Tree of Aeons

363.1

The five worlds clamped down on interworld travel and communication between them shrunk to no more than a trickle.

In a time when what they needed was to come together, their paranoia and fear prevented them from doing what they needed. 

"Traitor."

The term exploded into the consciousness of the Erasians. 

“Traitor.” The words repeated in the whispers, and snuck between the thick beards and clinking mugs. 

Even the most disconnected of the Erasian Dwarves of the other four core worlds could tell something was up. Speculation flew, and there was little the Descendants could do that did not make things worse. 

On the Crucible of Eras, the Descendants clamped down on the discussions, but Descendants were not familiar with how quickly rumors spread in a world with magically connected communication devices. Gossip through bars and winehouses like wildfire after a long dry season. Cracks in the Descendant’s carefully cultivated image of invincibility took root in the minds of the dwarves.

Sure, the Descendants were powerful. Invincible, even. It was not much of a stretch to believe that one’s created to be closer to a god would be more powerful than mere dwarves. 

But it is this power that worked against their attempts to suppress the rumor.

The dwarven minds applied their logic to gossip, and were quick to make assumptions. The dwarves knew that the Descendants were incredibly powerful, so the possibility of a traitorous Descendant messing things up from within was entirely plausible. Not just that, it was the only way they could envision such a reaction.

If it wasn’t a traitor, why did they suppress the truth! The god-like powers of the domain holders were impressive, but if the traitor was another one of their own, then it was only natural!

The Descendants and the Department of Descendant Affairs tried to hunt down whether there was a mastermind, but in the end, they were all looking all in the wrong places.

***

Ally walked the streets of the Bestiary of Eras in the form of a Descendant, Munna-Fa. There were dwarven agents around her, all eager to please and fulfil almost every whim. 

Descendants like her were treated like nobility, even though she is a mere refugee in the eyes of other native Descendants. She snuck into the Bestiary of Eras as a refugee from the Library of Eras, and we quickly fabricated records to show her entry into the Bestiary.

Right now, the rumor mills fanned the tales of treachery, the dwarves caught wind of the traitorous developments within the Descendants, and many were eager to speak to any Descendant that was willing to talk. 

Even refugees.

Descendants were nobility, and their words were treated as words from celebrities. A dwarven gossip and reporter hassled her. "Lord Munna-fa! As a survivor and refugee from the Library of Eras, what do you think of the swirling rumors about traitors amongst the Descendant nobility?" 𝐑Ã₦О₿ÈȘ

Ally paused, and easily answered with casual Descendant pride. "Firstly, we are not refugees. We are all children of the Lord Reviver, and the five Core Worlds are ours to live as we please. Given the recent events at the Library of Eras and the ongoing security developments, it is only wise for us to move."

The dwarven reporter pushed. "Do you believe that traitors are responsible for the incident?"

"I don't think it has been ruled out." Ally decided to drop hints for the rest of the dwarves to latch on. "I believe these golems call themselves the Sentinels of Eras, claiming that we are heretics! Don't you think it sounds so preposterous?"

The dwarven reporter was clearly pleased at how chatty Ally was. Descendants were normally known to brush off questions with one-liners and few words, and most news sources relied on carefully crafted scripts said in meetings and speeches. "It does sound ridiculous, would you elaborate why?"

"What do you think?" Ally asked.

“I have my theories, Lord Munna-Fa, but I thought it would be better to get information from someone reputable such as yourself!” The dwarven reporter worked his charm. 

“It would take too long to answer that on the streets.” 

"Well, Lord Munna-Fa, if you would be kind enough to join us for an interview, like a proper interview, we can have a far better conversation!"

Ally's tentacles wobbled. "Given the recent development, it is good that we do so. If I agree to this interview, I require for the talk to be publicized widely, after all, I am one of the few surviving Descendants from the Library of Eras, and I want it live. I fear those Descendants from the other worlds would want to shut my words."

***

"Today we interrupt our usual broadcast for a special interview with a relocator from the Library of Eras, Lord Munna-Fa!" The dwarven network of magical transmitters blared. The Descendants themselves rarely paid attention to what the dwarves were up to. Over the years, they became complacent, comfortable on relying on the Department of Descendant Affairs ("DoDA") to flag up unusual activities. 

Even the matters of the heretic were largely handled by the Department of Descendant Affairs, with only some involvement from a few appointed Descendants. These appointed Descendants feared the punishments of the superiors for failures and so had every incentive to cover up any attacks and incidents, until they blew up.

