另类小说人亚洲小说

Chapter 39

Devils in the Details

“So, what’s the difference between an angel and a real powerful spirit?” Narces asked.

“It’s a matter of scale.” Madonna said. “Every soul is magical; every life a blessing. But not every soul touches the forces that enable magic spells. Not every soul able becomes an adept, not every adept an expert, and not every expert becomes a master.”

“It’s the same thing for wisps and spirits. Not every spirit becomes an entity, not all entities become forces, not all forces are bolstered to become angels, not all angels divinities, and not all divinities become gods. So, in one sense, sure they’re the same; in another, they’re completely different things.”

“Your biggest denominator is the access to cosmic powers, those things that you can think of as the spices cooked together to make what you mortals call reality. But the greater the power, the greater the cost. That, and it’s easier to destroy than create. In time, your gods will fail and falter, and then the daemon, the demons and devils, will be on top of the theological ladder.”

.....

“A vivid imagination, if nothing else.” Kismet said, eyes still on the page of her new novel.

“Go stick your tail up your ass!” She responded.

I cleared my throat. “The important takeaways here are that not even all gods have the ability to do everything, everywhere, to include knowing or hearing everything. Their powers are greatest at the centers of their faith, weakening at the fringes, and fading to next to nothing in hostile lands.”

“Thus,” Dimmihammas added, “while the Hangwoman represents the greatest single spiritual power in the Isles, she is also not as protected here as she might be in Manora proper. She lacks the lesser spirits, the soldiers as Narces might say, that would otherwise be her entourage.”

“And, because she has to do for herself things that normally lesser spirits do for her, there is the opportunity of forcing her to a mis-step. But there are preparations yet to do on that front, long before Dimmihammas or I dare to linger in Boadicea’s Girdle.”

“So why the knife first?” I asked. “If the taint on it is strong enough for me to sense it through walls, any manner of spirit can probably sense it outside of the building.”

“Poor impulse control?” Dimmihammas suggested. “The blade has been hidden for three centuries, a few more years wasn’t too much to ask.”

Madonna waved a hand as if to wave away his concerns. “All of the items we need to gather are of this ilk. Protective devices, whether versus damage or detection, most of them.”

“And all of these items just happen to be here in the Isles?” I asked.

“Mortals do tend to discover such things, and make them their own. One is on prominent display in Boadicea’s Girdle. One is claimed by a pirate captain, who has two other vessels in his clan. Two others remain safely hidden, one in a grave and one inside a volcanic caldera. Boots, belt, mask, cloak, all of them intended to ensure that I can get close enough to complete my mission.”

Kismet rolled her eyes. “Because nothing can be simple.”

“Kazarth?” Gamilla asked.

“Or Danton the Black.” Kismet said.

“Oh, the latter. He owns the Boots of Blackness, which absorb most sound their owner makes when sunlight doesn’t shine on them.” Dimmihammas said.

“Why not all sound?” Narces asked.

Madonna and Dimmihammas did a short pantomime of speaking to each other.

“Uh, yeah, okay.” He said. “So which item’s on display?”

“The belt, the Circle of Infinity, which protects against Cosmic energy, such as the Hangwoman has access to. The Ermine Cloak is hidden in a grave inside Daurian lands, which will protect from supernatural and spiritual detection. And the caldera holds the Mask Anonymous, which will keep her from being magically identified.”

“Seems like a lot of effort for things you could just have enchanted in any major nation.”

Dimmihammas sighed. “Each item is part of a panoply; the true power of the items remains hidden until they are assembled. Only then can their greater purpose be unveiled. Only with the full set will she have the power to inflict corruption upon the angel.”

“Even one missing piece,” Madonna said, “and my task becomes that much harder. As you say, husband, this is something which must be done right rather than fast.”

“I’m going to guess that each of these items are tainted beyond use by normal sane individuals?”

“Not so much as the knife, which was used to murder unwilling thousands.” Madonna said. “The others work their way upon the owners in a slower, more subtle manner.”

“Wait, these items are cursed?” Kismet said.

Dimmihammas nodded. “Easiest way to keep track of them.”

Kismet pouted. “I wanted a pair of sneaky boots.”

