Return to the Mountain

GAME: Telamon casts Mage Armor. Caster Level: 19 DC: 19
GAME: Telamon casts Overland Flight. Caster Level: 19 DC: 23
GAME: Ravenstongue casts Mage Armor. Caster Level: 17 DC: 19
GAME: Telamon casts Mind Blank. Caster Level: 19 DC: 26
GAME: Ravenstongue casts Overland Flight. Caster Level: 17 DC: 23
GAME: Telamon casts Floating Disk. Caster Level: 19 DC: 19
GAME: Ravenstongue casts Mind Blank. Caster Level: 17 DC: 26
GAME: Telamon casts Gate. Caster Level: 19 DC: 27

The spell that Telamon casts takes you directly to Quelynos. The sky is stuck forever in this part of that strange world sometime in the middle of the day. It's warm, but not overly warm. There's trees growing up all around you, but you can tell by the rocky ground that you are on a mountain. As if the sight of the massive mountain itself before you was not indication enough. The trees obscure some of it from view but where you've arrived you find that they are already starting to clear somewhat as the rocky terrain becomes too much for their roots to find purchase in.

It's a beautiful place, but there's a feeling of being watched. A feeling of eyes everywhere. For all that it's a beautiful location, that sensation makes it one that one has little desire to linger in.

As used as Seldan is to planar travel, there are some things that one never does get used to. Gates, for instance, and teleportation. Once he steps through, he staggers, then straightens and shakes his head to clear it before looking around to get his bearings. As is so often his wont, he has chosen to glamor the armor he wears to more closely resemble a set of well-used soldier's armor rather than the ornate and eye-catching sheen of its true form, well-cared for but with scratches that suggest long use and appearing to be of ordinary steel. The rest of him is equally dressed down, the hood of his twin cloaks pulled up over his head, the inner of silk and the outer of warm, waxed gray wool such as any traveler might wear.

He'd been surprised at the mention of a trip to Quelynos, his eyebrows shooting into his hairline, and looked like he'd been about to ask questions. He shut his lips on those, though, and merely nodded, but had instantly taken on a reserved quietude as they traveled.

Telamon is the last to pass through, after the others, the ring of starlight diminishing and closing behind him as he passes through along with a floating disk laden heavily with fish from the autumn season's catch. His starry eyes glimmer with distant light, as he looks around, the eternal... spring, perhaps? Still present here, at least in this part of Quelynos.

He takes a deep breath, slow and easy, sensing those watchful eyes. Wondering. "Hello, Tanith," he says softly. "I'm sorry I took so long to visit. Are you taking visitors? I brought friends -- and fish." Clearly, Tel knows his audience and is not above pandering to Tanith's tastes. His eyes sweep the mountain, looking for the cave entrance they found last time.

She is here. It's a place that feels as natural as breathing to her, a place that feels like a home-beyond-home, a place-beyond-rest, where one day she will retire and live out the rest of her years here in this plane. It's a calling for Cor'lana, a yearning for those times to come yet, that sits at the bottom of her heart and dwells there.

But dressed in her adventurer's robes, cloak, and other accouterments, the sorceress realizes that this is not the purpose of her visit quite clearly. It's important to have intent crystal-clear when one walks in Quelynos. Otherwise, a heart wandering may find the feet wandering.

"Tanith," she says softly, a firm resolve to see her again in her heart. "We are here to meet you again, dear friend."

GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Perception: (5)+21: 26
GAME: Seldan rolls perception: (7)+25: 32
GAME: Telamon rolls perception: (16)+25: 41
GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Perception: (5)+21: 26

The cave is not difficult to find, but it's a bit of a climb, and one does have to leave the 'safety' of the forest to reach it. The cave is huge, with towering stalactites and stalagmites within that gives it the ominous feeling of being the maw of some monstrous beast.

As Seldan well knows, there is no such thing as true _safety_ when traveling the planes, and thus leaving the forest for the cave changes nothing. A climb is of little concern to the paladin, and a swift summoning of mighty, feathered wings to aid him only speeds up the process. They melt away once he has reached the mouth of the cave, and he looks up, and around him, uncertainly. He makes no move, however, to ask questions, or really even to speak, only stills himself, tuning his senses to what lies ahead.

