Ilea sat on her ashen chair, watching the central platform on the ground floor of the arena. Not an arena for fighting for once. With most of the representatives of the Accords present for the ergency talks, coupled with all the allies and Mind Weavers, they required more space to seat everyone in a reasonable manner. More a parliant at this point, Ilea thought as she listened to Octavias retelling of how she had gotten to Kohr, what she had done there, and what she had found out about Ker Velor, a na that most of the people present learned for the first ti.
Octavia remained calm through it all, though Ilea didnt miss the increased heartbeat and the sweat on her brow. Surviving in Kohr didnt necessarily constitute to being a good public speaker, let alone to the assembled power. The adow, Akis Executioners, war machines of the Pit, the Guilds of the Taleen, the Cerithil Hunters, the Shadows Hand, the dic Sentinels, and plenty of others. Perhaps the Mind Weavers wouldve been out of place in a eting of Lys and Ravenhall, but here they barely stood out.
Whispers started after she had finished her recount, the first questioning glances and statents exchanged and thrown out when a powerful wave of mana flowed through the entire domain.
Before questions arise, let us clear up a few things, the adow spoke. The accuracy of what Octavia Strand has divined from the being known as The Architect, or Ker Velor, will have to be examined, though I wish for a few mbers to speak up as to the potential threat this Ascended may represent not only to the Accords but to the entirety of this realm. Lilith.
Ilea moved her head up from the hand she had rested it on. I fought the guy, four mark. Not the strongest Ive faced by a long shot but he was the only one who managed to nearly kill with a trap he laid. Im really more worried about his preparation and the potential of him snatching a sun from the sky, as stupid as that sounds. Ive been to Kohr, we dont want that to happen to Elos.
Nelras Ithom, forr Monarch of the Sunlight Wastes and the Domain of Light, the adow said.
The war machine looked around the gathered crowd and hissed at so of the reactions, questions raised once more before another wave of magic silenced everyone.
I fought him before. I was invincible the most powerful of the Elves. And look at my pitiful state now almost as humiliating as being born human, he spoke and glanced to Ilea.
She raised her brows. Get on with it, she sent to him.
He hissed again. The only reason I talk to you here is because I want to see him destroyed. Him and everything he stands for, everything he has worked for, everyone who would ally themselves with him. I can confirm that what this divination mage has said about Kohr and the Architect is true. I do not know of his plans, but what Lilith has said about his power rings true. His personal power is no match for so of the beings present here, it is the technology he wields that should frighten us. A sunless Elos may as well be the end of this realm.
I now welco Nes Mor Atul to speak of what we may face, herself of the Ascended, the Navuun of Kohr, guest of Lilith. She has personal knowledge of the capabilities both of the Architect and the technology of the Ascended, the adow spoke.
Ilea didnt miss the frown on Ormonts face when Nes floated to the center of the wooden floor. She bowed to the people all around, the gesture calm and practiced. Greetings, representatives and allies of the Accords. I am Nes Mor Atul, forr Ascended and forr mber of the Olym Arcena of my ho realm, Kohr. I cannot ignore the past history shared by the Ascended and the beings of Elos. Beings are present that have suffered greatly at the actions of the Ascended. Know that what has transpired in Elos several millennia past has caused great diversion and what may be defined as a civil war amongst our kind. I regret the loss of life and loss of habitable land resulting from the taking of a Source.
Her two white eyes shone bright as tal appeared from thin air, flowing like water and steadily building up a sphere that floated before her. This is your realm. The continent we are located on is commonly known as Elos. For the purpose of this explanation, I shall refer to the realm itself with the sa na. A planet set within a complex solar system of three suns, perated for millions of years to the very core with what most beings here refer to as mana.
After the devastating effects of the Source extraction in Kohr, the Olym Arcena placed extensive restrictions on the use of the process, all of which were voted and agreed upon. Centuries passed as we learned and grew, as we tried to rebuild and regrow what was lost. Many of our kind had already given up on Kohr and ventured out through the fabric, into realms unknown. One such Ascended discovered the realm of Elos.
The unique position of both a thriving realm abundant with mana and the presence of not one but three suns rekindled questions of the process of extraction. Both as a way to docunt and study the process itself, but just as much as a way to humanely extract sources from other realms without causing widespread destruction and loss of biological and other life. By then, the wonders accomplished with the Source extracted from Kohr itself had to many in the Olym Arcena not only justified its extraction, but the extraction of sources beyond the realm of Kohr. Near unlimited energy. A single star capable of powering the most complex rune sets, enchantnts, entire facilities dread up and built by the Ascended.
