Save the Flame
Shining Chalice meeting house, midday
The Shining Chalice meet at a refurbished townhouse straddling the noble and university quarters of the city -- it's a tidy affair, big enough for parties and research projects, but not exactly a 'mansion' by the definition of the word. Indeed, the most notable signs that it's more than just another nice place for a minor noble or well-off merchant is the sign depicting a silver chalice over the door, and the ever-glowing mage-lights to either side of the doorway. The rain trickles off its eaves just like any other place in Alexandria, and the grass is just as damp (if neatly trimmed).
Inside, Telamon Lupecyll-Atlon, sorcerer and mentor of the Chalice, is engaged in study. To wit, a cup of tea sits at his elbow, as he cradles an intricate webwork of arcane lines and glyphs in his hands, his brow focused. Carefully, he brings his hands further apart, causing the spherical pattern to separate into several sections: the composition of a complex spell. "Huh," he mumbles to himself, his eyes glimmering with light. Keeping the construct in this state, he picks up a pencil, and begins scribbling notes.
They'd stopped off here as a bullet point on the agenda for the day, and it ended up turning into a longer stay than previously thought. So it goes when Telamon's in the middle of magical analysis. And... Cor'lana is not a member of the Chalice. But given that she's the wife of one of the mentors of the Chalice (and is honestly a little terrifying for anyone in the Chalice to say 'no' to), she'd stepped into the kitchen, gotten a small board of cheeses, meats, and crackers, and then made off with it in search of where her husband had ended up, because there's no point in doing research on an empty stomach.
Which is to say that she finds him in the middle of spellwork and she smirks a little. There's always an enthusiasm on his face that she adores when it comes to magic, and she lets him know that she's approaching through their mental bond--but she clears her throat anyway when she steps up to him. "Can I interrupt the weaving of lines and glyphs for--and I'm very glad I left Pothy home for this one--a snack?"
There's a knock at the door to the room that Telamon sits inside only a few moments after Cor'lana's entry. It's actually a surprisingly polite but firm sound. The man who stands in the doorway is familiar and unfamiliar all at the same moment. Since Telamon has only met him once before. The tall Stormguardian man with blue eyes looks at the magic that sits before Telamon with some small interest but Telamon seems to have the bulk of his attention. To the point that though Cor'lana is certainly noted - little attention is paid to her. "If you are busy, I could come at another time."
Telamon glances up at his wife's firm interruption, and then blushes. "Oh. Er. Sorry. I had the opportunity to do this work with the diagrammatics I finally got from the University, and I guess I lost track of time..." He collapses the image, beckoning for Lana to sit down. "My error there."
At the second knock, Tel looks up again, and his eyebrows rise. "Well, I had half expected you'd decided not to dare the dragon, good sir." He rises to his feet, his expression quite calm and welcoming. "May I present my wife, Cor'lana Lupecyll-Atlon? Lana, this is Micha Kamyar, who has come a great ways to unravel a riddle, a vision that somehow involves me." The half-sil gestures. "Please, sit down. I imagine this will be most educational for all of us."
Cor'lana smiles pleasantly at Micha. "I have heard of you, Mister Kamyar," she says just as pleasantly as the expression on her face implies. She holds out her hand in the event that Micha wants to shake it hello or kiss it, but does not push the matter one way or another. "My husband and I often come as a pair, so I apologize if this hampers the meeting in any way, shape, or form."
She gestures to her board of snacks. "Please, help yourself," she says, before taking a seat herself.
"You will forgive me I hope, if I remain standing." Micha defers, entering the room and standing beside the chair indicated to him for its use. He nods politely to Cor'lana and then after a moment takes her hand and gently shakes it. He has a very professional handshake, the motions of a man who has done such a thing many, many times before. He seems to feel no need to show off his strength nor touch her overly long. "I have heard of your skill with spells and I think if it should come down to unkind words... Standing may be the only advantage I have."
He looks at Cor'lana then a moment. "I have no issue with your presence, but I will ask you bear in mind that my priority is my business with your husband and him alone."
GAME: Telamon rolls sense motive+3: (9)+20+3: 32 GAME: Ravenstongue rolls hmm: aliased to Sense Motive+3: (19)+21+3: 43
Telamon raises an eyebrow. "Well, as you will it. I have no secrets from my wife." He takes his seat again, regarding Micha with those fathomless, starry eyes. Dressed in a cream-colored tunic and brown wool trousers, he doesn't look like a powerful sorcerer but more like a courtier. But those eyes...
