Tribulations of Wrath, part IV: Twofold Queries

As Sapience scrambled to prepare, individual mortal forces sought to secure advantages for their respective homes.

Driven by their age-old calling to defy darkness and ensure the prosperity of the Light, the Illuminai gathered the Hammer’s faithful for a solemn prayer ceremony and consecration of two elemental glyphs. Aspected to Rahiela and Rewh’va, respectively, the two massive runes held great power but remained otherwise inert, a gleaming promise of intercession should the circumstances align.

Meanwhile, Presiding Voice Gyrinno sought information about the mysterious ‘Sholayu’, who used the identifier ‘714’ rather than a typical name. Though she searched high and low, her quest for information proved fruitless in those areas close to the council and Sapience. As she expanded her search, however, she found potential treasure in an unlikely place: the Dia’varr Manufactory, where the infamous Cogger known as ‘Copperhead’ now resides after a fateful moment of Aechrian intervention during the Monomachy. Though the Cogger seemed jovial in its response to the Voice’s prying, it declined to answer her questions, citing a lack of the proper security clearance. When questioned about who would possess such clearance, the Cogger clarified that ‘Asset’ class or higher would be necessary to access anything in its records related to Vorostra. Left to wonder how anybody could achieve that classification, Gyrinno eventually uncovered the names of two fellow adventurers, and of those two, she chose Legyn, then-Regent of the Theocracy, to approach.

Immediately intrigued by the prospect of information on a foe, Corruption’s Ghost met with the Voice, after which the two resolved to visit the Cogger posthaste. After providing the proper credentials, the two leaders were allowed exactly two questions. Without hesitation, Gyrinno asked the Cogger for any information on ‘Sholayu 714’. Copperhead’s mechanisms and complex chassis began to whir and hum as it communicated directly with the Kalchos Centrifuge, accessing its data through some foreign process that defied conventional separations betwixt magic and technology. After a moment to collect itself, the Cogger began to communicate:

“Moniker: ‘Sholayu’. Numerical Identifier: 714,” Copperhead began. Soon, the mechanical being explained the Sholayu race’s origins: biological constructs perpetually spawned by a ‘Manifold influence network’ established by a long-deceased Vorostran ritualist. Copperhead explained that the race used numbers to identify and differentiate themselves during social interactions, since they all shared the same biology and appearance, and that the numerical identifiers were never reused because of the race’s low life expectancy. Viewed as exceptionally expendable by most Vorostrans, Kalchos records seemed to indicate that they were originally created to mitigate the cost of war against the Rakshasa. The Cogger went on to list insane census details gathered by the First Spoke, hinting that the recently born Sholayu would possess at least a six-digit identifier and that ‘714’ was from an ancient spawning group. Due to circumstances ‘incapable of replication’, this specific Sholayu had managed to gain a magical aspect unto itself by assassinating an enemy sorcerer ‘in the middle of their Manifold manipulation activities’. The resultant magical energy had helped ‘714’ ascend, marking it as special enough to become a personal servant of Primordial Wrath.

After this brief overview of the Asura’s history, Copperhead cited recent observational records from other Spokes. It indicated that ‘714’ was highly resilient to ‘causality, contingency, and atrophy-class Manifold manipulation’, otherwise classified as ‘fleshsack curse magic’. It went on to note that ‘714’ was a figure of considerable fame, a singularly strange thing for Sholayu, and that it had proven instrumental in defeating Ohlsana’s forces when Vorostra experienced incursions during the second War of Night. The Cogger described the Sholayu’s capacity for destruction as similar to ‘a whole artillery unit’, and that ‘714’ was capable of acting as a ‘lightning rod for countless mages’.

Its report on ‘714’ concluded, Copperhead warned the two leaders that the next question would be the last, and that it would institute ‘flash erasure’ to ensure no cited records remained in Copperhead’s possession. Confused by this term, the two leaders exchanged uneasy glances before Spinesreach’s Regent requested a similar bevy of information regarding Vek-Dansh-Who-Wears-Tuwri.

“Moniker: ‘Vek-Dansh’, classification: parasitic organism,” the Kalchos Cogger began. Copperhead claimed that the Spoke’s sentience assessment indicated undeniable signs of higher thought in the race, and that Vek-Dansh was somehow a cut above the rest of them. It explained that members of the Chitravin race possess no suitable bodies of their own as a biological default and that they must instead infest a host and commandeer their body after hatching, or else they perish. Only one hatchling usually survives the ordeal, it told Legyn, which meant that the race embodied the same singular ideal found throughout Vorostra: ‘a food chain-designated hierarchy where strength and intelligence set one apart through survival’.

Upon infesting their host, Copperhead continued, a Chitravin then takes control of their spine and brain, where they begin to consume the host from within their very skull, thus allowing the Chitravin to protrude from the cranial region. The Cogger indicated that ‘Vek-Dansh’ was the survivor of a clutch infesting the Gajatman hero known as Tuwri, and that the parasitic being would go on to employ his host’s affinity for ‘Manifold manipulation’ in combination with his own prodigious talents. After consulting its records, Copperhead told the two that Vek-Dansh specialises in the distribution of plagues, famines, and pestilence via ‘ritual and sorcery-class Manifold activity’; as a general, it seemed that the Asura historically favoured strategic approaches that allowed him to starve out his enemy through extended sieges, ensuring he claimed victory via attrition that he actively interfered with and encouraged.

After this, Copperhead went on to detail Vek-Dansh’s greatest feats and the hallmarks of the Asura’s extensive craft. Apparently inclined towards ‘grandiose ritual apparatuses with well-guarded vulnerabilities’, the Kalchos emissary explained that the scale of these ‘Manifold interference activities’ was often known to encompass entire cities. According to the Spoke directives, Vek-Dansh was instrumental in the collapse of a rebel empire that refused to pay its tithes to Winter’s Vengeant Eye, creating a tremendous power vacuum that sparked economic turmoil among neighbouring city-states. As part of the final push to ensure victory, the Chitravin poisoned an entire stream with a ‘toxic-class causality manipulation’ that spanned ‘131400 cycles’, resulting in a permanent degradation of the potability and safety of that water source. As a parting thought, Copperhead warned Legyn that Vek-Dansh possessed not only his own specialties, but that of Tuwri’s own ‘exceptional Manifold manipulation activity’ and will use these techniques to supplement or even replace his own; without expressing sorrow or disappointment, the Cogger informed the Regent that all records of these activities contain conflicting data points, and that further explanation could be found when accessing query ‘Tuwri, Gajatman hero’… and query never to be, of course, for the Cogger promptly made good on its prior promise, erasing its memory banks in a flash of cobalt energies that soon saw the Cogger power down, leaving both leaders confused in new, different ways.

As the two leaders returned from the Red Quarter, the Asura began to make their moves…

~~~~~

Summary: The Illuminai consecrated two elemental glyphs aspected to Celezor and Slyphe in preparation for the coming tribulations. Gyrinno and Legyn secured intelligence from Copperhead on both Sholayu 714 and Vek-Dansh, gleaning details on their histories, capabilities, and tactical tendencies before the Cogger wiped its own memory banks.

Penned by my hand on Tisday, the 21st of Omeian, in the year 17 AC.