'I would still like to make one more trip to Golarion before I head to Triaxus.' Einar leans over to Mister Whiskers, "Could you make an extra rod so I can visit Cadence in Heldren before I join who ever is going to Triaxus. I will speak to Crummock about moving me from Golarion to Triaxus when my visit is finished.'
Waiting, so as not to interrupt his sword brother, Einar finally asks Crummock. "I would like to visit Golarion again, would it be possible for me to go there, and when I am done visiting to call upon you, and return to your dimension, then go from their to Triaxus?"
Crummock nods.
"Aye, that I can arrange."
When the time comes, he has Arthur open a portal to the edge of the forest outside Heldren.
"Could you get us all to Axis?" Dimitri asks Crummock, while gesturing to all the Russian soldiers.
'Should Anestasia wait in Triaxus or with Crummock.' Einar scratches his head for a moment, "Crummock I didn't think about how the Adlet may respond to Anastasia."
He shrugs his shoulders and smiles at the princess. "Or how Anestasia may respond to the Adlet. Shouid she wait at your dimension for me or do you want to introduce her to Baknarla? I'm not sure how they would respond initially to your new form, it might be easier of someone they recognize is a long. Of course they would recognize Greta, so it should be ok if you go without me."
Crummock nods to Dimitri.
"I can certainly arrange for point-to-point transport, back to that Park we arrived in last time."
Crummock chews his lip thoughtfully, whilst he listens to Einar.
"I could introduce her to the Adlets. My new form should not be *too* much of a problem, since I hardly ever wore my old form around them, in any case..."
He then smiles.
"Of course, before we do that, we should probably go on a final shopping trip, so that we can divvy up the remaining spoils of war..."
Einar nods his head, "Yes one more shopping trip would be good. It might be appropriate to purchase some gifts."
Mr. Whiskers scratches his chin. "I'm not sure what you are asking for, Einar. I am going to get a tuning fork set for Golarian. Once on our home planet, I can certainly teleport us to Heldren."
The next day, once Einar is ready Mr. Whiskers casts several buffs and then plane shifts back to Golarian. Once he gets oriented, he then uses a Greater Teleport to bring them to near the statue in the middle of Heldren.
He looks forward to seeing the people and learning what has happening in the month since they left.
Einar and Mr Whiskers see an old codger near the statue who looks somewhat familiar, beam when he catches sight of Einar and Mr Whisjeds in the town square, ”Einar and Mr Whiskers, by the hells, we thought you were gone forever! It’s been 20 years and not a single word from any of you. Then you appear like you were just back from an evening walk, exactly the same when you left that afternoon. Do you remember me? I’m Gammel.” Gammel hobbles over to greet Einar and Mr Whiskers.
”What happened to Crummock?” Gammel asks, ”20 years back…it was getting colder, when suddenly SOMETHING happened and the winter stopped, and it was summer like the way it should have been. You must have been successful in your quest – or the winter would not have been stopped. We feared stopping the encroaching winter cost you your lives…”
”Einar and Mr Whiskers are back!” Gammel yells with surprising volume considering his age. And as Einar walks down the clean, well maintained streets, he is swarmed by the villagers of Heldren, thanking him for saving them from Winter’s grasp 20 years ago and asking about Crummock and Mr Whiskers. The village Mayor, Kale comes out in person to thank Einar and Mr Whiskers for his aid, 20 years back, and asks if they have the time to spend the night in Heldren so they can throw him a proper party at the Silver Stoat – now run by their son Stephan and Ten-Penny.
Kale brings him up to speed to what he has missed – after the winter broke and winter creatures stopped attacking the region, Erlis turned the Sentinels into the best mercenary company for miles. Their base of operations is still Sentinel Lodge – and they provide escorts for travelling merchants and convoys. Perhaps the most distinguishing factor of the Sentinels is that each group would come with their birds – crows and owls both. It seems almost uncanny but no Sentinel has ever been caught by an ambush – as if they had eyes in the sky. Natharen Safander and his wife have also passed on – and another Priest of Erastil, Barid Buchannon has taken his place taking care of the community and the temple of Erastil. Madame Theodorra is also gone – and Freya is now the herbalist of the community.
