Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Krivax was rendered speechless as he stared dumbly at the Vizier. He had expected that Hadix would show an interest in news of people from a different continent, but he had not expected the Vizier to brazenly teleport into his temporary home. He had not been prepared for such an intense reaction from the normally aloof Hadix.

Krivax glanced worriedly at the doorway, half expecting Elder Wumni to come running in and start berating the Vizier for entering the village uninvited. Understanding his concern, Masruk quickly moved closer to the entrance and positioned himself so that nobody could come in without pushing him aside.

Cease your worrying, Hadix said dismissively, one arm waving through the air and trailing arcane energy. I have already placed privacy wards that will ensure we remain undisturbed. Now, repeat everything you have told me.

Seeing no other option, Krivax once again told the Vizier everything that Wumni had heard about the foreigners from lands across the sea. While he did, the Vizier stared at him with an intense focus that made Krivax feel distinctly uncomfortable. For as long as he has known the Vizier, he has always given off a feeling of disinterest in nearly everything not related to his own studies, so his current focus seemed distinctly out of character.

When Krivax was done talking, the Vizier continued to stare at him silently for a few moments before speaking.

From now on, finding evidence to support or disprove these claims is your highest priority, said Hadix, more serious than Krivax had ever seen him. This is more important than your shellfish or the tuskarrs shamanism or your desire to make friends with the surface races. If you fail to find this evidence then I will find it myself, and I doubt the tuskarr will be as welcoming anymore when I am done. Do you understand?

Yes, Vizier Hadix. I understand, said Krivax. It was fortunate that this was already his highest priority because he could tell that the Vizier would not accept any other answer.

Good, said Hadix. After Krivax signaled his acquiescence the Vizier relaxed significantly. He even decided to walk over to one of the baskets of shellfish sitting in the corner of the house and pick it up with a look of faint curiosity. Go ahead and ask your questions, Initiate.

Krivax calmed down as the Vizier seemed to relax. If Hadix was inviting him to ask, then he didnt see a need to hold back.

Yes, Vizier. Why did you decide to come here personally? Krivax asked hesitantly. Why not simply tell me this through the scrying crystal?

Hmph. I suppose my reaction must seem disproportionate to you, said Hadix as he picked up one of the shrimp and examined it. You are young, and there are many things about this world you do not yet know and I cannot yet tell you.

The Vizier bit into shrimp and his expression turned into one of pleasant surprise before quickly fading back into its usual stoicism.

I decided to come here for three reasons, Hadix continued. First, I wanted to be here in person as you retold me the shamans words. Second, I wanted to impress upon you the seriousness of the situation.

Krivax watched as the Vizier cracked open a lobster with one of his hands and started to pick apart its insides.

And the third? Krivax asked cautiously.

"I wanted to bring you this," said Hadix. The Vizier idly pulled out a small black and gold figurine that was shaped like a spider from a small spatial bag tied to his robe with one of his back arms. Krivax could easily feel the magic it radiated. "This tool will allow you to telepathically control a few of the non-sapient skitters or flyers, while also allowing you to control larger groups of more common insects and arachnids if the need arises."

Krivax looked at the enchanted figurine in disbelief. He knew nerubians had a natural ability to control and dominate non-sapient spiders, bugs, and the like, but unless you were a Spiderlord that was usually on the small scale. He had heard of these things before, but he had never seen one in person. As far as he knew, only the higher castes would possess these magical artifacts, so Krivax was immediately suspicious of Hadix's motivations for giving him one.

Still, it wasn't as if he could say no, so Krivax hesitantly took the figurine and stored it in his own spatial bag. There would be time to examine it later when there wasn't a Vizier standing right in front of him.

"Thank you, Vizier," Krivax said while bowing low in an expression of gratitude. "But if I may ask, why have you chosen to give this to me?"

"That's simple. Because your time has significantly grown in value and your safety has become more important to me," Hadix said matter of factly. "The skitters and flyers will not only offer you additional protection but they can also be used to transfer trading goods between Kilah'Kuk and this village. I want you to gather evidence, not waste time acting as a courier."

That made sense to Krivax, even if he was still suspicious of the Vizier's intense interest.

"I understand, said Krivax. While Hadix was hereand since he was already eating ithe might as well get the Vizier's opinion on the shellfish. On the topic of the shellfish, do you believe they will be popular as a long-term trading good, Vizier?

Hadix paused as he was lifting a crawfish to his mandibles. They are adequate, Initiate. I believe these shellfish will be popular amongst the citys leadership. I suspect the funding our Division will receive will increase significantly as a result. Well done.

