-╪ Tuatha De Dannan ╪- [ Medieval Fantasy / Steampunk ]

[Urban Thorne]

Rikki Tikki Travi

"At the risk of sounding a bit paranoid, I feel as though something is not quite right. It feels as though something, or someone, is watching us."

Managing to catch up to Ky and Talise, Asmyrra couldn't help but nod faintly at her companion's words. Ky was well known as a capable, if occasionally overly enthusiastic, leader, with a good head on his shoulders and a keen eye for details. Allowing her own violet-hued eyes to glance about, that purring soprano eventually emerged in answer.

"It would be safe to assume the Kae'Dryn is watching... With how close she dwells to the border of the Blasted Lands, as well as her occasional challenger, she probably has wards all over this mountain," she agreed quietly, her tone holding no dislike or discomfort. "With luck, she will decide we are no threat if we do not try to disguise our movements. We will certainly have to be polite, however... Here, we are the intruders."

That softly purring soprano couldn't help but allow a tiny sign of the concern whispering through her mind to emerge at the last... Reclusive was too soft a word for the Kae'Dryn. Territorial was much more accurate...

As was the fact that she had killed intruders before them.  

[Cheshiyre]

Urban Thorne

"You are going to eventually have to come clean on this, my dear," she stated quietly, those crystalline tones subdued. "The people closest to you should at least know the truth... and if your reaction to this young elf is any indication, she definitely should know. It is not as though you can simply wait for a while, and allow time to take her away..."

Stepping forward, Ash smiled somewhat ruefully herself as she adjusted and fastened the sorceress's robe.

"Oh yes I can," she replied half playfully, "It is a tried and true method of coping with this particular conundrum. Either I hide until the threat is gone or I remove myself till my memory is all but forgotten. The only person who has ever given a snitch about me in this life or any other is you."

Ash knew in her heart that the statement was not a fair one. The others would care if she allowed them to, but they would never understand. How could they?

"No... you have always been the keeper of my secret. You have so many secrets you protect, I guess I always figured it wasn't too much of a burden to add one more."

Taking the brush gently from her friend's hands, Ash resumed brushing out the long dark tresses though with slower more contemplative strokes. As soft silken strands threaded through the bristles she allowed her gaze to roam the room. It was exactly as she remembered it. Every pillow, every book, the soft plush rugs on the floor... The highest rooms of the Cathedral were always changing. Every decade or so Gabriel would tire of the old decor and revamp the innards, succumbing to some new trend. Relm was not like that. Her rooms were beautiful in their antique furnishings and arcane elegance. Gabriel preferred formality and pomp in his style. The rooms in Relm's tower spoke of comfortable refinery. Each room, though kept clean and relatively picked up, was unmistakably lived in. Whereas Gabriel's quarters were immaculate, Relm's inspired visions of steeping tea cups resting on nightstands while curled up with a good book.

Perhaps that was why Ash visited so rarely of late. She never had a problem leaving the Cathedral. Even Johannes, for all of his goodness, found it difficult to return to those sacred halls for any length of time. Relm's tower had quite the opposite effect. It was simply too much of a temptation to stay.

"Besides, there are so many reasons to keep this from getting out. Ky and Asmyrra followed Johannes when he broke from the Order. I think Gabriel is getting pretty desperate to get him back. They cannot complete the circle without Dominion. I also believe Uriel has convinced him that Asmyrra is the source of the break. You know how Gabriel likes to have someone to blame."

Setting the brush down, she tenderly runs her fingers through Relm's hair to smooth it down. "Johannes doesn't want to admit it, but even he is beginning to see that Asmyrra has become a target. They have already tried to kill her once. He still hasn't forgiven himself to failing to protect her. I am certain Uriel is going to try to follow her and try again. If he were to even catch a whisper of my existence..." The troubled angel looks down sadly. "The knowledge that Johannes has kept me hidden from them this long would be the coffin nail in his perceived betrayal. They would drop everything. It would be a witch hunt."
 

[Talise Anora]

A beautiful roaring scream, of joy and sorrow so extreme...

The quiet gypsy was content to listen to their contemplations as she wandered up the path arm in arm with the knight. She knew all too well that they were trespassers here. Every story ever passed down from the caravans spoke of the powerful and anti-social Kae'dryn.

