Defying Destiny

  Defying Destiny

  By Andrew Rowe

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this book are fictional.

  Copyright © 2019 Andrew Rowe

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: n/a for Kindle Edition

  DEDICATION

  For every player, game master, artist, writer, editor, and creator that helped contribute to this world. Thank you.

  Table of Contents

  Table of Contents

  Style Notes

  Introduction

  Recap – Dominion Sorcery

  Recap – Species

  Recap – Major Characters and Events

  Prologue I – Edon – Senses of Irony

  Prologue II – Jonan I – Partners

  Chapter I – Velas I – Old Friends

  Chapter II – Lydia I – Sorcery Burns

  Chapter III – Taelien I – Forest of Blades

  Chapter IV – Jonan II – A Nested Series of Traps

  Chapter V – Lydia II – Crowns

  Chapter VI – Taelien II – Relics of the Past

  Chapter VII – Velas II – False Families

  Chapter VIII – Taelien III – Prime Nobility

  Chapter IX – Jonan III – Hints of Things to Come

  Chapter X – Lydia III – Eyes Everywhere

  Interlude I — Venora — Rendalir Remembered

  Chapter XI – Lydia IV – The Scholar

  Chapter XII – Velas III – Dual Identities

  Chapter XII – Taelien IV – Soul Survivor

  Chapter XIV – Lydia V – Immortal Sorcerer

  Chapter XV – Jonan IV – Branches

  Chapter XVI – Velas IV – A Variety of Silks

  Chapter XVII – Taelien V – Blighted Woods

  Chapter XVIII – Lydia VI – Winter

  Interlude II — Venlyra —Seasons

  Chapter XIX – Jonan V – Wounded by a Thorn

  Chapter XX – Taelien VI – Lord of Stone

  Chapter XXI – Velas V – The Second Silk

  Chapter XXII – Lydia VII – A Path to Victory

  Chapter XXIII – Taelien VI – Clean Up

  Epilogue – Legacy

  Epilogue – Travel Plans

  Epilogue – Home

  Epilogue – Endings and Beginnings

  Appendix I – Magical Items

  Appendix II – Notable Personages

  A Note From the Author

  Preview Chapter – Six Sacred Swords

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Other Books by Andrew Rowe

  Style Notes

  Some characters within the story communicate telepathically. To indicate this, rather than using quotes, I use different forms of punctuation based on the character initiating the telepathic communication.

  I use square brackets to indicate telepathy for most characters, such as Vendria, the crystal that Lydia obtained in the first War of Broken Mirrors book (see the recap if you don’t remember Vendria). For example, [This would be her form of telepathic communication.]

  I use angle brackets for the telepathy for a new character. For example,

  Finally, I use inverted angle brackets for one other new character. For example, >That looks like this.<

  This formatting difference is to make it immediately obvious which character is sending the telepathic message without repeatedly using dialogue tags or other indicators. The specific characters in question should be clear once the story actually reaches them.

  I use the singular “they/them” for agender and non-binary characters, as well as characters that have not had their gender determined by the narrator yet. For example, “I didn’t know who wrote the note, but they had a peculiar style of writing”.

  For this book, I’ve chosen to use lower case for species names (e.g. rethri, delaren, esharen). This is a deliberate change from early versions of some of the previous books in the series. Names that refer to national origins (e.g. Xixian, Selyrian) still are capitalized.

  Finally, I use spaces before and after em dashes (AP style). This is purely because I find this style easier to read.

  Introduction

  The first few sections of this book are a recap for readers who have not read the previous two War of Broken Mirrors books recently.

  Any of these sections can be skipped if you’ve read one or both of the other books recently, or feel like you have a good memory of what happened.

  There will be some minor reminders within the story itself as well.

  Recap – Dominion Sorcery

  Dominion sorcery involves drawing on the power of other planes of existence (dominions) to influence the world. Practitioners of dominion sorcery are called sorcerers, and each sorcerer tends to have a few different dominions they can draw from.

  Prime dominions are considered the easiest to access, and the most commonly practiced. They include things like flame, water, knowledge, and life.

  Deep dominions are more complex, and generally require proficiency at one or more connected prime dominions to learn. For example, metal is a deep dominion connected with flame and stone. Lightning is a deep dominion connected with flame and air. It is possible to learn to use a deep dominion without the connected prime dominions, but somewhat uncommon.

  Each type of sorcery has a different cost related to the dominion the sorcerer is drawing from. For example, flame sorcerers expend their body heat, and knowledge sorcerers lose memories. The more powerful the spell, the greater the cost.

  The amount of energy used by the sorcerer does not directly match the output; most of the power is coming from an external source (the dominion), not the sorcerer. This means that a sorcerer conjuring a ball of fire doesn’t actually need to use the same amount of body heat that would equate to a fireball — they’re just providing a small portion of it, like lighting a match to ignite a bonfire.

