TS6 - Chapter 6

Though Rorah admitted that she didn't understand how it worked, she knew that the resources in the Endless Battlefield simply didn't run out. There were always new mines to discover, or exotic herbs to harvest. Additionally, natural treasures grew everywhere in the Endless Battlefield, nourished by the intensity of both the mana and the density of the elements. This created an environment where, by controlling large swaths of territory, the forces could ensure a steady supply of material that they could ship back and sell.

Since Rorah had just come from the front lines not too long ago, Mina and Thorn also asked her about the state of the war, only to find out that pitched battle almost never happened. Thorn had had visions of waves of enemies attacking the human strongholds, but what he learned instead was much less exciting. Occasionally, the various factions would send out small armies, poking and prodding at each other, in token shows of force. At the same time, they plotted and waited, building their strength until they could attack decisively, taking over territory on the front line that wasn't near their opponent's central capital.

The fighting had been going this way for decades, and much of Rorah's time had been spent guarding a fortress along the border between the two territories, without ever seeing an enemy god beast. She had, at one point, gotten so bored that she and many of the others, who should have been defending the castle, ventured out to explore a hidden cave, where they discovered an ancient inheritance, nearly dying in the process.

On the one hand, Thorn thought it rather disappointing that his visions of a grand and glorious war had fallen apart. On the other hand, it boded well for him and Mina that they might be able to sneak into enemy territory to try and see if they could rescue Corvo. Though she still hadn't gotten a specific location, Eve had been slowly narrowing her search as she got closer, and from the looks of it, Corvo was currently being held in Beastwatch, the main fortress of the god beast forces.

They still didn't have a plan for how they were going to get in, but Thorn wasn't worried, as it would take them a few weeks before they could get there, even if they did use the dimensional gates. Both Winrid and Governor Kerman would have been happy to throw Thorn a feast, as they were both quite interested in improving their relationships with this powerful new ascendant, but Thorn turned down their suggestion, and reminded them that he was quite interested in using the dimensional gate as soon as possible.

Though he said it with a smile, both of the older men were wise enough to catch the fact that he was losing his patience, and after thanking him one more time, they escorted Thorn and Mina to the dimensional gate. Each produced a token and slotted it into the gate, causing it to spring to life with a hum.

"Thank you for your hospitality," Thorn said, bowing slightly.

"Thank you for your assistance. Our city will be that much safer because of your bravery," Governor Kerman said, returning the bow.

Winrid bowed as well, adding, "I've already submitted a request for credit to the Temple of Man, that they might know how much you have helped us. Travel safely."

When Thorn and Mina stepped through the portal, they felt the air around them change, becoming cold and clear. The landscape had changed as well, and they found themselves in a large city, almost three times the size of Cloud Treader City, with massive stone spires that hung suspended in the air above the city wall. Immediately, both Thorn and Mina could tell that something was wrong, and that feeling was reinforced a moment later when a frazzled-looking military officer ran up to them.

"Who are you? Who gave permission to activate the gate?"

It took a moment for the officer to realize that they weren't about to leave, but had rather just arrived. When that dawned on him, an ugly expression crossed his face, and he shook his head.

"You picked a terrible time to come," he said.

"Who are you?"

"Ascendant Thorn of the Temple of Man, and this is my attendant, Mina."

Hearing that Thorn was an Ascendant, something flashed in the man's eyes, but then he frowned.

"You better come with me," he said. "I can take you to the head of the temple."

As they walked through the city, Thorn saw soldiers everywhere, rushing this way and that, some carrying bundles of weapons, others carrying what looked to be supplies. It appeared that the city was marshaling for war, but Thorn held his questions, as the officer in front of him clearly had no interest in talking.

Rather than head to the temple, which they could see in the distance, the officer brought Thorn and Mina to the palace, a grand affair made of dark stone. Inside, the officer grabbed an aide and told her to tell the temple head that he had a guest. Then, with a short nod to Thorn and Mina, he left, abandoning them in the middle of the palace. Looking quite harassed, the aide glanced at Thorn and Mina, told them to wait, and vanished down the hall.

