The Dark Stranger and Victim Leave
Cy 4822, Maruk 23rd – Jarik and Hoqar in Limbo following Malkar and Willowstar’s return.
Hoqar’s response in red
"Like many victims of this kind of crime she will finally find the strength to fight back.
We have witnessed a grave thing today Jarik, perhaps there is no-one back on Grayhawk that will even believe us…save perhaps for Willowstar.
"Let’s consider the facts. Since Malkar can walk Limbo and drink its souls unscathed he could know we are listening – making this a vile and real play for our benefit. If this is the case then he plans to unbalance my thinking by attacking those I find dear. I think of Andurien, the Willowstar, highly. It is hard to kissed by a Goddess, it forms a bond. The murders of Lord Glaennyn and Anyar … such a crimes has Malkar committed one struggles to think of how far he will fall ere this is over.
I cannot believe this god can see us and it was plain to me that Willowstar has been duped. One thing in our favour is that he did not kill her…imagine the horror back on Grayhawk if he did? Your relationship with such beings makes me shudder! In my lands we had simpler lives.
"However, I do not believe that Malkar knew that we have survived. But how did he know that we had fallen to our deaths? Was he watching, or has he read the mind of his Disciple after his return. Perhaps the Lord Glaennyn had time to update Hamroth before his death.
I agree – the god could pluck out the thoughts of his disciple when he returned to the Astral Plane…if Valadain believed that we had perished then the god would see it as truth. Without fuller knowledge of the Glaennyn it is hard to know how they communicate but Malkar says that he laid the ambush – therefore he probably had means to gather information at the scene.
"No matter, time has not stopped, the universe’s heart still beats. And it is the well being of the universe a whole that we must consider. Earlier I spoke of my separation from my temporal attachments, perhaps you did not follow that short and ambiguous phrase. What I meant was that I, indeed we, must step back from our lives and what were our needs. In a sense what we were, no longer matters. What we are, and will be, is all that is important now alongside what we do about all of this.
I was a simple king, with a kingdom…you are something else…warrior, poet, musician, philosopher…yet I see where you are headed with this. Let’s face it, Jarik, we are at the very centre of the entire universe (or perhaps at the very edge). We are gifted beyond all men – how many others do you think have stood here? Few I think. We are the universe’s Chosen Ones – if my role as king taught me anything it was that I (and I believe you) will not shirk your responsibilities. Whatever my failings know this: when it comes to a reckoning I will be next to you…whatever it costs!
"If we assume that Malkar believes us dead then we have an advantage, it will be he not Grayhawk, who will eventually suffer a nasty surprise. But what must we do? Firstly, we must attempt solve our primary task – the souls of the dead. Many times have my companions and I attempted to focus on resolving this question, and every time something intervened to distract us. Malkar’s crimes, heinous though they are, must, for now, await our judgement – and sentence!
I agree we have the advantage, but how long can that last? Will the god not just detect us when we emerge from here? Or perhaps there is a way to shield ourselves from him? The souls of the dead problem is critical to this…though my meagre brain can hardly cope with the concept – let alone the solution! As for Malkar’s judgement; I will never forget what I saw…the only way to erase these memories is to erase the god!
"Listen Hoqar, the Gods – we are above them – despite their awesome power they are attached like manikins to the puppet master. The universe and its corporal and temporal desires drive them. We must move through the universe above such things. In the existence through which we now move the crimes of Malkar will do nought but "effect the next few beats of Grayhawk’s life" as the Lord Glaennyn once put it to me.
Again a higher concept. If what you say is true then are we immortal?
"We must resolve the question of the souls of the dead. I suspect that Malkar wishes to get his hands on them … you saw the relish with which he stole them from the song. We cannot return until this is done, else the death of two ancient creatures and an attack on a Goddess will mean nothing. We must find a way to leave a mechanism here, a process that both attracts and impels the souls of the dead to their destination. A system that none can interfere with, because it is driven by the ultimate force – the Maelstrom.
The drinking of the flow of souls disturbed me. We all know and accept a demonic perspective on such things but there was something chilling in the way Malkar drank. I agree on your second point – to return without knowing the full picture (or at least having a handle on the lost souls problem) is folly. Since we are here we might as well get to work…let us see what these things can do!
"How do we do this? I have a half hatched plan and perhaps you can complete, or at least criticise. When a soul dies it produces a ripple in the Maelstrom that I can pick up as resonance. I can also affect that dead soul – although the most I have done is to sing to them. I assume that you and your staff are similarly in tune with death but from the perspective of light rather than sound.
More philosophy to make my head spin! I’ll keep what I know simple; your higher understanding sometimes leaves me in darkness. True enough I am able to see and affect light, particularly in relationship with souls. When we plunged into the soul flow I (and I assume you too) never actually touched the lost souls. It was like a hole opened and let us fall through, like an extra dimensional space…a room within a room perhaps, yet connected all the same. Just because we can’t perceive with our senses may just mean that we lack the correct sense (a sense that perhaps we don’t possess yet?) to perceive it.
"Then how about this, when a soul dies the first thing it encounters is a bright and distant light and perfect resonant harmony, drawing it, reassuring it, calming it. As the soul seeks this light and resonance, there is nothing else that can interfere – the Maelstrom drives it to reach its destination. It is drawn here to the towers, where it can join the light and the song of this place. Becoming a part if the heart of the Maelstrom, strengthening the song and enhancing the light reinforcing the remaining anchors of the universe. In light and perpetual resonance, the perfect undying harmony and spectrum that only grows in its perfection. Songs for the Souls of the Dead – indeed.
A good theory…I can’t dispute it but how about this one? The Maelstrom is nothing more than a protective garment (armour) that exists around the wielders…if the wielders are not present then the Maelstrom cannot exist. If the contact with my tower taught me anything it just told me that the tower and the staff are the same thing…all that has changed is our perception…or perhaps our location. I don’t know about you, Jarik, but once I was able to open a door to the Maelstrom – only briefly – and saw the Great Storm and unlimited power. Perhaps that door would have led me here? Who knows, this is just a wild rambling theory.
"What do you say? How about some truly radical work? What will be the result if we succeed? I believe that souls should re-enter the Maelstrom not fuel that kind of power that drives the likes of Malkar to such evil – the greed of the creature. If I am right he will eventually get a nasty shock – Mortality.
Is it possible that everyone else in the universe is wrong? What I mean is what if the furnace above does not fuel the magical layers or primal magic…what if it fuels the Maelstrom? If this were the case then it would explain why we are in Limbo…the heartbeat of the universe? More like the engine room of our own power? Why else would Muziel want to sever links with Limbo…because he knows that the only power that can defeat him is fed by it…this could be entirely wrong but it has occurred to me several times recently. Perhaps your intelligence will fill in the gaps, or tear my theory down.
"You see I suspect there is enough soul residue stored in Limbo to power magic within the universe for many millennia, but if we succeed then it must eventually run out. But the universe will not end without such power. It will simply lose certain of its more dangerous aspects – sorcerery and primal magic. So what, the fisherman will still catch fish and the farmer reap his corn. But they will be free – forever – of such tyrants. It is true that much will be lost – dragons will no longer fly – but it also true that universe needs to make this last step to break free of the creation – unmaking loop and truly mature into its final unflawed glory. The era of Primal Magic must end.
Again you’re sprinting before you can walk…my experience of primal power is limited, but what I have seen of it leads me to believe it is here to stay.
"As for us – in time we might become guardians – withdrawn from life, spectators in a gallery watching an opera unfold. I sure that we would never be bored!