While many disagreed, the majority wished to proceed, in the hopes that removing a single sun from Elos would not trigger the sa cataclysmic events recorded in Kohr. Calculations and simulations could not co to conclusive results and as pressure grew, the notion finally passed, only twelve years after it had first been raised. Ker Velor and Ravana Vor Itar were at the forefront of those who wished to proceed. The Architect as I knew him back then was not a being of empathy, only one of cold calculation. He considered progress and evolution and contributed much to the knowledge of the Ascended. A brilliant Navuun, and one of the minds behind the very process that has made into the immortal being you see before you.
Sacrifices for the sake of prosperity. To answer the questions of mana and life itself. To travel the stars and other realms, to advance beyond the concept of gods. He would not waste an entire realm of beings for the sake of re power, but its possible that the involvent of Elos in the destruction of Ravana Vor Itar has pushed him towards these actions. That or the Ascended herself. Contrary to him, Ravana held biological life in little regard. Subjects and tools for her to use. I believe the fundantal difference between their philosophies was that Ker Velor believed that the ingenuity and evolution of biological beings could lead to new understanding, while Ravana Vor Itar saw them as a potential threat to our kind. Competition to be wiped out before it was allowed to beco a danger to our power.
She was a young Navuun, chosen for both her brilliance and her resilience. Chosen by Ker Velor himself to beco the first of the Ascended. While I believe that the being now known as The Architect is entirely incapable of empathy, he holds Ravana Vor Itar in a different regard to most other beings. Not as I believe as a ruler, a god, or even a daughter, but perhaps as the next and necessary step of our own evolution. I could be wrong in this assessnt as I have not t Ker Velor in over three thousand years. The last ti, on the battlefield. Ravana was destroyed, by our kind, the Olym Arcena fighting amongst themselves while beings from Elos invaded our realm in turn.
I do not know if Ker Velor decided for himself to resu in Elos what the Olym Arcena had started, or if he was pushed towards it by the wishes of Ravana Vor Itar, or perhaps a wish for vengeance. I do not rember him to be an emotional being, though I have previously observed annoyance and anger. Should he return, the main concern, as stated by Octavia Strand, is the continued extraction of Sources. The remaining two suns of Elos.
She moved her hands as the sphere of tal expanded, sections added to indicate underground facilities.
The process requires extensive preparation within the respective realm. Calculations as to the position of the sun, the alignnt of the realm within the fabric, and most of all an extensive amount of mana, gathered for centuries through underground facilities usually built near or within deep reaching dungeons, where mana concentration reaches the highest possible yield. Of course such extensive facilities had to be built over decades, back then by many of our kind, each with their own research and experints to conduct secondary to the overall goal of extraction.
A sh was built and aligned to the smallest sun of Elos. Centuries passed with little discovery and impact from the species of the realm, most of the sapient beings residing on or near the surface while our facilities were set deep below ground. The extraction itself was successful, the Source itself delivered to Kohr in the prepared container. However any calculations and simulations done to predict the consequences for Elos itself were not quite... accurate. A delicate balance had been upturned, entire sections of land destroyed instantly, others changing fast, others yet showing a more subtle reaction.
The collection of data for long term observation has discontinued due to the breaking of the Olym Arcena, though many of you have seen the changes yourself. The North is only one example of the wide reaching destruction and ecological disaster wreaked by the process of extraction. I believe Ker Velor claid the sacrifices were acceptable for the knowledge and experience gathered, but to others, myself included, the process had to be banned entirely. A question of ethics that finally ripped the last strands that had held our now immortal kind together.
I have taken asures to watch changes in so of the facilities left behind by our kind, as Im sure have others in this realm. Many facilities were entirely destroyed, by those who had been involved in the invasion of Kohr, or simply by monsters and ti. It is impossible to use the current sh for extraction, though a new one could be built, aligned for another sun. If what the divination mage has said is true, then the Architect, with or without allies, has built a new set of facilities within the last three thousand years. Few of our kind, even back then, could achieve such a feat, but he would be one of them, as monuntal a task it is.
Building the sh and collecting mana are the required steps the Architect would have had to fulfill, though it is unclear to how long either would have taken. The locations of the prior facilities were chosen for the mana density in the regions. With three thousand years to both build and collect, there is little to no indication of where the facilities of the new sh would be located. Depending on redundancy, the destruction of one or several such facilities would also not ascertain the prevention of extraction. With what I know of Ker Velor, he would prefer to wait a thousand years than risk failure due to external intervention.
