In Search Of... Aya
Log Info
- Title: In Search Of... Aya
- Emitter: Crosanthia
- Characters: Cryosanthia, Cesran
- Place: W01: Wilderness Pointe, Sabina's Future Spa Site
- Time: Friday, December 10, 2021, 2:04 PM
- Summary: Cryosanthia is scoping out a new site for Sabina's spa, with Lily helping, when Cesran arrives. He has good news, Eclavdran is dead! The whitescale is very happy to hear this, and wishes to know details. Details are shared, while Lily makes snowballs and builds a trap. The conversation moves on to Aya, who is in need of a rescue and possibly can be freed now that Eclavdran is dead. Cryo and Lily immediately offer Aya's broach for his scrying attempts. Scrying is also discussed, with the sith'makar being rather loose regarding her friends' privacies. Cesran explains he will keep researching, and work on a plan. Cryo asks to be involved, as long as it minimizes the risk to her children. The mage will be in touch.
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--<* W01: Wilderness Pointe *>--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-
Wilderness Point is the last-ditch point of civilisation before the great northern woods. It stands as a last bastion of trade, and a hub of activity between hunters, traders, and townsfolk.
A fairly wide path, flanked on either side by shallow ditches and tall trees, makes its way into the village from the southern roads, whose borders are outlined by a low stone wall. Sections of the wall have fallen apart here and there. At this point, it's more of a decoration than anything else.
The largest building in the village is an inn, a sign hanging over its door reading 'Wayfarer's Inn'. Its stone chimney has a thin wisp of smoke drifting off into the sky overhead.
At the center of the town is the Hunter's Market, beyond which the town ends along the river's banks, with the ferry providing passage to the other side.
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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Appearing, in order =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Cryosanthia 6'9" 341 Lb Sith-Makar Female A dashingly tall, gravid white-scaled lizard woman. Cesran 6'1" 185 Lb Human Male A tall dark-skinned man. -=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--= -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= NPCs of Note =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Little Fang, 'Lily' Kobold Female A pinkscale youngling in a parka, Cryo's daughter. -=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=
It's a cold, brilliant day, with a cloudless sky and an icy wind blowing from the northwest. Sheets of snow blow across more solid banks and drifts. In heavily traveled areas, there is muddy slush. Down by the river, ice grows from the banks but the centre is clear, as well as the path for the ferry.
Cryosanthia stands at the shore, in a winter dress that is white velvet with blue fur ruffs. She also has a cloak, with a large hood that works as a shelter for Little Fang, riding on her shoulders. The little pink kobold is wrapped up in a puffy winter coat and leaning against her neck.
Arcane sight would detect the auras of her regular magic gear, and at least one illusion spell active. She seems very svelt. She's also directing some dancing lights, positioning them over the river.
Cesran is traveling low so that he doesn't have to deal with the colder stronger winds as his carpet of flying. He doesn't seem bothered by the temperate at all though as he's making his way towards the Mitclan. His journey is cut short as he sees who he's looking for and directs his carpet over towards them. Cesran comes to a slow landing at the river's edge, "Peace on your nest Cryosanthia and Lily."
"Cesran! Hello. Peace on your Nest!" Cryo stops what she's doing and looks at the sky. The lights fade, as they vanish there's the briefest shimmer of an illusion that is only visible from her position. A structure built out onto the water, looking like a log lodge with decks and pools.
It's not a convincing illusion in any way, more a transparent coloured sheen that's suggestive. Her gloves are glowing, and slowly fading.
"Sssessrransss." Lily hisses happily, waving, and whispering to Cryo, "Sssnowballss."
"Soon, yes." The whitescale answers her, then approaches the landed carpet with careful steps.
Cesran says, "It is good to see you, I have news from the city. Eclavdran has been defeated, I was able to help Serene, Seldan and Verna destroy his very soul. He is no more with the help of Tanith and Mei, although Mei's whereabouts are unaccounted for. I also bring news of Aya, she is alive and she is in Charn. I've spoken to Ayria about this all ready and I have started to gather what information I could, although I'm looking for more leads. Ayria suggested that I come to you." Cesran says as he gives a smile to Lily and pretend not to hear about snowballs.
Ral'sara nods politely, "Peace on your nests, Cryosanthia and Lily.""
Some news is so startling it stops you in your tracks. Cryosanthia halts mid-step, her necking jerking tall, her eyes wide, jaw dropped. "He's dead?" She blinks, she did not hear wrong, "He's dead! Oh yes! Cesran! Thank you!"
There is a sudden embrace, and she feels a lot more substantial than she looks, her personal illusion disguising her condition. The hug is tight, with a squeeze and a deeply grateful repetition. "Thank you."
