"You are well-mannered, human. Are you wise as well? Answer my riddle and you shall pass uneaten."
"Do you see my three statues?" she indicates statues of two men and a woman cavorting in a fountain. The man with a long beard looks at the woman. The woman looks at the man with no beard.
"The bearded man is a god. The unbearded man is a mortal. Tell me, human, is a god looking at a mortal?"
Aristu furrows his brow, then examines the fountain. He looks back and forth between the three statues for a few moments, then nods slowly. He turns back to the Snake. "If the woman is a god, then she is looking at the unbearded mortal man. But if the woman is mortal, then the bearded god is looking at her. Either way, yes, a god is looking at a mortal." He bows to her once more.
The snake regards Aristu with unblinking eyes for a long moment before hissing. "You have wisdom," it concedes. "You may pass. But that shall not."
With a flick of its tongue, the snake indicates Thorn, the sword borne by Alister. A moment later and there is a strange buzzing sound as of many voices whispering just beyond the level of audibility. The snake shakes its head as though trying to throw off some unseen hood.
"Very well, it too may pass."
It uncoils and unbars your way up the long steps to the tower's base.
Alister smiles at his brother. "Good work! It seems grandmother's stories weren't as exaggerated as we always thought."
He takes a deep breath and begins climbing the stairs. "I have no idea what we'll see next."
Piotr keeps pace with Alister and his other companions as they climb the stairs. He looks around for Corb as he begins the climb.
Mikhail continues on with the others allowing those with the fey blood to lead the way through these strange lands.
Okay.
Inside the tower is a vast and empty hall with huge galleries, beautiful carvings and a throne raised far above the floor. It's empty.
After some searching you find a single staircase that winds around the tower and disappears up into the echoing space far above.
"Stay close, Corb. And be polite to any creature here, too," cautions Piotr as he follows Alister and Aristu.
Aristu approaches the throne and waits for any sign that their presence has been noticed.
Alister approaches the throne and looks for any inscriptions or iconography. If he doesn't find any, he has the urge to sit in the throne, but is sure that will bring a response he doesn't want. He decides to kneel before the throne and says, "We seek any audience with the Eldest. I am Alister, a mortal Lord."
The sound of his voice echoes away and there is no answer.
Aristu waits a few beats in the silence following Alister's words, then says, "We were unmistakably invited in. If this is not where we are to be received, I guess we should continue up?"
If no one objects, he leads the others up the spiral staircase.
Alister stands back up and shrugs. "Worth a shot. You never know when a fey is hiding from you." He looks around the room. "Still, something tells me there's a power here."
"But let's head up the stairs and see what's upstairs." Alister leads the group up the stairs.
Mikhail follows along and looks for the strange shimmer that might hide an invisible creature in the area.
Piotr has learned, so does not cast the cantrip that would reveal magical auras. Helooks around, too, for what is not hidden from mortal senses.
Corb has a bad feeling about this place. Too bad to do more than remain close to his master and look about, too.
Your footfalls echo on cold stone as you ascend the narrow stair with no railing. Higher and higher you rise until the throne room is far below you, yet still visible - a deadly fall waiting to happen.
The ascent itself is grueling, your knees and legs tired with the vast number of stairs.
At last you ascend to single archway, unremarkable save for the sunglight and birdsong coming through it. At the top of the stairs is a lush roof garden and a small terrace. As you emerge on to the terrace in the brilliant sunshine, you see a woman - an ordinary human woman - standing at the parapet looking out. She is dressed all in white, with flowing skirts and a single silver circlet around her forehead.
She turns and gazes at you. She opens her mouth to speak.
And is suddenly someone else. A dark-skinned Garundi man bearing a staff laden with feather fetishes . "Welcome to the House of Eternity," he says in a heavy but cultured accent. "Why do you believe you have come?"
Alister approaches the man and bows formally. "We seek information about the Queen of Roses and her desire for the mortal world. I am Alister, a mortal lord. I am here to seek the advice and entreat with the Eldest. To whom and I speaking?"
The man smiles. "You are wounded, Sir Alister. Is that not why you have come?"
"Well..." Alister begins to talk about the cuts and possibly cracked rib that he has, but he suddenly realizes the man doesn't mean his physical injuries.
"Yes and no, actually. I do seem to continue to be afflicted by my brush with death. It seems to have permanently affected me. My spell only hides it. So, yes, I am wounded." His hand picks that second to have a tremor, which he tries to stop with his other hand. "But, I seek information about the Queen of Roses. She desires something from my realm, and I request to know why. I come to learn more about her."
