Silvertree Chronicles Bk. 12

There are many races here, it would be a terrible waste of space otherwise. Not many hostiles as it is large and populations are relatively small. None as capable as our people. Your approach to the forge was sound.

Your statement concerning elven Houses was unexpected but we could see what you were doing. Breaking them down to let them rebuild and know the money and names of the past are in the past. Using the tree as proof of that was quite clever."

Brycen looked at her, "I did not ask him, because he was not allowed to talk about things, Charlus mentioned a contract with House Silvertree?"

She nodded, "Yes. The one you know of from the journal as Karti'Ros. Promised a family of servitude and champions. He delivered. To keep the house from dying. The wording of his original dying request was 'as long as House Silvertree exists in this world.' Well, the House no longer exists in that world. Based on your statement it does not exist here."

Brycen smiled, "The Silvertree family name is still good. I am of 'house whatever and I am entitled' had to stop. Do you disagree?"

She smiled, "No, I do not. Your comments on the gold elves were right on point. They had fallen into a level of decadence that removed many useful skills from them. They fell into corruption in far larger numbers. Many tried to flee on their own via gates, it didn't go well for them.

Not to be discussed as the Goldeagle knows already. He lost his own children in the conflicts and has no heir. Some tried to escape with the others and died. Nolla dealt with a lot of that corruption, but so did many other champions.

They will learn and adapt...hopefully. You tossed down the gauntlet on them. Elder Goldeagle flat out told them you were right. Their names were not going to buy them anything here. Their actions would. He is trying to spend his remaining days to get them to listen. He has years yet, but not many."

Brycen looked at her, "The fusion of Nolla was planned?"

She smiled, "No, she was the only Moon blade to have the stone survive while the blade was destroyed. We made the fusion happen because of how strong she was. She was so determined to serve the next champion.

In the face of all that pain of holding the gate herself on that side when the other blades began to fail, It was her and the Silvertree holding it together. She was alone at that point and you saved her spirit with your actions, she would have been lost. She knows this now.

She may end up in the hands of another champion centuries from now. She is nearly indestructible in the new sword you had crafted. It would take an extremely powerful sundering weapon to bring her down. None of that category currently exists here.

We made her that horrid weapon when we used that magic on her, but we had no choice. She had the right skills set already. That just enhanced them and added the third class. She would have been a psion duelist.

Her sister would have been a psion bard. Both with the incredible memory. Neither would have been slated to be a seductress assassin, we do not normally go that route. Especially with a champion. I had to guide her to become that and learned much more about myself from that effort. I worried she would kill herself with the way I was forced to push her.

Instead, she redefined herself and held on for over 7 centuries. She was a stronger woman than I expected. It caused me to spend time re-evaluating every female champion I have dealt with. To make some much-needed changes to me for actions on other worlds that we watch over.

We needed all of those skills in one champion, to save all of the elven people in that world. She did not know it at the time but every elven life on that world rested on her shoulders. If she had failed, we would have lost them all.

If you had failed, the same would have happened. When she made the request to take over as the spirit of the blade we saw the wisdom in doing that. Putting one so strong and who walked that path in place to serve as your advisor.

For when we could not speak with you was seen as a very good idea. We got that part right. We had made her a weapon and she became the embodiment of that weapon when she took over. Then again when the Nolla Blade was fused, yet again.

The same magic that created her spirit, created the new blade. We found it ironic, but she embraced the new role as she only saw herself as the weapon who cared about our people as a whole. A part of her we figured would have gotten lost in the fusion aspect that she refused to relinquish. She just lost the ability to see through your eyes."

Brycen sighed, "Will you ever recreate the Moon Blades?"

She nodded, "When the time comes far into the future the forge is accessible to us. You should know you are the richest one here. Not from gold, others have more gold. From that bag of stones, you carry around from Eldar and every activation ceremony except the last one.

