Enthralled by the city around her, Alathea follows the guardsman eagerly. She listens patiently as he stops and speaks with others, and smiles happily at them if they look her way.
Kodo notes Alathea's attitude of seemingly complete trust - This unlike her. Alathea normally has a good nose for trouble - and shifts even closer, resolving to watch well enough for the both of them.
The climb is long, but eventually you make the top, and are greeted with a sight that you cannot believe exists. Looking out from the large courtyard you stand in, you oversee the vast expanse of a massive city, and further beyond, stretching to the horizon, the sea. The city appears as a giant grid, massive streets bisected by smaller and massive streets. These streets appear that they could easy handle 30 wagons abreast, with room to spare. Large islands set within these streets have green foliage, some trees, some bushes, some just long tracks of grass. In various pockets along these large arteries of the city you see pockets of people gathered around large square objects where an individual stands and proclaims something. Others show people standing, others with people moving around as if in a play.
looking out into the horizon, you see ships, gargantuan beyond belief, floating into and out of the harbor, to be lost to the blue beyond. THeir size belies belief, and yet there they sail. Smaller ships zip ahead and around these behemoths of the sea, narrowly avoiding destruction upon the ponderous seafarers. Opposite the sea and the city is an equally daunting sight, a landscape like a giant patchwork quilt. Farms, large and small, dot the country side, each one with an active chimney, people out in the fields providing for the massive city.
You blink, and instead of seeing the vast horizon of sea and country, you instead see the peaks of mountains and the lows of the valleys. Your companions stand around you, alathea pressed against your side as you hold her arm, comforting and protecting her. A head of you, you see a single man who stands and stares at you, his mouth hanging open in shock.
How? he sputters before regaining his composure. You recognize the voice as the same one who has spoken in your ear earlier.
His features show that of an older man, not elderly, but a man at the peak of his prime. his hair denotes shades of gray, his eyes show a maturity of years beyond measure, his clothing strange. His boots show signs of wear, but overall the man looks healthy, hale, and most importantly, very sane.
I will have to admit, you broke the compulsion a lot faster than i thought. tell me, how did you do it? he asks as he begins to step forward again.
the man for a moment appears to stop and look back at the group. surprise is evident upon his face, but a moment later it is back. A second guardsman steps up between the group and it appears that the man whispers in the ear of the guardsman before he turns and leaves.
shall we? the guard leading you asks
When Fiallain reaches the top of the stairway, the scene before her gives her pause. Grandiose as it was, it was not the sprawling city that stops her dead in her tracks. No, her suddenly over-large eyes gaze beyond, to the great expanse of blue. She seemed oblivious to all else, the others and their guide included. "Is that... is that what I think it is?
Her expression is one of childlike awe, one her companions had rarely if ever seen on the fierce ex-maiden's face. Her voice even quavers a little as she continues, softly... "Water?!??" She reaches for and tugs insistently at Ryland's sleeve. "Ryland? What are those white things out there?" Her finger points out at the sails of the ships at sea as she still stares slack-jawed out at the horizon.
Alathea laughs cheerfully at Fiallain's shock, even as the vision before her fills her with wonder of a different sort. "It is the sea, Sister! You have never seen the like before, yes? It stretches as far as your lands are wide, and other lands lie beyond it still!" She shakes her head, and still grinning like a fool, pulls at Kodokura's arm to hurry forward. "Still, those ships...I have never seen any so large, yes? This place becomes more and more wonderful still!"
** spoiler omitted **
yes
His head reeling from the overlap of illusion and reality, Kodo stumbles a little as Alathea leads him on. "Wait," he mumbles. "This is wrong... All wrong. This is a mountain, not a port. It's not really here, none of it! But he is." Kodo's voice gains strength as he faces the man, again inter posing his body between him and Alathea. "What is this? What have you done to us?"
Alathea stops pulling at Kodokura's arm and returns to his side. Despite what her eyes tell her, his words awaken distant memories within her. And as much as she delights in this wonderful place, if her Heart is unwilling to share it with her, then perhaps it is not worth having. "What is it you see, my Heart?"
At the guardsman's suggestion to Kodokura that he leave her and follow him, Alathea turns to the stranger, eyes fierce. Although she wants to believe that he has their best interests at heart, Kodokura obviously does not trust him. And while she cannot imagine that the guardsman would hurt them, she is suddenly loathe to leave Kodokura's side. "No! I will not leave my Heart's side, yes?"
As real as the illusion is, as much as your brain tells you that you are within a thriving city next to a vast ocean, your eyes show you the truth. You see before you the hollowed out remains of vast ruin. A lone building stands testament to the power and grandeaur of a bygone age, an age that itself is legendary. Your head spins as you try to process what just happened. One moment, you were standing before a grand palace, about ready to be taken in to see a Govenor, and now you see rubble.
Whirling about, you look for the city, the patchwork farmland, the sea...nothing. instead it is barren, mountains for farmland, valleys for the sea, and a barren plateau for the thriving city.
Your friend here has saved you, and me as well. a voice chirps from amidst.
looking at the source, you see an old man, bent, shriveled with age. His eyes catch your attention, the maturity, the all seeing presence within them hold you motionless.
Before, i was mad. Yes, mad. I had lost a sense of myself through the long years of my long life. 2,000 years i have lived, and with that comes depression and lonelyness. You are the first real group of people to offer me a chance at leaving this place in 500 years. The last group fled back west, towards their grand city. I wanted you all to see the splendor that i grew up with, and lived with all those years before. And now, it truely is all gone.
the man turns and looks fully upon Kodokura. Your friend here, his nature, or natures refusal of him, is what brought back my sanity. For he was the one to break the compulsion. Him being here breaks all sorts of rules. And by here, i mean within this mirror world
Smirking, he sees everyones questioning look.
Yes, i know this isnt the true realm. This is just a mirror realm. I was one of the first to use the portal stones to travel. Unfortunately i didnt learn until i arrived here that you must know the the Portal stones origination marking and the realms origination marking before you leave. Come with me
Turning, the man walks with surprising quickness into the small building.
Looking at yourselves, you all nod, ready yourselves for anything, and then follow the man in.
What you see inside, surprises even you.
Inside, standing straight up, is the an exact replica of the column that you saw in the basement of Lord Jareen's house, all those days and realms away. Carved into its surface at equal intervals are symbols, some with strange hooks and runes, others with writing that hurts the eye. The noticeable difference about this one is that it glows with an eerie light.
Writing in chalk lines the walls, ceiling, and floor. unable to decifer what it says, your attention gravitates towards the large portal stone.
Now, i know that you all play a pivitol part in the pattern, and the upcoming tarmon gaidon. But, not here, not in this realm. You all play a part. You he points at Ryland you wield Valdar Cuebiyari Tai'daishar, a relic ancient even in my time. You he points at alathea you're destiny lies not within the tower, but as a mother to the next destined Dragon. You others, i dare not reveal, for simply knowing will change the pattern.
All of you erupt with questions pertaining to who and what and how. The man simply stands there, nodding or shaking his head at random, never giving anyone a straight answer. Raising his hands, you all seem to quiet down to allow him to speak.
Peace. There is one thing i can do to help you. I can move you to another realm, one where things are very similar to your own. This realm is a new one, where a possibility erupted when a major event occured within the real realm. In my studies, i have learned that these types of events will have portal stones that are mostly concealed, only leaving enough markings to allow people to return to the real realm. Find one of these stones and you will be taken home.
The man steps forward, and touches the portal stone. a yellow light erupts from the stone, and envelopes each of you.
Good luck the man says simply before everything turns to darkness...
alright everyone, the group is being moved to here. please click the link and say hello again...