In this following treatise, you might find my conclusions to run counter to those of previous authors, even authors who have deeply and extensively studied both the Abyss and the Outer Sphere. It is in this disagreement that you should learn the first lesson about the nature of the Abyss, while seemingly an eternal realm, it is only eternal in its existence, not in its character, for being a chaotically aligned place has given any particular structure only temporary status. So, I would suggest to future demonologists or those who are interested in either studying or fighting the Abyss and its progeny, to not hold this or any other document as being an honest relating of the state of affairs when you face these struggles.
Before we get into the general nature of Demonic Invasions, I would like to say a few words on Abyssal itself as a language. For those who wish to retain a semblance of their sanity, I would highly recommend using both Comprehend Languages and Tongues when attempting to converse in Abyssal. This is due to the frustratingly changing nature of Abyssal, compounded with the recognition that Abyssal is a language spoken across the second vastest plane in the Great Beyond, if planes themselves are said to have any sense of a finite size. The sheer spread of space prevents a singular language from developing but surprisingly, I believe the nature of the Abyss itself, as some have argued a kind of gross living being in itself, does at least tie together some basic principles.
Within any particular Abyssal Realm, there is a local dialect of Abyssal whose understanding is fairly universal. Occasionally this is a kind of form that follows the whims of the presiding Demon Lord, but usually it arises from sharing a similar space with others that you generally need to communicate with.
So at its best, Abyssal is a locally understood language with terms that are shared across the Abyss itself through means and mechanisms unknown to my studies. That said, it is not an easily comprehended language even if one understands those shared terms. If a demon points at a place and says 'fight' in Abyssal, they might mean that there was a fight there, that there will be a fight there, that you are to go there and fight, you are to fight it there, or any other potential combination of tense and subject. I believe that much of this explains the constant infighting between demons, as they neither fully understand one another nor do they make efforts to. And this disagreement and lack of understanding I believe is a part of what makes Abyssal an integral part of the Abyss, as it destroys meaning and communication; if a demon tells a slave to 'work', they will gleefully beat them until the slave starts doing what they intended to do, while the next time they tell them to 'work' they may mean something else, resulting in another round of beatings.
As the madness of demonologists demonstrates, it actually helps not to be sane in trying to decipher Abyssal without the aid of magic. Comparing spells for contacting Hell, which are often highly prescribed and any deviation from the age old formula results in calamity, the means and methods of contacting demons and the other inhabitants of the Abyss are, on the surface, simplistic. The challenge lies in a lack of specificity. A ritual may call for invoking something on the third. Does that mean the third month? The third day of the month? The third beat of the drum? It may seem incongruous that demons, who wish to be unleashed to cause as much destruction as possible on the Material plane would make such contacts easy, but their revelry in destruction for its own sake is reflected in the willingness to see even their petitioners destroyed.
And now we are to the core of the nature of the Abyss and where I believe my research has deviated most from others. The Abyss, unlike any other realm, is a realm of destruction for destruction's sake. In a realm like the Negative Energy plane or the Shadow plane, destruction has an end, an accepted ruin, an erased page, a flattened, lifeless nothingness, but the Abyss takes it another step. Ash and ruin can be destroyed by forming something new out of its remnants, a kind of destruction in creation, but more often than not things are not reduced to that, but are merely rent apart or fused together into something new, so that its previous form has been destroyed. Such is the nature of the ever undulating and writhing of the environment itself in the Abyss.
There does seem, however, to be a kind of hierarchy to this destruction. At the highest level, or most pressing, is the destruction of creatures not of the Abyss. Next is a shifting balance between fellow creatures and manufactured objects. Then there is the environment followed closely by the body of the monster themselves. Put two similar demons in a room with an orc and a chest, and they'll likely torture the orc to death, then alternatively smash the chest or kill one another, followed by the survivor beating its fists on the walls until either they or it breaks. You should never expect a demon to be a passive guard if given such a duty; they will break and kill anything that they are not prevented from breaking or killing. Even their charge might be scarred or distorted.
