TSW - Chapter 2: The Heart of the House (2) - Histrionics

Before the merchant knew what had happened he had been hogtied by Xera, dropping  both letters to the table as his hands were bound. With wild eyes, the merchant wheeled around and pleaded with Xera to let him go. This was not going to happen. Xera tried to persuade the merchant to reveal his true intentions and what had happened to his companions and the others is in the bar. The merchant stayed silent. Xera had no choice but to tighten the restraints. The merchant pulled his hands to his chest and winced. He fiddled with his coat lapel with his bound hands, bringing them into his chest in a comforting manner, then came the waterworks.

With reddening eyes the merchant explained his plight. He was an 'artist' of the dealership world. His trading skills were legendary among the art scene as well as a few select relic hunters. His home city of Qi tailored to his needs rather than Auspar. He needed to remain secretive and well informed and being so close to so many privy ears and eyes in Auspar had swayed his decision. His patrons had been associated with high-standing families such as those in Auspar. He  quickly rose in stature and security, becoming a Merchant Lord in Qi and attracting the eyes of a rival group. Soon he was faced with direct, fierce and underhanded competition but he held his ground for as long as he could. The money from the sale of the art he had acquired soon funded more outrageous 'acquisitions', with him selling the painting before the paint was even dry and commonly finding himself alone in its retrieval. At the same time, Chance was slowly influencing his buyers unconsciously, artwork would become more intricate, the framing more ornate, but he started to receive multiple complaints when the artwork was hung and was comparably duller than what they had purchased. The word soon spread to his rivals. They gradually started using the negativity to shut him down. The fault slowly dawned on him, he was creating the embellishments as he witnessed the artwork regaining what it had lost when he touched it again. With time he started to gain control over what people saw and had even fine tuned the style into a more ornate and highly artistic pattern. However the more he gained in power, the harder his enemies pushed to discredit him and proclaim him a fraud and succeeded. He had been travelling the steadfast looking for a place to take refuge, or at least a place with art.

After his speech his whole body and dropped, the stature of a proud lord was replaced with meekness with those in the Foundations. For most citizens of Auspar money was like sand. It fell through peoples' fingertips, pulling them down with it. Well respected and successful people had all plunged into the depths at one time or another. Xera had seen the results down near where his lab  used to be. There was nothing about the merchant that, at the time, seemed false.  The merchant finally told Xera his name, Chance, and then once again pleaded with Xera to let him go. He felt a twinge of guilt, the same twinge when the cloud of activated Black Sunshine poured out of his lab and into the city. He sighed to himself and let Chance go, on the proviso that he undid whatever he had done to everyone else.

With another deft wave of his hand the dancers and the violinist  disappeared into a baroque light. It was as if everyone had been released from an elastic tension, as all of them took a step backwards before regaining their focus. The woman who had tried to take the letter stepped further back, constantly watching the position where the entertainment had been. She had become as pale as she had when she head of the house that Froge mentioned. Her companion seemed relieved to be able to put his violin down, although he was disappointed that he could not finish his sonata with the guest violinist. Eryn on the other hand was ready to explode.

He had had just about enough of being manipulated and fooled, and charged at Chance. With a daggered smile he mentioned how nice the performance was, to which Chance denied having any involvement. Eryn's broad and towering figure, now adorned with a violent halo of flame caused instant fear in Chance. He profusely denied anything and everything, in hopes that Eryn would leave him alone. In fact it only made things worse as Eryn grabbed Chance by his collar with one hand and lifted him off the ground. Chance had now frozen in fear. But before anything further could be said, they were interrupted by a loud wheezing cough. Forge, from his wheelchair, looked on with anger at Eryn. He accused him of being just like Jarvi, a Feral Hawk. The antithesis and an insult to that of City Hawks. Eryn twitched at the mention of Jarvi's name and proceeded to put Chance down.

Froge looked over to the woman and asked for her name. She whispered under breath the name Lavinia, to which Froge asked her to speak louder. She did through gritted teeth and Froge gently smiled. She then introduced her travelling companion, Randall. At the mention of his name, Randall took his bow, grabbing his violin bow just before as if after a concerto. Froge asked her what she had seen inside in the house, as it was obvious to him that she had visited it before. Calmly, through deep breaths and wincing eyes, she described her time at the house. Her memories were just like Froge's, fragmented and terrifying. When she had been inside ,she and a group of people she had never met, were sat around the dining table. They were strapped into the chairs and then were asked to decide the least worthy. After countless agonising hours, one was chosen. The lights darkened until the room was pitch black. When the lights returned the one that was the least worthy was now dead and ready to be carved up. Their restraints were lifted, which allowed them to read a note beside, stating that nobody was to leave until the victim had been consumed by the group.

Froge now turned to Eryn with pleading eyes and an almost polite tone to his voice. He asked Eryn to go with her, to follow the invitation and to find out what really was going on; and to bring Froge back the heart of the house. Eryn asked why it was him that had to go. Froge bluntly stated that since Jarvi had gone, and Lina was still ill, he was the most senior member of the Hawk-Eyes in Darkperch and was therefore responsible for the welfare of the villagers. He was in essence sheriff, mayor and agony uncle all rolled into one. Eryn gulped realising his now spiralling responsibilities and could only feel more pressure as he still wasn't officially a Hawk-Eye. He shook his head and went against his better judgement. He agreed, noting the place stated on the invite, The Morianna Reserve. Xera and Danton, along with his butler, Lavinia and Randall all decided to immediately go with Eryn. However Chance needed convincing. He asked Froge about his memories and the  about the possibility of rare artwork inside the house. Froge shrugged his shoulders saying it was most likely. Chance needed no more information than that and returned downstairs with his equipment ready before the others had even started upstairs to their rooms.

TSW - Chapter 2: The Heart of the House (1) - The Invitation

It had been nearly a week before Eryn had the courage to talk to the surviving fiancée. She had locked herself in a room in the Drunken Tallon and would only allow Mavis to bring her sustenance. There had been no word or movement from the mines after wherever Eryn had been had materialised in the universe. He had assumed that the people inside might have gotten out but there was no telling if any survived, and if any did, what state they were in. The fact that the missing fiancée had aged around fifty or sixty years was playing on his mind. The fate of anyone in the mines was left un-discussed and to Eryn's relief only Mavis had tried to get information out of Eryn but he kept quiet. He only mentioned that Jarvi had gone on another mission for the Hawk-Eyes and would not be returning soon. As he approached the door of the young woman, Mavis stopped him with a stern look before walking him downstairs.

