Irwin's Journey 485: The third charter

Irwin had been pondering for a few moments when a shadowy spiral with fiery lines appeared in the center of the room. It flashed outward, and a moment later Nimlarel appeared. 

Like Rindiri and Rinbus, she had changed greatly, but where Rinbus had become somewhat more sturdy, she had largely remained slight of build, one of the few, if not the only, of the Crathans. This was likely the reason why her large and round belly stuck out even more, and Irwin quickly got up.

"Nimlarel," he said with a smile. "How are you?"

"Fine, Guildmaster," she said, smiling back. "The eggshells are strengthening well, and it should be under a month for them to be ready to survive without me. I have to say, I can't wait for that moment. I hadn't expected it to be this… tough."

She changed so much, Irwin thought as they reached her. 

There wasn't a single sign of the scars that had marred her for most of her life. Even those faint, tiny lingering lines that had remained after he'd helped her had disappeared when she'd turned into a Crathan. 

"Mother always said the same, as did Carla," he said. 

Though I wonder if it's easier with eggs or harder, he thought. 

For a moment, his thoughts flitted to Scintilla and the other Ignitzians. They had it far easier, with the embers just surviving in their heat and soulforce, still in their body, but not like this. He recalled vividly how his mother had reacted to that with disbelief and jealousy.

"Carla was your brother's soulbond, right?" Nimlarel asked.

"Yes. Do you want to rest for a bit, or-"

"Ugh! Not you as well. I'm fine. Teleporting these distances barely costs anything anymore," Nimlarel said, before seemingly remembering who she was talking to. Her eyes widened, and she raised her hands. "Sorry, Guildmaster, it's just-"

"It's fine," Irwin said, interrupting her with a grin. "If you are ready, then I'd love to see what you have all built for us. Unless you want to tell me the good news you seem to have for me?"

Nimlarel's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Rinbus… At least he didn't tell you everything!"

Irwin grimaced, hoping he hadn't caused Rinbus any trouble.

"I'll tell you when we arrive, Guildmaster," Nimlarel said, raising up slightly straighter.

Irwin sensed how the soulforce around her intensified rapidly, and shadows with fiery lines grew from around her, quickly enveloping them both. The buildup lasted only moments, then everything shuddered. Irwin felt himself pulled from where he stood, moved across a vast distance in a way that made his stomach flip.

It lasted only a fraction of a second, but when it finished, he almost lost his balance, stumbling two steps forward. He faintly noticed the rocky ground beneath his feet, the increased temperature, and an odd smell, like a combination of volcanic ash and something sweet, blowing in on the hot, dry wind.

"Guildmaster? Are you alright?"

Irwin shook his head to clear it, taking a deep breath.

What was that? he thought. Nimlarel had teleported them, but to him it had felt like they had been moved across a vast distance in the blink of an eye. Teleporting had never felt like that before, what-

"I'm sorry," Nimlarel said, walking beside him. "I should have warned you. My teleport changed a bit after… this-" she waved at herself. "- I forgot you didn't know yet. Everyone else has gotten used to it, and it's been like this for a year, and…" she trailed off, looking slightly miserable.

Irwin's otherself started explaining to a worried Ambraz, while he took a deep breath.

"It feels like this for everyone?" he managed, feeling his stomach settle and the dizziness fade. "As if you are dragged across the entire distance in a moment?"

Nimlarel grimaced. "Well, it's not that strong for everyone, and it seems to depend on how sensitive they are. Flowrishin wasn't too happy either, and I shouldn't have forgotten."

"It's fine," Irwin muttered, hoping he would get used to this. If he didn't, he was going to need another way to teleport around. 

Perhaps I can dampen my soulforce senses before we move, he thought. 

Before he could ask if she knew why her skill had changed this greatly, the world around him finally drew his attention, and his question faded. 

"Incredible," he said, rising to his full height.

He stared out across the enormous cavern that he'd cleared, to what he felt was only a few weeks ago. Back then, it was nearly entirely dark, painted in red hues because of his darkvision. Now he could see in colors, thanks to the pale light pouring down from above. 

