Jebidiah's Change Bk. 01 Ch. 03

As the introductions were made, Standing and Fields bowed politely when mentioned. The girls all nodded their heads in greeting as their names were called. Master Standing sat at the closest table and pulled out paper and stylus as if to make notes.

"Lady and Master," the princess started, "I apologize for the lateness of this meeting, but it cannot be helped. Please have a seat Iona; this may take some hours. Young Jebidiah has not eaten in some days, so forgive his indulgence when his food arrives. Lady Fields, we need to start with your expertise. For those of you unaware, Iona's position is the Keep's head theologian. Jebidiah, we need to begin with your level of knowledge of the Ascension. Please summarize what you know."

"Yes, Your Highness. My knowledge is limited to what I believe is considered common knowledge. Several hundred years after the Rending, there was another world-wide event, the Night of Ascension, that lasted a tenday. The most powerful Light and Dark who best represented their influence were raised to the Divinity. I know someone from House Tonstar ascended to become Darido, Divine of Hope and Order. I know some of the other Divinity names like Bora, Udite, and Comlain and their influences but not all the Known."

Sensing he was finished, Fields picked up the conversation. "That is essentially correct. During the Night of Ascension in 233, Vincent Tonstar ascended to his position as Darido, Patron to the Kingdom. We know of several others and have heard but not confirmed more. It is only assumed that all twenty ascended at the same time. We only have full details of the seven aptly called the Known. We have names for most of the other thirteen and possible influences but not much past that, hence their title, the Unknowns. Is this the information you required of me, Your Highness?"

"Prepare yourself, Iona." Stephanie chuckled. "This one will keep you up for a few days. Jeb, please re-tell your dream."

Once again, Jebidiah recounted what he could of his dream. Surprisingly it was full of detail. Normally, he might remember some of a dream when he woke from sleep, but it often faded to nothing shortly after unless he made a note of it on paper. The events of this dream were still as clear as any long-term memory.

When he finished, both Lady Fields and Master Standing started asking questions at the same time, both with equally troubled expressions.

"My friends, please." The princess shut down the questions quickly "I understand the surprise, but Iona, I would hear your thoughts first."

"Thank you, Your Highness. Jebidiah, you are absolutely certain about those names." When he nodded his agreement she continued. "Axteus is not one of the Known but not for lack of trying. There is an established religion of sorts, but understanding them is like studying a pack of wet cats with a dog thrown in. We have determined Axteus represents at minimum Illusion and Trickery and most likely stands in opposition to Comlain. It would explain the changing of appearance and behavior. Lashan is patron of the Orcs and that may mean another Orc rising. I'm sorry to question again, but we need absolute certainty here. You never heard of Axteus before or what they represent?"

"It's possible." answered Jebidiah "but I have what I consider to be excellent recall and that is not a Divine I remember."

"I appreciate your honesty, Jebidiah. Master Standing," Fields' voice softened almost as if pleading. "George, could the other really be Weldon? If so, the gnome comment may be the best source of confirmation we will have for the rumor's veracity."

Master Standing stopped his writing and considered before answering "Her Highness grew out of her prankster days many years ago, Iona, and if this is a prank, it is the most elaborate one I have been privy to. I have to rely on one of the basic axioms of Magic here: 'Nothing is impossible just highly improbable.'" I am inclined to agree that it actually was Weldon and that troubles me to no end."

Iona took a pause then faced Jebidiah who looked lost and overwhelmed. "In 233 Weldon Basset ascended to take the position of Comlain amongst the Divine, Divinity of Competition, Magic, and Vengeance. Axteus and Comlain reaching out to you, if they really are in opposition, is a serious sign we cannot ignore. This is the second time the Eight were mentioned with regards to you; that bears further investigation. If Comlain is involved perhaps Heather can reach out to her Divine for some guidance." She looked over to George again and raised an eyebrow in a non-vocal question.

"I will begin having my Artificers comb through the records for any collaborative information. Jebidiah, it is my understanding you have already taken your Talent seriously and are quite studious with a good ability to apply your knowledge you gain. As head Artificer and Master Chronicler for the Keep, I am granting you unrestricted access to the archives as well. You will have the greatest need to research the background information involved."

