An Unwavering Craftsman

Surprisingly, it was Grace that brought the group back to some semblance of order. While she was normally happier in the background, she was never one to tolerate foolishness. She clapped her hands together to get everyone's attention.

"Right. That's enough moping. You need to decide what to do; we need food, water and shelter. We're not exactly among friends here, but the world just got rearranged, and damned if I know the way back to either Sanctuary or Hrellflan."

"It looked to me like there aren't any separate islands anymore," said Damien.

"Not being able to see the other islands is weird," said Lana. "Or other parts of our one big island? Maybe we could see more from high up?"

"Just who do you think you're talking to? Me and Fleta are the best adventurers Hrellflan has to offer! We could find you food, water and shelter in the middle of a desert."

"Hrellflan doesn't have deserts," pointed out Damien.

"Don't spoil your dad's hyperbole," laughed Fleta. "Grace is right, though. As far as I see our options, we could strike out somewhere and set up an isolated home away from everyone else. We can continue our efforts to find out what the heck is going on; maybe those dried up elves will be more forthcoming after that, and we could follow up with a trip to Greenrim to see what happened to their source-light. We could return to either Hrellflan or Sanctuary, and defend them from whatever's coming. Or finally, we could find a kingdom somewhere and take over. Probably Hrellflan again."

"Umm... I vote against conquering any kingdoms," said Lana.

"Likewise," agreed Damien.

"We do have that ability," pointed out Greenhair pragmatically. "People are likely to panic, humans and elves alike, and the biggest danger to them will be each other. A strong hand at the top could avoid that."

"No, we aren't conquering anywhere," said Shigeo. "Fleta just listed that option for completeness."

"If not for the destruction of Thale, I'd vote for going back there. Instead, I'll vote for Sanctuary," said Damien.

"We have acquaintances outside of Thale, so I vote for Hrellflan," said Shigeo, to which Fleta nodded.

"We could also split up," pointed out Greenhair, which was another option that technically existed, but no-one was thinking of taking.

"Umm... I'd like to check up on my mum," said Lana. "After what happened to dad..."

"Fair enough. I'm worried about Sanctuary, but Ariana is level capped, even if she doesn't have a combat class, and they have the dragons."

