Tale of Eldramir

On the island of Breaker’s Bay, Meryn was seated in an expanded office. In front of him was a young Apprentice Mage. The young mage had just given Meryn a report regarding the various pirate groups inhabiting the nearby islands. He was shivering as he held position in a low bow as he awaited Meryn’s response.

“Deal with this.” Meryn said quietly. His neck was tense from the rage he was holding back. The golden bull that was sitting on his desk perked up.

“NO! Wait--” The Apprentice’s plea was cut off as the miniature bull on the desk grew in size. Charging forward, the Radiant Bull Spirit gored the young man. He was pinned to the wall on the far side of the room. As the bull pulled away, the dead apprentice fell to the ground. There was a look of fear and helplessness on his face. The next second, the bull lit up in a golden light which spread into a thin screen. The screen passed over the corpse, and as it did the body dissolved into nothingness.

“Ancients dammit all...” Meryn muttered as he pinched the bridge of his nose. His hands clenched in anger as he thought about what he’d just been told.

He and Kameira had been consolidating power in the archipelago. They hadn’t gotten any replies from the leaders of the Followers of Radiance, so they were particularly careful with how they tried to expand their influence. If the islands under the control of the Church of Ten found out about them, it was likely that they’d be wiped out.

Unfortunately, he had just been informed that a branch of the Hull Breakers, one that hadn’t yet been bound by oaths, had managed to escape their control. Apparently, this branch had a member who was willing to damage their own soul, permanently, to inform his sister of Meryn and Kameira’s presence. This led to several ships getting away, and the Follower’s presence being revealed.

The branch that escaped had even begun gathering power to try and make some deals with several wild Spirits to take Breaker’s Bay back. There was even word that some sort of treasure was being gathered in order to exchange a great deal of gold for a favor from a different prime city. One that wasn’t connected to Sanafalls.

Needless to say, he was upset by this inconvenience. They had only managed to accumulate a fleet of a few dozen ships. Barely half the amount of what was available for any decent Rank two Guild in the Archipelago. Let alone the multiple Guilds the Church of Ten could call upon.

“It seems like even hit and run tactics won’t be sustainable for long.” Meryn said.

He recalled that one of the ideas provided to him as a possible method of assault against the Church of Ten was to increase the pirate attacks on the various trade ships going in and out of Sanafalls. Running away after causing as much damage as possible to force them into a trap.

While the Church’s forces would only be expecting pirates, sending a small fleet to deal with it, the Followers of Light would bring their full force to bear in order to wipe out the Church and Guild’s forces in one fell swoop. Given Meryn and Kameira’s presence, the Church was guaranteed to lose at least one of their Grand Scholars.

This plan of attack was something they had been seriously considering as a means of proving their strength. They figured that such a strike would prove their capability. This would allow them to spread their influence even further. It might even allow them to become an official religion on a couple of islands. Something that would allow them to control an actual city. The source of any official trade routes and channels to get mass amounts of supplies in and out of the continent.

Yet now the entire plan was scrapped. Their presence was undoubtedly made known to the Church by now. Breaker’s Bay may very well be the Church of Ten’s next target. If it was, then there was a certainty that they would be attacked by Legends from at least two, if not three, Archipelago Cathedrals. The only good thing he could think of was the fact that it would take weeks to plan and enact such a large-scale attack.

“What’s got you in such a mood?” A voice called out to Meryn. He glanced over at the door to his office. Kameira entered the room. She looked amused and confused as he looked over the bloodstains on the ground and wall. Looking over at her Spirit, Kameira silently sent a message. Her Spirit leapt off its perch on her shoulder. Small sparks of lightning charred the floor and wall as it vaporized the bloodstains.

Kameira nodded in satisfaction as before she walked over to Meryn. Stopping in front of his desk, her face spread out into a cocky smirk. Pulling a bottle from her Void Pouch she took a swig of whatever alcoholic drink she’d grabbed for the day.

