Member
Lord Zee
Frettzo
Eviledd1984
King of Rats
Vec
Alby47
Recuperating
Year 30AA, late Autumn, Ha-Dûna...
Boudicca had seen many temple chambers from the inside - she had overseen construction of the Temple of the Sun in particular, actually, and this particular room wasn’t at all unfamiliar to her. What was unfamiliar was the fact that she was locked inside it, dressed in the simple, gray linen robes of a nun, her hair tied in a bun and hidden under a hood. She sat on a flat of hay on the wooden floor; save for a sliver of light peeking in from a hole one could scarcely call a window, the room was pitch black. In the corner was a clay mug she had emptied of water earlier and a half-eaten loaf of dry flatbread, plus an empty bowl with gooey traces of salted curdled cheese. The temple treated none of its residents poorly, for sure - this was a hearty breakfast considering her position - but it was nothing to her brother Brian’s mutton oatmeal with leeks and onions, served with a horn of steaming spiced ale and houlin berry pudding. She felt her teeth drown in her drool at the thought.
It had all gone so very wrong - so much worse than anything she had played out in her head. How did this happen? Well, she knew perfectly well why it happened. She had been a fool - an utter and incompetent fool, thinking that one duel between her and Jjonveyo could undo all the pain, all the sorrow and all the hate her people held for the Celeviaks. It had been arrogant, thoughtless, even, to think so.
There came a knock on the door. “Boudicca?” said a man’s voice. Boudicca sank together into her arms. Maybe Clement was right? Maybe she had been too obsessed with the gods to think about how her own people felt?
“Boudicca!” the voice repeated and knocked harder. Boudicca looked up.
“What?”
The wooden bar over her door groaned to the side and it opened to reveal a robed man with a crown of hair around a gleamingly bald scalp.He frowned down at her, a torch in his hand. “You have been tasked with digging a new latrine.” With a sudden and short-lived wheeze, Boudicca caught an incoming wooden shovel the man had tossed at her. “Get to it.” Then he left. Boudicca snarled. To be treated like this… Just yesterday, this man would have bowed to the ground before her. Pleadingly, she looked to the ceiling and whispered,
“Master? Are you out there? I, I need your aid.”
The response to Boudicca’s plea was very much immediate. She would feel the sensation of her mind being touched by a divine presence the moment the word ‘master’ was uttered. Then came the whisper that she had heard before, on the fateful day when Celestine’s avatar arrived. ”I am here, my champion. What do you need?”
Boudicca fell to her knees and folded her hands, the shovel dunking to the ground beside her. “I, I have been dethroned! My position, usurped! By madmen, no less! You both heard and saw them - they must have been corrupted somehow, by something. I, I don’t know why they’ve kept me alive, but they might be planning to use me for something vile - to use my family for something worse!”
“Boudicca! Come on! Adherents of the Sun don’t laze around!” the voice thundered again and footsteps grew louder in the wooden hallway.
“Please, Master! You have to help me!” Boudicca continued, her breath in panic.
Moments after the plea for help was uttered, the connection broke. Then, mere inches away from Boudicca’s kneeling form, a portal opened. Unlike last time where one could see a fair portion of the paradise-like realm behind it, this time there was merely a room containing a large four-poster bed and some other personal effects like a desk that was covered in papers.
These were quickly rendered unimportant by the appearance of Celestine’s avatar as they stepped partially through the portal. Holding a hand out to Boudicca and up to the portal, the avatar spoke quickly. ”If you fear for your safety, please enter this portal. It will take you to my realm. Decide quickly, as I cannot maintain this connection for long.”
Without a second thought, Boudicca tossed herself inside, just in time to hear the gasp of the monk at her door. The portal closed behind her, and Boudicca pushed herself to her feet with the help of the goddess, taking in the sights and smells with a gaping mouth. She then spun back for a second to look at the spot where the portal had closed. Panting, she said, “That, that was close… Thank you, Master.”