  As sorcerers use their dominions, their bodies acclimate, allowing them to cast more and stronger spells over time. Overuse of sorcery can cause permanent damage, however, rather than growth. This is very much like physical exercise; you grow stronger if you train in moderation, but if you overdo it, you could tear a muscle. For example, overusing sight sorcery can cause permanent vision loss.

  Dominion sorcery is broken into two main categories.

  Dominion calling involves directly conjuring matter or energy from a dominion. Materializing a metal sword would be metal calling, for example.

  Dominion shaping is the process of modifying material that is already present. For example, changing the shape of a metal sword into a spear would be metal shaping.

  Many practitioners of sorcery tend to have a little bit of both calling and shaping ability for each of the dominions that they practice, but some exclusively practice one or another.

  Essence is the term used for the sorcerous power that people contain in their bodies. As people practice sorcery, their bodies develop more essence of that particular type over time. This essence not only allows them to cast more and stronger spells, it also improves their physical capabilities.

  For example, practicing stone sorcery and generating more stone essence in the body can permanently increase the body’s resilience to physical harm. Notably, this also works in reverse; physical exercise, for example, can help develop stone and motion essence in the body.

  This is generally a slow process. It often takes years to develop a meaningful amount of essence for a new type of sorcery, or to significantly increase your essence capacity for a type that you already practice. More extreme forms of training can accelerate this growth, and new spells, potions, and other techniques for enhancing training speed are b
eing developed and tested all the time. Some species develop essence more quickly than others, and there is also variation on a person-by-person basis.

  Recap – Species

  Humans are a diverse, short-lived species with a notable potential for being able to learn a broad variety of types of sorcery, sometimes even including opposing types, which is rarely possible for other species.

  Rethri are virtually identical to humans in appearance, save for their eyes, which are full pools of color without any sclera. The color of their eyes is determined by a dominion that they were born with a strong connection to. This connection is reinforced through a coming of age ceremony when they reach maturity. When this occurs, the rethri ceases to physically age, although they can still accumulate permanent injuries and may suffer effects similar to aging from overuse of dominions.

  Uvar are rethri children who are born without a connection to a dominion. They suffer severe physical disabilities and rarely survive more than a few years without the aid of powerful sorcery. As such, they are often “returned to Vaelien” — meaning killed — by their parents as babies. A number of uvar were being studied in secret in the city of Orlyn during the events of Forging Divinity. It is unclear how much research was being done to look for a “cure” for their malady, and how much they were being used as tools for other magical research.

  Esharen are a physically powerful species with the ability to rapidly adapt to both environmental conditions and offensive magic. Their Xixian Empire ruled the continent for millennia, but a combined human/rethri/delaren uprising gradually sapped way their strength over time. The battle that finally crushed their capitol city was only decades ago. In the region around Selyr, children are taught that the esharen are essentially extinct, but other nations believe there to be survivors — especially off the coast of the continent on small outlying islands.

  Delaren are shapeshifting humanoids with strands of crystals rather than hair. The crystals are sources of tremendous magical power, but when used up, they permanently drain away a portion of the delaren’s life force. During the days of the Xixian Empire, delaren were often enslaved to be used as batteries for powerful spells.

  Elementals are beings that originate from one of the many dominions. “Elemental” is not a specific species; rather, it is an umbrella term that encompasses several different species. These range from creatures that are barely sentient to species with intelligence comparable to humans. Harvesters, for example, are humanoid entities that are focused on spreading the power of their dominion throughout the material world, then later collecting that power after it spreads. They are generally tremendously powerful, comparable to some of the strongest human and rethri sorcerers.

  Vae’kes are the immensely powerful “children” of Vaelien, the King of Thorns, the primary deity worshipped in the region near Selyr. It is unclear if they are literally Vaelien’s children, some sort of new species made with sorcery, or something else entirely. They are nearly invulnerable to conventional weapons and spells, and capable of permanently stealing sorcery from both objects and people. They are believed to be immortal.

  Recap – Major Characters and Events

  Lydia Hastings, also known as Lydia Scryer, is an officer in the Paladins of Tae’os, the military branch of an organization that worships seven deities (the Tae’os Pantheon). While the paladins worship all seven deities, members are assigned to a branch indicating their focus. Lydia serves Sytira, the goddess of knowledge. She is a practitioner of knowledge, protection, and dream sorcery. She specializes in calling, rather than shaping, in all three disciplines. She’s also demonstrated very basic use of sight sorcery.

  During Forging Divinity, Lydia was working as a spy in the city of Orlyn, investigating the local government’s claims that they had the ability to raise ordinary humans into gods. After learning that this “godhood” was actually the product of a rare form of enchanting that involved bonding people to enchanted objects, Lydia was instrumental in overthrowing the leader of the local “gods”, Edon.

