Descent To Asphodel.

[Basilisk]

Tio's plan, at first, didn't seem to be working. In fact, all he initially accomplished was keeping the ship facing sideways as wave after wave battened against the ship. Then, the waves stopped and the ocean they were in shuddered for a second as the abyss below them turned pure black before returning to its gold and white coloration. After the shuddering passed, the ship started to right itself according to the efforts Tio, Nir'wei and the pack were making, righting the ship so that it was entering the swirling mass around the maelstrom on the right side.

The rest of the plan started to take effect as well, with the ship slowing down more and more. The rate of the slowing depended on what else they did with the ship, but regardless of their actions, the ship was definitely slowing down. However, they were still being drawn inexorably towards that gaping may at the bottom of the whirlpool. Whether or not Tio had been right about there being no chance of escaping the vortex, the group would never find out as the ship finally entered the pull of the gold and white maelstrom itself. They didn't immediately fall into the abyss, but were instead pulled slowly to the center of it. And then the group heard a single, feminine voice. "Brace yourselves." it said, and then a second later, the group dropped.

When the group dropped, they may have expect a long fall, or some other peril. Instead, they dropped a distance of about five feet, the terrain very different from where they had been. Among other things, it was very definitively a more solid place. The group was now on an island in the middle of a small lake. The white and gold disk they had fallen through was now above them, with water falling from the edges, draining into the lake around them. Next to them, a blonde woman wearing a festive green coat raised a hand above her head and made a fist, causing the disk to vanish as though it had never been, revealing clear blue skies above, with birds flying calmly through it. However, before any of that, Nir'wei in particular was likely to notice the other woman standing nearby, a brown haired woman dressed in furs.

With the portal, for that is what it had been, now closed, Karem approached Nir'wei and knelt down next to him. "Don't try to get up yet. You've been without gravity for a while, let your body finish adjusting." she said, her voice calm and gentle, before she looked up at the rest of the group. "That goes for all of you. You've been in Emea a long time, and though Saoire kickstarted the process, it'll take some time for your bodies to finish re-adjusting to being back in Idalos." she said, gesturing to her companion at the name.

Saoire smiled cheerfully at the group and stepped forward. "Sorry about the rocky ride. Introducing Idalosian elements into Emea tends to turn things...chaotic. It also disables most methods of controlling Emea, and plays merry hob with most communication methods." she said, her tone as cheerful as her smile. "Unfortunately, the way I did it is generally the safest way we've found to bring people back alive from that deep in Emea." she said, before looking at Tio. "Oh, don't worry about your fish and your ship, Tio. They'll be at your beck and call the next time you enter Emea, be that by Dreamwalking or some other means." she said, before giving the group a big grin. "But in the meantime, welcome home!"

[Nir'wei]

Nir'wei growled around the wheel-spoke as his blunt claws scraped across the deck. He was pulling as hard as he damn well could, but even four paws didn't grant a whole lot of purchase! Plus, he had Archailist chattering in his head frantically. "It's not working, we're heading straight for it!" He should have trusted his instinct and gone for the sails. They never should have embarked on this curse-forsaken quest and spat in Vri's eye while they still had the chance. Regrets piled at his feet until they threatened to swallow him whole, as the glow of gold-white light started to filter through the floorplanks beneath their feet, threatening sweet, endless oblivion. And then, a voice, so loud and clear that the speaker might have been standing mere feet away.

Wait, brace for what?

Despite standing in the middle of a closed room, on a solid deck, he somehow started falling, rather rapidly. Apparently straight through the ship itself, and onto solid ground. The kind he could feel gently shifting under his paws as he awkwardly tried to stand, regardless of some woman's insistence that he not. Soil. Air. Actual air, not like the wind from before - the kind he realised a little too late that he actually had to breathe. Light - but there wasn't much of it. Barely enough to see and make out shapes, one of which grew larger as it approached him. He snapped when it drew too close. Was this an intentional attempt to disorient them all before picking them off one-by-one? Why wouldn't they want him to get up again?