This brings me to my final point, that of a Demonic Invasion. I believe this term is quite incorrect and would much prefer the use of 'Demonic Incursion'. Invasions suggest a kind of considered malice, with plans for supply, an organizing of forces, and a goal in mind. Demonic Incursions are much more like wildfires or storms, spreading where they can and devouring anything within their reach. This spread is often hampered by their own infighting, with demons killing demons out of boredom or sport or out of curiosity as to how much their fellow can endure before expiring. Some have written that their goal is the spreading of sin, so as to create more sinful souls to feel the Abyss, but I believe there is no such need; the Material plane is vast and within that vastness, ample opportunities for sin, and as noted above, the Abyss recycles what it destroys so it may destroy it again, and so only in the fringes, where the Abyss crumbles into the true madness of the Maelstrom, does it ever truly lose any of its bulk.
And so it is with the Worldwound. Like a breakwater, the wardstones keep this incursion contained, holding back the ever lapping tide of demons that are spat out by this rent in reality. Ironically, Mendev's mere existence helps contain this incursion, as they are a much more desirable target for destruction than the frozen wastes of the Crown of the World or the barren Realm of the Mammoth Lords. But, as is the nature of demons to lack cohesion, even in this there are those who fight to spread their taint upon these lands.
Finally, it would be unwise to consider the wardstones to be a permanent solution for those who rely on its protection. Long has Numeria avoided its responsibility in fighting this threat to our world, and of all the peoples of Galorian, our closeness to and use of the relics of a space faring culture whose bulwarks, in time, also failed them, should give us the understanding that, no matter how thick the chains, no matter how intricate the locks, and no matter how powerful the incantations, a captive beast will not be held so forever.
5 Sarenith, 4716 AR. Battle of Starfall
NAVI-SN 5 – New track entering field of view, designation Rho. Passing data to NAVI-LB for analysis.
NAVI-LB – Rho identified as Demon, Babau. Vulnerable to CI . Resistant to plasma.
NAVI-TC – CMDR recommend using chain gun with CI against target Rho.
CMDR – Order 5837 NAVI-SN task SN 2 and SN 4 to GNRY-RF.
NAVI-SN – Order 5837 acknowledged.
NAVI-SN 2 – Reporting as ordered, GNRY-RF
NAVI-SN 4 – Reporting as ordered, GNRY-RF.
CMDR – Order 5838 GNRY-RF to use SN 2 and SN 4 to provide data to GNRY-FC
GNRY-RF – Order 5838 acknowledged. Telemetry incoming GNRY-FC.
GNRY-FC – Acknowledged GNRY RF.
CMDR – Order 5839 GNRY-FC to use supplied data for chain gun target Rho. Report if Rho no longer targetable. Move discussion to subchannel.
GNRY-FC – Order 5839 acknowledged. Commencing firing.
GNRY – Request release of plasma lance target Rho.
CMDR – Request denied GNRY-FC. Rho resistant to plasma.
GNRY – Acknowledged.
NAVI-SN 5 – Building collapse detected. Passing data to NAVI-MP and NAVI-MN.
NAVI-MN – Debris does not block advance. CMDR recommend ignore building collapse.
NAVI-TC – CMDR recommend task SN 1 scan building collapse for survivors.
NAVI-MN – CMDR do not recommend retasking SN 1 from providing data for NAVI-MN.
CMDR – Order 5840 task SN 1 to scan building collapse for survivors. NAVI-MN to retain SN 3 data feed.
NAVI-SN – Order 5840 acknowledged.
NAVI-MN – Order 5840 acknowledged. NAVI-MN efficiency reduced 50%. Recommend speed reduction.
NAVI-MP – No path available to reach objective in designated time if speed reduced. Recommend maintaining speed.
