Orphan At The Edge Of The World 77 Crystal Cage 15

Orison shrugged his shoulders and continued eating, secretly glancing around. Aiden looked pale at the possible revelation but not nearly as pale as the unknown royal girl who looked like she might faint.

Orison pointed at her with his fork. "Which royal house does that one belong to?"

As the girl's companions helped her to a seat and ordered her refreshments the Nunos elder said, "She's the fifth princess of his majesty, King Zither of Fortune. Those followers of hers may be her royal retainers but to Osomo, she's the retainer of the young bard over there. You see, being royal means a great deal many things but it doesn't extend indefinitely. Each of three current generations is ent.i.tled to three offspring who will be guaranteed to be born chosen. That status lasts for a third of their lifetime. Three, nine and twenty-seven for a total of thirty-nine royal members per the three houses.

"In days long past, there was once nine houses but according to legend three fell from grace and three others were lost. Our great mother is fair and constant but nothing lasts forever. One day, our houses will also join the fallen and lost to be replaced by new ones... possibly old ones returned. What is your opinion on that?"

Orison shook his head. "Asking a person an opinion on matters he's ignorant of isn't that useful. If you need to hear something just to say you did, I'd say that I'm not a returned n.o.ble but maybe some other kind of privileged individual. I doubt Osomo places all trust and authority into the hands of secular powers destined for corruption and infighting."

The older man laughed, "That is offensively blunt but undeniably true. The oldest records speak of a time when the royal families were little more than the most trusted and favored servants of a great, unifying force. Do you think that if such a force were to return that they'd be disappointed in us?"

Orison sighed. "I thought this was an informal kind of thing. I didn't expect you to start baiting me into making myself into an enemy of all the royals... I don't think that such a force should have any expectations after having been gone for so long. If they did return, the only loyalty that they should expect is what they earn through force or benefits. A reasonable balance of both would be ideal, I suppose.

"Before this goes on any further, let me get the original concerns out of the way. Here's your transfer of one share, Aiden. I know it should be two but considering that I had to give one away for the sake of peace and the most meaningful thing you did was not cause trouble, I think that's more than fair."

Reaching out to briefly touch wrist backs, Aiden stammered out his agreement with a little embarra.s.sment before fading into the background again.

Orison continued, "Here's a list of all the knowledge I can give on how the instance was triggered and my thoughts on the hows and whys of things. It's a nasty little test, if you ask me. It's no wonder that it fell out of use and ended up being forgotten. It's rich rewards were likely a one time thing. I believe that there was just a great deal of acc.u.mulation after having been dormant for such a long time. And since it practically begs the partic.i.p.ants to fight each other, it's probably best re-forgotten."

While the intelligence officer sifted through the scrawled notes Orison had made while waiting for his food, Aiden came up to him and gave the young mage his father's name and working t.i.tle to make things a little less awkward.

After Deacon Bran finished reading Orison's notes, he said, "Quite satisfactory. The family will probably play with the place for awhile but if everything here is accurate then you're right. It might be fine if that area could be controlled completely by one unified group of people but that's a direct violation of the treaty between royal houses and the reason why the royal family that predates Fortune, fell. The Great Mother despises h.o.a.rding and wasting to the equal degree she abhors wanton killing."

Orison thought to himself, "Well, yeah. It messes up the efficiency of the soul farming cycle. Your great mother is nothing more than a powerful artifact with a built in supercomputer that has lots of neat programs installed. It might be an ugly way to think about it but the people of this world aren't much better than ignorant livestock. "It wouldn't be so bad if Osomo didn't practically strip everything away before rebirthing the souls in its artificial reincarnation cycle. I can't imagine how powerful a person or group would have to be to make such a thing. All of the combine gifts and talents of my group and it would likely take years just to perfectly replicate a crystal spark!"

Orison asked the Deacon, "There are five capitals, right? If Sek, Fortune and Auma are the only ones with actual royal families then what is the deal with Thoth and Daub?"

Bran rubbed his bristly chin. "An astute question but it exposes a critical hole in your thinking. There are many recognized royal families and independent nations spread throughout Osomo. There are only three remaining ones who are directly blessed by the Great Mother, you see. Royal treaty means a lot more than just treaties between the three blessed families.

"Thoth's royal family holds it's recognition as one of the five great houses due to it's strong ties with Fortune. Daub is in a similar support situation with Auma. The rest is terribly complicated and boring."

For the rest of the meal, Bran relayed bits and pieces of relatively common information and answered a few questions about things someone born and raised in Osomo would know. There was a tacit understanding that this was Bran's way of returning the favor of including his son in Orison's discovery. Although it wasn't spoken of directly, the young mage became aware that the Nunos family held him in high regard. Due to a power struggle between the current matriarch and her nephew, however, that regard had little practical use.

