Varielky already knew what approach she would take - and it was not Snow's - but the awe and confusion she experiences when she just enters the not-a-cabin give Snow the time he needs to try his approach. Oh well, she won't interrupt before the petal-wearing figure answers, but that's the last chance Varielky gives to this creature with nice words and riddles. After that, either they reveal the way back or Varielky will make compel them to.
The air in the temple is redolent of fresh grown herbs, old woods, summer meadows after light rains. The only sound is a slight breeze blowing from the sleeping goddess, her breaths moving the air in gentle waves.
Py, the Fey alyasub, confirms seeing a temple, guardian, and sleeping lady. Auger’s surroundings seem to him as real here as any other place he might compare them to since his journey began.
“You are powerful, having defeated the Lady Demsha’s defenders. I am in awe. Truly.” The voice is acidic and far from complimentary. But though the contempt remains, the angel stays where they are. After taking in Snow’s words, they seem to be considering their options. Large feathered wings on their back stretch upwards slowly, then retreat to where they were.
“How I would relish smashing your brains to bits, pulling you apart, piece by piece, using your parts to fuel my power. As you have done to my beloved.”
They turn to one side, pulling their piercing eyes from you, falling silent for a long moment. When they continue speaking, they seem to look through you, to another time, another place, another reality. Their tone is flat, emotionless.
“To implore of the goddess is granted, being that you have proven through your bravery that your need is great, whatever the reason for that need may be.
“You answered three riddles, thus you may make three requests, and only three.”
Snow furrows his brow as the guardian accuses them of gross deeds against her beloved.
"I am not certain as to what you are talking about with rgeards your beloved, but from what I gathered from the defenders I think you may be mistaking us for the old Mystics", he says diplomatically. "We are not they, and have caused your beloved no harm".
"We thank you for allowing us three requests. We will need to confer amongst ourselves to determine what those three will be", he continues. "We shall not be long".
He turns to Varielky and Auger and speaks with lowered voice.
"We obviously need a path home but I would also like to find out more about what the Old Mystics did here. They are obviously no friends to the denizens of the Fey wild, and if my father's quest to find them is successful, I need to know more".
"The old Mystics are gone. Long gone." So Varielky remembers, at least. She's pretty sure Granophyre mentioned their demise brought by a wandering god, or something. This reminds her of Mittens, but he was not very old, nor a Mystic, to the best of her knowledge. "We are not them, nor do we have anything to do with them. Do you hate all bees because one of them stung you once?"
To Snow, Varielky responds nonchalantly: "I have nothing to ask of them. Request what you want."
"Perhaps our host refers to me,"Auger says for all to hear, including the being who addresses them.
"Varielky you might recall meeting my cousin Brenneth. In the real world we are not far from where he held us."Auger's voice become ominous and chilling at the mention of his cousin. He pauses and continues more normally. "He and I are descendants of Old Mystics."Auger shivers at the memory. Of being trapped. Of learning his cousin's plans. So many parallels to their journey now. Again Kotashin was here to help. But differences too. "He was trying to re-discover the ways of the Old Mystics until the Azhvuv Queen ended him."Auger shivers again involuntarily. So many parallels. "Brenneth took this action in direct defiance of my... my family's wishes. My family line has made it a... a mission to redress old wrongs as much as we can. The beings our host refers to, the Pixies. They were more than stung, Varielky, they were harvested for their power, for their abilities to..."Auger momentarily touches the Sea of Stars and allows some powers to come into him as if to release one of his blasts. Energies crackle from the fingertips of his raised hand, directed at no one, "...to access great energies...,"Auger lets his connection go and crackling at his fingers dissipates without any discharge. "It cost the Pixies. Everything. In most cases."
"Clearly at least my presence brings no joy to our host. Details of what happened in all the intervening time are lost. All of our powers may derive in some fashion from the harvesting long ago." Auger ends his speech and suddenly feels far more present and his ribs remind him that he is injured and he grits his teeth in pain.
Auger adds little to the discussion of what to ask for. His own speech reminds him that he has been gifted already. "Lets just get home. Perhaps we can ask for something that will aid Granophyre's quest and can move us beyond Kalahata."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
"You are descended from the Old Mystics? And they got their power by...", he cannot finish the question.
"The Old Mystics I seem to remember were credited with some connection to the founding of the great schools of magic, so it may be true what you say, that all our powers are derived from them", he says shaking his head. His father was even now on a quest to find any remaining Old Mystics, but what if they were not what he expected, grabbing power no matter the consequence.
