TS5: Chapter 8 (Patreon)

"I'm telling you, Thorn, there's no way this is going to work. I've run the simulation a million times, and that's not figurative. That's literal. A literal million times, and in none of them does it actually work."

Staring at the alloy plate in his hand, Thorn frowned. A faint set of runes was etched around the edge, but no matter how he tried, he couldn't get them to activate the way he wanted.

"I don't understand, though," he said, speaking to Eve who was hovering in the air in front of him. "In theory, it should work."

"And I'm telling you, you're not taking into account the mana draw. There simply isn't enough ambient mana anywhere to power a suit of armor like this."

"Okay, but what if I use the Atlas Star," Thorn said, placing the metal plate down on the table next to the hundreds of others that made up the suit of armor he was working on.

"That's fine for you, but no good for anybody else. You pretty much have to choose between making an awesome set of armor that only you can use, and making something that's actually helpful for the others."

"Okay, fair point," Thorn said, scratching his chin. "This is getting more complicated than I thought."

Lapsing into silence, he stared at the suit of armor he was working on. On other tables arranged around the room were four other sets of armor already completed, made from the same black alloy that he had created his weapon from, the Immortal's Halberd. Each had been tailored to the specifics of what his teammates would need. But this final suit of armor he was working on for Velin wasn't working out the way he had hoped.

He was trying to increase the passive defenses of the armor, but it appeared that the enchantment he put together wasn't going to work. The problem was the cohesion of all of the plates together. Each individual plate could activate, but it had the distressing effect of stripping all of the ambient mana from around the suit of armor, creating a dead spot. Worse, Thorn wasn't entirely sure if the runes he had used would strip the mana from the wearer or not, and he wasn't about to have Velin test it out to see.

"The problem is if we don't use the Devour rune, there's no way to infuse the mana fast enough to activate the defense. The point is complete negation at the moment of impact. If it takes any longer than instant speed, it's not going to work," Thorn said, causing Eve to roll her eyes.

"That's exactly why I said it wouldn't work, Thorn. You need to learn to trust me on these things. Absolute defense isn't possible, at least right now. Besides, Velin doesn't even need this. Chances are, anything that she can't survive, this wouldn't help against anyways."

"Hmm." Unconvinced, Thorn looked at the plates again. "There has to be a way to make this work."

"Oh, there is," Eve said. "All you have to do is slap it on one of your enemies and activate it, and watch as it sucks all of the mana and life force right out of him."

This time, it was Thorn's turn to roll his eyes. "Alright, alright, fine. You've made your point. I'll rework this one."

For the rest of the day, he recreated the molds and recast the plates. He was starting to run low on the materials he needed for the alloy, so he worked sparingly, making the plates slightly thinner to reduce the weight and being more strategic about where he placed them. When he had finally finished piecing the suit of armor together, he looked at the five sets arranged before him and nodded.

"I guess this will have to do," he said, not entirely happy with how they had turned out.

Sending a message to the others, he called them in to come and join him in the great forge. He cleaned up while he waited for them, putting his hammers back in place and sweeping the dirt from the forge's floor. It was a good way to wind down after a week of intense forging, and by the time the others all arrived, the forge was spotless. He was just polishing the anvil, an entirely useless task, but one that he enjoyed, when Velin led the others in, "Are you done already?" Mina asked, using Blink to appear up on the platform next to him.

"I am," Thorn said, gesturing to one of the tables. "Check it out."

Following after her, the rest of the group crowded around as Thorn showed her how to activate the armor. "All of the suits operate this way, but I'll demonstrate with Mina's. I bound each of them with a command word. Simply state your command, and the armor will activate, attaching itself to you. All of the enchantments on the armor are defensive, and will activate automatically as well. They can also be activated manually if you want. There's another command for that."

Taking the paper Thorn handed her, Mina spoke the arcane word written on it, and the armor on the table jumped into the air, swirling around her as it locked together. She had chosen a battle dress as her armor style, and as the breastplate and skirt clicked into place, and the pauldrons and greaves settled onto her body, Mina let out a low whistle.

"This is impressive. It feels like I'm not even wearing anything."

"Another function of the enchantment. It's self-supporting," Thorn said. "I mean, theoretically, Eve could run one of these suits independently. In fact, it ties into your E.V.E. as well."

As the suit finished assembling, the helmet, which was shaped like a witch's hat, settled on Mina's head, and the entire suit of armor thrummed with arcane energy.

