Personal Quest underground, the stars are legend
Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
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#29
Jigano frowned as he felt some of the stones shift slightly under his seeking hands. Stepping back, he examined the wall with his head tilted to the side, and Isuma peeping excitedly at his shoulder. The little gryphon wanted a closer look of her own, and the bard hesitated a moment before setting his lantern down and letting her crawl into his cupped hands, holding her up to the wall. She moved suddenly, bouncing against the central stone - the fifth one, moving left to right and top to bottom - and it shifted in completely. The bard pulled her back in a hurry, checking to make sure that nothing dangerous was about to happen before he glanced over his shoulder. "There's a puzzle here!" he called back to Amalia. "It probably opens a secret door somewhere." Or, possibly served as the trigger of a trap for too-clever dungeoneers, he admitted to himself. Isuma was peeping again though, two quick, sweet Reep!s of excitement and he glanced down at her fondly.

Then he frowned suddenly, sharp eyes returning to the wall as he examined each marking more closely. Nine markings. There were no letters he knew, and no mark had as many as nine lines, but the first block that Isuma had pushed by chance looked tantalizingly familiar...

They all did, he realized with a start. Three... eight... six... The seven took him the longest to puzzle out, but when he did he laughed and brought Isuma to his face to snuggle her, the gryphlet happily purring at his attention and praise. "What a brilliant child you are!" he crowed softly, planting a kiss on her beak before letting her climb back into the safety of his hood while he set to work pressing the stones fully into their depressions:

The fifth stone had already been pushed.
Then the seventh.
Then the first.
Then the eighth.
Then the ninth.
Then the fourth.
Then the third.
Then the second.
And lastly, the sixth.

As soon as he pushed the last one into place he danced back with his lantern, putting about six feet of space between him and the wall - just in case.


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#30


THE RIGHT PATH

The stones depress easily beneath the bards fingers, and though he jumps back, there is no need. Depressing the final symbol unlocks the door in its entirety with a grinding but pleasant stone-on-stone sound.

The wall pushes back, and within is a room perhaps 10x10 filled with books, and one solitary star.
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

Age: 29 | Height: 5'6 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
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JYOTI - Mythical - Starwhale (Humpback)
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#31
As she peers down into the pit Amalia's eyes widen. Are those... footprints? She squints, wishing for a moment that she had her leopard's eyes to better see in the dim red light. How could there be footprints here? Had others come through? "Hello," she calls into the darkness, wondering who, if anyone, will reply. There is art in there as well, cleverly wrought and unrecognizable designs, and for a moment Amalia hangs precariously near the edge, her head hanging over the mysterious pit. Far behind she hears Jigano moving, speaking softly of the errant star. "I think there's something down there," she calls back. "I can see footprints, I think."

She might have deepened her investigation, but Jigano's announcement of a new discovery spurs her into action. She nearly leaps up from her place, face and eyes bright with renewed excitement as the door swings open to reveal the star. They did it. They did it! "We did it!" she laughs, rushing toward the man, joy and elation and wonder in her voice. Without a thought her arms fly around him, wrapping him up in a brilliant hug as she lands a kiss on Isuma's head.

Almost as quickly, Amalia lets go, her laughter ringing through the small room as she hurries her way inside. "Look, Jigano!" the girl cries, reaching down to grab a book bound in faded leather and pull it into the antler's light.
a m a l i a
You were young and you'd stare With a reverence unimpaired
Searching in your dark eyes to find the stars already there


Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
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#32
It was the second time he had heard Amalia's chorus of "we did it" and it was no less sweet this time than the last, when the Spark Bird had appeared and smoothed away so many of the wounds their hearts had taken over Long Night. This time there was no Rory to join them - an absence that sent a brief pang of regret through the lorekeeper - but before he quite knew what to do with it, Amalia's arms were around him and he found himself laughing along with her joy, infectious as it was. Isuma was delighted, reep!ing happily at her kiss and Jigano found himself almost relaxing, beginning to tentatively curve his arms back around his friend in turn-

She spun away, light as thistledown and leaving the tall bard bemused but smiling in the wake of her spontaneous affection. He still wasn't quite sure how to deal with that either, Yohgel's ghost a shadow in his memories. While Amalia danced into the vault, Jigano hesitated outside, wrapping his arms carefully around himself as if to hug close something - someone - that no longer had substance.

