2022-02-01 Keep The Light - Gerhard
Feb 4, 2022 20:10:16 GMT
Riah, Lolli (Jennifur Cottontail), and 1 more like this
Post by Gerhard on Feb 4, 2022 20:10:16 GMT
If it's not ponds, or lakes, or waterfalls, or...
I mutter under my breath, arms stretched out in front of me, trying to hold the candle juuust right to read the signs. There is no moon tonight, and no glow to light my way. Evenbloom Street it reads, and I turn off Castle Road and make my way towards The Fiore Popular
---
The others are there already: I recognize Pipper first, her blue glow cutting through the dusk of Daring Heights. Others, too: Sparks-In-Shade, and another aaracokra by the name of Tayz, look to be catching up: the latter in rapture, writing down all he can in a small leather book. A drow I have never met introduces herself as Zola. It seems that she knows some of the others, too.
We are gathered here to meet with one Leona Autumn, who I surmise is the one that has sent us all these blasted candles. Why you would have a flame you cannot snuff is beyond me.. and Tayz is a little nonchalant with his around his book.
---
The six of us, like so many pilgrims, set out for the Feythorn Forest under the guidance of Leona. The sun has nearly set now, the red glow illuminating the firs and pines bordering the forest; their snow tipped branches catch the remaining light, beckoning us further into their grasp.
Leona has requested all of us to help her escort The Keeper. Who, or what, The Keeper is remains to be seen. All we know is that it is crucial, vital, that he reaches a Stone deep within the wood. This Stone, as Leona tells us, is sacred: the old magic runs deep there. But what we do know is that The Keeper must reach that sacred place, must carry The Light Of All Worlds, in order for the cycle, the wheel of the year, to continue. Without him, the buds will not sprout, the bears will not wake, and spring will be less than a memory.
So many questions dance on my tongue, but I hold back. Leona knows as much as she has told us, after all - no sense in bombarding her.
We slip inside the forest and many hands reach out to us, tricks played by the last of the light against the many branches along our path. Some branches, though, tell a story: to Pipper, they tell the story of a great beast travelling through the wood, followed not long after by a small humanoid.
It is not long after we discover the prints that we determine what they belong to. A Ceryneian Hind. To kill one is to call down the rage of the gods, but tonight.. the moon is elsewhere, and so too are the eyes of those above. If you wanted to kill one, needed to end a life.. tonight would be the night to do it.
---
crack
Leona looks around, sheepish, as the two figures ahead of us in the clearing turn to face the six of us. I recognised the tongue they were speaking as Sylvan, and from what I overheard, they too are trying to help The Keeper, though they may have different approaches. Keelan, a dwarf fellow, is covered head to toe in furs. In his hand by his side is a glaive, fashioned out of antler. Eunoste, a deertaur, does not seem to be happy that a hunter is also tracking The Keeper, no matter how much he professes that he is only here to help. The antler glaive may not be helping, Eunoste's own four smaller antlers curling up above her brow. They, too, carry candles, and when they see ours, they recognise our mission as their own.
---
The unlikely party continues, deeper into the Feythorn, until we reach him. The Keeper, his magnificent golden antlers and bronze hooves, stands just ahead of us, as if he is waiting the light we bring. Small golden motes swirl around his horns, waxing and waning as they make their journey. The Light Of All Worlds.. it is awe-inspiring.
The Keeper turns, and walks, and we follow, our feet finding the path that is aura reveals.
---
If you wanted to kill The Keeper, needed to end his life.. tonight would be the night to do it. And as the sound of squeals and metal and blood reach our ears, the backdrop to a discordant melody, we know that we are not alone.
The Stone is surrounded by the viscera of numerous sacrifices, and atop it is the cause: a Dark Satyr, sacrificing as many innocent creatures as he can find to corrupt this sacred place and summon two beings of pure shadow.
Leona, Eunoste, and The Keeper stick to the trees to try and move around, while the rest of us set out to make a safe passage.
---
To complete the ritual, we each must place a candle at points around the Stone, pouring our will into the flame to make it grow and carry the light. Pipper is the first of us to reach their position, placing their candle and growing it a magnificent pillar of dandelion yellow fire.
I reach mine next, placing my candle down onto the ground beneath my feet. I kneel, being sure to leave enough room for the pillar to grow in front of me.
---
I'm there, again. Where this all began.
There's a rift ahead of me, shrinking with the dying of the light. Henri is there, too, the tear in space a window to another world that he cannot break through.
---
My mind is not clear. I fall back, the pillar of flame, a brilliant green, slowly spiraling up above me. My hand is already on my chest, my subconscious checking as it always does for the scrap of paper, the last memory I have of Henri.
The others, to my luck, have been more successful. Tayz sits before a tower of shining white, while Zola's is a deep, golden orange. Keelan's face is lit from his berry red pillar, and while he looks on at Eunoste for affirmation, her own pillar grows into a shining silver. Leona has joined us as well, her candle black and orange and purple: the scent of the harvest comes with it. It is Sparks-In-Shade that rounds us out, a pillar of pure white rising before him as The Keeper mounts the top of the Stone.
And with one final look to us all, a thank you, he steps. Not forward, but up, each step taking him further and further above the Stone. As he climbs, the pillars of fire lighting his path, he glows, his fur shining with brilliant golden light, until he is gone.
---
Our mission complete, the eight of us back our things for the trek home. The dawn light peeks through the trees, lighting our path back outside the forest.
Eunoste offers me a quiver in thanks for my help this night, and I happily accept. As we walk, we talk: I tell her of my time in Faerûn a lifetime ago, while she tells me about her home on the border of The Autumn Court. I ask how she came to be in the forest, only to learn of The Feyverge Valley that leads to here.
I ask of The Keeper. Where does he come from? Where does he go?
"The Keeper comes from across the realms and he returns to his place in the heavens." she replies, uncomfortable with the gaps in her knowledge.
Keelan leans in. "The Keeper has the ways and means to traverse the Realms because he is a god. Or something akin to a god, much like the Rulers of the Fey Courts are. He makes his pilgrimage across the realms, taking different forms that suit the place he walks. It is said there is a secret pathway that only ones such as he can use, without going mad. I've heard my Lord talk about it, and we may have pass through it once or twice. When you ride with my Lord you sometimes loose track of the places you’re passing through! I much prefer the Wilds and Hinterlands of Arborea meself. Great game there."
"Our Grovekeeper told me to find the tracks in the Witching Court, which was where he was before coming here. They were around a site of ruins that looked, to me, very old. Old like the Stone." Eunoste adds.
Zola, listening in from a few steps ahead, turns to Keelan with a barrage of questions. I let them talk as I walk ahead, lost in thought.
