Chương 84: The Reunion

The directions were as convoluted as advertised. And it was only after the third left turn and eighth samey hallway that Jordan felt comfortable (and bored) enough to make some small talk that wasn't very small at all." Tiena." He thought back to the conversation at the Central Directory.

"Is that the name of your mo—sorry, no— the twins' mom?"

"Yes," Hanza confirmed.

"If I'm being perfectly honest, the 'lie' about the origin name was something of a gamble. If it weren't for the item you brought back from the well, Gatekeeper, I never would've known to try'Blacksnake Hollow'. Fortunately for us, the gamble paid off." Jordan nodded with a chagrined smile. Normally, winning a gamble would be a joyous occasion worth celebrating. What the party was doing right now, however, felt like the furthest thing from a celebration.

The route deeper into the nether realm took the party past more wisps going about their afterlife business. Whoever these wisps had been in life, they were all indistinguishable from each other now. Limbless and faceless, they kept silent vigils around the nether realm's labyrinthine gates and hallways, all while lion statues glared at everything and everyone with empty stone eyes. Jordan suppressed a shudder as he tried to think happier thoughts. A tall order if ever there was one…

and judging by the next words out of Pewter, even his friend's unfailing cheer had taken a hit.

"I know she was a product of her time," the Tetherer muttered, sounding unusually subdued, "but it's still galling what she did to Shaza Padma. To cast a newborn infant into the nether realm… her own child, no less! What mother could do such a thing? I know that she—or at least her ghost—has since repented. But if I were Shaza, I'm not sure that I'd have the heart to forgive her." An uneasy silence followed.

Hanza continued to walk ahead of the group, the click-clack of his walking stick acting as a reliable metronome. Jordan gave his friend a sidelong glance, frankly surprised that such a sweet boy like Pewter was capable of such invective. Wisdom DC 14: success Shennong:"Is it really so surprising, young one? You know as well as anyone that your young friend here hails from a fiercely loving family, protective to a fault.

In his limited experience, it must be difficult for him to understand that such love can take drastically different forms." It is surprising, actually, Jordan mused wryly. Surprising that you gods followed me all the way to the nether realm. But thanks for looking out, I guess. Love in its drastically different forms. Did Tiena of Blacksnake Hollow love her children any less fiercely than Pewter Sapling's parents? Jordan of course only had bits and pieces of the whole story.

But somehow, that was enough for him to say…

"I don't know, man. I get where you're coming from, Pewter, but I'm not sure that we ought to judge her too harshly. From what Hanza could gather from his [Communions], Tiena either died or went missing shortly after the twins' birth, yeah? I think that means she was really beat up about the Shaza thing. So much so that she would even let the OG Hanza grow up without a mother. I'm not saying that two wrongs make a right, but…"

As Jordan lost steam, Hanza —Radiant Vigor Era version—made a surprising contribution in his ancestor's defense.

"In addition to what Gatekeeper Yu has already said, we must not discount how Shaza Padma himself might view the situation. The boy—at least the version of him that appeared before his twin—held great love for his mother, while reviling the family that had let both of them down. That, to me at least, is a child who feels and understands that his mother cared for him in her own way." More silence. No less uneasy than before. Jordan especially was hung up, of all things, on Hanza's tense usage.

A child who feels and understands that his mother cared for him. Present tense. An innocuous turn of phrase? Or an acknowledgment of the possibility that Shaza Padma might yet live, in one form or another? Intelligence DC 12: success Fuxi:"An astute observation, pupil. While the mother might have relinquished her surname before she perished, the babe wouldn't have had the chance to do the same. The name 'Shaza Padma' should have come up at the Central Directory…

assuming, of course, that the babe actually did die as a victim to the culling of the twin." Stolen story; please report. A chill ran down Jordan's spine that had nothing to do with the ambient temperature (which was quite cold, to be fair!). He recalled an earlier conversation outside the cave, about a 'spiritual descendant' to Shaza Padma who had inherited the boy's hatred and magic. Yet here was a second, even more chilling possibility.