"Like I said, all of the suits are defensive, but Mina, you should find a slight boost in your spell casting. The metal that makes up the armor is pretty fascinating, and carries a resonance that amplifies arcane energy. Since most of your spell casting is arcane in nature, you'll find that you get a bit of a boost. Corvo, the same is going to be true for you."

Leading the way over to the next table, Thorn introduced each set of armor one by one, explaining how the transformation worked for Corvo, and showing Alph how to activate the multitude of dimensional storage pockets, the enchantments that he had added to the alchemist's suit. Delighted by the smoothness with which it worked, and the sheer volume of storage he now possessed, Alph held up his gauntlet, admiring it. Flipping his hand over, a potion appeared, and then vanished once again as he stored it away.

"This is much better than pockets," he said. "Much better."

"Glad you like it," Thorn said.

"What about your suit?" Velin asked, looking at the final table, where a massive heap of metal lay.

"I might have gotten a little bit carried away," Thorn said with a small smile, striding over to the table. Issuing the assembly command, Thorn spread his arms as the armor began to lock in around him.

"Isn't that your wolf armor?" Mina asked as the immortal iron plates began to lock together.

Back in Angoril, Thorn's favorite suit of armor had been created by the dwarves of Rackham, the labyrinth city, and he had worn it until he had ascended. Now he had recreated it in excruciating detail, though many of the enchantments had been upgraded. Placing the wolf-faced helmet upon his head, Thorn let out a happy sigh.

"Yes, it is," he said, his voice slightly muffled, "and it feels good to be back in it."

"Ha, that takes me back," Corvo said, "though I'm pretty sure if any of those dwarven blacksmiths saw you right now, they might have a heart attack."

"I made a couple improvements," Thorn said with a chuckle, turning his hand over as he examined the finger joints in his gauntlet.

“With this,” Velin said, looking around, "I think we're all ready to go. Alph, Mina, Corvo, do you have anything else you need to do before we head out?"

The three of them looked at each other and then shook their heads. So, Velin turned to Thorn. "What about you? Anything you need to handle before we head to Intra Mundum?"

"I would like to stop and talk with Athena," Thorn said. "I've spoken with her a little bit about the elemental kings, but it'd be nice to just finalize everything before we head out."

"Sounds good," Velin said. "Likewise, I want to talk with the elves who are watching over the World Tree. I don't want to shut the cathedral of the World Tree while I'm gone, since people like to visit, so I thought I'd give them some instructions on how to organize it. Shall we meet at Cloudstone Palace when we're done?"

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea," Thorn said. "Are you guys coming with me, or are you going to meet us there?"

Mina shrugged and smoothed the skirt of her battle dress.

"And miss the opportunity to show Athena my cool armor? Ha, never. I'm coming with you."

Laughing, Corvo nodded. "We'll just come with you, and that way Velin can join us whenever she's done, and we'll be ready to go."

Leaving the Great Forge, Thorn teleported them all to Cloudstone City, appearing in one of the side rooms of the palace that had been designated as an arrival spot. No sooner had they stepped out into the hall when Thorn heard his aunt's voice, raised in anger.

"I'm telling you for the last time, if you are unable to control your teams, I will have them disbanded. I'm happy to give you autonomy, but it comes with responsibility."

Walking down the hall towards the throne room, Thorn removed his helmet, waving to the guards gawking at him from in front of the door.

"Would you like to be announced, sir?" one of the guards said, recognizing Thorn.

"No need," Thorn said, as he pushed the door open.

Inside, he found Athena sitting on the Empress's throne. Facing her were half a dozen of the guild leaders, who had come from Angoril and established themselves on Verdant. As he entered, Thorn caught a glance and a nod from the Empress, and a few of the guild masters turned to see who it was.

One of the guild masters, who hadn't bothered to turn and look when the door opened, spoke up, his voice calm.

"You do not have the authority to disband us, Empress Athena. I mean no disrespect, but we are an independent force. We do not belong to the Empire."

Though he was tempted to say something, Thorn knew better, and simply walked to the side of the room, where he stood with Corvo, Mina, and Alph, listening as the exchange continued.

A slow smile appeared on Athena's face as she stared at the guild master who spoke. "You are correct, Charles. Technically, you are not part of the Empire. However, you live here. You eat our food. You use our security. You avail yourself of all of our services. If you're not willing to follow the rules, you're welcome to leave."

