The Horrors of Malsata

Ten days quickly passed in the village, Morn had easily found Baldrick in the village church after leaving Toli's house. He'd discovered the church didn't worship any of the six great dwellers, but was instead dedicated to a large serpent with wings in place of scales. It had horns instead of fangs, and a tongue that ended in a serpent's mouth. The creature had a head like a shark and a scorpion's tail.

At the time, he had ignored this and gone to set up his alkimiya workshop after receiving approval, but today he had returned to learn more about the creature. As he entered the small church, he found Baldrick tending to the statue of the creature, ensuring it remained in pristine condition. Baldrick, hearing him enter, turned to greet Morn with a smile.

"Ah, Morn! How lovely to see you in the church. Tell me, have you come to pray?"

Morn scratched his head awkwardly.

"Er- Unfortunately not, Baldrick. But I did come to learn more about your patron. Is it a Levjottun, or... something I am unaware of?"

An excited look flashed across Baldrick's face as he sat next to the altar, he waited expectantly while Morn took a seat on one of the benches, then began his explanation.

"I am glad to hear that you're interested in our great patron. This-" Baldrick gestured to the statue, "-is Vasjrani! One of the three Kuah, or as some call them, the three Great Horrors of the deep!"

Morn furrowed his brows puzzledly.

"Great Horror of the deep… I've heard something similar before."

Baldrick nodded as he elaborated.

"The Kuah are much like the Horrors of the eight deadly seas, or as you likely know them, the Levjottyr-dal. You should know of at least one quite well, as you recently escaped from Fairjott, if I recall correctly."

Morn nodded in confirmation.

"Yes, Tethra, the Hand of Plenty." Morn thought for a moment before he inquired again, "What separates a Kuah from a Levjottyr-dal. If they're anything alike, I can't imagine why you would worship such a dangerous and violent creature."

Baldrick frowned, but quickly corrected his expression, excited at the opportunity to tout his patron to another.

"The Kuah are only similar to the Levjottyr-dal in origin. As a harvester, you must know of the classification system for Levjottun, so allow me to explain. If a Levjottyr-dal is a class eight Levjottun– as the number eight, 'dal', in ancient Manthalan would imply– then a Kuah is a class 9."

Morn rubbed his temples as he continued his questioning.

"The classification system ends at eight, you're saying the Kuah are on the level of a dweller? Why have I not heard of them?"

Baldrick grinned as he walked to a large cabinet in the corner of the room. A moment later, he successfully retrieved a large roll of paper. After returning to the altar, he unrolled the paper revealing a map of Malsata.

Morn quickly hurried to his side, peering over his shoulder as Baldrick pointed at the upper right corner of the map, just below Fairjott in the Storm Commons.

"This area-" Baldrick moved his finger, indicating a curve that covered most of the northern section of the Storm Commons, "-is the current our island follows for most of the year. Occasionally, we drift closer to Lampfreude and Llairbylge, but generally we stay in this area. This is the territory of Vasjrani, Vasjrani's reef!"

Baldrick turned to Morn, his hands shaking with excitement.

"Our patron claims this land, this is the reason Fairjott's waters end where they do! If it weren't for our patron, Tethra would have claimed much of the Northeast seas! Although Vasjrani's reef is our patron's home, it often wanders throughout Malsata. Unlike the Levjottyr-dal, it is benevolent. And unlike the dwellers, it isn't chained to an island."

Morn began to feel a headache as he learned of such a powerful creature. Before Morn could speak again, Baldrick quickly continued his speech:

"The reason most haven't heard of the Kuah, let alone Vasjrani, is that the Greater Malsatan Information Syndicate has hidden news of such a Levjottun among the great islands! The six great islands wish to keep the faith of the people directed to the dweller of their homelands. Such is understandable, yet brings me great dissatisfaction."

Morn nodded. He felt that this explanation was reasonable. The more one prayed to a dweller, the more power the dweller could wield, and as a result, the better a dweller could protect their island.

Additionally, the power of a priest depended on the amount of faith their patron could spare. That's what he had been told, anyway; though he'd never actually seen a dweller use its powers, whatever they might be.

