Renew the Pact: The Hand of Asumit, p10
Log Info
- Title: Renew the Pact: The Hand of Asumit, Part 10
- Emitter: Whirlpool
- Characters: Cesran, Seldan, Cryosanthia, Serene, Karelin, Merek
- Place: The Void Demon Tower in the Ethereal Sea of Mana
- Time: Tuesday, July 06, 2021, 8:30 PM
- Summary: In front of the party is a towering creature of the void, alive and forced into the sea of mana. Nothingness, with awareness. They discuss what it is, and what they might do. Cesran reasons it's a Void Demon, and this may be how Gunahkar, the Demon Lord manifested. It is Anti-creation, but pulled into creation, now exists to destroy it. The find a door. Inside it's as disorienting as an Escher diagram. Directions do not seem to match the visuals, and there are flickering images of other selves. They discuss again if Discord is to be trusted. Merek snaps out of his reverie and casts Find the Path, then guides everyone deeper to the centre where they encounter Asumit. All twelve of him.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Appearing, in Order =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Serene 6'2" 175 Lb Eldanar/Charn Female Glacier meets granite meets strawberries.
Cesran 6'1" 185 Lb Human Male A tall dark-skinned man
Cryosanthia 6'9" 291 Lb Sith-Makar Female A dashingly tall, elegant white-scaled lizard woman.
Seldan 5'11" 187 Lb Human Male Ginger-blonde human in armor wearing Eluna's symbol.
Aya 4'7" 105 Lb Shadow Elf Female Mul'niessa. Braided hair. Simple clothing.
Merek 5'10" 215 Lb Human Male A black-haired, dusky male with golden eyes.
Karelin 6'2" 256 Lb Human Male Tattooed Korite warrior. Tall, dark and scarred.
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-=--=--=--=--=--=--= NPCS of Note =--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=
Griva Brassbringer Khazdi Female Head of the Alexandrian Chapter of the Resurrection Society
Asumit Male Summoner Mage, Enemy of Magic
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-=--=--=--=--=--=--= As the GM =--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=
Whirlpool 5'0" Otyugh I am stinky!
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Previously
It has been a rough and tumultuous trip through the Sea of Mana in Cesran's telekinetic sphere. First, brushes with the black emptiness weakened the magic. Next was a harrowing descent through spheres of darkness. Seemingly literal holes in reality.
Finally they came to a stop, somewhere.
Serene unfolds to her feet, checking upon the sword in its makeshift baldric upon her back. Her true sword. Satisfied that it is secure, she gives the nod to Cesran while telling Karelin, "We shall see what comes." She pauses to listen to Cryosanthia, smiling faintly at one point, then nodding, all seriousness once again. "I understand what you are saying, Cryosanthia. But the sword seems of one purpose. I do not believe anything it says can be trusted. But I will listen."
Cesran nods, "All right if everyone is ready." He says as he holds onto his staff tightly as he lets the telekinetic sphere drop so that they'll now be floating in the darkness.
The mist begins to part.
... there is a great void before you, now, that you stand dangerously close to. Were you always here? Or did you move without realizing it?
... in the center of the great void sits a tower, of sorts... no, wait. That's not a tower. It's a pillar ... no .. it's a ... thing.
Very much a thing., A great, distorted *thing* of blackness and shadows, of tentacles and teeth. A monstrosity of nothingness.
An entity of the Void, half-emerged into the sea of mana itself, as if something had deliberately weakened the wall between it and invited the Void inside.
Non-existence is here. It doesn't seem to have noticed you.
Yet.
... but it's *alive*. Towering into the sky above you.
As the mists part and reveal the path ahead, Serene narrows her eyes. Lets her breath out. "I suppose our destination has been revealed to us."
Cesran stops in his track as he looks at the tall Void Tower, "Yes I'm pretty sure that's where we have to go."
"Oh." Cryosanthia says, staring. Her underwater eyelids remain down, and she blinks. Otherwise, she doesn't move. "Would... anyone like a candied cricket?"
Her mind feels as blank as the nothingness she faces. "That's like the last curtain call, right? Go in there and you never existed? It's not something we can fight?"
"Is it?"
