The monster surveyor – Chapter 2

Upon the chitchat in the lobby coming to a close, Imtoryat has invited Eyren deeper within the lodgings that she boasts and tags along with her to a separate room which the knight would judge as a study. The walls in this fairly neat and tidy quarters are chockfull of shelves that contain all manner of tomes and scrolls, not to mention a handful of posters, paintings and images which Eyren can’t identify whatsoever being pinned to the wall with its striped wallpaper. A couple of colorful armchairs are positioned in one corner each and a table plus a trio of regular wooden chairs are set in between some of the shelves. The furniture and garnishment in this segment are quite respectable for the most part, manifestly having the quality of springing from wealthy people in given sectors, but not the foremost extravagant Eyren has ever beheld. Still, it’s quite telling this lady is not struggling.

Once they’ve gotten inside and landed in a chair each, Imtoryat has cooled down and her stutter has returned.
“W…would you erm…perhaps like some tea?”, she goes and gestures at a white pot with blur and yellow ornamentation, along with matching cups on trays. “I…brewed some for myself, but I-I hadn’t expected a guest.”

Taking off her coat to begin with, Eyren hangs it on the back of the chair and shrugs casually.
“Oh, yeah sure. I don’t mind.”

Clearing her throat, Imtoryat softly picks the pot up by its handle and pours some for both of them.
“It’s still…semi-hot, I believe, s-so it erm, should taste alright.”

“Alright, I assume it’ll be fine either way. I don’t usually drink tea, though.”

“Mm. I…suppose it may not be a brew you can bring out on the road…”

“Heh, that would be inefficient to all intents and purposes, yeah. Have to ask, though, don’t you have a servant or anything in this house? Nobles traditionally have a couple, right?

Blinking her lupine eyes, Imtoryat shifts at the ex-knight.
“…pardon? Oh uh…n-no, not in this abode. My sister owns a volume of more sizable estates where she has hired retainers, but…this cottage is unalike those. It’s mainly just I who stay here from time to time, and erm…I do not bring any.”

“How come?”

Shifting her hands to the cup, Imtoryat fidgets with the rim of it.
“It’s…inconvenient. Normally, I cook my own food just fine and…I don’t need anyone for that. My sister insists I bring guards, so I let them cook their own too. I…p-prefer to be alone.”

Sipping on her beverage, Eyren learns that it’s quite a bit additionally bitter than the tea variety they partake of in Shaim Xil.
“How long have you been familiar with Malkiz, then, my lady?”

“W…well, not terribly lengthy, as a matter of fact. Possibly…year or so?”

“Huh, that’s intriguing. What would’ve put you in a spot to sync up with someone like Malkiz and their association, then?”

Imtoryat takes a gulp of her own from the tea, potentially to settle her nerves, or to work on her reply.
“It…it’s a rather…c-complex tale. For various reasons, I was introduced to Malkiz via my mother. Although I was incredulous to begin with, I…I later found that the product of our assembly was…erm, quite fruitful. And so did she.”

“Given that you’re a scholar, or…?”

“That was principally the cause, yes, but it was quite multifaceted. I’ve…uh, studied at Prtaliza Academy, in several subjects.”

This pulls the rug from under Eyren, and her eyes widen.
“Ah, fhothee!”, she curses through her native tongue in shock. “Isn’t that the oldest school in the whole continent?”

“Erm…yes and no? I-if you consider the…eldest institutions throughout history, it is not. However, Prtaliza is the oldest surviving one, yes, and…the most substantial one by far.”

“What did you learn there?”

“A broad assortment of subjects: history, theology, math and physics. But…m-my main scholarship was in alchemy, i-in which I…am certified.”

“Oooh, alchemy. Untrein!”, she says with interest through Goetejul. “I’ve encountered a portion of alchemists here and there, but you guys are pretty damn rare.”

“Erm, yes, that is a valid view. The…erm, main factor behind affiliating with Malkiz for me concerns my foremost topic of research: the Shadow Herd.”

