7.39 - Tour of the Old World
Theo had never been certain what plans Xol'sa had for him. Perhaps he was just a wizard who was happy to have another person who could use magic around him. The man had been isolated for a while, even before he came to Broken Tusk. But the Alchemist doubted the wizard could have imagined the plans he had created to forge his own branch of magic based on his new cores.
With enough of the day left to get something done, Theo headed through the portal that sat ever-present in the town square. As was tradition, he entered the tower with caution and was unsurprised to see Xol'sa meeting with the de facto leader of the space elves on the second floor.
"If it wasn't the man we were just talking about," Kalan said, turning and flashing a smile at Theo.
"Looks like you're feeling a lot better," Theo said, striding into the room and assessing the mood. It was light. Xol'sa had a light smile playing across his face and a cup of tea in his hands. Kalan was in a relaxed posture, leaning against the back of a comfortable sofa.
"He seems to be fully recovered," Xol'sa said with a shrug. "As with the other elves from the first round, it's hard to believe that all our work finally paid off."
It really was difficult to believe, even though Theo was looking at the man who had fully recovered from being corrupted by the void. From the outset, it had felt like an impossible task to help them recover from their corruption. But between the healers and the potions, they were doing just fine.
"I was just updating Xol'sa here about our culture," Kalan said, a look of pride on his face. "Things are fuzzy for us, but we're eager to begin rebuilding."
“As long as you don't have plans to steal the shards again, everything should work out fine this time,” Theo said, "The shards have their guardian back, so I doubt it'll be easy."
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"Oh, you don't have to tell me," Kalan said, waving the thought away. “I know I've learned my lesson, and I'm sure the others have as well.”
As long as Theo remained on the mortal plane, the space elves would be bound to it, since they signed a contract. But that wasn't the reason for his visit, and he wasn't too concerned about it. He had come instead for magical knowledge.
His understanding of magic right now was basic.
Theo understood that, like alchemy, magic was broken into tiers. What made one tier of magic different from another was beyond him, though. There was more complexity with higher-tier magic, but he didn’t feel it as much as he thought he should. That’s where an expert hand like Xol’sa came in. The alchemist asked, and the space elf was happy to give a long-winded academic explanation.
He was right about how magic was broken into tier-based segments. But the fundamental premise of all magic was the building of keywords to create spells. Even the dronon version of magic used this, even if they employed short-form stories rather than sigils, runes, or spellwords. Instead of adding another factor to the mix the way alchemy did, spellcraft was more about adding layers.
“And layers can mean just about anything,” Kalan said. He had a warm smile on his face, as though talking about magic brought him great joy. “Some spells require multiple layers to function. Adding layers to other spells has a modifying effect, changing the function of that spell.”
“His problem is understanding the function of spells,” Xol’sa said with a scoff. “His problem is that he has never worked for his power with spellcraft.”
“I’m right here, ya know,” Theo said, folding his arms.
"It matters not where power comes from," Kalan said, setting a serious look onto Xol'sa. "If one can wield power, they can wield it. And that's that."
"Yet you and our people didn't work for that power. We stole it from an entity much stronger than us to generate our cores." Xol’sa’s voice had an edge. A brutal one.
"This world is nothing but stolen power." Kalan said, "And..."
"That's going to be enough of the argument," Theo said, waving his hands through the air. "It doesn't matter who got what power from where. We're resetting the world to fix that. So, you two can get off each other's throats."
“This child—” Kalan started.
"Nope," Theo said, cutting him off. "You don't get to disappear for tens of thousands of years and then come back like you know how the world works. I'm not here to ask you guys philosophical questions about what power is derived from. I just need help making more powerful potions."
"Of course, Theo is right," Xol'sa said with a shrug. "What people did back then is of no consequence to what he's trying to do now. Speaking of that, there's an interesting path to consider here since Theo wants to create a new type of magic."
"Well, that isn't exactly new," Kalan countered, "but I understand your meaning. He's looking to take elements from wide area magic, but the question comes when considering the base he's working from—a class that uses warding magic."
"The most likely outcome is that he can combine the two concepts, but that requires us to find a spell he can cast that has a wide area effect to influence his current core and change the nature of that core. Do you know of any spells that could fit the bill?" Xol'sa asked.
These two were weird. Theo watched as they went for the throat and then backed off just as quickly. That might have been their nature as people, or as a people. It was hard to say. But they thumbed through some old tomes and discussed a way Theo could change the way his current core worked. The first step would be to learn how to form spells better and understand how they worked. And of course, the next was to convince the realm to accept this new basis of spellcasting. Since he had some control over that, it wouldn't be impossible, but it also wouldn't be easy.
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"Thanks for the lesson plan," Theo said, holding the few sheets of paper the parrot generated for him. They were still moderately combative with each other, but no matter what they argued about, it always circled back to helping him out, so he guessed that's just the way they were. The result was fairly comprehensive, and it was a lot for him to pour over.
Turning to leave the tower, Theo looked back and gave the parent a withering glare once more. He then released a sigh and fell through the cracks in reality, dropping into the void to let his mind clear. The alchemist angled straight for his own realm at first, but deviated, finding Fenian's world easily enough. He soon dropped into a random place he didn't recognize.
