Change of Seasons [IC]

[Chambers]

Change of Seasons.

Where the whistle wind plays,
and the golden dust fades.
My home is the wilds,
and there will I stay!

Where pan's pipes are blown,
and the queens banners flown.
My home is the wilds,
and there will I stay!

Where elves tire and sleep,
and dwarves frolick and fete,
Where proud man is lain low,
as a dog whose come home.
My home is the wilds,
and there will I stay!
---

A dream...

Twilight, walking through a wood. Honeysuckle and lilac crawl on the trunks of trees. Butterflies with wings the size of men fly overhead. A cloud of purple dust floats by and laughs. Somewhere beyond sight, pipes play and the sound seems to come from right behind you, always behind you.

Walking through a wood...you step into a glade, the trees wrapped around in an oval. In the middle a stone statue, a woman crying, holding the body of her dead young son. Daffodils grow on the crown of the boy, scattered stone roses lay on the ground, fallen from his open palm.

A young woman steps from behind the statue, her long hair golden, her face fair and bright. She curtsies and spins, her grass and flower skirt twirling. "Welcome, all." She says and you notice the other three travelers standing at the cardinals around the statue.

"Please, be seated if you wish." She flicks her hand at the ground beside the statue and four large toadstools sprout up, their oversized caps thick and sturdy. She smiles for a moment and then turns towards the statue. "I've always wondered who carved this...who the woman was...why her son died." She says, her eyes sad as she steps around the statue, looking at it from every angle. "Such a sad thing...but beautiful." She sighs and turns to you all.

"I imagine you are wondering why I have called you here. Most of you know me..." She says, nodding to Aithne, Shazad, and Lloyd. "...but now is a time to put aside past differences, prior fueds." She looks at Shazad and raises an eyebrow, then continues. "And a time to forge new alliances, find new strengths." She nods to Alexander. "All the worlds face the same struggle, even if they do not know it."

Lady Summer closes her eyes and breathes in deep and releases her breath, a mist of golden light that floats in the air. It darts to the statute and circles it, resting on the head of the women, melting into the stone. Her eyes open and shine with a soft, yellow light. "There. I have marked this dream, we may return to it. I have many things to show you." She glances at each one of you and smiles. "Will you come along?"

Spoiler

Show

Welcome to the start of the game. :)
Feel free to talk to each other for a bit, and then I'll continue on.
Link to OOC.

[M. Mayonnaise]

Alexander

A man - still young, perhaps in his late twenties - stands at the West cardinal of the glade. His hair is black and a bit unkempt, and his beard, though short tame, looks as though it will soon need a trim. He wears thick furs over a black suit of chainmail - if this is a dream, does that mean he was sleeping in his armor?
The man stares at the Lady as she speaks, looking a bit off-put and perhaps a bit hostile. He makes as if to speak when she finishes but seems to check himself, ducking his head down and to the side for a moment as though in thought. He looks back at the Lady for a moment, before shifting his gaze to each of the other three beings in the glade.
When he speaks, his voice echoes about the glade. It is rough, as though from lack of use, and has an accent you cannot identify. It carries behind it a whisper, a harsh and foreboding whisper, that sits just on the edge of perception. The whisper's words can't quite be made sense of, but here, in this place of gently fading light and beautiful nature, it carries with it something more than words - an impression, a feeling, of wrongness. Of blasphemy, of unnaturalness. The man knows it, and winces even as he speaks.
"What is this place?"

[Ryuuk]

Lloyd

"It would be an honor, my lady..." Lloyd meets his hostess's glance with his own smile and a bow before finally taking his seat. In contrast to the man in black armor, his tone seems elegant and sure. More then just his voice, everything about him gives off that same air. Black hair and light skin that may have seemed unkempt and sickly on another seem carefree and vigorous on him. Likewise, he doesn't seem armed, and if not for the hint of chain and steel beneath his clothing, he would also seem unarmored.