Taking another quaff of the tea, Eyren gives off a nearly perplexed expression.
“Ah, that’s…unusual. You study them? I’ve hardly met anyone who’s attempted that approach…”

“Exactly!”, Imtoryat blurts out, absorbing a share of her earlier enthusiasm. “It’s a terribly unexplored topic, with practically nothing but theories, but one that screams for contributory essays. Well-nigh not a single scholar elects to delve into the research physically, as a result of…” Her sentences lapses here as she’s made to balance on her own timidity in the matter. “…well, it is immeasurably dangerous, of course.”

“Yeah, you can say that again.”

“To me, the Herd and their Herdbrand are the greatest unsolved mystery in modern times, maybe in any era. According to the reports and documentation, they burst into this continent some 150 years ago, wrecking cities, killing tens of millions, and obliterated the Ahterilion Empire, before retiring. Why? How? And what’s the meaning of their stay on this continent?” She embraces the cup of tea with her hands and stares into the liquid. “In my mind, there’s a lavish number of unanswered questions that remain, and only by exploring them can we find out more.”

Eyren has sat and merely stared at her, whilst drinking additional pulls from the tea, being made to smile at this wolfy lady’s apparent passion for future discovery.
“You know, it’s really fun to talk with someone who’s so engrossed by this subject. Most people I’ve ever ran into either want to flee from them or have them killed.”

“Y…yes, this eh, hasn’t escaped me. And I don’t…blame them, intrinsically. The Herbrand are monsters and resoundingly terrifying, predominantly thanks to their colossal power. Nonetheless, to dispel them, sometimes we are called to unravel the fear. That is my hope to achieve…erm, in time.”

“Makes sense. In that case, how much have you pinpointed about them, my lady? I’m interested to hear of your discoveries, and whether our knowledge bases line up.”

Clearing her throat and amending her robe, Imtoryat looks around, to note whether she may wish to pull one of the tomes in the room.
“Oh ah…certainly. You likely command better…primary expertise in this, but I can frame what I’ve read previously.”

“Yep, go ahead.”

Imtoryat puts her hands together on the table.
“The Shadow Herd is recognized by a plethora of names: ‘the fallen black star’, ‘the heavens curse’, ‘doom wrought by ancients callous, ‘the dread fate of past sin’ etc. Albeit the title itself is merely what they’re labelled as a collective, the monsters are known as ‘Herdbrand’ individually. I have heard tell that they appear as…shadows, correct?”, she goes and glances at Eyren for confirmation. “Except with strange…erm, strange runic lights attached.”

“Mhm”, Eyren replies with a nod. “Have you not witnessed any yourself, my lady?”

“Uuuh…”, Imtoryat drawls, her wolf ears jerking uncomfortably. “Only…from afar. I…I realize that they may take multiple shapes, or silhouettes, though. And they have mismatched sizes and shapes. Apparently, certain ones appear as animals, some like humans and others akin to mere objects.”

“Yep, that’s accurate. It’s also possible for them to combine to grow even larger. Seen that happen once or twice.”

Imtoryat’s head dips backwards in awe.
“Oh…oh my…I wasn’t aware of that…

“And to kill a Herdbrand, you have to wear it down. The best solution I’ve figured out is to try and cut off the limbs with runes on. This weakens the link between the runes, and usually makes them collapse. Or that’s what I’ve observed.”

Drawing in a half-excited breath, Imtoryat rises to her feet.
“H…hold on!” She pirouettes around and bolts over to one of the shelves, desperately fumbling for a particular item, but then retreats to her chair again when she’s fetched a notebook and a well-worn pencil which she commences scrawling in. Her handwriting from a glance seems to be surprisingly neat, and admirably fast.

Eyren is made to chuckle at the enthusiasm and she taps her fingers on the table.
“You could also write down that smashing the runes is another candidate for killing one, but this is tougher.”

