Episode 2: Dari of The Mist - Takeno's Past [The Lawgivers]

[Bardlebee]

Episode 2: Dari of the Mist - Takeno's Past


The Ruins of Paragon


14th, Ascending Wood


The newly minted sun-children approached the outskirts of the ruin, which mysteriously was only about a mile west of Paragon. The dull outer rim of the city could still easily be seen from where they were. For about an hour or so, they traveled up a steep incline which ended in a plateau to the south, where they had earlier seen the ruin from the road. Birds along their travelers were tweeting and wild life could be seen all around, until they reached the border of what seemed to be the ruins.


Mist came from an unknown location all around these ruins, going outward but not beyond a certain point were the rocks had tapered off. This point was made evident by many silver textured rocks and what used to be statues just on the lip of the ruin itself. The mist, it seemed did not protrude farther then this lip and even past that, ruins did not continue. It was if there was an imaginary border. It was heavy and only covered the first foot thickly. When the ruins were stepped in, birds stopped chirping and wild life noises ceased. A cold feeling grips around the groups ankles as they walk in.


As they are walking the notice Takeno falls to his knees and stares up at the sky, blankly. His eyes glazed over.


Takeno

Spoiler

sees himself walking into a large, beautiful city. Airships flying over head and women and children are celebrating and bowing to him. You notice you are back in the woman's body and you grip your scepter, knowing that you have protected these people from the evils of the Wyld. You look to your right, an unfamiliar man stands there, the same that you saw in the Perfect's throne room, though you swear you have known him all your life. His eyes are golden, with black hair and canine fangs. The streets are made of beautiful silver and gold colors, twisted together to make a beautiful union of color. The houses are obviously stone, but of a silver substance, as are the walls that surround this city which are fifty feet tall. On these towering walls stand men with mechanized ballista, the likes you have never seen before. They salute you, and you salute back. Looking back you see a spiraling tall palace, that stretched at least a hundred stories tall. Finally what felt like an hour of parading through these streets of wonders you wake up suddenly.


Takeno jolts up, falling backwards after ten minutes of trance. Confused and dazed on what had just happened.

 

[cyl]

Red Blossom gives Takeno some fresh water from her skin.


Are you feeling well, what happened to you ?! You got us worried for a moment here.

 

[Ebon_Arbiter]

Takeno blinks intently for some time, mumbling some incoherent things, then seems to somewhat regain his composure and bearings and attempts to stand again on his feet.


He drinks heartily the water Blossom offered him and turns to the rest of the circle with a look of confused surprise in his eyes.


"This is it truly. This was the city over which i ruled. The people in the street bowing respectfully and cheering as I walked by, the soldiers on the walls, bearing weapons the likes of which no military force in Creation has wielded for centuries. Splendid sights all over, nice houses and beautiful streets. All seemed to exist in such harmony...By my side that man with the subtly feral characteristics, unknown to me as Takeno, but in the vision i thought i knew him all my life. And finally, the scepter in my hands and my Palace, a spiraling, tall, wonder of architecture.


I ruled this city once, i loved its people, i protected them from the Wyld and they were grateful. And...now all lie in ruins...


Forgive me esteemed companions for having you worry over my health and wellbeing but this experience was so vivid and intense that i almost lost myself there".

 

[cyl]

Blossom smiles gently helping Takeno getting up.


You have nothing to apologize for.


She takes a look at the ruins.


It is true then... you were the lord here once.


Maybe we can find more information exploring the ruins...


If it appears that the our Father has given your soul a heavenly mandate to rule these lands, I will help you claim lordship over them if that is your desire.

 

[Bardlebee]

14th Ascending Wood, Dari of The Mist


Normally during the hottest month of the summer, such as it was, the sun would beat down on your back. You could feel the collective sweat gather around the base of your neck and roll down your back side like a land slide of rocks. The summer in the South was generally the most ruthless of all the directions in Creation. Today was no different. However, as soon as our heroes stepped into the Dari of The Mists boundaries they could feel a slight chill as the suns rays of light lifted off of them slightly. It became noticeably at least five degrees cooler, making it a rough 90 degrees.


