Active [Frontier] Welcome to Ignis Volcano!

[DarkKitsune]

OUT OF CHARACTER
1. This roleplay is closed to new participants
2. COMMUNICATION IS ENCOURAGED two weeks of no posts without communication from everyone will get the thread closed early.
3. The schedule for posting will be considerably lax. Narration posts may be 24-48 hours in the evening time MDT after rp’ers have posted.
4. Advanced rules will be put into effect.
5.Creative liberties were taken with this post.
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CHARACTERS AND GOALS:
Develius : Flare - work towards an audience with the Spirit king
Karcen : Seraphina - Help Flare with her goal
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In the forest of The Fae See of Chearon. A small sprite bid a farewell to his sprite friends and joined Flare and Seraphina on a new adventure. The eclipse has ended the moons seperating themselves and shedding their seperate lights on the land once more. The three agreed to journey and locate Asher’s home Volcano, and visit The Fire Church that resided near it to help Flare and Seraphina make steps towards their goal.

“now it is weird to not be around Caspian or Echinacea anymore. I miss them.” Asher told Flare and Seraphina

His small glowy hands struggled to hold the pint sized map in his hands, which had been translated with Sylvan markings on it by Echinacea in favor of helping him find Ignis Volcano.

‘’There’s a small lake on the way but otherwise it should be a straight shot! Unless you know…we bump into hostiles or…get tricked…or get lost like a certain moth fairy did—otherwise we should have no issues. I’m sure we’ll find some places to sleep on the way as well!”

Asher told the others gesturing to the map.
“As for your prior questions—The Fire cardinal is one of the elemental cardinals who work beneath the Spirit King. All of them are worshipped as living gods, but I heard the Cardinals get replaced every so often. The Fire Cardinal’s domain is as expected Fire.”

Asher explains them. “And the Tenants of Fire are being passionate, Bold, and warm. Your feelings about things cannot be lukewarm about your stances your views must burn bright. No room for shyness or timidness. Give comfort to your allies but incinerate your enemies.”

Asher looks around the area making sure there are no threats to lurk in the nighttime. Now that it was a regular night he illuminated a glow like a flame.

“If you have any questions, ask! We have plenty of time on our trip.”

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[Develius]

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Mentions:
| DarkKitsune [Asher] | Karcen [Seraphina] |
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As the resurrection ritual came to a swift close, Flare was more than eager to have Asher lead them on the pilgrimage to this "Fire Church" he'd been casually raving about. Of course, Seraphina would be brought along as per usual, but they believed she'll have a good experience meeting the other kinds of fae in their most niche essences. That is if she could take the heat... which Flare was more than confident given how much she'd kept up being sheathed or held against heated steel for so long. If things got too hot and spicy, they were sure she'll make that adamantly clear.

Fraust wouldn't know of their trip, given this was shortly right after the ritual, but the duo weren't strangers to being away for up to several days or even over a week at times. The artificer did state that he was heading back to his lab in Ryke and would be setting off about now, so Flare would make sure to tell him all about it when they'd come back. And they wouldn't even need to backtrack.

For now, however, they rest at the cover of night; with both elementals glowing warmly against the oppressive darkness beyond.

"I'm sure you'll reunite with them soon." Flare assured Asher in regards to him missing their sprite friends, "How long have you three known each other anyways?"

Glancing over the teeny-tiny map that the fire sprite held with their hands, they'd note the position they were currently in and the distance towards their destination. True to her word, the volcano was indeed close to the western Rykan boarder, as well as being nestled between the Continental Lake to the east and the Kuridan Republic to the north. There was certainly some walking they needed to do, but they should be able to get their sooner then later. "Small lake...?" Flare asked curiously, "Which one are you referring to?". They didn't see any "small lake" aside from the elephant in the room, "You mean the big one?" Their finger slowly scrolled over to the Continental Lake, "W-We're not required to go in there right?" they asked hesitatingly in a nervous tone.

"Also... what moth fairy?" Flare then brought up Asher's mention of said entity before quickly dismissing it, "Ah, actually, never mind." Shouldn't be too concerned with every bit of details, though they couldn't help but be curious.

Asher would also explain further regarding what the "Fire Cardinal" and "Tenants of Fire" were and how they played in the grand fae sphere. And it turns out the elemental Cardinals worked directly underneath the Spirit King, acting essentially as "living gods", with the tenants acting basically as their followers. In this case, fire tenants embrace their fiery personas of passion and ambition. "So you're telling me that having the Fire Cardinal getting a good word in for me to the Spirit King is my best chance at gaining an audience with him?" Flare assumed with a surefire glance. Questions wise there were no doubt plenty more. Just a matter of having them "If that's the case, well, I gotta make sure I don't disappoint. What else can you tell me about the current hot cardinal? What's he - or she - like?"

