[God Quest] Star amour

The trek to the top of the Barrows felt like a pilgrimage, and Hadama came bearing offerings for the one he worshiped at their pinnacle. A bouquet of snowdrops, hyacinths, and daffodils were laid gently among the earlier offerings of previous faithful, and they were joined with a small but potent bottle of delicate ice wine.

And then there was the prayer, as Safrin's newest demigod knelt in the snow and laid his engraved armlet on the altar, bowing his head beneath the starlight that glittered on late frost and turned the Barrows to a sparkling dreamland in the dark.

"Safrin. Thank you for your patience." Indeed, he had hoped to have the task finished in Deepfrost, but quests to stop the Void's spread within Torchline had taken greater precedence over his personal protection. "I have done all that you asked." And done it thoroughly, testing the armour not twice but three times to be certain it would meet his Lady's expectations. "...And I would like to see you again. Please." He murmured, raising his face to the sky above like a flower seeking the light that gave it life.

---

StArmour upgrade quest: You make me feel like forever
1. Take his armour down somewhere where there is extreme pressure
- [Training] Pressure Valve
2. Temper his armour in fire (magical or regular)
- Lava good melting pot
3. In two separate threads, have his armour tested by physical means.
- [Training] Sand and Steel
- [Training] In breath, life
- [Training] In the name of the sound of the name

Type: Light | Style: Defensive | Level: Basic
StArmour | Armour created from owlbear down. When not in use, retracts as a silver serpentine bangle etched with constellation and can be activated telepathically. Blocks physical damage. Can be used 1x per thread.

SAFRIN

As Hadama called out her name the flowers he'd placed upon the shrine would begin to pulse with starlight, making the colours of their petals gleam and glisten in the growing light that would herald the goddess' arrival. Stepping through a tear in the fabric of reality itself, Safrin stepped forward barefoot and dressed plainly, but not looking any less elegant for the simplicity of her attire. "Hadama," she whispered affectionately, stepping towards him and placing her palms on his upturned face. "You look very well."

For a moment her galactic gaze lingers upon him, her eyes drinking him in with pride and approval both. Were he the sort of man to be undone by her feminine wiles she might have leaned forward to kiss him then, but instead she merely let her thumbs brush against his cheeks as she allowed starlight to filter into his bones, alleviating any tension that he might be carrying with him.

---

Hadama has received

StArmour | Armour created from owlbear down. When not in use, retracts as a silver serpentine bangle etched with constellation and can be activated telepathically. Blocks physical damage. Has a 3 post cooldown

He felt the tingle of living starlight on his skin even before she touched him, and he breathed deeply of the air that was suddenly more pure and fresh than even Flowerbirth could account for. "Mmh." His quiet rumbling hum of appreciative serenity took on a note of solemn mischief as he opened his eyes to gaze up at his lady with a smile in their emerald depths. Despite her clothing she could never look plain to him; mere clothing could never define her radiance in his eyes. "Being in your service suits me." And it was true that he had never been stronger. Nor, though he made mistakes, had he ever been more confident in his place in the world as her demigod and co-ruler of a region sworn to her.

He lifted a large hand to place it over one of hers and tilted his cheek into her touch. She already held his heart safely in those gentle fingers, and her blessing gave further protection to his body as his armlet gleamed with increased efficacy. "Thank you." For the armour, yes, but also for calling him to her cause. "We are pushing the Void from Torchline. But there is still much to do." Other regions to protect and reclaim. A foray to the fallen isle to stem the flow of corruption. "And I have not forgotten your offer to shield Torchline from Starfall's view." Once the Coast was safe he would discuss it with Flora once more, though after the... interruption during the sphere-testing at Aumakua he paused. "...Would it prevent the Family's Voice from spying on us there?"

SAFRIN

"You charmer." The goddess purrs warmly; flattery was ever her favourite, but nevermore than when it had grown from a seed of truth.

Splaying her fingers slightly so that his own might fit between hers against his cheek, Safrin .... before her expression grows appropriately sombre at the mention of Starfall. "It would make certain interlopers visible to the naked eye." She means Vox, of course, who likely was the source of much of the Family's knowledge about what went on in Caido. "It will be a difficult task, though. It would be one thing to see through all illusions in a given area of Torchline, though I wonder what your citizens would think of it." The goddess arches an eyebrow as she softly shrugs. Torchline, near-paradise though it might be, had a foundation of thievery and villainy that was still alive and well to this day. Not to mention more harmless abilities such as mere invisibility that would suddenly cease to be effective.

"But to target Vox specifically I would need something from him."

It was simple truth; both his words and Safrin's, and his lips curved in contentment beneath her purring praise that he made no effort to protest.

Her fingers shifted so that he could hold their softness more easily against his skin, her touch a wellspring of light from which he drew strength and renewed purpose. If the world had permitted it he could have knelt in the circle of her approval in contented silence until her duties called her elsewhere, but their current circumstances were too dire for him to fully indulge his quiet selfishness. Instead he drew a breath of starlight and petrichor to steel him for his own duties to Torchline and to Caido, asking his question of protection.

The answer was one that brought the thoughtfulness back to his eyes and he looked up at his lady as she enumerated certain unforeseen pitfalls. "Mmh. A two-edged blade," he agreed, thinking of Noah and Flora in particular. "Will any part of Starfall work?" A rock, a flower, a scale from a dragon? Or would only a Void Crystal do? And then a second thought struck him, her wording giving him pause. "Is Vox a being of illusion?"

SAFRIN

"Just so." Safrin agrees with a sigh. "Though I suppose if you could...somehow get a piece of this Vox then it could be made to work only against him..." Well, the what of it all was much easier than the how. 

The Tidebreaker's question has the goddess pausing, her head tilting slightly to the side just as her eyes narrowed and took on a faraway sheen like a distant spray of stars. "It..." She frowns. "Yes and no." Blinking, her eyes returning to focus on her chosen, Safrin gives her head a little shake. "I think it possesses a good deal of illusion, but as for what it is..." Unable to find the words for the composition of such an alien being, the goddess's jaw feathered for a moment or two out of frustration.

"What it is might seem like an illusion, but it's merely...not of this world." Perhaps calling it a being of illusion was easier than trying to articulate what thousands of years of science that Caido didn't have, would still find hard to describe.

Targeting the Family in general, even if they could not unveil Vox's spying specifically, was still a useful step in regaining Torchline's privacy from unwelcome eyes. There might well have been a way to obtain a piece of the strangest of these unwelcome visitors to their world - might well be one - but Hadama was not as swiftly clever as others loyal to the goddess. He was steadfast, however, and if an answer did not immediately present itself now, perhaps he would come up with one later.

And he did not need to come up with it alone.

Setting aside the how, he turned his curiosity back upon the what of their unwelcome eavesdropper. Emerald eyes watched his goddess's face, caught for a moment in the reflection of eternity in her eyes, and when she gave him an answer that could only be simplified so far he simply inclined his head in acceptance that it was beyond his mortal comprehension. "For now, it is enough to know it is possible." Until their quest for Vi had finished they could not pursue the idea further, but just knowing that it could be done lifted the King's spirits so he could smile up at his goddess. "Thank you, Safrin." For the armour, for the knowledge, and most of all for the strength and comfort her presence gave to her newest demigod.

~fin~