I was feeling refreshed as I climbed the metal ladder down into the tunnels. My ears had finally stopped ringing, and I wasn't feeling as if I was losing my mind, or that I wanted to destroy things anymore. This came at the cost of losing my extreme wizard strength, but that was okay. We now had Luukai, Vadim, and Alberich as battle psykers for defense if I didn't want to be head magic user in this adventuring party right now.
After a short climb of about fifty meters underground, we were now standing in a round dimly lit room of grey bricked stone only about three meters in height and a few paces around. It looked like a dry sewer. There were four exits to four identical-seeming tunnels here, each about two meters wide and enough for two men to walk side by side. Around this entire round room, a line of strange runes were carved into the stone, and instinctually, I knew that these were protectant. As expected, they stank of one particular Chaos power, one that I was growing very familiar with.
"Wait a moment, friends," Luukai informed us. "Do not visit any tunnel. I must authorize our group. A guardian spirit watches over these tunnels, and we need to speak to it before advancing if we have unconsecrated individuals with us."
"I don't like talking with daemons," I interjected. "Can't we just wait and see if the pylon comes back on and go after the Warp gets muffled again?"
"We could, but from what I have observed, the Warp feels very erratic at the present, unless you know something we don't. And, the tunnels are fairly long, as they take us back into downtown Evna. I would not want the Warp to come rushing back when we are in an area that is trapped with sorcerous means."
He had a point, I realized with a sigh. As time went on, I found myself more and more disgusted with any sort of daemonic activity, even if the daemons "liked" me. I supposed that made sense, really, I thought as I nervously fidgeted with my laurel crown.
Beside me, Evring was now trembling and gripping his own shoulders, clearly not enjoying himself. Vadim and Zok were engaged in friendly conversation about the nature of Chaos (with Zok confirming that yes, he does not trust any Chaos God, even the one who mutated him), and Alberich watched Luukai as he walked to the ring of carved runes.
The psyker removed a short knife from his trouser pockets. He pricked one of the fingers on his left hand, and pressed it against a seemingly random protectant rune carved onto the stone.
The runes all came to life with blue and gold fire, and Luukai stepped back, his eyes momentarily rolling back in his head. I heard Evring mutter to himself fearfully, exclaiming, "Oh no, oh no."
After a short time, the psychic bartender announced to us, "The guardian spirit of the tunnels is playful tonight, it seems. Its demand for safe passage for all individuals of our party is for the Inheritor..." Luukai paused, and it looked like his eyes were searching. He then made a relieved affirmative noise and finished: "...to solve a simple riddle."
"Will this guardian kill us if we answer wrong?" I asked nervously. Tzeentch definitely enjoyed riddles, and his daemons were a lot more playful than other Warp monsters, so I hoped this was just a daemon being "silly".
Luukai shook his head and smiled. "This particular protective spirit is simply in a fanciful mood, it seems. Usually, tribute is requested in some form for non-consecrated travelers, but not always. In the past this has included a few drops of blood, or a vow of silence for one week. On occasion there have been more severe requests. One traveler years ago was requested to play a card game, win or lose, with a Lord of Change. But, fear not. I have never witnessed the guardian hurt anyone, physically or mentally. It appears that this time, the spirit simply wishes to enjoy a game."
"No pressure, right?" I asked as Zok glanced at me in worry.
Vadim was now quietly laughing. "It-it wanted m-me to sing it a c-children's lullaby before my consecration."
That was actually very cute, and I found myself relieved. "Okay so, what's the riddle?" I asked.
"Hold on, I will now allow the daemon to..." Luukai smiled before his eyes rolled back in his head again. I watched as Luukai then began to tremble, and his skin took on a slightly luminescent blue sheen in this dark place. When he opened his eyes again, they were glowing with a rainbow of colors, and immediately, I was able to sense that a daemon was possessing the psyker.
"Salutations!" the thing inside Luukai said with a cheerful polyphonic voice. Immediately, it fixed its prismatic eyes upon me. "What do I see before me, but a creature of gold calamity! An anathema to all that is joyous, but friend and some day beloved sister to us all the same! Fascinating anachronistic paradox, she is! The Young Queen is blessed and smiled upon but not consecrated!" Luukai (or the daemon inside of him) then turned to Alberich, who stepped back in surprise. "And here, a beloved bird blessed by bituminous bright hands of bilious brilliance! Body-of-white-feather, the bellwether of change!"
