Beyond?

“About the political and religious differences between the known countries:

The southern nations are a collection of small city states which are in a constant state of fighting for supremacy. When the Empire separated, the entire region was torn apart by war because local warlords and self proclaimed kings tried to grasp the power, but nobody managed to fill the power vacuum. That's the state of things ever since the Empire fell and the people of the southern nations seem unable to resolve their problems on their own.

That's why many people say that the politics of the southerners are like the wind. And they aren't wrong since the rulers of the southern nations change as fast as they are killed and replaced.

Their religious system reflects their political discord. The people of the southern nations worship many different gods and deities. They believe that everything of great importance must have its own guardian spirit. If you walk into a southern bar with fifty people it'll be hard to find more than two people who share the same faith. The same way it's not uncommon for them to honour their faith in different ways. You may find relatively reasonable people with a strange religion, or you come across a crazed fanatic who wishes to convert everyone to his faith. It's hard to tell if the multitude of religions in one place is the cause for their disunity. What's for sure is that their local warlords and kings always find a reason to reach out for control over the southern nations, may it be politics, religion or for the sake of power itself.”

-The writings of Dwem.

***Dwem, Capital***

***Azir***

The Great Shaman sighs. “Hard decisions require certain methods.” He pulls a coin from his pocket and flips it up into air. “Head is north and tail is south!” The coin spins wildly until it lands in his hand. “General Greywinter, Deploy all of our troops at the northern frontier.”

The old, grandmotherly woman to the shaman's right raises a finger. “Please don't play those games with us Great Shaman. This is a grave matter and the existence of our nation may depend on it.”

The Shaman tilts his head while looking at the coin. “Why? The coin never lied to me, it got me through the national exams and answered all ten thousand questions without fail.” He holds it to his chest.

The old man to the Shaman's right stomps the ground with his foot. “Nobody throws a coin over ten thousand times and gets always the right answers! You are playing with us, what led to your decision? Did you deduce who lied to us?”

The Shaman shrugs his shoulders. “Fine, let's reason it through, though asking the coin is much easier.” He stores the coin away. “I don't know who is lying, but it doesn't matter. One party is saying that Nict is a danger, the other says it is not. Until now it looked like we are forced into a war on two fronts.” He pulls a handful of beans from another pocket and throws one bean in front of Saana and Triz. “They were brought to us by the southern nations as eyewitnesses. One point.” He throws a bean in front our group. “They brought us eye witnesses too.” Another bean lands in front of Saana. “The reports say that Nict is mobilizing troops and rebuilding their fleet.”

He throws a bean in front of us. “The investigation team always reported that the fellows from Nict aren't interested in war and that we should stay calm.”

Another bean lands in front of us. “They sent us their second princess.”

And another. “None of the reports ever said that the Gejene would throw one of their family members away.”

One more bean. “I read tons of reports about them over the years and nothing ever hinted at them being cruel to their own blood. They wouldn't send us their princess and attack us afterwards.”

He corrects his mask. “And it doesn't really matter in the end. We can't fight on two fronts and if Nict suddenly turns hostile I prefer to be conquered by Nict, rather than the barbarians.”

His eyes flick to general Greywinter. “So deploy the troops to the north and secure the southern ambassadors.”

Triz steps forward. “You can't-”

The Shaman throws the entire fist of beans at Triz and Saana. The beans sprout ranks and roots in mid air, catching Saana and Triz in a tight web of plants and immobilizing them. “Nobody tells the Great Shaman what he can't do! The Great Shaman has spoken and when the Great Shaman speaks, the others listen and follow!” General Greywinter turns pale and hurriedly leaves the room to execute the Great Shaman's commands.

Whoa, I raise an eyebrow. This guy has a huge ego, but I admire his skill with the beans. I didn't see that spell coming, was it a ritual? He didn't cast at all.

The Great Shaman slides off of his seat. “The only question to me is how you got turned. I can't imagine the good old Saana to provoke a war of her own free will.”

I raise a finger. “Maybe they are under some kind of mind control? I could take a look at them.”