Celestine’s avatar nodded but remained fairly silent as it backed up to a nearby wall before slightly hunching over as if a puppeteer had cut the strings. Then a few moments later the door upon the south wall opened gently, and in stepped Celestine herself. She blinked slowly as she approached Boudicca. Stopping a few feet away, Celestine crossed her left arm across her chest and bowed before speaking. ”It was. I can only hope that your disappearance does not endanger your family. It is nice to finally meet you in full rather than through visions or through my avatar, though I do wish the circumstances were better.”
Rising from the bow, Celestine allowed her right hand to rest upon the pommel of her sword before speaking again. ”Do you have a plan you wish to undertake? I will assist you as requested.”
Boudicca seemed momentarily mesmerised by the surroundings, the plains, the dragons, the many elves all around. She eventually snapped out of it. “Oh, a, a plan?” Pausing briefly, she turned back to Celestine. “We, we need to get my family. They, they must be at my tún, my estate.” She paused again. “... Or, well, my daughter’s estate now. It is right outside the walls, to the south of the city.”
Celestine nodded a few times at Boudicca’s plan before she asked a few other questions to better see what Boudicca might want to achieve in the area. ”Understood. I will open a portal there in a few moments. Before I do that, is there anything or anyone else you would like to try and bring here from Ha-Dûna? Your equipment? Loyal friends? Anything. I ask because opening portals to Galbar is only a temporary affair and draws from my divine power every time. I can open three more before I exhaust my current reserves. If there’s anything you can think of that you might want me to do urgently, please feel free to mention it. No matter how small.”
Internally, Celestine was quite pleased with the fact that Boudicca seemed to be mesmerized by her realm. She took it as a complement, and hoped that Boudicca would share in that same mesmerization if or when she came to reside in the realm more permanently. But that was not something she needed to think about for now, and instead refocused her thoughts towards the current situation.
“Celestine!” an all-too familiar voice boomed from another room. It did not exactly sound angry, but it was clear he was far from pleased.
Celestine’s eyebrow raised promptly at the voice of Cadien booming within her realm. Turning her attention to the door into the room, she pulled it open before speaking gently. As she spoke, her voice reverberated throughout her realm to ensure that the message reached his ears. ”Greetings, Cadien. I am in my personal chambers. If you are within The Longhall, ascend to the ledge above with the throne upon it. Through the central door you will find a passage leading you here.”
Stepping back from the door, Celestine looked to Boudicca before nodding in assurance. Hopefully there would be no escalation from Cadien’s visit.
A few moments later, Cadien entered the room, clad in his golden armour. “Just what were you thinking?” he demanded, his usual smiling expression twisted into a frown, and his brow furrowed in anger. Boudicca, meanwhile, bent a knee.
“Great Caden, I salute you!” she unleashed respectfully. “Please, allow me to apologise on behalf of the sinful amongst my people!”
Cadien gave her a brief glance, before turning back to Celestine as he awaited a response.
Celestine took a moment to give Cadien a curtsey as he entered. After standing, she spoke calmly. ”Boudicca asked for help, and I brought her here to free her from imprisonment. I had planned to open another portal for her to gather her family here in a few moments. Do you object to this? If you have a proposal that you wish to put forward then please do so. I will hear it.”
“Do so, then,” Cadien said. “But after that, we will have words.”
Celestine nodded before turning to Boudicca once more and asking after a few clarifications like before. ”Boudicca, is there anyone or anything else you would like to go get when I open this portal? Do you want my avatar to go with you for protection?”
Boudicca shook her head. “No, nothing must go through from this side. If I’m seen, or your avatar is seen, they will surely kill them all. They, they must be in the great hall by now. If, if you open a portal exactly in by my daughter’s throne, then I will pull them through before any can react.” She bit a nail. “There’s no other way…”
Celestine nodded once again before raising a closed fist before her. Closing her eyes to better visualize where she would be opening the portal, Celestine spoke quickly before she began the process. ”Be quick. These portals are temporary. If you scream for help, I will send my avatar.”
Celestine’s hand opened now, revealing a baseball sized sphere of silvery energy. It was promptly crushed. Seconds later, a portal opened, revealing the interior of the great hall and the throne that Boudicca had mentioned. Reflexively, Celestine backed away from the portal. She didn’t want to anger the lifeblood by being too close to it. They were forbidden from walking upon Galbar in their full power, after all.
