Part 2: The meeting of paths

Katrin casts a sour glance back at the tavern, then turns a gentler eye back. She eases herself down to the ground, no easy feat in her armor, and props up a knee. "Mushrooms, eh? Did she say where we can find them?" Her heart breaks every time she watches Ascian curl in on himself. That he believes he is somehow less than everyone else because of something beyond his control. 

"I have a map."  The words are an affectless mutter as he watches her sink to the ground, as if she intends on staying. Now that she might be, he finds he doesn't really know what to say. Conversation has never come easy to him, but one that wants him to make sense of the worry and fear and guilt swirling into a noxious cocktail inside him seems nigh impossible. And what if trying, like with the man down below, only hurts? Katrin is the last person to deserve that; something he thinks even the contrary others might agree on. "I don't know what's happening,"  he says quietly at last; as much a fact as it is an admission, and that, at least, feels safe.  "The Watcher said I've been touched. I don't know by what. But it's getting worse. And it isn't good."  His hand falls from Ember, as though the arrow he'd personally pierced the wolf with might reappear should he stay too close.  "And the more I try and find out. The more I ruin."  

Katrin nods, brow slightly furrowed as Ascian voices his fears. Something she hadn't expected him to do. "I will never lie to you. I don't know what's going on either. But I'm going to stay with you, help you figure this out. It doesn't matter to me what you are. What matters is who you are." She pauses, taking a breath. "I meant what I said earlier. Friends help each other. And you are a very dear friend. And I'm glad to have met you. And Ember," she adds with a smile to the wolf. 

"Thanks." It's more direct and honest a sentiment than he can handle and he can't hold her gaze for long, dropping it instead at his skeletal fingers twisting around one of the nails bitten to the quick. For a long moment he's quiet, trying to let the balm of those words sink in and convince himself they're true, even in the face of all the vitriol they'd just exited. When his own come next, it's as a quick, uncharacteristic rush before they dissolve on his tongue and he convinces himself not to say them. "I don't know they'll feel that way. I don't want them to think I'm with him. Because of what he said. The Watcher. Or that I trust him. Or killed that man on purpose. Because they wanted to turn him in. I didn't. I just - I've heard that word before. I wanted to know." The heels of his palms drag long, slow lines down his legs, pressed hard enough into the fabric to feel his femur underneath. His voice deadens as he thinks again of that intrigued green eye.  "I have to find that city." 

Katrin sits quietly while Ascian speaks, leaning forward slightly at his last statement. "I don't give a fuck what the Watcher said. And neither should they. What happened was an accident. It had nothing to do with you, and everything to do with that word." She pauses, a long moment that perhaps should've felt awkward, if she had been somebody else. If he wasn't her friend.  "I'll do everything I can to help you find that city. Tempus be damned if need be." And she found that she meant it. If she truly had to... She would diobey her own god. The thought was only slightly troubling. Thank goodness her father wasn't here. He would be furious at her new resolve.

His hands pause just above his knees, balled into fists with the heels still pressing into bone. There's something difficult trying to break through the ever-present cloud of anxiety pulsing through him, something he thinks might even be warm; but it's strong and frightening and alien, and so he swallows past it before it can take hold. "Thanks," he mumbles again instead, briefly catching her eye before he looks back to his knees.

Katrin smiles, looking down at her own hands briefly. "I know this is...something you're not used to. I just wanted you to know." She takes a breath, letting it out slowly. Peacefully. Sitting here in the shadows was calming, after the fight below the tavern. She closes her eyes, leaning back against the wall of the alley. Just a moment. One moment of peace. 

The moment of silence is abruptly broken by a high-pitched whistle, followed by a crackling sound and a burst of multi-coloured light outside the tavern. A familiar, mischievous cackle can be heard from around the corner, where Sable sits perched upon the front step of building's entryway. The old man has his staff in one hand and a tankard of ale in the other, with his head resting against the door frame.

What few nerves remain him frayed to wisps by the day, Ascian jumps at the same moment Ember yelps, the rogue's eyes cutting to Katrin for instruction.

