-=You suffering will be legendary, even in Subternia!=- The thing shouts, its voice piercing. It casts its hand forward as a shockwave of psychic energy rolls through the room and over everyone, and everything before it. Feathers fly as Darla finally meets her match and is thrown backwards and away from the entity, wheezing out a pained honk as she goes...
The being wastes no more air as he steps through the door...and Ro is dragged in with him. The door disappears as quickly as it appeared...
And the room is suddenly filled with honking, swarming, extremely pissed off geese from another world...
As Ro is dragged into the portal, he takes a final look at his band.
He looked at Rum. A valiant soul who never backed away from evil. Even if the odds were stacked against him, he always rose to the challenge with a smile. And though his form was that of a Tabaxi, Ro could see the dragon within him. Seeing the AURYN now on the tabaxi's neck, the elf-dwarf knew that Greko couldn't have made a better choice. Ro took one last look at Rum, pleased to see the tabaxi still wore his wooden, dragon bangle.
He looked at Tuto. A free spirit, ever endeavoring to place a smile on one's face. No matter how tense a situation would get, the small bard never failed to play a tune to lighten the mood. Ro saddened a bit, realizing he may never again hear his friend's music or that reassuring crackle of a campfire. But he was pleased to see that Tuto still wore the small wooden flute around his neck.
He looked at Oten. An unyielding fortress, who despite still pondering morality and right from wrong, still chose goodness. Ro truly felt like he had found another educated individual, just as eager to learn as he was. If only there had been more time and less doomsday events, the discoveries and inventions the two could've made together would have amazed the world.
He looked at Kaede. The poor, beaten girl whose world came crashing down all around her. But yet, she still chose to fight. He didn't know her for long, and felt a tinge of guilt dragging her into this mess. But for all it was worth, he wished her good luck. Avenge your family, as I shall mine.
Ro looked up to the ceiling. He imagined the blue sky filled with various birds. A single, imaginative bird flew down and rested upon Ro before turning into a wooden sculpture. The elf-dwarf sobbed thinking of his dear, lizardfolk friend. I shall avenge you too, friend Greko. I promise one day, Lord Darkness will learn to fear the name Ro the Red!
Ro then thought of Lelith. The ***** would pay.
In his final moments before disappearing off into who-knows-where, Ro says weakly yet determined to his band, "I will return."
Jek was stunned at the sudden appearance of these... abominations. This....These were not in his stories back home. He sees Darla starting to charge, but barly manages to get a hand up, in a feeble attempt to stop her. And Ro....by the Bright Lady, that is horrifying, but he can't look away. As the psychic blast hits Jek , he goes flying back and then gets ping ponged between geese. He breathes heavy as black ichor falls from his mouth and eyes, evapourating as it hits the ground.
He looks a bit dazed as he takes in the room.
Jek stands up and addresses where the door was, while wobbling in place. "Oh man, Ro, now probably wasn't... was not the best time to bring some friends over. I mean, it was nice they could visit... for a bit, but we have things to doooooo." He says, his voice slightly slurred. He then looks over to Darla "And Darla, you shouldn't go attacking guests. They were just.... they were here for a for a quick chat, nothing bad, right Ro?" He says gesturing to the empty space. "Now, we were talkin....talk... talking about traitors and where Greko is...." Jek says, as he's still wobbling with ichor still falling from him to the ground.
Rum stands still as the darkness swallows up all the light in the room, impassively observing the encroachment of whatever evil has been summoned by the cube. He hears the rumbling thunder but tunes it out, these were all just side effects of what is to come, he is sure.
The sound of the bell though, makes his ears twitch slightly, it’s discordant tolling enough to send a shiver down his spine. The call had been made, it is now just a matter of what will answer.
He stands statuesque as the box somehow tears holes in Ro’s hands and absorbs the blood that pours forth. As the room begins to grow, he moves down into a crouch with one paw on the floor, aiming to keep his balance as his senses are confused by the changes around him.
He nostrils flare as the scent of ozone pervades the room and his head flicks to the side to focus on the door that is appearing from nowhere, slowly opening to reveal a purple glow.
Whatever it is that has answered the call, it has arrived.
He has no real idea of what to expect at the moment the visitors are finally revealed, but in his mind he had envisioned an army of Merregon and their kin arriving to serve the Lord of Darkness. What he sees is unexpected. What he sees is shocking and would likely be terrifying if hadn't had the day he had had.
The creatures, for he has no other word for them, are hideously disfigured in a way that screamed of torture.
As the chains whip out for Ro, piercing his neck, arm and ribs causing him to cry out in pain, Rum remains crouched and passive.
This is not the Lord of Darkness’ will that has brought these creatures to them. Ro had seen his father perish, had called out in his grief and anger. The mind control had been severed before he completed the puzzle. This is by Ro’s will alone that they are here.
The voice he hears in his head at that moment, the voice he can’t block out, offers an invitation. A promise of something terrifying. But to whom it is directed he does not know. To Ro, or to all present, he is not sure.
As Ro is dragged across the room, something inside Rum keeps him passive, stops him from racing across the room to his friends aid. This is Ro’s choice. His mind may have been broken by recent events, but unless he calls for help, Rum will respect his choice.
His eyes narrow as he waits for more chains to fly into the room. This may be Ro’s choice, but no-one else asked for this.
It is at this moment he hears, and then sees, the goose charge. Could this day get any stranger? A grin forms on his face as he watches the face off between the bird and the creatures. The grin disappears as his suspicions are confirmed and Ro welcomes the invitation. This is Ro’s will, his desire. Whatever these things are, whatever they plan to do to him, he welcomes it.