Nova knew of the bag and wanted them to be spread about to others. Those Moon Stones do not exist here. Not yet anyway. Except what you have in that bag. You are the only one to bring any of them; not attached to something anyway. That makes them the rarest stone here."

Brycen chuckled, "Then I should throw a few under the falls and see if they multiply eventually. I was not seeking wealth or to be rich. I wanted to put an end to hoarding gold like we were all dragons and obsessive."

She laughed, "The basic pieces for them to form exist here they are just not together here. That will change. It takes heat, not water. Gold will return, but not for a long time. The population will have to grow for all the races to make that common enough to be of value."

Brycen looked at her, "My finding this world at this time was a part of your plan? Over 350 years on this search to find this place?"

She shook her head, "No. You had to find them a world, we could not guide you to one directly. You came close a few times but found the hidden issues. From being unable to communicate with our people. To the more exotic, like the one with earth elementals walking the surface and changing the landscape at random. Or the one that was draining magic from you.

That would have been disastrous and you barely escaped it. Those are things you could not pick up with Gods' Eyes. Your disease detection did not fail. A God of that world did not like our presence or magic. You did not fail us there. You never failed us.

Like Eldar, you were the reluctant champion. Going so far as to have the Master Enchanter force you to claim the sword. That was not the way we wanted that to occur but we realize by silencing her she felt forced to act and in the process, she pissed you off. It took time, but you adapted."

Brycen sighed, "What are you doing with draconic magic?"

She smiled, "Some we are storing away; like that necromancy spell and Gods Lock. Some we will adopt into our own mythic magic and others we do not see a need for them."

Brycen smiled, "What of Charlus?"

She laughed, "He passed on as he expected but now feels better about himself for being remembered again for his enchanting. To provide his 'reformed' mindset if you will to Nolla as well. Also teaching you about traveling through a communication crystal.

Something you will try and teach others but will have mixed results. Some may end up halfway to them. Others will simply disappear into a rock formation. The only ones who can do it for certain are members who originated from House Silvertree, from Charlus's offspring.

Some married or had children for other houses. All Blade Wielder houses long ago had at least one branch but not all of them survived. None of the Gold elves, Snow Elves, or wood elves have it after the last set of conflicts. They lost many.

Others will try. Humans will not be doing magic here for a millennium or longer, if ever. The Gods here were warned about human nature and necromancy destroying the world. Any human mage who came through was stripped of magical ability."

Brycen nodded, "We have had our own who have messed with necromancy."

She sighed, "Nothing to the scale that arose at the end, even before the Nova. Novella was smart about wanting to get rid of the base. She told us how she wanted to do it. We knew what was coming. It bought more time for you to find this place.

To save more of our people as the King ignored her plea, Not Monnius her lover but the son who took over. He was focused on the eleven people and did not want to look at the greater world. He had focused strictly on the Elves. That brought the dwarves back to having a 'King' again.

We gave her our blessing and the warning with detailed instructions. As the sword would be active and unable to provide them for a long time. We then sped up its movement to arrive on time. Our power is based upon faith.

More so now with all of the destroyed relics, we have only 2 remains, the flute survived as well as the Nolla Blade. A 3rd will come when the tree regrows, more powerful than before, but not tied to a family. To the people.

We have half the population but they are very devoted to faith right now which makes us stronger than before. The population is 1.5x larger than when Eldar took up the sword. At one point, it was 7x larger when Charlus was Champion.

He gave them the room to expand, just as you have. It will be again, for many species of elves. Not all. They have seen what hell is like. We have you to thank for making this happen, in finding this segment of our population a new world. That and your ancestors who carried that blade and burden before you."

Brycen shook his head, "What the plane of shadows is like. I can still feel them clawing at me. Like the nightmare, I had before claiming the sword. I did not do this alone."

She nodded, "That memory will fade but slowly. That magma world you found was closer to the hells. The plain of shadow will consume our former world. The stronger entities will survive in the plane. The weaker ones will fade and be killed.