“Things don't look like they're going well,” Mina said, glancing around at the soldiers busying themselves.

“That, or they're about to go poorly,” Thorn replied. “Not sure which. Regardless, it's starting to seem unlikely that we're going to be able to borrow the gate here to go to the capital.”

“I mean, if you really want to use the gate, we could use the gate,” Eve said, popping up next to Thorn. It took him a brief moment to understand what she was saying, but then he quickly shook his head.

“We're not hacking the gate. Or rather, we're only hacking the gate as a last resort.”

“Sometimes you're no fun, Thorn.”

“Let's see what the governor says first.”

After waiting for a full hour, Thorn was just about to go and find another attendant when he saw a group heading towards him. At the front was a woman dressed in the robe of a priest from the Temple of Man. Her head was shaved bald, and the space between her eyes was permanently creased, as if she had a mountain of worries weighing down on her. With her was a pot-bellied middle-aged man, the beginnings of gray starting to fleck his beard and temples. Unlike the bald woman next to him, he had long, luxurious brown hair that fell like a waterfall behind him, reaching to the back of his knees. They were accompanied by half a dozen military officers, who stayed a respectful step behind them.

Walking straight up to Thorn and Mina, the woman from the Temple of Man greeted them first.

“Hello. You must be Ascendant Thorn. I'm Keely, the head of the Temple here in Green Rock. This is Governor Orson.”

“A pleasure to meet both of you,” Thorn said, bowing.

“I must admit, I was a little bit surprised to hear the Temple had sent us reinforcements, and even more caught off guard when I discovered it was just you and your attendant,” Orson said, his voice full and rich. “But considering that the Temple has sent you, they must have full confidence in your ability to help us weather the storm.”

Noticing the look of confusion that Thorn gave him, the Governor faltered and fell silent. It was only after a long, awkward moment that he spoke again.

“The Temple didn't send you to help, did they?”

“No, I'm sorry,” Thorn said. “I've no idea what's going on. We're on our way to the capital, from Cloud Treader City, and this was the fastest route.”

Judging by the grim set to Keely's mouth, it was clear that Thorn and Mina had not arrived at a good time.

“I'm sorry,” she said, “but you have stepped into a very dangerous situation.'

“Dangerous how?” Thorn asked.

“It would be easier to show you,” the Governor said. “Come.”

He led the way back down the hall, up the stairs, and to a large room in the center of the palace. There they found a hall, nearly twice as long as it was wide, filled with gleaming marble statues, draped silk, and massive paintings with gilt frames. The entire room reminded Thorn of an art museum, from the way the lights were positioned to shine on the artwork, to the simple pattern on the stone floor.

In the center of the room was a massive table, and on it, a scale model of the city. As soon as they approached, Thorn could feel the mana the table gave off, and as he looked closer, he realized he could actually see individual people moving around on the model. Noticing his glance, Orson smiled, and picked up a small scepter that sat at the side of the table.

“This is the city,” he said, “and as you can see, we're beginning to prepare for war.”

“Aren't you already on the front line?” Thorn asked. “'Shouldn't you always be prepared for war?”

“Yes, well,” Governor Orson flashed a sheepish smile, “things have been quite peaceful for a long time. Plus, our main enemy should be the god beasts, and they typically don't marshal armies. The last true battle we faced in this city was over 400 years ago, so imagine our surprise when our scouts found an army headed our direction”

Tapping the scepter on the side of the table, Orson skillfully changed the view of the model, zooming out to show the surrounding mountains. A large mass of figures crawled through a valley a few mountains away. Even though the figures in the model were tiny, and the distances it represented great, Thorn could tell just how fast they were moving.

“What makes up a god beast army?” Mina asked, looking closely at the little figures.

