The Fire And The Storm: Metric Edition - Book Two of The Nexus Of Kellaran Trilogy

By Wayne Edward Clarke

Book Two of The Nexus of Kellaran Series, sequel to Blessings Of A Curse. Mark and Talia have some very unusual children, and deal with the ever-accelerating pace of change on Kellaran. Mark loses his temper, and the greatest tournament ever organized is held for the rule of the world! Meanwhile the demons draw ever closer! Uses Metric (SI) measurement units.

New Professionally Published Edition! Features greatly improved cover art and graphics, better maps, new appendices including a recurring character list with descriptions and first appearance notes, proofreading by six editors to eliminate every typo, and professional editing including chapter breaks.

Kellaran is a mighty world many times larger than the Earth, its technology is almost entirely magical, and it is home to many modern and advanced societies. The humans, unicorns, dragons, elves, dwarves, giants, gnomes, selkies, and gargoyles each have their own powerful nations.

Many fantasy novels have central events that are supposed to affect the entire world, yet they are only described as affecting a part of one continent. The Nexus Of Kellaran Series is a story with true global scope; an epic of world-changing events, all interacting in a frantic global crisis.

It's a story that is cheering and emotionally uplifting. It seldom seems emotionally dark, though it sometimes deals with tragic events.

The magic in the story is self-consistent, and is as consistent as possible with real physics and physical constants.

This novel contains adult themes, and deals with issues of sexuality. It is not recommended for those under 14 years of age.

Many of the readers of this fantasy series also loved this author's science fiction series. Even many who had never read or enjoyed science fiction before were so impressed with The Nexus Of Kellaran Series that they then tried The Rational Future Series, and loved it just as much. The Rational Future Series; People Of The Tiger, Hunters In The Sky, and Victory Or Extinction are available now.

Wayne Edward Clarke has been a professional musician, an inventor, a bio-sociological engineer, a gardener, and an author of fantasy, science fiction, erotica, and non-fiction books. He recently formed a fully staffed publishing company; Wayne Edward Clarke Publishing, which will soon be publishing other new and talented authors.
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book, May 28, 2012 By Paulsub63
This review is from: Blessings Of A Curse - Metric Pro. Edition (The Nexus Of Kellaran Series)
This book was incredible. A I read it, I was immersed in another world. The main character's evolution from a total neophyte to an accomplished master kept me riveted, and I was hooked. I have also read the second book in the series and I am anxiously awaiting the final book. This book, series and author will expand your horizons. Please give the book a try and you too will come to know what makes his writing so addictive.
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best i've had the pleasure of reading, April 16, 2012
By HjÃrtur Þorgeirsson
This review is from: Blessings Of A Curse - USA Pro Edition
This is my first review I've done and it's mainly because I haven't felt compelled to until now. Grave unjustice would be done to this incredible author if someone doesn't comment on how f-ing awesome this book truly is. Let me put it this way, only two books have I read that I enjoyed more than this book! Truly a modern masterpiece.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, September 11, 2012
By brownchr014
This review is from: Blessings Of A Curse - USA Pro Edition
read the metric version before realizing the usa version was free as well and had to bear through the metric version. Love the book and would have loved chapters, just to be able to give myself a stopping point between reads.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wayne Edward Clarke
• Release date: Feb 2, 2012
• ISBN: 9781466181885

Wayne Edward Clarke

Wayne Edward Clarke is an author, sociologist, musician, and inventor.Over the last few years I've spent most of my intellectual and creativeenergies in writing science fiction and fantasy novels. I’ve been a hardsci-fi fan my whole life, but everyone else I know who’s an avid reader are allfantasy fans. Over the years I’ve borrowed all their books, and learned tolove that genre as well.My science fiction influences include the old masters; Heinlein, Asimov, Niven,Bradbury, Clarke, etc. Also William Gibson, Iain M. Banks, and Ender’s Game byOrson Scott Card. My favorite relatively unknown author is Daniel Keyes Moran,and if you like sci-fi you should read his Continuing Time trilogy; EmeraldEyes, The Long Run, and The Last Dancer. They might be out of print, but Ithink you can still get them as ebooks online.My fantasy influences include Raymond E. Feist, David Eddings, and JaquelineCarey.I’ve also been influenced as a fiction writer by my sociological work, and myscience fiction novel People Of The Tiger (and the rest of The Rational FutureSeries) is set in a utopian future where my social policies have beenimplemented, which is a good way to get those ideas out into the publicconsciousness.Much of my social thinking permeates my fantasy novel Blessings Of A Curse aswell, though it’s a lot harder to notice there. I’ve also incorporated my ideas onthe law and legal reform in that book.I was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Sept 21, 1963. I'mestranged from my father, having met him twice since I was a toddler. I livedin Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 1980 to 2014, since then I've lived in Cebu, Philippines. Now I can travel where I want, and I might, at any time. But it's hard to beat the Philippines.I have three brothers and a sister. My sister is married, she and her husband each have two grown sons. All of them and my mother live in Calgary, except me and one nephew here in Cebu.I'm intensely and compulsively self-educated, I read at about 300 words perminute, and I've increased my IQ to about 160.I've always enjoyed inventing and designing machines. Most of the machinesI've designed are new types of vehicles.I was a professional musician for about nine years. My musical skills includelead and harmony vocals, most styles of guitar and bass guitar, some drums andkeyboards, songwriting, mixing, and production.I spent about fifteen years researching and designing a comprehensive change insociety and culture that will solve all the world’s major problems, guided bythe principles of bio-sociology as introduced and developed by Prof. Edward O.Wilson, and influenced by Dr. Desmond Morris’ human sociobiology. I haven'tworked on it like a fanatic over the last eighteen years like I did for theprevious fifteen, but I have continued to develop my work in this field.Wayne Edward ClarkeMay 26, 2017.

Book preview

The Fire And The Storm

Book Two

of

The Nexus Of Kellaran Series

By

Wayne Edward Clarke

Professional Edition

With Metric (SI) measurement units.

A Smashwords Digital Production

Copyright2012

By

Wayne Edward Clarke

All Rights Reserved

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance between the characters and any real persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

The purchaser of this ebook may copy this ebook to any computers, ebook reading devices, or backup digital storage media that the purchaser personally owns. This ebook may not be copied to any device or media that is not personally owned by the purchaser. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people by the purchaser. This ebook may not be loaned by the purchaser to other people unless the purchaser is also loaning the ebook reading device that this ebook will be read on. The purchaser must delete this ebook from any devices or media that the purchaser is selling, giving away, or disposing of. For the purposes of this statement of rights; corporations are not people. Corporations must purchase one copy of each eBook for each human person associated with the company who will read them.

