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+---- Thread: Scars Make Us Whole (/showthread.php?tid=1399)
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Scars Make Us Whole - Jigano - 07-09-2019
The crisp, white-haired figure of the loreseeker was hardly seen around the Settlement in these tense times, but a darkish-grey feathered raven slipped through an Infirmary window left open to catch the fresh air and sunlit warmth of the early leafchange afternoon, and soon after a man with darkish-grey hair tucked up under a broad-brimmed hat stepped out from behind a privacy curtain and was poking his head into the office where another friend had once held the reins of the hall of the healing.
"Vai?" he called out, tentatively, voice still hoarse from the poison gas that had worked its way inside his skin. "Are you in?"
RE: Scars Make Us Whole - Vervain - 07-10-2019
"I am. And apparently you do not know how to knock." The witch's tone was easygoing, if not a touch wry as she glanced up from where she had been quite obviously feeding her son. Felix grumbled as Vai put herself away and cradled him against her shoulder, the baby hiccupping away as she attempted to figure out who she was actually seeing.
Upon noticing that it was actually Jigano of all people, an expression of relief and guilt flickered across her face. "I'm glad to see you," she said softly. "At the Spire, I wasn't able to... the air would have killed Deimos and I," she tried to explain. "And no one was coming out from the shield that the Fae had made."
RE: Scars Make Us Whole - Jigano - 07-10-2019
The worried tension in his chest relaxed a bit at seeing Vervain, alive and whole, though he abruptly pulled his head back and faced away from the door as she resettled herself. "Ah, my apologies. I wasn't thinking," he admitted, relief and embarrassment creating an odd, uncomfortable bubble in his stomach for a long few moments until he heard the hiccups that he hoped indicated Felix was done with his meal. He peeked cautiously over his shoulder to make sure his friend was ready for a visitor before he tried to enter the office again, tipping the door partially closed as he tentatively found a chair to perch on, tipping his hat up and flipping up the eyepatch over his right eye so he could see Vai properly, and make sure she was whole and healed from their recent adventure.
"It's alright," he assured her, giving a shake of his head to forestall her explanations. "I was more worried that I couldn't find you when the shield fell. After all that happened... well. I needed to make sure you were in one piece." He managed a crooked smile. "It was a steep price for... well. For what we accomplished... I don't know." He exhaled a sigh, tilting his head at the Healer with a shadow of a smile. "But I wanted to thank you, for coming down there with us. For keeping the air clean, and healing what you could. We could not have lasted as long as we did without you. And..." He shrugged lightly, smile turning wry. "Given all that you faced and what you did, you deserve an explanation, if you want one."
RE: Scars Make Us Whole - Vervain - 07-12-2019
"Easily done, you're fine." Vai, at least, didn't seem the least bit embarrassed about it, and she reclined easily in her chair as she patted Felix gently on the back (he was still hiccupping). A warm smile made it onto her face at the news that he had even been looking for her after everything that had occurred in the Spire. She had barely been able to remain conscious, let alone anything else that had happened beyond that.
Hearing Jigano out, the witch shrugged her shoulders (careful of the baby settled there) and smiled to him again. "It was the right thing to do. I'm just sorry that I couldn't hold out any longer for you," she said, her brow furrowing as he mentioned an explanation. "I would appreciate it, if you didn't mind. There are a lot of blanks I need to fill in about why you were all down there and what you were trying to achieve..."
RE: Scars Make Us Whole - Jigano - 07-14-2019
"You held out long enough," he assured her. And she had, clearing the air long enough for Delah to build the shelter, at least. Jigano gave a thoughtful nod as she accepted his offer of explanation, and he sat back a bit as he gathered the threads of the tale from a wound still raw and grieving for what had been lost. "Where to start... is a little difficult," he admitted, frowning down at nails dirt-blackened and roughened, a far cry from their usual clean and well-manicured state. "I suppose all the way back to the night the Barrier fell. A group went into the basement of the Spire, and later a couple came out, warning of that poisonous gas and in terrible shape. A few of us went in after those who were still down there, intending to bring them out again, hoping to rescue them." He sighed, grimacing slightly at the memories of that night, all shadows and blood and pain.
