Rebirth and Second Chances

Chapter 304: Political Landscape

"Explain the political landscape for me," I asked.

The clean-up had gone well enough. The few surviving Fomorians were slaughtered without mercy. The humans had also died to the last man. All those that had set foot on our land anyway. The few ships that survived were battered, broken things, but I suggested they be allowed to escape. I wanted word of this defeat to reach the mainland.

I had a plan to divert the armies of Caesar and the Vikings to redirect their savagery away from the Sidhe. No one was more effective against waging war with humans than man. With the ability to travel betwixt and between, and the Sidhe mastery of illusion and glamour, I didn't think it would take much work to make it appear other armies were targeting the territory of Rome and Scandinavia.

If I could foment war, involve Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great, I could tie up the armies of Rome and Scandinavia for ages. If I could find a way to make the vendetta between the four armies one based on religion, I might engender a crusade that lasted centuries.

In this Universe, the Roman and Greek Pantheons were synonymous. They had somehow evolved with the Gods of Olympus retaining their Greek identities once Rome was established. That wasn't a drastic change, the two Pantheons were essentially the same, to begin with, but it helped explain how the empire had consolidated power so quickly.

In order to attack the Sidhe on the Isle of Wight meant that Caesar had managed to repress and conquer the Gaul's already, not surprising. Caesar had conquered Gaul on the Earth that I knew. What was different was the annexation was complete, and the territorial organization that should have happened under Emperor Augustus had been completed.

"Caesar rules the Roman empire. His reach extends from Mesopotamia, includes bits of northern Africa, all the lands surrounding the Mediterranean to the north, and most recently the lands of Gaul," Morgan le Fey said, beginning to answer my question.

"Alexander III of Macedon rules as King of Mesopotamia. He has managed to withstand the Roman legions Caesar has sent, refusing to concede even an inch of his kingdom. He was young when he was crowned King, having assumed the throne when Caesar had his father assassinated.

"What makes him remarkable is that he has managed to conquer parts of northeast Africa as well as parts of Asia while contending with and holding the line against Caesar's Legions.

"Ptolemy has been named Pharaoh of Egypt. Alexander allows him to rule as the Plenipotentiary, giving him the authority to maintain Egypt's armies. He and his sister, Cleopatra, were anointed as co-rulers before Alexander invaded, but an assassination attempt instigated by Cleopatra forced him to kill his sister. Ptolemy's retaliation was swift. His decision to root out and destroy those involved in the plot and anyone loyal to Cleopatra assured he ascended as Egypt's only God-King.

"Genghis Khan and his horde rule great swaths of Asia, with armies controlling the territory bordering Scandinavia. His forces have spent the last few years creating entrenchments and bulwarks to maintain control of the area he has conquered. It is not known why the Mongols decided to halt their invasion of Europe, but many believe this pause is only a brief respite before aggression recommences.

"There are rumors that Ragnar Lodbrok, the Viking King, offered tribute to stem the tide. A rumor that has some basis, in fact. There are whispers that the reason Lodbrok allied with Caesar so quickly concerned the access the Vikings gained to Dwarven weapons after the alliance was formed.

"The magic races are scattered throughout the world," Morgan continued. "Vlad the Impaler and his vampires are firmly established in the Carpathian mountains. Any attempts to dislodge them from those mountains has resulted in nothing but spent blood as the Vampires decimate any armies foolish enough to set up camp. His people use the cover of darkness and their magic to bleed the sleeping troops of lives and armaments.

"The Beastkin, led by Beowulf, have staked out their territory in Kievan Rus. Most of his people are Wolf-kin, but he has managed to find and protect the Drakon. Even Genghis Khan is not foolish enough to risk angering the Drakon. A Drakon is a Beastkin that has dragon ancestors. Dragons protect what is theirs, and they consider themselves the progenitors of the Drakon. An attack on a Drakon is sure to wake the sleeping Dragons.

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"The Celtic druids have retreated to Albion, creating the Stonehenge formation to guard against Caesar. The construction is an interesting work of tribalism and shamanic magic. For the Druids to embrace these types of magic demonstrates precisely how desperate they have become. To taint their fevered orthodoxy was seen as a desperate gamble. Their communion with and their connection to nature is the heart of their religion, and to embrace the vile magics of others was only done only to escape complete destruction.

"The dwarves have claimed the mountains of the Alps as their home. They have dug in so deeply that Caesar or Genghis Khan might never force them out. They are seen as harmless by humans. They have leveraged their abilities with mining and blacksmithing to arm the Vikings and the Romans, making themselves rich in the process. Their tools and weapons are so well crafted that Caesar ignores them and allows them their independence as long as the metal keeps flowing.

"The Elves have pockets of civilization across the breadth of Taiga, their claim to those forests fluid, the lands they hold change as often as the seasons. They often make way for the armies of Man, migrating in great numbers to other areas of the forest rather than entertain the constant wars they would be forced to endure if they didn't.

"I'm not sure how they will react now that a new World Tree has sprouted. They lost most of their magic when the last one was killed, and like the Sidhe, their numbers have slowly dwindled despite their long lives.

"And finally, the Djinn rule over the small area of Persia that Alexander has yet to conquer. Their magics are elemental and fearsome, made more so because the Djinn are fiercely territorial. They allow humans to build and live within their borders, but only as chattel. Those who would dare oppose their magics find themselves contending with fire and windstorms so fierce as to melt the iron they carry into puddles of molten metal and scream in agony as their skin is flayed from their bodies."