Once the mana is gathered and a sufficiently runed, enchanted, and forged vessel is prepared, the process can be initiated. Depending on the Source, the duration can vary extensively, though the more mana present in a star, the faster the process will be, due to various feedback loops. With the remaining two suns of Elos, the duration based on my knowledge from three thousand years ago, would last between one and seven hours.
Can the process be interrupted? the adow asked.
Any interruption would in theory lead to catastrophic changes in the respective sun, Nes answered.
What kind of changes? Aki asked.
The theoretical na for such an event was supernova. Essentially an explosion resulting in the death of every living being in the entirety of this solar system. Though while catastrophic, interruption of the process of extraction would theoretically require more than ten tis the energy of the star itself. The entire process is built on redirecting the energy of the star itself, essentially using it to power the process. So of the mana is lost, though even the Source taken in Kohr had powered every conceivable creation by the Olym Arcena.
Can both suns be taken at the sa ti? Aki asked.
Not by the sa sh, though I do not know if the Architect has applied any changes based on the data gathered in Elos. I deem in unlikely, though the sa was true for soone returning to Elos to extract another Source in the first place. Finding and destroying the sh, if one such exists, is the only way to prevent the extraction. That or destroying Ker Velor himself, though considering the resources available to him, centuries or even millennia of preparation, and his extensive paranoia, I deem the forr more reasonable, Nes said.
What if we offer him a Source as bait? Ormont asked.
We have one of those? Helwart asked.
Dozens of people looked to the dwarf, talking erupting all over.
We took it back to Elos, Ormont said with a sad smile below his beard. I dont suggest we give it to him, but perhaps we could lure him.
Ker Velor wouldve chosen to wait even if a Source had been offered to him the day after he had started his plans. He is ticulous. And he will choose a higher probability of success over potential risks, always. If you manage to destroy enough of his facilities, he may consider the option, but that is the only way I see where he could even remotely be interested. That or if he is pressed for ti, which I deem unlikely. In that case I assu he wouldve co to look for the Source himself, Nes said.
Whos saying he didnt? Pierce asked.
Why should we even want to give him sothing that powerful? Helwart asked. And if we do have a Source ourselves, how co we only learn of this now?
Because I am powered by it, Aki said, his eyes glowing a little brighter.
Helwart raised his tal arms to his hips. Thats a bumr. Kind of need that machine army, dont we?
I prefer to keep existing, yes, Aki said. But I agree, even if we were in the position to offer a Source to Ker Velor, the only reasonable consideration is to bait him out. However that is connected to a lot of risks. Risks we should not take until every other asure has been taken.
Weve initiated the search for both Ker Velor and the facilities that would be part of this new sh. I suggest the Accords set the prevention of another possible Source extraction to a high priority task. In the event of an extraction, we will have to prepare for the resulting events. I hope those here who have been present during the extraction three thousand years ago will remain to share what they had learned, including Nes Mor Atul, the adow spoke.
Of course, the Ascended spoke.
Scipio nodded in turn.
We will remain to discuss potential plans for prevention, response, and retaliation, including all factions within the Accords and without. Scavengers and scouts should be ordered or otherwise incentivized to look for unknown Ascended facilities while high level individuals will be sent to examine the known facilities for potential clues, the adow spoke.
Ilea, the adow sent, apparently to her only. With your previous encounter, you would likely play a part in the defeat of Ker Velor himself, and other possibly involved Ascended. Your plan to grow in power is reasonable and encouraged by both , Aki, and the representatives I have talked to. However, I would like to encourage you to seek potential allies as well. Should the threat of Source extraction be real, every species living in this realm would be impacted.
Ilea smiled. I will try what I can, but I doubt the Domains or the Fae would move based on this alone.
I have communicated with Twin. They will not, but perhaps you will be more successful with Violence, the adow said. Or with the Mava. I suspect Octavias words can be trusted. And she claid the Mava are difficult to move, though you have a way with such issues. We will inform you once we find suitable targets for you to fight.
Thank you, guess I should prepare myself for a trip then, Ilea said.
When you are ready, and once the Accords allow for Octavia to leave. You being with her would vastly improve the chances of such a vote to pass. I expect you to have about an hour until then, the adow said.
Perfect, Ilea said and stood up. You can summarize everything discussed later.
Of course. Until your return, Ilea. Good luck.
She teleported out of the arena and opened a gate to Riverwatch, quickly flying to the bunkers and taking the gate to Morhill, moving on to Ravenhall right after. There was one thing she had to stock up on if she planned to et a species of foxes. Even more so if she planned to convince them to help out.
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