Part 3: A reckoning rides from the west

RisenZed said: "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?" Glancing at Na'arik before looking back to Thrand  "Yea, I hope it's eatin em." Taking a seat he says  "I'm gonna listin to ya story, but dis conversation a'int over."

"Just because he doesn't  understand  what he did doesn't excuse doing it. Arguably makes it even dumber..."  Grumbling still, Thezra begrudgingly enters fully into the room, standing to the side of where Akiran sat. With a heavy sigh she motions to Na'arik to get on with it.

RisenZed  said: "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." Ascian takes that slowly, trying to match the statement up with the puzzle of Marianne’s words. Murder against sacrifice; horror against trauma. Yet it’s her profession before the story that his thoughts hook on to - the sentiment that had driven him to Faerus in the first place, and one it was easy to realize the sorcerer might have been a victim of too. I thought, by keeping you in the dark, I could save you from this. Did it apply to all of Estros too?  It didn’t make her a bad person. It made sense if she thought she was helping; he knew already she preferred ignorance to pain. But it wasn’t fair - she had to realize that now, didn’t she? That wasn’t her choice to make; not for him, not for Faerus, not for Estros. His nails dig into the beds of his thumb, scraping back skin into slivers as he thinks; on the edge of a precipice so narrow he thinks he can all but feel the point in his soles. “You didn’t answer. About if you were using me. Or how the crystals help Casimir.” 

Thrandimir nods to Na'arik as the pieces begin to fall into place. "I helped a friend," he scoffs at Thezra. "This memory enchantment that Na'arik speaks of was calling to Ascian. It was preventing him from remembering a forgotten city. It was important to him and this should have been his story to tell you, not mine." The wizard shakes his head, pacing back and forth besides the table and chairs. "That much, the scale of its power, and that the king had it hidden beneath his castle, we knew when we ended it. We just didn't know why this had been done to us in the first place. I still cannot recall the forgotten city. That 'why' is what I have asked Na'arik to explain. There is something larger at play here, in case the Lord Protector's interrogation didn't make that obvious."

"We were helping each other, Ascian," Faerus says. "Did I not say that I would give you the power to find your own answers?" The wizard's eyes dim from their glowing intensity. "If that counts as using you, then I'm not sure what doesn't." A noise on the ladder interrupts their conversation. "Here comes Casimir now," Faerus says. "The crystals are part of what traps us here. Weakening that trap means that I can free him more easily." "The forgotten city. Daerheim," he says, looking expectantly at the group. "Here's where I try to help you remember." He unfolds a map of the continent and spreads it out on the table, pointing to the western edge of the Heartlands. "Do you see Daerheim here? Right here, on the coast?"

Leaning in closely, Thezra squints her eyes. She could see where he was pointing, but there was no mark, no sign of any city. "I don't see anything in particular. There is a city here?"

"There," Thrandimir states firmly, emphatically jabbing his finger into the little dark point as the veil across is memory is finally pulled back. "I couldn't remember it yet when Ascian did, but now I see it."

Lilliana remains silent during the exchange, preferring silence to further conflict at this juncture. When Na'arik points at an empty spot on the map, she leans over and looks. "Nothing, as far as I can recall there has never been anything that way. All the cities stop at Timbervale."

Ascian falls quiet, the correction effectively silencing any protest that might have been forming. He looks to the creaking ladder and back, waiting for his brother to appear and looking intently at Faerus in the meanwhile. "Part of," he repeats at last,  "What else is trapping you here."

Na'arik nods. "Well, one of you got it," he says. "Trying too often too quickly can have...well...it can hurt. We can try again tomorrow. By then, Marianne should have Katrin out of prison and we can get the whole group together and lay it out on the table." "There's a barrier around the city itself," he says. "Mists and storms, plus thick forests that one might become easily lost in. Those, in addition to the rest of the crystals, are what traps us here." Casimir clambers up onto the roof. "Hey Ascian," he says, taking a seat next to his brother. "Are you okay?"