"And if we leave, who will defend your walls?" Charles said, a haughty look on his face. "We have kept the city safe from countless attacks, and continue to do so. Even as we speak, my men are manning the eastern gate, as we have since the attack started."

"And you have benefited greatly as a result," Athena said, interrupting him. "Your guild members' tiers have risen by at least two, and you've been granted considerable spoils and rewards as a result of your hard work, which the Empire is grateful for. But that does not exempt you from following the laws. Look, I know that your forces are chafing against some of the rules, but they've been put in place to ensure that all of us have the chance to grow. There will be no monopolizing of the opportunities. And as I said, if you don't like it, you're welcome to leave. There's plenty of land outside of Cloudstone City where you can set up yourselves."

A slight sneer crossed Charles' face, though he hid it quickly, wanting to maintain at least the impression of respect. "Our forces already own many places in the city," he said. "It seems foolish for us to give those up and strike out into the wilderness on our own."

"I agree," Athena said, her voice revealing her amusement. "But at the end of the day, if you want to live in Cloudstone City, you must abide by the laws, all of them."

When Charles didn't respond, Athena let out a small sigh and leaned back in her seat, her gaze growing cold. "We have managed quite well since Cloudstone City was established, without having to enforce most of the laws," she said, her voice calm. "But we seem to be growing past that point. For whatever reason, those of you here feel as if the rules don't apply to you, and that sentiment seems to have spread to your subordinates as well. I've had increased reports of them breaking the law. We've had reports of theft, of violence, coercion, and all sorts of other things that we will not tolerate in this city. I will say this once, and only once, if you do not bring your people in line, I will do it on your behalf. That is all. You are dismissed."

Bowing, the guild masters made their way out of the throne room, glancing over at Thorn and his companions as they did so. After the room was emptied, Thorn walked over to the throne, nodding at Gustav, who stood a few steps to the side at the bottom of the platform.

"Do you need any help? I'm pretty good at keeping people in line," Thorn said. But his aunt just shook her head and laughed.

"No, thank you for the offer, but I have it well in hand. It's a bit tough," she said, standing up and walking down the steps to give Thorn a hug. "An entire city full of the best of the best that Angoril has to offer. Tempers are sure to rise. The guilds have been doing a fantastic job keeping their people in line. This is more political theater than anything else."

Chuckling, Gustav shook his head. "It's true. The Empress has a much better handle on her people than I ever did as Emperor."

"Me and Charlie are old friends," Athena said, as she led the way into a back room where there were couches for everyone to sit, including a massive one designed specifically for Thorn. "We worked together a lot as the Society of Roses was being formed, and he's been helping me by playing leader of the opposition here."

"What if he's not playing?" Mina asked, causing Athena to shoot a sharp look at her.

"Then he'll find himself in a world of trouble," Athena said. "Between the Society, Velin, Thorn, and now the Elemental Kings, my position is pretty stable."

"Well, you're about to lose a few of those pillars," Thorn said, sitting down after Athena had taken her seat. "We're headed to Intra Mundum, and we're going to be taking Cloudstone Palace with us."

"Oh," Athena looked surprised, as did Corvo and Mina. Alph, as usual, was lost in his own little world and didn't seem to be paying attention.

"Yes, there's a system of floating islands around the tower," Thorn explained, "and after you hit the third level, you're supposed to move to one of them. I'm going to see if Master Keadore will allow us to bring our own island. It'll facilitate people moving from Verdant to Intra Mundum, giving them a safe place to land. Additionally, it'll give us an easy way to get back to Verdant from the tower. Admittedly, at this point, it's just an idea. The High Mage Keadore might say no, but that's by the by. I'm not actually here to talk about that. I wanted to let you know that we're going to be gone for quite a while. We're meeting Akira and Hati at the tower, and then we'll be heading to the Temple of Man shortly after. Is there anything you need from us before we leave? I really would be happy to handle anybody who's getting out of line."

Laughing, Athena shook her head. "It's really okay, Thorn. I have this well in hand. There are plenty of people to help. Master Gustav has been an excellent advisor, and while it's been challenging and sometimes stressful, I do feel like I have a good handle on it."

"All right, but don't hesitate to let me know if you need something," Thorn said. "I'll drop whatever I'm doing and come right away."

"Thank you, Thorn," Athena said, looking at her nephew fondly. "You go have fun. Enjoy your adventure."