He suddenly turns towards the guardian. "My first request is to learn more of the impact of the Old Mystics on the Material Plane and Fey Wild today, both their legacy and any direct impact", he says impulsively.
Following Snow’s request, the angel’s eyes narrow with contempt. They walk stiffly to the lectern, pick up a long, golden quill, dip it in ink, and write two lines in the open codex. Their head turns disdainfully to face you.
“What is your second request,” comes the winged being’s melodious contralto.
"Our second request, is safe passage back to our home plane once our other two requests have been resolved. To a safe location outside Kalahata", Snow replies.
"And the third, is information regarding the current whereabouts and status of the Core of Dacite. In case that was your next question", he says with a smile, ignoring the disdainful look.
The angel’s expression hardly changes as they write, looking down their nose at the page as they do so. They put down the pen after a quiet moment. The mountain breathes in the near distance behind them. Their eyes flash to you again.
“When Lady Demsha awakens, I will read to her the requests in this codex. In order. The goddess will then respond. Or not.” You note that there are perhaps twenty pages already turned before the one upon which the winged being wrote your requests. Maybe fifty.
The angel’s eyes continue to bore into you, while one corner of their lip curls into an almost imperceptible smirk.
In response to Snow’s suggestion, the angel’s eyes puff with concealed mirth.
Kotashin’s head now pokes out from behind Varielky’s shield. A warm smile forms on the angel’s face as it notices the Fey guardian.
“You survived too, little one. It’s all right, don’t be frightened,” comes the angel’s voice, like a church choir.
“Huh huh huh hullo, A-gel,” the little elephant person says. After a moment its little feet move it forward across the chamber to stand just in front of the lectern. Then it plops down on its bottom.
“Whu whu when will the sleeping lady wake up again A-gel,” comes its rough tenor, head craning back and big black eyes looking up at the winged being’s face.
"So basically," Varielky ponders, "all we have to do is wake her up? Can't be that difficult. We can make some pretty loud noises." Although, if it were that simple, it would have probably happened already. Not to mention, she wasn't sure how happy this giant lady would be waking up like that, and the angels probably wouldn't like that either.
"But otherwise, we just wasted time and effort. We'd find an exit faster if we were to search for it on our own. Or, if it takes too long, one of you might be able to create one yourself." Maybe not, Varielky had no idea. "Let's tend to our wounds and get out of here." Varielky wasn't really hurt, but she was a bit tired, and Auger didn't seem very well. "When it comes to sleeping gods - or something close - our meagre lifetimes aren't worth spent waiting."
Varielky doffs her shield and then straps it to her backpack. The angel didn't seem malicious or, more importantly, looking to fight. Varielky sits crossed-legged on the floor. Her arm was bruised but there weren't any open wounds needing to be taken care of, so just a moment to regather her strength is all she needed. Still, to face an angel. Varielky never would have imagined deserving such honour. But, perhaps since she's seen plenty of strange things in the last few months, or maybe it was due to the fact she's in... another world? She didn't give much thought to it, at first. Well, she also did enter this cabin expecting a mad hag to jump on her and... do whatever hags do when they try to kill someone. Reflecting, she doesn't recall the hag form of this angel carrying any weapons.
She sits there, taking time to think about matters and relish being in the presence of angels and... gods? Something close to a goddess? Lady Demsha was not Ritha Demsha, but they were certainly close... at least as far as Varielky's Human mind could comprehend. Some sort of divine relatives, perhaps? They did share a name.
A memory surfaces from deep within Varielky's memories. From a time long, long ago. In Varielky's terms, at least. In what was practically another life, when her parents were still alive. It happened only rarely since she was so young, and even then those memories were always very vague. They were walking together with other people, or rather, between other people. The village gathered for some reason. Young Varielky held her mother's hand, but all she could see were people's legs and backs. Suddenly, they stopped. Varielky didn't know why. There were voices... singing? Praying? She only understood some of the words. Varielky tugged at her father's pants. She wanted to see what was happening too. Her father's hands picked her up. Lifting her higher and higher, above everyone else. She sat on his shoulders, his head between her legs. Not very comfortable, but she didn't care. She could see everything from here.