"If it's not the crystals, what gets rid of the mist?" Ascian asks with a slight frown, before his brother appears and the thought briefly leaves him. His stare is unyielding as his mirror settles beside him, scouring him for any sign of change since last they'd seen one another. He doesn't know if he's more relieved or surprised that nothing seems to have changed.  "I don't know," he admits hesitantly. "I broke a...crystal. Faerus says it's trapping you here." He glances quickly to the sorcerer and back. "But they think I did something terrible. In the other place. My friends. A sorceress. And a bishop. And a king." He trails off tentatively before ultimately shaking his head. "But it can't be both. I just don't know what to do."

Casimir shrugs. "I don't know," he says after a few moments. "Nothing changed for me. I don't think..." He trails off as he looks up at Faerus. "But if Faerus thinks it was a good thing, it probably was, right?" "The mists, regrettably, are a permanent fixture," Faerus says, interrupting the brothers' conversation before Ascian can answer. "But with determination and a bit of luck, they are traversable."

RisenZed said: Na'arik nods. "Well, one of you got it," he says. "Trying too often too quickly can have...well...it can hurt. We can try again tomorrow. By then, Marianne should have Katrin out of prison and we can get the whole group together and lay it out on the table." Lilliana shakes her head quietly, but then looks at Na'arik. "What type of magic would be required to make the entire world forgot a city existed? To not only erase it from history, but from every being's memory? And what would happen if someone decided they wanted to venture out west? There is plenty of forest out there and even coastline that could be used for expansion..."  she trails off as her gaze unfocuses for a moment, then snaps back to Na'arik. "Do they kill those that find out?"

Ascian follows Casimir’s gaze to Faerus, his brother’s faith unflappable. He wonders if it still will be, after the biggest question of all.  “She said you killed him. Is that true.”

"Strong magic," Na'arik says simply. "And they haven't erased it from the histories. I'd wager you've read about the city on many occasions if you studied at all. The memory of reading just doesn't stick. Same reason you can't find it on a map. The spell filters it out of your perception." He takes a long drink from his mug. "I don't think they kill people that wander too close," he says. "There are storms and mists and forests that people get lost in. Some of them probably die, yeah, but the rest likely just turn around and head home." "Killed whom?" Faerus says. "Casimir?" He laughs. "How can that be? He's sitting right next to you."

"Erased?"  Thezra reaches for her head reflexively, as if feeling for a wound scarred beneath the surface.  "Magic can erase.... that much?"  The enormity of such an act — the power required for it — it made her head hurt. She tried to picture it but the only image that came to mind was Rata. Her aunt moved about the room with an ingrained fluidity, weaving between tables and shelves of the cramped home to rummage for herbs and flowers Thezra couldn't recognize, pulling a foul-smelling substance out of one jar and what looked like a lizard's tail from another. Bounding up beside the table upon which she worked, Thezra's eyes barely made it over the top to watch as wisps of grey and yellow energy would flit about the room around them, but they grew wide in amazement every time. "You'll teach me that one day, right?" Back in the room she frowns, her thumb rolling uncomfortably back and forth across her fist. "What could be in such a city to warrant something like that?"

The man takes another drink, sets his cup down, and leans back in the chair he occupies. "Death."

Lilliana frowns. "What do you mean by that?"

"More than death alone," Thrandimir mutters just loud enough to be heard by the others who sit before Na'arik. "The power over death. Of death itself. Necromancy. It comes up again and again.  None of you were there at the Tollanian retreat, but the chromantic necromancy that we saw in the engram crystal there, the light in the Watcher's eye..." The way that Ascian's eyes glowed green when Callahan, Katrin, Kou and I divined him together, the wizard thinks, but does not say, also remembering the strange green crystal that the boy had brought back from his dreams so recently and the green light that swelled within the enchantment crystal before it shattered. "...it's all the same. It all fits together."

