BECMI Chapter 214 – Marked for Greatness

I /deduced, looking at the layout and power of those who were Marked. Despite being presumably famous Grandmasters and trainers of gladiators and warriors in general, there weren’t all that many here who had earned the right to take a Mark.I noted Master Treadtoe was considerably more skilled than he seemed, sitting at a solid Rank F in power, a dangerous combatant, presumably with stealth skills on the side, but that was par for the course. There were some very skilled combatants showing here, but the links to the Marks indicated some distance.

Briggs and Sama hadn’t focused on building local power. I /asked them gently.

-Exactly it,- Briggs /sighed, shaking his pale but Deep Yellow-White head. -The Marks are incredibly important, and revealing them to anyone trustworthy would be ruinous. We have to have absolute faith in the people we give them to. Once they and their effects become known, everyone will be looking for the things. We couldn’t take the risk, especially with Immortals sniffing around us more than once.-

I was impressed, if that was true.

-Their presence inside our Auras is completely unmistakable, but they also become aware of it if we have our Auras out. Mostly it’s by contact, usually a handshake… or by the fact that they are always at the top of the Karmic power chart.-

I had to /ask.

-Immortals who came from the Prime. Immortals who rose on other planes can assume any form they like without a care, and are automatically at the top of the racial scale when they do. Or they construct an Avatar for the same effect,- Briggs /informed me.

And why Jillius looked so human. He’d probably once been one and was in his base form, knowing nobody mortal likely was alive who remembered it.

-Nifl?- Sama /asked archly. -The Death Goddess of the Ayenser?-

-The Hollow World is an Immortal museum and zoo combined,- Briggs /informed me with a disdainful /sniff. -Cultures who would have died out, creatures that would have gone extinct, races that failed in their evolutions… all of them are removed to the Hollow World, given their own little corner of it, and saved from extinction by accident or invasion by the power of the Immortals. In return, they cannot evolve naturally in culture or skills beyond their native level. There are Empires down there that don’t have the wheel, and their people will never use it, because they didn’t have it at the time they came into the Hollow World.-

I just looked at the two of them, and they both shrugged. -On the flip side, you can see and be eaten by dinosaurs down there, so it’s not completely useless,- Sama /deadpanned back, and I just rolled my eyes.

-There aren’t a lot of ways to get there, the only true one being the polar opening, and that’s the equivalent of trudging across Antarctica to the pole, then down the rim of the world, then out of Antarctica, all of it inside a massive dead magic zone with creatures there actively trying to kill the walking fresh meat.- Briggs paused for effect. -Or you could take the elevator Hiawatha built on his plateau to head down there. Saves a lot of trouble, except it comes out into the remnants of the Azcapan Empire which sacrificed itself out of existence over two thousand years, and is fine and flourishing down there, hearts offered up to some Tzentotl bat-god on a regular basis and everything.-

I blinked. That was not a name I was expecting to hear. They saw my surprise. -You know of him?- Briggs /asked grimly. -He corrupted two of the tribes under Hiawatha, the Jaguar and the Spider. The tribes of my homeland have been at war with them for hundreds of winters.-

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-Huh.- Briggs was looking at me thoughtfully. -There’s an elven nation down in the Hollow World that basically follows the same religion as the Azcapan, but considers the humans blasphemers and heretics of the first order, warring against them. They aren’t large, but are powerful for their size… and, of course, they can’t be exterminated.-

The way he said that had me tilting my head. I /noted slyly.

-There were a lot of Immortal restrictions down there that didn’t affect us like they did the natives. We’re pretty sure that cultural preservation effect is one of them. Of course, we never saw it, only heard about it multiple times, usually from frustrated conquerors who couldn’t truly wipe out an annoying neighbor that they wanted to get rid of, and had to make sure to invade them on a regular basis to keep their numbers down.-

I just /sighed mentally. Okay, it was too much to put together for the moment. I /told them.

-Or,- Sama /rebutted, looking at me, -we can just dispense them to members of an Allegiance whose Oath will keep their mouths shut, and a from a Powered can accentuate it.-

I made a motion above my head. I had to /ask.

-Aye, you’re sporting a faint crown. Rank Two, I think. A Baroness?- He had the image of thinking about a fact that hadn’t crossed them in a long time.

I /confirmed.

-How did you get the Allegiance Oath to work?- Sama asked /sharply. -We know it doesn’t work here, there’s no Divine backing to it at all, and fealty is just another asset to be traded and broken much of the time between the nobility,- she /sniffed scornfully.

Geas They both blinked at me. I pointed at them.

-You… could’ve just gone into stasis until a awoke you at the right time?- Sama /asked archly, unimpressed.

They looked at one another, clearly having the same thought. -Will such a spell work for us?- Sama /asked seriously. -We can start some major expansions if it can!-

I considered them for a moment, thinking about that. EndureTremble

-We did,- Briggs /agreed, studying me. -So, you could Swear to us, but we couldn’t Swear to you.-

I had to shake my head slightly. - They both blinked at me.

-Huh.- Briggs looked thoughtful. -You know how they become Immortal around here?- he /asked shrewdly.

I delineated the whole set to them in seconds, telepathic communication being what it was.

-That explains a few things we’ve witnessed on our journeys, and at least four apex Classers who made efforts to kill us,- Sama /mused. -I guess that priest didn’t like us tearing down his little realm of fanatics like we did...-

I /nodded. I made a tapping motion.

-I noticed you were very interested in our ability to detect Immortals. Do you have a method for doing so?- Sama /asked me intently.

I /confirmed to them, and they looked quite pleased.