"A̶̱̔ ̶̨̣̜̽͒̎͝ẗ̷̪̜́́͜r̷͙̃̂̌͠ͅa̴̲͖̰͌͐i̸̻̇́̏͗t̴̟̑͛̄͊ȯ̸͚͌̂̄r̶̯̰̞͋̀ͅ ̷͍̜͑͂̈́̓t̴͎̺̏͌͝r̴̹̹̫͈̄͠ë̶̳͕̠̜́̇̃m̴̫̻̪̄̊͑̀b̶̨̺͎̎l̷̝̫̰̗̐̚͝ê̵̱̬̎́͜s̸͔͖̹̩͌̈́̉ ̴̧̼̊̒͒̒i̵͈̖̝̇ṇ̴̰̎̿̈́ ̷̨̗͕̱̅͛̐̄ţ̸͉̇͠ḩ̴̎̓e̸̥̿͊̈́i̵̠͂r̵̠̟͖̂ ̵̧̀̓͝s̴͈͂̆t̸͚̆̍̀͐r̵͉̼̅̿̍̚o̴̜͋̋̈́͜ṋ̷̑̉͑͐g̴̟̈́̃̊͝h̷̟͇̽̋́͌ö̴̜̤̠́̽̏̚ͅl̷͎̥͖̻̒̽͌d̵̯͍͜͝.̸̢̫̮͔͂̐̈́̚ ̸͙̻̎̃ͅA̴͈̾̍̿͑f̴̘̏͆͠͝r̶̢̨̜͙͒̽͘å̵̡̗̳̅i̸͈̕d̴̡̛̹͂͒͌.̶̺͇̦͚́ ̷̟̈̄͌Ṯ̶͇̟͆͛͝ẹ̶̥͈͋̾͂r̸̥̬̟͒r̷̟̯̻̞̀̉͗ǐ̸̤̑̈f̵̪̈́̒̑į̸̮̳̣̇e̵̢̲̲̰̿̉̌̌d̶̨͙̺͆͗.̶̧̤͚̺́ ̸̺̒͆̈́̌D̸̯̯̓è̵͕̉̍s̸͙̜̎̀͐p̴̛͔̪̲̘̓̀̈́a̸̩̠̲̹͒͛́i̸̙̣͕͕̒͝ŗ̸̘̀i̵̘̒̔n̶̨̧̨̈́̕͝g̸̥̼̀͑ͅ.̴͉̮͎͂̐̕ ̶̢͗̆A̴̤̳̕ ̴͚̫̩̌̌b̵̤̪̚ḛ̵̹̻̲̊̿t̸̮̖̱͌r̵̪͇̙̓a̶̢͗̂̽ȳ̶̪͘e̶͇͓̹̓r̷͙̅̆̍͜ ̴̨̑̇͝s̵̘̙͗͌́̚t̸̟͝à̴̲͎̳̂́͊͜n̶̖̭̭̟̓̐̚d̵̥̖̍͆́̕s̵̼̪͂͗ ̵̢̗̝̒i̷̞̣̋̇͐͝n̷̼͂͊ ̷̨̺̙̊͑͘͜t̵̨́̾͜h̷̦̄e̶͇̤̩̐̈ḯ̶̧͍̤r̴͚̃̂̇ ̷͙̩͑̏͜͝h̸̪̏̒̏̇o̴̧͈̟̗̓̔m̶̤̣̠̞̌͂e̸̝͕͐̀.̴̱̯̞͐̄̀ ̴̱̫̬̗͊̿̇̂A̸͈̞̍̕͜c̷̨̯͈̻͝c̶͈̲͔̾͌ẽ̸͔̽͜p̸̢̡̡͓̔̒̿t̵͙̘̜̫͗͛́̈́i̷̬̹͝ṉ̴̢̿̿̅͝ģ̴̈̈́̕.̶̢̻̯̞̊̊ ̶̢̟̳͔̌̐̅͘Ř̶̳̣̜͚e̷̗̊̉s̴͈̈́i̶͙̔̎̚g̵̯̩͊̅̓n̵̨̰͍̊̄̑ę̸̹̗̿́̏̾d̸̻̺̀̄.̴̡̼̱͖͑ ̸̙̎̒̈́̏Č̴̘͇͓́͋̚ỏ̶̬͈͊̂m̶̢̖̭̖̿͊̇p̶̝̦̖̈́͑̐ĺ̵͕̏̕͠i̴̡͛ͅá̷͇̾̕ň̵̺̘̣̾ẗ̵̞͖͕́.̴̨͌̌̅ ̵̗̖̘̼̍Ȳ̸̦̩͔ô̵̢̤̪̯̒͆u̴͉͈̺͐ ̵̯͌̊̏͜͝ą̶͙̞̊̀͗r̸̬͒̈́́͝e̶̼̅̚ ̷̢̮̬͛t̸͖̟̬́͝h̷̢̠̲̝̍ë̵͈̫́̾̌ ̵̤̀͋̒͝v̸̛͍͕̙́͐į̶̡̯̇̈̍͜s̸̡̼͈̑ì̸̛̳̍̈́ẗ̶̩̗́o̴̢̢̮͎͋̄͛r̶̙̤͙͖̂̑ ̴̢̡̱̓͐̽̇ṱ̸̢̡͙̄̑͝h̶̩͛e̵̬̋y̵̼̆͐̕ ̷̩̟͉̤͒̆́̋a̶͇̒̒̀w̸̨̡̛̜͋͒ä̴͓i̸̯̦̲͐t̵̹͘̕͝.