A pair of skull spiders watch him from the shadow of a rock. They had happened upon the strange being as they scouted about, and were now compelled to keep the traitor in sight. A slight skittering might alert him to their presence as they dart from cover to cover.
Ekimu pauses in his work, noting that the Skies’ snores had stopped. It was no guarantee that the ancient being was awake, but it was worth checking. The Mask Maker descends into the dungeon, peering into the Lord’s cell. @Ghid
Gladius pushed his way through a line of foliage. “Hold up.” He told Keya. Looking to the side, he squinted hard through the trees. That was undoubtedly a building he was seeing off to the side.
“I think we’re there.”
A more depressing scene the Lord of the Undying Storm could not conjur up. Years in the shadow realm was nothing compared to what this was like.
And it’s only been a day. Hasn’t it? He thought. Or is it already five years from now? …It feels like-
The surprise was written very plainly on his eyes to see Ekimu staring into his cell. His two fierce blue eyes stared back in concern. Was it worth risking a ‘please’ after Ekimu had told him not to talk?
“Probably, lets have a look.” Azure commented moving passed Gladius before stopping to see if they were going to follow.
“The runes are a eulogy for “Ciril the Wise”, a very wise leader, I’d guess. What’s it you’re looking for exactly?”
Jaspar sighs, deflating slightly. He glances around quickly, making sure the other Okotans inside the tavern are far enough away before leaning in slightly.
“Lync and I have been searching for information about the Realm of Shadows,” he says, his voice low. “There isn’t a lot to find, if you can believe that.” He chuckles, but the sound is hollow.
“I’ve never heard of this ‘Ciril’, though,” he says, leaning back and leafing through his notes. “The runes must be from a particular time period, or maybe an isolated region of the island.” His voice has risen to a more level, now tinged with a bit of excitement. “We found this engraving… south of where we met you? Southwest. Yeah, southwest.” He flips through pages of notes as he talks, nodding as his notes match his speech. “It was an old building, stone. Mostly underground. You wouldn’t happen to have visited there, would you? I was hoping that the underground portions meant it was secretive, maybe a sort of shadow cult. But if it was a eulogy, than we’re probably looking at a mausoleum of sorts. Still… would you peg ‘wise’ to be the kind to collect information, or more in the way of intelligent ruling?” He looks at her expectantly.
Hiraeth contemplates. They we’re already originally going to go to Tsim Krad, and that was just the two of them. If there were more people, it may be a bit safer…
“It’s certainly safer than just the two of us going.” He looks at Kryuna, waiting for her response @TheMOCingbird
There’s a slight pause as she takes that all in.
“Wow, uhm… well… I’ve never really ventured much further than the village to be honest… well, until now anyway, eheh…” She shudders a little at the memories, “As for the second question… I think an intelligent ruler would be more likely, especially with the things they say here in the eulogy…” She trails off, scanning over it again as she talks, “I suppose it wouldn’t rule out the former, though, if you’re hoping to find something this way? I’ve never heard of this Ciril either, maybe there could be something… Maybe.”
“Do you wish for us to scout ahead? Ensure that if we are not in the proper place than at least there are no dangers?” The Collected piped up, having been keeping a wary eye on the woods around them as they travelled.
Gladius sighed under his breath.
“No, I need you covering the rear to make sure we’re not followed.” He turned to Keya. “The Collected will handle the rear, and you can scout ahead. We’ll follow you.”
“As you require.” The Collected replied, quickly moving into position, scythe held at ready.
Dax shudders at the sight. He felt a cold chill, when he saw the black crater.
Capella looked at the crater and to her it felt as if the crater looked back to her.
Erebos didn’t pay too much attention to the vermin. Their only strength was in there numbers, and he was much stronger than what he believes they could throw at them.
Keya stopped and turned back. “Good.” She said.
Hitora took a second, then began pushing through the foliage, gauntlets activated, trying to get into the city.
@jayzor17 “If Hiraeth is fine with it than I’m in.” Kryuna said gingerly as she rose from the edge of the fountain. “When do we leave?”
Jevis new he couldn’t track them in the dark, so he found a large, overhanging rock not too far from the path to set up camp under.
“Well, I need to grab my stuff.” Lync stands abruptly, brushing off her armor. “And tell Jaspar and Ilza what’s going on. I’ll meet you here when I’m done, okay?” She barely leaves time for a response before darting off to the inn she and Jaspar had stayed at.
“Hmm…” Jaspar leans back, a somber look crossing his face. “You know, I-”
Whatever he was about to say is cut off as Lync enters the room, quickly crossing it and standing between Jaspar and Ilza.
