Valkyrie's Shadow

Chapter 14

7th Day, Upper Water Month, 343 High Imperial Calendar

Hello, diary! Elena Gran here. I don’t know why I’m addressing my diary, but we’ll be together from now on. Please treat me well.

We arrived at Lagaš this morning. I thought Wyvenford was big, but…

There are so many different people here. There were plenty of Elves in Wyvenford, and you could always see Nereids and Merfolk in the river, but Lagaš has everything. I counted at least nine different types of Beastmen. There are Orthrous and their cousins, too. Pteropus live up on all the towers and Formians are crawling all over the place. Kinda weird when you have people flying around and walking on the walls.

The capital really feels like a ‘capital’, you know? Everything’s so grand, like it’s out to make a statement. Some of the buildings are so huge that they block out the sky. Everywhere is busy, busy, busy. I’m pretty sure I was walking around with my mouth open all day like a country yokel. Who am I kidding – I am a country yokel. There’s just no hiding it here.

There are fountains and gardens everywhere and waterways along every main street. Everyone can get everywhere easy. Except for me. I got lost two blocks out of the harbour. A nice guy helped me out. Really nice. Maybe spring has come early for Elena Gran?

Anyway, it’s been a long day. I managed to figure out how to get to the Imperial Archive from my place, so hopefully, I won’t be late for my first day of work.

– Elena

Sitting behind a desk piled high with dictionaries, anthologies and other texts that she thought might be useful for translation, Clara Corelyn tapped her lip thoughtfully with the base of her pen. It had been a week since Ludmila dropped off a copy of the diary she had found in the Katze Plains. After over thirty hours poring through piles of references, Clara decided that she had come up with a satisfactory translation for the first entry.

A basic translation, at any rate. There were still words that she wasn’t certain about, but, hopefully, her grasp of the script would expand as she worked on further entries. That being said, a somewhat comprehensive analysis of the language employed would most likely take decades.

Ludmila had gone over a few pages with her, noting that significant portions of the script employed were like that which was used by various languages in the region...but her friend’s comparison was backwards. It was the regional scripts of the present day that had elements from the script in the diary. To be precise, the language employed appeared to be the root of many different languages. She would not be surprised if the elements foreign to Human languages could be found in those of nonhuman societies.

One might be led to believe that such a language would be more primitive than the languages used in the present, but it was the opposite. The language was unspeakably advanced…well, it was more accurate to say it was speakably advanced. Clara had first picked up on this when she tried to read it out loud. Further analysis found that what she had read out loud contained multiple meanings in many different languages.

It wasn’t in the sense that she was reading a series of puns or any sort of poetic or literary device. What she had read could be perceived as different sentences entirely. The only reason she was able to pick up on this quality was because she was educated in a dozen languages, which was enough for her to both convey and comprehend the multiple meanings contained in the entry.

The speaker and the listener of the language – or the reader of the script – needed the same level of linguistic mastery to understand every possible meaning contained in their discourse. One would wonder why anyone would develop such a complex way to communicate, but Clara suspected that if one grew up in the place where the language was employed, it would be rather simple to learn. Perhaps even necessary. It wasn’t the same as working backwards to piece everything together as a member of a mono-racial society.

Within the diary, there were more instances of the language being casually used in this manner, which further lent to the impression that those fluent in it had no difficulties with it. The paragraph about the ‘nice man’ not only contained what was written in Clara’s simplistic translation, but described his features, personality and what attracted Elena to him.

Rather than becoming wordy when she wanted to emphasise or expound on something, the density of her writing changed. A sentence could be a sentence, or it could be an entire paragraph packed into the same number of letters. It was an extraordinarily elegant way to communicate.

It was also extraordinarily easy to lose. A language tailored for a multiracial society with its myriad of cultures. This required said society to remain functional or many elements would fall out of use. Two or three generations of neglect would cause it to be mostly forgotten, save for the direct meanings relevant to each language that had sprouted from it.

There was a ‘game’ that Nobles played, one where the ‘players’ would showcase how cultured they were by conveying multilayered dialogue that employed various languages in a manner similar to the way that this progenitor language worked. Highly skilled Bards could also be very proficient at this, though their performances varied according to what they thought their audience could understand. If they believed that there were nobles or other similarly educated patrons present, Bards would focus on employing these skills to gain their appreciation and secure the greatest earnings.

While it did have its uses, Clara had thought that it was a mostly pretentious practice. The game was intellectually stimulating and provided an unmatched richness to dialogue when the players were similarly skilled, but it was also employed by the ‘educated’ to mock the ‘ignorant’. One could say things that only certain others could understand, so entire conversations could pass over people’s heads while they believed nothing was amiss. It was also dangerous to utilise when conveying sensitive information in public, as one could not tell who could and could not understand the full meaning of what was being said.

Shortly after beginning her work on the diary’s translation, Clara leaned towards the idea that the present-day ‘game’ was most likely a vestige of this ancient language and those like it. Only people who retained the level of knowledge required to pass on the workings of this language could use it, and that knowledge slowly ‘drifted’ from its source with every generation. Over time, no one would know its source, as demonstrated before her.

The language was an art in itself, and only artists, scholars, and their patrons had retained its use. Magic that translated language only translated it in a single, direct, way to the magic user, so there was no easy method to derive the full meaning of what was written without being a native user.

A knock sounded from her office door.

“Yes?”

“My lady, Captain Cavallaro has arrived.”

“I’ll be right out.”

Clara rose from her desk, placing the diary and the translated page into the Infinite Haversack at her waist. Her fingers brushed lightly down her figure as she checked over her garb. Rather than thinking of it as ‘clothing’, there were more pieces that were not so she had ended up, like Ludmila, thinking of her outfit as ‘equipment’.