A quick look showed tiny clusters of lights high up, plastered across a small section of the ceiling. They were too far to recognize, but he knew what they had to be: a form of lightbulb plants, likely one of the Volcano Vine variants, as the light was a warm yellow. As few as they were, they already provided light comparable to an early morning. 

The light created beautiful gleams and glitters across the Ancestral Coperion Lake far below. The sprawling lake of incalculable value covered the entire eastern part of the cavern. At least a few miles wide and hundreds of feet deep, it contained more of the supposedly super-rare metal than Irwin had ever seen. 

Not, it's more than I've seen of any single metal, he thought, wondering how much of it he should eventually move into his soulscape. 

Ripping his gaze from the thing that would make any merchant go crazy, he looked at the greatest change in the cavern, except for the light. Perhaps a mile or so from the outcrop, Nimlarel had brought them to a forest of Volcano Trees that now stretched from the side of the lake a mile or two inland. The carpet of orange and yellow leaves, many accentuated with bright red lines, flowed up and down as it grew across the uneven landscape. 

Easy to find against the colorful backdrop, and nestled between the side of the forest and the border of the lake, he saw Blackglass City. Though, city was something he knew it would have to grow into with time. For now, a town was all it was.

Without any walls, it was vastly different from nearly all places he'd seen on Scour. Small, sturdy-looking buildings with flat roofs stood in small clusters, built in a semi-circle around a larger one on the edge of the lake. From this distance, they seemed a mix of black and dark red, and Irwin knew it was because they were made of the glassy black rock that was everywhere in the cavern, combined with the wood of the Volcano Trees. 

Although he had known there would be no walls, it still troubled him.

It's not like anything that arrives this deep wouldn't just burrow in from below or can't break through the walls, he reminded himself.

"I thought you'd like to see it from the best spot," Nimlarel muttered, still seeming to feel bad about her forgetfulness.

"You were right," Irwin said, turning around in a slow circle. He could get a wall around the town later if he still wanted to.

Outcrops, some dozens of feet high, others hundreds, covered the cavern's floor, making it look like a landscape of broken, jagged hills. Some were flat, like some giant blade had sheared off their tips, and he hummed thoughtfully. Those would make great places for outposts, especially when the forest grew more. Rindiri would build a shipyard here as soon as there were enough trees, and he could already imagine small sloops and ships moving to and from.

"You can't see the hamlets from here," Nimlarel said. "The closest is over there-" she pointed to the left. "-and it's blocked by that outcrop."

Irwin nodded, spreading out his soulforce senses. They flowed outward like a wave, and from his position, he saw the ambient soulforce that filled the cavern like a thick mist that clung to everything, while clouds of it drifted along. 

"Did you find out what causes the wind?" he asked, raising his hand to determine where it came from.

"There's an underground volcano far to the east," Nimlarel said. "Vents lead to it, and air blows from those. It also causes the smell."

Irwin looked at the wall the wind came from, curious what that would look like.

I'll have to go and look around in a few days, he decided as he turned to the town.

"Alright, let's go to Blackglass," he said. "I'm curious to see what it's like."

"Do you want to teleport, or…" she asked, sounding slightly worried.

"Teleport is fine," Irwin said, smiling reassuringly. 

Still, he quickly reined in his soulforce senses before dampening them as much as he could. A few moments later, he felt a far less aggressive pull as they moved the shorter distance. 

That definitely helped, he thought.

They had appeared on the fringes of the town, and this close, Irwin saw the people walking around with purpose. All Crathans, and at least a few close to his own height, he felt an odd sense of normalcy suddenly come over him. He hadn't been around this many of the Crathans, and he realized just how good it felt to be one of many.

"So, let's show you the surprise," Nimlarel said as she walked beside him into the town.

So the surprise is something tangible, Irwin thought, and as he looked around, he had a good idea what it would likely be.

He fell in lock-step with her, spreading his senses out to find that of the over two hundred Crathans, most seemed to be here. A few, like Rindiri and Rinbus, were notably absent, but he knew where the former was. Spreading his senses further, he eventually felt Rinbus's soulforce signature at the other side of the enormous cavern, scouting.