Now
Seldan had been silent for much of the trip, his thoughts his own as they'd descended, although ice-blue eyes in an unusually pale face are watchful, at once wondering and attentive to the details. The spheres of darkness had been troubling, sure, but the Sea of Mana does not hold only wonderful things. This had he well known. Still, to come face to face with the truth had been ... disturbing at best. _As well Malik does not see this,_ he reflects silently, just as they come to a stop, just as Cesran drops the sphere.
He stands transfixed in silence as the tower manifests before them, a tower somehow at once different and more menacing still than the last tower he faced, a thing that ... is, and yet is not.
"Fight, yes, although mayhaps not with weapons," he answers gravely, without looking, at Cryosanthia or at any of the others. "Say rather that it must be undone."
Aya is perhaps more unsettled by the travel in a sphere of magic than the darkness through which they travel. The parting of mists and reveal of this Tower she considers very much "How convenient. I would wager that we are not expected, expected and not considered a threat, or all manner of thing await our approach to end us. At least the scenery is pleasant."
"This one doesn't think Sparky is up to the task." Cryosanthia says, her sapphire eyes fixed on the towering nothingness. She glances over Aya, her eyes flick to the sides, "Scenery... joking... yes?"
"So, will weapons work. Is it undone by magic? Is it immune to magic? Is it... nothingness?" The whitescale asks, looking first at Cesran and Merek, then Seldan and Serene?
"Is it time to check with Discord? See how we failed before?" Karelin is given a grimace and a shrug, "If my highlights go out, that will be a pretty good indicator."
She crunches a candied cricket.
Merek looks to the tower, "Well, it looks like we need work to do," he will note, while he nods a bit to people. The man adjusts the scarf with him.
Aya arches a brow at Cryosanthia. "The darkness is soothing. Comfortable," she notes. Her eyes then pan back to the conspicuous column ahead. "It is those that dwell within it that are the concern."
Serene's hand drifts a fingerspan towards the named weapon at her hip before she closes her fist and scowls. "I am loathe to trust any message this weapon might impart, and listening to it at all may very well offer it a gap to ooze inside. We can try communicating with it if there is a consensus, but my vote is against it." Her eyes remain locked on the pillar of nothingness.
Seldan, too, shoots Aya a look that could be the result if alarm, confusion, and distaste were locked in a windowless room for a night together, but turns back, racking his own brain for the answer to Cryosanthia's questions. "I do not wish to speak to it without full protections. It is a thing of evil, and must be treated cautiously." Distinct unhappiness peeks through an impassive tone for the space of seconds, before he regains control. "I shall undertake such a thing, if there be no other choice."
Honestly, the thing before him is imposing indeed. _No doubt they already know we are here. We must be ready for anything._
GAME: Cryosanthia rolls knowledge/the planes: (3)+8: 11
The whitescale nods in response to the reluctance shown by both Paladins. Evil is their bailiwick; she's not about to push for something she believes to be a bad idea also. She fidgets, checking the adjustment of her buckler and pulling out her weapons belt. The bag of candy is tucked under an arm as that is strapped on, then offered around, "Last chance before I put it away."
"That... looks pretty terrible. So. Big spell or little spell to get its attention? Is it even safe to cast here?" Cryosanthia asks, looking at Cesran now. He's been thinking for a while. "Does it even want to be here? Is this a buffet of its favourite food or pain, like a water elemental in the plane of fire?"
She exhales, observing the thing, "I want to put up Draconic Resistance or Ablative Barrier, but that might draw attention."
Aya can understand why Seldan might dislike the dark on principle, though also expects the he and Serene bear the knowledge that such is simply fear; the presence of light is no more biased to one aspect than the absence of it. They simply are.
What lies before them may be a similarly primal force, but the ramifications of such, regardless of motive, fall well into the 'intolerable' range. "If it cannot be fought directly, nor reasoned with, and must simply be undone... Does anyone have any suggestions as to how we would accomplish that?"
GAME: Seldan rolls knowledge/religion: (7)+15: 22
"Ancient legends speak of towers within the Sea of Mana, but to what purpose?" Seldan speaks quietly, slowly, as if half to himself. "But - nay. Truly is this a mockery of aught so grand as to have been built within the Sea of Mana." He shakes his head absently at Cryosanthia's offer, his eyes still on the edifice - if it can truly be called that - before them. Would that I had read that passage more thoroughly."
