Chapter 34: The Founding of the Alliance Part 9: At the Library Part 3
"Allegoria?" They repeated in disbelief.
"Higgle?"
"What does it say?" Aranella asked.
"The Kingdom of Allegoria once stood on the lost continent of Nazcaä-"
"Nazcaä?" They all chorused. "I've heard of Nazcaä, but I didn't know it was the name of the land," Aranella continued.
"You thought it was the name of the kingdom?"
She blinked and looked to others, who nodded. "Yes, I suppose we did."
"Huh. Interesting," he replied before continuing. "The lost continent of Nazcaä, located in the body of water now known as the Rift Ocean. The kingdom was established many thousands of years ago and commanded an era of peace at the height of its power, an era that lasted until the kingdom's fall three millennia ago."
"Hold yer skimmers a moment," Batu interrupted. "So this be the kingdom that Doloran were namin'is after."
"Looks like."
"But that means that Doloran were'ere," he said, gesturing to the library.
"I think we already knew that," Aranella reasoned. "He had some knowledge of Goldpaw's trials after all, which would indicate that he must have spent some time here before he corrupted Master Pugnacious."
"Aye… that be true."
"I wonder why he chose Allegoria," Tani wondered aloud.
"It's a pretty name," said Evan.
"It is," she agreed.
"Its Kingmaker was a beautiful, white dragon by the name of Alisandra, Kingmaker of the Cradle of Serenity, and its last known king was… King Doloran?"
"Doloran?!" They repeated in unison.
"Higgle?!"
"Surely ye jest!" Batu objected.
"That's what it says," he replied.
"What does this all mean?" Aranella asked.
"You don't think it's possible that this Doloran and our Doloran are the same person do you?" Tani asked.
"He'd be thousands of years old if that was true."
"It's not outside the realm of possibility that Doloran- that our Doloran's parents simply named him after the historical figure," Roland observed.
"So yer thinkin' that this Doloran- that our Doloran be tryin' te recreate Allegoria after'is namesake?" Batu asked.
"I… guess?" He frowned. "Otherwise we're assuming that Doloran survived the fall of Allegoria and somehow managed to stay alive for – as Aranella said," he gestured towards her, "thousands of years."
"Aye…" He folded his arms and frowned. "That certainly be a stretch te believe."
"And if he did, then why would he wait all this time to begin acquiring kingsbonds to resurrect Elegia?"
"Yes, it does seem that your explanation is the most likely," said Aranella.
"But if he's not building a new kingdom like we previously thought, and is instead recreating the old kingdom of Allegoria." He frowned down at the book. "Then I wonder where he intends to get the people."
They all hummed in thought and the higgledies looked to each other as they wracked their own brains. "Perhaps he was intending to offer the survivors of their Kingmaker's rampage a new home?" Aranella suggested and gestured. "They would hardly be in a position to refuse."
"He didn't seem too put out by the fact that we've prevented that from happening if that was the case."
She frowned, gazing in a non-specific direction. "That is true."
"We were already thinking that he was going to invade the other kingdoms right?" said Tani.
"Sure," Roland replied.
She shrugged. "So wouldn't that be where he's intending to get the people?"
"Yeah," he nodded, "I guess there's no reason to abandon that line of speculation based on what we've learned. So let me summarise; We now believe that Doloran is intending to recreate the Kingdom of Allegoria. Using the power of the stolen kingsbonds he will release the imprisoned Kingmaker, Elegia, form a kingsbond with her using whatever's left and then march on the other nations in order to conquer them and claim their people as his own. Does that sound about right?"
There was chorus of confirmation. "It's certainly the most plausible explanation based on what we've learned," said Aranella.
"Should we tell Master Pugnacious about this?" Evan asked.
"Yeah, I think we should," Roland replied. It's still speculation but, it's speculation with a little more substance behind it."
He nodded. "All right. We'll tell him at dinner."
"So what happened to Allegoria?" Tani asked.
