Chapter 5: 5. People of the Valley

An excerpt from Suil of Yul Fami’s ‘On Magical Beasts.’

“It would not be an understatement to call the breadth of spiritkind strange, even comparing one to another. The group that holds the most notoriety and, dare I say, the monopoly of fear amongst spiritkind, however, is of the sort referred to simply as ‘ghosts’. Originating in one way or another from the ill-understood souls of the living, ghosts are amongst the most temperamental, most mysterious, and most disturbing of all spiritkind. Further broken up into dozens of sub-types …”

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Before the expedition could descend into the valley, its members needed to be fed. A yolm could go for much longer without food than the average kesh, but skipping food for a lengthy period would negatively affect morale all the same. With some haste, those in charge of food preparation did so with intense fervour. At the same time, otherwise idle hands made themselves useful by setting up large tents under the captain’s commands.  Their captain was not the type of woman to be content with a mere cursory glance at an  unseen ruin in the dark.

“FOR WHAT REASON HAST THOU STOPPED?” Demvya seemed comfortable speaking to Yenna most of all, as the others stared at their comrade’s puppeted body with fear and suspicion.

“We need to eat. We were going to eat earlier, but then we found you. That being said,” Yenna crossed an arm across her chest and used it to support the other as she tilted her head into her hand, “I’m fairly certain Jiin needs to be fed too. Mortal bodies aren’t fit to sup on magic alone.”

“VERY WELL. NEVER HAVE I TAKEN COMMAND OF MORTAL FLESH FOR QUITE SO LONG. THOU ART A PRIEST, AND THY KNOWLEDGE EXTENDS BEYOND THY PEERS IN SUCH MATTERS.” Without waiting, Demvya began to stride towards Hirihiri’s cookpot leaving Yenna to scramble in order to keep up. The spirit’s approach only served to frustrate the yolm cook, who was still having trouble working her enchanted cookpot. Hirihiri brightened up upon seeing Yenna’s trailing presence, having nearly resolved to just make a fire in the mundane fashion. 

“This spirit of yours seems to like playing merry havoc with my cookpot.” The old yolm flashed a grin at Yenna. “Be a dear and fix it for me?”

Even though Yenna had gotten a bit carried away and had added an additional enchantment to protect against magic wind, it didn’t take long before a fire was lit beneath the cookpot.The simplicity of the device had lent itself well to field adjustments, and Yenna resolved to do everything within her power to complicate the device with a myriad of improvements. Before long the smell of stew filled the air and the expedition members gathered to fill their aching bellies. Though the crew had brought stools and low folding tables none were appropriate for Yenna to use, considering the shape of her body. She retrieved a sitting cushion from her pack and bid Demvya to join her for a bowl of soup.

It took some convincing before Demvya sat down—Yenna was fairly certain that the spirit could feel her host body’s needs, but was also similarly certain that she didn’t understand the signals in question. The yolm awkwardly sat herself down on a stool and took a bowl in hand, staring suspiciously at the utensil as though it had grown a face and had begun to sing a ballad. Yenna could see the gears turning in their head, their confusion drawing more stares from the surrounding crowd. Though most were uneasy about the body-napping, the expeditioners could evidently still find some humour in the situation. That is, everyone except for Mayi and Captain Eone, who both stared down the possessed body of Jiin as though they could will the spirit out of their travelling companion by the sheer force of concern alone.

“PRIEST. I AM A GODDESS OF GREAT SKILL AND STRENGTH, SUCH IS TRUE, BUT THE MUNDANE CONCERNS OF MORTALS ARE BENEATH MY NOTICE. THUS, I SHALL RESIDE IN DORMANCY, AND GIVE THIS FLESH ONCE MORE UNTO ITS INITIAL INHABITANT.” Demvya interrupted after much fiddling with her bowl, the meaning of her words sinking in slowly to the onlookers. Before anyone could interject, Demvya had put down the bowl, closed their empty, white eyes, and had opened them again. A broad smile and gentle green eyes graced Yenna.

“Well, that was mighty weird!” Jiin opened her mouth and spoke.

The pregnant pause in the air exploded into a clamour as people leapt to their feet. In a flash, the captain had appeared by Jiin’s side and had begun to fuss over her as a mother would after having found her lost child. Mayi practically tackled her into a hug, and Jiin barely caught herself in time to avoid falling to the ground.

“Jiin! Are you okay? Are you hurt? Is the spirit gone?” Mayi lifted up one of Jiin’s arms and looked it over as though the spirit might have physically injured her friend. Jiin giggled, seeming to be much less worried about the situation.