Mavis left Eryn to his own devices downstairs as she made the most of Jarvan donning the mantle of innkeeper with aplomb. Within a fraction of the time it would have taken Eryn, she was drunk and hunched over the bar. Eryn was distracted by the appearance an old man he had met once when trying to secure the vacant buildings in Darkperch. A reclusive man by the name of Froge, who refused any help and practically any conversation when Eryn had visited him. He was  sitting in his wheelchair, nursing a hearty mug of ale while glancing down a letter on the table. Eryn knew something was wrong with Froge as he was the most antisocial of characters that Eryn had ever met.Before he could enquire, he went over to Mavis. In her inebriated state, Eryn found it was easier to discuss the ring he had taken.  He left little information with her apart from that the young woman's fiancée was still missing and hoped that in her state should would remember.

Froge had noticed Eryn enter and looked around the room at the other faces. He saw Danton sitting in one of the corners keeping an eye on everyone while Xera was looking over notes and an obscure piece of jewellery. Behind Eryn another man after entered the bar from upstairs. He was dressed in merchant clothes, edging on the possibility of nobility or a lord.  The edges around his clothes were frayed and the gold threads had lost their lustre. Froge noticed that the man kept a constant eye on everyone in the room while simultaneously eying up a painting behind the bar. With Mavis nearly asleep and the bar being manned by Jarvan; Froge witnessed the man sneak behind the bar to get a better look at the painting. There was also, at least to Froge, an annoying violinist in the corner of the room with a young woman. She seemed a rough character while the violinist was, at a glance, a fop. Both, at least on appearance, seemed at odds with each other. Eryn too had similarly noticed the new accompaniment to the drinking as well as the merchant. Eryn knew they were strangers but presumed that all three of them had arrived from Qi with  builders for Auspar's repairs. As long as they didn't interfere with anything Eryn was doing, they were allowed their anonymity.

Froge had brought the letter up to his eyes and tipped his glasses forward to read. He grabbed at his hair with obviously clammy hands and tried to steady it on the ale mug. Eryn noticed the man's distress and as carefully as he could, broached the subject. With almost distaste for what he was saying, Froge reluctantly asked Eryn for help. He had received a letter from a place in his past, a place where his fellow writer and researcher never returned from. He mentioned the fractured memory he had of the place. He had been researching the folk tale of the Acardaeum. At at the heart of the house, was wood from it, apparently giving the house life.  The word echoed through the inn, Danton, and Xera both looked over to Froge, along with the merchant, who had momentarily stopped from assessing the painting.

It was not the word that intrigued the other two newcomers but the letter. She had asked her companion to keep the music playing while she looked over at Froge and the letter. Her face turned pale as the last words about the letter fell on Eryns ears. Without hesitation he went up to her and asked her what her business was with it. She feigned ignorance and any details she did remark on were insignificant. Eryn was frustrated, he knew she knew more but he couldn't wring the truth from her. As he pondered, she tried to snatch the letter from his hand, but his strength and powerful grip stopped her. There was definitely something she was not telling Eryn. With her attempt foiled, she retreated back over to her companion, not wanting to aggravate Eryn.

From across  the room the merchant had noticed the room's focus was now away from him and on the letters. With a wave of his hands, almost like a conductor, the attention was drawn from the letters. By the fireplace next to the stairs, there was now a violinist, and two dancers in fanciful dress.Everyone in the room, bar the now sleeping Mavis, were all were drawn to these enigmatic figures as the music and the dancing filled their thoughts. Even the woman's companion who was playing a violin himself, now entered a competition with the new arrival to prove his worth. The merchant, pleased that the letters had been left by the table, went over to investigate what was so interesting about them. He did not however, count on Xera, being unable to see what the others could.

While the merchant was distracted with the letters, Xera looked down at what he had been examining, a tiny biomechanical spider, trapped in a clear stronglass cage, set like a gemstone on the gold ring. From the side of it, the spider was producing a thread, much like the steel spiders he had met previously. He gently teased the wire out, maintaining his cover of being interested in what the others saw. When the merchant turned his back to Xera, Xera leapt on him with now twenty feet of the cord with the aim to tie the merchant up and for him to undo whatever had just done.  

TSW - Chapter 1: The Feldspar Maw (8) - The Void (4)

With his leader now dead Shork now took tried to wrestle the focus off from Danton. Although small in stature his voice was booming, a trait Eryn found admirable. No sooner had the change of power had occurred that the tribe slowly regained their hunger. Shork panicked, noticing his village was about to eat their heroes. He leapt off from the table in front of the fire and beckoned the group to leave as with him as quickly as they could. With the group gaining distance on the encampment, the denizens had to resort to a less fresh meal. A distinct smell of roasting fat and burning hair wafted over the barren sphere, Shork smiled, realising his tribe would still yet eat.

He showed them to a hexagonal hole in the ground at a rough slant to the ground. Within was a black membrane about three inches thick, that reflected light and dust. He forced himself through it as was barely visible from the other side. He was however again curling his finger and waving his hand drawing them towards him. They all went through one by one, the membrane was slimy and warm but left no residue. The air on the other side rushed past them at a constant rate. It echoed and howled through what seemed like to Eryn a honeycomb metal structure.

Shork told them of a room beyond the maze, although the maze itself was a death trap. The room was vast and cavernous, filled with lights that would transport you to other places. He rubbed his belly and pinched as his flesh, showing the fact he ate other animals or plants, rather than the inhabitants of No Hope and its enemies. With that he disappeared off in front as if to lead the group, but disappeared into the gloom of the next room. Although both Eryn and Danton could see in this low light, it was elected that Jarvi would go first as he would be able to sense more than they could see. After their initial assumption was proved right, with Jarvi identifying a canister of gas which Xera held onto. The first few turns lead them down more corridors of honeycomb rooms with the constantly airflow buffeting them. But Jarvi lead them through webs of steel spiders, through flooding rooms and freezing rooms.

