Seat of Our Noble Line (Part 10)
Log Info
- Title: Seat of Our Noble Line (Part 10)
- GM: Riptide
- Place: Ivyhold Manor
The woman gently takes Reunion into her hands as it is given to her. She opens her mouth, and she begins... to sing.
- "I will unveil what has been veiled.
- I will reveal what has been forgotten."
She lifts Reunion high into the air as though it was her own sword. A beautiful and shining light illuminates the sword.
- "I will sing to you the name you know,
- I will sing to you the home you have,
- Reunion, Reunion, we reunite the souls,
- Reunion, Reunion, we reunite the family,
- Reunion, Reunion, I sing you on your way:
- Reunion, Reunion, I sing you safely home."
In her hand, Reunion changes form. The longsword becomes that which is hers.
A starknife.
"This is the form it needs to be when you free your ancestor," the woman tells him. "This is the key to liberate him."
She holds it out to Seldan, and as soon as he takes grasp of the weapon--she disappears.
Like she was never there.
Seldan is left on one knee, Reunion in his hand - in an entirely new form, that of a star-knife, the runes and gems that adorned the longsword scattered in a different pattern along the handle and inside, and on the center of the blades. He holds it in a knowing hand, turning it over, staring at it thoughtfully. "Thank you," he whispers almost soundlessly.
Reunion, as they so often are, is more pragmatic, but the younger, deeper female is the first to speak this time. "Huh," is the first thing Tisa says.
"You know what to do with this thing, boy?" Kanian's querulous tones cut in. "Cause I sure don't."
"I do, Kanian," Seldan answers absently, still staring at it, turning it over. "Fear me not." He touches it wordlessly to his lips, then lowers it and stands. "Reunion, if you would take the sword, please?"
"I thought you'd never ask, boy." Kanian is, as usual, first to speak up, and Reunion shifts back into the familiar form, just as it was.
Telamon blinks slowly, as he watches the display. A show of power, of divinity -- even here, in this house of madness and horrors, of reaching beyond one's grasp. As the woman -- clearly, Ni'essa Sky-Singer -- transforms the sword into a starknife, Telamon can only bow his head before her. Whatever needs to happen, she has clearly willed it to be so.
Only when she is gone, does he speak again. "And once again, Sir Seldan, it is shown that no matter what others may think, or what you might think... what you are doing is righteous in her eyes." He walks over to lightly touch Seldan's shoulder. "Are you ready? Because I think we've got a few more things to take care of."
Zeke is even more humbled, and partially ashamed in truth, to realize that he had stalled his kin from accepting a gift from his own deity. He says nothing, is green eyes on the floor and the scent of embarrassment surrounding him - though none here but him can smell the stink of it. He watches Telamon move in and steps aside even to allow the other man to do so.
Verna simply watches the proceedings unfold. The song is unexpected, not that she had any reliable expectations set for a moment such as this... and yet, in hindsight, the Mourner realizes that she should not have been surprised. After their visitor departs, and Seldan retakes Reunion, she straightens. "Indeed. At your convenience, Seldan."
Seldan looks up at the touch, and back at the longsword in his hand. "Even so," he agrees to Telamon's words. "If she be satisfied, then even so shall I be." He gets to his feet and sheathes the blade. "It now seems to have two forms," he explains. "Her weapon, and his. It is in my mind that such is preferable to an attempt to hold hers." This is said with the very smallest of smiles, and he looks back out towards the hall. "We are each of us blessed, to have so witnessed, and our course is clear. Come. I would see what the other two rooms in the hall hold for us."
With a hand extended towards the sith-makar with his eyes on the floor, he invites the others to follow him out. "Zeke, fear not. You did as you thought best. Come."
GAME: Seldan rolls will: (2)+34: 36 GAME: Zeke rolls Will: (16)+24: 40 GAME: Telamon rolls Will: (18)+20: 38 GAME: Verna rolls will+2: (19)+24+2: 45 GAME: Seldan rolls will: (7)+34: 41
Seldan crosses the threshold into the hallway, and the house seems to... react. The hallway darkens. The trails of blood on the floor that leads between the doors, which Seldan had identified before as an anchor of some sort for some method of dimensional means, begin to glow softly.
