Chapter 8

When the Projection came from Xervia, they had been ready to go for over an hour, and had spent the time examining a scaled model Illusion of Hilia provided by Equemev from her Reading of Silaran, who had Translocated there for a moment to memorize the view from the top of the lip of the volcano. At the moment the Projection reached them, they were planning the locations of barracks and other facilities.

An Illusion appeared on the lawn beside them, twenty feet wide and eight feet deep, showing the inside of a great hall in miniature. The hall was of a circular shallow bowl shape of pure white marble with a domed ceiling, and easily large enough to seat tens of thousands of humans, were it filled with human-sized chairs. Most of the floor was bare stone, some was carpeted, and there were scattered areas of seating close to the center for humanoids from gnome to giant size. There was a flat, circular area in the center of the room a foot higher than the surrounding floor, and in the center of that was a house-sized boulder of translucent blue stone, shaped like a thick crescent with rounded ends, glinting from the millions of tiny facets cut onto its entire surface.

The Illusion remained the same for five seconds, then it focused closer until its twenty foot wide area was filled by the low stage at the center of the hall.

A white dragon appeared, hideously scarred along his right side, that forelimb only a stump, half the wing missing, that side of his face, neck, and upper torso twisted with scar tissue. “Greetings. I am Somonik, Eldest of the Draconians of Xervia. Today is an historic day. Today, the leaders of the nations of the world who stand for justice will meet in this place, to declare our Great Alliance.”

He turned a bit and laid his left hand upon the glittering blue boulder. “I swear forevermore, that I will not break the peace, that I will defend the innocent, and that I will uphold justice.”

Even through the Projection, the dragon’s vow triggered a bright blue light in Mark’s vision.

Somonik took his hand from the stone and stepped to the edge of the stage. “I am Speaker for The Circle of Ninety-Nine; which is the ruling council of the dragons of Xervia, as well as being First Speaker of The Grand Council of Xervia.

“First, I present in nines, The Circle of Ninety-Nine.

Nine dragons appeared around the stone. Each laid a hand upon it, then they spoke the oath in unison, their voices creating a huge rumbling chorus. After they had moved to the outer edge of the room and reclined on the floor, nine more appeared and did the same, then nine more, dragons of every color of the rainbow, as well as gold, silver, copper, bronze, white, and black, and they varied widely in size.

“What a magnificent sight. Somonik must be fairly small for a dragon.” Mark commented, noticing that the scarred white was dwarfed by the rest.

“He is The Eldest of All, over sixty-three million years old.” Povon informed him. “Dragons grow larger now than they did then. He is only two-thirds my size, and I am among the very smallest of the young adult dragons. The largest of The Ninety-Nine is almost Kragorram’s size.”

“Are you the biggest, Kragorram?” Talia asked.

“No. Of the four and a half million or zo dragonz in Xervia, there are perhapz two or three hundred who are larger than I, though none are among The Ninety-Nine. Billigog iz the largezt dragon, and zhe topz me by a full head and shoulders when we zit up ztraight. Her weight iz almost double mine.”

“The largest dragon is a female?” Equemev asked in surprise.

“Yes.” Povon told her, while still watching the illusion. “Males average five percent larger, but the variance in size among our genders is much greater than that. There are many small males, and many large females. Right now Billigog, a female, is biggest, and the biggest dragon has been a female during about one third of our history. And female or male, size has no relation to the strength of our power or our flame. I myself am among the strongest in those ways, far stronger than Billigog, though she is four times my size!

“Ha! When Billigog learns that I attended this meeting while she could not, her blue scales will turn green with envy!”

Soon the last of the eleven groups of dragons had appeared and sworn and taken their places. The Ninety Nine (minus Somonik) filled the outside of the great hall, occupying over half of the floor space.

“I present Tithian; Speaker and Justicer of the Senate of The People of Morning, and the members of the Senate of The People of Morning, and their staff.” Somonik announced.

A herd of over fifty unicorns appeared around the gigantic blue stone, as colorful as the dragons had been. They turned and stood shoulder-to-shoulder facing the stone, touched the tips of their horns to it, and swore the oath in psionic speech. Three more similar herds followed.