  At the end of Forging Divinity, Lydia obtained a green gemstone that appeared to be intelligent. It refers to itself as “Vendria”. Lydia has been studying the object while keeping it safe in the main base of operations for her paladin organization, the Citadel of Blades.

  During the events of Stealing Sorcery, Lydia was severely injured in battle with Jonathan Sterling (see below), who crippled one of her legs and stole some of her sorcerous abilities. At the end of the book, Lydia went to train with Blake Hartigan, one of the three “immortal sorcerers”, in order to regain her abilities and potentially learn new sorcery to help battle Sterling in their next encounter.

  Lydia has two younger brothers, one of whom (Dyson Hastings) is a fellow paladin.

  Taelien Salaris is a swordsman from near the city of Selyr. He was raised by rethri and underwent mandatory military training due to his sorcerous talents, but never joined the local military (the Thornguard). His “first” name is actually a title, rather than a name.

  When he was left with his adoptive parents, a legendary sword — the Sae’kes Taelien — was left along with him. As the wielder of this weapon, he has taken on the “Taelien” title. This has religious significance to the Tae’os Pantheon, where the sword is the symbol of their organization. As a result, his use of this title is considered sacrilegious by some, and many believe that his weapon is a replica or fake.

  Taelien is an extremely talented swordsman, in part due to his natural proficiency at metal shaping, which he uses to modify his weapons in combat. While he has a great deal of raw power with metal shaping, he requires physical contact with metal to reshape it, either directly or by touching it with another metal object. This means he can reshape an opponent’s sword during a moment of contact, for example, but not from a distance.

  In addition to metal shaping, Taelien has demonstrated a limited degree of proficiency at flame calling and flame shaping. He also has some degree of stone sorcery ability.

  Jonan Kestrian is an agent of Aayara, the Lady of Thieves, one of the deities (or demigods, depending on who you ask) worshipped in the Forest of Blades. Since Aayara is supposedly a child of Vaelien, Jonan also frequently works with Vaelien’s agents, such as the Thornguard.

  While working with Aayara’s other agents, Jonan uses the alias “Scribe”. This is an “ess” name, meaning it starts with the letter “S” — the naming convention that all of Aayara’s personal servants use for their pseudonyms.

  Jonan is immensely proficient at sight sorcery and capable of using it to create convincing illusions in wide areas. He can also make multiple people invisible, blind himself or others, and modify his eyesight in other ways. As a consequence of repeated overuse, however, his eyesight has gradually been deteriorating. He carries several different pairs of glasses and wears the type he currently needs for any given situation.

  During Forging Divinity, Jonan obtained the research notes of Donovan Tailor, a man who had set himself (and three others) up as the new “gods” of Orlyn. He has been studying this information, which contains notes on a rare form of enchanting called dominion marking, as well as a means for permanently tying humans to magical items to remotely draw from the powers of the object.

  Velas Jaldin is Aayara’s apprentice, primarily serving as an infiltrator into major organizations. She utilizes the alias “Silk”.

  During Forging Divinity, she was one of two people who played the role of “Myros”, the local “god of war”. She was the warrior who fought in physical demonstrations of Myros’ abilities, while someone else played Myros’ public persona. As Myros, she wielded the Heartlance, the sacred weapon of the city of Orlyn. She regained this weapon at the beginning of Stealing Sorcery, but kept it concealed until the end of the book.

  During Stealing Sorcery, Velas participates in a series of tests to join the Paladins of Tae’os. Her prior identity as Myros is revealed, but the paladins do not learn about her loyalties to Aayara. She is sworn int
o the organization at the end of the book.

  Velas is a tremendously powerful physical fighter, unmatched until her battle against Taelien in Forging Divinity. Encouraged by finally having a rival, she trained obsessively during Stealing Sorcery, finally defeating and seriously injuring Taelien in their final match during the paladin exams.

  Velas is a practitioner of motion calling, allowing her to manipulate kinetic energy into bursts of force to quickly move herself or others around the battlefield. She also demonstrates some ability with sound sorcery.

  Donovan Tailor is a former Priest of Sytira, the same deity that Lydia worships. He was cast out the priesthood for preaching that humans should aspire to become gods themselves. Shortly thereafter, something stripped away his sorcerous abilities. One of his personal spells was active at the time that this occurred, however, and allowed him to comprehend the nature of the effect that took away his sorcery. He believed that his power had been stolen by Sytira herself, and that the strange power he had sensed was the magic of the gods themselves.

  In the following years, Tailor researched the mysterious magic that had taken his sorcery away, and eventually used that knowledge to develop a new form of spell casting. This new magic required drawing power from magical items and artifacts. He developed a connection with the rulers of the city of Orlyn, and eventually took on the identity of “Edon”, a new god, and promised “divine” power to those who served him. The queen of Orlyn, Tylan, was the first person gifted this new “divine” power.