"Idalos. IDALOS? No. No, no no no, no you didn't. You couldn't have. We were where they couldn't reach us, he said so. He said they couldn't reach us!" he yelled in a hoarse voice as his vocal chords struggled to function. "We didn't finish our mission! I need to find, we need to make it or we'll all... you..." The scuffs and shuffling of the other wolves announced their feeble efforts to rise, but they faired no better; one-by-one, overstimulated and ill-prepared for such a sudden leap in space and time, they dissolved into their spirit forms and vanished to recuperate, until only Nir'wei remained, struggling again and again to stand on all four feet, blinking back tears of frustration and denial as the dull, muted world refused to clarify. Nothing more than dark shapes and outlines, ripped free of all but a small handful of colours. Gone was the vibrancy of eternal noise and music. Gone were the endless possibilities. Now there were none. Ugly. Disgusting.

His body felt so awkward and heavy, and to his dismay, he still couldn't float, or step away with a projected thought to the Orb. "Lavender." Too many scents. Salty, clear, blossoms, grass, wet soil, a woman-- no, two, but one smelled of fresh blood and a damp cave, and the other of a warm beach, sand, seaweed. "Lavender!" His comfort. His sanctuary. They'd taken that too.

His mission was quite possibly finished, and without reaching the Great Beyond, he'd die in moments, if he wasn't already dead. He'd be unmade. Everyone back home might quite well die as well. And that was all unless this wasn't some massive practical joke conjured by unknown, unseen beings, like the twin pillars of the Empyrean Gate and their illusory 'visions'. In which case they might be dying right that second. What was real? What wasn't? Did it matter? Too much. Far too much. "LAVENDER." Still nothing. No, no no no. There was only so much that he could take. Except, Nir had quite a different reaction when he finally, and almost inevitably at this point, snapped.

"Take me back. Take. Me. Back. TAKE ME BACK. TAKE ME BACK, DAMN YOU, TAKE ME BACK! YOU MONSTERS! TAKE ME BACK, TAKE ME BACK!" he screamed as he launched himself for the blonde-haired woman.

[Tio Silver]

As the ship was dragged closer and closer into the eye of the maelstrom, inevitably drawn towards impending doom, Tio wondered if perhaps this was it. Perhaps this was his destiny; to die in a mystical dream storm alongside a pack of wolves, a fish in a bottle and a... whatever Sage was. Truly a fitting end.

"Hold on tight! Here we gooooooo..." He yelled as the ship tumbled down into the darkness, holding on to the wheel for dear life.



A second later he bumped down gently onto dry land, the chaos of the storm replaced the the serene calm of some sort of tropical island paradise.

"Wait... what? What?" He cried, looking around in confusion. Once again Emea had changed so suddenly and without warning that he couldn't quite keep up with it. Where were they now? And where was his ship? Why did Emea always make absolutely zero sense! "I hate Emea. Could somebody please explain to me what just happened before I start crying." He muttered to himself dejectedly, hanging his head in his hands.

The sound of someone talking nearby caught his ears, and Tio looked over to the two beautiful women standing nearby. One was wearing festive green robes and had a warm happy aura about her, and the other...

Oh the other. Tio's heart skipped a beat just looking at her. Wild brown hair cascaded down past her shoulders like rivers of chocolate. The furs she wore clung to a body that was lithe with toned muscles, making her look tough enough to take down a bear in a fist fight. But most important of all was the aura of power wreathed around her, cackling with the promise of command and strength. She was a warrior no doubt, a true badass; exactly what he loved most in a woman.

The warrior woman spoke again, telling them that they were back on Idalos, and before he even realized what he was doing to was on feet whooping with sheer joy. "Idalos?! I'm back home, after all these arcs?! YES! YES!" He dropped to his knees and kissed the ground, relishing in the surety that it wouldn't turn into snakes or something at a moment's notice."Oh sweet reality, how I've missed you."

It was only after his little outburst that he remembered that he was acting crazy in front of the super beautiful woman, and he quickly caught himself and stood up, valiantly trying to pretend that none of that had just happened. "But wait, that can't be right. Surely I must be dreaming to be able to meet someone as gorgeous as you?" He replied with a roguish grin, the effect very much ruined by the fact that he looked like he'd been dunked in a barrel of water and rolled down a hill. Apparently twenty long arcs of isolation hadn't done his flirting game any favours. "Hey there, I'm Captain Silver; dashing pirate extraordinaire. Maybe you've heard of me? What's your name?"