“Your Mother has been promoted since this morning.” Silaran commented to Equemev. “She was not yet Speaker of the Senate then.”

“I imagine she will take the initiative in the Senate until stability is reached after the nexus.” Equemev thoughtfully answered. “Since she was the first to detect it, I think she feels that dealing with it is her responsibility, to some extent.”

“Wow! That rock must be forty feet long and fifteen feet high!” Mark exclaimed as the huge scale of what he was seeing became apparent.

“The Truthstone of Falgaroth? Closer to fifty feet long, I think.” Equemev speculated. “And it would be twice as high, were it not half-buried in the floor. It must have taken dozens of our mightiest to Move it.

“What is the history of the stone?” Talia asked.

“It was a gift to my people from Falgaroth, Eighth God of The People of Morning. I don’t remember exactly when he gave it to us, but it was around ten or eleven million years ago. It ensures that oaths are truly sworn.”

“How so?”

“If you swear upon the Truthstone of Falgaroth to uphold justice, it does not matter if you are sincere in swearing or not!” Equemev chuckled. “After you have sworn so upon it, you will uphold justice, despite any previous feelings and inclinations to the contrary! It’s power that way cannot be resisted by anyone of any race. Falgaroth imbued his Truth spell with so much god-power that no lesser stone could contain it. It will not allow the swearing of an oath that is evil or harmful by any who are in contact with it, and it will not let you swear to do the impossible, the stone would not allow you to speak the words. And of course, any in contact with it are forced to speak only the truth.”

“Ah. That’s good to know.”

The delegation of unicorns was followed by over five hundred selkies, and they by almost three hundred gargoyles, as those two races, like the dragons and unicorns, each constituted a single nation.

Mark had to laugh. “You know, Yazadril showed me illusions of those two races earlier, and I thought he showed them naked because, well, because he wanted me to know what their bodies looked like, like it was a Healer’s chart. I didn’t expect them all to actually be naked!”

“The selkies find that clothing drags on them when they swim, which is their normal mode of travel. “ Povon pointed out. “As you see, they are slightly awkward on land. Less so on all fours, but they think that walking upright makes them appear more civilized. And the gargoyles are not naked. If you look closely, you can see that they wear small breechclouts and belts, and the males have sleeveless shirts. Those items are hard to see because they are made from gargoyle hide. It’s not as bad as it sounds; the hides are gifts from honored and deceased ancestors. Few small peoples are comfortable with exposing their loins, and the gargoyles’ are covered, as the fur of the selkies covers theirs. I’m very glad that Draconians and unicorns at least are not so silly about such things.”

“Why do the male gargoyles wear shirts, and not the females?” Mark asked.

“The shirts are worn as armor. Their females become warriors as often as their males, but they think that appearing in armor at a formal occasion such as this is unladylike, as you would say in this language.”

“Oh.”

After the gargoyles had sworn and settled in their area, Somonik announced the delegation of The Hidden Nation of Xervia. Despite their vast populations, the hidden races were represented by only eleven delegates, who each appeared as a roughly human-sized transparent violet glow. They swore upon the stone, some in voices so high and squeaky that they were indiscernible, and some in languages other than Trade Common.

As they left the center of the room for their area, Somonik stepped to the Truthstone again. “Lest any have a doubt,” he stated in his whispery and gravely rumble as he laid his hand on the stone, “I do swear that the eleven beings who last appeared here were indeed the delegation of The Hidden Nation of Xervia, who only this morning unified their many nations into one, the first truly multiracial nation on Kellaran. I do further swear that they all have sworn Osbald’s Oath of peace, protection and justice while in contact with The Truthstone of Falgaroth.” With that, he moved back to his place at the edge of the stage.

Next called were the delegation of The People of Life led by Alilia, followed by The High People led by Yazadril, then the other fifteen nations of the elves in sequence, in no particular order that Mark could see, with Jaromer and those from Thon next, and Pimall with the delegation of The Warm People appearing last.

