141, 1/2

Clan Star Song’s mountain mansion was a beauty of light and color; an oasis in the darkening night. Soft songs made of plucked strings and gentle voices drifted out from inside the palatial estate of towers and sky bridges and houses. The scents of spicy, savory, and sweet foods, touched upon the air, giving hints of what was to come.

Ezekiel Phoenix, Julia, Tiffany, and Paul, each wearing their best, and only, spider silk robes, followed Xue Star Song and Sikali Star Song under a wide, white stone arch, into Clan Star Song’s domain. It was not a Domain, though; Ezekiel was pretty sure. His mana sense and the Sights of his Odin were pushed to the limit in an effort to see all of everything that was to come. He saw a lot, but nothing too concerning.

[True Sight] informed him that much of the colors he was seeing were actually physically present; the walls were not light-painted with wardlights, like in most places that tried to be grand. This place actually was grand, with physical paint layered upon wood, real paper in the lanterns hanging here and there, and stones that were allowed to be stones. The only wardlights present were those scattered in the boughs of trees, or upon light posts, or in other locations where a wardlight was supposed to be cast.

For all the complicated architecture of Star Song’s mountain mansion, it was not complicated in a haphazard way. The building seemed planned out perfectly.

Ezekiel imagined that newcomers to the Clan likely had a hell of a time getting a house here… or maybe that wasn’t a problem, actually? Maybe this was just an ancestral home. Yeah. That seemed right. Maybe only the Patriarch or Matriarch was allowed to actually live here? Hmm. No. That seemed too simple, too.

They walked along a curving stone path into a cleft in the mountain, which seemed like a great location to ambush someone. But… There weren’t many magics active in the air. Ezekiel rapidly decided that this made sense since all magics degraded over time—

Most magics did. Permanent lightwards and his own [Prismatic Ward] and [Kaleidoscopic Radiance] were all permanent. But as for magics other people cast? Aside from lightwards, of course. Those magics were generally impermanent, with a duration that lasted weeks for lesser magics, and hours for stronger ones. The only spell that was the exception to the rule was [Force Trap], and even that one was not permanent. [Force Trap] was one of the spells that were widely banned by law in most places, but still, you’d expect to see those kinds of spells in a place like—

Right over there, by that sky bridge leading between those two towers. A Trap spell of some sort; [Wood Trap]? Maybe. Maybe not.

There’s another, over on that doorknob. Oh. There’s actually quite a lot on more than a few doorknobs… None anywhere nearby; none on the path they were taking to get to the gathering.

And besides that, people were always the largest threat to one’s safety.

There were quite a few people ahead.

Ezekiel got his head in the game.

Current threats? None active, or visible.

Active magics? None nearby that weren’t already attached to a person. None which seemed too strong; but the strength of a spell was not always perfectly indicative of effect.

Current emotions on faces? Happy. Calculating. Open hatred. Hidden hatred. More calculating looks, more false faces. The whole human and otherwise experience was on display in the party, just ahead, but none of that was directed toward Ezekiel, though a few people had their eyes turned toward the entrance, waiting for him. They knew he was arriving soon, but they didn’t seem to be waiting as a part of an ambush. They were waiting in order to see.

Ezekiel tried to relax, a little. He was going into a large communal event that would have a large effect on the rest of his time in this part of the world. This was why he chose to come to this event in the first place; make a good impression, find a few facts out about the Highlands, find some interesting or useful magics. That sort of thing.

But that stone pagoda in front of Clan Star Song had thrown him for a deep loop. His mind was filled with dragons and Paths and consequences and the fact that someone here was likely a dragon and wasn’t that kinda fucked up? He had heard expressions about dragons many times while he had been out and about in the city, mostly from the commoners who had seen him out on the street and then told their kids ‘not to wake the dragon’, after, or even before, they pulled those same kids out of his line of sight.

Ahhh.

Get your head in the game, Ezekiel.

It had been less than ten seconds since they had left the white road, outside of Star Song’s manor. They were now in an inner courtyard with little ornamentation, except for open windows above on every side, and a skinny, tall tree growing up from the middle, toward the open sky beyond. Past the tree lay an opened set of double doors. Light and song spilled out from the gathering inside.

Ezekiel followed Xue and Sikali forward, around the courtyard, and then waited just a moment for the other two to go ahead, first.