Imtoryat bobs her head and scribbles it down diligently.
“So, the runes are their weak point…”

“Yeah, that’s what I’ve experienced.”

“A…another famed point of interest is that the Herdbrand spread…the ‘Woerdinn’ as it’s entitled. The taint which converts people into the monsters…or just outright dooms them. It was labelled after the Shade of Fate, for its capricious nature. The saber’s share of infected are alleged to expire from the Woerdinn’s touch, but a shocking few may survive, and are often dubbed-“

“Fateworn”, Eyren interrupts. “By the Temple. Yeah, I’m familiar. Been called that many times.”

This is the moment where Imtoryat freezes up entirely, nailing her lupine sight right at Eyren for multifold seconds whilst she conceivably attempts to catch up mentally, in light of the horrendous allusions of this statement.
“W…wait…”, she stammers and strains to brush the hair a bit from her otherwise hidden eye. “You-…are you implying that…you are Fateworn?”

Eyren is moved to chuckle once again, in part because Imtoryat does sound a smidgen thrilled at this, and not really frightened.
“You don’t know how often people are stunned to hear me speak that. But yes, I was ‘cursed’ some years ago, but miraculously survived. In the past, I trained as a Rittmark, but I decided to leave them. One of my earliest solo missions after quitting was by a town in southeastern Steorshlag that got attacked. It was being evacuated, but a fraction of people weren’t quick enough. Bundled in to help a family, and on instinct, I took the blow for them, and got slashed up pretty good.” She diverges her eyes down at her palm, evoking the memories in her mind. “Instead of pain, though, I felt this…rush in my veins, as if adrenaline but ten times stronger. Leapt at that Herdbrand following this and managed to rip off its head.” She shrugs unconcernedly. “Realized what was happening and figured I was consigned to Hel, but nope. I’m still here. And since I got these gifts, might as well use them, right? That’s why I took this role as an ‘anti-Herdbrand expert’. Sounds less ominous than Fateworn, heh.”

Imtoryat has been seated there on the contrary end of the table and simply fixated on Eyren wide-eyed, a hand held over her lips. In a second, the knight notes how her tail commences wagging faintly.
“Preshab…”, she mumbles, but then catches herself. “Oh! Sorry, I…I shouldn’t be swearing…”

Eyren laughs a little more heartily now.
“Don’t worry, I don’t speak most of the languages in the west anyway.”

“But this is…extraordinary. Amazing even! I’ve never…never met a Fateworn prior…”

“Heh, guess there aren’t a ton of us, yeah.”

“That has to be the cause of Malkiz sending you to me, then…” Finally amending her position and relaxing, Imtoryat jots down some surplus notes. “Ahem. I have ascertained that, whereas the largest amount of people take it as a ‘curse’ from the Herdbrand, there is a theory that the Woerdinn is…not related to them at all. This hypothesis claims it is in fact associated with nature.”

“What? How would it be from nature?”

“Well, it would be nature’s way of defending itself from a foreign infection. Humans, inherent to this world, are thus bestowed the Woerdinn as a result. But this is solely speculation, not an established fact.”

“Hmm”, Eyren exudes and scratches her cheek. “Never thought about it like that.”

“I…erm, am also acquainted with that the Temple is not…hugely fond of Fateworn…”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed that personally. Tend to view us as ‘bringers of calamity’.”

“Mmm, that seems to be the case. According to them, Fateworn are doomed to run into conflict and mishap for the remainder of their comparatively short lives, as they are inevitably consumed by the clashes. There is furthermore an assumption that, fueled by contradictory elements in Fateworns’ abilities, they are generally ‘haunted’ by separate Shades and their ire.”

“Hmm. That could…be logical, I guess?”, goes Eyren and rubs her chin. “My abilities are kind of, ‘deathlike’. My eyes grow white and the blood circulation shifts down. Makes me stronger and harder to kill.”