The guards at their station here, two of them, are taken aback by Solars approach "Uh..erm yes. You must be the group that is here for the ruin?" one of them states and salutes "Let me see your papers and we will let you pass" the guard leads the group onward after taking a look a the legal documentation that was presented to them. As they proceed an interesting observation comes over them. It seemed that the entire ruins was mostly of rock that shimmered a faint silver color. Additionally, all the buildings of what used to stand seem to be no taller then two to three feet tall after they were destroyed, leaving no variance. It is an obvious indicator that perhaps the passage of time was not the only thing that had brought this once powerful city to its knees.


As the Solars came over the hill however, they noticed the entrance to a small one story building, made of the same textured rock. It looked First Age alright, at least anyone who where to inspect it would be able to tell more, to those without lore however it looked archaic enough. Strangely this building is untouched and in fact does not seem to have a scratch on it. Right above the ten foot door-less entrance, there is seated a sigil though, it is difficult to see from where the group is currently standing.


The sunlight is currently shining into the ruined building itself, a guard stands at attention just outside the door and the guard that had approached the group earlier goes back on the opposite end to continue his monitoring of the doorway. Looking into the stone building itself it was obvious it had not been well maintained. Dust, cobwebs, and other uncleanliness that denoted the passage of time was evident.

 

[Tourmaline]

Mahir


On the ride to Dari, Mahir has been having second thoughts. What if they find the Orb? What will they do with it? Takeno obviously wants the Scepter and the Orb. Since his previous incarnation evidently ruled over these lands with the two artifacts, Mahir can't really blame the man. In a sense, they are his. But... will Takeno use them wisely? The Solars of the circle have only known one another for a few days. He sighs, veil fluttering. Well, guiding the rest of the circle is his job. Nobody ever said this would be easy.


Sunlight whickers, turning his head to look at his rider. The palomino has always been sensitive to Mahir's moods. The Zenith pats his horse's neck. "I know, I know. I'll try to stop brooding. Keep your attention on the path, my friend." Sunlight snorts, a shiver running down his golden hide as they pass into the boundaries of the mists. "I was speaking metaphorically! I'm not blind, I know this isn't a path. Be thankful that it is not deep sand." The horse pretends to ignore him, stepping daintily around a rodent hole.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


As Takeno falls to the ground, Mahir wheels his horse to ride to his aid, dark eyes wide with alarm. But as he gets closer, the priest-shaman recognizes the signs of a vision. Not unusual, given Takeno's connection to the area. He begins to dismount, but Red Blossom gets to the diplomat's side first. With a mental shrug, Mahir turns to watch for enemies.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Hmm. A building untouched by whatever force ruined the city, with a guard outside? Interesting. Mahir rides over to the man. "Greetings. We are here to explore this city at the behest of the Paragon. What can you tell us about the building you guard?"


After he finishes greeting the guard, Mahir glances up at the sigil above the doorway.

Spoiler

Inquiring minds want to know about that sigil!


Intelligence 3 + Lore 2 + History specialty 1

 

[TherealBrickwall]

Amethyst


The Twilight completely ignores the human beings and makes a beeline for the building, inspecting it visually, tactilely, and...olfactorially? She doesn't seem to give any care that what she's doing looks a bit odd.


---------------------------


Not sure what I'm supposed to roll here, but I'll be gathering all the information I can, and spending 2m on a 2nd Excellency if I have a roll where one applies.

 

[Bardlebee]

14th Ascending Wood, Ruins


Mahir rides up and gets off of her steed, which stayed very still considering the environment gave off a spooky chill. It had likely had excellent training from his people. Through careful inspection of she notices that the same symbol of the eye atop the Perfects staff had been expertly carved into the top of the door frame. Small writing was carved into it with meticulous precision, however though the writing was in Old Realm and Mahir had learned it earlier in his life, the text did not stand the test of time and have since worn. Small words like "Sun" and "Trust" could be made out into translation, but nothing else.


