No Need for a Core?

The autumn equinox was Ozuran's holiday, and as such it was often less about active celebration than the other major holidays. Still, the evening before had been a celebratory feast, and had there been more children present Mordecai would have arranged something appropriate. Many people were at least a little afraid of the dark, and an evening party involving scary costumes gave young people a chance to grapple with that fear in a safe environment.

The day of the equinox was, for adults at least, a time to deal with unfinished things before the end of the year. This could be matters of duty or contracts, work that needed to be done before winter made it difficult or impossible, meditative reflections on one's past and intended future, remembrances of those who had passed away, or preparations for the future in any capacity. Responsibility was an important part of the theme, though this also meant that those with little responsibility often had much of the day to themselves, and few begrudged children and such simply having a free day to themselves when the coming months may mean a lot of time indoors because of the weather.

As a priest of Ozuran, Mordecai had duties to attend to and he decided to get the least pleasant of those out of the way first.

Antoine Demidov gave Mordecai a sour look as he walked into Antoine's cell. "What do you want?"

"To do my duty as a priest of Ozuran, and see if you need any ministrations upon this autumn equinox," Mordecai replied. Antoine had not been left alone in the weeks since his capture, he'd had plenty of company from various inhabitants. The most persistent of those had been the playwrights, who had wanted insight into the mind and motives of a 'villain'.

It was a simplistic view, and one that Antoine had not been appreciative of, but it was sincere. While the playwrights might have been the most deliberately persistent, the fairies had been the most numerous. Even now a few were 'fleeing' as Mordecai mentally shooed them away.

Antoine sighed at Mordecai's response. "Really? Don't you think I get enough preaching thrown at me already?"

In contrast to his more frequent visitors, there had been Antoine's weekly visitor, the celestial agent whom the dungeon had forged a contract with. If there was anyone in the dungeon's territory and domain who needed heavenly guidance, it was Antoine, and there was usually a laganthro or three in attendance for these visits who were interested in becoming priests themselves. The dungeon could provide a simulation of divine abilities for them, but those talents wouldn't exist outside the dungeon's territory unless they found a path of devotion toward a deity.

Mordecai shook his head. "I'm not here to preach. I don't have the patience or desire to figure out a sermon for you. But I do have a duty to at least make myself available upon this day. Do you have anything you wish to discuss with a priest of Ozuran?"

That caused Antoine to look thoughtful for a moment, but in the end he replied, "No, I don't think I do. At least, not with you or yours."

That was fine by Mordecai, he didn't want to talk with the man either. "Then I leave you to your solitude." He placed a new book on the small pile that had already been provided to ensure a minimal amount of stimulation for their prisoner, it seemed right to at least provide a copy of Ozuran's texts on duty and responsibility. Then he turned and left.

After that, Mordecai went to the shrine for the Empyreal Pillars and made himself available to all as he set up a small desk in front of Ozuran's statue. If anyone needed paperwork done as part of making their end-of-the-year preparations, he wanted to be ready.

He wasn't particularly busy, but some people needed work on a contract or help with self-reflection or remembrances. There were a few surprises for him, however.

The first surprise was Kazue, and he raised an eyebrow at his wife as she knelt before the statue of Ozuran, with Carnelian Flame watching curiously. Kazue flashed him a smile and a wink before her expression turned more somber. "Nine months ago, I died. Six months ago, I was reborn. I wish to reflect upon the changes to my life, and remember the me that was."

Ah, that made sense. Hmm, had it only been six months since they'd met? A little less really, since she'd been awake for a couple of weeks by then. Mordecai set those thoughts aside and made a mental note to reflect on this time himself, and then focused on providing a priest's ministrations for his wife. They had talked about these topics before, but this was a more focused and professional conversation. In the end, he didn't think that she'd had any fresh insights beyond what she'd gained during her visit to her own grave, but she did seem to feel better and that was worth it.

The kiss she gave him before she collected her familiar and left was a nice bonus. Mordecai found it difficult not to be overly cheerful when his next supplicant arrived.

Later that afternoon came his second surprise. Fuyuko wanted to perform a proper remembrance for her parents. It had been six years, but she'd been much younger and circumstances hadn't been conducive to seeking out a priest at the appropriate time. Circumstances were much different.

After the rites, there was a related topic that had been bothering her. "You and Kazue, ya are basically immortals, right? Probably Moriko soon too, yeah? Yer my adoptive parents now, and right now, someday, I'll get old while you all stay young. I don't think I like that idea, but as much as I like Gil I don't want to be like him either. And it makes me think of Traxalim. I mean, he's been waiting for his time to come so he can rejoin his family. My mother and father are dead, are they waiting for me? What will they think if I, you know, don't join them?"

That was a lot to consider, and it would take a while to talk through. Mordecai said, "Why don't we talk about that after a family dinner? Just the small group of us, topside, and after we eat we can settle in to talk about your concerns." They had added to Kazue's initial design of their new rooms by extending the area further down the trunk and using the more opaque 'wall' crystal that she'd designed. The floor directly below their private suite was a common space and the floor below that was Fuyuko's second bedroom and a selection of guest bedrooms, one of which was currently Princess Bridgette's room. The princess would be joining them for this dinner of course.

"Um, yeah, that's probably a good idea," Fuyuko replied.

Mordecai gave her a hug, and after he stepped back he conjured a scroll and handed it to her. "You will want to read this first. 'The Secrets of Immortality'. It's a handy guide for a starting point to consider whether or not you want to pursue this path."

Fuyuko's eyes widened at the title of the scroll. "It's all in here? It's that easy?"

"Easy?" Mordecai said with a smile, "No, at least, not the doing aspect. Knowing the secrets is not enough. There is much to be done after that, and that part is hard. The 'secrets' are not very secret, they don't need to be." Of course, the girl might not have much of a choice. She was on a path of accumulating power and she had the title of Faerie Princess; Fuyuko might not need to put in much if any effort beyond that to become unaging.