 

[Karcen]

Seraphina
Languages common, Terran​

From one adventure to another, that didn't always happen but Seraphina was fine with it and there was no way she was letting Flare go somewhere alone. Who knew what the fae cult might try to do. Yeah she had come to at least admit that some fae , namely the normal people, were okay she still had some lingering apprehensions about anyone higher up than a village leader. Yeah they weren't all in the military or involved in it at all, but still they might share the ideology that had lead to the hair brained plan from that mission. Also she just plain didn't want to leave flare alone and besides what was she going to do without flare? Seraphina was a sword immobile without someone to hold her. She of course wouldn't voice this reason as well that would be guilting Flare when in truth it was just a fact and Seraphina wouldn't want to guilt her friend like that.

Asher had a map and it seemed they were a god distance from this volcano, though how big was this land? that was something she had never thought of and given she hadn't really bothered with reading a map before she didn't honestly know what it looked like. Countless years of life and all she ever knew was what was right around her. The huge lake must be massive given it was well huge on the map taking up a countries' worth of land by itself.

The illusion of Seraphina perched on Flare's shoulder shrunken down and mostly there just because well now she was used to doing it and it just seemed to give her more presence. The fact the cardinals were not some small group of ancient beings that had guided the fae from time before time without change or contact with others was, well Seraphina didn't know why but it was surprising. Seraphina guessed her idea was some remnant of a memory some idea carried over from somewhere.

" Hmm well not sure what i was expecting for tennets, though i think fire might not be my element " Seraphina said she got a few of those, but she liked to hold onto things and rather and blaze she seemed to boil or freeze her views of things. Flare had already seemingly forgiven the See for it's betrayal and Seraphina was having issues with it just shaving away at who she should blame and hate over just letting it be a one off.

 

[DarkKitsune]

“I’ve known them since I first got lost. I meet them in the the forest. I wouldn’t have met them otherwise, Echinacea is a plant sprite and Caspian is a water sprite. Nearing a volcano would be death-wise for them. I’d estimate around a year. When I met them I began helping with their duties where I could. Not just them but an earth sprite named Marble. He’s a great blacksmith by the way.” Asher spoke answering Flare’s question.

“The lake country? Know. I know I would be as good as smothered. However, the volcano is near there to an extent. However, I was talking about the small tiny rivers on the map. There are a few of them but they typically aren’t bigger than creeks. Strawtinlen is one if not the biggest river the Fae See has and we left it after the ritual.”

Asher nodded. “The Cardinals work under the spirit king so a good word in with them would help way more than you’d think! The current fire Cardinal is a he from what I hear. I also heard he resurrected a new champion of fire recently, a beast I believe.”

Asher spoke to Seraphina. “Perhaps not fire, but it does not mean you wouldn’t fit any of the other tenants of the other churches”

After that conversation Asher would find a portal embedded into the size of a large overarching tree, he gestured for Flare to follow them.
On the other side of the portal their position on the map changed. Being a good few days worth of travel ahead.

“I suggest looking for blue markings in the sides of trees! As I learned they can teleport you a fair few distances. It could save us time during our trip!” Asher explained.

The three of them found themselves surrounded by large black trees with a bright purple hue glittering off the petals. The middle tree in fromt of them had three fire insignias. Ingrained into it in a pattern the first one blew a dim yellow color. The second one flashed a bright orange twice and the third held a steady glow for a solid three minutes.

“Hmmm…I wonder if this is one of those puzzles—well no kidding. It probably is. Fae tend to have a lot of fun with these kinds of things.”

Directly In front of Asher, Flare and Seraphina were logs with long branches that stuck up from their centers, the tip covered in sap. The pattern in the middle tree repeated itself.

“I wonder, if that pattern is indicator of some sort?”

—
Karcen Develius​

 

[Develius]

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Mentions:
| DarkKitsune [Asher] | Karcen [Seraphina] |
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"Yeah, those two seemed pretty nice." Flare replied to Asher referring to the sprites they met earlier. Though Marble, the earth spirit, was certainly a new one. "I don't blame them for wanting to not get close to me either. For their own good really... but they seem like good folks." Each were uniquely expressive too. Just how many different kinds of spirits were out there? Especially if they weren't all solely part of the four main elements, given Echinacea's plant origins.

A sigh of relief emitted from their helmet as Asher explained that they weren't going into any lakes or bodies of water aside from going over the already established rivers. And thankfully they were nothing more than creek-sized, or so he said. "Phew... alright alright." Flare confirmed as they put a hand over their chest piece, "Creeks I can manage."

Then suddenly their face lit up in realization. "Oh! That reminds me..." Flare raised up their right gauntlet to show Asher a shiny blue gem embedded into one of the circular impressions on their hand. Sera would recognize nice immediately. "Have you heard of... Niji Amulets?: Supposedly they each come in the main four elements and allow the wearer to use said powers... which combined with their personal aura can make totally new elements. And this one, I kid you not, is a water stone... in which I can combine it with my fire to create steam-based powers. Probably the safest and only way I can utilize "water" in my arsenal. The original user who had this could create ice... which thank the gods it wasn't liquid water or I would've been the one evaporating into steam. I was thinking of getting the remaining set - aside from a fire amulet - meaning I only need the earth and air ones. Not sure where I can get those, but we;re keeping our eyes and ears open."

