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Leo is finally getting close to Ivak's prison - now its up to him to decide what comes next. Free the God of Fire and potentially ruin the world or walk away.
(This is a thread from Mizahar's fantasy role playing forum. Why don't you register today? This message is not shown when you are logged in. Come roleplay with us, it's fun!)by Taln on October 4th, 2011, 5:05 pm
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by Leo Varniak on October 4th, 2011, 8:21 pm
He just stood there for several long chimes, his gaze shifting from his companions to the palms of his gloved hands as if they'd been the cause of this. He watched the others, studying their reactions with some kind of morbid, detached interest. He pivoted on his feet to see the scene in its entirety. He had felt the power all too clearly, and it had surpassed his wildest expectation, but he could only look at them and see the abyss that separated him from them. For amidst all the release and spiritual celebration, there was one man who had released nothing at all, and it was Leo Zaital. He stood in the eye of the storm, devoid of wind. If anything, he felt like a part of their previous burdens now lay upon his shoulders - just like a man would think the dark worse when coming in from bright light. Such was the tragedy of the Azenth, and the reason they operated in Triads whose members supported each other. If they remained alone, they would succumb like Ivak had. He waited patiently for the others to regain themselves and their composure. There was no place for self-congratulation in his heart. Whatever power he may hold came from another, and this had made it all the more evident. Was it something he could take pride in? He may have lifted a city's spirits, but he would have felt more satisfaction from relieving it of a single villain. He shook his head lightly. He didn't understand this and it made him just a little sad. He looked at their transformed faces, glowing with epiphany, and he failed to understand. How could he possibly replace Ivak in any capacity? He saw the importance of what he'd done, but his heart had different cravings and all those smiling faces made them look so weak. Naked, unprotected, soft. It was only when things burned that Leo truly had his release. "I see," he responded slowly, his voice sounding dry and dissatisfied in contrast to those of his companions. "Then maybe I should set myself to the task immediately. In fact, I probably should have been called to do this months ago. I shall find the entrance if one exists." He stepped off the dais and cast a glance at the maps Glav and the Dek Taln had brought. He turned to face the slave as he spoke. He didn't have the eyes of a Dek, Leo noticed. They still had life in them, a spark that all the punishment hadn't been able to extinguish just yet. This one would be perfect, though Leo wouldn't issue any orders. The matter of caste was of no importance to him - status was just an illusion, as were most things in life. "If you could take me there, I would be in your debt," he spoke to the man, somber as ever. "I don't know how much you've grasped of what is going on here, but the task is not without danger. I would have my guide come of his own free will, if at all possible." If this was a prison, it stood to reason that there might be guardians. He just hoped his attempt wasn't going to trigger some ancient spell in the minds of the Inarta and their Eagles, perhaps driving them all against him. With the power he wielded in this place, he hoped so for their sake. |
by Gossamer on October 4th, 2011, 9:30 pm
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by Taln on October 4th, 2011, 10:34 pm
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by Leo Varniak on October 5th, 2011, 9:18 pm
Yet another challenge to keep eating at until it was no more. Leo had found a new target for his drive to pursue, and it was a good thing, as he always threatened to consume himself in the absence of one. For all the anthropological charm of the inbred redheads, he had no wish to spend the winter in Wind Reach amidst the cold and mounting drama of diminishing supplies. It was best to do the deed and move on to the next. That and there was the matter of Alvias - his father. A reunion was in order, as was the act of punching pops' lights out for abandoning Leo's mother to a life of pain and suffering. "And I thank you for that," he replied to Taln's words, impressed with the slave's speech. It was uncommon for a Dek to be able to string three sentences together without a major grammar fiasco. He wondered how the man might have slipped between the cracks in the system, for he did not seem to belong where he'd been placed. "I make no promises that we'll come back alive, but I do promise that we will be magnificent every step of the way." He looked thoughtful for a moment when the Magecrafter asked if they needed anything else. He certainly required nothing tangible: he barely had any worldly possessions to speak of and it suited him just fine. He could, however, use a gift of ears and memory. "If you'd do me this kindness, just