As the evening sun begins to set, your party approaches familiar gates. All who have been here before recognize a lone gate in the middle of the roadway ahead of you. To the left and right, the statues of Thalenir and Haven no longer stand. In their place, black roses grow roughly up the sides of the columns.
To the sides of the gate itself, a thick black void shimmers in the haze of the evening. You can see nothing beyond the gate but the same black mist.
With speed that the Uordeq rarely exhibited, Binx slapped the roses from the fae's grip with a chilled hand.
"Would you like to lose that hand?" She asked flatly from behind her mask, amber eyes not even looking at him now, but staring intently at the shimmering nothing before them.
She had traveled somewhat independently of the rest of the party, but rejoined them silently as they reached the gates. It was obvious that the pale red-head was on edge, tension weighing on her shoulders more than her pauldrons ever would.
As Binx slaps the roses away from Cormac, his hand hovers deathly close to the Void before them. Looking down at it, Cormac will see a bloody stump where his hand once was, fully believing Binx has just slapped his hand clean off his arm. To everyone else involved, you can clearly see she's done nothing more than knock the roses away from the Void and his hand is still there.
"YOU STUPID HOOT!!!" the fae exlaims in horror an agony. "What have you done you took off my hand!" The anger seething in him now he begins to dig for something to stop the bleeding all the while throwing anything else he finds in his bag at the Deki who he believes has taken his hand.
The golem Rune lumbers up to the gathered adventures before the wall of darkness in enough time to see Binx repremand the fae. Still unable to contain his inner thoughts, the golem begins to spout it's analysis of the situation; "The female Urodeq's move is irrational. Solid plan to test the wall with flora. Urodeq is unfavored by Thalenir due to cowardice in most recent battle. Perhaps something is special about the flora." Rune then turns and inspects the roses to see if they eminate any magical presence -inspect magic-
Poppy come towards the gates shes what has been played out before her and is at first startled at the fae colorful word choice. But as her attention is drawn to the fae she is puzzle. "Your hand is right there, dofus" She explained pointing. "Raena wasn't kidding when she said couldn't play tricks right, but kinda convincing I will give you that at least, maybe. You could still use a litte more pizazz' She said while placing both hands upon her her hips and shaking her head in disappointment.
Binx's gaze slid slowly over to Thomlyn, unblinking. There was an uncomfortable moment before she responded, abruptly teleporting out of the fae's throwing range to stand right behind him.
"I could push the rest of you in, darling." She whispered, black fabric and less than an inch of space between her lips and his ear. She began to walk away, pausing when she seemed to realize that she'd forgotten to answer the faun.
"That's why." She spat, gesturing back to the fae, but her attention was quickly drawn to Rune. She tilted her head as he prattled on about her, eyes starting to narrow as he mentioned Thalenir. She turned to watch him approach the roses, something odd about the stillness that settled over her when she stopped moving.
As the Golem sticks his fist near the blackness, he feels as if he's been chilled to the core. As he looks down the length of his body, he notices he now stands in brightly colored clothing and can feel the wings that flap at his back. To Rune, you appear to be a Seelie Fae. To everyone else, you see Rune, the Golem, standing in shock and staring down at himself.
A slight chill came over the fae as the deki stood close, he gulped and took a deep tense breath. He begins to wrap his stub and feels what appears to be his hand. He quickly looks at the golem who was also close to the mist and appears fine as well. "I am ummm sorry. It appears i may have had my vision altered and said some things i'm probally gonna regret a little later." He begins a slow walk of shame over to pick up the things he threw at the Deki
The riven swaggers up behind the rest of the party, taking in the new surroundings. He stops to see a black void past the gate where a town should obviously be. "Was this it? The great Jazz Tree? Seems kind of lacking, if I may say so." A frown pulled across his stitched face, obvious signs of wear coming from his jaw. "And here I was with these great expectations. Pity."