As Ro looks directly at him in this moment, Rum locks eyes briefly with his friend, a tear forms but doesn’t get the chance to fully coalesce as the psychic wave takes him completely unawares. He is catapulted backwards to land among an inexplicably present flock of geese, which buffets and batters his stunned form and brings him to the ground in a bruised and bloody heap.
Ro’s last words turn over in his mind as he lies on the floor unable to focus his vision, as his ears ring and his brain feels like it will explode. Ro may well return, but he will never be the same again.
Shirin clutches his head, his brain feeling like molten lava. He’s unable to dodge out of the way as the freak of unholy geese lay into him. All he can do is reel and curse through clenched teeth, “What in the f*ck?!”
Lady Kaede appears to be unphased by everything going on, and stoically looks on in rapt confusion. She’s still quite confused, though, and chooses to look on quietly.
Peeping out from under Jeks robes Slade witnesses the aftermath of the Geese attack.
"DARLA! NOT AGAIN!"
Slade runs across the room cradling his once again horribly wounded and now stunned friend. Looking at the remaining people in the room he asks, "What in all the HELLS and above was THAT?"
As the psychic wave washes over the group, Oten's eyes go dim, and he collapses to his knees just in time to get horrible dented and scratched by the onslaught of angry waterfowl. A quiet whirring and clicking starts up inside his chest as his system tries to reboot itself.
Almost all of them go down from a combination of being pummeled by the geese and the tidal wave of psychic energy that assails them as Ro is dragged into oblivion and the door is sealed behind him.
This includes Skraih; the haggard priestess is battered by the assaults, her body lifted and tossed to the side, trampled by geese, and left as a crumpled mess on the floor when the bizarre happenings are over. The room is in a state of disrepair. The walls are cracked. The floors are warped. Pews are busted. Windows are broken; stained glass is scattered like glitter across the floor. There's blood, so much blood. Much of it belongs to Ro, now departed. The rest belongs to the survivors who are left behind.
Within moments, as the two bands begin to stir from their stunned dispositions, there are footsteps from down the hall, running. The doors of the temple are almost busted down as multiple warriors, mostly Aarakocra, and Kalashtar, enter the room, shields, swords, halberds and other implements of destruction at the ready. There are shouts of shock, orders to find Skraih, which, of course, someone does post haste. Armed guards step amongst the fallen, grabbing arms. Preparing manacles.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Krille shouts as he enters the room, urging caution amongst the guards but clearly outraged as one whisks Skraih's battered form from the room. "What have you done? Who are these newcomers!? Jek Utinni!? Amitola Dangira?! What happened!? Explain!"
Eyes all but swollen shut, Dageron moans his reply. "Like the Ivory Tower... you're fortress, it happens, is not so secure from magic... Beings from Subturnia arrived rather suddenly, killing an ally and attacking us all as they slipped away..." He coughs up a bloody tooth, grimaces, grunts, then rolls onto his back in a groan. "What moron's guard their most sacred leaders from outside the room anyways?" With this, he starts to giggle. A terrible growl of a sound. But still unmistakable. "Soft skins - how are they not all extinct!" He begins to laugh a deep, sonorous laugh. "What's really pathetic is, my kind still couldn't conquer them!" Then a pained coughing fit silences him, forcing him to roll to one side. "****."
Rum struggles up onto one knee, his arm outstretched and his palm facing the warriors in supplication. He takes a moment to steady himself, listening to the words of the hobgoblin whilst watching the newcomers move to round them all up.
"Please...we are no...threat", he says whilst wincing at the effort of speaking.
"I...can explain", he adds, pausing for a moment. "At least....try....", he corrects himself.
"The armoured one is correct....at least the part about beings from Subternia....", he says trying to rise but falling back to one knee as his head spins.
"We are the...Twilight Embers...what is left. Chosen by the Childlike...Empress...before her passing. Friend Jek...knows...", he adds, struggling to both think of the words and verbalise them.
He lifts the Auryn with his other hand as if in hope it will have some meaning here as he looks around at the other members of the Twilight Embers and the Order of the Phoenix.
Seeing a bloody mess, he gives a brief smile to Lady Kaede as she seems most hale.
"Is everyone...alive, Lady...Kaede?", he asks her, running out of breath for the moment.
Jek turns to Krille as he enters. He wobbles in place as Dageron and Rum speak. "Krille!" He'll shout, still slurring his speech a bit. Jek stops for a moment, starts coughing out more black ichor onto the floor, then continues. "Krille. We had some surprise guest show up. These are indeed the Twilight Embers, compatriots of ours, serving the Childlike Empress and the AURYN. Ro over there, say hello Ro."
Jek once again gestures to the empty space where Ro disappeared, but the image of Ro that Jek sees flickers and changes a bit, was that a hook? He shakes his head. "Umm, yea, Ro was playing with this..... this.... thingy... and then...... his friends?" Jek looks back to Ro. The image flickers... Ro standing there calm and collected / Ro being pulled impaled by hooks and being dragged away. No. That can't be real. "His friends? Came by..... for a..... friendly.... chat. No.... wait.... is that what happened? No....No.... they..."
Jek falls to one knee, the fog lifting from him mind slowly. He starts to realize the extent of his injuries. He looks back up to the hallucination of Ro, this time, it changes to the last real image he saw of him, with those creatures behind him. The image fades and the wreckage remains. He looks to Krille. "We need healers! There are only friends that remain. They spoke in our minds. They effected my mind. Those creatures. We weren't expecting that." Jek looks around, seeing if everyone is still up? "Much has happened, we learned a great deal, but.... There were prices that were paid. But for now, we need to see to the wounded. Rum, how is everyone in the Embers? Who has the AURYN? Was yours lost as well?"