"It's most lasting legacies are the invention of the Common Tongue still spoken in all parts of the world, and the unified currency of guilders," Roland continued. "It was also the leading expert in the field of magic and introduced refinements to its study and practice by simplifying the casting runes, thereby making the learning of magic more accessible to a great many people.
Allegoria wrote in the Nazcaän script, believed to have been invented by their predecessors and we suspect that this is the reason that the kingdom's name has come to be confused with name of the continent upon which it stood. Many could tell of you of the Kingdom of Nazcaä, while few have heard of the Kingdom of Allegoria, despite the two being one and the same.
But whether as Allegoria or Nazcaä, all know that the kingdom's prosperity and the era of peace that it commanded came to an abrupt and unexpected end. A creature of terrifying power known only as the Horned One suddenly appeared one day, and destroyed both Allegoria and the continent upon which it stood, before vanishing just as suddenly. It's destructive force was so great, that it rent open the Northern and Southern Rifts, causing other major calamities around the world.
To this day no one knows where the beast came from, or where it disappeared to, making it all the more terrifying. But some academics speculate that the Horned One was sent to Allegoria by Zayin, God of Gods, as punishment for an unspeakable crime."
Tani looked mildly disturbed. "Well that's… ominous…"
"Yes," Aranella agreed looking just as perplexed. "Although…" She assumed a thoughtful posture. "I suppose if it's true that it was sent by Zayin, then…" she shrugged reassuringly. "I shouldn't think we have anything to worry about."
"Who is this Zayin?" Roland asked. "I heard Niall mention his name before."
"Zayin is our creator. He created the world and everything in it, and is believed to have been the one who made the King's Cradles and their Overseers as well."
"So he's ultimately the one responsible for the creation of the Kingmakers?"
She nodded. "That's right."
"Did you meet this Zayin when you became a Kingmaker, Lofty?"
"No chance, mun," Lofty replied, gesturing dismissively. "The Overseer took care of all of that."
"I see."
"Do you have Zayin in your world, Roland?" Evan asked.
"Kind of, though… he's not called Zayin."
"What is he called?"
"Uhh… well." He scratched the back of his head and he pondered the best way to explain. "He has lots of different names depending on who you ask."
Evan tilted his head to one side looking curious. "I see." But he did not pursue his curiosity.
"While we're on that subject, mun, why not see if there's anything hyur on youer world, eh?" Lofty suggested.
"Sure. Why not?" Roland replied. He searched the bookshelf until he found a book titled The Other World. "I'm guessing this is it."
"What does it say?" Evan asked eagerly, fists raised in anticipation and his tail twitching in excitement.
"There are other worlds beyond our own, more than we can ever know. They are kept apart from each other by dimensional barriers that cannot be broken or breached by any known magic or technology. The only way to visit these worlds is through the Grand Confluence, the place where all worlds meet, but how one would find such a place was known only to the great wizard kings of ages past."
"Gosh, is it really true that there are more than just our two worlds?"
"It is!" Lofty confirmed.
"Really?" Roland asked, looking genuinely surprised.
"It's a well known fact among us faeries, mun," he insisted.
"Did you know there were other worlds, Aranella?" Evan asked.
"I knew about Roland's world, of course," she replied, gesturing to Roland. "But I didn't know there were more."
"What about you, Roland?"
"We have theories, or speculations rather about parallel dimensions in my world, but… they've never actually been proven. I didn't really believe or disbelieve them, until now I guess; Because if your world exists beyond mine, Evan, then it stands to reason that other worlds could too."
"That was my thinking," Aranella agreed.
"What about you, Batu?" Evan asked. "Do you have stories of other worlds?"
Batu scratched the back of his head. "Well… We be'avin' stories o'the other world – that is, the world from which Roland be comin' from. But none about o'these other, other worlds."
"So what do you think about the fact that there are even more?" Roland asked.
He looked perplexed. "Truth be told, I'm not bein' sure what te be thinkin'," he replied.
Roland gestured towards him, "You believe in my world readily enough. And the fact that I'm from there."