Xue and Sikali entered the gathering arm in arm. They bowed toward the people beyond, and then they both stepped to the left, their voices raised in unison, “Scion Ezekiel Phoenix, and entourage.”

Ezekiel stepped forward, into the space made for him.

He was atop a short staircase. The land beyond was a space of barely-raised platforms, five meters by five meters across, each separated by a meter-wide divide. Tables, shaped like rings with a small section cut out of them, each sat one to a platform. Not every table was the same size, but each held between ten to fifteen people. Servants moved in the meter-wide lower lands between each raised platform, rushing into the gap of each table when necessary to refill dishes and drinks and to take the dirty plates away. According to what Ezekiel was seeing and hearing, the gathering was still in the middle of its first course.

The people at the tables sat upon drum-like chairs with cushions on the top and nothing in the way of back support. The food they ate looked delicious, and yet Ezekiel doubted he would be able to enjoy it. From what he was already hearing, this was a party of plotting and schemes. He didn’t appreciate those. He much preferred party sort of parties, or at least one with less hidden hostility between guests.

Oh well. Maybe next time.

This was probably just how they did it among the nobility of the Highlands. There were a lot of cultural norms happening here that Ezekiel had never been exposed to before tonight. He could keep up, mostly, for he had surely gone to events where everyone hated each other, but he didn’t think anyone back home had ever murdered over the events of a night like this—

No. Wait. There was Rebecca and her husband. She cheated on him and then murdered him—

Ezekiel discarded that chain of thought and focused on the world before him. Barely a second had passed since his introduction.

Xue and Sikali bowed once more to Ezekiel, then they walked down the side of the staircase.

A man at a nearby table stood. He was one of the people who were waiting for Ezekiel to come into the gathering. He was also one of the people who were there when Tadashi was transferred to Elder Doniro, but he had left the second it became apparent that Ezekiel had completed the Quest, and gotten his five points.

The man wore a turquoise robe and spoke loudly, his voice quieting the people around him, “Begone, outsider! You stole our Quest, but you will not steal our hospitality.”

A hush fell over the room. Eyes turned to Ezekiel. This was a test, of course.

“I won’t fall for that sort of ploy a second time.” Ezekiel asked, “Are you some member of a High Clan, too?”

The man scoffed, “You are right to be wary! But we need not concern the High Clans to deal with the likes of—”

“Ah! Then you admit you’re not important.” Ezekiel promptly ignored the man and stepped down the stairs, asking one of the servants who failed to run away fast enough, “Is there a specific spot where I should sit? I’d like to see Tadashi, as well.”

The servant quickly made himself as small as possible, saying, “A thousand apologies, but this one knows nothing,” as he backed away, getting the hell out of there.

Ezekiel couldn’t blame the man.

Turquoise man’s face was a shade of pink, but it went red as he was ignored. A few laughs tittered out of some of the other people at the gathering, but not all. The people at the highest platform far to the left of the room, just looked on, impassively. Five people sat on one side of a linear table, up there on that platform, watching everyone. Each of them wore fabric crowns, but the crown of the person in the middle was the largest.

From left to right, was Elder Doniro, then some other guy, then a man who Ezekiel guessed was the Patriarch of Star Song according to his hat, then Elder Arilitilo, then another woman. To the left of that top platform was a medium-height platform, with a single smaller table, large enough for a single person.

It was Tadashi’s table, for sure, but he wasn’t there. A focused expansion of Ezekiel’s mana sense uncovered a blank spot a good ten meters beyond the gathering room, almost seventy meters to the left, deep into the mansion mountain. The blank spot was sitting at a different table in a small room, already eating. It was probably Tadashi.

They’d likely bring him out anyway when they decided to give their announcements.

But what to do until then? Just sit down… somewhere? Yes. But where? There was a hint here, somewhere. He just had to… understand it…

Barely a second had passed since he shut down the Turquoise Man. That dude was still trying to understand exactly how much he had been insulted.

Soon enough, multiple seconds passed. Ezekiel listened.

One group of small voices were saying one thing, about how Ezekiel should just take his seat at their table, which was in the middle of the room. This was a safe enough choice. Another was saying a different thing, about how Ezekiel’s guest of honor space was up by the Elders, at the small table.