Jek looks to Rum and see the AURYN about his neck. Then he looks at Krille again and see the confusion and worry in his face. Struggling a bit, he will rise to his feet and walk to Krille with his hand up non-threateningly in the air. "Krille. Look to my friend Rum, see what is about his neck. You know that symbol is, what it means. We all serve the Bright Lady. Something..... Horrible has happened here, but we all have our paths we must follow. We did not mean this to happen, but it did. Please, help us, there are wounded. We learned much that we must talk about, as well. How is Skraih?"
With a click, light returns to Oten's eyes and his head lifts. He immediately rises to his feet and surveys the scene to see who is alive and who is dead. Who is friend, and who is foe. Backing up defensively to stand beside Rum but with at least an arm span between them, he says in his robotic monotone, "I am going to need a moment to reorient. A number of my operational assumptions have been overturned in quick succession and then there were geese... ~logic matrix recalibrating~"
Oten's javelin extands and retracts from his arm a few times as the armoured plates covering his body shift, part, and rotate, before settling back into their original positions.
"~Recalibration complete~ ...So Greko and Ro are both..."
Krille listens, then turns to one of the nearby Kalashtar and mutters something. The soldier turns from the room and sprints down the hall, and they can hear a voice calling 'medicus! medicus!' as they go.
Another soldier has Skraih's body scooped into their arms as they bolt for the door, and Krille looks her over as her form departs. When Jek asks about her, Krille simply shakes his head.
"Leave us." Krille says to the remaining soldiers, the humanoid Owl waving them away with feathered hands. Only the arriving healers are allowed to enter the hall.
Jek's eyes go wide with horror as Krille shakes his head. "Oh... Oh no." Another life lost. Brevon would not have made these mistakes. He would have saved everyone, protected everyone.
Jek looks around the room as they are being healed. Then he speaks up "A lot has happened in a short amount of time. Krille, I suppose we should start when you left us. Skraih told us we needed to place something precious in the sigil to speak with the Bright Lady. Sorry, you all think she's multiple goddesses, right. That's weird, but anyways. We all put something precious in, and I put my most precious item.... the AUYRN. It worked, we all spoke to different facets Bright Lady and asked questions separately. I can tell you what I learned, the others can tell you what they learned as well."
He stops for a beat, collecting himself, remembering the pleasant memory in the glow of the Bright Lady. "There is a tarrasque that is trapped under the Triforce of Courage, it also protects it. The tarrasque has been surrounded by the light of the Triforce for 2000 trine. According to the Bright Lady, this made it grow bigger and stronger and it now can attack from a distance. Once we get the Triforce, it will be freed, there is no stopping that from happening. Once that happens, we need to flee to Skyloft and alert the guard posts, so they can drop it into the sea below. Once there, It will try to free it's mate from the subhylian sea of Subternia.... Isn't that where they said they were taking Ro?.... Anyways, we need to go to Atlantis and free the Apex Predator before it reaches it's mate. This Apex Predator will stop the tarrasques and work to restore balance. The Bright Lady said 'The Terrasques, The Kraken Kygrax, they will bend and they will break.'"
Jek stops for a moment before continuing. "Next, I spoke with the spirit of the Childlike-Empress, to see if she would return. She told me much about the history of Hyboria, how it was a place called Fantasia before. She said we are the heroes who were been born to save it from the darkness. She would not return, her days are over, but a new Childlike Empress has been born and must ascend to the throne and retake the Ivory Tower. She couldn't tell us who the new Childlike Empress is, but she is being sought by the light and darkness. She has to be found and defended at any cost, that is how we will repay her. All the bands, including the Dawn Guard and Adromeda's Answer need to help us with this as well. We are all apparently part of a never ending story. Also, she told me the name of the Apex Predator. I won't do the theatrics this time, but she said it was a King of Monsters. Godzilla."
Jek looks to Amitola "Amitola told us what the Bright Lady said to her. It was about the Twilight Embers, how you had a traitor among you and you were in grave danger. I'll let her tell it exactly." Jek looks to the member of the Twilight Embers "We were trying to figure out how to get you a message without the AUYRN when you appeared. What happened? "
Kaede listens in to Jeks monologue with rapt attention, but still looks confused as ever.
Thinking to herself: What have you gotten yourself into, you nitwit. This is leading you further and further away from your mission. But….these people need your help. I’ve got a feeling their stories are intertwined with the fate of my people’s stories. Something dangerous is afoot here, and I think we all will collectively help each other out.
Finally, out loud: “I’ve no idea who any of these Empresses and Ladies are, for they’ve never walked the halls of my family’s kingdom, but you have my sworn oath of protection, as I believe our fates are joined together by whatever blights have besieged this world.”
Rum sits back against a wall to catch his breath and allow the healers to help him. As he sits, he listens to Jek impart a lot of information about what the Order of the Phoenix had been up to. He looks on incredulously as Jek talks about communing with his deity, the Bright Lady. The prospect of speaking to the Great Dragon enters his head briefly before he goes back to concentrating on what is being said.
“That is indeed a lot of information, friend Jek”, he says, stroking the fur under his chin idly. “It seems the Order of the Phoenix has made great progress. It is a shame that you were required to use the very item you needed to warn us to get the information we needed", he says with a sigh.
"Tell me, what happened to friend Brevon and the other’s from the Ivory Tower when last we met? Although maybe that is a story for later”.
“As for Twilight Embers, I am not sure how much you have heard but it might help others including Lady Kaede here understand what is going on as well, as we have only recently made her acquaintance. I feel she has earned a full explanation”, he says bowing his head to her.