Recently, Kameira had been accompanying some of the crews to subjugate other pirate groups. She had long since finished her survey of Breaker’s Bay island. She had discovered a number of Spirits that they were able to threaten into bonding with a few of the Hull Breakers under their control. Better yet, they had managed to find a number of Scarlet Pear trees. They were protected by a herd of Adept Bark Eating Deer. A type of Life Spirit with powerful jaws that ate trees.

These blood red fruits were a unique type of magical plant that was rich in Life Mana. It wasn’t a Spirit, but the pears that these trees produced had significant healing capabilities. Life Spirits and Mages could also consume them in the same way a Void Mage could absorb mana from pure mana crystals. If they ate a pear at the same Tier as themself, then their mana would increase by a full Step without any consequence. Tiering up was a different matter, but that was something that depended on the strength of one’s soul, and the ability to find and open one’s Chakra.

When Meryn was informed of the presence of these fruits, he had immediately formed a group of Radiant Followers to both manage and maintain control over the trees. He’d had all of them relocated to a hidden, artificially formed, valley where they could control the trees' development. Several Life Mages from the island were also conscripted to help feed the trees Life mana to increase the production of Fruits.

However, even with the extremely valuable resource, their comparatively small numbers meant that they couldn’t really trade it. If knowledge of the trees was somehow leaked, then it would mean that the various island cities would do whatever it took to claim Breaker’s Bay for themselves.

Of course, Kameira didn’t care. All she wanted was to be rewarded for getting something valuable for her and Meryn’s operation.

Seeing Kameira look so upbeat and amused, Meryn couldn’t help but grind his teeth in frustration. He hated the fact that Kameira no longer respected his authority. If it wasn’t for him, she’d be dead. Yet she didn’t show any appreciation for this fact.

Grinning as a thought crossed his mind, Meryn answered her question.

“We’re fucked.” Meryn blurted out. He winced internally at the crudeness of his statement. But he got the reaction he’d been hoping for.

Hearing such crass and blunt words coming from Meryn’s mouth, Kameira nearly choked as her drink went down the wrong pipe. Tears formed in her eyes as her throat burned from the alcohol. She nearly fell over in a coughing fit. Her Spirit glared at Meryn before patting her on her back with a sparking wing. A loud’ thump’ was heard as Kameira coughed up the last of her drink.

She hunched over as she took deep, slow, breaths to calm herself down. She glared at Meryn as soon as she could.

“You asshole!” Kameira bit out. Wiping her face, she turned to face him directly. While she didn’t like what he’d done, she knew Meryn wouldn’t say something like that if it wasn’t also true. “What happened?”

Meryn explained how knowledge of their presence had likely been leaked.

“Well, that’s not good.” Kameira said.

“Obviously.” Meryn replied.

“I don’t see why you’re so worried. It’s not like you, me, or our direct forces are stuck here. We leave, subjugate another island, and restart elsewhere. The kid’s still in Tier one and won’t be reaching Tier two any time soon. So, it’s not like we’re in a rush.” Kameira said. She had no problem throwing away everything they had here if it meant they were safe from destruction by the Church.

Meryn grunted in frustration. He didn’t disagree with her assessment. There was nothing binding them to the island. But restarting from scratch when they’d already made months of progress would be frustrating. Let alone whatever the Seven Lights decided was enough to punish them for failing when they’d already requested reinforcements.

A knock on the door interrupted his rebuttal to Kameira’s suggestion. Calling out to whomever was requesting entry, a new yet familiar face appeared. Milicent Seryll, the administrator that had betrayed Sanafalls, opened the door nervously.

“Greetings, Leaders, I bring word from the docks. Apparently, a number of ships have been spotted headed towards the island. They bear a flag with the symbol of the Followers of Radiance on them.” Milicent explained with a bowed head. She had seen the scorch marks on the wall and floor. Such sights were not uncommon when either of the two Legends were annoyed. She knew someone had died recently, and prayed she wasn’t next.

For his part, Meryn was both elated and nervous. Elated because his multiple requests had finally been fulfilled. After several weeks of delays Kameira had continued to mock him for. Yet he was nervous since he’d just gotten such bad news regarding their situation. He doubted the reinforcements would be enough to turn the tide against Sanafalls. However, he knew better than to keep his fellow waiting.