Which meant that they were aware he was listening to them, and at least some of the people here were trying to trick him into making a mistake.

Was it a concerted effort? Or—

No. It was just a few people trying to be dicks. Some of the whispered suggestions seemed honest.

Whelp! There was only one way to win this type of game.

… Two ways, really. He could not play. He could turn around and walk away. That was always an option. Running away would always be an option, too.

The other option would be to navigate the issues before him and thread the needle between ruination and success. But what did success look like, here?

Success looked like a nice dinner and meeting new people and ensuring that Tadashi was okay.

So, to that end, Ezekiel paused and allowed the Turquoise Man to finally catch himself and say something.

“You overstep yourself, clansman!” The yelling man said, “Leave now, before I—”

Ezekiel turned his glare to the unknown pissant, and said, “I can handle a little impoliteness, but the Scion of your High Clan Devouring Nightmare acknowledged me, therefore: Are you insulting your betters, as well as me, clansman? You have woefully failed this encounter by taking that route.”

A few titters of laughter touched upon the air. Many were amused. Only a few were not.

The singers in the corner had ceased their singing while this minor drama played out before them, but the zither players strummed their instruments in quiet tempo, adding even more drama to the air.

This was just a play for all of them, wasn’t it?

Not the worst vice to have; picking on the new guy. But the game was over. If insulting the Scion of Devouring Nightmare the other day had cut that encounter to the quick, then invoking that High Clan here and now would surely have done so tonight, as well.

Ezekiel’s gambit had worked.

Three people stood up around the room. One was Caina, the purple-armored dark-skinned woman who Ezekiel had sparred with; she was at one of the three tables nearest the tallest platform, with the elders. The second person was some man in pink flowing robes near the entrance, at the table opposite the Turquoise Man. The last person to stand was Xue, who was at a table to the far left.

Caina stared at the turquoise man.

The turquoise man seemed to reconsider himself. He glared at nothing in particular, then turned contrite. He angled away, saying, “Then by a High Clan’s will, I suppose you are allowed to be here.” He sat back down at his seat and had a nervous server refill his cup.

Ezekiel ignored the man, then said to the room, “Thank you for the invitation, Clan Star Song. After my duel with Caina, I asked if there was to be drink and feasting and talk of nothing important. I am glad to have received your invitation to participate in such. And what a joyous occasion, as well. If that blank spot over that way is Tadashi, then I am glad to see he is at least doing well enough to eat.” He gave a small bow, then walked toward Xue.

Xue snapped a finger at some servants who moved quickly to make room.

Ezekiel walked past the pink man, giving a small nod of thanks, to which the pink man nodded back, then sat back down and resumed talking with his people.

Ezekiel was almost to his spot, but fate had different ideas.

Caina spoke up, diverting attention to her, “Scion Phoenix. Please come sit with us. Your people may sit wherever there is room, at a different table.”

Without missing a beat, Ezekiel turned to Paul, and Paul nodded, then he turned to Xue and gave a small shrug. Xue seemed to understand. The party split. Ezekiel went to Caina’s table, while Paul, Tiffany, and Julia, each found their own spots to be. Paul went to Xue and Sikali. Tiffany went to the pink man. Julia went to an open space at another table, beside Xue’s.

This was probably fine.

Singers resumed their soft songs. Zithers had never stopped playing. The Elders never lifted a finger or said a word. Ezekiel soon found himself to Scion Caina’s left, around a large table of white cloth and many small foods. Servers instantly moved a drum-like seat out from under the table for him to sit upon, which he did, and then they served him drink and food, all before he sat down.

Caina hadn’t sat down yet, either. She said, “You almost committed me to another duel of honor against that clansman down there, Scion Phoenix.”

Ezekiel smiled, saying, “I’m sure you would have won.”

“This is so. But I do not like the games that some people like to play around here, and you were playing a game with that man’s life as the stakes. He was only doing his task to ensure you belonged. There was no need to include High Clan Devouring Nightmare in that game.”

Ezekiel took his seat, and Caina took hers.

Ezekiel said, “I’m flattered that you thought my life wasn’t in any danger at all. I hardly know anything about anyone here, so I had to pick the most solid option in my arsenal against any future intrigue.”