"When we got down there we found... well. One dead man, his head bitten off. A giant tortoise-like creature that had been slain, and in the room beyond that a great white snake protecting a pillar of light..." Something he meant to talk to Vai about later, but he was afraid to digress too far, and instead pulled himself back from the tangent for the moment. "At the time we had to flee when the Spire shook and started to collapse. We thought the tortoise creature dead, and the snake refused to leave its duty and was presumed dead afterwards as well. But... we were wrong."
He looked up at Vai and Felix, lips twitching in a weary smile. "This next part of the tale is more Amalia's than mine. While she was in the Fae village she met a creature called a Tulmhainar, a giant tortoise-like being she described as very ancient, and very kind, that feeds on memories. Not that it steals them," he quickly reassured her, knowing how touchy a subject that could be, "but just the act of sharing them gives it sustenance, somehow. I... am not very clear on how it got there, but that meeting made Amalia realize that the creature we had found below the Spire was likely one as well, and she learned that such beings do not die so easily. She gathered us, and the Fae joined us, to try and rescue the Tulmhainar who we thought was trapped beneath the Spire, and to try and free it and heal it if we could." He winced, expression going somber as he sighed. "That is what we were doing down there in the first place, and why. What we actually achieved..." The look he turned on his friend was bleak as he shook his head and glanced away, lips tightening against the admission of failure.
RE: Scars Make Us Whole - Vervain - 07-14-2019
Vai listened with the patience of a fellow story-teller, absorbing the tale without interrupting to ask for questions or clarification. From the way Jigano spoke (and merely by the look of him, in fact), it wasn't an easy explanation to give, and so the less she drew it out the better.
She had heard tell of what had happened at the Spire, but it was mostly to do with those who ascended it rather than those who went below. This, then, proved a more valuable story than previously thought, and her blue eyes narrowed a touch as he moved on to the tulmhainar and the memories it sustained itself on.
"I confess, I know only what happened to Safrin in regards to what was achieved," she murmured. "And even then, only in bits and pieces. I'm to understand that the goddess broke through the Spire at great personal cost."
RE: Scars Make Us Whole - Jigano - 07-14-2019
"She did," Jigano nodded with a wince, reliving that awe-inspiring assault of starfire and stubbornness as the goddess had bored a hole straight down the heart of the obelisk. "The Spire held the Voice for three centuries, a prison and a stronghold. I can only imagine how inimical it is to the Old Gods, steeped in her power as it must be. But..." He looked away, the corners of his eyes tightening in shame and pain, both. "The Tulmhainar was dying. She said that there could only be one of her kind on a world. I don't quite understand why, but since there is one living with the Fae, she did not feel she could leave the Spire. On my world the gods could create small worlds, adjacent to ours but slightly separate, private domains that they could rule without interference from other deities. From what the Tulmhainar said, I think that's what the Spire is... or was. After what Safrin did, I'm uncertain if it remains the case but..."
He trailed off again, head bowed in respect for the fallen. "But in the end, she granted the Tulmhainar a final sight of the starry sky before the great creature passed on. And in so doing she fell from the sky, down to the very depths of the Spire and she... we followed her down, Amalia and I, and watched her fall to stardust, there among the poisonous plants." Finally he looked back at Vai, a weariness rounding his shoulders as he smiled wanly at her. "But more would have died without you, so thank you again for helping us, in spite of the danger to us all from those damn leaves."
RE: Scars Make Us Whole - Vervain - 07-18-2019
It was a sad tale - but then weren't all of them sad these days? Vai rocked Felix gently as his hiccuping faded away, the boy soon dozing aganst his mother's shoulder without a care in the worlds. "I'm sorry," she said quietly to Jigano, nodding to a spare seat in the office that he could sit down in if he preferred. "It sounds as though it causes you pain to talk about it... would that we could all have done more."