"Aye, but ye'ear the tales o'the other world, an' the people who live there as yer growin' up. We pirates be lovin' a good story as yer already knowin', as much as we love…" he spread his hands, "embellishin'em. But the makin' o'a good story is one that's grounded in somethin' what were actually'appenin'. That be why we be knowin' that even in the tallest o'tales, there always be a mite o'truth somewhere in the tellin'. So yer showin' up were just confirmin' that those tales we were'earin' were true all along. But'earin' tell o'these other other worlds," he folded his arms, "this be the first time." He shook his head. "An' I don't know what te be thinkin' about'em."
"You think the tales might be a little too tall this time?"
"Per'aps. Per'aps not. I can't decide."
"I think it sounds exciting," said Tani. "Lots of different worlds, with lots of different people and lots of different stories."
"Do you think we could visit these other worlds someday?" Evan asked.
Roland and Aranella exchanged looks. "It doesn't seem like that's possible unless we find this Grand Confluence place, and it looks like any information on where to find it has been lost," said Roland.
"Maybe we could try to find it for ourselves like?" Lofty suggested.
"Oh can we? Can we?" Evan and Tani asked in unison, fists raised in eagerness as mirrors of each other's excitement.
"Sure, but maybe after we've put a stop to Doloran's plans, all right?" Roland said. "Until then, let's try to stay focused."
"Right."
"But every world has a mirror, or a twin to which they are linked, and our world is no exception. What we know about this other world, is that it is one without magic, being governed instead by science and technology, and the inhabitants are said to be much like the humanfolk of our own. Well they got that right," he commented. "Some records suggest that our two worlds were once connected by means of a tunnel or portal that allowed the inhabitants of both to travel freely back and forth whenever they pleased.
The veracity of these records are hotly debated, but what we know to be true was that travel between our worlds was in fact possible with a magic spell, the spell called Gateway. This spell when cast created a temporary portal or tunnel that would allow the caster passage through the void between worlds, to the other side. Now such spells are long forgotten, and our worlds stand more distant and apart from one another than ever before."
"If we found this Gateway spell, we could help you get back to your world, Roland," said Evan.
"Thanks, but I don't think that'll be necessary. Once my work here is done, the Conductor will be sending me home himself." Or so I hope.
"Then maybe we could come visit!" Tani exclaimed.
Roland blinked before smiling. "Sure. I'd like that." And they both smiled back.
"We'd have to find the spell first," Lofty reminded them.
"Right," said Tani. She looked around. "I wonder if they have it somewhere in the library?"
"That's an awful lot of books to search through," said Evan.
She scratched the back of her head, realising that he was right. "Yeah… And we wouldn't even be sure where to start."
"Well, there's no rush," said Roland. "We'll have plenty of time to do everything we want to do once we've put a stop to Doloran's plans."
"Right," they chorused.
"Per'aps we should be startin'' a list?" Batu suggested. "What do we be'avin' already?" He counted off all the things they wanted to do on one hand, "'Elpin' Broadleaf clean up their act, findin' the place where all the other worlds meet, an the spell te get to your world, Roland." That made three. "Anythin' else?"
"Maybe we could go to where Yule was and see if the rumours are true?" Tani suggested.
"I think that would be a fool's endeavour, Tani," Aranella replied, though not unkindly.
"But what if they are?"
"I don't think the idea itself is the problem," Roland reasoned. "But it seems like the area is pretty dangerous, which is why it's so difficult."
"So?" She shrugged dismissively. "I'm used to danger."
"Well fighting monsters and wyverns is one thing, Tani. You can't fight a blizzard."
She placed her hands on her hips. "So you think it's a fool's endeavour as well then, Roland?"
"'Ow important is it te ye lass?" Batu cut in before Roland could respond.
"I want to go!" she insisted, posture and expression both insistent and determined. "If the tomtes are still alive, then… then…" she trailed off, determination leeching from her posture and her expression becoming sorrowful.
"That'll be one less thing on your conscience?" Roland asked gently.
"On my people's conscience."