“You are under hospitality rules. If anyone broke them, they would be retaliated against in kind.” Caina looked at him. “This goes for you, as well.”

“What are your hospitality rules, here? We have our own, but I am unsure if we have the same ones.”

By Ezekiel’s current understanding, Caina was a mechanical woman, in nature. Very by-the-books and no-nonsense. Duty and honor. But at Ezekiel’s question, Caina’s face scrunched a little, in annoyance.

Ezekiel said, “Apologies if it is an annoying question.”

Another person at the table spoke up. She was a pale woman in bare-shoulder red robes, with her blonde hair twisted into a bun and held in place with long, black needles. Her tan horns swept backward atop her hair, almost curling like a goat’s before they abruptly ended. She said, “Scion Small Scare is hesitant to answer about hospitality rites because anyone can claim broken rites if they have enough power.”

Caina strangled off a sigh.

A man of dark features, on Caina’s right, and with a distinct resemblance to Caina, said, “This is like saying the sun is warm. Rules have always been this way. Power enables one to empower or ignore the law at their leisure.”

Caina did not like her… brother’s (?) words, but she fully strangled off her response. A few people around the table just went along with the man; nodding, or lamenting. Some smiled, for they were the ones in power, and they enjoyed it.

Just who had Ezekiel sat down with?

Eh. He knew who he sat down with. This was fine.

Ezekiel could not help himself, as he said, “Power is the worst rule of law to follow. It would be much better if laws were enforced for the betterment of all, and the people who enforced them had the honor to not break them.”

The table watched Ezekiel.

But it was Caina who spoke first, as her personality seemed to come back together and focus hard on Ezekiel. She asked, “And how would you enable such a working of the law?”

“There’s no big secret to it. The only option we have is to struggle.” Ezekiel said, “Constant, never-ending, vigilant struggle. This begins by finding the right people to work with while shoving away those who fail to meet your criteria, or finding out why they have failed to enact your will, and then fixing the problems you find. But also, you have to be loose enough to let the small things go. Not too loose, however, that you let the small things pile up into large things. There’s also the matter of reevaluating yourself every so often, to ensure that the choices you are making are the correct ones. It’s a struggle.”

Ezekiel was quite proud of his answer, but he was aware that others did not share his opinion. He saw it in their faces, all around the table. Most just looked to Ezekiel as he spoke, trying to evaluate him and coming up short; Caina was one of those people.

The red woman smiled as she spoke up, “We all know it’s a struggle, but what is the best way to struggle? What is the goal?”

Ezekiel thought the answer obvious, but apparently, it wasn’t. He said, “To ensure the law holds two tenets above the rest: to judge with compassion, and to treat everyone the same.”

A blue-robed man across the circular space burst out in a laugh. A few others smirked.

The man on Caina’s right, who was most definitely her brother, said, “But the problem of unexpected power remains. There are always hidden masters who come in and disrupt the whole, for they would never allow themselves to be treated the same as a commoner. And they shouldn’t, either, for without power, there is nothing. It is only when eccentricity eclipses usefulness that anything like ‘the law’ should become involved.”

Caina agreed, saying, “If you have no power, then you have nothing. Thus, the Void Song, to deny power to the masses. Thus, the laws which put the power of the Clans above the power of the clanless, which allow us to execute those who would disrupt the balance. To put our lives on the same level as those beneath us is to risk everything, and it cannot be done.”

Ezekiel said, “In principle, I agree. The people in power must have the power to remain in power, but this question of ‘how to run a country’ is an old question that can never truly be answered. It can only be struggled with. But when the smaller people are empowered to prosper, they will, and then you get inventions and new magics and so much more opportunity than you would have had otherwise.”

He got a nice round of grins or other agreements, for that.

Ezekiel knew he wasn’t saying anything too radical, and the city of Eralis was stable and prosperous, therefore they could afford to indulge in talks of philosophy like this. In truth, all of this conversation was a simple test in order to gauge Ezekiel’s ability to engage with them and to see where he stood in the philosophy of governance. It was another truth, after all, that every single Scion at this table would eventually become the next head of their clan, and the philosophy of governance was something that they all partook of, at least in passing.

“Wise words, from our Scion guest.” The red-robed woman raised her glass, declaring Ezekiel’s words acceptable. And then she went off onto a different tangent, swishing her glass as she said, “I know I wouldn’t have this fine vintage here in my hand without empowering a small family of farmers we took into Star Song’s holdings two decades ago.”

