The Expedition
IS OFFLINE
33
Renown
Moonglade
an good boi
786 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Feb 15, 2023 19:21:30 GMT -5
"I only know how to make the wind....kinda windier and make some bright lights so, whatever magic this is goes way beyond me." He gives a little laugh. "A trial?"
He puts his hands on his hips and thinks a bit. There were no riddles or clearly laid out paths like the Sultan's Tomb. They were sent to find out these ruins or temple to some long dead god, so how did they end up here?
"Either we have wandered very far off course or this might be some sort of trial, but of what I'm not sure....Usually dungeons and stuff kinda tell you when stuff like that is gonna happen."
He stands for a moment, hand rubbing the back of his head as his face contorts as he tries to think. The more Gerhart thinks the more wrong it feels though. Trusting your heart isn't about knowing the answer, it's about following instinct.
"Okay....this isn't going to sound right, but wherever we need to go next isn't something we can figure out. If this is a trial, then we know the first step." Gerhart waits a moment before looking around, waiting for some kind of pull, when suddenly it hits. The ranger starts moving northwest, something about that direction just feels correct.
|
|
CCS Courier
IS OFFLINE
336
Renown
Female
Sylvan Elf
692 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Delaela Fenastra-Asiliari on Feb 17, 2023 18:42:44 GMT -5
She lifts her shoulders in a light shrug; "It's my best guess at this point," Del admits. It was hard to describe how that whole ordeal had felt individual; as if it had been made for them, specifically. It had been so specific, a genuine danger Del could not remove herself from, a situation where Gerhart could have fled but chose not to... But Del didn't feel as though the incident with the wood had been particularly challenging for her, she had simply almost died--
Her gaze lifts towards Gerhart as he stares off into the middle distance for a moment. If this was a chamber of trials... had that trial been for him?
His logic seems sound, right along the same lines as her own. Del nods an affirmative. It feels heavy again, realizing that this was some sort of design, though why and what for, she couldn't begin to guess. "It makes sense, in it's weird way. I understand your logic; I'm right behind you," she agrees.
Musing quietly to herself, Del follows Gerhart as she had done before, when entering this strange forest. The air is still dense and watchful as they make their way through ancient trees. Tests like these didn't come with a guide book or answers... if they were meant to prove themselves, by what metric were they being measured?
'Heart'. Not quantifiable. Not something that could be measured. Del takes a slow breath as she follows behind Gerhart; she would have to simply have faith in herself and in Gerhart.
|
|
The Expedition
IS OFFLINE
33
Renown
Moonglade
an good boi
786 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Feb 18, 2023 12:50:56 GMT -5
Time has become almost meaningless to the two of them as they walk through these woods. The sun never seems to really move in the sky, but the thickness of the forest canopy chokes off most of the light. The forest is dense and old, some roots as thick as the adventurers.
After some time of aimless wandering, Gerhart enters a clearing ahead of an pristine looking temple. It's the first opening to the sky they've seen in hours, bright and clear above them. The perfectly polished roof of the temple catches and scatters the sunlight in a brilliant shine. The walls on the outside are flawless, it looks almost newly built.
"Well....I think that's it." He smiles and gives Del a nudge before jogging towards it.
When they finally reach the temple and cross the threshold of the doorway, the first thing Del notices is that Gerhart is no longer within her line of sight. She was certain they entered at the same time, but he was gone.
The monk sees dark and twisted hallways that bend and turn at odd angles, doors and entrances that seem out of focus as if they are not there or somehow fake.
"Delaela Asiliari, confused and lost again? Always focused on helping others, but never taking the time to care for herself. Searching for answers, but hiding away. What do you seek here?" The voice came from everywhere and nowhere, a taunting and sneering edge to the words. The attempt to cajole her forward is pointed and not at all subtle.
