Jackal Among Snakes

From Elenore’s point of view, acquiescing to all of Governor Zen’s demands wouldn’t be the best way forward. It might seem like they were just saying what they needed to say to secure his alliance. It was a renegotiation from an ostensibly lesser point of power. She wanted this meeting to seem genuine, but at the same time, this conversation would be a delicate balancing act between seeming as though they needed Governor Zen while still rigidly advocating for their hidden interests.

“Let me speak to the one who’s really listening. Argrave.” Governor Zen put his hands on the table, cutting past the façade of Stain and speaking directly to the person puppeteering him. On the other side, Elenore still felt a twinge of unease despite the fact that she knew Zen long ago disclosed he knew one among them had the blessing of Lira. Governor Zen continued, “It’s becoming rather clear to me that you lack a damned clue.”

“Clue me in,” she relayed to Stain, and she was rather proud of him when he kept on the road she was laying out. Perhaps he’d actually do something worthy of the fiefdom of Whitefields that he’d extorted from them. She kept observing the meeting, linked to Argrave through Vasquer, who was in turn linked to a druidic bond that watched this meeting.

“I don’t need to speak nicely anymore, because we’re at the end of the road.” Zen rose from his seat and walked to the foot of the table where Stain sat. He sat at the table, his hands on his lap. “Either you’re lying to me and Ji Meng hasn’t gone off to frolic in the imperial palace, or you’re nothing more than a child that’s lost its parents in a distant land. Orphans should be so lucky to get a family member like me. If you want me to continue helping, I need concessions.”

“We had an arrangement. Where’s your honor?” Elenore said indignantly, her Stain-puppet acting his little heart out to mimic the emotion. Perhaps he had indignance of his own to draw upon for inspiration.

But Governor Zen wasn’t swayed by Stain’s performance. “I could say any arrangement was nullified by your reckless handling of the emperor. The emperor was a front—we had a deal. But instead of a front, you made him the frontliner for your army. Treachery? Incompetence? It doesn’t matter how the agreement was breached, but you can’t deny you did it,” he said, turning their own weapon against them.

“Our mastery of Ji Meng has a more delicate balance, but it isn’t fully broken yet. He can’t afford to betray us after the propaganda we spread, and especially not after the war we won for him. We still have options,” Elenore argued. “We want this alliance—we’ve agreed to it. Everything can remain as it was if you keep as you were.”

Governor Zen laughed when Stain finished relaying things. “You really do lack a single clue, don’t you?” He brushed off his stately robes as he said, “The garrison at the Palace of Heaven isn’t some two-bit deity bundled into the Qircassian Coalition. It’s Erlebnis, now, who you’ll find within it. Does that clue you in?”

Elenore could feel a wave of unease from Argrave through Vasquer, and her own amplified it uncomfortably.

Governor Zen, as though he was a seer, nodded to confirm their doubts. “Indeed. The most formidable fortress in the world is manned by one of the most formidable gods in the world. Even on its lonesome, the Palace of Heaven would be a nightmare for your current forces to take. With Erlebnis… you won’t stand a chance without my family, our influence. Even if this Ji Meng thing is a lie to try and play me, read me, outmaneuver me… you need me.

“Try and assault the sky tower without dealing with Erlebnis, and he’ll harry you the whole way with his unimaginable power. You can’t fight a war against ancient gods with two impregnable fronts; one will fold, and you’ll all die. Assault the palace half-heartedly and fail to take it, and Kirel Qircassia will descend to wipe up whatever remains of your army.” Zen shrugged. “Even if you win, you’ll be in no shape to take down the sky tower. You’ll need the greatest army ever conceived to win a decisive victory against Erlebnis in the Palace of Heaven. The fortress has never been taken in a direct assault… and this was without an ancient god as its garrison.”

Elenore chewed on his words in silence. Strategically, it did make sense to place Erlebnis in the Palace of Heaven. Sataistador had claimed the ancient god of knowledge resided in the sky tower with Kirel Qircassia—the most defensible position by far. But if Erlebnis was willing to risk his life by residing in the Palace of Heaven instead of the sky tower… they might be strained to the very edge.

Despite the grim news, Elenore saw opportunity shine in this topic of conversation. “You haven’t heard our plan for the Palace of Heaven, yet,” she argued, probing for the information leak. She was near certain he’d reveal what he knew.

“You’re right—I don’t.” Zen crossed his arms and rose to his feet, walking back around the table. Elenore’s heart sunk—was he bluffing? Anneliese was also watching this meeting, but didn’t contact either Elenore or Argrave with knowledge of any deception.

Zen continued. “Still, thousands of others before you failed to loose a single brick from the famous fortress. You might be smarter than some of them—most of them. But brighter minds than you have burned brightly and been snuffed out all the same against the walls of the Palace of Heaven. Gods, would-be emperors, even overambitious invaders like yourself sent armies to die taking it. This bastion is a large part of the reason that the Great Chu has continued to exist as a nation despite tremendous opposition from all sides.”

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“It clearly fell for the Qircassian Coalition,” Elenore pointed out. Stain repeated it eagerly like it was a very cogent point, but she felt it a weak argument.