Each however had the same covering of blood and bodies from past people who tried to run the maze to find food. They encountered soon after the room that had shortened Danton by half, turned Jarvi's hooves purple, growing bony ridges on Xera's arms and webbing Eryn's hands, uniform trails of blood and clean metal, as if remnants had been cleaned, or at least attempted to be cleaned. Eryn pointed the group towards that direction and they, somewhat half expectantly encounter something, a construct of cleaning utensils. Some were some sharp, others broad and heavy, but all was encrusted on a toxic layer of diseased and decaying flesh that it had swept up from the maze. It was dispatched as quick as the spiders and the way head of them, although back from the construct, had been cleaned to the exit.

The room on the other side was around three stories tall, holding a large turbine in the centre generating the wind. The room they had exited from was part of a wall of on honeycomb rooms, each venting the airflow. Danton spotted near the exit two corpses. He slowly approached, not wanting to wake them if they were sleeping, or the creature if it wasn't human. The bodies were, after a prod, dead. The women were exactly alike, twins. They were dressed as if suited to be in the royal court but each had green stains in their dresses. Eryn immediately took a step backwards, if there was any reason to refuse coming down into the mines, this would have been Eryn's reason. He explained the situation of the Neave constructs to Danton and told him to keep as much of a distance as possible between them and him, in case they were reactivated.

The corridor beyond split into two directions, one down a trapezoidal corridor into more darkness, or to the left, down an octagonal shaft. Eryn again took charge and opted for the group to travel down the shaft. Jarvi was put first, because he opted to, and refused help otherwise. Eryn took the last position on the decent. Behind him were wires and cords that dangled into the shaft and onto a warped metal floor below. The glowglobe from below illuminated the ceiling above the shaft, a cracked mirror. In the corner he could see a bloody figure slithering over the glass and cutting itself on the fractures. It bled through and poured onto the cables, dripping down and recoating the already sticky surfaces.

How Eryn entered the next room he does not recall. He however was the first into the next room, and like Shork had told them was a room full of lights, and with Danton's brief and stupid head first investigation into them, revealed a volcanic landscape far removed from Thaemor's.   In the centre was a gigantic octagonal pillar that stopped in the centre of the room. With investigation and an hands-on approach by Xera, he discovered that the room functioned as a way to lock onto a planet to allow for something called a transdimentional gramatrix shift. Eryn recalled he had heard that phrase before from Valma who he summoned.

She replied in her now sarcastic tones a begrudging acceptance to help. She was able to interface with the consol that Xera had used and alerted the group to the Chief Scientist in the main reactor. Eryn and Xera asked Valma for directions and it showed them down to a set of stairs underneath the pillar through wedged doors. Danton could only watch on the lights danced from the portals danced in his eyes. He laid himself down on the dark metal floor and admired its slightly blue reflective quality, losing all sense of where he was. Jarvi called out to the group, trying to figure out where they all gone and was directed by his hawk towards the staircase by a series of squawks and body bobbing on his shoulder.

Bellow the three found a room of large onyx cubes of varying sizes, suspending by multiple tubes through them from the ceiling to the floor. Eryn recognised the material, the same from the Obsidian Spire in the centre of Auspar, even down to the golden veins beneath its polished surface. Jarvi could feel an energy in the room and lashed out at the cubes, slashing at the supports. They leaked a black ooze and soon poured out of every crevice of the cubes, the pipes and wires. It soon took a shambling form of a four legged creature spanning the full height of the room at around thirty feet high.  It lashed out at the group in tendrils with globs at the end, smashing down with force on its victims and crushing rock with it missed. It became quickly apparent that physical damage would not work on it.

Eryn had managed with a fireball to set the creature alight and had the idea to summon his hand to punch into the ooze, if would still keep lit, and continuously burn the monster.  

His hand survived the insertion but the burning was not enough, it was slowly pounding on the group to death with each blow. Xera used Shatter stone to attempt to convert the goo into something more solid. It worked like a charm, and even allowed Danton, who had glowing eyes, a few pot shots at the broader sides. Eryn remembered a shell from a similar location under the city. He brought it out and as nimbly as he could ran it across the join between the now solid parts of the creature and the floor. It bonded the two materials together with a concrete like substance, pinning it to the ground. The more Xera converted, the more Eryn could pin down, and then all them could attack.  

This combination proved deadly to the creature, as it bubbled and sloshed to death as it slowly lost viscosity and disappeared into the metal floor. The goo however left behind a crystal disk, which, to the groups surprise, Valma identified as the Chief Science officer. They returned back to the console room, although more cautiously up the ladder after Eryn's warnings of what the creature could be, although did not mention Melch by name. The portal room was large and echoing with the sound of the portals fading in and out and more random and rapid speeds. Jarvi had been at the back of the group at the time and he missed the report by Valma of an engine failure and imminent destruction. He carried on forwards as they turned  to walk up towards  the pillar and on to a portal. Eryn asked if Valma could do anything to save them, and it, reluctantly, placed the crystal disk onto the control panel. It quickly reported that dimension would collapse but with access codes provided by the crystal disk, the entire structure, would re-materialise under Thaemor leading from the Feldspar Maw.

Jarvi had only heard   whispers  carried from the pillar, that of destruction and dimensions collapsing. He remembered Danton mentioning what he had seen through one of them and dived through as the dimension around the rest collapsed. Features of their surroundings blurred into shapes, shapes turned to colour, colour to greyscale and grayscale to black. The remaining three found their way slowly out but not through the Maw. They approached it from the side with Jarvan hunched over it with a lantern. Danton took this opportunity to sneak up on his butler and to comment on the fact that Danton had been down there a very long time. Jarvan replied as though speaking to his master, commenting it had been almost of day and a half he had been missing, while still looking down, not acknowledging who he was talking to. It took a moment or two for Danton's voice to sink in before Jarvan recognised it and sighed to himself, although pleased that Danton was safe. He said no more to Danton but took out his notebook and proceeded to write, Danton worried that there was list of 'social transgressions' that his butler had been keeping score on.

TSW - Chapter 1: The Feldspar Maw (7) - The Void (3)

Jarvi's fate was too far away for anyone to comment. Eryn knew he needed to try and at least keep Jarvi safe so knew he had to follow but with caution. He examined the beam and found what seemed to be handles on either side. Both these bars had a button inlaid near the top. Although he could reach both of them if he allowed himself to dangle off of the beam, he decided it was probably better for him to use his flaming hand on one, while using his attached hand on the other. The flames paused in on the button but nothing happened. Eryn released the button and pressed his own, to which again nothing happened. It was only when he pressed both at the same time that the beams vibrated into life. With only one hand clinging on to the poll, both extended out towards the planet pulling Eryn along with it. After a few seconds the handles returned to their original length and it was now up to Danton and Xera to successfully reach the dirt ball in the distance.