A blue-robed woman said, “Empowering commoners is a great way to find new talent. Just this year, Clan White Wood took in a whole village of people running away from the northern warlords. They’re already producing some of the finest Lightwood we’ve seen in an age.”

Polite boasting of recent acquisitions began and rapidly proceeded through the whole of the table. They had used his talk of governing in order to show how well they governed, which… He could have expected that. Sure.

… This was actually going really well, actually, if that’s the direction they took his philosophy.

Some people gave their opinions on the politics that had already been laid out there by Ezekiel, but most were just trying to sell to each other.

And then a pink robe man who was not important at all decided to return to deep politics. “All this talk of empowering commoners only reminds me of the rebellions we have faced because of our leniency. If we were to try commoners in the same small courts as the nobility, then our nobility would riot the very next day, and they would be right to do so! We make this country able to exist, therefore we should be treated better than those who choose to live under our aegis.”

Pink robe was a proxy for someone else at the table, but Ezekiel wasn’t quite sure who.

The table went silent, as people turned Ezekiel’s way.

Ezekiel asked, “You’ve all suffered rebellions before? I wouldn’t have thought so based on what I’ve seen. Why were there rebellions?”

Pink robe said, “We don’t allow those who have prospered from the protection of Songli to leave the aegis of Songli. There’s always one of the exterior cities from our main three trying to break off from our control, and they have no right. We don’t allow bandit states to exist.”

Ezekiel said, “I don’t know all about all that, but it sounds more like a Clan problem than a commoner problem.”

Caina frowned at pink robe, as she said, “This is a true enough summation, Scion Ezekiel.”

“Ah! Well, see there?” Ezekiel asked, “How many commoner revolts have you had?”

“Zero,” said the red robed woman, to the table. “We have never had a single instance of commoner revolt.”

Pink robe said, “Because it is our privilege to dispose of commoners without the necessary step of including the law. There have been no commoner revolts because they are ended before they could begin.”

Ezekiel felt a terrible chill run up his spine. He wanted to sigh, but he did nothing.

Many people at the table also did nothing.

Caina spoke, “I feel I have made an error. Earlier, I said that to put the nobility on the same level as the commoners was to incite war. I still believe this is true, but if there have truly never been commoner revolts, and all our problems have only ever come from each other, then perhaps the honorable thing to do would be to subject everyone to the same laws. If one makes a law that one would not follow themselves, then it is, by its very nature, unjust.”

Caina’s brother said, “Now, sister. That is taking an axiom too far. For instance: We wouldn’t want commoners buying land next door from us, would we? The point of having a separate district is so that we can connect with others on our same level. If a commoner moved in then what would they give us but eyesores?”

The red woman said, “Ah! But Ored! If they can afford the land here, then they can afford to be a Clan, can they not?”

“Loremaster Riri.” Ored frowned, then said, “Clans have military power and are the basis in which the Highlands supports itself and its people. Merchants do not belong here. There are many Clans which are less rich than others, but who support us in ways no merchant ever could. Why, a merchant would flee at the first sign of damaged products! But a poor Clan of the Highlands is still a Clan that would go to war for the lives of everyone. The day we allow money to rule the roost is the day we fall to pieces.” He looked to Ezekiel, saying, “Apologies, Scion Phoenix, but I disagree most ardently with your supposition about equanimity in the law. Our law works, and it works well.”

Caina looked at no one, as she said, “Maybe… I was too hasty.”

Ezekiel smiled, adopting an easier affection, and said, “I did not expect to have a conversation on law and country-running, but this has been quite fun and informative. Just so you know: Equanimity is the least of the laws which I would wish to struggle to implement. Perhaps, even more than that one, would be the ability for every citizen, no matter who they are, to be allowed to voice their opinions about the government, and not have those words silenced.” He threw in, “And way stations of [Greater Treat Wounds] on every corner!”

A few more laughs came almost as quickly as a few polite outbursts.

“Are you trying to foment rebellion?”

“Shortest lived Clan; that’s what your tombstone would read.”

“You cannot be serious about [Greater Treat Wounds] on every corner.” A miffed man in blue said, “The core prices alone would be astronomical!”