“Can you infiltrate the Qircassian Coalition as they infiltrated the imperial court? Will you put makeup on hunchbacks and mutants and call them emissaries of Erlebnis?” Governor Zen’s dry comments made some of his advisors in the room laugh. “Somehow I think you’re rather less capable of subverting divinity than they are subverting humanity.”

“We did rob his vault,” Elenore reminded Governor Zen, and when Stain repeated it a good deal of mirth died.

After a while, Governor Zen conceded, “So I’m told.”

“You don’t know anything about how we intend to take the Palace of Heaven, do you?” Elenore probed again, almost desperately hunting for the information leak. Which god had talked?

“I’ll admit… I only know that it’s to be your springboard to the sky tower. I don’t know what you’ve come up with since you decided that.”

Elenore felt lost, but she felt chilling clarity from Argrave as his thoughts were intruded upon by a name and a visage. There was only one deity who knew their goal was the Palace of Heaven without any inkling as to a plan of attack—it was the one who had directed them to it in the first place. Swimming in his mind, passing in the link from between Vasquer and herself… she envisioned a great mane of red hair with a beard just as long, along with bright and malevolent green eyes. Sataistador.

Half a dozen different puzzles slotted into place in Argrave’s head, and Elenore shared in the revelation through their ancient matriarch’s mental bond. She felt great anger from Argrave at his inability to notice this. Of course it had been Sataistador that was speaking to Zen—that had been precisely why Sataistador had been so well-informed about the happenings in the Great Chu, and why Zen had been so well-informed about Vasquer in turn.

Elenore had presumed this information came from within their Blackgard Union because it was so accurate. The accuracy, however, had been a red herring.

The only person who persistently avoided advance detection in Vasquer was the god of war, but he didn’t flaunt any information he gathered. Furthermore, Sataistador had an extremely light touch around this invasion, lessening suspicion—though that certainly freed him time to spy on them. It also explained why the governor knew that certain gods had blessed them, yet not precisely which among them. Even now, he didn’t know Elenore had Lira’s blessing, and assumed Argrave was listening in. No member of the Blackgard Union wouldn’t know that detail.

Elenore reasoned this relationship had probably been going on since long before Argrave even set foot on the continent. The god of war, despite his brutal and chaotic nature, had demonstrated tremendous aptitude for reconnaissance and discretion. He seemed capable of appearing anywhere at any time. It wasn’t beyond his sphere; information-gathering was vital for war. Perhaps he was the one who had ambushed the commanders they’d recruited initially—it stood to reason he was easily capable of subduing several S-rank spellcasters and their guards of the same rank.

Perhaps Sataistador was responsible for far more than they even realized. Governor Zen had his own intent… and lurking large behind him was the god of war.

They had come here seeking to pry into the goals and interests of the governor, but it seemed they had caught onto something much, much larger than that. Sataistador promised his intent was solely to slay Erlebnis and Kirel Qircassia, yet he had a hugely influential governor like Zen in his pocket. It wasn’t necessarily damning, but the fact that Sataistador had concealed this fact boded very poorly for their prospects of having the god of war as a solid ally all the way to the end of this endeavor.

“You’re awfully quiet, as if you’re debating whether or not to tell me about your plans,” Governor Zen spoke, yet his words didn’t stop the turning cog in Elenore’s head.

The original plan had been identify the extent of the information leak, then exterminate it during the siege of the Palace of Heaven. They intended to have their foes kill the mole for them, along with minor support from ‘friendly’ fire. Meanwhile, they hoped to bait Governor Zen into exploiting this fabricated rift between Ji Meng and Argrave. They’d force him to overextend his reach so that they might identify, isolate, and destroy his influence throughout the nation in close cooperation with one another.

Yet Argrave’s thoughts about this development were the same as hers.

The plan hadn’t changed, not really. They’d found their traitor: Sataistador, god of war, chaos, and brutal destruction. He’d long been an uncertain variable in their plans. His mere existence had been enough for the gods of the Blackgard Union to threaten backing out of their arrangement. Now, for the first time, they had some glimpse into his designs, his intentions for Vasquer, beyond what he’d said and declared unilaterally.

Governor Zen, himself a formidable schemer, was their one true link to Sataistador. It was a thin link… but Elenore thought they could actually make something happen with it.

Argrave had already killed Mozzahr, the so-called Castellan of the Empty, who’d claimed Sataistador’s life in another reality. It had been with ample help, granted, and came in large part because of Erlebnis. They had allies of similar caliber at hand, now—allies that would be eager and willing to help, provided the plan to kill Sataistador was solid enough.

And why would their allies help? The god of war was ancient—the literal oldest of them all. An argument could be made he was the most powerful, too. A frightening opponent, to be sure… but the cycle of judgment presented a tempting offer to the gods; the prospect of gaining immense power. Their allies had proven their trustworthiness now that a mole was off the table.

Sataistador’s death, if they could make it happen, would shatter his body into spirits. And Argrave could very well anoint a god to inherit all of that power.