His smile still hasn't left his lips as he gets himself comfortable. A leg resting on the other and his hands supporting his torso behind him, his eyes wander over each small sight around the statue. He seemed confident.

"It's another frontier my friend." Turning to the man in black, he takes a second to give him his hand, awaiting his. "Lloyd d'Vadalis, a pleasure to make your acquaintance. You are?"

[M. Mayonnaise]

Alexander

Alexander makes no move to sit or to accept Lloyd's handshake. He answers the man with only a stare, and slowly takes a step back. He turns back to the Lady - apparently the ringleader here.
"What is this? Who are you?"
There is an edge to his voice now, and the whisper becomes more... prominent. Still only at the edge of perception, and yet.. the sense of wrongness is stronger now.

[Zarthrax]

Shazad looks around at the sylvan glade with a flat expression that holds even as Lady Summer makes her grand entrance.

Arching an eyebrow, even as he adjusts the hang of his cloak, he remains silent for now, content to observe before commenting on anything.

This course of action is born out by the pretty mini-speech of Lady Summer, obviously here for a reason.

After she said her peace, the man obviously from a northern exposure speaks up not once, but twice. The other man present attempted to be friendly and was rebuffed. Finally, Northman asks an answerable question.

"Her name is Samantha Kellate, Lady Summer of the Summer Court."

As the others' attentions turn to him, Shazad shrugs. "You learn a lot about your employers in my line of work." Turning to Lady Summer, he offers a small, short bow and queries "Even when I still took commissions for the Summer Court, this was not how it was done, Lady Summer. Even leaving aside the fact that I most assuredly now have my face planted in a bowl of mushroom broth (and the fact that it's rude to dream-call someone in the middle of dinner), I no longer accept commissions from your Court, and you know this. So why bring me here?"

[Ryuuk]

Lloyd

"Rather rude..." With a shrug, Lloyd turns his attention to the man who seemed quite a bit less dumbfounded. He smiles, there seemed to be much to gain learn from this one. Things seemed to be falling into place though, realization was dawning.

"A new frontier in more then one way..." He puts his hand against his chest and pushes while he looks at the detail around him. He chuckles. Fascinated by what this could all mean, he mutters to himself. "Simply amazing."

[M. Mayonnaise]

Alexander

"Lady.. Summer?"
The man seems less hostile now, but still wary.
"I have been looking for you and your kind for some time now..."

[AmberVael]

Aithne verch Cyric

Aithne's dreaming form shines brightly, at once more real than its surroundings, and yet more fantastic than it should be. Her golden hair is vivid and bright as it sweeps past her shoulders, curving artistically as it spreads behind her like a slender, shining banner. A circlet of fire streams across her brow, but flickers fitfully as if it were on the verge of going out, while the gleaming spear in her hand shines as bright a lantern light, contrasting the weakness of the flame.

Her raiment is unusual, and certainly a product of her dreaming state, a cross between a formal, beautiful dress and hardened armor of wood. When she moves, it drifts as if it were cloth, but when she stands still, it hardens into a rigid breastplate.

She seems quite at home amidst the strangeness of her dream and appearance, however, for she is obviously a fey like the lady that summoned them; her face, particularly eyes and ears, quite plainly tell of her fair folk nature. More strongly, however, the fluid ease to which she takes to the drifting reality of a dream and her powerful presence within it show that this is a magic she is used to.

Aithne raises her hand, placing the back of it to her forehead in an old, druidic gesture of respect and submission.
"You honor me, Lady Summer. I accept your invitation."
Her vivid blue eyes pass over the others, becoming a little troubled as she notes who would be accompanying her. The disconcerting nature of the Northman, the disrespect of the other... and something of the last fills her with uncertainty, though she cannot tell what. At least, however, he had attempted to be polite.

