Skylrael was an open and diverse flying city. Skyl did not mind who came to settle on the island. Even undead creatures that outsiders would flee from in terror were welcome there.
He did not even object to priests of other gods building temples, provided they could find a way to reach the floating island. Unlike the arrogant and narrow-minded Netherese Empire, the radiance of the Silver Tree embraced all things.
Skyl had declared that mortals should possess the courage to resist the gods, but he would never incite them to hate divine beings or deliberately provoke a war among the gods. Ordinary people could not bear the consequences of defeat.
What Skyl wanted was to offer them another path and more choices, not turn them into cannon fodder for the sake of slogans and ideals. He wanted people to realize that they did not need to depend on gods to master nature or shape their destinies. Knowledge could transform both the world and their lives.
In Skylrael, anyone could openly refuse to worship a god. That alone provided an escape route.
The best way to destroy a god was not necessarily to confront one. Divine beings could never completely perish as long as even one person remembered their name. The best method was to let them be forgotten, forgotten by mortals, forgotten by history, and eventually forgotten by the world itself.
The Silver Tree's roots were no less powerful than the Weave, but the Weave still existed within Skylrael, allowing spellcasters to choose which system they wished to use.
Giving people the freedom to choose was the greatest respect one could show life.
Skylrael's first official residents were the Candlekeep scholars and the kobolds.
The kobolds had come chasing the traces of a dragon and happened to catch a ride into the sky. Otherwise, their battered wooden rafts would never have carried them beyond the sea.
At first, the kobold chieftain mistook Skyl and his companions for servants of the dragons. Puffing out his chest and putting on the most arrogant expression he could manage, he demanded to know where their draconic patron was. The new lackeys had arrived to pay their respects and pledge themselves to the most powerful boss around.
Skyl amiably brought out the four dragons housed inside the Tower of Tomes. They released thunderous, delighted roars, then lowered their heads before Skyl in submission.
The kobolds trembled violently.
"May we ask who you are, boss?"
Skyl merely smiled and offered no answer.
Everyone remained busy throughout the rest of autumn.
Stan led the Candlekeep scholars in constructing a city across the summit plateau. As the Silver Tree continued to grow, its ability to expand space would become stronger without any apparent limit. Even the small summit could eventually contain countless towers, streets, and grand buildings.
The flying enclave's structures were concentrated around the mountaintop, preserving the island's natural beauty. From a distance, the city resembled a brilliant jewel embedded within a verdant crown.
Doric attempted to educate the kobolds and guide them away from evil. It was not an easy task, especially since teaching and preaching were hardly her greatest talents.
Fortunately, she had dragons to assist her and intimidate the kobolds into behaving. The dragons living in the Tower of Tomes had lost much of their former arrogance and acquired a somewhat scholarly temperament. Out of respect for Skyl, they were also willing to help the druid.
In the kobolds' eyes, Doric could command dragons, which immediately elevated her to the status of an idol. Everything she said became absolute law, even though most of the druidic principles she tried to explain sailed straight over their heads.
The kobolds settled at the foot of the mountain. Those capable of educating themselves could eventually climb to the summit on pilgrimage and offer their Candle Flames to the Silver Tree.
Skyl had not been idle either. He was considering how to forge an Elden Ring.
An Elden Ring embodied the divine portfolio of Law. A divine portfolio represented the fields through which a god exercised divine power, and every deity possessed only a limited number of portfolios. That was the fundamental structure of a polytheistic world.
The system of Law, however, was monotheistic and extraordinarily broad. In terms of divine portfolios, it encompassed nearly every aspect of an entire world.
Anyone hoping to live comfortably in a polytheistic world needed to avoid encroaching upon another god's portfolios. Some lesser powers even voluntarily surrendered portions of their portfolios to stronger gods within their pantheon in exchange for protection.
As an Outsider, Skyl would have to begin a divine war if he attempted to gather every portfolio into himself. Worse still, every pantheon would gang up on him at once.
Even Ao would have difficulty helping him under those circumstances. Many interloper deities were already on friendly terms with Ao. Everyone knew one another, so there was no reason to push matters beyond the point of no return.
