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Chapter 2: The Invisible Fortress
The extermination of the Solars was not a quick and bloodless affair. Like all revolts of it's type, it built slowly, and some Solars saw the signs well before blades were drawn.
Of those few that survived the Dragon-Blooded's initial ambush, most were hunted down and slaughtered. The handful that avoided either doom retreated to the wilderness, there either to be consumed by the Wyld or to fade out of existence, forgotten by the world they had once ruled.
As the First Age came to it's true close, a half-dozen Solars stood head and shoulders above their peers, admired for their power, intelligence and wisdom. Among them was the architect Kal Bax, an incredibly gifted sorcerer and engineer. No less than 20 Manses bear his distinctive bowl-shaped mark, and he had a hand in designing hundreds of others. All modern Manses are built on his principles, and it is believed that he created the first Singing Staff.
Bax was an intellectual and gathered around him like-minded Solars [namely, those willing to put thoughts before actions]. When he sensed a storm brewing among the "commoners", he too 11 of these Solars north.
There, away from the prying eyes of the world, he built his final Manse, the Invisible Fortress. Unlike his other creations, the Fortress was not built with raw Essence [doing so would have lit the night sky and it's location would not have been much of a secret, then], but instead, by a gang of demons. Bax summoned 500 first and second circle demons and offered them their freedom in exchange for their labor. They complied and carved out the Fortress in record time. However, Bax was not about to set loose an army of demons, much less an army that knew the location of his retreat. So, once inside, he bound them to the place with a powerful rune. The demons could live within a 50 mile radius of the Fortress, but if they went beyond that, they would quickly wither and die.
Bax designed the fortress for one specific purpose- to hide himself and his freinds and allow them to continue living in luxury while the world warred. It does not radiate Essence like a common Manse, but instead, turns Essence upon itself to create a virtually impenetrable veil of illusion. The Fortress was, in many ways, a world unto itself, protected by strong wards and a Guardian that both defended and cared for its inhabitants. In the end, that proved the Manse's downfall.
Bax died shortly after tha Manse was completed. His companions, ignorant of what was going on outside the fortress, grew more and more paranoid. Soon, communication with the outside world stopped completely, and any attempts to leave were blocked by the demons who had grown from a force of 500 to 5,000 strong, breeding with the local fauna and stripping the land bare. The Solars found themselves trapped not by some enemy, but by their own fears. Weakened by the cold and the lack of real food, they fought with each other, sometimes to the death. Over the course of 300 years, they killed themselves off.
Letters of Ozandus Pal, another of the Solar captives, written to his Lunar consort Mithra document this decline. Published, possibly by Mithra herself, sometime at the beginning of the Second Age, they attained popularity among the Dragon-Blooded, who believed that the letters showed just how corrupt and weak the Solars were at the end of the First Age [thus justifying the usurpation of them all]. Since the Great Contagion, the letters have passed into popular folklore, though they no longer tell the story of isolated Solars. Instead, Bax's companions have been replaced by norbles or Dragon-Blooded who fled a war and killed each other as isolation drove them mad. Every person in Creation has heard some version of this story, yet none but the eldest Sidereals know its origin [and even they doubt the Fortress still exists].
The old man inhaled deeply and puffed on the pipe he now held. Jirke held a small clay goblet filled with drink, but that was long forgotten. "So?" Jirke asked impatiently, "what all can I find in there?!"
The old man cackled that irritating laugh. "That's just the thing, me boy. I really can't say for sure, because I don't know. All I do know is that if you can get your hands on that Fortress and keep it, you'll be the richest, and possibly most powerful man alive."
"...Dear gods. Give me strength! Well, that settles it then! I'm going to go find the Fortress!" He slammed his goblet onto the table, cracking it up the side and spilling all of its contents all over his glove and the table.
"Oh. Sorry. I'll get that cleaned up."
"You'd better, kiddo. Cause can you guess what I'll do if you don't?"
"You'll shank me."
"You catch on quickly. Hurry up, before it stains the table."
It was morning by the time the old man finished his tale, and Jirke was greatly thankful to the man. "Here." Jirke handed the old man what was left of his Jade from his pouch, which was a rather considerable amount.
"Heheh...well, kid, I can't take this without giving you a fair trade for it...I suppose this will have to suffice."
The old man reached under his bed and pulled out a backpack. It was almost identical to the backpack Jirke had on now, except a little worse for wear. "I suppose this backpack will help you along your trip...it's going to be quite the memorable one. Heh. This thing was actually mine when I used to travel, but I have no use for it anymore. It'll hold anything and everything you'll ever need. I think it can actually hold the whole of Creation into it...although, I think that'd be a long time to shovel...Heheh. Don't worry about getting weighed down, either. It's charmed to keep just as light as if it were empty." Jirke took it, almost reverently.
"There may be some stuff in there I forgot to take out those long years ago, you can have that as well."
Jirke was touched. He was kind of sad to leave the old man. He had grown to like him. Well, he reasoned as he headed onto the town of Sijan, when I find that Fortress, I'll come back to Nexus and visit him. Tell him the whole thing.