Rune pauses his inspection when it notices his stone hand has been replaced by the slim fingers of a fae. A flood of irrational thoughts nearly drown the logical mind of the golem. "This one seeks candy. When does the next rain come? These ideas are pointless. Give this one candy. Why is this one naked? What is naked? Naked feels good. This one feels an emptiness in this one. Candy is the remedy." The golem continues ranting incoherent thoughts for a few moments before it's lights dim, and a dull pop is heard. Smoke trails from behind Rune's mask as the golem falls backwards. When it hits the ground, the golem's stones scatter, no longer bound by the magics that animate them. Rune's Name sits partially buried in this pile; child-like laugher emitting from it.
Taklinn upon seeing the familiar site inspects the wall to see if this is just another trick of Secronus. "built this wall, should know if its the real thing." he mumbles to himself while he looks about (Commune Earth are you indeed the true wall surrounding our home Jastrey).
Looking up from his work att tthe agitated crowd he says in an irritated whisper "quit all that damned prattlin' on. Why not ring some damned bells and let the Keeper of Secrets know we are att his doorstep. Not sure we should all be up here at once anyway, hellp of a way to scout if what ye say was true about the size of the Army ye faced." He glances around the area as if to be able to see if the ground has been trampled by an army that large.
Poppy is startle by the golem sudden burst of excitement and then dismemberment approaches the rubble. She digs through it finding the source of the giggles. And curiously picks up the glowing giggly stone. "Rune, uh hello?" She says tilting and examining it curiously. "You okay? I has candies if you want somes, But you have to uhhhhhh re..assemble first. I think." She says as she shakes the glowy rock lightly as she talks to it. Not completely sure exactlly what do with it
"Oh by Imphalios' brass balls ,someone get the golem put back together. This is the actual wall that I helped build, and I see no deception in whether it is the true article." Taklinn says. Upon seeing the whole group Taklinn seems to put his hand to his axe handle and with great effort move his hand away. "As fer yer Army I see no signs of an Army moving forth through this area and into or out of the gate. Mayhaps that yer pullin an old dwarf's leg about how formidable this foe was after all."
The stone pile begins to move; some stones snake along the ground to form the golems legs, others fly towards the Name and encase the fae's hand as the golem rebuilds itself around it. Steel and adamant plates slam onto their respective spots on the stone, the last of which is Rune's face. Rune's lights and runes pulse to life, it's 'eyes' settling on the small dark fae; "Do you mind taking your arm out of this one? This one does not wish to crush it."
'
"Oh okay, of course sorrys" She said quickly snatches her hands out from around the stone and tucks them behind her back. "I see you are back to normal, thats good.." She says in the which a slight disspointed and bummed out tone could be heard as she rocks back and worth a bit on her heels. When it was a giggle rock she thought he sounded like a lot more fun.
A dark figure appears behind the rest of the group. The slowly walks towards the gates and notices the black roses that twist around the columns. She reaches out to the roses and runs her fingers down the petals towards the stems, she slowly follows the vines mesmerized. "What sort of darkness is this?" she whispers only loud enough for someone standing beside her to hear. She then looks into the black void as if hypnotized by its shimmering darkness.
Frustrated to ends that nothing is working the fae begins yelling out. "Secronus come talk us! I only wants to know your secrets and whats you wants! I wanna go home again! Come talks to us!"
The fae stomps his feet. "Stupid void, Stupid Paladins. You figure this out i'm going to find a quiet place with nice flowers to take a nap." With that the fae begins heading down the road away from the town.
"Here's a thought, dont reach through the dark veil ta' pick flowers. Seems it ain't been the best thing fer us yet, has garnered no information, and may be tipping off our enemy of our strengths and weaknesses." the flustered dwarf whispers harshly. "We ain't knowin' enough yet ta' be tryin to get back in the gates. Maybe we should try an' look about. Sometimes kickin' in the front door ain't the best policy. Woulda figured you broody bunch of sneaksters would know that." Face turning redder by the minute, Taklinn finally just throws his hands in the air and storms off away from the gates.
