Change of Seasons [IC]

[M. Mayonnaise]

Alexander

Alexander faces Shazad and waves a hand at him dismissively.
"I've had enough of the fey's "help". I hardly need your protection."

[Chambers]

Lady Summer sighs and the night sky glows, the first light of a rising sun appearing in the east. The snow melts and evaporates into steam that itself fades into mist as the sun rises and hangs low in the morning sky.

"Please, do not despair. There is still a way for your world to be restored and yourself free from the oath." She looks at Alexander, sadness in her eyes. "There are rules, and I do not speak now of nothing the Lady does not know herself." She says, glancing over at Shazad.

"If your world were restored, if her part of the bargain were fulfilled by another before she acted herself...then there would be no way for her to uphold the pact, and it would fade and leave you free." Lady Summer wipes the remaining snow off the statue and the daffodils on the boys crown shine once more. "My offer still stands...help me set wrong this right, and I will seek to fulfill Lady Winter's bargain for her, thereby freeing you."

[M. Mayonnaise]

Alexander

Alexander tilts his head back, looking up at the heavens. The unnatural whispering, once present only as an echo to Alexander's words, once again echoes throughout the glade of its own accord - somehow, it conveys a sense of being emboldened.

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You see, master? Plots within plots... it seems almost as though the fey collaborated to ensure your assistance.
I thought I told you to be silent!
Forgive me, master, but truly one of your wisdom must see the folly in this course of action. The afflictions of your world are - and have always been- the province of the Abyss. We could go to one of the other Princes -
Enough.
Master, please, it would be entirely simple! Ashardalon once had the ear of Orcus himself, he could-
You forget your place. Be silent.

After a long moment, the whisper ceases suddenly, as though cut off. Still looking at the sky, Alexander answers Lady Summer.
"I never should have sought the fey," he says, simply. The hostility has faded from his voice, and now he simply sounds weary. "My first encounter with them, and already I must choose between one servitude or another."
He looks at Lady Summer now.
"Explain what you want."
After a moment of hesitation, he adds, "Please."

[Zarthrax]

Shazad

He shrugs at being dismissed so easily by someone so foolish as to agree to what he agreed to. He responds in a tone with more than a trace of iron to it.

"Regardless of whether you believe you need it or not, I have been engaged to provide it, and I NEVER default on a commission, no matter the individual's inclination. Now, bodyguarding may be outside my particular specialty just a tad, but you are not in charge of whether or not you have one. Lady Winter engaged my services, and until she tells me otherwise, for one lunar month and a day, you are protected."

Shazad offers Lady Summer a gracious nod as she mentions Alexander's 'way out'.

"I may take my commissions only from the Winter Court, Lady Summer, but all that means is that I know EXACTLY with whom I'm dealing. If you two wish to conspire to escape his rash bargain, then by all means, I will neither further nor hinder your efforts." Shazad smiles a genuine smile.

"Lady Winter never actually stated that I was to keep her informed on the activities of my protectee."

Turning back to Alexander, Shazad remarks in a dry tone. "THAT is how you bargain with the Fae, rash one. You define what you want, they define what they want, and only if you truly accept the terms do you proceed."

[M. Mayonnaise]

Alexander

Alexander levels a flat stare on Shazad, irritated.
"My name, Shazad, is Alexander Brighthart. Perhaps remembering it will be easier than continuously inventing your own titles for me."

[Zarthrax]

Shazad

At Alexander's introduction, a brief grin flashes across Shazad's face, even as he sweeps into an obsequious bow.

"A pleasure, Ser Brighthart. My name, not that you've asked, is Shazad Qamar Harith, the Shadow of the Storm, and Night's Subtle Tailor."

Returning to his upright manner, he nods slightly. "Although, considering the speed with which you accepted a Winter bargain that was poorly worded, I'd say that introductions were the last thing on your mind indeed."

[AmberVael]

Aithne

Aithne sighs deeply, but continues to hold her tongue in regard to Alexander. With the departure of Lady Winter, she returns her attention to Lady Summer.
"Perhaps now we can return to the original purpose of this meeting. Lady Summer, what would you have us do, if we agree to aid you?"