The last time Ao became furious and cast the gods down as mortals, it was because a pair of idiots had stolen the DM's campaign notes, the Tablets of Fate. That had threatened the foundations of the entire world.
Under ordinary circumstances, Ao paid little attention to worldly affairs. Even when Skyl bribed him with Taco Tuesday, the best he could obtain was a minor alteration to the outcome of a Wish, the sort of harmless bending of the rules that hurt no one.
Fortunately, Skyl did not intend to follow the Erdtree's old path.
Among the portfolios currently available to him was the Weave, but claiming it would place him in direct conflict with Mystra. He also possessed some connection to magic, spell slots, necromancy, and similar fields, but those portfolios already belonged to other gods. To seize their authority, he would first have to defeat them.
Since that path was blocked, he would simply create another.
He intended to merge the door-shaped mark with the Silver Tree's root system and nurture an entirely new magical framework distinct from the Weave.
The door-shaped mark could naturally open portals and create entire worlds behind those doors.
Thinking like a player, Skyl realized he could use the Silver Tree's roots as a network connecting the multiverse. Portals could bridge different dimensions, while the Grand Symphony could extract fragments of history and use them as templates to create instanced planes where players could embark on adventures.
The idea itself was hardly new. It was merely extraordinarily difficult to implement.
Skyl happened to possess all the necessary tools, and such a concept certainly represented a field that did not yet exist anywhere in Realmspace. It could become a completely original divine portfolio belonging to the Silver Law.
The countless landscapes of the multiverse could all be incorporated into this gaming network. How far its players traveled would depend entirely on their determination and perseverance.
Skyl liked the idea, so he devoted his attention to constructing the first prototype of the Tower's gaming network.
Autumn passed, and winter arrived.
Skylrael floated within the stratosphere, where snow never fell.
Far below, the lands of the Sword Coast had already been covered in white.
The packhorse snorted, and the ducal castle of Daggerford appeared in the distance. Livia gently patted the mare's neck. Even through her thick cotton gloves, she could feel the animal's powerful pulse.
After forming a pact with the High Tower King and becoming a warlock, Livia's physical condition had improved tremendously. Although the profession primarily required a convincing silver tongue, the secondary effect of being tempered by Candle Flames had also strengthened her body.
One might consider it a new employee's onboarding benefit.
This was Livia's first long journey and the first time she had ever left Waterdeep. She also had two rather unreliable companions, Zim and a young man named Simon Aumar.
Their destination was the legendary flying city of Skylrael.
Unfortunately, their hastily planned adventure had not accounted for the consequences. Livia's wealthy father had hired a company of mercenaries to hunt down Zim and Simon, whom he regarded as kidnappers. Andrei had taken leave from his duties and personally led the group through every hardship in order to rescue his younger sister.
The mercenaries even included clerics and paladins of Tyr, the god of justice. That was far beyond what three novice adventurers should have been expected to handle.
The fact that they had managed to stumble all the way to Daggerford was largely due to the Guide in Livia's possession.
The Wizard's Practical Guide clearly contained something resembling a book spirit. Whenever Livia reached a dead end, a tiny guiding sprite would manifest and lead them toward an escape route. It also frequently taught her ritual spells capable of misleading the senses and divinations of their pursuers.
Simon deeply envied the benefits offered to newcomers of the Tower.
Although he was descended from the great spellcaster Elminster Aumar, his family had fallen into decline, forcing him to survive through petty crime and questionable work. Bringing shame upon the Aumar name left Simon both embarrassed and guilt-ridden, and he desperately longed to obtain genuine power.
That was how Zim had convinced him to join them.
Livia knew how to reach Skylrael. The Guide had shown her the path. As long as they successfully reached the flying enclave, they would gain access to a higher level of magical knowledge.
They had come to Daggerford to meet the rest of their companions. Tawna, a halfling, and Bordon Karpin, a horse handler, had already received word and prepared a ship for them.
The road to Skylrael lay across the sea.
The five of them followed the Delimbiyr River westward, passed through the Lizard Marsh, and sailed out to sea.
Andrei finally caught up just in time to see his sister waving farewell from the departing ship. Furious, he hurled his iron gauntlet to the ground and immediately began chopping down timber to build a raft and continue the pursuit.
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