A Gift Lost to the Shadows

Sage Orum's Plaza, midmorning

It is a gloriously bright winter morning, blue sky as far as the eye can see though the cold north wind is having its way with anyone up and about this early on Ceriday, which to be fair, in this part of town, comprises of a couple of students leaning on each other was they do the drunkard's walk, presumably heading back to their dorms, and a rather despondent looking giant of a giantborn, who is standing outside the library.

Presumably he has been there a very long time, as he is dusted with snow on his copious mane and broad, red-tinged shoulders, like some too-realistic statue. Further inspection carries the metaphor even further, as he looks properly despondent as a black raven, wearing a rather incongrous bow-tie (perhaps linked to the performers who frequent the Plaza?) seems to caw nonstop at the all-but-intert half-giant.

Abruptly, the library doors swing open, and a much more reasonably-sized humanoid wrapped in a long leather coat with a broad brimmed hat on his head strides out. Telamon Lupecyll-Atlon is always dressed to the nines, and this morning is no different; an oruch frostrider coat that hangs down to his calves, his hat festooned with a large, outrageous violet feather. Beneath, he wears a white wool tunic and leather trousers, and a haversack is strapped across his shoulder and rests at his hip.

The sorcerer-archmage actually looks to be in good spirits, his step quick as he grins tightly. "I cannot -wait- to try a couple of these..." he says to himself, before pausing and tilting his head. As if hearing something. Then the cawing impinges on his awareness and he looks around, catching sight of the unhappy looking giantborn and his mouthy companion. He pauses, opening his mouth, then stops again, looking confused, before he starts walking towards Kaj.

A large, red Alduuli is folded into the snow, almost dozing despite the cold. Perhaps the blanket and strange barding it wears is enchanted against such mundane concerns like freezing weather or layers of softly packed snow. Cuddled into, with her head resting on its flank, is a huddled mass of furs in the rough silhouette of Carver.

Like her mount, she should suffer against the common concerns of men like body temperature. She does not seem to be worried at all. She may have even be ready to doze off at the feet of some ancient monument to a legendary hero until suddenly; CAW!

She grimaces, cracking open an eye and observing the looming meeting between Giantborn and Archmage.

It's not Kaj that notices that the Dandy Sorcerer has focused his attention on him, but Shard, the raven. As it does so, it caws some more, though Kaj seems to be completely away with the fairies. Wherever his mind has wandered to, his response is not fast enough for Shard, who goes from cawing to a flying 'attack' at Kaj's face to get the colossus to react.

Kaj, startled, takes a step back and, surprisingly perhaps even to the jaded heroes of Alexandria, his mane seems to come to life, extending in all directions in slithering coils--some sort of defensive mechanism. Even more oddly, the hair changes colour, going bone-white, though the giantborn regains control before swatting at his dearest friend and finally turns his attention to Telamon, smiling shyly down (down down) at the Arch-sorcerer.

"Lord Telamon?" he asks, his voice an octave deeper than the deepest human register.

It brings something to Telamon's mind: Slixvah, and her feathers. The archmage pauses as Shard -- ah, that's his name -- gets the giant's attention, letting him settle down before speaking. Having to crane his head up at the giantborn (good gods what did they feed this man? Enlarge potions?).

"My wife and little brother have spoken of you. You would be Kaj." It's not a question. "Why are you standing out here with such a sad expression, friend? Your companion Shard," he gestures to the raven, and there's a palmful of dried fruits in his hand, "seems worried about you."

Tel pauses. "Alright, I am not having this conversation where I have to put a crick in my neck to do it." Deliberately, he puts one foot up, like he's starting to ascend a flight of stairs, except nothing's there. But...

He doesn't fall. Instead, he 'walks' upward, till his eyes are roughly on a level with Kaj's. "Better. Now, what troubles you, sir?"

There is a puff of powder. Carver powers from her prone position with a swing of her hips, knife in hand, misconstruing the Mountain's hair folly-cles as an attack, bone-handled knife in her hand within a heartbeat. Her companion rises as well, a literal hill of soft snow sloughing off as it shakes itself free from the stupor of a drowsy day.

Oh. No one's under attack. She grumbles as she shoves the knife back to her belt, turning to Deathless to brush free the lingering snow, but keeping an eye on the conversing pair.

Directly in proportion to Telamon's altitude a half smile grows on the lips of the scarred and painted giantborn.

"Eaten. I was eaten." He frowns, "My god-sister found a way back, but not all of me." He sounds truly despondent. "I am voiceless and stone-headed to my brothers and sisters!" Poor Kaj, he's on the edge. In fact, he's so despondent he doesn't even think twice as he tries to grab Telamon's biceps, his hands looking big enough to engulf half the half-elf's arms each, "The priests talk of fate, Telamon-arch, but perhaps you can speak of rectification?" he booms again.