Emperor Osbald of Thon, along with that human nation’s Council and staff, were announced after The Warm People, and the delegations from Sming and Kuth followed them.

“I think I understand the order of presentation.” Equemev mused as the Kuthians made their way to their seats. “If I am correct, the human northern kingdoms will be next, followed by the dwarves, then the giants, then the gnomes.”

“Oh? How did you figure that out?” Talia inquired.

“It is the order in which each nation was allied and sworn to justice.” Equemev revealed. “My people and the dragons were the first to do so millions of years ago. The other Xervian races appeared in the order in which they joined The Grand Council of Xervia. Yazadril and Alilia allied their nations over three thousand years ago, they were also the first elven nations to ally with Xervia.”

“The elven alliances forged by my father and Alilia were of common defense and economics.” Talia pointed out. “They do not formally mention serving justice. That was assumed as a matter of course.”

“Ah, but in the discussion between my mother and Yazadril and Alilia, when they agreed to ally your peoples with Xervia, my mother said; all who stand for justice must stand together. So it was implied in the agreement. Osbald swore next, and swore his nation to justice, then made the rest of the human kingdoms do so. He spread his movement to Kletiuk next, then Felion. Now that I think about it, the order of presentation must go by the order in which they swore to justice, rather than the order in which they were allied, for some nations of the giants and the dwarves have been allied for almost a quarter of a million years.”

“And The People of Life went before my people, because Alilia offered a just alliance with Xervia first last night, before my father did.” Talia guessed with a nod. “I would think the order of the other elven nations reflects the sequence in which they were informed of the Elven-Xervian alliance, or perhaps the order in which they agreed to it, though the two are probably the same.”

The presentations did indeed proceed in the order Equemev had suggested, with two unexpected exceptions. After the last delegation from the seventeen dwarven nations of Kletiuk had sworn, a female gargoyle appeared beside Somonik, gestured him down, and whispered in his ear. Then she disappeared as he straightened.

He clicked the claws of his hand together, and a human appeared before him. It was a large man with black skin and curly black hair, wearing an ornate light blue toga and an immense headdress made of woven palm fronds studded with jewels and colorful shells. His fists were clenched, the cords stuck out from his neck, and he appeared to be suppressing rage.

“Speak. I will hear your petition.” Somonik stated.

“I am Pumbowmbo, Grand Chief of Chiefs of Nipukbi!” he announced. He spoke Trade Common in a rich baritone with a strange accent, and he managed to not sound as angry as he looked, instead he held his tone to seeming sternly irate as he continued. “I lead a nation of over one hundred and sixteen million citizens residing on over nine hundred islands! And at this moment, I also represent the other two thousand, four hundred and sixteen human nations of the islands and archipelagos of the oceans of Kellaran, whose total populations exceed eight hundred million people!

“While my nation is our largest, all of us, every single sovereign nation of us, right down to tiny Pinatupa with only fifty-seven citizens, are offended! None of us were officially informed about this great meeting, despite the fact that the leaders of our most populous nations received the warning of the elves yesterday, along with the rest of you! I was the first of us to learn of this meeting less than an hour ago, and it was as third-hand information at that! This despite the fact that every other nation of every race outside the Dark Continent were invited!

“It took every wizard we have to arrange a Speaking for all of us to discuss our response in the short time we had available, and three of our younger wizards died from the strain!

“Though every one of our nations has an equal right to be represented here, our lack of notice has made that impossible! Know that we have therefore formed The Association of Oceania, whereby our common interests might be practically represented within a common diplomatic policy! We have selected three hundred and four diplomats, including myself, leaders of nations all, who have been chosen to represent the two thousand four hundred and sixteen nations who comprise The Association of Oceania! We demand recognition, inclusion, and apology for the slight that has been dealt us!”

“I see.” Somonik nodded. “On behalf of The Grand Council of Xervia and The Human Empire of Thon, who have co-operated in sponsoring this meeting, we do apologize for not contacting you about these matters. We offer our most sincere empathy and regret for the loss of your three valiant wizards. However, you should know that no effort was made to include every nation on Kellaran, nor were your nations intentionally excluded.