The one introduced as Saoire (like the made up person who delivered presents to kids on Ziellmas? What were her parents thinking?) Spoke up, assuring him that Mick and his ship were fine. Nir'wei however was clearly not very happy as he watched his pack dissolve into thin air, and lunged at Saoire screaming at her to send him back.

"Whoah there Nir, calm down will you." Tio interrupted, making his way over to get between the two before Nir'wei hurt her. "It's not like it's the end of the worl-... oh wait, yes it is." He coughed awkwardly. "In consideration I suppose that's actually a very fair reaction. But let's not get violent okay?"

He turned to Saoire. "I can't believe I'm saying this but he's right, we need to go back to the crazy murder dimension. Thank you for thinking of us, but this is Nir's destiny and it's my job to help him get there. Please send us back."

"Although..." He looked back to Karem with a flirty smile. "I suppose there's no reason why we need to go back right away, especially with such wonderful company right here." He raised his eyebrows suggestively at Karem, the effect once again somewhat ruined due to the fact that he had no eyes.

[Basilisk]

It appeared the two beings who had escaped Emea without needing to revert to spirit form were taking the sudden departure very differently. Nir'wei was having a hard time believing and as he started to break down, Saoire looked at him with pity. "Vri was needlessly unkind to the poor boy, wasn't he? I may speak to the twins about this, see if they would be willing to add to his current punishment in light of this." she said, earning her a look from Karem, who was busy trying to keep Nir'wei from getting up. "I know he's one of your pack, but you hate the twins. And Vri. And most of the other Immortals. You'll start a fight." she said, her tone slightly amused.

Karem paused for a moment before nodding her agreement, then looked at Tio as he started flirting with her. She gave him an amused smile at the start, then frowned slightly when he mentioned his name. "Actually I have. You are the one that stabbed Cassion." she said, before smiling slightly. "It was rather amusing, honestly." she said, before her smile grew wider. "You also have a mental link with my daughter, last time she let me know how her life was going." she said, her tone more amused.

Then Nir'wei burst out from under her hand and tried to attack Saoire. Tio attempting to step in was noted, but before he could intercept, Saoire had stepped forward to actually take the attack, letting Nir'wei attempt to maul her as he might. Unfortunately for the poor distressed wolf, he accomplished basically nothing with his attacks. He simply couldn't do any damage, not even tear her clothes. Karem stepped forward, but Saoire just shook her head at her and Tio. "The greatest powers wielded by Immortal, Original, and Dragon alike couldn't harm me. Let him be until he calms down, I'm in no danger." she said, her tone now quite firm.

Karem nodded at that. "I will try and calm him down though. This mental state is not good for him." she said, before closing her eyes and reaching through the pack bonds to find Nir'wei. She connected to his Velduris wolves as well. "Calm down, Nir'wei. You are safe now. You don't need to go back. You finished the job." she said, before looking up to make sure Tio was included in the next bit. "That broken gateway you two fixed, that was the break Vri sent you to repair. We are not sure if he thought the Great Beyond itself had been somehow damaged, but it is functional. The problem was the connection. That chime you heard, just before Saoire introduced the wind and the ocean into Emea for you, that was the signal that the damage was fixed. That is why we pulled you out when he did." she said, her tone calm.

When Tio flirted with Karem again, Saoire laughed. "Oh, you might be about to have another child, cousin. Perhaps a proper litter this time." she said, some amusement in her voice. "As for not being able to reach you, Vri did not understand how significant the Velduris wolves were. The Wolf-Walkers are never alone, and that goes just beyond the immediate presence of the wolves themselves." she said, before looking to Karem. "You want to explain?" she asked.

Karem nodded, still trying to use the pack bonds to calm Nir'wei. "The Velduris wolves are part of my pack, as are the Wolf-Walkers. It is...difficult to explain in words, so forgive me if I am unclear. The Wolf-Walkers do not have full access to the pack mind, just the part of the greater pack that constitutes their own, smaller pack. This is because Mortal minds are not designed to be part of a pack mind. It is not a true hive mind, but a Mortal mind could still get lost in it. However, more to the point, I always have access to the pack minds of my wolves, and thus I can always look in on them, see how them and their packmates are faring. I am always with my Wolf-Walkers, to a greater or lesser extent. I've been keeping an eye on your progress ever since your quest began." she said, her tone simple. "Unfortunately, Vri teleported Nir'wei into Emea before I could explain any of this, and communicating over pack lines tends to be rather harrowing for Mortal minds if it is done over a distance. So I was not able to let Nir'wei know I was watching without potentially putting him at greater risk." she said, her tone calming and gentle.

