It was a relief when the last of those creatures finally died and they were able to find the source of the moaning sound. It was a disturbing sight that awaited them at the end of the moaning voice. It seemed they had found Count Lowls, or at least part of his mind, and maybe some answered to what had happened to them.
Momijii nearly knocked the crazed shard's hands from her but restrained herself. You didn't beat a creature because it was afraid, that only engendered more fear, you did what you could to calm it. She began to hum quietly, a calm tune that seemed to come to her from somewhere she couldn't remember, and shifted to rub one hand long his back as soothingly as she could while they questioned him.
The only thing that niggled at something she could remember was the name "Carcosa" but Momijii couldn't place where it was she remembered it. "Carcosa, isn't that where we first met, in that strange nightmare?"
Responding to Momijii:
I don't remember anything like that, but... my memory hasn't been very good lately, so it could have happened.
Responding to Lowls:
What is the poet, and if you are telling the truth and we are marked, what will happen to us?
Zandomir nods at Zarine's question to Lowls and adds, "Please tell us everything you know. I'm trying to save you, but you're in bad shape. If you die, whatever information you share now might be our only clues to solve whatever it is that's been happening. I'm ready for this whole affair to be over, but we need help if that's going to happen."
Looking distinctly queazy and wracked with a coughing fit, it takes Lowls a good few minutes before he is able to answer, "Who is the Poet? Why are you even here if you don't know? Surely you must have my notes, it's all in there somewhere... Abdul Alhazzred or The Mad Poet as he is called, the one penned the Necromincon. Hmm I believe I may have stolen that, oh dear. Anyway if not the most powerful being in the dreamlands, he is well up there. He took your memories in payment, and to save your lives or so I thought and so I hoped. You seemed hale after if a little mad but now it has taken hold again. The alien seed will take over little by little, invading your dreams and your body. The call ones such as us as Seeded. The spoors in your mind will slowly transform you into an undead abomination and twist you to his cause. And all transmission takes is a word, his name which I will not mention here. A word that consumes your dreams. A words that resonates across the cosmos and across time to places where even the dark tapestry does not lead... We're kind of f***ed."
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Zandomir takes in as much of what Lowls says as possible. He hopes his companions are comprehending more though, because he's still mostly clueless as to what's going on. Part of him still wishes he had his memories, but the other part knows he's probably better off remaining ignorant.
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Xamen-Dor, the Inmost Blot. A vile being that infects and distorts reality to feed it's mad designs. The Cult of the Blot is as insidious as it is perfidious. If it is the Cult of the Blot we face, I will study their methods and we will defeat them. Fire, steel and blood.
Lowls cringes when Heinrich mentions the name of the Inmost Blot, "NEVER SAY THAT NAME! Unless you wish to spread untold misery!"
He took our memories and then didn't cure us is what you are saying? Sounds like ... wait. An undead? This is turning me into an undead? And there isn't anything we can do about it? Can't we go to a temple or something?
Looking decidedly ill, Lowls is taken by another coughing fit which wracks his body. When it passes he groans before answering, "In the short term yes a temple can help. But you all heard that name so long term... Well we don't have a long term." He punctuates this with another coughing fit, bringing up flecks of blood before rasping, "If only the damn amnesia worked like the scroll said it would."
What scroll? Isn't there a way out of this, like killing myself and getting buried in consecrated soil or something? I'm not becoming undead.
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Zan nods at most of Zarine's words and says, "I can't condone suicide, but perhaps we could force reincarnations... or something? Resurrection magic isn't something I'm familiar with quite yet. I do find it difficult to believe that there's nothing we can do. Desna's power, for instance, is quite great. Perhaps we could use a scroll to contact her or her herald, or someone similar. I refuse to give in to despair. I know that much."
Lizzie's looking left and right as the othets speak up, before tossing a questioning look at Heinrich.
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Momijii just shrugged at the Lizzie's rejection of her thought and listened intently to what the man was saying as she knew this was going to be incredibly important. That they were turning into undead was more than a bit disturbing to her and she was determined not to let that happen. Still, something about this all bothered her, something that didn't make sense to her, and she tried to determine what it was.
Unfortunately she simply couldn't make sense of what it was. She suspected she might know of someone who could though, if they could reach her, and said, "I might know of someone who could help us, if we can find a way to reach out to her. When I died there was a being that provided some aid in returning who called herself Ansed." Momijii paused as she worked to remember the details, "She helped me successfully return to the living and foil the cultist's plot, she may be able to aid us but she is under certain restrictions so I can't say for sure."
