The crystals shimmered and sparkled, producing various degrees of static white noise. Finally, the frequency of the Ledomaritan console fixated one particular undulating sound. It resembled a song, wailing upwards and downwards with pitch.
Zetta, her horn glowing, turned and glanced aside. “This?” Her eyes narrowed. “It’s this, right?”
Dalen nodded somberly while two guards in the tight room beside him bowed their heads. “Xon lest dun Nag’un.”
She blinked. “Huh?”
“Shhh!” He hissed. “Do not break our reverent silence!”
Zetta’s face scrunched up. She glanced back at the console. After a few seconds, she stammered, “This is Nagu’n? This is the Xonan God?”
“Her Song permeates the cosmos and the depths,” Dalen said. “It is only fitting that she pierce technology as well.” He sighed, gazing pathetically at the apparatus. “Even if it was produced by abominable hooves…”
“Yeah, well, this ‘abominable machine’ has been picking this sound up for weeks and I didn’t know what the heck it was!” Zetta sighed. “Until now. No offense, but she doesn’t sound all that healthy.”
Dalen stood stock-still, his face long.
Zetta flinched. “Wow. I… k-kinda thought you were going to strike me for saying that… or something.” She gulped. “I guess I’m not far off.”
“The substance of Her Song is as mighty as ever,” Dalen said. “But the volume has been decreasing. Zytharros Xon-Nagu’n would give anything to be in Her presence once more, but this war has demanded him to be far from the Sacred Hold.”
“So, you want me to act as a goddess’ baby monitor, huh?” Zetta leaned forward. “To listen in on Nagu’n for you?”
“Provide us with your talents and we will provide your group with their provisions,” Dalen said, though his eyes narrowed intimidatingly. “As promised.”
“Alright, then.” Zetta cracked the joints in her neck and leaned forward towards the console. “I’ll give it a shot.”
“Be sure you give it more than that.” And Dalen turned around and exited the room, leaving the two guards behind.
Zetta sighed, frowning into the glowing sound stones. “It’s like trying to set a metronome to whale shrieks…”
“Baak suun reese Nagun’n, Ledomulian trent!” one of the guards snarled in response.
“Yeah yeah. Baak baak to you too, handsome.”
On the top deck of the Noble Jury, Bellesmith, Pilate, Eagle Eye, Ebon Mane, Props, Josho, Floydien, and even Simon all crowded around a glowing sound stone. The blind zebra held the item up while everypony listened in on the sound of Roarke’s voice.
”These Xonans are bringing the Lightning Bearer to a place called the Sacred Hold. From what I can tell, it’s a heavily defended camp where Princess Lasairfion herself is located. Not only that, but it seems as if this so-called Nagu’n is located there.”
“Nagu’n?” Pilate’s metal brow furrowed. “As in the Xonan deity, Nagu’n?”
“Ah jeez,” Josho grumbled, glancing aside at Eagle Eye. “I’ve heard that word thrown around a few times.”
“Really?” Ebon asked. “When?”
Eagle Eye shuddered as he said, “In the Xonans’ death throes. It’s obviously something very important to their culture.”
”I’m a bit mixed on the ‘it,’” Roarke’s voice said. ”But they certainly seem fixated on the ‘who.’”
“The legacy of the deification of Nagu’n goes way back to the races of the ancient caribou who lived on this continent,” Pilate said. “This is the first time I’ve ever heard about an actual concrete manifestation of the Goddes.”
“Or a supposed deification,” Ebon Mane remarked. “Just because these Xonans are hardcore about their beliefs doesn’t mean that they’re right.” He shifted nervously and glanced at the others. “Right?”
“Even so,” Belle said, “How could an actual flesh-and-blood Goddess fit inside a Xonan camp?”
