The Trickster's Tale

It was only the next morning that Simon's schedule was shifted slightly. Gideon would accompany him on his run and serve as a pace keeper, to ensure that he didn't take any unnecessarily long breaks. Simon reluctantly agreed, pondering the absurdity of a leader being treated this way all the while.

It was barely dawn when Simon arrived in the courtyard, ready to head out for his run, or walk, or whatever it could be called. He'd been allowed to dress properly this time given that he had company, though his training during the last week had made the cold far less an issue than it had been at first. 

Despite this, Simon was not in a good mood. Hethoria had spent the entirety of last night laughing at him, thanking him for the entertainment, and insulting his intelligence all the while. All that and she didn't even begin to tutor him. It wasn't Simon's idea of a good night's rest.

Gideon was waiting at the gate already, quite lightly dressed himself, likely intending to keep himself lithe for the journey.

"Good morning, Simon. I heard you had a fun little conversation with Sonia yesterday evening, but she absolutely refuses to tell me why. It's very sad." He sidled up next to him, whispering conspiratorially. "I'd be very grateful to know why, I'd owe you a favour you know, free to claim whenever you'd like."

"It's a nice offer Gideon, but I don't know what happened myself. One second I'd done a good job and the next she said we were done for the day. No clue what happened."

"Ooh is that so? How very unlike her. I'll have to just keep prying her for answers then." Simon thought Gideon's smile could be terrifying sometimes.

"Alright, you two, enough of your gossiping. This isn't a leisurely stroll. Now Simon, you're going to be following Gideon here's lead, if he tells me you've been slacking I promise you there will be more hell to pay than you can afford. You've been doing a less horrible job lately, so keep that up and you may be somewhat passable someday. Right, I don't have anything else to say to you. I'll see you bastards when you drag yourselves back in."

"Thanks so much for the encouragement Hallsteel, right Simon, let's get going then!" Gideon began running before Orion had even finished his sentence.

"Damnit Gideon, get the hell back here! I told you not to call me that! I'll make you pay for that!" Orion turned back to Simon. "Well what are you doing just staring boy, get going or you're going to fail already!"

Simon didn't need to be told twice, immediately pushing himself to catch up to Gideon, who was maintaining a leisurely pace as they headed down Main Street. The area was quiet this time of day, only a couple of merchants setting themselves up for the morning tide. Among them was a baker who Simon had grown fond of. The smell of the fresh bread as he ran past could very well be considered the best part of his day. He'd considered stopping once for a loaf before realising he didn't have even the smallest amount of money to pay with.

He had asked Sonia for a handful of pocket change the day afterwards, but she absolutely refused unless it was an order. Unable to force her to hand it over, he relented. Sometimes he missed how she'd been on the first day, 'yes sir' this or 'yes sir' that.

"Don't get too lost in your thoughts there Simon, might end up running someone over. You've got company now you know, you can talk instead." Gideon called back to him from his position slightly ahead. "Guru Gideon is all ears for all your questions and worries."

"Thanks for the offer, but I don't think I'll be needing Guru Gideon's advice today. He'll have to wait for another time." Simon called back.

"Oh how sad, we could have had such interesting conversations, matters of the soul, matters of the body, or matters of the heart. Ah what sweet words we could sing."
"Yeah, I think I might be passing on that for a while longer actually."
"Your loss I'm afraid. For any more serious questions I remain your guide." Gideon executed an impressively performative bow whilst running, before turning back to face the road ahead.

Gideon stayed surprisingly silent for the majority of their time exiting the city, it was only Simon's own question, inspired by seeing The Illusion's Tankard again that reignited him.

"Actually, Sonia told me something on my first day that I've been meaning to ask about."
"Hmm, how interesting, ask away my dear friend."
"It's about the city, it's name is Sordilar, right?"
"That it certainly is."
"Well, she said it means 'City of Illusions', it just seems a strange name for the Hethorian capital."

Gideon laughed giddily, his own interests seemingly touched upon. "Well that's because it isn't. Think about it a little Simon, what was the first thing that Sonia told you about that old cloister up there?" The ever present lilt to his voice turned even more playful than usual now.

"Hmm, I can't remember really, a lot happened since then. She said... she said..." Simon tried to tap as far back in his memories of this world as he could. While he could easily remember most of the major events, that small part of the conversation eluded him.

"I'll give you a clue, it had something to do with me."
"With you? Something about the cloister and to do with you, wait that's it."

The discordant thoughts pieced together in Simon's brain. "It's to do with Florien, he was the old god of the cloister or something like that. Going from that, if the cloister used to be his, then the city probably was at one point too."

"Well, it's Florient, but that's close enough. Yes, this wasn't Hethorian land at first."

The two of them had just made it out of the city gates, turning clockwise and beginning a full ring around its walls. 

"It belonged to Florient like the cloister itself. It was his first city when the faiths were founded, and the Order of Florient ruled out of it for centuries. Naturally, being born here, I was one of his followers and joined the Order when I was young." Gideon's voice was afflicted by an unusual sense of melancholy.

"The city was never anything impressive, Florient wanted it to serve as a bastion of his domain after all, trick people into thinking it was poor and defenceless, while secretly storing strength within. I doubt anyone has told you yet, but there's actually quite an set of passageways beneath city, deeply complex and nearly impossible to navigate. I tried myself a few times, only found my way out by sheer luck."