With Drey recovering from spiritual damage and Ivan joining his sister in the Matriarch's camp, the old woman's political rival was having a hard time. The man's vulgar display of greed and disregard for tradition during the yearly rut challenge did a lot of damage to his reputation as well. That meant positive things for Orison and his group because it meant that the man was far too busy trying to sh.o.r.e losses and doing damage control to mess with the young mage and his friends.

As Bran wrapped things up and made his way out, Orison was getting a clear picture that his high profile way of dealing with the situation here had given him a great deal more freedom to act as he wished but had earned him trouble in the shadows. For the sake of his group, he needed to learn a little self restraint. He also needed better areas for him and his group to progress out of the public eye. The last was a problem the young mage hoped that the Draconos man, who had been patiently waiting at the bar for a few minutes, could help him deal with.

After setting up a room for the night, Orison let his group get to loot trading early with a promise to join them shortly. As Gan and Duran made their way upstairs, Rithus decided to join Orison for the conversation with Emris. As a fellow sufferer of racial ident.i.ty crisis, Orison not only could empathize but encouraged the two to talk first. It was great that Osomo gave such a convenient excuse of sp.a.w.ning amnesia to make such conversations completely free of awkward questions.

As Orison plied the two with a little social lubricant in the way of a local specialty wine, he relaxed into a pa.s.sive listening partner for awhile as Emris gave Rithus the breakdown. Aside from being the distant descendant of dragons, the young mage could care less about the history of the Draconos history and only keyed back in when information that was useful to the group as a whole came up. Dumping Osomo trash mechanics about Rithus' new race, it was interesting that the Draconos had a couple minor innate spirit essence abilities that were lineage dependent.

Once Rithus figured out his lineage, he could appeal to join a clan. Emris offered to introduce Rithus to his own but wasn't pushy about it. Unlike some of the other races, Emris' people weren't that fertile but held a dominant genetic disposition when interbreeding. As Emris explained that tidbit, Orison also found out about the genetic hierarchy of this world. Draconos were at the top and humans were at the bottom. Due to possessing nearly universal genetic compatibility with the intelligent races, humans were generally accepted everywhere but for some reason elves were not as keen on joining with humans as they once were and a good deal of other fey creatures shared that sentiment.

Once done with their info share, Rithus made his way to join Duran and Gan. For the next hour or so, Orison was filled in about other capitals that were on another transporter circuit and where the joining hubs were. He also learned some more about the crystal spark's functions. The more he heard, the more Orison felt that the main creative person behind the creation of Osomo was inspired by RPGs.

The game-like qualities of this world were nothing more than a mask for its insidiousness in Orison's mind. Sp.a.w.ning dulled the threat of death and the instinctual fear of risk taking that existed within intelligent beings. The constant reinforcement from Osomo's song of motherly love each life cycle of Chosen kept the general populace from looking for alternative answers for existential questions. Even if Orison's guess that this world was once a training facility turned out to be true, it was just as true that key pieces of information were hidden.

Whatever information that would turn the relatively hollow higher end abilities and skills into something more personally enriching was likely only available to those who swore loyalty to the original owners. Without that theoretical owner present to dispense such vital information, this world was nothing more than an acc.u.mulating jackpot that one fortunate outsider would one day collect or Osomo would eventually give in to the vicissitudes of time and have a fatal collapse. Either way, when that day came, everyone here would meet a sudden and tragic end.

The young mage had to admit that as far as dystopian existences went, this one was rather well made and relatively pleasant. In their blissful ignorance, the residents of this world were safe from plague and famine, sheltered from self inflicted global crisis or suffering lingering consequences from the mismanagement of natural resources. They weren't subjected to much conflict from any number of rampant prejudices that typically sprang from a mult.i.tude of faiths and nationalities either. Despite all that, Orison didn't envy them at all. Everyone's path through their endless cycle of lives were paved out while nearly all aspects of it were closely micromanaged like an overbearing bully of a helicopter parent that never let go.

Orison had little desire to pursue breaking the lock off this crystal cage for anyone other than himself and his companions but he didn't mind planting a few seeds of possibility if they presented themselves. In the effort to 'climb' out of this place, he might stumble on a few of the world's secrets. They would make nice presents for those who helped him and his people along the way.

As an afterthought, once Emris was done playing school teacher, Orison invited him to the party's room for some loot swapping. The equipment and resource drops were incredibly random and before slowly trickling their unwanted possessions into shops, everyone would benefit from seeing if someone else had things they wanted or needed first.