Books By Wayne Edward Clarke:

Science Fiction:

The Rational Future Trilogy:

Book 1; People Of The Tiger

Book 2; Hunters In The Sky

Book 3; Victory Or Extinction

Epic Fantasy:

The Nexus Of Kellaran Trilogy:

Book 1; Blessings Of A Curse

Book 2; The Fire And The Storm

And coming in 2015;

Book 3; Chaos Of A Demon War

These novels are available in most popular ebook formats at

Smashwords.com who have provided format conversions

And at leading online book retailers

And on popular ebook apps for Apple and Android devices.

Maps

Be sure to check out the full-color video of the globe of Kellaran rotating in space at my websites. These greyscale maps are not all to the same scale

Kellaran Maps Key

Towns and Cities

1 - Shinosa Valley

2 - Gimoosh

3 - Latrel

4 - Bojoston

5 - Coradok

6 - Copper Strike

7 - Axis

8 - White Sands

9 - Verzaclon City

10 - Focus Mountain

11 - Xerv-Upon-Loch-Crotia

12 - Kejaz

13 - City of The Lair of The Dragon Lord

14 - Zarkog’s observatory

15 - Bejiur

16 - Kraka

Small Nations, Islands, Archipelagos

A - The People Of Life

B - The High People

C - The People Of Clouds

D - The Fisher Folk

E - Hilia

F - Hiliani

G - The Lava Shapers

H - Enj

J - The Thundering Escarpment

K - The Dakrin Cliffs

L - The Stone Islands

M - Nipukbu

N - Simifilibufitu

SP - Enclaves of The Sea People with Embassy status

Debevin

Felion

Serminak

Xervia

Kletiuk

Foreword

This is the Metric Edition, which uses Metric (SI) units of measurement. A USA (Standard units) edition is also available.

In order to give each character a distinct personality, often it’s necessary to have each of them speak with their own individual manner. Often this doesn’t conform perfectly with Proper English, especially in the cases of children and those speaking a second language, though it’s always easily understandable.

Other elements of my style that the reader should note are my use of italics to indicate quoted sentences that are telepathically or psionicly communicated. For example;

"It’s wonderful to be able to think with you, mind-to-mind." she responded.

I use the same MS Word files for both eBooks and paper books, and paper book printers don’t like bold or underlined text, so I also use italics occasionally to indicate words that are spoken with intensity. For example;

"You are absolutely out of your mind!" he growled.

If a sentence is already italicized because it’s a telepathic communication, any words in that sentence that are communicated with extra intensity will be indicated by being non-italicized, for example;

"That’s all a bunch of crap, and you know it." she psionicly reprimanded him.

I use ALL CAPITALS occasionally to indicate yelling or great loudness, whether the words are spoken or telepathic; volume and intensity being distinct qualities.

In this story, many common words are also the names of magic spells, such as Sending, Flight, and Speaking, or have traditionally had highly religious connotations like The Source, and those words are capitalized to indicate this.

Since languages began, they have constantly changed and evolved. The advents of written language, printing, and language standardization all slowed language evolution, but it still goes on. Sometimes the resulting conventions that make up ‘proper English’ don’t make a lot of sense, and they are slightly different in every English-speaking country. In most of these cases I’ve caved and used the conventions anyway in order to avoid irritating my readers who are sensitive about these things, like writing ‘seven thousand, three hundred and fifty-five’. It makes no sense that the compound words for numbers up to one hundred are hyphenated, like fifty-five, and the others aren’t, like three thousand. But I go with it anyway.

However, there is one English convention that I absolutely refuse to follow because it distorts the emotional connotations of the writing. I’ll point it out one here so that you’ll know that it’s not a mistake; I’m doing it on purpose.

If a quoted sentence is a question or an exclamation, it is conventionally written as a complete sentence within quotations, for example;

Get down! she yelled. Or;

Is that right? he asked.

However if a sentence that would normally end in a period is a quotation, correct English says that it should be ended with a comma. For example;

I live here, he said.

But the comma makes it a sentence fragment rather than a complete sentence, and leaves the reader hanging, giving a different emotional feel to the writing compared to the way I would write it, which is;

I live here. he said.

I only use a comma to end a quotation if it truly is a sentence fragment, because the sentence was interrupted where a comma would normally go. For example;

I live here, he said, And you’re not welcome.

I suppose in that case I shouldn’t capitalize the word ‘and’, since it’s not really the first word in a sentence, but it bugs me if I don’t.

It’s hard to change what is considered Correct English, but I hope that other writers who read my books will agree with me about these points and do the same in their own writing, and that eventually doing it our way will be considered correct.

Wayne Edward Clarke, January 21, 2015.

The Fire And The Storm

Summary of Previous Events

(If you are reading this account in a language other than Grand High Draconian, you might consider making a contribution to the Translation section of your local Magic Users Guild. XVD)

A summary of events in the previous volume; Blessings Of A Curse, Book One of The Nexus of Kellaran. Excerpted from Chronicles by Grakonexikaldoron; Mightiest of Gold Dragons, Chronicler for The Ninety-Nine; Leaders of Xervian Draconia.

It sometimes happens that there are moments of upheaval in the history and development of a world, and during these rare and tumultuous times, persons of exceptional talent and ability sometimes rise quickly from obscurity to dominate great events.

Such was the case with one Markee Longstrider, who is one of the largest living humans, but who none-the-less began the events leading to the formation of The Just Alliance as just a human boy lost and alone, traumatized by horror and loss, possessing nothing but his towering potential and his superb lifelong training as a Ranger of the Kingdom of Finitra.

As to how this came to pass; his people had been destroyed to the last by magic most foul and mysterious, forcing him from his isolated alpine valley home, to trek for months through a vast and uncharted chain of mountains. He chanced upon the border of The Nine Valleys of The High People, a nation of mountain elves led by Prince Yazadril, one of the most respected and formidable members of that race. Prince Yazadril detected that Mark was possessed of completely unique magical properties, and he invited the young man within The Nine Valleys for the purpose of research, the first human to pass within that land in the history of the elves.

