The Archimage Wars: Wizard of Abal (41 page)

“
And you’re going to tell
me the Japanese…”

“
House Bakemono,” she
finished for me. “One of their Seconds, Jiro, saw a chance to rise
above House Argoth and Tarvos, so he temporarily allied with House
Dokkalfar. In the end, they would have had to fight another battle
against the Dokkalfar if they had won the war. I always wondered
about his decision to do that, it seemed rather rash, and in some
ways dishonorable, which is not very much like the Bakemono
House.”

“
So, you are afraid Abal
will end up a contested battleground, like Earth?”

Finnabair nodded, “It is one of the
reasons I have kept your father’s imprisonment a secret, as did
Morgain. However, at this point, Morgain must feel she is powerful
enough now to hold off the other Houses if she is allowing Medrod
to talk about your father’s imprisonment.”

“
Or, he’s an idiot,” I
noted. “Maybe he only told me because he didn’t believe I could
escape.”

She smiled, “There is that. Medrod is
not the most intelligent of your father’s offspring; perhaps my
genes have helped you there.”

“
Medrod is my brother,
isn’t he?” I suddenly realized.

Finnabair answered, “Half-brother,
yes. However, regardless of Medrod’s mental acuity, remember that
Morgain is smart enough. Do not underestimate the Dokkalfar
sorceress. She is Adolf’s sister, and some argue he came closest to
conquering Earth, though Alexander Hentan might argue with that. He
made a very good push right after the Terran Archimage was ended.
Personally, I think House Argoth has made the greatest inroads to
conquering Earth to this date, though they aren’t really
winning.”

“
Really, and who are they,
the Kennedys?” I joked.

“
No, the Kennedy clan is of
my House, the Albus. I’m talking about Jesus Argoth.”

I tilted my head down and said,
“Jesus, THE Jesus?”

“
Yes. House Argoth started
their program early, when Gaia was barely gone, back during the
time of Rome, and their influence is still spreading to this
day.”

“
Jesus,” I said again. It
was both a statement of disbelief and a curse.

“
Religion is a powerful
tool; it can conquer a people more completely than a war. If you
conquer by force, the people may fight a guerilla war against their
foreign invaders, but if they give themselves over willingly, by
belief, well, then they are putty in the hands of those in charge
of that religion.”

I had to agree, a whole lot of people
have died in the name of religion.

“
Of course, religious
takeover is a slow method, but it does work. In this case, the
Argoths are doing exceedingly well, though some of the other Houses
have countered their gambit in an attempt to stop their play. The
Friare House countered with Buddhism; they always did go for the
concept of Nirvana. My House saw what the Argoth House was
attempting early on and tried to keep the status quo by creating a
competing religion, Islam. The Argoths introduced the Bible, so we
made the Quran.”

I snorted, “The Argoths wrote the
bible?”

“
Some of it, they also just
collected a lot of stuff written by true believers once they seeded
the concepts into the population. You have noticed that the bible
isn’t all that… consistent?”

“
I guess,” I said
slowly.

“
The thing is, much of what
is attributed to ‘God’ is not really godlike. He gets angry,
decides to murder people…”

“
I thought one of the Ten
Commandments is, ‘Thou shalt not kill’?”

Finnabair smiled, “Proving God of the
bible is a hypocrite. For example, in Exodus 4:24-26, it states,
‘At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to
kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s
foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. Surely you are a
bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. So the Lord let him
alone.’

I laughed, “It says God went to a bar
to kill Moses? That sounds like the beginning of a bad
joke.”

“
Yes,” she agreed, “The
thing is, there are many MANY such inconsistencies in the bible,
but this collection of writings wasn’t written by some divine
guidance, it was put together by House Argoth, and they didn’t even
do a good job. However, those people who embrace a religion can
always find some way to explain away something, even if it is
written in black and white in their own holy book. The Quran isn’t
any better, even though my House put it together. For example, in
the Quran, in the fourth chapter, it states: ‘Allah instructs you
concerning your children: for the male, what is equal to the share
of two females.’ I always found that passage annoying, and I had
some words with the Albus third who put that part in
there!”

“
I bet he was a male,” I
said with a laugh.

“
He is still ruing the day
he wrote that! I should note, not all Earth religions were
purposely created by one of the Houses, though almost all of them
are influenced in some way. For example, Hinduism comes from the
Dokkalfar presence in a region of Earth, though their House did not
make up the religion. However, due to Dokkalfar influence, what
they created and believe is flavored by that House. Their
Archimage, Kali, is even mentioned directly.”

“
But if the Argoths made up
the Christian religion, you are telling me the Pope is a wizard?” I
exclaimed.

“
No, I don’t think so, at
least not the current one. Most of those in charge of the various
religions are true believers; it works out better that way.
Nowadays these religions have a life of their own, and the mundanes
mostly keep them going without the need of our magic. The Houses no
longer have to do anything obvious to reinforce their beliefs at
this stage; what the Terrans call ‘miracles’. Not that the Houses
aren’t involved, why do you think there are so many conflicting
denominations even within the same basic faith? Mormons, Catholics,
Baptists, Lutherans, Anglicans, Calvinists, Presbyterians, it goes
on and on.”

I shook my head sadly, “So that’s why
there were so many documented ‘miracles’ back in olden times, but
not so many, or obvious ones, in the modern era. From what you say,
those miracles were all mage created magic.”

She nodded.

“
Why don’t you think the
Argoths are winning on Earth with Christianity?”