As they walked through the town, most of the Crathans looked at him curiously, a few calling out greetings. Irwin responded to all.

I wonder what it will be like when we have thousands of Crathans here, he thought.

They quickly reached the largest building in town, a three-story complex with a restaurant on the first floor and a small terrace with wooden tables that covered the square before it. Above the door was a wooden sign with a large metal mug, slightly tilted, and the words 'Fiery Shadow'. Not too far from it was a second entrance into the building that had a different wooden sign. It showed only a hammer and an anvil, and Irwin couldn't stop a grin from spreading across his face.

"Welcome to my small restaurant," Nimlarel said, waving at the terrace with a proud smile. "We only have a single cook right now, but she has started learning Ignitzian meals lately. Next to it is the smithy we made for you, and there's a large home behind it. It's big enough for a family…"

Irwin's smile widened as he glanced at the restaurant before walking to the smithy. The entrance led to a spacious room that reminded him of the merchant shops in Cinder Grove, with display areas for cards on the walls and a counter on the opposite side of the door. A waste-high wall divided the merchant section of the smithy from a large smithing area with a dormant forge and an oval area clearly intended for an anvil. 

A pathway led along the right wall, providing access to the smithy and continuing further to another door. The parts of the walls that were wooden were engraved with beautiful patterns and scenes of forests, seas, and even one that he knew was the massive Dimarintsia River deep inside the portal gallery. Chaos Whales were depicted in different areas, some tiny and in pods, while a carving of a larger one decorated the wall at the back.

Everything was small and cozy, and Irwin knew someone had put immense effort into it.

"We wanted to make sure you would have a place that felt like home," Nimlarel said beside him, looking around. "I hope you like it."

"It's amazing," Irwin said, turning to Nimlarel, who was looking at him hopefully. "I'll definitely enjoy working here."

"Good," she said, smiling widely. "Also, there are runes hidden in the walls that will block the sounds of your forging if you close the door. It will also cause the sign to change slightly, showing you are working."

"That's… a great idea," Irwin said.

'Kid! Do you have enough soulforce to pull me out yet?'

Ambraz's shout interrupted Irwin's thoughts. He suddenly found that his otherself was flying around his soulscape with Pur'am, explaining things and ignoring requests for growth-type cards. Ambraz had moved above his soullake, hovering there, clearly needing a break from Pur'am. 

Irwin focused on his soulforce, sensing that it was refilling rapidly but wasn't there yet. The coperion had been drained during time at Eluathar and not yet filled, slowly trickling into his soulscape. As he thought of that, he had another idea.

'Not yet, but give me a moment,' he said, turning to Nimlarel.

"I need to head to the lake for a moment," he said. "I'll be right back."

He saw a stunned look on her face as he clicked his tongue and rushed through the soundwaves, out of the house and to the lake not too far away. As he reached it, he reappeared on the edge and walked forward until he stood a few inches from it. Leaning forward, he put his hands in the liquid Ancestral Coperion, feeling the immense power of the soulforce thrumming within. Opening himself up to it, he let it flow into his soulscape, sensing how his soulcard began humming as they transformed the raw and mixed ambient soulforce into his own. It took him a few minutes to refill, and as he looked at the lake, he knew he hadn't even put a dent in the amount that was there. 

It probably holds more soulforce than all of the people on Eluathar combined, Irwin thought as he took a step back. 

'Ready?'

'Yes! Also, that was a great idea!'

Irwin grinned as he pulled Ambraz back out. He instantly drained a large chunk of his soulforce again, and as Ambraz appeared beside him, he leaned forward a second time, refilling what he had lost.

"You do realize we can create more cards here than we could in any other place we have ever been?" Ambraz grunted, landing on his shoulder.

Irwin nodded as he stepped back and looked at the back of the building that held his new smithy. It was a few dozen feet from the edge, and he rubbed his chin. 

"I think we should create a small inlet that reaches the back of the building," he said. "Then add an entrance so we can touch it from within the smithy."

"That's a great idea," Ambraz grunted. "You should also make a large well below the building, then after it's filled, cut off the connection again."