“I’m traveling with Hiraeth and Kryuna to Tsim Krad,” she says without preamble. “Something’s going on, I want to check it out.” Jaspar raises an eyebrow, glancing to Ilza before gesturing for Lync to go on. “I want you to keep an eye on Ilza. We’ve dragged her through enough already, there’s no reason for you two to walk into Tsim Krad with us. You should go find Tathel instead; he can make sure everything’s going to be alright. There should be a gukko station to the south, you can take that-”
“To the City of the Mask Makers, and then hike south from there,” Jaspar finishes. “I taught you that, remember?” He flashes a good-natured smile, and she can only roll her eyes. “We’ll be good, okay? Is there anything you want me to tell Tathel?” Lync glares at her friend, and he smiles back. After a moment, she looks away.
“Tell him I’m fine, and definitely don’t tell him what I’m doing right now. I can take care of myself; he’ll just worry over nothing.” Jaspar shakes his head slowly, earning another glare.
“I’ll tell him that… assuming you stop by and tell him the truth when you’re done.” Another glare; he was on a roll today. “You can stop by, share a meal, introduce him to your new friends. I’m sure you can handle it.” Lync crosses her arms, heaving a heavy sigh of defeat.
“You’re almost making me look forward to the fortress full of murderers,” she mutters.
“Stay safe, okay?” Jaspar says.
“I’ll try.” With that she’s gone again, off to pack up her gear. Jaspar turns to Ilza once more, drumming his fingers against the table.
“Tathel’s a healer, if you didn’t figure that out. Lync’s brother. Having him look after you would be her way of saying sorry for the past few days, I guess. So, what do you say? Up for a jungle vacation?”
She shrugs, “At this point it would probably be plain rude to just say “no”, sooo… why not? Please don’t tell me there are as many bugs as people say there are.” By people she probably meant books.
The backside of the capital has a less than acceptable entrance with only one guard, an old Okotan who looked less friendly than Gladius on a bad day.
“Mind letting us through?” Gladius called.
“Mind jumping in the pond and taking a deep breath?” The guard hissed. “Maybe you want this job, that’s why you’re here instead of the main entrance. I disappear and you conveniently take my spot.”
“Somehow I don’t doubt him being put out here.” Gladius mumbled over his shoulder. “Even better concept. I could have my mercenaries scale this wall, beat you to death, and open the gate instead. You look a little too weak anyways.”
The guard shouted off some unintelligible slurred sentence of retort, then staggered to the gate controls and swung it open.
“Besides,” Gladius mused to the group as they went through with the snarling eye of the guard on them. “I don’t this wall actually goes around the city. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s only a segment here.”
(@jayzor17)
It wasn’t long before the Storm broke the gaze. “There’s no…”
######"…There’s no excuse."
It was a blink-and-you-miss-it statement. Even in the silence of the cell, it would have been hard to discern. No doubt the mask maker was able to make it out, but he wouldn’t have long to dwell on it. An honest approach was usually the best one, although the Storm was used to this being the other way around.
“Years in absolute solitude in the mountains.” He said, looking at the metallic ends of his boots, his voice shaking. “Two decades ago meteors fell from the sky. A prophecy. An attempt to define the word… Hero.”
He sighed a long sigh. “Before that it was century after century in the realm of shadow, where every wall and every surface reaches out and grips with a grip of iron on your soul, trying to wrench the good- well.” He smiled extremely slightly. “Something. But these walls, this room, the basic silence and the abandonment of everything except your unrestrained, guilty mind.”
“I have new respect for you, mask maker.” He said. “This is the first time in my life I’ve been afraid of myself.”
“Sure” Azure commented before following inside she waved at the guard before passing through.
Ekimu is taken off guard. He had just been searching for the best way to approach the situation; hardly had he expected the answer to be handed to him on a golden platter.
“Do you seek penance?” he asks simply. “A way to make up for your past?”
Jaspar chuckles once more. “Well, the Region of Jungle is home to the widest range of animals on the island, bugs included. All sorts of rama, kopen, jaga…” He trails off, realizing what he had just said. “All of them more than content to leave big scary Okotans alone.”
Should he elect to stay awake, he would find the jungle as quiet as ever, even in night time. However, he might start to feel a presence… like something is watching him in the dark. Regardless of whether he stays awake or decides to rest his eyes, the light of dawn would find him unharmed.
She actually giggles a little at his attempt to save the sentence, “Oh well, I’m a big girl, I’m sure I can handle it… Besides, I’ve got a “big scary Okotan” right here to help out if it gets too much.” She smirks.
Indecision flashed over the Storm’s piercing eyes. He fixed them on Ekimu again.
“Whatever deities may exist only know my original purpose.” He said, sucking in more air. “Only the dead know the full effect. All those torn to dust at sea, whose remains lie under reefs of coral on the seabed, and all those my brother sent his disciple after as Sul- The Core, tore through homes and cities and ravaged the island of Okoto - they are all my doing, my plotting, when Okotans were less than farm animals in the world.”
“Makuta made me change my mind in that regard.” He said. “Now I don’t know how far your patience extends, Ekimu, but I’m betting the handle of your hammer reaches a bit farther.” One finger quivered mildly as if he was attempting to point at Ekimu when he said that. “Aside from offering my skull up as a decoration for the forge doorway, how would I go about ‘atoning’?”