The extermination of the Solars was not a quick and bloodless affair. Like all revolts of it's type, it built slowly, and some Solars saw the signs well before blades were drawn.
Of those few that survived the Dragon-Blooded's initial ambush, most were hunted down and slaughtered. The handful that avoided either doom retreated to the wilderness, there either to be consumed by the Wyld or to fade out of existence, forgotten by the world they had once ruled.
As the First Age came to it's true close, a half-dozen Solars stood head and shoulders above their peers, admired for their power, intelligence and wisdom. Among them was the architect Kal Bax, an incredibly gifted sorcerer and engineer. No less than 20 Manses bear his distinctive bowl-shaped mark, and he had a hand in designing hundreds of others. All modern Manses are built on his principles, and it is believed that he created the first Singing Staff.
Bax was an intellectual and gathered around him like-minded Solars [namely, those willing to put thoughts before actions]. When he sensed a storm brewing among the "commoners", he too 11 of these Solars north.
There, away from the prying eyes of the world, he built his final Manse, the Invisible Fortress. Unlike his other creations, the Fortress was not built with raw Essence [doing so would have lit the night sky and it's location would not have been much of a secret, then], but instead, by a gang of demons. Bax summoned 500 first and second circle demons and offered them their freedom in exchange for their labor. They complied and carved out the Fortress in record time. However, Bax was not about to set loose an army of demons, much less an army that knew the location of his retreat. So, once inside, he bound them to the place with a powerful rune. The demons could live within a 50 mile radius of the Fortress, but if they went beyond that, they would quickly wither and die.
Bax designed the fortress for one specific purpose- to hide himself and his freinds and allow them to continue living in luxury while the world warred. It does not radiate Essence like a common Manse, but instead, turns Essence upon itself to create a virtually impenetrable veil of illusion. The Fortress was, in many ways, a world unto itself, protected by strong wards and a Guardian that both defended and cared for its inhabitants. In the end, that proved the Manse's downfall.
Bax died shortly after tha Manse was completed. His companions, ignorant of what was going on outside the fortress, grew more and more paranoid. Soon, communication with the outside world stopped completely, and any attempts to leave were blocked by the demons who had grown from a force of 500 to 5,000 strong, breeding with the local fauna and stripping the land bare. The Solars found themselves trapped not by some enemy, but by their own fears. Weakened by the cold and the lack of real food, they fought with each other, sometimes to the death. Over the course of 300 years, they killed themselves off.
Letters of Ozandus Pal, another of the Solar captives, written to his Lunar consort Mithra document this decline. Published, possibly by Mithra herself, sometime at the beginning of the Second Age, they attained popularity among the Dragon-Blooded, who believed that the letters showed just how corrupt and weak the Solars were at the end of the First Age [thus justifying the usurpation of them all]. Since the Great Contagion, the letters have passed into popular folklore, though they no longer tell the story of isolated Solars. Instead, Bax's companions have been replaced by norbles or Dragon-Blooded who fled a war and killed each other as isolation drove them mad. Every person in Creation has heard some version of this story, yet none but the eldest Sidereals know its origin [and even they doubt the Fortress still exists].
The old man inhaled deeply and puffed on the pipe he now held. Jirke held a small clay goblet filled with drink, but that was long forgotten. "So?" Jirke asked impatiently, "what all can I find in there?!"
The old man cackled that irritating laugh. "That's just the thing, me boy. I really can't say for sure, because I don't know. All I do know is that if you can get your hands on that Fortress and keep it, you'll be the richest, and possibly most powerful man alive."
"...Dear gods. Give me strength! Well, that settles it then! I'm going to go find the Fortress!" He slammed his goblet onto the table, cracking it up the side and spilling all of its contents all over his glove and the table.
"Oh. Sorry. I'll get that cleaned up."
"You'd better, kiddo. Cause can you guess what I'll do if you don't?"
"You'll shank me."
"You catch on quickly. Hurry up, before it stains the table."
It was morning by the time the old man finished his tale, and Jirke was greatly thankful to the man. "Here." Jirke handed the old man what was left of his Jade from his pouch, which was a rather considerable amount.
"Heheh...well, kid, I can't take this without giving you a fair trade for it...I suppose this will have to suffice."
The old man reached under his bed and pulled out a backpack. It was almost identical to the backpack Jirke had on now, except a little worse for wear. "I suppose this backpack will help you along your trip...it's going to be quite the memorable one. Heh. This thing was actually mine when I used to travel, but I have no use for it anymore. It'll hold anything and everything you'll ever need. I think it can actually hold the whole of Creation into it...although, I think that'd be a long time to shovel...Heheh. Don't worry about getting weighed down, either. It's charmed to keep just as light as if it were empty." Jirke took it, almost reverently.
"There may be some stuff in there I forgot to take out those long years ago, you can have that as well."
Jirke was touched. He was kind of sad to leave the old man. He had grown to like him. Well, he reasoned as he headed onto the town of Sijan, when I find that Fortress, I'll come back to Nexus and visit him. Tell him the whole thing.