Underrealm

Soltana

Soltana awoke with the dream still fresh in her mind. The woman named Tettra was a curious one. The dream had brought her to another new place, giving her the hope she may one day travel, to see this Archaeology guild House Cyaxares in the Basilica Conurbation of Saint Peter on Magara of the Donthos sector. She remembered every detail, including the map that was designed across the wall of the lost archives. It automatically stored inside her Dream module.

Then the dream split.

“The Seal of the Tetragrammaton!” Soltana said aloud.

“Lambent!” She added.

She spun in place, her legs clicking and thumping across the silk carpeted floor of the workroom.

“I can walk!” Soltan exclaimed, tilting her body down to get a semi-good look at herself.

She bobbed up and down, testing the strength of the muscle fibers.

“No creaking or instability,” Soltana commented.

She spun around quickly, testing the agility and finding it adequate. While the movement would be more static than she desired, it was still useable. Soltana didn’t care about the downsides.

“I can walk!” She shouted, spinning in place.

She stopped in place, thinking about where she would travel.

“To the stairs!” Soltana cried out.

The excitement of moving was dying down, her mind calming down. She began to inspect the connection between her head and her chassis. It felt foreign and strange, like suddenly growing a foot. She stood there, feeling her new parts. She could feel the softness of the carpet, feel the cool air against the chassis. It was an indescribable feeling forgetting how to move and now being able to walk.

She checked her status to discover what was new.

Name: Soltana

Race: Lambent

Chassising: Integrating

Warning: no signal

Remaining Power: 4989/5000 QC

Cannot access inventory

Location: Unknown

Time: unsynced

Modules: Dreams, Unresolved

ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR

Her critical alarms were sated. She focused on that word: Lambent. That was what she was. This was significant, as she thought herself an Anform or some version therin. She wasn’t an Anform, but a Lambent.

“What’s a Lambent?” She asked. The question floated along unanswered.

If there were changes in her immediate status, then her Theonware would not be far behind. She mentally prepared herself as she went deep into her Theonware to see what had changed.

TW.Ilios.1.0

Pairing: Broken

Memory: Healing

Processes: 16

Creator: Mikial T. McDonough

Creator: Barman

Creator: Tan######

ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR

She stared at it. The name of her second creator.

Barman.

“Barman. So it was Mikial McDonough and Barman.” Soltana began, seeing the third creator line had been revealed.

“Ah, a third creator…” Soltana processed.

She just had four different major events happened. The first was meeting another dreamer; Tettra. The second was her race; A Lambent. The third was her creator; Barman. The fourth was her God giving her a Seal upon her forehead.

“The Seal!” She recalled as she trundled through the workroom out into the main hall near the front door. She trundled off, looking for a mirror. She went into a new room, following along the long carpet that ran from the front door. A guest room, by the look of it. There were comfortable chairs, meant for Dugrum spiders. There she found it, a small cabinet mirror. She trundled up to it, raising herself up on her tippy claws.

There she spotted it as plain as her own head.

יהוה

The Seal of the Tetragrammaton. The adamantite filigree had been molded to form the Seal. How He could have shaped such a stubborn metal in seconds was a testimony of his power. The Seal looked as if it belonged, elegant as the outer filigree itself.

She replayed what Adonai had said in the dream.

“You have my mark. The Seal of the Tetragrammaton. This will allow you to access my kingdom, order my servants, and use my artifacts. This will allow you to aid in protecting others.”

“Servants?” Soltana processed. She had no idea who Adonai’s servants were, or what they were called.

She thought back to the dreams, realizing that it was possible she was not the only holder of this Seal. Adonai had said as much. She thought back to the man named Gideon and the AI Shindow. The abbess named Ruth would have been another possible candidate.

I would calculate there are more.

I have the Seal. I am a Lambent. I can walk. and know two of my creators… Soltana processed the new information. She nodded internally as having so many things divested at once was probably in the wing for ages; like a dam buildup.

But right now, I need to focus. The answers I have only created more questions.

“More answers are more questions,” Soltana reminded herself. With due time the answers may be revealed.

For now, she put all of the unanswerable questions away for later. Right now, it was time to fulfill her immediate calling.

To walk.

To stride.

To meander.

To sashay. She really wanted to do that one in particular.

She trundled along, heading to the stairs to find L’yophin.

“My first test,” She said aloud.

She stopped, turning in place to face the door.

“Outside or stairs?” Soltana contemplated.

An image of her tumbling down the stairs flashed through her head. Capsizing and crumpling her newly created chassis sounded unappealing.

“Outside.”

She moved to the door, seeing a lever. She held out her crab leg and pulled clumsily. Several attempts and a one close call of capsizing had her click the lever. The door popped and began to open, making a grinding noise as it the weight of it pressured the hinges. She trundled through, seeing the outside which felt like the first time.

She surveyed the porch area, seeing a home garden along the pathway. The glowshrooms lit the way like wall lights. The glowshrooms shuffled about, staring at Soltana.

All of the Underrealm opened up to her. The mosslands stood a vast land to her, larger than she thought. The sky was a vast blackness of perpetual stoney overcast, telling her it was wake. She scanned the horizon, seeing glowing dots in the distance. More glowshrooms or something else entirely. The possibility of civilization appeared to be high. She felt a sudden feeling wash over her. A feeling she had not felt in a time.

