Variations of reality. A multiverse. The enigma that bore before them all. It was finally as clear as Lyranth’s last sunset.

“Obliged to and by your wisdom.”

Witnessing the prompt exodus of the Green Man, the former elvish sage, after restoring the jewel of the Seeker of Knowledge to her staff, stepped and stooped forth to haphazardly aid the ministry of cleanliness, round about the reliquary. Her lips parted to address those within earshot, with hearts of Urd and Mimir, unencumbered by the limbo of the paladin’s neutrality.

“In the known antiquity of the Great Wheel, rarely have any contracted the responsibility of securing the Planes’ sovereignty in such an epoch of supreme jeopardy.”

Wick continued upon her quiet quest of sanitation to the shrine, alongside the bard, while bellowing the interpretative subpoena.

“Their existence and ours are suffering, diseased by imbalance. Let us not shrink from this charge, but welcome it.”

Quickly, the not yet abated unseen servant heralding the snowy familiar marched into the relay, swiftly helping and tidying the vicinity as their summoner stopped to ponder. Of the three tomes shackled to her plated armor, her fingers began to flesh out the pages of Shujaat’s diary, striving to strike the chord of a forgotten memory, concurrently glancing at the pious Templar. Massaging the ancient papyrus bound to the discarded volume gratified the piqued curiosity of the ancient librarian, quelling slightly the automaticity for her unquenched thirst of arcana. The lingering tendrils of dusk, falsely stemming from the adopted and bolstered panoply of fabrication, mistily traced the dorsum of her ghastly hand as it turned amongst and betwixt entries, both dated oddly into the future and past, without a mentioned place to grant context. His recalcitrant writing purposely alternated within a myriad of languages, almost always in the same stanza or paragraph, to ward off the prying pupils of the uneducated.

“None of us would exchange this mead of gods with any other generation. The energy. The faith. The devotion, which wells from giants, we bring to this endeavor will illuminate our path and all who tread the infinite staircase spiraling before us. The glow from that Fire can truly illuminate the deepest Abyss and consume the brightest of Heavens. If nothing is neglected, we must ride the storm of war, outlive the menace of unprovoked tyranny, and branch out from the World Ash, if compulsory, for years.”

Her eyes stole an abrupt gaze from her Beloved.

“If necessary, alone.”

She returned to scrutinize the memoires of her master, barking plainly as if she was by herself, rehearsing a soliloquy.

“The resolve. The will. The need. To link together in this cause to defend lands lost to this plague. Many have fallen into the grip of Darkness, yet not all have succumb to the odious apparatus of shadows, for the wardens of Light will not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, until, in good time, the dawn of the New, with all its power and might, trots forward to the rescue and the liberation of the Old.”

Closing the covers and simultaneously raising her wooden fang into the daft air, heralding the illustrious gem above her, she explained further.

“With this anchor rooted in this realm, death will never stop to rest. And neither shall we.”



@Cu Chulainn@JBRam2002@The Harbinger of Ferocity@Hekazu

"If our paths were aligned, he would not raise his blade against us", Theodore stated plainly as a counter to Katia's argument. "And what did he do if not become an obstacle to the march of the Light?" The Green Man had ignored his words, something the templar took as a victory. If they could not face the truth, then those that carried its flame had won this day. Whatever their agenda on this world may be, "a face" of sorts as they called themselves, Theodore had come to despise this man. They fought against the Light, but would not even owe up to their actions, acting as if it had been some sort of a test. Hah! And the notion from his allies to ask the man to join them was absurd! Could they not see? The ranger shook his head, his fingers splayed on his mask.