“As some know, we were tasked by the Childlike Empress with stopping Blix from returning the Alicorn to the Lord of Darkness after the unicorn stallion was slain. In order to do this, we thought to intercept Blix on his way to the Great Deku Tree, where the Lord of Darkness was thought to be. However when we arrived on the west coast of Hylia, at the Zora Domain, we found that Ganondorf had been running amok with his army of Guardians. It was then that Oten joined us. Yam had left already at that time. We also found out at this time from Princess Ruto of the Zora that Blix had betrayed the Lord of Darkness and wasn’t returning to the Great Deku Tree at all. We were also told that Ganondorf likely had all the Sacred Stones and the Triforce of Power”.
“Anyway, we followed the trail of Ganondorf’s destruction and it led to the Great Deku Tree itself, where we learned that the Lord of Darkness and Ganondorf had made a pact and joined forces. They had left to make an assault on the rest of Hylia and particularly Hyrule Castle, in an attempt to enter the Temple of Time”, he continues, standing briefly to stretch his sore muscles before continuing.
“We also found out the Great Deku Tree was dying. There was a cancer inside it that turned out to be a nest of Gohma. When we were dealing with that, we came across books and other items that had been in the possession of the Lord of Darkness before he left. One such item was the puzzle Ro had. The Lord of Darkness called it the Lament Configuration during the incident a short time ago”.
“Ro believed that the Lord of Darkness had failed to solve the puzzle and that it was a doorway to a power source of some kind, and we took it with us. Oten here knows more about it than I, and can share that himself, although you all saw what it actually was”.
“When we left the Great Deku Tree, it told us that the best people to ask about the Triforce of Wisdom was the Hyrulian Royal family so we decided to go and find them and check on Ro’s family. In order to do that, Ro used his magic to communicate with his father to find out where the Royal Family was. What he didn’t know is that his father had been captured by the Lord of Darkness and Ganondorf, and that they were listening to those messages”.
“We learnt that the Royal Family had fled the Castle, but it is then that Lelith started to persuade us that we should still go there and protect the Temple of Time. She can be very persuasive and this became our plan, more fool us. It was on the way in to the Castle that we met Lady Kaede here, who joined us mere hours ago. Her story is her own to tell”.
“The Lord of Darkness has the ability to control the minds of creatures, including people like us, and that is what happened to Ro and Oten here when we were ambushed. It turns out that the Lord of Darkness planned to use Ro to complete the puzzle and claim the power for himself. Lelith switched sides in favour of her lover, the Lord of Darkness, Greko sacrificed himself to send us here and Ro did what Ro did. I think that covers it”, he concludes quickly.
“Where even is here?”, he says, looking around curiously.
Having seen to it that Darla receives proper care for her near mortal wounds, Slade takes the unusual stance to speak out.
"This is the City of Skyloft, on the floating Ilse of Celestia. Im not sure meself how it floats about amongst the clouds, aint had much of a chance yet to be exploring since we just got here yesterday. I'm sorry about yer friend there, whatever that was all about, and sorry as well for the loss o these others ye speak of."
Slade pauses a moment
"When speakin to the Goddess meself I asked Her if She could be telling me aught o the Triforce o Wisdom and she let me know the Princess o Hyrule is fleein with it across the south o her country. Tis safe at the moment but the Godess couldnt say as to where exactly she be."
"As to the beastie under the Triforce o Courage, I know how we can be getting it but I'm fearing if we take it the tarrasque will be freed sooner then we might bewishin.. I should have asked about that."
"Tell me, what happened to friend Brevon and the other’s from the Ivory Tower when last we met? Although maybe that is a story for later”.
Listens to the others, but looks down at the mention of Brevon.
He waits until the others have talked some before responding to Rum's question. "Ahh, umm, it appears Greko was not relaying our messages to all of you. I was hoping to keep it brief, but I can back up a bit. I will keep it as brief as I can. We left the Ivory Tower to head to the Tower of the Elephant to learn what we could from the Mystics there. We decided to take a short detour to Castle Grayskull, to see if there was anything for us there. We met Dageron on the way to Castle Grayskull. We learned some information on where to look from the Sorcerous at Grayskull, as well as information about a creature of Darkness that was tracking us. From there, we went to the Khan's Oasis on the way to the Tower of the Elephant. We learned of Vader's push into the Shem desert, and the defeat of the Khan's. Atoh was now the leader of her people. She left, along with Chuba and Orin, to help the Khan's retreat and regroup. We managed to get to the Tower. It was overrun by Vader's men. We met with the Mystics, and that where we met Shirin and Slade. They were freed by the Mystics.... You know, I never did find out why you two were imprisoned. Anyways. We learned that Vader wanted to kill the Mystics, because if they died, the Skeksis died with them. We decided to get the Mystics out of there. That is when what was left of the Khan's attacked the Tower. There was war. It was..... not nice. But, it distracted Vader's troops long enough for us to regroup and use the AUYRN to get us back to the Ivory Tower. The Childlike Empress and Cairon were able to send the Mystics to a safe location from there. But, somehow, Vader was able to follow us to the Ivory Tower. The Childlike Empress insisted on saving us. She and Carion made another portal to send us here. We tried to protect her, but Vader was too powerful. We barely got away with our lives and the body of the Childlike Empress. But... Brevon stayed behind, to aid in our escape. Vader now has the Ivory Tower under his control." Jek goes through as quickly as he can. He looks down as he is speaking, partially in shame at not being able to do more. Then he thinks of the words that the Bright Lady told him, and knew his path was true. With a deep breath, he looks up towards the others.