There were people in strange garbs. Priests, but not those she knew. Someone must have told her or she wouldn't have known, but it's too vague to remember. The priests did something, and the people around her were quiet, she thinks. Maybe she was just captivated. Then a figure appeared. It was a Human, but not quite a Human. It was huge, so big that even sitting on her father's shoulders Varielky had to look up. What can possibly be taller than her father? (Not that her father was especially tall, but Varielky didn't even know that. All she had were the memories of a very young girl.) The huge figure said something, or did something, or maybe just its appearance by itself got the people all around Varielky to cheer. Then silence again. Everyone waited on something.
If anyone were to look at Varielky during those few minutes, she sits there cross-legged with her eyes closed, back straight and hands lying relaxed on her legs. She looks like she's meditating, which she does sometimes, but rather than a blank or stern expression as usual, she has a soft expression, some might even say pleasant. Varielky tried yanking more out of herself, but that's as much as she could recall, and eventually, Varielky comes to accept that. She should be thankful for what little she is sometimes graced by... who knows whom. Was it the god of memory, or someone else? But why now? Varielky opens her eyes, and the answer is clear. The angel in front of her was, if not the same figure, of the same kind. Meeting it must have triggered the memory.
Varielky stands up now. "I think... I think I have seen one of your kind before. When I was very young. I had forgotten about it, but now, seeing you, the memory came to me on its own. The people of the village gathered, and there were priests there - praying, calling one of you. I didn't understand then, but I think... maybe they were trying to consult the angel? It was a small village, with many shepherds and some farmers, as in that cold area they provided food for all. Perhaps they wanted to know how long winter would last, how cold it would be? Or maybe, what crops they should seed?" Why was she sharing all this? Why was it important? "Your kind have helped humans before, sharing your wisdom. If the Lady won't wake soon, could we confer in your knowledge? Perhaps, how can she be awakened, or otherwise, if you know of a path that would lead us back to our world?"
“I am bound by Demsha’s will to relay these questions to her and her answers to you. Not to answer the questions myself.” The angel’s expression is grave.
Varielky already knew what approach she would take - and it was not Snow's - but the awe and confusion she experiences when she just enters the not-a-cabin give Snow the time he needs to try his approach. Oh well, she won't interrupt before the petal-wearing figure answers, but that's the last chance Varielky gives to this creature with nice words and riddles. After that, either they reveal the way back or Varielky will make compel them to.
Varielky
The air in the temple is redolent of fresh grown herbs, old woods, summer meadows after light rains. The only sound is a slight breeze blowing from the sleeping goddess, her breaths moving the air in gentle waves.
Py, the Fey alyasub, confirms seeing a temple, guardian, and sleeping lady. Auger’s surroundings seem to him as real here as any other place he might compare them to since his journey began.
“You are powerful, having defeated the Lady Demsha’s defenders. I am in awe. Truly.” The voice is acidic and far from complimentary. But though the contempt remains, the angel stays where they are. After taking in Snow’s words, they seem to be considering their options. Large feathered wings on their back stretch upwards slowly, then retreat to where they were.
“How I would relish smashing your brains to bits, pulling you apart, piece by piece, using your parts to fuel my power. As you have done to my beloved.”
They turn to one side, pulling their piercing eyes from you, falling silent for a long moment. When they continue speaking, they seem to look through you, to another time, another place, another reality. Their tone is flat, emotionless.
“To implore of the goddess is granted, being that you have proven through your bravery that your need is great, whatever the reason for that need may be.
“You answered three riddles, thus you may make three requests, and only three.”
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Snow furrows his brow as the guardian accuses them of gross deeds against her beloved.
"I am not certain as to what you are talking about with rgeards your beloved, but from what I gathered from the defenders I think you may be mistaking us for the old Mystics", he says diplomatically. "We are not they, and have caused your beloved no harm".
"We thank you for allowing us three requests. We will need to confer amongst ourselves to determine what those three will be", he continues. "We shall not be long".
He turns to Varielky and Auger and speaks with lowered voice.
"We obviously need a path home but I would also like to find out more about what the Old Mystics did here. They are obviously no friends to the denizens of the Fey wild, and if my father's quest to find them is successful, I need to know more".
The being responds with grim ennui in its melodious contralto.
“It is you who are mistaken, minstrel. About many things.”
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
"The old Mystics are gone. Long gone." So Varielky remembers, at least. She's pretty sure Granophyre mentioned their demise brought by a wandering god, or something. This reminds her of Mittens, but he was not very old, nor a Mystic, to the best of her knowledge. "We are not them, nor do we have anything to do with them. Do you hate all bees because one of them stung you once?"