Twenty years?
Mr. Whiskers stops walking, stunned by Gammel's greeting.
Twenty years!
"Um...pardon me..."
Twenty years!
Mr. Whiskers stares at the human before him. He bears some resemblance to Gammel. Still, twenty years?!?
Finally he asks "Did you say twenty years?" He looks at the man, hoping he had heard wrong and that there is some mistake.
Twenty years means most of my warren would have died. Even those who were my own age would be venerable! The children that were barely born would now be adults! Even the Shoanti I knew are likely getting quite old.
"Yes, I said 20 years. A wee young ratfolk like you shouldn't be hard on hearing! Where have you been that you couldn't send us a message saying you're fine?" Gammel asks Mr Whiskers.
This was unexpected.
"It was only a month for us." He allows that to sink in as he attempts to regain his own balance.
"We shut the portal, but doing so required that we go through it. After that, well things sort of snowballed. We left Golarian in order to stop Queen Elvanna's plans."
"Crummock has changed a bit. At one point, he died and we used a spell to reincarnate him. His new form is that of a gnome."
"He has his own place now, and is planning to settle down there." I think we can leave out the part about him having created a plane of his own.
Mr. Whiskers warms up to the conversation. Once in amongst the townsfolk, he relaxes and starts talking more freely. He doesn't talk much about what happened after they left Whitethrone, feeling that is too fantastic a story.
He is sorry to hear that Madame Theodorra has passed. He would have liked to talk with her more. He is eager to hear how Freya is doing and expresses great interest in all of the changes that have happened in Heldren.
"Legends say time passes differently in the fey realms. What seems like a day there is a year on Golarion."Gammel says sagely.
"Left Golarion? But where did you go?" Gammel asks. "Sounds like something out of a fairy tale! You really should tell us of your adventures!"
"Crummock is now a gnome?" Gammel's eyes widen in surprise. "Has he grown accustomed to being a gnome? Did he choose not to come because he didn't want us to see him as a gnome?"
"In my view, he refused to become accustomed to being a gnome. After the change, the first thing he did was use magic to permanently make himself larger. He said it was purely practical, avoided him having to buy new equipment." He then just shrugs and leaves it at that.
"As for his reason to not come here, I can not say."
Mr. Whiskers shares some of the tales that he considers more believable, such as saving the city on the island. He avoids talking about what happened in Russia other than the rescue of the soldiers.
|
Cadence turns at the sudden commotion in the town square. There they were. Had Freya foreseen this? It looked like neither Einar nor Mr. Whiskers had aged a day. Einar was as young looking as ever. Yet Cadence had learned much in the past two decades. She'd come to embrace the celestial heritage that she'd discovered, even though it caused her some anguish when she realized that she'd outlive her family by some thirty years. Still, at 40 Cadence looked good. A little older, but still in her prime.
Back straight, she strides into the crowd trying to catch Einar and Mr. Whisker's attention. Easy, Cadence. He may not want to renew this relationship. Her heart racing, she pushes the pesky voice out of her mind. Yeah? Then why are they here?
Ah! There is the most likely reason for Einar's visit!
Mirth evident in his voice, Mr. Whiskers quietly mentions "Einar, it looks like someone is eager to see you."
He gives a slight nod of his head in Cadence's direction so Einar could see where he was looking.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Einar went out into the city, having not been impressed with the ‘shatter spike’ he sells it to a weapons mer-chant he finds. Then looking for a few mundane items as gifts for friends; A girls doll here, a sail boat there and finding a merchant specializing in candy he buys a bag full of very airy taffy.
When he was done shopping he returned to the inn telling his friends ”I believe I am ready to return to Caden.. Heldren.”
Looking to Mister Whiskers, he nods his head. ”Yes I totally forgot about just normal teleportation. That would be wonderful.”
Looking to Crummock, ”When I am done there I will call for you and return first to your plane and then to Triaxus.”
Einar begins to take the stopper off of the ceramic container. Then thinking otherwise, he goes to bed.
