Insight 18 +3 = 21.

(Auger notices that when listing the things they were bound by Demsha to do, the winged being’s smirk deepened just a hair. As if there was more that it hadn’t said.)

Auger watches the interplay among Snow, Kotashin, Varielky and the angel. He nods along with the three requests and walks over and past the angel to look at the Sleeping Lady, while they write into the codex. As Varielky relates her story, Auger is surprised, not having ever had an experience such as that to latch on to. As she speaks he turns his attention back to the angel, to gauge its reaction. When it responds, Auger detects something, a hint in its expression perhaps, and adds his voice to the conversation.

As Auger speaks he comes back around to face the angel where it stands. "So then, give riddles, awaken trees, write things in a codex. And wait. There must be more to what you do and are capable of doing. You are an angel. An agent really. You can act on your deity's behalf, can you not? Is that not the structure of things? Lady Demsha rests. Doesn't she trust you to act on her will while she does so? What else are you bound to do? Please. Inform us."

Snow listens to Varielky and Auger speak of angels and their links with mortals, the help they had given and the duties they hold. He has not really considered these questions, and waits with interest to see how the angel will respond.

“I suspect that even though you are not bound to answer questions yourself, you are not actually forbidden from doing so”, he adds almost as if thinking out loud, although easily heard by those around him.

Kotashin chimes in. “Stone and Arger, you are right. A-gel, A-gel… you forgot to do the rit-yule.” The little elephant person laughs, a sound like an infant being tickled. “You can’t tell them the answer if you don’t do the rit-yule,” it says, in a chiding voice.

The angel blinks twice, and their eyes burn as they swivel to Kotashin, who misses the gesture for it is busy scratching behind an ear, which flops forward to cover its face. When it finishes scratching, the angel’s countenance has turned back to face you.

“My Lady Demsha requires, if asked, that I look into the future, after her awakening, to the moment when I read the questions I have recorded to her, and return with her answers.”

The winged creature closes its red-glowing eyes for a long moment. When they open again, they shine white as moonlight, cold and distant. The being’s wings slowly spread out and up, and they begin to shimmer slightly, a sight reminiscent of the way musky summer herbs on a wide field might give off their fragrance in waves as slow breezes caress the hillsides. The angel’s voice, like a melodious chorus, chants in rhythm. This continues long into the night, and you begin to feel drowsy. Varielky and Auger fall unconscious in fact, but Snow’s immunity to magical sleep keeps him alert, though barely.

In time, the glow recedes, Snow nudges his companions, except for Kotashin, which lies flat out like a beached blue starfish on the temple floor, lightly snoring. As the angel begins to speak, the little fey guardian’s head pokes up, its eyes blink, and it stretches, yawning.

“The Goddess Demsha sends these words,” says the angel.

“Beware of the Eyes and their arcane chests and boxes, and those same devices in the Kingdoms of Men. The magic which created them is so strong that Angels and Gods alike are helpless to affect them or to sense them. Within them, the power of faerie dust resides. The pixies were cut to bits by the Old Mystics. Their remains are held within these terrible coffins. Their wings power the airships, legs the disc trains. Their eyes lie with the Boxes now used in arenas to keep the masses entertained. Their hearts… we know not where they are.”

“I have been commanded to send you back to the Lands and Seas. And good riddance to you.”

The angel makes a circular gesture with one hand, and a gyrating portal like the one which brought you to the Fey Wild comes into existence, on the floor before you. It spins silently, growing moment by moment. As it widens to encompass you, you begin to fall into it, witnessing your legs bending in circles as they enter the whirlpool first. You look back to the angel.

“As for your last request,” it says, smirking once again, its voice diminishing in the distance between planes, “you only answered two of the riddles correctly…”

And you begin to fall.

The transition is much faster this time. Dry air fills your lungs as, under a night sky, stars shining high above, you step out of the whirling portal onto sand where it crests over a shallow rocky flat. There, hovering a foot above the ground and anchored to a tall rock, is the Reaver’s Word.

