The Traveler and the Planet Fath

The Traveler set down his pack and sat down to lean upon it. He made a few somatic motions and his pupil-less grey eyes began to glow slightly. He gazed down upon the planet of Fath from one of its 6 moons. He found this particular planet to be especially intriguing. The planet was somehow gravitationally bound in the middle of a pair of binary stars, a red star and a small blue star. The tidally locked planet had very little nighttime and was quite possibly the warmest planet Traveler had ever come across, and was quite likely the only such planet in all of Hwelseeth. The only reason any life was able to exist at all was a result of a dense atmosphere and what Traveler suspected was a magical barrier around the planet. The latter belief was just his speculation though. Atmosphere alone could not protect the planet from the heat of two stars, unless the atmosphere itself was innately magical which would not be the strangest occurrence Traveler had come across. The mystery of how Fath survived was only one of many reasons that drew Traveler to it. One of the Feiagaoln, Geiolk, had told him about Fath about a year ago, and Traveler could not resist the allure of massive sentient elemental birds, the abnormal spatial placement, or the chance to learn of their so-called “celestial” magic. Geiolk had told Traveler that the birds were pure fire and could rival the sentient dragons of the Weigo Galaxy in capability, might, and cunning. A feat alone that would have drawn Traveler here as easily as Pouanz’s eyes drew Traveler to her. These birds, Traveler’s people would have called phoenix’s, but that was probably not the same name that the Fathians would use. He hoped to see one of the great birds in action. The third largest attractor for Traveler was the opportunity for new arcane discoveries. The Fathians magic used the twin stars as the source, and apparently used various forms and shades of glass objects as foci for this celestial magic. Traveler hoped to both analyze their use of this magic and to learn it for himself. Perhaps it was one that would be worth mastering. Though he doubted it would have the same effectiveness upon any other planet, unless the Creator had seen fit to form two such planets located in the middle of the already rare binary stars. Traveler used a form of magic that Weianw had shown him when they met their second time. It allowed him to observe a settlement of Fath from its moon as easily as a bird would spot a mouse. The humanoids had a skin tone akin to obsidian and they were one of the stockiest and burliest races that Traveler had ever seen. Their narrow eyes were hooded by bushy eyebrows, and their noses had flared nostrils. Their ears were flat against the side of their skulls, and their pale hair was often in thick braids. They wore flowing cloaks and baggy hoods to protect themselves from the never-ending starlight. All of the buildings were made of bleached clay-like materials. They were some of the widest buildings Traveler had ever laid eyes on. Many buildings were even attached by long snaking covered hallways. Other areas of the settlement had cloth coverings stretched over terraces, pavilions, and other such enclosures. The gardens were not plentiful. The roads were packed dirt or a claystone variant of cobblestone. Traveler moved his gaze to sprawling pasture lands of animals. The land was relatively barren and dry, but it did have a short hardy scrub grass that the animals ate. It did not appear that the Fathians had any form of crops; of the side that Traveler could see, their food production appeared to be entirely pastoral. All variations of the livestock had long slender legs, ideal for travelling the broad flatlands that dominated the planet’s surface. Several of the beasts had various humps, much like camels, which likely served to store water for them in the dry climate. A handful of the beasts had rocky features or crystalline rocks protruding from their bodies. A few other beasts would spew flames from their nostrils or mouths on occasion. These beasts had tails, eyes, or fur of flame. Traveler chuckled, “Domesticating fire coated creatures must have been exciting. I need to speak to Weianw or Rieasht about learning a scrying spell that could see into the distant past. I would not mind watching that process or watching Corfan or the Feiagaoln civil war…” he trailed off in thought while he continued to watch the Fath settlement. Apparently Jeoung had set some of the Fathians on a collision course with one of the flaming birds to entertain himself. So Traveler knew he would not have to wait too long before he would be able to watch an actual conflict between the celestial magic and the flaming bird. Rieasht and Geiolk had tipped him off that now was the time to come and watch if he was ever going to. So, Traveler got comfortable and watched the medieval life of Fath.
