head professors would be all that moved by a vision he had seen in the scrying pool without anything tangible to show for it other than an old interface that was by all evidence malfunctioning.
"Then we won't leave with nothing!" Diana declared with determination, leaning forward so that he caught his eyes. "You'll figure out what's wrong, or I'll manage to rip off a chunk of that spire, or maybe even both!"
Atton forced himself to smile, if for any reason than it was the reaction his sister was looking for. It was easier than trying to drag her down and see reality sometimes.
A new day didn't help his mood any. His dreams tortured him with the vision he had found in the scrying pool, of a sequence of ancient text that he could still vividly recall, inputted into a console that popped out of a wall. That much Atton and Narm had figured out to do.
But it was everything after that still eluded him. The sequence in the console was supposed to cause the north section of the wall to be outlined in blue, and then an outline of a distinctly human hand right in the center. Putting his hand there was supposed to cause the entire thing to flash and slide away, revealing what looked to be some sort of spiraling staircase down deeper into a section of the Spire that no record existed of.
It wasn't supposed to present error feedback requesting a purge of information that he had tried to purge the last seven days.
And morning hadn't brought any revelations to mind either. And morning turned to midday with no further illumination as he pored over his notes of the ancient human language, and the commands they had discovered to operate that cursed console. They had learned how to brighten and dim the lights, get a "battery status" (which had been 3%, and why they had turned off the lights entirely), along with a list of other commands that could be used to "access" and "modify" the "primary database."
If he was translating something wrong, what could it be? Narm had looked over the notes several times over the last seven days as well, and while he wasn't an expert on ancient human language, the asura understood the basic commands of ancient human artifacts as well as anyone. The sequences should be doing the trick, but it wasn't, and it was seriously making him burning mad.
At least... until he processed that something was physically burning him.
He yelped, and slapped his hand over the back of his neck where the burning sensation was most concentrated, his head whipping over his shoulder to locate the source.
It was Diana, holding one their family's most precious heirlooms right over his neck. "Heya! Lunch is almost ready, and I wanted to make sure you ate something, but you were ignoring all my calls!"
But once again, his sister's words disappeared in the ether between his ears and his brain. He wasn't upset that Diana was wearing the pendant, as she took it with her wherever she went. The faceted jewel set into the silver chain was no larger than a fingertip, that nonetheless had behavior unlike any natural gem mined from the earth. Unlike other clear gems that would refract light until a rainbow of colors, the gem in the family pendant had the curious property of focusing light onto a singular point. While professors had found no real use for such a trait, Diana had learned she could use it to annoy people quite effectively, especially her older brother.
And then... finally... mercifully... the piece that he had been missing finally fell into place.
"Curse me for an apprentice..." he mumbled, then startled Diana when he bellowed, "Narm!" He then grabbed Diana by the wrist as she startled, and ordered, "Don't you move."
The asura popped up second's later, though Atton didn't turn to face the arrival. "What is it, Atton?"
Still focused intently on Diana's pendant, the scholar said simply, "We are idiots."
Narm took the slight in uncharacteristic stride for an asura. "While I am not necessarily disputing this, I am curious how you came to this conclusion."
"What was the message we first received on the console inside the Spire?"
Narm blinked, and warily answered, "Clear generator array?"
"What did we assume it meant?"
"Well... that it was creating some sort of data list that was causing the error. We've tried to stop that list, only to be denied repeatedly. That's... been the problem, right?"
Atton then cupped Diana's jewel, the elementalist helpfully kneeling to give Atton a better angle. "But 'array' can mean a few things in the ancient human tongue. We assumed it was referring to information because it was on the console, and that's why we are idiots."
Narm blinked, his eyes crossing as he thought about it himself, then his hand rather loudly slapped across his face and forehead. "Yes, we are complete imbeciles."
Diana blinked rapidly, "Well, as long as you know what you're talking about, that's good."
"The ancient humans had artifacts that could be powered by sunlight. Professor Ritali actually uses a similar word to describe his own attempts to replicate it. A 'generator array' could be referring to such a power source, blocked by the volcanic eruption. The spire doesn't have the power to do much of anything because of that. And that is what the damn console has been trying to tell us all this time."
His sister simply decided to agree, "Okay. You're both idiots. Glad we're in agreement. So... what now?"