Snow listens to the answer to the first question as the angel explains about the Old Mystics and the Pixies. His face changes from the smile of getting answers to the frown of what those answers were. He had not contemplated the extent of the barbarism the Old Mystics had been capable of.

He hardly registered as the angel began the process to send them back to the material plane.He does hear the angel taunt them about the final question though.

Once through the portal he takes a few deep breaths, acclimatising to being back, and looks around, a little surprised to see the Reaver’s Word.

"I am surprised, I thought the angel would put us somewhere inconvenient. I wasn't surprised they refused the last question, I expected as much. It was why I requested our passage home second, I really didn't want to be stuck there", he says with a half a smile.

He looks to Auger, a look that held back a hundred questions, but simply turns away and walks towards the flying ship. His mind cannot escape the image of the boxes and the eyes. He does briefly think about the Reaver’s Word though, it flew without use of a box. He needed to talk to his father about a great many things.But first, to deliver the journals to Strewn.

Auger pauses to look around, with the way time works in the Fey Wild Driss and Baylen could have come and gone already. Or perhaps they still waited in the arena. No way to know for sure either way. He looks to the others to see if they were all present and then sets off to the Reaver's Word, summoning Py to him once again.

The Eyes, and their arcane boxes. Pixies remains powering them. Auger thinks again of the disc train he rode to arrive here in the north. He shudders. The legs. The Lady should know. Auger will look for a chance to commune with his patron at the next opportunity. So she may learn what he has learned. Of Old Mystics. And Gods and Angels, helpless. And the Eyes.

Then Auger thinks to look around again. Did Kotashin stay with them?

Finally for Snow, Auger turns and says, "The knowledge of the Core of Dacite would have been a great addition, but at least we got back. I never really asked. Did you find the diaries we needed there in the Temple?"

Snow turns back to Auger, "We certainly got diaries, it will take a bit of time to determine whether we got the ones we need".

(OOC: I am assuming we returned with all our packs @1973)

(Yes, you have everything, and Kotashin is with you.)

It takes no more than five minutes to reach the ship, where you are greeted by the elder Das,  Granophyre, Benita, and Tamazaert. Soon, Driss returns with Baylen, a giant lizard in the roc’s talons. Breakfast.

Two days have passed since your departure. You now rest, recuperate, and the next morning, are barraged with questions.

(You also gain a level!)

Snow spends much of the time recuperating with his head buried in the codex his father had given him, finding it a good distraction from the knowledge he had gleaned during their time in the Fey Wild. It was not that he didn't want to talk about what they had learned, more that he needed some time to process it. He also wanted to talk to his father in private. The time was not without reward as well, as he managed to decipher some more pages.

Having awoken refreshed the following morning, he was ready to broach the subject of where they had been for the last two days. It seemed time had moved at a different pace where they had been, and so explanations were necessary on that front, and they also had to fill the others in on the events of the mission as well. Adding some details beyond the fact it had been fruitful.

He tells them of the meeting with the younger Safiyah at the inn and how that led them to the Temple of Idiwala. He details the uprising at the temple, and the involvement of the Red Cypress. He explains about the diaries they brought back and how they escaped from the temple through a portal into the Fey Wild and met with Kotashin. He also tells them that the reason they decided to leave that way was due to the presence of the Lord and Lady Tazellayt. He also explains about their time in the Fey Wild and the meeting with the angel of Lady Demsha. The only thing he leaves out of his recount, is the information about the Old Mystics and their treatment of the Pixies.

He looks to Varielky, Auger and Kotashin throughout the tale, wondering what they would add about the events since they left the Reaver's Word.

Beyond that, he awaits any questions the others might have.