Inclining her head, Imtoryat marks this in her notebook as well.
“It is presumed that most of the infected actually gain some of these…’powers’, but purely a Fateworn can outlive the ailment…”

Scowling, Eyren peeks down at the table.
“I…have seen that too, yeah. Don’t feel I’ve ever bumped into another Fateworn, but I’ve witnessed unfortunates succumbing from the infection. They usually gain unimaginable gifts, and then almost…collapse in on themselves. Like the change rips their body apart from within. It’s pretty gruesome.”

The scholar shivers unhappily.
“This…does scare me, I will admit. What’s also frightening is that no one seems to have any knowledge of how or when the Woerdinn spreads…which is presumably why that cult among the conservatives in the Temple is growing.”

“Cult?”

“Yes. They…they contend it is a ‘curse’ from the Shades, as a result of that we are not living the ‘intended’ way of the Shades…”

“Ahh, I see now. Yeah, that’s a case I’ve heard before. Pretty recently too, in fact…”

“Moving on, I…also find the Herd’s presence in the continent as terribly…perplexing. The current epochal counting system that is operated across the continent is for their initial appearance, how many years ‘after the Fallen Black Star’ that time has flown. And as a consequence of the demolition they caused, it is unclear when human society factually dawned, and whether the Herd commenced elsewhere. Was this truly an otherworldly invasion or was the Herd present elsewhere and just spread here? No one knows how long ago ‘Ahjula’ even was…”

Eyren blinks her eyes.
“Ahjula? Isn’t that a term for…beginning?”

“Quite so. An ancient expression which persists in practically every language, often rendered as ‘beginning’ or ‘arrival’. In certain older lingo, it was equally framed as ‘deliverer’.”

“Oh. Like a savior?”

“Yes. But when was Ahjula? And did the Shadow Herd appear by then too? Could it be interconnected with them, perhaps?” She sighs and shakes her head sadly. “No one knows…”

“Sounds like the Herd really messed up everything on this continent.”

When she’s done mourning this thought, Imtoryat considers what else she can add.
“Hmm…oh! The Herdbrand’s spread. I know they traditionally infest areas around their major ‘lairs’: the Slithering Desert in the west, the Dominion Forest in the east, the mountains in the far north and western border, and lastly, the Forsook Cities.”

Eyren reacts to that final detail.
“Ah, that’s what they call those cities of the old empire, right?”

“Exactly. Some of the previous cities of the Ahterilion Empire which the Herd destroyed have been reinhabited, but in others, the Herdbrand have inexplicably remained behind and therefore they were abandoned. There are stories which tell that if you take items out of those cities, the Herd sometimes chases after.”

“Oh yeah, I can confirm this. Did it once and that’s basically what transpired. It’s practically like they’re…drawn to them or something. Like a bait.”

Blinking her eyes, Imtoryat appears a touch muddled.
“You…have been to a Forsook City?”

“Two, actually.”

“Heavens…that’s…nearly unrealistic. Or at the very least, highly unheard-of, for anyone to make it out…”

“I’ll agree with you on that, since it wasn’t all fun and games, hah.”

“Where…erm, did you enter?”

“My first trip was to…Elh’sevans, I believe it’s titled? The one in northwestern Rhasgolmah. And the second was in southeastern Ngoyamen, Mzinkau. Ah, but I wasn’t in the core or nothing. Just wandered about the outskirts.”

“Still, by Genayaki…that’s utterly amazing. You have experienced so much, events and phenomena that few others could so much as imagine…”

Eyren shrugs and scratches the back of her head, whilst sipping on her tea.
“Eh, encounters with Herdbrand in general are manageable, if you have awareness of what to do. Would you like to see one firsthand, perhaps?”

All but rocking backwards, Imtoryat’s ears stir and her tail wags, but mildly uncertain. She appears excited and fearful in a weird mix.
“…r…really?! Could you…arrange that?”

“Yeah, absolutely. If you know where to search, it’s not a no-go in any way. I can think of a place for us.”