After that, a dazed Fuyuko wandered off to find a place to study her new scroll and Mordecai continued to perform his duties through the afternoon. The number of people requiring his services had trailed off, so he also took this opportunity to muse on the terms of mortal and immortal, and how relative they could be. While someone like Gil was certainly an immortal when compared to most people, in a conversation about gods he would be considered a 'mortal', as he was not a divinity, divine agent, or similarly powerful spiritual entity.

Celestials, elementals, djinni, fey folk, fiends: these were some of the more common names for various types of creatures that would be considered the least of the truly not-mortals. There was no effort involved in not aging, they simply didn't. Compared to them, once again even Gil was considered a mortal.

As for Mordecai himself, well, living dungeons were a type of genius loci. Norumi had become another example of such a spirit. Perhaps he should have been counted as a type of immortal all along, but he'd never felt like that sort of naturally unending creature. Perhaps it should be seen as more of a sliding scale than a binary status.

Well, the sun had set, and now it was time to figure out what his third surprise ministration was going to be; she'd been waiting quite patiently after all. Far down in the warrens, there was a tunnel that took advantage of the recent expansion of the dungeon to run all the way to the border with Kuiccihan. There it expanded into half of a small cavern, with the other half being matched by Kuiccihan. A physically crafted table sat astride the border, with chairs on each side.

Mordecai took a seat across from Kuiccihan's avatar. "I presume this has to do with my responsibilities as a priest."

"Yes," she replied with a smile, "and more specifically as a high priest. I need Ozuran's direct attention for this."

Well, this was going to be interesting. He trusted that Kuiccihan knew better than to ask such a thing lightly, so Mordecai reached out for Ozuran and drew a tiny drop of the deity's power to him, wearing Ozuran's presence like a mantle. His god would not give him direct words to say on Ozuran's behalf unless it was needed, but his presence filled the room.

Kuiccihan addressed the god directly as she said, "Lord Ozuran, I petition to begin a change in my status. I appreciate having been part of this experiment, but I have begun to stagnate. I did not realize this until after recent events. Despite my concerns and the hecticness, it was the most fun I'd had in over a century. I had already been making far fewer of these mortal avatars than I could and I had even been desperate enough for stimulation that I had been starting them young enough to place them in orphanages and such easily. All the pains of mortal life, repeated and overlapping but confined to this one space whose borders have not changed in over two hundred years."

She shook her head and continued, "No, it's not been enough for a while. I need the freedom to travel again, and the challenges brought about by having delvers. During my introspection I looked at my inhabitants as well, hidden so far away from the rest of the world, and even their societies have begun to stagnate. I need change and freshness before it begins to affect my mind."

Mordecai considered her request for a moment before replying, "There was a price paid to alter the rules for you, a price will need to be paid to change them again." Ozuran's presence was simply observing for now as he allowed Mordecai to judge the issue.

"Yes, and I have been thinking of something appropriate. I have been restricted from claiming new inhabitants but had the restriction lifted on how many inhabitants I needed to claim new floors. No, let's use your new term. My zones. Anyway, I have many deep zones that I don't need for my current inhabitants. I am offering up that portion of my current power, along with the corresponding abilities. Additionally, I intend to release a portion of my surface territory and the corresponding portion of the lower layers. This will delay any implementation of change until certain requirements are met."

Kuiccihan flashed a grin as she said, "After all, I need to convince the government of the kingdom bearing my name to agree to the transfer of territory as well, which will involve convincing locals too, and it will be several decades I think before the Azeria dungeon is ready to claim all of the land. I am offering the Azeria forest and all lands south and east of it, so including Riverbridge as well."

Mordecai stared at her blankly in shock. Topside, Kazue's avatar started choking on the piece of cake she'd been consuming with intense focus. While the rest of the dungeon's people didn't know exactly what had happened, they'd all felt the ripple of surprise spring from the core. Ozuran's presence was tinged with amusement as Mordecai recovered and asked, "Ah, why?" He couldn't articulate more than that at the moment.

"I need to offer up some portion of my territory and power, as the change itself will not be much of a sacrifice and a lot more energy will need to be spent given how I have grown since the first alteration to my rules. This portion of my territory has a lot of ties to you and yours, and I suspect those ties will only grow stronger. If I sacrifice this territory when you are able to then claim it, the land and people will still be protected and they will still feel they belong."

That was a fair idea, but it wasn't enough. This time it was Ozuran who spoke through Mordecai. "Your Avatars."

She sighed and said, "I know. I'm guessing they all need to be retired at that time, disappearing from the lives I'm currently living, and I will need to build a new one. That will hurt, and the worst part is that it will hurt the feelings of others who do not know that their friend or lover is one of my avatars."

"Well," Mordecai said, "it seems that Lord Ozuran is content with that, though I think it is not guaranteed yet. But if you put in the proper work from here, he should be amenable to making the change when the time is right." Ozuran's presence withdrew, which Mordecai took as confirmation.

Kuiccihan nodded and then said, "Even without the rest, I think that in the long run, it would be best to give this territory over to you. Claiming surface territory was less expensive than it normally would have been because it was partially fueled by belief and the feeling of being part of the Kuiccihan kingdom. I can feel that this sense of identity has started to weaken. Your revival already meant that many secrets were going to eventually be revealed, and the thing with becoming Faerie Royalty has only accelerated that process. The clan will easily be swayed further simply by finding out that their revered founder was your daughter, and even more so if they figure out that Norumi is their forest spirit."

That made sense. They talked for a little more before Kuiccihan departed, and Mordecai took his time making his way up to the surface, he had a lot to think about.