Telamon pauses, before nodding. "Just as before." He furrows his brow, listening for the distant voices, but he can't make it out; what they’re saying -- the acoustics being what they are here. "I do hope she's here, I'd hate to have come here and find out she's stepped out for a cup of tea or something..." He sounds like he's worried a friend down the street might not be at home, instead of paying a visit to a deific servant of the Dreamer.

Dressed in his casual adventuring garments, the half-sil leads the way, brushing back his hair in a bit of a nervous motion. "Here, hold on... I can see in here, but you two probably not..." He gestures, and a glimmer of light appears on one of his rings, shining softly. As they advance, he remarks, "I don't know if you saw him or not, but there was a fellow in gray watching us out there. He was here last time, just monitoring us. Didn't do anything."

Cor'lana remembers, all the way back then, what the voice in the cave said when they came to visit. The words roll around in her mouth but go unsaid for the moment as she flies with Seldan on magic-spun blue-violet wings of her own, a consequence of the spell she'd cast on herself before going through the Gate.

Once inside the cave, finally, she speaks, waiting for the voice before she does. "We love you," she says. "We're coming for a visit."

The only way forward is into the cave itself down, and down into the long dark lit by Telamon's light. There's a sense of time passing as you follow this path. A sense of wandering. Not just for days but for a long, long time. As if it takes months though there is no need to sleep, eat, or do anything else that one might need to do over the course of such time. The only thing that allows you to tell how much time that has passed is the need to rejuvenate the light from time to time.

Eventually the walls and the ceiling fall away however and Telamon and Cor'lana know that they've reached the location when they spy the fountain that has a lone man with an empty fishing line fishing in it spouting the same words over and over. "We love you Tanith!"

Telemon's spell of light dies out just as they reach this point, and needs to be rejuvenated, and in the bloom of new light it is not difficult to spy that which they have come for. Tanith lays here in all her glory, a monstrously sized Tanith. Asleep, but sized so that even asleep she fills one with a sense of awe and a lack of perspective. There's a full castle somewhere near one of her paws that looks no larger to your eyes than an ants home. It seems made of obsidian and rotates continuously. There's gold and obsidian everywhere. Enough to make a small city carved from precious materials. And that's only what you can see by the light.

GAME: Telamon rolls Will+3: (13)+19+3: 35
GAME: Seldan rolls will: (5)+34: 39
GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Will: (8)+19: 27

The path winds downward and onward. His companions seem to know what they are about, and thus he alone of the three of them treads in relative silence. The fountain is a curiosity, and yet -

And then, _she_ appears. In that moment, it crystallizes in Seldan's mind, what they had known that he did not. How they came to learn of this, it does not occur to him to ask, but the familiar tiny form with the giant appetite, when considered in the light of _this_ -

_Oh._

Without thinking, without looking, he drops to one armored knee before the mighty creature, head bowed. _This is the -real- Tanithariairisixchel, and the friend I know is but an avatar. Much is explained._

Telamon has seen this before. Seen the majestic, almost mind-numbing scale of the dragon-servant of Ni'essa. And it still makes him rock back on his heels a bit. A bit impishly, he wonders, . o O (Does anyone -live- in that castle? What keeps it rotating?) Still, his curiosity will have to wait until later, and he smiles at the vast dragon. "Hello, Tanithariairisixchel," he says softly. "It's good to see you again."

Carefully, he nudges a somewhat clear spot, not wanting to put his knees down on obsidian, before settling himself down. "Do you have some time?" he says, addressing the titan. "I brought fish."

It takes a moment. Cor'lana has to remember how to breathe when she beholds Tanith, and she gives a light smile to Seldan dropping one knee before the dragon. She could have warned him, could have told him--but this is her, and sometimes it's better to let her do the talking all on her own.