Because as much as the bard said she had achieved, there was always more, was there not? With a wan smile, Vai looked him over. "What a terrible place, to be able to do that to a goddess. What of you and the others, though? Are you all okay?"
RE: Scars Make Us Whole - Jigano - 07-18-2019
He sat in the offered chair with a grateful nod for the hospitality, smiling wanly at Felix as the baby fell into an innocent doze. "Thank you," he accepted his friend's sympathy for what it was, appreciating the support, though there were others who needed it far more. "It is... still raw," he admitted. "It was a nightmare down there, and then to lose both the one we went to rescue and then to see Safrin fall as well..." He sighed and shook his head, blue eyes meeting Vai's soberly. "And not knowing whether she is gone or badly wounded... It isn't easy. The fall of a true god on my world was a momentous and terrible event, rare and with fallout that could echo for centuries, if not more. To say I am unsettled by what I witnessed would be an understatement."
Her concern was met with another wan smile and a faint shake of his head. "I wasn't... but the one good thing that came out of yesterday was Deimos bonding to a unicorn. She's a lovely creature, and was kind enough to heal us of the poison last night - though I wouldn't be fool enough to turn away the professional opinion of a human healer," he added with a nod to the doctor-in-residence. "Amalia was... I think she was healed by Safrin before... well." He sighed, reaching up to rub at his forehead before peeking from beneath his brow at Vai again. "And... there's still another trapped down there. The Tulhaimnar gave me a hint of how to destroy the plants so they wouldn't send out any more poison, but it will take magic, powerful magic, and I..." He spread his hands and shrugged helplessly. "I am no longer a mage. So I was hoping I could ask your counsel on what to do next."
RE: Scars Make Us Whole - Vervain - 07-19-2019
Vai frowned gently as Jigano explained about Safrin, pressing a gentle kiss to Felix's unruly mop of curls. "I would have thought Ronin might have said something, if she was truly..." Gone? Dead? Could a goddess die, truly? The witch shook that thought away, not wanting to dive too deeply down the rabbit hole. "He's connected to her, after all. She brought him back... And if that was the case, what were the implications of her potential death?
He barely needed to mention needing to be checked by a healer, Vai smiling and nodding and moving to settle Felix in a cradle nearby. The baby barely stirred, and the witch's fingertips were already softly aglow as she approached Jigano. Carefully she would check him over, healing what she could find and easing any residual pain or fatigue from the poison.
"Another trapped down there...? Do you mean the snake?" she asked. "I'll help all I can. What was the magic?"
RE: Scars Make Us Whole - Jigano - 07-19-2019
The healer's words brought a nod of thoughtful agreement from the bard, and he tapped a finger against his leg as he added another reason to see Ronin soon. "I don't know... he was already gone when we came out of the Spire yesterday and I haven't had a chance to seek him out yet," he admitted, expression somber. "He was shaken and injured by the initial descent, but I thought he was able to get out before worse befell us." The gas, the insects, the vines... "I will ask him, though. I'd meant to seek him out later, if I can find him." Though with his movements hampered by needing to stay in disguise it did make things more difficult all around.
He held still as Vervain worked her healing arts on him, ruefully reminded that this was the second time it had happened after being exposed to the Spire's gas. He gave her a grateful bow of his head when she was finished, and he did feel more refreshed as she chased away the very last vestiges of the poison's symptoms.
Her questions earned first a nod of confirmation, and then a slow breath as the bard settled himself to recall the Tulmhainar's last words to him. "She said... that it would take the strongest mages in earth and wind. And that it would also take masters of either fire or life drain," he added, frowning thoughtfully. "And she warned that the poison of the plants would grew deadlier as they died, so I think we will need healers as well." He looked back up at her, a flicker of concern in his blue eyes. "Remi is the only one I know of with earth magic, and you are the only one I've seen use wind... but I was hoping you might know others? From Northhaven, or just people you've met who might be able to help?" For fire, he could ask Rory. For life drain, he had already asked Deimos. But ideally the more magic they had, the faster and safe it would go, as they had hopefully learned last time. And they might need more healers, if Vervain was to focus on using her wind magic to keep the poison fog at bay...