Saoire nodded at that. "However, Karem couldn't get you out alone. So she asked for my help. I can open a Gateway to anywhere in Idalos or Emea, provided some knowledge about both locations. It's how I brought my Realm to Idalos, so that I could make my Dream a reality." she said, before giving a wide grin. "It's also how I deliver presents on Ziellmas." she said, her tone showing her excitement at that.

Karem let out an amused huff at that, then turned to give Tio a sharp look. "You are a mage, yes? How come you do not smell of the Spark?" she asked, her tone intently curious. That caught Saoire's attention as well, and she gave Tio a curious look.

[Nir'wei]

How was he the only person acting rationally right now? Tio, predictably, was immediately side-tracked by the next shiny thing to appear, namely, Karem. While it was almost admirable, his ability to almost completely dissociate from the plights of those around him, his attempted intervention went almost entirely unnoticed. He'd been honest with Tio since the very beginning of this trip - if anything, anything, came between him and the completion of this task, he wouldn't hesitate. This was his life, after all. The second, and last, chance for it.

However, he hadn't really used his mortal body in... well, a very long time. As a matter of fact, he'd never used his wolf body in the real world before. Even had Saoire been mortal, she could have fought her way out of his clumsy bites and scratches; his stamina didn't allow more than a couple of each before he started to visibly strain to the point of possibly damaging himself in the attempts. It was, at best, the feeble and desperate last efforts of a beaten man... er, wolf... ghost. Though, her damn confidence... her self-assurance she was in no harm. Gods, that bruised his ego some; though that was only because he still couldn't quite be certain if he was actually seeing an Immortal, or not some apparition pretending to be one for their benefit. It could still happen. Trusting his senses was a fool's gamble in Emea.

But there was nothing quite like Karem's mental link. The kind that thrummed through his entire body as her power suddenly washed over him, sending him reeling backwards from the blonde-haired woman. "It's... it's really over?" It took his addled mind a moment to really comprehend it. The task had seemed almost impossible; the idea of actually completing it, such a distant and precarious thing that while he'd never truly lost hope in it... he'd focused so much living from one moment to the next, he'd never thought he'd actually hear the words.

Every answer seemed to appear before he could question it. He nearly asked what the hell that vortex had been, then, before realizing they'd already answered that, too - and why they couldn't have warned him beforehand. In the end, he almost resembled Mick. Mouth opening and closing, struggling to find the words, any words. "... I'm sorry," he said at last to Saoire. "I'm sorry, I didn't know-- I wasn't myself." Ashamed of his display, he backed up a step and fell roughly onto his backside, lifting a paw to his face to rub his eyes awkwardly. A very un-doglike expression.

It was over. They'd won, technically, but he didn't really feel like it. He was still a wolf, for starters. His stomach rolled from the odd stillness of Idalos, his body felt heavy and difficult, and the ground wasn't comforting under his paws. It was restrictive and unnecessary. Like being forced to press against a wall when he walked around a room. Why couldn't he just cut to the middle? Why couldn't he just fly? "... Tio, what happened to your face?" He'd been a little caught up in personal issues for a while, but as he followed the gaze of the two Immortals, he began to notice some very distinct oddities about Tio. Or, rather, a lack of oddities. "Does coming out of Emea change you or something?"

[Tio Silver]

There was the slightest flicker of annoyance across Tio's face when Karem mentioned that she found the time he'd stabbed Cassion amusing, but it was quickly hidden away behind the flirtatious mask. The memories of the poor woman who'd died that day in Cassion's place, the one and only person he'd ever killed, still haunted him to this day, and he certainly didn't find it amusing. Nonetheless he knew that she hadn't meant it like that, and instead made a deliberate attempt to focus on the following comment. "A mental link? With your daughter? Who- what-... when did that happen?" Unknowing that she was an Immortal, Tio could only conclude from her youthful features that the daughter she had mentioned must be a small child. When had he formed a bond with such a person, and how? He couldn't recall any incident that might have led to such a thing.