Waking in the morning preparing to meet old friends again, Einar doesn’t want to overwhelm them with a display of wealth so he removes the ioun stones, the gas mask and all the straps and scabbards of weapons placing them in the haversack. Keeping only the ghost bane sword and his original coldiron glave, the linnorm slayer, in hand, resting on his shoulder. The bag of ‘air taffy’ tucked in his belt.
As the porthole opens in Golarion Einar steels himself for the return to the village of Heldren. ’Something doesn’t look right.’ Stepping into the square, he looks from the statue to the buildings then to Mister Whiskers, Just as he hears the old man call their names.
’”By the hells”…”twenty years”… twenty years? he said twenty years, is that how long we spent on Triaxus. They said the time was different, I assumed the gees would protect us… gods, twenty years, is Cadence even here?’ Einar begins to frantically look around for the familiar face.
’Poor Mister Whiskers.’ Einar stops searching the gathering crowd as he looks to his swordbrother resting a hand upon his shoulder. ”I’m so sorry Mister Whiskers, I know your family means so much to you.”
He then looks back to the crowd, ignoring much of the conversation. ’As her family did to her.’
’This part I planned for.’ Trying his best to not be distracted, Einar smiles and nods, shaking hands and passing the wax-paper wrapped taffies out to the children, the whole time using his height to see over the crowd, looking for the only person he truly came here for.
’I don’t recognize anyone, blast, I don’t even know if she is still here, maybe I should ask someone.’ Looking first toward Gammel and then toward the mayor. ’would the mayor know where she is? what city she may have moved too. Blast, would he even know if she is alive…’
His gaze becoming frantic, Einar looks over the gather crowd. There, tall and straight moving with a purpose toward them; toward him; like a Valkyrie striding across a battlefield for a dying hero. His smile lights his face, now touching his eyes. ’She’s here, twenty years later, she’s here. She looks good, stronger somehow.’
His tongue tied, nodding his head in response to Mister Whiskers, he begins moving through the crowd, passing the whole bag of taffy to one of the bigger kids. Finally finding his words: ”Excuse me Kinder, er children, I have einen Freund to meet.”
Einar's airy taffies and decorative lights attract a whole crowd of children."I love your taffy! It's special. All light and airy! Thank you Einar!"
One of them, a young girl with curly red hair, pipes out,"Your stones are pretty. Can I play with them?" She looks longingly at Einar's cloud of ioun stones. "No, Fenela." A young woman that looks familiar pulls her back."Einar is a hero. You shouldn't be bothering him by asking to play with his stuff." Adelia scolds.
After the taffy bag has been passed on, the kids follow the kid with the taffy bag like ants to honey, badgering him mercilessly for more taffy, leaving Einar a clear passage to Cadence.
Mr Whiskers also gets a bunch of little kids asking to stroke his fur and hug him, because he looks like a giant bipedal rat, to be pulled off by their parents, for being disrespectful.
Mr Whiskers also finds out that Xanthippe,Isker's daughter, has finally settled down with her beau, Daniel and they have taken over the smithy with Isker now on a supervisory role.
Sophia Imirras moved out several years to ago to Zimar after selling her stables business to a man of Qadiran descent named Abraham.
The clockworks in the town hall are now being kept in good order by Orillus's son, Darius, Orillus having died of a winter cold several years back.
All around town there have been many changes and the only two who remain relatively unchanged are Tessaraea the alchemist and Argus the barber.
As Mr Whiskers and Einar converse with the townsfolk, they notice a crow on one of the rooftops watching them intently, then flying off into a large building window. Almost immediately, the building door opens and a man with trim-cut brown hair and brown eyes steps out of the building, followed by two others. The leading man is wearing a chainshirt, and on his neck hangs the Sentinel Emblem. On his belt is a longsword, and a sap, and his shoulder, the crow Mr Whiskers and Einar saw on the rooftop earlier. Both of his followers are in scalemail, one of them is red-haired woman with a holy symbol of Iomedae on her belt, and has a longsword strapped to her belt, while the other is blond male, carrying a glaive on his back and has a sap strapped to his belt.