There was something in the words of the snuffer that caught even his attention, however. There were other realms, anchors, means of travel around. As they thought about the way to continue on with their crusade however, Cesar called in all idle hands to set the crypt right. The crypt of people who died in the pointless battles of a realm that only existed for meaningless conflict! The mere idea sickened Theodore. Conflict was only caused by Darkness and needed to be cleansed away with purifying light. Thus helping these advocates to such blasphemy would be heresy of the vilest degree, consorting with the shadows, but perhaps his allies did not simply see it. They even thought the Green Man could have been a friend to them. Let them do what they will, the Monster Slayer settled on and began listening to the words of Wick.

The words of the reborn one were difficult to wrap one's head around as per usual, but gospel was something Theodore definitely knew his way around. "If there is a realm where we do not fall, as vile as this one is in its adoration of conflict without reason, this would be it", he affirmed with a nod. "And if we need to anchor ourselves here, why not anchor our will to the Light of this realm? The Light that Cesar and Katia carried, the Light that granted Katia her power?" his words carried an air of certainty, though he was still not absolutely sure. Yet it would not hurt to try, would it? "The Light provides", he added, again in celestial.


@Cu Chulainn@JBRam2002@The Harbinger of Ferocity@Gordian Nought

The Vale

The Crypt,
Currently

”Hey, Valmjr, my friend... I can call you a friend, yes? Do you know how this crypt was set? Mind if you help me clean up this mess?”

The helmed man, hefting his axe over his shoulder laughed and smiled in reply, his joyous sound filling the stone underground. He did not stand idle however, proving to speak as he neared the bard and set a hand upon the man's shoulder;

"Clean? Hah, I think there is no saving that, outsider, but you are right to return the resting places of the honored dead to their former glory. That you have my hand in."

Birbin was not still either, immediately setting to conjuring his own servant to return the sacred place to its former glory, where it basked in the warm balance between the dark underworld and the glinting, golden flames. Kneeling and lifting his hands high with a small jump at the end of his spell, the tiny wizard created an ethereal guide to carry out his tasks, but couldn't help but join in after even a few moments of tense watching, tapping his foot in the process.

"Oh nevermind, Birbin can't stand idle and let servant do all the work. Birbin will help too." He remarked, throwing his hands up in the air and dashing off to collect one of the numerous disturbed, ancient arrows that laid scattered on the floor.

In all of this the senior wizard of their group, Haemar, had pulled aside the divinely inspired paladin and spoke to her in hushed tones; the sort of thing he did only when he had some new thesis, theory, or idea in mind that he needed utmost secrecy kept in. Haemar was full of surprises in this regard, that he tended never to spoil what it was he had in mind to everyone, perhaps at most one other to see if his plans were wise. Thea however, did not seem so impressed at first and was visibly annoyed, but the more the elven magister spoke, the more his words seemed to break down what was normally and impenetrable fortress of determination.


@Cu Chulainn, @Gordian Nought, @Hekazu, @JBRam2002

"Exactly, Theodore." She felt appeased by the chorus of the Templar, his angelic voice resounding in her skull.

The diviner lowered the rod, managing just in time, to glean Haemar and Thea in discussion, whilst Birbin's unseen servant accompanied her very own with tasks of tidying the shrine. The muffled voice of the wizard bluntly appeared persistent since the paladin, based on her contorted visage, required a significant amount of persuasion.

Wick walked closer.

Her eyes and ears were attempting to decipher and discern the subtle insight of a possible mutinous accord. Did her tirade rift a dissection amongst her allies? Her companions. Not everyone was prepared to risk life and limb for such lost lands. Not even the Face of this world.

"Speak up, friend." The staff began to glimmer as its bottom danced upon the vines, discarded and disentangled from yester battle. "No need to dread in waking the dead. Please parley with us your whispers so that others may wager on your apparent gamble."

The cleric yearned that her suspicions were not warranted, but validation was mandatory, if such a trek was to be ventured. Numbers would garner favor, over time, in their quest, and the more, the sprightlier. She massaged the texts awaiting a reassuring retort, that all was well amidst the wardens of Light.



