Morris nods as his copy peels off to talk to vin. Looking to Gewyn, the barkeep put both his hands on the bar as if to make a faux declaration. "The triskelion! Saviour of the faewyld, the beginning of the end for the sisters of season... Although the beginning of the end for them was quite some time ago, relatively speaking... First winter died, then Spring disappeared, and finally autumn was corrupted and killed, coincidentally by all of you. This is the kind of thing that is obtained in your very being Gewyn, I do not think it was a mistake that your group were the ones to fell Rynwell, not was it by chance that you asked for my blessings instead of a boon. But how do you feel about being caught up in such fated strands?"
Gewyn lazily draws an arm up, letting Spyro become visible and then spiral up his arm before leaping up into the rafters. He looks left and right, checking to see if anyone is listening. Then in a low voice, he says, "For all my life, I've been shaped by forces around me. Never in control. Never wielding agency. Just becoming what the environment demands of me. I've changed. Already, I am not that same piteous creature that first left Marblestead at someone else's command. But I wonder... does answering fate's call give me the power to shape my destiny, or is it just continuing to follow a path laid out for me."
He sighs and takes a sip of his drink. "I don't know. Perhaps the difference is mere semantics. Taking that blessing is a choice I made, and I liked it. If the choice to step into my destiny is one I can make freely... What are your thoughts?"
"my thoughts? Hm... The choices you make seem to be made for you all the time, this doesn't necessarily stop you from altering your fate.
For example, If you see a child being preyed upon by a lion you step in to help the child, yes? But just because you think that the choice is an easy one l, that the help you can give should be given, that doesn't take any value away from the choice that you made... A choice is a choice is a choice. There will be unknowable consequences either way, both good and bad..." Morris answers keeping his voice similarly low but not particularly hiding the conversation from Muir, Elthana and Xazgan who are still mulling around.
The copy of Morris takes his leave out a side door to an adjacent room, Vin and neferox following after, the door closes and then, without any fanfare or even any motion, is simply gone from where it was in the wall.
The Morris at the bar continues, "the prophecy of the coming of the triskelion is an ancient one from the majority of perspectives. If you do happen to make this choice and lead the faewyld I believe you could make any destiny for yourself, but similarly, choosing to avoid it doesn't mean you lack the ability to do so. Every moment your actions and decisions lead you down a path of your own creation. Right?"
Spyro hops back down of the raptors, perching on Gewyn's head before leaping over onto the counter and curling up. "Mhmm," Gewyn says, clearly thinking about something. He leans in to whisper.
"I am feeling for the first time... something new to me. I believe it is ambition. I see the way things are, and I want to change them"
And then louder to the remnants of the group "I think you'll all be doing a great deal of change, all of you have changed so much already. But Gewyn, there's something I'm missing. I know that the triskelion is the symbol of life and death, but it is also of rebirth. How did you awaken that aspect?"
Gewyn cocks his head at Morris "I haven't thought of that. I suppose rebirth is simply what I am. Isn't that what you are always telling me, Spyro?" He looks back to Morris. I am a child of spring. That, like the mark I bear, is a parting gift from Mireah."
"you found the sister of spring? Out there in the plane of air of all places? Hmmm she really didn't want to be found eh? More coincidences, curious. Too many coincidences to keep up the façade that they are in fact coincidences hmm?
The Triskelion is a culmination, I believe, Mireah is no more responsible for the creation of that mark than you or I, who obviously make up the other two aspects included..." Morris continues polishing a glass, before wondering out loud. "I wonder what Sam is doing?"
Elthana, having finished with her cocoa starts to get agitated. It sounds to her like Gewyn and Morris are talking in riddles, but hopefully it is helping her friend and she stays quiet. Though she wishes she had a book to stick her nose in and distract her. She looks towards the wall where Vin disappeared and wonders how long he will be as well.
She sighs and leans back, taking a glance at the demon, but decides against engaging with it. She does perk up as Morris mentions Sam. At his name, she pulls out of the bag of furballs he gave her and pulls one out. She rolls it on the floor and immediately regrets it as the giant boar fills the small space. Looking around it to Morris, she looks sheepish as she says, "Sorry!" but then looks to the boar, trying to remember if Sam had pulled this one before and if so what the name was.
