Chapter 43 - Rumination

As Finn climbed the stairs he realized why the journey to the Cloud Peak Monastery was considered a pilgrimage. He’d always assumed that the ‘Thousand Steps’ was the end of the journey, and that people started the pilgrimage from Noga, or Seline or wherever they were from.

After reaching the bottom of the final set of staircases that rose into the clouds, he had come to the conclusion that the steps themselves could be considered the pilgrimage. He felt exhausted and his legs ached. His breathing was heavy and sweat soaked into his clothes. At some point he’d stopped counting the steps and just focused on taking the next step, refusing to take any extended rests as a point of personal pride.

The ash blonde officer reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pocket watch. He had already been on the stairs for two hours. He took a moment to catch his breath as he looked down the staircase. It descended as far as he could see before disappearing over one of the landings. He had long lost sight of the gate and courtyard below.

An incredible vista of mountain peaks spread out across the horizon. The staircase faced to the east and slightly to the north, where the Yonge mountains extended basically until the edge of the continent. At this height he was already higher than every peak he could see. It made him feel a sense of significance and yet also incredibly small.

He recalled that his grandmother had a tradition of climbing to Cloud Peak every year, which she kept up to the age of eighty six when she passed away. He had never gone - he’d been too busy with school and couldn’t see the purpose of walking up a big rock only to walk back down it on the same day. But staring out into that vast landscape he felt a connection to the stories of his grandmother and the other people who made the journey.

He breathed in deeply, exhaling slowly through his nose as he returned the pocket watch to his pocket and turned to face the final set of stairs that lead into the clouds. There were six landings before the stairs disappeared into the clouds. He didn’t know how many more landings were after, and how many staircases were left.

“Only one thing to do.” Finn muttered to himself as he began to walk.

Step by step. Each step at once tiny, yet still significant.

To take his mind off of his aching legs he began to mull over his investigation. Aside from Edwin and his master, most of the missing persons reports were only tangentially related to the monastery and not very interesting. However there were four cases in particular that were significant to him.

First were the cases of Jun Ping and Wanho Ping. Ping was a common surname in NianXing, so though they shared the same last name, the two men were not related. Jun was a mountain guide and Wanho was a mushroom forager. Both of them worked in the mountains, and just prior to their disappearance had mentioned heading to Cloud Peak. Both the monastery and the residents of the village did not recall seeing them, so both cases were dropped due to lack of leads.

The interesting connection between these two reports were reports of fantastical sightings. Jun’s family stated that he had been hearing strange calls and seeing strange beasts and plants during his treks deep in the mountains.

He described seeing creatures that only existed in myth - Iridescent butterflies with six wings, flowers that floated up into the sky in the evening while shining like candles, squirrel-like rodents that seemed to teleport between branches. He’d heard strange howling and calls of predators that he didn’t recognize and steered far away from. On the morning of the day that he went missing, Jun had declared that he was going to prove the truth of his stories by going to a valley in the shadow of Cloud Peak and bringing something back.

His family thought that the man, who was often hyperbolic in his storytelling, was simply telling tales for his amusement and to drum up business for the festival. They had been slow to report him missing. After all, he often was out in the mountains for days at a time. They had assisted the police in the search in the mountains but came up empty handed.

The mushroom forager, Wanho Ping, had no family, but was part of a group of mushroom enthusiasts that shared a booth in Tye-An Street. On the night before he had gone missing, he had arrived at their friend’s house for a regular gathering in a panicked state, yelling about having been attacked by a creature with dozens of eyes on stalks. He was covered in the blood of the creature as he had stabbed it to death. They helped clean him up and confirmed that he had not suffered any significant injuries. They had criticized his story, believing that he was probably high on a psychedelic mushroom at the time, and that he’d been assaulted by a regular wolf or a cougar.

He’d left the day after, shaken but otherwise fine. He complained about hearing voices and said he was going to the Cloud Peak Monastery to pray and receive help from the monks. The man was not particularly devout, nor did he have any particular connection to the monastery. His friends thought nothing of it and only during the investigation interviews did they mention that it was somewhat strange of him to decide to visit the monastery rather than the other temples in and around town.

The police investigator reported that the man likely had not made it to the monastery or the village and the case was filed as unsolved.

Through overhearing conversations and rumours at the station, Finn was aware that the police were investigating into the overall reports of strange beasts in the lands surrounding the city. The current consensus, though, was that these were simply misdirections related to the bandit activity from the south.

