Ashan 20, Arc 721
After The Rising Stars.
For a while after his patron Immortal had taken his leave, the son of Ziell stood there, in his laboratory and looked out of the window and at the stars that seemed to be so much brighter than they had been before. Most of the time, looking at the night sky filled him with a sense of calm and peace. The stars reminded him of the fact that there was so much more out there than most people could ever come to guess, and that there were still entire worlds, waiting to be discovered. This time, every star reminded him of another question that needed to be answered though and another piece of the puzzle that he was trying to solve.
What he had thought was a simple war at first – although he wasn’t entirely sure if simple was the correct word to describe something that involved death and suffering, usually for all of the parties involved – had turned out to be so much more. There was a father, a Mortalborn like he was, that was trying to protect his daughter – his daughter whose soul seemed to be long gone. There were Immortals, on different sides of the conflict, spirits and magic, and the possibility of people shedding blood and committing a sacrilege on someone’s grave – which was one of the things that had worried him the most.
Xiur had told him that he trusted him to do the right thing, and he decided to be hopeful and optimistic in that regard, always, but he was not entirely sure what the right thing was yet. He would figure it out though.
In the end, it would all work out.
With that thought in mind, he turned away from the window, just as something occurred to him, and he paused, for the briefest of moments as he remembered, a conversation with Llyr, some time ago. His lover who he knew to be a Mortalborn of Chamadarst nowadays, had told him that Sintra was tracking him. He had mentioned spiders, small and impossible to catch. Was it possible that someone was watching him as well, or the Albarech and whoever worked with her, without them being aware of it, and if that was the case, what could be done?
The Headwreath of Awareness, one of the artifacts that he had collected over the course of the arcs, only told him if someone was watching him; it didn’t prevent them from watching. The necklace that U’frek had given to him prior to the battle at Treid’s Tomb rendered him invisible to dangerous spirits and ghosts; he doubted that it worked against mortals though. He had imbued a ring with Quilt, an Empathy ability that guarded the mind against intrusions. It might be of some use, he decided. He would save it for emergencies though as he wasn’t sure how long it would last (Blood Magic was not permanent).
There was also the possibility of creating wards, of course, to protect a greater number of people rather than just himself. Wraithgrass was a reagent from Scalvoris that could be used to silence a room, for example, although he wasn’t sure if there was any point in his creating such a ward. And besides that, he wasn’t sure who you needed to hide from in this conflict yet and who not, at least not exactly.
Lies and deception in general were something that he was not particularly interested in nowadays – he’d rather uncover them than take part in them. Such things reminded him far too much of the Hero of Oscillus who he tried to distance himself from, the hopeless, desperate man that he had once been and that he never wanted to become again.
He recognized that there might unfortunately be a need for certain tactics sometimes though.
For a moment, he carefully touched Xiur’s gift that rested on the table in front of him, a star that shone with an inner light. As he observed the light, he felt more peaceful than he had been. There was something about it that made him feel the way that he felt when he stood outside, in the snow. He had in fact felt like that since Xiur had given the star to him.
Even the air seemed to taste the same as the winter air did, of cold and ice, although he was not sure how exactly it was possible for air to taste like anything.
He looked at the star for a few bits. He focused on it, in fact, inhaling and exhaling deeply as he did so, in order to clear his mind and his thoughts, although the star in itself had an almost meditative effect on him, before he stepped away in order to finally finish what he had started.
Before his patron had paid him a visit so unexpectedly, he had been working on an alchemical project of his, a project that an old acquaintance of his had apparently never realized, or told anybody about. In Cylus, he had shared some of his wealth with Scalvoris; this time, he would donate some of his knowledge though. It was, perhaps, not much, but every little thing counted and had the potential of giving someone hope.
After The Rising Stars.
For a while after his patron Immortal had taken his leave, the son of Ziell stood there, in his laboratory and looked out of the window and at the stars that seemed to be so much brighter than they had been before. Most of the time, looking at the night sky filled him with a sense of calm and peace. The stars reminded him of the fact that there was so much more out there than most people could ever come to guess, and that there were still entire worlds, waiting to be discovered. This time, every star reminded him of another question that needed to be answered though and another piece of the puzzle that he was trying to solve.
What he had thought was a simple war at first – although he wasn’t entirely sure if simple was the correct word to describe something that involved death and suffering, usually for all of the parties involved – had turned out to be so much more. There was a father, a Mortalborn like he was, that was trying to protect his daughter – his daughter whose soul seemed to be long gone. There were Immortals, on different sides of the conflict, spirits and magic, and the possibility of people shedding blood and committing a sacrilege on someone’s grave – which was one of the things that had worried him the most.
Xiur had told him that he trusted him to do the right thing, and he decided to be hopeful and optimistic in that regard, always, but he was not entirely sure what the right thing was yet. He would figure it out though.
In the end, it would all work out.
With that thought in mind, he turned away from the window, just as something occurred to him, and he paused, for the briefest of moments as he remembered, a conversation with Llyr, some time ago. His lover who he knew to be a Mortalborn of Chamadarst nowadays, had told him that Sintra was tracking him. He had mentioned spiders, small and impossible to catch. Was it possible that someone was watching him as well, or the Albarech and whoever worked with her, without them being aware of it, and if that was the case, what could be done?
The Headwreath of Awareness, one of the artifacts that he had collected over the course of the arcs, only told him if someone was watching him; it didn’t prevent them from watching. The necklace that U’frek had given to him prior to the battle at Treid’s Tomb rendered him invisible to dangerous spirits and ghosts; he doubted that it worked against mortals though. He had imbued a ring with Quilt, an Empathy ability that guarded the mind against intrusions. It might be of some use, he decided. He would save it for emergencies though as he wasn’t sure how long it would last (Blood Magic was not permanent).
There was also the possibility of creating wards, of course, to protect a greater number of people rather than just himself. Wraithgrass was a reagent from Scalvoris that could be used to silence a room, for example, although he wasn’t sure if there was any point in his creating such a ward. And besides that, he wasn’t sure who you needed to hide from in this conflict yet and who not, at least not exactly.
Lies and deception in general were something that he was not particularly interested in nowadays – he’d rather uncover them than take part in them. Such things reminded him far too much of the Hero of Oscillus who he tried to distance himself from, the hopeless, desperate man that he had once been and that he never wanted to become again.
He recognized that there might unfortunately be a need for certain tactics sometimes though.
For a moment, he carefully touched Xiur’s gift that rested on the table in front of him, a star that shone with an inner light. As he observed the light, he felt more peaceful than he had been. There was something about it that made him feel the way that he felt when he stood outside, in the snow. He had in fact felt like that since Xiur had given the star to him.
Even the air seemed to taste the same as the winter air did, of cold and ice, although he was not sure how exactly it was possible for air to taste like anything.
He looked at the star for a few bits. He focused on it, in fact, inhaling and exhaling deeply as he did so, in order to clear his mind and his thoughts, although the star in itself had an almost meditative effect on him, before he stepped away in order to finally finish what he had started.
Before his patron had paid him a visit so unexpectedly, he had been working on an alchemical project of his, a project that an old acquaintance of his had apparently never realized, or told anybody about. In Cylus, he had shared some of his wealth with Scalvoris; this time, he would donate some of his knowledge though. It was, perhaps, not much, but every little thing counted and had the potential of giving someone hope.
