107 Chapter One Hundred and Seven – Losing That Religion… (1/2)
”No. Their churches, religions, the flow of mortal faith and belief. A corrupt religion is one that needs to be cleansed. An alien one must be purged. False gods, worship of things outside Creation, lies spread as true words… the Light and Scepter is there to keep faith true, be it devoted to good or evil. They will purge true corruption in the ranks of Skulos' own as readily as false lawyers claiming to do the work of Harse, or shysters claiming they do the work of Tiirith as they scam and steal from their audience.
”They extinguish religions and police the influence of gods here. They don't walk up to gods and pick a fight. They are Voids… religions just go away, or are purified, around them.” Briggs' hand darted out, snipped off a passing grass tip, and negligently put it in his mouth to chew on. Obviously, their breakneck pace didn't bother him at all.
”So… someone who thought they were a Paladin and was committing sins in the guise of doing what is best for all?” Estemar watched a small waterfall, and the startled fox drinking at it, zip by, there and gone.
”Off him without a second thought,” Briggs confirmed.
”I imagine that many in such Churches loathe him tremendously.” Estemar shook his head at the strange wonder of it. A Void who no god could hear, judging their religions… as silent as the forest giants towering around them…
”Ya think? Some outsider telling you that what you believe in is wrong and killing you for it? Or everyone in your cult, sect, order, branch, fraternity, or the like?” Briggs snorted. ”The Lightscepter doesn't make a big show of things, of course. Their job is to kill, not explain themselves. The Firesword often ends up working with them, and tends to get the fallout, as I understand it.”
Estemar reflected that the Firesword must be the Void Brother he'd heard the most about, then. ”The Mindring?” A flight of grouse erupted out behind them, a little late to be alarmed, but amusing nonetheless.
”Sensitivity to psionics. Both jRaztl and Amourae have strong influences on those with mental powers. Not common around here, but very difficult to fight. The madness, insanity, nightmares, and mental chaos that has to be accompanying this intrusion among the Psensitive would draw him here,” Briggs informed him. ”Brother Wayfist is concerned with chi-users and the profound way, not exactly something going on hereabouts. The Night and the Scythe is about necromancy, undeath, death, the smooth transfer of souls to the afterlife, and so on. The death magic the enemy is tossing about and sheer amount of killing may bring him up, maybe not.”
Estemar opened his mouth, closed it, then asked, ”Are there no female Voids?” Even his own Order had several female members, and certainly there were women Paladins running around.
Briggs grunted, and let Sama answer it. ”Potentially, yes. But the Land won't Trigger them. Having a Helix destroys a woman's ability to carry a child, and that goes against the nature of every living thing. So, the Land never Triggers a female Void.”
”Oh.” That sounded like the exact opposite of chivalry, with the same result. ”Void Brothers seem to mess with everyone equally…”
They were going up a narrow hill, and abruptly leapt off the other side, falling freely as Sama slid down through the air, as if it was making itself into a winding slide for her. They didn't hit the ground so much as level out and keep moving again, with Estemar wondering how his stomach had moved around so much.
”Waterspear looks after the fresh water and ocean shores, their purity is his main thing to follow. Probably every innovation in sewage treatment and clean water policy is driven by them. Very doubtful he'd show under normal circumstances, but he may come up to get a Mark and a Weapon, as might the others.” Briggs shrugged. ”And yes, they piss off a lot of people. That's why Voids are so damn deadly, and so sneaky… there are a lot of people after them.” He seemed completely unmoved by their ups and downs, totally ignoring the bounce as Sama went over a fallen tree and came back down, and the Disk stayed right with them.
”With so many foes, how do they survive?” Estemar asked. ”I mean… they have entire religions up against them!” He almost ducked a passing branch, saw Briggs didn't, and steeled himself as it passed them by less then an inch, and if anything, was even closer to the cabinets riding low behind them.
”Same way high-Level Powered would. You can't scry or divine them, so you can't track them with magic. As for tracking them physically… all stronger Voids have the ability to Run the Veil, sliding along the edge of reality to get to some place quickly. It's impossible to track them, so you can only try to lay a trap for them. And for people who are so incredibly sensitive to magic and profound forces, laying a trap for them is an excuse for them to kill you, not to be killed,” Briggs mused aloud, leaning into a turn that brought them to another small stream, which Sama ran right into the middle of and followed, skating in long sliding strides along the top of the burbling waters.
”Messing with Void Brothers is an excellent way to die quickly,” Sama agreed, but winked. ”For normal people, anyway.”
Estemar considered that these two were anything but normal, and two of these Void Brothers were essentially working for or with Sage Sama now…
”Ah!” He blinked as if he'd forgotten something. ”Lady Sama, what if the warbands have Summoners, and we are not there?”
”The Brotherhood can deal with any Demons brought in easily, they just can't Feed the Land with them, yet,” Sama replied instantly. ”And remember, elves, magic. They know what to look for, and our enemy simply does not have the sheer amount of low magic the elves possess, and does not seem to have easy access to anything as basic to wizardry as flying, invisibility, and Detection spells.”
”The elven scouts will identify the Summoners, and simply make a flying, invisible Kill Team to goon them, or sneak up enough cloaked archers to do the job,” Briggs agreed. ”If there is a Void Brother there, he will instantly assess the threat and remove it. All the major forces moving have been briefed on what to expect, so Banishments and Dispels can also remove the Summoned as a threat.” He wasn't worried. ”It would be best to Feed them to the Land, but there are many alternatives to Summoning Magic other then just fighting what is brought in.
”What magic we've seen them wielding is broad area and powerful... but also seems unstable here and particularly vulnerable to Warding magic of all types, and Holy power. The Warped don't actually face Good powers very often in their home realm, and so aren't going to have much experience with what they bring to the table.” Briggs was already in a Chatbox with officers and coordinators, who were finding his ability as a Warlord, knowledge of the foe, and concise analysis clearly helpful.
Goon them. Estemar smiled to himself at the term, picturing the definition of a surprise, dying with those expressions on their faces.