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[h3] Ida of the Frost
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Ida stumbled down the steps of the dark cave. Her hooves clacking upon the stone, slipping here and there. She wasn’t too steady on stone. There were so many other people below and above her that for once, no one really stared at her legs. She told herself, when they did stare, that she didn’t care. But maybe, maybe deep down she cared enough to notice when they didn’t. She would have been thankful, if not for the pressing circumstances that were making her and the others descend. It had happened so suddenly, she realized. She didn’t even know where Ayre went. One moment she was there, cheering her on and the next, as cries for the Goddess shattered her world, Ayre wasn’t there and she was being sent into the caves for her own protection. 

The syllianth man had been kind but she had barely been able to talk to him before he and the other protectors were called away. She didn’t even catch his name. He just sent her down with the Little folk, those goblins and bearded ones who called the depths home. There were even rumors that a different clan of goblins lived deeper. Ida couldn’t imagine going any deeper. Down into the cold of the earth, that darkness that seemed to gobble up all light. In fact, the darkness here was so different from outside, where even with the stars overhead the world was illuminated by the tree. Here the only light to go on was luminescent, grown or woven into the very rock and plants. And of course the yellow light of a torch. Sometimes it made her spine tingle.

“How much further must we go?” Someone muttered behind her. 

“You know these kin of ours, always delving for riches and such. Could go on for a while until we reach a settlement.” Came a gruff reply. 

There was a huff, “And I suppose by the time we reach it, whatever's going on up top will have concluded and we will have missed it!”

“There will always be stories, Garl.” the gruff voice tried to sound assuring but it came out more like a statement. Ida furrowed her own brow. Perhaps it was a statement. 

Without looking behind her, she could tell they were goblins. Seldom did elflings like herself venture far from the tree, and even more seldom did they go underground voluntarily. She doubted any had been around when the Syllianth sprang to action, telling the denizens of Arbor in earshot where to go. Maybe she should have gone back to the tree?

The winding staircase abruptly cut into a long hallway and Ida, being a bit taller than most of those in front of her, could see that a door was carved into the far end and beyond it- A breeze ruffled her hair, bringing with it a strange warmth and the smell of musk. Not a bad scent but it felt strangely… Welcoming? 

As she neared the doorway, she could see what awaited them, a large cavern and when she crossed that threshold, guarded by a few of the beardedfolk, she felt the breath catch in her throat. 

She had been wrong in thinking that what awaited her would be some damp hole. A thought that almost brought some color to her pale cheeks. In shame. The cavern was just as complex as the tree. Carved from the stone, still being worked on if her ears did not deceive her. The sounds of work ever flowing throughout, mixing with the crowds that wandered to and fro from little shops and yellow-lit buildings. There was laughter amidst the glowing roots and the great archways of veined marble. Plants were being tended to, with great gardens of mushrooms and glowing things. She was prodded forward by the growing crowd and Ida walked in that open place. There was some sort of roaring, what sounded like a waterfall, far away and she found herself wanting to see it. This place, it wasn’t some hole, nor did she feel cramped. It was alive and had beauty. A different sort from the surface. 

And the Little Folk watched the newcomers with not weariness but welcoming. Someone, an older stout woman, chided her for looking too thin before plopping in her hand a great pulsing thing. Not wishing to be rude, and wanting to hide her embarrassment as she walked along(the crowds were still pushing her along), she took a bite as the stout woman called out a goblinlass for the lack of ‘meat on her bones’. The juices of the fruit gushed down the sides of Ida’s mouth as the flavor made her blink. It was sweet and somehow savory. She took a few more bites before wiping her mouth with her linens. This went on for some time, she would wander around and be carried by crowds. Listening to the gossip and talk of the day. Losing herself in a place that didn’t really so much as stare her down. Sure there were glances but most of the Little Folk didn’t seem to mind her presence. 

She found herself near a roaring forge, the heat radiating from it, warming her bones. It was almost too hot actually. But before she could meander away, another merchant or just some good natured oldbeard came up to her and began to talk.