As everyone watched the possessed psyker speak, Evring reacted to his by simply sitting on the floor and curling up in a fetal position, his arms gripping his legs. Luukai's daemon observed this and let out an amused giggle.
"So, I'm supposed to answer a riddle?" I asked, drawing the daemon's jolly attention back to me. It smiled widely. Once again, being around Chaotic things was causing my stomach to turn. I didn't like that we had to deal with daemons to go anywhere, and deep seated sense of disgust crawled through me as I faced Luukai's possessed form.
"Hasty, hasty!" the daemon said with a gigantic smile that felt impossible on Luukai's face. "But yes! Riddles are fun, so don't look so glum, as you will know this one! For from your universe, this riddle was sung!"
The daemon then laughed again, and now, the body of Luukai began to float in midair, and the guardian daemon looked down upon me. Because this was Tzeentch and his antics, the room around me then momentarily glitched into blue crystal as the daemon smiled at me, and I could hear strange whispers at the edge of my perception.
"Voiceless it cries, wingless flutters, toothless bites, mouthless mutters."
"Oh!" I exclaimed immediately with a big smile. "That's from The Hobbit! It's 'wind'! I love that book!"
"Yes, correct!" the guardian daemon responded with a bright smile as it clapped Luukai's hands. "You will all be free to pass, but now, I have an extra request."
Vadim's expression immediately dropped, and he began to speak, "But y-you s-sa-"
"The things I say I often forget, mortal! And then, I remember! It is a simple request, one that I ask of Body-of-White-Feather! A debt is being called in!"
"Me?" Alberich asked with a stammer, pointing a finger at his chest. His costume was in a sorry state, I began to notice. The gold plates of his form-fitting suit had begun to loosen and a few were missing. The gold paint on his head had partially washed off from his brief shower under the water sprinklers, revealing his snowy white head feathers.
The possessed form of Luukai clapped his hands again and twirled about as he continued levitating. "Yes you, second Traveler! Humble herald of change who flies the gold eagle of hope with the Young Queen! Change has been good to you, yes? Favors of fate delivered to you? Mm?"
Alberich nodded nervously, his ears lowered. This situation began to feel dangerous as the daemon continued to gibber and smile.
"Alberich, is there something you aren-" I began to interject, but was interrupted by the creature possessing Luukai.
"Change has offered you favors, saved you from death, given you a strong new body, and transported you to new universe! A universe that is heaven to you now! Fate has guided you with great and positive change!" the daemon spoke to Alberich. "And now, Change wishes a trifling token from you."
Oh boy, here we go. I had always told Alberich that Tzeentch would end up screwing him over some day, and now, the Lord of Change was here to collect on a "favor". I crossed my arms in front of me.
The daemon inside Luukai continued to smile at Alberich, and said, "Listen to the words I say, and heed them well. A favor will be asked of you soon, and you will agree. The eldest brother will make a request, and you will offer him what he wishes. Only then will the White-Feather fly! Fear not little mortal, for the worst that could happen is your death!"
"But, I-"
"You will not question the Lord of Change in his plans, lost little Plane Walker," the daemon said, an aura of multicolored power igniting around Luukai's head. "Now, all is finished! Happiness and hope all abound, and I open the way for you! May the labyrinth always part before you!"
Luukai then held his hands out, and a brief flash of blue and gold alighted around his head as the daemon departed. The psyker then fell to the floor again. Vadim rushed to help his brother as he staggered to his feet.
"Daemons, daemons, daemons," Evring quietly muttered on the floor. Alberich shook his head, his eyes now haunted.
The runes around us began to flash in a rainbow of colors, and suddenly, all but one passageway closed before us.