The chromatics and Draco-liches taught the humans the necromancy and could not control them once they did. Only one remained and was bound to a necromancer gone lich. That did not please null at all."

Brycen looked at her, "How do you know? I thought you had issues reading dragons?"

She nodded, "Yes, but Gods' Eyes could track them and we watched them evolve. They were not champions and that system was more powerful than the dragons had. Lerian did wonders in crafting that. Null will be happy to see the world get consumed but angered that his creation got bound. We heard that from Bahamut.

He left completely when the last of the faithful metallics passed. While Nova was still alive. He has dragons in other worlds to watch over. Some worlds we share. The metallics you saw he may have written off. He might have seen or heard about the exchange. We might have mentioned it to him through a world we share."

Brycen looked at her, "Are dragons here?"

She smiled, "There are some here. Not metallics or chromatics. More like the neutrals but not the gemstone dragons. None close at the moment. They know of our arrival. They are not interested in us and there are only a few.

One day they will make themselves known. The local non-dragon Gods block them from teaching any magic to the people. They are magically dead as are the humans now.

Except for us and the few dragons here. The gnomes, centaurs, and halflings to a lesser extent. They have no mythic here and not many will become mages. 1 in 100 maybe. All of the races have divine magic except for the humans.

The Gods want to see them prove themselves here first. Those that abandoned you after that long journey made them even warier of humans and any form of magic. You are not allowed to share that information, on magic in other races."

Brycen nodded and sighed, "What about the two ships we pulled in. Did you have a hand in their destruction?"

She chuckled, "They were well on their way to that, and once they saw what happened in their original worlds; the local Gods wanted nothing to do with them. Not enough to make a species and only enough to be a pest. Getting rid of them was easier for them."

Brycen looked at her, "Every discussion in the journals with you made it sound like these talks were shorter."

She nodded, "They were, but this will be the last direct contact we will have for quite a while. While this conversation is also the only true 2-way communication we have had or will likely have again before you pass.

Besides, we have things to do and people to watch. There is another group of elven like creatures in this world. I will not tell you where. They have no Gods, no magic, and are closer to wild elves. A group you were unable to save, their numbers never growing very high on that world as humanities encroachment occurred. They fought until the end and refused to listen, even to us."

Brycen looked at her, "I would like to ask a favor. Make all of our people fertile. I know Vittra was disappointed when she lost hers. At least for a couple of generations. Nolla was saddened that that ability got lost in her absence, even from the Psions."

She laughed, "Aerdrie Faenya likes you for saying that. We will add it to the heal spell. To fix the fertility; if they suffered it from injury. She has been after us to do it since Nova did it through psionics. It will not help Vittra because of age. Only a divine hand can do that. I did it once for Eagle-eye. She was a lust-filled one but a good mother and wife to her husband who liked the open relationship. She only ever had Sharlo's children.

You are still fertile and will be until you die. Your wife is bringing you 6 additions. They are all good matches. Not all can bear children but they will all enjoy your company. We ensured that would be the case. We owed you that much for all you did and all that you suffered.

We will fix Vittra's fertility for you as well. Just as I did for Eagle-eye. Hers we are doing in her sleep. she suffered alongside you with the loss of the other 5 wives and kept you focused and loved. Only for a few pregnancies though. We are still conserving our strength."

Brycen looked at her, "You have any other tasks for me? In the champion area?"

She laughed, "You are still our last champion of this era. We are sending Eldar Goldeagle the information on a new calendar and adjusting the clock for longer days. It will be a 24-hour day, 13 instead of 12 months, and month change from 36 days to 27 days. The new month goes after Deca and before Jana of the new year.

The month is Char for Charlus. You ensured his role was key to the success of saving the people. Three champions played their parts with Nova doing hers from within the sword. This is the beginning of a new year starting as of a few hours ago.