She starts, bolting to her feet. Well, slowly bolting. The armor made speed rather difficult at times. She looks around the corner, her hand moving towards her battleaxe. Then she stops. Her hand drops away, and she shakes her head, a somewhat annoyed smile on her face. "It's okay. Just a wizard and his tricks." She rounds the corner fully, leaning against the building. "Enjoying yourself?"

"Katrin, I am tired ," Sable replies, still leant against the door frame as he swishes his tankard left and right before taking another gulp from it. The wizard hiccups and then looks up at the dwarf, an unusual perspective for the two of them. Drops of the beverage still cling to the old man's beard around his mouth. "What did we really gain today? More mysteries and a sack of gold that the orc would as soon toss in the gutter? I tire of her especially. We have very little to go by here and with Duar'ken dead I'm starting to wonder why I care, because for some reason that escapes me I do and I'm usually smart enough not to."

Katrin rubs her temples, nodding along in agreement with everything the wizard is saying, laughing softly at his last words. "Intelligence is certainly one of your talents, I will say." She falls silent for a moment. "But you're right. It's exhausting."

"The others are all still inside," Sable adds, nodding over his shoulder to where Akiran is still talking with Lilliana. "Where's Ascian?"

Her eyes dart over to where Ascian still sits in the shadow, tense and at the ready, then back to Sable. "He's here." 

Sables watches Katrin's fraught expression with careful eyes. "He didn't like what saw and heard down there, did he?"  The wizard asks, holding his friend's gaze for a few long moments. "I'm not surprised. What does he want to do about it?"

She looks back at the alley Ascian is still hidden inside. "Well, we don't exactly have the greatest leads, but I think a good place to start is mushroom hunting."  She gives Sable a look. "We're going to need the others. Lilliana and Akiran I'm not worried about. But I'm not sure how keen Thezra is to be around any of us right now." 

"Why exactly are we going to need Thezra?" Sable counters. "Have you considered that we might be better off without her? I'm not particularly concerned with how much she wants to be here. In fact, if she doesn't, then she should go back to where she came from." The wizard's tone is vehement and dripping with venom and disdain. He gulps another large swig of his drink, staring into the distance and taking a long, deep breath to assuage the bubble of anger rising inside him. "What's special about these mushrooms? Where do we find them and what's the connection to Ash?"

"You know that he went to see a cleric this morning. She has an idea that might help him, but she wants some mushrooms in return. He has a map. And he's going to need our help to get them." She sighs in resignation. "As much as I wish it weren't true, you're not wrong about her. I'm starting to wonder what stake she even has in this anymore. And I'm worried how she might view Ash, after what that Watcher said. If she truly believes that taking money from him is tantamount to treason, then...." she shakes her head, falling silent.  When she speaks again, her voice is bitter, regretful. Angry. "I thought perhaps....we might be able to get along. At this point? I don't see how that's possible."  

"If he needs our help, then he has it," Sable tells Katrin simply, shrugging as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. He takes another gulp of ale and stares off down the street. "Thezra can think what she likes. My loyalty is to the both of you and I'm not inclined to let somebody start throwing accusations like that at my friends. If push comes to shove, then I have your backs. I came here , because I hoped that if the worst came to the worst, then you would have mine too." The wizard doesn't elaborate, but does look up and hold eye contact with Katrin once again.

Katrin holds his gaze, her face expressionless for a few moments. Then it breaks into a smile, the first genuine smile she's given him since they'd met. "I've got your back, Sable. All others be damned." After a moment, she gives him a curious look. "If you don't mind my asking, what made you...adjust your appearance? You said your departure from Fireblade was a little rushed."

Maybe it's the alcohol, but a rare, relaxed smile spreads across Sable's face mirroring Katrin's, one that finally reaches his eyes and isn't thrown on to advance an agenda. "Somebody came looking for the man who Thrandimir used to be," the wizard admits with another nonchalant shrug. "It was time for him to disappear for a while."