Kielagan watched the lazy movements of the Brocca beasts. It was a particularly cool time these past 40 hours or so, which made the fire coated Brocca even more sluggish than usual. Kielagan stretched his stocky frame and felt his muscles tense satisfyingly. After a decade of herding the slow-moving and obstinate Brocca his frame had lost its youthful fat and become quite toned. He smiled contentedly. This life was good for him. He had plenty to eat and was able to feel himself being one with Fath in his work. As a bonus his muscular form had begun to attract the attention of a few of the local maids that had caught his eye when he was much less matured. The honorable work and his affinity for celestial magic probably did not hurt his odds any either, but Kielagan liked to believe that his hard work which trimmed his form so much was a big part of it. Kielagan’s papi would have smacked him in the head for such arrogant thoughts. Although Kielagan recognized that everything that occurred was the will of the Celestials and a strong connection with Fath would bring about good in one’s life, he still liked to imagine that he had some influence upon his life. A dangerous belief that he could not speak aloud. Kielagan suspected he was not the only one with such thoughts, but that would make little difference in the face of the wrath of the Brothers. Or worse yet, the anger of Fath or the Celestials. Kielagan shuddered and turned his gaze up to the think strips of misty gray clouds that always coated the sky. Some scholars said that the Celestials placed these clouds above them to protect Fath from their consuming radiance. He would not have minded a little less at this time to alleviate the chill in the air. He rubbed his hands together before pulling out a small beige prism. He refracted the light through it onto the back of his left hand and felt the strength of the Celestials flowing into him from the ruddy rainbow and the strength of Fath flowing into him from his feet. He rolled his shoulders and licked his lips in anticipation. The feeling of grounding the Radiance would never get old. He felt his skin begin to tingle, and repocketed the prism. He had refracted enough Radiance into himself. He clapped his hands together before drawing them apart. He felt the strain of drawing his limbs further away from each other as the thin brown lines of magical light streamed between them. Kielagan stopped them about 6 inches wide and quickly flicked his index fingers towards each other and felt the burst of Radiance flash out around him. A small bubble of invisible heat surrounded him as soon as the light beams vanished from his adept motions. Kielagan sighed contentedly and leaned against the claystone wall, gazing back up at the sky. That was when he felt the tremor. Fath shook beneath his broad feet. Kielagan braced himself on the wall, “Celestials protect us! What is happening?” The Brocca had all begun to shift restlessly and several chuffed and others began to snort bursts of flame. In all his time as a herder, Kielagan had never seen the Brocca so active. He started to walk towards them, concern darkening his narrow eyes. A heatwave whumped into his back with such force as to knock his hood over his face and send him stumbling to the ground. Kielagan rolled back to his feet and flicked his index fingers, dispelling the now excessive heat bubble he had craved such a short time before. As he did so the boom reached him. Then the screams. Kielagan felt his heart slow. He felt himself turning to face his hometown of Karth in slow motion. What he saw dropped him back to his knees. The Brocca were stomping about and breathing fire in great gouts behind Kielagan, but his instincts to settle them were numb and inactive. Karth was half-destroyed in a blaze of fire. Dark smoke rose from Torgon’s Butchery, Karth Inn, and the Celestial Temple. He remembered so many good times in so many missing buildings. His heart slowed further as some ash floated down in front of his eyes. Was Torgon alive? What of his family? Or the Serving girl Taphi of Karth Inn? Or the Brothers that had taught him all he knew of the Radiance and how to ground it. His throat caught as he felt his heart begin to beat faster. He stumbled to his feet and brought his hands into a violent clap as he began to run. With a sharp flash of brown light between his hands, Kielagan flicked his dextrous fingers and he flashed forward, burning through his grounded radiance faster than he had ever done so in his life. He heard the screams and wails. The pain of his kin. He clapped his hands together even faster and harder, planning to use it all in a massive burst to reach the city immediately. He never managed to pull his hands apart. A phoenix shot up from a burning segment of the town, halting him in his tracks. Kielagan had never seen one before, but he had heard stories and seen carvings. The bird’s wings and tail trailed out in flaming glory behind it. Every feather was brilliant flame. The talons and beak looked like semi-solid lava. Its eyes were brilliant white embers, burning like small versions of the Celestials. It shot up high into the sky before screeching down with fire dripping off it and slamming into the claystone keep of Brother Nadon. As the explosion rocked Fath beneath Kielagan’s feet, he braced himself and opened his hands, flicking his pinkies and thumbs in opposite directions simultaneously. He felt his body grow colder before