Her head bobs, "This one is so glad. I will have to thank the others, and news that Tanith is alive is wonderful. I'm not sure who Mei is, but the assistance is wonderful. Also, yes, I have something of Aya's."
She turns, twisting to look behind her, "Lily, come over." The kobold ends up in her arms, and Cryo opens her coat. There is a broach beneath, attached to Lily's leather dress. It's a skeletonized flower, with tiny gears that lets it open and close.
"This is Aya's. It was pinned to Lily when... I got her back. I had hopes she left it so we could rescue her." Her nose dips, she glances to the side, "I considered scrying her, but my last scry attempts on Salina or Eclavdran, someone died. She might be able to tell, and come attack."
"Peasssce on nessst," Lily stares at Ral-Sara.
Cesran blinks as he gets hugged again and he is obviously not used to being hugged, "I only helped, Seldan put his soul on the line as did Serene and Verna."
Ral'sara snorts, "You did too as did I."
Cesran gives an awkward hug back and gently pats Cryosanthia's shoulder, "I suppose we all did. Seldan is still at Soldier's Defense as far as I know." He ahs, "Mei is or was Eclavdran's son, he shared the same powers that the demon had, although when given a choice of consume or destroy he choose consume, Seldan, Serene, Verna, Ral'sara and I choose destroy. We tried to convince him to join us, but he did not."
He looks at the broach, "Yes I did come here for that, Ayria specifically mentioned that Lily had an item of Aya. With this and a half-used candle that Ayria had I hope that my next attempt at discern location will be stronger. If not I might have to gather others and do this as a ritual." Ral'sara smiles at Lily, "Thank you Lily." "Yes thank you for letting borrow this. I am going to use it to try to find where Aya is and hopefully rescue her." Cesran tells Lily.
Lily nods, and very carefully removes the broach. It takes her a few moments, it's a complex piece of jewelry. She seems adept though, and holds it out for Cesran to take. "Pleeasse, resscuess Tiass Ay-ayss." She stares at the mage until the broach is in his possession. After, she looks up at Cryo, "backs?"
"Yes," the whitescale answers quickly, "Your aunties passed you around while I was sick and sleeping, and you were sleeping, then I got you back when I was improving." She sets the kobold down, "Go make some snowballs! This one will join you soon."
The pink kobold gives her a suspicious look, but still runs up the bank and starts working on a pile at a drift.
'She doesn't remember', Cryo mouthes, when she's sure her youngling isn't looking. Clearly she doesn't want her to find out either. "Consume or destroy, what is the difference, exactly? Would it... strengthen Mei's bloodline and make him more powerful?"
"With Aya, if you need help with the ritual, I... I shouldn't, but I want to, to get her back. Magic should be fine. I can't fight. Well, if I had to, I could as a dragon that should be safe as long as I'm healed up before I switch back." Cryosanthia sighs, "I'd likely be more useful giving my magic items to Aryia to use. I have an amulet that lets me phase lock anything I hit. It would stop Aya getting away."
Cesran smiles as he takes it from Lily, "Thank you Lily I will take good care of this and hopefully I will be able to return this to you." He says as he takes out a clean handkerchief and gently wraps the broach in it before he puts it into one of his pouches. He smiles, "Yes I will join you in a moment as well."
Cesran watches Lily go play and he nods to Cryosanthia, "Consumed it could have turned Mei into something worse than Eclavdran. He could have been strong willed enough to make it out unscathed, with less danger to us, but there was a chance that Mei's will might not have been strong enough and instead he's be the one that lost. We rallied behind Seldan and were able to destroy him outright, it seemed like the safer option, although more risky for our own souls."
Cesran nods, "I've talked to Aryia about it, she fears she might not be strong enough to help, but I will let her know that you are willing to lend your amulet. Thank you for your offer of help if I need it I will be sure to call upon you. I hope we don't have to fight, but going to Charn is no light matter. I had to travel there recently to find out information on Eclavdran. There were a couple of tense moments, but I was able to get what I needed and make my way back. I'm hoping it will be a simple extraction."
"I hope so. I wouldn't want Aryia to fight her alone." Cryo glances to the side, checking on Lily, looks back, "I... this one will be nesting soon, very soon. If you make the attempt after, I could slip off the nest for a few hours. That is expected, if it was to teleport there and back."
She looks thoughtful, "this one would suggest a slow spell, charm, perhaps a hold or maze. Something to counteract her darkness power, a dimensional anchor of course, and the manacles that prevent teleporting. She has to be purged, or atone, there's a demon possessing her right? That's extra entrenched because it was voluntary?"
