Volcano's Land - A New Beginning

Game Master Miner Cotren

Clearing her throat with an almost groan, Inam breaks the silence. "Cauldron Lady, we beg an audience. We know as of late, our actions have upset you and hope to come to a mutually beneficial...umm...compromise." Letting the word hang in the air a moment, she glances towards her companions.

"Would you be willing to speak with us?" she concludes.

'I'd rather strike you down where...' shaking her head slightly, her her thoughts press on. 'No...ALL creatures are redeemable. They must be given a choice...a potential path to salvation. Even the gods must have a chance...'

Forcing a smile, she awaits a response from the hooded figure.

Ibinu nods, well said.

Tilting her head and looking at the cloaked figure. She is getting better at this.

The barest movement of hood and horn, inclining forward.

The wolf on the right slowly stands up. His wet, snuffling nose would likely be level with Ibinu's hair. In a growling voice reminiscent of Yi's but much deeper, he says, "The laws of this place dictate a sacrifice before discussion. Choose wisely." The wolf turns around and walks to the bubbling cauldron and sits on his haunches, regarding the four of you.

Ibinu's mind races for options, sacrifice, hrmmmm... I doubt any of us would sacrifice any of the others so it'll have to be something given from one of us. And I have something she wants. I don't think we have any better options and the others give so much already and I honestly don't want Inam sullied with another sacrifice, it's time I stepped up. Plus... she'll probably be more willing to deal with me than with the warrior's herald.

Ibinu steps forward as the words ring out, his mind decided. He speaks, "I surrender the power given to me by my friend, the mighty dragon Ssarkofaugos. I do not wish to give up this gift as it means a great deal to me, but if I wanted to give it up, it would not be a worthy sacrifice, now would it?"

Inam's mouth opens as if to speak, then shuts suddenly. 'I...I should have expected that.' she considers.

Considering the options, she moves to step forward as...Ibinu shoves her back and speaks. Her mouth dropping open a second time...this time hanging there.

'Ibinu..what are you...NO! You can't! But...it would have been nothing to offer myself. Leave it to the will of the Warrior my fate but...' her thoughts trailing off, she stares at her fellow sylph awestruck.

Finally, her eyes fall back to the cloaked figure...waiting for a response.

She stands, claws shrieking against the hard black throne. With a grasping gesture, a golden, pulsing light is pulled from Ibinu, streaming from his eyes, mouth, and heart. His scars, once mirror-bright, are now white and pale. You are left light-headed and gasping.

The glowing cloud gathers into her hand. She lifts it to her face, as if smelling the bouquet of a finely aged wine. Then, she casts it into the cauldron. A blinding flash of light erupts from the boiling liquid, and yellow frothing bubbles pour over the side, steaming on the floor. There is a hint of low laughter, or perhaps just the cauldron's fire crackling.

An ancient voice, creaking and deep as the grandmother of giants, says, "So you do know the worth of sacrifice. I am listening, and I will speak to you."

Stomach hitting the ground when Inam makes the slightest movement and the panicky feeling does not leave with what Ibinu has to say. Damn sylphs!

Closing her eyes and exhaling slowly. Opening her eyes slowly and letting her gaze settle on Ibinu for the moment.

Pain wracking his body, Ibinu starts to collapse and fall to his knees gasping for breath. Knowing that showing weakness will undercut his sacrifice, he slams a hand to the ground to stop his descent. The coarse floor scraping against his palm pulls him back to reality. Slowly but steadily standing he looks at the deity and croaks out, "of course we understand sacrifice, we just don't chose to sacrifice others for our causes. That's the difference."

Gaining a bit of momentum the shakiness of his voice fades and he continues, "it's simple, at least to us. Hearth needs your strength. The world needs your strength. But not at the cost of sacrificing the world itself. Bring back the dragons or figure out some other way to help us fight the coming darkness, or all will be lost and you'll never have anyone able to sacrifice to you again."

He looks at the seething righteous fury being bottled up next to him, "I can't let the warriors hand be associated with you, so if you need a presence up there, I'll provide the connection. But I won't be giving my everything to you, so take it or leave it."

He waves his hand up and around at everything, "oh and end this stupid abomination of a prison, you know it only gives him more power."

The horns cock to the side, assessing you. "You would be my champion, as this one belongs to my brother?"