Katrin nods, relaxing against the wall. "Peaceful out here. Away from...." she gestures at the tavern, not finishing her sentence. She didn't need to.

Sable rolls his eyes and downs the rest of his tankard, setting it down on the stone step and pushing himself to his feet with a groan. "Let's go get Ash. That boy gets too much time alone with his thoughts as it is."

She smiles. "He does indeed. Just around the corner here."  She steps into the alley with Sable close behind to where Ascian and Ember are still seated. She bends down, which given her height is not very far, and gives Ember a playful scratch on the ears. "Who's a good boy?" she murmurs to the wolf.   

Sable stands in the entrance to the alleyway, holding his staff with both hands and leaning on it heavily. "How are you, Ascian?" He asks with a gentle smile.

Ascian’s palms still from where they’d resumed kneading into his thighs after Katrin had left, his attention lifting slowly to drift over the dwarf engaging Ember and settle on the man at the mouth of the alleyway who is both right and wrong.  “I don’t know,” he says blandly, his fingers stiffly uncurling to rest stiffly atop his legs. A glance at Katrin again and then the wizard as he determines what must be happening. “Are you leaving.”

Sable gives Ash a puzzled frown. "What? No. Why would I be leaving? Katrin says that you need some mushrooms for your cleric. I'm here to help. Where can we find them?"

“You did before. It sounded like everyone is. After...” Ascian shrugs jerkily, gesturing just as vaguely in the direction of the corridors they’d recently vacated. He hesitates for a long moment, staring at the wizard, before a faint frown pinches his brow and he looks away. “Not far. I have a map.”

"I stayed in Fireblade a mere day longer than you, Ash," Sable replies with mild amusement. "What? Did you miss me? I'm touched. Really." For once, there isn't a hint of sarcasm in the wizard's words.  "Now, would you mind showing me this map? I'd like to understand where exactly it is that we're being sent."

“You were gone longer. I didn’t know you’d be here.” Ascian hands over the map reflexively, but it doesn’t erase the wary frown on his face as he looks back to the wizard again. “You didn’t tell me.”

"You were moving fast and I had no way to contact you," Sable explains, finding himself feeling a strange need to justify his absence to his friend. "I've spent the last week catching up to you,"  the wizard adds, as he examines the map before glancing back up at Ash. "Rest assured, I plan to stick around. I'd like to help you get to the bottom of this lost city business, if I can."

Katrin gives Ember another scratch on the ear, watching Sable pore over the map Ascian had given him. She looks at Ascian, noting the wary look in his eyes, like he's been caught in the middle of something, and doesn't know whether to run or stay. She hangs back a bit, absently stroking the wolf's soft, thick fur as she watches her friends. Friends. A week ago, she would never have considered Sable might be someone she could actually get along with. But here they are. Committed to the same cause, committed to each other. Rose would be proud. That thought alone brings a smile to Katrin's face.   

Ascian nods, accepting that reluctantly as he watches Thrandimir examine the map. It's stupid, perhaps, to believe him; Kaed had meant to stay once, and left just the same. Or perhaps, rather, it's foolish to hold them to their promise – everybody leaves. "Have you heard of it before," he asks at last.  "The city. Do you know why I...why it hurt him."

Sable shakes his head sadly. "I wish I could say that I had," he admits, while inspecting the map, " but it certainly wasn't your fault," the wizard adds, glancing up again to look at Ash directly.  "You had no way of knowing that it would have that effect on him - if you did, then you wouldn't have mentioned it." Sable rolls up the parchment and passes it back to Ascian. "We'd best take a whole day for the journey there and back. Would you like to set out in the morning?"

You had no way of knowing that it would have that effect on him - if you did, then you wouldn't have mentioned it. It's said so matter-of-factly for a long moment Ascian accepts it, believes it; something said with such authority must always be true. The unpleasant twist in his stomach is the only thing to say otherwise, and the further it sinks the further he can feel himself spiral. Slowly, he stands, taking the map back to busy himself with stowing it rather than watch where that millstone takes him. "Yeah." He forces his gaze back to the wizard's, at eyes that are familiar but not, before adding bluntly,  "How long do you have to look like this."