GAME: Cesran rolls knowledge/arcana: (9)+37: 46
Cesran looks over this towering void beast that's before them and using all his senses, natural and magical to try to categorize and analyze what this exactly is. He compares that evidence that he has before him with what he knows about magic and the void itself. He makes connections as he scours the far reaches of his mind to give answers to both his questions and those of his companions. He organizes what he knows and doesn't know before he speaks.
Cesran looks back at the others as he starts to explain, "This is what is causing the problems within the Sea of Mana. It is a void entity of some kind, although I've only heard stories about something like this even happening on the grand of a scale. It is a void demon, but in the act of coming into this world it has become this building that we see before us. It would be hard to physically fight a creature such as this as it's now both a creature and a building. We could enter, but we'd need to use every protection spell that we have on us now. Even then I don't know what we'll find in the tower. It will most likely be a nightmare."
Cesran takes a moment to answer Cryosanthia's questions, "It is a void demon so what it wants is essentially to end all creation. It is the very antithesis of creation. It does not belong here, but being here also makes it part of creation. By it's very nature is is a paradox, which is what makes it so dangerous. The only thing that I can even begin to compare this too is Gunahkar, the Demon Lord, when he came into being. It could be that is what we are witnessing right now, the birth of another Gunahkar or this is Asumit's ultimate plan. He's bound a void demon to his service and let is glut itself on the Sea of Mana, destroying all of creation. Whatever the end game, it is something that we must stop. I would strongly suggest that we give ourselves every protection we can offer to ourselves and each other. Whatever we decide to do, we cannot let this tower stand. It would be the end of everything."
Although it's not necessarily an entity to try to 'physically' engage. It's a fucking building.
"Well," Cryo rolls her shoulders, her wings flexing outwards then in again. Her tail sways slowly behind her. Her toes grip... whatever they're standing on. She listens as Cesran explains a lot of things. "Sounds like couldn't use magic to make physical stuff, like a wall of stone, and make a bunch so there's a tower on the tower, then make a cap and squish it down back into the ground and out of this... here."
She flips her hand, "I guess the same thing, but with walls of force wouldn't work either." Her right hand flips over, and the both back in a flapping motion, "We could fly up and see if it has a face." She tilts her head towards Aya, "If it does you could punch it."
"This one is joking. There might be a door on top or around the other side." The whitescale grimaces, "I agree, it has to be destroyed. Just, y'know. In Am'shere the plan that starts with being eaten... kinda isn't the good plan. So... sounds like, cast my favourite protective spells?"
A trebuchet sure would be nice.
Aya's eyes turn to Cesran. "If it was summoned here, can it not be returned? Would that not be far more feasible than destroying it?" One corner of her mouth lifts upwards as she glances to Cryosanthia. "Even if that would deny us the opportunity to strike it in the face." See? She is a contributing member of the team, making personal sacrifice for the benefit of all.
"Returned to what?" Seldan had set down his haversack and gone digging in it, but looks up now, a heavy medallion between his hands. Now, though, he looks up and turns to Aya, his eyes resting on her, but not with judgment. With curiosity, the medallion in one hand and reaching for the amulet of barkskin he already wears. "If it is of the Void, then it both is and is not. How can one return it to a place that does not truly exist? I know little indeed of the Void, as it is called."
"I know not," Serene supplies, apparently in some agreement with Seldan. "And I would suggest anyone who claims otherwise likely to be a liar or a fool." Her way of saying your guess is as good as mine. "Perhaps it must simply be... unanchored with whatever keeps it here. Separate it from that which gives it form."
Griva has been silent this whole time. Staring at the tower. Horror is written all over her face.
"...we need to destroy it, regardless, and we're probably only going to be able to do that once we get a look at what anchors it. And what anchor it is probably inside. The Animus for doing so is clear." She rubs her eyes.
"My Mistake kinda talked about it." Cryo smiles awkwardly, more a grimace with her lips peeled back. "I didn't understand."
She makes a clicking noise, and an adjustment of her Mithril shirt, "So, gonna cast my spells, which... are Okay. Perhaps... not good enough for this. If you have extra or more powerful versions not going to say no."