The GMIS could control the information in the education systems as well as the public libraries, and as such could influence what patrons received adoration.

Of course, they wouldn't bother with the belief of smaller islands such as the one that Toli's village was settled on, allowing people like Baldrick to believe in whatever patron they desired.

This was how the dark patrons often received their power, wielding the devotion of hundreds of small settlements to contend with weaker dwellers and usurp their believers. Cases like these were often quelled by the military forces of the various great islands, but the oceans were a vast place with millions of tiny isles.

Though Morn had heard a lot about dark patrons, he'd never actually heard a specific example. Morn assumed the dark patrons were exceptionally powerful Levjottun, like the Levjottyr-dal, but he wasn't completely certain.

Not every dark patron could be stopped in time. In fact, in recent history many such patrons had reigned for several decades, or even centuries, before disappearing abruptly and fading into obscurity.

Often, these patrons would make an attempt to cross the Stormpass to enter the fabled land of the demigods. Of course, such a place was only known through myth, as none who entered the Stormpass had ever returned.

Morn, like most, believed that challenging the Stormpass was a task for fools and the hopelessly courageous. Though not much separated the two in the end, as neither sort had returned, despite many setting out to prove that the land of the demigods existed.

"Thank you, Baldrick. I feel that I've learned a lot today."

Morn stood and turned to leave the building, Baldrick's voice echoed in his ears as he left.

"If you ever wish to pray to a patron other than Yolta, remember that Vasjrani will always accept your devotion!"

Morn left the church. Satisfied with the information he'd gleaned from Baldrick's preaching, Morn returned to his workshop. As he arrived, he spotted Azur at the door to the workshop, seemingly having waited for some time.

"Azur! Sorry if I kept you waiting, I was visiting Baldrick at the church. He had quite the story to tell!"

Azur laughed, "Did he tell you of Vasjrani? I find it quite difficult to believe that a Levjottun could be benevolent, but who am I to question his faith."

Morn looked at Azur surprised, "When did you speak with Baldrick?"

"Oh, I certainly didn't by choice! During your surgery, as one of your healers he was ever present. Oh Yolta help me, if I knew a polite way to stuff someone's mouth with rags, Baldrick would be the first to learn of it."

Morn laughed at Azur's mild temper, but he knew of Azur's hatred for preaching. On a long voyage several years prior, Azur had been forced to room with a priest of Yolta. Despite Azur already being a devotee of Yolta, the priest had continuously questioned his faith, imploring him to become an ascetic.

In the end, Azur had slept in the storage area of the ship on a pile of damp hay. He'd fallen ill, but had insisted it was worthwhile to avoid the preacher's harassment.

"I see" Morn smiled, "Well, what brings you down to the workshop? I thought you were going to be guarding the fishermen today."

Azur smiled and reached into a bulging cloth bag at his feet. After a moment, he took out a large metal gas tank.

"Well I was, but the fish weren't biting today, so they decided to try again tomorrow. On the way back, I happened to be using my gas stick and found a deposit."

Azur passed the large canister to Morn, who took it with some difficulty.

"It's a new gas. I'm not sure of its full effects, I only performed enough tests to conclude that it's new. I'll leave the rest up to you, research god!"

"Research god?" Morn laughed at the title, surprised.

Azur shrugged, "What, am I not allowed to encourage you?"

The pair grinned for a moment, before Azur picked up his bag and walked towards the centre of the village.

"I'll be off now, going to go put on my storytelling cloak! I came up with a good one for the kids. This time, I'm telling them about the time we slayed an army of pirates from Palk and tamed a giant Levjottun for a mount! Oh and also, if you run into Vincent, it'd be good for him to get a lesson on gas research."

Morn rolled his eyes as he waved goodbye, "If there was such a time, I feel like I would remember it... And if I see Vincent, I'll invite him to watch my research."

Azur gave a thumbs up over his shoulder without pausing his stride. When Azur was out of sight, Morn carried the gas tank into his workshop.

After opening the window shutter to let light into the place, and propping the door open for ventilation, Morn rubbed his hands together and grinned. He stared at the gas tank excitedly.

"Let's see what you can do!"