[Ryuuk]

Lloyd

Before she leaves, Lloyd turns to grant Lady Winter a smile and a bow. "It would be an honor, M'lady." He watches her go quite satisfied with the encounter. So she was skilled, but not omniscient. It made sense, a king couldn't be expected to know all his subjects by name. It paid to start at the bottom. Still, would this mean anything for Janice?

---

"An educating encounter all around, I'd say. At least you're people can rest assured that you'll do whatever is it takes Alexander." He turns back to to Lady Summer, "Though it seems that perhaps we should get back to the matter at hand, as our lady knight suggests."

[Chambers]

"That is one way to deal with some of my kind, yes." She says as she looks at Shazad. "But not all care only for their own gain. I do not know through what twisted path life has taken you that you can no longer distinguish between those that would deceive you and those that seek your aid...but for what it is worth, I do not seek a servant such as she." She holds Shazar's gaze for a moment before turning to face you all.

"Before this change...the wilds touched on all the worlds but briefly, either in one constant place on the world or fading and opening as the moon waxes and wanes. These places have served as the gap through which the wilds have pushed, to invade and expand on each world. The places where the borders between the world and the wilds have grown thin...these are where the wilds have taken root."

She holds her hand up and points to the trees around you. "Call it a breach, a portal, a circle...a doorway. On each world there is one that is the cause of the wilds expansion. I ask you to find these and close them. I do not think we must close them all...and truly, I do not know if that would be possible. But enough...yes, closing enough of them would weaken the wilds, and allow us to investigate other mysteries that are now hidden from us."

[M. Mayonnaise]

Alexander

"My world has experienced no such transformation; life dies rather than grows uncontrollably. Which worlds must be repaired for this... overgrowth... to be stopped?"

[Zarthrax]

Shazad

Shazad laughs at Lady Summer's statement. "Everyone prevaricates, Lady. Even now, you solicit my services to alter something you wish 'fixed' while only vaguely hinting at what you will deliver if we accept and succeed. Ask your Knight how many times his tasks were passed to me before I stopped accepting commissions from your Court. The Fae never lie, but twist the truth to serve their ends? That's another matter entirely." Shazad's mirth passes like fog over a fire, his face going back to its mostly blank state. "Life is cruel and hard. Everyone wants something. These are universal truths. I simply live by them and refuse to pretend otherwise. I will not enter into an open-ended bargain, Lady Summer. For either Court. But since you refuse to specify, allow me. For my assistance on this venture for the space of one moon and one day, you will give me one item that I want. And since you can't be more specific as to the nature of the engagement, then I will tell you the nature of the item only after I have completed said engagement. Those are the terms for my 'employment' in this matter, provided that my charge there also accepts."

[Ryuuk]

Lloyd

"Well, curiously enough, the once nation of Cyre, the Mournlands, might be a good start. We saw them in Lady Summer's display. Were we to head there, we might find ourselves working side by side with the Gatekeepers." He shrugs, turning to Alexander "Fate is funny like that sometimes."

He nods at Shazad's speech, to each his own it seems. "I, for one, don't ask for much. Or perhaps I ask for more, I'm not sure, the ways of the courts are familiar but still foreign to me." He gives Lady Summer a smile. "I simply ask that if we succeed, you remember the debt that is owed." He turns to the others and shrugs "Say what you want about it being open ended, but It's how I've always worked, and for a man who's currently staying with a servant of a low ranked Winter house, it would mean plenty."

[AmberVael]

Aithne

"For my part, I seek no reward but the safety and betterment of my own people. Beside that, what reward could I ask for?"
Aithne says, steadfastly.
"This is not a task I will perform for you, Lady Summer, but for all."

While some might scoff at this, it might be important to note that the way she phrased it would mean she is in no way bound to the Lady Summer's request specifically. Still, requesting no reward at all might seem foolish to the others, no matter the fact that Aithne would attribute it to her duty and honor as a knight.

[Chambers]

"As you have said, then." Lady Summer nods to Shazad before turning to Lloyd. "If you are familiar with the people of that land, then perhaps it would be wise to go there first. There are as many breaches as there are planes, Alexander. I do not expect you to close them all, for as each is shut, the power of the wilds will wane. Hopefully that will only mean a few."

"As I understand that world is difficult to reach across the planes...but the wilds cross all boundaries now. It would be simpler to walk through the wilds instead of waiting for the world to align." She plucks four daffodils off the crown of the boy. "Not all places in the wilds are safe, but I grant you leave to travel through Summer's lands. Wear these and all my people will know you have the right of passage." She hands them to each of you and smiles.

