The Temple of Inari 50: Foxside

[Recaiden]

[Priest's Quarters]

"Is it too far for you to come?"

Tavlii shakes her head.

"We don't frequently use intoxicants, but we've had cause to drink them before. This one will probably have a fairly low tolerance, though. It can be fun though, Caroline. Don't worry; you have Katrina to look out for you."

She grins, knowing that fact might not inspire any confidence.

[Fenric]

[Priest's Quarters]

Ceinwen smiles

No... nothing like that. Kat's clubs really just aren't much interest for me: alcohol is quite poisonous to me, I don't eat the sort of things they serve, and I'm not looking for a mate right now.

[Recaiden]

"We understand."

Tavlii looks between the two vulpans.

"Shall we go?" Katrina knows the way, after all.

[Fenric]

[Priest's Quarters]

Katrina grins

Off we go!

[Recaiden]

[Leaving the Priests' Quarters]

Tavlii will follow Katrina, idly wondering how she got dragged into this at all. Sure, it's fun, but it seems so ridiculous.

[Fenric]

[Vacant Lot]

Leah, Mist, Helen, Frederick, and Thorvard emerge from the underground temple back into the lot. The sun is low in the west, but it's still day.

[Recaiden]

"Back aboveground!"

Leah walks, but quickly, towards the temple, and it's not hard to see why; the outermost covering of darkness she placed over the staff is starting to melt away in the evening sunlight. As she does so, she slips a hand through the darkness so she's touching the staff itself, and thinks at it.

Hey. Staff of Burning Light, or whatever? Can you hear me? Frederick said you were intelligent, and if you didn't catch it earlier, they want to take you to be destroyed. But you're useful, and you were made this way, maybe it doesn't have to happen.

[Deathkeeper]

Mist sighs and takes out his phone. "All right, just give me a minute, guys." he says, going over to find himself a corner.

[Ionbound]

Helen sighs and begins walking in the direction of her quarters in the Temple. This ordeal has taken a lot out of here, and she needs a rest before she can do anything else.

[Fenric]

Fredrick and Thorvard wait patiently

The staff sounds... Bemused?

What did you have in mind?

[Recaiden]

You stop being evil, shield all my constructs, and I get them to not destroy you? You convince me that you can be not destructive, or are worth keeping alive, maybe it happens.

Leah sits down in a corner, staff across her knees.

[Fenric]

You are mis-informed... My master is from a desert world: hot, dry, and difficult where he is the god of the sun, the Burning One, to whom the people pray for relief and complain of harm. Yet without light there is no life, and he is celebrated when the annual monsoon rains depart. He is the brother and eternal enemy of the god of darkness. As far as my own nature, that god is and has long been mistaken: I am not Calicyra, the destroying light. I am Anisat, the light of life.

The irony that the destroyer sat quietly on a velvet shelf while I was shackled has long been a source of bitter amusement to me. Eventually he was taken by looters, and has not been in the temple of darkness for years - indeed, his mind has departed from this world and I know not where he might be. You however... you call me evil, yet it is you who came to me with violent intent. Why could you not leave me to sleep in my mirrored prison?

It hasn't tried to exert any compulsion over Leah, and certainly doesn't feel particularly evil.

[Recaiden]

He did seem to have an unreasoning dislike of you. But might you not be both, currently life-giving but destroying when the time is right? How could I know? As for why, people have come seeking Calicyra. Killing and causing destruction. If we could make it known that it was gone, this place would be safe again.

Leah looks up and around. For all she knows, she's already been compelled successfully and stealthily.

"Hey, from looking at this thing, it suggests that this is a decoy, with the real staff already gone. Can someone who's more versed in magic come check or identify it or something?"

[Deathkeeper]

Mist looks up from his call and moves his hand over the mouthpiece as he calls over.
"If it really does have control over people and things around it that's a bad idea. Let Vigil's people handle it. And stop talking to it Leah!" he says flatly at first, and worriedly with the last sentence.

[Fenric]

Frederick hmms

Decoy? Really? Considering the psycho evil crystal rod that they didn't bother locking up, this thing must be dire.

I have substantial power, yes, and without doubt I can harm as well as heal. I can create illusions and cause things to be unseen just as well as I can reveal the truth. I can create light and withhold it.

I can feel the aura of the one who just spoke: this boy's mother was with the one who took Calicyra.

[Recaiden]

"The god said it wasn't able to do anything unless its light shone on someone or something. As long as it's wrapped up, it'll be fine. And we should know as much as we can in case we learn something important. Don't worry."

She looks over to Frederick.

"It says your mother had the original staff, Frederick. That's a bizarrely specific thing to say, so it might well be trying to trick me, but would you know anything about that? Your grandfather was in charge here, after all; it could have happened."

[Fenric]

Frederick laughs

No: Mom didn't take it - she just led the adventuring party down there. It was a sort of goddess person named Aesa who actually took it: nobody else could touch the thing without going crazy. Mom told us about the long rambling rants it used to make... Calicyra: the Destroying Light, unholy weapon of the Burning Warrior.

He shakes his head

I get the whole argument about not being quick to slap labels on people, but gods don't generally show a lot of flexibility and magic items even less so. Ok, so maybe it's "not so evil"... but it's still evil.

[Deathkeeper]

Oh my gods, how about we stop talking to the artifact known for mind control on the rather tenuous assumption that we're powerful enough to block it and just let the professional apocalypse artifact experts see if it's dangerous?" says Mist with a groan.