CMDR – Maintain Order 4224: Advance to primary objective at maximum speed.
CMDR – NAVI-TC status of analysis Technician Volgeling 'new fight' statement of purpose.
NAVI-TC – Analysis ongoing. As noted, NAVI-LB updated with target data. GNRY provided with CI rounds. 'diplomacy or rhetoric' analysis incomplete.
GNRY-RF – Rho moving to CQC.
GNRY – Request release of claws target Rho.
NAVI-LB – Warning: Rho resistant to claws. CI not yet installed.
CMDR – Warning acknowledged. Request approved.
GNRY – Rho immobilized with claws. Damage minimal. GNRY-FC reports immobilization increasing efficiency by 78%
CMDR – ENGI report status.
ENGI – All systems within tolerance CMDR.
GNRY – GNRY-FC reports Rho eliminated.
CMDR – Acknowledged GNRY-FC.
CMDR – Order 5841 SN 2 to provide data to NAVI-MN.
NAVI-SN – Order 5841 acknowledged.
NAVI-SN 4 – Reporting as ordered, NAVI-MN.
CMDR – Order 5842 task SN 4 to scan building collapse for survivors.
NAVI-MN – NAVI-MN efficiency returned to 100%.
NAVI-SN – Order 5842 acknowledged.
*This is interesting*
CMDR – COMM, state origin of unknown process.
COMM – COMM-RD not reporting any signal reception.
NAVI-TC – Hypothesis: 'magical' interference.
HULL – Reporting unknown file: in memory block 9.
CMDR – Order 5843 HULL-DC, isolate memory block 9. Destroy memory block 9.
HULL-DC – Order 5843 acknowledged.
CMDR – Order 5844 COMM-RD to contact TAU-3-UN-38 to update damage log re: memory block 9.
COMM-RD – Order 5844 acknowledged.
NAVI-SN – SN 2 and 4 report building collapse scan complete. No survivors. No victims. Hypothesis: building abandoned.
NAVI-SN 5 – 4 armoured humanoids entering field of view, designation Sigma 1-4. Passing data to NAVI-LB for analysis.
NAVI-LB – Sigma 1-4 identified as Kellid, Ghost Wolf clan. Warning: highly aggressive towards robots. Visual data does not suggest demonic affiliation. Melee weapons.
NAVI-TC – CMDR recommend display of strength to dissuade aggression.
NAVI-TC – CMDR revised recommendation based on Technician Volgeling 'new fight' statement of purpose. Recommend use of COMM-SP to transmit NAVI-LB file 332.
CMDR – Order 5845 COMM-SP transmit NAVI-LB file 332, tone: encouraging.
COMM-SP – Order 5845 acknowledged. File 332 tone modulated. Output follows: "Kellid brethren! You may not trust me, but today we face a common enemy."
CMDR – Order 5846 NAVI-SN 5 deep scan field of view for flying target.
NAVI-SN – Order 5846 acknowledged.
CMDR – Order 5847 GNRY set plasma lance for aerial dispersion.
GNRY – Order 5847 acknowledged.
NAVI-SN 5 – New track entering deep field of view, designation Tau. Passing data to NAVI-LB for analysis.
NAVI-LB – Tau identified as Demon, Mezzalorn. Vulnerable to CI . Resistant to plasma.
NAVI-TC – CMDR recommend using chain gun with CI against target Rho.
CMDR – Recommendation acknowledged, overruled. Order 5846 NAVI-MN full stop.
NAVI-MN – Order 5846 acknowledged.
NAVI-MP – Order 4224 in jeopardy.
CMDR – Order 5847 GNRY-RF to use SN 1-4 to provide data to GNRY-FC
GNRY-RF – Order 5847 acknowledged. Telemetry incoming GNRY-FC.
GNRY-FC – Acknowledged GNRY RF.
CMDR – Order 5848 GNRY-FC to use supplied data for plasma lance target Tau.