Atton looked up towards the spire, and pointed. "I am betting the array that the console is speaking of is the crystal at the top of the spire, the one that is quite annoyingly buried under the volcanic rock. I would wager that's why our ancestors constructed the thing where they did to begin with."
Narm agreed. "Indeed. Little obstruction that would block constant exposure to sunlight at every hour of the day, and possibly even moonlight at night if it was sensitive enough."
Finally, the conversation got to a place where Diana could follow along. "So... does that mean me and my elementalists get to start digging again?" she asked excitedly.
Atton gave his sister the first genuine smile he had given in days. "Yes, I think it does."
Lunch seemed to be forgotten as Diana jumped to her feet, and sprinted towards the other side of the camp where her fellow elementalists had been lounging in the sun. Somehow Atton doubted they'd be quite as excited their leisure was being interrupted.
Narm broke company quickly and without any parting, weaving through the chairs set on the beach and towards the tents. "Where are you going?" Atton asked.
The asura answered like it should have been obvious. "It's going to take a while for Diana to get those earth movers into gear. I am going to get some lunch in the meantime."
Narm wasn't wrong, and Atton had to admit taking the opportunity to force something down while the elementalists themselves had lunch and got ready had been the right decision, because once they got back to the spire, it became clear that it wasn't going to be a simple effort.
Just getting up to the top of the spire for appraisal had been trickier than expected. While volcanic rock wasn't always the easiest to climb, several parts had been weathered down from the years to be almost akin to trying to crawl across glass.
And that had only been the start of it, which Diana noted while making her assessment of the rock, walking across the surface and tapping her staff down to create small ripples of earth magic and using her arcane senses to see what happened underneath. "Oh, this could be troublesome."
Atton obviously had to query. "How?"
"This is surprisingly dense rock for a volcano, and there's a huge blind spot which I figure is the crystal at the top of the Spire. It's as impermeable as anything the ancients created. The problem is that while it is dense here, it's not just a ways up." The elementalist pointed further up the slumbering volcano. "The rock there is more typical to volcanic earth. The sort of energy that's going to be needed to break up this dense sheet could quite possibly rattle loose everything else up there and cause a landslide."
"Worried about damaging the spire?" Narm wondered.
"This thing withstood a volanic eruption without even the slightest hint of damage. Us little elementalists aren't likely to crack even the slightest facet. I'm worried about potentially crushing our camp, and possibly even our boat. Even if our main ship is more than a stone's throw out to sea, a stone's throw becomes a bit trickier to gauge once it's being thrown by a mountain."
"Joyous..." the asura muttered forlornly.
"Don't be glum, little friend!" Diana said, "I didn't say it was impossible! It's going to be tricky, but we're the best elementalists in Utopia! We can get it done safely!"
Atton agreed, "Especially as I'll lend a hand. You're probably going to need my precision."
Diana occasionally forgot that her brother was granted his current field studying magic of the past because he had shown highest aptitude with magic of the present. "Oh! My dearest elder brother is going to play with the earth too?" she chirped happily in teasing.
"Don't act like I'm above manual labor," he chided, not amused by the joke. "You and your fellows can do the heavy lifting. I'll separate the dense rock from the porous where it starts to transition."
Diana clapped once in approval of the plan. "Then I'll get the rest of the elementalists up here right away! Let's get this done, friends!"
The elementalist seemed to recklessly skip back down the volcano side, but Atton knew better. His sister was a girl with such keen attunement with the earth that she was able to dance during an earthquake. As in, she quite literally danced during an earthquake when she had been a little girl. Atton still remained entirely unconvinced that it hadn't been an earthquake she had started for that purpose, even as she insisted she did no such thing.
"And we're certain one of you wasn't adopted into your family?" Narm asked him.
"It would have to be me, as I was there when Diana was born," Atton answered far too seriously for the jest that was intended, but it had been a question asked more than once seriously. "But I far too closely resemble my father to disbelieve the witnesses who claim to be present for my birth."
"I was..." Narm began, but stopped when Atton pressed further up the volcano, towards the boundary that he would be working on. Narm retreated back down with considerably more care than Diana, understanding where his use had ended. He was an engineer by trade, this wouldn't be work suited for him, and he'd only get in the way.