Her husband sits down, and she follows suit. It doesn't do to be the only one standing, after all. "_We_ brought fish," she adds in clarification, already reaching for her bag that's stuffed to--well, the gills--with fish aplenty. It smells, and it likely will continue to smell, and Pothy will be so sad he missed out on fish later, but that's a small price to pay.

There's a long moment's wait and then a soft soundless 'pop' as the tiny dragon that they know and have befriended appears before the monolithic beast that she actually is. She weaves in the air, looking at the kneeling people before her and dipping a little. She seems... almost disheartened? She lands neatly on a small statue which seems to be made of obsidian. It's a rather small thing, but it is clear that someone had carved it into a likeness of her. "Peoples?" She inquires softly, tail curling over her paws and then eyeing the fish that Cor'lana is offering she wiggles once. Like a cat eyeing a slow-moving bug across the floor. "Fish?"

Without reason or warning every trace of fish is gone. Every one of them is vanished without a trace and behind Tanith the giant body that is her in truth makes a sound that is so deep and loud that it makes the bones ache. She giggles in response.

If nothing else, it's the giggle that makes Seldan look up, and brings him back to his senses. Now _that_ is something he knows, and it brings the usual very small smile to his boyish features. He stands, slowly, and pulls something from his beltpouch. "Her light upon your path, little one. I have also brought fish, and yet did another thing come to mind."

He reveals the thing in his hand - it appears to be a small, carved, elongated golden dragon with folded wings and ruby-red eyes, of an appropriate size and shape to be jewelry. In fact, the way it is curved, it looks as though it would fit over an ear. This, he holds out to her. "I believe that I once denied you this, but in truth is it rightfully yours."

The floating disk next to Telamon actually bobs a bit in the air as its burden is suddenly removed, and Telamon glances back at it, startled. Then he looks at Tanith, and he smiles at her giggle. "Clever lady," he says with a grin. He opens his arms, a clear gesture that Tanith can swarm up into his lap if she likes.

At Seldan's offer, his eyebrows shoot up with interest, particularly at the bit of jewelry. But... then, if it is hers, then so be it. "I hope you're doing well, Tanith."

Cor'lana's fish is removed in due course, and she smiles widely as the smaller Tanith appears. "Hi, Tanith!" she greets in more of her traditional fashion. It's much easier to treat her the way she always has when tiny Tanith--Tinyth?--is about. She even stands up to regard the little Tanith with her violet eyes.

"You should take Telamon's lap; it's comfortable. I should know." There's a bit of mischief in Lana's eyes. It's easier for her to be playful like this when she's in Quelynos. Something about the wilds and the energy of the plane prompt her to come out of her shell more.

Tanith peers at Seldan a moment, but when he pulls out the earring she brightens considerably. "YOU REMEMBERED!" She exclaims, just like a small child being told that they can _finally_ have the treat that they've been waiting so patiently for. She snags the little piece of jewelry from his fingers and nuzzles his fingertips. "Such good peoples!"

Her praise has her beaming at him and she seems rather pleased with herself when Telamon calls her 'clever'. He holds his hands out for her and she simply appears in his lap, head-butting his chest gently and letting out a low rumble of approval. "Very soft!" She says in approval. Possibly to Cor'lana. Her golden eyes are alight with pleasure. "Peoples came such a long way for a visit! It's good to see peoples!"

Seldan's earring is dangling from her horn now.

Seldan's quiet chuckle escapes him as she takes it from him and nuzzles his fingertips. "I did indeed -" He pauses a moment, as if uncertain, but settles finally on, "my lady." He turns to watch her and Telamon, his arms crossing across his chest, the smile fading. "It is well to see you well." The boyish smile he wears at watching the earring dangle from her horn wars with a more serious expression that says that he's thinking about things that aren't all fun and games.

Telamon enfolds Tanith in his arms, letting her cuddle up to him. "We did. But what's the point of mastering magic if you can't use it to visit friends or help them?" He strokes her back, scritching behind the ears, and he grins at the earring dangling from her horn. "Quite the fashion statement there."

He looks over Tanith's head at Lana and Seldan, smiling genuinely. Yes, there's wonder in his eyes, but also a happiness, the knowledge that friends remain friends. "I told you that you'd always been welcome in the house of Lupecyll-Atlon, and that hasn't changed either."