The elves who were privy to the next events have refused to reveal them in detail, none-the less it is known that Princess Dalia; Daughter of Prince Yazadril, and Prince Bezedil of The People of Life, the nation of the forest elves, were both apparently killed by a curse that made it appear that their deaths were the fault of Yazadril’s other twin daughter; Princess Talia of The High People. Bezedil’s mother Princess Alilia, reigning monarch of The People of Life, was disconsolate and enraged by Bezedil’s death, and she cursed Talia to suffer until the end of days. For reasons unrevealed by the elves, Mark was soon married to Princess Talia after he cleared her of fault in the recent deaths. Their magnificent wedding was attended by the entirety of the elven race, and they received a substantial trove of wealth, possessions, and properties as wedding gifts. Their guests included the rulers of the elven nations, and thus Mark was afforded access to the highest levels of their governments. He quickly offered the first of his Suggestions; the advice he has given that has led to the formation of The Just Alliance, the definition of its character, and its victory over Serminak. In his humble way, he continually insists that his breath-taking brilliance and wisdom is ‘Only Common Sense’, and we generally humor him on the subject.

He soon gained the sworn loyalty of some eighteen hundred elves, and formed The Six of Hilia as a military unit, which included his elven wizard wife Talia, the mated dragons Kragorram and Povon, and the mated unicorns Silaran and Equemev. Under their influence his unique and astounding but latent talent as a spell-caster was fanned from a spark to an inferno.

He then formed the Principality of Hilia, having successfully negotiated the sovereignty of the tiny island of Hilia from the elven nation The People of Rain.

Thus the newly ascended Prince and Princess and their new companions in the Six of Hilia were qualified and invited to attend the inaugural meeting of The Assembly of The Just Alliance of all the races and nations of Kellaran except those of Serminak. And there, Mark’s brilliant and convincing speeches on the nature of their coalition and its laws established the spirit of The Just Alliance, and saw him proclaimed by acclamation as its informal leader.

The next day Mark and Talia were attacked by the forces of the same insidious conspiracy that was responsible for his people’s deaths, in an assassination attempt that they barely survived. They later appeared back in The Nine Valleys, accompanied by some of the elite of The Just Alliance, where Mark revived his wife Talia’s twin sister Princess Dalia, and Prince Bezedil of The People of Life; son of reigning Princess Alilia. This Healing was especially noteworthy, since both of those elves had been declared dead by a renowned Healer over four days previously.

Dalia later speculated that her Healing may have been a divine act, and that drew the attention of the gods to Hilia, where Mark’s party had secluded themselves after the Healing. The gods declared that most of the mortals present were Candidates for Divinity, and the mortals were urged to realize that potential and become new gods as quickly as possible, though no instructions or reasons for achieving that were given. This caused a confrontation between Mark and the gods that almost failed to end peacefully.

Two days later Mark and Talia and their companions in The Six of Hilia showed the world their spell-casting and battle prowess, when they defeated eighty-eight assassins in less than three seconds in a quick battle over the seat of government of the dwarves in Kletiuk. That was Mark’s seventeenth birthday, and that night he met his estranged extended family from Finitra, and attended a great tournament held in his honor on Hilia, presented in gratitude of his having saved the life of Prince Bezedil.

Early the next morning the Assembly of The Just Alliance met again. They attempted to initiate diplomatic contacts with Serminak; the continent of The Dark Dragons and of The Sylvan, who are great dark elves. The Alliance learned that the insidious conspiracy that had been causing havoc all over Kellaran was in fact the product of Zarkog; The Dragon Lord of Serminak. They also learned that several small worlds were approaching Kellaran; one full of millions of demons, and the rest in a separate group filled with billions of unknown beings. Zarkog declared that he would lead the defense of Kellaran against the demons, and further declared that in order to facilitate his leadership; the rest of the nations would surrender themselves up to him completely within the hour, or face annihilation from his vast forces.

The Just Alliance was unwilling to be dictated to by Zarkog in anything, so rather than wait the hour they had been given, they launched an immediate pre-emptive strike with all of their mobile forces. Their only goal was the capture or death of Zarkog, sparing all others if possible. They failed in that goal, and after the battle Zarkog directed his forces to capture Mark and Talia, who led them a merry chase all over Kellaran for many hours.

We later learned that after the chase, Mark was visited by a god of the Triax, the otherworldly race who inhabited the quickly-approaching sphere worlds. It revealed that they would assist the peoples of Kellaran in defeating the demons, if the Kellarani could achieve peace among themselves. This prompted the gods of Kellaran to declare that Mark’s struggle with Zarkog would decide the future of the gods’ relations with the mortals of Kellaran; if Zarkog won, the gods would remain withdrawn from the world of mortals, intervening as little as possible to ensure their people’s survival. If Mark won, the gods would rejoin the peoples of Kellaran as citizens with equal rights, and co-operatively assist in defending the world from the demons.

The next day the war continued with sporadic terror attacks by the Serminakis on the peoples of The Just Alliance, while The Six of Hilia spent the day training for war by sharing the dream of Quewanak; the eldest living dragon. While twelve hours passed for the rest of us, The Six spent over seventy-eight years of subjective time learning how to defeat Zarkog by trial and error, in a perfectly realistic simulation of the entire world with everyone in it.

They then called a meeting of The Just Alliance. They revealed what they had learned, then taught the others the spells they had developed, and Mark was given temporary command of the entire alliance for five days, or until he won the war, whichever came first. They freed the captive nations of the trolls, the ogres, and the insect race called The Swarm, swore them all to justice with binding oaths, and added them to The Alliance’s forces. They next forcefully ended Zarkog’s terror attacks, then infiltrated and turned many of his commanders.

Finally, assisted by the magic power of every spell-caster in The Just Alliance, Mark and Talia challenged Zarkog to personal combat. Zarkog was aided by the magic of all his continent’s hordes of spell casters, and Talia was incapacitated halfway through the fight, but the awesome and incredible battle was eventually won by Mark.

With the defeat of Zarkog, the rest of the Serminakis were quickly defeated or surrendered, and all were forcibly sworn to justice.

During the global celebration for the victorious end to the war, many awards and medals were presented, and a grand time was had by all. Mark assumed the Lordship of Serminak, then he and General Zwak Deathbringer of the Sylvan initiated The Game of Status; whereby the Sylvan and others who felt too constricted by their vow of justice could compete for status against other declared players through underhanded means, in order to maintain their sanity.