”Maybe she’s been stocking up on diet oatmeal?! How the Hell should I know?!” Roarke’s voice grumbled. ”Listen, everypony, it’s like this…”
Inside the thin crawlspace of the Lightning Bearer, Roarke scrunched herself up against a wall. She had the sound stone positioned to her left and the metal paneling to her right, and she spoke in a hushed tone with her voice echoing lightly against the framework.
“They’re taking us to this camp. They’re taking Rainbow Dash to Lasairfion. And they’re taking the ship to be used as a secret weapon against the Ledomaritan campaign.”
”Boy is that gonna get something stuck in Seclorum’s craw,” Josho’s voice emanated.
Rainbow’s voice cracked from the other side of the wall. ”Who cares about Seclorum?”
Rainbow was leaning into the wall while Basso, with the help of two other Ledomaritans, used his large body to block the sight of the illicit conversation from the guards on the far side of the force field.
“What matters is getting us off this ship and safely out of the heart of Xonan territory!”
”Everypony except that she-witch who’s with you!” Belle’s voice broadcasted lightly. ”You can leave her to become a mana-slave in their trenches!”
“Ah, Doctor, still full of blood and sass as always,” Nightshade droned. A hoof slapped over her broken horn. “Augh!” She rubbed her head and frowned over her shoulder.
“Heh heh heh…” Zaid leaned back, lowering the offending hoof. “You know what? That actually feels good!”
”Well, if we’re to perform some sort of escape plan, we have to do it swiftly,” Roarke’s voice said.
“Why’s that?” Rainbow asked.
”Because there’s something about our destination that I learned about, and it disturbs me.” A beat. ”The Xonan’s Sacred Hold… is moving.”
Rainbow Dash’s red eyes twitched. “Did you say… moving?”
Stratopolis is not a myth! I've seen it!
Well, maybe not yet, but wherever they're going is big, fancy, and it moves...
Huge caravan ship? Please and thank you.
Party chat likes to kick me out for no reason.
*grumbles*...
Sort of reminds me of the regios from Chrome Shelled Regios. Giant mobile cities with air purification filters and a lot of other neat jazz.
It's funny to see Nightshade go from leading a massive industry with prospects to change the world to getting smacked around by a silly former cultist who peed on himself while in the hooves of a trained bounty hunter. Ahh the winds of change; the same winds that blew that piss right back at Roarke.
This ain't Ledomare. Not everything is mana.
3443872 Dat plot twist when Zytharros suddenly spreads his wings.
And YUSH, some tiny obvious little prediction was actually right! Now we can also know for a certainty that their goddess is indeed something real. Remains the standard theodicy: is she not a goddess or is she not good? Let's set the atmosphere - is there something swimming beneath the surface of reality out there?
A moving hold? Stratopolis? That would be intetesting indeed.
Nice to get a glimpse of the rest of the Jury again.
~Basso
I remember someone making a comment about the song being similar to that of a whale.
That and knowing that the Sacred Hold is moving made me think of this:
theinfosphere.org/images/5/55/LastEncyclopod.jpg
Now prove me wrong, Mr. Colon.
I have the distinct impression that Nagu'n IS the sacred hold...
What is this Nagu'n then? Might well be something older than the dragon matriarchs.
inb4 Xonan's "Sacred Hold" is a massive flying cloud fortress.
Or maybe Stratopolis.
The stage is set, then.
The fact that the Sacred Hold is moving suggests to me it might be some kind of ship, aquatic or airborne.
Or Nag'un is another of the world machines, the song being some signature we just haven't been able to pick up on until now.
Calling it. Sandcrawler. Their sacred hold is a repurposed Jawa Sandcrawler.
Also, I'm enjoying Zetta and Bosso more and more... Zaid is even becoming bearable.
manifestation of the Goddes.”
You missed one, Mr. Colon.
.....Zabadudabu?
I was wondering when we'd be seeing the crew of the Jury again.
I'm interested in what this "Sacred Hold" is.
Yay for more stuff about Xonans that we are just now figuring out, i look forward for more info about them.