Both of them followed Eryn's actions, although firmly gripping both bars after pressing the buttons. They quickly descended for a few seconds before handing feet first an inch or two off the ground. Eryn had a few scrapes from his one handed landing but Jarvi was seriously injured. He was crouched in a corner, his arms crossed over his chest with his fingers interlocking behind his back.  Eryn had carefully watched the other's decent and remarked to the group that the beam they had left was still within sight around one hundred meters, and not as far an orbiting body. The ground around them however was exactly as expected, vast, featureless and dusty, save for what seemed to be metal sheets in the distance creating encampments. Eryn hoped these people were perhaps from Darkperch or from Auspar and that whatever had effected the fiancée to age and become mentally unstable had not tainted them.

Unfortunately, as they got closer to an encampment, they noticed a guard standing a gap in the fence. He was stooped and disfigured with crusted sores extending from his lips to whatever  fabric was covering his chest. He at least, from this distance, had a full head of hair and wrinkle free. Danton recognised that the man suffered from mutations much like the ghost stories in his family about mutants that a distant relative created. He took control of the group, telling them they needed to go inside and without much discussion preceded.

The guard stopped them as they reached a close proximity to the entrance. Without provocation the guard prepared to lash out but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. It was the hand from a fully naked overly rotund man, with greasy folds of skin. He was caked in mud and sweat and dried blood mixed in with the saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth. He ran his left though his hair before rubbing his crotch, sniffing his hand before wiping the saliva from his mouth. Adorned on head were a crown of wires, with a barbed variant hung living grubs around his neck, over his sore laden skin. There was hunger in his eyes as he spoke. He calmed the guard down and invited the group into the encampment called No Hope. Inside were around thirty to forty more people. They were also naked, sleeping in a pile like wild animals on top of what looked like matted and frayed clothing.

As the group were brought in they sleepers awoke, with a few taking up arms. Their leader, Mungrun, was insisting the group was not from an invading party and were not to be eaten. Although he himself was having to stop himself from slathering. In the corner of the encampment was a grudge cage, with a young girl locked inside. She, like everyone Eryn had encountered, had the scars of the pincers. Eryn demanded to know where she had came from, and what she doing in a cage. Jarvi stamped his fingers and bared his teeth at the image of a a young girl trapped. Mungrun was absentminded about the facts, only revealing that her tribe was tasty but she had useful knowledge.

This was all Eryn and Jarvi needed and both flew into an onslaught against Mungrun and his guards. It was over in an instant, defenceless apart from a jagged piece of metal, the cannibals had no chance against what the two of them could muster. Mungrun died in the blink of an eye. However despite Jarvi and Eryn's best efforts, the subdued swore fealty to Danton. Eryn managed to catch a glimpse of a blight blue and dark wood pendant around his neck before Danton snatched at it and stuffed it back into his shirt.

Soon all of Mungrun's remaining guards and the citizens swore fealty to Danton. He smiled a little nervously as the others look at him for an answer. He gave none. Throughout the fight Jarvi managed to hear a man hollering and yelling, cheering them on. This man turned out to a athletic rat of a man, with oversized ears and a singular buck-tooth down to his chin. He introduced himself to Danton as Shork with a offering of a grub. He did not wish to offend the man, who seemed a little out of place to the rest of the group. He looked more alive than the rest.

Danton bit down into the pale grub, grasping it at both of its black plated ends. The taste was worse than rancid meat and manure but Daton knew this was most likely  their only food. His beard suddenly started to tingle. The hairs matted mutated into tentacles around his mouth, although he could not move them. Shork burst out laughing, mentioning that usually the mutations took multiple meals before it took hold. The moment passed but out of the blue Jarvi started laughing. Danton looked over to notice Eryn was describing him to Jarvi and in their distraction, the girl had gone, along with the as many weapons as she could carry.

TSW - Chapter 1: The Feldspar Maw (6) - The Void (2)

Eryn dusted himself down, making sure he didn't land on the still sticky remains of the past. He managed to catch a glimpse of Danton before he fell backwards into the void. He hadn't escaped like he had wanted to but was now flailing around in mid-air. His ranting was panicked and mostly incomprehensible. The only details that could be made out, was the name of Eryn, and the phrase How could you?  From far-off , Xera caught the glimpse of Eryn's flame landing on the disk and Danton falling off straight after. He was now satisfied that he had every piece of information he could personally gather from the platform, although this was as much as Eryn had gathered and tried to jump back. He managed to get caught in the low gravity, much like Eryn had when he tried to cross over initially. Like Eryn, he too managed to find his way to the platform. Danton however, had to be rescued by Eryn's flaming hand. Although Danton was too far for the canister that sprayed a protective coating and was singed as he was brought back onto the platform.  

Jarvi meanwhile, was following the metal beam away from the platform under the assumption he was leading the pack. His words fell on deaf ears. Soon enough he was nearing a distance where he too was a speck in the distance much like the other disk. A wall of heat rose up in front of Jarvi from out of nowhere, singing the hairs on his head. The wall was slowly pushing him backwards, and for not wanting to get burned, Jarvi shuffled backwards. He soon joined the rest of the group, which allowed Eryn to finally dismiss his flaming hand. Danton had fainted on contact when he was grabbed and had not yet awoken. Eryn decided this was probably the best time to rest and a briefing. He told the others about what he had learned from the old man; about the prospects of visiting a realm named 'Hell' and the possibility that not only does the place they were currently residing in distort space but time as well.

It took around twenty minutes for Danton to finally gain a semblance of lucidity, although he was a little unstable on his feet. He was still however, made to balance on the metal beam. Danton was already prepared for the aftermath of Nastrond after countless years taking it but it required time and recuperation. He needed to be able to balance but he didn't have the strength for it, nor the mental fortitude. It dawned on him however he had 'recovered' something with magnetic properties. He brought out two metallic strips that he fixed to his shoes and demonstrated to those that could see, his ability not only to walk with ease across the metal beam, but also underneath it and at the sides. It was as though gravity was at his beck and call. With Danton now having a more secure footing, the group pressed onwards. Eryn was sporadically making sure Jarvi was not only kept up to date with the situation although his blindness was a fact consistently forgotten. For safety Eryn had an idea to put in the middle of the pack to minimise the risks his blindness brought. The dark was unfathomable and therefore deadly. It was neither cold nor warm, windy nor wet, the absence of anything unnerved them all. Their constant concentration on their footing left the void around them unchecked until they were swarmed by flying wingless fleshy disks with metallic scissoring pincers.    