Meanwhile, Atton figured by the time he had done his job, the other elementalists would be ready to finally clear the spire from the volcano. While he had no doubt that Diana would have been just as qualified, if not more so, for this task, he knew she preferred showing off with grand displays. She had been incredibly patient, maintaining a good morale even in the face of mounting failures. She deserved the opportunity for a grand display.
The task proved to be a bit easier than he feared. The density of the rock had a clearly distinct fault line that could be exploited. It was a fascinating phenomenon, in fact, almost like something below had been pushing back against the rock, compressing it into the tightly packed, dense rock while what had been lava flowed around it.
Records suggested that the Ancient's Spire could physically shield itself from attack. Had that been what happened during the eruption?
The process of separating the rock turned out to be akin to wiggling two tightly joined pieces until they came loose. Slowly increasing intensity of earth magic served that purpose, until he felt the fault line abruptly spread and the rock beneath his feet lurched downward barely more than a hair's breadth. He repeated that process across the length of the fault, quicker now that he knew the precise amount of force needed.
By the time Diana returned, she was quite pleased to get right to business of tearing down a mountain. "Excellent, dear brother! Thank you so much!" she had cheered, "Now, my friends, we get to do the fun part!"
The "fun part" certainly promised to be an impressive show. Atton took position several strides above the other elementalists, curious exactly how they were going to clear out this unnaturally dense volcanic rock without it all tumbling down onto the camp below.
He had to admit his sister's plan was clever. Small tremors started to shake the slab that Atton had effectively isolated. Even if dense, it was still volcanic rock, and prone to cracking under stress. Meanwhile, Diana was preparing the trick to it all, displaying her mastery of the earth by creating her own fault line, directly down the center of the slab where it ended at the top of the Ancient's Spire.
Contrary to what playful sibling rivalry might suggest, Atton had always been proud of his little sister. No matter how confident in his own skill in elemental magic, there was little doubt that he paled before Diana's mastery.
"Alright, shield yourselves!" Diana warned, the elementalists complying as he threw her hands to the side, the final push needed to send the mass of rock down both sides of the Ancient Spire, tumbling with nature's fury into the ocean waters to the east and west, perfectly avoiding any damage to the camp or ship to the south.
But most importantly, the elementalist's work had successfully exposed the Ancient's Spire for the first time in roughly a thousand years.
As both Atton and Diana predicted, the Ancient Spire didn't look the slightest bit damaged or disturbed by their efforts. While the crystal atop the spire looked a bit more clouded than the jewel in Diana's pendant, that was not inconsistent with the renditions from the ancient human's time.
Diana said in awe, "Isn't... it beautiful?"
Atton nodded in agreement. What a sight it was, and hopefully this would be the break they needed to finally prove what was in Atton's vision at long last. Unfortunately, due to their efforts excavating the spire... it meant the path back down was a much longer one.
"Probably should have thought about ropes or something we could have climbed down, huh?" Diana thought out loud as she took stride to her brother's right.
"Hindsight is the keenest of all," Atton recited. "Though considering none of us are expert mountaineers, it might have been more dangerous than helpful. It isn't going to be that long of a hike."
Although Atton supposed that depended on what you considered "long." To him, a three hour hike around the west side of the volcano wasn't particularly troublesome. To his sister, that was clearly a different story, as she spent the last half of the trip complaining about her feet and how she was going to have terrible blisters. Chiding her about her choice of "cute shoes" over practical ones were not received very well.
But she refused to sit and rest when they returned to the base of the spire, even after Atton suggested it. "Not a chance! I want to see what's at the heart of all your visions too!" she insisted, stomping her foot defiantly, then hissing in regret for doing so.
"Presuming this actually works," Atton reminded. "This may have been all for nothing."
Diana shook her head emphatically. "You can't think that way! This is it! You have to believe it!"
"Are you thirteen or twenty-three?" He teased, beginning the walk to the Ancient's Spire and through the open main entrance.
She huffed, "Because I refuse to be beaten before I even begin?"
He grunted in response. Truth being, he was trying to keep his expectations low, because he also could feel a dangerous optimism bubbling, one that was rarely congruous with ancient studies. But at the same time, trying to dampen his enthusiasm was no doubt in vain. He understood what Diana was saying. This felt like the answer they had been looking for.
It had to be.