“Hopefully Sam took my suggestion in going to the earth realm to find the truth of himself, but if I’d have to take a guess, he did the exact opposite and repainting our headquarters or adding shag carpet to the rooms”
"well since he left you I've not collected any memories of anyone he has slain... Take that as you will" Morris states and then looks down at the boar with an eyebrow raised.
Boris looks around for it's half orc master and then seemingly gives up looking instead to Elthana for commands. When none cone it sniffs the air, focussing on a specific point in the ceiling. A specific animal up there who may be hiding a specific kind of nutty food in its nest. Boris oinks and squeals, Ratosk squeals back and Morris takes measures to interject. Reaching under the bar Morris pulls out what looks like a large turnip and tossed it to Boris to calm the animal. "I'd appreciate if you didn't summon more beasts in here, we have quite enough damage to the bar with Xazgan lumbering around." To morris' statement xazgan immediately stands up casting the two barstools she was sitting on skittering over and jabs back "YOU'RE THE ONE WANTING ME TO GET MY STRENGTH BACK YOU OLD BASTARD!" followed by a stream of what sound like expletives but in infernal, she then unceremoniously storms off and into an adjoining room.
“Maybe your strength is needed for the inevitable wars of the worlds that seem to be brewing. Perhaps revenge for you will be a dish served sweet?” Muir says between sips without looking at the demon “But I digress….Sam left for soul searching purposes. I really do hope he is doing well with that endeavor. As for the rest of us…..Well you can make your own conclusions”
Morris' demeanour turns a little solemn, he reactively glances over to the wall where the door was that vin walked through. Before picking up a glass once more and idly polishing it. "You've all been through so much, why doesn't one of you tell a story, you all know how I like to learn of stories of your pasts, of your adventures. Has anything strange or exciting happened, either recently or not so recent?"
Just as people start collecting Thier thoughts on possible stories to tell, the door to the room vin is in reappears, Morris looks up and gives out a sigh, a long sigh of a heavy burden, a heavy situation...
"Um, something has come up... Muir, Elthana, Gewyn... If you could join Vin in that room he would be most appreciative. I'll take care of Ingram and the boar out here, I'm not sure about your faerie dragon there Gewyn but I'll leave that to your discretion."
As Morris ushers you all through the side door, you find a circular room, the walls lines with red curtains and several high cushioned armchairs are arranged around one large central cushion upon which Neferox sits. Vin looks highly distressed, and the second Morris welcomes you in as the first closes the door behind you.
Gewyn exchanges a nervous glance with Spyro on his shoulder before heading through the door. Seeing Vin's agitation, he quickly walks over to his side and reaches for his shoulder. "Vin, we're here. What's wrong?"
Elthana follows her friends in the side door after giving Boris a reassuring pat. She's surprised as she sees Vin's countenance and she immediately looks up to Morris with a scowl on her face, "What did you do to Vin?"
She can't help but admonish the old man, she knows he did nothing really, but at the same time, she knows the old one can't keep his nose out of business and it good at stirring up shit. She walks over to Vin's other side and sits next to him. She grabs a hold of his hand if he lets her.
Morris gives Elthana a wry smile, "I did what was asked of me, and then provided some refreshments for the aftermath. I have more but I think you should all listen to vin first..."
Vin fidgets nervously for a moment as Gewyn and Elthana come across to him and Muir sits patiently. He looks across to Neferox, who merely blinks her eyes slowly in a gesture of agreement and then lies down on the central cushion.
“Ok, this is difficult. I trust each one of you with what I am about to say, and I know that you will share none of it without my agreement, because you should know that this knowledge is dangerous. Ok, here we go”, he says with a sigh, then first turns to look at Muir.
“Muir, you have been on the trail of discovering my lineage for a while, and have worked out that I am related to a demon lord called Roxs’hian the Nefarious. And not just any demon lord, pretty much the demon lord of her time, which lasted until a millennia ago. At that time she disappeared, as her kind rebelled against her, believing she had fallen in love with a celestial prisoner of hers”, he pauses for a moment to take a deep breath before continuing.