As Snow relates what went on, Auger adds details here and there: "Yes, the city was up in arms and seemed to be supporting the rebellion in places," and,  "It was quite lucky of us to come across Kotashin here," and "The trees attacked even though I thought we did quite well with the riddles!"

"I meant to ask for a name," Auger says when Snow mentions the angel, "or at least something to call it. It did not like us, though it did adhere to its duty as it saw things."

Auger notes how Snow bypasses the knowledge gained about the Old Mystics. And the Eyes. Auger adds no additional details on those matters himself.

When the recounting of their tale and all questioning is complete, Auger inquires after the presence of any water source nearby. If there is an adequate source he seeks to commune with his patron. If he can contact her, he lets her know everything, particularly what they learned about the Old Mystics and the remains of the Pixies within the boxes. Does she wish him to do anything about it? Get hold of such a box and crack it open in some fashion perhaps? (OOC: These are the questions he has, but only if he can successfully commune does he ask them of course.)

AUGER

Other than a few barrels of drinking water in the hold, there is no water at all here in the desert. The barrels are not large enough to allow communion with the Dowager. Perhaps a mountain pool? (Kindly narrate the finding of such a source.)

SNOW

Assuming Snow shares Safiyah’s diaries with Granophyre, both will be involved in reading for the next day or two, seeking references to travel, to the location where the ax was found.

(Kindly narrate the hours of research leading up to the finding of what you are looking for.)

When Strewn questions Snow further about what they found out, he holds up a finger indicating the old sage should wait. He goes and retrieves the satchel and his own pack, one at a time due to their weight. One by one he decants 10 large volumes from the bags. He passes the earliest of the diaries to Strewn and watches the sage flick through.

“There were a lot of diaries, journals and field guides in the private quarters of the High Priestess, as might be expected. With limited time, I managed to decide on these ten volumes, which seem to be from the time period in question”, he says, trying to read Strewn’s expression.

“It is intriguing, is it not? I have to say the dialect threw me for a little while, as did the use of Bantu. Until I found this”, he says and passes the dictionary to Strewn. “Of course you might not need it. I suggest we occupy a cabin on the Reaver’s Word and systematically go through the diaries. We will have to cross reference the journals”, he says.

And with that, and his father’s permission, they take over a cabin and fastidiously get to work. The pair are barely seen for a couple of days, in which the younger scholar does his best to assist the older sage, tracking down references and making good use of the rosetta stone Safiyah had provided. If anyone were to look in on them during this time, they would find short shrift as the pair are fixated with their efforts, the cabin becoming filled with notes they had made to try and organise the time line and keep track of the original pages of text.  Aware that the books were now the property of the younger Safiyah, and due to the promise he had made, they are handled with great care.

There are times when Snow resorts to magic to enhance his focus and even times when he employs magic to aid his understanding, all to keep up with the advanced intellect of the dwarf sage.

First tracking Safiyah’s travels during her younger years, they look for any reference to the Vale of Deshar and particularly Ibziri Dacha during a time of conflict with Orcs, and a meeting with a young ranger called Adilah El Idrissid. Just finding this known point in time takes hours, but from there they have a base to work from.

They cross reference to other diaries and try to build up a picture of Safiyah’s life at that time, looking now for reference to the ax at the centre of the mystery. Once they have identified entries regarding the ax, they work backwards through the timeline of Safiyah, looking not for the entries related to her passing it on, but for the entry regarding her acquisition of it.

After joining in the story-telling for the others, Auger still feels some responsibilities towards The Grey Lady, particularly with the revelations about what the Old Mystics did with the remains of the Pixies. He pulls Driss aside and asks the chimp to join him as he takes Baylen for a flight up and into a range to the north of their position (OOC: these would be mountains east of the Vale and not remotely towards Kalahata). Once in the air, Auger revels in the joy of it and smiles over at Driss in the side-saddle as he directs Baylen to move and swoop. Back and forth. Up and down. Oh the freedom of it! This goes on for some time.