Because of that politeness, no matter her slight misgiving, Lloyd is the only one of the other three who Aithne acknowledges. She directs a pleasant smile and a small nod of respect, though she does not address him. Her silence seems more an opening for him to choose whether or not to speak to her, though.

[Ryuuk]

Lloyd

Tapping his chest and feeling bones and flesh, Lloyd raises his sight to meet the fey's smile and answers with his own. "I've never lived through such a lucid dream, but my eyes tell me it must be. I can only hope that some of these sights stretch beyond the dream-scape."

Still testing the boundaries, he puts a hand before him and wills an orb of light onto its palm. Letting it dance for an instant, he forces it to land and makes it vanish in a closed fist before speaking. "My dear, if the world smiles on me and you are indeed real, could you be so kind as to explain this state to one who is partially human?"

[M. Mayonnaise]

Alexander

Alexander has an odd look on his face - impatient, and perhaps nervous. It is as though, now that he knows he stands before Lady Summer, the situation does not live up to his expectations.
Alexander ignores Lloyd, and speaks over him as the man exchanges pleasantries with the fey. When he speaks, both his voice and the whisper behind it have a hint of urgency behind them - though, oddly, it seems as though his voice is eager, and the whisper is fearful. "M'lady Summer, I must speak with you. There are matters of great urgency which I have sought your kind's aid in, and they can wait no longer."
His body language betrays his urgency, as he seems to take a half-defensive, half-threatening stance, as though afraid of denial.

[Chambers]

Lady Summer smiles at Shazad. "Ah, perhaps you were only dreaming of mushroom soup? I assure you, I only reached out to you as you were deep in slumber." She reaches out to the statue and plucks one of the daffodils off the boys crown, spins it between her hands and lets go. The flower rises in the air and twirls as it floats before her, the yellow petals waving back and forth. "I am not here to speak of bindings or service, nor of past deeds or debts."

She nods to Lloyd as he plays with the dream. "Yes, you can act in this place, but it is my dream I have called you to." She turns to Alexander. "Be calm, prince. I have felt your searching and have drawn you here to speak...perhaps to talk of answers you seek." She waves her hand and the daffodil rises, twirling higher into the air until it is a speck high above. The speck blossoms into a wave of sunlight that falls down around you, changing the twilight to noon. The dew on the grass steams in the warming air and the statue grows, twisting in shape as it towers above you all, changing from weathered, gray stone to hard grey bark. The dead limbs of the massive tree block the bright sun and cast shadows on the ground that swirl and swarm like snakes.

She glances at Lloyd. "This is no place...a place between places, a dream of the wilds. They have overgrown their bounds and reach across all the worlds...and so our dreams may touch each world in turn. Look. See what has happened to the worlds." She points behind you and you feel the soft toadstool turn to a hard tree stump. The trees of the wood have vanished, replaced by a vast wasteland. All around, in every direction, you see nothing but black and scorched rocks, burned sand and dirt. "This once was called Thay. Is your concern more dire than the lives that once were here, prince?"

The limbs of the dead tree grow and extend, reaching down to the ground and slamming into the dirt and sand. As you are surrounded by the sphere of the tree, a great whirlwind rises up outside, throwing the gravel and rock into a maelstorm around you, though nothing passes through the limbs except for the moaning of the fierce wind. Lady Summer turns to Aithne. "Could you not hear the cry of that land as it lay broken and gasping?" The winds die down and she walks towards the wall of limbs. It parts and unfolds as she nears it, bending back on itself to form a canopy over the opening.

Outside you can see a world far below you, as if you were floating high in the sky. Pristine wilderness runs untouched for miles and miles, a thick canopy hiding the floor of the jungle from the sun. "These were once the mournlands...now they are a verdant paradise. Not all of nature is destructive..." She says, glancing at Shazad. "But this growth is unchecked, spurred by the presences of the wild. It upsets the balance..." She looks at you all. "It may seem strange to hear me speak that word...but we all have our place and purpose, and so the balance is maintained."

