The Higardi
Arnika was a crowded city set in a grid pattern. At over a million souls within the city walls, it was easily the largest urban area on all of Dominus. As the capital of Guardia, it was also the richest. Merchants, politicians, generals, clergy, and dozens of other ranking professions were headquartered in this city, representing the intelligentsia of the Higardi.
It also had filthy slums and arrogant, good-for-nothing landlords who produced nothing and sat back while earning profits which were way too high for their shoddy buildings to be justified… but this was largely missed by the common visitor, whose eyes would have been diverted by all the golden roofed- palaces and marble temples.
Among the many travelers in the streets were Myles and Vitalia Domina. Vitalia, or "Vi" for short, was a rare kind among her people; a woman warrior, one who used to work with the Dark Savant… of course, she was a foolish 18 year old girl back then… that was seven years ago… and before he took her right eye from her. Ripped it out with his own metal claws… she wished she knew why he did that. Her companion, Myles, was a wayward soul… the kind of fellow who would greet you politely one minute, and stab you in the back the next. He may have been a charming fellow on the surface, but beneath it all, he was a rogue at heart… in the worst way possible. The two Higardi walked down the street to a Tavern called "He'li's." He'li herself was an old friend of Vi's, and more than a friend to Myles… even if it was sort of an "on-and-off" sort of thing with those two… and since Myles had yet to pay his bar tab… it was understandably off for the moment.
"You think she'll recognize me after all this time?" Vi asked Myles.
"Well, your hair is still the same brown shade, your voice hasn't changed, and from what you've told me, you still have the same bare midriff as before." Myles replied.
"Thank you very much for that comment" Vi replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Opening the doors of the tavern, the two adventurers walked into the bar section… the place was busy! It seemed as if no two patrons were of the same race… or species! Humans, Umpani, Trynnie, Elves, Halflings… even a Mook!
"Funny, this place looks like what I see after I've had a few drinks!" Myles commented.
"Very funny Mr. Can't-hold-down-a-fuzzfass-fizzer." Vi replied, referencing the name of a popular drink in these parts.
"That's not very fair of you. It was you who dared me to drink it…it was a strong drink…"
"A drink a Trynnie could hold down!" Vi said, laughing. "You were beaten by a four-foot tall rodent!"
"Well, they made that drink, Vi! Of course they could hold it down!"
"Let's just go see He'li, alright?"
And they did. He'li was a no-nonsense tavern keeper. She didn't just serve drinks, she owned the place.
"Welcome to He'li's folks! We've got rooms, rumors, and rum! Try saying that ten times fast. What can I get you fol-… Vi? Vi Domina! My goodness!"
"He'li! It's so good to see you. After all this time. It's been so long."
"Long! I'll say it has been! You said you would be gone a week! How long was it, Vi?"
"Seven years, He'li. Seven long years."
"What the hell happened. Vi? There's a lot of difference between seven days and seven years."
"I'll explain later. Right now, I could use a drink."
"On the house Vi." He'li replied, giving Vi a mug of ale.
"This'll hit the spot. Thanks He'li!" "Sure thing" she said to her old friend… then turned her attention to who she was with…
"And you Myles! You're just who I wanted to see. Your tab is due…"
"No wait! He'li… I can explain."
"Now now, Myles. No sweet-talking your way out of this one. You owe me Myles. I'll have to ask you to leave if you don't pay up. What's it gonna be?"
Sighing, Myles took out the gold coins needed to pay for his "super drinker" sized tab. He could stand human ale quite well… as He'li knew first hand.
"Good thinking, Myles, good thinking…" He'li told him.
Elsewhere in the city, a messenger arrived at the temple of the Brotherhood of the Ascension. He had come from the monastery not far from the city, with news of Anselm's disappearance. Anselm was the leader of the Brotherhood, and the local temple leader, Lord Braffit, was the second-in-command. Furthermore, he had received a letter from Anselm just a month ago, to be opened in case of his disappearance.
Reading the note, Braffit's blue eyes opened wide, and his already white skin grew pale.
"So… Anselm feels the time has come to open the crypt and use Cierdan's weapons? Then these are dark days indeed!"