Then the gods appeared and declared that The Withdrawal was at an end, and that they would rejoin the affairs of mortals as citizens with equal rights, though they did form their own nations in order to have a say in The Assembly of The Just Alliance.

And just when it seemed that events could not possibly become the tiniest bit more incredible, they were joined by three gods of The Triax, and those strange beings soon formed accords with the gods and peoples of Kellaran.

So, in the scant seven days which culminated in the victory in war of The Just Alliance over The Dragonlord of Serminak, simple Markee Longstrider became Prince Markhan Reginus Longstrider of Hilia, Lord of Serminak, Key to The Just Alliance, Key to the Nexus of Kellaran, and Leader of the world. Having won the war, as well as the hearts and loyalty of most of the populace, he promptly gave up his rule of Kellaran, or so he keeps insisting.

In the weeks after the war, Mark and Talia officially worked for twelve hours each workday, with three days off in every eightday, but their duties were not arduous. During the first four hours and the last four hours of each workday they lazed around and played on their private beach, visiting with their many guests and engaging in informal discussions on every subject. Monarchs came to discuss politics and administration, wizards came to share the latest spells, generals came to discuss battle strategy in the void, engineers came to show off and demonstrate the latest weapons and devices. Tithian and Grakonexikaldoron kept them abreast of the latest magical and astronomical research.

It was made clear to the Keys to The Just Alliance that these informal discussions were of great value to those they spoke with, and that their off-hand commentary on the things they learned consistently led to new breakthroughs and new directions of research, even if their discussions were conducted while enjoying archery practice on the beach or while paddling in the lagoon.

The gods had taken to using the subtlest of disguises. While in their presence, most people forgot the fact that they were gods, even though everything else about them was easily recalled. After they had left, it was remembered that they were divine. The gods did this as part of their ongoing opposition to any form of religion on Kellaran.

But no disguising of any kind was used at Mark and Talia’s secluded beach, which was often visited by the gods of two pantheons. They would sometimes drop by singly, and sometimes in small groups of no more than five. A few of their discussions on morality and policy went on continuously for days.

The middle four hours of Mark and Talia’s workday were spent traveling and talking to people. This involved anything from informal chats over tea with chance-met citizens in a hostelry they’d picked at random, to formal speeches delivered to vast multitudes. They attended formal social occasions of every variety and every size with persons of note in every field, and often visited schools, Healers’ hospices, and public works sites.

When off duty, Mark and Talia enjoyed life to the fullest; attending the arts, participating in sports and games, and playing the tourist, and they routinely hid their identities when off-duty in public. Often they selected a beautiful and isolated place in which to simply relax and enjoy each other’s company, and to let their love grow.

There came a particular sunny afternoon on their beach, five weeks after their victory over Zarkog. One of the engineers who had been there that morning had demonstrated a device he had invented; two flat blades of wood with their ends twisted a bit that had been bound at their centers into a cross. With a bit of practice at the throw, it could be made to fly in a perfect circle and return to the hand of the thrower, without using any magic whatsoever. He had left several of them of various sizes, their blades ranging from fifteen centimeters to three meters in length, and now many in attendance were playing with them. Most challenged themselves by playing catch with throws that made a circle and a half that ended at their partner.

There was a lull in the conversation as everyone practiced with the things, with occasional laughs at the results of poor throws.

Mark was struck with wonder yet again by the illustrious nature of his company, and found his new life delightfully impossible to get used to.

His nearly-constant psionic Link with his pretty elven wife Talia kept him constantly apprised of her mood and location, even when the tiny blond and blue-eyed beauty wasn’t in his view. She was tossing in a group with her parents Prince Yazadril and Princess Nemia, their trio-mate the renowned Healer Hilsith of the polar elves, Talia’s twin sister Princess Dalia, Princess Alilia of The People of Life, and her son Prince Bezedil; Dalia’s fiancé.

Beyond the elves two pairs of dragons played knee-deep in the surf; their companions Kragorram the scarlet tossed with his mate Povon the silver, and Somonik the white exchanged tosses with Grakonexikaldoron the gold.

Higher up the beach unicorns pranced as Silaran’s huge white and pink form exchanged tosses with his mate Equemev the black and silver. Silaran caught and threw the wooden cross by delicately grasping one tip of it in his lips, and displayed amazing agility and dexterity as he did so. Equemev thought it undignified to manipulate objects with her mouth, and was the only one guiding the flight of her cross with a spell of Movement when it came close enough to be ‘caught’. Close to them Equemev’s mother Tithian was deep in conversation with Falgaroth, eighth god of her people, who appeared as a colossal bright blue unicorn with an immense horn.

At the east end of the beach were gathered Neela; First Goddess of Humans, Visinniria; Elven Goddess of War, Heklivmalgiso; the first and only other Elven god, Amirgath the Quicksilver; Eldest of The Dragon Gods, and Glup; the only god of a crustacean people from beneath the sea who had been extinct for almost half a billion years. Those five gods appeared to be sunbathing, but were in fact psionicly communicating with a speed and complexity of thought that no mortal could follow.

Mark was so busy marveling at them all that he made a bad throw and had to leap high to catch it, displaying far more agility than one would expect from a man with about two and a half meters of well-muscled height. He threw his long black hair back and laughed at himself as he landed.

Have you noticed exactly who is here today? Quewanak asked Mark while throwing a two meter white cross to circle the young man. The comparatively tiny green dragon was looking astoundingly healthy since he had become Draconian God of Dreaming.

Mark looked around again, then shrugged. Just our usual friends and accomplices. he grinned, and threw his cross to circle his green friend at the same time.

Think a moment. This is not the first time that this exact group has been together in this place.

It took a minute, then realization came.

Ah. Mark nodded. Right after I Healed Dalia and Bezedil. When we found out that all of us except Gran were candidates for divinity.

Quewanak nodded, and made another toss while calmly meeting Mark’s eye. It’s an incredibly beautiful experience, you know. And it’s as easy to set godhood aside and ignore it as it is to do so with the magic you already know. Sure, it changes you profoundly, but you can simply enjoy time as a mortal whenever you want, just as being a great wizard and warlock isn’t impeding your enjoyment of playing with toys like a child right now.

Mark nodded thoughtfully. You’re saying you think I should take the big step?

Quewanak raised an eyebrow. Don’t you?

Chapter 1

Mark paused and looked around, noticing that everyone was now following their conversation intently.

"What do you think, my love?" he asked Talia privately.