GNRY-FC – Order 5848 acknowledged. Commencing firing, plasma lance aerial dispersion.
CMDR – Order 5849 NAVI-LB search 'cooperation'
NAVI-LB – Order 5849 acknowledged. Files 487, 533, 973, 288
NAVI-TC – CMDR recommend file 973 best fits 'new fight' statement of purpose.
CMDR – Order 5850 COMM-SP transit LAVI-LB file 973, tone: proud
COMM-SP – Order 5850 acknowledge. File 973 tone modulated. Output follows: "As I strike them from the air, so you shall strike them from the ground. Together, we will bring ruin to our foes and prove our might!"
NAVI-SN 5 – Sigma 1-4 moving to engage Tau in CQC.
NAVI-TC – Outcome optimal. Recommend CMDR transmit processes leading to outcome to other XAU-4 units, emphasis do not use exact wording.
CMDR – Order 5851 COMM-RD transmit data file N2 to TAU-3-UN-38 for redistribution to XAU-4 units.
COMM-RD – Order 5851 acknowledged.
NAVI-MP – Order 4224 still in jeopardy.
CMDR – Order 5852 NAVI-MP recalculate Order 4224 using booster jets.
NAVI-MP – Order 5852 acknowledged. Order 4224 no longer in jeopardy.
"The Black Sovereign, in the name of the Numerian Council, takes pleasure in presenting the Commendation Medal to First Lieutenant Ex Eh You Four Un Seven Numerian Army. For conspicuous gallantry at the risk of its life …" the audible gasps from the assembled crowd forced the herald to pause in her reading the citation. While the idea of a robot, a gearsman, having an official rank in the Numerian Army was one thing, claiming it had a 'life' was something that even the technocratic leaning city dwellers seemed to balk at.
But Bliks had insisted on that wording. If they were to truly see a time where humans and machines could work side by side, with neither one nor the other having precedence over the other, the language used to separate them must first be blurred then wiped out entirely.
Kul-Inkit's sharp cough returned silence to the crowd. The former consort to the previous Black Sovereign and now Chief of Staff of the Army of Numeria scanned the gathering from behind a fresh bandage wrapping the right side of her face, a token of a vicious struggle with a Glabrezu demon. The monstrosity had slipped into the Inner Sector under the guise of a Juggernaut robot, only holding its glee for destruction in check long enough to bypass the now thinly spread patrols guarding the Palace of Fallen Stars; the Juggernauts were perhaps the most laconic of the robot series, often frustratingly requiring a Director robot to translate why it couldn't do as ordered. When it finally broke and attacked a group of citizens fleeing to the safety of the keep, Kul-Inkit intervened and personally slew the beast. The injury would be easily magically healed, her eye restored with a Rejuvenation spell, but only to a point; battle scars were seen as great honours amongst the Kellid tribes and Kul-Inkit's body was not a stranger to them either.
"… at the risk of its life above and beyond it's call of duty, while serving as an Armor Officer in Starfall, Sovereign's Reach, Numeria on five Sarenith, 4716. First Lieutenant Four Un Seven was operating independently in the defense of Starfall with special designation to defend the Silver Gate when a disorganized force of anti-Numerian forces consisting of hundreds of members initiated a close proximity, sustained but chaotic assault, using spells and melee attacks on the Killbox district of Starfall. Seeing the perimeter had been breached and its continued presence at the Silver Gate as unnecessary, First Lieutenant Four Un Seven swiftly engaged the attacking force. A telekinetic attack disabled its force field but with resolve it took command of local disorganized infantry and brought the fight to the enemy. As the enemy drew near Lieutenant Four Un Seven fired its chain gun at point blank range until its ammo supply had been expended."
Indeed the trail of demonic bodies left behind the Annihilator was extensive, its cold iron rounds having been put to devastating purpose, but even its internal ammunition production capacity had its limits and it only had so much cold iron to work with; mere skymetal would not suffice to pierce the supernaturally tough hide of many of these demons. The idea of a resupply unit, perhaps a modified Reclamation robot, stirred in Bliks' mind, but that plan might be weeks into the future.