Thimble lagged behind the group, having been in a daze since they had been portaled just a few days outside the gates of Jastery. It was like the one they had seen before battling hords of Secronus troops, that were pouring out from Jastery, though they were in Nastal's Jastery, for half of it anyway, it was confusing. Her mind spun in a bit of turmoil as she finally caught up with the rest of them, her feet dragging behind her and her shield lax with her arm.
She looked up at the gates and thoroughly examined them, emitting a sigh. "Bolts." Is all she said to their current situation. Half of her wanted to leap through and get to the other side and take the masses head on, but she knew how foolish that was, she was a tiny gnome against thousands if not millions of skilled fighters, not to mention she had to survive a void wall before doing any of that, and once on the other side, it'd take an immortal or an army just as big in order to fight the mass hords off.
Binx watched as the fae was flung away as if it were nothing out of the ordinary. Her eyes found her way to Taklinn throwing a fit briefly, but eventually returned to staring at the darkness in their path. She stared, unblinking, into it as if she could find something in it's depths. The people and chatter around her didn't seem to really phase her, as if the scout had actually stopped paying attention.
Taklinn seeing the Gnome approach grumbles to himself "Flux and fire, cant leave her with just a machine and some underhanded bastards to watch over her." He again walks cautiously to the group to stand close to the gnome. "Well met Thimble. seems we are right here at the wall, but no closer ta' bein home lass." looking about the motley crew Taklinn spots Binx looking his way for a time. Staying his hand once again he mumbles to himself "shut yer mouth, I aint drawin ye yet." To the Uordeq he finally says "somethin' on yer mind hoot?" in a threatening tone.
She appeared to ignore Taklinn for a moment, but finally Binx looked over to him. She seemed to contemplate something briefly before closing her eyes. There was a slight hesitation as she reached up and gripped the black fabric that always seemed to cover her face. She pulled it over her head and away from her hair, letting it slip from her hand and fall to the dirt. Her black-ringed eyes opened again to meet the dwarf's. The sun glinted off the rings in her nose and lip as the Uordeq who rarely spoke or showed her face did something even more strange. The corner of her lips curled upward without parting. She smiled.
Though the gesture was downright strange but civil, something seemed to flicker through her eyes before she turned away. She sauntered back towards the forest and away from the gate, a soft chuckle trailing behind her as if someone had whispered a delightful joke in her ear.
Blaise stands before the scene with a pensive look in his eye, his face void of emotion. It is rare indeed to catch a glimpse of this sprite without a smirk on his face. He is beginning to realize how much this journey was changing him already. It hasn't been all that long since he joined these adventurers, but the ifrit feels decades older than he was at the start.
The sprite had already seen and experienced things with these new companions that even his past life at sea could not have prepared him for. He is gaining skill and knowledge faster than he thought possible, and he likes it. With these new abilities, he will have the power to make lifelong friends and formidable enemies, harness untold and wonderous magicks, and even change the world, for better or for worse.
The prospect of these decisions weighs heavy on Blaise, and, for once, he remains silent.
Rune looks at the dwarf with it's glowing gaze before addressing him; "Machine is in-accurate. This one is not made with engineering or alchemy. This one is a construct. Also, this one once guarded the Thimble as he Master before this one..." the golem pauses, "..failed in it's duties as paladin. If you have places to be, you can leave Thimble here. This one found her quite capable. Simply needs more aggression. Perhaps a better understanding of combat. A soldier's training. Maturity is essential." It is apparent the last few words were suppose to be inner thoughts, or the golem's analysis of Thimble.
The golem starts to return it's attention to the wall and gate, but stops when it notices the ifrit. "Convict. This one has not seen you. Have you stayed out of the law's way?"
Raena came skipping forward towards the front of the group, hesitating as she passed the unveiled and chuckling Binx then going on as though nothing had happened. "Oh what do we have heeeeeeere?" She asked, peering at the gate and the roses. -Inspect secret, magic-
Her fingers itched to pluck one of the roses up and put it in her violet and black hair, but she knew better, for the most part. It was a strange flower, sitting at a strange gate, and could very well cause all sorts of problems. Still, it didn't stop her from leaning close to the flowers and taking in a big sniff. What could be the harm?