Relatively uncaring about trying to get the absolute best out of what he wore, Orison switched out his unis.e.x mage garb and feminine jewelry for a full set of gear more suited to a rogue style adventurer. He lost little in the exchange as set gear tended to create well rounded bonuses rather than focused ones in the lower range. The decision was made even easier by the fact that Emris was interested in everything that Orison had previously worn and made good deals for it.

Once he was satisfied, Emris excused himself from the proceedings fairly quickly. "If I take much longer to get back, I may have troubles of a different nature to deal with at home. If you've nothing better to attend to, Orison, I and my wife can run you through a beginner's raid dungeon. It's near Snow Cap far to the north of the five capitals. I can't promise that it will be a good run but it's relatively safe and a good place to practice and learn in."

Orison nodded, trying not to look overly eager. "It would be nice to get away from here for a bit anyway. Rithus and Duran have a couple of days left for their instruction period but after that we really don't have any solid plans."

Once the Dragonos left, Orison shared all he had learned about the Osomo crystal and its functions with Gan and Rithus, letting the latter examine the purified one. Surprisingly, Duran wanted to as well.

Just realizing an important oversight, Orison asked Duran, "How did you answer the invitation? Your shard only has the models for identification, transporter and trainer usage."

Duran said, "Wick followed Rithus."

Rithus filled in, "I told him that you invited me. I broke my hand loom when that floating square came up and when I was asked what happened I told Duran's instructor about the floating square. The shadow in my bones told me that you wanted Duran too so I told the instructor that we had both been invited. I didn't expect to be pulled to you through the circle in that place but..."

Orison looked at Duran nervously when the boy put the crystal into Wick's inner plane.

Duran looked at Orison blandly and said, "I won't eat it."

A few moments later, the crystal appeared in Duran's hand and he gave it back. Orison quickly put the crystal back into his s.p.a.ce.

Antic.i.p.ating Orison's questions and the painfulness of getting Duran to answer them, Rithus chimed in, "I think Wick can pick up anything that is sent at Duran spiritually. He will not have much trouble with that part of not having a complete crystal at least."

Orison gave Rithus a grateful smile and then chuckled as he remembered his own guesswork about how Rithus 'climbed'. Rithus smiled back but didn't comment further. Putting random thoughts away, Orison turned to the matter of how they would unload the rest of the unneeded equipment.

When Orison began discussing the best way to sell their loot, both Rithus and Duran gave twin looks of pained reluctance. It seemed there were quite a few resources that Rithus wanted to collect and equipment that Duran wanted to study/digest. That suited the young mage fine. They weren't hurting for funds at the moment and the less unneeded junk there was to get rid of, the less likely it would draw unwanted attention.

With all the business and pleasure of the late evening out of the way, it was time to call it a day. One by one they took turns cleaning up in the bathroom and turned in but once Orison was done, his head spinning with a myriad of thoughts about the past and future, he took a walk instead. Fortunately for the young mage, Auma sported a large and scenic park that never closed.

As he strolled about untangling the knots in his head and trying his best to plot a course forward, Orison took in the beautiful scenery. With an occasional use of spirit sight, he managed to avoid getting too close to areas being used for much less contemplative purposes but didn't entirely manage to avoid a random pleased sigh or flirtatious giggle. He couldn't help but feel a little melancholy as he continued his stroll through a place designed to be enjoyed with another but there wasn't any better place for a nightly stroll that wouldn't encourage strange looks or frequent disruptive run-ins with guard patrols.

Obviously the park had them as well but the pa.s.sing guards wouldn't question someone for a nightly walk there. People who kept night hours often frequented the park for a chance at casual interaction otherwise difficult to obtain or to help indulge a racy couple who wanted a little spice in their romantic trysts. The place was big enough to support those needs and still have a designated route for lonely contemplation and by the time he had hit his second round, Orison figured that route out and easily avoided the embarra.s.sing situations he had nearly stumbled into his first round.

On his third round, Orison grew tired of scenic viewing and turned to t.i.tania and Oberon for distraction. Manipulating a bit of the more frivolous parts of their design, he discovered that they would interact with each other and their environment in amusing ways. Flirting, courting and even arguing could be initiated. The more he invested in it, the more life-like they became. It boggled his mind how complex and diverse the smallest parts of their design was and wondered at the sad life of the woman who made them.

Increasingly more engrossed in his manipulation and interaction with them, Orison nearly bodily ran into someone walking from the opposite direction. Looking up he saw the conflicted face of Ivan who had just parted ways with a woman still visible in the distance. By the way she was striding off, things hadn't seemed to go the way she had hoped because there was some stiffness in her steps that denoted irritation or maybe even anger.