“We of Xervia contacted the elves because our foreseers have detected that a crucial historical nexus is imminent, and that two who dwell among the elves are key to it. An alliance between the nations of the elves and The Grand Council of Xervia was subsequently proposed and informally accepted. We did discuss contacting the governments of the humans, dwarves, giants and gnomes, but only to inform them of the critical nature of the coming nexus, and to council them to caution until a new stability is reached.

“Neither we nor the elves expected any more alliances to be formed within the next few weeks. We did not know that at the same moments in which we were forming our alliance, Emperor Osbald of Thon was swiftly forming alliances with the nations of Debivin, Kletiuk, and Felion. Nor did Osbald at that time know about the Xervian-elven alliance.

“Those nations are here because they had direct diplomatic contacts with Osbald of Thon, who initiated their alliances, and who proposed the formation of The Great Alliance of The Nations United For Justice in response to the elves’ warning of the threat of an instigated war. None of the nations of Oceania were contacted because none have diplomatic relations with Thon. Only Osbald had the contacts to include the nations of Kletiuk and Felion in time for them to attend this meeting. If he had not had trusted friendships with the most influential monarchs of the dwarves and giants, the nations of those continents would not have been invited either, despite their being powerful and populous. We meant no slight to any citizen or leader of the nations of The Association of Oceania.

“If you will accept our apology, and if all of your delegates will swear Osbald’s Oath upon The Truthstone of Falgaroth, we will recognize and include the delegation of The Association of Oceania in this meeting. Should this meeting proceed as successfully as we hope, you will also be invited to join the rest of these nations in forming The Great Alliance of The Nations United For Justice.

Pumbowmbo considered a moment. “So this nexus of history, that’s what this is all about?”

“It is. It will be the most important one since The Segregation. We have as yet no idea what it will involve, yet almost every similarly critical moment in history involved a great war. Already there are signs that hidden forces are trying to instigate one, as was mentioned in the warning sent by the leaders of the elves yesterday. Thus Osbald’s Oath, thus the alliances that have already been formed, thus this meeting for the formation of The Great Alliance.”

“What is Osbald’s Oath? And what’s The Truthstone of Falgaroth?” Pumbowmbo asked, most of his anger gone.

“Osbald’s Oath, as we have taken to calling it for convenient use, is this; I swear forevermore that I will not break the peace, that I will defend the innocent, and that I will uphold justice.” Somonik told him. “The Truthstone of Falgaroth is the great blue stone behind you, given to the race of unicorns by Falgaroth, eighth god of that race. None can swear false upon it. The power of the god prevents it. To attend, every member of your delegation must swear the oath upon it. If your delegation agrees to join The Great Alliance, every rightful leader of every nation you represent will then have to swear the oath upon the stone before their inclusion in the alliance is formalized.”

“I see. I was chosen to present our petition when your stony friend informed us that only one of us could do so. But I am not authorized to agree to your terms without consulting our other representatives. I must confer with them.”

“Very well. I will Translocate you back to the place I took you from. If you need assistance to confer among yourselves without straining your wizards, we will assign enough communications specialists to help you do so. When you have decided which among you will agree to our terms, speak my name, and I will bring you here as soon as the stage is clear. I am Somonik.”

“Such assistance is both necessary and appreciated.” Pumbowmbo nodded, loath to have to admit his need.

“I will assist them.” said a strangely feminine voice that sounded like boulders rolling down a mountain, and as the illusion pulled back to show the entire hall again, every eye turned to see an incredible shining gold dragon almost Kragorram’s size gain her feet at the edge of the hall, and flex her wings a bit. “My power should be sufficient to allow him to speak with his delegates, and with his legions of other island rulers as well.”

“Thank you, Grakonexikaldoron.” Somonik nodded.

“Know this, Pumbowmbo.” the gold drake said. “I will add power to every Speaking you are part of until your decisions are made. I will ensure that the casters of those Speakings are not stressed by their exertions, but I will be privy to your communications while I do so. And before I will do anything for you, you must personally swear Osbald’s Oath upon the Truthstone. If you refuse, none here will assist you, and you will be barred from returning here, whatever the rest of your colleagues may decide. But then, if you refuse, communications will be the least of your worries, for you will then have to deal with Osbald of Thon, who has been rather insistent of late about such things among you humans.”

