Magical Engineering

Chapter 209: Jornlorn Rown

“Do any of you know anything about Jornlorn? I’m going to guess maybe Pryte or Elody, but I’ll understand if even neither of you two do,” Morkand asked. His tone had grown somber. He had a look on his face that I recognized. It was one of grief and loss. They had clearly been close friends.“I don’t, but then again, I’ve never been much into the paladin cultures,” Pryte answered.

“I only knew his name, and that the class was lost. I wasn’t even aware of how long ago, or how he had died. Though documenting all known paladin orders is a future goal,” Elody followed.

“As I expected, which makes a lot of sense, as most of the general knowledge of his deeds was strongly clamped down on by several factions. Jornlorn was not the first paladin of agriculture, but he did live the longest,” Morkland said.

“Alright, so I get that the reasons that could make someone with Cecile’s power be in such danger. What I want to know is how much danger he will be in, in the immediate future. For now, we have a lot to do just to stabilize our own food supplies and begin to terraform other local planets. Is that enough on its own to draw the attention of people who want him dead?” I asked, wanting to cut to the point.

I needed to know if Cecile was safe here. While I did care about the other people he could potentially feed as well, I would do what I could to protect the brothers. They had been my first and strongest allies within the Spiral. They were almost like my own kids, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to put Cecile in a death sentence just to speed up our own future growth.

“In the immediate? Unlikely to be of great concern. The moment any of his abilities start to proliferate beyond your faction’s sphere of control, though? A great many of the mercantile factions will immediately take notice, shortly after the even less savory ones will, until finally you have the biggest, most fascistic monsters coming to flay your young paladin alive,” X-Xwq said, now looking like a Twinoge, with both heads speaking at the same time.

Cecile’s eyes went wide, as there was a moment of silence before he finally replied to the paladin of anarchy’s words. “Is that how Jornlorn died?” he asked, visibly swallowing deeply after he did.

“We don’t know,” Matthew answered.

“We may not know, but I’ll sure as hell know this time. Kid, if it comes to it again, I’ll be here ready to die with you. Jornlorn was one of the best people I have ever known,” X-Xwq loudly proclaimed, still in the Twinoge form. It was the longest his form had stayed constant that I had seen so far.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I don’t think Cecile needs to be so terrified of the future yet. For one thing, there is much to do in this universe before he needs to do anything on the Spiral stage,” Bass added, their voice still managing a slight soothing rush of air despite the effects of the room we were in.

“Okay, you all said something about a will. How about we get to that before we scare Cecile anymore?” I asked.

While I appreciated X-Xwq’s pledge, it was growing annoying how much fear they were likely causing Cecile. He wasn’t naive. He almost certainly understood the intent of the larger factions on a deep personal level far more than I did. The problem was that many people mistook kindness for naivety. It was something others had similarly accused me of in the past.

“Yes, I agree with Dave. There is no sense in scaring Cecile with the unknowns. Roril, would you do the honors?” Morkland asked, turning to the squirrel-like paladin of conservation.

“I suppose, I would like to get through this and meet your planet’s primals sooner rather than later.” A piece of paper suddenly appeared in the paladin’s hands as he spoke. He looked down at it and began reading. “To whoever follows in my footsteps, I welcome you to the order. If this letter is being read to you, then the things I have grown to fear have come true. The Spiral is not kind to those who wish to change things, but know that you are not alone in that pursuit. I have met many who sit on the fringes working toward such goals. No matter how impossible the odds often seem, they continue their work. One such person is the reason I have written this will. They have convinced me that my time is drawing near to a close, and I wish to pass on some manner of help to the next generation as best I can.”

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A cough from X-Xwq interrupted the reading. Morkland’s head turned immediately, glaring at the paladin, now in the form of a chair, resting on another chair. “Sorry, dry throat,” he replied.

Before I could dwell on what exactly that had been about, Roril resumed the reading. “I have placed a series of remnants of myself within hidden caches across both the Spiral and chaotic space. Everyone you find should greatly aid you in your future endeavors. The first comes with this message and will help you should you ever need to create your plan to ensure the future of the next paladin. I leave these words with some of my most trusted friends and allies. X-Xwq, assuming you’re here. Shut the hell up.” that has started to awaken. Primals tend to come in pairs, and I can sense another one. Who are the natural predators of moose on this world?” Roril asked.

“Moose don’t exactly have natural predators. Due to their size, they are one of the strongest animals on the planet. Wait, do you mean the polar bear Rabyn fought?” I asked. That animal had seemed different, but I didn’t think they were a primal mana beast.

“Possibly, I would need to see it to be sure. Are there any other creatures that prey on moose?” he asked.

I racked my brain for the answer, and then it dawned on me. There was one other animal that sometimes ate moose. “Orcas,” I answered.

Magica Esoterica Volume 1: Deckbuilders by Averew