The morning sun rises higher into the air, warming the glade and brightening the flowers. "My sprites will find you when you enter the wilds as long as you wear my token. Follow them to the three stones of Morgaine, where you will meet with your companions. From there they will show you through to the Mournelands." She looks at each of you in turn. "If there were more that I could do..." She shakes her head. "This is all that I may, for now. Please, rest well and find each other in good health. Many lives depend on you."

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I'm ready to end this scene unless anyone has something they'd still like to do. If not then say goodbye and leave however you want.

I don't know where each of you is in the real world, so it's up to you where you wake up. To get to the wilds, just planeshift. Also, you don't have to leave right away if there are things you want to do or people you want to talk to beforehand. Just let me know OOC if there's something you want to do before heading off to the wilds.

[M. Mayonnaise]

Alexander

Alexander takes the daffodil without comment. When Lady Summer finishes, he is silent for a moment in deliberation. Finally, he shakes his head and says simply, "I will come."
He turns his back on the others and walks to the edge of the glade. Pausing and looking back for a moment, he gives a half-hearted, "Maker watch over you..." before pulling the hood of his heavy cloak up over his head. If no one says anything further to him, he touches the amulet around his neck and disappears.

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I'd like Alexander to go back to his own world and evacuate all the survivors he knows of before heading to the wilds. He's gathered about sixty survivors into a small settlement in the northern regions of Ruadorna. The weather is unnaturally frigid, but since that region was always cold it is perhaps less "noticeably" hellish than the rest of the world. The man in charge of the camp in Alexander's absence is a middle-aged man by the name of Thomas Cartwright; Alexander will have to speak to him to organize the evacuation.

[Zarthrax]

Shazad

Shazad accepts the daffodil also without comment, but doesn't display it immediately. Instead, he tucks it into the lining of his cloak, then returns his cloak to its usual drape around him, concealing his hands.

Offering Lady Summer a short, polite and perfunctory bow, Shazad also turns and leaves, his form slowly growing more and more translucent until finally, he awakens and disappears from the dream...

...and pulls his face out of the now-cold bowl of mushroom broth on the table in front of him. Scowling, he grabs his napkin and wipes down his face, trying to get the rest of it off.

Flagging one of the waitstaff down, he asks them to take it away. Tossing the barman, Mitchifer, a nod, he stalks off into the depths of the World Serpent Inn to find a door or window that will serve his purposes.

Passing a window that looks out into a black void, where a ring of boulders encircles a planet, Shazad spots a gleaming city hovering in the void. He bows his head for a moment to pay his respects to the city of Sharn, a city he had known and halfway liked, before stalking off....


-some time later-

Shazad was tired of walking, but finally he stumbled over a brambled doorway tucked into a supply closet behind an abandoned hall. Grimacing, he reaches into his cloak and grabs the daffodil, gripping it tightly in his left hand. Finally, he opens the doorway and steps through, it swinging closed behind him....

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No plans here, boss, other than find Alexander and start guarding...lol

[Ryuuk]

Lloyd

"Free travel through Summer's land, thank you..." He takes his daffodil and places it carefully in his vest's inner pocket. Once Alexander and Shazad leave he turns to Lady Summer. "I have faith that the Gatkeepers or powers of Argonessen would have closed it eventually, but out of respect for the land where I grew up, I must thank you for sending us there first." He gives her a deep bow.

He turns to the knightly fey. "And so ends a dream. May we see each other soon Knight Samhain. Perhaps you will tell us your name next time." He gives her a smile. "Farewell." With that he leaves the clearing and closes his eyes. So much to do...

---

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Probably just a small scene here. Lloyds currently in the wilds, staying with a servant to a low ranked winter house. Beyond Janice, I hadn't really fleshed out any connections other connections. Could I write something with a bit of NPC interaction here? (Like I did in Cardea's game before Canas left for the tower)

[AmberVael]

Aithne

Aithne gives a bow to Lloyd as he departs, then turns towards the Lady Summer.
"You have picked strange agents, Lady Summer. I cannot say I understand the choices you have made, and I am unsure if I will be able to trust them. Perhaps your means and goals lie beyond my understanding- yet I fear that you may be tapping into forces that you do not entirely understand either.
"I suppose now, however, all there is left to do is hope."