"You look lovely as always, Tanith," Cor'lana adds to the compliment regarding her new accessory. "Of course we came to visit. Pothy misses you." Which was true; the bird remarked that the house was a lot more quiet with Tanith not there all the time. Granted, the bird had also gone on to tease Cor'lana saying the house would be a lot louder with a werewolf baby in residence...

Cor'lana smiles despite the fact her eye nearly twitches at the thought of Pothy being a pain of a little brother. "We do come with some things in mind to discuss," she adds. "Telamon? Seldan? Care to lead on this dance?"

Tanith eyes Seldan with one golden eye. "Lady?" She sounds curious and somewhat incredulous, but she only shakes her head a the word. She lets Telamon give her the petting that she clearly feels is well deserved, and shows off her best attributes. Namely her lovely tail. Everyone knows that a tail is a dragons best thing. Earring or no earring. Though she tilts her head so that her new accessory shines. Because she can make it look even better. The complements might be going to her tiny little head.

"I should come visit peoples more! More fish!" She flashes her teeth and tilts her head at Cor'lana. "Peoples want to talk? I love to talk!"

Oh no. She talks so fast already, maybe encouraging her to talk faster is a bad idea. "Are we dancing? Or talking?"

The cue is provided, and Seldan merely inclines his head, a gesture that somehow manages to be a polite apology. He'll have to figure out later what to call her, but she does not seem to take well to titles. This is not the first being he has known of whom that is true. "Talking, Tanithariairisixchel, for I seek a thing, and have few others to whom I might turn. It may be that you know not, but aught that you may offer will aid us. I seek the lost Star of Tears." He begins with just that.

Telamon continues to soothe Tanith, petting her as she so clearly deserves. It's like handling a cat, really. "We know things are transpiring on Ea that probably do not make Ni'essa happy," he says with a bit of a frown. "We want to find the truth, and set things right." He tilts his head, looking down at the little dragon. "I am her servant. I am also your friend, and by default, her friend as well. I do things to help friends, even though they may be difficult. This is no different."

Cor'lana is more than content to let Telamon and Seldan lead the discussion on this one, and she sits back down next to Telamon to also aid in the Tanith-petting. Her hands are used to finding favored scritching-spots on some animals, such as Pothy, or Dolan's cats (even if he insists they're his wife's cats), or Auranar's cat. Or their neighbors with Derry, the dog, who was once a sweet little puppy but is quite big now.

She looks like she wants to add onto Telamon's train of thought there, but she knows that distracting Tanith means you might never get her back on track. Not without some effort, at least. "Seldan's quest is important," she adds finally. It helps to reinforce the track, at least.

Tanith listens intently, then makes herself comfortable. Sitting on Telamon's lap like nothing so much as a very scaled cat. "It was taken." She says this very seriously, and with no small note of unhappiness. Then she perks up. "Peoples find? Peoples bring back?"

"Even so, my friend." After some fumbling, a cue seems to have offered Seldan a working mode of address for the little gold dragon. "That is what I mean to do, and learn more of the one who took it. I wish to know who took it, and to find it and bring it back. Know you who took it, or where it might be?"

Through all of this, Seldan has barely moved from that cross-armed pose, the smile having faded entirely.

"By that, I assume the Sky-Singer did not loan it out." Telamon offers a wry smile. "Stranger things have happened. But yes. We would like to find it and return it." He pauses. "Suddenly, I find myself wishing an acquaintance was here. He has a knack for this sort of thing... not really important though."

"Everyone has enemies, unfortunately. Ni'essa included. But I've learned not to jump to conclusions too quickly."

"We would like to find it and take it back, yes, but we need to know who took it and where," Lana adds in agreement with Seldan as she runs a finger underneath Tanith's maw for some chin-scritches. The little dragon is getting some prime attention now, especially as Lana starts slow and gentle and works her way up, should Tanith enjoy the chin-scritches.