̸̲̋ ̶̟̠̻̙̊T̸̛͇̔͘͜h̷̗̯͈̀͐̌͝e̶̥͓͛̿͊̚ ̸̨̡̛̽t̷͉̊̎̅̓i̶̜͙͒̑̀̂m̵̧̫̄e̵̛̠͇̝̩ ̵̡͚̖̒͌h̶͎̰̹̓̋̉͠a̷̻͒͑ş̸̫̩̦̏̍͗ ̶̘̐̓̎̑c̸̢͖̞̈̚o̸̟̿m̴̯͑̏͝ͅȩ̸̟̋.̴̦͠ ̷̢̘̉͑Ţ̷̫́̾̅͐h̴̻̱̣͐ḛ̸̘̽̔̉̈ ̶̨͋͋t̵̡̯͊̕h̸̨̻̟̽̓͑̎i̴̪̲̱̐͐e̴͔͛̍͠v̸͚̯̤̿͐̎̃ë̵̼͓̱́̒ṡ̷̨̳͂͋ ̵̢̣͍̟̌́̾͝w̷͔̹͍̏͛̒ȋ̸̢͙͝l̴̻̘̚l̶̬̙̦̅ ̷̗̳̞̯̕b̴͍̆̎̏͝ȅ̵̬͈̘ ̵̧̫͐e̴̞͐̚ñ̷̡̙̌d̸̡͓͑͐ͅë̶̯̄̏̓ͅḓ̵̀͗ͅ.̷̥̒ ̶͕̍̇̏̒D̶̦̥͔̐ę̵̲̋̾̄s̷̬̣̃̅̿ẗ̵̪̙́̽͛͝ͅr̶̨͙͓͎̉̐͘o̸̺͛y̶̢̛̜̻̐̒̾ȩ̷̢̦̣͗̈́͐͝d̶͉̗͋͆͝.̷͔͊͐ ̸͙͖̫͊͘ͅA̴̞̰̯̼̿̀̂͐n̶̨͔͈̅n̸̛̺̩̘̑̇i̵̥͚̋h̴̫͕̻͂̉̕͝ì̵̡͙̙̒̈́l̷̐̾́̀ͅā̷͍̥͕ṱ̸̿̋́è̵̮͠͝d̶̦͍̾̿͜ͅ.̸̢̡̯̂͋̇ ̴̬̈́Ṱ̵́͂͝h̶̹̳̽e̴̲͖̮͂́͋ÿ̷̞̲̗́ ̵̙̑̓͌́ẅ̴͉̝́̓͘̚í̷̥͈̬̺ĺ̷̘̪̬̓͊l̶̹̫͆͝ ̷̨͔͑͠l̴̯͓̩̿͠ớ̷̪ȍ̶̪̙͈̃͠k̸̰̀̽ ̶̜̀u̵͈͊͐̿͠p̶̡͖̬̤͐͘ó̵̱̦͑͝ṋ̵͒̂̇͐ ̷̡̩̗̠̈̍̆y̸͔͙̜͕̽̚o̴̖̖̜̗͊͛̂̕u̴̹̎̏ ̴̨͓̏́́i̸̢̨͚̬̇n̸̘͓̭̭̽͘ ̷͔͇̹͝f̷̪́̒̉ë̶̗̳̠̉̈a̸̯̋́͌r̶͕̻̹̄͜,̵̪̗̞͛ ̴̮̗̋͑ạ̵̻̭͊͐͐̾n̶̦̜̽͌̇͘d̸̯͚̻̤͐͆ ̴̨̹͔̃͐͊y̶͎̻̙͋͝o̴̝̿̌ͅủ̴̺̞̖͓ ̵̨͉̇͛̕w̶͈̐̿̋ī̷̭l̸̦̼̭̩͊l̶̪͙̬̳͝ ̷̧̙̈́b̴͎̅̀r̷̥͍̱̰̅͑͘i̸͚̹̻̣̿̈n̶͔̉́ģ̶͚̲̻̽̆̑͑ ̷̩̮̻͋̏ṯ̶̡̘̟̓̔o̴͚̙͈͌͠ ̶̱̈́́͜t̸̯͐̈̔̚ḩ̷̼̲̇̀̅ḙ̶̠̥̿͜m̵̨̛͚̰̻̐̚͠ ̵̨̥͎̬͒̎m̸̯͘͠y̴̭̘͓͍͌̈́̓̏ ̵̨̜͎̞͛́́j̴̻̋ú̸́͛̃͜ḋ̶̛̪̪͍̼͋͘g̸̨̱͖͖̈́̃e̸̺̥͋͜m̵͎̪̬̽̓̊͝e̴̡̗̖̫̓̕n̵̘̰̘͛̅t̵͈̜͑̉̏.̴̡͚͕̺̑́̈́"