With this, Aithne vanishes from the dream, her form dissolving into mist.


* * *


I am the whisper in the winds that drift across the plains,
The crest of the blue ocean,
The roots of the verdant forest,
A stone in a mountain.

Daughter of a roaring flame,
Sister to a dancing melody,
Heir to timeless destiny,
Mother of a blood keening spear.

Speaker for the silent earth,
and child of its dreaming form.


The crackling of her dying campfire wakes Aithne from her sleep, reminding her of where and how she had spent the night: huddled before the fire, her cloak drawn around her and spear at her feet. The winter night had passed, leaving the forest around her glimmering with frost in the waxing light of day. Snow crunches beneath her booted feet as she stands, picking up her shield and spear as she faces north, towards the three stones which Lady Summer had referred to.

As it had several times in the dream, the butt of her spear taps the earth a three times in a deliberate manner as the knight closes her eyes, reaching out for the world around her- not here, but there.

The landscape seems to change, gradually, bit by bit. It is not a blurring race towards her destination, but as if one simply mutated into the other- the snow covered trees and ground give way to the site of the stones of Morgaine over the space of a few seconds, until Aithne is far from where she first stood, without having moved at all.

This accomplished, she sits with her spear across her legs and shield on her back, and waits.

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Casting Master Earth to move to the three stones before anyone else does. Presumably the spell works in the fey wild.

[M. Mayonnaise]

Alexander

His task accomplished, Alexander leaves his people in the custody of Thomas and planeshifts to the Wilds.
There, he is met by Lady Summer's sprites, as promised. Perhaps intimidated by him, the sprites say very little, speaking only to impart the bare minimum of information needed to lead him to the Three Stones of Morgaine. This suits Alexander well enough, and for most of the journey he is quiet except for that otherwordly whisper, which somehow makes itself heard despite Alexander's silence. From its intermittent pauses, one might even get the impression it was holding a conversation with the man.
Alexander arrives at the Stones of Morgaine soon enough. He is wary at the sight of the Knight, but he does not bring up their argument the night before. Instead, he simply greets her with a curt nod, and takes a seat on the ground to wait.

[Ryuuk]

Lloyd

Following the sprites, Lloyd gets to the clearing at his own pace. The summer lands where still new to him, and with each step he drew what he could of the scenery in. It was magnificent. "I think I could get used to this, it's like being a child again..." Still, occasionally he stopped and looked back towards the horizon. He was familiar with this, he'd felt it before. Part of being human, perhaps. Now though... the rest of him wasn't just humoring the rest and despite the nagging whispers, he enjoyed it. "Wonderful..." Speaking to the sprites, but mostly to himself, he turns back towards the path and continues to the Stones of Morgaine.

---

"I see it wasn't a just a dream then, good morning to you, Knight Samhain, Lord Brighthart." Lloyd steps into the clearing looking much like he did back in the dream. Perhaps the only difference is that now he carries a curved blade at his side and holds a bone-white staff as a walking stick. "Did I keep you waiting long?"

[Zarthrax]

Shazad

Stalking out of the bush and wood that surrounded the stones, Shazad finally reveals his presence after seeing everyone else having arrived. He nods to the talkative one and the Knight, but says nothing in the way of greeting as he stands nearer to Alexander than to the others...

[AmberVael]

Aithne

Aithne looks far less imposing and strange than she did in the dream. Her crown of fire and shifting raiment are gone, leaving behind only the gleaming spear she carries. However, the signs of her fey nature are still there in her angled and delicate structure, and in the unusually streaming armor she wears, which looks more like what she wore in the dream that one might have expected, even if it has its distinct differences.

"No more than I expected, given how swiftly I arrived."
She stands as the others gather.
"Welcome to the feywild."

[Chambers]

The three Stones of Morgaine stand tall on a low hill, a light wood on one side, open plains before it. The stones themselves are massive and ancient, wider than three men with outstretched hands, their faces worn smooth by countless age of wind and rain. Placed at the top of the hill at the points of a triangle the stones dominate the area, their presence seeming to be more than just physical. Whether that is from the stones themselves or the power of the wilds is undetermined.