Pumbowmbo glared at the dragon for a moment, then suddenly turned and slapped his hand onto the stone. “I swear that I will defend the innocent, uphold justice, and not break the peace, for as long as I live and breathe!” he declared, his vow punctuated by the blue flash.

“Close enough.” Grakonexikaldoron nodded, and reclined upon the marble again. For a moment she closed her eyes, and when she opened them a second later she seemed to look right at Mark from the illusion. That was proven to be the case when Mark heard her Speaking. “Greetings, neighbors. It would please me to meet with you. Please contact me tomorrow.”

“I will speak your name when we have decided.” the islander stated to Somonik, who simply nodded and clacked his claws, and the human was gone.

As Somonik began the presentation of the first of the four nations of the giants of Felion, Talia called in surprise; “She Spoke to me! Grakonexikaldoron Spoke to me just now!”

“Me too!” Mark added.

“Oh? What did she say?” Povon inquired.

“Just hello neighbor and call me tomorrow, basically.” Mark laughed.

“I wonder what zhe wantz?” Kragorram pondered.

A moment later Mark exclaimed; “Wow! Look at those giants!” The first delegation of them were leaving the stage and passing the human delegation of Sming, who were seated on the aisle. This revealed just how big the giants were by contrast, and they were indeed gigantic. The shortest stood thirteen and a half feet tall, the tallest just over seventeen feet. Adding to their impressiveness, they were all clad in full articulated plate armor, the steel polished to a gleam and accented with metals and paints of various colors, and they were fully armed with an assortment of gigantic swords, axes, maces, spears, lances, pole-axes, bows, and crossbows.

“That iz a large group, even for giantz.” Kragorram observed. “The zmallezt three are the largezt three femalez of that raze I have ever zeen together in one plaze, and that big one with the black aczentz iz larger than any I’ve heard of! Hiz zize iz az much a rarity among hiz people az your own iz, Mark.”

“And they are ready for trouble.” Talia noticed. “Even through the illusion I can tell that all of their weapons and armor are heavily spelled. Some items carry as many as ten enchantments.”

“Huh. Are any of their swords like mine?” Mark asked.

Talia squinted in concentration. “Not even close. None of them have anything that could challenge our swords.”

“You have a sharp eye for such things.” Povon admitted. “I’d not have noticed any of that if you hadn’t pointed it out.”

“I’ve had the best teachers.” Talia shrugged. “I’m very young, but I’m ahead of some of my fellow students with centuries of experience.”

“Thoze are a far more normal group of giantz.” Kragorram pointed out as the next delegation swore their oaths.

These were from ten to fourteen feet tall, and uniformly dressed in flowing white silk togas.

The next delegation were of the same range in height, but were noticeably stocky compared to the previous two groups, and these wore sandals, plain white blouses, and trousers in various dull colors. An abundance of jewelry made up for their plain clothing.

The last group of giants were dressed very formally and ornately, the females in flowing dresses, the males in dark suits with sweeping capes.

The six nations of the gnomes of Felion each had over two hundred delegates, but they were so small they had no trouble finding room around the Truthstone to swear their oaths as nations.

Talia giggled to see them. “I must laugh, for they seem so comical! Best to get it over with now, before we get there!”

“I know what you mean!” Mark grinned, watching the one to two foot tall diplomats swear their oaths in very high, piping voices. “Between the red hats and the way they walk, I’ll have to be careful not to chuckle in their faces at the meeting!”

Every gnome had white hair, and they were all very squat and stocky for their height. This gave them a very quick stride with a great deal of side-to-side motion. The females wore ornate dresses, and looked like children’s dolls brought to life. The males wore full beards and formal suits with black buckled shoes, along with their red cone-shaped hats that were so tall that some of their tips flopped over.

“If you wish to avoid laughing, look at them with your inner eye.” Povon advised, grudging admiration in her voice. “Those gnomes have more wizard-power in their delegations than any other race!”