There's something like a sense of dread that grips the mind. But then it vanishes. Beaten away by the majesty of what has been witnessed, the brush with divinity still lingering in the minds of those who stand here in Ivyhold.
But the sense is there that one shouldn't dawdle too long in the hall...
The room they had occupied was not so uncomfortable... once the broken spirit/facsimile of one was removed, at the least. The hall is notably more discomfiting to Verna. Which could be considered significant, considering the Mourner's experience in halls and those she DOES feel at home within. Her steps take her to the door directly across to the door thereupon. "Shall we investigate this one next?" A gloved hand is already reaching for the latch.
Telamon stiffens as the small group steps outside, picking up on the disturbing... air of the place. His eyes shift around, looking at the glowing blood trails, checking for enemies. "I think we better, Verna. This place... we may be dealing with a -place- that is aware, not just a person. And that could be a handful to deal with." He nods to his sister, indicating she should open the door.
Zeke blinks in surprise at Seldan before accepting his hand. "You are too kind kin." He offers softly, then steps into the hall in the wake of the paladin. A shudder rolls down his spine, and his green eyes narrow at the hallway. "Ssssaaa." He hisses at the sensation, at the unease that grips him. "Thisss one thinksss we sshould move along quickly."
Suiting words to action, he encourages Seldan to move to the next door.
GAME: Verna rolls fortitude: (17)+17: 34
Seldan starts as he walks into the hall, and almost stops. After the coruscating joy of a brush with the being most loved in his life, coming back out to the stink of evil hits him in the face like a brick wall. He shakes his head, and continutes on, but it visibly takes him a minute. "Indeed, let us move swiftly, Mourner."
Verna goes to open the door, and there's something that's disturbing, but in a mildly different way than the other door had been. The other door had felt unbearably cold.
This one feels, somehow, like the lifting of a coffin.
And yet when the door opens up... It's a library. Pristinely so. There's not a speck of dust on the number of spines that...
Why is the library so tall? It's so much taller than Mariana's bedroom had been, or Cosette's room. In fact, it's a sprawling thing. A thing that's all the more curious when there's the sound of a cleared throat from across the library.
"May I help you?" The voice comes from... Rhain Padaryn. Except he looks older than he's ever looked in any vision. Gray touches his hair. Wrinkles line his face. He wears the robes of a librarian and he holds onto a cane as he stands up from his chair next to a pile of books. It takes him a moment, but he gets upright.
Telamon peers in perhaps a trifle nervously. Still... it's a library. Alright, it's a -big- library, but then... maybe there will be answers here. After all, what is the point of one, if not to supply answers to those with questions?
At the sight of Rhain Padaryn though, Telamon's eyes widen ever so slightly. He shoots a look at Seldan, before turning his gaze back to the elder vision and putting on a winning smile. "Well, Master Padaryn, we're just here to check on you. I hope everything's in order and that you're all right?"
Zeke is hit with the scent of library, and it's... a good smell. A familiar and liked scent. He takes a deep breath of it and then rumbles and his claw tenses gently around Seldan's hand. "He isss not here." He says tersely.
GAME: Telamon rolls spaceBS: aliased to Bluff+3: (17)+30+3: 50
A library. An enormous, spotless, organized, meticulous library. Yes, Verna is INFINITELY more at ease here than in the hallway. She is still attempting to count the number of rows to the top, and possibly discern titles from the spines thereon, when Telamon responds to the inquiry that did not yet register to her.
Still shaking his head a little from the entrance to the hall, Seldan is silent when he, too, walks in, and Telamon speaks up first. Libraries he knows, although they are not his favorite of places. Zeke's words get his attention, and he looks over at the sith-makar. "A shade, then?" he murmurs.
GAME: Seldan rolls knowledge/arcana: (13)+25: 38 GAME: Zeke rolls Knowledge/Arcana: (5)+27: 32 GAME: Telamon rolls knowledge/arcana: (11)+21: 32
The elderly Rhain Padaryn blinks at Telamon as he's addressed. "Ah... Ah." He seems to think for a moment. "My memory's not what it used to be. Err, young man--what was your name again? Can you send for Cosette? I think I needed to speak with her about something."
But he doesn't seem entirely certain of his own words. "At least, I think I did...?"