"It was _taken_." Tanith confirms. "By a _thief_." If there is one thing that is known about dragons is that they have little love of thieves. It seems that Tanith is no different in this regard. She ducks her head somewhat. "I-do-not-know-who."

This is a properly miserable response. At least until Cor'lana offers chin-scritches and then she perks up a little. "Only She could go where it was. But She did not take it! It must have been a very, very good thief." She looks at the others with uncertain gaze. "I know where it _is_ but I can not _get_ it."

How one could manage to stop someone who can move around from place to place like Tanith can when she chooses to is a question indeed.

"Is it that you cannot go to the place, or that you cannot pick it up?" Seldan's words are gentle, and at length, he seats himself among the coins, cross-legged as if in a meditative pose. He, too, seems to know well to keep things simple with Tanith, and ask only one question at a time. His tones remain steady, even, quiet, and patient, and he removes his gauntlets, setting them down in his lap in the way of one meaning to stay for a time.

Telamon's eyebrows shoot up and he gives Seldan a quick nod of appreciation. There is a difference, after all -- although one wonders about the nature of the Star that Tanith can't pick it up. Still... he keeps quiet, letting this question -- an important one -- percolate. In the meantime, he keeps petting Tanith to help her remain calm.

"Or has someone done something to the place where the Star is, or to the Star itself, that means you cannot pick it up?" Cor'lana asks, moving down from chin-scritches to the broader strokes of the neck and chest. Cats don't like to be pet in one place overlong, she's noticed. They tend to get bitey, claw-swatty, or both if they're annoyed, and variety is the spice of life. Unless, of course, one asks Pothy.

Tanith considers this a moment before explaining carefully. "I can pick it up, but peoples..." She shakes her head. "Very dangerous. But I can not _get_ it. Every-time I go they move it! And the place does not like me." She mopes now, rubbing her cheek against Cor'lana's hand and sounding absolutely depressed. "I can not get in all on my own. I have tried but I can not."

She looks at the people very curiously, with a small droplet of hope in her golden eyes. "Can you go? Take me to the place and get it? I will help!"

Although Seldan does not smile, warm, deep affection and gratitude, along with no small amount of sympathy, light the ice blue eyes. "Together shall we conquer the impossible, Tanithariairisixchel, as we have done before, and shall again. We stand not alone," he reminds her gently. "I shall go with you. On what plane is it hidden, so that we may be prepared for its dangers?" Not one shred of hesitation lies within that offer, at any point.

Something intangible passes between Telamon and Cor'lana, but the half-sil smiles, resting his hand on Tanith's head. "I can get you there. To me, distance is something that other people have to deal with." His eyes twinkle. "After all, I brought Cor'lana and Sir Seldan here. Where would you have me take you?"

"I would accompany my husband and Seldan as well," Cor'lana adds with a soft smile after something passes between herself and Telamon. "Can you tell us more about the dangerous peoples? What they look like, what powers and abilities they have?" It's more information, after all.

She happily tends to Tanith's cheek, trying to lift that little rain-cloud that had fallen on the little dragon's features. After all, Tanith herself is such a golden little sun that she cannot help but think anything so stormy is such an ill-fitting match for their little friend.

"Back." Tanith says with determination. "We must go to Castle Vadumisa. That is what the peoples call it. The place of the thief. We must go in secret and in stealth! So that they do not know that we are going and move what we are looking for." Her eyes shine with her force of will. A powerful thing for such a small creature, but they know her truth. "Call me by name when you are ready, and I will come and we will go. I will help!"

GAME: Seldan rolls wisdom: (19)+5: 24
GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Knowledge/Nobility: (4)+10: 14
GAME: Telamon rolls knowledge/nobility: (8)+13: 21

Seldan quickly draws in a breath, and straightens where he sits. "The Griever," he breathes. "It may be that I, and I alone, can get us in there undetected." A stealthy paladin? But, he seems confident, and begins to pull his gauntlets back on. "Castle Vadumisa is among the Griever's strongholds. It is also unstable magically, among the worst spots noted on Lady Belvade's map. I would have us rely, as much as we may, upon mundane disguise, but it is in my mind that the time has come to call upon Caeldra and Menesil, for their aid."