“Mayi, I’m fine! Y’don’t need ta worry ‘bout me! I was watchin’ the whole time, though it was th’ weirdest thing!”

Nearly the entire crew had gathered around to look in—including Chime, who had delicately made room with their antennae to shove their face into the circle of people. Eone and Mayi continued to make a fuss, Jiin continued to laugh, and Yenna had become caught up in the intrigue. Most spirits were capable of possession, but the current situation felt slightly different. It wasn’t something regularly brought up amongst mages of the arcane, but she had heard of priests of certain cultures being able to physically channel their deities or guardian spirits, temporarily giving them physical form to directly interact with their worshippers. In those cases, the spirit normally had somewhere to return to when the channelling was complete, so where was Demvya?

“It was like I was ridin’ passenger on a wagon or somethin’,” Jiin’s explanation continued, “Just watchin’ where we’re goin’, while someone else said where t’go. Then Demvya just handed me back th’ reins like it were nothin’! She says I can give ‘em back when I’m done. ‘Least, that’s what I think she’s sayin’.”

“Wait,” Eone’s eyes widened, “The spirit is still within you?”

Yenna pulled up her magical sight spell amidst muttering and fearful prayers, and confirmed the truth behind Jiin’s statement. Jiin’s body was still silhouetted in a way that implied her spirit guest was residing within. If the metaphor of reins was to be followed…

“Yes, they are still in there. Though, could you not have taken back control, Jiin?” With an uncertain expression, Yenna kept an eye out for deception. Even under close scrutiny the woman’s face was just like she remembered it, twisted in an admittedly cute expression of thought.

“I was s’prised at first, y’know. Felt like I couldn’t do nothin’! But when I tried t’ move my body, there was this super nice voice—Like Demvya’s, but not so shouty! An’ they said they had a real important mission, an’ they couldn’t do it without me, so I thought I’d just see what happens, y’know?”

Her statement gave Yenna some food for thought. She had already suspected Demvya was a guardian spirit, but this basically confirmed her hypothesis. Any other possessing force wouldn’t have allowed Jiin even the illusion of being able to regain control as even the idea that resistance was a possibility had a tendency to make it possible. When Demvya handed back control, she confirmed in Jiin’s mind that the reins could be taken back whenever she pleased and without issue. Unfortunately, Jiin’s willingness to allow Demvya to pilot her body meant that this was a two-way street—the possession could be taken back at any time. I’ll have to see if I’ve got anything in my spellbook about dispelling possessions.

Yenna turned and addressed the crowd.

“Demvya’s willingness to give up control like this means she cares about the fate of her host—erm, Jiin. My only question is, where will Demvya go when she has completed her task? She made a promise, and a spirit like Demvya will keep it.”

A silence confirmed the lack of any good answers, possibly aided by the hunger grinding their brains to a halt.

“I’ll think of something.” Eone insisted.

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Jiin ate greedily, a bright, unconcerned smile on her face. It appeared that the young woman was the only one not to be ruminating over her own future. Yenna couldn’t help but smile along with her—hers was a smile that said that everything would be alright. Given the look on Mayi’s face, I doubt she agrees.

The mood noticeably brightened as everyone ate their meals. Even after the sun had set and lanterns had been prepared, Demvya had not made their return and Jiin’s beacon of a grin was all the reassurance the crew had needed to return to joking, laughing and having a good time. Even Mayi seemed to be returning to her usual self, though Yenna couldn’t tell if her clinging on was a product of the situation or a regular facet of their relationship.

Yenna had intended to write about the day’s events in her journal, but her mumbling through the matter had drawn questions from Jiin and she soon found herself incidentally giving a short lecture on the nature of various spirits. Tirk wormed his way in to listen, wide-eyed and still wearing Demvya’s flower.

“... So, apart from guardian spirits, there are also sprites, ephemerals, wisps¹—Ah, I could go on for hours.” Yenna chuckled before looking down at Tirk, who had raised his hand.

“What about ghosts and all that?” A small shiver ran down Yenna’s spine at the mere mention, though Tirk didn’t know the full implications of the question he had asked. Ghosts were difficult to talk about and unpleasant to have around besides.

“Ghosts are, erm, spirits formed when someone—”

An ice-cold wind blew through the camp, putting out the lanterns and the cookpot flame. It nearly tore the hat off of Yenna’s head and caused everyone to shiver with a deep sense of dread. Everyone turned to see where the unnatural wind had blown to, worry filling the air as they realised tracing the path of the wind led straight down to the ruins down in the valley below. One of the other hands, a yolm man, shouted that he saw lights down below,  causing a clamour as everyone stood to get a glimpse.