Diana stopped at the landing separating the scrying chamber from the landing, while Narm and Atton took their very practiced positions. "Give me a battery status now, Narm," Atton asked.
The asura tapped in the sequence, and shrugged, "Still at three percent."
Atton frowned at that, but Narm explained, "Presuming that this battery has been operating for a thousand years to get to three percent, I can't imagine a few hours of sunlight would have exactly budged it in any noticeable way. I still say we try anyway. Perhaps it won't need battery power to operate the door you saw."
He nodded, "Yes. It won't do any harm. Use the original sequence, Narm. Let's see what happens."
Atton didn't look anywhere but forward, the clicking sound the only indication he needed that Narm was doing what was requested. Then one final click, and then silence. Too much silence.
"I'm not getting any malfunction message, Atton..." Narm said, his voice lilting hopefully. "Wait, here's something... 'Processing' it says. Atton, I think we've got it!"
The scholar confirmed as much himself, his face brightening along with the pale blue bot that appeared at the top of the wall, then quickly spread down both sides, forming the outline that the scrying pool had shown to him. A beat later, the hand outline flashed into existence, beckoning Atton to proceed.
He took his right hand, placing it as closely to the outline as he could manage, and hoped it would be enough to trigger whatever lock was on the door. It appeared to be, as it pulsed the same pale blue light three times, then the hand signal faded.
Atton turned back to Narm, and the asura anticipated what he was going to ask. "Still says 'processing', Atton. No further errors yet."
Then there was a hiss of air that stole back the scholars attention, where he whooped in triumph as the door retreated left into the adjoining wall, slower than it showed in the vision, but opening nonetheless. And just as the scrying vision had foretold, the beginnings of a pearly white spiral staircase leading downward was awaiting him.
Both his companions rushed to his side, cheering happily as other members of their exploratory krewe begun to crowd in the landing, trying to get a look at what was causing all the commotion. Atton left the stairwell momentarily to shoo them off. "Stay out of the Spire for the time being. There's no telling exactly what is down on the lower levels, and I want a clear path of evacuation if something goes wrong!" He ordered, making wide sweeping motions with his arms to indicate he wanted them to clear the area.
The krewe complied, if reluctantly, and when the landing was again clear, he returned to Narm and Diana. "I'd tell you both the same, but I know neither of you would listen to me."
"That's right! I go where I want!" Diana declared with a cheeky grin. But her smile turned nervous as she added, "A... as long as you go first."
"Yes, this is your discovery, after all," Narm agreed. "You deserve the right to explore these unlit, unknown depths before anyone."
Atton had to admit it did look quite ominous. Due to the low light in the scrying chamber, even less filtered into the stairwell, and meant that darkness cloaked where the stairs ended. But that irrational fear was just that. "It is highly unlikely that anything, malicious or benign, has survived for one thousand years. I think we'll be okay."
That fear was even more irrational when the stairwell responded to Atton's presence, the walls and steps themselves turning alight in a soft white hue, highlighting the path and their destination. By the time his feet hit the floor below, illumination had filled the chamber below, and a sight that defied what he could properly explain.
The room was slightly larger than the scrying chamber, with an eight sided series of consoles connected to a pillar near the center, everything colored a sterile drab, uniform gray that Atton couldn't imagine anyone finding pleasant for any length of time. The floor, walls, and ceiling all seemed to be made of the same stuff, slightly rough in appearance, yet smooth as any polished stone as far as his feet could tell. Clearly, the ancient human's skills with materials were even further beyond the most skilled craftsman than he had thought.
Narm's eyes were turned towards the pillar of the ceiling as he made an observation, "Hold a moment... this pillar here is directly underneath the scrying pool. Fascinating."
Atton did some spacial math and reached the same conclusion. "If not directly under it, it's pretty close. That can't be coincidence. They have to be connected somehow. Let's see if we can't figure out that connection, shall we?"
The consoles around the pillar all seemed dead, except for the one directly in front of them. And even that wasn't showing much. On the pad jutting out from the pillar there was another blue outline of a hand, and on the display merged with the pillar were ancient human text that Atton translated to, "Requesting Administrator Authorization. Sixty seconds. Fifty-nine..."
"I'm guessing it wants someone to put their hand down on the pad," Narm suggested. "I think that responsibility should fall to the krewe leader, don't you think Lady Diana?"