The limbs drop down and close the opening and it feels as though the tree-sphere is falling. The Lady walks back over to the tree and places one hand on it where a patch of daffodils grow out of a knob. The rushing slows and the limbs break off the base of the tree, the ends staying planted in the ground. The tall planted limb-spikes grow and rush outward, sprouting green buds and leaves, forming a forest wood. The base of the tree shrinks back down, twisting and changing shape to that of the statue. The sun shrinks overhead and fades beyond the horizon as twilight returns to the glade.

She looks at the face of the mother once again, a small smile on her lips before turning to you all. "These are just a few of the changes that have happened. There are others...some even more devastating." She falters and uncertainy, fear and panic comes into her eyes. "I..I don't know...it's so HARD! I can't..I can-." She stops suddenly and freezes, then relaxes as the steady calm returns to her. "Pardon. The transition from my former life...well, it has not been without difficulty." She says as she smiles, her perfect teeth beaming out at each of you. "A war rages between our courts, of this you know. I come to you, hopefully in time, before you have been called to fight in this battle. This will not be won by fighting, though we must obey the Queen." She says, curstying to no one present. "I have an idea of how to stop the expanse of the wilds, though I know that alone will not be enough."

She looks at each of you in turn. "I seek no geas, merely help. There are...some things that we cannot do." She looks at Alexander. "To those that seek answers, I know where to ask questions." To Shazard, "For those that want power, I know where it may be tapped." To Lloyd, "For those that seek a challenge, a new, unknown thing lays before you." To Aithne, "To those that seek balance, I seek the same and will aid you as I can."

Spoiler

Show

Hope that wasn't too confusing. Go ahead and talk and such, but don't leave the dream yet. Have one more thing planned.

[M. Mayonnaise]

"Answers are well and good, mlady, but my only question is this: if you can do all this, create this dream world, then can you not restore my own world? Thousands - millions - are lost, soulless or mad, and those of us who remain die slowly in a world that is slowly becoming the Abyss it was invaded by!"
He is pleading now, even the whisper behind his voice sounding mournful.
"I have read of your kind, and heard many stories of your wild power. I beg of you, aid me in this - I will gladly help you against whatever force is causing these events as soon as my world is restored."

[Chambers]

"Peace, noble prince." Lady Summer says, her eyes soft. "This is but a dream...it will fade as you wake." She tilts her head and smiles at him. "This is not light you see, nor air you breathe."

Her face becomes solemn. "And if it were possible, would you have me forswear my oath to my Queen and come right to your aid? Would you have your world restored to glory...only to fall to the creep of the wilds? They expand further every day, on every world...do you think your home could hold when the heavens could not?"

She takes a dandelion from her skirt, places it in the button hole of Alexanders shirt. "The fates of all the worlds are entertwined and it would be for nought to save one at the expense of the others, and only to have it fall again itself. But...perhaps through saving them all, we can restore yours. I can offer you no more than this, the promise of hope."

[M. Mayonnaise]

Alexander

Alexander scoffs, looking away from the Lady with bitterness in his eyes.
"'Noble prince'... do you mock me with the titles of my lost love even as you refuse to return her to me?"

[Chambers]

"Oh, not at all dear child. A title earned is a name freely spoken." She nods her head slightly to you. "And it is not that I am unwilling you to help, but for now I am unable. My power is bound with the Queens will...and for now the Queen is at war." Her voice softens. "All things come in their time, all power rises and wanes. Do not give up hope."

[Zarthrax]

Shazad merely shrugs at the Lady's words, unwilling to bandy accusations about with a potential employer even as distasteful as he now finds the Summer Court.

After the insistent Northman continues to persist in asking strange questions and is again rebuffed, Shazad clears his throat softly and addresses Lady Summer.


"That still does not answer my question, Lady. Why choose me?"