Lowls looks curiously at Momijii. Between coughs he splutters, "Ansed. That's a curious name, it seems all twisted about..."
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Momijii considered what Lowls said about Ansed's name being all twisted about and worked on figuring out what he meant. She began scratching the letters in the air, focusing her imagination to try and make them appear. As she did she tiwsted the name around in her mind and then turned the letters so they were the right direction and when she realized the being's real name her eyes about popped out of her head.
Momijii's fingertips drifted up to her lips as she blushed slightly and exclaimed, "I...I don't know how I missed this before!" She looked shocked as she considered the implications of what she'd asked of the being and how badly that could have gone for her. It also explained why the kiss was the best one she'd ever had. "Alright, maybe my suggestion won't work as I don't think she would appreciate being summoned like that. Still, maybe I can at least ask her for whatever guidance she could give us." While the others thought Momijii focused inwards and began to pray.
Momijii hesitated and then finished, And if for some reason we don't make it through this, please find a way to let Aiko, trapped all this time at the court of Viscount Pietro Brellin in the dreamlands, that I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise to return to her one day.
Watching Momijii, Zarine thought that prayer was a good idea, and she got down on her knees and asked Sarenrae sincerely if there was a way the undead blight could be cured, or failing that, burned by Sarenrae's holy fire out of her body. Death was preferable to undeath, by far.
Lowls watched the display of piety curiously, occasionally spluttering as the alien disease tormented him. Nothing happened for a long while as the debate over what to do raged back and fourth and the mood soured and turned to despair with apparently no way out short of suicide.
The glade suspended high on a branch upon an impossibly tall dreamlands tree remained quiet, and bathed in the waning light of a distant sun. It took a long time for evening to come and slowly the hush of the day gave way to exotic sounds of the night. The forest abounded with nocturnal life although none of the larger creatures dared to approach you heard their raucous calls as they crashed about up in the distant canopy.
A moon rose alien and white with a face that looked vaguely like a man if you squinted and it's pale light bathed the glade giving it an ethereal otherworldly appearance. Various insects buzzed to life, darting this way and that.
Hey guys, I found a cocoon. Come and see.
Momijii noticed nothing but she snapped out of her meditative state immediately on hearing Zarine speak. She went over towards where the woman was and looked at what she found. Sure enough it was a cocoon and she wondered what kind it was. She looked at Heinrich and Zandomir and asked, "Any idea what kind of creature this is from?"
Zandomir joins Momijii and Zarine in prayer. Perhaps his presence will in some small way increasing the likelihood of Desna replying.
As Zarine points out the butterfly, Zandomir says, "That's not just any cocoon. It belongs to a swallow-tale butterfly. Surely this is a sign from Desna herself. Perhaps we still have hope. Perhaps... perhaps is she saying we need to undergo some transformation? She can't be referring to becoming undead. Maybe it's something else?"
As Zandomir considers the quagmire they've found themselves in, he realizes that being in the dreamlands probably isn't the most conducive location for figuring out a solution, not to mention the scholars watching them sleep might be able to help when they awaken. And yet, could they really risk dooming others to their same fate if they didn't yet have a solution? Conundrums on top of conundrums.
Over the course of the next hour the swallowtail slowly emerges from its cocoon. At first its wings are barely recognisable but in the light of the alien moon they slowly unfurl and dry out. It sits on a small twig flapping them experimentally before suddenly taking flight. It wobbles around uncertainty before briefly landing on Zane's shoulder and then spinning around Momijii three times before landing on her hand.
Lowls who had withdrawn into despair stirred himself at this, spluttering, "That's supposed to be good luck isn't it?"
His voice seemed to break the spell and the swallowtail kept to the air and flew a good twenty yards to the west before stopping there.
Lizzie notices the cocoon and smiles,
"This one should turn into something beautiful eventually."
Though as Zandomir speaks of transformation, she raises a brow.
"What are you saying? I doubt we'd turn into demigods able to turn the tide of whatever comes."
Agrippa muses on the information he's been given as he follows the others.
It's like that butterfly is waiting for us, isn't it? Hmm.
Zarine makes sure she has all her stuff together and sets off after the butterfly.
Momijii was delighted at the beauty of the butterfly and entranced as it flew around her before landing on her hand. She gave the lovely creature a nod of greeting and said, "Thank you, Ansed."
