The caydenite puts his hands over his holy symbol on his neck.
"Ăye know şome of țhoșe whom you șpeăk. Ând your fâmîly îz ă connecţîng ţhreâd țo âll țhoșe șocîetîeș?.. Andrei trailed off and shivered.
Aramyros nods to Lilianne and answers very briefly. "I know."
After thinking for a few moments and riding silently next to her, he suddenly continues. "I would never enslave anyone. But I'm also not a loyal dog that follows anyones order to the letter. We need to clear this valley from the goblins that are endangering any civil settlers. That I can agree to. If that poor guy", Aramyros nods towards his prisoner, "turns out to be useful and willing to buy his freedom, maybe I can arrange some relocation for him."
He looks away from Lilianne and stares towards the camp again for a few silent moments. "Maybe"
Shar responds with, "It is your choice, if you think it is a good fit and willing to deal with the curse then you may take it. Do you need to take one, no. The vaults are here to cleanse items of curses and be a repository for those of the Black Blades."
"To whom do the items belong? Lili brought items we found. Do they belong to us? Or to the order now?" Perhaps she was being overly cautious, but she did not wish to take on an obligation she did not understand.
"If no one take the glaive, I use it!" Blaze translates for her as she strokes the shaft of the weapon as Aramyros looks unsure. She smiles at him as she does it.
"You will join our order then? The Glaive wants an elf, and might make you attack us or your sisters." She explained in Ignan.
The headband seemed innocuous enough, but the name seemed an ill omen, so she decided to leave it and choose nothing. She did, however, decide to ask a few questions of the book before leaving the vault. Pain was nothing next to true answers, but she did not want to risk any lasting damage the way Thorn had.
- "What word will open the magical ward to allow the fire mephit I promised to help go free?
Where is my nemesis, the witch that kept me in a cage as a child?"
________________________________________________________________________
"I am a scion of a very powerful and influential family who are mainly representatives or go between of various evil organizations around the lands. They care for me very much and are unhappy for me being adopted by the fey. They would also very much like my heart and blood for some ritual and would stop at nothing to get it. Did I mention they're rich and influential that that they have sent several assassins and bribed several of my former acquaintances over the years?" he lays it out with as much clinical precision as a hammer.
"Hence why I wear the disguise....."
Blaze listens impassively to the abridged version of Thorn's story. "Then you kept this secret because you do not yet trust us. You fear betrayal." Her fire filled gaze turned on Lili. "But we are meant to trust. Trust Thorn's reasons as we would trust Lilianne. Trust when names and even faces are lies. The street goes both ways." She shook her head sadly and turned away. If she had gained the warding word from the book, she went to try and release the fire mephit and fulfill her promise.
A solemn nod agrees with Aramyros. It was hard for her to end her first life. Now it is second nature.
"True faith comes through experience. Matching a person's behavior to what they do. As this is repeated, that faith turns into trust. I trust the character of a person over the disguise they wear," she replies to Blaze "Your enemy seems to have used disguises, but her intent and her character was evil. If I found her out, as I saw through Thorn's disguise, I would have brought her low with my blade. Thorn, I believe is good of character in what I've seen of him. It is his right to go about under disguise if he wishes. He has his reasons that I'm sure are more in-depth than we here know. Despite this, I encouraged him to tell you all, but he was afraid. I did not wish to betray him to you all, as he then would not trust me, and I think that is important when working together. So if you don't like it, there, those are my reasons...Perhaps my life as a spy has taught me that, but then again, I've also hurt the one I loved in doing so...so..." she shrugs and walks a bit away. If Blaze is going down into the dungeon, she will encourage the others to as well.
The dragon would tell Blaze, "The Order owns the vault and all within its walls. None of you are officially members yet. You may take an item, but if you find it no longer useful, please return it. You may reclaim the items you plan to leave here or donate them for coin, just record it in the ledger either way."
She looks at Blaze confused and says, "Join what?? I no take? Why I hurt sisters? What sister?"
What fire mephit?
Who is your nemesis?
