Isfet-Iah's ancient kingdoms were to the south and west. He knew Kadar-Jormu Citadel, but not the valley containing Jian Peak Abbey. Mystical energy flowed around it. Not only would such a place have been sacred to the ancient giants, cultures present before the giants came – the orcs, bunyips, and perhaps even serpent men – would also have revered it. They would also have feared it.
Gloaming Realm was wearing through the veils between realities, here.
Superficially, it was a fine place for a vampire's kingdom. Like vampires, shadows were dangerous and seductive. The Gloaming Realm was a place of death, however. Vampires fed on living passions. First Qianqiu Emperor could have centered a formation here. The fact he chose otherwise came from a deeper understanding. He was the First Emperor for a reason, and those who came later lacked his occult insights.
Pin Fun avoided the stairs. Instead, he flew as a puff of mist from a clifftop to his abbey's grounds. Isfet-Iah smiled. Did the boy think he was clever? Isfet-Iah would have advised against constructing anything in that valley. Constructions had been made, however – and they were sophisticated. The men and women who constructed them were also sophisticated.
They did not build steps because they had no mhoddim tricks.
They built the steps because climbing up and down, slowly, repeatedly, built physical strength and endurance. Individuals with powerful mhoddim components all too easily underestimated the importance of their physical bodies. Mhoddim component and physical body both contributed to power. The body's motions were metaphors for controlling mhoddim interface. It was impossible to quantify the importance of each. Loosely stated, better metaphorical control produced twice the benefit of a stronger component.
Isfet-Iah was older than the Arkhanate of Urarhtu. He had seen hundreds of mhoddim practitioners killed by opponents with no component at all but exceptional skill and conditioning. Using the stairs regularly for several years would have given Pin Fun the strength to ride Sanguine Eclipse all night or day. More importantly, with the metaphorical strength he would have gained, he could have reached the abbey in less than a single night or day.
That was why ancient abbeys had steps.
Not because ancient masters couldn't fly.
Flying, slowly, over the gap between the dramatic cliffs and more dramatic volcanic spire, Isfet-Iah realized that there was an even more important reason for the steps in this valley. He left Pin Fun's soft, delicious body and flickered to the spire's rock.
The stupas, mandalas, shrines, and inscriptions had not survived entirely intact. But they were intact enough for Isfet-Iah to divine their purpose. The goal of these steps was to harmonize the pilgrim's body with the valley's energy.
Someone had made a remarkable – and likely catastrophic – gamble.
Isfet-Iah would have opposed constructing anything here because he was a king and general. For him, the only purpose of construction was to assert control over the land. The Willow and Gloaming Realms weren't merely uncontrollable, however, they relentlessly deconstructed control.
They were reflections of reality breaking apart.
Yes. Isfet-Iah understood.
The cultures here before the giants – those orcs, bunyips, and serpents – would have avoided the valley completely. The remnants of orcish boundary stones were almost certainly strewn about the surrounding countryside. To primeval peoples, simply thinking about the valley would invite ruin into their lives. The giants, in contrast, would have used this place to sequester what they wanted to see fade from the world.
What had the abbey's first architects intended to achieve?
Isfet-Iah rippled up and down the stairs. The motifs demonstrated that the builders understood the Gloaming Realm was just out of sight here. Human cultures lagged behind all others in their understanding of the Willow and Gloaming Realms. None were wholly ignorant, however. The original builders intentionally took the risk. It was related to immortality. Quests for immortality were the greatest human folly – more common even than trying to become a god.
Isfet-Iah's shadows scoffed.
The gods weren't gods. It had taken Isfet-Iah millennia to understand that enigma. Even with millennia to spare – he would not call himself "immortal." First Qianqiu Emperor viewed the purpose of building the same way Isfet-Iah did: a means of control. He avoided this uncontrollable place. Whoever came later believed they had discovered a secret unknown to the First Emperor and the ancient giants. The sophistication of their construction suggested they were not stupid. How did they arrive at such a foolish conclusion?
Isfet-Iah suspected… trickery.
Interesting.
But Isfet-Iah chuckled. He owed his future vassal an apology. By avoiding the steps, the disciples of Jian Peak Abbey may have dodged a curse. Isfet-Iah felt tempted to say they avoided the curse by accident. That may not have been the case. It was possible that at some point between the abbey's founding and the present day, someone realized that using the stairs regularly would attune them with the Gloaming Realm. By avoiding the steps, they created a pattern of behavior.
That pattern of behavior was lazy, and so it was naturally adopted.
Pin Fun joined a conversation. Isfet-Iah teleported to his sword. With the exception of one person, the abbey's gigolo monks lived up to its reputation for hedonistic debauchery. Unless Isfet-Iah was mistaken, the one person – on the shorter side, but firmly built – was almost a werewolf. Interesting. Isfet-Iah avoided touching the werewolf. The creature's senses would register contact.
Isfet-Iah was in no danger. But if his presence became known, the subjects of his observations would alter their behavior. Isfet-Iah wanted them to remain as they were. They would teach him more about the world that way. Their conversation was not disappointing. Furthermore, Pin Fun was correct that Sanguine Eclipse would agree with his plan to find the missing "golden child of golden children." The boy was a worthy vassal.
The werewolf's proposal also made sense. Whoever the Count of Arlu was, he may have discovered some clue about the abbey's original purpose. If the abbey's disciples could find whatever was hidden here, they would have a powerful bargaining chip. Like Sanguine Eclipse, that chip might be too powerful.
For them.
It was unlikely to be too powerful for Isfet-Iah.