Her tail slowly cycles from side to side, she moves her hands in the air, down the sides of her front, tracing the invisible gravidity, "thank you for risking your souls and not dying. It's... it's a lot better than most of this one's encounters with him."
"Oh, Seldan shouldn't be in the Soldier's Defense." She adds unexpectedly.
"I wouldn't want to fight Aya alone either, I'm hoping that with Eclavdran dead that all he transformed would be put right and Aya is being held captive, but I'll be ready for a fight." Cesran nods, "I'll only call on you if I absolutely have to Cryosanthia, your well being and that of your child is important and I would not want to jeopardize either of those. Thank you for the spell suggestions. I don't know what state she is in, my hope is to get her out of Charn first and then we can deal with whatever has been done to her." He hmms, "Seldan might not still be there, that's just where we took him, he could have been moved back to the Temple of Eluna, but I'm not allowed in the Temple District as it's still closed off to the public as far as i know."
"They were the last time this one was there and I don't know why either." Cryo admits, automatically glancing in Lily's direction.
This was apparently the cue to throw, and a snowball arcs the whitescale's way. Cryo snorts with a laugh, her left hand flickering and her glove glowing. Mage Hand. She catches the snowball with it, then the arc is reversed.
"Magic no fairrrss!" Lily cries, ducking out of the way under cover.
"Thank you also for understanding. I don't want to stand on the sidelines but I have to pick and choose my battles." Cryo adjusts her cloak, runs a hand along one of her horns, checking that it's still there or some other nervous habit, "If she's held prisoner, well, they'll be people that could hold her prisoner. You'd be in for even more of a fight. I'm hopeful too, that grabbing her back, whatever lingers can be addressed here."
Cesran says, "At Soldier's Defense?" Cesran asks for clarification and he goes to scoop up some snow as well. He goes to toss it towards Lily as well. It's go no strength behind it, but it's pretty accurate.
"I understand it can be tough to sit on the side when you want to help. Perhaps you could asks the Shamans for me, the sith'makar's collective memory might know something that could help as your people have had dealings with Charn before in the past. Any information might be able to help us, of how to get in and out without being detected or secret entrances. Once I know more information I'll let you know." Cesran nods, "Perhaps, but I plan on asking Serene and Verna to go...Seldan too although he's a risk."
Lily ducks Cesran's snowball, then seems to get busy with something behind her snow lines. There's enough visible kobold horns or kobold tail that Cryo isn't concerned. The whitescale ends up facing slightly away from Cesran in a way that allows her to keep Lily in the corner of one eye, and the other one stares directly at the Mage. "I meant the temples were blocked off, but if Seldan is still at the Defense he should be moved. My former mistress killed everyone there, to make a point to him. It's not somewhere he would want to wake up. And yes, I'll speak with the shamans. I walked into Charn, down the coast. Things... things have really changed up in there."
The sith'makar stands tall, an adjustment in her posture, rocking her hips and bending her tail as she listens and stares out at the grey river water flowing by, thinking things over. "Anyhow, those all sound like good choices." She laughs suddenly and grins, her voice full of amusement. "Merek could help."
Cryo giggles, "They aren't friends. If you remember, Aya punched Merek in the Sea, then the other Aya punched Merek also. She just might not, even possessed by a demon, be able to resist going after him."
"It's wrong to use him as a target, but he's self-sacrificial enough he would, if you asked. He's got spells too," she chuckles a little, turns more serious, "he doesn't coordinate well with others though. How is Seldan a risk?"
Cesran ahs a bit, "I didn't know that, it happened while I was away researching on how to destroy Heth. I'll let Verna and Serene know that that he should be moved, they might not have known either." He keeps an eye out for whatever Lily is planning. "I will approach Merek then to see if he can help. You are right he's good in a tight spot. Seldan is the one that overheard Aya's deal with Eclavdran and not knowing the full deal still thinks that she gave herself over to Eclavdran to escape the pain of the Sea of Mana poisoning we all had." From afar, Aya laughs.
"I heard about that from Seldan and Zeke," Cryosanthia says, "too late and without details. They had warned me about her, but 'don't trust her just trust us' without context is difficult for me. This one wants to know why."
She sighs and exhales, a mist forming in front of her nose, her breath colder than the air briefly.
"Launch!" Lily cries, and suddenly there are half a dozen snowballs flying towards the adults.
"Ah! What!" Cryo ducks and dodges, one hand glowing to mage-hand a ball, but hit by two others. "Lily!"
"Trrapsss is fair!" The little pink kobold insists, and who could deny her.
The whitescale makes a chuff noise, "Of course Lily, of course." A glance at Cesran again, "I made Aya promise to tell me the truth, about a bunch of things, when I ask. This one may do so about that 'deal'. It's incredibly tainted of her, if that was her sole motivation. I've known others that were backed into deals with him."