[AmberVael]

Aithne

"Lady Summer, if you know of me then you know that balance is not all I seek. I would be grateful for your aid, but you need not offer it in a bargain. I will assist you, as long as your goal is true. What knight would turn away those who cry out for aid?"

Aithne places her spear holding hand over her heart in a gesture of allegiance.
"What would you have me do?"

[M. Mayonnaise]

Alexander

Alexander is clearly dejected at the Lady's answer. He shakes his head, opening his mouth to challenge her again, but thinks better of it and simply says nothing. He closes his eyes for a moment, and when he opens them he looks at Lady Summer with a dull and resigned look on his face.
"What do you want from me?" he says, bluntly. The whisper seems subdued now, and is neither as threatening or insistent as before.

[Ryuuk]

Lloyd

Lloyd is silent through the visions, but makes note of what he deems important. Some much more then others of course, and he wonders just how difficult the transition was. "Hehe, now I feel shallow, but it seems you know me. I would never turn down a request, especially not one as you describe it. The unknown is simply too alluring."

He turned to the pleading man and felt almost ashamed. That wasn't how you got it done. Say what you want about desperation and urgency, but a beggar gets nothing beyond copper and scorn. But a debtee? "Pardon if I am more ignorant then I think, but it sounds as if this 'Abyss' has become coterminous with your home, oh nobleman. It actually sounds much like the plight the lady is presenting. In my eyes, it seems as though Thelanis, the Fey Courts, have become coterminous with, well, all there is. If we bring back the balance, would you not learn how to do so to your realm as well? After all, if the druids of my world could be taught how to do so, I'm sure we can too."

Spoiler

Show

Just some Eberron rambling, the planes may not actually work like this but that's is how Lloyd sees it, at least until taught otherwise.

[M. Mayonnaise]

Alexander

Alexander ignores Lloyd at first, but immediatedly appears much more interested when he mentions the druids of his world "learning to do so".
Alexander levels a steady gaze on him, stepping past the Lady towards where the man is seated.
"If you know how to... separate... these "coterminous" planes, perhaps you would consider sharing? Or are there others, on your world - these druids, perhaps - who could perform such a task?"

[AmberVael]

Aithne

"The borders between the planes wax and wane with the seasons and the times."
Aithne speaks suddenly, her spear shifting in her hands. Its pointed head blossoms outwards as a living plant, and the wood is graven with runes.
"To call them 'coterminus,' implies that they are separate in the first place. Is one side of the coin separate from the other? Does night reside in a different sky than the day?"

Her hair drapes around her like a cloak, and she taps the sapling spear against the ground in an authoritative manner.
"You have no doubt heard of the Court of Summer and Winter, but there are other times in which the fey hold dominion. I am of Samhain, when the boundaries between the worlds grow thin- the druidic arts are in my blood, and the interaction of the worlds is my domain. To part worlds would be a task beyond my usual skill, but in time I believe I could achieve it."

Yet, her eyes are hard as she looks at Alexander.
"But as much as I am a druid, I am warrior. I know that even in the best of battles, there is sacrifice. I cannot place the wellbeing of your world before the well being of many more- is the scoured plane we saw somehow lesser than your troubles? Is the land that will be swallowed by the wild to be disregarded? Your perspective is narrow.

Her expression softens, and she inclines her head in acknowledgment of his own troubles.
"Yet, if the time comes when these troubles may be set aside, I will lend you my aid. But please, consider our situation with more gravity, and think of others who are suffering as you are. Will you abandon them to their fates? I understand how you must feel, and the pain you suffer- but you must learn to control it."

Her mouth tightens slightly, and then she swiftly tacks on to her speech.
"You might wish to learn a little more politeness as well. This is the Lady of Summer you are speaking too, after all."
After her more eloquent speech, this addendum might make for an amusing contrast- it seems more like something a snooty courtier might say.

