Part 3: A reckoning rides from the west

“That it’s bad. Someone named Vecna. She doesn’t know how or why, and says it may not even really be my brother with him.” The words are a toneless mantra, each one passing his lips like a recitation. When his pale eyes lift to Anastasia as she sits, he says plainly, “You wanted to cut me off from there. Shadowfell.”

Lilliana steps up with a nod, a little unsteady on her prosthetic leg on the cobblestone roads. "Lilliana Peacemourn. So, you know what's going on here?"

RisenZed said: "I suppose I'm here to rescue you," Marianne says. "What do you know about why you've been imprisoned?" Katrin's grip tightens around the bars. "Because I know about Daerheim. Where it is. That's its always been there. The King put me here to protect me. And everyone else. That's what he said," she says bitterly. 

sansasnark  said: “That it’s bad. Someone named Vecna. She doesn’t know how or why, and says it may not even really be my brother with him.”  The words are a toneless mantra, each one passing his lips like a recitation. When his pale eyes lift to Anastasia as she sits, he says plainly,  “You wanted to cut me off from there. Shadowfell.” "I did,"  Ana says.  "I thought that's what you wanted, too. When you came to me, you were so concerned that there was something wrong with you." "I know a little about a lot of things,"  Na'arik says.  "I'm Na'arik, bartender at the Fireblade Tavern and Inn a week's ride west of here. Between here and Baervale. Nice to meet you, Lilli." "Dammit," Marianne mutters. "I can get you out of here, but it may take me a while. I have to undo the runes that hold this anti-magic field in place, and to do that, I need to be inside the mansion. Sit tight."

“I was. There is,” Ascian responds with a frown. “But that was before I knew my brother was there. I can’t lose him.”

“Na’arik and his partner Marianne helped the others - and me - take the traitor Duar’ken down and end the famine.”  Thezra keeps her eyes on the man as she explains. It was only now that she realized the oddness in him being here  of all places though. His words from that night echo back in her mind.  This isn't a challenge. It's just how it is. Make a move, and you die.   “They are both more capable than they may seem, too."  She thumbs behind them towards the door.  " Akiran and the old man are back inside still.  What  exactly is it you do know?”

Tegan J. said: Akiran's scales flex with a hint of frustration as Thrand mentions letting go of his anger. But before he can react Thrand mentions that Marrianne was the one who busted the Pale One out. "Dat's great news! Marianne's smart 'nough to solve dis shit, and get Kat out." Reaching into his pack he pulls out a flask and takes a long pull, before looking at it and then Thrand. With anger still clear across his snout, he passes the flask over to Thrand after a moment of hesitation. "We gotta tell da others. Get e'eryone together and figure out what da hell happened."  Thrandimir takes the flask and drinks, more because he knows what it means to Akiran than anything else. "Ascian will explain when he arrives; it's not my story to tell. Marianne likely has more information as well. You can go running after Lilliana and Thezra if you want, but if they want to talk then they can come and find me themselves. It was their  decision to walk away."

"Don't take too long. I don't want to the King to fuck with my mind." Katrin releases the bars on the window, noticing the rusty red blood stains left behind on the metal. She looks at her still-shackled hands. "Just get me out of here. I hate this place."

"That's the one we killed again beneath the tavern right? Seems like just the kind of people I need to know now that my only other avenue to learning has now been utterly destroyed by those two fools." She shoots a glare over her shoulder towards where Thrandimir was only moments before. "They do not think about anyone, but themselves. It's... infuriating."  Then that little voice in her head. 'Like you do? Hypocrisy, Laurine.' 

Akiran's scales tighten and the grinding of talons against metal can be heard once again from his fists.  "I...ya"   Snatching his flask back he says  "Are ya fuckin serious?! Ya insulted em, refused tell em anything, and whatever da fuck ya two did killed our chance ta get in good wit da king. Lilly didn't get ta learn about her people, and I didn't..." His hand going unconsciously to the cursed mark on his arm. Shaking his head  "Do what da fuck ya want, we'll find Marianne on our own."