"We have many stories of her among my people," Tali shares with them conversationally, her gypsy storytelling roots emerging in full strength, "Some say that she is a shapeshifter. They say she takes on the form of a small, unassuming little woman but her power is so great even that it shines through such a facade. They say she uses this to disarm new commers and weed out the truly infantile. If they cannot tell she is a force to be reckoned with in spite of her appearance, she sacrifices them to one of the great beasts she can summon at whim. Monstrous beasts. There are even tales that she once had a true dragon at her command. A giant of a creature, it could dwarf any other dragon and level small villages with a single tail swipe!"

She swoops her free hand out dramatically, mimicking the tail clearing out in front of it with a single swish. A sly smile raises the corners of her lips and she snugs Ky's arm closer as she walks. "If she is a shapeshifter, perhaps she is watching us now," she whispers softly for only their ears to hear, "She could be in the trees as we speak, sizing us up." The last few words are accentuated with a dart of her eyes discreetly along the treeline. "Notice how sparse the animal life is here? Maybe.. they know.."

There is a love in me raging. A joyous, magical feeling...

 

[Urban Thorne]

Minai chan

"The knowledge that Johannes has kept me hidden from them this long would be the coffin nail in his perceived betrayal. They would drop everything. It would be a witch hunt."

Those slanted golden eyes slid closed as her oldest friend settled behind her, and began the ministrations to her hair. It had been so long since Ash had visited her tower... And the other visitors did not yet have the connection with her that history had granted the two of them. But, as selfish as she may tend to be, the sorceress knew that this moment in time was short. Necessarily short, in fact.

As the angel's words drifted over her, the ancient magi began making the mental adjustments that allowed her to face the world as the impartial, slightly impish sage. Emotions were stilled (no small feat, considering the direction Ash's words took her), features relaxed into their slightly unimpressed mask. Movements became slightly more refined as the small woman gently slid free of her friend's hands, taking the pins she usually held her hair back with her. Moving out a short distance from the mirror, those deft fingers began tracing lengths of raven-coloured hair back into position with well-practiced ease, holding them in place with the inserted pins and clasps.

"...I daresay this time will be different, Ashn'Rune... Different than you are accustomed to. I have seen how closely Johannes works with this spellweaver, this Asmyrra. This is not something that will casually fall away," she stated quietly, those golden eyes finally sliding open once more... unfocused and slightly distant. "And as she is Kael'dorei, and in the prime of her youth, you will have centuries to wait for her to forget about you. Have a care of falling back on old habit so easily, my friend."

Deftly tracing long-nailed fingers over herself to make sure everything was in place, the ancient magi drifted forward to her friend once more. Raising a soft, cool hand, she gently brushed her palm along Ash's cheek, those chime-like tones taking an almost sad hue as she continued to murmur. "Besides... It appears to me as though the witch hunt is already on, to use the words of your 'Brotherhood'. My only question for you is this; If they discovered your existence again, would your Gabriel and his compatriots discard your will in their desperation to continue their race? Or would they continue to show some level of decency?  

[Urban Thorne]

Talise Anora

"If she is a shapeshifter, perhaps she is watching us now," she whispers softly for only their ears to hear, "She could be in the trees as we speak, sizing us up." The last few words are accentuated with a dart of her eyes discreetly along the treeline. "Notice how sparse the animal life is here? Maybe.. they know.."

Talise's tale had brought a warm smile momentarily to those dark-coloured lips as the three of them walked. Indeed, the mentioning of sacrificing fools to great beasts and tail swipes actually found her ducking her head faintly and stifling a laugh behind one tattooed hand, those violet eyes dancing with momentary delight, her own tales of the Kae'Dryn temporarily dispelled. But, like any good illusion, the suspension of disbelief only lasted so long...

Asmyrra found her thoughts wandering back to the uncharacteristic appearance of that single raven in the trees as her memories tried to recall seeing any other animals in the region since they arrived. She was sensitive enough to the Weave that she had felt something pass over them about the time she had stumbled... Something that seemed to have been absent when the bird itself was gone. Now those violet orbs drifted over the lands encompassing them, concern starting to appear once more.

Surrounding them was the beginning of some well-kept grounds, the graceful constructs of stone obviously designed to hold plants and earth in place. The scent that was beginning to greet them was delicate and subtle, emerging from dozens of different flowering plants, possibly more. The path had stopped being a faintly worn trail exposing dirt beneath the undergrowth... Now, it was the smooth texture of flat-faced stone buried into the ground.

They were definitely in the lands of the Kae'Dryn, now.