[M. Mayonnaise]

Alexander

Alexander's expression hardens as Aithne berates him. He levels an accusing finger at her, and says,
"Sacrifice? What do you know of sacrifice? You speak of these suffering peoples in distant planes. You speak of nations turned to so much dust and shadow, erased as though by the wrath of the Maker. What are these to my own world? What is a nation in ruins, when my world now is a pit of fire and of slime, where the dead outnumber the living a thousandfold? What is a people suffering the wrath of the wild, when the scant remnants of my own people crawl in the sand and dust, taking their sustenance on the scraps of flesh left from the demons - food not fit even for the vultures, let alone mankind. What do I care when the ugliness of war - real war, the war our world was shown by the Dead Prince - is brought out of shadow into the sight of the horrified planes?"
Alexander is working himself up into a self-righteous fury now, years of frustration and despair suddenly coming to the surface as those with the power to help him seem to be denying his plea. The whisper echoes all about, seeming to rise to a crescendo even as it remains at the edge of your hearing - it has no words behind it, now, but seems to be something between laughter and screaming.
"What do you know of battle, oh great warrior? What do you know of sacrifice? What great war have you fought in? What people have you fought to protect? An entire world rested on my shoulders - mine - and now it lay in ruins, a hundred survivors where once there were millions, and half of them gone insane with despair and terror! And now you tell me that you have the power to undo all this, or, by the Maker, to at the least prevent this from worsening - and you cannot because some far-off world is now beginning to see a glimpse of the horror that I and my people have already faced?! I think, Lady of Samhain, that you ought not speak to me of courtesy!"
Alexander's impromptu speech ends, but the whisper continues to echo throughout the glade. A glint of unnatural red has appeared in his eyes, making him look somewhat more (or less?) than human.

[Ryuuk]

Lloyd

Glad to have at least caught the man's attention, Lloyd listens to his plea, and then to the fey's speech. "Perhaps the coin is never separated, but you will agree that rarely do the sides see face to face." Of course, if things went completely according to plan, there would be no fun at all. Her speech had complicated things, but they were still manageable.

The outburst though, that would really get the blood pumping. "So you failed in your duty... I see. I am not a druid, I'm simply a dilettante. The traditions I spoke of are still preserved though, in a dwindling sect back home. They would know what to do, the Gatekeepers. However, you must have seen what became of the mournlands. At the moment their lands, my lands, are being sucked into the into the wilds and I expect these masters of ancient traditions are fighting, much like you have, to prevent its growth. Tell me, would anything have pulled you away in the middle of your war? Say what you want about your plight, but when the realm of madness threatened to engulf their lands, they succeeded in saving it."

He is sitting slouched forward, legs spread, elbows at his thighs, and hands at his chin. After a brief pause, he continues. "If there are still people that can be saved in your home, organize an exodus. Flee before they're lost, forsake your land for now. Then aid the lady's plight. You may not realize this now, but allies are a bigger boon then debts and debtees are better still. Actions speak louder then words, where we to solve the rampant growth, the Gatekeepers would be in our debt, and I could make sure they knew. Once their war is over, with the knowledge that you're responsible, perhaps they would be willing to aid a far off land that means nothing to them..."

[AmberVael]

Aithne

The restraint and common courtesy that had kept Aithne back melts beneath the scorn and heat of Alexander's rant, and when she responds in kind, the fire of her voice is evident, manifest around her. The flaming circlet upon her brow blazes up, and the heritage of her father shines from her.
"Do not heap criticism on my head for a lack you only imagine, human! What do I know of war? What people have I protected? Your ignorance is plain and you would do better to keep silent! I am the Knight of Samhain, the shield between the worlds and protector of all my kind, be they Seelie or Unseelie, or great or small."