Damien looked up, spotting the hints of movement beyond the blue sky.

"Damien?" asked Fleta, noticing his distraction.

"Our not-so-friendly neighbourhood cosmic horror has other ideas. It wants me to bring its judgement to Gaia and Grungle."

"Why can't it do that itself?" asked Shigeo. Given that it had just casually rearranged the bowl—or perhaps the sphere would be more accurate now—it was a sensible question, but the images Grant had shown hadn't seemed like real places. Murill's, in particular, lacked a floor.

"I think it tried; the place it struck before plucking the islands out was Gaia's high cathedral, wasn't it? I suspect they've locked themselves away out of its reach, just like the bowl used to be."

Then again, it wouldn't have struck Jurelli for nothing. Perhaps it had killed Gaia, but Kari's presence meant that her death didn't stick. Damien thought it likely, given that it had, at the time, declared the 'traitors' dead.

Shigeo frowned, and Fleta looked no happier. "I don't like this. On the one hand, this entire world seems to exist at the whims of that thing, so not doing what it says is likely a terminally bad idea. On the other, it's asking you to murder. Not just any murder, either, but the last of the Five."

"You previously suggested finding out more about the history of this world, and its current condition," said Greenhair, ever the font of interesting suggestions. "Speaking to the Five would likely fulfil that task."

"Greenhair makes a good point," said Damien, much to the surprise of Greenhair. "I think visiting Grungle is a great idea. I can decide whether to enact the Other's judgement once I've spoken to him."

"How do you intend to 'visit Grungle'?" asked Shigeo. "It's not as if he has a front door you can knock at."

"I should have asked Grant, but Jurelli would seem a good place to start. From what I saw of the islands, Jurelli didn't land far away from Hrellflan, so it's not even far out of our way."

In fact, it was Grant's [Travel] skill that permitted him to move from island to island with ease, and the [Realm Traveller] feat he picked at level one-hundred that permitted him to [Travel] to the domains of the Five. He did have a [Tour Guide] feat available that would have permitted him to bring passengers, but, being tier one, he lacked the slots to select it.

"Okay, I'll be right back," said Fleta, darting up the side of the elders' lehibe tree.

"This is annoying," complained Shigeo. "There wasn't much wrong with the bowl. Don't get me wrong; the Five became my enemy the second they targeted Damien, but haven't we just traded one set of evil overlords for another?"

"Yes. I'm stuck here between the Other and the Five, and I have no idea whose side I'm supposed to be on. Quite possibly neither. There's a lot to be said for not standing out, and letting better qualified people handle the mess."

"That would leave you at the bottom of the sea in Thale," supplied Grace.

"Grace is correct. Those who lack a sword can still die by one," said Greenhair. "If you dislike both the Other and the Five, replace them. If you lack the power for that, you have little choice but to capitulate to the Other, since the Five are obviously defeated."

Once again, Greenhair spoke accurately, but his words were not things that any of the humans present wanted to think about.

"Jurelli it is, then, since the mysterious voice in my head neglected to provide directions. Greenhair's point about splitting up was valid, too. Lana, Grace. You too, Greenhair. If you don't want to come, we can drop you off somewhere on the way."

"What, I don't get a choice?" laughed Shigeo.

"Yes, I just know you well enough to know what it is."

"I'm coming," said Lana. "I owe my current life to your family, and I'm not going to run away now."

"Likewise, obviously, and I'm disappointed you skipped Shigeo and not me," said Grace.

"I wish to see what comes from this conflict," said Greenhair. "I will follow."

"Thanks, everyone," said Damien, smiling. "I appreciate it."

Fleta smiled too, listening to the conversation almost a mile below her with her enhanced hearing, but made a note to complain at Damien for not offering her a choice either.

From the top of the lehibe, she couldn't see as much as she hoped. She could see almost a hundred miles before land vanished beneath the new horizon, which was enough to see part of what was formerly the coast of the elvish island, but not enough to identify any of the landmasses it had been connected to. Fortunately, she could remember which islands were flung down where, and what she could see was sufficient to orientate herself. Making notes of the direction, she dropped back out of the tree.

"Over there, somewhere. We have three islands to cross, from what I remember."

"Great. Let's get going!"

"One of the three is the Isle of Mist."