Ascian hesitates, looking slowly back to his brother. A brother he can’t prove; a brother he can’t touch. Gray meets green and he scours through it, imagining what it might be like to never see it again; to have searched this long for something only to watch it dissolve the moment he has his fingers around it. He scans through his twin, unblinking. One wrist is in Faerus’ grip and the other in Marianne’s and with his feet firmly planted he isn’t sure which way is safe to fall toward; doesn’t even know how to decide. Doesn’t think he can, really - not now, not with crystal shards scattered and the anger of a kingdom at his feet. The anger, he fears, of a group. So it has to fall to someone he trusts, if he isn’t to be rent in half. A final, searching look scans through Casimir’s eyes and his words are so soft he almost can’t hear them, even as they form across dry, cracking lips.  “Are you okay?”

"Thrandimir's right," Na'arik says. "You know why necromancy is frowned upon, and certain spells outlawed. There's a reason why, though few know it. There's more to tell, but it will be less painful if your mind is opened to it before I say it." He grunts, taking another sip of drink. "And I won't have to tell the story over and over again." "I don't know," Casimir says. He turns to face his brother, and the mirror of Ascian's own unsleeping weariness becomes sharper. No amount of vibrant green could make those eyes anything other than lifeless orbs. Casimir's face is gaunt and sharp, like Ascian's own, both yearning for nourishment and shunning it all the same. Then Casimir smiles -- faintly, but a smile all the same -- and the mirror fades. "I think so," he says, demeanor changing so quickly that Ascian isn't sure if he imagined the mirror or not.

A brief frown flits over Ascian's face but it fades as the smile overtakes Casimir's – everything and the only thing he'd needed to see. When next he looks to Faerus, his expression is void of uncertainty once more. "They won't let me near other crystals. Not after this."

"That's not your concern right now, Ascian," Faerus says. "I know you want to free your brother, but there are others that can break the other crystals. You've simply...opened the door for them. It's inevitable now."

He glances at Casimir, and there’s something awful and garish on Ascian’s face that almost passes for an attempt at a smile. It’s inevitable now. The relief is akin to letting loose a breath he’d been holding ever since he’d first stopped. ”What about Marianne. And the king. What if they try and make everyone forget again.” 

"Oh, they will try," Faerus says. "And they will fail." Faerus steps backwards off the roof, floating there in the air. "I'll leave the two of you alone," he says, disappearing out of sight.

A weary sigh of frustration can be heard from Thrandimir as he contemplates the conundrum of the memory enchantment. Rising, the wizard crosses to the map and weaves an illusion of a simple black dot, which he places of the Crossroads on the map. The marking is not dissimilar to those used to mark settlements on such maps. "Let me try something..." Thrandimir muses, turning to Akiran, Thezra and Lilliana. "Can you see this?" Slowly, he has the dot move along the road west from the Crossroads, past Fireblade, Baervale and out to Timbervale. "Still see it?" The dot drifts out further still, until it sits on top of Daerheim. "...and now?" Next, the wizard adds writing above the dot. The Forgotten City "It's right here." At last the illusory writing changes to mirror that of the true map. Daerheim

“No, there’s…” For a split second she swears she can make out what he’s talking about, but all at once the mark Thrandimir was pointing to vanishes along the path, and in its place a sharp surge of pain lashes out through her mind, like a knife stabbed straight through her temple. “Gah!” Clutching the sides of her head, Thezra shouts and stumbles back, eyes clenching shut as a feeling like a million little fires getting lit all at once races across her head. “What in the hellsー”

RisenZed said: "Oh, they will try," Faerus says. "And they will fail." Faerus steps backwards off the roof, floating there in the air. "I'll leave the two of you alone," he says, disappearing out of sight. Ascian watches the elf go –  he's not even an elf,  Marianne's voice whispers – and turns back to his brother only when the man's cloak has disappeared from view.  "I wish I could just stay here. It'd make everything easier. Nobody would have to get hurt."  He's quiet for a long moment, gaze on his knees as he picks needlessly at the grey skin edging his cuticles and wonders vaguely if it's possible to bleed here.  "I don't know how often I'll be able to come back here. I don't have much left. Of the drug. I'm trying to find more but it's....I'm trying." 

Casimir rolls his head to the side, looking intently at Ascian. "It's okay," he says. "Just like Faerus said, I'll be free soon. Then you won't need to come here. I'll be there ."  