She was free.

She could now explore at her leisure, starting with her new friend L’yophin’s estate. She was surprised by the sheer mass of land. It would take several days of walking to see it all.

She trundled along, seeing the sights, peering out at the vast estate L’yophin had built. Her journey was interrupted by a grubby little green creature scurrying along, pausing to stare at Soltana. It was holding the remnants of some kind of tuber in its mouth.

It wore a scarf of ragged cloth around its neck.

The gob cocked its head, scooting forward on its stubby limbs. It sniffed the air, trying to get a semblance of information of the strange walking head in front of it.

“Oh, hello. Don’t be scared. Are you lost?” Soltana asked.

The creature cocked its head, then nodded. Soltana could get no read from the stupid vacant stare.

“You understand me?”

More nodding.

“Do you have any friends?”

The gob stopped for a second then nodded again.

“That settles it. Let’s go look for your friends,” Soltana urged.

The gob dropped the remnants of the tuber and waddled to Soltana. It held out its tiny hands, wanting to be picked up.

“Hop aboard- I don’t exactly have arms yet.”

The gob scurried up her leg and climbed to her head, lying on its stomach atop her. It gently pat at her head, feeling the symbol on her forehead.

Soltana trundled off towards the ranch to find L’yophin, he would know what to do about the lost creature.

“Can you speak?” Soltana inquired.

The gob gibbered something in return. It continued to pat on her head idly, making quiet clapping noises against her head.

“Hm, I do not understand, but that is fine. We’ll find L’yophin, he will help us.”

The gob squeaked at that and dropped off her head, tumbling to the mossy bed. Soltana stopped with concern.

“Wait, where are you going?” She asked as the Gob scurried off.

She gave chase, putting her speed to the test.

“Wait! Little one!” She cried out, the gob just scurried along its stubby limbs.

The gob ran to the silk mansion, keeping against the wall to its right. Soltana trundled along, just keeping up, her long strides equaling with the gob’s frenetic pace. The gob gibbered along in a mixture of panic and excitement. It appeared this was its favorite game; run away from the big scary something.

They were getting to their first lap, getting to the stone fence for the walkway. The gob lept, scurrying over the fence into the sack of an ambushing spider.

“Caught you, freeloader!” L’yophin rasped with a spidery smile.

He shrugged the sack over his thorax, spotting Soltana. He paused, all eight eyes going wide.

“Soltana, you awake!” L’yophin greeted as he skittered over the wall. He went in close to inspect her.

“What? What is that?” L’yophin asked hurriedly, his brow raising at seeing the strange symbol upon her forehead.

“L’yophin wait, I’m trying to help it. What are you going to do to it?” Soltana said with concern.

“Help them? Gobs are pest. Dump over fence,” L’yophin explained quickly. He felt the Seal on her forehead, his fingers tracing it.

“What.”

“Is that?” He asked with paused words.

“Oh my it is the Seal of the Tetragrammaton,” Soltana explained.

L’yophin cocked a spidery brow, half of his eyes closing. He was incredulous.

“But it adamantite,” L’yophin said as if that explained everything.

“Yes, but Adonai, my God, did that. He gave me that Seal.”

“God?” L’yophin asked, shaking his head at the new information.

“Yes, I’ve been dreaming.”

“But, you Anform…”

“No, I am a Lambent.”

L’yophin blinked his eyes rapidly, processing what he was hearing.

The sack started shaking and scuffling.

“L’yophin, please let it out, it's probably scared.”

“But it loafer. Freeloader. Pest!”

“It understands me.”

“Eh?” The spider stopped at that, glancing wearily back at the sack.

“Yes, it can understand. Hello little one, can you understand me?”

A croaky squeak emanated from the sack.

L’yophin emitted a clicking disgruntled noise.

“Please, L’yophin. They might be able to help us.”

“You help one, then you help all!” L’yophin retorted.

“But how do we know they’re helpless?”

“All they do is take! And then they become mean Trows!” L’yophin shouted this time; a first for him.

“And Is that because you chase them? If they understand what we’re saying, in my language, then they are intelligent.”

“And what do you mean Trows? What’s a Trow?”

“Gobs change. Turn into something else. Goblins. Then Trows. Big. Mean. Feral.”

“All the more reason to help them. If they become Trows, then maybe they become big and mean to aid us. Please, L’yophin. If they understand us, then they can help us!” Soltana pleaded.

L’yophin looked away to the sack, then back to Soltana. His eyes drooped as he ran out of arguments; he was going nowhere with a stubborn Lambent. He let out a large sigh as took the sack and placed it down, the gob quickly scurried out, getting beneath Soltana’s chassis. It hid behind one of her legs, looking up at the spider. L’yophin blinked in a wave, gesturing to Soltana. His limbs slouched.

“Let’s go. We find the others.”

“Thank you, L’yophin.”

“Now, gobs cause trouble? Gone.” L’yophin laid down his ultimatum as he pointed to the sack.

“They will help us. I know it,” Soltana urged.

The scarfed gob scurried up Soltana’s leg, perching back on her head, where it resumed patting her Seal.

They began their search with little idea of the fifth major thing that had happened.

A dangerous disaster was just averted.