Chapter 107 - Members of the Kadath - The First Miracle (Patreon)

Astral World

Within the Astral World, in the airborne cube, Valkorion reappeared in Noah's Ark: Millenium as his consciousness was pulled into the Sefirot as he sat in the middle of the dome, behind a long bronze table and chairs with ancient patterns, each numbered, starting with I. and ending with X. as they were all surrounding the bronze table from both sides.

"Whelp... how does this dammed thing even work..."

Due to the other more pressing matters that he was handling, there he wasn't paying a lot of attention to the Noah's Ark: Millennium as this was something that he would need to remedy right now.

He was seriously pondering the method of activating certain functions of Noah's Ark: Millennium and how to draw people into the Sefirot until he decided just to will it, as simple as that.

"Probably just to have will it..."

Valkorion then concentrated his mind on Noah's Ark: Millennium and started chanting something. It was like an instinctive thing that Valkorion didn't even notice when the words started escaping from his mouth as he was almost in a trance.

He spoke in a deep, powerful voice as it reverberated through the emptiness of the Astral World that shook upon the words of its Lord as it celebrated the glorious return of its rightful monarch.

"The Immortal Lord of Blood and Stars,

The Lord who brings forth the Twilight and Dawn,

The Ultimate One of the Crimson Moon,

The Thearch of Starry Sky,

Embodiment of Cosmos and Mysteries,

Dominator of the Astral World,

The Celestial Lord, Astral Thearch Above All."

***

Unknown Location, Fargrave

Fargrave, also known as the Celestial Palanquin, was an obscure Planet of Oblivion, functioning as a crossroads where the paths through Oblivion become easier to navigate.

With no Prince to rule, the accords that make it harder for other realms to connect to Faerûn do not apply, making it a convenient way station between Faerûn and the rest of Planes of the Oblivion. In appearance, it is a large desert wasteland filled with gargantuan skeletons and surrounded by an auroral sky.

Daedra and Mortals alike can be found here, engaging in trade on a planar level. The inhabitants prefer their privacy, and as such, not many in the mortal world are aware of its existence. Through the use of relics such as portal keys, one can move through Fargrave with impunity to reach Faerûn and Oblivion.

The Fargrave was very popular among certain sorts of Beyonders from the Faerûn, especially the Dragonlord Families that often ventured into the Fargrave because it was one of the best choices to obtain rare ingredients, treasures, and other precious artifacts with smaller risk.

Somewhere within the deserts of the Fargrave, there was a small ruined stone house that looked like it would fall apart at any given moment. 

"How long it would take for me to return to the Faerûn? Being locked in the Fargrave, while not really the worst outcome, isn't the ideal one..."

Faerûn was the Prime Material Plane and it was crucial for many reasons, especially for the ones that wanted to reach the True God; doing so in the Faerûn was the best choice as they would be anchored to the Prime Material Plane itself and at the same time, they could obtain Plane of Oblivion at a later date.

Something that couldn't be done vice versa if one achieved Godhood outside of the Prime Material Plane as the man observed the skies of the Fargrave. He was a stern-looking man with long, silver-white hair and a matching beard. His most striking feature were his glowing blue eyes, giving him an intense, otherworldly presence. He wore dark, quilted armor with a leather pauldron on one shoulder, secured by straps across his chest.

His outfit was primarily black, adorned with a gothic-style emblem featuring an ornate letter "L" with a crown of thorns. His posture was calm yet authoritative, with his hands clasped together in front of him. 

It has been many centuries since he was forced to escape to the Fargrave from the Faerûn after he was crippled by the Five-Headed Dragon God himself. The Fargrave was the best place to hide from the Five-Headed Dragon God and Church of the Dragon Gods.

Fargrave is a neutral ground between the mortal plane, Oblivion, and its many inhabitants, and it has maintained its existence for years because of an ancient Daedric compact called the Stricture.

It is because of the Stricture that daedra are not eating, killing, or torturing each other but instead, engaging in trading and co-existing with one another. In one way or another, the neutrality of the Stricture also extends to mortals, which is why they also live in Fargrave.

This place was a tacit agreement not only between the Deadric Princes but also between Aedra and some True Gods. While he admitted that the Five-Headed Dragon God was a very powerful True God, in the aspect of offensiveness, he was ranked at the top of the list, but here?

This was the realm protected by the entities far more powerful than mere True Gods.

And he paid a very hefty price for the sanctuary here. Within the Fargrave, the rules were absolute, and any person who entered the Fargrave could not violate it, be it the Deadra, Beyonder, or Mortal, even though there were exceptions to the rule.

To maintain the Stricture and its conduct, the realm is overseen by a body of Daedric Arbiters called the Grasp of the Stricture. The Grasp has a lot of power over the people and can use any kind of force on mortals if they threaten the peace, at least how they can interpret it.

When he escaped from the Prime Material Plane to the Fargrave, he paid the High Arbiter enough wealth to make even True God envious to ensure his continuous protection and survival within the Fargrave. 

Still, for Layton Soremburg, this kind of life was terrible, and he was already long ago plotting his revenge against the Five-Headed Dragon God and the possibility of recovering his long-lost power and position that he once held in the past.

Not to mention, he also wanted to rebuild the faction that he once built, the Scholars of Soremburg that was destroyed by the Church of the Dragon God.

"Hmm... what's this? A consciousness invitation? But I don't feel any hostility from it..."

Even though he long lost the Sequence that rightfully belonged to him, he was still relatively powerful and had a lot of senses from his time due to him being an ancient entity. 

"Well... maybe this would be my ticket out of this place."

He muttered as suddenly a line of words appeared in his mind, which made him freeze in his steps as he looked even paler than before, but at the same time, he grinned with almost mad glee in his eye because this was exactly what he was searching for.

"The Immortal Lord of Blood and Stars,

The Lord who brings forth the Twilight and Dawn,

The Ultimate One of the Crimson Moon,

The Thearch of Starry Sky,

Embodiment of Cosmos and Mysteries,

Dominator of the Astral World,

The Celestial Lord, Astral Thearch Above All."