He could not have forgiveness he could never earn, but was he truly so irredeemable that he was allowed no joy in the touch of a friend for the rest of his life?

It was a question he didn't have an easy answer for, and it was one he had no time to ponder over at the moment. Carefully wrapping his guilt back into its accustomed place, deep in his heart, he found a brilliant smile for Amalia and stepped forward into the small library as Isuma peeped worriedly from his shoulder. "You found it," he congratulated her, reaching to brush the spine of another tome with curious fingers. "Safrin's library, lost for who knows how many centuries...thanks to your piety, and your trust in her guide," he added, turning to bow graciously to the hovering starmote as Isuma scampered across his back for balance. He rose and, hesitantly, reached to cup his hands under the glittering messenger of the goddess.

"And thank you," he told it warmly, but a wry smile quirked his lips. "Though, next time, try to remember that not all mere mortals can fly like you can!"
Lily Balfour
Entertainer

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#33
Lily
sing me a song of a lass that is gone
She almost walks past it - almost. But who could walk past an opening in a wall and not look inside, even a pair such as them, so intent on following the stars. She pauses after Seiji does, jerking her body back and holding her firebrand aloft, to cast more light into the dark side-hole. The stars move on, leaving them behind. Welp. The decision has been made, it seems. They will have to either follow the path in their own time or head back out the way they came.

Seiji pulls her attention back from the blackness of the star’s wake to the creature before them. And while Lily personally finds the thing revolting in every way (vomit, tears, warts, and blindness? He is either the most unfortunate creature or suffering from some kind of curse. In this moment, Lily knows she almost should never have children), but her heart also breaks a little, to see something so pathetic. No, they are in silent agreement; they cannot press on just yet.

“Or hungry?” she adds quickly, rolling another seed and nut butter ball along the ground towards it. “Please,” Lily says as she squats down, making herself smaller. “If you help us, we will do something for you in return.” Tit for tat. Good deeds should always be rewarded.


merry of soul, she sailed on a day
over the sea to Skye


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#34


THE LEFT PATH

"Y--y-youuu—HhrrrBLAHP—will?" It croaks, and though Seiji will not see as he has looked away, the creature leans its head forward ever so slightly to peer at the dark-haired man, who is indeed no longer looking at it. Large tears begin to well in all of its eyes, the ones that can see and the ones that cannot, and they splash down its malformed face. "l-l-looeurghhhghhgghging?" It repeats, raising a webbed hand to swipe at its face, leaving a trail of thick mucus connecting its cheek down to the hand (paw? limb? hand?) that it drops back to its side.

It flinches slightly as Lily appears, for she does look, and it cowers back into the darkness. The pair can hear the sound of sniffing (really though it sort of sounds like mild choking) before it oozes forward to accept the ball on the ground.



THE RIGHT PATH

The star merely twinkles in response to Jigano's comment.

The majority of the books are written in an ancient and looping scrawl.  Most of the information is a detailed account of the area within the sphere and the initial tests which were run to try and understand the new container the first people had been placed in.  Two books however, the large volume Amalia has and one other, have clearly been bound with much more care, however they are written in a language that neither of you can read.
Seiji Okura
Musician

Age: 32 | Height: 5'7" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
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#35
A small surge of joy rolls through him as the creature responds. Seiji smiles a little, but his expression dims somewhat as he notices Lily still turned in its direction. “Do not look,” Seiji instructs quietly. In silence, he disapproves of her push toward a trade, though he will not voice it. The creature seems far too distraught for such negotiations. Seiji is more concerned with helping it, sorrowful as it is down here alone.