Danton, without a word to the rest of the group, flipped his orientation so that he was upside down. This, he had hoped, would allow him to dodge the initial onslaught. His actions were not needed however as the swarm engulfed the group in its entirety, with one managing to slice at Eryn's leg and another to stab into Danton's shoulder. In response, Danton lashed out with his karambit digging into the flying disk's flesh before it struggled and broke free. Eryn quickly centred himself and shot out a fireball from his halo, instantly killing one of the creatures. The disk Danton had slashed had also started flailing around in the air, landing next to Eryn and Xera. The wound had almost dissected the creature allowing Xera to see metallic webbing acting as a sort of endoskeleton. It branched like veins, with a hinge in the middle so the creature could fold itself in half like wings to fly. Xera quickly mentioned this to Eryn and the disconcerting similarities it had the internal structure of the Neave clones. If this was a Nibovian construct of some sorts as Eryn feared, everyone's lives were in now greater danger.

Metallic pincers flashed in the corner of Xera's eye sight, and shot back with his molecular converter to kill the fleeting creature. This was followed by kills by all the group, the corpses hanging in the air like a misshapen wind chime. On the other hand, Jarvi's bird of prey was not having much luck with these creatures. Although to the naked eye the disks should not be able to fly, they were out-manoeuvring the bird. It however served a purpose, the constant attacks by the hawk distracted the disks. This was  long enough for Danton to take off one of his shoes and to start waving it as the diminished swarm passed. The magnet attracted the metal inside one and  was netted. As it made contact with the magnet there was a small discharge of golden electricity and the creature was instantly disabled, without Danton's interference or knowledge. He stuffed the creature into his satchel, glad not to have to do any more work to it, being careful not to damage the bloodspot like eye, put his shoe back on and returned right way up to the rest of the group.

For another hour or more, the group travelled slowly along the beam. The constant darkness, the lack of forms or even a breeze started to cause the group to slip from their concept of time. The end of this beam was not hell like the old man had described. In front of them was a planet of dust. It was as though they were looking down onto earth from the moon. Jarvi pushed passed those in front to get a better position and perhaps feel for something beneficial. His senses told him little apart from the smell of dirt, a sensation only felt when the ground was near. Without hesitation or prior warning he leapt from the beam, while the rest of the group watched as he fell into a speck in the distance.     

TSW - Chapter 1: The Feldspar Maw (5) - The Void (1)

The legs and navel of Gur found themselves on solid ground before the rest of the group. The light had cauterised the dissection  that was the total separation of his upper torso. When the group appeared out of the light on the other side, it was in fact green paint they had found slippery underfoot. They had landed, well nearly all, on a large metallic white disk. It was already travelling away from where they had entered. That had been a intricate silver ring around a fading spot of light hanging in the void around them. There was no light, no sound, no wind. Eryn took a brief moment to look for Gur and had assumed he had not arrived with them, but as he looked down he soon realised the situation and tried to turn the attention away from what else joined Gur's legs on the platform. There were chunks of flesh, torn clothing mixed in with bone and green paint.

Eryn directed them to the void around them, and to the metal beam the disk was slowly travelling on. He asked Xera if he had a spare nut or bolt from his experimentations, to which he Xera handed one over. Eryn threw it as hard as he could into the void. It flew as if it had sprouted wings until it crawled to a halt and hung in mid air. It did not fall but very slowly rotated on the spot. Although Jarvi could not see what was going on, he could feel the platform slowing at an unperceptive rate to most . He was about to comment when Danton spotted something out in the dark. It was two cowering shapes in the distance, over three hundred feet away. They were illuminated b a flickering light, one sitting over the edge of the platform, another on their back behind.

Eryn's eyes quickly adjusted to the platform and was able to judge a distance. He summoned up his flaming hand and requested more ammunition. He used his ability to try and catch the attention of the person on the other disk, in a hail of tiny metal objects that may also possibility be dangerously hot. A fact he only thought about after they were in mid flight. They too followed the same pattern as the first, however the extra power behind the throw forced them to shoot over the target and disappear into the dark. Frustrated, he decided the next thing to was go over himself. The lack of gravity, wherever they were, would possibility allow him to navigate over. Gravity seemed to only apply to the disk which was fine at first, allowing Eryn to gain a good distance on the other but the lack of it between caused his flame hand to stutter and drift. He focused what strength he could and tried and tried again until at last he landed with a thud on the other side.

The figure with their legs over the edge of the platform did not seem to notice Eryn, it was as if he was in a trance. Eryn looked down at the other figure and tried to hold back his stomach. An elderly woman lay with her innards spilling onto the disk, there were numerous cuts, some fresh, some healing and some scarred and a ring of purple circled her neck. Eryn instantly reconsidered where he was but this person, despite being a likely murderer, was the only living thing they had seen so far.

The man was still unresponsive until Eryn brought up the woman. Almost like an instinctual reaction he told Eryn that his wife was tired and sleeping and should be left alone. Eryn noticed the man was of a similar age and crouched down to get a better idea of who he was talking to. The man, like the dead woman was scarred, although he had covered up most of his body with a tattered and bloodied purple robe. No matter what Eryn tried to say to the man there was no coherent response. He was adamant he and his wife would escape Hell, it's madness and it's bloodlust. He looked down to the man's scarred hand a ring on finger. It was definitely, at least from this distance, the ring of the fiancée from the girl in the tavern. As he tried to take it from him the man ignited in strength, using everything he had to hold on. For all he had, he still lost to Eryn. He sank into sadness and tears before quickly turning back to incoherent babble. Eryn now started to believe this place not only changed how space worked, but also time.

On the other platform Xera wanted to take a sample, or at least investigate what Eryn was seeing as they were too far to communicate properly. As he too jumped into the void, Jarvi had been left with no information. He had fumbled around asking the darkness around for a stick but to no avail. He did however, find the metal beam and assumed they were all ready to follow and left.