Finally steadying themselves for better visibility they begin to fly over a mountain range. Baylen's strong wings bring them to higher and higher elevations but still they fly between peaks at times. As they climb, Auger sees a few small pools that might be adequate for his purpose but he does not see a great clearing for Baylen and so they fly on. And up. Auger catches sight of a stream and angles to follow it back and up to a source, hoping to find a standing body of water. Here they do not gain as much elevation and so the ground rises to meet them. They fly lower, perhaps 200 feet off the ground as they continue.

Finally they come to a clearing in the trees but looking down Auger sees a strange sight, another Roc below them flying, its rider appearing to look up at them. It startles him and he begins a defensive turn with Baylen and reaches for the Sea of Stars. As he continues to watch the other Roc with its side saddle, also turning, Auger realizes his mistake and laughs, letting his powers go. Startled by his own reflection. The lake is well-sized and well-placed. Oblong and somewhat thin with a big bend to it. But placid. Perfect. Around the edges there are rocky shores here and there. Looking down at one point, Auger spies a bear swimming in the lake. There should be hunting here for Baylen.

Auger brings them down to land at one of the rocky shores where he dismounts. He summons Py and asks it to scout around the local area. He does not immediately begins his communion and instead helps Driss with pulling the saddle from Baylen and tending to the great Roc. With the great beast at ease for the moment, Auger turns his attention to the surrounding environment. From ground level the mirroring off the lake creates a perfect reflected view of a nearby peak. They are still well below the snow line but he was sure the water would be quite cold. He does not disturb it. So placid. When Baylen approaches the water to quench its thirst, the Roc is unusually calm about it. Even Baylen did not want to disrupt the water. The rings that resonate out from Baylen's careful activity are entrancing all to themselves for a time. Py reports back, having seen a few animals, most of them moving away after sensing Baylen.

Auger turns away once more and helps Driss setup a camp. Communions with his patron often took a great deal of time and so Driss may as well be comfortable while he waits. After taking a short meal with the old chimp, Baylen appears to settle for a nap. Only then does Auger return to the water. He approaches the shore and sits down. He calls to Py, to keep a vigilant watch. Briefly touching the Sea of Stars, he uses his powers to reach down into the water without disturbing the surface and there, within the water he causes shapes to form. It was not a requirement per se that he was to do this, but it had become his habit to do it this way. A ritual perhaps.

In the water below the surface the form of an Alyasub appears. The water condenses, perhaps there is a subtle change to its reflectivity. A person viewing from underwater or even flying above on Baylen, might have noticed something, but this was a shape made of water within water. It was not something that could be easily seen, but it could be felt by those attuned, and paying attention. As Auger continues to concentrate and empty his mind the form of a lake otter dances beneath the surface for a short time. Then the spiraling symbol of Piya rotates in place followed by a small constellation of stars. And then Auger makes those forms repeat. With each shift, Auger begins his call to communion. In his mind he repeats short phrases with each transition. Transition and potential. Joy in life. True to accordance. I am here.

This goes on for some time. The symbols and moving forms create a set of ripples that do eventually show at the surface of the water. The call to the Lady (the Alyasub). An emotional statement of support (the otter). Auger's agreement (Piya). Auger is here (the constellation). In time, Auger loses control of the shapes and they become other things. The Alyasub becomes a wasp. The otter, a badger. At one point in the center of the symbol of Piya the eye of D'ya Boabab opens and watches before Auger obstinately closes it. The constellation rotates and reconfigures itself more and more with each iteration.

When Auger senses a reply he holds the constellation together while Piya's spiral surrounds it. He tells The Grey Lady he has news. Then he tells her everything.

SNOW

Safiyah, the recently deceased High Priestess of Idiwala in Kalahata, in another life, might have been a poet. Or a correspondent. Her writing, when deciphered, is fluid, detailed, rhythmical. The field guides are of course dry by comparison, but the diaries reveal a sensitive, empathic heart which never grew angry despite having been subject, at times, to overwhelming sadness. 