Looking to Boudicca once more, Celestine spoke once more. ”Go, quickly!” With that, the former sanndatr threw herself through the portal and into the middle of a great, dark room, lit by a mighty hearth and filled to the brim with men, women and children. Shock froze the room, and Boudicca scanned madly for her targets when she suddenly heard.
“Mother?!”
Boudicca spun, her eyes fixing on a seated young woman, her daughter Materix, eyes wide with confusion. Behind the grossly large throne of firwood and wolfskins stood her husband Aethel, one hand gently holding that of her child son Boudin. Opposite of the throne stood her second oldest daughter, Zelda, and to Boudicca’s right, filling up the entire room from wall to wall, stood the entire Metsep clan. Her brother, Brian, was in the process of kneeling, his mouth frozen mid-oath. The former sanndatr leapt forward and grabbed Materix by the arm and Boudin by the hand. “Come with me! Now!”
Both of them struggled against. “Mother, what are you--?!”
“So -this- is where she ran off to!” came a blade-sharp call from the second row and the crowd parted to reveal none other than Claude du Pierre, heir to the du Pierre clan and as much the bloodthirsty warmongerer as his father. The man pointed at Boudicca and shouted, “Well, what are you waiting for?! She escaped the Temple of the Sun! Haul her back there this instant!”
As her clansmen weighed the option of betraying their former laird and betraying their duty to uphold the Temple Law, Boudicca tried her luck once more. “Stop struggling and just come with me! You’ll be safe in the Bulwark!”
Boudin lost grip of his father’s hand and the expert grip of Boudicca lifted him up into her arms, her feet inching closer and closer to the portal while her eyes shifted rapidly between the rest of her family and the increasing number of clansmen who started agreeing with Claude. “Damn it, Materix! You’ll be killed here!”
“Dad, what’s mommy doing?!” screamed Zelda panickingly. Aethel ran over to his wife and tried to wrestle Boudin out of her arms.
“Boudicca, what’s the matter with you?! You’ll get us all killed!”
“You’ll all die if you stay here!” she retorted and planted a rock-like knuckle into the face of a cousin who got a little too close. She inched closer to the portal and managed to grab Aethel by the arm, pulling him along, as well. However, he pushed her off, and in the action, Boudicca lost her grip around Boudin, allowing for another cousin to snatch him from her. Boudicca screamed. “MY SON!” Vengefully, her fists started hammering their way through the ever-more numerous horde of clansmen trying to overpower her, divine strength matching the mortal power of five men. However, even she couldn’t fight these odds for long. As Boudin, Aethel, Materix and Zelda disappeared further and further behind a mass of people, Boudicca screamed, “SELESTA, HELP ME!”
Celestine’s avatar awoke from its idle state and stepped forward promptly. The sound of a sword being drawn could be heard, and following that a clatter of a scabbard being dropped. Shortly thereafter the cloak it wore was discarded. A second sound of a sword being drawn could be heard. The avatar held its hand aloft, and Celestine tossed her own sword to her avatar. Moments later, it stepped through the portal. Moments after it was through, it let out a scream that nearly shook the great hall. ”STAND ASIDE OR BE SWEPT AWAY!”
If people were stunned as Celestine hoped, the avatar would briefly hold both swords with one hand as it wrapped an arm around Boudicca and quickly pulled her free of the crowd and into the small amount of space that the portal had around it. Holding one of the two swords out to Boudicca, Celestine’s avatar would speak quickly. ”If you wish to continue this effort, here. I will follow your lead in whatever course of action you wish to take.” The clansmen rolled back like a wave, terrified of the avatar’s presence. Just as shocked where Materix and the rest of Boudicca’s family, who had taken refuge behind the throne.
Boudicca swung her sword threateningly towards her clansmen, people whom she had known for her whole life, and they tossed themselves back to avoid her swings. “BACK OFF! I’m not leaving until my family’s safe!” she roared.