It was interesting to note where events diverged from the timeline of the Earth I remembered. In that world, Cleopatra had assassinated Ptolemy to become Pharaoh. Genghis Khan's descendants had expanded his empire to the Scandinavian region, and Alexander the Great had conquered Rome.

As for the magical creatures. The Vampires, Dwarves, Elves, and Beastkin only existed in the worlds of fantasy. Sweeping sagas and mythologies relegated to fiction, both written and in film. Even in this, there were some changes. On Earth, Beowulf was a hero who slew Grendel. Here he seemed to be an amalgam of both characters.

"Have you identified any [Fairy Rings] in these areas?" I asked, highlighting two areas on the globe, one near where Alexander was said to be resting and the other near where the Mongols had created entrenchments near the Viking's lands.

If I could get Alexander to attack Caesar and the Mongols to invade Scandinavia, any further attacks on the Sidhe should be few and far between. It would also help to keep Zeus's, and Odin's attention focused on this new threat to their worshipers, leaving me the freedom and opportunity to invade Asgard and Olympus.

It might be a risk baiting the Mongols. They might be a more deadly adversary than the Vikings. But what little I could remember of them, they had never bothered crossing the oceans to invade Japan, content instead to extend their rule across the continent.

That might change, but by the time it did, I would have opened up Sitherns that would see the Sidhe safe and repopulation begun. I planned to use [Fertility] rites when I planted the seeds of those other Sitherns.

Time would also allow the Sidhe to take a technological leap forward. I would offer manuals and techniques that would advance the practices used to create weaponry, armor, and enchantments. The infusion of Silinium would allow the Sidhe to field weapons beyond anything Caeser or the Dwarves might make.

If diversion and illusion work between the armies of Man, it would work to stir the blood-lust of vampires and Beastkin. I saw no reason not to recruit the other magical races in this war of attrition. They had to know that if the Sidhe fell, they wouldn't be far behind.

"We have, but Caesar and Lodbrok make a habit of having their people destroy any naturally occurring [Fairy Rings] their people come across. Most of the places that are left are hard to find or in hard-to-reach locations. We will still need to scry those known locations to make sure the rings are still active," Belgara replied.

"There is a magic that allows you to travel using [Fairy Rings]?" Tara wondered.

Tara exuded an aura most closely tied to nature. She was brimming with the essence of fertility, new life, and spring plantings, but her reserved and quiet introspection shielded her true nature. The energies she radiated would mean that flowers bloomed as she walked, that animals would give birth safely and easily, and that the Sidhe whose birthrate was plummeting would become fecund.

I considered some of the fertility rituals the Sidhe were known for, some of the older practices that marked the seasons and could induce the crops to grow. All revolved around blood and sex. Animalistic and primitive, but so very effective. And what a difference those rituals would make if Tara participated.

Now that I recognized who she was and what her essence foretold, I updated my plans on planting the Sithern seeds and implementing the ritual at the two Sitherns I had yet to grow. A ceremony fusing the Wild Magic, Fairy, and her nature to rekindle life and fertility boons to those living in each Sithern.

"It has now that you can use the Summerlands to skirt the distance. The [Fairy Rings] work as beacons. You don't quite enter that realm. Instead, you almost surf along the border. The dimensional membrane serves to warp the distance between each beacon, the magic between where you are and where you want to be, serves as a conduit and opens the passage," I explained to Tara.

"Is it the same magic the portals that Seastan Deireanach is using to connect all instances of Underhill?" She wondered.

"Both methods have the same effect. You move from one place to another, but the portals that Seastan Deireanach opens use mathematical modeling to determine location meticulously. The Sithern then uses the math and models to create a permanent tear across the ether. A portal that allows two points in space to be folded and connected permanently. Anyone can then use these portals

"The passage betwixt and between is fueled by will, intent, and magic. The caster opens a bridge that they can walk across. Each bridge created will have slight variations, the path traveled changing to reflect the magic and intent of the caster. There is no way to establish a permanent bridge with [Fairy Rings]. The Summerlands will not allow it," I said.

"We've never heard of this method of travel," Gwydion admitted.

"You wouldn't have if you hadn't had access to the Summerlands before this. This method of travel is only possible when Fairy is alive and vital, and the Summerlands can be reached," I informed them.

"And why are you able to reach the Summerlands?" Tara asked.

"Because I am not from this world or this Universe. The world I come from. The Sidhe that populate that world. We all have a spell that allows us to open a portal and walk the Summerlands."

I had thought about how much of who I was and where I came from I should share with the Sidhe of this world. Eventually, I decided it was better to give enough information for the council of Twelve to understand what I was capable of.

"Our dead on my home-world. Those of our people that tire of life and want to fade have had access to the Summerlands from the day the first Sidhe was given life. And because we have never lost our magics, we remember the old magics. I have complete control over my magic because the Sidhe of that dimension were never forced to survive without it.

"The Wild Magic, Fairy, the opening of the Summerlands, as well as the ability to summon Gwyn ap Nudd are possible because they are a part of who I am. They are gifts that the Tuatha de Danann blessed the Sidhe and me in all their incarnations with.

"Why and how your abilities were denied, why these four cornerstones of reality that make the Sidhe who the Sidhe are were denied you and your people makes no sense.

"Perhaps it is because there are no other species in my home-world. The rise of humanity and the other magical races has created a schism in the gifts you should have been born with.

"Man, and his armies, have never walked the fertile fields and forests of my people on my planet. The poison and pollution of iron were never introduced. You have been forced to share this world with other species, and maybe that is what has caused your abilities and magics to wither and fade.

"It seems that as man has ascended on this world, the Sidhe have declined and lost who they were."