To Danton things could not have been worse. His eyes were stinging and his gums felt as if they were on fire. It was a familiar feeling but each time it was still a struggle to find the cure. His hand tremored while reaching into a pocket and pulled out a small stained glass vial. The shaking of his hands rattled the pills inside. He slowly poured out two pearlescent green tablets and swallowed, pressing his hand to his mouth until the shaking had stopped. The dark was soon a playground of fuzzy colours ,dancing with neon trails. Left alone on the platform ; he watched his own personal light show. From a distance the sun burst into view and started to bear down on Danton, he backed up, crawling over the remains of those before. There were fierce terrifying echoes in his ears like green wood and vipers on fire. The sun smashed down on top of him and pooled into a puddle of flame next to him. He crawled over on his hands and knees, hearing the whispers of his name from a child's voice. He stared into the pool, only to see Eryn's face with serpentine eyes, flashing. His vision blurred, the child started to scream and laugh. He backed away desperately form them flames of Eryn's face as it hissed at him with a flaming forked tongue. There was nowhere to run but to hurl himself into the void.  

TSW - Chapter 1: The Feldspar Maw (4) - Tooth and Claw

The shadows descended upon the group, bringing them into the party's light. They were three feet monstrosities of brown fur with grey gemlike growths on their upper torso, shoulders, arms and head. Thick, almost tendril like whiskers flanked the folds of skin that comprised their necks, with bright blue bioluminescent orbs at the tip. The pointed ears were in fact the wing and wrist bones of the creatures. They were chatting to each other in high pitched screeches that was just different enough from the buzzing noise to be interpreted as intelligent chatter. They too, like Jarvi, were suffering from the effects of the alarm and had turned violent.

Xera reacted as quickly as possible, revealing a device he had been long since working on before he had met Eryn. He had named it the Shatter Stone after the fragment of rock from which it was created from. It was essentially a rough pebble with a pointed end covered with wires and sockets and a singular tiny black button. He fired into the air above him hoping to hit one of enraged creatures with almost unnatural accuracy. The bolt of shattering light fired from the tip of the stone and clipped the creature's wings instantly turning them stone. And with that the creature dropped to a platform below the group. The other two were circling each other with Jarvi's bird flitting in-between but unable to land an attack, much like the rest of the group.

 Danton quickly acquired a small vial from his butler and tipped his darts in the substance. There was something familiar about the liquid to Eryn but he just couldn't place his finger on it. With a well timed blow, the dark penetrated the leathery hide of one of the remaining two. It's body started to drop in the air and its eyes started to close before it started foaming at the mouth, it's eyes brightening and widening, a piercing white circle around a deep pit of black. It dove for its incapacitated comrade and tore into its flesh with its teeth and claws, devouring it in a torrent or ripped skin and purple blood. As the creature finished it's meal the other looked on almost frightened now, the grey hues of the crystals on the cannibal creature were now as purple as its own blood.

The last creature dived for Jarvi in an attempt to grapple him off the cliff face but mistook the light to be just that. As it made contact with the light, it's neck instantly snapped as it's body crumpled into a broken and bleeding mess. The creature howled and screeched as it died before it slowly fell through the block of light and thudded with an echo onto the cavern floor. Eryn now realising these creatures liked to dive bomb their victims he readied his flaming hand to bat away the crazed monstrosity. It did as was predicted and the hand swiped it away, forcing it onto the wall while singing it at the same time.

Gur, who had been keeping by Eryn's side found an opportunity to move around over to where the creature had been forced to without being seen. He unfurled his whip and with a solemn breath, let forth his whip. It snatched at the monsters wings, pulling them behind the creature. With one heavy tug the whip had dug into the wings themselves, slashing them to ribbons and drawing fourth more of the thick purple liquid. The hawk soon dove in for the kill on the creature, tearing its own claws into the flesh of the deranged predator and then letting it bleed out before tearing beak sized chunks out of it.

All three were now dead but the group were still apprehensive, not only for what would wait for them in the dark, but also for each other. Apart from Eryn and Xera, and Danton and his servant, the group were strangers to each other and neither really knew how to help one another. Danton took it upon himself to try and instruct the rest on how to climb down, as the group had deemed the scaffolding far too dangerous. and had ignored the possibilities that the light had presented.

The bottom of the cavern lead to a few thinly carved ladders that lead up to the walkway with the torch and cave. They all approached with caution. The pillars were down here two, the light and the noise flooding the air. At the end of the shaft there was a cave entrance. It was angled at around sixty degrees to the floor, with dark metallic crystal stalagmites and stalactites adoring the opening, crowning it with teeth. There were clothes discarded here, along with many robes from the Purple Order. There were also more grisly human remains as well as offerings and trinkets, flowers and incense. Danton remembered a file which he had read when he bluffed his way in to his families offices in Darkperch. Not only did it provide him information on the families activities in the city but also details of the mining operation they had run before abandoning it for the sake of image and legality. This is what the miners and the local Purple Order referred to as the Feldspar Maw which had only recently been discovered only eight days ago. 

There had been loud buzzing noise and the gush of stale wind that followed the discovery that went away after the first twenty-eight hours. However the oscillating golden light in the dark down in the tunnel beyond the mouth was far too tempting to the Order.  They had claimed it as an escape from being eaten by the Great Devourer. They would throw themselves willingly into its mouth as supplication.  There was also a side note to the document, about how there were many incidents of the Purple Order taking up these actions in different parts of the Steadfast for hundreds of years. Valma jumped from Eryn's belt and reformed herself to its original size. The buzzing that was infecting the ear of everyone down here was intoxicating to it. Valma span in dizzying circles, squealing in joy before tipping over and tumbling into the void towards the light. Eryn on instinct followed suit with Gur in toe.

For Danton, his butler, Xera and Jarvi, they witnessed Valma disappear into the light but not fall beyond it, the same was said for Eryn. For Gur however, he had hit the side of the walls of the decent and only a portion of himself from his hips downwards had disappeared into the light. Danton held his hand to his mouth and turned away to compose himself. From a pocket he brought out a pot of green paint and emptied it into the void. A barley visible green outline was left around the edges of the light. Jarvan remained out of the next conversation as each man tried to convince the other to jump first. Danton mentioned that Valma, who Jarvi had interpreted as a little girl inside his mind's eye, had disappeared down where they needed to go and his slowly sobering sense of purpose kicked in and leapt through the light. Xera followed suit while Danton turned to his butler, handed over his most expensive items, bowed, and jumped.

