Some time later, most of the Deliverance members were gathered in the spacious audience hall of the castle, save for Tatiana, Silque, Shade, Genny and Faye, who were waiting out of sight in an adjacent room. Alm had asked them to stay there until they were called so that he could explain the basic situation to their comrades before revealing their transformations. Sitting at the head of the long table were the King and Queen themselves, with Clive and Mathilda standing at attention to either side of them while the rest of the attendees stood in front of their seats, awaiting permission to sit. An amount of chatter could be heard around the room as the warriors speculated amongst themselves about what could be important enough to summon everyone from the group present at Duma's defeat. Standing up to address his allies, Alm signaled to Clive, who banged the shaft of his spear twice on the floor, immediately drawing everyone's attention.
"My friends," the Deliverance leader began, "my apologies for calling you all here on short notice, but I assure you that my reasons for doing so are by no means insignificant." Extending his right hand welcomingly, he invited them, "Please, sit down. This is going to take some time to explain, so I'd prefer if you were comfortable." There was a small clamor as everyone pulled their seats forward and sat, still watching the king intently. Content that he had everyone's full attention, Alm continued, "Some of you may already know part of the reason for this meeting, but I will explain things fully now. This all relates to our expedition to the mysterious shrine that was found to the south, which a local has told us is known as the Altar of the Faerie. We learned that the Altar could offer its blessings to those who practice the way of the Saint in battle, letting them unlock the path of the Exemplar. However, there was much more to this than anyone expected." Turning to Celica, the green-haired man nodded.
Standing up from her seat, Celica continued to relate the events. "We had five Saints with us on our journey, who you may notice are absent from this room: Tatiana, Silque, Shade, Genny and Faye." Noticing the concerned looks on her comrades' faces, she hastily added, "Fret not, they are well and stronger than ever. However... we learned that upon receiving the Altar's blessing, their bodies were transformed as well, taking on traits of mythological beings from Valentia's ancient past. In speaking with the hermit maintaining the shrine and researching the legends recorded in the region's library, we developed a theory that the shrines are tied to ancient gods who preceded the advent of Mila and Duma."
"Pardon my intrusion, your Highness," interjected Forsythe, "but did you say a 'theory'? Can a theory really be this important before being proven?"
Clive was about to bang his spear again, but Celica stopped him before replying, "I understand your doubts, though I entreat you to wait until we have finished explaining things before asking further questions. If these theories are even halfway correct, then Valentia could be thrown into tumult once more if they are not addressed swiftly and prudently." Seeing Forsythe sit back in his seat again, Celica resumed, "From what we understand, these Old Gods coexisted with humans alongside many other races known as the 'Children of the Gods', which we only know of in the present day through mythology. Some time after Duma and Mila arrived, the gods left with their children for new lands, though some of their people stayed behind, supposedly intermixing with the humans and instilling their bloodlines into the Valentian people. The Altar appears to be built to worship one of these ancient gods, and our theory is that it has the ability to draw out the latent bloodlines of those who use it." As Celica gazed at the Deliverance members, she noticed some confusion. "I believe that this may be easier to understand if you see for yourselves. Mathilda, bring them in."
Bowing to the Queen, Mathilda stepped away to go knock on the door to the adjacent room before opening it. One by one, each of the transformed Exemplars walked out, none of them concealing their alterations in any way. A low murmur swept through the hall as the attendees expressed their shock at what happened to their friends.
Clearing his throat, Alm spoke up again, "I assure you there is no concern to be had regarding the current state of our mutual friends. If you have any doubts, I encourage you to ask them directly yourselves about their feelings and experiences on the matter." Looking slowly at the faces seated around the table, he continued, "As for me personally, I can vouch that they still are very much the same comrades we have come to know and trust, and their new bodies have neither corrupted them nor made them a liability in battle. In fact, it is quite the opposite, as they seem more capable than ever before." The King went on to explain what they knew about each of their transformations in detail, to the best of his limited knowledge. A certain pair of Exemplars were thankful that he didn't know more about them than he described.
After Alm was finished, a certain tanned swordsman spoke up. "Based on what you said, does this mean that the rest of us could potentially get changed like the others if we found a suitable altar?" Gray asked.
"Why would you want to be transformed like that?" countered Leon. "I'd hate to mess with my already perfect appearance."
Choosing to ignore the archer's snarky remark, Alm replied to Gray, "Yes, we have reason to believe that others could be affected by the Altar, which is why studying them further is of utmost importance. We have learned that there are at least nine other shrines, with legends of a tenth Grand Altar. Which brings us to our other main topic of discussion..."
"I know this has been long-winded, but please bear with us," Celica apologized before taking over the explanation. "A couple days after we visited the shrine, we had a skirmish with forces tied to the remnants of Duma's Faithful. Their leader, a Cantor of passing ability, spoke of trying to take Tatiana from us in a bid to revive Duma with the Faerie's power. After the battle, we found a manuscript with a map sent by other followers of Duma, detailing the location of an 'Altar of the Skylord' in the mountains west of Mila's Temple and a plot to study its power."
As her comrades murmured over the news of Duma's Faithful being up to no good, Alm took the lead again, "Clearly, you can see why this is an urgent issue. Not only do these Altars stand as an unknown variable that could change Valentian society as we know it, but they are also an active target for those wishing to revive Duma once more."
"Do you have a plan for tackling this issue?" Sonya asked.
"I believe it is in our best issue to sortie an expedition to the new shrine as soon as we are able, as nothing good can come of letting Duma's followers do as they wish with it," Alm answered. "In the worst case, they may have already figured out how to use it for themselves," he said with a frown. "While I have some reservations about the transformations these Altars cause," the green-haired hero continued, "I believe it would be in our best interest to bring along allies who may be able to use its power. We can't learn more without observing their effects, and we may need its power to match Duma's Faithful if they already learned to utilize it themselves."
Seeing the dissent Alm's words caused among the ranks, Celica added, "Fear not, we would not force anyone to use the Altars unwillingly. We leave it up to you if you wish to gamble with their power, and we only ask your assistance on the expeditions themselves."
After that, Alm explained the rest of his strategy to those present, laying out the plan for team members and alternate strategies that might be employed in different situations. When the meeting finally concluded...
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