|
|
CCS Courier
IS OFFLINE
336
Renown
Female
Sylvan Elf
692 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Delaela Fenastra-Asiliari on Feb 19, 2023 19:48:42 GMT -5
Unsure of how long they've been walking for, Del does not question or comment on the distance or time. This is familiar on a spiritual level, a timeless wandering that was meant to be more contemplative than actual journeying. She wasn't even entirely convinced they were walking right now. There was a non zero chance this wasn't some sort of illusion or some magic that was toying with their minds. That was a better thought than being stuck in a cave removed from time itself, at least. Though that was only a concern if they could not pass the trials. Centering herself and clearing her mind of the errant thoughts, she forges ahead, keeping an eye on their surroundings as Del and Gerhart walked ever deeper. They emerge into the clearing, a magnificent temple standing tall, rainbow prisms of light scattering over the meadow under the bright blue sky. This was the precise opposite of the place they had originally gone to investigate. She wasn't even sure where they were on a map right now. If they made it out, this was going to be difficult to explain to the researcher that hired them. Regardless... there is only one way, and the way is forward. She gives Gerhart a wry smile as he nudges her, and follows him into the temple, walking slow beneath the threshold, letting him go first. The moment she passes beneath the threshold, Del stops in her tracks. Gerhart is gone. She was only a step or two behind him, but he was nowhere in view. The only thing that lay ahead was a dark, winding hallway and an oppressive silence. A silence that was sliced clean through by a voice that sent a chill up her spine. Del remains silent for a long few moments, standing in the threshold as she contemplates the voice. If this was meant to be a trial, then there was no room for lies or half truths. Part of her worries about Gerhart, but if the incident earlier was any indication, he would be alright. "I don't know," It's honest, at least. The stubborn set to her jaw shifts into place as Del moves forward despite the jeering tone of the voice. It was like admitting that she was lost and confused, a feeling she hated but could not deny. "I want to see this through, whatever this is." She adds, approaching one of the blurry doors.
Those words resonate in such a way as though they applied to more than just the situation she found herself in, but she could not see why that was.
The moment Gerhart passed beneath the threshold, he found himself alone. The temple, unlike the shimmering exterior, was a dim gray within, a floor of dirt and a roof exposed to the sky, with two objects sitting in the centre, the a pile of wood stacked nearby. There's a chill here, a cold that nips at his fingers and cheeks, and a familiar rustle in the leaves outside. He knows, without a doubt, this is Moonglade. "Gerhart Stannislav," a voice intones, judging and derisive, "He who throws himself into the fray with nary a second thought. Covering pain with laughter. An earnest disingenuousness. What is it you seek?"
|
|
The Expedition
IS OFFLINE
33
Renown
Moonglade
an good boi
786 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Feb 19, 2023 20:49:44 GMT -5
"I don't know, I don't know, what is it that you do know Delaela? Who are you?" Honest or not, the voice didn't seem satisfied by the answer. It wanted to dig deeper into her.
As she opens the door, the elf is hit by a wall of cold air. Through the threshold she finds herself at the base of a mountain, stream flowing past her to the left. It seems like a strange place to end up, but it would slowly dawn on Del that she was at the beginning of her memories. The place she first remembers waking up, feeling just as cold and confusing as it was on that day.
"Back to the beginning, but this is not the beginning. Who are you?"
"Big talk for a disembodied voice!" Gerhart calls back to the air with a little huff. It's only after this little outburst that here realizes where he is....or at least where he is meant to be. For once, his face pulls into a grimace. If this is what he thinks, this is going to be unpleasant.
"I'm just here cause I was asked to be." A similarly honest answer, at least honest at a base level. He was sent here with Del on a job, he never stopped to think about why he took the jobs he did or why he went where he did. Often times those travels were far, far away from this place.
|
|
CCS Courier
IS OFFLINE
336
Renown
Female
Sylvan Elf
692 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Delaela Fenastra-Asiliari on Feb 20, 2023 21:36:39 GMT -5
Del lifts a hand at the cold air, wincing as it rolls over her and sends a chill down her spine. She takes a breath in, and the smell of the mountain, the stream, is familiar. She knows what this is. This is when she was found by her mentor. At least, she thinks so; she can barely remember it, save for the pain and the feeling of water in her lungs.
Tense, Del takes a few halting steps forward, looking down at the stream. She remembers how bitter cold it is; though she struck her head numerous times, that stays with her, that aching cold. No other cold even came close, not even--.
She frowns, suddenly. There's a word on the tip of her tongue, a memory, but it's gone as soon as it had appeared.
"...I don't know. Del says again, defeated this time, as she looks at the stream. "But I want to find out."
"Always doing what you are told," says the voice. "Such a good boy. So digilient, never stepping on anyone's toes, even as you... run. Why do you run, Gerhart? What is it you seek?" Why did people run. Why did they do anything, but why run. Either they were running towards something...
Or they were running away.
As Gerhart stands at the edge of the room, where he entered, the center slowly illuminates as a full moon slips overhead. Two humble coffins sit side by side, next to the pile of stacked wood. Around the perimeter of the room, are slowly opening nighttime blooms, swaying in an unseen breeze.
|
|
The Expedition
IS OFFLINE
33
Renown
Moonglade
an good boi
786 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Feb 21, 2023 15:34:29 GMT -5
The air ripples in a mocking laugh, "Ahahah, She finally makes a decision! But will you hold to that conviction or give up again when the pain strikes true?"