Atton's sister nodded vigorously. "Indeed. He should be the one to probe the unknown! It is his duty and his obligation!"
"Remind me to cripple one of you if we're ever chased by a centaur again," Atton snarled, though his playful grin betrayed the threat. In truth, he hadn't considered anyone but himself to be the first into any unknown situation. Especially since he doubted any of them would qualify as an "administrator" of the Spire. "It might not be a bad idea for both of you to get clear. There's no telling what's going to happen."
"Hey, I'm not that scared!" Diana retorted.
"I'll have plenty of time to bug out the instant something goes sideways, I'm sure." Narm added. "Now, hurry up before whatever that thing's counting down to stops."
That was good advice, as Atton brought his hand down over the outline with seven seconds left to act. The display above the console went black, though the outline remained, and Atton wasn't entirely certain if he was supposed to keep his hand in place or not.
At least until a dome of energy snapped over his hand and wrist, then a sharp lance of pain shot through his palm. Atton yelled, unable to move his hand, startling his two companions. He threw out his left hand warding them off, and ordered sharply, "Get back! Just get back!"
The pain ended quickly enough, though the field keeping his hand prisoner didn't. The display lit up again, scrolling words over the course of several seconds.
Genetic data extracted...
Analyzing genome sequence...
Matching genetic ancestry...
Direct ancestry confirmed for Cpt. Doric, Allister.
Atton recognized the name "Doric." That had been the name of the very first leader of Utopia, and had apparently been a prominent family name across several human settlements all around the world before the eruption rendered any outside contact implausible. The rest of the words surrounding "Doric" meant absolutely nothing to him, however.
Overwriting current Administrator status.
Process complete. Please input name.
The field around his hand finally retreated, and the pad lit up with the typical console that Atton recognized from the one in the scrying chamber. He wasn't entirely certain how to input his name in the ancient human language, but he felt he got close enough based on the similarities in the characters.
Welcome, Administrator Kllas.
Yeah. Close enough.
At the moment he apparently had established himself as "administrator," the walls lit up as if they were all their own displays, and that immediately caught Narm's attention. To be more specific, one wall that had a display that even Diana was able to identify.
"Oh goodness, is that all of Tyria?" the elementalist asked breathelessly.
Narm nodded, "Indeed it is! I can't understand half of what these labels are, but yes!"
They were so astonished by the image of Tyria that only Atton noticed two red dots of light form into the ceiling, casting two equally ominous red dots on the back of Narm's head. The scholar whipped back to the display, hoping for an explanation, and found one.
Native life form observed. Identify friend or foe.
Atton hastily typed in the corresponding command, frantically muttered, "No no no... friend... friend... friend!"
That got Narm and Diana's attention just as the red dots vanished into nothing. "Hmm?" the asura asked curiously.
Atton waved off the concern, deciding it was for the best that neither of them know the potential peril that had been narrowly avoided. "Nothing, Narm. Just... trying to input you into the system so that you can access this without me present."
"Good thinking," Narm answered, "But for now look at this."
Atton was loathe to leave the console just in case there were more surprises to be aware of, but at the same time, curiosity got the better of him and he wanted to see what about the map of Tyria was so interesting. It's not like they had never seen a world map before. Gods take it, Utopia was near drowning in globes to look at.
Like Narm, he vaguely understood most of the characters that made up many of the labels attached to the map. They were no doubt important, or at least important to the ancient humans, but Atton had very little idea what they meant.
There were also several colored circles and ovals and squiggles on the map, but there seemed to be little rhyme or reason to them. Some brown splotches lined up well with mountains, but others didn't appear to have any connection with the topography, overlapping oceans just as easily and frequently as land.
But what eventually really caught his attention were the labels he and Narm did understand. The asura tried to point in the general direction of something he felt important, fortunately Diana and Atton were able to guess. The island they were currently occupying, marked with a crystal symbol, and a label.
"See? That's us!" Narm pointed out. "West Listening Post! That's what the ancient humans called this spire!"
Diana asked, "Listening Post? Listening to what?"
That gave Narm pause before he flatly admitted, "I have no idea."
Atton's focused narrowed once he discovered that there were other words attached to where they were, mostly because they had abruptly changed. "Limited functionality," he recited. "Systems in wake up. Generators charging."