3444086
I thought of this as well, or at least something like it.
3444369
Zadubadabu indeed, but maybe not in the way we're thinking
So the Sacred Hold is moving, hm? I'm reminded of Howl's Moving Castle. Good movie.
Noble Jury knows where the Lightning Bearer is going, Shell will be luckily(?) heading in the same direction.
Shell ETA: 16 chapters.
Jury ETA: 14 chapters.
”Because there’s something about our destination that I learned about, and it disturbs me.” A beat. ”The Xonan’s Sacred Hold… is moving.”
OH god, not ANOTHER womb? XD
Oh dear. So now we have flying holds. Space Whale colony, anyone?
Its moving? If Celestia is meditating to close the Rift, and Luna is busy throwing stellar objects around, what sorts of things is this Nagun moving. the Machine Hall?
Why is Forbidden Desert so horribly more difficult than Forbidden Island?
So I am thinking maybe naga'n is something like a dragon or some jazz like that and the hold in on their back, that or something completely random I guess we willfind out soon enough.
Onward and Eastward!
I knew that whale song frequency from earlier would be important.
So, Nagu'n is damn old, if the caribou spoke about it. So, it's probably either one of the dragons, or something related to the machine world, etc. And then there's the Sacred Hold business. Some of you have suggested Stratopolis - which, to be fair, might explain the Xonans' apparent awareness of Austraeoh and various other elements of the presumably pegasine mythology. But something doesn't add up to me, though I can't put my finger on it.
Either way, as far as I can tell, this whole thing is building towards some kind of collision of parties, with the major players being: the LB and its crew/hostages, the Steel Wing, the Noble Jury, the Sacred Hold, Seclorum, and (I suspect) Khao and her goons. When and in what order these parties will collide is anyone's guess.
...and now, to wait for IC to throw a curveball into the mix and prove me wrong
again.Moving?! uh oh,
i was thinking of the giant turtle from World of Warcraft:
static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/12/129927/2247233-wandering_isle_turtle.jpg
either some giant creature or a floating city, kinda like Gray Smoke.
Captive Ledomaritans.
Spidergod food.
I'm telling you guys...
Bad things have been happening and I have this rotten feeling that things will shortly be getting entirely out of hoof. There is prior precedent.
3446694
Eeyup. That about does it.
So i'm betting Nagu’n is a dragon.
IIIIIt's Dahie's evaluation time!
It's moving? What is this, the Battle Frontier? Anyways, perhaps Nag'n is some kind of huge beast who carries a city on her back. We certainly haven't seen anything less weird than that so far. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
>an actual concrete manifestation of the Goddes.
Whenever Rainbow and Co. find themselves in a sketchy situation, it always manages to get exponentially sketchier the more they find out. But I suppose nothing is ever dull then, either, so they've got that going for them, at least.
I'm guessing this moving base camp isn't due to anything as innocuous as a giant lion turtle? People are throwing the word dragon around, and I wouldn't be surprised by this point if it were.
Onward!
Ha. This is the first chapter in a while that has under 30 comments. I'll confess: these exposition dumps are my favorite chapters, because I am a huge fan of world building.
What happened to East? Shouldn't Rainbow Dash just tell the Xonans she's going East?
4070978 Whoops
-Spirit
Moving city or something?
Like a cloud city....
Stratopolis?
4798917 oh balls dont get my hopes up xD
The Hold is moving, huh? It's probably their most powerful ship or something. Unless it's not, and in which case, Stratopolis is next on the list.
So we got ourselves a real, live goddess, huh? Although, by the sound of it, she may not be too live for too long...
It's a giant tank, I bet.
What if the Sacred Hold...IS the goddess?
Well that's F**kin ominous.popogif
05/23/2017 19:31 UTC
Well damn. I forgot about that little tidbit with it moving and all. I've noticed a lot of details and foreshadowing I've missed since rereading this.