Hearing the golem speaking to him, Blaise suddenly shakes himself out of his thought. "Ah, Rune! Yes, yes, I believe I've done rather well for myself lately. I apologize for my absence in the recent battle. There were... other matters which required my attention." The ifrit lowers his gaze for a moment. Then, jovially, "I hear you made a friend, though!" Blaise projects his well-practiced lighthearted tone, but his aura, usually bright crimson or orange, now glows dull red and betrays his true mood.
As the citizens of Jastrey gather to investigate the local flora, a face unfimilar to most of them lingers nearby hoping to find Taklin. At the call to "Beards" he finds himself unable to hold back.
"As the sun she rises
on another day
The call to Beards will light the way"
Fjolnir pushes his way through the now forming crowd. "Flux and Fire. Where the hell are we?" He holds a hand to his head, as if trying to shake off a lateafternoon hangover. "And who the hell is shou- Keg." He looks on with mild distaste, recalling the embaressing trials he had been put through. "Why are you callin' for beards, Ironspur?" He mutters before staring up at the columns covered in black roses.
As the Golem pushes at the gate, it easily gives way and swings quietly open. The Void at this portion lifts beyond the gate and the roadway stands open. You can see burned out portions of the field on either side of the road inside the gate, but the Void still stands to the sides of the gate at the wall, and above you, much like a dome.
"Oh FANTASTIC!" The Unseelie girl crowed, snatched up one of the black roses, and skipped her way through the gate. "Come on you silly pantsies, let's go go gooooooo!" She crowed over her shoulder, stopping about five steps through to look back and see if anyone was following.
To the two inside the gate, everything seems to stand just as it did when you left. Smoke can be seen rising in the distance in the direction of where the Tavern stood. The road continues on as it always has, and you hear only regular sounds of Nature surrounding you.
Blaise seems to regain his composure as his lust for danger and adventure begins to manifest. "Well, it can't be any less interesting in there than it is out here!" He glances back toward the wall of shields with an almost (but not quite) undetectable eye-roll and proceeds toward the gate, humming a merry sailors' ditty. Just before the threshold, he hesitates for a moment. Blaise mutters, "Never can be too careful," and his aura brightens a bit [Guard 3]. The ifrit resumes his melody and nonchalantly strolls through the gate.
"Aye its the same wall and gates that we built, I spoke to the stones and they spoke as much. Somehow town found a way to this Jastrey from the one that was in Nastal. Evidently they fought a large army of Secronus, curse his name, and somehow found a portal to home." Taklinn says quietly to Keg and the others in the shield wall ,keeping his eyes alert and noting any movement before taking any moves towards the gates.
"Hey! WAIT!" Matilda is jogging to catch up to the group. She slows down and stops for a moment right before the gate. She looks at the roses that others had fallen for. The roses looked tempting but she looked ahead to some of the others that had entered the gate. She took out her dagger with a firm grip then clinching her jaw as she studied the area the others were walking into. The homunculus continued on to follow the rest of the group.
Talsin the Vorhex rolls up toward the gate driving the waste skimmer that was captured last month. He seems to be ranting to noone in particular, something about "Leave me alone. You're dead, I fed you to him myself" He notices the black void and roses, stops the skimmer and climbs down for a closer look.
Talsin seems to concentrate for a bit then screams in rage, lashes out around himself, then falls to the ground clutching his right hand in pain. He screams, "No...I won't let you bind me again, no...stay away...go back to the Pit...I won't let you drag me there with you!"
He lets out another scream this one the sound of pure agony, the sound you might hear from someone being skinned alive and then he passes out. Anyone still in the vicinity will notice that there is a red tattoo on the back of Talsin's right hand that is bleeding slightly.
When he comes to, Talsin crawls away from the void, climbs back on the waste skimmer and with a haunted look in his eyes drives it quickly through the gate.
"Home sweet home. If we just figure this mess out people will leave me alone again and i can go back to work!" He says to himself quitley with a definate bit of scorn to his voice.
He apoaches the colums and picks a boquet f roses before deciding to stick one of them into the mist to see if anything happens