Seeing Einar preoccupied, the trim-cut brown haired man makes his way through the crowd to Mr Whiskers, ”Good day, Mr Whiskers.Captain Erlis has told me about all of you. I am Lieutenant Reynold, head of the Sentinel town guards.” He holds out his hand to shake Mr Whiskers’s paw. Then he gives a wry grin, ”Though you might have made history for catching the Sentinels flat-footed. “He pauses for a moment, ”Captain Erlis wouldn’t be too happy to hear that we had no warning against people TELEPORTING into town. Technically though, Freya is supposed to be dealing with the “things of magical nature”. Oh well. Since you and the townsfolk are getting along fine, it appears we won’t be needed here.” Then Lieutenant Reynold and his guards leave.
Smiling, Mr. Whiskers says "Sorry about that. I hadn't really thought about how the local guard might react." I've been away from society too long. I should have realized teleporting in like that could cause problems.
"How is Erlis?" I wonder if she is still fascinated by glaives.
"No need to apologize. We should thank you for it, since it just exposed a weakness we didn't think off,"Lieutenant Reynold waves it off. "Captain Erlis? Oh fine! She's probably yelling at a batch of new recruits now. Age hasn't mellowed her any. And she still trounces me during sword practice on a regular basis."He grins at Mr Whiskers. "She says it's necessary else I'll start getting soft because I've been sitting in town too long."
With a chuckle, Mr Whiskers says "I suppose that is one way to learn. I think I'll stick with reading a book though!"
Mr Whiskers story telling draws a large crowd that listens, enraptured to the tales of his adventures.
"That's sad. I don't know if he'd take advice from me, I'd like to share some words of wisdom. You should not fight what you've been given." Gammel tells Mr Whiskers. "When I was younger, I believed I could change the world. Now I realize that you can only change your way of thinking."
"And whatever he became... We wouldn't care. Not after what he has done for us. We would see the form and not the face. What matters is what he is inside." Gammel touches his heart.
Lieutenant Reynold has second level arcane spells.
The red haired woman has second level divine spells.
Einar doesn’t want to overwhelm them with a display of wealth so he removes the ioun stones, the gas mask and all the straps and scabbards of weapons placing them in the haversack.
One of them, a young girl with curly red hair, pipes out,"Your stones are pretty...
'She looks so familiar, I wonder if... no it would be impolite.' Einar stops searching for a moment, winking at the young woman, bending over to let the little girl touch his horns. "Be careful zey are sharp." Standing up straight he tells the young mother, "das kleine Mädchen, Zee Little girl, She reminds me of somevone I used to know, ya."
"I'm Adelia. I was just a little girl when Cadence came back to Heldren to help defend the town 20 years back. Its very nice of you to let her touch your horns. Fenela here seems to be fascinated with horns. Maybe she thinks you're a special goat that walks on two legs." Adelia answers. "Who did you say Fenela reminds you off?"
'Ah like mother like daughter, I wonder if she knows where Cadence is.' Smiling broadly at the little girl. "Ein special goat indead." looking at the young woman Einar nods sagely, "So you are Adelia, za last time I vas here you had no front teeth." He smiles, "If her hair vas blond she vould be za splitting image. I remember ven Cadence picked you up und spun you round." Einar's eyes wander off to the crowd.
'Should I ask? I don't even know what has happened in the last twenty years...' Einar sees Cadence moving through the crowd, Turing to Adelia, "Pardon me, fräulein." Stepping away, into the crowd of children, he hands the bag of Taffy to an older boy...
'She's coming this dir...' feeling himself swept into her embrace, he squeezes her tight, whispering in Skald. "I hoped beyond hope to return. But I didn't realize it would be twenty years."
'It felt like years at times, but it really was for her, I wonder how much has changed...' After a long embrace he holds her at arms length looking her over, then hugging her again, "It iz good to see you, Liebste. Even if za time hasn't been as long for me as for you, ya." He steps back, looking around, "Is zere someplace ve can talk, privately? I vould like zat very much."
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
’A walk would be nice, the conversation can have more privacy if we speak Skald .’ Einar nods in agreement, taking cadence by the hand, walking beside her.”Do you mind if ve speak in Skald, It vill be easier for me, I havn’t spoken much Taldon in zee last few months.”