Ascian's stubbed nails still from flaying their neighbors, glancing up to his twin. "That's true." The reminder cues that sweep of relief again, as if deep down he'd been afraid the news might upset his brother. "Then what. Do you think we'll eat again. Or breathe." He pauses. "Or sleep?"

"Maybe all three," Casimir says. "I hope we can sleep again. I miss that." He looks back at the dark landscape around. "And you can introduce me to your friends. I miss people ."

"Did you know some then, here?" Ascian's gaze follows his brother's as his shoulders settle from where tension had pinched them by his ears, the weight on them momentarily lifting. "What happened to them. Maybe we can save them too."

Lilliana sighs in frustration, but looks at the area Thrandimir indicates and shakes her head. “I still don’t see any—-“ she stops mid sentence as an excruciating pain bursts into her head and she recoils wordlessly, grasping at her head with both hands. This was nothing compared to having her leg ripped off, but the sensation was different and miserable in its own way. She takes a shaky breath as she recovers, but feels something wet trickling down her ears and wipes blood. “Is this what happened to that cultist in the sewers? Can this.. kill us like him?”  There is a look of genuine concern on her face.

"Oh," Casmir says. "I guess...seeing them through your eyes...people...you know..." His voice fades, shoulders slump. He sits for a while, staring at the tiled roof beneath them. "I guess you can't miss what you've never had, huh?" Na'arik nods. "I told you," he says. "Pushing against the enchantment too often is a good way to break your brain. If that cultist was already hurt, and he had heard lots of things that day that forced his mind to push against it..." Na'arik ends with a shrug, spreading his hands wide. "Could be."

Lilliana casts a simple Cantrip to clean the blood from her hands and ears, before nodding. “Then… maybe we don’t talk about it anymore for a while? That was unpleasant.”

Akiran's eyes follow Thrandamir's illusion, closely watching the magic dot move across the map. The Dragonborn's snout falls as it reaches  Daerheim. The gears in his mind slowly turning, as a sharp pain fills his forehead and the magic fades. With his mind ponderously forging the connection. Pointing at the dot he looks to Thrand  "I..I see it! I see Dar..." His gaze drifting to both Lilly & Thezra both recolling from the psychic onslaught.  After offering his flask over to Lilly, he turns to Na'arik  "Shoulda started wit da damn picture."

Ascian stills, his shoulders absorbing the tension Casimir's releases as guilt sweeps through him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean...I thought maybe..." He trails off, the words a paltry pittance for a situation he can't fix. "I'll bring you a wolf next time. Like Ember. There has to be a way to. It's not a person, but...sometimes that's better."

Thrandimir nods to Akiran in grim satisfaction, despite how the trio recoil from the psychic impact. "Hopefully Marianne will be here with Katrin before long. Then we can determine our next steps."

"You don't need to," Casmir says. "Not that I'd complain." He forces a chuckle, seemingly to stifle both his and Ascian's guilt. "I'm glad you have Ember, though. Everyone needs friends."

Lilliana takes the offered flask and winces at the strong alcohol that burns her throat. "Thanks, well, if that is all I think I'll get some sleep. This has been a very disappointing evening that I should like to move beyond. It seems everything is already well in hand with Katrin's release." She passes the flask back to Akiran and turns towards the door, but pauses there a moment. She looks at Akiran for a few moments as if having an internal debate before finally nodding to herself. "Akiran, would you mind walking me to my room? I'm still a bit unsteady on my feet with this new leg."

His head still smarting from the hard won knowledge, Akiran gently takes his flask back and after hearty sip says "Ya I'd be happy ta." Looking to Thrand, Thezra & Na'Arik "Sides we could all use a bit ah rest. Today's been ah another day wit this crew dat's best left forgotten." He then makes for the door holding out an armored arm for Lilly.