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-=You suffering will be legendary, even in Subternia!=- The thing shouts, its voice piercing. It casts its hand forward as a shockwave of psychic energy rolls through the room and over everyone, and everything before it. Feathers fly as Darla finally meets her match and is thrown backwards and away from the entity, wheezing out a pained honk as she goes...
The being wastes no more air as he steps through the door...and Ro is dragged in with him. The door disappears as quickly as it appeared...
And the room is suddenly filled with honking, swarming, extremely pissed off geese from another world...
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
As Ro is dragged into the portal, he takes a final look at his band.
He looked at Rum. A valiant soul who never backed away from evil. Even if the odds were stacked against him, he always rose to the challenge with a smile. And though his form was that of a Tabaxi, Ro could see the dragon within him. Seeing the AURYN now on the tabaxi's neck, the elf-dwarf knew that Greko couldn't have made a better choice. Ro took one last look at Rum, pleased to see the tabaxi still wore his wooden, dragon bangle.
He looked at Tuto. A free spirit, ever endeavoring to place a smile on one's face. No matter how tense a situation would get, the small bard never failed to play a tune to lighten the mood. Ro saddened a bit, realizing he may never again hear his friend's music or that reassuring crackle of a campfire. But he was pleased to see that Tuto still wore the small wooden flute around his neck.
He looked at Oten. An unyielding fortress, who despite still pondering morality and right from wrong, still chose goodness. Ro truly felt like he had found another educated individual, just as eager to learn as he was. If only there had been more time and less doomsday events, the discoveries and inventions the two could've made together would have amazed the world.
He looked at Kaede. The poor, beaten girl whose world came crashing down all around her. But yet, she still chose to fight. He didn't know her for long, and felt a tinge of guilt dragging her into this mess. But for all it was worth, he wished her good luck. Avenge your family, as I shall mine.
Ro looked up to the ceiling. He imagined the blue sky filled with various birds. A single, imaginative bird flew down and rested upon Ro before turning into a wooden sculpture. The elf-dwarf sobbed thinking of his dear, lizardfolk friend. I shall avenge you too, friend Greko. I promise one day, Lord Darkness will learn to fear the name Ro the Red!
Ro then thought of Lelith. The ***** would pay.
In his final moments before disappearing off into who-knows-where, Ro says weakly yet determined to his band, "I will return."
Ro Aleron (Ro the Red) -> Illithid, Wizard 8 (Chronugist) // AURYN
Jek was stunned at the sudden appearance of these... abominations. This....These were not in his stories back home. He sees Darla starting to charge, but barly manages to get a hand up, in a feeble attempt to stop her. And Ro....by the Bright Lady, that is horrifying, but he can't look away. As the psychic blast hits Jek , he goes flying back and then gets ping ponged between geese. He breathes heavy as black ichor falls from his mouth and eyes, evapourating as it hits the ground.
He looks a bit dazed as he takes in the room.
Jek stands up and addresses where the door was, while wobbling in place. "Oh man, Ro, now probably wasn't... was not the best time to bring some friends over. I mean, it was nice they could visit... for a bit, but we have things to doooooo." He says, his voice slightly slurred. He then looks over to Darla "And Darla, you shouldn't go attacking guests. They were just.... they were here for a for a quick chat, nothing bad, right Ro?" He says gesturing to the empty space. "Now, we were talkin....talk... talking about traitors and where Greko is...." Jek says, as he's still wobbling with ichor still falling from him to the ground.
Rum stands still as the darkness swallows up all the light in the room, impassively observing the encroachment of whatever evil has been summoned by the cube. He hears the rumbling thunder but tunes it out, these were all just side effects of what is to come, he is sure.
The sound of the bell though, makes his ears twitch slightly, it’s discordant tolling enough to send a shiver down his spine. The call had been made, it is now just a matter of what will answer.
He stands statuesque as the box somehow tears holes in Ro’s hands and absorbs the blood that pours forth. As the room begins to grow, he moves down into a crouch with one paw on the floor, aiming to keep his balance as his senses are confused by the changes around him.
He nostrils flare as the scent of ozone pervades the room and his head flicks to the side to focus on the door that is appearing from nowhere, slowly opening to reveal a purple glow.
Whatever it is that has answered the call, it has arrived.
He has no real idea of what to expect at the moment the visitors are finally revealed, but in his mind he had envisioned an army of Merregon and their kin arriving to serve the Lord of Darkness. What he sees is unexpected. What he sees is shocking and would likely be terrifying if hadn't had the day he had had.
The creatures, for he has no other word for them, are hideously disfigured in a way that screamed of torture.
As the chains whip out for Ro, piercing his neck, arm and ribs causing him to cry out in pain, Rum remains crouched and passive.
This is not the Lord of Darkness’ will that has brought these creatures to them. Ro had seen his father perish, had called out in his grief and anger. The mind control had been severed before he completed the puzzle. This is by Ro’s will alone that they are here.
The voice he hears in his head at that moment, the voice he can’t block out, offers an invitation. A promise of something terrifying. But to whom it is directed he does not know. To Ro, or to all present, he is not sure.
As Ro is dragged across the room, something inside Rum keeps him passive, stops him from racing across the room to his friends aid. This is Ro’s choice. His mind may have been broken by recent events, but unless he calls for help, Rum will respect his choice.
His eyes narrow as he waits for more chains to fly into the room. This may be Ro’s choice, but no-one else asked for this.
It is at this moment he hears, and then sees, the goose charge. Could this day get any stranger? A grin forms on his face as he watches the face off between the bird and the creatures. The grin disappears as his suspicions are confirmed and Ro welcomes the invitation. This is Ro’s will, his desire. Whatever these things are, whatever they plan to do to him, he welcomes it.