Irwin frowned. "Why?"

"Because you can draw out the ambient soulforce that has filled it, then refill it with your own soulforce," Ambraz said. "We can use that for cards, easy refilling, and I'll have to create more rank zeros eventually."

Irwin's eyebrows shot up, and he nodded as he pictured that. Ambraz had a point. It would allow him an extra well of soulforce while he was smithing, allowing him to reforge more cards in the same time.

"I'll ask Nimlarel if she can send one of the stoneshapers," he said. 

"Alright. I'm going to take a look around," Ambraz said, flying from his shoulder and high into the air. "I'll be back in a bit."

Irwin watched him fly off, then took another look around.

I can't wait to see what happens when a few more years have passed, he thought.

He clacked his tongue and moved back to his new smithy. Nimlarel had moved to a sturdy table with a few benches that stood in the left corner beside a window of slightly fuzzy crystal. She had both hands on her belly, eyes closed, and was humming softly with a smile.

"Everything alright?" Irwin asked as he walked towards her.

Nimlarel opened her eyes, looking at him.

"I am fine. I have a question…"

Irwin cocked his head, sensing the sudden seriousness in the other. "Ask."

"Will you be bringing Scintilla and your children here eventually?"

Irwin immediately shook his head. 

"No. Not yet," he said. "There are many reasons, but one of them is that they won't have any other Ignitzians here. Until we have at least a few thousand or more Crathans here, I won't bring in anyone else. I discussed this with many people, some of whom have far more knowledge about this, and they all agree that it is important for people to have a strong sense of belonging. That won't happen if we bring Ignitzians, Oxarites, and others here."

Nimlarel didn't react immediately, staring at him, then through the fuzzy window.

"So you aren't going to turn them into Crathans?" she finally asked.

"No," Irwin said immediately. "Not unless they want me to, and for the kids, not until they are much older."

"That's going to make your life harder," Nimlarel said, as if she were stating a fact.

Irwin hesitated, then sat down opposite her, wondering what was causing her to think that.

"What is wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing… It's just," Nimlarel sighed. "You never asked me and Rinbus why we wanted to change so much."

"It was obvious," Irwin said, waving at her stomach.

"That was only part of it," she said, with a shake of her head. "Another part was Rinbus' fear of being controlled in the future. Most of it was because we wanted to belong. Especially me."

Irwin watched her, sensing he had more to say.

"I didn't hate being an Oxarite, and I don't feel all that different really," she said. "Still, you know about my history. I…" she hesitated. "I never really felt like I was part of anything, not until I joined you and the others. Then we were gone for hundreds of years...."

Irwin grimaced, realizing their long absence might have had more of an impact on the young Oxarite than he'd realized. It had been years now, and they hadn't really talked about it a lot. Not together at least.

"When we returned, I wanted to see my friends," she said, her face falling. "But they weren't there anymore, and those that still lived had grown so old and different. I talked with Rinbus about it. He told me that, as years passed, the people who had gathered around you began drifting apart again," Nimlarel said, looking out of the window. "Those that stayed became ever smaller in number unless it was just Rinbus. Flowrishin still helped him, and he could always go to her—the same with Nilish and Emperor Hilbarin. But it wasn't the same."

Irwin listened quietly, wishing things had gone differently, but knowing he couldn't prevent all the bad things from happening, no matter what he did. 

"But after we came back? Within a year, things changed even more than before!" Nimlarel exclaimed, looking at the table, her fiery eyes shining while the shadowy auras around them thickened. "Everything slowly returned to how it had been, though with new people, and I felt like I belonged."

Irwin sighed. "And then the Crathans arrived."

"Yes," Nimlarel said, looking up. "Even without Rinbus, I would have asked you to change me. It's why I opened this restaurant. I'm going to make a home here. A place I belong."

The front room of the smithy turned quiet, and Irwin thought about what she had said. It matched incredibly strongly with how he felt, and as he looked at his hands, he pondered if that was a coincidence.

Is it possible that how I feel… how I am somehow flowed over into those cards? Were it not just my physical attributes?