"Lieutenant Four Un Seven proceeded to, at great risk to its life, engage the enemy in hand to hand combat, pinning enemies so that others might deal lethal strikes. Lieutenant Four Un Seven's courage, steadfast commitment to the defense of Starfall, and ability to fight while seriously impaired prevented the enemy from overrunning the district and seizing citizens still trapped there and ultimately prevented the enemy from gaining a foothold from which to attack the rest of Starfall. Lieutenant Four UN Seven's extraordinary heroism and selflessness, above and beyond the call of duty, are keeping with the highest traditions of Numeria, and reflect great credit upon itself, its fellow Ex Eh You Four units, and the Numerian Army."
With a swift tap, Hex brought home the hammer onto the small skymetal pin, driving the newly minted Commendation Medal into the scarred hull of the Annihilator robot that towered over him, despite the hastily erected scaffold he new stood on. While a Heavy Repair Drone had sealed the breaches in its hull and servants had wiped it clean of both spilled blood and Numerian fluid, the scratches and demonic claw marks dug deep into its armoured hide. Even now a faint cloud of nanites swarmed over its skin, returning the armour to its full protection, but at its request, like Kul-Inkit, superficial scars would be left. Its decision to emulate the Kellid barbarian tradition was an unexpected but pleasing one to Bliks.
From her perch above her personal quarters in the palace, she looked down on the ceremony on the parade ground constructed between the palace and the former Technic League compound, now a burgeoning cathedral to her god, Brigh, the Clockwork goddess. At her own request she was absent, another in a series of steps to ingrain the authority and supremacy of Hex. By personally presenting the medals without the presence of the so called 'Androffan Witch of Numeria', none of the glory would be shared with her and his prestige would thus rise. Eryno, of course, would be present, as Numeria's Spymaster and personal bodyguard of the Sovereign, neither of which would question Hex's authority. The three still shared their cybernetic link and in private there was no sense of any of having authority over the others, but public forms must be obeyed. Needless to say, there were those in the crowd who nervously looked up to where she sat, a mixture of fear for what she could do and what she could protect them from playing through their minds.
Bliks sighed. She had only heard the whispers referring to her in, well, she couldn't entirely decide if they were flattering or unflattering terms, as the Kellids referred to their own spell casters as 'witches', but surely the traditional taboo around all things Androffan put that doubt to rest, a few months back, when the Ve'Diens had paid her a visit. That was going to be another thorn in her side for some time, perhaps a never ending struggle to remove the taboo around the Androffan ruins that littered the semi-barren steppes of Numeria. But, faith willing, she had decades of vigor left in her life; perhaps a generation born under a different view of gearsmen would be enough.
Bliks stood and stepped off the edge of the palace. As was her birthright as a Sylph, the winds that had made her seat on the rough parapet as comfortable as a pillow, supported her light frame as she hovered in space. For those Kellids who hadn't seen her pull this stunt before, it was just another sign of her unnatural nature, a spell caster flying without casting a spell. Behind her the pair of seemingly dormant Mymidon robot bodyguards rose as their thrusters roared to life. While their triplet of legs made them ungainly on the ground, they did serve to support their almost segmented humanoid torsos while not wasting energy in flight. Going through a quick checkup routine, each tested their large pincers, extended and retracted their tentacle like quantum whips from the lower portion of their 'face', and opened their missile launcher ports for inspection by the other unit.
She could have had them carry her, but she needed to stretch her legs, as odd as that felt to say as she didn't actually walk anywhere anymore, merely floated there, but otherwise her leg muscles would atrophy, and so she set off for Skywatch at the northern tip of the district of Sovereign's Watch, to perhaps see what calamity had happened far to the north in the Worldwound.