“What’s going on up there, lass? Don’t get this many newcomers down here. Not in a rush.”

Ida gulped and said, “I’m not so sure. The Syllianth went off towards Arbor proper, and told those of us around to get underground. So we did. That was a while ago?” she said more to herself.

His bushy eyebrows rose and he ran a hand through his great gray beard. “Hmmm. Strange tidings. Well, we shall find out soon enough I suppose. Make yourself welcome here, girl. Plenty of places to stay up for awhile. Though,” he looked her up and down, “Not quite sure how your kind get along. Say, what are you anyway? Tall as an elf but…”

“I am somewhat an elf and somewhat something else.” Ida said, crossing her arms. 

He stroked his beard some more and nodded. “Heard rumors of those who are something else. Some sort beast but more. First one I ever seen, seems to be you.” 

Ida nodded slowly. She knew of them, though there weren’t many at the tree. And there certainly weren’t any others like her amongst the elves except for… Ayre.

Ida blinked and a jolt of lightning ran down her spine. She murmured something inaudible and began to walk away. 

“Meant no offense now”’ The oldbeard shouted as she left, his voice now fading into the crowd. 

Ayre. She needed to find Ayre because there was no way her sister wasn’t currently looking for her. It had been foolish to venture so deep below without it even crossing her mind that something could truly be amiss. And Ayre was back up top. Oh she was stupid. So stupid for losing track of the time!

After a brief jog, and Ida lamenting just how far she had walked, she neared the doorway again. No one was really around it and the thinning crowd seemed as content as could be. 

She was stopped before she could even cross the threshold. 

“Sorry there. Can’t let anyone pass till we get the all clear from up top.”

“B-But-” Ida began but the beard held up a hand. 

“No buts miss. The dangers are unknown and the Syllianth told us to keep those of you who came down here until they are certain everything is alright. Again, quite sor-” his words were cut off by a terrible scream from back inside the tunnel. The guard whipped around and cursed. 

“Forward positions! Tamiel, go and get the others!” he shouted, “Briss! With me! Everyone else, get these folks out of here!”

He ran off into the tunnel, Ida could see now. Even as the other guards began to pull her away. She could see the thing lurking down the tunnel, ripping apart a beard with two hands. A dark shape that blended in, that sucked the light. Her body went rigid, even as they pulled her. One guard made the mistake of following her gaze and likewise became frozen. 

A roar like grating metal rang free from the tunnel, and many dropped to their knees to cover their ears. Ida let it deafen her. Let the ringing in her ears overcome everything else. As the thing tore into the guard who had just told her she couldn’t leave. The one who had just saved her life. The one whose head became pulp in the demon’s gaping maw. She felt it in her stomach then, that pit of truest fear and she vomited as the shadow came ever nearer. 

A tang of sour fruit across her lips and the pure revulsion in her heart, sent Ida at last into flight. The other guardsmen, their souls braver than her own, ran to meet the thing that burst through the doorway, trailing blood and viscera. That was the last look she had of it before Ida’s feet went out from under her and she toppled head first down, down, down.

—

Yet, as she fell something soft and warm caught her and a soothing azure glow overtook her form. [color=135C91][b]“Calm, child,”[/b][/color] said the presence as that same luminescence lifted Ida away from the hard surface and onto her feet. As the girl regained her wits–if not her composure–she would realize that stood before her was the ethereal, otherworldly figure of some unknown being. Eyes filled with a blue glow and possessed of iridescent white irises were aimed back towards the city’s entrance from which Ida had fled. There was a look of serene calm on the woman’s azure features. After a brief moment, she turned and regarded Ida before smiling, the expression [i]oozing[/i] a soothing sort of motherly calm.

[color=135C91][b]“You are safe now,”[/b][/color] she said, and there was simply no possibility of denying her, as if her words were law.

Ida blinked and she had to be sure and she turned her head to see… She did not know what she saw. It was as if motion had stopped or slowed. She moved her hand in front of her own face and she saw it normally. Yet everything else had some sort of strange mist or shimmer around them or maybe it was just her and she was looking through some sort of curtain? 