The attack on the Library of Eras was a massive reminder, but even if they wanted to restart and rebuild their own communications and reporting system, whatever they had was informal, unstructured. There was still heavy dependence on the underlying DoDA information infrastructure.

Thus, an interview? That felt harmless. That felt like something the DoDA assumed had all the right approvals. 

"So, Lord Munna-Fa, it is so rare for us to get an interview!" A supposedly handsome Dwarven man asked. Dwarven beauty standards were something of a puzzle, and even Alka couldn't quite describe it. It was a kind of manliness aura that other dwarves liked, but quite hard to put into words. 

Ally paused and checked her, or Munna-Fa's memories. "Not exactly. I recall there have been multiple scripted speeches and conversations by the various domain holders, no?"

"Ah yes, there were! The last known interview with a Descendant on the Bestiary was a good 74 years ago, when Lord Zuzaar-ra ascended to be a step closer to the Lord Reviver!" The Dwarven man rattled off the names with clearly practised skill. 

"That was quite a long time ago." Ally answered. "But alas, here we are."

"Here we are indeed! With our latest developments in magical transmission and communications, we can now broadcast our interviews to viewing stations and panels across City Squares across the Bestiary!"

"For Dwarves, that is not bad at all." Ally did her best to channel the Descendants' overwhelming pride. "Now, now, what do the dwarves want to know? After all, while I am feeling patient and merciful today, my time is not unlimited."

"Ah yes, ah yes!" The interviewer smiled. There was some sweat in the man's forehead. His beard seemed to contract and looked a little tighter together. "Now, can we know what happened on the Library of Eras?"

"There are many rumors. Due to unforeseen circumstances I was not at the Dome of the Thousand Descendants. The Dome, as we all know, is a magical fortress. Highly resistant to all forms of magic. It is designed to be ready for attacks from rebels and heretics, even if they get hold of ancient relics." 

"Indeed!" The dwarven interviewer was more than happy to play along. "I visited the outskirts of the Dome and was very impressed with the quality of work! The magical defensive spells and artifacts to seal the place are truly top notch."

Ally smirked. "Of course, the works of Descendants are naturally superior."

"Certainly! Certainly! Where were you when the attack happened? Do you have any idea how it happened?"

"Well, if you look at how heavily defended the Dome is and witness testimonies from those who lived around the Dome, it is quite clear that the place wasn't attacked from the outside. Conventional magical spells and teleportations are also disabled thanks to powerful magical defenses, at least, at first, so somehow, the attacks must have had a way to disable it from within."

"Could it be that the heretics found a way into the Dome?"

"Are you doubting the quality of our Descendants' work?" Ally answered imperiously. The Dwarven interview looked amused. . 

"Ah! No. Not at all! That's not what I meant, Lord Munna-Fa!" 

"As I said, the only one that can get into the Dome is one of my own people. There was no attack from outside of the dome."

"Could the heretics capture one of Descendants and force him to smuggle you in?"

"There were thousands of Descendants in that dome, together with multiple domain holders. That is a preposterous suggestion, dwarf." Ally answered. 

"Ah, yes, yes. So traitors appear to be the most likely outcome?"

"I believe so." Ally said. "But with the embargo, it is hard for us to know who exactly it is. So, the Descendants are unable to investigate."

"Will they reach our shores, Lord Munna-Fa?"

Ally paused. "The attack felt so well planned that I cannot believe that they have not considered a travel embargo. They must already be amongst us. It could be you. It could be your local Descendant Overlord. Who knows?"

The dwarven interviewer paused. His hands trembled. He looked around. Everyone else was shocked. 

It took him a full minute or more to recover. 

"Why- why do you think this is happening?"

"Lord Reviver's return is imminent. We are so close." Ally said. "Whoever lives will be Lord Reviver's favored subordinate. Whatever social order and hierarchy that exists would be solidified, cast in stone once Lord Reviver returns. Would any of the current Descendant domain holders want to be stuck where they are, reporting to Descendants that they do not like?" 

The dwarf smelt blood. "This is a power struggle, Lord Munna-Fa?"

"Of course! It is a conflict between domain holders. No one else has the resources or power to kill so many domain holders! Maybe some of the supposedly dead domain holders are actually alive, but secretly plotting amongst us!"

It was gossip strong enough to make the taverns of the Five Core Worlds run out of beer and wine.

Dwarves throughout the Bestiary of Eras listened to the interview and were in uproar. The once whispered rumors became outright boisterous discussions, shouted and talked about in the entire of the Bestiary.