"I follow your lead in this, my husband." she replied. I welcome you to take the step, so long as you can take me with you. I couldn’t bear not sharing something so profound with you. But the thought of achieving divinity is both joyous and terrifying. I would gladly wait a millennium or three, if you so choose.

There was a long silence as they waited for his decision. Eventually he gave it.

No. Mark stated decisively. I’m not giving up my humanity until after we’ve had at least a couple of kids and raised them till they’re grown.

Impossible! Amirgath growled, seeming more than a bit irritated. The demons approach, and you are key to the nexus, which is due in two years! It is your responsibility to gain every advantage and ability you can, since the fate of this world may depend on your performance in the coming conflict!

Everyone stopped what they were doing and gathered in a large loose circle to follow the discussion.

Don’t tell me it’s impossible, Amirgath! Mark returned with determination. "I’m still a free being, and none of the many responsibilities I’m fulfilling requires me to give up my humanity! We want to have children, normal children, damn it! I don’t know if gods can even have children, and if they can, it’s sure to be a completely different experience from having and raising children as mortals do!"

Once you become a god, Heklivmalgiso patiently explained, "You will lose the urge to have children, and begin to share our feeling that every mortal member of your race are your children. Or perhaps, as you have advocated, you will feel that the mortals of all the races are your children. For we as gods are responsible for them, and for their racial survival.

"You know that the nexus and the coming war with the demons threaten every life on Kellaran. We will need every advantage that we can get, and if only your own divinity were in question, perhaps we could do with one less god.

"But you know that the divinities of almost all of these Candidates are dependent on yours, to one extent or another. So the question is not whether we will have one more god when we face the demons, the question is whether we will have at least twelve more gods, perhaps fifteen. And perhaps thousands, or millions, for I believe that once you have joined us in divinity; you may be able to teach the secret of achieving it to other mortals who have the potential to utilize it.

"Know that every god has found a different way to achieve it, and none of us have been capable of communicating it effectively to any mortal. Many of us stumbled across it by accident, most of the rest achieved it in a very intuitive process that defies rational analysis. Only two have achieved it by processes that were arrived at through intellectual cognition, and they lack the ability to communicate their methods to a mortal without spending thousands of years in educating that mortal.

"The method you have devised, from what you have let us know of it, is far more basic and understandable. The study of the achievement of divinity that your group undertook was the first to summarize the process so succinctly; gain power to increase understanding, gain understanding to increase power, continue until divinity is achieved. Never before has the Ascendance been reduced to such simple concepts, and that led to the method that you discovered.

"Furthermore, your ability to transfer complex and immediately usable spells into the minds of other mortals is supreme among all beings, with the possible exception of Quewanak here. If you allow him to observe the process via a psionic Link while you achieve divinity, I believe that he could teach it to mortals in a dream. But only you have the psionic ability to simply place it in the mind of another mortal so quickly and easily. In this one way, you already surpass the gods. After you have become a god, you will almost certainly be able to make any suitable Candidate a god, simply by showing them how it is done."

Hey, we still don’t even know if my method will work! Mark protested. "And even if it does, I might not be the best person to try it first! Look, I’ll give you my Reading of everything I thought and experienced during the battle with Zarkog, and the moments after when I still held all the power, and held all the crucial thoughts in mind. Take it, all of you.

"There. Now it’s not just my problem anymore. You can give that to all of your magic researchers, both mortal and divine, and I’m sure someone else can figure it all out! Meanwhile, I’ll keep working on it from that angle, being able to teach how to do it without having to do it myself for at least the next twenty years, because that’s how long it’ll take to have a couple of half-elven kids and raise them up to adults. And I don’t even want to start until the nexus is over."

Bah! You are ignoring the dependencies! Heklivmalgiso insisted. Those dependencies were discerned by our power as divine seers, for we see the shadows of the future, and combine it with supreme intellectual chain-of-events analysis in a way that is not understandable by a mortal mind, not even one such as yours. Consider it fact; Talia cannot become divine unless you do, and no amount of analysis of what you have understood so far will be of any use. You cannot teach her how to do it until you have done it. The same can be said of the rest of these candidates.

Perhaps not. Yazadril said as he rubbed his chin and considered Mark’s Reading. You said my Ascendancy and Alilia’s were only partly dependent on Mark’s. That has been fulfilled, since I wouldn’t have thought of this on my own, and I doubt she would have either. However, with what Mark’s given us, and some time to study it and make a few careful experiments, we might be able to do it.

"You will not be able to raise normal children, even if you stay mortal. Neela pointed out to Mark. They will be half elven and half human, and with your unique properties, they might just be the first of a new race. Furthermore, they will be the sons and daughters of the Prince and Princess of Hilia, Keys to The Just Alliance, keys to the nexus, two of the most powerful spell casters on the planet, and two of the wealthiest and most famous people alive. Those circumstances will prevent your children from having anything like what you would consider to be a normal childhood, and you may as well face that right now. But that does not mean that their childhood will be any less wonderful and healthy, simply because their parents and their lives are exceptional. The same will be true if you become divine.

The mortals here right now are the only ones that know that Quewanak is now a god. The same can be true of yourselves.

You’re right. Mark nodded. "There’s no way we can give our kids a normal childhood while living the way we are now. So after the nexus is completely over and dealt with, we’ll retire from all this royalty and government for at least twenty years while we move somewhere simple and raise some kids. Then after the last of ‘em get married, then I might consider becoming a god, and not before.

"As for all those dependencies, after you revealed them I did stuff that you said ‘left your visions of the future in tatters’. And you said that all our Candidacies would wax and wane with time and events. So there’s a good chance that none of that is valid anymore anyway."

He turned to Amirgath. It seemed you were the quickest at evaluating someone’s Candidacy last time, and I don’t see that having it done by our own patron god matters. Why don’t you give us all another quick scan right now, and see what you think.

Amirgath did so with a quick glance at all the mortals present, then sat back on his haunches in surprise, before grinning in satisfaction. All of your Candidacies are absolutely assured, including yours, Grakonexikaldoron! All of you will Ascend within the next two years! It is so absolutely certain that the dependencies can no longer be discerned. I am certain that this indicates that we will win this argument, and convince you to do your duty as you should!

Well you’re wrong then, because I’m still just as convinced that I won’t do it! Besides, it could just as easily show that someone else will figure out how to do it and to teach it. And besides all that, I’m still improving so quickly as a mage and a wizard and a warlock, I might be able to find another way to assure our victory over the demons.