Ezekiel latched onto that last one, saying, “Okay okay. You’re right. Just free clinics. No one need pay for healing at all.”

The blue man frowned.

But Riri took Ezekiel’s concession and ran with it, speaking to the group, “If less people were afraid of the health costs of injuring themselves on the front lines, then maybe we would get more people willing to be on those front lines.”

Ored countered, “Our Highland-Sponsored Health Clinics have very reasonable rates—”

“But they don’t need to have any rates at all,” said a woman in blue across the table. “The gods gave us power to push back the Darkness, and it is our duty to use those tools to do so, and this includes helping each other regain lost health.”

The blue man, who now looked personally offended, spoke up, “That’s easy to say when the quality of your dinner wouldn’t diminish if we lowered our rates.”

The blue woman countered, “Then we can simply raise taxes across the board.”

There were several outcries at that.

By their pointed words over taxes, Ezekiel came to know that the Clans were taxed at least as much as the commoner. Nice to know!

Discussion continued.

Ezekiel happily ate his rice and fried fish while people talked about taxes all around him. Soon enough, other foods were presented to him as they were presented to everyone else at the round table. He chimed in with his own observations and ideas when warranted or when the conversation drifted his direction. When the situation called for it, he fully countered the more awful ideas, like the idea of having judge, jury, and executioner, all be the same person, for ease of enforcing the law. Even Enforcers were apparently just executioners. Juries barely existed at all, and when they did…

“This harkens back to your stance that the law should be balanced, Scion Ezekiel, but the law can never, and will never, be balanced.” Ored said, “When small magics are involved, we can [Witness] the crime unfold and judge accordingly. Only the nobility would ever need to decide the fate of their own, and only because when larger magics are used do they mar the readability of the manasphere. Commoners rarely need more than the Judge and the Executioner. And if they do, then they get them.”

The blue woman, Scion Gerella of White Wood, the Clan which built much of Eralis, said, “Commoners could get them, but judges and juries cost money, which most people do not have.”

The blue man, Scion Yaro of Red Ledger, the Clan which maintained the health of much of Eralis and the surrounding lands, said, “And I suppose you’d want to raise taxes on them all to do this?”

Gerella said, “No. Riri said it best: We must incentivize more people to go out and fight on the front lines. If your Health Clinics charged less, if the commoners were able to be actual warriors, then many of the problems of money would vanish from our society.”

Ezekiel commented, “There would need to be courthouses for any true shift in the Law to take place. I have not noticed any in the Highlands, but from what I am gathering, there are none?”

“We haven’t built courthouses in centuries,” Gerella said. “Even though our population is still ever-growing.”

Riri said, “Something will need to change in the coming decades with the population continuing to grow like this.”

Ezekiel said, “It is a good problem to have, though; Growth.”

“Aye.” Yaro lifted up his drink, which had been filled four times by Ezekiel’s count, saying, “Now that the shadow actors are gone—”

He got a few quick stares at that. Yaro startled. He set his drink down, then mumbled a nothing-apology.

Ezekiel guessed that Yaro was about to mention the Shades, but whatever the case, it seemed that people didn’t like speaking about Dark matters around a dinner table. Or, perhaps, anywhere.

That seemed rather short-sighted to Ezekiel. How could anyone form a plan against the largest problems in the world if they were not willing to talk about the—

Oh.

Right.

Normally, and for much of Veird’s history, no one could do anything against the Shades. So it was best not to talk of them, at all. Ezekiel could understand that much.

Caina got the conversation back on track, saying, “The Clans oversee their own lands and do their own judging. To that end, we have bureaucracy in place, but we mainly rely on the honor of our leaders and on our subordinates to make the correct choices in their Enforcing of the Law.” Like it was a horrible fact, she stoically stated, “And the bureaucracy grows.”

Ezekiel found he appreciated Caina’s honor, and the woman herself, but she had quite a few quirks to her that made her seem simple. She did not like paperwork, for one. She preferred everyone to be honorable and to just go about living her life—

“Ever and ever deeper,” Yaro said.

Scion Yaro, though, was a hothead and kinda lazy, it seemed. Of course, Ezekiel could have been wrong. They were at a party, after all. It wasn’t the best place to judge a guy.