“That's not a god beast army,” Keely said. “No, that's an army from the Dragon Empire. We're not sure what they're doing so far from their border, but the fact that they're heading for us is clear. Furthermore, they've clearly prepared for sieges, and according to our scouts, they have a full complement of true dragonkin, along with close to 100,000 lesser dragonkin. We expect them to arrive within the next few hours.”

“And I'm guessing that there's some reason you can't activate the gate to let us slip out of here and head to the capital?” Thorn asked.

Sharing a glance, Orson and Keely both grimaced, and then the governor bowed toward Thorn.

“I'm sorry, but the power needed to activate the gate is significant. It uses the same power source as our defenses, and we can't afford to deplete it before the attack.”

“Well, that's unfortunate,” Thorn said, scratching his nose. “So I guess we're stuck here until the enemy is defeated. Well, if you need assistance, simply let us know.”

“Thank you,” the governor said. “Allow me to find someone to show you to your room so you can rest.”

The rooms that they were assigned were high in one of the towers that rose above the palace, affording them a clear sight of both the city wall and the territory beyond. The terrain that surrounded the city was mountainous, full of heavy rocks, whose greenish color gave the city its name.

After the servant had left, Mina walked to the window, gazing out over the harsh landscape, her expression unreadable. Thorn could only guess how frustrated she was. Yet when he walked over to offer what comfort he could, he was surprised to find her smiling.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

"'Yes,” she said. “I took your advice last night, and I tried to divine whether or not Corvo would be okay.”

“And the result?”

Placing one hand against the glass of the window, Mina seemed to be appreciating its chill.

“The result I got was positive enough that I don't feel like I need to worry. Corvo will be okay.”

Thorn briefly considered asking her how positive she was that her divination was correct, but ended up just nodding instead.

“That's good,” he said. “That's very good. What do you think about this fight?”

“I think we should make ourselves useful,” Mina replied. “I don't like those dragons or the dragonkin. And the more useful we are here, the easier it's going to be to do what we need to in the capital.”

“An excellent point,” Thorn said. “Why don't we go and ask Keely what we can do to help?”

They found the head of the temple talking to a group of warrior priests in the main hall. But when she saw them approach, she broke away from the others to greet them.

“'I hope the accommodations are to your liking. I apologize that we don't have anything more comfortable for you.”

“I think the rooms are great,” Thorn said. “That's not why we're here. We'd love to know if there's any way that we can help with the defense of the city.”

Hesitating for a moment, Keely nodded.

“There may be,” she said. “But I think it's best to wait until the dragon army actually arrives.”

“Are we anticipating a dragon being with them?” Mina asked, causing Keely to shudder.

“No, thankfully. If a dragon was coming, we would be in a tremendous amount of trouble. Thankfully, those lizards are as lazy as they are strong, and they rarely move for anything or anyone. While that makes taking the territory they've already captured back almost impossible, it has proven a major boon in defending against their assaults. No, we expect to face around twenty-five true dragonkin, all in the dispersed stage, as well as one condensed stage dragonkin, who's likely their general. That’s on top of the lower ranked troops, of course.”

Hearing unfamiliar terms, Thorn asked Eve for a quick breakdown.

[The condensed stage should be star formation, whereas dispersed should be nebula,] Eve replied. [I'll have to hunt for more information about the levels, but I think it means they're all in the tenth tier.]

“What about the hundred thousand lesser dragonkin? What tier are they in?” Mina asked.

“Ninth tier,” Keely replied. “But their numbers are almost twice that of ours. While we have more than 300,000 people in the city, I'm sorry to say that only 50,000 of them are active warriors. The rest are workers stationed here to gather resources.”

“Is there a particular resource this city specializes in?"

"Yes, the green rock grows a specific kind of moss that can be harvested and transformed into material used for bandages and healing potions.”

“That's sort of a sensitive thing to have on the front lines, isn't it?" Mina asked.

"It is. And had we any other choice, we wouldn't have the front line here. Unfortunately, we lost some of the territory in front of the city to the god beasts many years ago, and this became our new front line."