Ibinu thinks for a second, of course it comes to this. But... I was willing to sacrifice myself for this cause, I see no reason to back down now. And this might be the only way for her to head towards any sort of redemption for her actions. It's worth the slim chance without question, even if it fails.

He turns back to the beastly aspect of volcano, "I would, but only if we work with and not against the Warrior and his herald."

She brings her hands together with a sound of snapping bones. "It is a bargain. This place will cease to be, and as a show of good faith all prisoners will be released, which you did not ask for. I will send you dreams instructing you how to restore a great deal of power to the Temple without the need for living sacrifices."

From the cauldron comes a blistering red smoke, crawling across the floor. Quickly, too fast to react, it seizes Ibinu in a sweltering embrace, enveloping him in crimson mist. The Queen of Horns sits back on her throne, satisfied. The light from the efreet-sconces dwindles; your vision is darkening. Even the cauldron's glow fades, growing dimmer and dimmer. The last thing you see is a tiny golden claw waving from the cauldron - a farewell or a cry for help?

You all awake lying on the familiar black floor of the Temple. You are in the same hallway of urns that you last recall before you found yourself in the Hall of Seers. Now the urns are falling from their shelves, shattering upon the hard obsidian. The sound of the brittle ceramic is somehow gentle, like hailstones upon the earth.

crash, tash, skrink

A feeling of peace permeates the corridor. The urns are all shattered, and even the ash slowly fades away, leaving old, broken shards and nothing more.

Edoardo comes running around the corner. "What is it that happened? I lost sight of you for the moment, and then I heard crashes! Is everything alright Inam?" He offers her a hand.

You are free to tell your truths now, whenever you see fit

Allowing Edoardo to help her up, Inam's eyes fall on Ibinu...sympathy pouring through her very soul. 'Does he realize what he's done for this place? Has he the strength to not let her corruption destroy him? I...I hope he has a plan here... I hope what has happened doesn't come back to destroy his soul.'

Slowly turning back to Edoardo, she says simply. "I am ok for now. Time will tell on the rest."

Pausing, considering....she dives headlong into the next statement. "We found your father."

Edoardo's eyes narrow in confusion. "Ehh, what do you mean? I lost sight of you for five, maybe ten seconds. My father left when I was infante."

Ibinu finds himself lying on the cold stone floor, head throbbing. And I mean THROBBING, like tiny daggers are being stabbed into his brain. He sits up and looks around, the voices of Edoardo and Inam bouncing off the walls.

He reaches up to rub his head and feels a hard pointy lump growing out of his skull. Just a brief touch amplifies the pain and he let's out a low, "oooouuuuuucccccchhhhh." Clearly visible to the others are two obsidian colored inch-long horns poking out of his skin. Two trickles of blood drip down his forehead from where they emerge. The sylph appears a bit confused and looks at Kallik, "do I uh... have horns?"

"Sec...seconds" parrots Inam, looking around confused. "I swear...we were gone a good while longer than that..."

Turning towards Ibinu, she frowns. 'Well...that's not a good sign. Has his corruption already begun?'

"Everyone ok?" she asks.

Inam, near your foot a shard of an old, rust-red urn catches your eye. You see a partial name. -rdo Gregar-

Picking the shard up slowly, she reads it...and re-reads it...and reads it a third time to be certain. A tear slowly meanders down her right cheek as she holds it up towards Edoardo, mumbling "I didn't...I thought...but..."

A deep slow breath steels her, if for a moment. "Sorry Edo...I was mistaken. We did free him from the prison of the Lady though...and he is proud of you."

Offering a hug, she quickly turns back away. "It all seemed so..."

The realization of the situation finally beginning to sink in, she turns back to Ibinu and Kallik. "My friends...seems we just returned from the underworld...the damnable place where souls die. The opposite of where we found So Khong..."

Finding her eyes have again settled on the horns poking from Ibinu's head, she frowns...her mind wanders back to the recent excursion...digesting what she'd seen...heard...

Quickly losing interest in Inam's blabbering, Etrah shrugs and flitters towards Ibinu...landing one of the new perches sprouting from his head.

"So that was something else." he remarks matter-of-fact. Leaning over to stare upside down into Ibinu's face, he smiles "Seems you saved our bacon, though to what cost we shall see. We must tread lightly with this new alliance."