But he does not wish to embarrass or to chasten Lily, either. “We are looking for a library,” Seiji says, his voice calm. “Books.” His eyes flit toward the stars ahead of them, wondering if they will soon be left with only their own lights. If perhaps they ought to split up… But that might be unwise. “Do you know of any here?” he asks the creature kindly. "Would you like to come with us? You can walk behind. We will not look." He glances at Lily again, hoping she will not disapprove. He knows, of course, the thing is disgusting by normal standards, but his heart aches to think of abandoning it down here, alone. Or of simply using it to further their goals.
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

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#36
She does not see his discomfort, and perhaps it is for the best. She is lit with a vibrancy absent since Long Night- not this one, but another, many years ago, when her heart first fractured beneath the weight of loss. "You found it," Amalia laughs, turning her glittering gaze back upon her friend. "All I found was a hole and some footprints!" But her voice lacks it's anxious drawl, and the statement rich with levity rather than self deprivation. She cannot quench the smile on her face, just like she cannot quench the fire in her heart.

She leafs through the book with swift, skilled fingers, flipping through pages as though they were friends. The words are indecipherable, strange, and Amalia chews gently on her lip in concentration as she tries to find something recognizable. "I don't know this language," the baker admits, walking back toward Jigano, book open in her hands. "Can you read it? Or, maybe-"

Taken by a sudden thought, Amalia thrusts the book into the light of the star, as though hopeful that the mote will serve as translator as well as guide. "Child of Safrin, can you help us?" she asks, her deep voice lilting with optimistic hope.
a m a l i a
You were young and you'd stare With a reverence unimpaired
Searching in your dark eyes to find the stars already there


Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
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#37
"Something for us to explore on the way back," Jigano suggested cheerfully. Like Amalia, his heart was lightened with excitement at the treasure trove of new books, and he couldn't keep the grin off his face. He gave his thanks to the little star guide, but when its only response was to twinkle he gave it a wry smile and a gracious nod, then turned back to his friend's dilemma. Peering down at the book he frowned slightly, brow furrowing in thought as he tried to puzzle apart the letters, but the language was strange to him, and in the end he merely sighed and shook his head.

"Strange to me as well," he admitted. "Though, I do have a pair of glasses that might--" He had started to reach for them when Amalia stepped by him and pushed the book into the star's light. With another wry smile he stepped back, slipping the case the protected the spectacles back into his pocket and waiting to see if Safrin's guide would respond to her ardent acolyte's plea.

In the meantime, he selected another book from the shelf and began perusing it with outward calm that belied the champagne-fizz of curiosity that bubbled through his heart and left him wanting to hum in glee at the new knowledge laid before their fingertips.
Lily Balfour
Entertainer

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#38
Lily
sing me a song of a lass that is gone
While she thinks she might actually be helping with trying to feed the creature, it is obvious that her actions aren’t helping as much as she would like them to. Without wilting under Seiji’s disapproving tone, she acquiesces and turns her gaze to look at the man beside her, keeping the strange frog-thing in her peripheral vision only.

Lily studies Seiji’s face in the torchlight instead. It is a gentle scrutiny, for she’s genuinely never seen anyone who looks like him in Portsmouth. The world here is so full of miraculous and and truly odd events. “I’m sorry,” she adds to Seiji’s offers, addressing the strange creature in an apologetic manner. “I promise I won’t look anymore.”

merry of soul, she sailed on a day
over the sea to Skye


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#39


THE LEFT PATH

Lily's turned away gaze relaxes the creature immensely, though neither of them can see it. Which of course is precisely the point. With goopy and watery eyes it looks at the two before it, seeming anguished and uncertain, worry etching itself into the deep and moist creases in its neck-rolls. "Books?" It repeats with a sad sounding frown. Its webbed fingers come together, long 'fingers' touching, and as they pull apart a mucous-like string connects them. It is clear that this is the sort of creature for whom books are absolutely off the table. "Long ago—brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrap—there was a groooooooooooooooooooouuuuuu!!!!!p here. They kept me in a cage." The Prince paused, a strange blush suddenly rising beneath its nearly translucent skin giving the phrase internal bleeding a strange new visual. "Don' make me go ba—brraAAAAhhHpPPPPPP—ck!" It wheezed suddenly, tears rolling down its cheeks again in such a flood that soon its distended stomach glistening wetly in the darkness.



THE RIGHT PATH

For a moment the star hovers. Had it a face, it might have just beamed adoringly but without any real comprehension at Amalia. And then, everything went white, and when the pair opened their eyes...