A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. "Enter." the Princess called and a servant girl in a simple gray cotton dress brought in a tray with sandwiches, fruit, glassware, and several bottles of wine. "Forgive me Your Highness, I was uncertain what would be needed. I brought a variety."

"You have done well. You may go." answered the princess, and the servant backed out of the room.

With food in sight, Jebidiah's stomach emitted a loud gurgle, which made the others smile. "Come Masters, I think we have disturbed Jebidiah enough for the evening. We all have work to do while he eats. Jebidiah, Dana, I will call on you tomorrow. Good evening and rest well." With that, everyone left Jebidiah and the girls alone, shutting the door.

"Welp." Jebidiah said shortly after "that was interesting. There's plenty here for everyone." He picked up a sandwich and started eating.

"I hope that's not your bed Jeb because I am not getting bread crumbs all over my skin." Tenner said which made Dana snort.

"Wait. Wait. That's an option?" Joy quickly blurted.

"There are other beds in here, you know." Dana added as she got up to grab a sandwich as well. "Might as well use this one as the table. We have servants here to clean up the mess."

"Mmph, whaff haff been going on whileff I waff out." Jebidiah mumbled around his sandwich.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, or I'll put it to other uses." answered Dana. "The rest of us have started training with our advisers. The various guild masters stopped by with diviners last tenday to get an idea of what specializations we may be interested in. Stephanie warned me I need to start looking around for more group members to bond with that have Talents to support what we already represent. One thing that bothers me is she made it seem like Stern would not be part of the equation when she suggested at least two other Warriors."

"With my Talent mix I don't see me with any warrior specialization outside of the Ranger School and either Circle of Stars or Wildfire, the diviners had trouble reading any of us. Probably because of your influence. Speaking of, Stephanie was vague to the point of forcibly changing the subject when your future plans were brought up. I had figured it was because you were an unknown being in a coma and all but now I have no idea."

"The diviners were certain I would end up in the School of Evocation so there's that." Tenner broke in. "It sounds like Charlene will lean towards the School of either Conjuration or Abjuration with Arcane Trickster thrown in because of her Talent mix. Stern's divination sounded like he would lack a specialization. I would say that was unusual but I've had to reconsider my definition for unusual."

Joy plopped down and proceeded to pour herself a very full glass of wine then rapidly said. "Polly and I have begun learning our logistics training so we can support the group. Dana, they told me you would be stuck with the two of us so Polly and I need to begin etiquette training which is awesome but Polly told me when she asked the artificer he said something about not having met the third Artificer and I only know of Jeb but that can't be right, right? I mean it can't be correct, right? Or is it right, correct?"

"Was that a single sentence?" Jeb asked, laughing as he poured his own wine.

"How about this?" Dana ignored the question as she finished her sandwich. "Let's just chill for a while and enjoy being together for as long as we can. If they split us up they will but I will fight to keep Jeb with us in some fashion." She grabbed the opened bottle of wine, put it to her lips and took a long pull. "I've spent too much time trying to train him to have someone else benefit." The response was not what Jebidiah expected from Dana and her aggressive nature. Always with the direct approach, she normally was the first to start knocking heads to solve a problem.

The rest of the sandwiches and wine quickly disappeared and everyone chatted about anything other than what was on their minds, searching for some normalcy. Neither Joy nor Tenner had a head for wine though, quickly getting goofy and dancing provocatively before Joy 'accidentally' lost her balance pulling Tenner along with her onto a bed. Their attempts to untangle and get back up quickly devolved into a full make out session which Jeb and Dana watched in amusement.

"They are pretty good at that, aren't they?" Dana commented. Jeb leaned over to kiss her as an answer. Filled with a sudden, urgent need she replied by pressing into Jeb with a long soul searing passionate kiss and embrace of her own. When their kiss finished and they each broke for air, Jeb asked "Where did that come from?" at the same time that Joy loudly slurred "Fuck, that was fucking hot as fuck."

Jeb and Dana looked back over to see Joy and Tenner had stopped making out to watch them. Tenner added in her thoughts. "That was one of the most intense things I have seen. Who do I need to kill to get one?"