Aristu interrupts his brother, "If you are offering to heal Alister, then yes, that is why we have come."
Mikhail frowns at the talk of healing Alister, "Your injuries are great. What cost would there be for such aid? We might want to consider that before accepting what is offered. Especially, when we do not even know who is offering it."
Piotr hangs back, allowing the brothers to speak. Like Mikhail, he is cautious about treating with the fey.
The garundi smiles and says "I have offered no aid, Mikhail Templeson, and you stand at the pinnacle of the House of Eternity, where few mortals have ever come of their own accord. Can you doubt who I am?"
At that very moment, the garundi man is gone, replaced in the same instant by a Tien elf in silk robes and an intricate hat beaded with pearls and jade. "I am Shyka the Many, lord of the House of Eternity. I am Eldest of time, beginnings and endings."
"You are each right, though each of you is also wrong. Tell me, Alister of House Medvyed, do you know the Secret of the Sword Marches?"
Just as the elf speaks, he changes once more into a matronly Taldan woman in a simple white robe, her eyes alight with intelligence.
Alister bows again when Shyka announces herself. "Eldest, I am honored to be your presence."
Then he gives a quizzical look, and then glances at the others around him. "The secret of the Sword Marches? No, will you tell me?" He sounds wary as he asks the fey for information.
While he is more than willing to stand with his companions, Piotr does speak when it is not his place.
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"Consider this: In time out of mind no realm has thrived in the Stolen Lands. The serpent realm, Ghol-Ghan, the Fellnight Realm, the Tiger Lords, even Taldor. All have withered away. Is the Sword Marches an echo of them? Or are they echoes of it?"
"Your realm, oh king, is either the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end. Ask yourself why the Stolen Lands are called stolen. Stolen from where? By whom? And most importantly, when?"
The elf turns away to look out over the vast complex of towers that weren't there a moment ago and as he turns, becomes a tall man with fine features and a widow's peak in his black hair.
"Do you know why they call me Shyka the Many? Because I exist at all points of time simultaneously. I am comprised of many powerful individuals, each of whom holds but a bit of the present in their hand. As I speak to you now I watch the birth of the First World and the death of the last, and every point between with a few interesting exceptions."
"The Sword Marches is the last nail in the firmament of reality, at least as far the Stolen Lands goes. And you, lord king, are the Sword Marches. It shall not be healed until you are; it shall not be fruitful until you are. That is the answer to your riddle."
"So here are two to replace it. One you have already heard - 'Eldest before him, Eldest behind him, Eldest within him.' If you can name me one of the three, I shall reveal another."
"And the second riddle is this: 'When that which was lost is found then shall that which was stolen be returned.' Heed well these riddles, heroes of the Sword Marches, for in them lies more than you can now imagine."
Piotr is committing the riddles to memory for the future while trying to puzzle out the first riddle. This does not seem to be the time for collaboration, but it is best to be sure.
"Eldest, do you require an answer to your riddle now?"
Alister is a bit bewildered at the fey's riddles and discussion of the Stolen Lands. "The Stolen Lands belonged to the wilds and they return to them each time the test of civilization fails there. And the wilds belong to the fey. The Lonely Warrior battled the Rose King, and we seem to have drawn the ire of the Rose Queen. Perhaps this will all end the same way and the Sword Marches will fade into nothing. But while we are here, we will burn brightly."
"And you are mistaken, Shyka. I may be lord of the Sword Marches, its sword and shield. But the beating heart of the realm is its people. I serve them and guide their strength. It is their will that they exert on the land, their sweat and toil that makes it bountiful. I am but the Steward of their collective power."
Piotr is committing the riddles to memory for the future while trying to puzzle out the first riddle. This does not seem to be the time for collaboration, but it is best to be sure.
"Eldest, do you require an answer to your riddle now?"
The tall man nods. "Your time is at hand. Speak now."
Alister is a bit bewildered at the fey's riddles and discussion of the Stolen Lands. "The Stolen Lands belonged to the wilds and they return to them each time the test of civilization fails there. And the wilds belong to the fey. The Lonely Warrior battled the Rose King, and we seem to have drawn the ire of the Rose Queen. Perhaps this will all end the same way and the Sword Marches will fade into nothing. But while we are here, we will burn brightly."
