1.7 - Technomancy

The blade glows for a moment in her hand, then becomes silent and still once more. 

“So do I just...” Anneleigh begins, but stammers off as the Messenger of the Vigil fades from her sight.

Anneleigh withdraws her off-hand dagger, now carrying the enchanted blade in her right, and sets off south towards Ardenburgh Square.  It does not take long for the landscape to change from rich woodland forest back to crumbling village. 

“Even if we succeed here,” Anneleigh thinks to herself, “It will take a second army working a thousand years to set it right.”

She continues a few paces until the full gravity of her previous though hit her, causing her to stop.  She immediately kneels, ignoring the destruction and chaos, and whispers to Tavril, to the Vigil.

“I’m sorry.  I am.  I did not mean to feel such deep pessimism, or question your instructions. 
But look around.  No one can doubt my meaning.   It is true, even if it is a horrible thought.”

Anneleigh returns to her feet, feeling no less dark of heart.  The blessed blade of the dagger feels no more special in her hand than her fighting dagger and Anneleigh fears she might fail at her mission due to a simple misunderstanding of its uses.   The streets leading into the square are filled with the Deathbound Thralls she is meant to be cleansing from the village.  Curiously, unlike the Thrall waiting in ambush for her at the Shrine of Tavril, these seem to take no notice of her.  Anneleigh decides to use this to her advantage and avoids them as she walks, hoping for further instruction when she finally reaches the square. 

When she enters the square, she is surprised at her company.  Not an Ascended, like herself, not even Shyla or Borrin, but Carwin Mathos; the third son of the late King.  To her knowledge, Carwin was never ascended by the vigil, has never spoken to them as she has, but there, in the middle of the square, sword and shield in hand, Carwin single handily fights not one, but 4, sometimes 5.   

Anneleigh can hear Carwin shouting at the Thralls, taunting them in battle.   Understanding or not, now is the time for her to step in to help.  She raises the blessed dagger to her regular fighting stance and sets her sights on one of the Thralls making its way to the center of the square.  Without warning, a beam of light falls around her opponent, followed by the ghostly figure of the Spirit of Tavril; A giant a forest protector.  The Spirit of Tavril attacks the Thrall from behind flinging it against the wall of the nearby Town Hall.  With no help from her own blades, the Spirit dispatches the Thrall.

“Glad you’re here to help!” She hears Carwin shout from within a circle of their enemy. 

Anneleigh giggles and directs her focus toward the Thralls surrounding Carwin.   In no time at all they manage to clear the Thrall spawns in the immediate area.  Anneleigh turns away from the Town Hall and her heart falls.  Entering the square from all directions is a pack of Deathbound almost as large as the group they dispatched. 

“Go!” Carwin shouts to her.  “Just go.  You’re of better use helping the others.  I’ve been in this square since the death rift opened and there has been no change here.  They just keep coming.  The only way to stop them is to close that rift.  GO!”

Anneleigh leaves the square, looking back only once to be sure, now that the direct assistance of the Vigil is no longer present. 

Just to the south of Ardenburgh Square Anneleigh comes to the village gate.   As she approaches, she realizes the flow of Deathbound from this direction has stopped, owing, no doubt, to the armed guards standing to either side of the gated entrance.   Near them, a Dwarf and Mathosian give orders, both to the soldiers leaving the city, and the wounded returning.

Anneleigh approaches the Dwarf.  He is dressed in traditional robes of worship.  She wonders what has made him leave his sanctuary in favor of battle.  Surely no one would demand his presence if it meant requiring him to leave his service to the faithful.

He nods to her as she approaches.

“I used to think I knew where my life would end.  Before Mathosia, I led the faithful in Hammerknell Fortress on a path of quiet contemplation.  Prayer ahs its uses, but the Vigil calls on us to be the standard-bearers in the crusade against Regulos.  I cannot go back to that life because the Vigil has a plan for me, just as they have for you.”

“You are Ascended as well?”  Anneleigh asks, unable to keep the surprise from her voice.

“You’ll meet more Ascended than not here in this battle.  Remember that.”  He extends his hand.  “Brother Jebiah.” He says.

Anneleigh shakes his hand, a little more timidly than she knows is polite, but she is still not accustom to the close contact with Dwarven people.  “Anneleigh”

“We have a destiny to fulfil, Anneleigh.  The Vigil brought us back to see that their creation was cleansed of the evil that has begun to spread like a cancer.   You have spoken to Shyla already this morning?” 

Anneleigh nods.

“Then she will have told you about the abhorrence of these defiant betrayers.  Sourcestone is a result of the god’s creation of Telara.  It is holy, and ours by right, but they steal it to power their disgusting machines.”

Anneleigh nods again. “Yes.  Shyla did say as much.”

“Beyond this gate is the Bloodmurk Grove.  It used to be a quiet wood, not unlike your own Silverwood in that regard.  The defiant, those southern races so easily lured by the promise of power, have turned it into a power generation station.  They want to weaken the Ward that protects Telara from Regulos.”

Anneleigh crosses the gates into Bloodmurk Grove.  Brother Jebiah was not exaggerating when he compared this woodland to Silverwood.  The only difference, besides the technomancy and constructs is the color of the trees themselves; Bloodmurk being tinged with red instead of silver.

Slowly Anneleigh enters the grove.  Everywhere she looks she sees Eth and Bahmi, machines and animated constructs.  She quietly approaches an unguarded machine and removes the sourcestone from its mounting bracket.  Without warning she is struck with a bolt of electricity or lightning and immobilized from the neck down.  The paralyzing effect only lasts a few seconds, but it is long enough for the Eth Technomancer to summon another spell.  As soon as she is able, Anneleigh ducks and vaults towards the spell caster, interrupting the cast with a slash of her dagger.  Blood flows freely.  For an instant the Eth’s face changes from hatred to fear and Anneleigh realizes the Defiant are not Ascended.  They are merely mortal beings.  This understanding, and the knowledge that she holds the advantage gives Anneleigh more energy and power; the fight is quickly over.

Anneleigh continues this pattern of Sourcestone retrieval, stopping to fight Defiants when they become an interruption.   Before long she has reached the edge of Bloodmurk Grove and the guarded entrance to Valor Hold.

*Notice to Reader:* According to evidence, Carwin Mathos WAS Asceneded.  In a recently found journal entry of Prince Zareph Mathos, he claims to have witnessed the death of Carwin.  This witness, along with his clear involvement in the cleansing of Ardenburgh City after his apparent death gives clear validation to the theory that he is Ascended.   Anneleigh was unaware of his death, and therefore unaware of his return as Ascended.