When Snow finally finds what he seeks, written in the Shian Bantu dialect on a small, folded lambskin leaf almost overlooked due to its having been cut slightly smaller than its neighbors within the small leather covers, he discovers a short passage, just a page or two.

In it, the author describes a journey, sixty-five years in the past, when she, at that moment in time a heartbroken girl of fifteen, spent a week wandering alone in the mountains beyond Abziri castle, braving the wilds to rediscover her birth-tribe.

“I could not find them. My parents. I could not find the orcs who raided them or the one who took my mother as wife. They had left years ago, and nothing remains. Hardly a trace of their lives or their passage, or their existence. Was I ever conceived, in truth? Do they exist still, somewhere, in the Lands and Seas? I must be content never to know. 

Turning back home, dispirited, I may have died with these questions on my mind. I had lost my way in the twisting mountain passes. Suddenly, the ground began to quake, ripping tall trees loose from the earth to topple with great crashes. I lost my footing and rolled head over heels down an ancient and broken stairway into a shallow gorge. When I came to, I saw the hillside down which I had slid was marked by three tall black pillars hidden from view except from below. At its base where I fell, a pool of clear spring water facing a blank shelf of stone overgrown with ivy.

The ground shook again, and with awe and fear battling in the loud beating of my heart, I watched as the hillside cracked open, and within, I viewed a long hall of carved stone given birth to the open air like the mouth of a crying babe. What was inside? I could not contain my curiosity. I tried to climb up to it, but the ground shook again and I found no purchase. From the crack, several ancient ewers fell to the ground beside me, crashing to pieces, and then an ax. Moments later, the hall sucked in its last breath of fresh air and closed up again, maybe never to be seen again.

Legend tells that the Sindarrin once journeyed in the mountains here. Perhaps their buried castle is what I saw.

From there, it took two days walking southeast to find Lake Amidu, out of which the Sebu issues. From there, I knew the way home.”

When Snow shows Granophyre this passage, and after they double-check the translation together, the old sage looks up, his eyes electric in their intensity. “Snow! We have found it!,” he whispers, scarcely able to make a noise, as if the discovery were like some tiny newborn foundling, so tender that a mere exhalation of breath would be enough to frighten it, cause it to flit away into the hidden treetops.

"It seems we have found it, yes", Snow replies, a beaming smile on his face. He reaches out to shake the old dwarf by the hand.

"Which is a relief after all the trouble we went to looking for this information", he adds with a wink.

"So it seems the next leg of our journey is back through the Vale of Deshar, to Lake Amidu", he says, a yawn escaping his lips as he does so. He looks outside the cabin window trying to judge what time it is. "But maybe a little rest first, hey? Although we should tell the others our search of the diaries is complete".

With that he looks about, ordered chaos everywhere. "Well, after we tidy these papers. I assume you have means to take a copy of the important passages?".

Once tidied, he will stretch and swing open the cabin door, squinting if he is met by bright daylight.

Varielky has little to add to the recounting of their short journey in another world. Other than her personal experiences, the others covered everything, and there was no need to share those. In case someone asks her something specifically, she might answer, but otherwise, she's content with the story told by the other two.

After a good night's rest, Varielky will introduce Kotashin to Tamazaert. The others knew him, so no introductions were needed, but those two had never met before, to Varielky's knowledge. "Tamazaert, meet Kotashin. He might not seem like it, but this Knight-Defender is a great warrior who had saved us in the past, and as Snow told you all before, we happened to meet him in the other world, where he fought the trees alongside us. He's even worse than me when it comes to names, though." Varielky adds the last bit as a joke, but thinking about it, she offers: "Perhaps you could call me by a shortened version of my name. Benita often calls me Vee, or maybe you could shorten it to Var..." She trails off, wondering whether he'll find it easy to end on a constant R like that, which to her comes somewhat naturally.