“I see. Leave, but wait at the entrance. We’ll be down shortly to head to the docks.” Meryn ordered. Milicent was happy to do as he said. She scurried out of the room like there was a fire creeping up behind her.

“So, what can we expect?” Kameira asked.

“At least one Legendary Hunter, maybe two if we’re lucky. It’ll be enough to defend ourselves from any attacks. But we still won’t be able to make an assault on Sanafalls. We’ll need to figure something else out if we want to keep our presence here stable.” Meryn stated.

“Why should we do that?” Kameira asked. “All we need to do is kill the kid and we’ll be able to get out of here, won’t we? Getting rid of your ‘Anathema’ is the priority, isn’t it?”

Meryn looked up in shock. Then he slammed his head through his desk. He let out an angry groan as he did. He’d been so focused on taking control of the Hull Breakers and the other pirate groups, he’d somehow mixed up his primary goal.

Immense power wasn’t necessary for killing Ezekiel. A well-planned assassination would be good enough. It was just a shame that the plan involving the Cavern Mage rat that the Hull Breakers had failed to kill hadn’t succeeded. They might have been able to use that.

“Let’s go. We can discuss things when our partners are here to contribute.” Meryn got up. He ignored the mess he’d made. An aide would be by and have it cleaned before he and the others returned. He’d order it to be done as they left.

Kameira just smiled mockingly. She was amused at Meryn’s suffering. Best of all, she knew that she was too important to lose right now. Even with the reinforcements, it wasn’t like the Followers of Radiance could get Legendary Hunters to the Archipelago that easily after all.

Meryn ignored her as they left the room. They had allies at the docks to meet.

The introductions were quick and quiet. There were nearly a dozen ships crewed by Followers of Radiance. Led by two Legendary Hunters and their Spirits. Glacial and Tempest, respectively. Effectively doubling their maximum power and increasing what they considered to be their cannon fodder by a not insignificant amount.

They quickly returned to their headquarters to hold a meeting. A basic rundown of the situation was provided. No one was happy when it was finished. All of them wanted to get out of what they considered to be humanity’s backwater. It was only thanks to Meryn and Kameira’s mention of directing their attention solely to sustainability and assassination.

The Glacial Hunter, Gwen, was skeptical of their change in plans. She was relatively young for a Legendary Hunter, and showed no signs of getting on in age. Something Kameira instinctively hated about the younger Hunter.

“How do you know that you’ll even get the opportunity to kill the Anathema?” Gwen inquired.

“If an opportunity doesn’t present itself, then we’ll simply have to make one that we can use.” Meryn stated. “I’ve already got several crews dedicated solely to the discovery of new Ruins. One or two crews were... damaged, when investigating the Deep’s waters. But the ships were not lost. We should have clues by the end of the year.”

Given that the new year was only a few months away, this meant that Meryn was extremely confident that his searches would succeed. Unfortunately, he had no evidence to back this up. He only hoped that no one would call his bluff. Especially Kameira, who was partially aware of his actions with any of the crews.

Luckily, other than a few dirty glares, no one said anything. Francis, the Tempest Hunter, took that moment to interject. He was an elderly Hunter with a few wrinkles here and there. It was impossible to tell his age from his hair color since it was already gray, but it did have a dullness to it that younger Mages would not. He was the oldest Hunter in the room, and it showed, from how the others seemed to defer to his judgment. Especially Meryn and Gwen.

“I’ll take over those endeavors. Half my ships will stay here while I command a mix of ours and the pirate’s forces. That way you can focus more on the relocation. You mentioned several islands that were uninhabited?” Francis said. “Show us. We need to figure out where to go.”

Meryn pulled out a map, unfurling it on the table. On it were several islands marked out from when it was originally purchased from one of the official islands. There were also several newly made marks crudely drawn on them to indicate the whereabouts of several newly discovered, or rediscovered islands. Meryn had also marked which one’s had more potential for usefulness than the others.