The sprites are tiny creatures, no larger than a fingernail, and fly and dance around you in a small swarm as they led you to the Stones. They shine with the light of the morning sun, soft and yellow in the haze of Summer. The separate swarms race to meet each other and swirl around into a whirlwind of light and laughter, darting in between the stones and all around the hilltop.

As they race each other the surface of the stones begin to glow a faint silver and lines and etchings appear all over the stones. The silver letters cover each stone from ground to top and the lines of text begin to move themselves, widdershins around the stones, speeding up with each revolution until they seem as bands of vibrating silver. The swarms of sprites form into a large cloud that takes the shape of Lady Summer's face in the middle of the stones. She smiles at you all. "I am glad you all have come..." Her voice comes from the bright cloud, distorted with reverb and echo. "...please, be safe." She says and the cloud disperses, the swarms flying off to circle round the top of each stone.

In the middle of the stones a portal opens. Through it you can see a dense jungle, verdant and thick. Bird songs float through and you can smell the fruits and plants, the air thick with moisture after a rain.

[Ryuuk]

Lloyd

"Back home already, oh well..." He turns to the others, the same calm smile ever present, before stepping forward towards the portal and peering in. "You'd think you're looking into Xendrik, it's amazing how much Cyre has changed over the years. Well then, I think I'll see you all on the other side." After taking one last look at summer wilds behind him, he turns and steps through the portal.

[Zarthrax]

Shazad

Looking around for a moment, Shazad sighs and moves towards the portal. Glancing back at the assemblage, he quips before diving through...

"Last one in's an otyugh."

[M. Mayonnaise]

Alexander

Alexander walks through the portal silently. His expression screams "let's get this over with".

[AmberVael]

Aithne

Rolling her eyes, Aithne enters the portal last, following the others into the jungle beyond.

[Chambers]

Stepping through the portal is as simple as walking through a door. The transition is smooth and painless and as you turn around the portal has vanished, leaving you in the jungle of the Mournland.

Something buzzes past your heads, a glitter of lights and colors, and then comes to a quick stop ahead of you. It pauses for a moment and then zooms back, hovering a few paces from you all. The clutter of lights and motion slowly resolves into a dozen or so tiny flying creatures, each with flower petal wings. Easy to recognize as petals, this garden of them are not wearing the traditional leaves and grass that they normally wear. Instead they are adorned with small bits of metal, bent and tied around them to form makeshift armor.

One of them has three rings around his waist, individual rings from a suit of chain mail. Another has iron shavings woven into a mesh of copper wire that she wears as a breastplate. They all wear thimbles for helmets and carry tiny metal pins, sharpened to a razor edge.

"Ho! Travelers! Travelers in the wood!" One of them shouts at the other, his high-pitched voice surprisingly loud.

"I can see that Lord Captain Cannith d'Forge!" A female petal says. She glares at him and then glances at you all. "Not just travelers, but...but...trespassers!" She says as her eyes light up with finding the right word. "That's what you are - trespasser!"

The other petals swirl and dancer around you all in a circle, chanting and singing. "Trespassers, ho!" "What shall we do with them?" "The ugly one looks scary!" "Which one's the ugly one?" The petals break out into laughter while the first petal to speak, Lord Captain Cannith d'Forge, harrumphs and clears his throat. "Harrummph, I say! Harrummph!" The petals quiet down and form in a circle around you. "Right, right." He turns towards you all and tries to squint one eye. "Now...what you be doing in the masters woods uninvited?"

[Ryuuk]

Lloyd

"Uninvited? That's rather harsh I'd say." Lloyd watches the little beings flutter around rather amused. "Last I remember you didn't need an invitation to pass through the ashes of Cyre, just bravado to spare, a good plan or a general lack of foresight." He meets the Captain's squint with a calm, friendly gaze. "Then again, things have changed, haven't they?"

He turns back to the others, pauses for a moment, then continues. "Now Captain... Cannith" Linking that name to such a creature took a bit of effort "some of my companions here may want to get going. Would our presence here be a problem?"

[AmberVael]

Aithne

"To them, this may not be Cyre. Perhaps it is their realm, spilled over into the lands you knew."
Aithne speculates to Lloyd, before turning to address the petals herself.
"I beg your pardon, but my companions and I were not aware that we needed an invitation. We have been sent here at the behest of the Lady Summer."