As Ro looks directly at him in this moment, Rum locks eyes briefly with his friend, a tear forms but doesn’t get the chance to fully coalesce as the psychic wave takes him completely unawares. He is catapulted backwards to land among an inexplicably present flock of geese, which buffets and batters his stunned form and brings him to the ground in a bruised and bloody heap.
Ro’s last words turn over in his mind as he lies on the floor unable to focus his vision, as his ears ring and his brain feels like it will explode. Ro may well return, but he will never be the same again.
Shirin clutches his head, his brain feeling like molten lava. He’s unable to dodge out of the way as the freak of unholy geese lay into him. All he can do is reel and curse through clenched teeth, “What in the f*ck?!”
Lady Kaede appears to be unphased by everything going on, and stoically looks on in rapt confusion. She’s still quite confused, though, and chooses to look on quietly.
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
Peeping out from under Jeks robes Slade witnesses the aftermath of the Geese attack.
"DARLA! NOT AGAIN!"
Slade runs across the room cradling his once again horribly wounded and now stunned friend. Looking at the remaining people in the room he asks, "What in all the HELLS and above was THAT?"
As the psychic wave washes over the group, Oten's eyes go dim, and he collapses to his knees just in time to get horrible dented and scratched by the onslaught of angry waterfowl. A quiet whirring and clicking starts up inside his chest as his system tries to reboot itself.
Almost all of them go down from a combination of being pummeled by the geese and the tidal wave of psychic energy that assails them as Ro is dragged into oblivion and the door is sealed behind him.
This includes Skraih; the haggard priestess is battered by the assaults, her body lifted and tossed to the side, trampled by geese, and left as a crumpled mess on the floor when the bizarre happenings are over. The room is in a state of disrepair. The walls are cracked. The floors are warped. Pews are busted. Windows are broken; stained glass is scattered like glitter across the floor. There's blood, so much blood. Much of it belongs to Ro, now departed. The rest belongs to the survivors who are left behind.
Within moments, as the two bands begin to stir from their stunned dispositions, there are footsteps from down the hall, running. The doors of the temple are almost busted down as multiple warriors, mostly Aarakocra, and Kalashtar, enter the room, shields, swords, halberds and other implements of destruction at the ready. There are shouts of shock, orders to find Skraih, which, of course, someone does post haste. Armed guards step amongst the fallen, grabbing arms. Preparing manacles.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Krille shouts as he enters the room, urging caution amongst the guards but clearly outraged as one whisks Skraih's battered form from the room. "What have you done? Who are these newcomers!? Jek Utinni!? Amitola Dangira?! What happened!? Explain!"
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
Eyes all but swollen shut, Dageron moans his reply. "Like the Ivory Tower... you're fortress, it happens, is not so secure from magic... Beings from Subturnia arrived rather suddenly, killing an ally and attacking us all as they slipped away..." He coughs up a bloody tooth, grimaces, grunts, then rolls onto his back in a groan. "What moron's guard their most sacred leaders from outside the room anyways?" With this, he starts to giggle. A terrible growl of a sound. But still unmistakable. "Soft skins - how are they not all extinct!" He begins to laugh a deep, sonorous laugh. "What's really pathetic is, my kind still couldn't conquer them!" Then a pained coughing fit silences him, forcing him to roll to one side. "****."
Rum struggles up onto one knee, his arm outstretched and his palm facing the warriors in supplication. He takes a moment to steady himself, listening to the words of the hobgoblin whilst watching the newcomers move to round them all up.
"Please...we are no...threat", he says whilst wincing at the effort of speaking.
"I...can explain", he adds, pausing for a moment. "At least....try....", he corrects himself.
"The armoured one is correct....at least the part about beings from Subternia....", he says trying to rise but falling back to one knee as his head spins.
"We are the...Twilight Embers...what is left. Chosen by the Childlike...Empress...before her passing. Friend Jek...knows...", he adds, struggling to both think of the words and verbalise them.
He lifts the Auryn with his other hand as if in hope it will have some meaning here as he looks around at the other members of the Twilight Embers and the Order of the Phoenix.
Seeing a bloody mess, he gives a brief smile to Lady Kaede as she seems most hale.
"Is everyone...alive, Lady...Kaede?", he asks her, running out of breath for the moment.
Jek turns to Krille as he enters. He wobbles in place as Dageron and Rum speak. "Krille!" He'll shout, still slurring his speech a bit. Jek stops for a moment, starts coughing out more black ichor onto the floor, then continues. "Krille. We had some surprise guest show up. These are indeed the Twilight Embers, compatriots of ours, serving the Childlike Empress and the AURYN. Ro over there, say hello Ro."
Jek once again gestures to the empty space where Ro disappeared, but the image of Ro that Jek sees flickers and changes a bit, was that a hook? He shakes his head. "Umm, yea, Ro was playing with this..... this.... thingy... and then...... his friends?" Jek looks back to Ro. The image flickers... Ro standing there calm and collected / Ro being pulled impaled by hooks and being dragged away. No. That can't be real. "His friends? Came by..... for a..... friendly.... chat. No.... wait.... is that what happened? No....No.... they..."
Jek falls to one knee, the fog lifting from him mind slowly. He starts to realize the extent of his injuries. He looks back up to the hallucination of Ro, this time, it changes to the last real image he saw of him, with those creatures behind him. The image fades and the wreckage remains. He looks to Krille. "We need healers! There are only friends that remain. They spoke in our minds. They effected my mind. Those creatures. We weren't expecting that." Jek looks around, seeing if everyone is still up? "Much has happened, we learned a great deal, but.... There were prices that were paid. But for now, we need to see to the wounded. Rum, how is everyone in the Embers? Who has the AURYN? Was yours lost as well?"