Del feels her body pulled in every direction as the cold mountain is replaced with the darkness of a forest. She seems alone, but that feeling doesn't last long. Humanoid shapes flicker into existence behind her. The finer details of their face and form is impossible to make out, but they feel familiar to Del.
The monk had been stripped of her tools and equipment, the instruments of war held in her hands. Each tightly clenched fist held a knife, the other humanoids around her similarly armed and loosely armored. Looking at her own hands, the details are also gone. Is this a memory or something else?
She is barely given time to consider the question before the others of her supposed group are on the move.
"Well when you put it like that," there is a sassy edge to Gerhart's tone. It was much easier to be like that when the voice wasn't accompanied by a face. Gerhart felt less bad about being mean if he didn't have to see the person's expression.
He sighed and stepped forward into the room and towards the coffins, if this was another mummy he was going to be pissed. "I'm not running, never have. I just want to protect others. That good enough for you?"
|
|
CCS Courier
IS OFFLINE
336
Renown
Female
Sylvan Elf
692 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Delaela Fenastra-Asiliari on Feb 22, 2023 13:40:06 GMT -5
She grits her teeth at the voice, but says nothing back to it-- she can't, anyway. The world warps around her as the stream moves again. Del bends her knees, trying to get the world under her once again. When she opens her eyes, she sees... darkness. Shades and shadow that manifest around her, shaped like people. She squints, trying to make out their faces, but cannot.
She looks down at her hand, also blurry and incorporeal, made of shadow, and nearly jumps out of her skin; in her fist are two blades, honed and deadly. She can feel a short bow on her hip, a quiver of arrows on her back. Weapons. She didnt use weapons. Her hands shake at the sight, and feels a horrible dread form in the pit of her stomach. She did not remember this, but her body did; gods, she felt ill.
The group starts to move. She hesitates for a moment, and then moves with them, stiff and nauseated. There was a purpose to this, she was sure. She had to learn.
"Is it good enough for you?" The voice echoes, a little jeering in the tone.
There is silence as Gerhart moves forward. It was not another mummy, though perhaps he might have preferred that, in the end. Before him are the two pine-box coffins, marked with the name Stanislav, of his mother and father. The wood stacked beside them is clearly designed for a funeral pyre, waiting to be built. Distantly, breaking through the silence, a wolf howls.
"One who runs towards, one who runs away; both entertwined you are, Gerhart Stanislav. You bend and twist for others, but to your ownself, what bends you? What breaks you? What is it that you seek?"
|
|
The Expedition
IS OFFLINE
33
Renown
Moonglade
an good boi
786 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Feb 22, 2023 15:30:00 GMT -5
Del could feel the primal pull of a hunt in her chest. Whether or not that was her intention, she could feel it was the intention of the others. Hunting what exactly, though? That would be the trick.
The shadows crouch low in the bramble, steps slow and quiet. The practiced gait of an ambush hunter that had perfected its craft. Each step had purpose and care from the way the ball of the foot rocked to how the heel lifted off the ground.
Time remains meaningless in this realm, it's impossible to know how long they walk but it does eventually slow to a stop. Ahead more voices can be heard, the meaning is indecipherable to the elf, but the emotions in them are not. The fear is palapable, their breathing is heavy and ragged, whatever lays before her has been hunted and chased for the gods only know how long.
The shades surrounding Del begin to prepare a pounce, the instinct pulls at Del, but does she follow it?
"It is actually, I know who I am." At least on the surface he does. His head snaps to the wolf howl, hands immediately grabbing the hilts of his blades. It's only when that pang of fear settles does he realize the names on the coffins. Those memories come back, but they are jagged and sharp. Shards of broken glass that have been shoved down and embedded into his heart where no one else could reach.
"I don't bend for anyone, I just want to make others happy, to protect them....To give them the safety I never had. Is that so wrong of me? To try and make others smile?"
He looks over the pile of wood. Is this part of the trial? Finally putting them to rest? He never did go back to look for them, though he was only a child when it happened. No one expected him to and by the time he could've they would've long been gone.
Quietly, he does start to build the pyre trying to decide if he's mad at the voice or himself.
|
|
CCS Courier
IS OFFLINE
336
Renown
Female
Sylvan Elf
692 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Delaela Fenastra-Asiliari on Feb 23, 2023 22:02:44 GMT -5
Del did not know what they were hunting for, but she had an idea. The knives in her hands, ephemeral as they were, hurt. Burned, as if she were holding two white-hot irons fresh from the forge in her palms. Even so, she couldn't let go. She follows, mortified by the fact that she knows these steps, uses them even today. They keep her safe, they keep others safe. She knows that is not wrong, but there is something here that is, deeply, wrong.