’That’s my Cadence, straight to the heart of the matter, no flanking move in this girl.’ Einar smile a wistful smile as he stops and turns looking her in the eye again. Then losing his nerve he continues walking, holding her hand a little tighter. ”Straight to the heart of the matter.”
’How to decide, I must tell her why.’ ”When you met me and when I left Heldren, I had only one long term goal. To retake my families land and kill the man who branded me.” He lifts his free hand, to stop the coming interruption, ”I know, I know “If I were the monster” Trust me I had the potential to be that monster, But I see now, that it was only potential, not the forgone conclusion I thought it was.”
Entering the orchard he continues walking under the fruit trees. ”Shortly after we left, we met a dying knight who was one of Baba Yaga’s heralds. We learned that the great hag was the prisoner of her daughter, Queen Elvanna. It was she who had sent the winter storms and was going to take over all of Golarion. The only way to save Golarion was to free the great hag. We swore an oath to the dying knight to free her. The others did it for the right reasons. I did it because I knew that the witch queen would be able to give me the power I desired.”
’I know this girl, she will want to interrupt.’Turning to Cadence quickly, ”Let me go on.” Einar looked up into the trees, to gather this thoughts.
’Plums, go figure, Crummock is still laughing.' Einar smiles as he picks a plum, then a second, offering the better of the two to Cadence. ”We followed the storms. Breadcrumbs on the path so to speak. I reached my darkest point when I executed a fellow Tiefling, a bard named Mierul, long story short we had taken her prisoner for information, everyone thought her irredeemable so to save them the guilt I killed her in cold blood.”
Looking at Cadence, then looking away. ”We continued following or 'trail of breadcrumbs, when we found Baba Yaga's hut in a forest that had grown up around it. Things came to head for me that day. When, much to my surprise, the man my father served, Earl Brynjar was a mercenary captain for the queen. He and his lackeys were the ones guarding Baba Yaga’s hut. The object of our desire.”
He stops, looking down. ”I killed Brynjar, there ih that forest and took his weapon as a trophy. It did not bring the peace I thought it would; only more bitterness. I resolved that I would retake my lands from his son at any cost.”
Still holding Celeste’s hand but turning away. ”We entered the hut and using it’s magic it teleported us to many places. My resolve to return home was broken in a place called Artrosa. It was a fortress belonging to The great witch. The Warden of Artrosa was a woman named Jadrenka. We needed her help to cure Crummock, so I made a deal with her. I would ask Baba Yaga for her freedom, if she would help us. I know that Jadrenka’s freedom would be my own enslavement. But we needed Crum-mock to be able to continue. So that day I gave up the hope of ever returning home.”
’I see that look.’ Making eye contact with Cadence, he shakes his head. ”Don’t look at me like that, It wasn’t out of altruism. I died there in Artosa. I owed Crummock, He had returned me from the dead and I was in his debt.”
Einar takes a bite of the plum. ”It was while I was dead that I ran into Mierul again. She had become, a messager of Pharasma’s. An Ahmuuth one who helps lost souls find their final reward. It seemed that Mierul wasn’t as unredeemable as we supposed.”
Smiling slightly he continues. ”It was there leaving Atrosa that I started to rethink my choices. ‘what would I do if by some miracle I didn’t have to serve the great hag for all eternity.” He stops and looks at Cadence. ’My first thoughts were of you.” He turns away, ’Then we were sent to Triaxus.”
’How can I describe it.’ turning back to Cadence, his eyes light up. ”Triaxus is a beautiful terrible place. Mister Whiskers said it was a planet in our solar system, though I’m now sure what that means. I do know that a day there is a year here, that’s why it took so long.” He frowns slightly, ”Though we thought the gees would not let this happen.” He shrugs and continues.”There are the free lands, home of the Triaxians and their allies who are fighting against great evil dragons, who want to rule. If the process of acquiring two keys, we aided the Triaxians. In the process we killed the great dragon Yrax, taking his castle as a home for Baknarla and her people the Adlet.”
Einar’s smile fades, ”Then we went to this grey place called earth. The magic was dead there.”