Cocking his head towards Edoardo, he muses "Just a few seconds, huh? Seems time travels much faster in the afterlife."

Neck bending from the weight of the chunky phoenix what does that bird eat!?! Ibinu straightens against the strain and looks into the upside down fiery eyes. "Yeah no, this is great. Inam gets a phoenix, embodiment of everything awesome in the world. I get horns. I mean, sure they are cool and all but yeah, I can see why the Lady is annoyed with her brother."

He stands up slowly to allow Etrah to stay or dismount safely. A big yawn escapes him followed by an obvious stomach gurgle "so those five seconds apparently took a lot out of me." Distracted briefly with the scene in front of him he muses, "so my guess is that we freed the souls of those imprisoned or bound here, so they'll get to seek their proper afterlife."

He turns to Edoardo, "we did meet your father in there and freed him as well, Inam can share more about that maybe. We also um... dealt with the Cauldron Lady directly. I've got some ideas from her about restoring some of the temple power without a return to the senseless sacrifice, but that will have to wait for tomorrow. For now, I need to rest and recover."

He waves to all the shattered urns, "this needs brought to Dove's attention and eventually the councils. Apparently this was a secret prison for any oracles or insane. We have destroyed the prison and released the souls, but I think we need it all cataloged so closure can be brought to the families of those trapped here. I'd say Dove is the right person to go to first on this, but would take other suggestions."

Blinking slowly as her brain catches up with her vision. Nothing in this world is right.

Twisting her head at Ibinu's question and nodding a 'yes' when her voice remains imprisoned in her throat. Moving her head to stare at Inam. She cries to much. Shifting her gaze to look at Edoardo, Or maybe the everyone doesn't cry enough.

Turning head to look at all of the shattered urns He forgot the blood poisoning. Shaking her head, trying to knock the thoughts of death and failure out.

Moving to tap Ibinu on the shoulder, "Go rest. You have earned that. I can go find Dove and bring her here if that is what needs to happen."

Offering a half-hearted smile, "I promise to try to be nice."

It is child's candle

Edoardo looks from Inam, to Kallik, then finally to Ibinu. He manages to keep his face neutral. "Well, eh, perhaps, Inam, you can tell me more of...whatever it is that happened? I will have food brought to your chambers, of course."

"As for the council, I believe most of them have retired for the night. Should I send an emergency summons? Captain Dove is still working is his room, though. He rarely goes to sleep before new candle."

Kallik, Lui catches up with you. He asks you no unwanted questions; he is simply a presence by your side.

As you enter Dove's chambers, he looks up from his paperwork, then sets all of it carefully aside. "Good evening, Kallik. I must apologize for not having come to you earlier. These past few weeks have been...harrying, trying to keep pieces of Hearth together as our old, corrupt institutions fall apart. I do not wish you to think the issue we discussed has not been on my mind. To the contrary, it often haunts me right before I sleep. The nature of justice for those in dire circumstances, and those not wholly in control of their own facilities." He eyes go distant for a moment, then he looks at you.

"Is something the matter, aside from my inadvertent negligence?"

Waving a hand in dismissal at the idea, "No it is better that we are well rested before dealing with the council."

Turing to leave, "Please get some rest you two."

Keeping her foot steps as quiet as possible and trying not to lash out when Lui rushes up. Glancing back at him but keeping silent. Replaying the events of the last few hours, minuets, seconds? Time continues to be stolen the longer she remains in Hearth.

Biting the inside of her cheek, hard, once Doves door comes into view. Maybe she won't arrest me yet. Knocking twice and waiting to be called in before shutting the door quietly behind her.

Staying near the door and feeling a massive pit twist her insides at Dove's words. Shaking her head, "Things have been hectic so that is understandable. And I am here for something else."

Lacing her behind her back, "The other Blessed and I have uncovered a previous sin of the Temple. We found a where we hoped to find answer some questions. What remains is a pile of broken urns that I think represent the now freed souls that were trapped in there because the Temple wanted them hidden away. Ibinu said you might be able to help us fix this. To help us figure out who they were."

Leaning her head back against the door, "We can now give closure and their families closure. And a proper burial."