Back in the camp Aramyros ties the prisoner to the nearest tree facing into the forest away from the camp. "I need to think ybout, how to deal with you. But that has time."
Once everyone is settled in, he approaches Aukan. "Did you have any progress with that automation. It could be really helpful, potentially, in setting up a proper camp, I imagine."
"Wait let me know if I got something crossed. Thorn you are apart of a very dark and evil family that make contracts with very evil and strong groups. They want your heart and blood for their own ways. They have sent assassins after you in the past. How old are you and how long have you been on the run?! What magical protections do you have on yourself to stop scryings?!? So the demon might actually be working for your family and trying to find you?!" He gets more stressed the more he talks about it and almost hysterical once he starts talking about the demon. "Oh and if that wasn't already bad enough, you don't tell is about this until now?! Can anyone help him with anti scrying wards or something?!?!"
-----
After Aramyros asks about the clockwork automaton, he nods and calmy states, "Yes... let me look it up to say it correctly... one moment...The construct has been made for workmanship not combat. If you pull the lever it should activate. Wind it up and make sure it is oiled and it will do a collection of orders. Saying the Draconic words: "Use the wood to wondrous delight." Will strengthen it for a time, even without care or winding. It has 5 orders:
Craft decoration.
Craft tool.
Collect Resources.
Profession Carpentry.
Craft defenses.
If you can show it first what you want it can mimic very well."
----
He tries to interact with Nima and Pharos on the way back but even with Blaze translating it is frustrating for all parties involved.
He would continue to try back at camp but after a while he gives up and enjoys a soak in the pool of water by himself.
As the group returns to the camp she gets up from the fire and greets Nima and Pharos in a distict way, almost elven.
Then she lets the Nima and Pharos talk. They point to individuals as they talk about the fight. They seem really impressed with Blaze's abilities. But they do talk about all of you.
All of the men, including Aukan, are quite handsome in the group. Sure being a goliath makes it more of a rugged handsome, as opposed to the perfection of Aramyros' skin and features. Blaze is the only character that has a Chariama below a 15.
Blaze listens impassively to the abridged version of Thorn's story. "Then you kept this secret because you do not yet trust us. You fear betrayal." Her fire filled gaze turned on Lili. "But we are meant to trust. Trust Thorn's reasons as we would trust Lilianne. Trust when names and even faces are lies. The street goes both ways." She shook her head sadly and turned away. If she had gained the warding word from the book, she went to try and release the fire mephit and fulfill her promise.
"I don't fear betrayal." His voice goes quiet.
"It doesn't hurt after the first few times." he adds in the later."I'm sorry for that lack of trust you speak but I fear more being the reason you suffer any further indignities whether directly or indirectly because of me. I do not wish to add on to anybody's else burden. I've seen how it turned out. All usually badly."
[dice=Knowledge (religion)]1d20 + 11
The caydenite puts his hands over his holy symbol on his neck.
"Ăye know şome of țhoșe whom you șpeăk. Ând your fâmîly îz ă connecţîng ţhreâd țo âll țhoșe șocîetîeș?.. Andrei trailed off and shivered.
"Wait let me know if I got something crossed. Thorn you are apart of a very dark and evil family that make contracts with very evil and strong groups. They want your heart and blood for their own ways. They have sent assassins after you in the past. How old are you and how long have you been on the run?! What magical protections do you have on yourself to stop scryings?!? So the demon might actually be working for your family and trying to find you?!" He gets more stressed the more he talks about it and almost hysterical once he starts talking about the demon. "Oh and if that wasn't already bad enough, you don't tell is about this until now?! Can anyone help him with anti scrying wards or something?!?!"
"Don't you just love a family like mine?" Thorn laughs rather unnaturally.