Aya answers Seldan with a flat look and a roll of her shoulders. "Anywhere it would not affect us, Ea, nor any other realm you would prefer to keep intact?" It is .. an answer-adjacent response, at the least. "Any effort here, I imagine, is better than none at all." While somewhat directed to Cryosanthia, perhaps as an assurance, it is spread for all. "Then we can see to casting off its anchor, after wading into its gullet, it seems."
GAME: Cryosanthia casts Ablative Barrier. Caster Level: 10 DC: 17 GAME: Cryosanthia casts Draconic Reservoir. Caster Level: 10 DC: 17
"Let me know if it looks this way." Cryo says, then sways lightly side to side, a contained sinuous dance as she works her hands through the air. The environment is bright, distracting so, her white scales are already gleaming making it difficult to see any sparkles or light traces along her lines.
The magic does flow out to her left hand, which flares and there's a brief magic halo surrounding her. Followed by another.
Her protections are up, such that they are.
GAME: Seldan casts Magic Circle Against Evil. Caster Level: 16 DC: 21 GAME: Seldan used a Scroll of Nondetection.
"I would prefer it not damage any realms at all. It is not the first time I have dared venture inside a living thing." Seldan's smile is a ghost of a thing at best, but it is not wholly absent, and he swaps the two necklaces, donning the large medallion and safely stowing the barkskin amulet in his haversack. Next he fishes from that a scrollcase with a red cap, and from it pulls a sheaf of scrolls. Some quick scanning, and he finds one that seems to please him. He casts swiftly and with a smile that widens into a boyish grin as he works, and as it crumbles to dust in his hands and the magic settles around him, casts another spell doubtless more familiar. Three complex sigils drawn together, bursting into midnight-blue-and-silver fire as he draws the crescent and sphere of Eluna through them, unifying all beneath Her holy aegis. His hands now freed, he gestures the sigils to the ground, to lay obediently in a circle at his feet, then with a final word of power, they flash silver and vanish, leaving only a dull glow behind.
GAME: Cesran rolls knowledge/the Planes: (10)+27: 37 GAME: Cesran casts Magic Circle Against Evil. Caster Level: 20 DC: 25
Cesran looks to Aya as she asks him a question, "I hope so, it would be, if something is keeping it here we can perhaps destroy the anchor that is holding it here and hopefully it will go back to the Void and any damage it's done can be healed over time. As long as this is here it will continue to harm the Sea of Mana and everything that the Sea of Mana touches." He takes a moment to ready a spell and he reaches into his spell component pouch to draw a circle in powdered silver around him. He touches the end with his staff as he says a word in the spidery language of the arcane and there is a brief flash of energy before the protection settles around him. "I am ready. I believe we are still under the effects of the Border Ethereal which means we should be able to control our thoughts." He tries to think 3 inches up to see if he rises.
Aya does not have any spells to prepare, cast, nor otherwise prestidigitate. She does feel the need to add a verbal component or two, however. Perhaps to cut through some of the slight tension likely present with nigh-world-ending possibilities.
Or perhaps to get one last poke in at the Silverguard. One way or another, she may not get another chance.
Once he is finished with his casting, she notes, with an uneven smirk. "I'd dare hope this would not be you first venture. You -are- married, are you not?"
Cryosanthia sneezes. Good thing she wasn't drinking anything. It does require a few moments of unpleasant snorting to set her sinuses and snout right. "Ow."
"Well I'm ready to look for a door." Don't say back door, don't say back door.
Seldan's mouth opens at the jab, and nothing comes out. Instead, the fair skin pinkens, and gradually turns scarlet, his eyes lowering to the mana at his feet as the sense of what Aya is implying sinks in. Even his ears turn scarlet, so deep is his discomfiture at the not-so-subtle reference. Left mentally and physically floundering, he doesn't move, or manage anything at all.
The Mul'niessa feels much more at ease marching off to Certain Doom if she can make Seldan laugh or, even better, blush. An indulgment oddly shared by the whitescale woman. Now they can both march off with the calm assurance of her accomplishment.
Aya's smirk broadens to a full, if brief, smile at Seldan. To think some believe that Paladins might lack a sense of humor... or are unflappable. Content, she begins striding (floating?) towards The Thing That Should Not Be.
Cryo watches Cesran, then Aya float off. "Is it easier if I pretend I'm swimming?" She attempts something, drifts after them. "Oh, it is."
