Lament of Vilarus (Part 9)

Vilarus's Retreat, midday (?)

Time can be a strange, malleable thing. Wonderful days flit by; days of drudgery seem to last an eternity. But Anya's puzzlement over her situation gradually fades into grief. "He's... dead?" Beside her, the Guardian freezes, then lets out a soft, mournful moan -- a mirror of the one that the party heard a few days ago. Carefully, she takes the speakstone from Corey with trembling fingers, activating it. The image springs to life, reciting the last words of the Archmage.

And then the tears flow, silent and shocked. Anya grips the speakstone in her hand. After several moments, she tries to pull herself together. Her eyes go from one person to the next. Then she looks at Guardian, opens her mouth... then just bites her lip. As if knowing the simple-minded mountain of ooze wouldn't grasp the question she wants to ask. "Guardian," she says, her voice shaking a bit. "Return to your duties. I'll call you if I need you." The shoggoth shivers a bit, and curls a pseudopod around Anya in possibly the weirdest hug in planar history, before it slips back into the water.

"I want to see him," Anya says, once the Guardian has vanished. "I... I need to know."

Carver relaxes slightly as the Guardian retreats to its dark waters, not understanding a whit of the conversation had between the rescued maiden and the rest of the party. Instead, she turns and walks a few steps back to Deathless, climbing effortlessly into mount and hitches bow to saddle. She is usually pleased to have to use her weapons, but against that thing?

She's very happy to put it down.

Karasu nods to the woman, understanding her reluctance to merely accept the truth. He would not have accepted the word of mere strangers as to the death of someone he knew far more casually than it seems that she knew the mage who had given his life for hers. "This can be done."

He leaves the questioning portion to Cor'ethil, and the others, assuming they care to question the woman. He for his part starts to make his way slowly away from the edge of the water. Murder can't understand the words the woman says, but she does understand the tears when they flow. She moves to offer a pat on the woman's arm.

When the Guardian heads back into the water, the Goblin offers it a wave.

"What is it that she wants to do?", she wonders of Karasu and Corey.

"We understand," Magpie says quietly in the Sildanyari tongue, eyes brimming with tears. "We didn't move him... He's back at the house."

Though she does reach up to offer a hand, it doesn't *have* to be taken; it is left to Anya if she wants to accept the gesture of comfort from a stranger, and she follows the others in their sad procession to the house. "If you want... time with him, just... let us know?"

Cor'ethil's eyes are gentle things, nodding to Karasu's statement. "What my nightingale says is true," he says. "But before we go, I want to prepare you for what you're going to see. He's been gone for a long time. The body's lost a lot of moisture. He doesn't look like the man you knew in life. We can give you some privacy once we're there. I'd be happy to go in with you if you want someone to talk to."

He remembers his training well. Some people want to say goodbye. And some of them think they do until they see their beloved deceased, and something flips and... they need to be consoled. "We'll be just outside if you need us, either way, okay?"

Anya almost flinches at what Corey and Karasu are saying, but to her credit, she refuses to bend. "I still need to see him." At Murder's pat, she tries to smile, but the goblin's words leave her looking puzzled.

The procession back to Vilarus's residence is a sad one, broken by Anya pointing out where things were supposed to be as well as why the retreat had been built. "Vil... Master Vilarus didn't think much of the Kulthian ideology. Worse, there was a push to restrict or ban the practice of magic -- the governor of the Estanian provinces actually banned wizardry in favor of artifice." She wipes her eyes. "He was building a safehouse, really, not just a retreat. Some place where the art of magic could be preserved." She blinks in surprise at the sight of the stone golem sprawled in the road, but the procession continues into the house.

In the parlor, the group comes to a stop, and Anya's eyes land on the skeleton lying there on the couch. Her eyes grow as wide as saucers, and she grabs the doorjamb to keep from falling. "Oh, gods," she whispers. "Oh gods, Vil, I should've... should've been here..." Slowly, she makes her way to the skeleton, before dropping to her knees next to it. "How long?" she asks, though it's unclear who she's asking.

"About a thousand years, give or take." Karasu says smoothly, his expression isn't as kind and as gentle as that of the others. The bones don't move him with their expression of mortality, and he is unmoved by her grief as well. Both things are simply... not things that move him. He has given up many things in his life, and the ability to feel strongly for another person is one such thing. "Though we can not be precise in our estimation. Your master would be pleased to know that magic has survived well however."

The Goblin simply walks along with her hands up behind her head, whistling to herself. She eyes Anya curiously, though the apprentice's words fall on deaf ears.

"Oh. We're showing her the body. Uhm. You might want to..." Murder gestures. "Yeah, you know, maybe warn her or something? But what do I know?" Another pat is done, this time to Anya's shoulder since she's closer to the ground.

"I'm sorry that it turned out this way.", she says, before turning and heading out of the residence.