That Shaza Padma himself had persisted in one form or another for over 1, 800 years, only to exact his revenge on a generation innocent of the sins of their forefathers. The party moved on, each member stewing in his own uneasy silence. After umpteen more left turns and umpteen more samey hallways, they eventually emerged onto a wide open space. What Jordan saw there took his breath away. It was… a field.

A seemingly endless field of swaying silvergrass, complete with a night sky above that shone with a million stars as well as a full moon that bore witness to all that transpired on the ground. And what transpired was true carnage. Humanoid wisps, at least a thousand strong if not more. To a one clad in armor and bearing arms, charging at each other beneath the all-seeing moon.

Burying blades, arrows, and spearpoints in each other's soul-clouds, their whispered cries of rage and anguish combining into a constant murmur—a chittering susurrus. It was war. There was no doubt about it. Whoever these wisps had been in life, they'd gathered again here in the afterlife, to relive the bitter battles that had ended their lives in the mortal realm. No rest nor peace to be found here. Only the perpetuation of a vicious cycle. Strength DC 12: success Zhurong:"Pathetic.

There is nothing baser, nothing more profane than a fight without a cause. However you choose to tread your path, manling, see to it that you don't end up here." Jordan couldn't agree more. He gave the warring wisps a wide berth as he crossed the field, and was gratified to see his partymates follow suit. Furthermore, he was fascinated to see the change that had come over Hanza. In a word, the 'aging' seen outside the cave had reversed itself.

The 30-year-old now strode confidently with back straight, to the point where he could and did do away with the walking stick. As far as Jordan could tell, Hanza was fully back to his normal self. Nay, if anything, the man looked more alive than ever before. It's because he's in his element, Jordan realized with a slight shudder. He's returned to his ancestors' time—where he cut his teeth as a young, curious, and power-hungry spellcaster. No wonder he looks so full of energy and raring to go. An encouraging sign?

Or an omen of delayed pain and suffering for the overextended Shaman? Jordan didn't know… and probably didn't want to know. At least not yet. In any case, the party forged on ahead, cutting an evasive path across the battlefield. A stray arrow or two did fly their way but to no harm done. The warring wisps seemed happy enough to ignore the neutrals in their midst, allowing the party to pass through unimpeded. The field eventually made way for a forest, a rather familiar-looking one at that.

The party then came upon a building. A stable, half hidden underground and the rest camouflaged by dense greenery. Even here amidst the phantasmagoria of the afterlife, there was no mistaking what family this building belonged to. They went in. The stone hallways too were instantly recognizable, remarkably similar to how they would look some 1, 800 years later. Wisps occupied these hallways as well, running to and fro in apparent panic—servants and commoners just trying to make the best of a bad situation.

Here, Hanza's steps quickened. The sitting lord of House Padma became a man possessed, striding with urgent purpose toward a secret past. Toward the missing piece that would complete the history of his [Communions]. They found the room at the end of a secluded hallway. Isolated from the rest of the estate by thick stone walls, it was a place of privacy, of buried secrets. Inside it was a bed. On the bed sat—nay, floated—a lone wisp. Dressed in a white robe of a fashion that marked her out as female.

She was the only wisp in the room, but she wasn't alone. For at her bedside, with his back turned to the newcomers, sat a man. A live man, as solidly and fully human as the three visitors who had barged in on a private moment. The man wore a striking black robe. The robe of a nobleman. He grew his hair long—all the way down to his waist—which he let cascade over his back untied and unadorned. His skin was pale, almost translucent in contrast to his hair and his clothes.

And as he turned around to face the visitors, they all saw it. A scar that ran down one side of the man's otherwise perfectly ordinary face. A face almost identical to one Hanza Padma, despite the centuries and generations that separated the two men. <Character Sheet> Name: SHAZA PADMA Race: Immortal Age: unknown Class: Necromancer, Lv. 30 (MAX) Vessel: The Elegiac Cauldron