The Goblin floats downwards on the breeze, bundled up in leathers and furs. She seems completely unperturbed at falling from the sky, but the view is impressive at least.

It is very obvious when Murder spots Kaj, though the squeak is lost in the wind, her toothy grin is obvious, as well, she adjusts her attitude and pulls her little body into a thin, arrow like shape. Her downwards velocity increases.

"KAAAAAAAAAAAAAJJJJJJJ!!"

Her yell echoes off the nearby university buildings, and at the very last moment she yells something in Goblin-talk...

Her fall stops immediately, and she floats gently downwards like a feather, to plop down atop the Giantborn's head, looking very pleased with herself.

Telamon blinks as Kaj grabs his arms. Something stirs in his memory, though, and instead of struggling he just lets the giantborn hold onto him, as he hovers. He does blink as Murder lands on Kaj's head, and he can't help but grin. "Hello, Murder. Is Kaj a friend of yours as well? He looks like he needs a few. Friends, that is."

He glances over as Carver scrambles to her feet, and gives her a brief smile. All is well, his expression says, and then he turns his full attention to Kaj... meeting the giantborn's stare with his own calm, starry gaze.

"I have been dead before. If briefly. I have endured, and prospered. Calm yourself, Kaj. What was, lies in the past -- but what might be, well, that is for you to decide." The sorcerer looks sympathetically at the giantborn. "I am the guardian of travelers at night -- that doesn't just apply to the evening, but anyone who faces a dark road. Will you explain what haunts you?"

Carver simply nods, expression a mask of austere anxiety beneath the striking colors of warpaint and achromatic snow. The last of the lingering white is tossed off of Deathless with one last shake, the Alduuli nudging at her with the nose. Eager. For something. Nudges again. Carver's mask breaks with a smile, gap-tooth and all, reaching to feed her companion.

All is well, says the Archmage. All is well. Murder-Hat only makes her *slightly* anxious. Everyone knows Murder.

Kaj pauses, still clamped onto Telamon's arms, looking like he wants to shake him until some magic pixie dust comes loose and solves all his problems. But the calming words of the charismatic sorcerer have roughly the same effect, if not in outcome, at least in terms of getting through.

The coincidence of Carver speaking to her horse and also calming him down seems to also reach Kaj, who nods and is about to say something when Murder airdrops into the snaking mass of hair-vines.

The half smile briefly turns into a full one, especially as Telamon greets her, Kaj's hair-vines cradling the goblin and bringing her into a smothering hair-powered chest hug. But he's still in a state and his grip doesn't lessen.

"A few tense and emotion-filled heartbeats later, "Yes," says Kaj, locking onto some helpful thought or feeling, as another deep breath is taken, leading to the grip loosening a touch.

Murder grins at Telamon and Carver from her lofty perch. She acks a moment later as Kaj's animated hair captures her. She squirms and flails at it, and ooooooofs as she's hugged to Kaj's chest.

"Hi Kaj! Ooof." A little hand pats at a massive pec. "You doing okay, buddy? What's goin' on?"

As Kaj begins to come down -- or rather, rise up -- from his despair, Telamon offers a reassuring smile. "I've been a counselor more than a few times. Guided my friends as best I can -- though I'm not perfect and I rarely have all the answers."

As Murder is cuddled like a rather unusual teddy bear, Telamon feels Kaj's grip slacken. He glances down at the man's hands and grins at him in a cheeky expression. "Is this what they mean by 'shaking someone down'?" He slips one arm free, but lets Kaj hold onto the other. "You're clearly distraught. This isn't a surprise. Returning from the Halls of Waiting isn't a good trip -- even if you have friends and family to return to, and tasks still to do. I know I didn't enjoy it much. But tell me what you find lacking, sir."

Carver mounts Deathless in one smooth, unbothered motion. Like she was born there, learned to ride before she walked. Ect, ect. With just the press of her legs, the red Alduuli pushes forward, joining the strange cast of people that gathered here on the university grounds. "Iffin' you don't mind? I overheard." She looks at least a little embarrassed to be eavesdropping.

Deathless does something that steals her words. Her eyebrows go up in surprise. Without her bidding, the horse brushes their mane to Kaj. In sympathy unspoken for things that can no longer be spoken.

Carver says, “She... never does that. My apologies.”

That's the drop that spills the bucket, so to speak--upon the horse's gesture registering, Kaj releases Telamon and places both hands on the neck of the steed, gently. He speaks quietly to her in Jotun, heartbreak in his voice.

Kaj says "I had words for you before, Plains-sister, but they have been taken from me..." <jotun>

The Goblin pats Kaj a bit more, before squirming and worming her way through the mass of animated hair. She finally reaches his shoulder, and Murder perches there. "Telamon is a good person, he'll do right by you, don't you worry. What is troubling you?" She bares her arms, and flexes them, "Need someone beat up?"

Her legs are pulled up under her as she settles in crosslegged. "But seriously, what is troubling you, Kaj?"