((Also Fen, I have to ask you to slow down this scene for a while. Zefir took the Vigil phone call and it's kinda wonky to have this side advance so much faster than the other.))

[Fenric]

[Sanctuary, 10 pm]

There is a silvery flash, and suddenly Caroline, Steven, Katrina, and Tavlii are standing in the magic circle in the middle of the Sanctuary, rather startling Tamamo's night-shift priestess.

[Deathkeeper]

Sanctuary, 10 pm

Steven stumbles a bit, steadying himself by placing a hand on the nearest structure (most likely a wall unless there are pillars).
"Not as...pleasant on my stomach as I'd have liked but still...very...cool." he says, breathing heavily to calm his queasiness.

[Recaiden]

[Sanctuary, 10PM]

Tavlii is similarly off-balance, stumbling and flaring her wings to steady herself, as it takes a moment for her thoughts to catch up with the quick movement of her body.
"Thank you Caroline. And welcome to the Temple of Inari, Steven."

[Fenric]

[Sanctuary, 10 pm]

(( There's a picture in the first post ))

Katrina is similarly unbalanced and turns to glare at Caroline, who is a bit wobbly.

What did you do?

Ok... that's... ugh... sorry. You are transported with me so if I can't hold still, you won't end up in the right orientation.

Katrina shakes her head

Fine. You get to be the designated teleporter next time, and drink Fox Cola without anything else in it.

Caroline chuckles, turns to Steven, and grins

Tavlii beat me to it, but welcome! This is the main Sanctuary, and also happens to be one of the few parts of the complex that aren't teleport-locked.

[Deathkeeper]

Sanctuary

Steven shakes his head free of the nausea and turns around to lean against the pillar, gazing up at the structure of the place.
"Don't worry about it; sometimes I get just as bad in cars. Thanks for the welcome. Your temple is very beautiful." he says sincerely.
Admittedly, if the show's second half really was an hour long a normal human liver would have worked off at least one of those drinks. Either Vulpans' work slower or Caroline is really a lightweight

[Recaiden]

[Sanctuary]

"We could always travel in a mundane manner. Which wouldn't help, would it?" That could have gone a lot, doing magic while drunk. Lucky Caroline didn't have that much.

"You should show him the gardens. Even in the dark, they're nicer than this place." This plant-centric opinion is not necessarily reflective of the generally agreed aethetic values of different parts of the temple.

[Fenric]

[Sanctuary, 10 pm]

(( She's not drunk, she's just not at all used to the sensation and standing up abruptly then casting a reasonably high-level spell was bound to not work out perfectly ))

Katrina yawns

Well, my work for the night is done! You guys enjoy your tour: I'm gonna go see what Caroline's nephew is up to. I heard he was cute!

Caroline's jaw drops as Katrina scurries away

Hey!

She looks at Tavlii and Steven

Um... hm. Sure, how about the garden?

[Deathkeeper]

Sanctuary, 10 pm

Steven can sympathize with the jaw-drop. He has to fight to remember that Caroline is over three times Kat's age. Maybe people like that just don't mature in the same way. Kat is as old as his grandmother and she acts like she's twenty-five! And Caroline honestly acts like she's no older, just less...spritely. Foxes are weeeeird.
"Sounds like a plan." he says to her, standing up fully and trying hard not to make any of those thoughts obvious.

[Recaiden]

[Sanctuary]

Caroline's nephew? Oh, this Caroline, that boy who arrived to deal with what happened to Fenric.

"Hah. Good luck, Katrina."

It's referring to him by his relation to Caroline that makes it strange, she decides. Which is exactly why Katrina did it instead of using his name.

"Right this way." Tavlii heads out of the circle towards the exit to the gardens, going ahead of the other two to light the lanterns if they're not already. Should she make an excuse and leave just after that, like Katrina? Or would the two just undramatically tour the gardens for a moment before leaving?

[Fenric]

[Formal Garden, night]

(( Basically right: Caroline is sheltered and inexperienced, Katrina is young. They both end up as slightly different flavors of approximately the same maturity level, which is "not particularly". The difference comes in that barring some life changing experience Katrina probably wouldn't change much, but as Caroline gets out in real life more she will settle down. ))

Caroline smiles as they head out

There are some benefits to coming after nightfall.

The path can only barely be seen, pale white under the waxing moon and stars. Nexus fireflies blink in all their array of unusual colors: dancing lights of purple, green, yellow, red, and blue. The pond is nearly smooth in the warm, calm air - inky black and reflecting the moon, stars, and fireflies. It is strikingly quiet: the bustle of inside deadened by the tall pine trees. Only natural sounds of crickets, frogs, and the crunch of their feet on the gravel break the stillness. Caroline lets the group soak up the dark beauty for a brief time.

[Deathkeeper]

Formal Garden

Steven looks about the gardens, eyes shining in metaphor and with the reflections.
"Your Garden is very beautiful. You must be proud of your gardener." he says with a smile.

[Recaiden]

[Formal Garden]

"They do very good work."

Tavlii walks mostly quietly through the gardens. It's all so odd and...natural. She's not used to being around plants and animals in a setting that doesn't at least give the appearance of being controlled. In the daytime it all seems much more inhabited to her. After not very long, she's had enough of it.

"I'm sorry to not stay, but there are things I need to attend to back in Skyside before I get to sleep. If you'll excuse me, Lady Caroline? And maybe we'll see you again, Steven." SHe glances back towards the exit through the sanctuary.