Cesran has had plenty of practice doing this as it's essentially how a carpet of flying work. He looks to Cryosanthia, "Just think in the direction you'd like to go, no swimming required, but take it slow at first, so a slow float towards the tower." He says as he moves to stay near Cryosanthia in case she needs any help and to look out for any dangers or defenses.
GAME: Seldan rolls perception: (10)+7: 17 GAME: Cesran rolls perception: (15)+24: 39 GAME: Cryosanthia rolls perception: (7)+8: 15 GAME: Serene rolls perception: (17)+25: 42 GAME: Aya rolls perception: (6)+23: 29 GAME: Karelin rolls perception: (9)+31: 40
Left behind by the others as they start to move, it takes Seldan some moments to gather his composure enough to realize that the others are leaving without him, and hastily, he begins to float off after them, still quite colorful.
There is a door.
Of course there's a door. It's a tower. There's always doors. Travelling inside is awkward. There's an immediate chill as you pass through the the open arched gateway, something that seems to run down your spine and to your very soul, an icy grasp in the heart.
Once inside, however, it becomes clear that it never had to make any sense. Why would it? It's a place composed of 'nothing' made into 'something'. Immediately, you feel like direction is inverted. Up is down, down is up. Things are rapidly making less sense. Flickers before your eyes, like after images, of yourselves and others like you being here, are quickly present, as if the tower has been visited countless times and yet endures. It's painful to hold onto. Fragmentary. There are shifting passages in front of you that bloom into existence and then collapse away into nothing, a monument of disorder or, perhaps ... discord.
Karelin's head turns towards Serene, and he grates out. "You holding a key?"
Serene's lips part, a sliver of space showing her gritted teeth for a moment... before she is once more pinching the bridge of her nose, pressing her eyes closed for a moment. "The sword," she confirms, likely surprising no one. "It sends visions... claiming it can guide us." Despite her obvious and often stated refusal to rely on the dark blade, she of course informs the others of such. Integrity, and all that.
Cryosanthia clenches her hands and spreads her arms, as if she's trying to balance. Her wings also, are out. It's like being underwater and tumbled by a current. Which way is up, which way is down? Eyes and inner ears are not aligning. Her stomach lurches, as if it wasn't abused from the trip over.
She likes towers, normally. It's comfort structure in the sense of having been uncomfortable for a very long time. Her head turns, almost compelled. She stares at Serene, at the improvised baldric. "Oh."
"This turns into that."
The whitescale looks around some more, staring at the flickering images. "to our doom?"
Cesran enters into the tower and he watches fascinated by the comings and goings of the fragments of himself. He endures the pain to see if he can glimpse any hint or possibility that would lead them to victory. He turns towards Serene, "I trust you Serene and will follow you if you believe that we can trust this sword's word." He looks to Cryo, 'That's an interesting theory that perhaps the sword is a manifestation of this tower and that all the fragments that are here in this tower are also in the sword." He continues to look around trying to make sense of what's going on and to figure out the best way forward.
There are so many paths ahead of you, so many ways you can't go... can go ... it's getting hard to focus on it. Everything around you is shifting, constantly.
Griva grimaces in pain, closing her eyes. She seems practically blind here. "Shouldn't have cast all those detection spells," she utters.
Karelin pauses, resists the urge to pat Griva on the head, and notes to Serene. "Our options seem limited. The sword is a bad choice, but the alternatives may be worse." He looks at Cryo. "We're inside already then. Don't worry -- and is it is, we'll make them choke on us."
Serene gives her head a small shake, opening her eyes. Cryosanthia's question about doom draws her gaze initially before it slides over to Cesran. "I do not trust this sword's word. If a better option existed I would insist we take it. But I cannot make sense of what we see here. So I believe Karelin is correct. It is a bad choice, but I am not sure we have better. My recommendation would be to prepare for a trap should the sword, as I believe it inevitably will, betray us."
The whitescale inhales, her hands clenching, nails digging into her palms. She closes her eyes. Focus, Speaker. Say the words that must be said. She straightens to her full height, her wings set back, a cold calmness taking over. "Thank you Karelin, this one will be ok."