Fatigue and massive headache cause Ibinu to stumble a few times as he wanders back to their room. He barely manages to slip his backpack off onto the floor before collapsing face first onto the bed. He mumbles, "wake me if needed, I'mma grab a quick nap."

Pretty quickly, anyone in the room can hear his breathing slow as he dozes off.

Dove steeples his fingers, rings flashing in the torchlight. "It's to be expected to find a few...unpleasant things lurking about after the inquisitors vacated. The fact that we are all still alive in this dangerous place, working toward a better world, is one I do not take for granted. I will, of course, do as you ask." He writes a short note on one of his papers.

"If you do not mind me saying so, you have a faraway look in your eye, which tells me you could do with a rest. If you'll forgive my inquiries, however, is there anything else urgent I should know? Any more statues of the Cauldron Lady about to do battle on the streets?" Despite his somewhat flippant tone, his gaze is steady and serious.

Inam, as Kallik goes to see Dove and Ibinu half-stumbles off to sleep, Edoardo turns to you. He hesitates to speak, looking as though the question he is about to ask pains him. In a hushed tone, as if afraid to be overheard, he says, "Ah...Inam, you know I trust you and the other Blessed with my life. I need to know, right now, if Ibinu is still someone I can trust."

At the question poised by Edoardo, Inam watches the silhouette of his horns disappearing down the hall. A long silence lingers in the air until finally, she answers...quietly "At this time, I honestly don't know. For myself, I will give him the benefit of the doubt...but we should be mindful of the possibilities that lie within..."

Trailing off, she falls silent again.

With a quick shake of her head, she turns back to the guard and offers a weary smile. "We went inward for answers...but alas I fear we gained more questions instead. Only a few seconds you said? Interesting...That...that place was under the realm of The Cauldron Lady. She could likely have forced us to stay, but Ibinu traded a part of himself to secure our release...I..."

Shaking her head again, she looks away. "Sorry, but I seem to be more tired than I thought. I'm...I'm going to retire for the night."

Edoardo simply nods, knowing when to give you your space.

Simple, nourishing fruits and grains are served within your quarters, and you fall asleep as quickly as Ibinu did several minutes before.

longer update later tonight

Shrugging, "I am sure I could use some rest but Ibinu was almost falling asleep on his feet and Inam had other matters."

Looking around the room and shifting on her feet for a moment, "And yes there is more though the fine details of everything will be gone over in a council meeting in the morning... But the short of it is that Ibinu made a bargain with the Cauldron Lady so you all no longer need to offer sacrifices to her."

Dove blinks. And blinks again. "While I do look forward to whatever information is forthcoming on the morrow, I don't suppose I could be privy to just a modicum more than that? Say, the nature of said bargain?" The only agitation the captain shows is in his hands, as the pale white shapes flit from ring to ring.

Inam

You are back at home, sitting on the back porch that overlooks your neighbor's vegetable fields. The season is late; the fields are fallow. Volcano changes rapidly as though hours are passing rather than seconds. Goldredorange, yellowredgold.

In the way you remember so well, you talk with your father while the two of you look at the view rather than each other. Your brother is sick again, and Mother is hardly letting him rest. The forge needs him, she says. You try to tell Father how worried you are, and how...angry you are that things have to be this way, but all you say is you hope he will get better soon.

A strong, weathered hand settles on yours, and squeezes once. "He needs love is all, and you know he's not going to get it from her. He needs your love more than your worry. The rest will work itself out."

Redgoldyellowdaisy, scardandlegoldylion, towering trees sprout like stretch, all elbows in the new morning bright, ripe tomato strawberries falling like a chorus of ruby apple sweethearts--

And it is then you realize you were not talking to Father about your brother. You were talking to your god about Ibinu.

Ibinu

You are shaving. Rather than a straight razor, you are using So Khong's serrated sacrificial knife.

How does a mirror reflect shadow? A silhouette with your eyes mimics your movements with a knife-shadow of his own. Even with no mouth to scowl, no nostrils to flare, the eyes are unmistakably angry.

(thought)

Scrape. There is less of you with each cut of the blade. Thin ribbons of sylph skin slough into the sink, curling up as they land.

(you could)

Scrape. For every strip of you that is cut away, a piece of your reflection is restored. A painting of Ibinu, one brushstroke at a time. Now the scowl. Now the flare.