Lilliana takes the offered arm and allows Akiran to guide her back to the room she and Katrin had been sharing. She stares at the empty room for several moments, feeling for the first time something that she had not allowed herself to feel; loneliness. She turns abruptly to look at Akiran, staring into his oddly reptilian eyes. "We have have issues lately with trust and secrets... and I think I need to tell you something, but I hope this doesn't change what you think about me. Will you listen?"

Akiran scratches the scales on the back of his head, as his mind drifts back to the tragedy at the Cave & Lilly's transformation. The image of falling wings filling his eyes as he meets her gaze. "Ah I told ya 'fore I love a good story, an' I'll always hear ya out. Don't feel like ya owe me though, we all gotta past. Things dat may best be left forgotten. But if ya ready ta talk, I'll listen." His snout and scales twisting to be as comforting as he can muster.

She offers up a slight smile. "Well, it's not just about my past, but more that I've been lying to all of you about who I am and why those bounty hunters were after me."  She sighs heavily and sinks down onto her bed. She stares are her hands for several long minutes before she starts. "My name isn't Lilliana Peacemourn... and my father is not the owner of a logging company... My real name is Laurine Stargard, I'm... well, I was an aasimar, that means I have angel blood, but I do not know what I am now. You saw what happened to my wings in the cave," she swallows hard against the thickness in her throat and wipes at the wetness gathering in her eyes. "I used to be able to grow these beautiful feathered wings and I could fly, Akiran, but not anymore. I left my home years ago, I was a silly child, but everyone knew what I was and they all wanted something from me. People would travel to our home from miles and miles around and would beg me for anything you can think of; healing their sick and wounded, ending debates, they even thought I could bring the dead back to life! It was awful, I was just a child, I couldn't do any of those things, but no one would believe me. My siblings hated me, my parents wanted me to be a symbol... I just wanted to be me... to be a kid... There was this voice that used to talk to me, I don't know exactly who it was, but I think it was an actual angel maybe? It would push and push and push, always expecting me to give more and more.... For the 'greater good' it used to say. I had been given a gift and it was my responsibility to use that gift for good. I couldn't take it anymore and I ran away. I spent the last several years living off the streets, but then I started hearing about people searching for 'the angel girl from Timbervale'. I wanted to know who was looking for me, and what I found out about them terrified me. I learned how to fake identities and fled. I became someone else. I kept moving from town to town from city to city, everytime this mystery group would find me. And that's how I ended up in Crossroads, but they still found me here... when you all saved me. This was the closest they'd ever come to actually catching me... No, that's a lie... They almost had me in Fireblade, my last identity before Lilliana... That was when my powers manifested..." She finally takes a deep breath and sighs in relief at the flood of words that had just poured forth from her. "I'm sorry, once it started, I could not stop..."  She looks at Akiran, watching his face and eyes carefully for his reaction. 

Akiran's scales ruffle in confusion and for a moment after Lilly finishes silence reigns. His clans elder rattled on and on about Tempus and his works but despite all his prattling never really discussed Angels & Aasimar. Seeing the relief & question on Lilly's face, Akiran lets out a low whistle. Adding in jesting tone with a friendly undercurrent to it  "Didn't know ah was in the presence of a holy woman. Shit dunno why we wasted time wit da king, coulda just hit the temple district!" Patting her on the shoulder, with a friendly laugh. "I'm glad ya told me. But I don't gotta clue what da hell an Angel is. Always thought it was a racket.  Buddy in da Legion, ran an angel hustle. Used to pull it on some of da villagers we came across. A bit of magic an' some honeyed words and he left town wit a fat pouch.  His voice turning sincere   "But yer not fakin. It wouda been impossible after what happened ta ya in the cave. Doesn't matter though, ya don't owe anybody but yaself. Though ya gonna need to deal wit whoever's chasing ya. Do ya know who they are or why they want ya?"

