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Completed Chapter IV: Forgotten Sands

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Tharos Silverlane

The Sword of Ages

​



Tharos handed the book back to Meric and began his examining of the gates. He held his torch up providing light in the general area of the fellowship and revealing the said gate. Back home, the gates had the secrets of opening them through the runes inscribed upon them. He was looking for similar runes but due to it's age, he wouldn't be surprised if there weren't any. If it's of Varden design, that is.
 
Taking the book back from Tharos, Meric immediately went to work by the light of the torch he had previously given Violet to hold. This could have been seen as an excuse to stand next to her, or perhaps he just needed the light. Anyway it would likely take some moments until he turned up something useful.


Meanwhile, Tharos' inspection of the gates rose to his expectations. He discovered faint rune markings across the surface, barely visible but there, becoming more noticeable as the eye adjusted to spotting them. Varden or not, they resembled the script, and to the man's surprise he actually recognized two words - "hell" and "guard". Those runes were similar enough to the words in Varden that they could hold the same meaning.


Though right next to them, Dina was still miles away. "The dragon is here, with one of the diggers." Perhaps Dina did lay a bit too much on the consciousness of simple plants, for they only answered her most recent question. Or maybe they would have, had there not been for a familiar interruption.


"Hello again." he said, and before she could even manage all of Dina's focus washed away, replaced by hard reality. There was the darkness of the tunnel, her friends working on the gate beside her, and there was him. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything." he says with a clever smile. He fit right into the decor, with his black robes and hair, and the mystery that surrounded him. The man who could not be seen by anyone except her.
 


Dina Ailsa​




http://www.rpdom.com/threads/dina-ailsa.53054/http://www.rpdom.com/threads/dina-ailsa.53054/Lost Child of Asgard

http://www.rpdom.com/threads/dina-ailsa.53054/http://www.rpdom.com/threads/dina-ailsa.53054/







Dina gave a little jump. "Could you stop doing this? You're making things hard for me. Please, be useful or go away." She was not at all happy and didn't even bother to whisper. After a long sigh she turned to inform the group of her findings. "I got in touch with some plant life in this temple, asked them about Xenthriss. They said, and I quote, "The dragon is here, with one of the diggers.". I have no idea what it means, though." Dina hesitated a bit and then added: "And that ghost guy is back." She decided to ignore him completely from now on until he decides to be useful.
 

Tharos Silverlane

The Sword of Ages

​



Tharos brushed his hand over the "guard" rune. He began to remember seeing these very runes some time recent. The blade... Of course! "Henvei! Let me see your sword," he extended a hand as he was looking for a place in the gate that it could act as a key or something to such effect. Justice, guard, and hell...
 
Justice, guard and hell. Those were only some of the runes present. But perhaps Tharos was on to something. "Dragon?" Meric frowned, white eyes lifting from the old pages to stare at Dina. "Unless it's a real dragon, which I seriously hope it's not, perhaps those... voices, plants... Perhaps they are referring to Xenthriss. To such simple and primal life forms a dragon would be no different than a drakkar. But diggers?"


"That'd be me, lad." a voice sounded from the other tunnel, and they could see a short figure with a torch approaching. It was Laurolf. "I was just with our, erm, friendly drakeskin."


Meanwhile, the conversation between Dina and her invisible friend continued.


"Oh, that hurts. It really does." said the man, not even trying to sound convincing. "Alright, I'll give you something useful if I must. Over there." he extended a gloved hand, pointing at the now no longer lit left hand tunnel which was collapsed a few dozen feet along the way. "There's something among that rubble that's escaped even the vigil of the Sighted one. Ironic, isn't it?" The cunning smile never once left his face.
 


Dina Ailsa​




http://www.rpdom.com/threads/dina-ailsa.53054/http://www.rpdom.com/threads/dina-ailsa.53054/Lost Child of Asgard

http://www.rpdom.com/threads/dina-ailsa.53054/http://www.rpdom.com/threads/dina-ailsa.53054/







Dina glared at the guy. "It will be if you are not trying to fool me." She said but started for the tunnel. "Laurolf? Why isn't he with you now then? And would you be so kind to accompany me? I would like to check something there." Dina copied ghosty's stance. She thought about calling for Tharos and letting him know that he overlooked something but decided to check it personally first. "And would you like to give me a name to call you, or are you fine with Ghosty?" Dina turned her head to look at Ghosty again.
 