She steps forwards, her spear blazing like a bonfire as the sprouting leaves catch aflame, the head reforming amidst light like the sun, too bright to bear.
"I am the legacy of countless ages, and the time before ages, carrying a destiny that has borne the weight of all my people since time began. Through war, strife, and calamity, we have been there, the bearers of this sacred charge. Against nightmares beyond your imagining has this spear been wielded; against armies that would engulf your world has my shield been lifted. I remember, oh man, not only what it is to fight and lose- but to die, with only a thin hope for my people left to comfort me as I breathed my last! Can you say you have felt such a thing? Have you felt the claw of death tear the thinly beating life from your very veins like so much ruined cloth? How can you speak to me of knowing of such things!"
The weight of years presses down on the dream, and countless memories and scenes flicker in the background as thin illusions, of war, terror, famine, and corruption from within. A thousand threats against an eternal empire darken the air, then fade, crackling away in the fire of Aithne's provoked rage.

Gesturing with her spear, fire wraps about her like a cape, scenes of her people and the current times dancing within the flames. The world within it seems to darken and fade, and grim soldiers take up arms as she speaks.
"And now, with my own eyes, I see my people threatened once again, for the great mothers have died, and the queens call their people to war. Anarchy is loosed on our lands, and a tide of blood is preparing to flow as armies are raised to fight and die for a cause that should never have seen the light of day. But while our kingdom tears itself apart from within, the ripples of its clashing spread out and beyond, to threaten worlds beyond us. What has come is only the bare beginning, and what will come will consume the worlds if it is not prevented. Against this have my hands been raised, against my own people have I had to fight, that they may not destroy themselves! I know war and sacrifice, or will you tell me that watching the blood of my kin trickle down my spear is nothing before your pain?"

The fiery warrior raises her spear and brings it down on the ground with a resounding crack, the runes carved within it blazing with light as she does so. Her voice rings with authority that comes beyond her throat, but from the earth and fire that surround her, crackling and rumbling with undeniable strength.
"Listen, oh Son of Earth, to truth. Your world suffers, but what use is saving a tree from fire when the wide earth beneath it is torn apart? What use is saving a single man at the price of all his kin? There is a greater danger beyond even what destroys your home, and our lady has come to beg you for your aid! And though we offer our help to you of our own will, you demand more of us than you are willing to give yourself. Can you not put aside your troubles to see that there are greater threats, even to those you wish to save? Can you not set aside your selfishness to understand that you are not the only one in need of aid? You were not brought here to be scorned, but so you will be if you refuse to open your eyes!"

The fire dims, but still crackles around her as she draws back, settling once more.
"Quiet yourself and listen, or all your work will be as nothing before the onslaught in store."

[M. Mayonnaise]

Alexander

Alexander bows his head at the Knight of Samhain's sharp rebuke.
"I have known death... as the blacksmith knows the sword, and as the knight knows his armor."
Alexander lifts his head, and his eyes are smoldering red - inhuman. The bloodred light in them flickers for a long moment as he stares at the Knight, but slowly it recedes, fading, leaving simple brown eyes in its place.
"If my services in battle are your price, I will pay it. But my loyalty is to the reward I shall gain; my only priority is my own world. If this is unpalatable to you, Knight of Samhain, then I shall find my own path to follow. After all I've done, I can hardly claim to care anymore for what is 'natural'. This war is not mine."

He addresses Lloyd now. "You spoke of an exodus. Explain yourself. In my world, there is no such magic for the transportation of so many through the planes - I use a magical artifact to do so, and to my knowledge there are only a handful of them in existence."

[Ryuuk]

Lloyd

With a shrug, Lloyd pulls at a chain at his neck until a black disk comes out from underneath his clothing. "I'm talking about a few days of hard work. I left my pond through this gift, but it seems that holding hands with someone while using it lets you take them too. If there are only a few hundred survivors left, then round them up and a few at a time, take them elsewhere. It may take some time, but if anything, your resolve would be strengthened. You would know the face of every one of the survivors who you're fighting for and they would know their savior."

"Though my travels are brief, it seems the city known as Sigil, at the center of the... wheel, is a popular destination for refugees. But really, if things are as bad as you describe, then it seems anywhere would be better then their current destination."

