Deus Ex Machinarium

As they made their way northwest and the evening slowly loomed over, the plains were slowly, but steadily, being overgrown by bushes and young trees of several kinds. A green wall of a forest emerged from below the horizon almost at bivset and they were getting closer to it. It was apparent, that the woods were taking the plains over, as the closer they got to them, the more difficult it was to maneuver around saplings and bushes. Thankfully, at least the ground was less of a bog.

They left Sheridawn in late Mars, when nature was still recovering from a long winter. It was now late Blommer, almost Mai. Thus every tree, sapling, or bush around and, likely, before them was thick with fresh, intensely green leaves, matched by grasses beneath their feet. For most such sights would evoke a sense of wonder or amazement. Some would celebrate the force of life waking up after its winter slumber.

Brandt Zerster had more practical considerations.

-” Still no sight of Ordos” - he mused, then diverted his attention toward the forest they reached when Bivos was almost below the horizon, leaving only an orange haze as a reminder of the past day- “This forest will provide great cover.”

After a long day of managing a swarm of tools around him and keeping course, Anh was sweaty, tired, and agitated.

-” Is that all you care about?” - he hissed

Brandt threw Anh a tired look.

-” Yes, At this very moment, yes.” - he replied with a hint of snark.

-” All right then. What now?”

Brandt casually ignored him. Being treated such, the tanai rested his tools on the ground and floated away into the bushes. Firstly, to relieve himself, secondly, to take a quick look at the flora around him to calm his nerves. In the meantime, Nord was staring back into the sky in the direction they came from.

-” Our spying friend is back”- he said to nobody in particular -” we need to get going.”

Anh abandoned his rummaging in the local bushes and returned to the hoomin.

-” Let’s go then.” - Anh scratched his nose - “Where to?” - he said while picking his utensils back to position.

-” Right into the woods.” - commandeered Brandt - “The deeper the better. It is going to get dark soon. By then we need to be as deep and concealed as possible” - he took a few steps towards his horse, grabbed the bridle, and took one more glance behind his back - “once we are out of sight, we ought to wander for a candle or so. Just to confuse our tail. Will you be able to resume navigating to our target?” - he said toward the tanai.

-” Yes. I think so.” - he confirmed, although with a little hesitation.

-” Good” - hoomin yanked his horse and headed towards the trees - “We need to get going.”

They began wandering around the forest in the general direction of their heading a quanter after they entered. Every few triskols or so Brandt would choose a different direction and each time, Anh adjusted his utensils, scribbled some notes and they continued.

The forest was dense, consisting predominantly of oak and beech, but they also, for a brief period, found themselves traveling through a vast grove of birch. The forest floor was covered by a thick layer of slowly rotting leaves of the yesteryear. Fallen trees abound, as did bushes resilient enough to survive under the thick canopy above. The forest was teeming with activity. Birds were chirping and squeaking. Branches were creaking in the wind. Leaves were rustling along with it. Anh counted no less than twenty squirrels, two deer, a herd of boar, and a lynx before it became too dark to see anything more. The animals mostly ignored them and everything around seemed primal and untouched by civilization.

-“I think it’s about time to make a camp.” - Brandt announced over a candle past dawn - “Can you estimate how much off our heading are we?”

Before Anh floated a backing with a sheet on which he made notes throughout the day. Tanai invoked a faint lumehex and traced his scribblings with his eyes.

-” We are about five kimers off course and eight or so into the forest.” - he finally replied - “where do you want to sleep? Obviously, not here…” - they were beside a birch tree, surrounded by nothing except darkness dimly violated by the tanai’s hexergy - “...wherever ‘here’ is.”

-” It's as good of a place as any other.” - shrugged Brandt - “leaves will provide plenty of cushion to rest. We will omit fire and not set a tent. I’ll take on guarding duty if you wish to rest.”

-” I…think I’m going to nap for a little” - the tanai answered after a short silence - “juggling all those things”- he grimaced at all the items floating before him -” for several hours is tiresome. Give me a candle or two and I will take over.”

He floated towards one of the horses and began to pack his items back into his bags. Brandt in the meantime sat beside the tree, took his boots off, stretched his feet, and started to wiggle his toes.

-” Mr Zerster” - he said while he was busy with his luggage - “I’ve been meaning to ask you this for some time now.”

-” Yes, please.”