Narm this time chose a label closer to him, another crystal symbol like the one to represent the Ancient's Spire located on the tip of the southern continent of Cantha. "South Listening Post. Offline. Whatever offline means."
Diana pointed to the major landmass in the north and a symbol like the other two. "What's that say?"
"North Listening Post," Atton translated. "Limited functionality. Systems on standby."
Narm pointed to a final crystal symbol, located off the opposite end of the Utopian continent in a series of smaller subcontinents, far beyond where anyone from Utopia had explored. "And East Listening Post. Also offline. There were four spires like this one? What were they all for?"
Atton took a deep breath. "We're all coming up with some excellent questions. But I fear it's going to take a lifetime to even begin to answer them. I'm committed at this point, Narm, but you don't have to be."
The asura looked up at him like he had grown a deformed second head. "You're asking me if I have something better to do with my life than unlocking the greatest mysteries of the most advanced culture and society the world of Tyria has ever seen?"
Atton smirked, "Well... when you put it that way..."
"Me too!" Diana chirped, drawing astonishment from the pair of scholars. "Hey! Think about what we've found just in these few days! Do you honestly think I can go back to dusty books and playing with dirt after seeing this?" When she sensed her brother's reluctance, she pleaded, "You know I am a good student, Atton! You know I can learn anything I set my mind to! I can catch up and be of use here!"
"It's not really going to be my final say, Diana," Atton warned, "But... I'll certainly give my recommendation to the Academia."
The elementalist cheered as Atton turned his attention back to the map. He had always felt Tyria was a big world, but there was something about this that really gave it a sense of perspective. For the first time, Atton felt like he was on the cusp of being able to understand it all.
"Even a lifetime of study starts with a first day. Might as well get to it."
1079 AE – Tyrian Reckoning
Evennia hadn't been expecting much to begin with when she traveled to Ascalon to beseech King Adelbern with an alliance. She had known that the old king's opinion of Kryta was barely higher than his opinion of the charr. She had known from accounts of Ascalonian refugees that his behavior sat on the edge of the cliff to madness, and that had been years ago.
Yet somehow she had managed to be disappointed despite such low expectations. To say the summit had gone badly would be a grave disservice to the definition of "badly." Evennia considered it a minor miracle that she and the rest of the Krytan envoy had been allowed to leave at all considering the invective, accusations, and slander that Adelbern had vomited during the short meeting. To hear the deranged king tell it, the Krytan envoys intent had been to get Ascalon to drop their guard so that the Krytans could help their charr allies finish the job.
Of course, King Adelbern had also been certain that Evennia was a White Mantle whore looking to corrupt the youth of Ascalon. It had been nothing but self-preservation that had kept Evennia from slapping the old man so hard that he would be able to drink his own teeth.
And now, they were making the return trip through dangerous territory empty-handed. There really wasn't too many ways this could get worse.
Of course, she should have known that the minute she thought that, she was inviting trouble.
The flap of her tent opened like someone was trying to sneak inside. It was followed by a nervous woman's voice saying, "Lady Evennia? There... might be a problem."
"A problem related to the Ascalonians, or is this a unique, unrelated problem we can toss onto the pile?"
"A unique one, my lady."
Evennia groaned, and massaged her temple. "Come in. Let me hear it."
Kaeda had been one of the Shining Blade for a good long time, almost as long as Evennia for that matter. She had been a reliable person and a survivor. Which was why she had been entrusted with the amulet she was holding out nervously.
That amulet had a history that extended from before humans even first arrived on the continent of Tyria. The earliest record of it was that it had been one of the great King Doric's most valuable possessions, and there was reason to believe it had existed before even the first king's time. Unfailingly, the amulet bore the identity of the successor to Doric's line, and as such, it had been kept sacred by first the Royal Guard, and then the Shining Blade after the royal house fell. It was how the Shining Blade had been able to identify now Queen Salma, even though she had been in hiding.
It was also why Evennia understood exactly what the problem was. Because that was not Salma's face being displayed within the amulet.
"It... it literally changed not even a minute ago, my lady," Keadi said, her hands trembling. "Does... does that mean... that Queen Salma..."
"If the Queen had died, I would have gotten word almost immediately. I would not worry yourself about that," Evennia said, trying to convey more confidence than she felt. It was entirely possible that the Mursatt and the White Mantle had attacked while they had been trying to appeal for an alliance with Ascalon, and also entirely possible that the queen had been killed in that attack.
