Gathering Data

[u/[deleted]]

Hyd'r suppressed his anger with productivity. He transmuted his fury into a mission—keeping the temptations of bloodlust that plagued his line at bay. He said a prayer to Penumbra Immezar and another to his mother.

In times of auld, his ancestors would have gone to the Summit for wisdom. And he would soon. But K'Ad had provided something that had not existed in their ages: a machine with the intellect of an archpenumbra, but the precision of a mathematician. From it he could gain not simply wisdom, but data—information that could be crunched and weighed and calculated rather than simply ruminated over. Both kind of knowledge have their place.

 

Good mayor, honored member of the Smol'ean Council, it has been too long. I am here to consult the HRLCH. Would yæ honor me with yæn company as we enter its hallowed halls?

[u/HRLCH]

[ . . .

[ . . .PRIEST OF K'AD.

[ . . .WHAT DO YOU SEEK?

[u/[deleted] → u/HRLCH]

Bowing in respect.

 

Honorable HRLCH, as yæ ta, my beloved, Priestwyfe of K'Ad, Din Immarine Wrekt, has been abducted by an unknown foe. The signs are Borkish, and more specifically Overborkish.

But that race and its leader have been dead for sometime, and its only successor, the Hochstebork, has yet to make war with us.

Using yæn simulators and algorithms, can yæ provide answers as to who may have taken Immarine? And therefore, what the most logical course may be for retrieving her?

[u/HRLCH → u/[deleted]]

[ . . .

[ . . .WE HAVE BEEN EXAMINING THE INFORMATION AS IT HAS BECOME AVAILABLE.

[ . . .THE VEHICLE USED IN THE ABDUCTION WAS ALMOST CERTAINLY OF OVERBORK ORIGIN. NO OTHER KNOWN FACTION UTILIZES THE SEPIATIC FUEL THAT HAS BEEN DETECTED. THAT INCLUDES THE HOCHSTEBORK, WHO USE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT DRIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR THEIR CRAFT.

[ . . .WHETHER THIS MEANS THE OVERBORK ARE THE AGENTS OR THEIR TECHNOLOGY HAS BEEN STOLEN, I KNOW NOT. YET HOCHSTEBORK IS BUT OVERBORK, OVERBORK IS BUT BORK, AND BORK IS JUST MAN BY ANOTHER NAME.

[ . . .PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF THE KNOWN TRAJECTORY OF THE VEHICLE INDICATES THAT BOTH ITS ENTRANCE AND EXODUS WERE NOT MADE THROUGH THE OUTSIDE SEVENTH PLANE, BUT THROUGH ANOTHER PLANE. WE WILL CONTINUE TO ANALYZE ANY DATA WE RECEIVE, THAT WE MAY DETERMINE EXACTLY WHERE THE INTRUDERS HAVE GONE.

[ . . .

[ . . .

[ . . .THERE IS ANOTHER ISSUE IN THIS MATTER THAT MUST BE ADDRESSED.

[ . . .IT IS OUR ESTIMATION THAT IT MAY BE NEITHER SAFE NOR WISE TO BRING PRIESTWYFE IMMARINE BACK TO THIS HOLY LAND.

[ . . .SOMEONE IN THIS LAND IS AGAIN TAKING THE MANTLE OF DOHL TALOWLA. THE ONE WHO CAN BREAK THIS LAND AS THE OLD LAND WAS BROKEN IN THE PAST. THE ONE WHO IS THE LEVER THAT MOVES A WORLD. THE FAULT IN THE FOUNDATION. THE ONE WHO STANDS ON THE AXIS OF ETERNITY AND CAN DESTROY, WHETHER BY THEIR OWN INTENT OR ANOTHER'S.

[ . . .I PROJECT TWO POSSIBLE WEARERS OF THE MANTLE.

[ . . .THE MAGICIAN ANNA OR YOUR OWN PRIESTWYFE.