Karem then continued to explain how they had actually unknowingly succeeded in their task already; that fixing the gateway had been enough to restore the connection to the Great Beyond, and that they didn't actually need to travel all the way there personally to finish the job. That was quite the relief actually, as Tio had been reluctant to go anywhere near the place that, for all intents and purposes, seemed to be world of the dead. Dying was still number one on his "Do Not Do" list after all. The mention of the chime however caused Tio to frown; that sound had caused him indescribable pain and messed up his collection of curses and sparks. How come the same thing didn't happen to Nir'wei? Because he wasn't a magician?

His thoughts were turned away from that subject however when Saoire happened to mention the name of her super attractive companion. "Hold up... Karem! The Karem!" He looked over to Karem in shock, back to Saoire again for confirmation, back to Karem, back to Saoire, back to Karem, back to Saoire, and then shook his head in frustration. "Damn it! First Syroa, then Feather-butt, and now Karem! Why are so many of you Immortals so damn hot?! Why can't more of you look like dirty hobos, like Cassion?" His eyes shot back over to Saoire. "And you are the real, genuine Saoire? You're real? But then why did I never get presents when I was a child?" A realisation suddenly struck him, and an expression of complete horror crossed over his face. "Don't tell me... was I on the naughty list?" Sure he had a festive tradition of stuffing turkeys with gunpowder, and he'd never been the best at sharing, but surely he hadn't been a naughty kid right? Oh who was he kidding, of course he had been. Dejectedly, Tio sunk to the ground and tried to fight the urge to cry.

His seriousness returned again however when Karem suddenly mentioned that he didn't smell of magic anymore, and Tio stood back up and shot her a confused expression. "You mean that wasn't your doing? When that chime sounded I was suddenly struck with absolute blinding agony, like every fibre of my being was being pulled apart and burnt to ashes. I still feel a bit crispy even now to be honest. Anyway once it stopped my curses were gone and the spark inside of me wouldn't respond. Since it happened at the same time the storm appeared and I lost control of my ship I assumed it had been your doing." He tapped a finger against his chin. "Come to think of it there was this moment just after when I felt this awful stabbing pain in my chest, like someone had punched a pickaxe through his heart, and after that it was like a part of my soul was... gone. I blacked out right after and was too busy to think about it when I woke up. I can't feel them at all now. You're sure this wasn't your doing?"

He supposed he should have felt panicked about loosing such an important part of himself, yet strangely enough as Tio processed the chaos of all the recent events he found he was strangely okay with it. He'd initially taken the necromancy spark to discover a path to immortality, and had only started to become more obsessed with gaining power for power's sake after gaining more sparks. Since the incident that'd turned him into an Emean being however he'd gained an unlimited lifespan anyway, so then did he actually need his sparks anymore? The side of him that'd adored the feeling of being able to bend reality to his fingertips argued that yes, he did need them; that without them he'd be weak and powerless, however that side of himself was strangely muted. The other side of him, the part that just wanted to live a free and pleasurable life, replied that his hunger for power was what had led him to make the worst mistakes of his life; murdering Cassion's champion and ruining Emea being prime examples. Now that they were gone Tio realised that he felt... different? No, that wasn't quite right. His chest felt lighter, his head a little less feverish, and somehow his very thoughts felt a bit calmer and more orderly, but it didn't feel unusual. Quite honestly he felt more like he had used to before he had ever gotten involved with magic in the first place.

"Come to think of it when did I start wearing such a horrific shirt? This thing is a crime against fashion." He muttered, momentarily forgetting present company as he stripped off the horrendous technicolor jacket he wore and dropped it on the floor, leaving him standing before a literal god half-naked and wet. He hadn't really noticed it at the time, but looking back now at all the crazy things he'd done over the last few arcs he really had been starting to change, and not for the better. Had the sparks inside of him really changed him that much? Or had they just brought the worse parts of him up to the surface. "You know I've only just started to realise that being blind is really inconvenient when you can't magically sense your surroundings. I don't suppose anyone has a spare eye or something I could borrow do they?"

