Amdirlain’s PoV - Outlands
After she briefly inspected the changes to her Domain first-hand, Lilith and the energy she emitted claimed priority. Amdirlain narrowed her attention to the forested glade where the ancient being sat a few thousand kilometres away. Not wanting to risk anything being masked by Lilith’s strength, Amdirlain swept the surroundings before she teleported to the opposite side of the cozy glade. Soft grasses and a thin brook trickling across it made it the sort of place where Amdirlain would be happy to sit and soak her feet in the water.
“Hello again, Lilith,” Amdirlain said, sitting across from her. “I hadn’t expected you to be looking for my Domain.”
“Amdirain,” Lilith nodded. “I called you Phaedra, the last time we spoke, but Kháos corrected me.”
“It’s understandable, and I take no offence from you calling me Phaedra. Once, I would have been insistent that I wasn’t her.” Memories of meeting Lilith the first time prompted Amdirlain to meet her gaze and be direct. “What brings you here, Lilith?”
“Have you remembered our discussion about dangerous beings?”
“The crucial factors of determination: will, intent, and means.” Amdirlain offered, taking in the changes that weighed the air about Lilith. “I also remembered what you told me about your creator and found we’d confirmed it during our travels. Though I gather you’re not here to discuss those matters.”
“Many in Hell have become willing and intent on attacking you. Yet they lacked the means to find you. With the discovery of your Domain’s location, their desires meant that information floated my way. I came to confirm that their information was accurate and to speak with you again. I’ll admit I didn’t expect such a change in your strength nor the air with which you carry yourself.”
She’s picking up my desire to balance my new natures, and so knowledge related to those desires flows into her because of her greater strength.
“It’s a step along the journey to broaden my perspective, so that I can comprehend what a properly balanced realm requires.”
“Will you venture your attention to law and chaos next?”
Amdirlain laughed dryly. “The rules of creation are the closest I’ll get to those natures.”
“How is it you’ve ascended a tier already?” Lilith leaned forward. “You’ve got the energy of the Abyss crawling over you, and wilder energies as well, yet none of those forces are within you. The desires coursing through you show so many wild images I’m unsure which of them you’ve actually done, and which are planned.”
That’s an interesting ability reveal.
“I spent time in the Far Chaos while I worked on transforming Eldritch,” Amdirlain admitted, not taking her attention from Lilith.
“Might I ask what you transformed them into?”
“Raw energy to help shape a realm.”
Lilith’s brows lifted high. “They must contain such tempting amounts of power.”
“Dangerous amounts that require precise direction,” Amdirlain corrected. “Would you share your thoughts on how long I have before Hell attacks?”
“A unified Hell won’t be attacking. I’ve blocked its ruler from taking direct action against you. The Great Mother’s plotting already has factions against each other, so they should be at each other’s throats before they get a chance. The main defended links into the Outlands mean that they’ll have to stage smaller forces through secondary portals and rifts onto this Plane. My advice is to watch for scouts confirming routes. Only after they’ve decided on multiple lines of attack and retreat will some strike to see if they can break your borders.”
I should have located my Domain further from the others.
Amdirlain allowed her senses to expand out away from Lilith and found a few groups bearing Tingeth’s crest with nothing more substantial than pit fiends accompanying them. She provided the details to N?r and left her to organise the response forces.
“His daughter is already in motion, scouting in force.” Amdirlain displayed an image of the region with traces of infernal energies marked.
The display prompted a nod from Lilith. “She learnt about your Domain first, but most of her reinforcements will be stuck in Hell for now.”
“Because of the factions you spoke of?”
“Until a new Portal is opened or they unearth the existing one from beneath the mass of the black hole Kháos deposited on it. The ruler of Hell allows individual devils to be summoned or recalled through gates, but not for the movements of armies. Kháos used the black-hole that ate Hades’s domain to bury the one static Portal from Hell.”
Amdirlain twitched in surprise. “They were supposed to take that to Gehenna.”
Lilith smiled smugly. “They did, but perhaps they were more creative with your instructions than you planned.”
An illusion of the events hung between them, and Amdirlain face-palmed at Kháos’s giggling response to Lilith.