She shrugged, “I think House Argoth
believes they can win on Earth with their religion, but I’m not so
sure. At my last look at the census of Earth’s religions,
Christianity, including all its myriad forms, holds 33%, and though
that is the largest religion, it is not a majority. Muslim have 23%
of the world, so my House, though not winning, has kept the Argoth
House from taking over completely.

“
Surprisingly, Hindu takes
up 14%, which is amazing since it was not a religion engineered
specifically by one of the Houses, though I believe the Archimage
Kali helped it along once it came into being. Buddhists, Jews, and
many other small religions total to about 18%. Just to show you how
successful these religions are, Atheists only have 2% of the
population, though those who don’t claim to believe anyone, Atheist
or Religions folk, I’m talking about the Agnostics, have 10%. There
is clearly no winner. Look at it another way, even though
Christianity holds 33%, it also means 67% of the world does not
believe in House Argoth’s Christian religions.”

I thought about that and then said,
“And what do YOU believe?”

She smiled, “I believe in God; I just
don’t know whom it is yet.”

“
So you are Agnostic?” I
inquired.

“
Sort of, I know there was
once something greater than all of us, and they created this
universe, and I believe someone will assume that power in the
future, so I’m not completely Agnostic, for they claim to have no
idea if God exists at all, though they don’t deny the
possibility.”

“
Aren’t the Houses the same
thing as a religion? You all believe in your Archimage, and fight
the other Houses in this Ascension Quest.”

She smiled, “Very good, but there are
a few holes in your comparison. First off, not all Houses are out
to destroy the rest, the Sivaeral, Friare and Albus Houses are
three good examples. The Friares just don’t give a damn about the
Ascension Quest, the Albus House is neutral, and, up until
Morgain’s and Medrod’s interference, the Sivaerals attempted to
keep the status quo.”

“
But what of the other
seven houses?”

“
Five, really; the Terran
House is wiped out, and House Dragon is outlawed and nearly
destroyed. Once The Dragon is brought to justice, his House will be
ended, like House Terran. Four of the remaining five Houses are
driven by other forces rather than religion. That leaves only one
House which indoctrinates their people with a religion, the
Argoth.”

“
I see, I guess, yet each
House keeps control of their people through peer pressure, even if
it isn’t through religion.”

“
Most definitely, peer
pressure may be more powerful than magic,” she noted.

I pondered her statement, and then
said, “So Earth, or should I say, House Terran, is not in the
Ascension Quest?”

She nodded, “On Earth things are a
complete mess. It all got started when Gaia’s line ended. She was
the first Archimage to go, and she is still the only First to fall
in The Ascension Quest. When she died, Earth was open to the other
Houses, without the anchor of their Archimage to stop their
influence. It became a maelstrom of war, religion, ethnic
differences, prejudice, rampant change and just plain chaos. People
of Earth don’t know what to believe, and have no House Archimage to
bring any kind of order, so madness ensued. Earth became the Battle
World for the Houses.”

Something about her statement angered
me, I’m not even sure why, but I worked on self-control, which
doesn’t come easy for me, trust me.

She may have noticed something in my
expression, because she said, “I see you are tired; I think you
should get some rest. Tomorrow I will begin teaching you how to use
your powers.”

Breakfast was served in a smaller room
with a tall window, made of small square panes of glass. The view
was out over the countryside, and if you went to the window and
looked down, you could see the Island Witch’s army amassed below,
working on a road up the mountain, like morons building the tower
of Babel, though if they kept it up, eventually they would reach
the gates of this castle.

I looked at Finnabair, who was sipping
from a cup of tea, and said, “Aren’t you worried about
them?”

She smiled. “No, it will be some time
before they can reach the gates, and time is on my side. It is hard
for any force to remain united in purpose for long.”

Myrka then asked, “What do you do
about mages? Surely the necromages have attempted to breach the
castle by various means?”

“
I have been here a long
time, and I have had the leisure time, and power, to imbue many
aspects of this castle against such an attack. The gargoyles you
see adorning the battlements are not just decorations, they are
golems, capable of flight and the defense of the walls. They also
sound the alarm should any attackers reach the walls, and then I
can come and see what needs to be done.”

“
And for underground
attacks?” Myrka demanded.

“
I have other defenses
below ground,” she assured the Tarvos sorceress.

Myrka continued, “And what of Derkaz
attacks, have they not attempted to blast the foundations of this
castle apart and let it tumble to the ground below?”

“
Yes, there have been
attempts, but much of the foundation is shielded, and I tend to
make examples of any necromage foolish enough to try. They must
come close to make such an attempt, and then, well, things go
poorly for them.”

But Myrka kept prodding, saying, “But
even then, eventually, if enough of them assault you, this castle
will fall, even if you are an Albus Second.”

Finnabair nodded, “At which time I
will just move on, and they will have a pile of rubble for all
their trouble.”

“
You will not fight them?”
Myrka demanded.

Finnabair raised an eye ridge fin, “I
am fighting them, every day. I will just not fall to their attack
in the end.”

“
So they will win, in the
end,” Myrka noted.

Finnabair sat back in her chair
calmly, and said, “Who is the victor, those who lose half an army,
or those who lose none, and live to fight another day? The Albus
believe in the long view. This ‘victory’ will cost them more than
my ‘defeat’ will cost me, so who comes out ahead?”

“
That’s not the point, in
the end, they will win!” Myrka declared.

“
Only by your scale of
measurement, not mine.”

Myrka then said, “And if they block
you from Five Point travel, and then take you?”

“
I do not need to Five
Point travel, I have built a portal here, and they cannot destroy
the portal if they have not breached the castle. I will depart
prior to that taking place.”