The Great Shaman summons another gust of wind and floats down from his heightened position. He lands right in front of me and I have to look down on him. The Great Shaman scratches his cheek with his totem. “You are that soul magician... we abhor your kind... but since you haven't done anything offensive so far we'll let you be. I am sorry, but I can't allow you to do anything to them. Your party isn't proven to be free of guilt. If I let you do something to them, you could manipulate them.” He turns away, patting the side of his head with his totem. “I had to make a decision because time is short. The coin already made the decision for me anyway, I just had to justify it.”

I snort. Is his coin just a bad joke, or some kind of divination magic? If so, it seems to be a powerful one.

Stella bows to the Shaman. “Then shouldn't we take the ambassadors from the southern nations to the task? I would like to hear their opinion about their peace treaty with us.”

The Shaman stops. “Nict has a peace treaty with the southern nations? Another point that doesn't add up.” He gestures at the guards. “Bring them here. I am sick of this. Once I have everyone in one place someone will surely falter and reveal the truth.”

Padma walks over to her grandmother with a worried expression on her face. “Grandma, why are you lying?”

Saana looks betrayed at Padma. “You are the one who is lying! How can you help those murderers!?”

“They saved us! What did they do to you?” Padma screams at Saana.

The two of them continue their heated exchange without caring for their surroundings.

In the meantime my mind turns in circles. Was Saana a double agent from the beginning, or did she get influenced somehow? Unfortunately the Great Shaman dislikes my idea to take a look into their minds. I turn to Adala. “Is there a ritual to check their minds.”

Adala shakes her head. “Unfortunately it's very hard for shamanistic rituals to influence someone's mind without damaging it. Our magic is very powerful, but that's its weak spot. If it was that easy, the Great Shaman would've done it already.”

I see, a ritual can easily guide huge amounts of magic, or achieve complicated results which seem miraculous by the standards of other magical systems. But the crude and complicated methods of a ritual are unfit to influence the mind of a sentient being. It's like trying to use a programming language that's not intended for the purpose. You might be able to pull it off, but the results will always be marginal compared to other languages. “So you don't have any people who are specializing in influencing someone's mind?”

Adala shakes her head. “We don't have mind magicians like in Nict. The only ones who practice mind magic are the techno mages, but they aren't capable of twisting someone like this.” She gestures at Saana and Triz.

Suddenly I get an idea. “Great Shaman? It might be problematic if someone from Nict checks on Saana and Triz, but what if we gave you a tool to do so? You could check the tool's function yourself before you use it on them. That way you could be sure that they aren't influenced.” I am thinking of my memory mirror. We just have to touch it and show them our memories. Then they can take a look at their own memories and see for themselves that it works properly. As a little side effect I'll get a little peak inside the Great Shaman's head!

The Great Shaman looks at me and licks over his lips. “It doesn't hurt to take a look. Bring it.”

I turn to Ivy and smile at her.

My servant rolls with her eyes. “I understand. Go and fetch the mirror.” She leaves with the elevator, accompanied by one of the Shaman's guards.

Stella walks slowly to my side and whispers into my ear. “I hope the mirror won't show any problematic scenes this time?”

“Of course not, what are you thinking.” At least I hope it doesn't.

The Great Shaman shakes his totem. “Why is it taking so long to fetch those guys from the southern nations. Are they having a picnic in the outer layers of the city?”

One of the guards bows in respect. “Indeed, you instructed us to give them quarters as far away from you as possible. You said that you don't want their sick ambassador anywhere close to you.”

The Shaman glares at the guard. “Indeed. There was an order like this.”

Then he continues to walk nervously in circles around the room and studies his totem like it could grant him new knowledge. After a while I can't stand his nervous attitude any more and offer him something that always helps me to calm down. “Why don't you eat something sweet while we wait. It helps to relax.” I pull the chocolate bar from my chest pocket and offer it to him.

He glares at the bar and shakes his totem above it. A test for poison? I hear people gasp, but don't get their problem. Finally the Great Shaman accepts the chocolate bar and takes a hearty bite. After a while he nods. “That's good stuff. Maybe you aren't a bad guy after all.”

I smile satisfied, of course it's good, I buy only the best quality. Upon turning around I find Stella looking like she wants to hide somewhere. Adala has a sick expression, while Eliot and Padma are looking somewhere else.

.