As the butterfly lifted off and flew to the west to hover Momijii heard what Zarine thought and nodded, "Follow the Swallow Tail then." She looked to Lowls, "Are you coming?"
Zandomir felt humbled that Desna's butterfly had deigned to land on his shoulder, if only briefly. If ever there was to be a solution to their problems, surely this would lead them to it.
Shaking his head at Lizzie's question, Zan says, "No, nothing that lofty. But perhaps Desna will use her divine power to remove the Blot's taint. We must follow it without delay."
The swallowtail lead you away from the pool of moonlight into the darkness of the sky forest. While the branches of the megalithic trees where wide enough for a horse and carriage to ride along you where acutely aware that there was a five to six hundred foot drop if you where to walk off the edge. This was bad enough in the day when you could see clearly but at night mage lights where needed to see where you where going and to follow the butterfly.
It definitely seemed to have a direction in mind, drawing you relentlessly north west for several hours before abruptly swinging north along an intersecting branch highway. The transition between the two involved scrambling down the mossy side of an enormous branch and across of those gigantic tennis court sized leaves which rested atop the slightly lower north running branch.
This carried on for several hours until you judged it was perhaps one or two in the morning and the forest was filled with strange noises from secretive creatures. Suddenly the butterfly stopped and behind a man sized leaf you spot a glowing oval through which you can see a low grassy hill upon which is a ring of megalithic stones. A warm breeze smelling of summer wafts through the portal and the night sky is filled with the most amazing display of stars you've ever seen. The sky is full of them in great bands and all sorts of colors ranging from blueish white, through yellows and oranges to fiery reds.
A path leads towards the standing stones and to your surprise you noticed the grass either side is covered in swallowtails. The swallow tail you've been following darts through the glowing oval and its arrival seems to awake it's brethren for as one they rise up in a swirling cloud and meander towards the hill and the stones.
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Lizzie's gnomish curiosity gets an overload, at the display of such beauty of stars.
"It...it is beautiful. After all the ugliness of the past few days, this is a like a birthday gift to the senses."
This fragment of Lowls's mind was far from well and the journey was clearly hard on him yet he followed without complaint even when he fell flat on his face in places where the moss covered bark was slick. Yet upon seeing the glowing portal he frowned before asking, "You mean to go through there do you?" You got the feeling he was going to say more but he was taken by another coughing fit which ended in blood oozing from his mouth and nose.
He wiped the blood away and looks aghast at his hands before muttering something to himself.
When Lowls first started stumbled and fell Momijii turned to him and said, "You're not in a condition to be walking, here," with that she scooped him up into her arms and began carrying him along.
When they reached the strange portal behind the leaf Momijii was almost hesitant to step through but the fact that their guide had no qualms calmed Momijii and she quickly followed carrying Lowls along with her as she said, "We all make mistakes, learn from them if you can so that you do not repeat them." On the other side she cleared out of the way for the others and then stood there looking around in wonder at the beauty of the place. Momijii stood amidst the swirling butterflies and wondered where, exactly, they had been led beyond it being someplace sacred to Desna most likely.
This is nice. ...I guess we don't need all of those tails and things then, eh? I know this sounds mean, but I sort of hope those creatures we met starve to death. Hunting a species to extinction should come with natural consequences. I'd much rather be here than hunting random objects and having to act normal at creepy spider parties. And maybe I don't want my memories back anyway.
Zandomir finds himself awestruck much as Lizzie had been. Surely this was Desna’s design. This had to be the way for them to be cured.
Zan looks with concern at Lowls, but tries to focus on Desna’s plan for now. There’s nothing more he can do for the man till they rest.
“This is definitely better,” he says, agreeing with Zarine.
Without further delay, Zandomir steps through the portal.
Zarine takes one last long look at the beautiful scene, and then follows Zandomir.
You step through the portal which makes your skin tingle in a not entirely unpleasant way and immediately you find the nighttime air to be considerably warmer. The alien night time noises recede the further you enter this strange new realm replaced by the soft rustling of trees and the crash of waves on a nearby beach hidden by the darkness.
The path leads towards the standing stones at the top of the low hill which seems to glow with a soft radiance. Above the stars glitter in their cold majesty, there are countless unfamiliar constellations. At once this cosmic display is strange and different, yet somehow it feels like the stars are right. There is a timeless quality to the air which is suddenly broken as there is a sudden disturbance among the swallowtails which scatters them and something huge above blots out the stars. There is a sudden rush and the most exotic looking woman you've ever seen appears amongst you furiously thrusting a glowing starknife into Lowl's flesh! The woman has white hair and eyes and diaphanous wings which contain images of planets, stars, and galaxies. She snarls, "The taint!" and makes ready to evicerate the former count.