"They threw the first stones, Akiran," Thrandimir tells the dragonborn calmly. "If they can't take it, then they shouldn't dish it out. I have no quarrel with you, but I will not roll over for a hidebound orc and an entitled little girl."

Akiran shakes his head "Ya don't think dat whatever ya did was throwing da first stone? Ya know we wanted ta sweet talk da king, and ya did whatever da hell ya did any way. Course da kid's mad, ya blew up her chance." Throwing up his hands "It's damn lucky we're all not rotting in da King's cells. Hell most nobles 'ld have our heads heads,  for trespassing in their castle."  Taking another swig from his flask before putting it away "Ya owe em both an apology. Thezra may be an acquired taste, but she's good people. & the kid doesn't deserve dat type of stone throwin." Meeting his eyes "Marianne's gonna have Kat out 'n free quick. Ya say she's yer leader, ya think she'll be happy if ya tear apart the blades?"

sansasnark said: “I was. There is,” Ascian responds with a frown. “But that was before I knew my brother was there. I can’t lose him.” "Ascian, you have to know that I would never have tried to separate you from your brother," Ana says. There's sympathy on her face, but it's marred by something else. Ascian isn't sure what. "You were almost ready to run from the church even before Byer called you out." It's phrased as an observation, but it's clearly a question. "I know that your group has gotten itself involved with the exact thing we hoped you wouldn't get involved with," Na'arik says. "I don't know which two fools you're talking about, but I imagine there's more to the story." Marianne grimaces through the barred window. "They won't do anything until they repair the crystal. That could take weeks. It took them two full months to replace the one in Holdfaer twenty years ago. I..." She stops, her gaze turning up to the sky for a moment before a small smile crosses her face. "I think I know how to get you out."

Thrandimir barks a laugh at the irony. "Katrin has no love for the king and Marianne can likely tell Lilliana more than the queen mother ever could. Besides, this was Ascian's venture, not mine. No, those two have been unpleasant and unfriendly since the day that we met. I'm in no hurry to bend over backwards for them. Let them apologise and we shall see."  

With a sigh of exasperation Akiran makes his way to the door. As he twist the handle he looks back with a look equal parts anger & annoyance  "Don't hold yer breath." 

"I know that your group has gotten itself involved with the exact thing we hoped you wouldn't get involved with,"  Na'arik says.  "I don't know which two fools you're talking about, but I imagine there's more to the story." "Like I said,"  she folds her arms across her chest,  "the boy and the wizard." "Ash and Thrandimir snuck off in the middle of a meeting with the king and never returned. Then suddenly an odd feeling came over the place, the king got all serious, and we were hauled off to be questioned over some forgotten city."  She starts to pace, recounting the events of the evening with frustration dripping through each word.  "We were let go, but Katrin is being held prisoner by them, the boy is nowhere to be seen, and the smarmy dukhal  in there claims his frail little form was innocently busy filling a privy all that time."

RisenZed said: sansasnark said: “I was. There is,” Ascian responds with a frown. “But that was before I knew my brother was there. I can’t lose him.” "Ascian, you have to know that I would never have tried to separate you from your brother," Ana says. There's sympathy on her face, but it's marred by something else. Ascian isn't sure what. "You were almost ready to run from the church even before Byer called you out." It's phrased as an observation, but it's clearly a question. "Yes," Ascian blinks at her slowly. There was no use pretending anymore. "I thought you'd sent us there on purpose. Sent me, to bring them. And then Lilliana lost her leg." He's quiet for a moment, scouring the face of the goliath. "What would you have done if you'd known. About my brother. What will you do about it now."