"Oh. We could go around?"

"You're scared of a few monsters, but are willing to visit Grungle and Gaia in person?"

Damien paused as he tried to resolve the incongruity. Monsters were... definite. He'd watched his parents hunt them for his entire life. He'd seen their corpses. Watched them bleed. The Isle of Mist was a known place. Parents would threaten to send naughty children there. Adventures would visit from time to time, never to return. Meanwhile, the Five were... stories. Yes, they were there, but they were distant. You couldn't visit them or talk to them. They never took direct action in the world. It removed a lot of the fear.

Logically, they deserved more fear. Even without acting in person, they could field entire armies with a single sentence.

"Good point. Okay, let's go see what's in the middle of the mist."

The party set off, using another set of potions of flight. They'd brought enough for the return trip back to Sanctuary, and with the islands merged, there was no need to save them to cross the sea. Fleta leapt from treetop to treetop, dragging the rest behind her. Damien grumbled about the indignity of it. Lana enjoyed the flight. Shigeo stayed constantly on guard for threats, his decades of training kicking in. Grace, somehow, managed to float with grace, the effects of [Drag Elision] preventing her dress from billowing. Greenhair stared wistfully behind him as he once more left his homeland, the elders not having cared in the slightest about his power or capped level.

They'd gone one step further, this time. They'd declared him not an elf. As certain as Greenhair was that sometimes the few needed to be sacrificed for the many, he still recognised the value of flexibility, and if a god literally plucking the islands from the bowl wasn't a time to bend the rules, what was?

Lana floated closer and gave him a hug.

"Okay, if you're going to do that in public, I can't resist asking," spoke up Damien, utterly spoiling the moment between the pair. "What's up with the pair of you? Are you seeing each other?"

Lana made an interesting squeaking noise and thrust herself away from Greenhair.

"Stop bouncing around up there!" shouted Fleta, when the tugging at the end of the rope almost caused her to miss a step.

"Seeing each other? That is a euphemism for a relationship, is it not?" answered Greenhair, seemingly oblivious of Lana's embarrassment. "In which case... I am uncertain. Lana approached me due to the similarities in our..."

"No!" screamed Lana, blushing furiously. "We're just friends! And I've been teaching him some human common sense!"

Greenhair peered at Lana, opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again, apparently after having second thoughts.

"Well, you've done a good job," said Damien, with perfect honesty. Not only had Greenhair recognised a euphemism which apparently wasn't in use in Ygrillana, but he'd also (eventually) spotted Lana's embarrassment and bitten back whatever he was going to say that would no doubt have made it worse. It was impressive progress.

"Oh? Do we have a budding romance in our party?" said Shigeo, smirking. While Greenhair was blunt and ignorant of normal human sensibilities, Shigeo simply had zero tact. "Don't stop on account of us. Actually, that's a good idea. Hey, Fleta, dear! We should try floating sex sometime!"

Fleta 'accidentally' missed a step, the rope tugging the five others downwards. Somehow, four of the five happened to be dragged between branches, not disturbing a single twig. Shigeo smashed into a tree trunk.

Damien cracked a smile as they left the forest of the elves. The line where the two islands had been crushed together was obvious, with the forest giving way to a sandy beach, which now ended at a cliff face instead of the sea. Fleta sprinted up the cliff, dragging the others behind her, and jumped up into a meadow. Damien didn't recognise the island, but Fleta didn't stop running, picking up speed now that she wasn't leaping between trees.

It turned out to be occupied by humans, which was no surprise given that humans occupied the bulk of the islands. They passed farms and an occasional town, seeing very few people out and about. Most were cowering in their homes. Life would get back to normal soon enough; there was a limit to how long people could stay indoors, when they needed to work and eat, but they could afford a day or two.

After less than half an hour more of running, a massive bank of fog loomed in front of the group.

"Looks ominous," said Damien.

"Foreboding," agreed Shigeo.

"It's in the wrong place," pointed out Fleta, stopping. "We haven't reached the edge of the island yet."

Despite the party no longer moving, the wall of mist continued to draw nearer.

"Dammit!" boomed Shigeo. "It's spreading."

The bank of fog rolled over the party, the sun being reduced to a weak glow barely visible above them. Then the whispers started.