@The Harbinger of Ferocity@Hekazu@Cu Chulainn@JBRam2002

The Vale

The Crypt,
Currently

"You know I am not so forward about my plans, dear friend." Haemar stood himself up and rigid, folding his arms across his chest and providing the magically inclined company with a smirk. It teetered between the realms of the entirely serious and that he played upon their mutual bonds, before falling off into the latter.

"I assure you that you will not like it, but it is an idea all the same, and I would not bring it forward or even speak of it if it were not valid either." The elven swordmage offered a subtle shrug before the heavily armored paladin beside him sighed, her eyes rolling in their sockets as she gave a muttering under her breath, "That is an understatement."

Looking to Thea then once more to Wick, Haemar spoke freely at that point, elaborating on a conclusion he had come to.

"If we know the Kingdom of Darkness seeks to steal away this Ysgard, to the point of manipulating anyone and everyone, even us, it only stands to reason we do not leave it unprotected. We have become so numerous in kindred spirits, between our arcanely inspired gnomish friend and our magical warrior, that we have a luxury we might not have had if we were not so graced by the light... that some of us can remain here and keep safe the realm while others of us venture on."

The courtly wizard paused for a moment before clasping his hands behind his back, walking to one side amidst the stone slabs that were lining the warm halls of the crypt. His pacing stopped and he pivoted to continue speaking, elaborating on his point.

"The lady Thea has agree to accompany me on this endeavor, to assist in guiding our friends of Birbin and Valmjr, as well as whoever else has survived the darkness." His enchanting eyes shifted from point to point as his lips finished the words, sweeping across the remaining heroes who had gone unmentioned other than himself, "Thus the rest of you can carry onward without our number becoming too unwieldy and us ensuring that there is always a haven to return to should things become dire."

It was at this point the impatience of Thea broke through in contrast to the noble soul's dialogue.

"What he means is, if you go forward with everyone else, then we can hold here. We'll keep it safe and try to stabilize things. I am not fond of that green-knight, but if we don't try and preserve whatever is left of this place then we've lost already. If we just press forward together, the darkness might sweep right in behind us and take everything we worked for as he suggested about all that 'balance' stuff."

The man chuckled, smilingly brightly to both women, "Yes, that."


@Cu Chulainn, @Gordian Nought, @Hekazu, @JBRam2002

Now that Wick brought attention to it, Theodore was also intrigued by what Haemar and Thea were talking about. He would still refrain from the act of putting the Crypt back together, there were more than enough people on that already and despite respecting the dead, he still loathed the principle this world stood for. Meaningless combat... at least these spirits had been smart enough to call it quits. It was also apparent that the testing of his theory regarding the anchoring of their way of recall would have to wait, for the means for it were with the fellow Aasimar... the one with an alarming affinity with shadows just as well as the Light.

The plan shared by the Wizard and his dear Paladin blindsided Theodore entirely, however. They would... stay behind? But... but... It felt like his heart had suddenly sank in his chest, that even the light that burned in his soul had suddenly dimmed. It had been but yesterday when... and already... Theodore thanked the Light for his mask, for he was sure his face was in no shape to be seen as his expression shifted and shifted. It took him a solid fifteen seconds to recover, but at that point he slowly pulled off his mask and looked Thea in the eyes. "But..." was all he could manage, his voice quivering uncharacteristically for him.

No. This wasn't the end of it! He shook his head from side to side and pulled again on his faith, the foundation of his life. "No, forget that word. No buts. If the Light would have you guard this realm, so be it. We will march forth. There are yet horizons to discover, there is yet darkness to vanquish. You shall preserve. It is then up to us to persevere." There, that was the proud templar that he had been raised up to be. He was not looking forward to their time of departure, that was for sure. But when the Kingdom of Light called, who would he be to refuse? As one of the sole survivors of Lyranth, he would march forth and save the other worlds. That was his quest.