"They have connections throughout, the obscure and the hidden and I don't know all they might have further but yes, they're connected. I don't know about anti scrying but you may not be aware that Ethos calls me the Time Lost one. It's not an empty title." Thorn chuckles."I came to the attention of Ethos and the Order precisely because I'm a time lost one. I tend to fall into portals not of my making that sends me forward and backwards in time. The end result is I have a jumble for memories and not even I myself knows what skills I do have. They...they just surface and I remember. I'm what's called a Nexus Point meaning time can change but I'll not be affected by the changes..so I apologise if I may act somewhat familiar to you and avoid the others. It's simply because I do not know if my memories are true or if something has changed.. The portals as I understand it tends to wipe out magical trails on me or makes people not remember me for a time. As for my age I think I am 16 or so, I could never remember properly with all that time lost." Thorn scratches his head, this action proving rather endearing instead of the usual confused persona he had adopted.
"So if I go back to being the fat, clumsy man it's also partially because I lived so long as that it feels like second nature to me." he laughs nervously.
He obviously is trying to wrap his head around what was just told to him. Rubbing his face and thinking through what was said. Then simply says, "Oh, well I would feel safer if we had other protections in place too. Yeah we need to get a burm or some kind of wall up for possible goblins and family visits!"
She looks at Blaze confused and says, "Join what?? I no take? Why I hurt sisters? What sister?"
"Ethos brought us together, to join order of Crimson Knights. These are their things. You can take, but Glaive is cursed. It wants you to be an elf if you take it up. Since you are not, it might make you do things. Like attack Pharos, or me, or others when we fight together. Just wanted you to know first, before you take." Blaze said with one of her lopsided smiles, the burn scars on the side of her face preventing her from completing the expression.
She was frustrated by a lack of answers from the book. She had only ever been caged by one witch and promised aid to only one fire mephit. If that was not specific enough, it meant she needed a name. And that she did not have.
________________________________________________________________________
"No, I do not like it. My face is here for all to see. But I have hidden it inside the shadow of my cloak when I traveled alone. I thought that was past us now." She said with a look to Baahir, who had removed his mask. Turning to Thorn, she said only, "I am sorry that you are hunted. I know it is bad feeling." She wondered briefly if this powerful family had anything to do with the blood ritual the witch intended for her, but dismissed the idea.
"I go to visit the fire mephit, and ask it's name. Sasha, Nima, Pharos, would you like to come?" The little mephit was the only other here they could converse with, and maybe they would have ideas about how to help.
"I go to visit the fire mephit, and ask it's name. Sasha, Nima, Pharos, would you like to come?" The little mephit was the only other here they could converse with, and maybe they would have ideas about how to help.
"Mây âye come ţoo?" Andrei interrupts. "Ăye țînk ăye hâve goț dă bășîcș of dă Îgnân țongue. Whât ă bețțer plăce țo âpply îț!"
"I think it's a great disguise, Thorn, just don't let people interact with your figment and you shouldn't have to hide."
Blaze's stance is understood. Deception is Lilianne's life. That doesn't mean she won't do her best to protect Blaze, even if Blaze ends up hating her for being herself. She could have acted like Callie for both Andrei and her sake, but didn't.
"I should probably apologize..." "I'm sorry I lied to your faces...um...particularly you, Blaze. I should have let you know or pressed harder to get Thorn to open up."
She clearly feels bad about it.
"I should probably apologize..." "I'm sorry I lied to your faces...um...particularly you, Blaze. I should have let you know or pressed harder to get Thorn to open up."
"Ît îz forgîven", the varisian said with a tone of finality, possible implying it to more than one person.
In Ignan she responds, "Yes we come."
In the kitchen the mephit speaks with the three and responds positively. They speak so fast it is hard to catch it all. Introductions. Situation. Allies.
Andrei squints hard as he tries to keep up and understand with the conversation. The caydenite turns to Blaze and asks,
Thorn is relieved at all of your words and his handsome face crinkles in a smile that could put most maidens to swoon if he was aware of what he was doing but that smile soon fades as he gives everyone a bow and before your eyes, his appearance morphs and the familiar visage of a fat man appears.
"I'm grateful for all of your understanding. I shall keep this disguise on for I too do not know if that demon has contacts along its kind with my family. Better safe then sorry." and then the image is gone leaving Thorn in his natural state.