Three islands in particular were of interest. One was incredibly close to the border between the waters controlled by the Deep Cruor. But it was very large, nearly twice the size of Breaker’s Bay. It also had a number of Legendary Spirits that they might be able to bring to their side. The number of resources estimated to be on it weren’t small either, else it wouldn’t be able to sustain as many Legendaries as it did.

The second island was further off the trade routes. It was the same size as Breaker’s Bay, but nearly half the island was made up of an active volcano. This meant that it was certain that there were pure mana crystals. The value of this alone was enough to make the island more useful than others. However, the relative lack of space meant that it likely wouldn’t be good for maintaining a headquarters.

The third island was nothing special, beyond the fact that it was almost identical to Breaker’s Bay. However, this island was technically within the territory of another primary island. The only reason it hadn’t been settled was that it was under contention as to which primary island it belonged to. There were two islands, both with Cathedrals of the Church of Ten in their major cities, that were the same distance from it. This had led to conflicts between the cities’ Guilds and other forces trying to lay claim to it.

Ultimately, all three had their benefits, but Meryn couldn't decide which one would fit his earlier goals. Now that he was more focused, and had some useful assistance, he hoped that a decision could be made more easily.

“The island at the border is our best bet. Especially if we want to keep things under wraps.” Francis said. “Usually, I’d say the volcanic island would be safest, but with us here as reinforcements that means that we’ll be able to keep a standing defensive force to protect our interests.”

Meryn nodded his head. It’d be tight if the Seven Lights had only sent one Legendary Hunter, but with two they would be fine.

Kameira and Gwen were somewhat concerned, however, as the Cruor territory was something that they were both familiar with. Neither of them wanted to be so close to the enemy. However, they could see that the difficulties with being near the Cruor were likely less troublesome than trying to set up a hidden headquarters on an island whose ownership was under contention.

“We’ll still attempt to set up a base of the volcanic island, however. If we can set up a black-market trade system, then we’ll be able to buy more support, rather than just strong arm it, like you’ve been doing so far.” Gwen said.

“Agreed.” Meryn said. While he cared primarily about killing the Anathema, and establishing the Followers of Radiance, he was not opposed to making some extra money as well.

“In that case, get the residents of this island ready to move. We leave in three days. Anyone not ready by then will be left behind when we destroy it. Also, everyone swears an oath of secrecy. Not on their Spirits, but on their souls themselves.” Francis said. A grim look crossed over everyone’s faces. Getting that many contracts made would be difficult, but it needed to be done.

“What about the boy? While he won’t be able to trouble us himself, his support will ensure that he grows stronger all the same.” Kameira spoke up. Each of the Radiant Followers in the room glared at her for mentioning the Anathema, but they looked to the table in contemplation. She was right. While they were currently planning how to survive the oncoming Church of Ten, they needed to prioritize killing the Anathema.

“For now, all we can do is keep an eye on him. We can’t kill him if we’re dead. But I suspect that he won’t reach Tier two for a couple years yet. He can’t afford the resources. But if he manages to reach Tier two, we step up our game, and dedicate all we have to killing him. Even if we have to assault Sanafalls itself. Agreed?” Francis asked.

“Agreed!” Meryn and Gwen exclaimed. Kameira muttered her agreement a second afterward.

From there, they began making plans to get their forces away from Breaker’s Bay. it would take some time, but they considered this a minor, but still annoying, setback. If anything, it reinforced their desire to kill Ezekiel, as they knew that letting him live for much longer would only bring them further troubles.

Within three days, the buildings on the island, even the newly made ones, were turned to rubble. The Scarlet Pears were all harvested and would be replanted when they reached the new island. Trees were set ablaze, and the earth was scorched and salted. Wells were poisoned, and nothing of value was left behind. The island was now worthless, and anyone that remained and survived its destruction at the hands of four Legendary Hunters would not survive for long.