@The Harbinger of Ferocity@Gordian Nought@JBRam2002@Cu Chulainn

---

Let the dead bury the dead... a phrase echoed in Katia's mind, although she knew not from whence it came. All she knew was that the maintenance of the crypt was not her duty, nor did she feel any need to stay below ground any more than necessary. The light had been restored, but who knows what may have happened topside in the city while the Green Man toyed with them. They should finish their business here and move on.

Wick's "sermon" made little sense to the tabaxi, but much of the woman's words werebeyond her. And yet, something about the quoting of this holy text made Katia feel safe, as if the worst that could happen had already passed. Perhaps death and decay simply held no sway in this land, and if so, Katia wondered at the ceaseless conflict here. Just because one couldn't die should not mean conflict is their only purpose: to throw themselves at destruction to test the limits of this plane's benevolence. Foolishness paved the road to zealous wars, and the reward of revenge was always more sorrow. Perhaps this was the darkness they were meant to balance. Or perhaps there was no point in conversation, as the paladin warned.

That wouldn't stop the Light-bearer from trying.

The revelation from Haemar and Thea gave Katia slight pause, but nowhere near as much as Theodore. The moment of doubt and insecurity lasted what seemed like ages, and even culminated in the removal of his mask. Katia knew that signified something special for the Ranger. Some sort of internal conflict, if she recalled? The two must have gotten closer than Katia had known. She approached him again, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. "And persevere, we must. The road before us will be long and our tribulations great. We should face them head-on before dusk draws near."

Katia turned to the Green Man and Wick. She knew they must be leaving soon, but she had no idea of their destination. "Where to next, Milya? If we are the pivot upon which Light and Darkness are balanced, it is not our lot to sit in safety for long while the world perishes around us."

Hearkening to her Katia’s call, the cleric motioned with her girded arm to the point of their previous entry, beckoning all to venture to the upper hall, away from this crypt, where once a recent short respite was entertained. She gestured, and at once, the floating familiar carried by the busy invisible servant, ceased its activities, sufficient that cleanliness had met its match, in godliness. The reliquary itself a haven and heaven for warriors past and glorified. Yet, the warlock, after allowing her unseen underlying to lead the way, dappled with the blanche hawk, broke lips to address her comrades.

“Even blind moles, fossorial in nature, lay traps for worms, dire for a meal. We have freckled this subterranean shrine enough. I fear that our former friend, that infiltrating prodigy has planted himself near, spying on our burrows and warrens, and mocking us as he fled.”

She conjured the illusory map, polishing it once again, to grant her bearings. Her eyes searched into the comrades’ souls, who finally desired to safeguard this realm.

Thea. Haemar. Birbin.

He could see Cesar’s fingers waver, as she dismissed the minor illusion, the pirate's furrowed brows faltering on whether to stay or venture.

“For all of you who chose to remain. Lightspeed! May dawn guide you and this domain into rest and peace once more. If you encounter Ruron again, regard him as a cautious confederate. Be weary as he has not truly declared where he lies in this war.”

Wick's boots and gemmed staff commenced their trek, following the bobbing bird, to the eventual ascension.

“Let us depart from this tomb; we must exhume the anchor.”

She hoped that not only the Templar and her Beloved, but that the bard would shadow her and the others.

"For the brightness of the Planes."



@JBRam2002@Hekazu@The Harbinger of Ferocity@Cu Chulainn

The Vale

The Crypt,
Currently

"Then it is settled!"

The elven wizard proclaimed, his mind having long since been settled on their few options since the moment the chaos of battle faded and consciousness returned to him. It was an enlightening experience, for never had they faced the Great All Dark as that. Once they had, in their fall when the world crumbled, but that battle they lost... here? Here they managed to buy time it seemed, to fill the hourglass with just another small handful of sand, but at least there was certainty there where it was otherwise feeble in all others.