hear my will in the event that I should fall in the pursuit of Ivak's prison. It won't take long. If I fail, and I won't fail, you are to burn any of my possessions you may find in Wind Reach, or in Syliras if you ever make your return. No tomb or memorial is to be made in my name. Burn everything. I wish for nothing to remain of a loser. Forget my name, forget I even existed. I leave nothing, and I keep nothing. That is my only will." He nodded with a certain sense of relief on his face. Making his testament clear had further steeled his resolve. "Thank you. You've done more than enough. It's our turn now." He took the backpacks, figuring that the smaller one contained the key Glav had been talking about. He looked at the maps once more, and noted the size of the place they were about to descent into. Hello needle, meet haystack. No, he decided, the maps were not the right way to go about this. What he needed to locate was beyond the scope of paper and parchment. If it was mapped, then Ivak's prison wasn't there. He dropped a scroll tube, dismissing the items. "I am going to just trust your directions and my intuition. That's all we are going to need down there... and you know my name but I do not know yours." |
by Taln on October 5th, 2011, 10:29 pm
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by Leo Varniak on October 8th, 2011, 8:35 pm
"Just 'Leo' will do," the Azenth said, not really expecting Taln to start addressing him that way, not right away at least. Servile speech must have been ingrained into him like nails into wood, and such things did not change overnight. "Your 'castes' have no bearing where I come from, nor where we are going." Never mind that Leo's family had a claim to the eastern half of Mizahar by way of Queen Kova. Illusions, all of them, so good they could have sprung from Ionu himself. While Taln expressed his own requests for the upcoming trek, it occurred to Leo that he had a few things in his room that could come in handy soon enough. "I'll be gone a few chimes while you get those sorted out. I have a few items of my own that I'd like to bring to the table." And with that, he began to stride towards the doors of the Inclement Weather, stopping halfway to turn back and dispense a piece of advice to the Dek. "Taln, make sure you carry nothing that catches fire too easily. You'll be glad you did." He was out of the club soon afterwards, easily remembering the way back to his chambers now. He stood in front of a chest in the Avora Varniak's room and swiftly opened it. A scroll sat on top of everything with a big circular glyph looking at him like a manic eye. "Ashes to ashes," he murmured, and rolled up the scroll after speaking the password. If someone were to do this without the secret words, they would trigger one of Leo's trademark firebolts straight out of the glyph. Perhaps not enough to kill an overly curious Yasi; then again, he wouldn't exactly bet on that. He retrieved four wooden stakes, topped with carved skulls, gemstone eyes glowing in the sockets: a parting gift from the Windoak to grant safety to his camp. They were tied neatly with a piece of string. What followed was an ominous-looking leash that bore the name of the goddess Nikali. A gift from Glav, this one, though the man had been all too happy to get rid of such a thing. Something that could apparently sever a bond of servitude to the gods. Leo himself had dismissed it more than once, and yet it had served him before. Even the leash was in for this - even if it meant some pride swallowing. He saved the best for last, though he didn't need to come here for it. The ornate dagger, with flames intertwined with two clasped hands, sat on the bottom of the chest. Ivlir. Leo closed his eyes and focused on the thought of having the dagger in his hand. No sooner had he done this that the hilt rested firmly in his grasp. What had the Windoak said? That his issues were faith and rage? Leo had overcome the former. Rage still beat in his heart, though under a thicker layer than before. But he was going to need it later on. The feel of Ivlir in his hand comforted him, but then he laid it back in the chest, only to be called upon as necessary. It was a symbol, and like everything else a means, not an end. Without the things it stood for, it was but iron and fire. He redeployed the protective scroll and closed the chest. He walked back into the Inclement Weather with the creepy-looking stakes in one hand and the leash in the other. "Let's do this." |
by Taln on October 9th, 2011, 5:00 pm
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by Gossamer on December 29th, 2011, 8:22 pm
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by Leo Varniak on December 30th, 2011, 1:00 am
