[Season 9] Castling - Jaezred/Imryll
Nov 25, 2021 15:01:25 GMT
Anthony, Delilah Daybreaker, and 1 more like this
Post by Jaezred Vandree on Nov 25, 2021 15:01:25 GMT
Co-written with Anthony.
(Continued from Bring Me That Horizon.)
Jaezred awakes with a terrible, searing pain piercing through his skull like a knife. He opens his eyes to stare up at a familiar ceiling — his suite at the Flourished Hook in Port Ffirst, bathed in a pale and soft blue light.
He pushes himself up weakly with an elbow and an arm. He had fallen unconscious at the foot of the tall dresser, upon which sits a small, makeshift shrine to Lolth: a black marble statuette of the Spider Queen in her drider form, flanked by two candles, and a bowl of incense before her. The candles have now burned out and the incense strangely disappeared.
The other strange thing is he did not remember drawing the curtains open. But the waxing gibbous moon was in full view from the windows, serving as the only source of light in the room.
As he stares at it, dark clouds move quickly to cover the moon from all sides, until the room is filled with void-like blackness again.
It feels cold.
“We need to talk. Now. Flourished Hook.”
Now? Or will a few hours suffice?
“Now.”
Jaezred shuffles over to the door and unlatches it. He hears a rustling sound behind him, and turns around to see Imryll already inside the room.
“You’re normally keen to see me but never so forward about it…” she says. “What’s wrong, dear? You look dreadful.”
He casts a glance down at himself — ruffled shirt and loose, tangled locks of hair. The absolute state of him.
“Just tell me what they want with the anchor,” he says quietly.
Imryll’s expression turns serious, her usual whimsical flair evaporating away. "Well… I was rather hoping to have finished what I was doing before coming here but…I think you better take a seat."
He does as he is told. Plopping down on the sofa, he snatches a bottle of whisky off the table, uncorks it, and chugs it straight.
She begins, “I don’t have long so I will keep it short and sweet. There is so much we need to do…
“The Lady Nicnevin has received a message from the Lady of Pain in Sigil. Jack and Langston have begun putting their plan into action already — blackmailing the Lady of Pain with the anchor… The anchor, it seems, is the actual anchor holding Sigil together and they are threatening to destroy it in exchange for power. It seems our dear Delilah’s guess was right… The Lady of Pain has managed to keep it secret for an immeasurably long time, but Jack and Langston have found it and have been building something around it all this time.
“Right now, the Lady of Pain is sitting in a morbid negotiation with them somewhere in Limbo, trying to stall for time. She has put them into a time sink to slow things down and asked Nicnevin to fix this. Sarastra was originally one of the only other people in the multiverse who knew of its existence, and with her Ascension, it now has fallen to Nicnevin to protect it. But of course, we still don’t actually know where it is… Right now, we are trawling around trying to find out where this anchor is so we can put a stop to their plan before they finish talking…”
She gives him an apologetic look.
“I know you have worked hard at this... I had hoped to come with better news, maybe more of an indication as to where it might be…but that is where we are right now. We need to find the anchor and destroy this machine before their negotiations finish.”
Jaezred listens to her in silence. His expression grows grimmer and grimmer with every revelation. “You said there might be a greater power who has a stake in all of this. Is it… Could it be…”
“…Who?”
His eyes look past her shoulder, at the statuette of Lolth on the dresser on the other side of the room. She follows his gaze, then turns back to him.
“Oh… Well, I would really think the other player now would be the Lady of Pain. She is the one being blackmailed here.”
“Did you not see the vision? Do you not know what the anchor is — its other purpose?”
Her eyes narrow for a moment as she stops to think.
“Yes I saw it, but…that doesn’t make sense, why would she… If she wanted to get involved in it, why only now? Why use Jack and Langston!? She has an entire race of people at her disposal…”
She shakes her head, clearly a little frustrated, before moving to sit next to Jaezred and cups both sides of his face with her hands.