To Snow, Varielky responds nonchalantly: "I have nothing to ask of them. Request what you want."
Varielky
"Perhaps our host refers to me," Auger says for all to hear, including the being who addresses them.
"Varielky you might recall meeting my cousin Brenneth. In the real world we are not far from where he held us." Auger's voice become ominous and chilling at the mention of his cousin. He pauses and continues more normally. "He and I are descendants of Old Mystics." Auger shivers at the memory. Of being trapped. Of learning his cousin's plans. So many parallels to their journey now. Again Kotashin was here to help. But differences too. "He was trying to re-discover the ways of the Old Mystics until the Azhvuv Queen ended him." Auger shivers again involuntarily. So many parallels. "Brenneth took this action in direct defiance of my... my family's wishes. My family line has made it a... a mission to redress old wrongs as much as we can. The beings our host refers to, the Pixies. They were more than stung, Varielky, they were harvested for their power, for their abilities to..." Auger momentarily touches the Sea of Stars and allows some powers to come into him as if to release one of his blasts. Energies crackle from the fingertips of his raised hand, directed at no one, "...to access great energies...," Auger lets his connection go and crackling at his fingers dissipates without any discharge. "It cost the Pixies. Everything. In most cases."
"Clearly at least my presence brings no joy to our host. Details of what happened in all the intervening time are lost. All of our powers may derive in some fashion from the harvesting long ago." Auger ends his speech and suddenly feels far more present and his ribs remind him that he is injured and he grits his teeth in pain.
Auger adds little to the discussion of what to ask for. His own speech reminds him that he has been gifted already. "Lets just get home. Perhaps we can ask for something that will aid Granophyre's quest and can move us beyond Kalahata."
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
Snow looks to Auger in a bit of shock.
"You are descended from the Old Mystics? And they got their power by...", he cannot finish the question.
"The Old Mystics I seem to remember were credited with some connection to the founding of the great schools of magic, so it may be true what you say, that all our powers are derived from them", he says shaking his head. His father was even now on a quest to find any remaining Old Mystics, but what if they were not what he expected, grabbing power no matter the consequence.
He suddenly turns towards the guardian. "My first request is to learn more of the impact of the Old Mystics on the Material Plane and Fey Wild today, both their legacy and any direct impact", he says impulsively.
Following Snow’s request, the angel’s eyes narrow with contempt. They walk stiffly to the lectern, pick up a long, golden quill, dip it in ink, and write two lines in the open codex. Their head turns disdainfully to face you.
“What is your second request,” comes the winged being’s melodious contralto.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
"Our second request, is safe passage back to our home plane once our other two requests have been resolved. To a safe location outside Kalahata", Snow replies.
"And the third, is information regarding the current whereabouts and status of the Core of Dacite. In case that was your next question", he says with a smile, ignoring the disdainful look.
The angel’s expression hardly changes as they write, looking down their nose at the page as they do so. They put down the pen after a quiet moment. The mountain breathes in the near distance behind them. Their eyes flash to you again.
“When Lady Demsha awakens, I will read to her the requests in this codex. In order. The goddess will then respond. Or not.” You note that there are perhaps twenty pages already turned before the one upon which the winged being wrote your requests. Maybe fifty.
The angel’s eyes continue to bore into you, while one corner of their lip curls into an almost imperceptible smirk.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Snow frowns at the number of requests that are likely in the codex.
”In order you say, but not which order. I suggest you start at the back and work your way to the start”, he says with a winning smile.
Persuasion: 16+8=24
In response to Snow’s suggestion, the angel’s eyes puff with concealed mirth.
Kotashin’s head now pokes out from behind Varielky’s shield. A warm smile forms on the angel’s face as it notices the Fey guardian.
“You survived too, little one. It’s all right, don’t be frightened,” comes the angel’s voice, like a church choir.
“Huh huh huh hullo, A-gel,” the little elephant person says. After a moment its little feet move it forward across the chamber to stand just in front of the lectern. Then it plops down on its bottom.
“Whu whu when will the sleeping lady wake up again A-gel,” comes its rough tenor, head craning back and big black eyes looking up at the winged being’s face.
“We do not know, little one.”
“I miss her.”
“We all do.”
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
"So basically," Varielky ponders, "all we have to do is wake her up? Can't be that difficult. We can make some pretty loud noises." Although, if it were that simple, it would have probably happened already. Not to mention, she wasn't sure how happy this giant lady would be waking up like that, and the angels probably wouldn't like that either.