"Aye, then, we'll be goin' together," said Batu.
"Batu-" Aranella began.
He held up a hand to silence her objection. "It'll be takin' a lot o'preparation an' trainin' afore we do girlie, so we won't be doin' it proper until yer much older. Understand?"
"How much older?" Tani asked, folding her arms.
"'Owever much is necessary. An I'll," he thumbed to himself, "be decidin'ow much that is."
"I could come too," Evan offered. "I'll practice my magic so I can get stronger and help you survive the cold!"
Tani smiled. "Thanks, Evan."
"An I'll come along too like," Lofty added. "I'll protect you with my mighty Kingmaker form."
"Thanks, Lofty."
"Now hold on a moment," Aranella objected, placing her hands on her hips. "It's one thing for Tani and Batu to be doing this," she gestured towards them, "and I can understand their desire to given what happened to Yule – though," she looked away briefly, "I don't necessarily agree with it – but you Evan and Lofty, you both have a kingdom to lead and protect."
"I know, but…" Evan mumbled, averting his gaze.
"On the one hand, giving Evan a tangible goal to work toward could help him with practicing his magic, but on the other hand, Aranella does have a point," said Roland. "You're gonna have enough on your plate learning to run a kingdom once all of this is over. So you're likely to find that you won't have the time to be learning the stuff that Batu and Tani will be needing to learn to survive in the cold and the wilderness." Evan hung his head, his ears drooping.
"And what about me, like?" Lofty asked.
"Given that this is your first foray into Kingmaking, you're gonna to need to learn that along side him."
"That's no fun."
Roland folded his arms. "You wanted to become a fount of wisdom didn't you? That's not gonna happen if you don't wise up."
Lofty dropped his gaze, looking admonished. "All right, mun, all right. You have a point."
"So it's just me and Batu then?" Tani asked.
Roland nodded. "And whoever else wants to go, I guess."
"There were one more thing I were wanting te say," said Batu. "And this be it," he held up a finger. "If we don't be findin' anythin', that be the end o'it," he underlined this by drawing a line in the air with his hand. "Ye'ear? One look, and then yer te let it go."
Aranella breathed a sigh of relief as Tani hung her head and clutched one arm. "Thank you, Batu. I was thinking of saying something along those lines myself."
"Well?"
"Yes, Batu," Tani replied without looking up. "I understand."
"And you, Evan?" Aranella asked. "Do you understand?"
"Yes, Nella," he replied, nodding reluctantly. "I understand. Sorry, Tani."
"It's all right, Evan," Tani assured him. "They do kind of have a point after all."
"I know," he sighed.
"We'll be there with you in spirit, like," said Lofty.
"Thanks," she said with smile. "Although if we do end up getting into trouble, you will come and rescue us, won't you?"
"We will! You count on us, Tani."
"That's right, mun!" Lofty added.
"I guess that's settled," said Roland.
"Is that everything now?" Aranella asked. "I'm surprised they didn't mention soulmates."
He frowned as he repeated. "Soulmates?" And wondered why it would be brought up in a discussion of his world.
"Yes, that's right," she nodded. "By your confusion I assume you've not heard of it before."
"Actually I have which is exactly why I'm confused; Soulmates are people who are meant to be together. They are people who share a particularly strong emotional connection, which can be romantic or otherwise."
"You what, mun?" Lofty asked with a baffled expression as the higgledies exchanged looks.
"Goodness," Aranella uttered.
"That be the first I've'eard o'that," Batu remarked, one eyebrow quirked.
"Yes. I'm afraid what we call soulmates is quite different."
"Nella explained it to me using a coin," Evan interjected. "She said soulmates are like two sides of a coin, because they share a soul. So if you think of the coin as being that soul, then on one side and in one world is one soulmate, and on the other side is the other."
"That's a good way to explain it," Lofty complemented.
"Aye," Batu agreed. "It is."
"If you say so," said Roland blankly.
"I could always explain it to you in more detail," Aranella offered and gestured. "Unless the book has more to say?"
"Actually it looks like it does."