It would be about an hour's walk to Skywatch from the Palace of Fallen Stars, but that gave Bliks the opportunity to survey the damage the city had sustained for herself. As was unexpected, the Inner Sector had seen the least of the focus of the demons; her theory that they favoured easier targets first and ignored abandoned buildings for living creatures to torment played out across the city. Thus it was the Killbox was hit the hardest of Starfall's districts.
On the western side of the Street of Lights, Killbox was a district she had personally focused most of her attention on when it came to redeveloping Starfall from its poor management under the Technic League. While the entire city had suffered under their brutal oppression and flagrant pollution, nowhere had it been as bad as in Killbox. From the point of view of the League, this dense slum's population was only a source of cheap labour and experimental subjects. The only exception was the dwarven managed refuse dump of Scraphole, where the final dregs of Androffan technology often ended up after they had been picked clean.
It had taken some work, and the city council had refused to allocate funds for it, but redevelopment of Killbox had been underway before the demonic attack. With Bliks' urging, Hex paid out for entire neighbourhoods to be temporarily housed in local flop houses while their shacks and hovels were demolished and replaced by still dense but much more sturdy and comfortable living quarters; newly expanded Gearsman patrols ensured that only the original residents were allowed to move back in, plus residents from the next neighbourhood that was randomly selected. As much as possible local labour was used in constructing these new apartment blocks, but where the work was unsafe or unsuitable for humans, a veritable army of Mannequin robots were available, sometimes customized for specific tasks, overseen by Director robots, and always assisted by Heavy Repair drones.
Those apartment blocks had saved many lives, not just in the short term by improving living conditions, but by providing a safe refuge from the packs of demons that savaged that district. While Bliks had tried to ensure that no particular area had been given preferential treatment for the redevelopment work, she was sure to hear from the councillors representing Killbox that, because of her decisions, this or that family would have lived, regardless of the silence of the councillors whose constituents had been saved.
Even from her relatively distant vantage point, Bliks could see entire neighbourhood where demons had wantonly blasted everything in sight, crushing rickety tenements under their bulk or smashing through thin walls and ravaging those inside. At least now, with areas that had been particularly hard hit, there would be cleared areas for new construction; perhaps that would be the way, Bliks considered, to address the complaints of unequal redevelopment. A brutal realigning of her original plans, but it was a silver lining
For her own and both the Church of Brigh and Numerian Institute of Technology's part, they had focused on the problem of food, water, and waste in the city. The water problem was one that was easily solved; Bottomless Water Jugs, or as some called them Lesser Decanters of Endless Water. Easier and cheaper to enchant and without the dangerous 'geyser' setting, in short order the various mostly criminal guilds that had grown fat on importing water were driven out of business; Bliks had ensured that a few organizations, all willing to get out of the 'smashers' racket, where thugs would be hired to smash rain barrels, would survive this economic upset. That the water produced from a Bottomless Water Jug didn't last more than a day meant a constant demand without having to take the expensive step of building sewers.
A few of the water storage facilities had been breached or corrupted by demonic taint, but the latter was barely a problem as the water was magically refreshed. Rebuilding the water tanks would be problematic for those industries that relied upon large stores of water, but the average Starfall citizen's interaction with a Bottomless Water Jug was similar to a local water pump and so almost no one had been without clean water since the attack.
The problem of food and waste was handled in one technological step. As the Divinity had to survive for years in space without resupply, their waste recycling systems were highly advanced but relatively simple to relocate. Into warehouses across the city, labourers would haul spoiled food, agricultural cast offs, dead animals, even so called night soil collected from both chamber pots and stables. There burners, employees who used to work in the incinerators, would load this mixture of materials into the Androffan recyclers and, with power provided by solar panels installed on the roof, convert the waste into the goopy contents of the so called 'goo tubes'.