"I believe I saw her earlier but she seemed to be busy with something. Perhaps it's something we can assist you with?" Telamon's starry eyes are charming and cheerful, not showing anything now except that good nature that seems to be his default demeanor. "If it helps, I usually find I have to write things down. Some days I'm so busy all I can remember is 'pick up sweetrolls for my wife'."
Zeke isn't very good at subterfuge. In fact... it might be his worst thing, but he tries to keep his voice low when he responds to Seldan. "Fluxwraith." He keeps his green eyes cautiously on the man before them. He doesn't trust this one any more than he trusted the last one.
Seldan inclines his head at the sith-makar next to him, having come to the same conclusion. "It may be that we may be able to learn from it," he murmurs back. "Let us attempt to not anger him."
He looks up, to find Telamon talking to the wraith, and settles down in silence to listen to the exchange.
Verna's attention returns, if late, to the ... entity that Telamon converses with. Some of Seldan's or Zeke's words may reach her ears as well, or she simply agrees to not interfere with Telamon's conversation just yet. She takes a few steps nearer the pair, herself. "We should speak carefully, I presume?" All the better to leave matters to Telamon.
"Ohhhh, sweetrolls." The librarian Rhain Padaryn beams so happily. "I love sweetrolls. Why, I'm a fan of the ones that are filled with..."
He goes on for... some time about sweetrolls. But something curious happens behind him. A book floats off a shelf. It's colored gray and has the symbol of a key embossed into the cover.
The book wiggles intently at Verna?
"... And that's how I learned my wife's favorite type of dessert." Rhain Padaryn looks happy, but there's a tinge of sadness to his eyes. "Shame I lost her so soon. Ahh, well. Surely you're here for more than just listening to an old man's stories about sweetrolls?"
Telamon keeps his attention firmly on Rhain. "I'm very sorry to hear that, sir. I'm only recently married -- a year in, to be honest -- and I can't imagine being parted from my bride." He places his hand over his heart. "My adoptive sister is a marvelous baker, too. Her kitchen is just as magical a place as any magician's laboratory."
At Rhain's sad look, he shakes his head. "Sir, wisdom comes in many forms, and I'd be more than happy to listen to you talk." But as he's chatting up Rhain, he's moved a bit, trying to keep Rhain's attention on him to give one of the others a chance for the book that's wiggling insistently.
Zeke, unsurprisingly, is not inclined to go to the book that is wiggling. Nope. No desire to mess with an obviously magical and probably cursed tome that belongs to a ghost. Nope. He focuses on Rhain. Surely he can make nice with the ghost instead. "Ssssaaa. Thisss one doesss not know what a sssweet roll isss." Maybe not.
Verna is attentive to the recounting. Initially out of decorum, but quickly due to interest. She is something of a... well, perhaps not a connoiseues nor afficiando, but certainly and appreciator of sweet rolls and similar bake goods. Then there is movement potentially more enticing.
A tome presented within sight.
"Intriguing," she announces simply; it could well pertain to either or both topics. It is to the wiggling book, however, that she moves, a hand reaching to grasp and/or open it. They are meant by design to be perused, and this one in particular seems to yearn for the same.
GAME: Verna rolls cmb: (2)+10: 12 GAME: Verna rolls cmb: (13)+10: 23
"Seldom do I get sweet rolls," Seldan steps forward to join Telamon, leaving the other two to wrangle the book if they will, and gesturing Zeke to follow if he prefers. "It was my hope that you could tell us more of this place. It has been - some time since it has seen visitors, or sweet rolls. There is a spice cake, of which I am most fond, but seldom these days do I seek it out."
Verna grasps the book in her hand. It feels... Strangely heavy in her grasp. But before she can open it, it opens for her.
Frustratingly, however, it has only three words printed in the entire book: 'THE EYE IS'.
But a small distance away, another book slides off a bookshelf and begins to wiggle. This one... higher up off the ground, meaning a jump is required.
"A spice cake?" Rhain Padaryn inquires, looking at Seldan. "Ohh, that sounds most splendid--mmm, but you want to know about the library? What part of it?" He seems so open to questions.
And, for now, completely oblivious to the books...