"Those we love do hold us in so many ways," he muses. "And we welcome it. But then, you know about that, Master Kamyar." Those eyes are no longer calm but focused, drilling into Micha's blue gaze. "Hear my words: 'You're my fire, and I'll be waiting for you'. These words came to me from a man named N'thain. Do you know them?"
"We know where N'thain is, and we know that he is safe," Cor'lana says, gently, softly. Her violet eyes are full of empathy for the man. She doesn't wear her husband's high fashion, and so maybe that makes her a little more approachable. Or maybe it's the pain that cross her eyes, too. "I know what Marsward can do. I know what Marsward has done. And I will never forgive him regarding your predecessor, Misha. We have a common enemy."
She lifts up her eyes to look Misha directly. "You are safe with us. If the vision you were granted is true--it is because you were led to us as means of salvation."
GAME: Ravenstongue rolls talk: aliased to Diplomacy+3: (3)+24+3: 30 GAME: Ravenstongue rolls talk: aliased to Diplomacy+3: (20)+24+3: 47
Micha's eyes widen at the sound of those words and for a moment he looks so utterly surprised. Then he lifts his hand to his head and his eyes grow dark and darker. It's like watching a storm rise up in the middle of the ocean. You might not know what caused the storm, but you can watch it form into something deadly. Suddenly Micha slams his fist onto the desk. The stout oak creaks and groans and a thin crack forms on its surface. "YOU DID THAT TO HIM?!"
His voice is a deep gravely sound, the voice of a man on the verge of murder or worse, and Cor'lana cuts in and those rage-filled eyes turn on her. They've gone an odd shade of gray that isn't wholly human in color. "What do you mean he's _safe_?" For all his rage there's a tiny thread of doubt. Of hope. Hope born of Cor'lana's timely and gentle words
GAME: Telamon rolls bluff: (6)+24: 30
Telamon manages to keep from flinching as Micha slams his fist into the desk. Barely. After a long moment, he inquires, "What did the desk do, Master Kamyar?" He sighs, running a fingernail along the crack in the surface. "But to get back to the subject at hand... N'thain is alive, albeit mending. He was brought to the Soldier's Defense -- a place of healing for guards and wayward adventurers." The half-elf gets to his feet, absently brushing a bit of imaginary dust off his sleeve. "According to the account given, Seraquoix tried to collect him, and was rebuffed. Soundly."
He steps around the desk, walking towards Micha. No fear, no hesitancy. "If this was Seraquoix's hold on you, Master Kamyar, then you have an opportunity. A chance for salvation, as my wife says. I swear to you, by Ni'essa Sky-Singer, that if you seek to free yourself --and N'thain --from Seraquoix's schemes, then I am at your service." His voice drops out of the formal tone. "Please, Micha. If you had a vision that brought you here to me, then let me help you."
GAME: Telamon rolls talky+3: aliased to diplomacy+5+3: (8)+25+5+3: 41
"You are not the first that Marsward has hurt like this," Cor'lana says gently, still with that shared pain and compassion, her words coming from a place of knowing. "He preys on people. He brings people who are desperate and in need of help, and he uses them. Abuses them. Manipulates to his end. Someone who I loved is _dead_ now because Marsward convinced him there was no such thing as happiness beyond the life that he knew."
She holds her arms out, just a little, in a stance that shows she means no harm. "It is as my husband says. We know where N'thain is and we can bring you to him. We can reunite the both of you. We can make it so Marsward can't hurt him or manipulate you ever again."
GAME: Ravenstongue rolls talk: aliased to Diplomacy+3: (11)+24+3: 38
It's clear that Micha doesn't believe Telamon. He steps back from his own violent action, seeming surprised by it if that movement is any indication. The man lifts a hand to his head and shakes it. "You... you did it." He shakes head and looks at them with disbelief and anger treading water. "You... You have a holy symbol?"
This is largely aimed at Telamon.
Telamon looks thoughtful, and a touch calculating, at Micha's expression and slightly confused words. Measuring and examining patiently. But at the man's request, he nods, reaching to the neck of his tunic. Fishing out a silver chain, upon which hangs a small silver crescent and disk, the symbol of Eluna. "I do," he says quietly.
"I do not know what you have been told by Marsward Seraquoix, or what he may have led you to believe. The man is a master manipulator, that much is certain. But he has stepped poorly -- he has placed you with two people who hate him, and desire to free all his victims, heal the wounds he has caused."
Cor'lana looks at the symbol of Eluna. There's something that crosses her eyes--and she reaches into Telamon's bag, taking a familiar totem out. Eluna's totem.
"This, darling," she informs Telamon. "This is what he means. This is attuned to Telamon--this is Eluna's totem. Attuned to my husband, a follower of the Sky-singer."