"Sooner or later, humans always be needin' us dwarves!" said Laurolf, ignoring Dina's first question. "Let's get to it, then." And he took his torchlight to where Dina wanted, pausing at the edge of the tunnel collapse. He looked about, shaking his head while waiting for Dina to follow. "Not great stonework, if you ask me. What a mess!"


But the girl's ghost friend was gone once more, vanishing as suddenly as he had appeared. The question of his name was going to have to wait until next time, it seemed.


In the meantime, Silverlane procured the sword from Henvei, though there didn't seem to be anything resembling a slot or indentation of any sort on the gates. But something else happened. Just as Tharos brought the sword closer, the runic markings on the surface of the gates began glowing a dim gold color. They were much more visible now, though still mostly unrecognizable. The runes on the blade responded in the same way.


"Interesting. These are ordinary gates." remarked Meric. "They respond to magic, including magical artifacts. That sword is imbued with power." The elf pointed at the weapon in Silverlane's hands. "And the doors as well, I bet. So I do not think it would be a good idea to try and reduce them to cinders, Henvei." he said to the scholar. "Wait! I don't believe you rightly explained how exactly you came in possession of such a thing. You said you found it in a ruin near Ridge?"
 

Tharos Silverlane

The Sword of Ages

​



Tharos took the sword and examined its design. He was looking to see if it was anywhere similar to his own kind's make. Of course, it would be ancient and probably something different, but there had to of been some similarities he missed when originally laying eyes on the blade. After looking it over, he looked at the gate to see if needed to fit anywhere, or find a missing spot for a rune such as Justice that he had seen on the sword.


He heard Meric's words and that perked his attention. Tharos turned to Henvei and looked cautiously at the scholar. Ruins near Ridge? What have you seen, scholar?
 

Henvei Relkor vech Daltzen

Tainted Scholar

​



Henvei turned abruptly, looking down his inquisitors with a hawk's eye. "I have seen many things, and that answers your question. What is it to you?"


But the recent taste of fresh water softened the scholar's harsh tongue. "I suppose...If you were interested in such things as ruins and, dare I say it, history, I say it was a ruin indeed, and a peculiarly interesting one at that. I saw nothing of keys, if that was what you were wondering. It would take a fool of higher order to say, however, that the blade has nothing to do with the door." A key of some sort? How mundane. The scholar had been hoping for some sort of ancient secret, or even a new riddle to solve. Maybe he could still blackmail somebody with it. "What, does the wallpaper have something to say on the matter?"
 
Meanwhile, Dina's close inspection of the rubble turns up results. Something caught her eye - a piece of wood unlike the other wood in the debris; it was too even, and even a glint of something buried deeper. Altogether it didn't seem to be buried too deep. She could probably unearth it herself.
 
Carefully digging up the rubble, Dina successfully retrieves the object. As she stood up to examine it in the light of the dwarf's torch, she could see that it was a long staff in fact, apparently made from ash, and decorated with a silver inlay and small amethysts. Pretty. It was scratched in some places, but other than that looked intact.


"That be lookin', like of them wizard staves." Laurolf remarked as he studied it in Dina's hands. "You knew where to find it?"
 


Dina Ailsa​




http://www.rpdom.com/threads/dina-ailsa.53054/http://www.rpdom.com/threads/dina-ailsa.53054/Lost Child of Asgard

http://www.rpdom.com/threads/dina-ailsa.53054/http://www.rpdom.com/threads/dina-ailsa.53054/







Dina smiled, such a beautiful staff enchanted her in a way. "I did. Thank you for accompanying me, Laurolf." She said and went back to the group by the gates. "Sorry to interrupt, but could you take a look at this, both of you?" Dina addressed Tharos and Henvei while holding the staff in front of her.
 

Henvei Relkor vech Daltzen

Tainted Scholar

​



"The sort of ruin only a dead man would find comfortable. A tomb. A tomb, I might add, with plenty of your favorite sort of scratch marks all over the walls. I suspect your kin had their hands in the matter: these locks seem quite similar." The wizard pondered the gate, thoughtful for once. "Although I suspect that this one honors a different sort of pact than my own."


Henvei's thoughts were interrupted by a staff. "Hm? What is this? No, better question, where did you get it?" The wizard asked Dina, regarding the staff with more interest than the tomb and its occupants commanded.
 