The Fuha Wetlands which bordered Kumin and Huan to the south, was a collection of disparate city states and towns that fought amongst themselves as often as they cooperated. The wetlands were a harsh environment with little arable land and many dangers, natural or otherwise. There was a stereotype of the people from Fuha that joked that there were more bandits than regular people in the Wetlands.

Finn agreed with the consensus in the police force, but not for the same reasons. Most of the officers thought that the strange occurrences were just stories spread and crafted to sow confusion and spread the official forces thin, creating a better environment for invading bandits. However, Finn knew something that most officers didn’t. This was that the predominating form of religion in the Wetlands were cults centered around the worship in the Domain of Life.

These cultists held rituals that drew upon the wild energies in the aether to bring about strange and often terrifying life forms. And while most of the cultists simply prayed to such beings without effect, there were definitely individuals that had access to this fantastical power. They were Exalted of the Domain of Life!

Finn had one very strong reason for believing that the stories of strange beasts and plants were real and not simply fabricated misdirections. This had to do with the third significant case in his mind.

This case was not a typical missing person’s report. Rather, it was an investigation into a suspicious person by the Special Ops division. He was made aware of it due to his personal connections in the force.

The suspect’s real name was unknown, but she was referred to as Medusa. Her most distinguishing feature was her long dark hair, which had a tinge of green and was braided in such a way that her hair appeared to be thick vines. She was an Exalted affiliated with a cultist group called the Marked Devout. The driving force of this group was the revival of their ancient God and the descent of his Kingdom into the real world.

Finn’s contact knew of three pathways within the Life Domain - Succubus, Overgrowth and Abomination. Medusa followed the Overgrowth pathway, and was suspected to be at least a Candidate, but was perhaps even at the Apprentice level.

Overgrowth Candidates had exceptional healing and the ability to increase the growth of plants and incite them to produce fruit. At the Apprentice level their touch had the ability to absorb or transfer life force, and their ability to stimulate growth was increased. Reports stated that they could create a wall of impenetrable bramble in a matter of seconds from a single seed. That they could cause a tree go through the four seasons, blossoming, flowering, dropping its leaves and going bare, within a span of minutes.

A single touch from an Overgrowth Apprentice made one feel exhausted and weak. They could completely drain the life of a person in as little as five minutes as long as they maintained contact. The report concluded that while they were fairly certain of the Candidate list of powers, the Apprentice list was incomplete.

Medusa was tracked from her entry into Kumin by several officers. She had visited a number of temples throughout the province, including the Cloud Peak Monastery. At some point while she was in Noga she had become aware of her investigators and there was a clash that left two officers dead. She subsequently disappeared and was suspected to have fled Noga.

Given the above three cases, Finn had formulated a theory. Medusa, and possibly other members of the Marked Devout, had infiltrated Kumin and were conducting rituals that were bringing in otherworldly creatures and life forms, which somehow was related to their overall goals. While they had not caused any significant problems yet, perhaps if they were left unchecked there would be greater difficulties in the future.

Finn was certain that the monks of the Cloud Peak Monastery were aware of this issue, as they also had Exalted members among them. Due to their monastic lifestyle and values they did not flaunt their powers but simply followed the path for self development. However they were the keepers of the mountain and forest outside of Noga, so there was no way they would not be aware of strange occurrences in the area.

With the Five Kings Festival approaching, the Cloud Peak Monastery likely had two concerns - First, the safety of the lands surrounding the monastery, and secondly, the public perception of the Monastery. The two were interlinked. If the monastery was seen as unsafe to visit during this time, it would see a great decrease in tourism and reputation.

In Finn’s mind, the monastery was most likely doing its utmost to hide the problems in the mountain. Also it was probable that they were trying to solve the problems themselves, without outside help, to minimize the risk of harm to their reputation.

The unfinished state of the entrance grounds at the base of the staircase, as well as their policy of turning away visitors convinced Finn that his theory was probably very close to the truth.

Finn’s goal was to carefully and diplomatically open a dialogue to first confirm the situation in the mountains, and secondly form a cooperative bond between the monastery and the police force to tackle this problem together. After all, the Special Ops Department was already doing its own investigation. If they were able to link arms and cooperate, the results would be improved many times!

As for the fourth case on Finn’s mind, it had nothing to do with the investigation, but rather had a personal significance. A report had sighted a certain man within the vicinity of the monastery three months ago. This man had a distinct appearance - deathly pale skin, red eyes, thin white hair. He was not old, but appeared to be in his mid-thirties. Finn only had a sketch to go by, but he had spent many nights studying it.

Finn’s eyes darkened as he ruminated on the man’s appearance. His cold, sunken eyes were burned into Finn’s mind.