(the text is a link)
Seiji Okura
Musician

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#40
Lily acquiesces without argument, and Seiji smiles approvingly at her. “Thank you,” he murmurs. He is not sure why she decides to look at him instead, but he holds her gaze for a moment before he blinks at the tunnel wall again. He is not entirely certain what to make of this creature, though he wishes to ease the sorrow thick in its voice. Perhaps it was banished down here because of its ugliness. That would explain its aversion to being seen.

But if it dislikes being seen, it dislikes whatever it remembers far more intensely. Seiji starts, his body naturally drawing upward, holding a kind of stillness. But he realizes soon enough it’s only crying. Then his expression changes, and he glances at Lily, a question in his eyes. “A cage?” he asks, frowning. His expression asks her, silently — do you know anything about this?

But perhaps, if it all happened long ago, only the creature itself remembers. “I am sorry,” Seiji directs toward it, “to make you remember that.” He considers, questions lingering in his dark eyes. Should they leave it? Should they try to bring it with them? His heart aches to think of abandoning it to the dark, but he cannot be certain it has any desire to tag along, to find the library… If terrible things happened to it here…

And this all plants a seed of doubt, one Seiji does not pay much attention now, but which will surely blossom some time later on: Could Amalia’s goddess know of this? Be responsible for it?

“We have to go,” Seiji says aloud, as much for himself, for Lily, as for the creature. A question. A reminder of their purpose. He is no more certain now than he was when he first arrived in Caido, though his voice betrays none of this fact. “We promised our friends we would look for this library. If… if you would like to come with us, you may walk behind, and we will not look at you.” He hopes Lily will not disagree. She seems a kind woman. He gives her a meaningful glance as he adds, “I was alone when I first arrived here. It was very difficult. But…” He tilts his head toward the creature again. “If you want to stay here, we will not tell anyone where you are, so they will not come down here. No one will put you in a cage.”

A steeliness enters his voice with the last statement. He may know very little of Caido, and less still of defending himself, but the idea of someone harming this malformed, sorrowful thing feels him with vehement disgust. Much moreso than the creature itself. Finished speaking, though, he gestures down the tunnel, waiting for Lily to acknowledge she is ready.
Lily Balfour
Entertainer

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#41
Lily
sing me a song of a lass that is gone
She can only shrug in a silent response to his question. Haven’t seen any cages lying about, nor has she heard of this creature before. Eventually, she echoes Seiji’s words, her voice a gentle caress in the dark. “No one here will put you in a cage, dear. We promise.” She looks down into her little satchel and pulls out her remaining two little food balls. Placing them on the stone floor, she steps back out into the tunnel, where the stars have long since left them behind. “I’m sorry, but we have to keep going. These are for you.”

She has nothing else to offer, no other way to comfort other than her voice, and it seems they have run out of time for that. A little nudge of her foot sends the balls forward a tad, as she whispers to Seiji, “Forward or back? We’ve lost the stars. Do you think it’s safe to continue?” Would they be letting Amalia down if they go back? Would they be endangering themselves beyond all hope if they go forward? Her immediate inclination is to keep going, it’s the way her sense of adventure dictates; but her sense of self-preservation says go back, and, well, she doesn’t want to end up dead.

After a moment’s hesitation, she nods once to indicate that she’s ready and they should progress onward. Down the tunnel. Come what may.


merry of soul, she sailed on a day
over the sea to Skye


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#42


The Prince gives a garbled and wet sort of reply to Seiji. Its fingers flap against one another, the webbing making slick sounds of discomfort and worry. "Gooo-oooooOooOo?" It repeats hesitantly, its neck sinking down into its globby shoulders like a turtle might do.

The Prince gives a whining sort of cry, tears rolling down its cheeks in earnest. With a wet hrrrUP a long tongue snakes from its lips, lapping at the liquid nervously. "Th-th-the librarEEEEEERUAP was closed for a reas—uurrPHHH—on" It murmured with an unhappy squelch. It could not go with them ... it could not, but they shouldn't go forward either. The girl maybe, but not the man with the nice voice who had looked at the floor.

"Go ba—aAAAAApp—ck!" It implored, but it could see the woman already moving. It hardly even noticed the extra snacks she'd left, too worried about their direction of travel.


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