Chương 120: Chapter 113

LATTICE LIVE UPPER PLANE CULTURE, POLITICS, AND THE CONVERSATIONS EVERYONE IS ALREADY HAVING Broadcast across all major World Tree Lattice nodes. Archived for on-demand viewing. LENA FARV: Welcome back to Lattice Live. I'm Lena Farv, and today we had a whole show planned. We were going to talk about Sael Vourne's new production, her appearance at the Mirefall Gala last night, the rumors about her and Kaereth Valmor, all of it. And we are going to talk about that. But first.

[pause] First we need to talk about what happened at the Five Seat Martial Tournament Gala, because while people are clamoring about it and it is all over the World Tree Lattice, I think a lot of the conversation is missing the actual shape of what happened. So today's panel is a little different than our usual lineup.

Joining me is former Knight Order Captain and combat analyst Dren Vael, culture and projection artist commentator Silla Thorne from the Upper Plane Social Lattice, and political and cultural historian Ozan Farr, author of the definitive academic text on the Independent Mercenary List and its history. Thank you all for being here. I know this is not your usual crowd, Ozan. OZAN FARR: Thank you for having me. I have not slept. I will admit I am excited. This is my first venture into the Lattice Live format.

Usually I am talking to very dry academics. LENA: We can tell, and you are welcome regardless. Dren, you want to start? DREN VAEL: I want to start with the capability question because I think everyone is missing the most significant— SILLA THORNE: She called him Amore. I need to talk about Amore first. DREN: Silla— SILLA: Amore. In front of the King of Vera. In front of everyone. She called him Amore and nobody is leading with that and I cannot understand why. LENA: We are going to get to Amore.

But let's set the scene first because not everyone watching has seen the full footage yet. Ozan, give us context. OZAN: Right. Yes. Context. The Five Seat Martial Tournament Gala is one of the most significant semi-formal political events in the Western Bloc calendar. Every major tournament school sends a delegation. Every significant political heir attends. The King and Queen of Vera were present. The Crown Prince of Ava was present.

The senior diplomatic representatives of essentially every major power in the Western Bloc were in that hall simultaneously. LENA: And then? OZAN: The first part of the action is grainy and secondhand, but there was some sort of altercation between Princess Talena and Crown Prince Ardeshir Atame of the Ava Dominion. The rumors have been circling about those two for years.

There was a sharp escalation, unclear as to exactly how it happened, and the bodyguard Princess Talena had contracted actually had to physically intervene. From that point forward we start getting actual recordings. Someone activated an Arcanum-Technica gate construct inside the estate, which for those listening at home should not be technically possible given the ward lattice laid down by the Royal Family's court mages. This is something that should not have happened. The hall was sealed.

Every exit closed simultaneously. The Royal Knights' Technica systems were compromised. At least two top-twenty mercenaries came through the construct. And the Crown Prince of Ava was killed by a member of his own mercenary contingent. [beat] SILLA: And then Thessaly the Scion kissed a stranger. Who just happens to be tall, dark, and brooding. It was genuinely extraordinary projection viewing.

DREN: That is not the next most important thing that happened— SILLA: It is the next most important thing that happened on the World Tree Lattice today and I will not apologize for that. LENA: Let's talk about what happened before the kiss. Because the kiss only makes sense if we understand what preceded it. Dren, walk us through what you can establish about the mysterious contractor's role in what happened. And yes, I say mysterious understanding that everyone knows who I'm talking about. DREN: Thank you.

Based on the available footage and the partial sensor data that has been released, the contracted protector for Princess Talena Aurion was an unknown black mercenary operating under the name Cipher. For those of you at home who don't know the internal workings of the mercenary world, black mercenaries have signed on to the oath but hold no affiliation and remain untested after their initial induction.

Cipher had been present in the hall from before the formal proceedings began, moved very quickly to protect the princess when a rogue spell was cast by one of the participants, and showed a proficiency with golem Technica that I've never seen before. When the gate opened and the mercenary formation came through, this contractor engaged Calder the Threshold and Ash Han the Still simultaneously. LENA: Both are in the top twenty of the Merc Named List? DREN: Correct.

Both top twenty and they typically operate as a pair. Calder is an Aura specialist focused on heavy close-quarters engagement with the added layer of an earthen and metal mesh construct he created himself. Ash Han runs dual cores, Ventus Elementa Arcanum and a Sanatio healing Expression, her attacks doubling as a booster for her partner, Calder. Both of her cores run at very high purity. Cipher engaged both simultaneously and held them to a standstill without appearing to significantly exert himself.

I want to be careful here because I am working from relay crystal footage and partial sensor readings, not a full operational report. This data was public record for approximately fifteen minutes before the Ignacio Guard shut it down on behalf of the Royal Family. They could not remove everything from the Lattice, however, and what remains clearly suggests Cipher was operating well below his actual ceiling. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

SILLA: Wait. Below his ceiling? What does that mean exactly? DREN: It means he was barely trying and was basically toying with two of the most powerful mercenaries in the Upper Planes at the same time. That is the only conclusion the available evidence supports. I am not prepared to state that as confirmed fact. But the movement patterns and the duration of the engagement relative to what we know about Calder and Ash Han's capability. It does not add up to someone who was being pushed.

OZAN: Which is extraordinary given who he was holding off. DREN: Yes. [silence] SILLA: So if I am understanding correctly, Cipher held two top-twenty mercenaries operating at full capacity without really trying. DREN: Essentially. SILLA: That is terrifying and hot. Does anyone know what he looks like under the mask? DREN: I am sure the mercenary is very capable. LENA: Moving forward. Where does Thessaly come into this?