(escape from me)

Now the horns.

You are gone, just a pair of hands holding a knife. Your reflection says, "Bring Ssarkofaugos to Hearth. Rekindle the race of dragons and the Temple will prosper once more."

It is Fallenday, Giantrites the 21st.
It is sixth candle.

Shrugging, "Honestly I do not know many of the details. Those souls were released and there were to be no more sacrifices. Though we are to still have the Cauldron Lady on our side. I don't know fine details."

Leaning her head back against the door with a thunk. Agitation crawling its way into her voice, "I am sorry I do not have more to give. That will be Ibinu's tale tell in the morning. It is a constant thing, this not knowing."

Ibinu wakes with a start, heart pounding and brain throbbing with the invasion. For a brief second he feels for his body and face, then brushes against the horns and the cold reality descends. Back but not gone, never gone, never free.

Slipping out of his bed, the cold floor not bothering him anymore, he moves over to his desk and pulls out a small mirror. Sighing at the prominent horns sprouting from his forehead he looks himself over and shrugs. Hands absentmindedly moving to prepare for shaving the stubble off his face he applies the cream and then readies to swipe it off with the razor... but for some reason his hand can't stop shaking.

With a clatter he drops it into the wash basin and tries to regain his composure, I am myself. I am in control. I will abide by the deal, but I am not a slave. I will never be a slave to anything again.

Fiery resolve showing in his golden eyes he picks up the straight razor and quickly removes the offending hairs.

He sits at the table, munching on fruit and bread until his allies are ready.

"Now is the time for questions. I have some answers, but some may take time to determine."

"Bu...bubby" mumbles a confused Inam as her eyes struggle to open. Looking around the room, she slowly recalls what and where she is as the understanding of the dream washes over her. The sylph turns towards Ibinu with sympathy.

Hopping from the bed, Inam moves to her companion and gives him a hug from behind. "I don't believe I said this yesterday but thank you." Promptly moving to her desk, she proceeds to flip through her religious texts as she munches absently on a bit of ash bread.

Several minutes pass before she sets the pamphlet down and turns back to Ibinu. "Yes...I suppose you are right. The first and likely most important question...Are you ok?"

The phoenix stretches as it wakes and takes a quick lap...or two around the ceiling of the room before landing on Inam's desk to peck at the food there. Eyeing the horned sylph sideways, he considers the situation but ultimately does little more than sigh. 'Hold on to him was the answer...humble light...he'll be fine.'

"Inam, there are other questions that should be answered as well...For example, what truths did you receive in that place?"

Ibinu nods back to Inam at the first question, "yeah, I'm alright. I've been going over and over my decision yesterday and still think it was the right call. I was the one that came up with the idea to even speak with the Cauldron Lady and neither of you were even well suited to take her burden. I've spent most of my life running from the gods, and while I've been putting my life on the line to save our kind for the last bit with you all, I've still been holding back. I honestly don't know what the future holds, but you have inspired me to always look for the good in things. So that is what I shall do."

He turns to the bird, "now that is an incredibly good question Etrah. I am intrigued as to what you all found out. My information is quite valuable as well and will likely lead us to a task today. The truth I discovered has a great number of implications. Firstly, I learned the name of our nemesis, the laughing god. I ALSO learned that the name should never be spoken, so uh... I'm keeping that one to myself. But, short story on that would be that the deity whom we shall not name is a very devious trickster. Said trickster aided Volcano in blasting the world to ruin. I think a deal was made with the Cauldron Lady at some point as well, which may have trapped the trickster in this plane of existence who then ended up influencing the inquisitors we fought with their nefarious plans. But a lot of that is just past narrative and I don't know what the effects on the DWWSNN (he pronounces this dowesenn) will be after we closed down the prison below the temple. However, I do know that there is another evil activity occurring at the mithral makers facility. We definitely need to investigate that and try to fix whatever is going on there."

He takes a deep breath and lets his words sink in to everyone. Grabbing some ashbread and spreading a bit of bright jam onto the crust he listens to the responses and truths.

Blushing slightly, Inam turns away from Ibinu. Suddenly finding a bit of fruit extremely interesting, she picks at it while nodding. Turning back to the horned sylph as he expands on the Truth received, her mouth slowly falls open.

