Chapter 15
Valesena stopped beside a stream gurgling through the elven enclave and used her staff for balance as she lowered herself to sit on a mossy boulder.
Layothlee, the only elf who’d been friendly with Rylana, hadn’t come along, instead returning to train with her troupe.
Thanks to a stand of trees, Jildarin was no longer in view, but one of the guards had followed, no doubt to keep an eye on Rylana and make sure she didn’t threaten one of their elders.
Age notwithstanding, there was a magical power about Valesena that suggested she could take care of herself.
The guard stopped outside of earshot, so Rylana didn’t complain. She sat on a damp log opposite the elder.
“The Ore War is only the latest of many, many battles that have taken place between the intelligent species throughout history,” Valesena said. “You have studied the past and have some awareness of that?”
“Yes. Even though business and mathematics were what I specialized in during my school years—those topics being chosen by my father rather than myself—my tutors tried to give me a broad education.”
“They probably did not cover much on elven history.”
“Just the cursory amount that humans know. Your people keep to yourselves.”
“It is safer for us that way, yes. What about gnomish history? You know how many races enslaved and oppressed their kind, finding their mechanical aptitude and willingness to work hard useful to exploit and their physical stature unintimidating?”
“Yes.”
“In my youth, there was much war up here in the north, constant conflicts between the troll, ogre, and orc tribes in this area, sometimes even affecting the dwarves in their mines.” Valesena waved toward the mountains.
“And then the humans, craving new frontiers and always searching for resources for their growing population in the south, also came to this area. Soon, the fighting was rampant. No matter which god the various peoples followed, they all believed Luminous Lake was a holy spot, that the rare and beautiful presence of the bioluminescent aquatic life signaled that their deities had drunk from and blessed the water. Never mind that, many millennia ago—when your kind still ran around naked in the jungles, grunting and bashing prey with rocks and clubs—an elven scientist came to the area and, through his experiments, was responsible for that.”
Rylana bit her lip. This wasn’t the history she’d hoped for, but she made herself listen politely.
“Because of all the fighting and violence,” Valesena continued, “this area was not safe for gnomes, who simply wished to pursue their intellectual endeavors and avoid being enslaved. There were a few gnomish wizards with substantial power who started hiding the camps of their people, but it was not enough. Whenever gnomes ventured beyond those ensorcelled borders, they were in danger of being kidnapped and put to work. Some of their people, those who became the founders of Tranquility, came up with the idea of creating a habitation where all who wanted to live there would have to agree to peace. The various intelligent species would promise not to harm each other, and they would also not take gnomes prisoner and force them into labor. Because the habitation would have a prime location on the lake, with access via the rivers that flow in and out of it to the sea and other lands, it would be desirable. People would want to live there. But trolls already claimed that area, you see, and other species also kept trying to take it.”
Rylana sat up straighter at the mention of trolls.
“The trolls had been there first, their histories say, and had many temples, including a couple of the originals that hosted their gods when they came to visit in their corporeal forms. That was more common in past millennia.”
“Where were those original temples?” Rylana asked.
“Supposedly, one was on the west bank of Luminous Lake.” Valesena gave her a knowing look.
“With the help of their wizards, the gnomes started their plan to take the land and prompt others to live in peace. But magic wasn’t enough.
After all, trolls, orcs, and ogres have their own magic.
Thus it took the gnomes employing not only raw power and sleight of hand but a scheme.
I’ve heard that the elves in the area, preferring order and peace to chaos and war, may have helped them.
This began before even my mother’s time.
The scheme took decades—maybe even generations—to fully unravel, the seeds being planted and only slowly over time growing to maturity. ”
“The gnomes made up the new god,” Rylana guessed, Vormalt having already said as much.
Valesena nodded. “They made him up and also all the rules and laws and the Book of Faith that went with him, establishing, among other things, Tranquility and the new-god temples that were built, the basis of a religion. It proclaimed the lake a holy body of water, sacred to all who wished to live near and be blessed by the new god. Since it had been some time since the old gods had walked the world, the gnomes felt they could create their deity without divine repercussions. It wasn’t as if they were claiming the old gods had ceased to exist, only that another had arrived, one who proclaimed gnomes to be the peacekeepers.
At the time, they were the only intelligent species who didn’t regularly fight with others, so they did not have enemies that protested overmuch.
Even as they seeded the notion of the new god, one who offered benevolence to all who wished to live in his tranquil city, the gnomes perfected their machines and magic and learned to make golems to help them enforce the peace they longed for.
Now, centuries later, it is difficult for the short-lived species, in particular, to imagine a time when Tranquility and the new god did not exist.”
“And the elves stood back and watched it all happen? Or you said they might have helped?”
Valesena smiled faintly. “Not many of our people lived in the area then. Those who did weren’t fooled by the scheme, but they also weren’t against the intent.
They’d seen the gnomes enslaved and didn’t blame them for wanting to change their lots in the world.
As I suggested, they may even have helped perpetrate the illusion, if not with magical assistance then by agreeing that they’d seen hints of the new god’s presence in the world. ”
“They thought Tranquility was a good idea?”
“It brought peace to the area and allowed something that had never happened before to happen. The intelligent species learned to get along, at least those who wanted to live in this area. Since my people found that agreeable, they kept the gnomes’ secret.