“The truth is, it was not just the fact that she fell in love with a celestial, it was the fact that she bore his child. And the fact that that child was central to a prophecy that they felt spelt doom for all the realms and threatened them directly”, he continues. “When I was speaking to Xazgan a little while ago, I was trying to extract information from her. I knew she wouldn’t answer direct questions, so I had to be subtle. I wanted to know what happened to Roxs’hian back then, because I had pieced some things together that I needed to corroborate”, he again looks to Muir as he explains.
“The information she gave me was enough to be certain about myself and Neferox. You see, Neferox has been by my side for a long time, but she has been, and still is really, under a curse. It is both physical and mental. She is unable to speak directly of her past. But what the ones who cursed her couldn’t stop her doing was not denying what I knew to be true, and so when I worked things out and she didn’t deny it I knew I was right. We asked Morris to help by sharing Neferox's memories with me so I could know what she couldn't tell me”.
He takes another deep breath, and then speaks quickly, as if that is the only way he can get this out.
“The truth of the matter is that I was born a millennia ago, and am the child born of the union between Roxs’hian the Nefarious and the celestial, Kino Raziel. I am the child of the prophecy, and my birth caused the demon lords to rise up and betray Roxs’hian, kill my father and force Roxs’hian to send me far away from their reach for my own protection”, he pauses again to take another breath and let that sink in before continuing.
“Muir, you have long sought the answer to the spell that closed the gates a millennia ago. I must apologise that I have not been the most forthcoming about what I have learned up until now. Well, that spell was cast by Roxs’hian. She used the power of the gates to send the newborn me one thousand years into the future. The demon lords were furious, and cursed Roxs’hian, but she managed to escape and follow me. She turned up much later than I did though, just in time to see me die at the hands of some common bullies”, he is choking up a little bit at this point. “But she had some power left, and used the last of it to go back in time just far enough to stop my death. And she has been by my side since that day, in her cursed form”.
Vin moves to sit on the cushion next to Neferox and places a hand on her neck. Neferox raises her head and looks at each of the others, not so much with defiance but more acceptance in her eyes.
Morris nods as his copy peels off to talk to vin. Looking to Gewyn, the barkeep put both his hands on the bar as if to make a faux declaration. "The triskelion! Saviour of the faewyld, the beginning of the end for the sisters of season... Although the beginning of the end for them was quite some time ago, relatively speaking... First winter died, then Spring disappeared, and finally autumn was corrupted and killed, coincidentally by all of you. This is the kind of thing that is obtained in your very being Gewyn, I do not think it was a mistake that your group were the ones to fell Rynwell, not was it by chance that you asked for my blessings instead of a boon. But how do you feel about being caught up in such fated strands?"
Gewyn lazily draws an arm up, letting Spyro become visible and then spiral up his arm before leaping up into the rafters. He looks left and right, checking to see if anyone is listening. Then in a low voice, he says, "For all my life, I've been shaped by forces around me. Never in control. Never wielding agency. Just becoming what the environment demands of me. I've changed. Already, I am not that same piteous creature that first left Marblestead at someone else's command. But I wonder... does answering fate's call give me the power to shape my destiny, or is it just continuing to follow a path laid out for me."
He sighs and takes a sip of his drink. "I don't know. Perhaps the difference is mere semantics. Taking that blessing is a choice I made, and I liked it. If the choice to step into my destiny is one I can make freely... What are your thoughts?"
"my thoughts? Hm... The choices you make seem to be made for you all the time, this doesn't necessarily stop you from altering your fate.
For example, If you see a child being preyed upon by a lion you step in to help the child, yes? But just because you think that the choice is an easy one l, that the help you can give should be given, that doesn't take any value away from the choice that you made... A choice is a choice is a choice. There will be unknowable consequences either way, both good and bad..." Morris answers keeping his voice similarly low but not particularly hiding the conversation from Muir, Elthana and Xazgan who are still mulling around.
Muir just sits and listens drinking the cocoa
The copy of Morris takes his leave out a side door to an adjacent room, Vin and neferox following after, the door closes and then, without any fanfare or even any motion, is simply gone from where it was in the wall.