Leo was far from a jovial travel mate. He had always believed that if you have nothing to say, then nothing is exactly what you should say; and as such he had no problem with lengthy stints of silent underground hiking. He didn't mind hearing silence, either, and in fact often preferred it. If asked a question, he would likely answer - and speaking truly, but as curtly as possible, for energy was precious and time even more so. For the rest, the way he walked with his head slightly bent forward, as if advancing in the face of a strong wind, told miles about how driven he was right now. Satisfied with the items he and Taln had been granted, though hopelessly untrained in the use of weapons, Leo followed the Dek through the depths of Wind Reach, down to levels where the baser castes, with their heavier souls, naturally tended to gravitate. The Andals soared, and the Deks precipitated like some residual powder from a Philtering session. In the end, it was a bird who told one from the other. It was somewhat queer - just like what he'd heard about the Drykas, who got chosen by their horses. Leo thought it bad enough to breathe at the whim of a man, but an animal? He'd never understand all these tribes (for they were all tribes to him). All the problems he'd loathed in Syliras were here as well, so what was the point in living this way? "So this is what a fungus cave looks like, hmm?" he broke his silence to gaze upon the walls of the cave as they entered. I could have lived without the knowledge, he found himself thinking. "And they seem to be... shedding some... pollen... dust thing." Was it poisonous? Probably not - for an Inarta, at least. Then again, no-one really knew anything anymore these days. Maybe this fungus dust caused someone's lungs to glow in time. You just couldn't help breathing it in. And if it killed the drudges in the long run, well, chances were the redheads wouldn't even notice. Deks didn't die, they were consumed and ran out as far as the average Wind Reachese was concerned. (Maybe it wasn't so bad, but Leo's judgment was still heavy with city-bred bias.) As they came upon the first intersection, it occurred to Leo that they had nothing to go by. Any road was just as good as the next. 'What is it that you do to keep from getting lost in a maze again? Always stick to the left wall? Something like that.' He wasn't getting any particular vibes from any of the routes laid out in front of them. He had been hoping against hope that something would happen when they got down here, some trigger. Even an enemy would have been welcome. An enemy means an obstacle, which implies a path towards a goal - progress. You killed the bad guy, then moved on to the next bad guy, et cetera. The buck had to stop at some point, and then you won. But what he found in this cave was neither friend nor foe - just dark, slightly glowing indifference. "Let's check the map, Taln," he said at last, even though he had no idea what good it could do them. Ivak wouldn't be held anywhere that was mapped. Still, what else could they do? If he tracked every passage and marked each as passed, they'd know what parts of the Underground Forest they still had to visit. And it occurred to Leo that it was best to mark these things on paper, for he couldn't exactly trust Taln's memory. The Inarta forgot Ivak-related things too quickly to be relied on. With a sigh, the Azenth unrolled Taln's map of the Underground Forest, and just as expected he was rewarded with a big nothing. Just cavern after cavern, a sequence of unremarkable alcoves of rock and fungus. Would he really have to stick to the left wall and walk through the whole thing? It could take any number of days. It may take a season for all he knew, and it definitely wasn't what he had pictured in his mind when he'd imagined the quest for Ivak's release. He bit on his lower lip and regretted it instantly, because he tasted the fungus spores on the tip of his tongue. He spat out right away, and his eye chanced upon one of the nondescript caverns mapped in ink. He looked at it for several seconds, unblinking, and then he frowned. Deeply. "Taln," he said, and let the silence stretch out for a while. Then, when it seemed that he wasn't about to speak after all, he continued. "All these caves seem to be named after ores or geographical features. All but one. This one." He was pointing at the space labeled as 'Lina cave' on the map. Taln could easily perceive how much the thing seemed to be troubling him. It really was a minor detail, wasn't it? But Leo Zaital's finger had the slightest hint of shaking. "Do you know why it's called that? Regardless, it stands out enough to be as good a place as any to start off." 'A cave named after mother?' he thought. He could scarcely believe it. A coincidence? Possible, but unlikely enough. His mother hadn't been an Inarta, though the name might have been Nari rather than Benshira. Too short and perhaps plain for the Benshira. She'd had Benshira blood, at least some of it, or so she claimed. She'd come with the Benshira anyways, a mere potter apprentice from a far away land. Pretty much from the other side of the known world... but maybe it wasn't about his mother, per se. It was entirely possible that his mother didn't even know about the cave - but her parents did, and named her after it like some kind of road sign. He wouldn't put it past the Azenth to think of something like that. What better way to encode knowledge than through someone's very name? And if it was true, then it had worked. |
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