Amethyst took a scientific look at the entirety of the stature, though she was not investigating for signs of aging, she was looking for materials used. Seemingly the stone, like the other buildings around it, was made up of a brilliant silver sheen color. Though it did not have the pliability of gold, there were golden swirls in between where the bricks would be cemented down. In fact, though this was a very small ruin, it seemed like it could be used to caress the very essence of the earth, creating a Demense at one point in time. Perhaps there was more to this building, either underneath or the rest had been destroyed, much like the rest of this city.


When Mahir was inspecting the door frame he noticed an inlaid bar made of a golden glass that was flush with the wall, just inside the ruin. Beyond that she could not see deeper into the ruin itself. Just that bar and then the absorption into darkness were the only things he could see. The bar itself was roughly two inches wide and a foot long.


The ruin, stood there pitch black and there could not be any safe progression without some sort of light source. Mahir guesses that this bar could do something with the light, though admittedly he could be wrong and it could set off an alarm.

Spoiler

Amethyst Lore: 4 successes (8, 7, 8, 1, 1, 4, 7, 5 , 3, 4)


Mahir Lore: 3 successes (7, 3, 2, 5, 9, 8, 4)

 

[TherealBrickwall]

Shimmering Amethyst


Amethyst stammers as she approaches one of the guards. "Uh...e-excuse me, do you guys have torches? You know, like for night guarding? We could really use one or two."

 

[Bardlebee]

14th Ascending Wood, Ruins


The guard looked at Amethyst for but a moment, waging perhaps what he should do "Well... I suppose it wouldn't hurt" the man says and pulls to the side a bag that was leaning on the ruins. He pulled out two torches "Here I will help you light it." He gets out a tinderbox and lights the torch. It gives off a loud crackle as it is ignited easily, then it calms down and keeps constant light.


The area was still considerably dark, except for the pulsating glow of the inlaid vertical bar that almost asked to be touched. Taking a closer look it seemed that the bar that was encased in the silvery wall wasn't glowing, but it had a small ball of golden light that was sitting at the bottom of the bar within it.


Directly in front of them they could barely make out what seemed to be rubble, strewn about as if someone was looking for something. Indeed, what could be seen of this place was obvious disregard for the respect of it. The distant fresco's were tampered with, the rubble in the middle thrown around in search for the orb no doubt.

 

[Ebon_Arbiter]

Takeno, feeling still somewhat dizzy from the last vision he experienced moves inside the structure, trying to get a better look at the frescoes, with the help of the light generated by the torches, in an effort to slowly piece his memories of this place together and gradually come to understand his ties with it more clearly.


"Should we start searching this place?" he asks his companions. "It seems like someone has already been through here, but there's always a chance they missed something".

 

[cyl]

Blossom nods silently and starts walking around, looking at the walls, the floor, the ceiling.


It's not the first ruin she explores, but this one has a particular meaning for her friend Takeno, so she focuses her senses on finding anything that could help him.


Although she doesn't admit it to herself, she finds him quite interesting and wants to attract his attention, and the little stunt she pulled a few hours ago against the brutal noble apparently wasn't to his liking.

 

[Tourmaline]

Mahir


"This seems like a good place to start," Mahir agrees. He eyes the golden bar, thinking. The Lawgivers of old wouldn't have used torches. His visions had shown him all manner of wondrous things; surely the people who once lived here had some means of lighting the room, and there's a little spark of light in the bar already. Of course, it could be a trap, but why place a trap trigger in a place where visitors and servants might trip it?


He takes a deep breath and pushes the button.

 

[Bardlebee]

14th Ascending Wood, Ruins


Mahir touches the golden and translucent bar that was inlaid in the silver stone against the wall, flush to the touch. As soon as he presses his fingers on it the glowing ball becomes much brighter and warm to the touch. It almost clings to Mahir's finger like a little fairy that found something curious. The group could see streaks of golden light all around the ruin that faintly turned on when Mahir pressed this bar. The bar itself could not be pressed in, but with some steady investigation Mahir could see that if he moved his finger up higher on the bar, the light became brighter. Mahir felt her exalted power attune to the device, though the essence needed was nothing in comparison to a basic artifact weapon. Suddenly, vents from four corners of this small ruin started to turn on, they were hidden by the darkness but they were very noticeable now that the streaks of lights in the walls illuminated the area. The vents had inside them large sun-like fans, the blades of the fans had a wavy look to make it seem like a sun instead of just a basic fanning device.