Her ears perk up at the Jotun being spoken, her head tilted to one side.

The expression of confusion on Telamon's face is actually kind of funny. He's so used to knowing what other people are saying, that the experience of -not- understanding is a novel one for him. But it's clearly meaningful for Kaj, and so Telamon lets the giantborn talk to the horse. Looking over his head at Carver, the sorcerer shrugs a bit. Whatever helps the fellow.

His gaze moves back to Murder, and he smiles at the gobber. "I hope all is well with you? I was in the library, picking up a few scrolls I'd commissioned from their records." He grins broadly. "I may not be able to cast them often, but I do enjoy having some extra options..."

Carver blinks, watching Kaj as the Giantborn and Deathless share a moment. Her expression smooths. She didn't quite grasp the meaning, surely, but the meaningfulness was made. After another moment, "What did you say?" Deathless finally unbows her head, giving a shake, ears twitching.

Murder giggles lightly at Telamon's comfusion, and then nods to the sorcerer when he speaks about having more options. She shrugs out of her backpack and begins to pull things out of it. "Scrolls of shield, mage armor, magic missile, and endure elements. Potions of healing in three different flavours... I like cherry the best." Then antitoxins, antiplagues, tindertwigs, a healer's kit, sneezing powder..

The Goblin squints and sniffs at that. Her noses wrinkles up and she sneezes loudly several times in a row. "Gah... yep, still works! Lessee... alchemist's fire, wand of ear piercing scream, wand of Gnomish fireworks... wand of flame, I ought to use this again... oh, my Goblin army knife!"

She's got a lot of junk in this here backpack.

As Kaj murmurs to the horse, Telamon makes a gesture to Carver. "Let him be. Sometimes you have to let them talk it out of them. Lana always said one of the best things about Pothy was that she can tell him anything -- even back when he -couldn't- talk back to her." He rolls his eyes. "Of course nowadays, you can't make him be quiet, but such is life."

Murder rummaging in her pack draws a grin from Telamon. "I had to do that a while back. Sort through my haversack. Gods, I had a fistful of various alchemical toys -- the shopkeeper in Ylvaliel offered me a deal on a variety pack." He looks rueful. "I've never even used some of it. Still... I also keep a bag of scrolls, and some potions at hand. Adventurers just tend to collect things."

"Right." Carver says, watching Kaj for another minute before stepping off Deathless. Murder taking inventory only distracts her for another minute, before she gives a shake of her head. "Actually, it occurs to me, these snows seem to have brought forth a great increase of otherworldly intrusions. I can't in good faith say it is more than in the past. Did it start shortly after that Lich that your wife fought at the Felwood, Archmage?"

"When you're as old as I am, yeah, you tend to collect a lotta stuff!", the Goblin says with a grin. "Is it a reflection of good character when I can honestly say none of this stuff was looted from anywhere or anyone? I bought, or was rewarded it in person, all of this stuff."

She reaches up to tap was looks like a barrette in her hair... and all of her furs and leathers vanish, replaced by silver and gold chainmail. "Even this hat of disguise."

Murder eyes Carver for a moment, her eyes shifting to take in Telamon a moment before the Goblin shrugs. "No. The area has always had otherworldly intrusions. I mean, the Felwood has been a thing for the longest time, and even after they shut the tear, the hole... there have still been demons and other otherworldly things about. I know, I've been here a while.. foiled Asumit's plan to overwhelm the city with demons. Fought everything from Vrocks to arch-ducks and more."

His hands still gently playing with the horse's mane, Kaj speaks again, "Imagine speaking all the languages in the world, and then they are gone."He shakes his head, "Is there any path to understanding? Did I lose that gift in the Shadows?"

Telamon looks sympathetically to Kaj. He has no idea what, if anything, he might have left behind in the Halls. But what if it had been something integral to him, like his magic? The sorcerer places a hand on Kaj's shoulder. "Maybe. But what once was might still be again. Come, Kaj. Let's go find some place warm, with good food. The world is fickle, but it can be encouraged in certain ways to find other paths."

Telamon's eyes move to Murder and Carver. "Please, come with us. The more friends, the better." His gaze becomes cheerful. "There's a wonderful place on the south side of the district, seafood in a Jade Islands style. Just the thing to banish the chill and remind you of the wonders life can offer."

GAME: Murder rolls acrobatics: (18)+22: 40

Murder looks at Kaj a moment, her eyes narrowing. She tilts her head to Telamon then, and looks back to Kaj. "If I have to, I will go down to Vardama's Hall and get it back personally. I had you raised, and there were promises made. If you are missing something... I'll get it back."

With a few quick motions, her things are stuffed back into her backpack, and leaps from the Giantborn's shoulder. A couple of somersaults are done before she sticks the landing with aplomb. Her stomach gurgles.

"If you're buying, I'm eatin'!"