Ascension - Arkadius Hogg - 01/07/2021
Jul 5, 2021 10:50:37 GMT
Merla, the Daughter of Summer, WillJ, and 1 more like this
Post by Arkadius Farcleaver-Hogg on Jul 5, 2021 10:50:37 GMT
As people start to disperse following the events of the ascension, Miandra sidles up to Arkadius. “You’re Arkadius, aren’t you? I think so, you Dawnlanders all seem so similar... Can you pass a message on for me?”
It has been some time since I acted as a messenger of sorts for anyone, he thinks to himself, before quickly responding aloud with a curious smile, “I can try.”
“The Twilight Court was under a charm for some months, that made us all forget that a hexadrone called Jack escaped. I don’t care much about it but in case it means something to you people, I’ve found out who it is. Does the name Langston mean anything to you?”
Arkadius’ heart feels like it misses a step. Flashes in his brain of memories piecing themselves together, some errantly and some less erranty. “Farstep?”
“I think so.”
It takes a moment for the fluttering feeling within him to subside, and Arkadius raises an eyebrow, flashing Miandra a charming smile. “I will pass the message on.”
Miandra seems to be content, and replies with a simple “Have a lovely evening,” which Arkadius responds in kind, before she walks away. Arkadius turns on his heel, scanning the people around him, and walks quickly in the direction of Merla, wanting to be with someone he’s comforted by.
Arkadius? came Ida’s curious voice in his head, Why do I sense that you are… anxious? Things are OK, aren’t they?
From the journal of Arkadius Hogg
I hadn’t planned on being at the ascension of one of the Archfey of the Feywild. It’s… not my kind of thing. There’s really only one non-Material plane Godlike Deity being I serve ultimately, and I’m sure that She has her fingers in some activity here. It’s big things like this that… I just get the feeling it hasn’t escaped Her foresight.
But alas, I was at the ascension, in a large grassy basin within the Twilight Court. The archfey made their way into the area, and did their usual posturing. When they’d settled, a question was put to the crowd: Who is to ascend? That’s when the noise started. Well, noise is the wrong word, it doesn’t do it justice… that’s when separate parts of a song swelled up, each of the archfey seemingly conducting their own part, trying to find a rhythm to meet up into one tune. The others in the crowd began playing parts of the same tunes and rhythms, we of course as adventurers of the Dawnlands did not. This was how the vote was to be conducted. Whoever’s rhythm and tune found the most accord within the crowd, they were to be enshrined, crowned, whatever it is.
That’s… when things went a little awry. Well, quite awry. Shadow beings rose up, wielding shadowy bows. A great stag also rose from the earth shortly afterwards, antlers like a tree… but it was rapidly slain. Everything around us was quickly becoming obscured by thick clouds, only the archfey seemed to be holding on to their composure. Morinn was preparing some kind of vial that she kept around her neck, smashing it, and then…
We weren’t in the basin anymore. Or rather, myself, Merla, Ruk, Taffeta, Jaezred and Morinn weren’t. We were in some kind of icy cavern. The walls were seemingly dripping, melting away slowly, a cause for concern but given what we’d just witnessed… Morinn explained quickly that some heart needed cleansing, and we were to assist. Three stones around the cavern were feeding corrupted energy into the heart, and we needed to deal with those while Morinn started a ritual to cleanse the heart itself. As this explanation came in, the three other points made their existence rather obvious by forming into… creatures of ice? A white dragon, some sort of giant, and a giant wolf thing. Great.
Taffeta asked Merla rapidly what the course of action was, and considering the contract that Merla was bound to… I was counting on her to confirm what the plan was too. The instruction that came was clear: Do what Morinn was asking. Taffeta unleashed quite a few arrows at quite a number of things, there were other shadowy creatures enveloping and coalescing around us, and they were starting to outnumber us…
So, I flew up into the air. I was rather annoyed at being dragged away without consent, and I had no idea what was going on… so I relied on my usual tactic. I held my wand aloft, pulled at the shadowy tendrils that make up my magic these days and pointed the wand at each of the three large creatures in rapid succession, unleashing three flaming bolts at each, hitting them accurately and squarely. I was quietly smug at this, but knew it was a one-time thing… I couldn’t replicate such a spell again anytime soon, I’d exhausted myself early on. Not only that, but the wounds that I’d burnt and shattered from the three had started to refreeze themselves as quickly as I’d attacked them. I turned in the air to face Ruk, and yelled down “Come on, my friend. You’ve got this,” as he seems to summon a huge magical hand, and also casts a Chromatic Orb at the wolf. I’m subtly impressed at his skills, it’s a decent spell. I have it in my arsenal too, for when Fireball fails me.
