Talwyn shakes his head sadly and sighs heavily, "It is alright to tell me he did not. You need not lie on his behalf. Tell me, why are you here?"
"Only part of what I said was untrue, I will see to it you are rewarded for your vigilance. We're here due to reports that Umraidh has been gathering troops/forces. We seek to find out the truth of that, and to potentially put a stop to him."
Looking at the haggard fey warrior, Zaidel offers his canteen on cold, clear water. "Thirsty?"
The old fey shudders slightly, "Umraidh gathering forces? It cannot be, I would have seen it." He falls silent for a moment, "But the darkness, it consumes all. I suppose my vigil has been difficult to maintain as of late." He sighs once again before looking somewhat in Zaidel's direction, "It has been so long since I had water. Tell me, who are you to offer this to me?"
Lir flashes Talywn a grin. "I'll let my friend introduce himself, but he is a good, solid, trustworthy companion. If it has been quite some time since you last had water, has it been an equally long time since you last ate? If so, I can provide you some nourishment."
"It has been so long since I had water. Tell me, who are you to offer this to me?"
"I call myself Zaidel Michigan", the big warrior states. "I'm the half-mortal son of a god, apparently."
"The son of a god? Umraidh claimed descent from divinity. I suppose you know where that brought him. I cannot say I feel hunger or thirst in this place. Only time and the darkness weighs me down. It is an undue weight to bear"
Zaidel, being a little taken aback, takes the offered canteen back and takes a swig. "Actually, I barely know what's going on at any given time. I just kinda 'nod' and go with it."
The short woman behind Zaidel, Jobs him in the back.
"Share"
Ericka says, looking at the flask hopefully.
Zaidel passes the canteen to Quili..I mean Erika. A small smiles escapes the side of the godling's mouth.
I like this new girl already!
She grasps it in both hand and head going back takes a long swig from the flask.
As the drink hit her, she Instantly felt better. It was just like chugging Stock 80, with Anne behind the dinning hall kitchens at her Swedish finishing school before Hockey. Head coming back, she wiped her mouth and took a gaps of air. Then handing it back she exclaimed simply.
^$&$^ that feels better"
Talwyn slowly lowers himself to the ground, allowing himself to rest for a moment. "I must warn you. If you venture further in, there are darker beings than what you may have already encountered."
"Thank you for the warning. If you'd like, I can create a safe space for you to rest while we continue on." The fae lord offers.
"No, I must keep my watch. Thank you though." With some effort, he reaches around and pulls one of the last dying leaves from his wings, "If you need me, invoke my name and hold this aloft. I will try to come to you."
Lir graciously accepts the leaf, gently placing it in his belt pouch. "Thank you my friend. We'll hopefully be victorious this day, and perhaps then you can return home."
"Talwyn, if you would like, I can attempt to alleviate some of the corruption that has taken root in your soul. Unsure if it will last long, but if it turns out we need your assistance, it could make the difference." Lir offers the fae lieutenant.
"Perhaps, if you are able."
"So. Which way?" Zaidel asks, looking to both fey men.
"Ye can we like, go... This place is giving me the screaming heebie jeebies"
She looks for a way they can go, while standing behind Zaidel.
Out where the fight with the 3 mages had been a figure stood. Its clothing rapped around it, the wrecked city just behind. It looked at the ground and kicked what was left of chucks of flesh. Its head come up and looked about. The figure turned and walked down the hill.
The old fey says to Zaidel, "The tunnels are treacherous. I once knew their intricacies, but I can no longer see the marks I made to find my way. If you hold the token I gave you aloft, it should illuminate the marks and show you the way."
::Does the token work only for the holder, or will it indicate our presence to creatures we meet along the way?:: Lucas asks Liriiestil, hoping that the question will be relayed to the decrepit creature.
"Hold a moment. I'm going to attempt to restore our ally here to some of his former power." The elf replies to Zaidel.
However, before he can begin, he gets Lucas' question which he repeats "Will this token warn the enemy of our presence?"
”I do not think it will. Most of what are left here in the tunnels are as diminished as I.”
::That being the case, I think I would make the most use of it. Finish up with him, if you can. It's about time we got a move on.:: Even mentally, Liriiestil can hear the impatience from Lucas.