DREN: It has been confirmed she came through the same Folded Space Construct the mercenaries used. For those at home, Folded Space Constructs are among the rediscovered lost technologies that Professor Adeline is so famous for cataloguing. There are very few in existence. I am frankly surprised a subcontractor of the Dusk Assembly had access to one. If Thessaly came through the same construct, they were almost certainly staging from a location directly connected to the Dusk Assembly's operating Nexus.

LENA: Dren, we may need to talk about the Dusk Assembly for viewers who are not familiar. DREN: Yes, probably, but let's keep to the sequence of events first. LENA: Fair enough. Continue. DREN: Thessaly's arrival is where it becomes genuinely extraordinary. Moments before two top-twenty mercenaries appeared through the gate, a top-fifty mercenary named the Hollow had already assassinated Crown Prince Ardeshir inside the hall.

Thessaly attempted to talk her own subcontractors down, and that conversation is where the Covenant Token came up. Things looked very grim until Cipher escalated directly. He stated that if a specific person in that hall was harmed, he would find the Dusk Assembly's plane, navigate their Nexus sequence, and destroy the organization entirely. Multiple witnesses confirm this account consistently. Thessaly the Scion then invoked the Assured Destruction Clause. OZAN: That is not quite accurate. DREN: Sorry?

OZAN: The accounts I have been cross-referencing do not say anyone. He did not say if anyone in this hall is harmed. He said there was someone specific in that room who mattered to him. The threat was conditional on harm coming to that specific person. Many witnesses appear to have generalized the statement, possibly due to the circumstances, but Cipher was referring to one unidentified person. [beat] LENA: That is a meaningful distinction. OZAN: It is an enormous distinction.

A threat that covers everyone in a sealed hall is a broad deterrent. A threat conditional on harm to one unidentified person is something considerably more personal. It means while he was clearly under contract, there was someone in that room important to him that had nothing to do with the contract. And whoever that person is, they are worth the destruction of the Dusk Assembly to him. SILLA: And he did not say who. OZAN: He did not say who.

To someone who reads records for a living, an omission like that carries as much as a name. DREN: That brings us to the Assured Destruction Clause, which has been invoked six times previously in all of recorded mercenary history. LENA: You may need to explain that one. OZAN: The Assured Destruction Clause exists specifically for situations where a credible threat against the mercenary organization is made by a force capable of carrying it out.

The mechanics are tied to the oaths mercenaries take when they join the guilds. I will not pretend to fully understand the expression work involved. What matters is that invoking it is simply not done. Most people do not have the capacity to make that threat, mean it, and actually carry it out. Cipher told Thessaly to invoke it and she did. She acknowledged in front of witnesses that whoever this contractor was, he was capable of doing what he said.

And she believed the one person he was protecting was in genuine danger. [beat] SILLA: She knew who he meant. OZAN: That part is unclear, but there are reasons to assume she did. She invoked the Clause. LENA: Which tells us something about what Thessaly the Scion is willing to do for this person.

OZAN: It tells us she was willing to override an active Covenant Token, absorb the institutional cost of invoking the Clause, and pull her entire formation out of a sealed hall for someone she has not publicly acknowledged knowing, because she deemed the threat credible. [beat] DREN: I will stand corrected. That is a considerably more significant detail than I presented it as. The thread of logic and sequence of events is fascinating. OZAN: It is the most significant detail in the entire account.

Everything else is context. LENA: So let's address the obvious. Cipher is the Ghost of the Wastes. That is the big revelation. OZAN: That is actually one of several significant revelations, all of which are somewhat disturbing to consider, and none of which I am fully prepared to state as confirmed fact on a live broadcast. What I will say is this.

The Ghost's confirmed presence on Valecis Isle through the Northern Preserve incident, his apparent integration into the Royal Family's protection arrangements under a different alias, and his close personal connection to Thessaly, enough that the head of the Dusk Assembly suggested both marriage and considerably more in front of the King of Vera. These are the apparent facts. But the logical conclusions are even more intriguing, at least to those of us not on the inside.

The Ghost of the Wastes is not operating in the isolation the Wastes-period historical record implies. He has people. He has connections. He has someone in that hall he cared enough about to threaten the Dusk Assembly over. And that person, based on what witnesses have been able to piece together, was not Thessaly the Scion. SILLA: The Ghost of the Wastes has a secret lover!!! That has to be it. Who else would he be protecting? DREN: I could not tell you, and I would not dare speculate.

The Ghost of the Wastes threatened an entire organization and Thessaly the Scion believed he could carry it out. Do you understand how large the Dusk Assembly is? That is not a threat anyone takes lightly. SILLA: I understand. But he is not going to get upset about speculation. The Ghost of the Wastes has someone. And it is not Thessaly. And Thessaly kissed him anyway. Does that not mean we are witnessing the most extraordinary love triangle in Upper Plane history? [beat] LENA: Silla.

SILLA: I am just saying the emotional architecture of this situation is extraordinarily complex and I have been thinking about nothing else since three in the morning. I am Team Thessaly. I am saying it publicly. I fully support whatever this is. LENA: Let's pivot for a moment because we promised our audience we would talk about Sael Vourne. And this actually connects because Sael was at the Gala last night. Silla, you have been covering her new production. Tell us where things stood before last night.