Given that the wind had counteracted the enchantment that kept the hat on her head, Yenna assumed that there had been  a magical element to what they had just seen. Praying her suspicions were incorrect, she cast her magical sight spell and confirmed exactly what she didn’t want to see. The town below held an unusual stillness of magical power, with the exception of the wind that had blown past the expedition. That wind swirled continuously around the edges of the town, resembling a tornado. There were also motes of magic moving down below, the well of magic that lay in all living beings appearing to have been reduced to a sickly scrap.

Beside her, Jiin stood—not Jiin, but Demvya. The expression on her face and the way she held herself so much more imperiously than the yolm stonecarver herself gave it away, despite Yenna being unable to see her eyes.

“THE PEOPLE OF THE VALLEY CALL OUT TO ME. I SHALL DELIVER MYSELF UNTO THEM, INQUIRE UNTO THEIR INDOLENCE.” Without further explanation, Demvya began to walk into the darkness. Captain Eone stood in her path.

“You’re not going anywhere with Jiin until you can promise her safety!” Eone hadn’t drawn her sword, but her massive physique was more than enough to overpower Jiin’s. Out of respect for this, Demvya stopped.

“NO HARM SHALL COME FOR THIS VESSEL. THOUGH IT IS THAT OF A MERE MORTAL, I SHALL GIVE IT THE REVERENCE AFFORDED A SACRED GROVE.” Reaching up to Jiin’s short, brown hair, she flicked her hands outwards and back. With a flash of light, the woman’s hair turned white and grew as long as Yenna’s, the same white flowers that populated Demvya’s grove sprouting from the locks themselves. With a quick peek, Yenna confirmed that Demvya had erected a protective barrier around herself—one effective largely against spiritkind.

Looking to Yenna and receiving a nod of confidence, Eone stood aside and dutifully followed the spirit. She turned and addressed the group. 

“Mage Yenna, Narasanha, Muut, with me. The rest of you, prepare the camp, including defenses. I’ll send Mysilia up if I need anything else.”

With the captain’s simple command, the crew went to work. The faith the crew had in their captain was astonishing to Yenna—had these people not moments before been convinced that only prayers and divine blessings could save them? Yet when their captain told them to move, they did so with a certainty that insisted they held Eone in only the highest regard. I only hope the captain’s competence matches the crew’s faith in her.

Trailing along behind Demvya was surprisingly easy. Though she had only recently been acquainted with a corporeal form, she easily followed a trail down into the valley that the rest of them had failed to notice. It was likely an animal trail at this point in time, but it reminded Yenna of the well-ridden tracks around her hometown that had been worn down by an untold number of hooves across time. The trail snaked expertly between the rocks, around bushes and avoided the worst of the slopes. Noticing that it was growing dark, Yenna conjured a quintet of glowing lights to hover before each of the members. After the one nearest to Demvya flickered and died as the spirit accidentally consumed it and Narasanha waved hers away, three were left to guide their path through the darkness. 

The night felt colder as the group descended into the valley, and Yenna was unnerved by the strange stillness around them. The air began to feel stale and dead as they progressed, as though they had entered into a long-forgotten cave.

“Where is the wind?” Muut was the first to break the silence, raising a hand to test for a breeze. Yenna pondered before answering the best she could. 

“The confluence surrounding this ruin appears to be acting as a break, distorting the natural flows of– ahem. The magic here has stopped moving for a reason I’ve yet to discover, and it's stopping the normal winds from blowing.”

“Look, mage. Is that the answer ye seek?”

All eyes turned to the where the man’s hand had been pointing towards, including Demvya’s. A short distance away down the trail, the figure of a kesh could be seen staring at them. At first glance Yenna had believed it to be some rough kesh lost out in the wilderness, illuminated by the moonlight. Upon closer inspection, the emaciated creature was made of silver light and fog, their existence so thin that they would likely vanish should the wind rise again. 

Looking further down the trail towards the town, Yenna gasped as she saw many such figures. She stood solemnly amongst the shimmering illusions of ancient buildings and forgotten farm fields—the town of the people of the valley where only ghosts remained. 

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¹ - The original Yenna Bookbinder, who penned our eponymous Almanac, has a bad habit of listing several interesting topics and then failing to expound upon them until it becomes relevant to her present situation. In brief, sprites are whimsical creatures of magic associated with the more corporeal fey, ephemerals are the pure magic equivalent of elementals, and wisps are a mystery to all—floating balls of magical energy imbued with an unknowable intelligence.

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