She nods as they walk into the living room, "Yeah, it was good. Especially with the fresh biscuits that I made. You probably know that I'm not here to talk about food though."
Rhadaya smiles, flying slowly up the spiraling stairs.
You come to a grand chamber at the top of the tower. The walls depict a sky where the clouds, stars, sun and moon constantly move. On a great throne, you see a statue that appears to be made out of wood.
"I know," Esme says. "Mirrin isn't here, though."
She kind of cocks her head to the side, "Well...that's really...strange. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it before...anywhere."
Looking a little disappointed she sighs, "Darn it...I was hoping to get to spend some time with you while talking with her about stuff too. Is she okay Esme? Like...is she really going to be okay and do you know where she went? She didn't run off again did she?" She asks with a note of concern in her voice, "Oohhh I knew I should have come sooner."
Taking a deep breath as she takes in the spectacular chamber in awe, Sadhana focuses on the magnificent wooden statue on the throne.
"She's fine...as far as I can tell," Esme replies. "She's trying to find some work and get her own place here. She just went back to the Common House. Mirrin didn't feel comfortable staying here."
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Sādhanā has never seen or heard of anything like this before in her life.
The statue opens its eyes, which are a golden color. It seems to appraise the group before its eyes settle on Tesia. "I'd like to think that I am one of a kind."
Her mouth pops open in surprise as she stares at the being addressing them, "I...uhh....wow." Is all she's able to articulate.
She sighs and sits down on her sister's couch, "Yeah....she seems to have a hard time around other people. I guess I can understand how she feels, considering everything she's probably been through. I just barely put together who her sister was....and then....finding out about her stuff being abandoned on the beach and the sailors that saw her out there....I just....it felt like something bad might have happened....but then I saw her with you in Hadrinn's, and I'm sorry I'm talking so much, my mind is just trying to work it all out in my head...but there are pieces that don't seem to fit right. Oh Esme...what should I do? Should I just leave it be and let her come to me and talk about it if she wants to? I don't want to delve up anything painful from her past." She says while trying to figure out what she should do.
"From what little I know about her, you'd better approach her because she won't approach you," Esme advises.
She sighs again as she nods, "Yeah...you're probably right about that. I just...I wish I had realized sooner just how much she was hurting. I shouldn't have just let her run off like that...but I...I had no idea. Is everything okay with you? I don't wanna just run off and leave you just because she's not here. I really did wanna see you too." She says while fiddling with her thick wool skirt.
"I'm fine," Esme says. "Just been busy with helping Divitia plan for her wedding."
At the mention of the wedding she gets a huge dopey grin on her face, "Yeah...I can't wait. I still need to get with them and find out what kind of food they want for their feast. I promised Alethia I'd do the cooking for it." She says with a note of happiness in her voice.
Trying to regain some sense of composure she closes her mouth while trying to think of what to say to the talking statue. Closing her eyes for a moment she attempts to gather her thoughts before speaking again, "I...uhhh...I'm sorry, we don't mean to be rude or stare...it's just...we've never seen anything like you before....ever. So...yeah, you are definitely one of a kind for sure. Could you tell us who you are and what your purpose is here?" She asks a bit timidly while staying back with Rhy.
"I am Arctur, sometimes called the Mediator," the "statue" answers. "I don't really mediate these days. I simply observe and remember. Occasionally, I answer questions when I have visitors. However, I am a lot less restricted than Plindor downstairs."
"They both deserve to be happy," Esme says.
Remember what the inscription downstairs had said she puts a hand to her mouth, "Ohhhh....ohh....you're....you and Plindor must be the two original druids who stayed with the tower after it was completed." She says, her voice full of wonder and awe. She looks back at Cyna, "Cyna....I'm sure he can answer your questions about the stars and that stuff." She had no idea what else to say and she didn't want to appear completely stupid.
Her smile widens, "Oh yes...absolutely and I'm sure they're both really excited about their new addition as well. I really should learn how to knit or something." She adds with a chuckle.
"I hear it's a good hobby," Esme says.
