The trip to the tenth level entrance of the Tangent Spire
was unsurprisingly quiet. Now with Chloe gone, the two hardly spoke to each
other. The only conversation that sparked up was between Mephisto and Styenbeck.
Eryn was keeping track of the movements of the people around him, trying to
observe some small fraction of life that would give him and advantage later on.
For all of his searching he did not see the small child right in front of him.
He was dressed in pressed trousers and shirt, with plain metal earrings and bracelets.
He tugged on Eryn's clothing and he looked down with a nervous smile. He
remembered the last time he had been around children and it did not go well. In
the child's hand there was piece f parchment as well as white leaf. The boy
urged Eryn to sign it, as an autograph. The first thought in Eryn's mind was
the paper itself, if he did sign it, would he be signing something else away?
With careful checking he then preceded
to thought two, Arden. Either he hadn't dissuaded his students about the
heroism, or he was now even more determined to tell everyone. As the boy waited
his eyes started to grow larger, his outstretched arms started to tremble. For
the first time Eryn could clearly see the emotion of doubt without any other
facets. He tried to smile to the boy, hopefully not scaring him. He took the
stem of the leaf and tried to write with it. The boy turned the leaf upside
down, using the point. The white hue was drawn by the paper as he signed it,
till the leaf was just a skeleton. The boy happy as could be skipped off to a
bunch of friends who seemed to celebrate the signature. What Eryn had failed to
realise was that the boy had planted a note in his pocket. The green wax seal
drawing his attention. The impression on the seal was a claw holding an
eyeball. He tentatively broke the seal
and opened the message out. It was a summons by the Hawk-Eyes, with no name, no
place or date. This could either be a fake, a trap, or the truth, his dawdling
had put him behind the group and pressed on through the crowds.
The Tangent Spire was brought into being around four hundred
years ago. An Aeon priest had decided to try and replicate the structure of the
Obsidian Spire in a larger fashion, as
to provide housing indefinitely. He experimented with various artefacts, trying
to replicate the growth that the spire exhibited when new heights in the city
was reached. He could unfortunately not get the stone to grow. His overzealous
use of magic and artefact reacted. He had only been able to manage to create
one floor, in hopes of it growing. It now, however, was replicating. Sparks of
golden electricity bounced between the mirrored panels of the octagonal room.
Some passing through, like drops of water. The Aeon priest started to phase in
an out of existence, his body constantly being struck by the sparks. The spire
grew, room upon room, level upon level appeared from thin air, dissolving into
view. Some refused to stay put, swapping levels, or phasing back out. The
forces involved caused disruptions on a citywide scale, each shift or phase
arcing sparks across the city. The priest was removed from his post and
eventually became replaced with a family from House Narrkonis. They interfaced
with the residual artefacts the priest had used, and after some time,
eventually calmed to process. The Metricious bought the building soon after
they had moved into the city, an ever shifting design made the best defence for
their vaults. To this day there is no singular layout of the spire, after each
shift, guides are sent through to reach the top, marking the quickest travel.
Styenbeck, after reaching the Spire, announced he had
business to attend to and that the group should attempt to find a key. After
each shift a new guard is assigned, they are charmed by the spire and become
replicated seven times over. They wander the levels surrounding it, only
offering a key to those who recognise them. Styenbeck had no idea who the most
recent key giver was, and could only give a vague attempt at advice. He told
them that they would look out of place and offer something worthless, and then
looked at the group, the key holder wouldn't be the only one. He was adamant though, that they searched the
other side of the ring around the Spire. He suggested asking around at the many
inns, museums, entertainment halls and market stalls. Eryn and Mephisto immediately
walked off, driven more by hunger than anything else. Lily on the other hand
was not impressed. Styenbeck seemed to be slowing down on purpose. Perhaps he
had a reason he didn't want to get to the bank, or perhaps he was to inform
another party of his or their whereabouts. She let him drift into the crowd in
hopes he wouldn't notice her.
With her eyes solely fixed on Styenbeck she ignored the foot
traffic in front of her and bumped into a haggard old woman, her shawl, stick
and sack dwarfing the rest of her. In a sweet, almost crow like voice she asked
if Lily wanted to buy some flowers she
declined but the woman brought them out regardless. They were dead, some
partially alive but slowly rotting. Lily moved the old woman aside so she could
keep up with Styenbeck. The woman then
attempted to sell the flowers to Eryn, who was too intrigued by the new tobacco
that was being sold and Mephisto sneezed, destroying the dead bouquet . The old
woman pressed onwards to the Tangent Museum and hobbled in. She then arrived
again, and again, and again, in total seven more times. Lily's attention by
this point had now been drawn away from Styenbeck, she was too intrigued by the
old woman and within those moments Styenbeck was lost in the crowds.
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