When the hunting party eventually pauses, Del freezes in place. She can hear voices. Terrified and unsure. It confirms what they are doing, that they are hunting people. She does not want to move. Desperately does not wish to go forward. But she does; this is something she has to see.
Del ensures, of the group, she moves first, moving just far enough into the bush to see the face of the enemy, to let herself be attacked first, if that was what it took. Still, she holds the knives, burning in her grip.
The tacit silence that follows Gerhart's declaration is a calculated one. He knows the voice is still there; he knows it is silent as if to prove it's own point, to be the answer to Gerhart's own question.
Is it?
As Gerhart builds the pyre, he finds the supply of wood to be inexplicably infinite; it is only done when Gerhart feels it so. At some point during the process, there is another howl, nearer now, to where he was, low and mournful.
When he looks up, eventually, he sees across the broken remains of the temple where his memories sit, two bright eyes in the dark, taller than any man, watching him from the endless dark beyond the threshold.
|
|
The Expedition
IS OFFLINE
33
Renown
Moonglade
an good boi
786 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Feb 23, 2023 23:23:12 GMT -5
The shades seem to rise in anger at Del's hesitation as if they were waiting for her. When she pauses, the rest of the group instead pounces on the people huddled in fear. Those shades disappear in a soft breeze and she is left alone with her group.
"Why do you hesitate? What holds you back?" The voice suddenly returns as the shades begin to towards her.
"Are you going to provide me with flint or what?" Gerhart's reaction to the voice is just a slow and clumsy stalling act. The longer this is drawn out, maybe the less time he has to spend dealing with this.
When the second howl comes and they eyes peer out, his pulse quickens. He'd spent so many years hunting, enough that he knew when a howl belonged to a wolf and when it was something....bigger. Those howls were burned into the edges of Gerhart's memory, tucked in the places he didn't tell anyone about. The tremble in his fingers is subtle, but he can feel it.
Is this what the voice was getting at? Forcing the young ranger to come to some sort of self-actualization. There were less rude ways to do it Gerhart thought, but here we were. What was the lesson it was driving towards?
|
|
CCS Courier
IS OFFLINE
336
Renown
Female
Sylvan Elf
692 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Delaela Fenastra-Asiliari on Feb 25, 2023 20:50:23 GMT -5
"No," Del's voice quavers, as those shadows dissipate. She had not yet seen they were not armed until it was too late; she had not attacked but she had not stopped them. That was wrong. So, terribly wrong. It brings something up, but it's less a memory and more of a reaction. A sick sense of dread and distress, entertwining with an incandescent rage.
The exterior voice is forgotten in that moment, and all there is, is Del and a grief so depthless it had no name.
She wheels on the shades encroaching on her, the ones that bore arms, the ones she had moved with, flaring with anger. "It was WRONG!" She shouts, her chest heaving with anger and sorrow, "They were unarmed! You--" The fracture along Del's nose glows a bright, molten gold, a light she cannot see.
There are no words she can utter, no way to finish that sentence. It was unexplainable, those thoughts, those memories still lost to her. Still, always, the fury remained.
The knives drop from her hands and Del reaches to the shade nearest her to sunder it, disarm and taering it in twain. Then, she rounds on the others to do the same. She could not protect those who had fallen, but she could protect others, others like them.
There is no response from the voice. But, there is a convenient torch that bursts into light by the threshold, and illuminates the eyes peering beyond it.
It is indeed a hulking mass of a werewolf, lips pulled back over a muzzle too small to fit its gigantic fangs. It does not flinch at the sudden intrusion of light, only stares with vacant awareness, watching from the entrance. It does not move, but Gerhart can see that the light is well within arm's reach of the door.
And there was Gerhart's choice; honor his parents by confronting that which terrified him most. He knows the fire keeps the creature at bay, too, and will likely follow him to the pyre he has built for his parents. He knows he will have to say goodbye, and this time, the only one there for him to distract himself with is one of the worst things he can imagine.
Or, he could do nothing, and ignore it, bury it all down so he could keep up the front, for himself, for others. Again.
|
|
The Expedition
IS OFFLINE
33
Renown
Moonglade
an good boi
786 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Feb 26, 2023 11:45:01 GMT -5
"So you can fight! Good, you are not as weak as I had thought." Once more the voice returns to ripple through the air.