"No." Falgaroth chuckled. "Your candidacy is assured; you will Ascend within two years. I think that what the new findings show is that the solution Visinniria, Glup, and myself have thought of will work, and that it will please all of you. A solution we thought of by working together while the rest of you were arguing, I might point out.

"Amirgath, would you and your faction be satisfied if Mark took two months completely off, including being out of contact with everyone, and then made his attempt to become divine, and to teach it to these other Candidates?"

We would be well pleased with that. Amirgath nodded.

"Excellent." Falgaroth said as he turned to Mark, and swished his long blue tail with a graceful motion.

"Mark, if you can retire from government and politics for twenty-four years, will you promise to then resume your duties and do your best to become divine, and to teach it or otherwise effect it in these others, and as many others as you can?"

Mark quickly checked with Talia via their Link, and received her enthusiastic agreement before he responded. Sure, I’d be willing to commit us to that.

"Excellent." Falgaroth nodded, and tossed his mane a bit. "Then gather those people who you wish to be part of the community your children will grow up with. Choose an isolated place for that community, and go there with those you have chosen, who will agree to live there with you in isolation for the full twenty-four years.

"We will then cast a time-bubble upon that place. While twenty-four years will pass within the bubble, only two months will pass outside it. That should give you ample time to raise your children.

"Remember that your community will be completely isolated, so the area in the bubble must be large and bountiful enough to provide all of your community’s needs. Though I suppose you are already capable of providing anything you could need with spellcraft."

That’s good thinking. Quewanak offered, scratching his chin with a claw-tip. I can think of a few ways to deal with simulating the normal timing of sunrise and the change of seasons.

You should do it for all our researchers too. Mark suddenly suggested. Everyone who’s working desperately on important research, hoping to get it done before the demons get here, can all have extra decades to figure it out. For that matter, do it for as many as you can, everyone who’s building defenses, or having and raising children, increasing the food supply, teaching spells, building weapons. The more time we have to prepare for the demons, the better off we’ll be, right? There can be more of us, and be better trained and equipped and prepared in every way!

"Damn, child, that is good thinking." Falgaroth neighed and nodded as he considered it "But there are limits to how much we can do that way. It’s not a simple thing, and will require a constant portion of the attention and power of at least three gods for the full two months in order to do it. But I will see how many of us are willing to commit to the task, and we will do what we can. We will take a week to prepare, then we’ll cast all the isolations simultaneously. It will be simpler that way. In two months time, we will see how much we have achieved in the way of results, and consider repeating and expanding the program. We may do it at least ten times over the next year.

"Most of us agree that we should try to eliminate the demons then; about thirteen months from now, actually. The distance between us and them at that time will be an optimum compromise. The closer they are, the easier it is to attack them, but allowing them closer also increases the possibility that Kellaran will be within their attack range. We have consulted with the gods of The Triax, and we doubt that even DemonLords could Translocate to Kellaran from that distance."

All right, that’s a plan then. Mark nodded. We’ll be ready in a week. I’m sure we’ll have no trouble finding friends to join us. Who wouldn’t want an extra twenty-four years before we fight the demons?

A week is not long, to prepare for such a withdrawal. Talia mused as she wrapped an arm around Mark’s thigh and hugged it. So I suppose we should begin as soon as we can, which is right now. I’ll inform First Minister Sheramiv and have her prepare the world and our schedule for our absence. And then, my love, we need to have a serious and private discussion about how we will raise our children.

Agreed. Mark said as he picked her up and cuddled her. I have a few more questions to ask here, while you’re talking to Sheramiv.

As Talia cast Speaking to their First Minister, Mark inquired of Falgaroth; Time will be passing a hundred and forty-four times faster outside the time-bubble, so does that mean that the land inside it will get less heat and light and magic power from the sun by that ratio?

We’ll compensate for that, either with our power, or by storing power to be gradually released within the time-bubble. Visinniria explained. You might not have your full power, but you should not be so diminished as to inconvenience you.

Okay. What will the border look like, from inside and from outside? And what’ll happen to people and animals that try to cross it? And will those of you who are casting it be able to follow what’s happening inside it, or communicate into it?

"The border will not be detectable to any mortal or animal." Falgaroth answered. "The area of the time-bubble should have the same conditions on all sides surrounding it. It can be surrounded by forest or grassland or desert, so long as the terrain is similar on all sides. An island would be perfect. Those who look into the time-bubble from outside it will see what is on the opposite side. Those who try to cross the border will be undetectably transported to the opposite side.

Those who look over the border from inside will see a convincing illusion of what is outside, adjusted for time of day and season. Any who try to pass over the border from inside will meet an invisible and impenetrable barrier.

"Truly, it will be a complex working to maintain it for the two month period. We will have to affect the mind of any who are transported across it, to hide the geographical inconsistency, and there are many other compensations to be taken care of.

"And, while it is theoretically possible that we who are casting the time-bubble could indeed observe and communicate with those within, it is very doubtful that we will. Either task would require a considerable expenditure of concentration that is better used elsewhere."

So you’re saying we’d better be damned sure we’ve got everything we could possibly need, because we won’t be able to get any help or resupply for twenty-four years. Mark said, partly pre-occupied as he considered the preparations they would have to make.

"That is correct." Falgaroth confirmed.

Sheramiv is adjusting our schedule and preparing for our absence. Talia reported. She’s not terribly happy about it, largely because she knows how many others are going to be unhappy about it, but we can’t please everyone all the time, I suppose.

No, but you can please me by inviting us to be part of your isolated little community. Dalia giggled as she hugged Bezedil with one arm.

Certainly sister. It would be hard to be apart from you for twenty-four years. Talia told her with a smile, then looked to her parents. I hope you can join us as well, though I understand if you cannot, due to your duties.

I don’t see why not. Yazadril stated as he rubbed his chin and considered the question. The conspiracy is dealt with, we won’t be dealing with the demons for at least a year, and things have stabilized nicely in Serminak, largely due to the efforts of Povon and Kragorram. And as I’ve said before, The High People require very little governing.

Of course we’ll join you! Nemia laughed as she hugged Yazadril with her right arm and Hilsith with her left. I am certainly not going to miss my grandchildren’s childhood!

Kragorram and I will join you as well, if we may? Povon inquired. We’ve already rebuilt and improved Zarkog’s system in Serminak, and if Zarkog could take months off at a time for astronomy, we can certainly take two months to have some children, and to enjoy more of Karzog’s childhood.