"I haven't fought in wars or killed my equals, I'm merely a traveler new to the planes. If you wish I could aid you in moving the survivors, new experiences should never be refused after all."

[M. Mayonnaise]

Alexander

"Sixty. There are sixty of us left, to my knowledge. Not counting the insane..."
Alexander pulls an amulet out from where it's tucked into his shirt - it is identical to Lloyd's.
"A startling coincidence, that we should both possess one. I never knew that they could take additional passengers... never thought to try, for fear of damaging it..."
He looks back at Lloyd.
"Your advice," he says, and the slight emphasis on "your" is only barely noticeable, "will be useful. Thank you. But I will do this alone. It is my world, and my duty."
The whisper is softer now, and were it not for its ever-present feeling of wrongness, it might be thought to be nothing more than the breeze through the trees.

[Chambers]

"Why you, tailor? Perhaps precisely because you are known to work for Winter..and your distaste for me and mine is well known as well." She raises at eyebrow at the assassin. "I have said the time is past for allegiances of coin, what better way to prove it than for one such as yourself to join?"

She opens her mouth to respond to Aithne but waits as the argument builds and erupts before her. With a simple grin on her face she leans back against the statue and watches you all as you attack back and forth. Her eyes seem to gleam in the firelight of your anger and they cool as the argument dies. "I am always reminded, and always forget, why they preferred me to sing for them..." She says softly, eyes staring into the distance.

Snapping her head back at Aithne she nods and continues. "There are places within each world where the wilds have taken hold. A spot, a hole, a tree...I believe they would call it a breach in your world, fatemaker." She says, smiling at Lloyd. "What has been opened may be closed, perhaps...if there is still time. Seek these out...and what I want for you may be fulfilled." She glances at Alexander. "The chance to heal your world. The sooner the balance is restored, the sooner we may turn our attentions to - "

She halts in midsentence, holding her breath, her body as still as the statue behind her. The woods around are as suddenly silent as the dream itself seems to freeze. The world holds for a moment and then sounds come from the woods again, but different than before. Snapping and cracking, followed by a low whoosh that seems to rush towards you, building in speed and power. Sight combines with sound and you see white rushing into the glade from all directions. Frost forms on the daffodils on the boys crown and the snow snaps into the glade as the twilight disappears and all is black for a split-moment. Blinking again, snow lays over all the ground as if it had always been there, in the crooks of the statue and on the tops of the trees. A full moon hangs high in the dark night and a slow and chill breeze flys in from the south.

A twig snaps to your right and a figure emerges from the snowy wood. A tall, raven-haired beautiful woman steps out, dressed in a thin white dress that clings to her curves. She walks barefoot into the glade and smiles at you all, glancing over at Lady Summer. "Well...what do we have here?" She draws out, her voice low and heavy as her eyes linger over each of you.

Spoiler

Show

Everyone but Alexander knows this is Lady Winter.

[Zarthrax]

Shazad inclines his head respectfully, as the patron of the Court that had been better suited to him since the beginning arrives to what had previously been a boring, except for the argument, discussion of trifles.

"Greetings to you, Milady Winter. What, if I may be so bold as to inquire, brings an august patronage such as yourself to this dreary corner of a dreamscape?"

[AmberVael]

Aithne

The cold sweeps past and around Aithne, yet the frost does not seem to settle on the ground at her feet. The grass dries and a crisp cool wind forms around her as her aura is affected, but not overwhelmed, by this new presence.

Aithne raises her hand to forehead in the gesture she had used to greet the Lady of the Summer, as her counterpart approaches. There is no less respect in her now than there was then, though there does seem to be a certain wariness in her posture that was not there before.

"Lady Winter, your presence is unexpected, but a blessing nonetheless."

Her words seem a bit less sincere than they might have been, and possibly a bit forced, but this likely has more to do with her recent outburst at Alexander than her opinion on the Lady of Winter.