“Those two clearly care for you, yet they’re so independent in their natures. How did you manage it?” Lilith asked.
“I’ll let you know when I’ve worked it out.”
“Of my children here,” Lilith stabbed a finger into the ground. “Only Naamah has followed her own course, while the rest have been disappointingly conformist.”
“If you tell them to leave and find their own route, then it’ll be disappointing because it took you asking?”
“Yes.”
“Tell them the choice is theirs.”
“I shouldn’t have to tell them,” Lilith grumbled. “They need to reach for it all on their own or it isn’t genuine.”
“Have you told them they’re not allowed to do something?”
“Then they follow the law.”
“Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”
“Ha,” Lilith barked. “You gave me so much, but neither of you asked me for anything.”
“You trained us to fight and how to get in the right mindset to get out of my own way during a fight. We didn’t have to ask you for that,” Amdirlain countered.
“This is not how the interaction between powers is expected to go.”
Amdirlain shrugged. “I’ll do what I want.”
Lilith leaned forward and briefly pressed her forehead against Amdirlain’s. “You’re still the delightful child who cried for my pain and my children.”
“Were they a disappointment to you as well?” Amdirlain asked, remembering Lilith’s grief. “There seemed to be a stronger bond to them than ?your dismissal of your children here shows.”
“Of those here, only Naamah rebelled; the rest pathetically follow my route through Hell. They need to grow a spine. Whereas my older children were so independent that I couldn’t help but love them all so fiercely,” Lilith breathed. “They were so curious and precious, looking into anything that caught their attention; none of them fit the same mould. I wish I knew what became of their essences and souls.”
“I’ll see if I can learn more once my teacher says it’s safe to step between realms. Eventually, Odin ended up here, so I’ll see if I can learn the route they took.”
Is it something in the species rules here that hampered her children from breaking out? Or did she make safe choices in her mates here, and so most followed the same path? I’ll need to investigate.
Lilith straightened. “I didn’t ask.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Your various contracts with Hell are ashes. This removes any requirement you have for restraint against its forces, but it also means they don’t technically have to fight the demons. When he finds out, he might pretend a lack of need as a negotiation strategy, but they’ll keep at the war. His pride wouldn’t stand backing down from his desire to bring the lower planes under his control.”
Amdirlain raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t ask.”
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“No, you didn’t.” Lilith stroked Amdirlain’s cheek and vanished.
She has her own set of rules.
Amdirlain caught some demonic forces entering the Outlands through a Portal, yet it wasn’t Moloch’s crest on their gear.
Despite Hell and the Abyss being at war, Moloch isn’t the only dark, chaotic Deity who has an arrangement with Hell.
That they had the Tier 5 affinities represented between her and her enemies drew a smile from Amdirlain. An update directed at Maker’s translator received a quick response.
“You need to take care of the two assigned tasks before continuing your lessons. Whatever other tasks you accomplish are up to you. You and your Patér correctly learnt that it is the activities that challenge us that provide the greatest insights. It doesn’t matter if the realms I create are in this region of the Far Chaos or another. What does the situation you find yourself in tell you about your planar realignment possibilities around the Jade Court?”
“That I put them at risk of being drawn into these larger conflicts. It would be safer for them if I realigned a suitable world’s energies to their heaven and Di Yu. However, it wouldn’t completely resolve the issue they had with the energies I unleashed filtering through other worlds.”
The faint hints of emotion in the reply were once undetectable; now they felt like a slightly exasperated parent. “Are you the one to decide what challenge they would find acceptable?”
“I’ll go talk to the Jade Emperor.”
“If you believe that is for the best. As for Hell, the forces you face are less difficult to balance than the rules of a realm. I did say you’d have time to settle each time you achieved a new tier.” With that, the translator broke mental contact with her.
Did the Maker know what was brewing when they assigned me these tasks? Since Lilith and Nüwa are seeking to have the Infernal forces at each other’s throats, I should be able to help that along by misdirecting deities from the Abyss.