"Indeed!" Telamon says, keeping his gaze on Rhain and not looking at Verna. "This is a grand library, sir, fit for a royal establishment." He cranes his head upwards. "Indeed, you seem to be using vertical construction -- and I don't see any ladders. This is usually the sign of someone who can fly, through one way or another."
His eyes twinkle merrily. "Oh, I'm not criticizing. I built a two-story greenhouse to save on square footage. It's easy to tend the plants when gravity is something other people worry about."
Verna is pleased when the tome opens itself for her inspection. She is less so when it is revealed that the amount of information it contains is ... highly disappointing. Nonsensically so. Which means it may well be a deliberate clue or alternate communication. There must be a volume tw-Ah!
Her hood lifts to the other tome that has made itself conspicuous. "Indeed," she comments with more volume towards Telamon and the librarian, "your library is most impressive. Well cared for and curated, meticulously organized..." All stated as he moves to beneath the shelf where the other is wiggling.
"You do not object that I pe-" she makes an effort to leap. She is vertically-challenged. Worse, she is not athletic. Worst, she still holds the first book, which feels far heavier than it appears. She may clear an inch or two at most; well short of the required goal.
Grey girls can't jump.
"-RUSE?!"
A quiet, deeper than expected chuckle escapes Seldan at that. "I would not be so cocky, were I you, for once in my youth did I have the rope trick end while a," here, he coughs, his fair skin flushing, "friend and I slept in it. Assume not that gravity troubles you not."
He turns back to Rhain, flushing more. "Forgive me. You have quite the collection, it seems. Collected, then, over the course of a long life?"
Zeke is watching Verna out of the corner of his eye. Well, no harm seems to have come from the magical floating book at least. For which he is duly grateful. However his distraction from the conversation about foodstuffs (to which he can add very little) and plants (which he has again, very little knowledge of) means that he notices the second book dangling just outside of Verna's reach.
Oh no. She's... small. He doesn't usually think about it really - the fact that she's so little compared to him. She's a powerful shaman in her own right so really her physical size hardly matters very much... until now.
Of course, he could very easily reach this second, taunting book. And watching Verna stare at the tome outside her reach makes him feel guilty. Eventually, the desire to aid her wins out over his desire to not touch strange ghost-books. So he plods over to the book, and makes a grab for it.
GAME: Zeke rolls CMB: (7)+17: 24
There's a genial smile on Rhain's face as he looks at Seldan. "Oh, that's okay, young man," he says. "Ropes can be tricky if--"
And then Verna asks about perusing the collection, and the sound of her last syllable, plus the nice catch of Zeke with the book, catches Rhain's attention. He smiles. "Oh, yes, of course. Please feel free to read any of my books. Just not any of the ones that wiggle and fly." The last sentence is said with a surprising amount of weight.
He turns back to Seldan, and the book in Zeke's hand opens. There are... even less words than before: 'INSIDE THE'.
"Yes, collected over the course of a long life indeed," Rhain says proudly. But then he looks troubled. "Although I have... an awful time trying to remember it sometimes. It's like a... yawning hole. It..."
He shakes his head. "It's probably nothing," he concludes, scratching underneath his eye.
Another book flies off the shelf... But it doesn't just wiggle. No. This one flies up. Up, up, up, and up, all the way to the ceiling. Where it then wiggles.
Telamon frowns, and speaks. "Sir, are you well? Perhaps you should sit down -- I don't want you to take ill." His eyes flick briefly to Verna and Zeke, and he continues, "Or maybe some tea. My wife has the most wonderful lavender-mint recipe -- always perks me up when I'm feeling down."
He tilts his head at the mention of books wriggling or floating. "Well, that sounds ominous. There was an incident a while back in the Alexandrian university library where the books started trying to escape. I think it traumatized the poor librarians. They would kind of walk along," he makes an inchworming gesture, "and if you didn't watch out they'd swallow you up. Fortunately it was all sorted out, but it's almost enough to make a person stick to scrolls."
Zeke watches the book fly up, up, and away. He sighs. He certainly can not simply reach that one! There are a few other options, but his ears catch Rhain's words about not reading the flying or wiggling books and he eyes the last one suspiciously before whispering in a low voice to Verna. "Inssside the." He wiggles the book he's holding meaningfully before releasing the tome to go back about its business. "Ssshould thisss one?" He points up.