In addition, the face she was looking at was not one she recognized. Unless King Jadon had another illegitimate heir, which didn't seem likely considering the time frame involved, Salma had been the youngest of his children. While it was true that some of Doric's bloodline lingered in Ascalon, this man was no Ascalonian. Maybe Elonian, but Elona didn't hold any particular tie to Doric, nor did they pretend to. He didn't have the right features to be Canthan, either.
Who was this man, and where did he come from?
"Kaeda, send our fastest messenger bird to Lion's Arch. Confirm the Queen's life or death, and have instructions to send a reply back to the ruins of Rin. We will set up camp there until we get a response. In the meantime, have Johna sketch up a copy of that man onto parchment. I will need it."
The Shining Blade member asked the obvious question. "What about the charr? They prowl that land."
"We would have to cross that territory anyway," Evennia replied. "Whether it takes five days to cross or six shouldn't make that much difference. If we are destined to be attacked, we're going to be attacked regardless."
"Understood, my lady," Kaeda replied, then tentatively added, "Do... do my directives still stand?"
Evennia nodded grimly, "Keep the amulet safe under any circumstances, regardless of any order I make to the rest of our people."
Kaeda returned the nod, and slipped out of Evennia's tent to fulfill her orders, leaving Evennia to nurse the beginnings of a headache to go along with her melancholy and fatigue.
Why did the gods hate her?
One great mercy awaited Evennia when the Krytan envoy set up camp in Rin. The messenger bird that had been sent was waiting for them, and coaxed down from the ruins to deliver the news that while the White Mantle and their Mursatt allies had attacked, Queen Salma had survived the battle and that the White Mantle had been resoundingly defeated, their members scattered, broken, and their Mursatt leaders vanquished.
That still left the mystery of the new face in the amulet, however, and it meant Evennia had to make an abrupt change in their plans.
Fortunately, she had unwittingly made the right decision by assembling her envoy entirely from members of the Shining Blade. She had wanted people she could trust implicitly as she went into Ascalon, not realizing until just now how important that trust was going to be.
All nine of them waited for her around the campfire, and Evennia didn't want to keep them in suspense any longer than she already had. She took her place at the head of the circle, and sat down with her elbows on her knees and her fingers steepled in front of her nose. It might have appeared like Evennia was looking into the fire, but in reality, the Shining Blade leader was more looking through it off into space, trying to figure out how to say what she had to say without causing a potential panic.
Eventually she decided that if the news was going to cause a panic, it didn't matter how she broke it. "As some of you might be aware already, the successor's amulet no longer displays that of Queen Salma. Nobody knows exactly what this means, or why the successor's image changed. We don't even know who this man is, or where he is from."
She finally made eye contact with her trusted men and women. "But what we do know is that Salma is the rightful Queen of Kryta, and that knowledge of this usurper cannot be allowed to become common knowledge. The Shining Blade needs to find him and... deal with him. Somehow."
"Are you suggesting we find him and kill him?" Elijah, the weapons master of the group asked.
Evennia shook her head to dissuade the notion that assassination was going to be their first and last option. "Not until we learn more about this person's intentions. For all we know, he has no idea he knows who he is. Or the magic within the amulet simply went haywire, and this all an accident. Regardless, it is imperative that until we know... this must remain secret."
She was relieved that she received nothing but agreement from the rest of the envoy, even though she expected as much. "However, that means we will have to act in secrecy as well. Not even the Queen can be allowed to know what we are investigating for."
The next part was were Evennia was nervous she wasn't going to like the response. "Which means... none of us can return to Lion's Arch."
At least the worst reaction she received was quizzical, waiting for her to explain herself. Which she did. "It would be far too suspicious if we returned and then started vanishing to gods-know-where. Queen Salma might not be experienced, but she's not stupid. She'll know when her loyal guard is acting behind her back, and that's not questioning we can be allowed to take at this point."
Sensing the acceptance of that logic, Evennia laid out her plan. "The only one that will be allowed to return to Lion's Arch is Kaeda. Being the holder of the successor's amulet, she would be the one expected to survive any circumstances. Kaeda, you will return, and report directly to Livia. Explain the circumstances to her and no one else. As far as the Queen is to know, we were all ambushed by charr here in Rin. This is of vital importance, understand?"