"Yes, I thought it might."
"As our two worlds are inextricably bound together, so too are the people in each world.
The souls of this world are connected to those in the other by a soul bond, or soul link, and those who share a soul are called soulmates." As he read, Roland's frown grew in strength. "Soulmates are often similar in personality and share age and gender, as well as physical characteristics. Some soulmates resemble each other so strongly as to appear like a mirror image of the other. This connection is formed at birth and is so complete that if one soulmate were to die in one world…" His frown deepened. "… So too would the other…" It deepened further. "It is speculated that this connection would mean that one would be able to recognise or identify their soulmate through a profound feeling of familiarity despite not having previously met. It is also possible that this feeling of familiarity could extend to those with whom their soulmate is well acquainted, though likely to a lesser extent."
"I've always wondered who my soulmate is," Evan remarked, a hand raised absently to his chin.
"As do we all," said Aranella.
"Maybe we'll get to meet them when we go visit Roland's world?" Tani suggested.
"You would have to find them first, and I should think that the chances of doing that to be highly unlikely, given the amount of people there are in the other world," she said. "So I wouldn't get your hopes up."
"Yeah," she sighed.
"Although…" She placed a hand on the side of her face. "I must confess that I would very much like to meet my own."
"Aye, who doesn't?" Batu agreed.
Tani brightened up at a thought. "What if we found Roland's soulmate instead? Wouldn't that be funny?"
"Yes." Aranella blinked, her hand falling away. "Of course, Roland must have a soulmate somewhere in this world."
"Maybe he's in Broadleaf?" Evan suggested.
"That would seem the most likely place if I had to guess. But then…" she shrugged, "he could be anywhere."
"I guess we'll see like," said Lofty.
Roland hadn't heard any of that because his mind was very much elsewhere. He closed the book as calmly as he could manage. His stomach had now lodged itself in his throat and he felt chilled to the core. Doloran's entire visit – as well as everything he had uttered – had been starkly thrown into context, yet he still shied away from fully embracing the reality, as if his brain just couldn't accept the truth. As he returned the book back to its proper place, he took a moment to calm his whirling thoughts, slipping into politician mode as he turned back to the others. "All right, I think we're done here," he said. "We should head back."
"Before we do, we will need to stock up on supplies before our departure for Capstan tomorrow morning," she reminded him.
"Right, sure," he replied, inwardly grateful to have something else to focus on for the time being. "Let's go do that."
"Are you all right now, Tani?" Evan asked as they walked.
"I'm feeling a lot better, yeah. Hearing about all those other places helped me take my mind off the Air Raiders and what they did for a bit." She rubbed the back of her neck. "I mean I'm still not okay with it and thinking about it makes me feel a bit sick, but… we learned so much today," she raised her fists in excitement, "and now we have so many things to do!"
"We do!" He agreed with a nod. "But… we also have to stop Doloran first, before we can even think about deciding what we want to do next." Roland's stomach churned at the mention of Doloran's name and he swallowed a wave of nausea.
"We'll stop him, Evan," Tani told him confidently, a fist raised in determination. "I know we will."
"Course we will, mun," Lofty chimed in. "You've got me on youer side, like."
"Aye, an'Doloran'll surely be quiverin' in'is boots when he be facin' off with you, Yer Mighty One," Batu snarked.
"Oi!" He objected while everyone except Roland laughed.
They had by now reached the entrance to the library and so stepped out, closing the doors carefully behind them so as to prevent them from slamming shut. A couple of hours had gone by while they were inside, and so they turned to discover that evening was already setting in, and much of the light had been lost. "Goodness," Aranella uttered. "I hadn't realised it was so late."
Roland glanced at the bustling crowd moving up and down the streets. "Looks like this is the time for everyone to do their shopping, so it doesn't look like we've missed out," he observed. "What do we need?"
She consulted her armsband. "We need some soreaway and some sixth censers, and some vegetables, some herbs and some spices for cooking."