I do not think they believed that the religion of the new god would spread beyond the city’s borders and that many intelligent beings would start following him.
Some even forgot their own gods since the new one seemed to offer protection and prosperity.
The elves have not forgotten their gods, but I think even many of my own people don’t know that the new god started as a ruse.
Per the requests of the gnomes, our elders have not recorded that in our history books or taught it to our young.
It didn’t hurt that the gnomes granted our people this large and beautiful enclave within Tranquility’s protected borders. ”
“Was it granted without strings or was it a bribe?” Rylana wondered.
Valesena chuckled. “Since I was not here, I do not know the details. A little of both, perhaps. But, as far as law enforcers and governors go, the gnomes have proven more agreeable than most. There aren’t many of their kind who’ve taken advantage of the system to amass great fortunes and power.
Those families who do have fortunes largely earned them in a fair manner after the foundation of the prospering city of peace was laid.
Entrepreneurial families from other species have also created fortunes by basing their businesses here.
” Valesena extended a hand toward Rylana.
Since Layothlee hadn’t introduced her by surname—had she even given Rylana’s first name?—it was discomfiting how much the elder knew about her.
“I will point out,” Valesena continued, “that if you suggest to a gnome—even a gnomish priest of the new god—that their religion was made up and that no such deity ever appeared in the world, they’ll call you blasphemous if not believe you delusional and daft.
Enough time has passed, with their young being raised to believe in their new god, that most do. ”
“So… if someone were to come out with evidence, or irrefutable proof, that the new god doesn’t exist and never did exist…
” Rylana wondered what kind of evidence Vormalt might have scrounged up.
It was a lot easier to prove that something did exist than that it did not.
Maybe that was why it had taken him all this time—seventeen years and more?
—to be ready to unleash his plot to curse the city and blackmail the gnome leaders.
“It is hard to say how people would react,” Valesena said.
“Whatever god you follow, much of religion is founded in faith and culture rather than something proven by scientific evidence. It’s possible nobody would believe your someone, regardless of what proof they conjured up.
But it’s also possible that the suggestion that the foundation of the city and the establishment of the new god was a hoax could stir up some unrest. Is that what your someone wishes to do? ”
“It may be what he’s threatening to do—or will threaten to do. I don’t know if he’s visited the mayor or any other influential gnomes yet. He may be giving the curse time to settle in and really disrupt things.”
“Perhaps you can dissuade him from his course of action.”
“He’s not that interested in talking to me. But if I can figure out how to make the curse go away, he wouldn’t have anything to blackmail people with, right?”
Valesena turned her palm toward the branches overhead. “If he has evidence of the past, that information alone could be enough to make the gnome leadership feel threatened. I suspect those who run the city have some inkling of the truth.”
Rylana prodded a moss-covered root with her toe while she thought. “He must have felt he needed something for his blackmail to work. Maybe he doesn’t have any proof of the past. But he figured the curse would make people start to question if the new god really is watching over Tranquility.”
“Perhaps that is so. But the troll gods were ever fickle and sometimes cruel, even to their own worshippers. To deliberately rouse them after so many centuries is not wise. Busy elsewhere, or dozing in divine slumber, they may not have realized that some of their own kind started following the new god and stopped leaving them regular offerings.” Valesena’s white brows rose. “Until now.”
Rylana blew out a slow breath. “I wouldn’t accuse Vormalt of an overabundance of wisdom.”
“Then you may have to be the one to appease the troll gods.”
“I’m just a bookkeeper.”
“There are times when we must all rise up to become more than we have been.”
“Have you been more than the leader of a traveling troupe?”
Valesena smiled slightly. “From time to time.” Using her staff, she levered herself to her feet.
“I must return to training the young. Soon, they will perform for the discerning audiences of Tranquility, and they must practice most assiduously in case the curse remains and there is trouble. But I shall hope you find a way to lift it.”
Rylana also stood up. “Any idea on how I might do that? I know for a fact that straightening a tipped-over troll-god idol isn’t enough.”
“Your dragon ally has the right idea, I believe.” Valesena waved in the direction of the road.
At some point, Jildarin had escaped the horde of elders and stood in view, leaning against a tree and waiting for Rylana to finish.
Since nobody had introduced Jildarin to Valesena, Rylana was surprised the elder had any notion of his ideas, but Rylana had already observed that the magic inherent within Valesena seemed to give her the power to know more than she should.
“Learn how to make an appropriate offering out of rye?” Rylana asked with skepticism. That couldn’t possibly be enough, could it?
“I do not know what the ingredients in a proper offering would be, but perhaps you could find a troll who follows the old gods and remembers.”
“Who remembers? Trolls don’t live nearly as long as elves.”
They didn’t even live as long as humans.
“That is true,” Valesena. “And they’ve never been diligent about keeping written records. You may be in for a challenge.”
Lovely.
“Jildarin was the one looking for a challenge. Not me. I was just looking for…”
What? To start a new career? To reconnect with friends and family from the past? She hadn’t done a good job of the latter yet. So far, the old acquaintances she’d met had all changed. Or she had.
Valesena paused to look at her.
“I’m just supposed to balance the books,” was what Rylana opted to say.
“The great books of the past, present, and future are in need of balancing. Perhaps you were meant to take on this task.” She raised a hand of acknowledgment toward Jildarin, then returned to her troupe.
“Nothing daunting about that,” Rylana muttered.