She turned back to the figure and truly, she marveled at her. The woman was unlike anything Ida had ever seen and held about her strangeness but still radiated calm. 

“Who are you?” Ida felt herself ask. 

Eyes shimmering faintly in response, Mae-Alari’s smile grew slightly before she cast her gaze outside the gentle haze that surrounded them. [color=135C91][b]“My name is Mae-Alari, little one,”[/b][/color] she replied. Beyond the scope of the goddesses’ arcana the world had seemed to slow, but the reality was quite the opposite, it was they who were experiencing time differently, as the mistresses’ very presence warped the weave and weft of time. Such was the side effect of such potency left unharnessed and untouched.

Turning back to her ward, the goddess regarded her for a long moment, taking in every detail of her form and spirit both. [color=135C91][b]“In your fear you forgot yourself. Forgive yourself, it is only natural that you seek to survive in such dire circumstances.”[/b][/color] The words came unbidden, likely before the girl had even a chance to consider the true shame of her flight. Nonetheless, the goddess pressed on, her expression serious, yet gentle.

[color=135C91][b]“What is important is how you act [i]now[/i] knowing you may make a difference.”[/b][/color]

As those words left her lips, so too did arcana join them, flooding the air around them in a great forceless wave. At first it would merely tickle the skin and tease at the senses. Hot and cold, smooth, yet sharp. Mae-Alari raised her hand above her head and with a single finger—now a claw—she tore through the world in a graceful downwards slash.

A perforation in existence, the tapestry of time and space which the Khodex had woven, formed in the wake of her actions and in an instant it was filled to brimming with arcana. It spilled forth, flowed across the ground, and shot upwards in a spire of blinding light. Around them it swirled, slowly crystallizing as structures formed. [color=135C91][b]“Come child, walk through the beacon and be reborn. Take on the mantle such that you may never need run again, so that others can stand at your back and know you have theirs.”[/b][/color]

At the edges of Ida’s perception swirls of frost-like patterns formed and vanished and formed again. Further out, the impressions of vines curling upwards from the deep earth and around the structure of the forming tower could be seen. Flames played across those vines, burning them until smoke became steam and steam became rain. Before her, the blinding beacon shone, the first of many, and though its intensity was blinding, it beckoned to her like a warm hearth in winter, like a lover long missed but now returned. It sang. It called and within it was a promise. A promise not to be looked at like she had been, but perhaps to be revered. For the eyes upon her to hold awe, perhaps respect, and in times to come…perhaps even admiration.

Mae-Alari, for her part, simply watched the mortal, exhilarated, yet utterly calm at once. What would Ida do? Who would she become?

Soon, perhaps both would know.

Ida’s hoofed foot fell forward, hesitant as a newborn fawn. She knew not who or what was before her, but only that it reminded her of a voice she once heard. Now more dreamlike in its entirety. She took another step towards that mystical beacon. That thing that warped the air and brought about the smallest bit of creation. Another step. She did not feel like she was being deceived, no, she felt as if she were on the cusp of waking. She didn’t want to run or hide or be coddled anymore. She didn’t want those kind souls to be hurt, to die. How selfish would it be to deny the possibility of aid. She thought of Ayre and how, if she was being attacked by such creatures, she knew her sister would have stood in front of her to block the blow. 

No. Never again.

Perhaps she was a fool. Perhaps this was some underworld devil come to snatch her soul with the promise of temptation. She would just have to find out herself. With a calming breath, Ida closed her eyes and walked through.

It was like swimming in a glacial lake, utterly exhilarating, yet with a sense of danger that the cold might kill. Then a wave of electrifying power, followed by a resonation that touched every part of her, starting at her bones. It vibrated outwards and through her, seeming becoming part of her. The cold became something else, something familiar somehow. There was a tingling that ran over her skin, through every muscle fiber and while it happened the goddess watched. Smiling, she watched as flecks of frost integrated themselves with Ida’s flesh, becoming intricate patterns of white on flesh. Her skin would pale as well as the fur of her lower half, the latter appearing like thousands of brittle spikes of frost, though they’d be soft and warm to the touch. Her hair would be much the same, though [i]smoother[/i] somehow, as if it were a single mass of ice, that nonetheless would move more like fluid than anything else. The single horn upon her brow shifted and changed, becoming translucent and refractive, light being captured within and then glimmering outwards and waves of brilliance.