“Mother, please stop!” cried Zelda from behind the throne. It didn’t take long for a handful of men and women armed with shields and sticks to make their way to the front, looking as frightened as though they had been tasked with subduing a bear.
Back in Celestine’s realm, the God of Perfection unleashed a frustrated sigh. “Time to put an end to this farce,” he whispered.
And just then, in the hall, a portal opened beneath Boudicca’s feet. She fell through, and it closed immediately.
“Call your avatar back,” Cadien ordered Celestine, with the tone of one who was not open to arguing.
Celestine’s eyes narrowed at the sudden portal, but what was done was done. Her own avatar quickly leaped back through the portal that Celestine was maintaining, and it closed shortly thereafter as well. The avatar tossed the sword back to Celestine, who promptly placed it back within the scabbard hanging at her right side. The avatar collected its scabbard and cloak, replacing both upon its person before backing up to the wall and becoming idle once more. Celestine herself frowned before turning to Cadien with her arms folded and speaking. ”Where have you sent her? My first guess is your realm, but if you haven’t I’d like to know.”
But Cadien had already left the room.
It was a short fall. Boudicca landed feet first on a soft carpeted floor, made of a fabric she had never seen before. She stood in the middle of a great hall, with magnificent furniture the likes of which could never have been crafted on Galbar. There was a great table in the middle, and a marble throne at the far end. Doors and paintings lined the walls. The sword still in her hand, she spun around, eyes scanning all around the room.
“Materix?! Zelda?! Boudin?!” Her breathing could be compared to a drum beat. She sprinted for the nearest window and looked outside to see nothing but an endless blue void and hints of clouds at the bottom over her vision range. A sense of failure and loss grabbed her by the heart and threatened to crush it. She staggered back in a daze and crashed into a weak seat, the sword falling against the carpeted floor beside her. She stared emptily at the ground for a bit before rolling over into a fetal curl and beginning to weep.
Only a few minutes later, the doors of the great hall swung open, and in stepped a tall figure with white hair and golden armour. His resemblance to Evette, the woman Boudicca had spoken to so many months ago, was unmistakable.
He strode across the room to where Boudicca sat, and lifted her sword off the floor. He took a moment to inspect the blade, frowning in disapproval, before placing it on the table. Then he looked to her, waiting for her to speak.
His champion did not hesitate. She rolled onto her knees and let forth a warcry, kicking off from the ground and winding up a punch. However, her body was heavy with sorrow, and the punch didn’t manage more than to push air in Cadien’s direction. She tried again, her fist like a clumsy fly against the god’s golden breastplate. A third fist became the final one as she collapsed down on her knees again, head hanging hopelessly as sobs threatened to choke her to death.
“They did not wish to go,” Cadien said at last.
“... But…” She could hardly speak. “... But why? Why stay? They, they will die if they stay!”
“They were in no danger. One of them was being sworn into a title, by the looks of it. If there comes a time when they are in danger, they can be rescued then. But for now? They are safe.”
“No, shut up! They… They’re not…” She embraced herself desperately and keeled forward. “... My daughter, she, she can’t… Not on her own… My boy, he, he needs me, my-...” She tried to push herself to her feet again. “Open another portal! Please, I cannot leave them alone like this!”
“They are not alone. They have their father. What of him? Did you intend to take his children away from him, and leave him alone instead?”
“Aethel can fend for himself, he--!” She paused for a second. “He has his position with the Circle! Not like my babies, my, my… Oh gods, Materix will… She’s…”
“He can fend for himself, and he can fend for them,” Cadien insisted. “For now. Your separation from them need not be forever. There may come a time when you can return, or when they must be brought here.” Boudicca didn’t answer, busily pressing the tears out of her eyes.
“I will let your family know that you are alive and safe,” Cadien assured her. “This is not the end. Not for you, not for your family, not for your clan, and not for Ha-Dûna. If there is any other message you wish for me to pass on, tell me.”
Boudicca stared at her hands. “Without me, the city is finished… The mórthéins are wicked and corrupt, and our allies are nothing but treacherous fiends… You saw them yesterday; you heard them yesterday.” She shook her head. “Who will lead them if not me?”