"The Rose Queen was never Eldest, though she may have seemed so to mortals."
"And you are mistaken, Shyka. I may be lord of the Sword Marches, its sword and shield. But the beating heart of the realm is its people. I serve them and guide their strength. It is their will that they exert on the land, their sweat and toil that makes it bountiful. I am but the Steward of their collective power."
"Noble words, Alister, and not untrue. Heed what I have told you."
"The Queen of Roses is not of the Eldest?" Aristu's brow furrows, "Strange, my mother - umm, Melethryn, the Dancing Lady - named her as Eldest."
Aristu pauses another minute, thnking, "But, if the Queen of Roses is not Eldest, then the only Eldest I am aware of that has taken notice of us is you, Lord Shyka. I am, in fact, unaware of any others of the Eldest, unless, perhaps, the Queen of Forgotten Time is Eldest."
"The Queen of Roses is not of the Eldest?" Aristu's brow furrows, "Strange, my mother - umm, Melethryn, the Dancing Lady - named her as Eldest."
Shyka nods. "As I said. She is a mighty legend whose blood runs true even today, but she is not Eldest. Learn her secrets forward and back and the nail may withstand the claw that pulls at it."
Aristu pauses another minute, thinking, "But, if the Queen of Roses is not Eldest, then the only Eldest I am aware of that has taken notice of us is you, Lord Shyka. I am, in fact, unaware of any others of the Eldest, unless, perhaps, the Queen of Forgotten Time is Eldest."
"Very good. The Queen of Forgotten Time stands before you, athwart all your intentions. It is not yet the time of the one who is within you. And the one who stands behind you is...Shyka." With this, the elegant man disappears, the towers disappear and the ground rises rapidly up to meet you as you plunge through the clouds towards certain doom.
But suddenly as you began to fall you begin to grow, expanding to the size of giants, mountains, gods! And then you slam into the ground, barely bruised as if from a fall off no more than the roof of a cottage.
And there before you is a small, rude cottage, sized to your proportions. Sweeping its stone walkway is a aged woman. She looks at you, startled. She glances at a stone well off to the side, then back at you. "Right on time," she says, putting away her broom and wiping her hands on her apron. "Have you got it?"
Mikhail blinks at the change in surrounding and tries to figure out whot he old woman might be.
Piotr tries to orient himself without using any spells, since he believes that this is another powerful fey.
"Oh, pardon us, madam. I thought we were going to be late." He studies her for a moment. "Ah, 'right on time.' Would you be the Queen of Forgotten Time?"
The old woman blinks. "I'm Gerdina, guardian of the well. I don't know any queens."
Alister pauses, then bows. "My apologies, Gerdina. I was mistaken. I am Alister, and these are my friends. Can you tell us where we are? And what we are on time for? We were just speaking to Shyka, the Eldest, and now find ourselves here."
"You're here to trade for a drink from my well, aren't you? You are Alister the Broken King?"
Alister barks out a laugh. "In so many ways, Gerdina. Yes, I am he, and I would love a drink from the well. What sort of things do you take in trade?"
"Only one thing, Lord King. That which is most precious to you."
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Alister looks at the others alarmed. "I don't know what you mean..." The bastard's hand drops down and brushes briefly on Thorn. He looks down at the sword for a moment, memories coming unbidden.
He looks back up, his voice taking a more serious, almost angry tone. "You're too late. Those things have been taken from me already. This sword...this title of King you've given me, took away my freedom in return for the heavy burden of leadership. I lost a friend, a mentor, and my guide when Faisul left. But I also lost my freedom to freely choose my path. And it's only led to other losses. Akiros Ismort, Mandiel Trelhorn, Derry Lightfoot, Chief Sootscale...Lily. They're all gone. My freedom, my friends, my love. What else do I lose, Gerdina?!"
"You do not name your kingdom among the things you hold dear?" asks Gerdina.
"Your companions are precious to you, but you cannot give them to me. Nor would you I think. No, it is the sword I desire and it is my price for a drink from the well of Wisdom."
"The sword? Thorn?" Alister draws the sword, but does not hand it over. "Why do you want it? The only other who seemed this taken with it was Daria. What does it mean to you?"
"Choice. Surprise. Terror. What would you offer instead?"
Aristu reviews the words of Shyka and Gerdina in his head, then steps up next to his brother. "And what does Alister gain from this bargain? What will a drink from the well's water grant him?"