"Friends will stay with Birbin! Very good, yes! All the more friends to fight the darkness and bad shadows!" The gnome proclaimed, as full of life as any other moment, only to look over to Valmjr who was not nearly as impressed. The stalwart man gave a gruff nod of approval, setting aside one of the last bits of the tomb's discarded, chaotic remains, while the paladin of Thea looked to Theodore for a moment.

Her expression said everything he needed to know; duty first, an oath each knew all too well. It was a look of sympathy, more to be said from herself as well, but she swallowed hard and nodded, speaking only with affirming words than concerns now.

"I have never been one for the defensive," She motioned to her arms and armor, "But without that perseverance and a 'safe' place to call home until we can fix everything we cannot go on the offense." The woman cracked a smile, but she dared not continue, lest her heroism peter out. She stepped away at that point, accompanying her friend in the eladrin sage.

Haemar however, laid a hand upon the ranger's shoulder as he passed by. The choice not an easy one, for their adventure was only just beginning at large truthfully. The group as a whole, from the oddest and smallest, to the greatest and most noble saw themselves up the step of the tomb, where Valmjr shut the great doors for what he hoped was the last time. His mission was fulfilled, unlike anything else here in his time, yet it too was just a new beginning - the heroic outsiders proved their worthiness, not only to the ancestors and himself, but their strange "Light". Maybe there was great nobility in this cause beyond the thrill of heightened battle, the rush of the axe in hand and the clatter of shields?

Or maybe he needed a long drink after the past few days.

As the entourage arrived to the above ground, drinking in the rays of the sun through the immense stained glass windows that sat high in the Hall, those not shuttered and barricaded, a sound they almost surely did not expect filled their ears from the outside world. Voices, that of people in fact, speaking the odd dialect their latest companion had uttered when he assisted the sailor and bard in breaching the wards that had been reset after the Green Man and Ruron descended into the tomb! Stepping amidst the overturned tables as adhoc ramparts and all the scattered food and weapons, they could tell the town was...

... was restored.


@Cu Chulainn, @Gordian Nought, @Hekazu, @JBRam2002

---

@The Harbinger of Ferocity@Gordian Nought@JBRam2002@Hekazu

”If what the Green Man says is true, this war we’re fighting was forced upon the people of this realm, huh? Well, we shouldn’t be leaving the messes of a war these people didn’t want to have in their hands, then... Causality and all that, heh...” Cesar had rambled as he continued moving things ‘round. He was happy that he had a bit of help in cleaning this mess up and all. It reminded him of the old days, where he and his crew would visit the local tavern of wherever it was they were docked at the time, have a good old fashioned tavern brawl, and clean it all up the next day when they’re sobered up and in regret. He chuckled to himself as the memories filled his head, the effort of the work seemingly at the back of his mind...

Just as Cesar had finished making the crypt look as arranged as it was likely before this whole mess started, he overheard the conversation of splitting the crew, more or less. From what he’s hearing, half of the party plans to stay and find any more lingering sources of the Darkness here, while the rest set out to these other realms and bring balance to all the rest... Cesar had been reminded that these aren’t the old days any longer.

Conflicting ran through the sailor’s head as this sudden split hit him like a howling gale in the middle of the seas. This land of endless battle, this Ysgard... it was a land rife with stories of battle, and yet Cesar, himself, won’t be able to record or at least hear the best of them. At the same time, however, this was an opportunity to make his own story. His own adventure...

Staying silent during their ascent, Cesar ran these thoughts quite a few times. A drink would be nice, he’d thought to himself, as they were easily accessible, but Cesar had felt like he needed his head clear.

It wasn’t until the bard felt the familarly warm sting of the sun that he’d have his answer.

”... Eheh, of course you’ll need the guidance of your old Capitan in restoring the balance with you all, huh? I was the one who had instinctively bore the Light that saved us all, wasn’t I?” Cesar boasted, in good humor, before letting out a hearty laugh. Saying his goodbyes to his friends, some new, and some old, was hard for the bard. Of course, like all bards, Cesar could only jest and laugh at situations like these...