"But otherwise, we just wasted time and effort. We'd find an exit faster if we were to search for it on our own. Or, if it takes too long, one of you might be able to create one yourself." Maybe not, Varielky had no idea. "Let's tend to our wounds and get out of here." Varielky wasn't really hurt, but she was a bit tired, and Auger didn't seem very well. "When it comes to sleeping gods - or something close - our meagre lifetimes aren't worth spent waiting."
Varielky
(Can someone succeed in a religion roll, DC12?)
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
(Not Snow haha)
Religion: 20!+3=23.
Varielky
Varielky doffs her shield and then straps it to her backpack. The angel didn't seem malicious or, more importantly, looking to fight. Varielky sits crossed-legged on the floor. Her arm was bruised but there weren't any open wounds needing to be taken care of, so just a moment to regather her strength is all she needed. Still, to face an angel. Varielky never would have imagined deserving such honour. But, perhaps since she's seen plenty of strange things in the last few months, or maybe it was due to the fact she's in... another world? She didn't give much thought to it, at first. Well, she also did enter this cabin expecting a mad hag to jump on her and... do whatever hags do when they try to kill someone. Reflecting, she doesn't recall the hag form of this angel carrying any weapons.
She sits there, taking time to think about matters and relish being in the presence of angels and... gods? Something close to a goddess? Lady Demsha was not Ritha Demsha, but they were certainly close... at least as far as Varielky's Human mind could comprehend. Some sort of divine relatives, perhaps? They did share a name.
A memory surfaces from deep within Varielky's memories. From a time long, long ago. In Varielky's terms, at least. In what was practically another life, when her parents were still alive. It happened only rarely since she was so young, and even then those memories were always very vague. They were walking together with other people, or rather, between other people. The village gathered for some reason. Young Varielky held her mother's hand, but all she could see were people's legs and backs. Suddenly, they stopped. Varielky didn't know why. There were voices... singing? Praying? She only understood some of the words. Varielky tugged at her father's pants. She wanted to see what was happening too. Her father's hands picked her up. Lifting her higher and higher, above everyone else. She sat on his shoulders, his head between her legs. Not very comfortable, but she didn't care. She could see everything from here.
There were people in strange garbs. Priests, but not those she knew. Someone must have told her or she wouldn't have known, but it's too vague to remember. The priests did something, and the people around her were quiet, she thinks. Maybe she was just captivated. Then a figure appeared. It was a Human, but not quite a Human. It was huge, so big that even sitting on her father's shoulders Varielky had to look up. What can possibly be taller than her father? (Not that her father was especially tall, but Varielky didn't even know that. All she had were the memories of a very young girl.) The huge figure said something, or did something, or maybe just its appearance by itself got the people all around Varielky to cheer. Then silence again. Everyone waited on something.
If anyone were to look at Varielky during those few minutes, she sits there cross-legged with her eyes closed, back straight and hands lying relaxed on her legs. She looks like she's meditating, which she does sometimes, but rather than a blank or stern expression as usual, she has a soft expression, some might even say pleasant. Varielky tried yanking more out of herself, but that's as much as she could recall, and eventually, Varielky comes to accept that. She should be thankful for what little she is sometimes graced by... who knows whom. Was it the god of memory, or someone else? But why now? Varielky opens her eyes, and the answer is clear. The angel in front of her was, if not the same figure, of the same kind. Meeting it must have triggered the memory.
Varielky stands up now. "I think... I think I have seen one of your kind before. When I was very young. I had forgotten about it, but now, seeing you, the memory came to me on its own. The people of the village gathered, and there were priests there - praying, calling one of you. I didn't understand then, but I think... maybe they were trying to consult the angel? It was a small village, with many shepherds and some farmers, as in that cold area they provided food for all. Perhaps they wanted to know how long winter would last, how cold it would be? Or maybe, what crops they should seed?" Why was she sharing all this? Why was it important? "Your kind have helped humans before, sharing your wisdom. If the Lady won't wake soon, could we confer in your knowledge? Perhaps, how can she be awakened, or otherwise, if you know of a path that would lead us back to our world?"
Varielky
“I am bound by Demsha’s will to relay these questions to her and her answers to you. Not to answer the questions myself.” The angel’s expression is grave.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
(Can someone can roll insight DC 15?)
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
(Once again, not Snow: 4+4=8)