Chapter 31

Clerical error

In this specific case, putting the prisoner to the question was unexpectedly non-violent. Expected considering the cleric disposition, but disappointing for the voices… and for me.

From the little he said so far, the interrogators – a section of the knight order adept at asking leading questions and discerning lies – were certain his case would not warrant further motivation. The Collective did not care, though; seething with anger and betrayal, each of his words was perceived as insulting and deceptive.

Notwithstanding our opinion of the hateful emissary, he taught us that there were three major factions in the church and that he belonged to the second biggest one, ‘the faithful’: the worst fanatical and uncompromising jerks - as the name implies.

“What was your purpose coming here?” Ask the interrogator.

“It’s just as the witch... as her Majesty presumed: we intend…ed to stop the filthy renegades from the political faction from brokering peace with monst… our esteemed neighbors.”

“Speak freely, we all know what your faith says of us.” Orders the knight, annoyed by the constant backtracking and rectification.

“We couldn’t allow them to throw decades of hard work and sacrifices out of baseless fear.”

“And what was it they were so afraid of?”

“Golems, damned golems! Any soldier worth his salt can fight a golem single-handedly!”

Yes, I do not get it either. What is there to fear about golems? They are deceptively fast and dexterous for their size, but their reaction time is simply terrible.

“You spoke of decades of hard work and sacrifices. You meant the preparation for this war, right? When did they start?”

“Ever since the days of infamy, when the faithful were enslaved and submitted to the corruptive influences of the devil’s spawn and the unfaithful. Despite all our preparations, it was only seven years ago that we finally gained an opportunity, when the empire, forever damned be its name, went to war with one of the southern nations.”

“But why commit on two fronts? Isn’t that strategically unsound?”

It appears that after being given the authorization to speak freely; the cleric was quick to forget about his situation and went right back to his disgusting former self.

He utters in contempt. “Those are cowards’ words, unfit from the true believers. Victory will be ours, no matter the cost! God will receive sacrifice, bless us and lead us to victory.”

Wishful thinking, but what else can you expect from a faith crazed moron?

“Even so, it is true that we lack the resources to fight on multiple fronts. We intended to stall the Queendom with a massive uprising while we dealt with the weakened empire. Later, the martyrdom of the fallen would have been enough to fuel a second holy war.”

“It did not go as you intended.”

“You are right… We did not expect the Queendom to accept a formal alliance with the empire, not after their past betrayals.”

“This is quite simple, our hatred of you is a lot stronger than our dislike of each other.” Explains the knight-general dismissively. “The south-western province has always been an uncontrollable piece of barren land, inhabited by knuckleheaded cultists. Its occupation by your troops loses us nothing, if anything, I welcome it as a long-awaited opportunity to cleanse the place with fire and sword.”

“So, you boast, beast, but had they listened to us, it would have occupied your troops for years to come.”

“I do not think so. Nevertheless, let me thank you and your kindred for your incompetence, you are, as usual, a perfect representation of your faith and your God.”

“My lord,” Ask the commander of the Royal guard. “Did you detect any lies?”

“No, I did not… but does any of this really matters? None of what he said changes the outcome: they are the enemy and we must crush them before the dragon awaken.” I do not know if my answer is entirely my own, but I will stand by my words.

“There is a method to it. Interrogators always start with minor questions the subject don’t mind answering only to ask the important questions later when they feel so incriminated that whatever information they give doesn’t matter anymore”

We turn our attention back to the questioning.

“So, your faction caused this early start and messed up years of planning in order to outmaneuver its opposition?”

He bits his lower lip and that is enough of an answer.

“What happened of your perpetual war with the mountain tribes?” Asks the interrogator finally directing the questioning towards more important subjects.

“One of their leaders converted in exchange for our help against the other tribes over a decade ago.”

“I am surprised you accepted his offer, I thought you considered the mountaineers subhuman.”

“The prophet called them ignorant brutes, but does it not stand true for any of the faithless? Don’t misunderstand me, we don’t trust the savage as far as he can spit, but as long as it could buy us enough time to deal with the empire then it’s worth supporting him.”

“Don’t most of your slaves come from the mountains? How did you deal with the lack of manpower?”

“They still do, we now buy our slaves directly from him. Sacrifices had to be made, but it freed it secured our southern frontier and allowed us to redeploy most of our resources to the north and the east.”

I do not want to understand this man’s thought process, the way he keeps offering information while apparently still clinging to his faith makes so little sense that I find myself asking. “Why are you betraying your people and your god? I dare not hope it is because you realized the foolishness of your belief.”

“Shut up Abomination, not even undead are immortal, in time even you will face God’s judgment.”