She nods, "Well...I'd have to find someone that could teach me first, but I'm not gonna have time to do that for a while. There's still lots of other things to see to, speaking of which...I'd really like to stay and catch up, but Alethiro is taking Celine to visit with his parents and I'm supposed to meet him there....so I should probably go talk to Mirrin. Maybe we can get together another night?" She asks, looking at her sister apologetically. She really did want to spend some time with her, she just always seemed to have something she needed to do. Things had to slow down eventually though.
Esme nods and yawns. "Sure. Whenever you get a free moment."
She gives Esme a hug, "Okay, I'll see you later then." Getting up from the couch she walks with Esme to the door and goes out, heading to the common house after giving her sister a final wave.
Getting to the common house she goes inside, "Evening Atlana, would you happen to know what room I can find Mirrin Orana in?"
Rhadaya slips her hand in Tes' feeling her wife's overwhelmed state of awe at being in the presence of something....someone legendary. "It's an honor to meet you." she says to Arctur.
Feeling comforted by her wife's presence, she gives her a little smile while remaining quiet.
"Upstairs, in 2E," Atlana answers. "I decided putting signs on the door would make it easier for folks."
---
"No need to be so formal," Arctur says. "I am a humble druid, nothing more, nothing less."
She nods, "Thanks Atlana, yeah...signs help. Have a good night." She says before heading up to the room. Taking a deep breath she knocks on the door.
Mirrin opens the door. "I was wondering when you'd show up."
She blushes slightly, "I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to you. Things have just been really....crazy lately and time just sort of got away from me. Do you have a few moments to talk?"
Mirrin nods and holds the door open. "I'm not doing anything right now anyway."
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Going in her room she finds a place to sit and sighs a little. Once Mirrin has shut the door she looks up at her, "First of all...I'm so sorry, for so many things. It wasn't until your backpack was discovered though and I saw the name in the books that I was able to piece things together. I'm so sorry for everything you lost....for what was taken from you. No one should have to go through so much loss and grief.....but so many do. We were just so caught up with everything going on here and around us that we weren't able to see....how much you were really hurting. I lost a lot being trapped in that shard....but I think things are going to be okay. I can come to terms with certain things....as long as there's hope." She pauses for a moment to take a breath, "I'm sorry if I'm just babbling on...but I feel like we really let you down...but I had to let you know that Coorah is no longer suffering under the influence of that bastard Straub and we put an end to him once and for all so that he can't ever do that to anyone ever again. I know that I can't "fix" everything....but I just wanted you to know that you're not alone and you don't have to deal with anything on your own. I'm sorry I freaked out when I saw you at Hadrinn's...I just...I went looking for you and couldn't find you and then those sailors said they saw you at the beach but didn't see where you went and then that drunk had your bag and said it had just been sitting there...and I started thinking all kinds of things." She stops and takes another breath, "I can only make assumptions about what happend...but if you're ready to talk to about it, I'm here. You can tell me anything you want, even if it's "Shut the hells up and leave me alone." I would totally understand." She finishes as she holds her hands down in her lap and fidgets slightly while looking down. Maybe what happened wasn't her fault, but she felt like she really hadn't been there for her when Mirrin really needed someone. She gets quiet to try and give her a chance to process everything that had just come pouring out of her and hoped she hadn't overstepped her boundaries. She was never really good at seeing the line anyways. Nothing in her tone suggests that she pities Mirrin, but that she merely feels remorse for not being able to do something to help her sooner and for everything she had to go through.
"Can you tell us more about the display we found downstairs?" Cyna asks.
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"It's not an easy thing to explain, but I will try," Arctur replies.
A bowl of marbles appears on the floor in front of him. His body creaks as he reaches down to pick one up. The druid holds the marble between his thumb and forefinger for a moment before letting it rest in the palm of his hand. "Though it might be unfathomable, this marble represents our universe. All the planes and planets and stars that make up what we know as 'reality'."
He then gestures at the bowl. "The truth is, there are thousands upon millions of universes that exist. When a significant event occurs, what I term an 'intersection', another universe is born. However, that universe's lifespan may be anything from seconds to years, depending on the aftereffects of that intersection. For example, if you never died on the roof of the fort, it is in all likelihood that that separate universe would simply become this one. It was an insignificant event in that it did not impact what is going on now."
Arctur pauses for a moment. "Perhaps that is more than I needed to say..."