"I've never been the biggest fan of wizards," Na'arik says as Akiran enters the hall. "Sounds like the group of you need to sit down and have a talk. With all parties present. Nobody left out, nobody unable to speak for themselves." "Ascian, if I had known that girl would have lost her leg, I would never have sent you out there," she says. "What have you seen that would make you think this way?" She shakes her head. "I don't know what I can do about your brother. I'd try to heal him if I could, if he were here in front of me. But he's not. You are." She pauses, unsure what to say next. Eventually, she begins with, "Isn't there anybody you trust? If you don't take a leap and trust someone -- anybody -- your life will be short and miserable. And lonely."

He shrugs awkwardly, one shoulder and then the other. How can he say it already is ? But that's not true, exactly. There were people he trusted.  He thinks of Faerus, of Thrandimir; of Casimir and Katrin. Ember most of all. "I trust people," he says uncomfortably. "There's just...a lot of it I don't know what it is. And what people might think. Or how to explain."

The desire to ignore the man and continue forward, leaving the old man behind her for good, pulls strongly at Thezra. The same thoughts that she thought she'd buried just days ago — to leave all of them and go about her goals alone — is tempting.  Extend a bridge expecting allies to defend it and it is your enemies that cross it instead.   Ugh.   What would Rata say to that? Something even dumber? Extend no bridge and your enemies will simply sail across?  She shakes her head.  "The funny thing is I always wanted to be a mage when I was younger..."  she mutters under her breath as she turns to lead Na'arik back. Her thoughts lost in a mire of her own making, she practically slams into Akiran as the man walks out towards them.

Katrin looks up from her hands, a frown crossing her face. "What exactly did you have in mind?" She desperately hoped that it didn't involve flying.

His snout still looking behind him, Akiran finds himself colliding Thezra, & being reminded yet again how large the warrior truly was. Before he can apologize he spots Na'arik, his snout twisting into a smile. "Good to see ya Na'rik! Happy ta see that you & Marianne are really here ta help us outta dis shit storm! Ya gotta spot in Crossroad? We need ta lay low, after e'erything dat went down today."

Lilliana mutters beneath her breath. “…it’s not all that glamorous…”  She slumps her shoulders her a heavy sigh. She’d been so close to possibly getting some answers, so close… and then just like that, it was gone. Somehow having the bait ripped away was even worse than not even knowing where to find the answers. “Can’t say I’m much of a fan of any wizards I’ve met so far either.” She says to this newcomer, this Na’rik, but if Thezra and Akiran trusted him, he was good enough for her.  ‘Trust…’ She looks at Akiran sidelong and feels a twisting pang in her insides. ‘What do you know about trust? You’re just a child… just a stupid, ignorant child like that old prick said… you should never have sent Barackles away. You thought you didn’t need anyone? You were wrong. They would have known what to do… or perhaps that other one?’

"If you trust them, you shouldn't have to worry about what they think," Ana says. "But if you have people you trust, then you need to confide in them. You have a massive weight on your shoulders. You don't have to bear it alone." "I always stayed away from mages," Na'arik says with a small laugh. "Until I needed one." He turns to Akiran. "Yeah, we've got a place here. I'll take you all there after I've heard from Marianne. No need to act suspicious until there's a reason to." He looks up at the sigil above the door -- the flaming sword. "Nice sigil." "You won't like it," Marianne says. "But you'll dislike it less than sitting in that cell for a few weeks. But here's what I'll propose to the Lord Protector: that you and your group will help track down one of these crystals if you are released. I'll make sure you're compensated, too."

The frown turns into a scowl. "Yeah, you're right. I don't like it." She takes another look around at her cell. "What makes you think they're even going to let me out with this....knowledge in my head?"

“They think I did it all on purpose,” he replies, unable to look at her and instead studying the straw stacked across the barn. “Or that I’m a demon. Or possessed.” He thinks again of the church altercation she’d just spoken of, and the blazing accusation in Akiran and Thezra’s eyes. “I don’t even know if I am.” 