Del swipes at the shades and she makes contact, blows that would normally cripple an arm or knock out an opponent, but they go through the shades as they reform in the wake of her attacks. The blades lash out in return, the familiar ringing of steel through the air flashing towards Del. She may not be able to harm them, but it seems as if they could harm her.
In the flurry of battle, she can suddenly hear more hushed and nervous voices all around. More shades to be hunted and destroyed it seems. The knives she dropped remain in the ground beside her as the hunting group seems to prepare to move on from her.
There is not much time to make a choice: Fight the shades knowing she cannot win to give others a chance, relent and join the hunt, or flee and become one of the hunted.
To say Gerhart is scared at first is an understatement. He'd never seen a werewolf since the day his parents died. His pulse quickens and his breaths become shallow as that fear sets in. He wants to look for an exit, but he knows the second he looks away it will pounce. Any quick movement would be the end of him, he knew how predators worked. In some respects as a hunter he was a predator himself, he knew how this could play out.
He feels his muscles try to pull him backwards for a moment....wait....you're no longer that scared kid huddled under a table. You've conquered ancient mummies and fought many beasts on par with werewolves if not stronger. You do not need to be afraid anymore. You've helped so many people move on after bad things happen on jobs. The thoughts race through the ranger's mind. It's like Cirice and Cyran have warned and chastised him about, always taking the time to protect others and not himself. That was true both physically and emotionally.
The feared expression turns resolute as Gerhart snatches the torch, "This isn't goodbye, they are dead, but not gone. They died protecting me, so the least I can do is protect others, but I can't do that if I die as well."
The torch alights both fires as Gerhart closes his eyes and exhales a breath. "I'm not living on borrowed time, I'm living the life they gave up to protect me."
|
|
CCS Courier
IS OFFLINE
336
Renown
Female
Sylvan Elf
692 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Delaela Fenastra-Asiliari on Feb 27, 2023 15:24:07 GMT -5
"Shut up," She growls at the voice. Her strikes are ineffectual, the stuff of nightmares to rain blows uppon your enemy and have it be met by wisps of smoke. Their shadowy knives strike her deep along her arms and legs, carving through this strange form she bears here. Del knows she cannot win.
She does not care.
It is only her between those they are hunting and the group that she is-- was on the side of. Seeing the group that about to move on, back to their dark work, Del crouches to pick up her knives-- she hates them, they burn her hands-- and with cunning surety, pounces on one of the advancing shadows, driving the blade into where it's neck would be and ripping out the front of it's throat. She moves in front of the group, determined to stop them. She will stop them-- she must. "RUN," Del yells over her shoulder at the nervous whispers in the trees. "They're coming, GO!"
As Gerhart takes the torch, he can feel the werewolf's humid breath billowing over him. As he takes it back to the pyre, he can hear the footsteps as the werewolf follows, a slow, prowling pace. It growls, low in it's throat. And still, Gerhart persists.
Gerhart lights the pyres of his long-dead parents, and they are consumed with supernatural speed. The heat and light of the pyre billows out, radiant and encompassing. Now, the werewolf fliches, snarling as it is driven back by the potency of Gerhart's light and choice.
It growls at him, wincing under the light of the fire, and bounds back into the safety of the dark, baying its defeat to the moon.
At last, the voice returns. "A well done task. Gerhart Stannislav, I ask you again; What is it you seek?"
The fires of his parent's pyres begin to die down. Gerhart is still bathed in light, but it is the warm comfort of of embers with the pale visage of the moon overhead.
|
|
The Expedition
IS OFFLINE
33
Renown
Moonglade
an good boi
786 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Feb 28, 2023 16:49:01 GMT -5
What happens next for Del happens in a flash and blur. Smoky humanoids run as others descend on her, pushing past any attacks and quickly engulfing her. In the black pit of nothingness that follows, it is impossible to tell how much time has passed. There is no light, sound, wind, no sensations at all.
Slowly feelings do return, starting in her chest. She can hear her heart beat, proof she is alive. Then comes the feeling of her flowing blood, the energy that fuels her, the pulse of ki traveling through her veins. When the elf's vision does return, her hand is once more clutching tightly to something. The knife in her hand has been replaced with a hammer, worn and weathered. A tool that has been loved and used well.
"You are a fixer, but leave yourself broken. Take what you've learned here as the first nail towards repairing yourself."
So this is what grief is actually like hm? He's not exactly fond of the feeling....part of him wondered a moment if maybe he should have purposefully failed this test. He'd done fine enough to live this long right? No....get rid of those thoughts. You have others to live for, yourself to live for.
"I want my own life, I still want to protect others and keep my friends safe, but I want to do it on my own terms. Not what I think there's would have been."
|
|