TSW - Chapter 1: The Feldspar Maw (3) - First Steps

For all of Jarvi's attitude and bravado he was still subject to his own inabilities. The blindness he had suffered from his previous employers had scarred more than just his sight. Without the use of his eyes he relied mainly on touch or a bladed cane and the lengthy honing of his other senses. His familiarity with Darkperch lead him straight up to the mines. He whistled for his pet, a hawk like creature with four wings whose body was about as large as a man's head, and in they both went. His bird of prey rested on his shoulder in the dark, it's head constantly scanning the environment.

After a few moments in, he had realised he had forgotten his cane and reverted to his hands and feet. His hooves connected with the damp stone and he preceded, trying his best to keep in a straight of a line as possible, to wherever he believed he needed to go. The fact that he had left without direction, had actually settled in his mind and he stopped in his tracks. He leaned back against the mine wall and tipped his hipflask clumsily towards his mouth, only for a drop to fall. He dropped it to the side in disappointment. The only thing to do now was wait. He knew whoever the city-hawk was, he would eventually turn up. Mavis had in fact told him of Eryn's arrival with Lina, but physical descriptions were meaningless and Jarvi had not identified Eryn's voice yet.

Eryn, who had quickly followed Jarvi, was now debating whether he should go in himself. He had been confined to a dark and dank space for years, and didn't want a cave in to leave him to the same fate. He breathed calmly and then stepped forward. Within a moment he was interrupted by a patron of The Drunken Talon he had seen before but never spoke to. He introduced himself as Gur Tallan a researcher for House Morianna. He had a slightly rugged look about him and the clothes he was wearing were certainly however not city clothes. Gur told Eryn that he was one of the people Eryn helped evacuate out of the Foundation's Atrium and was now honour bound to repay his service. Eryn tried to plae the man, but could only remember fleeting moments from his escape. It was entirely possible this was true.

 Eryn was at least relived that Gur was not in fact a fan but rather thankful for his help.  This made the situation a little less clear cut for this motives Eryn didn't want to be accompanied and had purposefully left Xera asleep in their room; adding another companion would only complicate matters. However there was a look in Gur's eyes that Eryn recognised from when he was younger, the determination brought about by a creed or code. With a sigh he accepted Gur on but only until he had fulfilled his debt. Gur agreed and they both headed inside , with Eryn lighting his halo to illuminate the dark passages.

The old gentleman in the black suit and his company had kept themselves at a safe distance away from Eryn while still being able to observe. The younger man, in his mid twenties, was browsing over the notebook of the older man. They both kept in hushed tones but to Xera who was behind them and observing their movements with a keen eye, there was another clear distinction. Xera noticed the way the older gentleman behaved compared to that of his companion. His movements were purposeful but graceful and his tone was polite and respectful. On the other hand, the younger man was more outlandish, which included his gestures and speech. It was clear the older man was a servant, and the younger man was most likely from an important family, one with possibly a mass of wealth.

The two treaded in silence into the cave. There was a pinprick of light in front of them and the brief echo of distant words. Eryn, at the moment the pair had joined them in the mines, turned around and peered into the dark. His eyes had adjusted to the dark and he could clearly down the passageway and out but the footsteps he had heard were mostly likely, to him, an echo of his own. The caves under the city did not echo like the mines and there was something about the echo itself that seemed hollow. The two men that had just entered, had successfully kept their cover at the cave sides and they too had not noticed themselves being followed by Xera. Unfortunately for all involved, the cover of secrecy  was soon lifted.

Eryn and Gur and had  finally met up with Jarvi, although they first mistook him for a grotesque creature or a threatening jumble of shadows, to which Jarvi had heard both of these comments. As Jarvi was asking for more details about his surroundings, he stopped speaking mid sentence, feeling a rattling inside his brain. There was a faint buzzing noise inside his head before suddenly all along the shaft that they had walked down was peppered with metallic poles that had risen from the ground. The poles themselves were made of smooth metal, although warm to the touch.  On the top of each was small divot that filled with a red liquid. This liquid then started to glow to a point where it projected light up to the cavern ceiling. The liquid then gathered itself into a ball shape on the divot and rolled to the edge of  top of the pole. The liquid light  then started to roll around the edge like a marble, illuminating the area around it in warning hues.  The buzzing noise soon reached the ears of Eryn and the others and as they clasped their hands to their ears they noticed each other and gathered up front. Xera joined Eryn, Gur and Jarvi, sidestepping the servant and his employer who kept themselves at a reserved distance.  

The black suited  man introduced himself as Jarvan, the valet of Danton Scalar of Qi, to which the younger man bowed while carefully pressing his hand on the top of his chest as he bent forward. Gur was so enthralled with the metal poles that had appeared, that he had prized off the top of one to see if the light would go with it, to which it did, although the light was now chained to the balance it held. A few feet away the sound of the buzzing had intensified. The mineshaft gave way to a cavern which held the mining ravine, with rickety scaffolding down each side for access and transportation. However, just as the metal poles appeared so too did a large rectangular block of light on their side of the ravine which dropped  down to the other, nearly reaching a still lit torch next to a remote cave entrance near the bottom. The supports around and in the way of the light had been destroyed as though the light had forced its way through. Jarvi, without much support from the group decided to take it upon himself to scale down the side using his sense of touch, his bird and a rope the Eryn had attached to a large stalagmite.

 After a few rappels the buzzing noise pierced his mind, causing intense pain. He thought that he could hear screaming, as if the pain was shrieking at him. The sound however, was not from him but from three, pointy eared,  broad shadows that fluttered in the cavern roof before dive-bombing the group with claws outstretched.

TSW - Chapter 1: The Feldspar Maw (2) - The Drunken Tallon

The next day, Xera had managed to set up his lab in a building on the far reaches of town on the path to the mines. Although he had initially wanted to pick one of the more odd shaped buildings such as the spherical building made out of tessellating metal plates but none of the other buildings had enough light for him to grow without being seen. He had spent most of his time tucked away there away from the rest of the villagers. Eryn on the other hand had already started to become bored within a couple of hours on the first day. He had taken it upon himself to make sure  every house that had been abandoned or whose doors had been left wide open, was empty.  This not only passed the time but allowed him to see how many villagers were left and what the rumours were around.  