"Interesting...I too heard of the Makers in my truth. The laughing one plans to use them to destroy Hearth...apparently we've only delayed his goals so far."

Turning to Kallik, she inquires "Would you be able to share your Truth? Seems Ibinu and I are being urged into a particular direction..."

'The Makers...hmm...I wonder if they are aware of their nefarious purpose? Are they an unknowing pawn in the games of the gods?' she considers.

Slipping from Dove's quarters and slowly walking though the halls until her door comes into view, Mumbling, "Thank you Lui. Go get some rest. Tomorrow is likely to be worse."

Stepping into her quarters and removing her armor slowly. Quietly wandering around the room and coming to a stop near Ibinu's bed. Crouching down so that she is eye level with his sleeping face. Tilting her head to the side and slowly scanning his face and ending on the new horns. He should not have done that though I would have just bungled it... Watching him sleep for a few minuets while Ibinu sleeps restlessly. With any luck we will have some answers from that sacrifice.

Moving to repeat the motion near Inam's bed. Letting her eyes wonder between the slyph and the chicken/phoenix. Watching while she seems to sleep just as restlessly. At this point I would pay a heavy price for them to just sleep at easy.. And for the world to no longer make her cry."

Rocking back and forth on her heels before returning to her bed. Arcane words on her tongue but a glance back her her sleeping companions before disregarding the magic. Not sure if it is a need to suffer with them or a fear of being alone with her thoughts but she slowly drifts off.

Kallik

You are back in that shadowy grove of impossibly tall trees, the scent of pine needles sharp in your nose. The white wisperflies flit and flutter about, shedding tears of illumination like curious lanterns. You take a moment to enjoy the peace of this place, now that you are not on the verge of dying from experimental surgery.

Your hand is holding onto your axe. But that's not quite right.

You are holding hands with someone. You look to your right. An elen. An oread. A spray of needle-hair and bright jade eyes. His face is very familiar, but one you rarely see smiling. He is smiling now, and the expression looks very natural. "It's about time you visited. I don't think we have long, so let's just have some mint tea and listen to the laughter in the branches."

You do so, and it is wonderful.

Opening her eyes at Ibinu's rapid movement. The smile that had claimed her lips vanishing. Turning her head and simply listening to her companions speak. A touch of voyeurism in not being immediately dragged into the conversation.

Silently watching them move around the room while remaining still until Inam speaks to her. Startling her out of the strange calm this quiet observation has given her. Sitting up quickly, "Of course."

Crossing her legs and drumming her fingers on her calf's, "I saw Volcano destroy a bright God. When that God fell they became the Dark and they turned to rot that fell to the land. This is when Sky died. There was a strange kind of elen that belonged to this now dead God and they fled. I think they became the creatures we have been battling or at least the first version of them. That priest said this God was Sky's lover and when Volcano killed her that led to Sky dying. And the troubles we have been having since."

Ibinu's eyes go wide, "oh wow, that matches up. I had a theory in my mind that Sky became the darkness after she died, but it makes more sense now that there are more players out there, especially since we have discovered another deity who shall not be named. So that makes two dead gods and one very dangerous one in addition to the ones we knew of before."

He muses for a second before adding with a sigh, "okay, so the Lady promised a way to strengthen Hearth without returning to all the sacrifices of before. She left me a thought in my dream last night. That thought is to bring Ssarkofaugos to hearth and rekindle the race of dragons in this land. Logistics aside, is this something we want to pursue after we deal with the mithral maker situation?"

Once the chat is done, Ibinu will craft his elixirs for the day. While doing so he has a Eureka moment and frantically scribbles notes down in his diary (aka formula book). Once complete, he seems quite happy with his concoction, "oh yes, I think I've improved my healing serum."

He also slams back a different elixir as they leave for whatever task they chose to complete first.

He now has Cure Serious Infusions to hand out or use. He will be chain drinking his False Life elixirs as each lasts 7 hours. The first of the day provides Temp HP: 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

I'm guessing they'll go inform the council of their recent activities first. I'm fine with managing that in RP or skipping it. Either way I get the feeling they will be heading out to at least do something afterwards and that is when Ibinu will be purchasing a Cloak of Resistance +1. No need to RP it, I'll just deduct the cost and add it to my inventory.

Were you in my dreams last night? Do you know how to go to our lands now?