"Do you not like it?" Sable asks with a teasing smirk. "I can change it, if you prefer." With a flick of his hand, the wizard conjures a full length mirror on the wall of the alley. In it is not his reflection, but that of a thin man with sallow skin, a large, hooked nose and yellow, uneven teeth. He has shoulder-length, greasy black hair that frames his face and wears black, flowing robes. "I could be Vesures," Sable offers with a twirl to show off the alternative identity. He makes a new gesture and the reflection transforms into that of a distinguished, middle-aged man with greying temples, royal blue robes and an ostentatious scarlet cloak. "Or perhaps Phesten? Take your pick."

Katrin's relaxed position tenses. Her fingers curl into Ember's fur as the mirror appears, different versions of the same man flicking across it's surface. It was all starting to make sense now, and the memory of Thrandimir rushing out of the cavern back at the Tollanian retreat suddenly clicked in her mind. Her eyes narrow, deeply concerned, and she watches Ash carefully. Thrandimir, what the fuck are you doing, playing with his mind like this...

Ascian looks to the mirror, the considerable cracks of uncertainty within him at the wizard’s return widening into chasms.  The question of if this sense of fissure is what the man below had felt before he started laughing comes unbidden, and once it’s there he can’t push it out. Logically, he knows the face he’s familiar with is no truer than the ones being threatened. But to have it waved in front of him brings forth the sharp, acidic taste that directly precedes being sick.  Swallowing hard, he tilts slightly, steadying himself on the crate he’d just stood from and watching the red of that cloak twist in the mirror without regard for the fact it still darkens his knees. The word that comes is a mutter, bleary and dazed. “Stop.”

Katrin can feel something rising up in her chest. She leans down to Ember. "Go on. Go to him." The concern in her eyes only deepens, and as Ember pads his way to Ascian, she remembers why she'd disliked the wizard from the beginning. But he had sworn to help Ash. But how in the fuck was this even remotely helpful?

Sable's self-satisfied grin fades and his face falls when he sees how badly his display has affected Ascian. "I'm sorry, Ash,"  the wizard apologises quietly, brushing the illusion away with one hand. The mirror dissolves into wisps of smoke that quickly disperse on the wind. "If it helps, I can be Thrandimir again once I'm confident that he isn't being hunted. I'm here for you, no matter my face or my name." Sable's expression turns pensive and he conjures a new mirror. This time it shows a handsome man with sharp features and a hard, pointed chin. He's significantly younger than either Thrandimir or Sable, with dark hair and the same twinkling, grey eyes as both. "I gave you a name once and there's a face that goes with that one too. He's a hard part to play. One that I haven't tried my hand at in many years... but, if it's what you need, then maybe one day I could even be him too."

Katrin looks at Sable. Thrandimir. Whoever the fuck he was. And it finally made sense. "So this is who you are. He's a lot younger than you let on."

Ember's familiar fur brushing his hand refocuses his attention, battling back the nausea just in time to see the mirror disappear and reappear all in a matter of seconds. For a wild moment he thinks the parade of faces is going to begin all over again, but the one that's conjured seems to have staying power; Ascian looks from it to the elderly wizard in front of him and back, trying to wade through all the variables. "That's real?" His voice sounds uncertain even to his own ears. "You...why can't you be that one. The real one. Why is it hard." 

Sable sighs wearily and looks away from the mirror, rubbing the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger as the illusion fades from existence. "...because that's the one that the men who came to Fireblade were looking for. The nice thing about becoming somebody new is that you have no past to worry about. That and everybody underestimates an intoxicated old man."