It was nearly two weeks after the destruction of Breaker’s Bay when an armada bearing multiple Guild symbols, all with the Church of Ten also emblazoned on their flags, arrived at the now destroyed island. As they got closer, they could tell that this was not a natural disaster. Everything they saw had been done by people. Even now, there was still smoke floating into the sky from the burned down forest. No life remained, only ash, dust, and the embers of broken charcoal.

“This is the work of monsters. Nothing more.” A Grand Scholar said as he surveyed the damage done to the island. He was accompanied by just under a dozen fellow Legendaries. Given the extent of the damage done to Harken, the Church of ten had taken no shortcuts when it came to ensuring the Cult of Light wasn’t able to make a foothold in the Archipelago.

“What the hell are we facing here? This wasn’t the work of any pirates, that's for certain!” One of the Rank three Guild Leaders said. He was fully encased in his Legendary Spirit Armor, just in case.

“An Extremist Cult from the continent. They recently failed to take over a major imperial city, so it seems like they’re trying their luck in the Archipelago.” the Grand Scholar stated. “They cannot be allowed to take root. As you can see, they hold no respect for life, or any of the islands we inhabit.”

“No shit! But how’re we gonna get rid of them? We don’t even know where they are any more.” Another Guild Leader spoke up. There was some grumbling as the other Legendaries agreed with their doubts. Nothing was said, as no one had an answer. Most pirates and other forces in the Archipelago were known factors. An extremist cult was new, and hunting down anything in the Archipelago was difficult.

“Grand Scholars! Guild Leaders! We’ve found something!” A voice Suddenly called out over the wind. The Legendary figures all dashed toward a part of the ruined town. A group of Guild members and Scholars stood around a crack in the ground.

“It looks like a hidden room. We wouldn’t have found it if not for the Cavern Spirits doing a subterranean sweep as well. It’s deep, though, it’d take any single adept several days to dig that far alone. As it is, we can only sense it right now.” One of the Scholars explained.

“I’ve got this.” The lone Legendary Cavern Hunter, originally from the continent, stepped forward. Garbed in his Spirit armor, he reached deep into the ground with his mana. With a mighty heave, he pushed the ground to the side, opening the crack in the ground and creating a passage leading hundreds of feet down.

The Legendaries descended slowly, just in case there was a trap. Reaching the bottom of the passage, they found a room, perfectly squared, and with no noticeable openings that they could discern. In the middle of the room lay a corpse. This one was not destroyed by the chaos above. In its hands were several journals, held in a tight grip, even as the figure died.

Reaching forward, one of the Grand Scholars tugged a journal from the corpse's grasp. Opening it, he read the first passage.

To whoever finds this journal, screw you if you’re a Follower of Radiance. Also screw you if you’re from the Church of Ten. But if you’re the latter, these books have everything I know about the bastards that killed us. I was a captain of the Hull Breakers, and while I was sworn to never tell anyone about what happened here, my oaths didn’t say anything about writing down my thoughts and observations.

If I’m still here when you’re reading this, then something went wrong. Something changed, and I couldn’t get out without risking the knowledge here being revealed. Use it. Use this knowledge to have a better chance at beating those damned Radiant Followers.

Glancing through the rest of the text, the Grand Scholar found that it was filled with detailed information regarding the Cult of Light’s actions on this island. As well as a record of how many forces they came with, and how many people they’d converted. It even had a record of their current Legendary forces as well. It likely wouldn’t be useful in the future, but it gave them an idea of the current threat level.

There was even a map of the newly discovered islands found by the crews Meryn had conscripted into searching for. It mentioned that these were only the first few found, small out of the way islands that would be good for restocking water and supplies, and that more had been found later that the dead pirate wasn’t aware of, but it helped immensely.

“This man will be buried with honor. In whatever way we can. For now, we need to begin searching for any clues as to where they could be.” The grand Scholar stated.

None of the Legendaries around him disputed this. They could only imagine how terrible things must have been for a pirate captain to risk his life just to inform his enemies of the Cult of Light’s actions.

For now, a search would begin. There was a new player in the Archipelago. One that needed to be wiped out as soon as possible.