Chapter 17-429: Digging in Deeper (2/2)

As a result, other than spending time in Russian Gulagzones popping stuff to further Names of Gear and Cohort Levels, they weren’t doing that much all-out fighting. Interestingly enough, they had decided to start finding all the Old Gods out there and talk with them, sussing out Their positions and attitudes and how easy They would be to work with... or if They would have to be destroyed somehow.

In addition to finding out that Old Gods tended to be incredibly horny, especially with a really, really powerful nymph-succubus-hu hsiao in front of them, Legion had been doing a lot of negotiating with these very old entities... who were definitely not used to being talked to and treated by mortals as if they were peers.

Legion’s universal reply: “They are bringing down the Shroud, which You are hiding from. They can bring down You.”

It was actually very high-Karma work, and right up the road of an unbelievably high-Charisma half-dragon Warlock just soaked in Pact Magic. However, the Old Gods generally learned to behave after Legion tossed them through a wall or three in best anime fashion, and rapidly learned respect from the other side of a fist.

When dealing with Old Gods, the Old Ways were best!

“They just found a cavern under the Chiquata Shroudzone!” I complained.

Legion’s eyes flashed. “Another buried death realm? That’s... five, so far?”

“Yes.” There were two others in Africa, located by goblin Druids (turned out the little green guys were naturals for Fire and Earth Druids, in addition to pyromancy), and under Roanoke, of all places (the Shroudzone on the surface had been cleared of undead a couple weeks ago, but hadn’t gone away; ding-ding, warning bell!), in addition to the Ghoul Kingdom in Russia. No wonder the Roanoke colony had disappeared long ago. “We are pretty sure there’s one in the Amazon and under Machu Pichu, too.”

Nobody knew what had triggered the Shroudzone in the Amazon, so it was reasonable it was in the Felldeep. Maku Pichu’s Shroudzone was bigger than the undead visible inside it could justify, and no Druid had gotten close enough to look deeper.

The extent of the Felldeep was mesmerizing a lot of people. They just had no clue there was such an immense world down there, and we didn’t know WHAT was down there living in it.

That a great amount of it was not going to be friendly to us was pretty much a given, however. Someone would have to go down and verify things.

“I can access the Felldeep very easily,” Legion assured me. “It would be a decent task for me, would it not?”

I reflected that it probably would, as there were likely Old Gods down there. I also took the opportunity to hug Legion tighter, hee! “So much work! You saw the Fey want some enclaves of their own in North America, and are willing to sign the Constitution for the recognition?”

“Yes. The Fey have always existed at the magical level, not the secular. A Fey Enclave would give them a secure place in the mortal world even if magic were to falter again, if such a formal agreement were made with mortal authorities. They are very eager to attain it.”

“Indeed they are. Locking it into a Constitution would give it tremendous power, and put their status at the rank of the Churches of the Divine.”

“You are also advocating against it?” Legion smiled.

“The Fey... are not true Powers.” I watched the sea rolling by below, noting an outpost, probably of the sahaug, in a Rift canyon. It was close to merfolk territory, so I had Legion send it off to the Dragon King, as Lemuria’s borders weren’t all that far away, and this could be considered within a couple hour’s swim of its borders. He would probably find a good reason to send a hunting expedition out here and get rid of it, and it definitely wasn’t worth wasting munitions on.

Legion tilted her head, considering that. “They subsist off humanity’s hopes and dreams, for good or ill. They have no influence on the fate of souls, and their messing with the Free Willed is not appreciated by any of the parties involved. Even their influence with the Land’s Spirits is one of domination or suppression. I feel no sense of support from Heaven for this at all. From Hell there is... interest.”

“Hell believes it could use this as a way to rope in Fey souls?” Surprise, surprise.

“Hell is totally willing to try and see, I imagine, since they have no influence in Fey perpetual reincarnation.”

“Noting that to pass on the Fey Queen there. Her reaction should be amusing. They are basically leeches on humanity, trying to secure their food supply, even the more positive ones. They have no true function, save to exist and fill whatever narrow purpose they were born for.” Some of which were quite positive, as the nymph Bound to me was very quick to point out... but even those purposes could be twisted by the right forces, as she had been...

“Perhaps some believe that by binding themselves more tightly to the mundane mortal world, they can become something more?” Legion hazarded.

“It is already possible for them to chuck their reincarnation and enter mortality. They want Free Will and the right to choose and be more, without giving up the power they have now. It is a perfectly natural mindset to have.”

Legion considered that in more silence, looking at it from more angles than I could. I only had so many thoughtstreams, after all. “Would not swearing to a mortal Pact like that redefine them?” they asked at last. “Would they leave the Courts?”

“The best way to treat wildfey who want to remain in the mortal world is to make them choose an Allegiance. They will find sympathetic mortals to associate with, and will be bound to them by Duty and Loyalty. This moves them from parasites to symbiotes, as they can now contribute alongside us.

“Court Fey taking that step are often seen as traitors to their kin. Binding themselves to a mortal Constitution... that might be the equivalent of creating a whole mundane Fey Court centered around that document.”

Legion frowned. “Would that not interfere with Kingship?” they asked.