He scoops up a few more marbles and pulls a small sliver of bark off himself. "Anyway, the conjunction of stars also refers to a conjunction of universes. Seven, to be precise. The spaces you observe between the marbles is chaos, entropy, nothingness. It is the realm of Cthulhu and where R'lyeh truly exists. Cthulhu's sole purpose is to destroy everything, all universes, all realities. His servants have devised a way to bring about this end much more quickly."
Improbably, Arctur pierces seven marbles with the sliver of bark. "The Shard of the Sky is a method developed to tether several universes together and, when one falls, so do the rest. The universes that we are bound to are very different from ours, but they simply exist within close proximity. Our world has been gifted, or cursed, with a strong connection to R'lyeh. A door can be opened from here to there, so we shall be the universe to fall and take the others with us."
The druid puts the marbles back in the bowl after taking out the sliver. "Once the stars align, the door to R'lyeh shall open of its own accord and the universes shall end lest we unbind ours from the rest and take the battle to Cthulhu."
---
Mirrin looks at Arista for a moment. "I really don't know what to say right now."
She thinks for a moment, "I know that was a lot to dump off on you at once, so why don't we start with the most obvious. What happened to you? Your tattoos changed....so something happened, I'm just not sure what. Then maybe you could just start by telling me how you're feeling? But....but it's okay if you don't know right now. Am I making any sense?" She asks before tilting her head up to look back up at Mirrin. Really....she just wanted to know if she was okay.
Tesia just looks around in stunned silence. Not sure how to react or what to say since much of what he said went right over her head. She really hoped that one of the others would understand it better than her. All she understood was that they would have to fight something to keep every thing from being destroyed at some point. She just wasn't sure what everything else meant.
Sādhanā listens intently, taking in the full depth and gravity of Arctur's words. Even as she does her mind races to understand the nature of untethering the universes.
"How do we unbind them?"
"By continuing what you're doing, destroying the shards," Arctur answers. "This is purely assumption, but I believe that if the shard is gone from our world, it may disappear from the others."
"You can definitely count on us to continue, and to take the fight to Cthulu and all that would stand with him." Sādhanā replies.
Thinking for a moment she asks, "Are the rest of the shards just here on Zahvroma....or are they scattered all over Vesaria? Do you know how many shards are left?"
"The remainder of the shards are here on Zahvroma," Arctur replies. "About twenty remain."
---
"I feel...less empty," Mirrin says. "I'm still processing everything. Aroden basically told me not to throw away my life and to help you and the others with saving Zahvroma...The whole thing about the tattoos is a long story...I don't know if you want to hear it."
Her eyes get a little large, "Well damn....then I guess we have a lot of work to do in the next couple of months." She says as she wonders where the next closest shard in relation to Valwick was located.
Giving Mirrin a reassuring smile she nods, "He's right....I told you before even though it might seem naive, I don't believe that there are "lost causes"...only people that have become lost, but that means that they can be found again too. You just got a little lost in your grief and pain and I can totally understand that....but you have so much more to offer this world Mirrin, more than you or I could possibly understand. Aroden believes in you and so do I, Sarenrae saw something good in you or she wouldn't have saved you from the tower collapsing. Sometimes...it takes other people to help us see what we are unable to see in ourselves, and of course I want to hear it...but only if you're ready to tell it. I know my type of concern can seem a little...overwhelming at times, but if I didn't care so much about people, I wouldn't bother. I don't want to push you into talking about anything you're not ready to though, so it's completely up to you. I'm just glad you're alright." She says as she lets out a sigh of relief.
Getting up she goes to Mirrin and gives her a hug, "If there are things you need to do though, I think you should talk to Sadhana. I...I'm not going to be able to go back out with them until after the baby comes. Everyone thinks it would be better for me to stay at home and take it easy." She finishes, sounding a bit sulky. Letting go of Mirrin she goes back to her seat and sits down while waiting to see if Mirrin really wanted to tell her what happened to her. She wouldn't force her to talk about anything she wasn't ready to.
"That's it, though. I don't know what to do to help," Mirrin says. "I wasn't much of a fighter to begin with..."
She thinks for a moment, "Well...what can you do? Sometimes you don't have to be a great fighter to help someone."