You certainly may! Mark chuckled.

"Of course we must come too!" Equemev declared. We have already planned that our children should be friends in their childhood years, and I think it will be wonderful!

I would very much appreciate being included as well. Alilia added.

All right. Who else should we ask? Talia asked Mark.

The Hilian volunteers will all want to come, I’m sure, and some of The Atoned will too. Mark thoughtfully replied. And I’d like to invite other elf and human mixed couples, like maybe Dulyamil and Meri, so our kids aren’t the only half-elven, half-human kids around. And I’d like to invite any of my family from Finitra that want to come, and your family from The Nine Valleys. And some of our buddies from Norka’s in Latrel.

I’d like to invite Theramin and Yzell. Talia mused. We’ll be a community dedicated to having children, and she’s the world’s finest midwife. And Theramin is a wonderful elf in all respects, as well as being one of the finest horticultural wizards and a premier shape-shifter.

We should just invite everyone we know on a personal basis. Including all of you here today.

Thank you, but I believe I speak for Tithian when I say that our duties would not allow such a sudden and prolonged absence. Somonik said, and Tithian added her psionic agreement.

And I would join you, but my romance with Somonik here is really getting quite good now, so I will also decline. Grakonexikaldoron explained.

Thank you for the offer. Amirgath chuckled. But for a god, being limited to the interior of a small time-bubble for twenty-four years would be more than a bit restricting.

Oh, I don’t know about that. Quewanak thoughtfully stated. I think I’ll accept.

The other gods there declined. Then Falgaroth and Visinniria were the first to take their leave, and the rest quickly departed, most to prepare for their extended absence from the rest of the world.

Soon Mark and Talia were alone. Mark sat on the sand and leaned back on a sitting log, and Talia curled up in his lap.

So, what are your thoughts on the raising of children, my love? Talia asked as she kissed him under his chin.

I’m not sure. Mark replied as he absent-mindedly caressed her. "On the one hand, I’d like to raise them as much like I was raised as we can. But on the other hand, I won’t lie to them, so they’re gonna know about our regular life here, even if they’re not living it at the time. Knowing that they’re really wealthy princes and princesses might make them less appreciative of a basic life than I was."

True. I also want to raise them much as I was raised, including as much training in wizardry and magecraft as they’ll accept. They’ll have an idyllic twenty-four years with us in the time-bubble, I hope, but after that, they’ll be out in the world with us during the war with the demons. I hope very much to keep them out of combat completely, but in case we can’t and they have to fight, I want them as prepared as we can possibly make them.

That’s some serious truth. he nodded.

So. she said as she turned to face him, then caressed his chest. How many shall we have?

Well, I’d like to have at least one boy and one girl. And I’d have been satisfied with having sixteen years to raise them. I think I’m proof that we can raise kids to be fully mature and self-sufficient adults by the time they’re sixteen. So that gives us at least eight tries to have a boy and a girl. If we get a boy and a girl on the first two tries, we can wait a couple of years and see how it goes with them before we decide if we’ll have any more.

"That sounds good. Except that I don’t want to have more than four young children at once, and then only if we can devote ourselves to parenting full-time. If I had to work at a full time occupation, I would not want to have more than two young children at once. Don’t misunderstand; I plan to have dozens of children with you over the centuries, but the first few years of a child’s life are so critical, and there are only so many hours in a day. I once wondered how humans who have large families avoid attention-starvation and neglect in their youngest, so I researched it. And the answer is; when a couple have more than five children, the oldest ones do much of the child-rearing work with the younger ones. Which I think is unfair to both groups, and less healthy for them as well.

"Almost all elven children are the only child in their household when they’re growing up. Elven couples will usually wait until a child is completely grown and has left their parental home before they decide to have another one. At least one parent is available to every child at every minute of the day or night, always. When Dalia and I were born, Mother and Father gave up or delegated every duty but raising us until we were fourteen, and only then did they gradually begin to add other responsibilities to their schedules.

As long as both of us devote ourselves to parenting as our only occupation, I’m fine with having four young children at once. If they’re all boys or all girls, we’ll just have to try again after the nexus. Or perhaps we’ll have time for another score of years in another time-bubble before then.

Okay, I’m fine with that. Mark grinned and gave her a kiss. And since much of our raising of children will involve the teaching of magic, and the Alliance wants us to get better at that, everyone should be fine with giving us another two months off in the real world over the next year. Particularly if our kids turn out to be exceptionally capable.

Mmhm. she agreed as she returned his kiss, kneeling up on his thighs for comfortable positioning. She drew back a little and grinned.

I'm going to be pregnant in less than three minutes from now. she announced, and Translocated their clothes two meters in the air and two meters to her right, where they flopped and fluttered to the ground as she reached down to adjust him.

Oh, I think it’ll take at least fifteen minutes longer than that! he chuckled.

It will not. I’ve learned your responses well enough to assure it, if I so choose. We can play some more after I’m pregnant, to celebrate the occasion.

As it turned out, she was right.

Chapter 2

Ninety minutes later, after they had swum in the lagoon and repaired their appearances, they were still grinning like fools with joy at what they had done.

Well, we need to contact everyone we’re inviting and explain what we’re doing, and see if they want to come along. Mark said as he drew a shirt over his shoulders. And we need to decide where we’re going to live for the next twenty-four years. Once we’ve got those done, we should start getting it ready for us right away. Everyone else is going to want to prepare their homes there too, and be done with it by the time the time-bubble goes up.

Talia was drawing a dress on over her head, and at that moment she stopped and held absolutely still for a second, then hurriedly finished pulling it on and laid her hands on her belly. Her face lit up with vibrant joy as she blurted; I’m pregnant!

I know, my love, we’ve been celebrating it for over an hour! Mark laughed as he swept her up and hugged her.

"No, you great silly oaf, I mean I’m pregnant again! On the other side this time! We’re going to have twins!" she informed him, her hands still pressed to her tummy.

Mark stopped and stared at her in surprise for a moment, then couldn’t help but hold her away from him and stare at her tummy, like he could see the life growing there.

Great gods! That’s amazing! he finally exclaimed.

It is! she giggled. "The very first time we’ve made love without the contraceptive spell, and we’ll have two babies! It’s so very unusual in every way! As Yzell said, we should barely be fertile with each other at all, let alone be able to produce twins on our first attempt! And it’s rare for a pregnancy to begin so long after our lovemaking! It was over thirty-six minutes after you last fertilized me when it happened! One twin will be almost an hour older than the other!"