Lilli... or should she start thinking of herself as Laurine again? let out the sigh she'd been holding in and felt a tension release itself from her belly that she had not been aware of. She had been utterly terrified he would simply turn on his heels and walk out on her without a word, cutting himself off from the liar and charlatan whom had been hiding within their midst for the last few days. "Thank you, Akiran... I don't really know. All I do know is the rumors I had heard involved awful rituals, most of them. No one ever seemed to know exactly who they were or why they wanted those like me, but I do know that they are looking for others like me and those they catch are never seen again. I've been too terrified to investigate further for fear of drawing attention to myself, but I now fear that perhaps I may have lost my only opportunity with the bounty hunters. I've only ever kept running whenever they got too close, but whoever they are... they have influence. When they nearly caught me in Baervale..."  she stops and steadies herself. 'Let it all out.'   "The one who caught me, and knew my name, was a town guard. He grabbed me from behind and the terror I felt... I think that is what awoke my powers. As I screamed, I felt this... pressure? rapidly building up inside me and I just sort of lashed out and forced it out of me? It unleashed an explosion of energy that destroyed the guard's arm all the way up to his shoulder. I can still see the stunned look on his stupid face before he started screaming in agony and I ran... When I left for Crossroads, I felt different, I felt.... confident. I felt like I would never need anyone else ever again. Until the bounty hunters found me and I did need others; you and The Fireblades . I'm terrified of losing this group and it makes me lash out. I don't know what to do, Akiran. Should I tell the others? Should I keep this secret?"

Meeting her eyes "Don't give that fuck another thought. Like ah told ya in the cave, the only way to survive is to play your own game. Guard put his hand on ya & tried to turn ya in. Now he doesn't have hands" Shrugging "Seems fair ta me, shit he's lucky he's alive. He'd a turned ya in without another thought, don't waste ya time on em." Growing thoughtful "Ya gotta make that choice yourself. Only thing I'll say, is that you should definitely talk ta Marianne. She's smart, may be able ta tell ya more about da whole angel thing. For da rest of em, they've all got their own game running right now ya gotta decide if it's worth it bring em in." Pausing for a moment he adds "I got ya back though kid, bounty hunters, guards, monsters whoever da hell it is. If ya find out who's coming for ya, I'll help ya take em down." 

She smiles up at Akiran; she liked him a lot... he felt like the older brother she always wanted to have. "Thanks Akiran, I feel like you're the only one that wants me around. Thezra is growing on me, but the others... I dunno. I knew I should have never trusted Thrandimir, I know his kind, but The Pale One, well... it's like you said, they have their own game running. Maybe one day I'll trust them enough to share, but Katrin knows some of this. She knows about my angel blood, but not the rest of the lies. I think she has enough to deal with. I'd like to meet this Marianne, seems like I'll get to soon, I hope. I hope she will have some answers for me, or at least give me a direction to go to find them. That's why I was so mad when tonight was ruined. I was this ," she holds her thumb and index finger infinitesimally close to one another. "close to getting some answers. I had my plan. I was going to sweet talk the King and his mom into giving me access to the library and I was going to find out about my powers... I almost told her the truth. I think I was going to tell her my real name in hopes that perhaps she would have known something. She seemed very smart, but she also seemed kind of bitchy. She had some very strong opinions about my lack of 'formal training'." She laughs. "I've come to the same conclusion that Na'arik has about wizards; I don't particularly like them." She grins as she gestures and a gust of wind swirls around her, kicking her hair up and sending the sleek fabric of her dress rippling.

RisenZed said: "You don't need to," Casmir says. "Not that I'd complain." He forces a chuckle, seemingly to stifle both his and Ascian's guilt. "I'm glad you have Ember, though. Everyone needs friends."  It's not unlike what the bishop had told him, and Ascian takes it with an uncomfortable roll of his shoulder. The morning loomed heavy and even here, where it didn't matter, he dreaded waking up.  "Me too. You do too, technically. If he's part of me. Since that came from you."

Chuckling "Yea ya gotta be careful with da smart ones. Good to run a racket with but" Nodding back towards where they left Thrand "Bein' able to read a book or two, don't mean you've got common sense." "Ah was hoping to get a bit more face time with da Nobles I know we both had somethin' we wanted out of it." Shrugging "It'll be good to find out what da hell they were thinking." Shaking his head and draining the last of the flask "But dat's not today's problem. Get some sleep tomorrow's gonna be a shit show."