"Are you serious? A full underground maze and nobody told me? That's important information isn't it?" Simon was perplexed, it seemed like an incredibly basic piece of information to have told him earlier.

"Hmm, I guess it's not really important for you to know yet. It's almost useless if you're not using it strategically, and while I hate to say it to you, that's not really your type of thing. Plus it's dangerous. Even if you ignore getting lost, there's things lurking down there that are best avoided." Gideon broke character, delivering that last warning with a deeply serious intent. Simon nodded, heeding the warning without question, nothing that could make Gideon that serious would be worth risking.

"Anyway, you wanted to know why it was called the 'City of Illusions', that's why. It had a whole second world that nobody but the order knew about, an illusion of weakness hiding a cache of strength."

"But wouldn't naming it that make the trick fail? If I heard of a city named the 'City of Illusions' I'd be fairly certain there was something going on, right?"

"Haha, you'd think so, wouldn't you? Such a mysterious name from the God of Tricksters himself. Well that ended up being the trick itself in the end. Years and years the city stood, and year after year nobody could figure out even the slightest thing strange about it, given that the underground was a deep secret even among the Order at the time. So over time, people started to think that the trick was that there was no trick. It's an overly complex scheme, but Florient was fond of those, even in the short time I served under him."

"I'm sorry, I've been ranting. You didn't expect a history lesson, especially not from me. Why don't we just move on from that, hmm?"
"No actually, thank you. Maybe it's not important for me to know but it's pretty much the first thing I've learnt outside of magic and the Gods. It's nice to know about the world, where I am, what I don't know. It's nice to know anything at all really."

Florient looked back and, to Simon, seemed to smile earnestly for the first time. "It was my pleasure, I can tell you a bit more if you'd like. It wouldn't be about the city but you'll get to know the mystery of why little old Florient worshipper me decided to turncoat over to his very final enemy. If you're interested."

Their run was still only just beginning, they were perhaps a fifth of the way at best. Simon had grown used to stewing in his own thoughts out here but any story to fill the time would be a godsend in comparison.

"Go ahead. We've got plenty of run left. Most I know is that Florient attacked Hethoria and ended up losing."

"That he certainly did. Let's go back a bit though. All the way back at the beginning of the Holy Wars Florient was one of the peaceful Gods, he loved to toy and tease but he was their diplomat. When they started to fight, he'd try to interrupt them. The more people to play with the better after all. Hethoria would always be the one to work with him, they'd put together her knowledge and his charisma, trying to turn every situation to their advantage."

"Unfortunately for the two of them their success rate wasn't the best. For every war they stopped, another three would wage ruthlessly. That's how it went for maybe the next full century. They worked together and were thick as thieves. It was around the time that Damos fell that something happened, though nobody knows what. There are rumours of course, and juicy ones, but all anyone knows is that they suddenly turned on each other, right at the throats."

"What, just like that? And nobody knows anything at all? How?"

"That's the gift of being the masters of every information network out there. Hethoria controlled the truth, and Florient all those dangerous rumours. Nothing with any substance got out."
"Nothing at all? Did none of the Knights or the other Gods ask either of them?"
"Give it a go, you'll get the same answer they got. Stop asking. Or else. Not a good thing to hear from your patron God, so they zipped their mouths and moved on."
"So an unsolvable mystery then. I'd call it fun if it weren't so bloody."
"Never say never Simon, who knows what morsels of information they could have missed. Just don't get too excited, that'll just disappoint you."

The conversation stopped there briefly as they crossed a bridge over a small canyon. While the bridge was clearly sturdy, the chasm was deep, and Simon never dared look down as he crossed.

"I promised you my story though didn't I? Well it's pretty simple from where we left off. Hethoria stayed neutral, she still didn't like the warring, but Florient got aggressive, never going as far as completely destroying another God, but instead destroying their forces and leaving them for the others to pick apart."

Gideon slowed his run. "Eventually he got greedy, his borders had reached Hethoria, his prime target. Even then, she had never waged war on another God, content with her powers and her border. Florient didn't let that hold him hold back, he wanted to kill her with his own hands. He sent his entire Order after her. Their armies fought and destroyed each other. Then their four knights fought and destroyed each other. When the dust was settled, both sides were crippled so completely that the others Gods could tear them apart."

"My reasons are simple, I couldn't join that last battle. Hethoria was the most innocent of the Gods, I wouldn't be a part of that. My hands aren't clean, I've fought in other wars. Not that one."

"Well, I'm not sure how much it matters when it's coming from me, but I think you made the right choice. It was noble."
"It means a great deal more than you think." Gideon's words were truly dark, laced with feelings Simon had never heard him express.

"But that's the strange and remarkably enigmatic history of Florient, I've always found it interesting what could have happened back then, but maybe the mystery's more fun." Gideon didn't stay down long, forcing his playful tone back before he let the mood linger.

"Now, why don't we make the rest of this trip more fun? Get the blood pumping a bit? Do remember what Orion told you!" Gideon began to sprint ahead, doubling in speed.

"No, Gideon, wait! I was already barely keeping up and we've got more than half the run left! Gideon! Slow down! Gideon!"

Gideon laughed heartily and ran on ahead.