The Augury
You feel an arcane presence...
This page or section may contain significant spoilers for Drehmal: Apotheosis. Read the additional messages below for specific spoiler information.
This article/section contains significant spoilers for the 75% completion event and its associated late-game areas.
Unless you have FINISHED the 75% Completion Sequence, ALL THE WAY THROUGH TO THE "Apotheosis" ADVANCEMENT, we strongly advise that you DO NOT continue to read this article, as this will interfere with your ability to discover crucial aspects of the map for yourself.
This book can be found in a chest in the ruins of Arkeje, in the southeastern extent of Dahr's Domain. It is a 43-page story about a group of four Tehrmari—two noble La'Tehrmari siblings and two Ro'Tehrmari—who venture into the Augural Tangle to attempt to peek into the mind of Rihelma as she receives prophecies. They are successful in doing so, but the experience is so overwhelming that Derria, one of the La'Tehrmari, accidentally kills Okej, one of the Ro in their company, while still in Rihelma's mind. She then kills the other Ro, Honac, in defense of her brother, and the two depart to Arkeje to warn them of their leader's fate, which they learned of in one of the visions.
Coordinates¶
| X | Y | Z |
|---|---|---|
| 107 | 90 | 1190 |
Transcription¶
Mumbling the Abyssal Hymn to herself, Derria nervously scanned the placid waters of the cave. The familiar words could not quell the anxious energy which threatened to send her sprawling onto the banded rock. Thankfully, no lancefish lurked in the clear, shallow pool.
As Derria brought her orderflame lantern back up, she caught a glimpse of her traveling companions. The heavily-pierced spearman, Honac, and the gaunt arcanist, Okej, paid no notice as they debated whether La’Tehrmari should be allowed to join Arkeje if the Talon executed on their threats. Geimy, however, leaned down to face her, narrowing his eyes and smiling in his incredibly annoying way. “Don’t worry, Your Highness. We’ll just use the gem for an hour or two and be back before the Torahn sets.”
Rolling her eyes, Derria stood up as straight as she could and shoved her brother back a pace. “Worried? You should be worried about what will happen if Mother and Father are forced to hold dinner for us.”
Geimy shrugged and spun around to lope ahead again. "They've lived for over seven hundred years. I somehow feel that they’ll somehow manage to wait a few minutes for us to get home. Besides, you know you could have just given the gem to us instead of insisting on coming along today”.
"You know that wasn't an option for me.” Derria increased her pace to hide any more weakness, though she feared her rapidly beating heart would spoil the act. How could Geimy be so indifferent to their parents’ rules? He might be old enough to leave again and do as he wished, but Derria did not have that luxury. She wondered what their mother would do when she discovered her favorite pendant missing.
Shuddering, Derria resolved to quicken her pace. The faster they were able to complete the ritual, the better.
“Aha! This should work.” Okej seemed to have found whatever they were looking for and called back to the siblings. “Hurry up! We need to make sure that Malka is okay!”
Though Derria had never met Malka Gorrhys herself, she was certainly more than familiar with her exploits. As the last living descendant of Eija Arkej, Malka was apparently the youngest ever Ro to be elected Speaker of Arkeje. When Geimy came home, he would substitute telling her family about how he was faring out in Dahr’s domain with countless anecdotes about Malka's many feats of bravery and wisdom. She and Geimy caught up to others, and crossed over a flooded crevice with the assistance of Honac’s burly arm.
They had arrived at a small island in the center of a particularly open room. Not flat like the others, it curved upward to end in a surprisingly blocky protrusion which contrasted with the rounded curves of its surroundings. Whatever mineral it was, it glowed slightly when illuminated by the orderflame. At Okej’s prompting, the four took spots around the stalagmite. It was cramped, and Derria barely had enough room for her feet. She unzipped her parka slightly and withdrew her mother’s pendant from around her neck. Before reaching up to put it on the stalagmite, however, she stared sternly into the arcanist’s androgynous face. "I will let you use this gem for whatever you need it for. But if I do, please promise you that you won’t attack Loeturia or Naharja, or any of the other La’Tehrmari cities.”
Bristling, Geimy stared daggers at her. But it was Honac to break the silence, tossing his head back and roaring with grim laughter, his fish-bone earrings clanking in time. “Now that’s rich. Us lowly Ro’Tehrmari, marching into Naharja with our runes and spears and making the Scalespeaker wet her pants and submit to our authority? Our ancestors might have been able to win Ro freedom, but we would be crushed. Smashed into smithereens. Gutted like silvertrout. Abso-”
Okej cut him off, shooting a withering glance at the larger Ro. “You have our word. We will defend ourselves, but we will not initiate any fights unless needed to preserve the Arkeje way of life. Please, if you would be so kind, just put the gem down on this blue rock.”
Derria paused for a moment, and then complied. Though she genuinely didn’t want to embarrass Geimy, she still didn’t fully trust the imposing older Tehrmari. But she didn't know about any possible means by which they could harm her family or friends with her mother’s pendant.
“Let’s just get it over with” muttered her brother, scratching at the new Arkejen tattoo on his shoulder.
Okej gingerly unscrewed the purplish gem from its mounting on the pendant, and placed it on the flat rock.