[Basilisk]

Karem didn't have time to answer Tio's question about her daughter before Nir'wei attacked Saoire, but fortunately, the two Immortals were able to calm the poor wolf down. "Yes, you're done. You did it." Karem said, her tone gentle as she reached out to pat her Blessed.

Saoire, for her part, smiled at Nir'wei when he apologized for attacking her. "No apology needed. You've been through a very disorienting experience. That was one of the less panicked reactions we've had with such extractions, believe it or not." she said, before both of them paused and frowned when Nir'wei reached up a paw to rub his own eye. "Karem, I know I'm not super familiar with wolves, but...that's not a wolf thing to do, yeah?" she asked, her tone questioning.

Karem shook her head and let out a low growl. "It is not, no, but Vri is not the Immortal of Wolves or of The Wild.. He does not know about the mental tricks that help wild creatures function on four legs and without hands. All he did was stuff a Mortal soul into a canine shell, with none of the instincts or knowledge needed to work it properly." she said, her tone supremely annoyed. Then she smiled slightly at Nir'wei. "Fortunately, it appears that fixing the connection brought you all the way back to life, Nir'wei. That means it will be easier for me to restore your natural form. I cannot do it here, we will have to go to my Realm, and it will take some time, but you will be fully back to your regular form before the next Cycle. Being in the Spectral Forest may also help you recover from the mental strains of your journey, at least somewhat." she said, her tone gentle.

Then she looked up at Tio as he put together that the two women were an Immortal and the bringer of presents, and his response earned him a laugh from the two. "We Immortals can choose our bodies. However, due to our status, and the responsibilities that come with it, we tend to try to look something like what those who follow us expect us to look. It makes identification easier, if nothing else. Granted, pride and vanity have their parts in many of us looking good to Mortal eyes." Karem said with a shrug. "Oh, you asked about my daughter, yes? The one you had a link to?" she said, before giving a wide grin. "She may have chosen to due her hunting through politics and law rather than in person, but Kura is still my daughter." she said, her tone showing no small amount of pride in her daughter. Then she paused a bit. "Though I think you also met Ela at one point." she said, before letting Saoire answer Tio's questions for her.

Saoire, for her part, let Tio flop to the floor and look dejected for a moment before answering. "I don't have a nice or naughty list, I'm no judge. Too much paperwork in such things." she said, smiling brightly. "But yes, I'm really the real Saoire. I don't get out as much as the other Immortals, but I'm no deity to be worshiped. I'm just a teacher, and I've a school to run, so I really only go travelling on Ziellmas. As for never getting presents, not all the gifts I bring are material good or even particularly obvious." she said, giving him another one of those sunny grins she seemed to have in abundance. "Think back. Favorite meals on the holidays, lucky breaks, visitors you wanted to see but who thought hadn't been able to make it? I've done all sorts of things. Even if you did stuff gunpowder in the turkeys." she said, her tone amused at the end.

When Tio said he thought that they had taken his magic and such, the two Immortals exchanged a look of confusion and surprise. Both paused in thought, giving Tio time to take off the ugly shirt he'd been wearing and ask about an eyeball. That shook Saoire out of her thoughts and she stepped towards Tio. "I may be able to help with your vision, but first..." she said, holding a hand out towards Tio and reaching for him with her Immortal powers.

She was not entirely surprised when Tio's own Immortal powers answered her back.

At that contact, Tio would feel any pain from his powers fade as his powers settled into him, and Saoire gave him a welcome smile. "Well, now. That explains that. Immortals can't have Blessings or Magic or Curses, so when you became an Immortal, presumably as part of the same wave that revived Nir'wei, you lost all of those. As for that rending feeling, Delroth was kicking about and he may have snagged your Sparks when you shedded them." she said, before her grin widened and she pulled Tio into a hug. "Aww, but we've got another new member of the family. It's been so long since we had new brothers and sisters." she said, her tone cheerful.

Karem, however, frowned slightly. "It has, yes." she said, her tone somewhat flat. That earned her a somewhat embarrassed look from Saoire. Karem waved the look away, then looked at Tio. "Being Immortal doesn't make you invulnerable. You newborns are, in particular, more vulnerable than those of us who are older. You still have to grow into your powers, and old grudges don't die easy. Don't assume the likes of Delroth are going to drop any grudges just because you're kin now." she said, before gesturing mildly at Saoire. "Saoire's everyone's friend though." she said, giving her cousin an amused look.