Cryosanthia faces Serene. Sapphire eyes meeting Glacial ones, slit pupils staring into round ones. Her expression neutral, cryptic. Her head has to tilt down, just a little, to line up the gaze. "Silverguard, this one has never doubted your determination. You are the mountain that others break against. You are better than the blade."
She waves at flickering images, bubbling walls, "This is a place of instability and the eye of the Dreaming Dragon watches and will not blink on you. You are the best to see through it's lies."
"You'll be okay, and," Her head turns towards Karelin, "we'll make them choke on us. Yes. Lead the way."
Merek will think about it and look to the party while he nods, "We will need a lot more than magic, although that will be a benefit," the man notes.
Cesran continues to watch even though it hurts as he looks to see if there is any pattern, any clue that could help them or just random chaos. "We could not listen to the sword at all and find our own way, but perhaps this is what we did the other times." He looks around, "I wonder. If we have done this all before hundreds if not thousands of times, but we are only aware of this time. Given the nature of the environment perhaps we are even seeing what will happen. We could be seeing all the possible outcomes, those we have taken and those we will take." He finally has to look away and raises his hands to cover his eyes for a moment to gain some temporary relief. "Or perhaps we just close our eyes and walk, this could be just some powerful magic designed to confuse our senses."
Karelin bares his teeth, and steps forwards, drawing his sword. The blade glitters with lambent rune, and he holds it like its a part of him. "Almost," he says to Cryo, then swings his head towards Serene, stops, and looks at Cesran. "Is that what you're going to do?"
GAME: Merek casts Find the Path. Caster Level: 15 DC: 20
"Oh... That's right, I am a master of domains," Merek then proceeds to remember that they are indeed. Pathfinder. He will bring up both hands, "I call upon the path, that we find our way forward, through the maze of the past, lead us to the direct path, and bring us forward. To the throne of Asumit, through this maze."
Then he begins to bring up the glowing hand. He looks from the cavalier hat. The man who was offering to say little while coming upon the place, watching in majesty and walking forward, he then nods a bit. A smile then to Griva.
You really need to wonder about him sometimes.
"Oh." Cryosanthia says, and then she closes her eyes. She keeps them closed and simply senses what she can, without vision. She's aware of the party. Her extra senses aren't helping with finding a way forward. Her eyes open again, "Nothing really, but maybe later."
"And wondering about the paths taken and forgotten, that way lies madness. This one hates to think this is the most successful or first successful."
The whitescale stares as Merek casts, then strides regally forward. Her hands twitch, halting halfway through casting her Arcane Mark. She looks at her gloves. "Oh." She says again.
She makes an unusual and new hand gesture, her gloves glow and she presses the palm again the wall nearest the passage the Seer selects. A white glowing handprint is left when she removes it. "There. I'm contributing. If it doesn't help us find the way out I can at least irritate the Void Demon by fingerpainting its insides."
Serene says, "nnnngh"
Karelin nods slowly. "Alright." He looks at Serene. "Save the sword's bullshit for later." He follows the others.
Cesran looks to Karelin as he keeps his hand up to his eyes to block out as much as it can, "I might have to, although the spells I have placed upon myself are often very helpful, there are times when they are a determent. I had hoped in a place like this there would be no overwhelming presence of magic, but it seems I was wrong." He leans against his staff as he does his best to follow after the others as they go. He can see the marks that Cryosanthia is making, "Good idea."
Serene nods once. She doesn't look relieved. When the gods were doling out that particular emotion, they probably decided Serene didn't need it. But she does appear satisfied. "Mind, be wary of where the spell sends us as well. We have seen evidence of the void twisting magic."
GAME: Merek rolls will: (13)+19: 32 GAME: Serene rolls will: (7)+34: 41
Serene's hand has drifted to the sword again, and this time it took hold. Deliberate? Maybe. Even as Merek casts his magic she confronts the weapon, perhaps hoping to find something within its madness that might correlate with whatever Merek finds. As she does so, the tendons on her neck bulge a little bit, her lips start moving, but whatever she says is under her breath.
Merek then asks, while he takes a look that way, "I can't do it alone." The man begins to wince while he will forge the path forward. It is clear that whatever it is that he is trying to fight doesn't want it solved. "We can do it!" All the timelines all showing them the paths, then he tries to take them piece along piece.