"You're not old enough to remember the dangerous parts," Marianne says. "I'll be persuasive." "A demon?" she says, sounding confused. "You aren't possessed, you've been mislead." 

He shrugs again, looking down at his hands. “It’s what the argument was. In the church.” 

"I hope so," Katrin mutters under her breath. She looks again at Marianne.  "What about everyone else? Is Ash okay?"

"Regardless, you're not possessed," she says. "If it were possession, I'd be able to tell. And I could fix it." "Ascian is as well as can be," Marianne says. "I have him hiding out in a isolated place."

He nods numbly, dragging his hand roughly down his face if only so he doesn’t have to look at anything else. Think about anything else. It all seemed so clear an hour ago and now… “What happens now. How many remember the city.”

Katrin nods, a wave of relief washing over her. Ash was safe. Presumably, everyone else was in a similar state. She looks at Marianne through the bars. "I'm glad he's safe." She moves to sit on the edge of the cot, rage and despair replaced by the buzz of anticipation and nerves. "Tell him I'm okay." 

Ana shrugs. "I really don't know the specifics," she says. "I just broke through the spell myself, back at the church, when Deacon Byer pulled me aside." "I will," Marianne says. "You'll be free soon."

“He wanted to kill me,” he states, a question that isn’t a question. “What would that have done. How did he know? Have there been others like this. Like me.”

"I don't know, Ascian," she says. "I just don't know. The church likely had some part in the initial creation of the enchantment. Maybe that's how he knew."

He nods shortly, forcing himself to stand. “Okay. Thanks. And I’m sorry.”  He doesn't wait for a response before moving, floating aimlessly about the barn until the goliath's attention had drifted. Making for the ladder, he climbs it quietly toward the roof, already fishing for the vial in his pouch. Do you have more questions? Marianne had asked. Many , he'd wanted to say. But not for you.

Ascian awakes in that strange non-space between waking and sleeping. Faerus is already there -- still in his ornate blue robes, with his closely cropped goatee. But now, his eyes glow with a blazing green color. He smiles. "Welcome back, Ascian," he says. Na'arik turns around and walks into the Fireblades' dorm. "Thrandimir," he says, nodding slightly to the wizard. He looks back to where Akiran, Thezra, and Lilliana stand in that limbo between having just left a room and now being invited back in. Na'arik sits and puts his feet up on the central table. "Do you have anything to drink?"

Ascian sits up slowly, glancing around for his brother before back to Faerus and those glowing geeen eyes. He’s quiet for a moment before asking, “Is it true.”

"Na'arik," Thrandimir acknowledges, rising and crossing to shake the warrior's hand, before passing him a goblet and a pitcher of wine. "Good to see you. Is Marianne still with Ascian?"

"Which part, specifically?" Faerus inquires.  "I'm sure the truth has been stretched many times over." "As far as I know, she is," Na'arik says, taking a large gulp from the goblet. He clears his throat. "I'll say this for you all, you don't operate in half-measures. You didn't just kick the hornet's nest this time, you lit it on fire."

Ascian doesn’t climb to his feet, the thought tertiary to all the questions chasing one another in his head as he scours past the glow of those bright green eyes. “About Daerheim. That you killed everyone. That you used me.” That he even has to ask the question is more painful than he can admit to, after Faerus had been the only one with answers he’d been able to trust. He glances again to his surroundings, a powerful old anxiety beginning to grow. “Where’s Casimir.” 

RisenZed said: "Which part, specifically?" Faerus inquires.  "I'm sure the truth has been stretched many times over." "As far as I know, she is," Na'arik says, taking a large gulp from the goblet. He clears his throat. "I'll say this for you all, you don't operate in half-measures. You didn't just kick the hornet's nest this time, you lit it on fire." "I'd take that as a compliment, but it was really all Ascian," Thrandimir replies with a wry chuckle. "All that I did was help a friend in need. However, if the reactions of the three outside are anything to go by, then I expect that they'd also rather that you didn't give them any credit. They're quite intent on distancing themselves from the whole matter. Can you explain what exactly the boy did down there? I have an idea of the scope and power of the enchantment involved. The implications are staggering, but I have no idea what it was actually all for ."

