2023-07-27 Tears of Heaven - Henri
Jul 29, 2023 15:13:43 GMT
Jaezred Vandree, Andy D, and 2 more like this
Post by Henri Fitzroy on Jul 29, 2023 15:13:43 GMT
Dusk has fallen by the time Henri returns home to his room at the Four Fair Winds. His shirt, normally buttoned to his neck, hangs loose and open around his chest; his vest, a deep dark blue matching the night sky above the desert, undone and swinging with each step. In one hand, he holds a damp towel. In the other, the mark of his station and commitment floats soundlessly behind him.
"Damned sand. It gets everywhere..." he mutters to himself, shutting the door to the room as he tosses the towel towards a coat rack. It looks as though it might miss, but as it begins to arc down towards the floor something grabs hold of a corner and yanks it back towards its target.
"I'll be picking-" he mutters again, raising a finger on his newly free hand to his ear and twisting it. He pulls away and takes a brief look at it before wiping it on his pants. "-it out for days."
Hey. Pantos. Prestidigitation? It's just a cantrip. Sure you can spare the magic.
The thought receives no reply.
Not even an insult? My, how far I have fallen in your graces.
Once more, Henri's thoughts are the only ones to echo in his mind. He sighs, slumping into a chair in front of his small writing desk. The scarf he folds gently, laying it on the tabletop in front of him. From his pockets, he withdraws the few items he keeps close - a notebook, a pen, an inkwell. These he lays next to the scarf. A pair of knives emerge to greet them, followed closely by a shard of crystallized slime that he inspects in the fading light before gingerly laying down.
Right.
Henri withdraws a sheet of paper, setting it in front. He raises the pen, filled with ink, over the page. It waits, hovering, for the spark of inspiration.
Where do I even start?
Henri Fitzroy
The Four Fair Winds
Castleside
Daring Heights
Kantas
The Four Fair Winds
Castleside
Daring Heights
Kantas
26 Flamerule 1500
Lord Fitzroy
Fitzroy Manor
The North Wards
Waterdeep
Faerûn
Fitzroy Manor
The North Wards
Waterdeep
Faerûn
Greetings, Father,
Much has transpired since I last wrote. You will understand that not all can be put to pen; some things are far too sensitive for even the most trusted of couriers to deliver by hand.
I wrote last that I was in Port Ffirst to learn more of my adversaries. I am pleased to inform that it was a great success. So successful, in fact, that it would appear that my informant was none other than one of th-
A pause, the pen hovering once more.
Who knows of the Archwyrms? Who might use the knowledge of my meeting with Thodrazz against us? Against Father? Even if I referred to him as Thromdax... the alias isn't a particularly great leap.
So successful, in fact, that it would appear that my informant was none other than one of our allies. I did not know it at the time, but in retrospect it seems clear - how the patrons averted their gaze, how he knew what others did not. I walk amongst giants here, Father, both metaphorically and literally.
I digress. I am sure you do not wish to hear of my carousing.
As you may have ascertained, I have returned to Daring Heights. I had intended to inform Orianna, Calla, and Gerhard of my findings, but there were more pressing matters. The latter had already left; travelling on business as he is wont to do. And as for the former, I arrived in time to receive a letter. Dear Ms. Èirigh had received a prophecy of some sort, and the requirements had been fulfilled some time ago when stars like tears fell from the sky, as though dropping from the Night's Eye constellation itself.
She had gathered a number of us. Calla, as I mentioned. Beets the Beetle, who you'd recall from Gerhard's letters. And Lord Lucky, who she has developed quite a connection with.
Father would be delighted, or quite possibly confounded, to learn of Zari's return. But...
The family on this side of the sea ever-grows, Father. You must make time to visit some day.
The stars fell in the west, in the Harnash region of the continent. I will not bore you with the details, but it is magnificent, Father. The lushest forest you could imagine sitting beneath a giant floating city.
Which, of course, meant we were to instead trek into the desert. They call it the Scorching Badlands here, and I must dutifully report that they live up to the moniker. Luckily, my companions had the foresight to wait and travel after dusk.