“I’m more concerned over the gold woes.” Ored said, “We already mint our coins with less gold than can be found in other coins in the world. This problem is going to come to a head, soon, and result in widespread deflation. Maybe in ten years. Maybe twenty.”

Ored, though! Ored was clearly positioning himself to be the power-behind-the-throne, to his sister, Scion Caina. He seemed competent, which was probably a good thing.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Riri said, “We have certain plans for that eventual deflation.”

Loremaster Riri Star Song seemed like a scheming sort of person, but that was not bad. There was a lot of mystery to the woman, though, and that was slightly worrying.

“Do those plans involve some sort of fiat currency?” Ezekiel asked, “I’ve been interested in getting away from the gold standard, but I’m not sure how to do it.”

There were a few concerned looks around the table, but there were just as many interested faces.

Ored asked, “How would you prevent copyists from copying a fiat-currency that is not a physical, true object?”

Ezekiel, excited, said, “There’s a spell called [Object Reading]. It’s a lesser variation of [Witness], but I’m pretty sure it’s Mind Mage only, so the Mind Mages would have to be involved. But the currency itself could just be paper, or whatever. I admit, I only have the beginning of an idea, but we get truthstones from the Mind Mages, anyways, so basing another part of our judicial systems on them doesn’t seem like that bad of an idea.”

Caina finished off her latest cup of rice wine while Ezekiel spoke. She set the glass down for a server to refill it, and said, “Dislike. Pick another.”

“Why the complete dislike?” Riri asked. “As Scion Phoenix has said: it is the barest start of an idea.”

Yaro said, “It’s not the worst fiat currency idea I ever heard. But not only do you propose to put more Mind Magic into our systems, but a non-metal currency? This is not a good idea.” He looked over to Gerella, saying, “Clan White Wood tried that two hundred and forty years ago with wood and almost crashed our entire economy.”

Gerella frowned, and almost said something antagonistic, for sure, but she did not. Ezekiel didn’t know much about Gerella, but she seemed to like most of his own ideas and she wasn’t antagonistic when she didn’t have to be, and that was worth a few points.

“Oh! I have a better idea.” Ezekiel said, “Cloth currency. Not paper currency. Make the fiat currency out of some rare, specially bred spider. Then you have some potion that will react with that spider thread, and none other, briefly turning the cloth currency darker, or something.”

Riri’s eyes arched.

Her eyes would arch, wouldn’t they. Ezekiel knew Riri had something to do with spiders, but he wasn’t quite sure. No one seemed to bring up spider silk at the table, either; not even when they were talking of products. Spider silk was a large product of Eralis, though.

Which was why Ezekiel brought up spider silk in the first place. Might as well shake the tree and see if any spiders fall out!

Yaro laughed. “Reactive spider silk has more thought put into it than White Wood did!”

“Wood chips might be fine, too.” Ezekiel said, “The problem is that you need something that cannot be reproduced through simple spells already out there, and wood and silk can both fulfill that need if you [Grow] or [Husbandry] a specific plant or animal.” He had another half-thought, and added, “Wait. Never mind on the wood. I’m sure there are special [Grow] spells that can revive dead wood, though I know not a single one.”

Gerella lost a lot of her frown as she spoke up, “You cannot revive dead wood, if you know how to properly kill the wood in the first place. All this ‘wood-chip’ idea needs is some Decay-based alchemical baths to bleach the wood first to solve that grafting concern.”

Caina hummed a bit, and sipped her refilled wine.

“Good to know.” Ezekiel continued, “But as for cloth versus wood; there is the matter of space concerns. Cloth can be stacked like paper. Wood is bulky. Metal is already too heavy and the gold standard will lead to problems, eventually. This is why I like the idea of slips of cloth that can be used as a fiat currency. Or, I suppose, slips of thin paper made from special trees.”

Caina said, “Gold has multitudes of problems; I agree. But we need not abandon it yet. We are simply in the cycle where the problem is coming at us, yet again.”

“The Headmaster will likely get us out of the problem, just as he always has,” Gerella said.

Yaro said, “I loathe that solution.”

“On this, we can agree,” Gerella said.

Riri said, “We’re still paying off his last loan, and you know it didn’t cost him anything.”

Caina frowned. “[Duplicate].”

There were a lot of silent nods around the table. Silence descended, briefly.