Saoire just laughed and shrugged. "It's true, I don't get involved Immortal politics. Or Mortal politics, for that matter. I've got my task and my duties, and they don't entail going to war because I want to add another room to my golden money palace." she said, fishing in her pockets as she spoke. After a moment, she pulled out a gold bracelet and a monocle. "Your body should start to recover things like your vision as your powers grow. But for now, put these on. You see through your hand, yeah? The bracelet interrupts the line of site and has you seeing out the monocle instead. It's limited, but now your vision is more where it's supposed to be." she said, her tone cheerful.

[Nir'wei]

There was no point trying to fight the urge to pull back and stand strong now; one touch and the wolf sagged, almost like he was deflating. "It's over." He should have been relieved. There was nothing he wanted more than to curl up in some dark hole and sleep for a couple of years... as a matter of fact, as the two Immortals talked over him, he found himself nodding. The Spectral Forest. Return to his natural form. He was alive now, too; really, actually alive, since they really were back in Idalos and he wasn't sinking through the floor or whatever ghosts did. These were all extremely good things; his mind still struggled with the concept, but all of a few bits of manic activity had left him feeling exhausted enough to stop worrying about that. After all, there were still a few very pertinent questions to ask. Things like, "Hold on. How long were we out." It felt like seasons. Actually, he didn't even know what it felt like. Living from one moment to the next without the guiding lights of the suns or moons had felt almost like purgatory. Had no time passed at all? "I can't wait like this. There's a war! Faith will--"

She'd still think he was dead. Hell, she might be dead herself. That really started to put the chills of dread back into his body. He had a role to play, one he had still yet to complete, and without it, the threat of defeat loomed larger than ever. But was it already too late? Well, of course not. He'd come back from the dead, after all... now he knew the way back, too. Sort-of. And... well. They now had Tio, apparently. Immortals could revive the dead, right?

Actually, that part was still shaking in his head as well as he looked up and down the newly-formed Immortal with new eyes. Well, if it had the power to bring a mortal back to life, it only made sense that whatever it'd do to whatever Tio had already been would be significantly... more. "So... he's one of you, then? With all the crazy powers and the marks and the 'can't die' stuff." Was this a good thing? Probably... not. Even understanding what was rattling about in his head didn't make him sympathetic to the problems he'd made, or caused. He seemed just as likely to blow up the world as rescue it, depending on which would be more fun. However... he also knew what it meant to be mortal. Did that make him more empathetic? Or more manipulative. Both seemed more likely.

After thinking about it, he subtly backed away, closer to Saoire and Karem than Tio. "I like her," he remarked to the brown-haired Immortal while she was busy gifting strange items to her new... brother? cousin? thing? "She's like a favourite aunt." If Ashan was his father, did that actually make her his aunt?

Hold up. "Did you know about my father." There was something still and stiff in the way he said it. "Did you know that son of a--" His voice devolved into growls for a moment as he spoke words too fast and deep through clenched teeth, but some half-mumbled words clearly not meant to be heard became coherent towards the end of his little outburst. "... Faldrun first... then Vri. I'm leaving him for last."

[Tio Silver]

Kura and Ela. Oh he remembered both of them all right, and now that he thought about it he could definitely see the family resemblance. Kura especially was someone he'd met quite a few times, and she had the same aura of sheer power her mother had. The mental image of both Kura and Karem standing together did funny things to his lower regions that he didn't really need to deal with right now. But when had he formed a mental like with Kura? Back when they'd temporarily swapped races in Emea? This bore further investigation.

After he mentioned what had happened to his sparks Saoire reached over to touch his face, and as she did so Tio felt the burning sensation in his body quickly cool. He listened with blank confusion as the festive Immortal calmly explained that the power that had emanated from the gate, the power that had brought Nir'wei back to life, had transformed him as well. For the third time in his life Tio had changed races.

Now he was an Immortal.