Orianna led the way, and we soon came to a ruin in the sands. A hiding place, tucked away to never be found again. Why they insist on burying their secrets instead of burning them, I will never know, because of course someone found it that should not have: Abrax, the First Frost, cousin of Magdara from my last letter. Abrax... he stole something. A foci. The key to joining the eight pieces of four other keys together.
Yes, my mind swims thinking of it too.
I regret that that was not all we lost, though. Orianna's father Thaneni was taken with it. Something about their line being necessary for joining the keys. But, as you are fond of saying - 'when it rains the heaviest, the sea provides'. There is a silver lining. We were able to reuite Orianna with her other father, Rimmon. He had been cursed quite badly by Abrax, but thanks to Orianna and Calla's quick thinking he was returned to us. They'd not seen each other in quite some time, Orianna and her father. 11 years, by her telling.
I find myself sympathetic to their plight.
Henri sits back in his chair, deep in thought.
Did she mourn them as you mourned me, Father? Or did her flicker of hope never waver?
The writer returns to his work like a moth to flame.
I can say very little about what happened next, Father. But as I said: I walk amongst giants here, Father.
I will instead refer you to your dusty books of history that you implored I read, and to the Dawn War. You will recall better than I the war between the primordials and the gods. The ramifications of that war are felt to this day, and we find ourselves lucky to stand amongst the victors.
Stellarum Tenebris.
The image returns unbidden to Henri's mind - the sky itself moving and shifting, the stars dancing and coalescing to take shape into a single, enormous form.
Her wings, stretching from horizon to horizon.
Her voice.
Gentle.
Gracious.
The voice of the mother of the stars themselves.
Her gaze, finding first Rimmon and Orianna. Then landing on the others - Lucky, Beets, Calla. Himself.
The night hides many things. But the stars are always watching.
She told us many things, Father. She told us of her kin. She told us of our enemy, and where we may find them. She told us of what we must do to stop them.
Henri's notebook lifts, the pages turning in midair before landing on leaf filled with harried sketches of names and symbols.
Four Primoridal Behemoths, dead and gone.
Four keys, split into nine pieces.
Four locks, keeping the Behemoths at bay.
Four Primordials Incarnate from the para-elemental planes.
Nine Archwyrms, keeping the nine pieces. Four awake. Five asleep.
A four pointed star balanced in a crescent moon.
Stellarum Tenebris
A seven pointed star surrounded with blue flame.
???
An erupting volcano covered with black smoke.
???
A dragon's eye of brilliant garnet.
Thodrazz, The Gemstone Prophet
A brilliant burst of iridescent light.
???
A gunmetal grey hammer etched with scales of justice.
Kestrasz, The Hammer of Justice
A dragon egg enveloped in a pearlescent bubble.
???
A copse of trees, brilliantly green and vibrant.
???
A black dragon skull made of black gemstone.
Azharul, The Judge of the Dead
I will not mince words, Father. If we are not able to keep our adversaries from gathering the keys they seek, it would be the dawn of a new age.
The Primordial Dawn.
I know you keep busy, but I have not received a reply in some months. I regret that I am not there to relinquish your burden. But you must understand, it is here I am needed. Once I have completed the tasks set before me, I will do my best to return.
It would be nice to hear from you. Of home.
I will do our family proud, Father.
Yours,
Henri
The letter is folded, the envelope addressed and set aside.
The ritual repeats, and another sheet is withdrawn.
Henri Fitzroy
The Four Fair Winds
Castleside
Daring Heights
Kantas
The Four Fair Winds
Castleside
Daring Heights
Kantas
26 Flamerule 1500
Jaezred,
As promised, I write with news of the Primordials and their schemes. We have learned much, and the way ahead is clear. I do regret to inform, though, that they have made progress towards their goals. You understand, these are matters best discussed in private.
If a garnet dragonborn returns to Gossamer Threads, though, please thank him for his information. And tell him I wish to meet once more.
I travel next to the Court of Sorcery, as we discussed. Thank you once more for your wise counsel.
Faithfully,
Henri Fitzroy