"For tonight I shall relax among friends and stay in this state till morning." he massages his cheeks.
"Having jowls like that can be taxing....." he grins.
Blaze nods to Lili's apology. "Witches change faces the way others change clothes. It makes me feel..." She struggles to find the word she wants in common. "On an edge. Your heart is good, this I know."
"I try to understand. But magics are not free, they have costs. I must burn to bring forth my flames. My flesh harvested to give healing not from gods, but from devil's blood. Wizards imprison creatures to try new and terrible spells, create spiders who think and feel and suffer. Terrible rituals to buy power with life, always looking for ways to push the cost to another being. Where will it all end?" She shrugs, trying to share the uncertainty she feels over magic.
_______________________________________________________________________
Blaze nodded to tell Andrei he was welcome to come along. "You learn Ignan? Just from listening?" She grinned, showing sharp white teeth. "That is not easy." She complimented, remembering how she learned to speak by what she overheard from the confines of her cage.
She laughed to hear Andrei's thick Varisian accent come through even when speaking the language of flames.
Lilianne will chuckle at Thorn's joke about his jowls. He reminds her of some types of dogs who have similar looks to them. Her mind shifts back to her friend Blaze as she explains her position.
"I will talk more about this with you later tonight."
She will then slide next to her friend, scoop her arm in hers, and then give her a playful smooch on the cheek to dissolve the feelings of uncertainty from her mind. With her other arm, she scoops up Andrei's so they are all linked. With the others heading into the dungeon, she seems to be saying that she is inviting herself.
"He is brilliant with words like that."
While her statement is simple, her eyes flash to him, indicating that she's thinking of other things.
She will practice some Ignan herself. Mostly her words mean nothing except some strange random construct she manages to pull out of nowhere that seems to communicate the word "Chickenbutt".
"Coming Aramyros? Thorn? Aria? Anyone of you choosing to stay up here? Does someone want to keep an eye on the goblins?"
"I don't judge people by what they look like. And if someone thinks he needs to hide his face, then he must have good reason. Personally, I think it's a sign of weakness. No offense, Thorn. But one should not be afraid to show one's true face. Of course, sometimes it may be necessary for a brief moment."
With his last words, one can see a big smile on Aramyros' metallic face. Without notice, his appearance changes and a second later there is a Half-elf, looking similar to Thorn, but wearing Aramyros' armor and gear.
---
"The goblin is bound well, I'll join you, Lilianne."
"None taken. I'll happily be called a coward or weak if it means my heart and blood stays with me." Thorn grins as he stands up to join the rest.
"The goblins should be fine as they're firmly bound unless you would like them unconscious?" he eyes the goblins as he reaches for his mace.
The mephit slows down its speed relaying in Ignan:
"I will keep watch until you return, but then I must return to my duties." She states in a matter of fact tone.
As most of the group heads down to the dungeon again she walks slowly over to Thorn with her bow in one hand. Looking at the goblins and then the rest of the opening in the forest. Then she speaks to Thorn in Elven.
He has likely retired to the spring and unless someone calls to him he lays there peacefully, blissfully unaware and with a towel dropped over his head.
As Thorn heads towards the dungeon, he finds Alia with him and hears her question. He give a bittersweet smile as he decides to tell her the truth.
"It was tranquil and beautiful. The times we had were serene and were among the best time we had or I ever had. Then it was all teeth before I got shunted into another portal once more. My family had found us once more. I know no more then that."
"I will talk more about this with you later tonight."
She will then slide next to her friend, scoop her arm in hers, and then give her a playful smooch on the cheek to dissolve the feelings of uncertainty from her mind. With her other arm, she scoops up Andrei's so they are all linked. With the others heading into the dungeon, she seems to be saying that she is inviting herself.
Blaze was still not used to physical affection and gasped in alarm as she quickly dismissed the effect that heated her skin hot enough to burn. Still, it was like kissing a heated kettle, and the charming half-elf was nearly singed in the process. "Careful, my flames burn closer now. I do not want to burn you."