It did not take the small group long to catch up to the place their exhausted pilot had paused, eyeing the great door before her with uncertainty. Indeed, Asmyrra could not summon any greater level of confidence than their skittish inventor was showing. Glancing around once more, those violet eyes taking in each detail of the people around her, the Spellweaver took a deep breath, trying to steady the purring soprano that emerged.

"Are we ready for this...?  

[Cheshiyre]

Urban Thorne

"...I daresay this time will be different, Ashn'Rune... Different than you are accustomed to. I have seen how closely Johannes works with this spellweaver, this Asmyrra. This is not something that will casually fall away," she stated quietly, those golden eyes finally sliding open once more... unfocused and slightly distant. "And as she is Kael'dorei, and in the prime of her youth, you will have centuries to wait for her to forget about you. Have a care of falling back on old habit so easily, my friend."

Ash reflected briefly on her dear friend's words. She had known Relm long enough to consider her advice before allowing her own bias to cast it aside.

"There is more, I'm afraid," came the eventual, albeit quiet reply. "Asmyrra and Johannes are close yes, but it is as close as they will ever be. I will not deny there is a bond between them, nor will I deny my own attraction as I have watched them interact. Fate, it seems, is against the match. Asmyrra has eyes only for women. It is not derived from previous injury as the sorceress's preference was. It is her own natural leanings. She has never looked at Johannes with anything but admiration and love of a comrade and brother. It is much the way he looks at her. There will never be anything romantic between them."

Her eyes cast down as she continues, her voice soft, "He wasted his love on someone completely undeserving for so long. It was my appearance that separated them. The repercussions of of Gabriel's betrayal hit Johannes hard., so much harder than Gabriel knows. Couple that with how he treated me..."

"Besides... It appears to me as though the witch hunt is already on, to use the words of your 'Brotherhood'. My only question for you is this; If they discovered your existence again, would your Gabriel and his compatriots discard your will in their desperation to continue their race? Or would they continue to show some level of decency?

Azure eyes darken at those words. She knew all too well what Relm was implying. It was the very heart of Gabriel's betrayal towards them both.

"I am sure if it came to light again my wishes would have no bearing whatsoever," she replied, her quiet tone taking on a dangerous harshness. "Gabriel only afforded me any courtesy the first time because it was our father's gift to us and Johannes seemed to be in accord. Both Sean and Gabriel assumed there would be no issues with the arrangement. Although my reaction was not what they expected, they were certain that I would fall in line eventually. Now that I have proven I can escape them I highly doubt they will give me a second opportunity."

"Someday you will understand that it's all for the greater good." she repeated bitterly, remembering how much it hurt to hear those words from her own father's lips so many years ago.
 

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Ky couldn't help but be amused by Talise's story telling. Her wild motions and dramatic execution led him to image her at a campfire with many small children watching her perform. He rolled his eyes casually, but only as a means of keeping up appearances. In truth her tales of the Kae'dryn's wrath were unsettling to him. The notion of being facing down a dragon may have riled him up in his childhood, but as an adult he would prefer to stay clear of any large firebreathing reptiles.

His worries were slightly abated by the gradual scents that he was becoming aware of. The vast collection of flora was soothing in a way. It had been a while since he had been in anything resembling a garden, let alone one of such magnificence. It was a nice diversion while it lasted.

Ky's attention was then brought to the immense door that lay before them. A combined sense of dread and anticipation played at his stomach. He did everything he could to put Talise's wild stories out of his mind. This was difficult to do considering her performance wasn't the type that was so easily dismissed.

The young knight swalled hard once his commander's question had sunk in. His response followed a slow deep breath meant to calm his nerves.

"I suppose we should take this as a good sign. Had the Kae'dryn not decided to tolerate our presence, by all accounts we would be dead by now."  

[Urban Thorne]

Minai chan

"Someday you will understand that it's all for the greater good." she repeated bitterly, remembering how much it hurt to hear those words from her own father's lips so many years ago.

Indeed, the ancient magi did understand what kind of meaning that phrase could have. It was a phrase that was used often during the Arcane War, when the Humans wheedled the secrets from the Elfin folk as to the enchanting of metal and crystal. It was the same phrase that was turned on the Earthen folk when the Humans convinced them to help them construct the monstrous Weapons designed solely to kill dragons. And, it was the same words the dragons themselves had eventually fallen upon, before turning the magic within the war zone against everyone...

The Kae'Dryn was absolutely not a stranger to these words.