Einar shudders slightly and continues. ”As our journey continued I thought a lot about the future, the threat of eternal servitude over my head. I realized I wanted to do something that mattered. Not to rule, not to seek revenge, not even to live forever avoiding Pharasma indefinitely. I wanted to do something of worth.”
He nods back toward Mister Whiskers, ”My wise friend, Mister Whiskers, riddled out how to free me from an eternity of servitude. Freeing me to choose my own life, once again.”
He looks at Cadence and smiles. ”I am only good at one thing.” He shakes his head, ”At least only one thing that can make a difference.” He frowns slightly, ”Don’t look at me like that. It’s true. I killed a linnorm with only my cold iron glaive. A linnorm! In my homeland that would make me a king, not an Earl.” He smiles. ”I am only good at fighting. But I can make a real difference on Triaxus. I will not be scrutinized for the brand or for what I am, a Tiefling. There I am a dragon slayer, someone who can truly help change their world.”
’But how do I leave now that I am here.’ He smiles at his first love, ”I hoped I would find you here. I didn’t know that the cost would be twenty years apart. If I go to Triaxus when I return my days would pile up as years and I would wither away.”
He looks down, ”When I made plans to come here it was to let you know that my life would not end as it began. I was going to ask you to consider joining us, me, someday. Between Mister Whiskers and Crummock we have the magic to do it, but it would need to be arranged, because we could not return to Golarion..” He shakes his head. ”But I had no idea that you would be twenty years older and well into the life you had such high hopes for.”
”With the loss off time, this hasn’t gone as planned.” His eyes form tears. ”I will stay if you ask me to, content to share your life with you.” Wiping his face, still holding his half eaten plum. He smiles and looks her in the eye. ’I would take you with us, with me, if you would go. But I fear to ask you knowing what you’d be giving up. So the answer to your question is found in the one I am too afraid to ask.” he smiles slightly ” Ein tapferer Drachentöter er some brave dragon slayer ya.”
Once he has finished making his purchases, Crummock returns to the suite where the (extended party) is staying.
He nods to Dimitri an Anton.
"I can stat transferring you back to my Eden, now. From there, I can send you on to Axis."
Crummock then turns to Anastazia.
"I know that you do not particularly care for me. From what I recall, when I first met you, you seemed to be incredibly naive, without any real understanding of how the world actually works. I did not then (and still don't) believe in coddling, and, as far as I can recall, believed that you needed to be introduced to certain harsh truths. That said, I probably could have been less blunt about it."
He then shrugs apologetically.
"However, as it is said, hind-sight is 20/20, especially when you are looking at it from the perspective of a new state of existence. Nevertheless, I apologise. You seem to have up-skilled with remarkable alacrity."
Crummock then frowns.
"Now, you have a choice. You can either stay here, or join me in my Eden for a time; there are a few things that I need to take care of there, before I move on. When these tasks are completed, I can introduce you to the Adlets of Triaxus. You don't have to decide straight away - it will take me a few hours to transfer the troop across to Axis."
He then moves over to Dimitri and Anton.
"Come on, let's get you to your new home..."
Crummock then starts to ferry the troop across to his Eden.
Once they are all assembled there, he will tap a small keg of wine, and share out glasses to all of them, raising a glass of his own.
"To those that have fallen - may they rest in peace. They may be gone, but their memories will live with us, forever. May we, too, enjoy our rest; we have certainly earned it."
When those who wish to have drained their glasses, he then shephards the troop down the forest corridor to Arthur's lair, where a gate is quickly opened to the park in Axis.
As they each pass through, Crummock clasps their hand warmly.
"Good luck. Think of this not as a farewell, but as a new beginning..."
Once the last of them has passed through, Crummock watches for a moment, until the gate closes.
He then sighs.
"As one door closes..."
Crummock then returns to the Lodge; he has work to do...
Crummock uses Create Demiplane, Greater to add the Morphic quality to his Plane.
Crummock expands his Eden with Create Demiplane, Greater, extending it into the forest around the clearing, which grows thinner, to accommodate foot travel.