You could almost see the gears turning away in his head as Tio tried to process what he was hearing, leaving him to stand there with a dumbfounded expression and Saoire and Karem congratulated him on his ascension and explained the details of his new form. It was only after the gold bracelet and monocle was pushed into his hand that Tio snapped back to reality. "Hold on... let me just make sure I'm understanding this right. I'm an Immortal now? Like you? A mark-giving, ever-living Immortal? The same thing that happened to Auya happened to me?" A wide, goofy grin spread over his face, and his arms shot up into the air as he yelled in elation. "YYYEEESSS! THIS IS AWESOME! I'M A FREAKIN' GOD!"

He paused suddenly as a thought struck him. "Hold up, if I'm an Immortal then don't I need to be an Immortal of something? A domain?" He looked down at his hands as if seeing them for the first time. "And how exactly do I go about growing into my powers? How do I grant marks? What do I need to do to reach the level of the rest of you?"

He considered the questions for a moment, and then with a wave of his hand dismissed them from his mind. "Ah whatever, I'm sure I'll figure it out. For the moment though..." He slipped the bracelet onto his wrist and the monocle over his missing eye, and grinned as sight returned to his vacant eyes. Then he reached into his domain bag and pulled out his duplicity suit, wrapping it around himself and guiding the material to twist and shape into a new form. A few trills later it finished changing, becoming a simple short-sleeved white shirt and black waistcoat that matched with the monocle's class style. He twirled around on the spot experimentally. "Oh yeah, now I'm looking the part. Hey will I be able to change my appearance like the rest if you then? I've always fancied having a pumpkin for a head..."

[Basilisk]

Karem smiled at Nir'wei as he started to panic about how long they'd been gone and what was going on Faith. "Relax. Faith is managing the war well. She has good allies, good sense, and right now she would want you to recover, rather than jump from peril to peril without taking the time to properly recover. You know how she is, if you go to her now, she'd just send you back to me for healing, if she didn't try to do it herself." she said, her tone calming and gentle. "I understand your reasons, I do, but she's on the upper edge of her war, not the lower. Right now, the best thing you can do for her is heal." she said, her tone firm. "As for how long the two of you were on this trip, in terms of Idalosian time, less than thirty trials. It's the 29th of Ymiden." she said, before grimacing. "Emea and Idalos don't always have the same flow of time, so even we aren't sure how long you were in there from Emea's side of things. Suffice to say, it's better for you both that you're here now." she said, her tone gentle.

At his comment about Saoire, Karem grinned slightly. "Yeah? She's one of the best of us. Certainly she's the most cheerful. Not even the harshness of the world can get through her defenses, it seems." she said, grinning slightly at Saoire. "I don't like most of the Immortals. I think they're useless. Saoire is one of the few that I consider a friend." she said, before looking down at Nir'wei as he started mumbling to himself. She caught the end of it and leaned down next to him. "I understand. Believe me, I understand why you would want to kill them. But right now, any one of them would crush you without a second thought. You'll need to get stronger, and you will need staunch allies, if you plan to confront an Immortal. Useless though many of my kind may be, all of us are powerful beyond what any of us have shown to the people of Idalos." she said, giving Nir'wei a stern look. "So under no circumstances are you to go running off to attack an Immortal all half-cocked. I'd rather not lose one of my pack mates to something they couldn't succeed at. We've come close enough to that already." she said, her tone turning gentle again at the end.

As Karem and Nir'wei spoke, Saoire focused her attention on her new brother. She grinned at his exuberance, but shook her head. "Not quite like what happened to Auya. Different circumstances, same result. You Newborn seem to be unique unto yourselves. However, you can grant a Blessing, but it doesn't feel complete. You'll have to work at developing it, I think. You also have a single Domain, which makes you still weaker than many of us. However, it feels like they haven't generated yet, so I think you'll get more." she said, but grinne slightly. "You are, however, ever-living so long as no one kills you. As for being a god...well, some of us consider ourselves such. Some of us don't. That's up to you." she said, her tone gentle.

She did give a slight shrug, though. "As for growing your powers, we don't know. There's only been two of you and Auya is still pretty fresh out of the oven as well. You don't seem to be able to change your form yet, but I'm sure the ability will come to you in time, along with your own Realm." she said, before she grinned slightly. "However, I'd like to offer you the chance to stay in my school for a bit, learn what your powers are for now, figure out your Domain and such." she said, her tone sincere.