"Anyway," Varielky recollects her thoughts, "Kotashin, meet Tamazaert. It's a bit of a long name, so maybe he can call you Tama?" Varielky offers, but beyond that is for the other two to decide amongst themselves. "She is a dear friend and a very brave mother who would risk everything to protect her baby boy, Sura. Unfortunately, many people want to take him away, despite Tama's objection. I have given her some guidance with a few simple weapons so she can defend herself in dire times, and she learned well, but as you know, danger sort of finds us wherever we go. Since you complained about the boring life of a Knight-Defender with nothing to defend, your duty from now on shall you accept it would be to defend Tama and Sura, as an honoured Knight-Defender. At least until Sura grows to be a strong boy who can take care of himself in this world. Is that acceptable for both of you?" 

Varielky feels a bit like she's orchestrating a wedding in some fashion, and that's somewhat awkward, even to her. She didn't intend to be so formal, but it all sort of happened on its own. Well, even if embarrassing, she imagines Kotashin actually prefers it this way. And if not... oh well, what's done is done.

AUGER

“Thank you, Auger,” the warlock’s patron responds, a sound he alone hears, her voice seeming to arrive from a distance compared to her presence in the South, but still, firm, gentle, and with a timbre like the voice of Auger’s mother.

“I knew that one, that Angel, as you call them, once. Long ago. We were betrothed in fact. I always thought them too quick to anger. And now they carry the weight of our destruction like a pennant, or a cause. I would have been happier to hear that they were content.”

The clear water slowly ripples. 

“Auger, I sense that the Sindarrin draws near his goal. I cannot see what you will see. There are lights which carry meaning which is beyond my power to discern. If you find it, tell me what you see. Fare well. Your family are happy and await your return. I am proud of your achievements.”

VARIELKY

“At, at, at your service milady,” Kotashin says, bowing deeply to Tamazaert. The feathered cap falls off of its blue elephant head, and Sura giggles at the sight, pointing. “Moh!,” comes his tiny voice. “More?,” interprets Tamazaert, smiling, as Kotashin tips fully over while reaching for the cap and Sura giggles again, louder, a sweet and contagious sound.

“That’s a gift in itself, Miss,” Tamazaert says to Varielky. “He’s had little enough in his short life so far to laugh about. I am indebted to all of you and I hope someday I can repay your kindness.”

She asks if it would be too much trouble to leave her and Sura in Asni Village.

ALL

“That is on our way northward to Lake Amidu, the source of the Sebu River,” says Granophyre.

“Once we are close to the spot Safiyah has described, I may employ this,” he continues, revealing the Mina stone, the shining gem which holds the fading illusionary three-dimensional map of the ancient Dwarven realms, including Core of Dacite, “to find our way inside and there, discover what mysteries have survived the ages, buried underground.”

Good, the Asni people were good people, and they wouldn't give Sura to the imperials, Varielky hoped. And surely, that would be safer than with them. "That's good. We've been there before, in Asni. The people there will surely take good care of you." Though, on second thought, they were also the centre of the rebellion that was brewing, as far as Varielky knows. She hopes Tamazaert doesn't get caught in that. "Live long, live well. Your bravery earned you so. I'm sure we'll meet again one day, perhaps sooner, perhaps later. Seeing you with Sura will be enough." Considering that Tamazaert was saved by them, knowing that she can live safely will mean their actions were right, and that's what Varielky wants to know.

Having said everything she could possibly think of saying, and also feeling a bit awkward for being so formal yet again, Varielky walks to the side of the ship, looking down past the railings, a few stray hairs fluttering in her face but she pays it no mind. She doesn't really look to see anything anyway, and the feeling was, in a way, relaxing. Their journey is nearing its end, or so it seems, and even Varielky is curious to see what they'll find. But right now, all she can do is trust Granophyre will find the spot.