Given how much it looks like youre enjoying them, I think theyre a little more than adequate

If there is nothing else, then I will make my departure, said Hadix. I will arrange for the skitters and flyers to be sent to your location. Inform the tuskarr before they arrive. It would be a waste if they were needlessly killed.

Without waiting for a response, the Vizier disappeared in a flash of violet light.

Once the light faded and the room became quiet, Krivax only had to spend a few moments thinking about their conversation before he reached an obvious conclusion.

Vizier Hadix was hiding something.

Krivax had known the Vizier for over a year and in all that time he had never seen Hadix show this level of interest in anything. He often wondered why the mage was assigned to the Surface World Research Division when he never revealed any actual interest in the surface.

Hadix quickly told the Seer everything that he knew about the possibility that other portions of the supercontinent of the old world had survived the Sundering. Once he was done speaking, Hadix could see the concern he felt reflected in Ixits expression as the Seer agreed to use his magic in an attempt to divine the truth.

Using magic in an attempt to see the future or discover secrets wasmore often than notextremely unreliable. Not only were there very few people with the necessary talent, but there were simply too many complications inherent to such magic. The future itself was uncertain and trying to discern the more likely possibilities from the infinite timeways was a skill that required a lifetime to hone. It did not help that even if a Seer could accurately divine the future, the information they received was not always useful or only expressed in a cryptic manner.

Every Seer in Azjol-Nerub had received the same visions of a future in which a tide of death swept over their kingdom, but what were they supposed to do with that information?

Was that tide of death the result of a plague? Was it the result of a civil war? The reawakening of the vrykul?

Preparations had been made for a number of possibilities, but without knowing specifically what they were preparing for there was very little that they could do.

Fortunately, Hadix hopes that Ixit would be able to give him more useful information. Not only was Ixit the greatest Seer of his generation, but the information he was looking for was the kind of information Seers excelled at finding.

If the claims made by the tuskarr shaman were true, then the future had likely changed significantly the moment Initiate Krivax had brought the matter to Hadixs attention. If Azjol-Nerub were to discover the existence of lands beyond the sea, then the future consequences of that should be large enough for Ixit to uncover.

Especially since the Seer knew exactly what to look for.

Hadix waited patiently as Ixit attempted to divine knowledge from the indeterminate future. From an outside perspective, watching the Seer quietly mutter to himself for several minutes was rather uneventful.

When the Seer finished his divination and turned his attention back to Hadix, his expression was solemn.

I foresee a period of great political upheaval and an era of change in our kingdoms future, said Ixit.

Hadix and Ixit both remained silent for several moments as they allowed the implications of that to sink in.

How could we have possibly missed this? asked Hadix in disbelief.

You know how insular and stagnant the leadership in the capital is, Ixit said wearily. The village of tuskarr who have supposedly met with people from across the sea is in Dragonblight. Its not surprising that this would escape their notice.

I know better than anyone how useless those self-important fools are, Hadix said derisively. Im not asking how they missed this. Im asking how we did.

Ixit was silent for several moments before he responded. The Orders observation of the surface races has only ever been conducted with the intent of searching for the Old Ones influence. If we didnt find anything, then I suspect we simply moved on without looking any deeper.

Well, that was obviously a mistake, Hadix said bluntly.

There is still some chance its not true, said Ixit, sounding as if even he did not believe his own words.

I doubt it.

While Seers were not always reliable, this was already enough to convince Hadix of the shamans claims, even if he recognized it would not be enough to convince the kingdoms leadership. They would no doubt care little for the words of a primitive shaman from a lesser race, and they would likely also dismiss the findings of the Seer.

Azjol-Nerub took great pride in being the most advanced civilization in the world, but how could they continue to make such claims if they didnt even know what else existed in it? There would be many who would wish to dismiss the existence of lands across the sea and continue to believe that only their land was what was left after the Great Sundering.

However, while Hadix did look down on the more primitive races, he was wise enough to recognize that primitive was not the same as stupid. The tuskarr possessed the most significant maritime tradition of the known surface races; the idea that someone could have fooled them into believing in such a lie was far-fetched.

There was also simply no perceivable motivation for somebody to tell such a story if it was not true.

Hadix and Ixit spent the next hour discussing what they should do with this information. Eventually, they both decided that it would be best for them to acquire stronger evidence before they could bring this to the Order or the kingdoms leadership.

Ixit agreed to send a few flyers to surveil the tuskarr in Dragonblight.

Once they were done, Hadix returned the scrying crystal to his secret alcove and allowed himself to take a moment to come to terms with the implications of what he had learned.

All of his instincts were telling him that the lands across the sea existed.

If they did, then that meant the prisons of the other Old Ones likely still existed as well and were potentially accessible to any mortal who finds them.

If that were to be the case, then that would change everything.