_______________________________________________________________
Blaze was pleased to hear Sasha speaking common, broken as it was. "That is good! Soon we will all be speaking together."
She pulled out her pyrography tools and selected one with a simple pointed tip and handed it to Jassse, the mephit. Then she bared her forearm on her shield arm. Speaking in Ignan, she said,
She indicated the artistic designs that were burned into her skin to show what she meant.
As they moved into the dungeons, Lilianne thankfully not burned, she will overhear Thorn's conversation. While she tries to butt out, old habits die hard and she listens in. Eventually the group will make it to the ovens in the kitchen on the first floor.
"Hello," she announced their presence to those in their captivity. She knows she can't communicate so she doesn't bother. She will watch to see Blaze offer her flesh for the magical creature to write on and finds it a bit much.
"I have some chalk and a chalkboard. That might be preferable to burning it into your skin?"
She will produce them and hand them over if desired.
Lilianne hands the chalk and board through the grates of the oven. It looks at them and seems to write with it but then starts to take bites out of the board and lets the chalk burn in its hand.
It doesn't take the tool from Blaze and shakes its head stating, "Jasse of the Glowing Mount."
She looks at Thorn a bit confused and decides to walk away.
Blaze nodded her understanding. Not all creatures wrote their names after all. She replied in Ignan. "I will remember and return to vault tomorrow, ask book again. Mebbe then I can learn word to pass warding and set you free, Jasse of Glowing Mount." Her task was finished here, but she stayed to visit a while all the same. She did not rest easy with the little creature of flame still imprisoned and her promise unfulfilled.
Later, when they returned to camp, she remembered the supplies Ethos had sent and went to check on them.
She looks at Thorn a bit confused and decides to walk away.
Thorn sighs as he watches her walk away from him. All of the memories he had recalled, this was one he wished he didn't have too. It came with all the joy and bliss of one having found a partner to share life with but it also came with all the despair and pain when it's only one sided.
He continues towards the dungeons........
Seeing Blaze wish to head back up, she nudges her friend, "Now that we're down here, let's finish searching the place. We may find a clue for your Ignan friends here. We had to call our search short yesterday because it was getting late and we had such a nasty bit of business ahead of us, but now we have some time before evening. Let's finish searching this junky place."
Seeing Thorn come down shortly after, she waves to him, curious to see his facial expressions. Seeing them in disguise doesn't help.
"Are you alright there, Thorn? Your mood looks dark, almost as dark as Aramyros." She will flash joking eyes at the dark-skinned Aasimar before seriously returning to Thorn for true sympathy.
Nima, Pharos, and Sasha stay with the fire elemental and actually begin cleaning the kitchen. Finding the caged ice mephit they quickly close the door and don't open the other one. Then continue to clean.
The rooms on the West side of level 2 are clear. The room on the Southern East side is usable as a forge but has been look through. The room in the North East side has not been unlocked yet and the door is magical. Two more elevators on the East side have not been explored.
If her companions consent to go, she will search the magical door and attempt to discover its secrets.
Steadfast Andrei, ever by Lilianne's side, watches on with amazement as his Callie's nimble hands work to open the door.
The symbolic lock is beyond her capabilities. If only you knew the combination. There are many pictures that you could move the dials around. Lilianne tries many combinations but to no success, as she does not find a bypass. There are pictures of animals, plants, land forms, and sky forms.
"Are you alright there, Thorn? Your mood looks dark, almost as dark as Aramyros." She will flash joking eyes at the dark-skinned Aasimar before seriously returning to Thorn for true sympathy.
Thorn gives a half hearted attempt to smile which somehow manages to give him an ethereal quality of a man ready for a heart to heart talk to any romantic smitten female.
His next words confirms Lilianne 's guess.
"Alia...She asked me how the other time in this forest was like. I'm afraid I didn't manage to answer that well. How can I tell her that Things are the same and yet so different? We could go into the same place and yet because of the knowledge I bear, we might do something entirely different and produce a fully different outcome from what my previous past knowledge is based on. There are times and this is one of them being what I am is a terrible punishment to me...."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------
At the Door.