“Someone else will step forward,” Cadien said. “They will not be as capable as you. They will lead the armies in the war to come. If they fail, it will be brought to its knees, to the brink of destruction. And if that day comes, they will realize you were right. They will take you back, you will lead them, and you will help them rebuild. Just as you did before.”
“... But what if they don’t? What if, what if they cast me out? What if I’m branded as lawless? They will never take me back then!”
“Then perhaps they deserve to be destroyed,” Cadien said. “If they would turn aid away even during their worst crisis. If they would reject even the gods themselves vouching for you.” He shook his head. “I doubt they will be so stupid. If they lose this war, they will realize their decision to depose you was a mistake, and they will miss the days when you led them.”
Boudicca looked up slowly, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. “... Will, will you save them if they get too close to the fall, great Caden?”
Then, the god frowned. “They have ignored my advice, they have rejected me, they have named me a liar, they have called me a slaver, and they have disgraced my champion,” he said, his tone neutral despite the bitterness of his words. “I will not deny, there is some part of me that wants to see them destroyed.”
“But,” he went on. “I am not incapable of forgiveness. As to whether or not they will earn that forgiveness, that depends on their conduct in the battles to come, and their ability to learn from their mistakes.”
Boudicca looked down. “I pray on their behalf that they will act exemplary…”
“I expect Celestine will arrive here soon. Although her actions may have led to this affair, you must forgive her. She is a young goddess, and I suspect not entirely familiar with the minds of mortals.”
“That, that is to be expected,” the former sanndatr acknowledged. “After all, we are miniscule and irrational - nothing compared to the magnificence that is the gods.” She wiped the last traces of tears from her eyes and bowed politely. “Forgive me, I, I lost my senses earlier. I meant no evil by it.”
“I’m afraid your senses have not been your own for a long time,” Cadien said grimly. He reached out to touch her collar. “You were given this shortly after I gifted you those banners, yes?”
Boudicca blinked and patted the inky collar with her right hand. “Yes, I… I suppose so. It was given to me by Macsal--...” She paused and frowned. “... No… No, it was not. She called herself… She called herself the Lady-in-Waiting. She gave me this. She gave me the collar and told me to take what was mine.” She swallowed. “You, you don’t think that…”
Cadien’s eyebrows rose. For several seconds, he looked at Boudicca in stunned silence. Then, his expression twisted into rage. He pulled something out of his cloak - a rose made from jewels, and looked from it to Boudicca’s collar. His grip on the rose tightened, and he returned it to its place. “I am familiar with the Lady-in-Waiting,” he said at last. “She has stood before me in this very hall. She is no goddess. This ‘Mascal’, I am not familiar with, but I suspect I know their whereabouts. And if I am correct, they have been asleep for decades. If not centuries.”
“I knew she was hiding something from me, I just did not think it would be this sinister…” he whispered, clenching his fist.
“Did, did she do something to me? Master, what does this collar do?”
“It’s a corrupting force. It instills a sense of greed, desire, and blind ambition within its wearer.” He reached out to grip the collar tightly. And then, half of it shattered, ink droplets flying in every direction, splashing some spots on Boudicca’s vest and shirt. Cadien gripped the remaining half, and with a disgusted look he tossed it aside. “No more.”
Boudicca grabbed her neck instinctively and patted around to feel her skin again, which had grown pale and rashed from a lack of exposure to air. She swallowed and breathed in deep. “Thank you, Master,” she laughed in relief, closing her eyes. “... I… I feel it. A peace of mind returning to me…”
“I always found ‘master’ to be a distasteful term. ‘My lord’, will suffice.” Cadien corrected. “Now, until Celestine arrives, you are my guest. You are free to explore Meliorem. All I ask is that you do not speak of the Lady-in-Waiting or what she did to you - not even if the other inhabitants mention her. It’s a delicate matter, and one I must handle myself.”
Boudicca bowed. “Yes, my lord.”