Amdirlain set some of the Enyali? to listen to the entry points she’d detected being used and hopped to the Para-Elemental Plane of Magma. She took her time entering Veht?, with the Planar Barrier more tenacious in trying to restrain her passage. Though some energy was pulled away from her, its transformation from essence into Mana echoed lessons she had learnt in handling the Eldritch. With no idea when the Jade Emperor might visit the city next, Amdirlain settled on a western mountaintop and observed the city from afar.
The shifts within the imperial city were both minor and significant in contrast to her last visit. Although they still employed carpentry that avoided the use of nails, metals were now utilised more widely. Where before it had been only weapons and tools, now they had decorative pieces of silver and gold that held no enchantments among the nobles’ finery. Among those enchantments about the city, infused runes set beneath the surface of metals were almost commonplace. In contrast, etched runes now seemed like the province of goods created by apprentices and others still improving their enchanting. The consistent patterns within the city’s suburbs drew her into contemplation about the regimented mindset of devils.
Can I set up a maze to twist their violence back on themselves?
As Amdirlain started plotting out a multi-dimensional nested trap, she paid more attention to her avatars.
? ? ? ? ? ?
Avatar’s PoV - Outlands
Her primary form’s proximity had caused a strange echo effect due to the differences in their senses, akin to lag from multiple microphones in the same video conference room. When Planar Shift separated them, the sensation disappeared, and Amdirlain moved about the crafting chamber she’d been using. The souls of crafters from Qil Tris and other worlds had taken to the underground chambers that stretched beneath the Domain. Among the deepest levels, Amdirlain had grabbed one for her own use. The ceiling displayed a view as if one were in the upper canopy of the Domain. Still, the earthen chambers were enclosed by protective barriers that mimicked what Sarah and Kadaklan had included in their respective labs.
“That was just weird,” Amdirlain murmured, before a quick Message Spell formed beside her. “Livia, I’m going to need some time from you.” Amdirlain released the Message as she considered the reports on forces already coming in from her celestials.
The translucent orb vanished. Though the Domain’s boundary would have let her teleport inside, Liva still appeared at the border and drifted through the trees. She passed the crystalline towers Sírdhem had the Enyali? creating. Though the former Lóm? didn’t have True Song, she possessed the military knowledge and ensured they had sufficient overlap of each tower’s weaponry and the defensive works before them. Their design mirrored those that had appeared around the old Domain while Amdirlain had been flooding her connection to it from Limbo, studying at the monastery.
When she wandered into the glade, where Amdirlain waited on a floating platform topped by a dark walnut table and a tea service, Livia laughed.
With a smile, she considered the mosaic pattern across the table and picked the seat next to Amdirlain.
“Why a mosaic and why that memory?” Livia asked, her attention on a sapphire-eyed girl running between flowering fruit trees in a Temple square.
Amdirlain squeezed her hand. “The joy on your face was when I was sure I hadn’t messed up purifying your Soul.”
Livia rested her head on Amdirlain’s shoulder. “That still doesn’t explain the choice of mosaic.”
“While sometimes life can leave us feeling broken, we can still put ourselves back together to let the beauty show. I was thinking of creation through destruction, and this was one item that came to mind. Putting together a mosaic of you came out on top.”
“Though I’m flattered, I’m pretty sure you didn’t need to speak to me about your artistic endeavours.”
The animated teapot poured for Livia, as Amdirlain shared the images of the marshalling demons and devils. The maps the respective commanders had between them floated above the table, and Amdirlain mentally shared the conversation she’d had with Lilith.
“While I’m curious about your informant, it can wait. There are a lot of forces coming your way. Do you plan to follow her lead on this?”
“The sensible thing would be to bunker down and let them come into traps I set while their infighting reduces their effectiveness.”
Livia shook her head. “No Móeir, the sensible thing would be to get allies.”
“I don’t want to draw other people into my problem. I did continually poke a Demon Lord instead of waiting until I could permanently deal with him.”
That’s what gave him the motivation to approach Tingeth.
“There are deities I know who would jump at the chance to bloody the noses of factions from Hell, let alone the Abyss. You’ve got a feast of targets who will come for you piecemeal. We’ll be able to pull them apart like grapes off a vine,” Livia grinned. “I’ve met loads of pantheons where no member can create worlds. Offer trades of real estate for combat troops. That’s what you and Sarah call it, isn’t it?”