"We may have to figure out who to kill to keep him." Dana answered a little too seriously for Jeb's liking. Tenner, in an equally unnerving serious tone, responded. "I'm game if you are."

Joy thankfully broke up that train of thought by rolling on her back and maneuvering her head off the side of the bed facing Jebidiah. She drunkenly slurred "Jeh-eeeeehb I need a dick in my mouth!" Tenner rolled her eyes in amusement then sat up, leaned over to hike up Joy's skirt enough to allow her to get her head fully in Joy's crotch.

"Game on?" Jebidiah asked Dana who replied by standing up and shedding her clothes. He followed her lead shedding his tunic and walked to where Joy lay. At the sight of his approach she giggled, closed her eyes, opened her mouth widely with her tongue sticking out. Jeb knelt down on his knees, lined his hardening cock up with her mouth and began pushing forward. For as small as Joy was, she possessed a rather large mouth. She easily accommodated his girth and clamped her lips around him as he slowly began to pump in and out. Dana knelt beside him so she could spread Tenner's legs open, pull her panties aside, and insert a couple fingers. A moan escaped Tenner's mouth as the licking sounds she was producing grew louder.

By now Jebidiah had enough saliva on his cock that allowed him to push into Joy's throat which visibly bulged on each thrust. Dana leaned forward to start lapping at Tenner as she continued her finger assault. This left Dana's ass exposed and Jeb reached beside him to start fingering Dana's sopping pussy. It started a chain reaction where Dana picked up the pace on Tenner who picked up the pace on Joy who lost concentration as she neared orgasm. Jeb's thrusts began to cause Joy's mouth to make a satisfying 'glug glug' sound as she gave in to just being used.

Jeb inserted a second then third finger to increase the pressure on Dana's pussy letting his pinky slide along her slit along with the three inside her. From this angle he couldn't really figure out how to include running a fingertip around her sphincter. So he finally thought, fuck it, pulled out the top most of his three fingers lined up and pushed it straight into her ass while keeping the bottom two in her pussy. Joy, who had been trying to watch his efforts with Dana, widened her eyes and leaned back a little more to get a better view.

Dana literally burst. A small amount of liquid squirted out as she came. Tenner's clit, that Dana was currently sucking on, received the full force of Dana's scream which set off her own orgasm. The sight of Dana's orgasm and the feel of Tenner locking up was enough to bring on Joy's own orgasm in a cascading effect.

When Joy had turned her head slightly it gave Jeb an even straighter shot into her throat where he held himself for a couple seconds to revel in the feeling. It was during that pause, buried to the hilt in her throat, that Joy's orgasm caused her to start trying to swallow Jebidiah in a failed attempt to clear her throat for a scream. The swallowing motions were too much and Jebidiah began shooting off.

In his bliss Jeb lost track of time until Joy started slapping his thighs and he pulled out, then he pulled his fingers out of Dana as well. Joy was the first to speak, hoarsely panting "I want to try that."

"What?" Jeb asked.

"My ass. I want to see what it would feel like for you to finger my ass. Oh wait, can you fuck my ass? Is that allowed? I mean everyone's mouth is fair game, you can't get pregnant that way. Your ass should be fair game as well and if Dana came right away from that I want to try it." Nobody had an answer. Nobody was in much shape for trying to reason it out either. "Question for another day." Dana said. "I need sleep."

Dana and Jeb crashed in a bed, while Joy and Tenner stayed in theirs. Everyone avoided the breadcrumbs.

In the morning, they all showered and refreshed themselves. Jebidiah was released from the infirmary, and the four went in search of the rest of their podmates.

The Lower Keep was a large structure situated in the middle of the Tonstar River, several hundred feet before the Falls went tumbling down into Tonstar Bay. The island itself was a structure left behind by the ancients. Its material was sturdier than stone or steel, burrowing into the river basin almost a hundred feet down. It contained rooms and corridors laid out in a very neat and orderly manner, serving as some form of administrative center for the ancients. However, there were no clues left for what that purpose was. The top surface was flat and smooth to a degree that modern stone masonry could not accomplish. It was also impervious to any normal physical damage. It took many tries for the Wizard's Guild to carve the current entryways.