In addition to a Ring of Sustenance, Lady Shalltear had bestowed a number of other magic items upon her. On her other hand was a Ring of Mental Fortitude, which rendered her immune to mind-affecting spells and abilities. One of her earrings conferred immunity to disease and poison.

Her need for sleep and sustenance was minimised, she couldn’t be charmed or influenced by spells, skills and abilities that negatively influenced her mental state, and she couldn’t get sick or be poisoned. This, however, was not all.

A Necklace of Natural Armour, an Earring of Deflection, and a set of Bracers of Armour cleverly fashioned to fit under her sleeves made it harder to land a telling blow on her than it would be to wound a warrior in full plate armour through a sturdy tower shield. Over her shoulders was draped a Mantle of Energy Resistance, which provided ‘damage reduction’ against energy damage. Her cowl was a Cowl of Invisibility, and her ‘circlet’ was a helmet that bestowed Darkvision and See Invisibility.

Appearing as a chain of ornate silver links adorning her waist, an Adamantine Girdle provided physical damage reduction. Attacks that managed to reach her would have to surpass this protection to deal bodily harm, and she could render herself invisible to avoid detection should it be prudent. Alongside several mundane belt pouches, an enchanted mithril dagger was sheathed in its scabbard on her left hip: something she had possessed since childhood. The Infinite Haversack hung over her right, filled with useful consumables, work-related materials, and various odds and ends.

Her evening gloves were in reality items enchanted to increase her physical strength. On her feet were Boots of Swiftness. According to Lady Shalltear, she now had the raw physical capabilities of a Platinum-rank Adventurer, though civilian nobles did not have the conditioning, martial ability or Skills of one.

She was quite difficult to hurt now, but she was still a civilian noble under all of her equipment. The items were not something that would allow her to fearlessly wade into battle – it was meant to protect her from assassination attempts and buy her escorts time to respond to threats. In all, Clara was adorned in a panoply that even an emperor would be envious of, and she was not the only one who possessed it.

There hadn’t been an official announcement yet, but Lady Shalltear had informed Clara that her title would be transferred under her authority. Liane and Florine would also become Lady Shalltear’s vassals and so had received the same protective equipment. None of the other nobles received anything more than a Ring of Mental Fortitude, so Clara could only wonder what sort of dangers they would be thrust into. Then again, Ludmila being Lady Shalltear’s vassal may have influenced their future liege’s choices.

In terms of their daily lives, they would continue to do what they had been doing. Their taxes would go to Lady Shalltear instead of the Crown and they were also no longer members of the Royal Court as they were no longer the Sorcerer King’s direct vassals. Since this was merely a technicality in the Sorcerous Kingdom and they didn’t participate in the proceedings of the Royal Court anyway, it was a non-factor.

They would still participate as members of the House of Lords, though she supposed that the so-called ‘Corelyn faction’ would probably become known as Lady Shalltear’s faction. Clara, Liane and Florine were already working closely with Lady Shalltear, so the transition as a whole seemed natural. Most importantly, they, along with Ludmila, could now work even more closely together as members of Lady Shalltear’s court.

This was not a whimsical arrangement for a group of friends, however: Lady Shalltear was the Minister of Transportation. The Sorcerous Kingdom was rapidly rising in prominence, and it was up to them to pave the way both literally and figuratively. Infrastructure and logistics were two of the cornerstones of a nation’s development, so the future of the Sorcerous Kingdom had been entrusted to them.

Captain Cavallaro awaited her in the gardens leading to the castle keep, fully equipped in arms and armour. He was speaking to a second Paladin: a girl who was also adorned for battle. Like the Paladin Captain, she wore a surcoat indicating that she was a Paladin of Surshana. The two lowered their heads at her approach.

“Countess Corelyn,” Captain Cavallaro said stiffly, “I hope the day finds you well. I am not sure if you have met before, but this is Sister Alessia del Altamura.”

“Comitessa,” Alessia greeted her in a small voice.

“She is the former Squire that you spoke of?” Clara asked.

“She is,” the Paladin Captain unbent himself and nodded. “Now that she is here, we have twice the fighting strength.”

Clara suppressed a smile at his continued worry over the upcoming meeting. Ruin’s Wake would be arriving at the harbour, and Captain Cavallaro insisted on being present to ensure that she was well protected by one who was experienced in dealing with the Undead from Katze Plains. Ludmila didn’t have a problem with Ruin’s Wake and her Elder Lich captain, which was good enough for Clara.

Sister Alessia peered up at the other Paladin.

“Brother Marcus,” she said, “why have I become ‘fighting strength’?”

“You are a Paladin, are you not?”

“This is true, but I only came to bring the horses from E-Rantel.”

“And so you have,” Captain Cavallaro nodded. “Is there a pressing need to return? I recall that you were curious about the Countess. It is not every day that you see a Noble, yes?”

“I live in the city, Brother Marcus,” Sister Alessia replied. “You can see Nobles there every day.”

Behind Clara, Taiya softly cleared her throat.

“We should head over to the harbour,” Clara said. “Ruin’s Wake is due to arrive soon. Sister Alessia, if you would like to join us, I would be more than happy for your company.”

“Ruin’s Wake?”

“A Ghost Ship from the Katze Plains. They have expressed an interest in trade, and His Majesty directed them to me.”

Sister Alessia visibly brightened at her words.

“I will come, comitessa,” she gave the warhammer at her hip a couple of confident pats. “It has been a few years since I have seen a Ghost Ship.”

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