"So some medicine and some cooking ingredients in other words. We can split that up so one team tackles one, while the other takes care of the other. Batu and I can take care of the medicine."
"Very well, then Evan, Tani and Lofty can help me with buying the cooking ingredients."
"Higgle pig?" The higgledies asked.
"Uh, you guys can go with whoever you like," Roland replied, needing no translation. "You could even head on up to Fortune Square if you wanted to." The higgledies conferred amongst themselves. "Anyway we'd better head off before they sell out."
"We'll be needin' some money first, afore we go," Batu reminded him.
"Oh of course," said Aranella. From her armsband she produced the small hessian pouch that held all their money and counted out fifty guilders. "This should be plenty to buy what we need."
"Perfect." Roland took the money and stashed it away in the inside pocket of his greatcoat. "If we don't run into each other when we're done, we'll meet back up at Fortune Square."
"Right," they chorused, then split up, with the higgledies choosing to follow Aranella and her group to the market, while Roland and Batu set a course for the apothecary.
He was focusing so intently on what they were supposed to buy, that he actually walked straight past it without realising. Batu stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Hold up there, lad." Roland blinked at him in confusion. He gestured over his shoulder with a thumb as he explained, "That were the apothecary ye were just walkin' past."
"Huh?" He looked back to confirm. "Oh… Right." Batu raised an eyebrow at him but otherwise didn't question his absent mind, instead falling in behind as he retraced his steps. Since the building was still in the process of being repaired after the fire, the apothecarist had moved his surviving wares outside to sell. The smell of herbs and other medicinal plants wafted towards them as they approached. They joined the end of the queue and Roland zoned out as they waited, desperately trying to think of anything but Doloran.
"Arf," the apothecarist, a dogfolk man barked in greeting when their turn came. "Welcome to my apothecary, gentlemen. What can I get for you today?"
"We be needin' some soreaway an'some sixth censers if ye be'avin' any to spare," Batu replied when Roland didn't.
"I have both pots and incense to fulfil your request of sixth censers. The soreaway I'm afraid I'm very much out, but… I have saved some soreaway flakes if that would interest you. These can be mixed with hot water to make a tea. The healing properties of the soreaway in this form is needless to say, much reduced, but will work on general aches, or minor abrasions."
Batu pondered before replying. "Aye. I suppose it's bein' better than nothin'."
"How much do you require?"
"'Owever much fifty guilders'll be buyin' us. Or near enough."
"Will you be needing some incense pots, or just the incense?"
"Only one o'us be'avin' the use o'it, so the one pot'll be enough."
"Arf, very well. One moment please." The apothecarist measured out and packaged up their soreaway flakes and incense and took out an incense pot from under his make shift counter. "That will be fifty guilders then, please."
Roland snapped back to reality when Batu nudged him with an elbow. "What?"
"Pay the man, Roland," said Batu, gesturing to the apothecarist. "Yer the one with the money."
He blinked. "Oh right. Sure." He handed over the fifty guilders. "Here."
"A pleasure doing business with you, sirs," the apothecarist told them with a bow.
"Thanks," he replied. He collected their goods and vanished them into his armsband. "We got what we came for, let's go rejoin the others."
"Aye," Batu replied. "Ye feelin' all right, matey?" He asked as they walked. "Ye've been a bit out o'sorts o'late."
"Yeah, I'm fine," he responded, the lie slipping out easily, too easily. "After all that reading we did," he shrugged, "I guess my brain is feeling a little bit fried."
"Aye, well…" He nodded slowly. "I suppose it were a lot o'infermation we were gatherin'. But the end o'the day be drawin' near, so it won't be long now till ye can be gettin' yerself some rest."
"Yeah," he sighed. "Just gotta get through dinner."
Batu patted him on the shoulder. "'Ang in there, matey. It'll be over before ye know it."
A/N: Once again the library was the perfect place for setup and foreshadowing. I will never not be mystified that all it ended being in canon was a "to tick this box do this" quest.
What was the point of mandating the characters and players go there if the characters themselves don't actually learn anything, and has no effect on what they do next?