The Upper Keep was added above the Lower by Thadius I and then expanded upon by further generations. Massive causeways replaced the first version of the bridges to both shores, one heading to the North-West side and the other to the opposite South-Eastern side. Since then, a large portion of the city's shops, smithies, and taverns were built to line the causeways, creating the main business district for Tonstar City. Onto the North-East edge of the island, the City Docks had been added, handling the river barge traffic.

The Lower Keep is where the City's administration worked, and in some cases lived. This lower structure is also where Jeb's pod was housed. The foursome found their friends in the dormitory level's dining area. The reunion was welcome but short. The room quickly filled with others, and the noise level made conversation, especially in lowered voices, difficult. Everyone had a schedule already except for Jebidiah, so when the meal was finished, Jebidiah ventured on his own to locate Master Standing and hopefully where he fit in.

He wandered the halls, asking for directions as he went until he finally found Master Standing's office. As one of Dana's podmates, he had previously spent a lot of time in the Lower Keep but never had the opportunity to meet with the Master Chronicler before. Standing's assistant sent him in, and Jeb sat on a chair opposite Standing's desk. Standing had the same sort of outfit that he was wearing last night, and Jebidiah idly wondered if he had slept last night or if he was wearing the same clothes after an all-nighter.

"So," Standing began, "have you noticed any differences within yourself or others since you woke yesterday? Any pains, confusion, impairments, memory loss, any other unusual aspects?"

"Now that you mention it, yes," Jeb answered. "I think something may be going on with my vision, but it's hard to say exactly what. I can see fine, but when I walk through the hallways, it is almost as if there's a red tint on the floors like someone spread a very fine layer of dust everywhere. The lights are brighter as well but a little muted at the same time, like someone cast a Light cantrip on the inside of glass globes instead of the outside of stone ones. It is not an issue, just enough for me to take notice when I think about it."

"That is unusual," Standing said with a trace of concern in his voice. "We'll have a healer scry for any issues when you are free. For now, I need you to find a cubicle and chronicle what you recall from your Awakening. Start at the beginning of the tenday, from when you arrived at the Changing Station and continue on until you woke up last night. Leave nothing out even if the memory is questionable. Just denote if you are unsure about a detail. It is imperative we have all the facts to help the investigation."

"Would it be possible to visit Crystal?" Jeb asked hopefully.

Master Standing sat further back into his chair and rubbed his chin in thought. "I believe so. We'll need the Princess' approval, of course, but I will recommend allowing you to see her. She is a large complex piece of your puzzle. It may be better to find where she fits now before circumstances dictate future action."

Jeb decided to take a stab at more information. "Master, my podmates and I are concerned about where our future together lies. Do you have any guidance to offer?"

"Not at this time, no. Future plans will become clearer as we gain more information. For now, just chronicle your memories."

"Of course. Thank you, Master Standing." Jeb excused himself and left.

He was directed to an empty cubicle, given paper and a stylus, and began to work. Putting everything down on paper helped clear his head. He could tell his brain was starting up some new logic flows, hopefully about the Tally. He was never quite sure at any given moment what he was thinking about, just that he was thinking of something.

On another sheet of paper, he listed out subjects of interest to follow up on. He wasn't a note-taker like many he knew. Things he heard tended to stick in his head for later use, but he was a huge fan of lists. Working on a list represented accomplishing goals, and regardless of how large any given task was, breaking it into smaller tasks in a list and crossing each off gave a sense of accomplishment and purpose.

During his primary schooling, his class once took a trip to the Keep Calculators to show a possible Artificer career. They had been ushered into a large central room in the Lower Keep with rows of doors along every side. Inside the room there were row upon row of small wooden desks separated by short screens so that each seated person could look over at the person next to them but not see the other's desktop, teasing privacy. Every desk had reams of paper stacked somewhere on it, two little trays stacked on top of each other with individual pieces of paper in each, and an ornate abacus along the back of the desk against its screening wall. As they watched, younger boys and girls would run out with a sheaf of paper in their hands stopping at random desks and place a paper in the top tray of the desk and collect the papers in the bottom tray.