Carver remains outside with Deathless. Her words are just sounds, meaningless little things meant to comfort. She may as well do a funny jig to ease the mourning process. Time better spent to purpose, keeping a steady watch for further threats and hoping none materialize. Murder coming out earlier warrants a lifted brow at the tiny rage mountain.

Corey comes to kneel on the ground by Anya. He remains by Anya's side as he continues to speak in Sildanyari.

"Karasu is right. Magic has changed." Cor'ethil gestures briefly to Magpie. "My friend Magpie would be able to tell you all the formulas and such that have changed in favor of newer discoveries. They've found new ways to tap into the Sea of Mana. There's all sorts of great and wonderful magical research going on... And he wanted you to see all of it for yourself."

He smiles. "If you want to, that is. The world is wide and open and free, like the White Stag that runs through the forest, free and overlooking his domain."

"Not just survived," Magpie says on Karasu's heels, "thrived, even. Artifice is coming back, a little, but even though we don't know *much* about Kulthus... what we do know is *definitely* a lesson well learned."

Her eyes travel from Anya to Vilarus, and she looses a long sigh. "...I really, really wish he could've seen it... but he was right. You *were* his treasure, and I hope he can at least rest easier knowing you'll have a place in the world he left for you."

Tears run down the girl's cheeks once again, striking the faded carpet, the timeworn robes... the bones of her mentor. "He always said he wanted me to spread my wings once I was done." Anya looks up at Corey. "I loved him. I always did. I think all his students did."

Her eyes go back to the skeleton, the bones of a bygone age. Gently, she slips her fingers along one bony hand, held together perhaps only by the last wish of the archmage. Carefully, she removes a simple gold band from a skeletal finger. "Sleep here for a while, Vil," she says softly. "When I'm strong enough... I'll come back to you."

Deliberately, she slips on the band -- and the ring changes, shifting from the simple gold band to an elaborate gold ring with an emerald set in it. The stone glows softly, as Anya stands up leaning on Corey a bit. "The ring," she explains, "would only respond if I was his heir. It'll lead me back here, in time. When I'm ready." Her eyes move from Corey, to Karasu, to Magpie. "Where are you from? I... guess I'll need to start somewhere, if I'm going to start over."

"A place called Alexandria." Karasu is not certain that it existed a thousand years ago. He nods once. "Outsiders are welcome there. So you will be as well. Certainly you might well teach historical events to those who wish to learn from you." He looks at the corpse and motions toward the door. "We can leave whenever you are ready."

"I think you give Telamon a little too much credit," Carver says. "He strikes me as a wise man but no one could truly know what secrets this place could hold. It feels... eerily out of time. I think, maybe, it is simpler than that. He has a thirst to learn as much as he can so that he may BE that wise man." She clucks her tongue at Deathless, her horse's ears flicking curiously as they wait for the others.

"Trusted you and some of the others would find out the truth of this place because he is that wise man."

"I was born in Llyranost," Cor'ethil says with a further smile. "But I live with Karasu near a city called Alexandria. It's a wonderful place of opportunity. And food. And people. _Many_ people, who are kind, and surly, and gentle, and a little mean, and everything in between, like the people you remember."

He holds a hand out for Anya to take, if she'd like it. "And if you don't like Alexandria much? There's plenty more cities. Like Bryn Myridorn in Myrddion is a nice place, too."

"There's a university of magic," Magpie says quietly. "If you still want to study, and learn all the little changes... You'd have *dozens* of fellow students to learn alongside. Alexandria's... well if you're interested in things, probably there's already at least a dozen people who'd love to have one more in their group. Something for almost literally everyone, there."

Magpie scratches at the back of her neck for a moment, then offers a smile. "But better to see it yourself, than just hear about it. When you're ready... we'll take you there."

And with that, and little else to properly offer the poor apprentice out of time, she heads out to join Murder and Carver.

"She just... wanted to say goodbye, y'know?" she says to the two. "It was a thousand years for us, but it was this morning for her."

"I have some catching up to do, I suppose." Anya looks around her, the worn furnishings. Maybe someday... but for now, she has a new path to travel. "Let me collect a few things."

Once that's done, the group reassembles outside. Anya glances at the heavy ring on her hand, before saying experimentally, "Um. Hello? Can you understand me now?" Apparently the ring has an enchantment similar to that found on the constructs, translating her words. "I'm... sorry if I wasn't grateful earlier. Thank you for finding me, and... Vil. But... I don't think I can stay here." She smiles a bit sadly. "If nothing else, there's no food to be had. Maybe someday I can come back, restore it. The Guardian will keep an eye on things until then."

The Goblin grins toothily. "No, I give Telemon just enough credit. He sent us because he trusts us, sure. But also because he believed the place to be mostly benign... If he believed the danger was great, he'd have come with us. But I think he knew what we'd find. Or maybe, he hoped."