This was the ‘old world’, as Fenian remembered it. Theo stood in a sprawling city. The buildings here were made to join with nature. Most were made from trees and bordered by fences of cultivated bushes and vines. Dominating the center of the city was a massive tree that stretched hundreds of feet into the sky. The air teemed with magical energy, visible motes of power floating around his head.
Theo toured some of this world. He laughed when he came to the eastern shores of the continent, flying further east to find absolutely nothing but the sea. He doubted Fenian had toured most of his own world, and his knowledge was limited to the continent he was born on. Now that continent was Tarantham, dominated by the elves. But before then, it held four mighty nations, each with an impressive capital.
“What is this?” Theo said, angling to the south of the tree city. He held his breath as he landed and felt the pull of unfamiliar magic around him.
Fenian appeared beside him, his arms folded with a serious look on his face. “I’d appreciate if you didn’t poke around in my old memories.”
“I see you finally understand how to approach and leave your world,” Theo said, a smile spreading across his face. That smile soon died as he looked at the devastation before him.
The landscape had been scarred and corrupted by an unknown force. Why Fenian had imagined this ruined place was beyond him. He could have placed anything here, but had chosen to keep it the way it was.
“We don’t even remember the name of this kingdom,” Fenian said, answering some of the alchemist’s questions. “Since I was a boy, it was this way. My eternal reminder of the threats that lurk in the dark places of the world. Why are you here, anyway?”
“Oh, I was heading off to learn some magic,” Theo said with a shrug. “Going to convince my realm to change the way it does magic. I want to do wide-area buffing spells.”
“Like the ones Zarali casts?” Fenian asked.
“Exactly like that. If I can get it to work with my potions, it’ll be very effective,” Theo said.
“Interesting… You know, I expected you to ask more about this place.”
“Why? It reminds me of Gardreth,” Theo said. “And no one talks about Gardreth anymore, do they? Not unless they’re talking about pozwa.”
“That’s a fair point,” Fenian said.
“Which one was your home?” Theo asked.
Fenian smiled, jerking his head to one side. They both vanished from the ruined scene, appearing in the courtyard of another massive town. Theo recognized it as the one on the northwestern coast of the continent. The area was notable for rocky shores and dense forests. The city itself was made from sturdy stone that had been aged by many hundreds of years. They stood before a citadel, bordered on all sides by a deep moat.
“The original home of the elves,” Fenian said. “Ah, kinda. We came from the forests to the south, but most scholars consider those proto-elves.”
“This is where the original Death came from, right?” Theo asked.
“Did I ever let that slip?” Fenian asked, tapping his chin. “I need more points in Wisdom… I grew up in the outer-ring of this city. Oh, want to see something fun?”
“Always.”
In a snap, Theo and Fenian were back in the tree-city. They stood outside of a house made from a tree. Like the other houses in the city, it was surrounded by a living fence.
“This is where Elrin was born,” Fenian said with a wide smile. “His parents were still alive at the end, so they’ll be in the queue somewhere.”
“I have a question. Is this world as you remember it from childhood?”
“No. This is from before we were locked away.”
“Meaning you defended it,” Theo said. “Did any city fall to the attacks?”
Another snap and they were standing on the walls of a blocky city. The environment here was far more humid. The stones of the city’s walls were made from large, white bricks. And a massive section had crumpled. Cannons sat on either side of them, fuses at the ready.
“This is Hallben,” Fenian said. “Home of the vulbet and humans, mostly. When the monster wave came, it attacked from the south… Through a passage few were aware of. The race that eventually became the khahari aided the shade. At first, we thought it would be the easiest place to defend.”
Theo could see why. All paths leading to the city were narrow, snaking up cliffs and providing little more than sheer drops. Then there were the weapons on the walls. Cannons and other places for people to hide and shoot out of… Which meant they had guns.
“Did the people of Hallben have guns?” Theo asked.
“Cannons and muskets,” Fenian said, nodding to the cannons. “The musketeers here had just developed a type of cartridge-based single-shot rifle before the reset. It was a design Elrin took, making enchanted weapons from. Those were very effective against armored targets… Even if you needed a lot of strength to use them.”
“Yet the wall was still breached.”
“Indeed. We faced chimeras,” Fenian said. “But look behind us.”
Theo dragged his gaze over the landscape, looking to see the design of the city. He needed no more information from Fenian. The city was designed to be attacked. They were standing on the outermost wall, but there were more walls. The space immediately behind them was an open concourse with more concealed positions on the wall above. Any attacker would be trapped in a killing field if the defenders retreated.
“I like this design,” Theo said, craning his neck as he committed it all to memory.
“Uh-oh. Our alchemist is getting ideas,” Fenian said, shoving him playfully. “They had nothing as impressive as the artifice guns in Broken Tusk.”
“No ancient knowledge to be gained here,” Theo said, shaking his head. “Too bad you’re not a master of magic. Hard to get anything out of Xol’sa as he argues with Kalan.”
“I saw them bickering in town.” Fenian chuckled, leaning over the wall with a sigh.
Theo and Fenian stood there on the wall for some time, having nothing much to say. When enough of the alchemist’s thoughts had gathered, he bid farewell. As he dropped into the void, he felt Tero’gal drawing him in. Perhaps the realm was open to discussion about his idea for changing the way their magic worked.