Touch of Fate

After exchanging a glance with the female at his side, the male Asani gave a short bow. "I am Sahel, Fifth Spear of the Coreguard. You have our thanks for the timely intervention, and this is my subordinate…"

"Tuli, Twenty-First Spear of the Coreguard." The woman stepped forward and introduced herself.

Mike took a moment to use Appraise to confirm their statements.

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Sahel

Age: 98

Race: Asani

Class: Guardian

Title: Coreguard

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Tuli

Age: 65

Race: Asani

Class: Scout

Title: Coreguard

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Both had essentially humanoid bodies, but were covered with dark grey feathers. Their feet and hands sported talons that looked quite dangerous, but evidently still had a great deal of manual dexterity. From their backs emerged a pair of large feathered wings that must have stretched nearly 2.5 meters across when unfolded. Their heads were distinctly reminiscent of birds of prey, with forward facing eyes, and curved beaks.

[Not exactly angelic, but I suppose you could make the mistake at a distance. Also they seem to be a bit longer-lived than humans, for what it's worth.]

"Call me Mike." He added, once he was satisfied.

"Very well...Mmm-ike." Sahel replied, having a bit of difficulty forming the word. Apparently, they relied primarily on throat and tongue movements to speak, which seemed to create problems for them when attempting to replicate human-made sounds. "Once again, I wish to thank you for the assistance, but I am duty-bound to inform you that you are trespassing. Ordinarily, such an offense would warrant immediate expulsion, but I suspect that would be more difficult than throwing back the Invader."

He glanced over at the region of space where the gelatin monster had vanished, before continuing. "The right to visit the Asan is granted rarely, and only one of the Elders can do so. As such, I cannot allow you to roam freely."

"I see." Mike replied succinctly. He understood where Sahel was coming from, but it hardly seemed like the time to be worrying about such trivial matters.

"That being said, I believe it is within my rights to escort a potential visitor, at least until such time as an Elder is available to hear his case. Is that not right, Tuli?"

The other Asani woman blinked, before nodding, "While such a thing would normally never happen for one of the Coreguard, I doubt that any would question your right to proceed that way."

"Considering that all of the Elders are currently sealed in the Sanctuary with the other non-combatants, which is not scheduled to open for several hours at least, such an escort mission could last quite a while."

Mike suppressed a laugh. Apparently, circumventing unpopular regulations was something that spanned cultures. "Alright, then perhaps you can explain what's going on here, and what that strange gelatin creature was."

"Gelatin? You speak of the Invader, I believe." Sahel replied, a bite of real hatred entering his voice.

"If that's what you call it."

The Asani paused for a few moments, as if to consider how to answer the question. "Tell me, what do you know of the realms that exist beyond the borders of this world?"

"Honestly, not a lot."

"Then I shall start at the beginning." He replied, while walking over to a strangely futuristic device set into the platform near the crystal spike which ran through the center of the room. To Mike, it actually kind of looked like a sort of console, only lacking some kind of display screen.

Tuli stopped him and whispered in a voice that would have been too quiet for most to overhear. "Are you sure about this, Sahel? Revealing the secrets of our people to an outsider."

The Asani male gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, "I believe he has earned the right to see what is even common knowledge to our children. Any time spent sifting through the domiciles on the surface would likely yield the same answers. Had he taken the time to explore rather than save us, we would not be here to question his access. Besides, as someone who speaks our tongue, there is little reason for him to not know our purpose, at least."

With a nod, Tuli allowed him to continue to the console, where he pressed several tiles with no apparent markings. The device started to hum faintly, and a small glowing ball appeared in the air above it. After a few seconds it turned into an elaborate diagram of incredible complexity. Mike could vaguely tell that the confusing three dimensional shapes and forms were a series of concentric circles and rings, but beyond that he wasn't quite certain what he was looking at.

"Let me preface by saying that this is a demonstration meant to teach our children their place in the world, and as such, it is merely a representation of Ea in it's true form. To truly show the wonder that is Creation in all of its glory is beyond our current technologies." Sahel explained, gesturing to the glowing display. "At its center, you can see what many believe is the full extent of the world."

Mike stared at the diagram for a few seconds before he was able to identify a small circular region which seemed to occupy the very heart of the formation.

"Surrounding, weaving through, and co-existing with it are the Thousand Realms."

"Thousand Realms...yes."

With what was probably a patient expression, the Asani continued. "It is the name for the uncounted multitude of smaller worlds that have grown from Ea since its creation."

"If they are uncounted, why call it the Thousand Realms?"

"Tradition, mostly." Sahel replied with clucking noise that resembled a chuckle, and then tapped a few more tiles, causing the image to zoom out until a sort of nebulous cloud surrounded the complex pattern. "This is what we refer to as the Outer Reaches, a place beyond the confines of Ea where the laws that govern our reality do not apply."

"And that's where the Invader comes from?"

"In a sense yes, but also no."

Mike gave him a look.

The Asani tapped a few more tiles, and the display zoomed out again, much further this time. When it finally stopped, it showed a chaotic collection of thousands of greenish dots around a single blue one.