"Do you know how the others feel about this?" he asked, looking up at Nimlarel, who was rubbing her belly again. "Do they agree?"

"Most do," she said immediately. "I've learned a few things about who they were before… Not that you have to worry, we spoke only in soulscapes!" she added the latter hastily.

It might be a coincidence, Irwin thought. Nimlarel had said she'd felt like this before she changed, and the others were all Yuurindi. I'll just have to keep an eye on it.

"Well, then let's make sure we create a great home here," he said, looking around. "And thank you for the smithy… You were the one who decided how to make it?"

"Not just me," Nimlarel said. "Brecka helped."

Irwin grinned at that, expanding his soulforce senses to find his sister. It took a few moments to sense her far to the east, with a group of about ten other Crathans.

"She's helping to build a hamlet?" he asked.

Nimlarel nodded as she got up. "Yes. I'll go and get her now. I promised I would when you returned."

Irwin joined her in getting up.

"Alright, but take your time. I want to go and explore the town a bit while you do that."

"I'll find you, it's a small place yet," Nimlarel said as she moved to the center of the room, shadows already roiling around her. 

A moment later, she vanished, leaving rapidly expanding and dispersing clouds of soulforce in her wake.

Alone, Irwin looked around the room, slowly making up his mind. He was going to create the third and final main Smithsguild Charter, then move here and focus on two things. Turning more Yuurindi into Crathans, and training the smiths among them. Those three charters could grow without him, expand outward, and reach him for help, but he was going to make it so they wouldn't need his constant help. 

And when that's done, it's time to progress towards my next soulcard and decide what my next one will be, he thought.

--

Time again flowed rapidly. The Trunkle charter of Irwin's Smithsguild had already been self-sufficient, so after spending some time in Darkglass, though less than he had wanted, he headed out to the last of his three planned main charters.

Farrel's Fissure was even further than Silverglass Desert, and nearly on the opposite side of the main grove. It was a two-mile-long, hundred-feet-wide fissure with dozens of narrower cracks running away from it that sat at the edge of a long finger of forest called Farrel's Tendril. Over eighty thousand Viridians and Oxarites called the three towns within the fissure home, and Irwin had picked the largest as his final destination.

"I won't be able to come pick you up until after I give birth," Nimlarel said, her breath shallow as she stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at the desert.

"It's fine," Irwin said. "If I have to, we can set out towards Cinder Grove on our own."

"Which will only take a week," Ambraz grunted.

"Oh! Can we go now?" Pur'am asked. "You said there are lots of Growth cards there, right?"

Ambraz groaned, while Brecka walked forward and picked Pur'am out of the air, putting him on her shoulder.

"Quiet, and sit still," she commanded, causing the purple Ganvil to sputter a bit but do as asked.

If only she were a cardsmith, Irwin thought, knowing Ambraz was likely thinking the same thing.

"Are you sure you don't need me here?" Rinbus asked.

Irwin shook his head, gesturing at the shorter Crathan that stood beside them, looking around excitedly.

"Jaust will be able to scout out any trouble," he said. 

"It will be fine, Shademaster Rinbus," the young Crathan said, his fiery eyes constantly roaming around. "I'll keep the Guildmaster safe. You have my word!"

Irwin saw Rinbus frown at that, but before he could say anything, Nimlarel grabbed his shoulder.

"We are leaving. I feel contractions," she snapped.

Before anyone could react, a swirl of shadowy clouds rippled out from her, and she and Rinbus vanished.

"Right…" Brecka muttered. "Remember to remind me of this when I ever get the bright idea to want children, okay?"

Irwin grinned, shaking his head. "You say that now, but I see you swooning every time Zan hugs you and calls you Auntie Brecka."

Brecka sniffed. "So? That just means I need to find an Ignitzian soulbond! Preferably a male one, and one stronger than me!"

Irwin stared at her, wondering how she thought that was ever going to happen. 

"Ugh! You little brats, enough of the chatter," Ambraz said. "Let's head to that town. Jaust?"

Irwin laughed as the shadewalker, one of Rinbus' best, nodded quickly, walking forward.

One more charter, he thought.