Katrin takes a step back, looking at Sable, and perhaps for the first time, understanding him a little bit more. She understood what it meant to run from your past. "Sable...," Katrin starts, then stops, as if searching for the next words. "I know what it's like. Running from your past. Hoping it never catches up to you. And..." she stops again, taking a breath. "And if I need to fuck up some guys looking for Thrandimir, or whoever that guy was, I'll do it. Like I said. I've got your back. Both of you," she looks from Sable to Ascian. "We'll find your lost city, Ascian. I promise. And I know if I'm ever in trouble...I can count on you. Because...." she stops again, looking up at the sky. The only person she'd told was Akiran. And Sable and Ascian deserved to know, that something, someone, might be coming for her. "One day, my uncle will catch up to me, to my father. And he's going to finish what he started the day he created those godsforsaken weapons."   

The change of subject away from his own past and secrets seems to reinvigorate Sable's usual devil-may-care demeanour. "...and what exactly kind of 'godsforsaken weapons' will this dwarf be wielding when he catches up to you?" He asks with keen interest.

Her expression turns dark. "Guns." The word is sour in her mouth.

Lilli listened intently to Akiran as he speaks, absorbing all the words he speaks with a certain level of understanding that perhaps did not quite fit with the young woman. She lets out a world-weary sigh that is familiar to Akiran. "That is problematic with Thezra. I have known others with like-minded high ideals who were extremely dogmatic in their views and impossible to compromise with... I don't really enjoy people like that, but it also sounds like she doesn't even feel like she belongs here. I've only been with you for a day or so, but well, who am I to say anything more about that. But know this, Akiran."  She turns to look him in the eyes and places a light hand upon his armored forearm. " I trust you. I do not know it means anything to you or not, but you helped me in my time of need. Even if it was recompense, most would have left me to my fate. I do not know if I already to you thank you, but if it slipped my mind to do so... thank you. I do not think any of you can truly understand what terrible fate awaited me..."  Her words come slowly and fearfully as her eyes drift off the tunnel back towards the ritual chamber. She closes her eyes and takes a steadying breath before straightening her back and lifting her chin. "Well, let us continue onward. The others are likely waiting for us. Perhaps we can speak more of Ash while we walk."   With that, she begins walking forward talking with Akiran about their comrade. "I would like to help in any way I can, but I don't really know how to approach him. Do you think it would be better for me to just be here and offer my aid? Should I seek him out personally and offer my help? I would be keen to hear your thoughts on it."

But it's a lie.  The protest almost makes its way to Ascian's lips in response to the wizard, but Katrin's profession is faster. He does a slight double take, blinking at her as if sure he hadn't heard right, though for once he's also certain he did. "Your family made them." The frown that had begun with Thrandimir's reveal deepens. "Why."

She laughs bitterly. "Why does anyone make anything? Money. The latest technology in war and defense, and everyone wanted them. It tore us apart. I don't live on Hol anymore. Because of him. Because he was jealous that my father was the better smith." 

As Lili speaks Akiran's scales ruffle and eyes soften into a genuine dragonborn "smile". Despite himself he liked the kid, most in her situation would've given up or gotten themselves killed or caught. He knew far too well the pain of family turning their back, the loss of being exiled and abandoned from the place you thought was home. Shifting his snout into his approximation of a humanoid smile, as he walks with her. His voice kind and sincere "I know you didn't choose it but this life's a good fit for you. You got strong magics and know how to tear up the place with em. But most of all you kept a clear head. Grabbing the valuables and making peace, while I was too busy trading insults with Thezra." Placing an armored hand lightly on her shoulder  "You're good at this and will make a hell've an adventurerer, a storied sell sword or whatever ya choose to be."  His voice growing serious "But be careful  who you trust. I like you and the best word of advice I have, is only place your trust in your own power an' skills. I trust the armor I forged, the blade on my hip, and when all else fails the honeyed words I string together." With a weary grunt he adds  "Everyone has their own game, only way to survive is to play your own. But if it ever comes to it, know I've got your back"   Pausing for a moment he thinks on her question about Ash "honestly don't know. Ash keeps to himself mostly, though he sticks close to the wizard when he's around. I would ask Thr....Sable, and hope that the old man gives you a straight enough answer to help if he needs it."