A soft elven voice echoes down from the standing stones, "No. They may approach." The exotic woman stares at you disapprovingly before suddenly retreating and Lowls gasps as the starknife is ripped out and he holds a hand to his chest but curiously there's no blood and he stares puzzled. As she vanishes the butterfly woman whispers, "It seems you are honoured by the lady whose house this is."
Momijii was startled by the sudden rush of the exotic looking woman and nearly dropped Lowls so she could defend him. Fortunately the voice from ahead stopped their attacker and Momijii nodded sharply in respect at the woman's discipline in halting her strike so quickly. "You are right, he is, and so I believe are we, that is why we are here, for help in purging ourselves of this taint." She gave the woman a smile, "Your vigilance does you honor as does your adherence to the command of one I believe is your superior." While some might find her statement odd it was high praise from the disciplined woman and she hoped it would be taken as such. Momijii said nothing further and headed towards the stones where the voice had come from, a voice that seemed...familiar.
Hoping for a miracle, Zarine follows Momijii, who seems to know where she is going.
Initially, Lizzie's first reaction was to step into the helpless Lowl's defense, but with the pause that followed...
Lizzie's eyes grow wider, as realization hits her of who is before her.
How she knew, she couldn't say.
"You, you are lady Black Butterfly, aren't you."
Zandomir wishes he had recognized the Black Butterfuly as Lizzie had, but his thoughts are too focused on the standing stones to dwell on it for long. If Lowls is to be saved, they need to go now. If any of them are to be saved, they need to go now.
Zan follows after Momijii and Zarine.
Lizzie had the sense of wry amusement from somewhere above, she caught the silhouette of Black Butterfly far above and then it was gone. The party with Momijii in the lead walk along the path up the low rise towards the standing stones.
Unlike the star stelae in Thrushmoor these stones were clearly hewed from the rock by human hands and are covered in lichens and a great number of swallowtail butterflies. Your presence disturbs them and they rise up in a cloud which swarms around the stones like miniature dust devils. Several land on each of you briefly before fluttering away.
As you enter the ring of stones you find waiting a beautiful elven woman, with butterfly wings containing all the beauty of a clear night sky. She has dark hair, silvery eyes, and a coy but distant smile and is wearing a diaphanous gown. Momijii recognise her immediately as Ansed although her appearance is somewhat different from before.
The woman bids you welcome saying, "Well meet travelers, it has been too long since we have had guests here in this place. I know the road has been long for you and you have many worries. The opposition have certainly been busy... Fear not, they have no power here."
Trembling Lowls falls to knees and abases himself. The elven woman addresses him with a sigh, "That won't be necessary Hesterton. Yes I can read your mind if I choose. No I'm not offended and generally I don't go around smiting things even if you have made some rather poor life choices. You don't seem convinced, look righteous smiting is more Iomadae's style, one hopes she'll loosen up eventually... Anyway the thing is more than half the stuff you did was under the Blots influence so it would be quite unfair to take it out on you. To be honest this whole situation is really rather unfair. The moment you entered this realm the infections progress was halted and in a few days your bodies will fully reject it's malign influence. But there's a problem... Do any of you know what it is?"
Zandomir's jaw goes slack as he realizes he is in Desna's - his goddess's - presence. Could there be a greater moment than this? He doesn't know how.
Falling to his knees alongside Lowls, but for a very different reason, Zandomir bows his head in respect to his goddess.
Putting aside the troublesome thought that this could somehow be an illusion or a deception, he blurts out in reply, "We know the Blot's name. And even when we tried to forget, we were still tainted."
The woman flashes a warm smile tinged with sadness, "Almost. Lowls's plan to free you of The Blot's influence worked but in his haste he forgot to tie up all the loose ends. One of those was the druid Daridela she reinfected you, and then there are the various fragments of Lowls's mind strewn across The Dreamlands and the infected husk of his body on Golorion up to no good. The Blot is nothing if not persistent and the irony of it all is the one it serves, Hastur, cares nothing for it..."