Sidenote: Fireball never fails me.
The others were doing sterling work at tackling the things we were facing, and seemed to whether the blast from the dragon too… so I took the opportunity to try and help Morinn with whatever ritual they were partaking in. As a being of the Shadowfell, it seemed considerably easier for me to tap into the energies floating around, and Morinn seemed to straighten her back somewhat as I joined into the ritual. Whatever it was, I felt like I was helping at least. The dragon took the opportunity to dodge around me, and fly towards Morinn. I felt a little guilty that I wasn’t able to do anything to prevent this, and stop it sinking it’s claws into Morinn. Admittedly, I wasn’t thinking about that for too long, as it’s giant maw came at me, but I was able to flap my wings rapidly and move out of the way. It was a wake-up call, at least.
Merla cast a healing spell, helping several of us in the cavern to feel a little better, including Morinn who through gritted teeth reminded us that the three stones needed cleansing, otherwise they’d keep interrupting the ritual at hand. I cast a spell at the dragon, an unusual Shatter (...yes, I wanted to show off to Merla…) that used Fire instead of Thunder as the core component, and I shouted down to Merla, “Come on, you’ve got this, darling!”
Maybe a little patronising, given the situation… perhaps I should think about that in the future. But hey, it worked?
That’s when I heard Ruk complaining about why the wolf behind us wasn’t dying and staying down, “Why won’t you die?!” I couldn’t help but whip around and shout a reply, “Oh, come on! Get with the times! THE STONES!”, this seemed to remind Ruk that the stones need cleansing… Not like Morinn wasn’t reminding us too. That’s when Merla had reached the stone the dragon formed around, and seemed to be pushing as much of her energy as she could muster into it, the magics of the Summer Court cleansing the stone effectively. She turned to me, “Arkadius! Push your magic into the stones, you have to get that wolf one!”
Taffeta at this let loose some kind of vial of water over the third stone, the one which the giant (which Taffeta had also banished) came from, and this seemed to work at cleansing it too. That left the third wolf stone to me… I flew down, the dragon taking a swing at me as I did and definitely getting through my armour-suit, and I stuck all twelve fingers and two thumbs into the pelt, as deep as I could reach, and pushed hard. I could hear wind rustling and blowing as I did, and it brought back memories… memories of the wind above K’ul Goran. Memories of flying fast and low to meet with the one I love. Kassandra. I felt… emotional, I felt love, and I felt… happy. And as quickly as it started, it all went away and the third and final stone was cleansed. Things were wrapped up rapidly from there, but not without some kind of… interruption.
An interruption that sounded like a wave hitting a beach, and then a being wearing nout but a towel, who I have since learned to be the being Ulorian that Merla kept talking about. “Oh, is this the plunge pool? I thought this was the sauna...[“ he announced, before u-turning and vanishing again.
I raised a solitary eyebrow at Merla, opening my mouth for a second, then shouting across, “In a few minutes, you’re going to tell me who the f**k that was, but in the meantime-”
The reply was instantaneous “Dat b***h, Ulorian.”
I gasped, and oooohed for a moment, before turning and unleashing a fiery Chromatic Orb of my own at the remaining shadowy creature in the cavern. We all proceed to lend aid to Morinn and her ritual, and in time it succeeds, and we return to the grassy basin.
Titania: “I think we should see everyone else back for voting. Yes, not a moment to lose. You!” She points at some random elves, “Get everyone back! All of our people fucked off and ran. This is the lot that stayed. I say they get a vote.”
Morinn adds, “Hear hear.”
Ulorian, suddenly returning, yells “Well I object!” He points up at some words written in the sky: ULORIAN IS A COWARD. “Where is he, the little bard?” The crowd parts, revealing Faust “You are extremely lucky, little man, that I recently made a promise and I don’t break them. Titania, this has gone on long enough, you all pop around and don’t stay still for a single moment, can we get on with it please?”
Titania’s measured response was quick and calming, “Calm your waters, Ulorian. They’ll all be here soon and we can get it done and all go home.”
It was arranged. Attendants flicked between the Dawnlanders present, arranging for a method to vote. As we’d nearly witnessed earlier, this was via music and accord. Some of the Dawnlanders took an instrument, and some had theirs ready. I, of course, had my childhood lyre. I held this in my hands, and knew what I had to do. I knew what rhythm, what tune and what accord to play.
The song began to favour Titania, but moved swiftly towards Nicnevin’s melody. When the outcome was clear, Titania and Morinn also changed their tunes, showing their agreement that the choice was made and we had spoken, joining Nicnevin’s tune. The song ended and the archfey turned to Nicnevin and bowed.