Cadien had left without explaining anything. This caused Celestine to audibly sigh. She’d been doing her best to help as Boudicca requested, but then Cadien had to go and spirit her away. Most likely he sent her to his realm, but Celestine couldn’t be sure. Part of her wanted to depart immediately, but the tone that Cadien had taken gave her pause. She did not want to become an object of irritation to him, and thus decided it would most likely be best to seek council with one of her advisors. Walking to the north side of the room, Celestine pulled open the set of double doors that lay there and stepped out onto the ledge beyond. Closing the doors behind her Celestine approached the mouthpiece to the massive horn that lay embedded within the side of her castle. Inhaling into lungs that did not exist she blew into the horn, causing a reverberating hum to echo throughout her realm. Moments later, a roar answered.
A few moments after that, a great red dragon approached by wing. He pulled back, buffeting the goddess with a fierce windstorm before coming to rest upon the large ledge that had been specifically crafted for this purpose. Letting out a short huff, the dragon spoke with a deep and reverberating voice. ”Greetings Celestine. What is it that you wished to ask my council for?”
Celestine opened her mouth to speak, but froze when she realized that she was no longer the only person standing on the ledge…
A red fox sat on Celestine's feet looking up at her. After a silent moment, the fox's eyes twinkled and a toothy grin snagged on its snout.
"How you?" The words danced around the small mammal.
Celestine looked down at the fox sitting upon her feet with a raised eyebrow. Looking up to the dragon for a moment, Celestine spoke to him once more. ”Please pardon me, Grigori. I have an unexpected visitor. This might take a while, so if you find the conversation boring please do feel free to depart.”
The dragon responded with only a huff as Celestine looked down to the fox once more to speak again. ”Hello. I’m… Busy, I suppose. Who are you, exactly? There are no foxes within my realm that I know of.”
"Well you sort of answered yourself with that qualifier. I'm a fox you don't know of - but I'm also Illyd Dyll among other names." The fox paused. "How you?"
Celestine raised an eyebrow at the name given. She recognized it from not too long ago… The great hall. Where Cadien had given his speech and Celestine had hoped to calm the mortals by heeding their desire to be free of divine rule… That had obviously not worked out like she had planned and things had gone really rather sour. Blinking, she answered the fox again. ”Ah. I believe I remember you. From fairly recently at the great hall. Greetings Illyd. I would curtsey but… You reside upon my feet and it would be rude of me to shoo you away from where you are. Did you have something that you wished to discuss?”
"One might say I'm stepping on your toes." Illyd snickered.. This caused Celestine to tilt her head at the fox and pose a question about what motives they might’ve had. ”And why might you be doing such a thing, if I might ask? Do you gain some benefit from pinning me to this spot? Or are you merely playing a game of some sort?”
"Oh do you like games?" Illyd questioned. "Is that why you play with mortals so often?"
Celestine narrowed her eyes slightly, but shook her head. ”I enjoy tournaments, and other honorable combat exercises. But I don’t enjoy all games. I interact with mortals because that is my purpose. To me, knighting people is as natural as breathing is to mortals. Why do you ask?”
"Not all mortals breathe," Illyd corrected.
Celestine blinked. Now she was growing frustrated by Illyd’s presence. He was toying with how she spoke and in all honesty she didn’t really appreciate that. However, she kept her tone of voice calm as she spoke. ”I suppose that is fair. But still, the point stands. It is something that comes natural to me. Do you take issue with it?”
"No," Illyd hopped off of Celestine and began to ponder around aimlessly. After a sudden sniff, Illyd paused and looked back at Celestine. "Well come on then..." He started to prance away, "Follow the fox."
Celestine raised an eyebrow once again as Illyd began to hop away. What an odd god… But she knew what he was getting at. Cadien had said he wanted to talk, and yet here she was talking to a dragon and a fox. There was a conversation to be had elsewhere, and Celestine looked up to Grigori once more. ”I’m going to be leaving the realm for a time. I don’t know for sure how long it will be. Would you kindly ensure that things run smoothly while I’m away?”
Another huff came, and then a nod. Celestine smiled at the dragon before speaking once more. ”Thank you. I appreciate it.”
With that, Celestine turned and began to follow Illyd.