Thorn runs his hand over the lock and an image forms in his mind.
A strange golden pendant that has a picture of a lake, a tree, an island, and a star above it all.
Grabbing it and holding it there, he moves the dials in this combination;
A Lake
A tree
An Island
A star.
Lilianne comes to the realization that Thorn likes Alia, at least to a point. She is good at reading between the lines like that. Openly, she will give him a quick bracing hug.
"Don't worry about her. If a woman liked you once, just be yourself and she can easily like you again. It's simple." She will pull back to Andrei's side and will look curiously to Thorn. "You are in disguise to her eyes, in not the most flattering of forms. Some light physical contact can break your illusion toward her. My suggestion would be to do this 'accidentally' each day so she can see the 'real you'. If she fell for you once, you must be her 'type', or you have a personality she likes. Make a goal to bump into her or hand her something each day so she interacts with your figment and hears more about you. She'll open up, I'm sure."
"Of course, you may have heard these words before. Maybe now he'll remember them. That's so strange..."
She will then chat with Andrei about numerous things about how the two of them were attracted to each other at first. He had picked her out of a crowd of women. He walked boldly right through them and snagged her heart.
At the door, she begins to be frustrated.
"This is a superiorly done lock. I have only seen a few like it in the service of my father. Any normal or difficult lock I would have cracked easily, but this...this is...whew."
She begins to bead sweat upon her brow as the slightest twitch of modulation to the locking mechanism is resetting it. In the end, she gives up with a frustrated growl. With Thorn coming over, she eyes him.
"Wait, are you guessing or do you know the combination somehow?"
She has not seen his fancy pendant yet. At peering around him at what he is looking at, she tsks and chuckles.
"Well...hopefully that opens it."
Blaze nods and follows along with the other's wishes, not having anything particular in mind. "We must not forget to talk to goblin prisoners later."
Turning to the trio who had begun cleaning the kitchen, she spoke in Ignan.
As Lili and Thorn worked to open the new door, she stood close by to throw fire through the door, should there be anything threatening behind it.
As Thorn moves the dials around nothing seems to happen until they are all lined up. Then they glow. You hear unlocking mechanisms behind or within the door and then it separates. The door retreats into panels in the walls.
Beyond you can see a door on the left, right, and forward 15 feet.
Opening the first door on the left you find a closet full of brooms, pails, and cleaning supplies. Though looking down you see a familiar magical rune on the floor.
The door on the right has the word on it saying, "Nurse". It opens into the room and you see several automatons laying around in the room. There is also a skeleton on one of the tables here.
In Ignan she replies to Blaze pleasantly and then return to cleaning.
Andrei points to the automatons. "Look! Dâ mâchîne golemş âre covered în drîed blood! Âlong wîth dâ şkeleţon'ş tâble!" The cleric said in an anstonished whisper.
Indeed Lilianne's words does a brief flashback or someone saying those exact same words except that someone was Andrei giving Thorn advice on how to snag a woman's heart.
As he aids Lilianne in opening the door, he shrugs helplessly as he replies to her.
"I just remembered? Would you accept that as an explanation?" he steps back to let the superior pair of eyes study the room.
"I spot the same thing as Andrei."
"Blood? I wouldn't have notices. I must be a little distracted with all the magic and mechanics around here." Aramyros adds and you feel he is uncomfortable with things he doesn't understand.
Thorn's response elicits a chuckle from her and she'll shake her head.
"This automaton is powering itself up. Andrei, Aramyros, come!"
She will spring into action before it is functional and will look to power it down from within. Evaluation of its processes can be found out later. Right now, she doesn't want to deal with it.
If she can manage it, she will shut it down, if not, then she will attempt to disable its slam attacks through its arms.
A few quick movement of some switches and a detachment of a wire and it falls to the ground as the whirling and buzzing stops quickly.
Ting, ting, ting...