Within a few moments, Luukai appeared to have returned to his body, and he sighed in relief at seeing the runes flash. "Ah, here we are! Perfect!" the psyker responded as he walked to the open entryway. "I admit I was worried that someone would get chosen for another Lord of Change card game. While the man who had been chosen to enjoy that task had been unharmed, he was never quite the same afterward, and time would not behave appropriately around him. One day, in the middle of a scouting mission, he vanished. He has not been seen since."
"That sure sounds like he was harmed," I said as Zok and I helped poor Evring to his feet.
"H-he'll p-probably come back," Vadim added. "He is j-just a little l-lost."
"I actually think that Lord enjoyed him and his card game so much that he pulled Basil away to enjoy more games. Watch Basil return in a thousand years as an all-powerful sorcerer, or perhaps even a prince!" Luukai laughed. This was not making me feel better at all. I began to massage my temple. Well, at the very least, if Tzeentch screws over Alberich maybe he would finally get it through his damn bird head that Chaos isn't cool.
"The task, do you have any idea what it could be?" Alberich interjected to the group, his ears still low. The beastman appeared very concerned, and the emotion of fear clung all around him.
"No, I don't," the psyker bartender answered as he began to lead us down a long straight path. "It is foolish to attempt to postulate on the motivations of Warp spirits, especially those aligned with the blessed Architect of Fate. But, going by the mood of the guardian daemon this evening, the task is probably simple."
"And it will be g-given by our b-brother, it appears," Vadim added with reassurance. "He is r-reasonable. I wonder what it is?"
Luukai then turned and pointedly fixed his blue eyes on Vadim for a few moments. Afterward, a faint flash of energy ignited around both of their heads. Alberich saw this, and swallowed, now appearing more worried.
I told you that trusting Tzeentch was a bad idea, I telepathically scolded Alberich as Luukai began walking to the open passageway. Alberich did not respond, and I felt trepidation continue to emanate from his soul as the two brothers gestured for us all to follow him down into the tunnel.
Our trip was, unlike nearly everything else this evening, mostly uneventful. Within a few minutes after beginning our subterranean sojourn, we had to take a break as the pylon's power reignited, causing the psykers among us to experience migraines once again. Like all other Warp-suppression incidents, I still had access to a very small portion of my abilities, which demonstrated again that the pylon wasn't being activated as efficiently as Null's network operated on Levant.
After a two hour long adventure that included a short trip on a railed mine cart, we were now watching Luukai as he entered a code into a hidden keypad on a nondescript grey brick wall. Above us, a dim yellow light offered illumination. Evring was now very quiet, but it still felt like he was in shock as we all waited for Luukai to open the way. About ten seconds later, a very static-y message was heard from a hidden speaker somewhere around us.
"What is the nature of fate?" the question was barely audible in the interference.
"Eternity, my brother," Luukai responded.
The sound of grinding stone echoed in the passageway, and the walls before us were now being drawn away. A deep blue light spilled into the dim hallway. Inside, I saw what appeared to be a modest basement lit with a strange blue light.
"More... more daemons?" Evring whispered. "Please no more daemons."
"Probably not," Luukai informed the maddened playboy as we watched the wall draw away. Three silhouetted figures now stood ahead of us, two of which were horned Tzaangors bearing long blades. The two mutants flanked a third individual, who stood between them.
"Probably not?" the shadowed central figure asked with amusement. "Just how many times have you been confronted by daemons when coming home from an assignment, Luukai?"
Both Luukai and Vadim began to laugh in relief. "Are you going to kill us now, brother?"
"Simple procedure, as you probably know. If we don't have the ability to gaze through the Warp and see who is knocking at our back door, precautions must be taken. At ease, my horned gentlemen," the central shadowed figure warmly remarked as both Tzaangor guards put away their weapons, and relaxed. The new shadowy man then began to walk forward, and into the light of the tunnel.
My heart almost stopped when I saw who it was, and I recoiled in surprise!
This... this was Tzeentch! How could this be?!
I backed up in reflexive horror, and immediately choked out a surprised, "What the fuck?" with my voice magnifying despite the influence of the pylon. No one else seemed to be upset, and everyone turned to me, concerned over my outburst.