-” I’m morbidly curious. I’m a tanai after all. If anything, this curiosity gets us killed more often than anything else. Thus, I’m here, at the end of the world, in the dark, being chased by religious fanatics. Dirty, sweaty, muddied and hungry” - he paused for a little - “That was quite depressing. Anyway. Why are you doing what we are doing?”

-” Maybe, I’m also morbidly curious?” - Brandt answered while resting on the trunk behind him. Anh sighed inaudibly, as the hoomin sounded quite dismissive.

-” I don’t believe you are telling the truth. You, very apparently, have a lot of experiences with the Ordo Pro Cvirsi.”- tanai finished packing, then floated towards Brandt, assumed a cross-legged pose, and floated beside him, near the tree - ”Bad experiences. Yet, instead of running away, we persist.”

Hoomin faces the tanai.

-” Mr Trawins. Do you believe Vhirs is the source of Purpose that Inspires us to Act against Constraint? The one who rewards those who do, and casts those who idle to Divinul?”

A sudden turn towards actolology took Anh a little aback.

-” Of course! I’m not a heretic! I read through ‘Wisdom’ every time the Church updates it.”

-“ Good. I’m glad.” - Brandt put a finger to his lips, wondering for a few moments what to say -” What is the earliest version you have read?” - he finally said.

-” Edition 1283. Twelveth if I recall correctly.”

-” Which one do you think is the earliest you can read? Legally.”

Anh raised his eyebrows, surprised by the question. He searched for an answer in his mind for a little while. After a few drips, he finally replied.

-” I honestly don’t know.”

Brandt smiled slightly.

-” Ninth edition. Year 1204. After the 3rd Venture of Mosvok. The entevisers concluded that any prior edition was too heretical… ‘mired in error’ to be safely read.”

-” I fail to see the relevance. They must have had their reasons.”

-” I have all the prior versions. Except second. Do you know what the biggest change was between eight and nine?”

-” No. Obviously.”

-” The preamble to the first chapter. From nine, it is what you know.”

-“ Vhirs bes, Vhirs exists and bes forever. Vhirs bes whom begotten the Progenitors, and whom it inspired to raise Sathor from the Abyss. And them did. And once they…”- recited Anh.

-” Enough”- Interrupted Brandt -” They switched places of Vhirs and Precursors. In the preamble of the eighth edition, Progenitors created Vhirs who then raised Sathor from the Abyss.”

-” I understand this was a significant actological change. I fail to see maleficence

and your point. To be honest.”- Anh sunk a little into himself, defensively -” They understood their error, it was grave enough to warrant a ban on the earlier editions.”

-” I’m not going to presuppose foul play. Although.”- Hoomin paused briefly, searching for better words -” Allow me to say it this way. I’ve stepped on many toes when I dug for what happened at that Venture. I made some powerful enemies in the process and achieved nothing.”

-” What, precisely did you want to achieve?”

-” Access to Archives of Graat Koch.”

Anh burst into laughter but quickly composed himself.

-” Well, that was ambitious!” - he giggled -” Considering our deeds so far, I’m not surprised. What did you expect to find there anyway?”

Brandt sighed.

-” What we’ve done so far probably didn’t influence what happened years ago. About what I was expecting to find. Ever since Mosvok 3rd there has been a clear actological direction the church is taking the faith. One that is darker and bleaker than what it was and which downplays, or downright erases Precursors.”

-” But that is how the Skola pro-Cvirsi operates.” - weakly protested Anh - “The understanding has been deepened, the works that go into ‘Wisdom’ were amended.”

-” How do you know?” - Brandt asked, squinting his eyes and tilting his head left, posing a question that Anh seemingly didn’t want to answer. Instead, the tanai fell awkwardly silent.

-” The Church has monopolized everything in regards to the Precursors” - monotonously continued Brandt after a few drips - “Everything. They send their coursers to scoop every artifact that surfaces anywhere. Even Tanais obediently gives away what they find. The Church has full control of the narrative.” - Brandt faced Anh directly -” Which they can take in every direction they wish. At the same time, I am sure they know things they are not sharing.”

-” You are being paranoid” - said Anh defensively -” and conspiratorial.”

-” Fair enough, Mr Trawins. You wanted to know why I do this. The answer is, what I told you.”- the hoomin put one of his boots back - “I want to know. I want to see for myself and either confirm, append, or deny what you can read in ‘Wisdom’.” - he put back the other - “Now, I think you should rest, while I scour the area for some food.” - he stood up and took a look around the pitch black forest around him.