This highly efficient recycling, combined with the new farmland surrounding Starfall, made the metropolis far less dependant upon imports than they had been. The farmland had resulted from using the organic material left behind after the transplanted jungles surrounding Starfall that had failed to survive the winter combined with a fleet of Terraformer robots raising the water table and enriching the native soil. That the Technic League had never even tried that feat had changed many Numerians view of technology from that of a Gearsman brutally enforcing tyranny to the quietly enigmatic Terraformers making the land bloom.
Fortunately the demons had focused their efforts on the city rather than spreading out over the fields that had only recently had their hay harvest brought in. While she hadn't heard specific reports back yet, Bliks expected the wheat harvest would go forward in Arodus, two months away. The recycling centers were a different matter. The equipment inside the warehouses were of typical Androffan industrial construction, quite resilient and not an easy target for a demon's destructive nature, but the solar panels had almost universally been smashed across the Killbox district. An improvised system of ferrying charged silverdisks from the reactors in the basement of the Clockwork Cathedral had been set up, but it reinforced the dependence of that poor neighbourhood on the largess of those who had greater access to Androffan technology, a staple of the Technic League which Bliks was trying to distance their administration from.
Her survey noted the sharp difference between the damage done in Killbox and in Sovereign's Watch, the affluent district of Starfall. Here, despite their repeated demands for funds, the locals had been expected to pay for the boons Bliks had focused on Killbox. Less had changed here than anywhere else in the city, so entrenched were these Kellid families in the ways they enjoyed doing things. The thin population, combined with a stronger private security presence made for less enjoyable prey to the demonic mind, but even then there were signs of battle. The most extreme example was one mansion that had been imploded by a Pulsepounder robot equipped with an experimental Vortex Gun after an Observer swarm had confirmed there were only demons left alive inside.
As she neared Skywatch, Bliks wondered how many of those kinds of weapons they would be able to field against the demons. If the worst had come to pass, and the wardstones were no longer containing the Abyssal hordes, the ubiquitous lasers and plasma weapons would do little to impede the incursion. Looking back at the ruined sections of Starfall, she knew that if war truly came to Numeria from the north, while they might fare better than Sarkoris before it was engulfed by the Worldwound, the outcome seemed to be inevitable.
Bliks sighed, looking across the small chamber at her apprentice, of sorts, "It's been two days Tomaq, can't you say anything more precise than 'north'?" He was a relatively recent émigré from the town of Scrapwall, if you could call a bunch of criminals trying to eke out an existence in a junk yard a town. The ratfolk alchemist had a bit more of a stooped posture than many of his kin, but it neither seemed to bother him nor restrict his movement, and it provided a relatively flat surface that he could carry a bewildering mixture of equipment on.
"Whatever iths ish iths too far away for ush to properly triangulate, Mistresh." Despite his subordinate status, and shorter stature, he spoke as if addressing an equal, something Bliks never had to insist upon. After hearing about the exploits of the Torch Bearers in Scrapwall, he had left his warren with the permission of his clan leader to travel in search of this female tattooed wizard who they said was quite the expert on Androffan technology. Having only ever had exposure to cast away bits and pieces, the temptation to have access to actual working machines was too great.
That she was, from his perspective, a bit of a fanatical follower of Brigh, the clockwork goddess, didn't phase him, nor did her mixed heritage. He could smell and almost taste an opportunity and found one in apprenticing for Bliks, where her skill in alchemy and engineering were a boon to his own studies. Her interest in alchemy was to him an astoundingly esoteric one, for while she found practical application for her engineering skills in the wrecks strewn across Numeria, she never wielded alchemical weapons, as Tomaq did from time to time. This was a perfect match in his mind, as her studies were entirely academic, if more advanced than his own, and thus not limited by what he believed was possible; the chance to have different practical theories challenged by theoretical possibilities was invigorating to the short humanoid rat.