And that, my dear journal, is the story of how the Dawnlanders earned a vote in the ascension of an Archfey of the Feywild. It was a thrilling ride, and I don’t think I’ll even get to witness another one of these.
Oh, also, I’m asking Kassandra to marry me. Soon.
It has been some time since I acted as a messenger of sorts for anyone, he thinks to himself, before quickly responding aloud with a curious smile, “I can try.”
“The Twilight Court was under a charm for some months, that made us all forget that a hexadrone called Jack escaped. I don’t care much about it but in case it means something to you people, I’ve found out who it is. Does the name Langston mean anything to you?”
Arkadius’ heart feels like it misses a step. Flashes in his brain of memories piecing themselves together, some errantly and some less erranty. “Farstep?”
“I think so.”
It takes a moment for the fluttering feeling within him to subside, and Arkadius raises an eyebrow, flashing Miandra a charming smile. “I will pass the message on.”
Miandra seems to be content, and replies with a simple “Have a lovely evening,” which Arkadius responds in kind, before she walks away. Arkadius turns on his heel, scanning the people around him, and walks quickly in the direction of Merla, wanting to be with someone he’s comforted by.
Arkadius? came Ida’s curious voice in his head, Why do I sense that you are… anxious? Things are OK, aren’t they?
From the journal of Arkadius Hogg
I hadn’t planned on being at the ascension of one of the Archfey of the Feywild. It’s… not my kind of thing. There’s really only one non-Material plane Godlike Deity being I serve ultimately, and I’m sure that She has her fingers in some activity here. It’s big things like this that… I just get the feeling it hasn’t escaped Her foresight.
But alas, I was at the ascension, in a large grassy basin within the Twilight Court. The archfey made their way into the area, and did their usual posturing. When they’d settled, a question was put to the crowd: Who is to ascend? That’s when the noise started. Well, noise is the wrong word, it doesn’t do it justice… that’s when separate parts of a song swelled up, each of the archfey seemingly conducting their own part, trying to find a rhythm to meet up into one tune. The others in the crowd began playing parts of the same tunes and rhythms, we of course as adventurers of the Dawnlands did not. This was how the vote was to be conducted. Whoever’s rhythm and tune found the most accord within the crowd, they were to be enshrined, crowned, whatever it is.
That’s… when things went a little awry. Well, quite awry. Shadow beings rose up, wielding shadowy bows. A great stag also rose from the earth shortly afterwards, antlers like a tree… but it was rapidly slain. Everything around us was quickly becoming obscured by thick clouds, only the archfey seemed to be holding on to their composure. Morinn was preparing some kind of vial that she kept around her neck, smashing it, and then…
We weren’t in the basin anymore. Or rather, myself, Merla, Ruk, Taffeta, Jaezred and Morinn weren’t. We were in some kind of icy cavern. The walls were seemingly dripping, melting away slowly, a cause for concern but given what we’d just witnessed… Morinn explained quickly that some heart needed cleansing, and we were to assist. Three stones around the cavern were feeding corrupted energy into the heart, and we needed to deal with those while Morinn started a ritual to cleanse the heart itself. As this explanation came in, the three other points made their existence rather obvious by forming into… creatures of ice? A white dragon, some sort of giant, and a giant wolf thing. Great.
Taffeta asked Merla rapidly what the course of action was, and considering the contract that Merla was bound to… I was counting on her to confirm what the plan was too. The instruction that came was clear: Do what Morinn was asking. Taffeta unleashed quite a few arrows at quite a number of things, there were other shadowy creatures enveloping and coalescing around us, and they were starting to outnumber us…
So, I flew up into the air. I was rather annoyed at being dragged away without consent, and I had no idea what was going on… so I relied on my usual tactic. I held my wand aloft, pulled at the shadowy tendrils that make up my magic these days and pointed the wand at each of the three large creatures in rapid succession, unleashing three flaming bolts at each, hitting them accurately and squarely. I was quietly smug at this, but knew it was a one-time thing… I couldn’t replicate such a spell again anytime soon, I’d exhausted myself early on. Not only that, but the wounds that I’d burnt and shattered from the three had started to refreeze themselves as quickly as I’d attacked them. I turned in the air to face Ruk, and yelled down “Come on, my friend. You’ve got this,” as he seems to summon a huge magical hand, and also casts a Chromatic Orb at the wolf. I’m subtly impressed at his skills, it’s a decent spell. I have it in my arsenal too, for when Fireball fails me.
Sidenote: Fireball never fails me.