"This is what is known as the Multiverse, at least to the extent the High Elves were able to map it prior to their fall, but they believed that many more existed beyond the limits of their exploration."

[I wonder if one of those is Earth…] Mike found himself thinking.

Sahel pointed to a space between two of the dots. "In order to explain the Outer Reaches, you must first understand that every universe exists as a self-contained whole. Each of them occupy their own place in the makeup of the Multiverse. However, much like a stone wall is joined by mortar, the worlds in this pattern do not directly touch one another. Instead there is a kind of buffer region which keeps them separate. This is the Outer Reaches."

"So basically interdimensional space. Got it. Is that where the Invader as you called it is from?"

The Asani hesitated, but shook his head. "We do not believe so, but it remains a possibility."

"What do you mean?"

"According to our tradition, the Outer Reaches is known as a place beyond all conception of reality. It is fundamentally and unequivocally different from how we perceive existence. Because of that, any living creature that attempts to travel there in body will inevitably be lost."

[Good thing I didn't try it myself.]

"So you are saying that the Invaders aren't coming from interdimensional space, but you have no means of confirming that?"

"That is more or less the case. It is considered the greatest of taboos to attempt to open a doorway to the Outer Reaches."

"Why? Because it's dangerous?" Mike asked, wondering if his little stunt with the gelatin monster might cause some long term problems.

Sahel gave him a hard stare, or least it appeared that way. He was having trouble reading the avian man's facial expressions. "We consider it taboo for the sole reason that such an attempt was the cause of the Fall, and nearly led to the destruction of Ea."

[Right. Probably should avoid doing that again, unless absolutely necessary.]

"The Invaders are beings from a world beyond ours. Whether they have come from another universe or inhabit the Outer Reaches themselves remains unclear, but they have been appearing here since the end of the High Elven civilization. As such, it is commonly believed that whatever caused the Fall has made it possible for them to break through the barrier around our world."

Mike nodded, "So, they've been around for thousands of years. Why haven't I heard about them before now?"

Sahel straightened. "Ever since we rebelled against the Creators, it has always been the Asani's sworn duty to protect this world from the Invaders."

"Wait, Creators? As in the gods? You rebelled against them?"

"Indeed." The Asani confirmed before tapping on the console again, and causing the display to change. This time it showed an image of another of his kind, only different. The figure was powerfully built, and carried himself with a level of confidence and grace that was nearly divine. Instead of the piercing avian eyes of his living kinsmen, however, he had two pools of swirling blue light.

"This is Asan, the first of our kind and the leader of our people. During the Second Age, he was the divine servant of Enturatriti, the Ascended who bears the Aspects of Protection, Birds, and Defensive Warfare. It was Asan's mission to lead the others of his kind and protect the boundaries of Ea from any intrusion, a duty that he fulfilled for millenia without questions."

Tuli stepped forward to continue where he left off, evidently knowing the story as well. "That was, until the High Elves discovered the secrets to interdimensional travel. When he saw what they were doing, he was worried. He begged Enturatriti to allow him to put an end to the practice, but he was denied. The Creators had forbidden direct intervention in the affairs of mortals."

Sahel took up the story once more. "So, he was forced to watch as the High Elves grew ever more conceited, ever more arrogant in their power, expanding their rule across the Multiverse, never knowing that the forces they were playing with would spell their demise. Then at the height of their decadence, they took a step too far and brought ruin upon themselves."

"The Outer Reaches." Mike offered, anticipating the turn in the story.

"That is correct." Tuli resumed her part. "They opened a pathway to that place, confident in their ability to deal with whatever came from it, and yet they were unprepared. What really happened on that fateful day remains a mystery, but when the dust settled, the ancient heart of the High Elves dimension-spanning empire had been brought to ruin. Some survived the destruction, especially on the fringes of their society. However, they soon become prey for the Invaders who appeared in the chaos."

The male Asani took over once more, "Whether the portal led their world, or merely gave them a means of entering ours is uncertain, but the records speak of the horrors that emerged in the hours following the Fall. Many of those who'd survived were subsequently slain by the monstrosities that seemingly desired to consume all life on Ea."

Tuli spoke again. "Asan looked upon this tragedy with horror, and begged his master to allow him to intervene, but was once again denied. The Creators had managed to seal the breach before it destroyed this world, but they would do nothing to save their mortal followers from the Invaders, and they forbade any of the Ascended from getting involved. Their reasons were unclear, but as it came from the five most powerful beings in this world, the command was absolute."

"Yet Asan could not bear to see his charges suffer while he had strength to protect them, and so he disobeyed his master, and led his host to Ea to drive back the Invaders." Sahel continued. "Long was the battle, but eventually the divine warriors were able to drive back the monsters and save what few survivors remained. However, as punishment for their rebellion, Asan and his followers were banished from the heavens, cursed to walk the world forevermore as mortals."

"Huh...I guess that's-" Mike started before he was cut off by a sudden yell from above.

"What is the meaning of this, Sahel?!"

A quartet of Asani, dressed in elaborate robes were descending from above.

"Say nothing." Sahel muttered before turning to face the newcomers.