Jana 1st year 1 Age of Silvertree. The age of adulthood goes to 74. Still 18 for a human. The lifespan will just have to be recalculated by those who live a full life here. The change deals with the long hours and fewer days in a year. Enough to affect the elven age of maturity but not humans.

Our dwarven friend is still thinking about that matter but agreed to the calendar. The Gnomes and halfling gods sent their champions through the gate as their vessels. Having faith that you would complete your mission given your family history of successes."

Brycen shook his head, "Have to recalculate everyone's birthdate."

She nodded, "For those not born here that is true. If you wish to go to the trouble. Simpler for the adults to keep their birth months and if they were born after the 27th that you celebrate it on the 27th.

Your age does not change as you still had those years under the previous calendar. As to your previous question. Continue to lead by example. Fuck and make love to have many more children. You have done enough to save the people. Your family has done enough over many millennia. Just live well. Wake up and start the rest of your life with a lot less burden."

Epilogue

Jana 4th 1, Age of Silvertree

Vittra did not disappoint. At the age of 526, Brycen married 6 more wives; 2 who just became adults, 2 on the cusp of the end of their fertile years, and 2 more who were just over 500 years old and widowed in the wars. He lived to be 727 years old. Long enough to add another 44 children to his list of 21, including 7 more from Vittra.

He took 3 virgins that night and fucked and made love to all 7 of them 5 times each over the first 24 hours. He allowed them each to do only 1 blowjob on him before he started with each wife. Vittra took them all in her well worn and re-broken-in pussy and she knew something was up with him.

All 6 new wives liked and were capable of anal sex. He still had a large supply of lube in stock and he still had bottles available after his passing. The gnomes worked to bring back production of their sex trade slowly, and that was one of the first 'top 10 items' they worked on getting into production, but not before he passed.

Vittra checked and he had swapped out a ring for a medium constitution ring, 'for nights like this.' He had promised her he would, but had never worn it before now, just for her. He kept his word when she brought 6 more home, he made sure they knew he would be ready to satisfy them all at a moment's notice. She smiled at him for that long-held surprise.

The lady of Dreams just chuckled to herself as she watched him do it knowing they would be talking for days about one hell of a wedding night that transcended into the following day. After which he used it once a month for the rest of his life, minimum. Depending on how horny the wives got.

Five children preceded him in death, including Kinna, who died just weeks before the gate became operational. She tried to create a modified shield working on the south end of the city to slow their progress. Her body was recovered by her husband who ensured she had a wizard's funeral and her ashes made it to the new world.

Brycen left his sword and armor to his eldest; with instructions that it go to his youngest child when they became of age in honor of Kinna, the other Master Enchanter and unsung hero of the people's move to this new world.

His son honored his father's request with the sword and armor following together down that child's line to the youngest adult. The village was a town within the first year. A moon elf city before Brycen passed; complete with a wizard's tower.

The Silvertree library was housed in the new Academy. One whole section has the journals for all of the Moon Blade Wielders' historically relevant history. Many secrets of the old Kingdom finally revealed to the masses.

The Silvertrees took off as did the surrounding trees; growing hundreds of feet up and 60-90 feet thick. The great Silvertree he planted was eternal as long as the elves as a whole lived in this world. It grew to be 10 times the size of the original tree.

The falls were uncharacteristically quiet. The only one who ever heard them roar were the Gods and Brycen that first night. From the magic left behind, they became known as the Tranquil Falls, and the name of the town was derived from it at Brycen's request. Brycen never commented on the thunder of the falls to anyone.

Goldeagle died 3 years after the arrival from failing health due to age. His position on the council left Moon Eye from the former council as the representative. The gold-elves were not happy about that change. Months later the gold-elves relocated to the other side of the mountains.

For almost 5 centuries they were not heard from. They tried to establish a city but only managed a town because of the low population and fertility. They fell into 'house' civil war. Less than 30 survived the trip back to Quatarsia. All over the age of conception or infertile from birth. The gods' wrath for their failure was speculated to be the cause.