Instead, those golden eyes hardened as Ash murmured them, and confirmed her suspicions regarding the Cathedral's masters. Those men and she had clashed on many occasions since those ancient times, and each time Relm had found a level of restraint regarding the Angels. A level of restraint usually brought by the plea shining in the depths of a certain pair of azure eyes. If the Cathedral was truly willing enough to convince even Ash of the hopelessness of her future with them, despite her usually unfailing optimism...

"...You know that all it takes is a single word, a single sentence, and I shall be at your side," the ancient magi said quietly, those crystalline tones carrying the dangerously malign indifference only eons could impart. "If that day ever comes, the "Brotherhood" will find itself staring down the same emptiness that the dragons faced... I will complete the job that the war started. If your pleas, your heart, means so little to them..."

The Kae'Dryn shook her head firmly, her voice becoming even quieter for the deadly honesty within it.

"Their precious Cathedral will serve well as a crumbling, ruined headstone marking the grave of one of the single most misguided set of 'guardians' this world has ever had the misfortune of bearing..."  

[Urban Thorne]

Rikki Tikki Travi

"I suppose we should take this as a good sign. Had the Kae'dryn not decided to tolerate our presence, by all accounts we would be dead by now."

The exhausted inventor had come to a stop before the great doors, appearing just as hesitant to take hold of the large handle gracing each door and announce themselves by knocking. Her hesitation, however, was for a completely different reason... Someone had attached weights to her eyelids. Heavy weights.

And for the life of her, she couldn't find how they were attached.

In fact, she wasn't sure it was just her eyes that was being dragged down. Her whole body was starting to droop. Shoulders slumped under the weight of her backpack. Her spine curved faintly in a slouch as she struggled to keep herself upright. Boots scuffed and dusty from the fact that they hadn't consistently cleared the ground with each step.

Painfully stubbed toes were painful!!

It was cold up here. Her coat wasn't enough to stave off the feeling, partially because she was so exhausted, partially because it was rather chilly at night in these mountains. She wanted drinking chocolate. She wanted a bath. She wanted to sleep for a year!! So, with mismatched eyes blinking owlishly at the folks around her discussing the importance of how they haven't been cooked yet, one gloved hand reached out, and took hold of one of those iron-appearing door handles.

It was heeaaaavvvyyyyy!!!

It took both of the inventor's hands to pull that handle away from the door. Once it was clear a few inches, Domini released it, allowing a hollow «BOOM!» to echo through the night. Once.

Twice.

Three times, the door was knocked on.

With that, the inventor stepped back, hunching into her coat once more. Inside or incinerated, she would be warm and asleep... One way or another.  

[Talise Anora]

A beautiful roaring scream, of joy and sorrow so extreme...

As their group moved closer to the door of the tower, a flutter of black wings caught the little gypsy's eye. Her eyes traced up the foreboding walls till they registered upon a raven swooping passed one of the closed windows. The bird, she thought, looked agitated as it paused briefly to hover infront of another pane of sealed glass. A faint smile traced her lips as the small creature abandoned that set of casements and instead swirled hastily into an open pane one floor down.

As they stilled behind Domini at the door, Tali leaned closer to Ky. "Me thinks the Kae'dryn has sent spies to watch us," she murmured, amused and intrigued, "and yet she doesn't seem to want the report just now." Pointing up to the spot where she saw the raven fluttering, "I would bet my corset she's in one of those rooms there."

There is a love in me raging. A joyous, magical feeling...

 

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Ky's eyes shifted up to the window Talise was pointing out to him. The notion of being gazed down upon by a being that is nigh timeless was unsettling. A small part of him resented such a notion. The idea of the great teacher looking down upon anyone not within her circle. Yet he could understand such a sentiment. After all, she has probably seen many civilizations rise and fall in her time. Why shouldn't she have a sense of ire to those who squander their short lives in conflict?

He blinked before returning his gaze to the elf clung to his arm. "I do not know so much about wagering your corset," he mused, "but I do believe you are correct. I can almost feel her eyes upon us. It is a bit unnerving."  

[Cheshiyre]

Urban Thorne

"...You know that all it takes is a single word, a single sentence, and I shall be at your side..."

"Their precious Cathedral will serve well as a crumbling, ruined headstone marking the grave of one of the single most misguided set of 'guardians' this world has ever had the misfortune of bearing..."

Although Ash knew she would never be able to agree to the demise of her people, Relm's words carved a path deep in her heart. There was no mistaking the fierce protective nature of her tone, and it was not lost on Ash. Her eyes misted over with powerful emotion, the young angel reached out her hands to catch her friend's face. Pulling her close, Ash closes her eyes and rests her forehead against Relms'.

