Chapter 1-33: A Little Lexipedia of History (2/2)
A lot of nations didn’t survive the revelations of these old forces existing and controlling people, or their populations mutating into new subspecies and forms. The resulting fights generated more undead, which either stopped the fighting by mutual agreement, or mutual annihilation.
The United States had fared better than a lot of countries, as it didn’t have the same long bloody history of longer, more established nations. It definitely didn’t get off scot-free, but other than large cemeteries and a battlefield like Gettysburg or two, there hadn’t been as much of an effect.
With so much dangerous shit in the seas, the coastal cities became far, far more dangerous than before, and people pulled out for the inland areas in droves. Major cities on the oceans had declined in population, and with it, importance. Florida was almost wilderness now, one of the major holdings of the older Blooded clans, who were fighting constantly with stuff coming up out of the water...
Detroit and Michigan had profited. It was a major city on a body of fresh water, and had a large industrial base and highly skilled workforce, with major universities close by. The population of the city had exploded, and the nearby lands in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio, too.
Chicago seemed to be almost something of a supernatural hotspot, with conflicts by all sorts of mystical factions ongoing there. The Magi were openly represented there, and ran the most respected school of pure Wizardry in the nation there. Some Harry guy had a formidable reputation as a peacekeeper there...
-------
I waved more pages away with a sigh. He was very patient, and didn’t mind doing it, but it was a lot to digest. I had to put times and dates and people into order, and there was just so much that had changed, and I had to re-order it to fit.
I didn’t have any of the ‘key events’ that would unite people of a certain age, so I was going to be missing a lot of references. I was definitely going to be going through years of back issues of magazines just to catch up on popular references... and how do you catch up on decades of completely new television shows and movies?
Oh, well. They didn’t have Scooby-Doo here, and Disney had gone out of business after Florida was invaded by sahaug the first time. The reality of wererats and werewolves didn’t jive with a talking cartoon mouse and dog...
“Ugh.” I rubbed my temples. “Well, on the world I came from, it was 2004, not 1941, when we got hit by the multiverse.”
He gave me a weird look. YOU HAVEN’T HAD MAGIC AS LONG AS WE HAVE?, he asked, obviously confused.
“We had an outworld teacher come in and lay down a foundation of the magical system he used, which he taught us by masking it inside a virtual reality video game. You’re learning it from the ground up with no real instructors... except maybe those you don’t want.”
He nodded slowly. CLEVER OF HIM, he complimented.
“It cost him his life, too.” I looked back at him. “I’ve been meaning to ask... you can’t reach beyond the Veil to Call in an actual Patron, so there has to be a Celestial trapped on the world. Did the World-Angel make it through? Is he your Patron?”
His multi-hued eyes flickered. I’VE NEVER HEARD OF A WORLD ANGEL. THERE’S ONLY ONE CELESTIAL ON THE WORLD STRONG ENOUGH TO AFFIRM A HEAVENBOUND PACT, AND NATURALLY HE’S BEING HUNTED BY MANY FORCES, AS KILLING HIM WOULD BASICALLY STOP ANY NEW HEAVENBOUND FROM BEING BORN. AS A RESULT, HE CAN’T INVOLVE HIMSELF PERSONALLY IN CONFLICTS, AND ONLY ACTS TO CONFIRM NEW HEAVENBOUND AND SUPPORT US.
“Ouch.” I looked at the sky. No World-Angel. “He doesn’t have contact with Heaven either, does he?”
HE ADMITS TO LOSING A GREAT DEAL OF THE DIVINE KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS OF GOOD THAT HE USED TO HAVE, AS WELL. He gestured to an armband around his bicep, holding a little box. HE EVEN WEARS A PHYLACTERY LIKE THIS, SO THAT HE WILL BE WARNED IF HE BEGINS DEVIATING FROM THE RIGHT PATH UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE SHROUD.
I nodded at the wise move. Faithfulness was a simple but powerful thing to protect your soul, and vitally important for a Celestial caught in circumstances like this, caught in the dirt and mundane ills of the mortal world. “Pass on a message to him, if you will.” Master Fred just blinked at me. “If and when we do manage to bust this Shroud and re-establish contact with the Heavens... he, as a Celestial, will immediately lose all awareness and knowledge of the Shroud and what happened here during his time beneath it.”
Even the imperturbable Warlock had to purse his lips at that. “So, it would behoove him to set down a history in writing, to retain the knowledge and wisdom that he has experienced in this circumstance. This can then be shared with mortal agents, who are not subject to the Curse of the Shroud, and then spread throughout Creation. This is not the first world that the Shroud has come upon, and it most certainly will not be the last.”
He nodded slowly after a moment, and tapped upon his Grit, thumbs sparking. I guessed he didn’t have battery worries, either.
HOW MUCH KNOWLEDGE DO YOU HAVE OF THE SHROUD?, he asked, looking up at me as the thought struck him.
“I won’t call it extensive as far as HOW it works. But what it does... I am very clear on it.”
THAT IS FAR MORE THAN WE KNOW, he informed me somberly.
“Perhaps you might want to record my words.”
YES.
Well, that was all he needed to say...