Jek looks to Rum and see the AURYN about his neck. Then he looks at Krille again and see the confusion and worry in his face. Struggling a bit, he will rise to his feet and walk to Krille with his hand up non-threateningly in the air. "Krille. Look to my friend Rum, see what is about his neck. You know that symbol is, what it means. We all serve the Bright Lady. Something..... Horrible has happened here, but we all have our paths we must follow. We did not mean this to happen, but it did. Please, help us, there are wounded. We learned much that we must talk about, as well. How is Skraih?"
Persuasion 26
With a click, light returns to Oten's eyes and his head lifts. He immediately rises to his feet and surveys the scene to see who is alive and who is dead. Who is friend, and who is foe. Backing up defensively to stand beside Rum but with at least an arm span between them, he says in his robotic monotone, "I am going to need a moment to reorient. A number of my operational assumptions have been overturned in quick succession and then there were geese... ~logic matrix recalibrating~"
Oten's javelin extands and retracts from his arm a few times as the armoured plates covering his body shift, part, and rotate, before settling back into their original positions.
"~Recalibration complete~ ...So Greko and Ro are both..."
Krille listens, then turns to one of the nearby Kalashtar and mutters something. The soldier turns from the room and sprints down the hall, and they can hear a voice calling 'medicus! medicus!' as they go.
Another soldier has Skraih's body scooped into their arms as they bolt for the door, and Krille looks her over as her form departs. When Jek asks about her, Krille simply shakes his head.
"Leave us." Krille says to the remaining soldiers, the humanoid Owl waving them away with feathered hands. Only the arriving healers are allowed to enter the hall.
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
Jek's eyes go wide with horror as Krille shakes his head. "Oh... Oh no." Another life lost. Brevon would not have made these mistakes. He would have saved everyone, protected everyone.
Jek looks around the room as they are being healed. Then he speaks up "A lot has happened in a short amount of time. Krille, I suppose we should start when you left us. Skraih told us we needed to place something precious in the sigil to speak with the Bright Lady. Sorry, you all think she's multiple goddesses, right. That's weird, but anyways. We all put something precious in, and I put my most precious item.... the AUYRN. It worked, we all spoke to different facets Bright Lady and asked questions separately. I can tell you what I learned, the others can tell you what they learned as well."
He stops for a beat, collecting himself, remembering the pleasant memory in the glow of the Bright Lady. "There is a tarrasque that is trapped under the Triforce of Courage, it also protects it. The tarrasque has been surrounded by the light of the Triforce for 2000 trine. According to the Bright Lady, this made it grow bigger and stronger and it now can attack from a distance. Once we get the Triforce, it will be freed, there is no stopping that from happening. Once that happens, we need to flee to Skyloft and alert the guard posts, so they can drop it into the sea below. Once there, It will try to free it's mate from the subhylian sea of Subternia.... Isn't that where they said they were taking Ro?.... Anyways, we need to go to Atlantis and free the Apex Predator before it reaches it's mate. This Apex Predator will stop the tarrasques and work to restore balance. The Bright Lady said 'The Terrasques, The Kraken Kygrax, they will bend and they will break.'"
Jek stops for a moment before continuing. "Next, I spoke with the spirit of the Childlike-Empress, to see if she would return. She told me much about the history of Hyboria, how it was a place called Fantasia before. She said we are the heroes who were been born to save it from the darkness. She would not return, her days are over, but a new Childlike Empress has been born and must ascend to the throne and retake the Ivory Tower. She couldn't tell us who the new Childlike Empress is, but she is being sought by the light and darkness. She has to be found and defended at any cost, that is how we will repay her. All the bands, including the Dawn Guard and Adromeda's Answer need to help us with this as well. We are all apparently part of a never ending story. Also, she told me the name of the Apex Predator. I won't do the theatrics this time, but she said it was a King of Monsters. Godzilla."
Jek looks to Amitola "Amitola told us what the Bright Lady said to her. It was about the Twilight Embers, how you had a traitor among you and you were in grave danger. I'll let her tell it exactly." Jek looks to the member of the Twilight Embers "We were trying to figure out how to get you a message without the AUYRN when you appeared. What happened? "
Kaede listens in to Jeks monologue with rapt attention, but still looks confused as ever.
Thinking to herself: What have you gotten yourself into, you nitwit. This is leading you further and further away from your mission. But….these people need your help. I’ve got a feeling their stories are intertwined with the fate of my people’s stories. Something dangerous is afoot here, and I think we all will collectively help each other out.
Finally, out loud: “I’ve no idea who any of these Empresses and Ladies are, for they’ve never walked the halls of my family’s kingdom, but you have my sworn oath of protection, as I believe our fates are joined together by whatever blights have besieged this world.”
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
Rum sits back against a wall to catch his breath and allow the healers to help him. As he sits, he listens to Jek impart a lot of information about what the Order of the Phoenix had been up to. He looks on incredulously as Jek talks about communing with his deity, the Bright Lady. The prospect of speaking to the Great Dragon enters his head briefly before he goes back to concentrating on what is being said.
“That is indeed a lot of information, friend Jek”, he says, stroking the fur under his chin idly. “It seems the Order of the Phoenix has made great progress. It is a shame that you were required to use the very item you needed to warn us to get the information we needed", he says with a sigh.
"Tell me, what happened to friend Brevon and the other’s from the Ivory Tower when last we met? Although maybe that is a story for later”.