"I do not know what God I have to thank for leading me to you that fateful night so long ago," the murmur filled with love and gratitude, "but I hope you know how special you are to me. I have been absent so long..."

After a moment she draws her head back slightly so her gaze could capture the golden orbs of her most trusted ally. "No matter how many Nadias or Asmyrras, or even Gabriels cross my path, you will always be first in my heart. I know I do not show it enough. Truly, I do not deserve you. But I promise... I will not neglect you again."
 

[Cheshiyre]

Vaguely displeased with the slight impediment to her entry into the tower, the ebon-skinned figure slips quietly through the hall to the stairs, all the while keeping track of the movement of the elven apprentices on the floor below. Knowing how many of the whelps were presently accommodated at the tower, she could discern only one presence on the main floor. The others must have gone to the market... all the better that they are not here when the 'guests' arrive...

Slipping silently from the stairwell, she swiftly rounds the familiar steps towards Relm's private chambers. The small amount of information she had gathered about the strangers turned over again and again in her mind. She thought them quite an odd collection of would-be heros. Still, they did not seem inherently threatening to her person. Now that the angel had obviously separated from them, only the Elven magi might provide any true danger. It was entirely probable that the woman could perform a True Sight spell, but it was also equally unlikely that she would do so without provocation. No, they would be easy to avoid until they left this place.

Coming up to the door of Relm's personal chambers, the dark shadow pauses abruptly in her step. Something about the room inside absolutely radiated with divine energy. The effect was immediate.

Angel!

Her senses heightened, her mind focused on the dangerous creature settled on the other side of the door, she retreats back a few steps and slips into the adjoining room beside them. Knowing that Relm would be able to feel her presence close, she leans against the wall by the doorway, listening... waiting.
 

[Urban Thorne]

The momentary closeness caused by those gentle hands managed to shake Relm from the course of her thoughts, the dark directions and ancient stirrings of bloodlust that usually only emerged when some upstart dared brave the mountain passes leading to her home. In it's place came a different emotion, no less selfish despite it's purity of origin; Loneliness. Agelessness did not mean immortality, after all... Surviving eternity was much more difficult than most realized.

So as those azure orbs captured her own golden ones, for a brief moment Relm allowed a thread of longing to entwine with hope... A hope that perhaps Ash actually would darken the balcony of her tower more often. A hope that Ash actually understood what those decades of distance had done to the ancient magi... A hope that she would not have to face them so abruptly again.

But the hollow «BOOOM!» that echoed from below marked the intrusion of the real world into the Kae'Dryn's imagination, and those golden eyes slid closed once more. By the second echoing impact, a soft sigh escaped as she reluctantly drew back from those gentle hands. The third report marked the magi quietly making her way towards the door of her chambers, long-nailed fingers deftly twining the energies of the Weave and shaping them to convey a message to Naelonni regarding the welcoming of their guests.

Pausing at the entryway, the Kae'Dryn gazed back over a silk-clad shoulder, the faintly impish expression her apprentices were so familiar concealing the earlier rogue emotions as those precisely enunciated words emerged. "Accompany me as I take a look at this troupe of errant heroes, my long-absent friend...?"  

[Cheshiyre]

Urban Thorne

Pausing at the entryway, the Kae'Dryn gazed back over a silk-clad shoulder, the faintly impish expression her apprentices were so familiar concealing the earlier rogue emotions as those precisely enunciated words emerged. "Accompany me as I take a look at this troupe of errant heroes, my long-absent friend...?"

The ridiculously loud bang of the door knocker was enough to startle the poor angel from the pleasant state of mind she had found herself in. Thoroughly caught in the moment of intimacy as she was, Ash could not help but feel the faint sensation of loss as the arcanist slipped away from her. It left her feeling listless, the gravity of prior discussions so recently felt now abandoned. Even the threat of reveal to the blue-skinned elf now lying in wait behind the massive doors below, previously the cause for great concern and panic now seemed distant and trifling.

"I'll take a look at them with you, I guess," her response slightly distracted. "But I really shouldn't meet them myself. After all, I'm supposed to be a myth. Besides with their loyalty to Johannes so strong, I'm certain both Ky and Asmyrra would feel the need to share my existence with him."

A rueful smile paints her lips as she moves to follow Relm from the room. "I can assure you that is an awkward conversation he and I would both appreciate to avoid."