Then, all at once she was through the spire of power, stepping out the other side, like stumbling and uncertain after the great metamorphosis of her form. Mae-Alari caught her shoulder, stabilizing her with a hand even as she smiled down at the mortal girl. [color=135C91][b]“How does it feel?”[/b][/color] she asked.

All around them the tower had nearly grown still as it finished forming and though the spire of light remained, it had seemingly been contained by the structure’s arcane makeup and no longer shone with blinding radiance.

Ida held out her arms and flexed her fingers like a newborn babe. With some reluctance on her part, Ida at last looked up at the strange being. One she could only guess was something divine in origin but different than the Goddess she knew. “I feel…” She whispered, breath catching in her throat. “I feel different but much the same. I can’t quite describe it.” She glanced back at her hand to see translucent frost dancing at her fingertips. “What’s become of me?” She asked.

[color=135C91][b]“You have been rewritten by arcana, from the depths of your soul up through your flesh and bones you are made anew.”[/b][/color] Mae-Alari said, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze. [color=135C91][b]“The Beacon takes what is held within and finds the element most well attuned to the self, and remakes you in that image. You are no longer just Ida, my child, but Ida of the Frost. Ida, first of Remade.”[/b][/color]

The goddess cast her gaze beyond the sanctuary of the great tower. It was chaos outside and, bizarrely, it almost appeared as if no one could see the great tower that had risen within their city. For the moment it was held within the Veins of the Cosmos, held apart from the world. It was a protective measure of sorts, it was why Mae-Alari had opened a rift in the world rather than create in a more conventional fashion. Of course, unknown to Ida, this tower was not the only one of its kind….

For the moment it did not matter. [color=135C91][b]“If you reach within yourself, you will find that Frost is at your beck and call. This is part of you now, but know this, you have all the failings of ice. Fire is your bane. Be wary of its dance.”[/b][/color] She gave Ida a grave look, ensuring she understood the gravity of her warning.

Ida came to the conclusion that this was no dream. She took in the warning and looked at her fingers once more. She felt the frost, steady and ever in her veins. She shut her eyes and delved into it, that coalescing cold, that bitter chill, the frost that bid winter to come… Her eyes snapped open and she looked at the divine once more. “I understand.” She said with quiet reprieve. She blew out a sigh, a plume of vapor escaping her lips. She did not feel cold but quite content in her skin. “Is it wrong…” She began but paused, uncertain of the question as she looked out at the panic and carnage. Everything she knew. Everything she had been taught. It all felt so restricting in the face of such reckless violence. She knew the answer but asked anyway, “To take life?”

Mae-Alari regarded her a moment as she considered the question, before eventually she turned away. [color=135C91][b]“I may be a goddess, but that is not for me to decide. That is up to the whims of mortal morality. After all, right and wrong are a creation of your own making,”[/b][/color] she replied, her words not quite dismissive, but it was clear that this subject was not one that held her interest. Walking towards the edge of the tower’s lower floor to stand in the gateway that led back into the world at large, the goddess reconsidered.

[color=135C91][b]“Though…I believe that in defense of others it can be made right. Murder for its own sake is simply wasteful,”[/b][/color] she clarified, glancing back to Ida briefly. [color=135C91][b]“Come, it is time for you to return to the fold. For you to stretch your wings and show the demons the embrace of winter.”[/b][/color]

The Mistress smiled then, as she gazed out upon the carnage, knowing that soon much would change. Ida gave a brief nod, pondering the answer as she heeded the beckons of the goddess. When she came to stand beside the woman, Ida asked, “When others ask how this frost came to be, how do I answer?”