She looks to Micha. "We haven't seen N'thain for ourselves yet, if you're asking if we've done anything for him. We are willing to take you with us to meet N'thain. I want to reunite the both of you. I am a poet, Micha, and your man's words--they speak to me as a follower of Vaire. I will see the two of you together and free of Marsward."
Micha seems to be listening, seems to be leaning in their direction mentally, at least until he sees the totem. Then he clutches his head and is driven to his knees by an unseen force. His body shudders and he makes a curt motion with his arm suddenly. "You - Run! He knows! He'll come. Oh Eluna he's so - GO!" He makes the motion with his arm again. "It's not safe."
He makes a small pained noise and he bends over his knees like a man in agony. "Don't go home. Go somewhere safe. The temple - Anywhere. Out the back!" His voice is changing. Becoming a growling harsh thing as he bows his head and then he suddenly looks up and his whole face is warped. His eyes are gray, a pure drop of blue held within them, but there's nothing human about them. His mouth is full of sharp teeth, his hands gone into long claws that tear into the floor. "GO!"
GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Wisdom: (19)+2: 21 GAME: Telamon rolls Wisdom: (1)+1: 2 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Telamon rolls Will: (4)+15: 19 GAME: Telamon rolls Will: (8)+15: 23 GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Spellcraft: (8)+17: 25 GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Spellcraft: (20)+17: 37 GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Will: (18)+16: 34
"Ah, Lana, let's not--" Telamon starts to say, when his wife pulls his totem out of his haversack. And then Micha starts convulsing and changing, and Telamon's response is apt. "Oh, shit."
A thought springs to mind, and he lunges, grabbing the totem of Eluna from Lana's hands with an apologetic look before reaching up to bite the quick of his thumb. It hurts, but he needs blood, and he can't get at his knife fast enough. Just a little blood, but hopefully it'll be enough as he speaks, "Ni'essa Sky-Singer, I beg your aid for this man, caught in the machinations of the Hound! Free him from this curse!"
The bloodletting happens. Cor'lana sees it, sees Telamon asking for aid from his goddess. Something within her shifts, something within her thinks--
_I couldn't do it for him. I couldn't save him. I couldn't--_
Her thumb glides along the sewing needle hidden in her sleeve, drawing forth crimson. "I hoped for hope, and this time, you won't decline," she murmurs. For a moment, the transforming Micha isn't himself in her mind's eye. Instead she sees silver eyes that were begging for death. Begging for her to end him. Begging for her to love him.
This scene is a fiction, a thing of her imagination she wants to make real but cannot. The gray-blue of Micha's eyes, inhuman, return to her view. Return to her grasp of reality and the here and now.
Her thumb presses to the totem. She asserts herself with violet eyes, burning bright as she stares down Micha. "Free him! Grant him absolution!" she says, drawing on the fire that she has, born of Vaire's fervor and her own desire to end this, her own flames to save just one person where she'd failed before. _Vaire, Ni'essa, walk with me, FREE HIM!_ she screams in her head.
It works. Somehow, you don't know how. The totem glows intently and Micha's claws retreat, his body stills and his eyes return to their natural blue color rather than the washed-out gray that they had been. He pants, breathing heavy and watching them. "What are you _doing_. You have to run. The moment that you lose focus he'll win. He's _on his way_. You have to run. He'll kill you for that." Micha nods to the totem in their hands. "I should have trusted you from the beginning. Should have known."
He bows his head a little. "Leave me and go. Tell N'thain... That I love him. That I'll make sure he's safe." When his head lifts there's resolution in his gaze.
"Oh, to -hells- with that!" Telamon looks angry. "Tell him yourself!" He grabs Micha by one arm roughly, holding the totem in the other. "Lana, grab my bag. We'll head out the back. Micha, focus. Can Seraquoix fly? Does he have access to any spell or device that allows such?"
Chivvying the Stormgardian along, Tel grumbles loudly, "I am so tired of this low life. I wonder if he can breathe vacuum. No, wait, wards prevent that, I'll just have to choke him like I did Zinskas." Telamon's eyes flash with anger, not at Micha, but at the man responsible.
Cor'lana's already on it before Telamon even asks, clever girl that she is, handing the bag to Telamon. "Micha, there are far too many tragic love stories lately, and I'm going to write a happy ending for yours," she asserts. "Trust us now. We're taking you with us. The only way that tragedy is certain is if you roll down and take it. Resist! Say no to death, say no to fear, say no to sorrow and doubt. Say yes to living! Say yes to _love_! Say yes to the fight and we all can _win_." Every single word comes from deep within, every single word comes from the pain of losing Zalgiman, every single word is what she should have said to him but didn't because he was so far gone. But Micha--he has love. He has a reason to live.