Crummock wanders over to another gap in the southern forest wall, and enters an undergrowth tunnel, which ends in a small, cocoon-like chamber. There, secluded from the rest of Eden, he pulls out an obscenely large diamond, and concentrates.
"I desire the Miracle of choice - that all those whom I call True Friends may, upon their death, have a second option in the Great Beyond - if they so wish, their spirit may come to this Eden for their eternal rest..."
The earth rumbles, there is a crack of thunder, and then the musical tinkling of bells... all of which quickly pass. Thereafter, an aura of calm suffuses Eden.
Satisfied with what he has wrought, Crummock then crafts another lesser aspect of himself (this one called Gamma), and after that, goes looking for Anastazia, to take her to Triaxus (along with Greta, of course!).
"Thanks Crummock. For everything.
Dimitri thanks Crummock.
Anatasia nods at Crummock's apology. "I didn't care for you because you always thought you were right and expected everyone to see things your way, not considering other points of view."
"Honestly...I'd like to go around Armun Kelisk. It's probably the only time I'll be here. I would too, except I'm sort of out of planeshifts, so if I ran into trouble...lets say my way of dealing with trouble would greatly inconvenience the city."
"Being cooped up in this room would be safe, but boring, so I must as well go to your Eden." Anatasia shrugs. "It's bigger then here, right?"
"I never believed the tales Dimitri told about your demiplane. But seeing is believing. It is truly a paradise, your home,"Pavel claps Crummock heartily on his shoulder as the rest of the soldiers nod their agreement.
"May they have gone a better place, to rest in Heaven in the House of the Lord. For the Lord is their shepherd, and they shall not want." The Russian soldiers say in prayer then drink a toast to those departed. "To new beginnings."
"Oh no, this isn't farewell, it's see you later! Dimitri said we'll be building a cottage for you!" Zakhar answers Crummock light-heartedly as they go through the portal.
"And we'll badger him to Call you everyday to tell you how we're doing!" Igor chimes in.
Dimitri,at this point of time, is burying his face in his hands and shaking his head. "What have I gotten myself into,"He groans at Igor's suggestion.
Then they troop off through the portal to their future.
Anatasia finds Crummock's simulacrums in his image discomforting, and asks Crummock if it rains in his demiplane, saying she wishes to camp outside the lodge, near the fishpond. If it does rain in the plane, she asks for a tent. She asks if she has permission to take what she needs from his Garden for sustenance.
She mostly spends her in Crummock's Eden admiring the fishpond, the gardens, and the leaf leshys, but generally watching everything from afar, and most importantly, giving his simulacrums a wide berth.
Crummock, Anatasia and Greta return to Triaxius, Ivoryglass. Their dragon-kin are still there, trying to clear the land of the remaining cronies of Yrax. Taslune even remarks that their quest took a remarkably short time, not even a day!
Baknarla is happy to take Anatasia in Ivory glass, Crummock, Greta and Anatasia are treated to welcome feast of wolliped kidney, frost crawler liver, ursikka eggs on toast and crispy fried Frost drake wings.
Anatasia's eyes bulge on her face in astonishment as she looks at the exotic cuisine and tucks gingerly in to Viveka's cooking, while Greta makes up for it, wolfing down everything up in sight. "Now this is life."Greta exclaims happily. "We're just missing Mr Whiskers and Einar."
"So what are our plans for the future? " Greta asks Crummock. "Wherever you go - I will follow."
Crummock grins, and winks at Dimitri.
"I am sure that you will love every minute of it! As you said, I am sure that I will be hearing from you soon. Don't hesitate to Call!"
Crummock shrugs sadly.
"Righteous indignation will do that to a person... when you have experienced a certain form of suffering, and seen it perpetuated upon others... you feel an indignant desire to fix it... seeing that often enough, convinces you that you are the only one that can fix it... and that leads to a rather blinkered way of looking at the world."
He then sighs.
"Death granted me perspective, but I also saw that the only way to retain that perspective, was to forever change the nature of what I was... which is why you see me as I am now."
Crummock then grins, wanly.
"Apart from the initial problems with regard to size (which I was able to overcome), that part of it didn't turn out too badly..."
Crummock nods.