The fae lord reaches into his belt, and pulls out a pale blue pouch. He pours the diamond dust within in a circle around Talywn and enacts his spell. "Hear me oh Lost Prince, lord of Melancholy! The fae before me has guarded his people in exile, even though they have long since forgotten him. Enuui has take root deep in soul, yet still he holds his post. I beg of you, restore unto him some of his former glory and power, that he might continue his duty, despite those he serves no longer remembering him!"
Briefly, Liriiestil sees the vision of a melancholy young man sitting on a throne carved of dark wood in a gloomy and ruined castle. The man sighs and rolls his eyes before nodding a waving his hand dismissively as the vision fades.
Talwyn seems dramatically transformed for a moment. His eyes, once clouded are a fearsome gray like a stormy sea and long auburn hair waves dramatically in a nonexistent breeze. He stands tall, a crown of branches around his forehead. The dry and craggy branches on his back are supple and strong, covered in green leaves and dotted with vibrant red berries. His sword is shattered no longer, the gleaming blade radiating a tangible magic power evident even to the magically uninclined. And then, his majest begins to fade. His posture is less proud, eyes less sharp and wings less bountiful. But he seems less small and frail than when the party found him. His sword is whole but rusted and dented, his back less bent and his shoulders less slumped in defeat.
He says in a slightly stronger voice, "I...I feel more than what I was. The darkness still keeps me, clouds my vision, but I am stronger. Thank you."
As the silence starts to linger between Liriiestil and Talwyn, Lucas sends another, obviously impatient message to Liriiestil directly, ::Are you done with the formalities? It's probably best to get a move on. I'll wait up here for you to catch up, but, like I said, it's probably best if I take the token.::
The tunnels are much the same and the party surely would've gotten lost, but thanks to Talwyn's token they are able to navigate fairly easily. Lucas, with his keen eyes, notices the wall first. It it made of roughly hewn stone and runs through the tunnel the party is going down. Following it for a ways they come to a large chamber that holds a colossal stone door. It is richly tiled with scenes of a radiant fey man holding a sword aloft, many other fey bowing in homage to him.
Letting Lucas continue to scout ahead invisibly, Lir comes up behind the sniper several moments later. Investigating the door, he attempts to perhaps learn what the scenes might portray.
Zaidel sticks by 'Erika', shield and sword at the ready.
The scenes portray Umraidh the Pretender, likely made to show the righteousness of his cause.
Follows the big man and keeps well back. The odd suit had fallen silent and she was happy for that. This whole thing was so odd, so strange yet it felt so real. There was a deep feeling of fear running down her. She wanted to go home, to be out with her friends sat the cinema. Then it hit her, last year as part of lit class she had read lord of the rings. Bloody hell she was in lord the the rings. Elves, magic the whole deal.
Was she in a comma, had the taxi hit her and this was all a dream her mind had made up to keep herself sain.
"What do you guys think? Is this one of those "Speak friend and enter" situations, or should we just knock?" Lucas asks his companions, sarcasm dripping from his voice. With a small smirk, Lucas wanders the chamber slowly, keeping his eyes out for anything that might be useful in or regarding the fights to come.
The fae lord scans the door with his enhanced sight, seeing if there was any magic present that might hard them.
"What do you guys think? Is this one of those "Speak friend and enter" situations, or should we just knock?"
Zaidel smiles and whispers, "I don't know the elven word for 'friend'", looking to the fey lord concentrating.
The door is firmly shut, though there seems to be a series of runes along the the sword in the mural, coinciding with the split between the two sides of the door. Liriiestil and Lucas both think that the meanings could be revealed with some closer study.
Lir will take the time needed to study the runes and decipher their meaning.
Lucas, still invisible but making enough noise to announce his presence - just in case - walks up to stand next to Liriiestil, taking in the runes etched into the sword centered in the mural. Unexpectedly, ingrained knowledge of a couple dozen languages filters through Lucas' mind and the knowledge of morphology, phrenology, phonetics, and syntax from each of those languages is processed, considered, and discarded as Lucas searches for patterns in the runes and compares them with the languages that he knows straight out.
Working together, Lucas and Lir realize that the runes are in an ancient form of Sylvan and refer to various concepts. There are five runes, the meanings listed from top to bottom.
1. Righteous War
2. Realization of Destiny
3. Eternal Reign
4. Birth of Legends
5. Total Victory
Lucas murmurs to Liriiestil, "What do you think? Timeline, prophecy, or war plan?"
Studying the runes intently, Lir replies "Honestly, it could be any of those, or a combination of all three."