This man looked almost exactly like Tzeentch's humanoid avatar when I had seen him in my dreams and visions! Instead of a suit, however, this man wore a simple long black shirt and trousers. As he made eye contact with me, I could tell he was confused by my reaction. He paused, and did not advance forward. Alberich was immediately at my side, and quietly whispered, "What is it?" as he also suspiciously watched the newcomer.
"He- he looks like," I stammered and shook my head, still not quite believing what I was seeing. Now that I took more notice of the stranger's appearance, I noted that at least his skin tone was much more human instead of bluish white, and his hair was just a normal blond. His eyes were also a normal blue shade, and not Tzeentch's unique supernatural yellow-gold.
"Is my hair out of place? I have no mutations yet as far as I know, my lady," the strange Tzeentch-man said with a laugh. "Unless I have been gifted such very recently!"
"My lady, let me introduce you to my older brother, Heinrich," Luukai announced. "It appears as though you have seen him before. When? Or, maybe you had a vision of him?"
"I-I," I sputtered nervously. This was... this was really just Vadim and Luukai's older brother? Cautiously, I began to study the newcomer, and I could now see that the three brothers definitely held similar features, each with shaggy light blond hair and blue eyes. "I thought he was someone else. Someone I don't really get along with."
"Your gold eyes indeed show recognition of me, but I don't believe we have met. And, it is interesting to know now that I may have a disagreeable look-alike out there somewhere," Heinrich wondered with a friendly grin as he approached, walking ahead into the tunnel. The two Tzaangors remained in the basement. "Luukai has told me about you and your... unique nature. My name is Heinrich Schwarz, and I am the eldest brother to these two other clowns, the palace spies," he explained playfully as Vadim approached him for a friendly hug.
As I began to get my bearings, I then saw that it was now Alberich's turn to appear upset. "Heinrich... Schwarz?" he asked in an almost disbelieving voice. "And you're the eldest brother?"
"Yes," Heinrich answered, now offering Luukai with a brotherly slap on the shoulder in greeting. "You are the one they're calling White-Feather by the looks of you." The elder brother approached the beastman. He then seemed to study Alberich with a critical eye before saying, "And, your name is Alberich, as I have been told. You are a devotee of our illustrious god. I find it highly unusual that you are traveling with this uniquely empowered woman, and that she remotely tolerates you. Perhaps the future of mankind is more interesting then I would have imagined before?"
I continued to study the uncanny man. I then realized that I had seen someone else that had also looked a lot like Tzeentch recently, but who was it? Where had I seen this man before, I puzzled. Maybe after all I had been through I was simply confused and I was just misidentifying one of the brothers here?
Evring continued to shiver as he clutched his shoulders. The three brothers noticed this and turned to the maddened playboy. The elder brother approached him, and offered Evring a friendly handshake in greeting. Apparently too traumatized to do anything, Evring simply looked at Heinrich's outstretched hand, and stared at it without shaking it. Evring then slowly raised his eyes to look Heinrich in the eye, his expression almost threatening. The playboy, if I didn't know any better, also seemed to somehow recognize Heinrich, and he then said said something unexpected: "Heinrich? Heinrich, where have you been all this time?" Hearing this, the elder brother smiled knowingly, and dropped his hand.
Heinrich then warmly addressed us all as he opened his hands in a gesture of welcome. "Ah, it appears that the Lord of Change has touched some of you with premonitions and the blessed kiss of madness. We see confusion and lunacy as gifts to those who venerate the path of our god, as it shows that the mind is being taxed to its limit, and new knowledge of existence is being acquired on a spiritual level! Please, come inside! You are all welcome. It has been an eventful day from what Luukai has informed me."
"Where has he been all this time?" Evring whispered to himself madly again as he watched Heinrich.
With another friendly grin, Heinrich turned to walk back inside blue-lit basement room. Luukai followed him, walking adjacent to his brother and clapping his shoulder again in a friendly manner. Vadim approached Evring, and was now trying to console him, reassuring him that he would not be harmed.
As I stood there wondering where I had seen Heinrich before, I realized that I was experiencing great distaste in what the older brother had said. I felt my skin crawl from being in close proximity to such obvious Chaos worshippers once again. Why should I have to keep putting up with all these Chaos people all the time to do anything? Oh, right, it's because Tzeentch is just having fun as he completely fucks up my life for his own sadistic entertainment. After we were out of this perilous situation, I made a mental note to confront Alberich. Enough was enough with this.