“I read your sacred texts fool, and if any part of them is to be believed, your god is so inconsistent that for all we know he might actually welcome me with open arms. Why don’t you answer my question, if you really believe in your gods, why are you betraying him? If you truly believe, then you are delaying the inevitable by worsening your crimes.”

The man becomes bloodless and shivers. “The voices...”

“Oh? You heard them too?” That is good news, despite my research and theories, it is the first concrete proof that I am not going insane.

“I... I did many terrible things. I hunted believers, tortured and killed them in the name of God... I thought they were all heretics and traitors. They had to, otherwise, they wouldn’t be there but… some of them were truly unjustly accused, either for personal and political gains. I did not know, I acted in good faith…” He sobs. “but even if God pardon his servant, they won’t. I heard their voices calling for me! I felt their hatred!” His eyes suddenly become unfocused and his tone changes, becoming hopeful. “That was a trick! It had to be, you set me up, right? Right?!”

“You have already betrayed your people. Does it really matter anymore?” I smile internally as I answer his question, adding just enough to the truth to play on his fears. “But there was no trick, I hear them too, even now they ask me to deliver you and your peers in their ghostly hands. Your church and this holy tribunal of yours could not be more unpopular on the other side.”

The man mutters terrified. “I never said anything about our organization.” Then break down crying and laughing bitterly at himself. “It doesn’t matter what happens to me, I’m tainted and I will soon be paying the price, but god and his faithful will triumph, the devil won’t save you this time!”

It is my time to laugh. “Your devil is nothing more than a dragon/calamity, a very tangible and earthly monster that your mindless warmongering threatens to awaken. As for your god banishing it, the truth is much simpler: a beaten-down prey offers little entertainment.”

I leave the room without listening to his answer and the Knight-general follows after me. “You know, the empire using the golem as an engineering corps wasn’t bad, but listening to this one got me thinking. Greater golems are pretty fast for their size and weight, almost like walking siege machines but… what if we equip them with chariots? Imagine ranks and ranks of golems charging into enemy columns, they’d be a truly unstoppable cavalry!”

“I get your idea, I really do, but we simply do not have the resources, and we need to first honor our deal with the empire.” Seeing him so dejected, I feel sorry for him and make him an offer. “You know what? As soon as we are done with the empire’s order, I will have the workshops work on yours.”

“What about the ones from the digging site? Didn’t you say there’d be tons of them in the vault?”

“There should be many cores stored inside The Vault, but I would not go as far as to say tons.”

“Just an idea, but is there a way to change a greater golem’s shape?”

This is an interesting question. “It has never occurred to me. Why do you ask?”

“If we intend to make them into a cavalry, then why not make them horse-shaped from the beginning, it’d be easier for them to step over the enemy troops, right?”

“Horse legs are too thin to support that kind of weight.”

“I did not mean exactly like true horses, as long as they are four-legged and taller than human it’s fine.”

I spend some time considering every aspect of the spell for a while, then come to a shocking realization. “Now that you mention it: there is no mention of the shape anywhere in the spell… Come with me, I need to try and see for myself.”

I quickly use farsight to see if there’s room, and teleport us to my workshop – at this distance, there is no need to take special care. As soon as we arrive, I find a greater golem core and guide my guest to the garden.

Unlike usual, I make a conscious effort to keep the image of a horse while I activate the core and the general was right… although there has probably a few images other than that of a horse mixed in.

We both contemplate the six-legged abomination with its two humanoid arms and legs coming out from the middle until I break the silence. “Thank you general, you just made me aware of something major: the caster can influence the result, even with enchanted tools. With that said, this thing is disgusting.”

“I wouldn’t call that a problem. I mean, it can carry its own weapons and its appearance would certainly leave a mark on the enemy.”

“And allies alike.”

“Can I keep this one? As an example, you know, to see if my mages can produce something similar?”

“You want that? I do not mind. Just you keep it out of my sight.”

“There is one more thing. It’s about the dead... can they… Can they really hurt him... hurt us?”

“I do not think so, not directly at least, but I guarantee you it is not for a lack of trying: there is a lot of resentment out there.”

We go our separate ways and I suddenly remember the small permanent construct golem I made months ago. Could its small size have been the result of my thoughts rather than its method of creation?

I quickly fetch the core and put it down on the ground out in the garden. As I activate it, I visualize a normal-sized golem. The final product appears slightly different from usual, but there is no denying its size. It has always been known that two identical spells could have slightly different results depending on the caster, but due to the method of activation and the massive amount of information contained within enchantments, it was never considered a possibility for enchantments

Do the caster thoughts truly have more influence on an enchantment that is commonly accepted, or is it something specifics to golem? I suspect the former, but even so, the difference is probably so negligible that we will probably never know.