"Yes, it does occasionally rain; after all, how could the plants live and grow without semi-regular watering?"
He then happily provides her with a tent.
"You are more than welcome to harvest what you need from the Garden; the whole point of it being as Bountiful as it is, is to allow visitors to relax, and contemplate, without needing to worry about bodily concerns..."
Initially, the leaf leshies are quite hesitant around Anastazia, but after she has been around for a day or so, and obviously means them no harm, they overcome their shyness, and cautiously approach her, eventually engaging in their usual games around her habitat area, performing a mock naval engagement on the pond's edge.
Sensing that Anastazia is uncomfortable around him, Beta keeps his distance throughout Anastazia's stay.
Crummock greets Baknarla warmly.
"It is good to see you again! You say less than a day has passed? Well, it has been many weeks since I saw you last; time must flow differently here. A lot has changed... more than I had expected. Yes, we were successfully in our quest; Mr Whiskers and Einar just had some errands to run, and wanted to catch up with a few people in the place where this all began for us. I know Einar, at least, certainly plans to come back here, at least for a time..."
He then chews his lip thoughtfully.
"Speaking of plans for the future, I intend to travel a lot with Greta here," he says, smiling warmly and nodding in Greta's direction. "This means that I won't always be around, if there is trouble. Consequently, I decided to make a stop-gap - Gamma here," he says, clapping Gamma on the back, "is an echo of the Crummock that was, and to an extent, still is. He will be able to provide advice, and some clerical spellcasting support, even when I am not around. That said, I will always respond when Called - you just have to say my name three times, and I will Hear you..."
Crummock then grins.
"However, that is a topic for the future. For the moment, let's enjoy Viveka's fine cooking, and discuss what still needs to be done, in order to turn Ivoryglass into a place that no dragon will ever be able to take from us, ever again!"
Crummock gives her arm a gentle squeeze.
"Well, I was hoping to spend some time exploring this world; we only saw such a small segment of it, the last time we were here, and I am sure that there is plenty for us to discover here. After that, well, the Multiverse is really our oyster; we can go literally anywhere you would like. That said, I would value your input on what you would like to do; if this is to be a true partnership, it should be a mutual decision, reached by consensus..."
”The problem is not everything you think needs fixing needs fixing. I don't see any issues with the size or form, what matters more is what the person or creature does, rather then how he or she looks like.” Anastasia answers.
”Don't be silly. If you wanted to – you could have made it that way. This is your demiplane – an extension of your will. And there are magic items that can provide water. I can provide my own water supply, for one.” She replies.
Anastasia, seeing the leshys are not hostile towards her, is happy to watch the leshys perform mock naval engagements and cheers enthusiastically when one side does a particularly impressive maneuver.
”Do you have any prizes to award the winning side?” She asks Crummmock.
”Yes, less then a day has passed...or maybe you could say time flows differently there, time flows normally to us. It makes good hearing that you were successful in your quest.” Baknarla smiles at Crummock, as she clasps his hand. ”Do you know if Mr Whiskers will be returning, and when Einar will return?”
”Crummock that was?” A wrinkle appears on Baknarla's forehead. ”You make two of yourself? Does your other self know that it is another self?” She asks Crummock, puzzled. ”To Call, we know. We have our ancestral spirits watching over us too.”
”Lets go to Treehome. Commander Pharamol said the parties are wilder over there!" Greta grins enthusiastically at Crummock.
Crummock sighs.
"I could have, but this place was meant to be like an idealied version of the 'real' world; at the time this place was Created, it was originally designed to remind me of happier times. They are, now, quite literally from a lifetime ago, but I would not dream of changing them..."
Crummock nods.
"That is certainly true - frames of reference are important. It could just be that elsewhere, time simply moves much more quickly. When I last saw Einar, he said that he would return here; beyond that, I cannot, precisely, say, but if Mr Whiskers is not coming, I am sure Einar will Call, and I will bring him here. Regarding Gamma," he says, patting his double on the shoulder, "he knows precisely who, and what, he is; but he shares my values, and will do his best to help you, as best he can."
Crummock grins.
"Well then, we can certainly give Treehome a try!"