"Interesting." said Meric in his usual voice. Was there anything that didn't fascinate or interest that elf? "It would appear to be a mage's staff, that much is obvious. Well crafted. Other than that, we'd need a wizard to tell us more about it." He shot a friendly glance at Henvei before returning to browse the journal, which seemed to hold greater grasp over his concentration right now. As it should, if they were ever to get out of this place.
 

Tharos Silverlane

The Sword of Ages

​



Tharos looked at the staff intently. It was a wizard's staff but he wasn't all to familiar with the equipment of a magi. He looked back at the wall, holding the sword up to it to see if he could find a connection.
 
Meric finally got to the point.


"This is how the author described his own passage through the gates." he said. "And yes, this is the way to go, according to him." Then he began quoting from the original text:


"The outer gate, simple in its design, is meant only to keep away casual adventurers, if any should somehow stumble upon it through the maze of stone and rock. But these inner gates are the real entrance. Beyond them lies Zvern Azna proper, and they are part of an advanced magical system used to identify friend from foe. The obvious slot in the center is only meant for direct access by those who have built the temple; anyone else's interaction will most likely bear tragic consequences. Alternatively, one can use a pass phrase to gain entrance. In a sense, the gates are sentient magic. Not alive definitely, but intelligent. The pass phrase is forged together of three words belonging to one of the possible sets. The first word chooses the specific set, and the other two words must come from it. In any language. The builders of the temple would add other words in between, but only the key three are needed. I don't want to even write down how I came by this knowledge."


"Don't get your hopes up." the elf interrupted himself. "He didn't bother to write down the actual password possibilities, of course." An uneasy smile, before he continued:


"I've learned one of the pass phrases, but to write down anything more than a hint would be too much of a risk. So... Name of the angel, his province that is the end of us all, and another way to think of it."


Meric frowned. "Angel..."


Few people have heard of angels. They were supposed to be Maker's agents who watched over the world, according to folklore. Needless to say, that's all they ever were. Until now, perhaps.


"Typical." Laurolf grunted. "Human -"


He was interrupted by Xenthriss who chose that moment to make a reappearance. Maker only knows for how long he watched from the shadows, for he seemed to have caught on at least the last part of their conversation. "Angels... Too bad." he said with a grin as he approached to stand closer. "If we needed the name of a demon, I could give you a few." He laughed.
 
"If only it were that simple." said Meric, staring intently at the gates. There was indeed a faint impression in the center, surrounded by still glowing golden runes. "If this gate is really infused with such powerful magic, I doubt we'll be able to take it down by force. And we'd better not try the slot if it was reserved for authorized access. We need the password." He glanced at everyone else with a troubled expression. "If it involves an angel's name, I'm clueless. Angels are barely even myths. There's even just a few folk tales that mention them, but I've never heard any names. I suppose I could check the journal..." And with that he went back to digging through the worn pages, shutting himself out from the group.
 

Violet Robbins

The Magpie Archer
​



Violet had been mostly quiet as they went through the temple, aside from acceptig the torch and breathing a sweet sigh of relief at the cool that was inside. Her mind was cught up in their new Drakkar apparent disdain of her, the fact that Dina was seeing and hearing things that the others couldn't, and old memories brought on by last nights consoling. She was there, but she mainly chose to be silent.


She had noticed Meric's move toward, wondering if there was more to it than just the need for torchlight. He could have asked for the torch back; its not like she was overtly attached to the thing at all. She let that move to the backburner though as they pondered the question of the password. She didn't know much about angels, especially with her lack of any standardized education. The closest thing she had ever gotten to an education was from the occasional book. She chewed her lip, pondering possible answers. After several moments, she said,


"What if its not a literal name, but the word angel in a different language? It doesn't really specify any one particular angel, its just "the" angel".
 

Tharos Silverlane

The Sword of Ages

​



Silverlane looked back at the group. The Angel. Nothing came to mind of something from his own culture of an angel but it would take the dwelling deep back into his memories for him to come up with anything. Not that he should to begin with in the form of Tharos Silverlane.
 
Some time passed.


"Nothing." Meric shut the journal. "That's all the clues we're getting. We need to find out the name of an angel. Or the angel. Doesn't matter if there's one or a hundred, it's all the same if we don't have a name to begin with."


Outside the spheres of light created by the torches carried by Violet, Laurolf and Silverlane, and Henvei's orb, darkness was absolute. And so was the silence. It was an eerie feeling. If they didn't know for a fact that they were inside a mountain, they would have thought they were miles underground.
 
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