“Ah. That is impressive, now that I look for it!” Talia admitted.

“I can’t see it through the Illusion.” Mark stated thoughtfully. “In person I’ll be able to see that, by how brightly they glow.”

As the last nation of gnomes appeared on the stage, Talia cautioned; “Be ready now, they’ll call us soon.”

But the delegation from Oceania was announced next. As they appeared, a bony old woman in a white gown who must have been at least a hundred years old stepped forward, Pumbowmbo at her side. “I am High Chieftess Tokibimina, monarch of Simifilibufitu.” she stated. “I will be First Speaker for The Association of Oceania during the remainder of these proceedings. I apologize if the manner of Pumbowmbo earlier seemed overly brusque, but you should understand that his sister’s son was one of the wizards we lost to over-exertion less than an hour ago.”

“We understand.” Somonik nodded. “Before you proceed, we would know this; how did you learn of this meeting? You should not have been able to, and we should know if we have a security leak.”

“There is a sailor of my nation who is a soothsayer, and he sees the future, though only rarely does he get a glimpse of it.” Pumbowmbo related, his mood now a calm one. “Most of his visions are of trivial things; that tomorrow it will rain in Kumpoktu, or that next week a specific child will eat a piece of yellow cheese. But he foresaw that today the leaders of the nations of Kellaran would meet to perform acts of greatness. He is never wrong. He told a tavern-keeper, who came straight to me with the information. I summoned the sailor and questioned him, and thus we learned what was occurring.”

“I see. Our seers will wish to meet this sailor, for even the most minute detail of the future could be of incalculable value. These things will be discussed during or after the meeting.

“For now, welcome, leaders of Oceania.”

“Thank you.” Tokibimina nodded, and turned to lay hand on the stone.

“We must be next!” Talia stated eagerly. “Let’s assume our positions!”

The Oceanians were sworn, and were seated on chairs hastily placed by hundreds of gargoyles and selkies just inside the ring of dragons at the edge of the room.

Somonik then announced; “I now present Prince Mark and Princess Talia of the newly independent Principality of Hilia, Keys to the Nexus! And,” here he paused for a chuckle, “And their staff!”

As had been the case with the delegation from the hidden races, their party did not appear in a ring around the Truthstone since there were so few of them. Instead they appeared in their pre-arranged formation between the stone and Somonik, facing the ancient white dragon. Stripe stood proud and calm between Talia on his right and Mark on his left. Mark had Scout on his shoulder, and to his left stood Silaran and then Kragorram, while Povon stood outside Equemev on Talia’s right.

Their company was themed in white and gold.

Mark wore gleaming gold-plated plate-over-mail armor with white accents and a white cape, and GrimFang hung across his back, its scabbard newly-white.

Silaran also wore his gold-trimmed armor, a cunningly articulated set of plate barding that covered him almost completely, featuring white silk tassels and a glinting four-foot sword blade that was mounted on his head just in front of his exposed horn.

Kragorram wore the most impressive sword any there had ever seen, sheathed in a gold and white scabbard along his left side, belted in two places with gold chain as thick as Mark’s leg. The dragonblade was three feet wide and half a foot thick at the hilt with a diamond-shaped cross-section, and tapered evenly to a point along its sixty-five foot length.

Talia wore her wedding dress and accessories, and a cloth-of-gold bandoleer hung diagonally from one shoulder, with pockets containing her most potent magic items. The sword of Visinniria hung at her side, its sheath also newly white.

Equemev wore gold-plated shoes that covered the entire hoof, and her flowing mane and tail were festooned with diamonds, gold charms and trinkets, and tiny bows of white and gold ribbon. The elven ring was prominent upon her horn.

Povon wore a dragon-sized vest of heavily gold-plated chain mail that was almost completely encrusted with diamonds of every size in swirling patterns, with inside pockets for her favorite devices of power. Having decided that she looked silly carrying a wand, she had carefully curved the staff she’d gotten from Talia with her power, affecting its shape while leaving its magical properties completely intact, and she now wore it as a bracelet on her right wrist.