Each neighborhood of Arnika had its own purpose. Some of these neighborhoods were centered around an industry, like the iron district. Others, such as the temple district, were focused on serving the spiritual needs of several different faiths. Most religiously-oriented districts were devoted to a single religion, however. The district of the brotherhood was located not too far from the southern gate of the city, near the fountain of the sea nymph.
He'li's tavern, by contrast, was far to the north, in the entertainment district, a place where the later it became, the fewer decent people were outside.
This was in stark contrast to the theater district, where great plays, ancient and contemporary, were performed for the delight of the mostly upper-class patrons. There was also a music district, which catered to rich and poor alike. Vi thought it was a place of culture, Myles thought it was a loud headache waiting to happen. Then, there were the ethnic districts…
"You know I've got a lot to say about that." Myles told Vi, stuffing his mouth with a leg of lamb he had ordered from the kitchen at He'li's. "The Trynnie? They're not too bad with the five-finger discount skills, but upstairs? Well, let's just say they don't have all their crackers on one plate."
"Do you find something wrong with every race besides our own?" Vi asked him, weary of hearing it by now.
"It's not like I don't find plenty of things wrong with us, my girl. Take those stupid monks, for example." Vi took offense to this. The Brotherhood of the Ascension had taken her in as a child after her parents had died in a freak accident. Lord Braffit was like a father to her…
"The Brotherhood is a good order Myles. Say what you will about their superstitions and their apocalyptic doom-saying… but beneath it all, they're good, fine people… and I'm NOT your girl!"
"Yeah, or so I've heard. They keep talking about rising into heaven from a mountain if we put three magic objects into… holes… or some such crazy thing."
"You don't believe it, do you?"
"Vi, I've been from one end of Dominus to the other, and in my 27 years I have never seen, not once, any sign that a true God or gods exist. All those powerful deities, spirits, and other such rot are nothing more than wizards and other mages using their power to frighten ordinary people, or even worse, in the case of "Phoonzang", the gods are just stories made up to explain in the world what magic, math, and science can't."
"No wonder Braffit calls you a wayward soul."
"I'd rather be wayward than stuck in that marble temple all day… its not exactly my idea of fun… more like… standing around in a big marble tomb!"
Vi Domina sighed. She and Myles were mutual friends of He'li. They had met years ago when they were apprentices to various groups that supplied so-called "adventurers"; she had come from the temple of the Brotherhood, he had come from… well… he used to work for the "import-export" business, but now he was a "freelancer"… a "scab"… and frequently clashed with his old associates. Somehow, he had not ended up hacked to pieces or had his throat slit. His passing information to the soldiers and city guards of Arnika probably had something to do with why the was frequently attacked, but why few of these attacks succeeded.
Each of the several dozen Higardi cities had an army garrison stationed in or immediately next to it. The day-to-day security was overseen by city guards, recruited from the local populace, and named according to local custom. For Arnika, this meant that the police were known as the "Higardi Lunar Legion", after the city's ancient moon-venerating religion… sure, that custom had very few adherents now. No one besides "walking fossils and crazy aunt Gretchen" still followed the moon cult, as Myles liked to say. In any case, the HLL paid people to inform on various illicit activities. Myles was one of their very best informants, to the constant anger of his former bosses.
Finishing their meal, the two adventurers left to do their separate ways; Vi returned to the temple, and Myles went back into the seedy district he called home… an apartment next to the docks… that's right… the sailors district… yes, that one. The kind with imported sins competing with domestic ones. Still, not everything in that part of the city was bad… there was the old city hall, now occupied the Mook embassy. The Mook were a largely peaceful race from a region in Dominus called Trea. Vi thought their eight-foot tall, shaggy physique was intimidating; Myles called them "giant, walking carpets who don't shut up."
"Urq, report! What have you learned from your psionics today?" Screg asked
"My psionic reports have indicated that a large number of local inhabitants refer to the 'Sea Caves' when asked about the location of Marten. It is neither confirmed nor denied that this is actually the case. Our scanning of the region commonly referred to as the 'Sea Caves' has revealed a significant presence of ectoplasmic activity in the vicinity, what the less enlightened call 'ghosts.' Further readings have indicated that the only feasible routes to these caves is by boat or by flying, as simple ambulation is unable to bypass the aquatic paths to the caves, nor is it able to pass through the solid rock of the mountains which surround them."