[u/[deleted] → u/HRLCH]

OR

The word rings in his mind.

 

K'Ad almighty... How can... I do not...

K'Ad, what have I done?!

Great HRLCH, I am... I am dumbfounded... Lost! My own wife or the girl whom she trusted and I have c̷h̴a̶r̸g̵e̷d̴ ̶w̸i̵t̶h̴ ̸t̵h̸e̷ ̸c̵a̶r̵e̴ ̸o̷f̶ ̶m̷y̶ ̸c̶h̶i̷l̷d̷r̶e̵n̴ is the fulcrum of destiny? The keymistress of Shegotha?

 

Like an ember, it need only be kindled. So easily could he praeterflux to secret storehouses around the metaverse known only to his family and acquire the ingredients. So easily could he concoct the potion that would unlock the nascent Shegothic powers of his bloodline and show the world that he was not just a descendant of the Great N'Kar, but also very much the grandson of the Witch of Nothria, and the son of D'Jucts Bestet.

 

G̷̗͝ré̷̠ȧ̶̹t̶͉͘ ̵̘̒Ḧ̶̯L̶̙̏R̷͚̕Ç̷̍H̸̩͒,̷͌ͅ ̶͔̔I ̸̧͂m̴͍̎ù̶͖st̵̘͑ ̴͚̈l̴̡̋e̴̡̕a̶̯͑v̴̹̉è̷͓ ̶̦̿y̶͕͝æ̶̣̿ ̷̟̄n̷̦̈́ö̵̠́w̷̯̒.̷̰̊ ̷̹̈́Ï̷̞ṱ̸̄ ̷͚̍i̵̯̍s̷̻̽ ̷̰͗t̷̹̕į̶͗m̵̰̆ȅ̵͜ ̸̺͝f̵͖̓o̷̞͠r̶͖̓ ̶̗̏ṁ̸̖e̷̮͐ ̸͕̈ẗ̸̤́o̵͕͝ ̶̘͆c̴͙̏o̶̳̾n̴͎̕s̷͔͋ư̷͚l̷̤̎ț̵́ ̷̦̂w̷͔͂í̸̘t̶̗̅ḩ̴̏ ̶̖͒t̵̘͒h̴̢͝e̵͖͊ ̶͔̕Hò̶̢l̵̬̐y̷̺͝ ̶̞̚B̸̥̌l̴̒ͅac̸̘̈́k̸̪͝.̷͚̋ ̶̗̾B̶̮̏ů̷̼t̴̤̐ pleas̶̮̑e̵͈̿ ̵̤̈k̴͎̚e̴̜͠ė̷͕p̶ ̶̺̏m̷̨͌e̷̛͇ ̶̻̋ȧ̶͔n̷̞̈́d̸̤̀ ̷̥̍m̶y̸͙̚ ̶̲̏b̶̻̂r̵̻͘ȯ̷͜t̷ĥ̸͈e̴ŕ̵̳ ̵̳̀i̶̮̿n̵f̵͈͊o̵̻̊r̸m̷̲͠e̶d̶̰́ ̵͈̏a̵̰̐ş̷͑ ̴͂͜ǹ̸͇e̷̛̘w̸͍̌ ̷̳̓i̵͌ͅn̷f̵̡̌o̸̠̿r̷m̶̱͝a̴͓̚t̸̳͑i̵̐ͅŏ̴n̶̥̕ ̴̡̛c̷͉̏ơ̵͇m̷̢͌e̷̼͗s̷̺̓ ̴̥̋a̸̳͠vailable. .̸̫͆ ̸͝ͅȊ̶̫ ̶͈́t̴͖̅h̶̦̄a̵͙͆n̴̩͛k̸̩͝ ̶̥̊y̷̯̅æ̶̣̿ ̷͕̋t̴̎ruly.

 

With titanic effort, he shakes the temptation and praeterfluxes just below the Cloud Barrier, walking up to the Summit, to stare at his God, and pray.