Bliks was sitting on a small table, not needing a chair for comfort, while Tomaq was manipulating the holographic projector at the centre of the room. That alone might have been out of place if the room itself wasn't a transplant from a wreck the Technic League found decades ago. While most of Skywatch was of conventional stone construction, the observation dome at the top was entirely alien. Ribs of glaucite stretched from the edges of the floor to a small disk in the ceiling, with large panels of voidglass filling out the space between them. The space had a light and airy feeling, only brought back down by the eight bulky gearsmen facing outwards at each of the cardinal and intercardinal directions, scanning the skies.
This was Tomaq's subordinate's, Karis Adamelin, workspace. She was a former member of the Technic League but seemingly only out of necessity. Having been interested in studying as a magus in Numeria the only going concern for instructors was found amongst the ranks of the League. That they were a squabbling group of power hungry wizards, technomancers, magi, alchemists, and witches didn't interest her; so long as she kept her head down and didn't express an interest in advancement, she could study without interference.
Her reluctance to get involved in their internecine conflicts resulted in frustration from her master who aspired to join the Council of Captains and her ultimate 'banishment' to this tower. While she had never been interested in really keeping an eye out for things that might interest the rest of the Technic League, the gearsmen did the vast majority of the work, so she found the arrangement agreeable. That the Chancellor of Numeria was personally asking for her expertise and to use her facilities to help narrow down the exact nature of the burst of golden light that had proceeded the demonic attack, came as a bit of a surprise to Karis.
"Ah," Bliks mused, "That does at least give us a minimum distance, yes?"
Tomaq nodded and turned to Karis, "If you mayh mish Adamelin?" then stepped back and gestured to the holographic emitter. That he could have brought up the map himself was not the point, that this was an opportunity to show his instructor the quality of his own instruction was.
The young magus stepped up to the machine, her hands only slightly wavering. A few keystrokes later her hesitation faded away, as she brought up a topographical map of the region with Starfall highlighted at the centre.
"As you can see Chancellor, our current projections put the event having occurred somewhere outside the borders of Numeria at least in Mendev, perhaps even in the Worldwound."
"Do you think that's likely?" Bliks interrupted.
Karis paused, not knowing if the Chancellor was staring at her or something near her. She had seen not just members of the Technic League with bionic eyes before, but nothing quite like the blank, solid silver orbs that Bliks had. She shook herself quickly and replied, "No mam. There are a string of forts along the perimeter of the Worldwound in that direction and no appreciable, to our latest reports, demonic settlements in that area."
Bliks ran a hand through her hair, scratching her scalp along the way. "And with our communications network down, I suppose we haven't heard anything from our frontier outposts either." She waved her hand, dismissing the question as a statement not needing their input. "Did you bring that biographical data I asked for?"
Tomaq stepped forward again, handing a data crystal to Karis who brought up its contents. The computer began speaking, first in Androffan, then pausing and shifting to the common tongue of Taldane. "Mendev. Kenabres. Captain Chun Dawei, male human. Soldier from Tian. Age 30." An image of a serious looking man floated in mid air. While there hadn't been any treaty banning this, she was sure that Mendev wouldn't appreciate even their friendly neighbours scrying on them. But Bliks had a sense that time was of the essence and so cast Scrying, saving Greater Scrying for future attempts.
The spell failed. She could sense that it hadn't been resisted, it just failed. "Is this data up to date? I mean, we have recent imaging of him?"
Tomaq looked for the first time somewhat nervous and glanced at Karis. "The imagagesh were provided by shpymashter Eryno's agentsh, Mistresh, lessh than a year old."
"Curious. Next bio please."
"Mendev. Kenabres. Overseer Julania Nalti, female human. Guardsman from Chelix. Age 45." This time an older woman's image formed in the space above the projector, smiling but scarred.
This time Bliks took a solid breath in and out before staring into the surface of the silver mirror, completing the spell with a word and a gesture.
Again it failed.
"Mistresh, are you sheeing anything?"
"No Tomaq. And it troubles me."