Mahir and Amethyst see

Spoiler

a small cog rolling from the left to the right. It is barely visible and behind Takeno's feet, but it cannot be heard. It seemed to nonchalantly roll from the left of the room to the right.


Takeno feels something bump his foot as he looks down he sees a small cog, about an inch in diameter hit his foot and fall over on its side. It seemed to roll from the outside, amongst the other rubble that laid before them. Suddenly the cog became up right again and attempted to move forward towards the doorway, as if to enter the building. Again, it was stopped by Takeno's foot. It repeats this process, intelligently.


The light just inside the clear golden-hued, vertical bar still danced within. Bobbing and swaying from side to side. Suddenly Takeno's vision becomes blurry

Spoiler

and is again taken into the past, it would seem. The bobbing light that is inside that same vertical inlaid bar is now at the top and full light is shining in what was the shrine, but now appears to be a silver and golden palace of some sort. Before him are four frescoes and behind those, four rooms though he himself could not remember their use, just that they were there. He felt angry, infuriated in fact. He walks forward quickly, hands balled up in fists. Behind him hears the familiar voice from before "You are becoming more and more over zealous, Bloody Rose. You should not have punished that man, he did NOTHI..." Takeno whirls around immediately, cutting off what he thought was the voice of a man but what was before him was a the figure of a beast. His legs bending backwards like the hind legs of a wolf and a head to match it. Before the wolf spoke Takeno cuts him off, but with the voice of a woman "I did what was necessary! These people-they just ask and ask and never once have they worked!! Don't you get it!?! We are babying them! There must be monthly Elaborate Pain Engines or we will raise a Domain of Stately Disorder, not Order! Shining Ocelot, you being that of Lunar blood should see this more then any of us!!"


With that Takeno turns to face the inner part of the ruin and walks forward with an angry face. Promptly tripping over the ruined rubble in front of him, he is knocked back to his senses. Though the cobwebs in his face again do nothing to cool his now angry mood. It was noticeable that he had gone into a trance like state and just gave himself another sturdy fall.


Just then, it is both audible and visual this time that a few more small cogs start moving from not only outside, but from inside too. Indeed even larger items started moving as well, all moving slowly but surely towards the right inner part of this ruin. A cog rolls by, a spring hops along, and even a small rod which may power a piston tinks across the floor to the right end.

 

[Ebon_Arbiter]

Takeno gets up, trying to get the dust of his clothes, as his face remains distorted in a mask of self-justified and righteous anger.


"What can't you understand Shining Ocelot? How else will Order prevail in our domain? How will...." his voice trails off as he realises that the lights are somewhat dimmer and that the place around him is different than it used to be. Then he looks again seeing not the man of bestial appearance before him but four - and probably quite worried or confused - companions staring at him.


He tries to regain his composure, as he slowly understands that his mind is falling back to who he used to be and it seems that he just had a throwback much more intense than the previous times.


"I am sorry, i don't know what got me there. This place...so full of memories...is messing with my mind", he says apologetically to his companions, while his eyes wonder over the small cog that seemed to bump at his foot prior to his vision.

 

[cyl]

Blossom starts worrying.


Are you okay ?! We don't need to rush things here, your memories seem to drain you of your strength. Undergoing such a serie of transes can be stressful for your body and your mind... so take your time, and be careful.

 

[Bardlebee]

14th Ascending Wood, Ruins


While Takeno finishes his inspection, he notices something peculiar. That is besides the cogs, wheels, springs, and pistons moving to one central location into the darkness of the tomb. He sees what seems to be a mechanical hand, its fist much larger then his own head, it seemed to be crawling in the same direction as the cogs and trinkets. Slowly... but surely. Takeno notices that the metal is a mixture of the same silver and gold. A swirl pattern is made with both colors as if to form a perfect union. Takeno feels a slight pull of force when holding the cog, as if its being pulled where the other small devices are headed as well.


