2022-05-24 A Lunar Calling - Gerhard

Gerhard, historically, does not sleep well. Usually, it is due to a book that is too interesting to put down, or too important to leave to some other academic. Other nights, he tries his best.

Sometimes, deep in his dreams, it feels like he is back, years ago. He's back at the druid circle where Henri unearthed his first bone knife in perfect condition. He's back at the abandoned dwarven mine, where a strong whiff of something best left covered up led to Henri having to pull him out. He's back on the Sword Coast, breaking rocks apart to look for gems or secrets, and catching a shard of rock on his hand that Henri needs to bandage.

Each one ends the same: Henri, his eyes now completely covered in the purest silver, looking at Gerhard and whispering.

Tonight, though, as he lays in bed in his room at the Three-Headed Dragon, Gerhard is dreaming of the moon. He's back in Jaccobi's study, the satyr pacing between Kavel, Derthaad, Lolli, Beats, Gerhard, and his desk.

"The Staircase is a... primal force. It is a doorway to many places. Literally, infinite possibilities. Nobody knows how it started, it simply just was. I know there is a... price. When you travel the Staircase. It is... primal. And original. And something so beyond anything else that it cannot be quantified by ordinary methods. Something like that, and being so old, requires a power source. And only something as unique as a soul can power it," Jaccobi explains.

Gerhard twists and turns in his bed, his mind back in the study learning the awful truth about the Infinite Staircase. Souls. In his dream, Gerhard feels the same pit in his stomach that he did when he first learned the news. Guilt washes over him, heavy and hot, as he looks at the others he brought with him on the Stairs. His friends, no longer whole. His friends, who came along only to help, now with slivers of their souls shaved off to feed the Staircase and its infinite doors.

"Wait wait wait wait, before we go: you mentioned this, this cost. What does it look like if someone is at the end? Like, what if, what if someone had traveled the staircase for so long that they'd given all that they had left? What, what would happen to them?"

Gerhard speaks the words in his dream the same as he did just hours ago, the panic thick in his voice. Jaccobi turns to face him, eyeing Gerhard as he answers.

"They'd join the Staircase. For eternity."

"What does that look like?"

"You've seen the doors, have you not?"

"Yes."

Gerhard pauses, staring at Jaccobi before coming to a horrifying conclusion.

"The doors? The doors are travellers?"

"Were."

The sweat is cold on Gerhard's back as he sits bolt upright in bed, panting. It is still late in Daring Heights: the night watch patrol, torches held aloft, is the only light through his window.

It is the fate of all who walk the Stairs to join it, eventually. Once it has drained every last drop of your soul, the process is completed.

Gerhard takes a sip of water, letting out a deep breath. Jaccobi said that Henri, while he was beginning the process, still had years to go. And the others, the friends Gerhard brought along...

One thing at a time. Save Henri, and then the others.

Gerhard lays back down, his bare chest steadily raising up and down, until it slows, and he is asleep once more.

"Everyone who walks the Staircase becomes a part of it eventually. Even I did."

Gerhard is back in the office of Andromeda. Mister's sister is... different, though the familial resemblance is there. To think, though, that Andromeda and Mister both used to be travellers, both still have their own Call.. it is too much to fathom. It is the fate of all who walk the Stairs to join it, eventually. But, there is no reason why that cannot take on a myriad of forms.

"I am a manifestation of the Staircase; I do not control it, nor does Mister. He does not... hold, this Henri. He's merely a steward. A guide. That's the irony of the Staircase: people are free to leave it whenever they wish, but most never wish to leave it."

Gerhard, in his dream just as in his reality, cannot believe that Mister was telling the truth. That Henri was free to leave whenever he wanted.

That Henri chose to stay.

Andromeda, sensing that we wish to know more, continues.

"There have been cases known of people breaking their connection to the Staircase. As I'm sure you are keenly aware Gerhard, the Call is an outlet, a focus, for your willpower. It's allowed you to Call the Staircase to you today to come here. What do you think would happen if you were to focus your will, your desire, on breaking your connection?

"What do you think would happen if you were to focus your desire on breaking the bond of another?"

Gerhard cannot believe what he is hearing.

"Are you telling me that I just need to.... what, reach out and just do it? That's it?"

Andromeda smiles.

"It's not an easy task. It would take a tremendous amount of will. And obviously, if you were to break the bond of another, you would lose the protection of the Call. And you, my dear boy, have spent a lot of time on the Staircase."

Gerhard wakes less suddenly this time. His eyes snap open, settling on the curved shape of the Call across the room from him. The Call. His only tool for reaching Henri, and bringing him home. His only protection from the lure of the Staircase.

He has already made up his mind. He would give it up in a heartbeat, if it meant that Henri was here instead.

Gerhard pushes himself up in bed, looking around the room. It is in much the same shape as he left it the day previous: books piled on the desk, parchment and ink at the ready. The light of the first dawn rays of sunlight reflect off the etched surface of the Call, and Gerhard's eyes, caught by a reflection, settle on the diamond box set beside it.

Gentleman. That is what Andromeda called him, the swirling gunmetal liquid within the box of diamond. Father. Whatever he is, Mister wanted him, and was quite upset when Gerhard did not give it up. Though, Mister may have been more upset when he found he could no longer touch Gerhard, courtesy of Andromeda.

Andromeda's voice echoes in Gerhard's mind, a fragment of a dream.

The will, the power, to sever a bond to the Staircase... Gerhard thinks. It won't be enough. Andromeda also told him that he should visit the Library of All Knowledge next, in Brux, the second layer of The Beastlands.

Gerhard stands, hovering a hand over the diamond box. The liquid inside swirls, twisting and moving, as though it would reach out and touch his fingers. He lays his palm down on the top, listening for the sound of the presence in his head.

"Gentleman. I have some questions."