As Magpie steps out, Murder nods. "Yeah, figured. It's obviously a shock to the system. I woulda let her have those speaking stones first, and not let her see the body right off. A bit much in my books." She shrugs.

"I guess we'll find out what she wants to do shortly."

Karasu shakes his head at Anya. "You have no need to be grateful to us. We came to ensure that this place was safe, and it seems that it is safe enough now." He still is uncertain what Lancet saw that upset her so much, but... Perhaps it was some extraplanar creature that came and went. It is more important now to return Anya to the world of the living. "The exit is not far, but we may have to wait some time for a portal to open."

Carver shrugs, turning as they are joined first by Magpie. "Mm. A difficult morning to be sure."

Shortly then by the rest, with the rescued apprentice's words now making sense to her crude Dranish ears. She glimpses briefly to the new ring. "I do have a question. How did your master come to hold a contract with a Shoggoroth?"

"You were just waking up." Corey is being quite cheerful to Anya's remark on gratitude. "I've never known a person to wake up from a long nap--or stasis--immediately with words of gratitude on their lips." He rather pointedly is avoiding the 'thank you' phrase. Being raised by a former assassin of a fae queen does that to a boy. "Animals certainly don't. Sometimes Karasu sees me come back from service at the Temple sporting a few new clawmarks for my troubles."

He grins at Karasu, knowing his husband will be a little pouty about that remark. But then comes Carver's question, and Corey nods. "I'd actually like to know that, too. At the very least so I have a fun story to tell my twin sister later."

"Perfect!" Magpie says, grinning widely as Anya's ring allows her to be understood. "And yeah don't worry about gratitude... you've had a rough day, considering how it started. And it's gonna get wilder from here."

Magpie turns to the gate, off in the distance, then pauses. "...About that," she says, to Karasu's comment on the gate. "So we have an archmagus on the other side ready to bring us home, but... we need to let him know we're ready."

Turning back to the gate, Magpie puts her hands together in a beseeching gesture. "You uh... wouldn't happen to know how the gate's supposed to work, would you...? We have alternatives, but they involve napping."

Anya brightens. "Oh good! It does work!" As now she understands Murder and Carver in turn. At Magpie's question, she responds. "But... yes, Master Vil taught me how to work the gate. If you have the planar coordinates, I can set the runes and chevrons to open it."

Anya bites her lip again. "He was trying to work out the coordinates when he died. I saw that on the slateboard. Whatever happened... it must have been terrible." As the group approaches the gate after collecting their gear, she asks, "So where IS Alexandria? You mentioned a place called Myrddion, but I don't know that place either."

"A lot has changed since you were gone. A lot of the places you remember probably do not exist any longer. Nor do the places that we know of seem likely to be familiar. A thousand years have passed after all." Karasu states to inform the young woman of the situation abroad in the world that she might need to realize. "It is better to say that we are from the material plane, and that it has changed a great deal since you went to sleep."

The Goblin rubs at her ears when suddenly words start to make sense, and she peers at Anya. "I have no idea where you are from, but uhm, well.." She gestures with her hands. "The lands of the world surround an inland sea, and Alexandria is a city on the edge of that inner sea. Kind of to the east." She shrugs. "We can show you a proper map when we get back, yes?"

"Oh, the coordinates!" Magpie says, snapping her fingers together as she summons up the numbers. "...Right, that's..."

A tumble of numbers and, presumably, letters, falls out of her mouth, as she runs the convergence formulae from memory. Because once she returned from her *own* little extraplanar vacation, the first thing she sought to memorize was how to find her way home. Some lessons come at a dear cost.

"As for what happened to mess things up so badly... Well... Kulthus happened. They went through with their plans, and it... did a *lot* of damage. I think... we're more west than south of where the nation's supposed to have been."

"We also have an excellent book series, an anthology even, called the Crimson Pen.". Carver chimes in. "Many of society's most notable citizens have shown up in these tomes. A fine way to catch up with so much history."

Anya furrows her brow, listening to Magpie. She touches the gate, and the runes glow to life for the first time in... well, probably a thousand years.

Give Archmage Vilarus credit; he really did know how to build things to last.

As the last chevron locks into place, the ring begins to hum with magical energy. Anya sighs at Magpie. "Damn them," she says with the vitriol only a teenage girl can muster. "They didn't want to listen, even when Vil and the other mages warned them. And everyone paid for it."

Anya glances at Carver with interest, "Really? It'll be good to learn what happened. At least Kulthus isn't there any more."

With that, there's a snap-CRACK of energy, and the space inside the ring peels open in an eye-twisting manner before suddenly resolving on a small hill. In the distance can be seen the city of Alexandria, and the green fields never looked so welcoming.

Sometimes, the best reward is a new beginning.

-End