Like a dance and song, he will forge through and begin to form a path, "Stabilize the flow of the timeline." He went into the timestream and has seen possibilities. "Serene," the man will offer, noticing whatever she might be doing, and will wait for the woman to assist in finishing the magic. Then he watches while it begins to join, all the pathways begin to stabilize, time begins to take one point that's forward. "Alright, we can do it together!" With that, he will nod with Serene's words, then will try to combine their magic and knowledge with the work.
Karelin growls. "What do you need from me?"
Cesran follows along and he hears Merek's request for assistance. He raises his staff to lend his magical staff to lend Merek some of his magical power, "Use what you need."
Cryosanthia caught that touch, the tension in the Silverguard's body, the change in her scent. With one hand on a wall, leaving another glowing white imprint, she's fanning her ear-fins forward, straining to hear those whispered words.
She can't. Merek's she hears clearly.
Then the Seer is back from leading to offer assistance to Serene and she blinks slowly, finding herself echoing Karelin, to everyone and no one in particular, "Tell me what you need me to do."
Her bag of candy is out again. She's putting a sweet in her mouth. She holds it towards the warrior, while watching Serene. Her wings are folded back and her tail is against her legs. She repeats, "Whatever you need me to do."
>crunch< She bites down. Strawberry this time.
Merek will take a hand upon the staff, and looks then to Cesran, while he nods to Karelin's question, and smiles then to Cryosanthia while she will begin to eat the candy. It's all perfect, and he knows what they need to go forward. It's never been about power, that is perhaps where many were failing in other timelines. Then he remembers the words of themselves from another world. "Lend me your magic, listen to me. I have something important to say before we stand forward."
With that, he will lift up a hand forward, "It doesn't matter where we failed." A nod to Serene, "It doesn't matter what happened in the other worlds. We fought to protect, and we thought that we didn't have the power to fight, and that we need to save the world."
He then takes a look along to Griva, "Look into yourselves, and all these paths that walk forward. And remember one thing. We will succeed where they failed. We will succeed because we are together. Every one of us has a part to play, do not worry on the man next to you. We all know what might come of this to each and everyone."
The man tips the cavalier hat along his features, "Strike down your own selves, from your mind. And remember one thing. We are together, and we all can see the path forward. We don't need power. What we need, is to remember what we fight for. Family. Friends. I can hear it in your words."
The man looks up from the cavalier hat, "We forge a path onwards. Cryosanthia, you for Lily. Cesran, to see Animus and to see the world of magic. Serene, to do what is right. Seldan, to protect others. Karelin, I don't know, but you're here, and we need you. Griva, you brought us to this place, and perhaps I actually see we need Animus back. Throw away shadow self, and step into a new light. We will protect the world. And we will win, and there aren't any others I would want to face this challenge with."
Then he draws forward and puts all of his power, all of THEIR power, into one blast to seal all the paths to one.
Karelin looks at Merek. "I don't know who the fuck you are either, newcomer, but we're here, and apparently we need you too."
The way is clear.
Well... in a manner of speaking. It does not look clear. Up is down. Down is left. Right is right and ... well, anyway, you're going somewhere but the logic of direction and reality is inverted. It feels inversed, even if it isn't. Or is it?
It's hard to say. Just being here is bringing on a headache. But things seem to be ... stabilizing the closer you get to a core. It's taking on more reality. The walls are alive, though, and they seem to be watching you. Then again, isn't the whole structure containing a certain kind of life?
Or Anti-Life, perhaps? It just is.
Finally, you step into what appears to be a large chamber that descends in a great groove, darkness coiling around your feet and clinging to you as you move.
"We've been expecting you," says a voice as things seem to finally snap into solidity. A room full of eldritch markings, all over the walls, a wizard's workshop if there ever was one. Gateways mar the walls, open wide and swirling. Diagrams along the floor, scrawled eldritch runes, piles of books and scrolls, marked with madness and hate.
"Welcome to the Nexus of Unreality."
There stands a man. Several men, actually. Several identical men. All of them are winged and dressed in a variety of robes or rags. Some are clean, some are dirty, but they are unmistakably all the same man. He waves a clawed hand dismissively towards Karelin.
"I wouldn't try it just yet. I remember you in Versis. You as well," he addresses Serene.
Asumit is smiling. All dozen of him.
'Something Inspiring https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM9bi4nqL7A