His eyes lower, to the gold on which he sits, and he stares off into the distance.

Telamon narrows his eyes. "I heard of this. The nobile family that owned Castle Vadumisa was killed by..." And then Seldan says the name, and his gaze flicks to the knight. "... Well, hells. And magically unstable, too? That sounds doubly unpleasant." He takes a deep breath. "Well, my word is not casually given. Nor do I take it back when the going gets tough."

"If I may ask, Sir Seldan, who are Caeldra and Menesil?"

"Caeldra and Menesil--" Cor'lana's eyes widen as she remembers those names, and her other hand goes to take Telamon's arm. "They are--Caeldra Dawncaller was one of the Dawncallers who fought over the first world tree. She was the genesis of your father's people, the llyranesi. Her brother, Menesil, was the first of the shadow elves. Caeldra was--is--the Veil that protected Llyranost."

She takes a deep breath. "To invoke them... Yes, this is the stuff of legends. But such is necessary to retrieve the Star of Tears."

Tanith puts her head on her paws, saying nothing. Which in of itself might well speak volumes. She, it seems. Has said and done her part.

"That selfsame Veil - both Caeldra and Menesil - now shield the mul'niessa from the wrath of Taara," Seldan goes on, his gaze lifting to regard them both soberly. "It is for this reason that I am likely to be slain on sight, do I venture near the kingdom of Llyranost, and for this reason do I avoid Mithralla to the extent that I may. To few do I speak of this tale, but - it was I who lifted Caeldra and took her from Llyranost, where she was being held against her will."

"I asked of her a favor, and she and Menesil both have pledged to me their aid. Not lightly do I invoke that, and it was in my mind to invoke it only when I moved against the Griever himself."

Telamon looks thunderstruck. "Wait, you mean -- the Firstborn? And--" His eyes shift to Lana, his eyes wide. "-That- was the Veil? I had known the Veil was more than just some obdurate effect, and that was why you had taken steps to remove it, Sir Seldan. But for Llyranost to -use- the essence of their very founder in such a way..." He actually sags back a bit, his hands frozen.

"...Gods." He heaves a deep sigh, looking at Lana. "You know my family can trace its way all the way back to our founder, the first of our line -- the elf known as Tel. He was supposedly born of Caeldra, though... you know how it is. Story becomes myth, myth becomes legend. Still..." His eyes flick back to Seldan. "Our concern now is to seize the Star from this Griever. Whelm whatever allies we need. A god's weapon does not need to be wandering around Ea."

"It was a person," Cor'lana says softly, somberly, almost mournfully. She knows well what it's like to be trapped in a cage, unable to leave, nowhere to go.

(Winter came...)

She takes a breath and she looks at Telamon, nodding more solidly. "We will not repeat their mistakes, Telamon," she says. "We will not repeat their injustices or the atrocities they committed. You told me yourself--we are writing a kinder story for our family."

Her hand gently rubs Telamon's arm in a soothing gesture before she looks at Seldan, violet eyes on her friend in a serious fashion. "We will gather our allies. We will take back what is stolen. The Griever will have his plaything no longer--for it is no toy nor is it his to have by _right_."

"No cages." Tanith mutters sleepily, but with ferocity.

"_She_," Seldan supplies gently, but firmly, and with just a hint of ice beneath his tone. "The llyranesi were holding the soul of Caeldra Dawncaller against her will, forcing it to remain and hide their lands from the outside." His gaze, too, drifts into the distance, but he exhales, and the gaze returns, both to them and to the present. "Let us draw our plans, and move as swiftly and silently as we may. Speak to no more of this task than you must. The Griever has spies, and does he find any of us, the God's Eye will see to it that he sees all of us, and we shall have little more success than Tanith."

His gaze drifts back into the distance, and the ice returns to his tone. "It is likely that the Griever had a hand in slaying Animus, and he pursues the faithful of Taara. It is in my mind that he means to see all three gods, and thus, magic itself, destroyed." _You will rue the day you crossed me, Griever,_ is unspoken in the cold fury of the words.

-End