Mae-Alari met her gaze then, the glowing azure of her eyes filled with the unknowable potency only a divine could possess. [color=135C91][b]“You are a child of the Beacon now, little one you may tell them whatever you wish. If you wish to tell the truth however, the Spire will be revealed to them upon our departure and it was the catalyst for your transformation.”[/b][/color] For a moment she paused, then, with an almost impish grin, she clarified, [color=135C91][b]“Of course, you may say that it was a gift from the cosmos as well, or even a boon from Mae-Alari, Goddess of Arcana.”[/b][/color]

That said, she gently placed a hand upon Ida’s back and guided her beyond the threshold. However, as they stepped from the Spire the goddess would vanish without a trace, leaving Ida to decide what came next.

Like a sudden jolt, reality came crashing back down all around her and Ida was suddenly right back where she had been mere moments ago. This time however, she was not frightened. She was not weak at the knees. She was ready and as she watched the demon lunge upon a guard, Ida of the Frost lurched forth to forever stain herself in the eyes of her Goddess. 

[hider=Summary]
*Note this post takes place a ways back in the timeline of Arbor and the ever disjointing conflux of time* Ida is whisked away from the Forge and down into the depths of the tree, not so deep to enter into the Dominion territory, but where some dwarves who were left at the tree and some other goblins have made a small city. She is brought there for her safety but slowly realizes she sorta just left her sister up there without leaving any note and knowing Ayre, she would be looking for Ida. So Ida endeavors to leave but it stopped when an outerbeast spawn attacks and kills several guards before her. Ida is saved from a grisly fate by Mae-Alari and after a fruitful conversation she is gifted with Frost arcana from Mae’s newest creations, the Primal Beacons. Mae then bids Ida to take her own destiny in hand and leaves her back to face the threat.
[/hider]

[hider=MP]



[hider=Mae-Alari’s Might][u][b]Starting:[/b][/u] 36MP.

-7MP —— Tied to the Creation of the Primal Beacons(Create Holy site/Megastructure)
[i][b][u]The Primal Beacons[/u][/b] are a series of nine towers dotted across the map (Exact locations pending) each of which contains a spatial rift through which the Veins of the Cosmos spill into the world. The Towers holding these beacons stabilize and contain the rifts within and further serve to focus the power and allow a the specific blessings of the Beacons to occur.

Simply put, by entering one of the Primal Beacons within a Tower, mortals will be suffused and remade by arcana. This causes a sort of metamorphosis during which they are physically and magically altered. The nature of this transformation depends on their personality and/or natural elemental attunement, which depends on the individual. Hotheaded, angry, and spitfire personalities tend to become Fire elementals or something similar such as plasma or magma, people with a distance/detached or chilly personality will become ice or frost elementals. Such individuals retain their sapience and personality, but their bodies will change to reflect their elemental attunement, and they will gain physical and magical strengths/weaknesses relative to their attunement.[/i]

-1MP —— Ordain a Hero(Ada of the Frost)
[i]As the first to bathe in the transformative light of a Primal Beacon under the direct watch and within the presence of Mae-Alari, Ada gains the properties of a hero in addition to the boons of the Primal Beacon. Ada has thus gained dominion over the magics of Ice and Frost as well as being suffused with their essence. This renders her unnaturally vulnerable to heat, but immune to ice and its byproducts such as cold. Her need for sustenance is also drastically reduced, though she will always require more water than the average person. While she cannot natively suffer the Maedari Transformation, any additional arcana infused into her being would make her susceptible to the process–though it would occur slower than with others due to the altered structure of her being.[/i]

-3MP —— Create a Persistent Phenomena(Primal Veil)
[i]This barrier manifests around the Primal Beacons and takes the form of a haze of slowly swirling energy. This haze dilutes the intense luminescence coming from the Towers at any given time and shields it from those with negative intent, requiring them to expend might (or other points) to bypass it. This Veil does not however stop the holy site from decaying without upkeep.[/i]

[u][b]Ending:[/b][/u] 25MP[/hider][/hider]