Chapter: 606 – Specific Advice

Tala and Rane sat in the contemplative silence of the meeting of some of the most advanced and influential Archons in the Cycling Cities.

Eskau Meallain’s words hung in the air, and with the skill born of centuries of appealing to and dealing with people of power, she waited just long enough to allow her ideas to sink in before she continued. “My specific advice is thus: Hunt the Black Legion, approach the Wandering settlements and enlist them as allies and co-equals in the struggle. Tie them to you with trade and other tethers of power, but do not forget the aim: Find the Legion. If that is accomplished, immediately enlist the Major Houses. Assuming you do not find the Legion in the short term, I suggest that you send Mistress Tala and me to the House of Blood within the decade.” She hesitated. “If she were to Reforge, that would solve most of the issues—or if one of your Reforged were to join a Major House as an Eskau or Pillar—but I do not see that happening.”

Master Grediv grunted, interjecting into the pause. “And could we not simply establish ourselves as a Major House with our own Eskau and Pillars?”

“Of course.” The elf smiled. “But that would open your cities for the other Houses to enter, as it is forbidden for a Major House to also directly bind a City Lord, and even if it were not so, no City Lord may reserve a city for a single House. You could easily bar specific ones—and you will want to when that time comes—but you could not keep an influx of Houses—both Major and Minor—from seeking to establish themselves in your cities.”

Master Saliocas frowned, asking a question of his own. “How would Mistress Tala Reforging, or another of our number joining another House prevent this?”

She nodded. “Excellent question, because of what it wouldn’t do. It wouldn’t attempt to make these Cities a part of the Major House society. Instead, they would be loosely aligned with one or more of the Major Houses. You would be asking for nothing and leaving a tacit promise of violence out for all to see. It makes the request to leave you alone easy enough to honor.”

“But if we were a Major House?”

“Then it states that this area is worth the direct and wholesale investment of a Major House, and others will want some of the rewards. To keep them out would be you joining the game, but then trying to not follow the rules. To proceed as I state, would mean most of gated-humanity remain outside the game, while laying out that there will be consequences within, with no real potential for gain.”

Tala grimaced. It makes no sense to me.

-Oh, I’m aware.-

You’re no better.

-Of course, I’m not. This is ridiculous. But look at the others? Most everyone else seems to get it.-

Alat was right, most of those present were giving slow nods of understanding and agreement.

Eskau Meallain wasn’t done, however. “Lest you think I am acting out of altruism, I am not. This will benefit my House immensely, and it will likely cause some intra-house clashes, but those shouldn’t spill out this way. You will be sowing chaos in the Houses, and with your backing, we will profit.”

Several Paragons shifted in discomfort. Most of those who were Paragons were the least combat focused of the Archons present. The few Reforged seemed to take the idea in stride.

Mistress Jenna cleared her throat. “That does raise an interesting point, and I, for one, want Mistress Tala’s opinion.”

Tala started slightly at the sound of her name. She turned to regard the older woman. “Oh? What insight do you seek from me, Mistress Jenna?”

“Is the House of Blood the caravan we should bet on? Or is it filled with rotten cargo? Protected by washed up Protectors?”

Eskau Meallain turned to regard Tala with one eyebrow raised, clearly just as interested in her response as the Archons were. Tala took a deep breath before letting out a long sigh. “Of all the Major Houses I interacted with or heard about, the House of Blood is, by far, the best of them, ideologically. They do not always live up to their founding principles, but those are lofty indeed, and their very existence and deep codification within the House’s governing structure has led to humans being not only allowed, but welcomed in most levels of the House. There were no Eskau or Pillars of the House of Blood who were human before me, but that is essentially the only rank or position to never be held by a human. Even then, those were not withheld by dint of race. There had simply never been a human worthy of those positions available and interested in seeking those posts.” She hesitated for a long moment before closing her eyes and continuing. “They do use vestiges extensively, but to my knowledge, they do not have any ‘farms’ or harvesting facilities to create them. They have human villages with occasional gated, but they are nothing like what other Houses employ. That fact could be said to have slowed their growth and left them weaker than they might otherwise have been. Yet, there was never even mention of opening such lines of production.”

Mistress Jenna grunted, causing Tala to open her eyes even as the woman spoke. “That is a lot of information, and we can draw conclusions from it, but what is your opinion? Should we consider aligning more closely with the House of Blood in a manner that would elevate them among the other Houses?”

Tala looked to Eskau Meallain, seeing a small smile on the woman’s face. Tala gave a small smile in return. “Yes. I recommend that we implement a few other things as well, but at its core—as an answer to your question—yes, I think that is the best course before us, at least as far as I can see.”

That hung heavy in the room.

Most knew of her capture by a scion of the House of Blood, and many had bargained for access to some of her memories of that time.

They knew that she was predisposed against the House of Blood. That added a great deal of weight to her words when those spoken were in their favor.

The conversation moved on from there. Various Archons were proposed as being ideal to approach each known settlement in the Wandering Wilds.

Tala was a bit surprised that she and Rane weren’t mentioned as options, even though their recent trip was referenced on occasion. Apparently, there were a few Archons—mainly Refined, but one of the Paragons was in the number as well—who made semi-regular trips to various settlements for the purpose of research or trade. One or two even had some family in the settlements, and they ventured out to connect with them.

Master Jevin also put himself forward, given he’d been planning on taking a quick trip out in the next decades regardless, and he didn’t mind moving up his timeline, so long as it was a quick trip.

They also discussed each of the cycling cities, organizing detailed investigations of their near regions as well as the cells to be found there.

It would mean investigating all the cells, both known and those that they could find. That violated the spirit of the cell-system, but if the Black Legion were so sealed, they couldn’t wait for the cell to begin to break down. The Legion might be able to hide that degradation regardless, leading to their full escape with no warning.

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It went unsaid that this is exactly what might have already happened.

No one really wanted to face that possibility. It was also incredibly unlikely, as if the Legion were free, then they’d have already struck.

They weren’t known for their patience when targets of opportunity presented themselves.

Regardless, all the human cities would begin the entrenchment process early—usually reserved for the Leshkin War each cycle—and ensure that they wouldn’t be caught completely flat footed if an attack did come unexpectedly.

It was still more than a century early for the start of the next such war, and enacting those procedures would put a strain on their society, but it was agreed that war was coming one way or another, and they needed to be ready.

Into that mindset, Tala spoke. “We have one source of defense and power that we don’t truly discuss, one that would turn the liability of founts into a potential asset… more than current policies are able to accomplish.”

Dark looks swept through the room as many anticipated her next words.

Tala glanced toward Rane, and he took her hand, giving it a squeeze in silent support. “When we were going through the Wandering Wilds, we came upon several settlements that had geared their society toward lauding those who could not become Bound. They didn’t push people that way, but those who would have founted were, instead, intercepted and made into Vestiges without any of the binding aspects. They were Inheritances, souls that remained to give power and strength to their descendents and communities. Many only remained for a handful of years, but some endured for decades or even centuries, according to what we were told. Can you imagine the power we could have for use in the defense of our citizens if we were to adopt this feature into our society?”

“No.” A Reforged whom Tala didn’t know stated emphatically. “I will not allow the souls of the honored dead to be so abused.”

Eskau Meallain rolled her eyes.