Flare was visibly hyped at the positive affirmation in getting recommended to the Spirit King by the cardinal. And it appeared HE, the cardinal, had recently resurrected a fire "beastman" champion. "Oooooh... that sounds cool." they replied intriguingly. Maybe they'd get to meet him if they were lucky.

"Ahhhh, cmon now Sera," Flare jokingly whined at Sera who believed that fire wasn't her kind of element, "Since when have flaming swords never NOT been cool? I think you'd look pretty badass engulfed in a blanket of flame... I mean so long as, well, you don't feel the burning pain or that the blade starts physically melting. Then again, you can put on the illusion that you ARE on fire at least - like what you did to "enhance" my bellowing flames back on our first outing with the bandits. You gotta admit, that visage is certainly intimidating on its own." They thought it would be cool to see Sera dabble lightly in aspects of elemental fire to better synchronize or enhance Flare's fiery powers in someway. Or for Flare to allow Sera to tap into their fiery essence. Though admittedly that already felt redundant given Flare's whole gimmick was fire in the first place. And to be fair, Illusions were already a nice way to exaggerate the effects and Sera's method ripping into minds had major potential.

Still, both parties still had long ways to go in order to achieve their full potentials.

Following Asher into a portal, they'd make a considerable headway towards their destination according to the map. Supposedly these tree-portals can allow users to skip vast distances, provided one could find their blue markings. "Oh that's hella convienent!" the elemental exclaimed, "Will certainly keep an eye out for em."

Sauntering up to a group of three dark trees surrounding them, with each bearing insignias of fire on their charred bark, Flare would be greeted to a pattern of lights flashing before their eyes. It was a unique one at that, which Flare didn't quite catch the meaning of at first. "Hmmm..." Flare pondered curiously. It wasn't until Asher pointed out that this was some sort of puzzle did they begin to catch on, noting the long sap-tipped branches stemming from the logs directly in front of them. Granted this wasn't quite a puzzle they were familiar with... and well, they haven't done many puzzles prior to this. Though it was worth a shot. "Let's see here..." They looked back at the insignias for a closer look:

• The first glowed a dim yellow color.
• The second one flashed a bright orange twice.
• The third held a steady glow for a solid three minutes.

Slowly, Flare came to the conclusion the sap-tips need to be lit in the correct manner seen in the insignias. Seemed simple enough. Their gauntlet began visibly turning hotter, as the metal glew a dark orange that steadily got brighter into the yellow sphere as it got hotter. "Let's try... this." Once reaching a relatively dimly yellow color, the elemental touched the first branch's sap with their finger to set it alight. They'd press on the sap for a few seconds to make it visibly glow that same color.

Then they made their way to the second branch. Their hand began to heat up again, this time going slightly down the heat index from dim yellow to bright orange. Again they pressed their orange-hot finger against the sap, this time poking it twice with significant force to ensure its max brightness.

Lastly, their finger reverted back to a brighter yellow and pressed on the last sap branch to give it a glow... that would need to last for three minutes. They turned their head back at Asher and Sera as they began tapping their foot impatiently, still holding their finger against the glowing sap. "This... may take awhile." they sighed, hoping they were onto something here.

 

[Karcen]

Seraphina
Languages common, Terran​

The mention of being wreathed in fire momentarily made the illusion blur as Seraphina lost some focus, it was almost like a shiver running down her none existent spine. She was not exactly looking forward to being once more covered in the thing that had brought her a pain she could not forget, the only sensation she could remember. Seraphina might have more issues being alone, but still the idea of being once more surrounded by fire was enough to make her nervous and a little scared. Seraphina of course knew Flare meant nothing bad by it and was just thinking about the two sharing more, but she still didn't want to test her luck with magical fire.

" i'll see what i can do, but yeah pretty sure ice or water is more my thing " her ghostly presence did always seem to be moving as if it was in a pool of slowly moving water. It was a chilling visage not in her mind suited towards the nature of fire magic. " but yeah illusions are what i am far better with making you more scary or illusionary flames is much easier" Seraphina was just trying to move off the topic of her being on fire.

When they came upon what must be a teleportation tree area Seraphina was slightly confused as to why they would have a memory puzzle here to use it or opening or whatever, but at least it wasn't that complex. it might be hard for anyone that wasn't made of fire like asher or flare, or lacking fire magic. Then it suddenly made sense it was meant for fire people so this was a test of control over fire or something. Random people wouldn't be able to hold the fire as long as was needed to match the pattern like Flare was doing. " Yeah you would think the last one would be enough of a test or key or whatever" Seraphina sighed though at least it didn't seem like it was that bad just time consuming.