“As for Twilight Embers, I am not sure how much you have heard but it might help others including Lady Kaede here understand what is going on as well, as we have only recently made her acquaintance. I feel she has earned a full explanation”, he says bowing his head to her.
“As some know, we were tasked by the Childlike Empress with stopping Blix from returning the Alicorn to the Lord of Darkness after the unicorn stallion was slain. In order to do this, we thought to intercept Blix on his way to the Great Deku Tree, where the Lord of Darkness was thought to be. However when we arrived on the west coast of Hylia, at the Zora Domain, we found that Ganondorf had been running amok with his army of Guardians. It was then that Oten joined us. Yam had left already at that time. We also found out at this time from Princess Ruto of the Zora that Blix had betrayed the Lord of Darkness and wasn’t returning to the Great Deku Tree at all. We were also told that Ganondorf likely had all the Sacred Stones and the Triforce of Power”.
“Anyway, we followed the trail of Ganondorf’s destruction and it led to the Great Deku Tree itself, where we learned that the Lord of Darkness and Ganondorf had made a pact and joined forces. They had left to make an assault on the rest of Hylia and particularly Hyrule Castle, in an attempt to enter the Temple of Time”, he continues, standing briefly to stretch his sore muscles before continuing.
“We also found out the Great Deku Tree was dying. There was a cancer inside it that turned out to be a nest of Gohma. When we were dealing with that, we came across books and other items that had been in the possession of the Lord of Darkness before he left. One such item was the puzzle Ro had. The Lord of Darkness called it the Lament Configuration during the incident a short time ago”.
“Ro believed that the Lord of Darkness had failed to solve the puzzle and that it was a doorway to a power source of some kind, and we took it with us. Oten here knows more about it than I, and can share that himself, although you all saw what it actually was”.
“When we left the Great Deku Tree, it told us that the best people to ask about the Triforce of Wisdom was the Hyrulian Royal family so we decided to go and find them and check on Ro’s family. In order to do that, Ro used his magic to communicate with his father to find out where the Royal Family was. What he didn’t know is that his father had been captured by the Lord of Darkness and Ganondorf, and that they were listening to those messages”.
“We learnt that the Royal Family had fled the Castle, but it is then that Lelith started to persuade us that we should still go there and protect the Temple of Time. She can be very persuasive and this became our plan, more fool us. It was on the way in to the Castle that we met Lady Kaede here, who joined us mere hours ago. Her story is her own to tell”.
“The Lord of Darkness has the ability to control the minds of creatures, including people like us, and that is what happened to Ro and Oten here when we were ambushed. It turns out that the Lord of Darkness planned to use Ro to complete the puzzle and claim the power for himself. Lelith switched sides in favour of her lover, the Lord of Darkness, Greko sacrificed himself to send us here and Ro did what Ro did. I think that covers it”, he concludes quickly.
“Where even is here?”, he says, looking around curiously.
Having seen to it that Darla receives proper care for her near mortal wounds, Slade takes the unusual stance to speak out.
"This is the City of Skyloft, on the floating Ilse of Celestia. Im not sure meself how it floats about amongst the clouds, aint had much of a chance yet to be exploring since we just got here yesterday. I'm sorry about yer friend there, whatever that was all about, and sorry as well for the loss o these others ye speak of."
Slade pauses a moment
"When speakin to the Goddess meself I asked Her if She could be telling me aught o the Triforce o Wisdom and she let me know the Princess o Hyrule is fleein with it across the south o her country. Tis safe at the moment but the Godess couldnt say as to where exactly she be."
"As to the beastie under the Triforce o Courage, I know how we can be getting it but I'm fearing if we take it the tarrasque will be freed sooner then we might bewishin.. I should have asked about that."
Listens to the others, but looks down at the mention of Brevon.
He waits until the others have talked some before responding to Rum's question. "Ahh, umm, it appears Greko was not relaying our messages to all of you. I was hoping to keep it brief, but I can back up a bit. I will keep it as brief as I can. We left the Ivory Tower to head to the Tower of the Elephant to learn what we could from the Mystics there. We decided to take a short detour to Castle Grayskull, to see if there was anything for us there. We met Dageron on the way to Castle Grayskull. We learned some information on where to look from the Sorcerous at Grayskull, as well as information about a creature of Darkness that was tracking us. From there, we went to the Khan's Oasis on the way to the Tower of the Elephant. We learned of Vader's push into the Shem desert, and the defeat of the Khan's. Atoh was now the leader of her people. She left, along with Chuba and Orin, to help the Khan's retreat and regroup. We managed to get to the Tower. It was overrun by Vader's men. We met with the Mystics, and that where we met Shirin and Slade. They were freed by the Mystics.... You know, I never did find out why you two were imprisoned. Anyways. We learned that Vader wanted to kill the Mystics, because if they died, the Skeksis died with them. We decided to get the Mystics out of there. That is when what was left of the Khan's attacked the Tower. There was war. It was..... not nice. But, it distracted Vader's troops long enough for us to regroup and use the AUYRN to get us back to the Ivory Tower. The Childlike Empress and Cairon were able to send the Mystics to a safe location from there. But, somehow, Vader was able to follow us to the Ivory Tower. The Childlike Empress insisted on saving us. She and Carion made another portal to send us here. We tried to protect her, but Vader was too powerful. We barely got away with our lives and the body of the Childlike Empress. But... Brevon stayed behind, to aid in our escape. Vader now has the Ivory Tower under his control." Jek goes through as quickly as he can. He looks down as he is speaking, partially in shame at not being able to do more. Then he thinks of the words that the Bright Lady told him, and knew his path was true. With a deep breath, he looks up towards the others.