Alberich stood next to me as he shook his head disbelievingly. The beastman still appeared greatly alarmed, his eyes wide and his ears down. While Heinrich's appearance had not seemed to initially upset him, Alberich had become very disturbed once he had learned Heinrich's name. Unfortunately, I could not use any sort of telepathic communication to secretly figure out why Alberich was so perturbed, so I simply watched as Evring and Vadim began to slowly make their way to the blue room as I wondered what was going on.
As much as I didn't want to follow more Chaos worshippers anywhere, we didn't have much of a choice at the moment, I conceded to myself angrily. I then walked ahead with Alberich and Zok at my side. When the three of us entered the blue room, I turned around to see that the wall was now closing itself off with a deep grinding noise. We were now in what appeared to be some sort of basement or storage room. Boxes, tables and other stored items were scattered about in here, and a spiral staircase stood in the corner, leading upward. A naked bulb above us spilled deep blue light into this messy space.
"What is this place?" I quietly asked Alberich when we were all inside.
Luukai had heard me instead as he stood near his older brother, and answered, "This is our hideout, my lady." Heinrich was standing near a section of wall, and began to input something on a previously-hidden keypad. Zok, as usual, didn't seem upset or flustered at anything around us as simply leaned against the basement wall, and even yawned as if bored. Luukai continued explaining: "To be fair, the rest of the hideout looks better than this. It is mostly upstairs. This is where we of the Blue Architects find learning, study, and refuge."
I heard one of Heinrich's nearby Tzaangor bodyguards mutter the words, "White-Feather," as he pointed in Alberich's direction. Alberich still appeared upset and confused, and the feathers on his head were now all on end.
"Yes, this is our home," the uncanny Tzeentch-man Heinrich confirmed as he completed the input into the keypad. "And, on top of a place of learning and strength, this is the hottest nightclub in town. You also stand before the sole proprietor and this organization's leader. Welcome to Dream of Tizca, friends of my brothers. You are given safe refuge under us this blessed and most chaotic evening."
"The Tzeentch nightclub!" Alberich explained, his eyes shining in recognition. "Wait, isn't... isn't this place's existence against the law for this city? When we flew in, we heard that religion could not be practiced openly."
Heinrich nodded as he turned away from the keypad, and put his attention back on us. "We had to get special permission for our name, but with a little bribery, we were able to get away with it. Laws are mainly for poor people, really, but the more serious restrictive religious laws of Evna are in effect to keep people away from recklessly summoning daemons, getting possessed, or doing exactly what governor Langwidere is doing right now."
A flash of anger and sadness washed over Heinrich as he watched us. Evring began to quietly moan in distress, and Vadim kindly began to reassure him again. Seeing this, Heinrich stepped over to say something to Luukai, and guided him to a far corner of the room, which unfortunately was out of earshot to me. This wasn't suspicious at all, no.
Alberich tugged at my sleeve, getting my attention. He turned to me and whispered, "Do you remember the name I went by as a human back in Germany, our Earth?"
I actually didn't remember, and I asked the beastman to remind me.
"My name used to be Heinrich Weiss. 'Weiss' means 'white' in German, as you may know. But 'schwarz' means black. This Heinrich has a name just as mine, but somehow an inverse. And this man, this is the man who will give me the unavoidable task blessed by the Great Architect. Forgive me for being concerned, but all of this... It is strange. I don't know what it means!"
"That's Tzeentch for you. I warned you about all this. We're going to have a talk later, and if I find out you've been making deals behind my back, I'm not going to be happy," I whispered back with a threatening growl. Heinrich and Luukai were still engaged in a secretive discussion, so I asked Alberich, "You don't recognize him, do you? This guy isn't actually in your old body or anything, is he?"
Alberich shook his head, and then actually let out an amused laugh. "No, admittedly not, thank goodness. That would have been too much strangeness, even for me. I'm assuming the task is reasonable, and will be requested of me for a good reason. The Great Architect would not lead me astray."