The others were doing sterling work at tackling the things we were facing, and seemed to whether the blast from the dragon too… so I took the opportunity to try and help Morinn with whatever ritual they were partaking in. As a being of the Shadowfell, it seemed considerably easier for me to tap into the energies floating around, and Morinn seemed to straighten her back somewhat as I joined into the ritual. Whatever it was, I felt like I was helping at least. The dragon took the opportunity to dodge around me, and fly towards Morinn. I felt a little guilty that I wasn’t able to do anything to prevent this, and stop it sinking it’s claws into Morinn. Admittedly, I wasn’t thinking about that for too long, as it’s giant maw came at me, but I was able to flap my wings rapidly and move out of the way. It was a wake-up call, at least.
Merla cast a healing spell, helping several of us in the cavern to feel a little better, including Morinn who through gritted teeth reminded us that the three stones needed cleansing, otherwise they’d keep interrupting the ritual at hand. I cast a spell at the dragon, an unusual Shatter (...yes, I wanted to show off to Merla…) that used Fire instead of Thunder as the core component, and I shouted down to Merla, “Come on, you’ve got this, darling!”
Maybe a little patronising, given the situation… perhaps I should think about that in the future. But hey, it worked?
That’s when I heard Ruk complaining about why the wolf behind us wasn’t dying and staying down, “Why won’t you die?!” I couldn’t help but whip around and shout a reply, “Oh, come on! Get with the times! THE STONES!”, this seemed to remind Ruk that the stones need cleansing… Not like Morinn wasn’t reminding us too. That’s when Merla had reached the stone the dragon formed around, and seemed to be pushing as much of her energy as she could muster into it, the magics of the Summer Court cleansing the stone effectively. She turned to me, “Arkadius! Push your magic into the stones, you have to get that wolf one!”
Taffeta at this let loose some kind of vial of water over the third stone, the one which the giant (which Taffeta had also banished) came from, and this seemed to work at cleansing it too. That left the third wolf stone to me… I flew down, the dragon taking a swing at me as I did and definitely getting through my armour-suit, and I stuck all twelve fingers and two thumbs into the pelt, as deep as I could reach, and pushed hard. I could hear wind rustling and blowing as I did, and it brought back memories… memories of the wind above K’ul Goran. Memories of flying fast and low to meet with the one I love. Kassandra. I felt… emotional, I felt love, and I felt… happy. And as quickly as it started, it all went away and the third and final stone was cleansed. Things were wrapped up rapidly from there, but not without some kind of… interruption.
An interruption that sounded like a wave hitting a beach, and then a being wearing nout but a towel, who I have since learned to be the being Ulorian that Merla kept talking about. “Oh, is this the plunge pool? I thought this was the sauna...[“ he announced, before u-turning and vanishing again.
I raised a solitary eyebrow at Merla, opening my mouth for a second, then shouting across, “In a few minutes, you’re going to tell me who the f**k that was, but in the meantime-”
The reply was instantaneous “Dat b***h, Ulorian.”
I gasped, and oooohed for a moment, before turning and unleashing a fiery Chromatic Orb of my own at the remaining shadowy creature in the cavern. We all proceed to lend aid to Morinn and her ritual, and in time it succeeds, and we return to the grassy basin.
Titania: “I think we should see everyone else back for voting. Yes, not a moment to lose. You!” She points at some random elves, “Get everyone back! All of our people fucked off and ran. This is the lot that stayed. I say they get a vote.”
Morinn adds, “Hear hear.”
Ulorian, suddenly returning, yells “Well I object!” He points up at some words written in the sky: ULORIAN IS A COWARD. “Where is he, the little bard?” The crowd parts, revealing Faust “You are extremely lucky, little man, that I recently made a promise and I don’t break them. Titania, this has gone on long enough, you all pop around and don’t stay still for a single moment, can we get on with it please?”
Titania’s measured response was quick and calming, “Calm your waters, Ulorian. They’ll all be here soon and we can get it done and all go home.”
It was arranged. Attendants flicked between the Dawnlanders present, arranging for a method to vote. As we’d nearly witnessed earlier, this was via music and accord. Some of the Dawnlanders took an instrument, and some had theirs ready. I, of course, had my childhood lyre. I held this in my hands, and knew what I had to do. I knew what rhythm, what tune and what accord to play.
The song began to favour Titania, but moved swiftly towards Nicnevin’s melody. When the outcome was clear, Titania and Morinn also changed their tunes, showing their agreement that the choice was made and we had spoken, joining Nicnevin’s tune. The song ended and the archfey turned to Nicnevin and bowed.
And that, my dear journal, is the story of how the Dawnlanders earned a vote in the ascension of an Archfey of the Feywild. It was a thrilling ride, and I don’t think I’ll even get to witness another one of these.
Oh, also, I’m asking Kassandra to marry me. Soon.