Cesran moves to protect Ral'sara as the three hit him, "Ah you got me." He falls over into the snow leaving Ral'sara standing upright. He makes fake dying sounds as he lays motionless on the ground. "I shall talk with them and perhaps we can all talk together, Aryia believes there is good in Aya and I do as well. If you know others that were under his deal could you find out from them if they still feel the compulsion of those deals?"
"There Lily, you killed the Arch-Mage, now come over and loot his body!" Cryosanthia calls, dipping a horn towards Cesran. Her mouth is open in a wide grin as she watches her youngling scamper over. She has to bound to take steps as she sinks in the snow.
"This one knows Malik, Halani, Darius... perhaps Kira. I think Acedia, have them or had one. Mikilos had one, but Eclavdran killed him, which he thought might have ended it. Verna, and Serene, and Kira, encountered him, but he just killed them, no deal. There might have been more." She pulls at both horns this time, and simply stands there holding the tips, arching and stretching, "There were so many."
Lily arrives and jumps to her hands and knees beside Cesran, and whisper to him, "Only pretendsss lootingss."
Cesran listens and closes his eyes to act dead as he listens for Lily to come close to him. He frowns as sadness wells up inside of him that Eclavdran was allowed to kill so many. He gives a little nod that he heard her as he waits for Lily to start to search him. His eyes pop open and in dramatic fashion he goes to grab her, "Snow Zombie." He cries out as he goes to stand up and hold Lily up into the air, "Hungry for cute pink flesh." He starts to make nomming noises as he starts to tickle her.
"Yaaaaaaa!" Lily flails, lifted up, squirming like mad, then squealing at the pretend bites. She's two vigorous handfulls to hold onto, all limbs and a whipping tail.
Cryo grins as she watches, "I'm glad it's over. This one is really glad it's over. Thank you Cesran, for risking everything."
So she lets the snow-zombie have his meal.
"I'll try to get in touch. See if they feel compulsions still. I've got this wonderful scrying bowl. It's crazy, these last few weeks so many things started to make sense. I knew my mind was going to change a little bit, but I'm understanding a lot about magic. I might even figure out Mage's Private Sanctum if I see it a few more times."
Cesran pretends to eat Lily with some over exaggerated fake bites and he whispers to her, "Let's get you mama." He says as he winks at her before turning her towards Cryosanthia and setting her down, "Snow Zombies!" He calls out as he starts to advance towards Cryosanthia with a zombie shuffle, letting Lily lead the way. He grins, "You are welcome it's an honor to be able to use my magic to protect this city and the people in it. I have found both Scry and Mage's Private Sanctum to be very useful spells, although I needed a silver and gold mirror for mine."
"Noooo Snombies!" Cryo calls, backing up slowly with much swishing of tail. A step away from Lily, a step away from Cesran, matching their snow-shamble. "I have a silver and Ivory mirror bowl, with my name on it, and my arcane mark, and snowflakes and a white dragon. It's gorgeous."
There is a child-like glee in her voice as she describes it. She laughs, shaking her head, "I was using it to check up on my friends. I caught Braelnoir smoking salmon and a hookah, trying to polymorph herself. Ah..." she sighs, "I guess I am selfish and don't respect privacy. There are likely better uses. She needed a rescue though, so it worked out."
"Rawwrrr" Lily leaps the last few feet. Cryo blocks with her tail, and now has a rider on it. She actually moves with better balance this way, backing from Cesran.
Cesran chuckles as he lets Lily be the snow zombie, "It sounds lovely. I wouldn't use it to check on me you'll just be wasting a spell. I'm going to continue to cast Mind Blank on myself every morning. The advantages are hard to deny, but you should respect other's privacies. It worked out that time, but you may see something you can't unsee." He brushes the snows off of his robes, "I'm afraid that I have to head back into the city. It was good to see both of you." He says as he extends his hand and the staff slides over into it. "I'll try to keep you updated on any information that I find."
"Of course, please do." Cryosanthia says, lifting Lily up so she can gnaw on her neck. She swirls her hips, adjusting her posture and straightening, "This one will strive to be available, whatever my state. I owe it to Aya."
Her head turns, "We owe her, and she needs her auntie and I need my Egg-Watcher."
"Is Mind-Blank like a Mind-Shielding ring? I'll research it, since there are advantages." The whitescale shrugs a little with a smile, "this one has seen a lot I can't unsee. That iceberg is a big one. Thank you again for visiting with such good news! Yes."
She tightens a fist in victory. Her mistress freed and her hold over her released, and now the Demon Duke down. It is good.