Through our own network of trees, we ensured records of the interview were then smuggled to the Store of Eras, the Crucible of Eras, and the Forge of Eras and quickly disseminated. 

***

"Who in the world allowed Munna-Fa to speak so bluntly to the dwarves!" Zam-Zaqa said as he reviewed the conversation between Munna-Fa and the dwarven interviewers.

"There- there are no real restrictions on what Descendants can or cannot do, Lord Zam-Zaqa." 

"Summon him here! As the High Lord of the Bestiary, I must teach him a lesson he will not forget."

***

But Munna-Fa never came.

Instead, a large contingent of dwarven reporters and DoDA investigators arrived at Munna-Fa's rented mansion located in a swanky part of a city district and found a murder scene.

Munna-Fa was killed.

A large void weapon, one used by other Descendants, stolen from the Library of Eras, raided from the treasuries of Wa-Libra, had stabbed Munna-Fa in the chest. 

A staged assassination, for a Descendant that was already dead.

The entire room seeped with void mana. The dwarves made sketches. The newspapers would sell out. The magical broadcasting towers and town squares would be filled with people eager for the next development of the drama.

The death of Munna-Fa was even repeated on the news networks of the remaining 3 core worlds.

***

"He's dead." An attendant reported to Lord Zam-Zaqa. "The DoDA left the crime scene untouched and has requested you come urgently to identify the weapons and tools."

Zam-Zaqa could not believe his eyes. He flared his tentacles in rage, they flailed about like a palm tree during a hurricane. 

He rushed to the murder scene, Munna-Fa's body stood helpless as a gigantic void stake pierced through Munna-Fa's heart. A void weapon. 

If someone wanted to stage a crime scene and said this was a setup and obviously so, this was it.

"This feels fake." Zam-Zaqa said. "My instincts say so. It is too obvious. I also do not detect Wa Libra’s magical energies."

"But-"

"Why leave the weapon behind? This is one of the treasures of Wa-Libra?" Zam-Zaqa approached the void stake and surveyed it.

The investigators looked curious. "Lord Wa-Libra's weapons?"

"Who had access to Wa-Libra's treasury?"

"No one knows, Lord Zam-Zaqa, there was no one visiting the Library of Eras, and we didn't send investigators." The Descendant attendant answered. 

"He should not have left his treasury so easily accessed by others." Zam-Zaqa frowned. 

"Could it be that Wa-Libra lived and slaughtered the rest of the domain holders?"

Zam-Zaqa's tentacles frowned some more.

"Killing fellow domain holders for levels? Was that really the cause, here? Then why kill someone like Munna-Fa? Because Munna-Fa exposed his plan to the rest of the Descendants?" The attendant thought aloud. 

Zam-Zaqa's red eyes glowed. "Shuh. I do not think it is so easy."

***

"Murder of Lord Munna-Fa!" The words plastered on the printed medium, front page. 

The use of void weaponry clearly ruled out dwarves, but just in case, all mages, healers, and agents were required to report all individuals who exhibited the faintest signs of void curse. 

The dwarves now knew there were cracks in the Descendants, and Ally's reveal worked wonderfully. Even if I had to make Ally lose a body, it was no big deal. I just had to capture another Descendant to be Ally's new host body. 

The proud Descendants were quickly struck with a huge bolt of paranoia. Ally's words hit them close to heart. It was true that Lord Reviver's return would solidify the social order, and now, Descendants looked at each other with suspicion.

Zam-Zaqa tried to reach out to his fellow Lords. "Ghul-dah, Aman-ah. We must put a stop to this madness!"

"Too late, Zam-Zaqa." Ghul-dah said. "Wa-Libra is likely alive."

"What! That's ridiculous! Don't tell me you believe that bullshit!"

"The reasoning provided by the murdered Descendant is sound. Wa-Libra slew the rest of the Descendants in the dome of the Thousand Descendants and now is coming for the rest of us. He may have accomplices, and the entire heretic thing is a scheme. A conspiracy. It's why Wa-Libra allowed them to do it in the first place, because they were secretly controlled by Wa-Libra!"

"Madness!" Zam-Zaqa shouted through their shared void transmission. "Do you not see how ridiculous this sounds?"

"Ridiculous? You will know it is not ridiculous when the supposedly dead Wa-Libra appears behind you and stabs you through your flesh." 

"Lord Reviver will hear of this." Zam-Zaqa protested.

"Lord Reviver will only hear those who live to see the coming days." 

"This is foolish!" 

"It is only foolish if you die. I don't intend to die, Zam-Zaqa. Stay safe." Ghul-dah vanished from the void transmission.