“There is one problem with that,” Amdirlain hedged.
Livia raised an eyebrow at her sudden awkwardness. “What?”
“Balance is essential when creating realms, and my latest natures reflect the need for creation and destruction. I have to get a handle on them before I return to wholesale creation.”
“You’ve moved to the next tier already?”
“There was no ‘already’ involved, though after all the memories I also relived, it seems less impactful. I was in a temporally sped-up realm for eighteen thousand years,” Amdirlain advised. “Though I’m back currently, so right now, I’m in three, soon to be four, places. I’m here, and on Yúla, but the main me is waiting to see if the Jade Emperor will drop in on the Imperial City. I need to ask how he wants the issue with their heavens and Di Yu handled. Do you experience weird sensations when your avatars are too close to your main body?”
“Where do I even start?” Livia threw out her hands in frustration. “Móeir, you’ve been gone for eighteen thousand years?!”
At least she didn’t ask about the years of memories I’ve relived.
“No, I was here all the time; just part of my attention was in a hyper-accelerated state. The avatars here helped provide a comforting anchor, since they could always sense people I cared about around them.”
Livia let out an exasperated sigh. “What were you doing?”
“Learning how to cook with Eldritch ingredients. When seared with Primordial fire, they turned into raw energy usable to empower a realm’s rules.”
“Móeir, just the thought of your being near them again unsettles me. Did you at least keep a safe distance?”
Amdirlain shrugged innocently. “What’s safe near an Eldritch?”
“Please let me protect you for a change.” Livia leaned forward and caught her hand. “I’ve been making allies on hundreds of worlds. What is the point of anything I’ve achieved if I can’t use that strength to help my family? There are also mutual defence agreements among those who hold the Outlands. While you haven’t yet fulfilled any obligations around the portals and gates, I have.”
“I provided that training facility at Xaos. Doesn’t that count? I know they invited beings who weren’t initially involved in protecting Xaos to use it.”
Livia blinked. “I’ll make sure it counts. Now tell me about your memories. Were you working on those from when you were Orhêthurin or a different time?”
“I started with Phaedra and then moved through Orhêthurin’s.”
“Details.” Livia nodded and motioned for her to spill.
“Their years of wandering, and then the first five of the realm.”
“Define five,” Livia said firmly. “Why are you making me pull this information out of you?”
“It’s more fun for me. For large chunks of time, part of my mind was running a dream-like state with Lethe, so I covered a lot of ground.”
Livia frowned. “Five billion years?”
Amdirlain laughed. “That’s way too high.”
“Well, you’re being evasive, and I want to ensure you’re okay,” Livia grumbled. “Did you relive Sarah’s first death again?”
“Yes,” Amdirlain confirmed. While the moment had been sorrowful, it hadn’t conveyed the same agony as the first time she’d recovered it.
“Then the count of years doesn’t matter as much as the pain.”
Amdirlain patted her hand. “It was sad, but it was an old sadness, maybe tempered because of all the healing I’ve already done. Or maybe because reliving those memories allowed me to revisit those wonderful preceding years, unencumbered by the pain that came later. That hastily issued promise stole so much focus from the joy they’d had, but now those years are there as a foundation in my memories. When I relive other years, the pain seems so much less since I had that time and don’t have the promise blinding me.”
Livia sighed in relief and fiercely hugged Amdirlain. “You could have started with that!”
“It wasn’t as important as other matters, since I’m better at taking care of myself now.”
“Alright, let’s move on to the other matter. Did she tell you what factions of Hell were coming after you?” Livia asked.
“No, but that was probably because she figured I might go pick a fight, and wanted to make me stop and think.”
“Then let's go through ?potential allies I can put you in touch with, and talk to those you already have.” Livia tapped the side of her face, and Amdirlain took the hint and changed to a mental link.
“New real estate is out at present while I grow my new natures. What can I offer them?”
“If you’re looking into being destructive, you can always go deal with problems on a few planets I know.” Livia returned. “Let’s go through them first.”
With that, Livia started projecting the details of various pantheons and species that Amdirlain couldn’t remember. An Avatar of Sarah’s arrived early in the discussion and added her own perspective.