Can you tell if they’re boys or girls? he asked, his grin so wide it was hurting his face a bit.

No, not for weeks yet. Though Yzell might well be able to.

Okay, we’ll invite her and Theramin first then! he laughed. We’ll have them all meet us at the cottage so we can do the planning.

And with that, he Translocated them to their patio. They quickly reviewed their tentative list of invitees, added a few more to it, them Mark cast Battalion Command to call them all at once.

"Hi, it’s Mark and Talia! We’ve called you all to invite you to spend some time with us…"

He quickly explained what they were going to do and why, and invited them all to join him and Talia at Hilia to talk about it that evening. He asked those who needed help with the Translocation to give the time they wished to come, so they could be transported when they were ready. They asked Yazadril, Nemia, Theramin, Yzell, and Quewanak to arrive at their earliest possible convenience, to help with the planning and research.

Almost everyone they’d invited to join them agreed to come, and many of their families and friends also asked to come, not wanting to miss so many years of their loved-ones’ lives.

When the last guest arrived for the meeting at Hilia that night, the attendees included 261 humans, 225 elves, 12 unicorns, and 4 dragons including Quewanak, who also represented the gods.

This is going to be interesting. Mark chuckled as he surveyed the gathering. "We have almost all of my family from Finitra out to second cousins and some of their friends, and their friends’ families, one hundred and sixty-six Finitrans all together. It’ll be challenging learning to tell all the Longstrider men and boys apart from each other. We have newlyweds Nek and Reen and six more of our friends from Norka’s in Sming, and their families and friends, for a total of fifty-five Smingans. And we have sixteen human-elven mixed couples, and their families and friends. Among the other elves we have all of the original Hilian Volunteers and twenty-one of The Atoned and some of their families and friends, a bunch of your family from The Nine Valleys, and a few of Alilia and Bezedil’s family and friends from The People of Life. Silaran and Equemev have ten of their family and friends. Kragorram and Povon just have little Karzog.

I notice that those we invited from long-lived races have far fewer other friends and family with them than the humans we invited, but that makes sense I guess. I suppose a dragon isn’t missing much of another dragon’s life in twenty-four years.

All in all, they should provide all our children with a good variety of neighbors! Talia laughed.

When everyone was settled Mark stood at the edge of the patio overlooking the lawns, augmented his voice to be heard by all, and spoke;

"Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us! We hope that our time apart from the world with you will be a beautiful respite from our troubled times.

"The first question to be decided was; where would we spend it?

After an hour of research in the Hilian Library, and after consulting with Falgaroth, we’ve chosen an isolated archipelago called The Evergreen Islands some five thousand two hundred kilometers west of southern Membitra.

He then cast a dwarven Revealing showing what he was describing.

"It’s a dense cluster of islands on the flat top of a huge and isolated ancient volcanic seamount, in an area of the ocean known as The West Debivinian Abyss. The area around the seamount and in the shallow and narrow channels between the islands is a bountiful oasis of sea life in the midst of a gigantic expanse of ocean that’s almost lifeless, due to its extreme depth and the lack of any major currents through the area. Most of the life on the islands is similar to the flora and fauna of southern Membitra, having been seeded from there by a dominant east wind and the general flow of the sea to the west, which is due to the world’s rotation and the pull of the moons. Much of the islands are covered with big hills or small mountains, and as their name suggests, many of those are covered in pine forest. They’re quite similar to the forests around Shinosa Valley and The Nine Valleys, but simpler. Most of the trees are a variety of fir that reaches about fifty-five meters in its natural state, so they’re already big enough for Nine Valleys-style tree homes.

"The cluster of twenty seven islands form an oval two hundred and four kilometers long and a hundred and thirty-eight kilometers wide. Only narrow channels averaging a third of a kilometer in width and about twelve meters deep separate the islands, so as this map of the archipelago shows, it’s an almost-solid oval of land. It’s ringed by a barrier reef, which protects the beaches from the worst of the great swells that roll across the deep ocean.

"It has very mild weather most of the time. The heat of summer should never be unbearable, and it’s only likely to have snow on the ground for a few hours on two or three occasions each winter. In the spring it tends to warm rains every night. Only the early autumn brings the chance of extreme weather in the form of the occasional hurricane sweeping up from the south-east, which range from inconvenient to catastrophic in intensity, particularly on the south side of the archipelago.

"The islands were legally part of The Kingdom of Membitra, though they’re completely uninhabited, undeveloped, and pristine. A spell that Yazadril cast revealed that they hadn’t been visited for over one hundred and seventy-two years, when they’d been surveyed by a flotilla of elves of The Sea People of Debivin. The elves had subsequently sold their claim to a king of Membitra who wanted to build a vacation residence there, but had never gotten around to doing so. Though the record remained in the Membitran archives, no living Membitran was even aware of the archipelago’s existence.

So, when we dropped in on him, King Raznoran of Membitra was delighted to learn that he owned those islands, and doubly delighted to learn in the same minute that The Principality of Hilia was offering him ten thousand one-ounce gold Hilian Crowns for all ownership, sovereignty, and rights to them!

He paused while a chuckle went around among those listening.

"The purchase was complete a minute later; the payment made, and the papers signed. We spent a while chatting with King Raznoran and his family and retinue, and they wished us well in this fine enterprise we’re embarking on.

"We’re renaming the island group Hiliani, which means New Hilia in Elvish. It’s now part of the Principality of Hilia for all purposes of government and law. We chose it because it’s extremely isolated, which makes casting the time-bubble easier, and because it’s bountiful enough to support many times more people than we’ll have living there, even if we didn’t have magic to help. And because it’s a lot like where me and Talia are from, to be honest. But with better weather.

"We have a week to do most of the building of our new homes and other buildings before the time-bubble goes up. During that week we’ll also have to bring in everything else we need. We can finish construction after we’re cut off as long as we have all the materials we need, but we might have less power available for our spells after that, so we’ll be spending a lot of power to get as much done as we can before then.

"There are a lot of big healthy trees, and Theramin says we should be able to grow most of our buildings in them in the next week, using his elven horticultural techniques and a big expenditure of power.

"Given the resources there, we figure our diet should have plenty of variety. There’s a big assortment of edible plant life whose growth we can accelerate, and