She frowns, "Generally the powers do not intervean directly. There's a number of reasons: free will, the potential tit for tat leading to a huge escallation and other unintended consequences. This time however I have judgers it necessary to put a stop to things. Under the Blot's direction the Lowls on Golorion was intending to steal a book penned by the one you know as The Mad Poet from his own flesh, called The Necromonicon. It currently resides deep in a vault in the Mysterium in Catheteer. That would set in motion a disastrous sequence of events leading up to a large portion of Golorion getting sucked into Carcosa. I've arranged for that Lowls to simply not find it and to be contained."
She seems to look each of you in the eye as she explains, "The reason you came here was to seek aid. There is a way of curing your affliction but it's one I feel is rather unfair. Each of you have had things stolen from you, freedom, decades of memories, your very sense of self. What had happened may rightly be considered an abomination. Yet to cure you I will have to take yet more of your memories... Unlike The Poet I won't need to remove anywhere near as much but even so it will change who you are. I would never force that on anyone although if you refuse I'm afraid you will be quarantined here indefinitely. Food and shelter are plentiful here but I'm afraid it would be a lonely existence. So what say you? Do you wish to forget and return to Golorion or to remain here or perhaps there is a third way I haven't considered?"
Lizzie crosses her arms, listening attentively to the goddess.
My gosh, this situation is troublesome.
When Desna finishes speaking, the gnome is first to raise a finger for a question.
"If i may, my lady. As far as sense of self stolen concerns, for me anyway, i consider myself a new person, and quite happy with who i am, limited as my memory may be.
What worries me more, 'taking more memories', am i right to assume that means the memories of our escape from the institution up until now? Would i turn into a blank slate?
"The radiant lady gave me a chance, and i am very grateful. I don't know how the almighty ones speak with each other but, could....could you ask her if i can continue? Without new experiences, well us gnomes would face the bleaching. Loneliness would kill me."
The elven woman smiles, "There would be no need to take so much away, The Poet stole decades of your life for his own dark amusement, and as payment for services rendered. Instead of going at like a butcher knowledge of the Blot and any awareness you have lost knowledge about it and inclinations that might cause you to discover this will have to go. However I see no reason to tamper with your memories of waking up in Briarstone, indeed I expect you would retain the vast majority of your memories since then, however what happens here and the desire to explore the Dreamlands will be gone. Honestly that is a blessing in disguise, direct interaction with any of the powers tends to strain mortal minds and the Dreamlands is extremely dangerous. You would wake up on the Stellen Starling having decided the Dreamlands is not a place to be trifled with. Beyond that you will be free to travel wherever you wish. Cassomir of course is the default destination and a fine place for a fresh start."
Zarine speaks up
Could I really stay? I don't care about the memories so much, but I'd rather stay here if I can. It's so much nicer than creepy dreams, or even real life actually. May I?
Momijii considered all that was said, what their known options would be, and none of them seemed all that great. Losing more of her self wasn't all that important to her, but she wasn't sure she could handle going back to Golarion. She truthfully had nothing, no family, a teacher she didn't know the fate of, and it all made her not care about continuing on. "If we chose to stay here I assume no one would enter or leave this place? it would only be those of us who stayed, alone with no one but each other for eternity?"
Momijii was thoughtful and she tried to come up with some other solution. "There is one thing I have left undone that I must take care of and I mentioned it my prayer to you for aid. Is there anything that can be done so that I can fulfill my oath to her?" The answer to this may have some bearing on what Momijii's choice would be.
She replies to Zarine, "Truly you may stay if that is your wish Zarine! To answer Momijii's first question that would depend if you remember The Blot or not. It's not just your safety I have to consider here. If you chose to forget The Blot then there would be no reason to seal this realm although visitors are not exactly common."
She smiles at Momijiis request, "I had a feeling you would ask that... Aiko found a portal back to Golorion two days ago, she's currently on Jalmary where she's hoping to book passage back home although I have a feeling she'll end up staying where she is. Everyone she knew has passed on and in her heart she knows it wont be the same. Still she's very very glad to be away from that infernal dance hall!"
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Momijii was pleased with what she heard and then asked, "If I were to have the needed memories removed would I still remember her? Would I be able to reunite with her and not have problems with becoming reinfected?" Momijii swallowed and said, "If it is possible that I could have the memories wiped, remember her, or at least be sent to where she is to re-unite with her, then I would choose to have the needed memories erased and re-united with Aiko."
I'm fine with getting my memory wiped of the blot. That doesn't matter to me. I just want to stay here.
Hesitantly, she adds
... I would also like some books though, if that isn't too much to ask. Being alone is no big deal, as long as you have a good book.