The shortest among the four, Derria could barely make out what they were doing as they retrieved several vials and odd tools from their shoulder bag. As Okej worked, drawing circles and carving small runes, they began to speak. “I have only heard about how this works from a sympathizer among the La who used to attend Rihelma in her old sanctum within Aldregakar. Apparently, the attendants would gather around one of the many auguring crystals and perform this exact ritual to see within the Elder’s mind as she meditated. They would sit there for hours, watching and writing down the prophecies she divined as best as they could. It was thanks to those attendants that the Prismatic Council could act with confidence that their actions would lead to a future which is best for our realm. Since Rihelma isn’t on Lo’Dahr anymore, she probably won’t mind too much if we use her auguring crystals for our own purposes.”
Okej's eyes became more intense as they worked and spoke, and by the time they had finished, the speckled purple gemstone was surrounded by a complex circle of carved runes and odd powders.
“It’s time!” With a savage glee, Okej pumped their fist before taking a deep breath and reassuming their normally composed and serious demeanor, before nodding at the others. Derria adjusted her right foot to a slightly more comfortable rocky nook and put on a smile for Geimy, who pointedly ignored her. Honac loudly cleared his throat, and everyone simultaneously covered their lanterns.
The factory stretched to the horizon, with only smokestacks and tar-stacks to break the horizon. Her wings felt heavy as the hazy, cloying air filled her lungs. Suddenly, an explosion, and the sound of ten thousand voices chanting as one. “No pleasure, no work!” Screams of anguish rang out as she swooped down into the blown-out remnants of the synthmetal dome of Ward Sixty-Two. Even as flesh hardened into metallic joints and screws, the mouths of the workers would not stop, and she watched on high as the supervisor was gored by rusted hands. Rihelma felt a scream begin to boil inside her.
But suddenly, there was a calming breeze. A cluster of small green houses sat on a cliff overlooking a vast landscape of tombstones. Voynahla’s Domain. Two aged Tehrmari sat near the center of town, playing a game of kennori as he watched, timidly, from the shadows. One coughed and reached out to sip out of a shiny copper cup.
"I woulda reckoned that Malka’d be back by now. Should we send out some of the youngsters to Rohei?” The other player, adorned with a skull tattoo that covered half his face, began to answer, but then the world went out of focus again.
And the sound of carnage returned.
She held up a clawed hand and watched a bloom of crimson liquid drip down her knuckle. An armored figure stood in front of her, talking to someone at her right standing in a small kitchen. “Did you see the tattoos on this one, Commander? She’s not one of the heretics. Why did we need to kill her?”
She looked up and to the right, and the figure came into view. It was a face that every Tehrmari knew. Sereven, one of the three Founders. Malka burst into a scream, and with the last of her energy, hurled a jagged machete from within her sleeve.
Everything was dark.
A horrible gurgling moan echoed in Derria’s ears, and a deafening splash. A deep voice shook her like an earthquake:
“What. What have you done?”
And she was in her own scales again. With trembling hands, she unsheathed her lantern. Honac knelt on the narrow rocky ledge with Okej’s head on his lap. The sanguine tip of a machete protruded from the back of their neck.
Derria slowly brought her lantern to the left, turning to face Geimy. He stood there in the dark, trembling like a reed, and then began to run, splashing back in roughly the direction they had entered. “No. No! It wasn’t me! I swear, I swear it wasn’t me!” Screaming and crying, he trudged through the waist deep water, stirring up billowing clouds of silt.
And then Honac lunged forward, swimming towards her brother like a damphi. Derria’s senses narrowed to a pinprick, and she found what she needed. Discarding her lantern, she focused on the orderflame of Honac’s lantern bobbing on his belt.
So many times, her mother would reach for that jeweled whip in the evenings after Geimy would fail in his studies. When he refused to give thanks to the Aspects. When he was unable to stop the puck from reaching the net and cost the Frost Golems the grand finals. The last time, before Geimy renounced taking the Trials and left for Arkeje, she caught a glimpse of the checkerboard of scars which crisscrossed his back. She had vowed she would never let it happen again.
Time seemed to move strangely. The dancing light of Honac’s lantern revealed the moment Geimy’s back hit the stone wall. Honac screamed and prepared to strike with his barbed spear. Derria carved a rune into her right forearm with the jagged rock she had found on the cave floor, wincing with pain. Then, a plume of living flame arced out of her left hand to engulf Honac's head. Screaming, crying, and desperately pawing at his face, he tried in vain to remove the greedy inferno. But to no avail. Strangely calmly, Derria watched as Honac succumbed to her magic, twitching as he splashed into the water below. Geimy stared, wide-eyed. His machete fell out of his belt into the water below, similar but distinct from the one that had slain Okej.
The next thing she knew, Derria found herself leading her brother by the hand out of the riverside cave. The Torahn began to grow low on the horizon, and they soon would be expected for dinner.
When they reached solid ground, Geimy fell to his knees, sobbing. “Derria. I didn’t do it. That knife wasn’t mine. I couldn't move. A factory. Arkeje. Lord Sereven. Please. You have to believe me!"
Derria felt a single tear roll down her cheek, but she steeled herself. Tearing off a strip of her parka, she wrapped it around her injury.
And then she knelt and embraced her brother on the rocky bank, allowing him to rest his head on her shoulder. “Shh. Geimy”, she whispered in his ear, “I believe you, I love you, and I’m so proud of you.”
They wouldn’t be going back to Loe's Domain that night. Arkeje needed to know about the fate of its leader. Wordlessly, the siblings rose and began the long climb to the southern cliffs.