"My deepest gratitude," Verna offers to Zeke as he utilizes his Sith stature and Makarian might to snare the elusive Volume II. She then promptly attempts to read it from under his shoulder: a task that proves both impossible yet unnecessary as he shares what is read. "I believe it reveals the location of what we seek," she speaks softly to him.
Verna looks about for other movement, and joins Zeke in following the latest, hereafter referred to as Volume III, in its rise to the ceiling. "I shall rise to peruse this one." Obviously not by her leaping prowess. Instead, she brings her hand up to make a gesture and utters an incantation in Mynsandraal.
Once complete, she rises upwards through the air towards the ceiling and the tome. The fact that the one they wish to stop, or some echo of him, bid they avoid such books is perhaps all the more reason they seek them.
GAME: Verna casts Fly. Caster Level: 19 DC: 20 GAME: Verna rolls cmb: (11)+10: 21
Seldan's eyebrows hit his hairline at the mention of the books in the Alexandrian library. "A strange thing," he agrees. "Books that wiggle and fly are most vexing, I should imagine. But, among so many - I am certain that we shall find what it is that we seek." He is carefully not looking behind him. "What do you remember? I should enjoy hearing your tales as well. They may seem as trifles, and yet are such tales often filled with wisdom that the younger generation would do well to remember."
"There are many things I remember," Rhain says, looking contemplative, as he takes a seat on a nearby chair at Telamon's direction. "I remember... great regret. And... a symbol. Something to lock in and something to extend out. Out into--"
Verna flies up to grab the book, but... it just narrowly darts out of her fingers. The book cackles at her. Daring her to try and get it.
Rhain raises a brow. "What's that racket behind me?" he asks. "Any funny business going on with the books?"
GAME: Telamon rolls talky: aliased to diplomacy+5: (6)+34+5: 45 GAME: Seldan rolls diplomacy: (6)+22: 28
"Just my sister being enthused by the scope of your library, sir. I'm more interested in your experiences." Telamon looks thoughtful. "A symbol, you say? You must have studied magic extensively! I am a sorcerer by trade, and I admit to a tiny bit of envy at the flexibility that students of the Art possess. Still, the Talent is a wonderful thing -- and it's led me down some fascinating roads."
Zeke thrums with nervous energy as Verna misses the book! And worse! The fluxwraith seems to notice! Hurriedly he gestures furiously with his flesh-and-blood arm toward Verna to come back to him, holding the other out toward her. He wills the power and light of the Dragonfather into his crystal limb, so that he can pass the strength and conviction of that blessing onto the shaman.
"Even as I," Seldan agrees. Nope, not looking. Even as something cackles behind them. "Although I have devoted part of my life to the blade, the Sky-Singer forbids not her faithful the study of Her art," he remarks. "At times have such studies saved us all. I am endlessly fascinated by Her gift, and to touch its depths brings me joy. Would that I could see this symbol."
Verna is not accustomed to having knowledge denied her by a tome. Well, not -physically-. It helps not at all that it cackles at her in defiance. She does not notice Rhain's brief interest, nor her brother's and Seldan's keen efforts to redirect. Verna does glance down to Zeke, even if his stature and arms are not nearly so high. The waving draws her attention, however and she flies down to him. All with many glances back to the book, so it may not hide.
Verna reaches for the offered limb. It's composition is irrelevant; it is part of Zeke. As is the sudden surge of power that she receives. There are no words, no immediate thanks made, though there is a smile: a grateful yet determined and merry thing. One that is carried with her as she darts back to grab at the book. Knowledge is power, and shall be theirs!
GAME: Verna rolls cmb+9: (14)+10+9: 33
"I can draw it for you," Rhain answers Seldan. He lifts his hand and begins to draw it, busying himself with the activity to the degree that Verna and Zeke manage their act without him noticing.
It doesn't take long. Rhain draws it with startling precision. Like it's burned into his memory. Like he could close his eyes and still see it. It's a series of lines, circles, runes, and dots. All of them looping around one tiny speck of space in the middle of the diagram. It becomes clear to Seldan in particular that what he saw in the hallway is the very center of the diagram, wrought in blood.