The Morris at the bar continues, "the prophecy of the coming of the triskelion is an ancient one from the majority of perspectives. If you do happen to make this choice and lead the faewyld I believe you could make any destiny for yourself, but similarly, choosing to avoid it doesn't mean you lack the ability to do so. Every moment your actions and decisions lead you down a path of your own creation. Right?"
Spyro hops back down of the raptors, perching on Gewyn's head before leaping over onto the counter and curling up. "Mhmm," Gewyn says, clearly thinking about something. He leans in to whisper.
"I am feeling for the first time... something new to me. I believe it is ambition. I see the way things are, and I want to change them"
Morris smiles in response to Gewyn's whispers.
"Feed that ambition."
And then louder to the remnants of the group "I think you'll all be doing a great deal of change, all of you have changed so much already. But Gewyn, there's something I'm missing. I know that the triskelion is the symbol of life and death, but it is also of rebirth. How did you awaken that aspect?"
Gewyn cocks his head at Morris "I haven't thought of that. I suppose rebirth is simply what I am. Isn't that what you are always telling me, Spyro?" He looks back to Morris. I am a child of spring. That, like the mark I bear, is a parting gift from Mireah."
"you found the sister of spring? Out there in the plane of air of all places? Hmmm she really didn't want to be found eh? More coincidences, curious. Too many coincidences to keep up the façade that they are in fact coincidences hmm?
The Triskelion is a culmination, I believe, Mireah is no more responsible for the creation of that mark than you or I, who obviously make up the other two aspects included..." Morris continues polishing a glass, before wondering out loud. "I wonder what Sam is doing?"
Elthana, having finished with her cocoa starts to get agitated. It sounds to her like Gewyn and Morris are talking in riddles, but hopefully it is helping her friend and she stays quiet. Though she wishes she had a book to stick her nose in and distract her. She looks towards the wall where Vin disappeared and wonders how long he will be as well.
She sighs and leans back, taking a glance at the demon, but decides against engaging with it. She does perk up as Morris mentions Sam. At his name, she pulls out of the bag of furballs he gave her and pulls one out. She rolls it on the floor and immediately regrets it as the giant boar fills the small space. Looking around it to Morris, she looks sheepish as she says, "Sorry!" but then looks to the boar, trying to remember if Sam had pulled this one before and if so what the name was.
“Hopefully Sam took my suggestion in going to the earth realm to find the truth of himself, but if I’d have to take a guess, he did the exact opposite and repainting our headquarters or adding shag carpet to the rooms”
"well since he left you I've not collected any memories of anyone he has slain... Take that as you will" Morris states and then looks down at the boar with an eyebrow raised.
Boris looks around for it's half orc master and then seemingly gives up looking instead to Elthana for commands. When none cone it sniffs the air, focussing on a specific point in the ceiling. A specific animal up there who may be hiding a specific kind of nutty food in its nest. Boris oinks and squeals, Ratosk squeals back and Morris takes measures to interject. Reaching under the bar Morris pulls out what looks like a large turnip and tossed it to Boris to calm the animal. "I'd appreciate if you didn't summon more beasts in here, we have quite enough damage to the bar with Xazgan lumbering around." To morris' statement xazgan immediately stands up casting the two barstools she was sitting on skittering over and jabs back "YOU'RE THE ONE WANTING ME TO GET MY STRENGTH BACK YOU OLD BASTARD!" followed by a stream of what sound like expletives but in infernal, she then unceremoniously storms off and into an adjoining room.
“Maybe your strength is needed for the inevitable wars of the worlds that seem to be brewing. Perhaps revenge for you will be a dish served sweet?” Muir says between sips without looking at the demon “But I digress….Sam left for soul searching purposes. I really do hope he is doing well with that endeavor. As for the rest of us…..Well you can make your own conclusions”
Morris' demeanour turns a little solemn, he reactively glances over to the wall where the door was that vin walked through. Before picking up a glass once more and idly polishing it. "You've all been through so much, why doesn't one of you tell a story, you all know how I like to learn of stories of your pasts, of your adventures. Has anything strange or exciting happened, either recently or not so recent?"
Just as people start collecting Thier thoughts on possible stories to tell, the door to the room vin is in reappears, Morris looks up and gives out a sigh, a long sigh of a heavy burden, a heavy situation...