Besides the small pieces moving in the room, seemingly at an accelerated rate, there was not a whole lot of sound coming from the tomb itself. Before them laid a pretty empty room, though all in front of them were four frescoes as well, the room seemed pretty basic.


The first fresco showed a very archaic picture with Old Realm. The picture itself showed a beautiful woman with a staff that looked like the Perfects and a beast man with a red orb. People were celebrating around them, the sun being a very large and ever present part of this painting. In the midst of all this a large sun was spread all across, proud of its display. Those with Old Realm could read:

Spoiler

"Here we lay, in the Domain of Stately- (cuts off for a number of words) and hope will be ours, bringing creation under sanity and peace."


The second fresco showed an old picture as well, but the letters have worn over time. There is a picture of a beast man and a woman, standing there with an staff in the woman's hand and orb in the man's. There are various people bowing down assuming a praising position. The sun has slightly receded from the picture, but takes up quite a bit still.


The third fresco showed no picture as its been worn by the passage of time, but the Old Realm remains intact:

Spoiler

"There will be discipline before all. Basic mortals know nothing more then the emotional change of pain."


The final fresco on the far right shows absolutely no sun. There are people holding their heads in pain. The woman, whom before seemed very benevolent and serene seems to be causing the pain with her staff that is pointed downward in a striking motion. The beast man, turned away from the woman and has no orb in his hand. He has a look of shame and disappointment. This final painting seems to be painted by someone completely different then the other three. There is no writing on this fresco.


The sound of small cogs, springs, and other gadgets that look like they go to a machine seemed to be picking up. In the far right corner could be seen a pile of metal that seemed to be where they were all going to. Each cog just rolled on up and hopped on top of the pile. The same hand that was crawling towards it was slowly putting together pieces of itself, sliding cogs down a basic shaft, putting springs between separate gears and other jobs it could find for these pieces.

 

[Ebon_Arbiter]

Takeno looks upon the frescoes intently, as if looking upon the very events that dominate his visions and steps back looking at his companions.


"Those people in the paintings. My former self and her bestial companion. You see, the rulers of this place, with staff and orb. That is what i keep seeing in my visions. That and her gradually increasing obsession with Order, descending to madness. There are writings on those frescoes but i cannot understand what they're saying. Can any of you understand this language?"


As Takeno asks his companions, it's obvious that a look of almost desperation is upon his face, an agony distorting his characteristics. He is realizing gradually that the one before him, the lady who beared the mandate of the Unconquered Sun to govern this region had fallen from grace, lost her mind and gradually gave in to her madness. Takeno realizes the burden and the great price that is to be paid for the duties the Sun has bestowed upon him and the mere thought of losing himself to pride, arrogance and self-righteousness that could have such devastating effects on those around him, makes him to lose his colour, trying to hold on to his companions to prevent himself from falling again on the ground.

 

[cyl]

Blossom catches him by the shoulders and gently puts him back on his feet.


You are not her you know, she was a different person, and you can't blame yourself for what she did.


You can count on us to never allow you to become like her.


I won't let you loose your way...


That last part she is unsure of, but maintains a strong appearance of resolve and a gentle smile.


In her vision, her Patron God has called the solars murderers, so maybe she too had sinned.


Perhaps there was something wrong with all of them... perhaps they had too much power to not loose their minds.


If so this power had to be limited.

 

[Tourmaline]

Mahir


Turning away from the inscriptions on the wall, Mahir steps over and reaches up to place a small but strong hand on his comrade's shoulder. "Nor will I. My previous incarnation failed in his duty... I would not be surprised if he, too, did terrible things in the name of the Sun."


He takes a deep breath, calming himself as he tries to calm his circlemate. "We have an advantage that our predecessors did not. We know that we can fail, and the consequences of doing so. The Solars of old had no such knowledge; they believed that anything they did was right, even as they died and the Unconquered Sun turned His face from the world in disgust." The Zenith steps to one side to avoid a rolling cog. "Forewarned is forearmed. And if you do try to do something like that-" he points to the last fresco- "with the Orb and Scepter... I will personally turn you over my knee and paddle you." Mahir delivers this last with an absolutely deadpan voice, but a spark of mischief dances in his dark eyes.