Au contraire, bird guy. According to the lore, the Great Architect constantly leads people astray for his own amusement, I thought with a frustrated sigh.
I could now spy that the two Tzaangors were watching us, and when they noticed that we had seen them, they looked away.
"What's with everyone calling you White-Feather, anyway?" I then asked Alberich. "I mean, I know your feathers are white, but why is everyone treating you so strangely? The bellhop in the hotel even called you that. What does that mean?"
The beastman crossed his arms. "I'm not entirely sure, but I got a short explanation at the party. Like I said before, Luukai told me that they've all been having dreams about a white-feathered Tzaangor, like me. They said that he's a powerful herald of change, and that he comes at the end of this world, and that he'd be a leader that would save them."
"And White-Feather will save us," Heinrich added to our clandestine conversation from across the room as if he had heard the entire thing. Alberich and I straightened up, and we found that everyone was now looking at us. "'And lo, White-Feather will lead us to salvation under the direction of the Architect of Fate'. These are the words many of us speak in our sleep, and we've been having such dreams for nine years now. What an incredible coincidence that you are now here as the cult of the Family of Liberty seeks to destroy us!"
Despite the influence of the pylon, I couldn't help but feel my intuition crawl in alarm of this situation. My worry must have been obvious, because Heinrich then burst into laughter, and shook his head. "Friends, we mean you no harm. In fact, we want to help you! Come! Let us all have refreshments. We need to discuss how we're going to get you across town and to Port Aubergine so you can escape this floundering city. Don't make such worried faces."
"Wait a minute," I began. "I'm sorry, but you know that governor Langwidere just called martial law, right? Wasn't she planning on rounding all you guys up and killing you for whatever fake reason she came up with?"
"Oh yes, she definitely has," Heinrich said with a rueful smile. "But, despite the danger outside, we trust the Architect of Fate to deliver us from ruin on this world. Something will happen that will prevent Langwidere from coming to this nightclub, and so far, no Wheelers have come to assault us. And, even if she eventually sends her goons to us, fate will bend in our direction, and we will be saved."
"You're not going to outsmart the governor," Evring suddenly spoke up from his muttering. Everyone in the room turned to him as he continued. "She... she can manipulate her soul. She's got all this alien tech I didn't even know about, and she, she can do things that no one else can. You can't win against her. Not after what I've seen. Everyone who goes against her dies, and if you're really unlucky, she'll steal your head and use you like a puppet. You're not going to win against her, Heinrich. No one ever has, and no one ever will."
An uncomfortable silence hung in the basement, and Heinrich then approached Alberich, and smiled widely. "Oh, I can definitely outsmart Langwidere, dear friends. I'm very familiar with her motivations and how she functions. After all..." Heinrich then smiled wistfully, as if enjoying a pleasant memory. "She and I were once very close."
I suddenly remembered where I had seen this guy! "Hey, I saw you in a painting in the hall of the palace!" I cried out. "You were there! You're..."
"Langwidere's missing paramour," Evring finished the sentence for me. "Vanished without a trace ten years ago. Governor said he stole some of her tech. She... she never stopped looking for him. And-" Evring continued to stammer as he watched Heinrich smile at us. When the elder brother smiled, he definitely resembled Tzeentch, even down to the slight dimples on his chin. "-and she still loves him, the rumors went. Ten years. Where have you been, Heinrich?"
"It's quite a long story, my friends. And a personal one at that," Heinrich offered to us evasively. "So, shall we venture upstairs? We have many things to discuss."
This situation absolutely reeked of dangerous Tzeentch-y meddling now, I thought as I watched Heinrich climb the spiral staircase. Heinrich not only looked just like how Tzeentch appeared to me, but he had a weirdly similar name to Alberich's old name. On top of that, this guy was apparently Langwidere's ex boyfriend! I turned to Alberich. His expression communicated that, just maybe, he was finally having second thoughts about trusting the Lord of Change all the time. "You better hope that your 'task' is something you can actually do, for both our sakes. I don't know if I can turn into a gold giant on command and fix all our problems again," I whispered to the beastman as we walked to the spiral staircase, and hopefully, not into some sort of trap.