the heat wave crashed into him. Kielagan felt his eyesight dimming, and a memory of the Brothers warning against draining all radiance from your body resulting in blindness flashed through his mind. Kielagan no longer cared; blindness would be a reprieve to him now as he watched his life burning before him. He only needed to keep enough to see until he finished off the phoenix. If his training was correct, he had a minute and a half. He strode forward, his limbs a blur to his vision. The town sprawled before him in seemingly no time. The smoke curled around his body and the flames licked slowly towards the clouds above. Kielagan did not feel the heat. He did not smell the smoke. His eyes did not water. Kielagan had activated a bond with the Celestials that would lend him the power of a lifetime but would surely crush his soul. The Phoenix would regret taking Papi, the Brothers, the maids, and Torgan from him. The Phoenix’s wonton destruction was an unforgiveable act of hatred against the very connection to Fath that all creatures had. Kielagan strode past a charred doll and carved stone knight. He jumped to the top of the now ruined keep and stared down at the monstrous bird that was ripping into the charred corpses of Kielagan’s kin. The heat of a celestial boiled up inside Kielagan, exploding into a guttural animal roar. He leapt down towards the phoenix. His clothes were incinerated as he fell towards the flaming monster. He felt his thick hair ignite despite the magic he wielded. His eyes dimmed further. He fell towards the flaming monster arms outstretched like he also was a bird. His skin began to crack and burn. The phoenix looked up at his falling, screaming form and turned to gobble him up with its lava-beak. His head began to spin from the heat. Kielagan clapped his hands together and separated them mere meters above the murderer of his kin. A flash of brown light burst out. His eyes went dark. He had used too much without recharging. His body was pain. It felt like a thousand tiny burning knives were stabbing into him. He could not maintain the magic. He had no more radiance to give. The firey creature had consumed it. Just as it had consumed his town and would also consume him.
Kielagan awoke as he saw green light coursing over his body, soothing the incessant pain he felt. He relaxed, for some reason his heart had been racing. Kielagan closed his eyes and began to sigh in pleasure from the healing magic. The green light washed over his body in waves. Caressing every sore muscle and joint. He could still see the light. Kielagan’s eyes flew open. He could see the green light flowing over his body, but everything else was empty. There was nothing. This lack of radiance from the Celestials was more disturbing than the sights he had beheld at a previous time. The town! How could his mind have forgotten the phoenix, “NO! Where? What?” “Relax, my brother,” the voice was smooth like a light beam between the mist clouds, “You did well. Let the Celestials restore your body.” “I… I cannot see.” Kielagan whimpered. “Yes,” the voice said with compassion, “You performed a noble act worthy of the Celestials that granted you both sight and light in the form of their Radiance. You managed to hurt the dread beast and slow its rampage with your sacrifice.” “But it did not die?” Kielagan asked. “No. But thanks to your efforts, brave brother, we were able to arrive and save nearly 200 of your kin.” 200. The voice sounded joyous at the number. Kielagan felt sick. 200. 200 people of 3,400. Karth had nearly been eviscerated. It may as well had been with so few remaining. If they all felt as he did. If they all saw what Kielagan had seen. If they had all lost their kin. If they all had the emotional pain that made Kielagan’s celestial given spark die out. Perhaps it would have been better if the phoenix had finished them off. “Is it still alive?” Kielagan heard his voice, but it sounded strange. Ghostly and hollow. Fitting. The Radiance had left him. “Yes. We managed to hurt it through a combined effort, but it flew off in defeat,” the Brother said. “Defeat? More like once it had its fill of charred corpse,” Kielagan surprised himself. Not because of his backtalking a Brother, but because there was no emotion in his voice. No bitterness. No anger. No sadness. He felt, nothing. There was a pause from the Brother, “You should not speak so. The actions of yourself and the Brothers have saved 200 men, women, and children from death. This is worth more than you can see right now.” “I cannot see! I will never see again! I know the teachings of the Celestial Brothers! I know that I committed a taboo by using all of the radiance that they gifted me. I accepted the price, because I believed myself dead. As I should be. With my kin.” The Brother did not reply. He did not rebuke Kielagan. Kielagan rolled over, feeling the pain of his bandaged limbs, and stared sightlessly at the blank nothingness in front of him.
Traveler shook his grey head sadly at the sight of the young Fathian. The settlement had stood no chance against such a powerful creature that could melt stonework. If it had not been for the heroics of the one farmer and the travelling band of magicians, no one would have survived. Frankly, Traveler was shocked the farmer had survived. The magic that they had was quite powerful indeed. Traveler stood, grabbed his staff, and shouldered his pack. Fath’s Celestial magic would be worth learning after all.