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Mirrin sighs. "These tattoos...they are commoner's tattoos. They are the old color they used to be before...that time. Anizari with golden tattoos are usually scholars, craftsmen...or thieves. I was more of the last one. My sister's tattoos were blue, like Sādhanā's. She was a Bladebearer and well-respected among our tribe. All I could do was live in her shadow and always be compared to her. When I was tired of that, I learned how to steal, to get where I wasn't supposed to...eventually, I learned how to kill...and I turned out to be pretty good at that. Seems like killing is an easy thing to pick up, if you have the stomach for it. After my sister disappeared, I went to find out what happened to her and found a Necromancer. I don't remember what his name was. It probably doesn't even bear remembering. I put my skills to use and took that mask and his life. When I put it on, I saw the horrible things that the Necromancers did. I saw what magic has done to my family and what it had done to the world. For all the good magic does, it does an awful lot of evil too. And I began to hate magic...I began to hate the Anizari. The mask tried to corrupt me, but I made it suffer. Whatever blessing Aroden gave to the Anizari, it wouldn't let me become a Necromancer, it just made me stronger against magic. The mask began to hunger for magic because I would simply destroy arcane energies once they got near me."
She pauses. "Others met me, but they feared me. Chalandra, Tichran, Solomon...they knew I could destroy them even though I didn't know what I was doing. But they aren't the problem, they are merely symptoms. I could never figure out how to end it all...I don't know why magic will always persist. When I lost the mask, I had nothing left. I could not find a purpose within myself to keep going. I...swam until I all I could feel was pain...for the first time in a long time. It felt so good to give up. I was almost at peace."
Mirrin crosses her legs and leans back. "Something in my heart...didn't want to give up. Aroden knows this, I think. I think it's why he gave me another chance. I've been full of hate and anger for so long, I don't know what it is that I hope for. I don't know how to start figuring it out."
The Anizari lets out another sigh and closes her eyes. "I'm tired of crying...I'm tired of hurting. I'm just tired of people thinking they can fix my problems when I can't even figure out what the problem is. You're not the first to try, Arista. And I'm not mad at you...I'm just stuck in this rut where it feels like all roads lead to nowhere and, when people give me advice, I feel like I'm just going around in circles again. I want it to stop...but I know that killing myself isn't an answer because my heart is going to keep wanting that unknown thing."
It takes her a few minutes to take in everything Mirrin is saying. Taking a few minutes to breath she nods slightly, "Yes...I can see how you would feel that way after everything you've been through. I'm sure there's something that you can do though, or you wouldn't be here. You might know things about Chalandra, and those other guys that we don't though....it might be your knowledge that helps us against the evils that plague this land. I don't really know what the others are up to right now, except for checking out the tower of order...but maybe it would be a good idea for you to talk to Sadhana after they get back?" She sits there for a couple of minutes chewing on her fingernails while she tries to think. Finally looking back up at Mirrin she says, "You don't need "fixing"...you just need to figure out what you want to do, and you don't have to have all the answers right now. That's part of life, figuring out stuff as you go. I sure as hells don't have all the answers either....I don't even really know how to help my own family...but that's where trusting others comes in. Not a single one of us can accomplish anything on our own, I believe that's why we meet other people. So that when we can't find all the answers, that we have others that can help us. Maybe you'll help by staying here in town. I don't know....but I know that you'll figure it out eventually. It just takes patience sometimes...not that I'm always good at being patient. I'm also not good at just sitting around either....I've never backed down from a fight...never, but now I don't have a choice so I have to learn how to deal with it. We're not talking about me though, whatever you choose to do...just know that we're here for you...okay?" She says as she hopes she made at least some kind of sense.
"Yeah, okay," Mirrin says. "I don't have much more to talk about right now. I'll just think on it, alright?"
She nods as she gets up, "Alright, I'm sure everything will work out. Just let us know what you want to do, they aren't going to be really heading back out again until after Cyna and Sienna's wedding so you have a few days to figure it out. If you need anything just let me know okay, and thanks...for telling me what happened and stuff. I don't mean to be a pain in the ass, I just worry about people." Getting to the door she looks back at Mirrin, "Have a good night Mirrin, I'll be around if you wanna talk again sometime."
"Sure," Mirrin says, opening the door for Arista. "You have a good night too."