“It’s not a Legendary Weapon.” Gamilla said. “It’s just a matter of meeting the right wizard, and meeting their price.”

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“Okay, so Kismet, Gamilla, tell me about pirates. What do we know, what do we suspect, and what remains a mystery?”

“Well, the two main clans are Order of the Wyvern and Clan Octopus, which are just names for those who serve the dragon and the kraken-spawn. They’ll loot each other, and the lesser pirate clans.” Gamilla said.

“There’s an awful lot of those.” Kismet said. “Any time there’s a temporary alliance between two captains, they claim it’s a new clan. Those things rise and fall like the tides.”

Dimmihammas reclined on the table. “Or fall apart over greed, or just when some other captain is brought to vengeance.”

“But some,” I said, “clearly last longer.”

Gamilla nodded. “Three we know of. The female’s Lady Blood, she’s Coldblood’s daughter by a native shamaness. Rumor says Shark Tribe cannibal, but their shamans have been all male for centuries. She has five ships. Kazarth the Sea Khan claims to be an exiled prince of the Khanate, but his skin color’s too pale. Hasn’t hurt his reputation or his ability that I can see. Danton the Black used to be a Manoran captain in good standing before his wife and daughter were seized as debtors and sold to the brothels, all while he was away.”

“All of these captains surround themselves with tall tales and wicked rumors. Hard to tell what’s true and what’s just rumor. For example, Danton’s supposedly got a monkey that can talk.”

Dimmihammas scoffed. “I find it unlikely that there are two such as myself in this island chain. Besides, the Blacksoul or I would know.”

“Because demons report to devils?” I asked.

“Oh, now there’s a thought.”

“Unlikely.” Madonna said. “Demons are creatures of wanton, destructive appetites. One might manage to be allied to a temporary clan, but the longer a clan goes without tearing itself apart, the less likely that a demon is involved.”

“Honestly, that sounds like a lot of pirate ships for the eighty or so merchant vessels here, yet I seem to recall several relatively safe journeys.”

“Well,” Gamilla said, “Yes, you’re looking at one in four vessels here will fly the black colors if it senses enough profit in the wind.”

“I’m guessing it’s not just luck that we’ve avoided them since that incident with the People of the Sea-Bat?”

Kismet nodded. “There’s an active black market for slaves, we think owned by the dragon. The kraken-spawn runs some sort of brainwashing cult, turns its prisoners into fanatics. Bottom line is, you never want to lose to pirates. We were kinda waiting for reinforcements from the mainland.”

I sighed, shook my head. “Not likely to be coming, if the war with the centaurs is still going. What about the local military vessels?”

“Two or three per port, with the exception of the Daurians. The larger factions are at least a dozen ships. All the locals can do is take out the minor pirates, and that could go badly, leaving them defenseless. Nobody dares attack anything but single ships.”

“Hrm. Okay, well it’s a good thing that neither of our missions involve removing all the pirates. Maybe I’ll ask the right question of my System, and discover something new.”

Narces blinked. “Wait, the System has information it doesn’t tell you?”

“Mine does.”

“System, show me all the abilities I don’t already have but can afford for firing off more than one arrow at a time.” His eyes unfocused, or rather looked at something not visible to the rest of us. “Yeah... Boss, I’m not going to be practicing with the spear.” He reached out and began touching things we couldn’t see. “I’ve got some new things I need to train with.”

Hrm. So, my system didn’t respond to vocal commands or physical gestures, but Narces’ clearly did. Systems must have different ways of responding.

“Kismet, how does your system work?”

“Mine talks to me, in my head. Nothing I can see, and I just have to think about what I want.”

“Gamilla?”

“Mine works like Narces’ does, but has an option for responding to thoughts. I’ve just always had better places to put those development points.”

“Madonna, Dimmihammas?”

Madonna and Dimmihammas looked at each other. Madonna spoke. “We decline to answer, as it puts all Daemons at risk. We are aware of twelve ... lineages of systems, but it doesn’t appear linked to the fact there are Twelve Legendary weapons.”

Narces yawned. “Yeah, more to do, but I’m going to wait until morning.”

That yawn was contagious, and we adjourned for the night.

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