She murmurs a quickening spell that weaves around herself, Micha, and Telamon, allowing them to move all the faster. "You don't give up on this, because N'thain hasn't given up on you!" she says. "Let's go!"
GAME: Ravenstongue casts Haste. Caster Level: 14 DC: 20
The man stumbles to his feet, but once his protests fall on deaf ears he's hurrying as fast as they are. Refusing to allow himself to be the weak link that leads to their capture by the man that hunts their steps. "Yes." Micha says grimly. "He can fly, he can be invisible. He has access to many powerful spells. The most dangerous of which is the ability to force others who are touched by the Changing to turn. You should leave me behind." He says this as the group rounds the corner and he sniffs the hallway as if trying to determine if they're still alone by scent.
"He can see into my mind. I... I let him in when he took N'thain. He wanted to control me and I... I would do anything for N'thain." Micha's voice is grim and he looks at the other two. "Do you understand now? I'm a risk to you both unless you can undo the magic on me."
"See, you're helping already." Telamon leads the other two out the back door of the meeting house. "I mean, if you're serious about wanting to be out from under his thumb, this is a good step." He ponders, before rapidly chanting, casting his spell of flight. "Lana, watch for that bastard coming in invisibly, we don't want him catching us by surprise."
He turns to Micha. "So I guess the question now is 'do you trust me to do my damnedest to get you and N'thain back together?' Because this is the part where we -really- stick it to Seraquoix." His dark eyes sparkle with a streak of ferocious joy, the prospect of pissing in the bad guy's porridge.
GAME: Telamon casts Overland Flight. Caster Level: 15 DC: 23
Cor'lana does as Telamon commands, chanting a spell that turns her irises into a glowing blue. It's an odd shift from her usual violets, but this is the nature of the spell. Less than a second after she Sees, her eyes widen.
"It's him, in the hallway, invisible! We're GOING! Follow us, Micha!" she commands authoritatively, running as far as her quickened spell will take her in the direction of the Temple of Eluna. There's not enough time to cast her own spell of flight now.
GAME: Ravenstongue casts True Seeing. Caster Level: 14 DC: 22 GAME: Telamon rolls strength: (5)+1: 6
The man that only Cor'lana can see points his finger at the group of them. Arcane words flow from his mouth, sounding like the hiss of a pot filled with not enough water. They are getting quickly away, but Micha suddenly stumbles, falling from Telamon's grasp and cursing a short word. "He's draining my strength." Micha says, his body trembling with the effort of trying to move. He looks at Telamon, clenches his hand. "I trust you Telamon. You and her... You've given me hope. But he's not going to let me go."
GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Spellcraft: (9)+17: 26 GAME: Telamon rolls spellcraft: (4)+16: 20 GAME: Telamon casts Greater Shadow Conjuration. Caster Level: 15 DC: 26
But they're outside. Lana is hoofing it and hopefully will take to the skies as well. But Telamon surely can't carry Micha, as the half-elf is a slender fellow. But then....
He doesn't have to.
"I -told- you to trust me," Telamon says acerbically. "Anungal, silig gissu, namsimug gesse!" The chant rolls out of him, the air turns cold, scented with charcoal, energy crackling as Tel's fingers trace a complex pattern. Smoke pours out of them, billowing into the form of a ghostly pillar with two glittering eyes in the depths of the cloud.
"Pick him up, and follow me," Telamon instructs the elemental, and then soars into the sky while the air elemental scoops up Micha and bears him along in his conjurer's wake.
"We can break it! When we get where we're going!" Cor'lana yells, followed by an incantation that forms into wings of blue shifting into violet at the pinions of her feathers. Aided by the quickening magic, she soars into the sky rapidly, joining Telamon and the elemental in their dash towards the Temple of Eluna.
"Why should I live by reality that murders?" she murmurs, a sly smile coming to her face for the memory that's driving her, the man that is part of her drive to defy the man that's trying to follow them.
GAME: Ravenstongue casts Overland Flight. Caster Level: 14 DC: 22
To their surprise, Marsward doesn't follow them beyond where they launch into the sky. Though he might be able to fly, he seems to realize a lost cause when they see one. Instead he turns his feet toward a different destination.
For now they are safe, but for every action there is a cost.
Still, they quickly realize once they reach the temple of Eluna that they've earned themselves a bit of vital advantage in rescuing Micha. It seems that he has quite a lot of information on Marsward...
-End