"There's an odd thing, you know," Rhain says. "The center of a storm, the round part of a needle where you pull the thread through, the things that you see--they're all called the..."
He frowns gravely. His hand going to scratch underneath his eye. "What is it called again?"
Then Verna catches the book. This one opens, too. It reads a more complete sentence. 'EPICENTER, WHERE THE PIECES FELL AWAY.'
GAME: Telamon rolls spellcraft: (10)+26: 36 GAME: Seldan rolls spellcraft: (19)+25: 44 GAME: Telamon rolls spacebs: aliased to Bluff+3: (18)+30+3: 51
Telamon silently cheers on Verna as out of the corner of his eye he sees her go zipping upward. And then Rhain is sketching out the diagram, and Tel's eyes follow it as it assembles before Seldan and himself.
And then it takes all of Telamon's skill to keep himself from reacting, as he realizes what Rhain has done. Worse -- he has no idea how to fix it. Keeping his expression level and his voice in that same cheerful tone, he says, "Well, that is very complex, sir. I feel like one could study this for months on end just trying to unravel it. You have my compliments."
GAME: Seldan rolls bluff: (14)+15: 29
Zeke is elated! In fact, so much so that he... loudly thumps his tail in approval of Verna's victory. Only to belatedly realize that he probably should not bring attention to her flying and... well doing precisely what they'd been asked not to do. In order to cover his embarrassing behavior Zeke quickly makes his way over to the group consisting of the fluxwraith, Telamon, and Seldan. "What isss thisss then?" He inquires, peering down at the scribbles.
GAME: Zeke rolls Spellcraft: (20)+25: 45
Zeke stares at the markings. If he were human, the blood would have drained from his face. If there were another sith-makar here, they'd know instantly the horror and terror that is screaming through the sith-makar. But there's not. "Dragonfather's holy face pressserve usss." He offers breathlessly.
Verna's victory may appear fleeting as she only keeps hold of the book long enough to read its message. Then it is released and she promptly descends to inform... the Zeke that is no longer below her. She then considers the gathering around Rhain a moment before she approaches on foot. Unfortunately, she cannot simply inform the others of her discovery. It would not be prudent with Rhain in their midst. "Your library is most exemplary. What is this of complext further study?" Her inquiry is an attempt to somewhat rejoin the discussion from fragments caught.
Seldan, too, stares at the symbol as it is drawn, with great fascination and growing horror that he only barely manages to keep from his frown. "A mighty working indeed - and a dangerous one," he murmurs. "I may have an answer, my lord." He studies it, not as a horror, but as a puzzle to be solved, until Zeke speaks.
That gets his attention.
"Peace, kin. I would hear your words. What think you?" He gestures that Zeke and Verna should rejoin them.
Rhain looks like he's struggling with the 'compliments' offered to him. The wrinkles on his face suddenly befit them even though they never touched him in real life, not when the original incident had happened. They wear into his skin. His eyes look... weighed down by all of the things he knows.
"I know the pieces fit," he murmurs. "I know the pieces fit. I know the pieces fit."
It's the phrase he murmurs, over and over again. A single tear falls from his other eye. This one a normal human tear--
Until it starts to turn black.
Time's up. Telamon's mind still reels from the enormity of what's been done. It makes the mess with Phileaston look downright -sane- in comparison. "Why don't you lie down for a bit, sir? You'll feel better. We'll have Cosette come by with some tea later." All the while, he's backing up, heading for the door, gesturing for the others to move, move now, and don't wait.
After all, this is very, very bad.
Seldan's eyes lower with compassion, then lift again to the crying man. "They do indeed fit, sir." When Telamon chimes in. "We will send for Cosette. I would have you rest, and await her." He does not ignore the signals to leave, but neither does he sound frightened.
He does, however, turn on his heel and walk out. "Let us find Cosette, and allow him to rest."
It doesn't take long for Zeke to realize that Telamon is urging them out, seeing the black tear, he's more than eager to go himself, he motions for Verna to proceed him - not wanting her to trip over his tail - and heads out with the rest, only ducking his head toward the fluxwraith. He does offer however, a fleeting farewell, hoping that though he knows in his heart that this is not the real ancestor of his kin, that it finds some piece of him within. "Peasssce of the Dragonfather on you."