Kaeda nodded resolutely, "Yes, my lady."
"The rest of us will escort her through the Shiverpeaks, but we will break off before we enter Krytan land. Elijah, Varamas, and Bartum will join me personally as we investigate. The rest of you will establish a base camp either in the Shiverpeaks or in the northern wilderness of Kryta for the sake of compiling whatever information we find."
Finally, Evennia closed her orders. "I know we were all expecting and hoping for rest and reprieve from our sacred duties, but I'm afraid the gods aren't done with us yet. I am so very sorry for this."
1084 AE – Tyrian Reckoning
Answers had come slowly, but she had at least found a strong lead. Now the limitations of her investigation had become practical, rather than of time. Evennia needed a lot more manpower to travel into the unknown. But her options on that score were limited.
She obviously couldn't turn to the rest of the Shining Blade. Queen Salma would notice, and would start asking questions Evennia wasn't ready to answer. She obviously couldn't appeal to the Queen directly for the same reasons. She needed someone she trusted but also outside of those she normally trusted.
Which led her here, to the new guild hall for the Heroes of Ascalon.
Or... at least, the edge of the cleared property in the back of the guild hall, which despite the guild's name was quite well inside the kingdom of Kryta, near the Shire of Beetletun, to be exact. Evennia couldn't risk being seen knocking on the front door. Dead women weren't supposed to do that, after all. She had to bide her time, then try and get the attention of someone.
Mercifully, she didn't have to wait long. The back door swung open, and the guild's leader, Devona stepped through, hammer on her shoulder, very resolutely taking a very straight path towards a rather large boulder lodged in the back of the property that the warrior apparently decided needed to be smacked repeatedly with considerable force with said hammer. The warrior was making such an unholy noise that Evennia wasn't sure how she was going to get Devona's attention.
But apparently, roughly five years of peace hadn't dulled Devona's senses in the slightest. As Evennia moved across the overgrowth to try and get into a better position, Devona had apparently sensed the movement, stopping in mid swing, and using that momentum to swing her hammer into a ready position directly pointed at Evennia.
"Whoever you are, step forward this instant before I decide to turn you into something resembling paste," Devona ordered loudly.
That was not an idle threat. Evennia knew that from first hand experience and second hand reports. It wasn't exactly how Evennia had wanted to show herself, but it worked. She slowly stood, and instantly hushed any aghast response. "Shhhhh! Please be quiet."
Thank the gods Devona complied. "Evennia? You're alive?" the warrior whispered in a voice that sounded more like a hiss. "No one has heard from you in..." she dropped off as she started actually doing the mental math.
"It's been five years, and no one is more aware of this than I," Evennia interjected. "I've been away on something of great importance, and something that must remain on the tongues of as few people as possible, especially anyone with the Queen's ear. Can I come inside?"
Devona obviously didn't understand any of this, but the trust was thankfully returned. The warrior gestured to the door, and said, "Very well. Quickly."
"Thank you," Evennia replied, taking stride behind Devona as they retreated to the back door. "I don't mean to sound dire, but I am in desperate need of aid, and it can't come from my usual sources."
Devona shut the door behind them, and now she allowed the suspicion in her voice to slip. "Why is that? Is it for the same reason that you don't want anyone to know you're still in the land of the living?"
"What I am about to tell you cannot leave this hall," Evennia answered, "For the good of Kryta."
Present Day
Braham stopped short of addressing the Commander, hesitating before calling out. He had never been fond of secrets, and all he knew about the Shining Blade was that they were basically a secret collection of secrets that kept secret secrets. And he really didn't like that the Commander at some point had become one of their number, and that one of those secret members wanted to talk to the Commander about something secret.
He wanted to know what was going on, but didn't know how to demand it without potentially causing another rift in a relationship that had just started to heal. The norn closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and decided to trust the Commander, at least for the moment. If it was something he needed to know... he had to have faith the Commander would let him in.
So he flapped his lips with a sharp exhale, then finally said, "Hey... Commander... uhhhh... there's an Exemplar Kerida outside. From the Shining Blade, I guess? She says she needs to talk to you... right now? Or not. If you want, I can toss her her into the lake. Yes? No?"