"Shocking, you did do something afterall."  Thezra leans against the doorframe, arms still crossed. "How can I distance myself from something when I don't even know what happened still."

Thrandimir rolls his eyes. "Don't you have something to stab?"

"Don't you have a privy to return to?"  Her eyes narrow,  "Being as full of shit as you are."

For the first time that Ascian can remember, Faerus' prideful stance -- back straight, shoulders rolled back, head held high -- falters. His shoulders slump, his head hangs ever so slightly. "Daerheim..." he begins, seeming to struggle to find the right words. "Daerheim was a mistake. I never intended to hurt all those people." He frowns to himself, searching for where to go next. "I needed energy for my experiment -- the energy of life itself -- but I unfortunately miscalculated. I had gathered ten men from the city dungeons -- rapists, murderers, and the like -- and had planned to use them. Once the experiment began, I tried to stop it. But before I could, it consumed them and more. My friends, colleagues, everyone I knew. It may have consumed the whole world had I not directed its energy into myself." He hangs his head fully, defeated. "I tried to save them, I did. But I wasn't strong enough." He snaps out of his reverie. "Casimir. Right...he was waiting in your normal spot. He'll be here soon." Na'arik snorts. "Are you two done?" he asks, looking back and forth. "Or do you want to wave your pride around for a few more rounds while the safety of the entire fucking world hangs in the balance?"

"The... world—"  Thezra's eyes flash wide for but a second, then coil inwards, her right eye twitching as the simmering rage she'd felt at Thrandimir's constant deflections — and now Na'arik's — boils over.  "I've asked the two of you damn near half a dozen times combined now to just say  what happened but you both haven't said a krutak'ug  thing! What  did they do that puts the world  in danger?"

" The implications are staggering, but I have no idea what it was actually all for ." Akiran's eyes widen and his snout drops as the words leave Thrands mouth. For a moment he stares in disbelief before quietly almost inaudibly saying "Ya didn't know what it was for..."  As Na'arik mentions the safety of the world Akiran's roars at Thrand  "Ya don't even know what da fuck ya did. And have the damn nerve ta show us all disrespect. Ya supposed to be smart, and ya fucked the world without even knowing it."  Turning to Na'rik "I respect ya but fuck, this isn't on Thezra. Thrand ya fucked up own it an' we can move on"

Ascian finally pushes himself to his feet. The explanation for Casimir made sense; his brother himself had told him he had to physically follow. It leaves the same twinge of guilt now that it had then, of making him have to uproot at a moment’s notice. Not for the first time he reaches down for Ember, fingers flexing uncomfortably at his side when they instead brush air. It’s another long moment watching the sorcerer before his shoulders too begin to sag beneath the shared weight they carry. He knew all too well the pain of being misconstrued and misunderstood. “Did you try to tell them?” He thinks of Ana’s comment, of you have to trust someone and wondering if that was where Faerus had had trouble. “They said I did something awful. And the crystal…you wanted me to break it. What did it do for you. And for Casimir.” 

"Thrandimir has little more idea what he did than you do,"  Na'arik says.  "And it's eating him alive inside, not knowing."  He gets to his feet, and motions for Akiran and Lilliana to sit down.  "I'm going to tell you a story. As I tell it, your mind is going to try to overcome a memory enchantment woven into the world itself. Are you all prepared to listen?" "I tried," Faerus says. "I tried even as they marched their armies down the street to kill me." He shakes his head again. "They framed me as a great evil when I defended myself. The crystal is part of the enchantment they used to not only contain me, but make the entire world forget about this great city and its people -- I suppose to spare them the trauma. Breaking it was the first step to releasing me from my prison."