Verna was the last to return to the conversation, but it is rapidly apparent that something is wrong. The tear, foremost, as it changes color, followed by Telamon's unequivocal gestures as he moves. "Indeed. Perhap rest and tea will aid you," she adds even as she all but floats briskly with the others for the door. Yes, the hallway is there, but so are other rooms known to be relatively benign.
"I know the pieces fit." It's the last thing that the group hears from the elderly Rhain Padaryn as they go to turn around to the hallway. Before he breaks down into sniffles.
Thankfully, the door opens. And Cosette is already standing with the door of her room open, like she expected to see Telamon, Seldan, Zeke, and Verna. She wordlessly motions for them to come into her room as the sound of sobbing can be heard from the other side of the closed door that leads into the library.
Once the group's inside, the headless maid simply bows. "Milord," she says to Seldan, "do you and your companions require rest and refreshments?" It's said... Politely. Like the kind of politeness one expresses when one knows someone else has learned something very horrible.
The sniffles, the pain, tugs at Telamon's heart. But whatever that is, trying to tend to it would not work well. At all. And so seeing Cosette beckon to them, he follows the others to the relative safety of the sitting room, and after the door shuts, he leans against the wall and curses softly in Oruch.
He looks at Seldan and Zeke. "You saw it too, right?" Then remembering they are guests, he gives Cosette a weak smile. "I suspect tea is definitely necessary, as much as I want to drink something stronger. Gods. What has he wrought here?"
Zeke makes his way into the room, a troubled expression on his brow that is smoothing away to terse determination. He knows what he saw. He knows what it means.
He sets about making tea wordlessly, needing the hot liquid and the things that he knows - trusts. He shivers a little, not because it is cold, but because he can not help it. "Sssaaa. Thisss one sssaw it. Thisss one knowssss what it meansss." His green eyes are dark as he holds the kettle out for Seldan to warm with magic. As his kin has done for him a hundred times (for the last time?).
He doesn't look at anyone, just the kettle, just that. "You all mussst flee thisss plasssce. By the grassce of the godsss, thisss one isss ssure that you can find a way out. You mussst go. The Eye..."
Zeke trails off for a moment and then shakes his head. "Thisss one will ssstay. Thisss one will unmake the curssse upon thiss plasce. It mussst be done."
Seldan will never get used to seeing a headless maid, but he knows better than to show any sign. Instead, he nods. "A pot of tea, a pot of hot water, and refreshments for the four of us will be well, Cosette, and with my thanks. Once you have done so, perhaps you could see to Master Padaryn?" It is with an effort that he keeps his tone even and steady. "It is in my mind that he is in need of rest, and a friend."
He moves to the bed he had previously used, removing Reunion's weapon belt and tossing the lot carelessly on the bed. "That I did, my lord. The fluxwraiths - naught more are they than fragments of his mind, torn apart by the Void at the center of the diagram - which lies in that hallway. He has created for himself a demiplane, albeit one fractured and pieced back together in the most nightmarish of ways. It draws on the Void to hold its power. It can be dispelled - but to do it incorrectly is to be sucked into the Void, to face whatever lies there. I cannot say what will happen, do we attempt it. Know you, either of you," he turns to Verna here, "the spells of contingency?"
He turns then to Zeke, at his worry. "Nay, kin. I shall not depart this place, for it is in my mind that that which Eluna gifted Reunion is the key to dispelling this, correctly."
Without a word, he warms the existing kettle and its remaining water with a simple sigil drawn upon it.
Verna moves briskly into the offered room. "Our thanks, Cosette," she bids the continued attentiveness of their hostess. She then looks sharply to Telamon, then Zeke, then Seldan. She, herself, could not answer the question of what was done, so it is a boon that others can. "A demiplane... The Void..." It is not a pleasant state, but ignorance does not make it absent. Further, awareness grants them options to resolve it.
"The center of that effect is where the eye wee seek resides. They may be one and the same, in a manner of speaking; the epicenter and focus of the effect." Her hood then dips to Seldan. "I know of the spell. What is your intent? It requires some time and resources to enact. Additionally, the specified conditions and effect must be quite clear."