Chapter 6 Part 1: Shadows in The Dark

Xavos stood up, and rubbed his tired eyes. He took care not to rip the flimsy eyepatch lent to him by Sorreli, the mule woman that covered his scarred eye. Indeed, he had finally learned the uncouth creature’s name, but at the very least she felt indebted enough to her saviors to run their new vessel for them. At least for a time.

The woman was bug eyed when she’d seen the Ark, and the flying isle herself in the daylight. Apparently, just like the undead and Paladins, these were myths to the modern races of light. The Paladin sighed at the thought, and gazed down at the table with the map laid out before him. They had explored to be sure. There were cities and even kingdoms Xavos had never heard or seen of, yet not as many as three thousand years would assume. That before one factored in these new technologies which allowed such high speed travel without draining magic.

There was the split continent of Kyathane. It did not elude Xavos the name of what was once the world now only applied to the sanctuary continent cut from the rest of the world through immense effort, skill, magic, and much prayer. No name could be decided upon before the sanctuary had been crafted. All had simply called her sanctuary, and the Paladin imagined that the continent would’ve been the denizens’ of these new kingdoms whole world for all practical purposes.

So Kyathane it was. She was a jagged affair due to the immense energy of the spells and drill work at the various volcanos and ley lines used to split the land from the larger world she had once been attached to. Back then she was the Grand Peninsula of The Irconion. She was wild and uninhabited due to her thick jungles, massive predators, and wild ruins dating to before living memory began. Many an uncouth threat had been quelled in those dense black jungles, yet she was chosen for the undead’s aversion to the wildlands. The same traces of energy the mages and priesthood had followed to the source of the Blessed Stasis Field’s power itself were at the heart of Kyathane’s lands.

That was an age ago. The map he saw now was different. Pieces of the continent had split from the rest before settling and anchoring to the ocean floors. The priests had warned such a fate could happen. Such geographic turmoil seemed to be a natural catalyst for political strife as well. The lines on the map were certainly not the agreed upon limits of the nations of light that had fled on the arks. Though the capital which was to be the center of learning and spiritual growth did exist, it appeared to be an imperial capital now.

The whole continent was not consumed by this, Xavos took a moment to squint at the red printed words on the map, New Therim Imperium. There were a few large powers from the sea mer who without the sea dwarves as a rival had done quite well in their waters on the far end of the continent. The map was almost blank in their territory which did stand true with the mer kingdoms of old and their ways of secrecy.

Doubtlessly some of the monsters on the waves drawn into the map were in fact their pets or spell creatures sent to terrorize all who might pass near their claimed territory. The Paladin had a sinking suspicion he would find few friends amongst the mer as he brought the old sea dwarves back who they had contended were no true mer, and thus had no place beneath the waves. Funny, they had terra firma possessions, yet no one whined about their places being in the seas. Some things didn’t change even after three thousand years.

There appeared to be a massive frontier between this Imperium and the mer waters, and then again high in the North and far to the south. Mountains which had been foreboding with strange magic and primordial menace still stood mostly untouched. They were doubtlessly more formidable than any of the Paladins or kings had foreseen. Or had been left bare by design. A most unsettling thought.

The Paladin squinted as he thought a shadow danced across the map. Did those words change across the black mountains atop the parchment? Xavos lifted the eye patch to see if the use of both eyes would fix the anomaly. He had been using the contraption to grow into wearing the device in all settings. No good giving up the ruse with a misstep or uncomfortable moment, but now he wondered if he had been straining his good eye too thoroughly. There was nothing their by the time he had finished blinking. An unsettling feeling made his instincts grow sharp for a minute before slowly dissipating.

Xavos may have been the Arch Paladin of Man with blessed gifts of the Almighty, but even he knew when rest was required. He had been pouring over the scant collection of history and maps aboard the vessel for a week. There was little more to learn, and far less to do besides endure the mule woman’s rambling to attempt to mimic the speech of these descendants of the races of light. That was pain. Xavos would rather endure the Trials of the Brotherhood of Paladins and all their physical, moral, and knowledge based agony than be around Sorreli at that moment. He only had so much endurance to bear. Still, had he just imagined the apparition?

Xavos felt out with his senses, and his power. He wasn’t infallible by any means. Though there were few in his day who could slink past him unawares an old warrior became a dead warrior fast if he began to believe he had seen every trick. This was a world full of new methods, and the Paladin didn’t imagine stealth and magic tools had not changed in those three thousand years of changing. None-the-less nothing seemed amiss.

So taking care not to stomp in his new leather boots with their strange buckles and durable yet comfortable leather breeches, Xavos attempted to slink his way to the cabin leaving the magical yet not magic light burning for his return. The engineer mule woman would complain at the drain on the generators as she had done every night on this voyage from the Paladin’s blessed isle and the Ark Xarmon. Apparently, their stores were just as finicky as the magical vaults on their more ancient magical cousins. Xavos left it on anyway. He was feeling more than tired and youthfully rebelliousness. A simple test to see just how alone he actually was in these dark deserted looking hallways.

Xavos had taken up the Captain’s Cabin, and had prayed for the man’s soul given the violence of his death. Such things could lead to hauntings of the less physical sort. Though such poltergeists were known to lead at times to undead fiends this was a rare occurrence usually due to a lack in the Paladins over the region. Then again, Xavos was the only Paladin now so who knew what chaos could be possible in this strange new world he had awoken into. But more important to the growing apprehension or possible paranoia of the Paladin the Captain’s Cabin was down the hall and just around the corner to the left. Perfect cover for checking behind one’s shoulder.

The hallways were tight for the larger than average men of the brotherhood, and indeed crafting clothing that matched the style and function seen on the mule woman and her dead compatriots had been an oddly difficult task. In the end enough materials on the various captured ships had done the trick. They were practical for sure, and Xavos dared to admit the eye patch fashioned by the Kierter’s daughter herself suited his figure. And they certainly allowed him more stealth than his enchanted armor, a fact he was grateful for at the moment.

It was impossible not to stand out when they reached the closest port armor or no armor. The gifts of the almighty made all of the acolytes and their teacher imposing men by their very nature, but they could at least look like they belonged. Ruffians, but well groomed mercenaries was the goal. Sorreli was sure they would disappear well enough when amongst the throngs. Only, they seemed to have already garnered the attention they had all dreaded. Unless of course Xavos was losing his mind with old age or after effects of being in stasis for three thousand years. Either way Xavos had already thought of one way to test the theory.

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