"What is so significant about this 'Marten'?" Screg asked, adjusting his plate armor a bit.
"Marten is the individual who stole the Destinae Dominus from the monastery of the Brotherhood of the Ascension near Arnika. The Destinae Dominus is said to contain all knowledge of the gods, and so, Marten coveted it. Once a member of the Higardi Lunar Legion, he went to the monastery and destroyed the glass sphere in which the Destinae Dominus was contained. Somehow escaping from the monks, he made his way to Arnika first, and then, gathering some followers who believed him to be a prophet, made his way to Trynton, where he was sheltered from the Higardi forcers pursuing him. Eventually, he gave the Trynnie some sort of artifact and made a pact with them, then he left to hide out in an abandoned fort now occupied by the Trang, in the place now known as Marten's Bluff. A force of a thousand soldiers was dispatched to bring him in, but Marten trapped the fortress so well that they had to turn back and reformulate a plan, upon which Marten and his men fled. How they came to the Sea Caves is unknown, although it is believed that Marten, if he indeed possessed all knowledge of the gods, would find a way to bring his followers there. Of course, such a story needs to be balanced out against the reliable accounts that Marten, was, in fact, insane. His common appellation, 'Mad Marten', was in use not long after the Destinae Dominus had been stolen. Some of his writings, recovered from Marten's Bluff, are indicative of a frenzied madman, perhaps driven to insanity by the effects of the Destinae Dominus. Further information on the subject is mere rumor and conjecture."
"That was a rather… small report." Screg replied. "Regardless, how is this Marten connected with the event called 'The Ascension?'"
"It is believed that three items, the Destinae Dominus, the Astral Dominae, and the Chaos Moliri, are needed for this Ascension to proceed. As you yourself stated yesterday, scanning Ascension Peak revealed three receptors and an inactive portal. If one were to place the three items on the Peak, it is believed that the portal would activate, and one could travel to the place the Higardi believes is the Cosmic Circle. If Marten indeed possesses the Destinae Dominus, he is a major piece of the puzzle. Of course, Marten himself is likely dead, as the events surrounding his theft occurred well over a century ago."
Screg took a moment to analyze all of this. "If what you say is true, then we hold a third of the key right with us!" And with that, Screg gestured to a back room with an anti-magic field active inside of it. In the small chamber was a sphere glowing a light shade of purple… almost pinkish in hue. On it was a star map which accurately depicted the stars over Ascension Peak as one would see them from there at night. If one were to stare at the globe, one would get a sense of the power of chaos held within… the power of change contained in a smooth crystal sphere with a circumference of about 30 centimeters… the Chaos Moliri… held by the Mook in Arnika… right beneath everyone's noses. Protected from scrying and detection… it had been found by the Mook as it crashed into the ground near Arnika, after having fallen from… well… the Mook didn't know where. It had been taken to their embassy, where it was quickly identified as the Moliri… and now, was too valuable to move, lest a whole city full of "power-mad" humans get their hands on it…
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At the center of the city stood a great white tower. Standing at over 500 meters high, it was the tallest structure in the city. Previously, the Dark Savant himself had built his own hideous tower there, at a fraction of the size of the current one. The archmages of Arnika would not stand for it, and, with the blessing of the emperor, they moved their own great tower into position over the Savant's tower… then dropped it. Had the Savant himself been in the tower when it had happened, life would be far easier. As it is, his dread Black Ship was his home base, not some hastily-assembled tower. That vessel of his, made from the scales of black dragons and the bones of sea serpents, prowled the central ocean of Dominus, spreading fear wherever it was rumored to be sighted.
Arnika's white tower, by contrast, was a place of peace and enlightenment. Mages from all races, of all creeds, from all places could gather there to learn and experiment. All magics which did not cause undo danger or violate basic tenets of morality were allowed. This meant Necromancy and Demonology were banned, but most other magics were permitted.
This was Arnika, a city full of contradictions. Rich and poor, powerful and powerless, everywhere and nowhere.
Author's Note: Hi! This chapter will be expanded upon in time to almost twice as long. Until then, on to Trynton in the next chapter!