"Now, you were asking about the inscriptions." Walking over to the first scene, the petite Delzhan points to the words as he translates. "'Here we lay, in the Domain of Stately...' something, the next few words here are missing... 'and hope will be ours, bringing Creation under sanity and peace.' A pity that the inscription on the second painting is so badly damaged, I would have liked to know what it said." Moving on to the third fresco, he continues. "'There will be discipline before all. Basic mortals know nothing more than the emotional change of pain.'" He shakes his head slowly, gazing at the final scene of agony. "How did she come to think this way? Even a child knows that a kindly treated horse will stay by his master when he falls, and a horse that knows only the whip will flee."

 

[Bardlebee]

14th Ascending Wood, Ruins


After some comforting, the party had detracted their attention away from the machine that was slowly assembling itself. It would seem that it was much more then a few cogs putting itself together.


The automata slowly puts itself together. It could be seen that the single hand had finally compiled enough parts to strap itself to a main hull of the robotic figure. The second arm after that was quickly set into place. Two small marble-like balls of metal came rolling past the groups feet as they notice them hop into a larger ball. The two arms that were connected to the hull strapped itself to the main leggings and fastened the jaw. Finally, after about five minutes of waiting the robot, standing seven feet tall, spoke with eyes of a golden light with the tongue of Old Realm:

Spoiler

"Who are you to be trespassing on the property of Bloody Rose and Shining Ocelot?"

He said with a strong robotic voice that nearly shook the room. A large, golden mallet came rolling along and hopped into the large robots hand. Again in Old Realm he says

Spoiler

"Show your permissions now, or suffer quick death!"

 

[cyl]

Blossom adopts a defensive posture, putting her hand slowly against one of her blades, that thing is rather scary to her.


Mahir ?!


Perhaps Takeno you should show it who you are... if you're the master of this place, it should recognize you.

 

[Tourmaline]

Mahir


Wide-eyed, Mahir takes several steps back. "I thought that switch was for light!" He makes a mental note to never, ever, ever push a suspect button again. "What kind of madman puts a trap right at the front door where anyone might trigger it? Especially when the building is dark and the switch is glowing!"


He turns to Takeno. "It's asking for permission from Bloody Rose or Shining Ocelot. Ignite your anima, it might recognize that as coming from Bloody Rose!"

 

[Ebon_Arbiter]

Takeno looks surprised at the assembled automaton, realizing that it is probably a remnant of the glorious years when his predecessor was governing this region, and first hand evidence of the wonders from that lost age. He quickly regains his composure, after listening to Mahir translating its words, steps forth and ignites his anima banner, illuminating the room even more, to show the automaton that he has legitimate authority over this place, as the current bearer of Bloody Rose's exaltation.


"Automaton. It is I, your master. I have returned. Don't you recognise me? Stand down."

 

[Bardlebee]

14th Ascending Wood, Ruins


The Solars ready themselves for battle just in case the lumbering metal beast decides to lunge forward. For a moment it seems like the automation did not hear what Takeno was saying, as it just stood there quiet. After some time it reacted, speaking back staring at Takeno


His voice is loud and gritty. It cuts out sometimes like a broken record, perhaps a damaged voice box, in Old Realm he speaks again

Spoiler

"I do not recognize the language you speak, Sun-Child. But I do recognize your anima. Physical structure... changed." The robot is quiet for a bit "But anima remains. Authorization granted!" he says with a booming voice.


As soon as Takeno flared his Anima, everything in the room seemed like it began to shift. The light from the inlaid streaks which turned on the lighting system became stronger, fully engulfing the room in light to make everything visible. The vents became more powerful, chilling the room to an instant seventy-five degrees. Then suddenly everyone hears a loud scraping noise as the four stone doors that had previously closed off the four rooms opened. The second to last one however did not and the very last one only opened half way, coming to a grinding malfunction.


Over the roaring fire Amethyst is the only one that hears something behind the doorways

Spoiler

"OOoohhhuuuu..." a low pitch groan seemed to come through the doors.


PER + AWR = 3 sux 10 9 6 5