“Jaezred, my love, I don’t know what is going on in here”—she gently rocks his head back and forth—“but I need you to stay focused… Jack and Langston are blackmailing the Lady of Pain. That is happening right now! I promise, whatever is happening with you, I will be here to help you with it, but we need to deal with this first… We have to find them. Do you understand?"
He takes a moment to look inwardly, looking into that place within his soul where he knows he could find her. She isn’t watching him at that moment; her attention has been diverted elsewhere. She isn’t interested.
Jaezred gazes into Imryll’s eyes and, finally, gives her a slow nod. A warm smile spreads across her face.
“Good… Now, Nicnevin needs my help making arrangements and trying to find where exactly this thing is. But no one here knows this yet. Can you spread the word? This is going to need all of us to pull together on this…”
“You need the locations of where the arrow pierced on all three planes in order to find it, yes?” he mumbles, blinking a little as he thinks. “It pierced through the Feywild, the Material Plane, and landed in the Shadowfell…”
“Exactly, but that is still three entire planes to look through… Are you okay? I need to go but I promise you, Jaezred, we will work this out together as soon as we stop these two.”
He nods absently. His head feels so light. “Yes. Never better.”
She gives him a stern look, knowing better.
“I don’t know what you’re worried about,” he says with a weak laugh and a lopsided smile.
“You, obviously!” She chuckles and kisses him. “Can I count on you to let people here know? I haven’t had a chance to drop in on your dear Aurelia yet.”
“Of course. If there’s one thing I’m good at…it’s spreading gossip.”
“Don’t I know it.”
She stands and walks towards the door, to look back at her lover. She seems worried. “I don’t know what is going on, Jaezred, but we will sort this out… After our dinner, of course,” she adds.
“Of course.” He puts the bottle of whisky away and rises shakily to his feet. “Go do your job. I love you.”
She smiles. “I love you too.”
She tarries for a moment, watching him, before teleporting out.
Jaezred sighs as he picks up his wand of the war mage. She is right — the last grains of sand in the hourglass are quickly trickling away. Whatever his problems are, they need to sit back and wait. He waves the wand in a fluid motion.
“Archmage. Urgent news…”
(Continued from Bring Me That Horizon.)
Jaezred awakes with a terrible, searing pain piercing through his skull like a knife. He opens his eyes to stare up at a familiar ceiling — his suite at the Flourished Hook in Port Ffirst, bathed in a pale and soft blue light.
He pushes himself up weakly with an elbow and an arm. He had fallen unconscious at the foot of the tall dresser, upon which sits a small, makeshift shrine to Lolth: a black marble statuette of the Spider Queen in her drider form, flanked by two candles, and a bowl of incense before her. The candles have now burned out and the incense strangely disappeared.
The other strange thing is he did not remember drawing the curtains open. But the waxing gibbous moon was in full view from the windows, serving as the only source of light in the room.
As he stares at it, dark clouds move quickly to cover the moon from all sides, until the room is filled with void-like blackness again.
It feels cold.
“We need to talk. Now. Flourished Hook.”
Now? Or will a few hours suffice?
“Now.”
Jaezred shuffles over to the door and unlatches it. He hears a rustling sound behind him, and turns around to see Imryll already inside the room.
“You’re normally keen to see me but never so forward about it…” she says. “What’s wrong, dear? You look dreadful.”
He casts a glance down at himself — ruffled shirt and loose, tangled locks of hair. The absolute state of him.
“Just tell me what they want with the anchor,” he says quietly.
Imryll’s expression turns serious, her usual whimsical flair evaporating away. "Well… I was rather hoping to have finished what I was doing before coming here but…I think you better take a seat."
He does as he is told. Plopping down on the sofa, he snatches a bottle of whisky off the table, uncorks it, and chugs it straight.