"Um, something has come up... Muir, Elthana, Gewyn... If you could join Vin in that room he would be most appreciative. I'll take care of Ingram and the boar out here, I'm not sure about your faerie dragon there Gewyn but I'll leave that to your discretion."
As Morris ushers you all through the side door, you find a circular room, the walls lines with red curtains and several high cushioned armchairs are arranged around one large central cushion upon which Neferox sits. Vin looks highly distressed, and the second Morris welcomes you in as the first closes the door behind you.
Gewyn exchanges a nervous glance with Spyro on his shoulder before heading through the door. Seeing Vin's agitation, he quickly walks over to his side and reaches for his shoulder. "Vin, we're here. What's wrong?"
Muir looks at Vin and the seriousness on his face. He sits down and waits for him to speak
Elthana follows her friends in the side door after giving Boris a reassuring pat. She's surprised as she sees Vin's countenance and she immediately looks up to Morris with a scowl on her face, "What did you do to Vin?"
She can't help but admonish the old man, she knows he did nothing really, but at the same time, she knows the old one can't keep his nose out of business and it good at stirring up shit. She walks over to Vin's other side and sits next to him. She grabs a hold of his hand if he lets her.
Morris gives Elthana a wry smile, "I did what was asked of me, and then provided some refreshments for the aftermath. I have more but I think you should all listen to vin first..."
Vin fidgets nervously for a moment as Gewyn and Elthana come across to him and Muir sits patiently. He looks across to Neferox, who merely blinks her eyes slowly in a gesture of agreement and then lies down on the central cushion.
“Ok, this is difficult. I trust each one of you with what I am about to say, and I know that you will share none of it without my agreement, because you should know that this knowledge is dangerous. Ok, here we go”, he says with a sigh, then first turns to look at Muir.
“Muir, you have been on the trail of discovering my lineage for a while, and have worked out that I am related to a demon lord called Roxs’hian the Nefarious. And not just any demon lord, pretty much the demon lord of her time, which lasted until a millennia ago. At that time she disappeared, as her kind rebelled against her, believing she had fallen in love with a celestial prisoner of hers”, he pauses for a moment to take a deep breath before continuing.
“The truth is, it was not just the fact that she fell in love with a celestial, it was the fact that she bore his child. And the fact that that child was central to a prophecy that they felt spelt doom for all the realms and threatened them directly”, he continues. “When I was speaking to Xazgan a little while ago, I was trying to extract information from her. I knew she wouldn’t answer direct questions, so I had to be subtle. I wanted to know what happened to Roxs’hian back then, because I had pieced some things together that I needed to corroborate”, he again looks to Muir as he explains.
“The information she gave me was enough to be certain about myself and Neferox. You see, Neferox has been by my side for a long time, but she has been, and still is really, under a curse. It is both physical and mental. She is unable to speak directly of her past. But what the ones who cursed her couldn’t stop her doing was not denying what I knew to be true, and so when I worked things out and she didn’t deny it I knew I was right. We asked Morris to help by sharing Neferox's memories with me so I could know what she couldn't tell me”.
He takes another deep breath, and then speaks quickly, as if that is the only way he can get this out.
“The truth of the matter is that I was born a millennia ago, and am the child born of the union between Roxs’hian the Nefarious and the celestial, Kino Raziel. I am the child of the prophecy, and my birth caused the demon lords to rise up and betray Roxs’hian, kill my father and force Roxs’hian to send me far away from their reach for my own protection”, he pauses again to take another breath and let that sink in before continuing.
“Muir, you have long sought the answer to the spell that closed the gates a millennia ago. I must apologise that I have not been the most forthcoming about what I have learned up until now. Well, that spell was cast by Roxs’hian. She used the power of the gates to send the newborn me one thousand years into the future. The demon lords were furious, and cursed Roxs’hian, but she managed to escape and follow me. She turned up much later than I did though, just in time to see me die at the hands of some common bullies”, he is choking up a little bit at this point. “But she had some power left, and used the last of it to go back in time just far enough to stop my death. And she has been by my side since that day, in her cursed form”.
Vin moves to sit on the cushion next to Neferox and places a hand on her neck. Neferox raises her head and looks at each of the others, not so much with defiance but more acceptance in her eyes.