RE: Scars Make Us Whole - Vervain - 07-20-2019
Vai nodded to Jigano at his consideration about Ronin, stepping back once she was sure that she had healed as much as he could for him. "I hope that feels a little better," she murmured. "I didn't see Ronin either, when I left. I'm certain he headed home straight from the Spire - there would be an angry lion and a search party storming the Hollowed Grounds if that weren't the case." With a wry smile, Vai returned to her seat and sank down in it to relax.
As he explained further about the situation beneath the spire and the magic needed to clear the plants and the poison, Vai furrowed her brow and ruffled a hand through her hair. "I've not met anyone other than myself who uses wind magic," she admitted. "Or anyone who has the ability to heal, funnily enough. Fire, though... Edrei might help, though I don't know where her loyalties lie these days. And our wonderful Queen has access to life drain magic."
RE: Scars Make Us Whole - Jigano - 07-20-2019
"Much, thank you," he smiled at his friend for her healing, a warm and genuine expression after the subdued mood he had arrived in. He chuckled at the picture she painted of Remi, but nodded agreement. He still didn't understand what had happened between the alchemist and the captain, but it was none of his business, and if they were more than friends... well, more power to them for finding happiness in such troubled times.
His amusement faded to rueful bitterness at the mention of Edrei and Zariah, and he gave a slight shake of his head. "Unfortunately, I'm not in good standing with the, ah, current leadership," he admitted wryly, reaching up to tap the flipped-up eyepatch of his disguise. "Normally Edy would have been my first thought as well... but for the moment I'd prefer to keep both of the Launceleyns as last ditch options. I didn't realize Zariah had life draining magic..." He frowned for a moment, eyes narrowing at the new information, but there would be time for that later. "So yourself, Remi... perhaps Rory? He might not be Edy's match in fire yet, but he is stronger than he was, and growing more so." A night at the Stonesong, a creature of water and fire, and boons given to both of them that they had discovered as they made their way back to the farm. Magic and mystery, both, and what a strange turn his life had taken... "Though wasn't there some sort of explosion at some point? I thought I felt vibrations in that earth-shield Delah made, but we were fighting with vines at the time and I wasn't sure what had happened."
"The only other magical Healer I know is Sascha," he shared, pulling his thoughts back to the task at hand. "But he is recently arrived. Though he is enthusiastic and kind... I don't know if he's strong enough yet to face the dangers in that Spire." He had seen Sascha at work during the rebuilding of the Atheneum, and though the young carpenter brought eagerness and cheer to his work, well... he made the bard look almost buff in comparison. "I don't know if Isla and Zuriel could make it into the room with the plants, past all that rubble, but perhaps if they waited at the base of the stairs they could help heal people who needed to recover, so you wouldn't have to use both wind and healing magic and tire yourself out faster?"
RE: Scars Make Us Whole - Vervain - 07-21-2019
Vai gave a very unladylike snort as Jigano spoke about the current state of leadership, scrunching up her nose and shrugging. "In fairness, who is at this point?" she asked, though she did take a moment to admire his disguise - and it must have been working, given that it had caught her off guard as well. Her amusement faded somewhat as the conversation returned to Zariah in earnest, Vai sighing softly.
"Mm, she has a lot of tricks up her sleeve. Probably more now than in Northaven, so she could be even more dangerous than before." As for the Spire, the explosions, the things they would need... she winced at the memory. "The gas from the flowers is incendiary," she explained. "When I produced fire, it... well. It all exploded, but that cleared the air somewhat. The flowers changed after that, though, and began to gush out black smoke."
And the memory wasn't a good one. "I think whatever we decide to do, we'll need to be thoroughly prepared for it this time."