She begins, “I don’t have long so I will keep it short and sweet. There is so much we need to do…
“The Lady Nicnevin has received a message from the Lady of Pain in Sigil. Jack and Langston have begun putting their plan into action already — blackmailing the Lady of Pain with the anchor… The anchor, it seems, is the actual anchor holding Sigil together and they are threatening to destroy it in exchange for power. It seems our dear Delilah’s guess was right… The Lady of Pain has managed to keep it secret for an immeasurably long time, but Jack and Langston have found it and have been building something around it all this time.
“Right now, the Lady of Pain is sitting in a morbid negotiation with them somewhere in Limbo, trying to stall for time. She has put them into a time sink to slow things down and asked Nicnevin to fix this. Sarastra was originally one of the only other people in the multiverse who knew of its existence, and with her Ascension, it now has fallen to Nicnevin to protect it. But of course, we still don’t actually know where it is… Right now, we are trawling around trying to find out where this anchor is so we can put a stop to their plan before they finish talking…”
She gives him an apologetic look.
“I know you have worked hard at this... I had hoped to come with better news, maybe more of an indication as to where it might be…but that is where we are right now. We need to find the anchor and destroy this machine before their negotiations finish.”
Jaezred listens to her in silence. His expression grows grimmer and grimmer with every revelation. “You said there might be a greater power who has a stake in all of this. Is it… Could it be…”
“…Who?”
His eyes look past her shoulder, at the statuette of Lolth on the dresser on the other side of the room. She follows his gaze, then turns back to him.
“Oh… Well, I would really think the other player now would be the Lady of Pain. She is the one being blackmailed here.”
“Did you not see the vision? Do you not know what the anchor is — its other purpose?”
Her eyes narrow for a moment as she stops to think.
“Yes I saw it, but…that doesn’t make sense, why would she… If she wanted to get involved in it, why only now? Why use Jack and Langston!? She has an entire race of people at her disposal…”
She shakes her head, clearly a little frustrated, before moving to sit next to Jaezred and cups both sides of his face with her hands.
“Jaezred, my love, I don’t know what is going on in here”—she gently rocks his head back and forth—“but I need you to stay focused… Jack and Langston are blackmailing the Lady of Pain. That is happening right now! I promise, whatever is happening with you, I will be here to help you with it, but we need to deal with this first… We have to find them. Do you understand?"
He takes a moment to look inwardly, looking into that place within his soul where he knows he could find her. She isn’t watching him at that moment; her attention has been diverted elsewhere. She isn’t interested.
Jaezred gazes into Imryll’s eyes and, finally, gives her a slow nod. A warm smile spreads across her face.
“Good… Now, Nicnevin needs my help making arrangements and trying to find where exactly this thing is. But no one here knows this yet. Can you spread the word? This is going to need all of us to pull together on this…”
“You need the locations of where the arrow pierced on all three planes in order to find it, yes?” he mumbles, blinking a little as he thinks. “It pierced through the Feywild, the Material Plane, and landed in the Shadowfell…”
“Exactly, but that is still three entire planes to look through… Are you okay? I need to go but I promise you, Jaezred, we will work this out together as soon as we stop these two.”
He nods absently. His head feels so light. “Yes. Never better.”
She gives him a stern look, knowing better.
“I don’t know what you’re worried about,” he says with a weak laugh and a lopsided smile.
“You, obviously!” She chuckles and kisses him. “Can I count on you to let people here know? I haven’t had a chance to drop in on your dear Aurelia yet.”
“Of course. If there’s one thing I’m good at…it’s spreading gossip.”
“Don’t I know it.”
She stands and walks towards the door, to look back at her lover. She seems worried. “I don’t know what is going on, Jaezred, but we will sort this out… After our dinner, of course,” she adds.
“Of course.” He puts the bottle of whisky away and rises shakily to his feet. “Go do your job. I love you.”
She smiles. “I love you too.”
She tarries for a moment, watching him, before teleporting out.
Jaezred sighs as he picks up his wand of the war mage. She is right — the last grains of sand in the hourglass are quickly trickling away. Whatever his problems are, they need to sit back and wait. He waves the wand in a fluid motion.
“Archmage. Urgent news…”