Most of these were the same, the people that were left were unsettled and did not look too kindly on the Purple Order. There was unrest with a few individuals slowly turning towards confronting the Order. They, on  the other hand, were completing their final packing tasks and finishing up checklists. Eryn had thought about going over to the Hawk-Eye building but the gate up to the entrance was locked and he was tentative about giving them the wrong impression, given his current circumstances. Apart from the walk around the village he kept mainly to himself in his room, ready for when Lina would be in need.

Three days passed by since Eryn and Xera's arrival, and the mysterious affliction of Lina had not left her. Similarly neither did the old man and his son, who Eryn now considered them to be family, or at least part of an extended one to her.  The father was called Begron Jenor, and his son of the same name.  From the fleeting conversations they had, Eryn had found out that they were previously slaves working in the mines. The owner had since vanished and nearly everyone returned home, he and his son and few others remained and continued with the settlement. and it was his voice that woke Eryn from his sleep around four o'clock in the morning. His voice was angry and assertive, interspersed with a similar fire from his son. Both of them were backed to the sound of a young girl crying and the soft mumbles of Mavis
.

Eryn looked over towards Xera, who had finally gone to bed, and dressed then tiptoed out of the room as not to wake him. As he reached the stairs down, he saw another bedroom opening, a bedraggled and weary man stumbled out. He seemed to be in his early twenties , but Eryn was unsure in the light and hoped for the same when he glanced the man's fingers that were reaching down to his knees with  hoof-like nails. Eryn quickly recognised the stench of the aftertaste of the local ale and shook his head and headed down.

In the centre of the bar the young girl from the corner of the room was crying in a collapsed heap. Mavis was by her side, periodically fetching more cloth to wipe the girls tears. It was however the Jenors who had Eryn's attention. They both seemed ready to tear into each other and Eryn knew he had to stop them before things escalated. He leapt over to them and placed himself in between as quickly as he could. They both protested, continuing to fight over and around him. That was until the man with unnatural hands stumbled down the stair case and also tried to separate the fight.

The distraction provided by the new arrival caused the Jenors a momentary pause and allowed Eryn to force Begron Sr into a seat. Eryn went to talk to the man's son. Begron Jr, without even noticing what had happened, waved towards the new figure shouting his greetings to the man called Jarvi. 

Eryn turned around and noticed that Jarvi had gone over to Begron's father and had set himself beside his chair. Eryn shook his head and turned back to Begron Jr. He asked what their fight was about. Begron replied that he needed to go into the mines to rescue the villagers but his father wouldn't let him. He was countered with the argument that he didn't need to be reminded of the disappearances that had happened after they had questioned the Order. The young girl wailed out again. Xera by now had awoke with bloodshot eyes and kept to the back of the room while he was passed on the stairs down by an elderly gentleman in fine black tailored garments. Xera could just about see the man put on white gloves before withdrawing a note book and a thin black tube and started to write notes. He was not looking at the girl, Xera noted, but at Eryn instead. He didn't recognise this man, or the man with the mutated fingers.

Eryn quickly shifted his focus to the young girl who was now sobbing over her hand, twiddling her ring with her fingers. Eryn breathed slowly, lowing his tone to a more empathetic level. This was impeded by Jarvi who was now bartering his Hawk-Eye services with Begron Sr. Eryn turned around and glared over the man. Eryn hoped this wasn't his contact. What bothered him more was that the mutant was also blind, with brilliant white eyes scarred with red.  He hoped even more that this blind drunk wasn't official, that the Hawk-Eyes could employ such a man. He turned back to the girl who had continued telling her story without Eryn's attention. The latter part he could only catch a few important pieces of information. Her fiancé had argued with the Purple Order that morning and had only just disappeared while they both slept. The timing was also apparently similar to that over a week ago when a young girl with a sparkling dress accompanied by four women was taken to the mines.

Jarvi  at hearing the distress of a young child bounded out of the inn towards the mines. As he left Mavis shouted to him that it had been over a week but even she knew it was a lost cause, commenting on his mental capacity. Eryn had noticed the slowly dwindling numbers but he had put that down to villagers being members  of the vacating Purple Order, not the ones who had questioned them.  He decided he too had to head for the mines, partly to stop the fool in front from hurting himself, and partly to prove himself. Xera and the black suited man returned upstairs. He started to fumble around in the dark for a machine he had been working, but realised he had left it in the lab. He grabbed his coat and headed towards the lab and the mines, quickly realising the suited man was with another, slightly shorter but more richly dressed young man.  Xera realised there was something not right and after grabbing what he needed from his lab, kept a careful watch from the shadows. 

TSW - Chapter 1: The Feldspar Maw (1) - Darkperch

Eryn, Xera and the twelve year old Hawk-Eye were now falling to the ground. They were still over fifty feet above the ground and a fall from this could be fatal. Out of the three, Eryn was the one laughing. He had managed to summon his flaming hand to assist him on the decent. Xera on the other hand, panicked for a moment, waving his hands and arms in the air as if he was drowning. After a brief moment of clarity, he realised he wasn't actually falling but the gloves he was wearing allowed him to swim through the air. He swiftly dive-bombed after the Hawk-Eye child and managed to catch her in time before she passed into unconsciousness. Although they were now with no guide, they were still left with a trail to follow in the form of the cable that had now dropped to the floor.

Eryn found the little girl to be quite light and easy to lift, so he offered to carry her with them. Eryn had yet to tell Xera about Chloe's death but as he mulled it over on their travels, he decided against the notion. There was no real reason per say, Eryn just thought that it was reasonable to assume Xera didn't need any more bad news and he and Chloe were not exactly close. Small talk peppered the two hour journey from where they had landed to Darkperch, and all the while thankfully quiet. The little girl seemed to be in worsening pain, although she did not fall onto anything. Xera blamed himself a little, perhaps there was something he could have done, in the way he caught her, or the speed, or the angle? He looked upon her, with her eyes scrunching as she slept and guilt twanged within him.

Darkperch was not what Eryn had expected. In its heyday it may have been considered a busy mining village but that had all changed. The walk down towards the central road revealed the extent of the decline.  The road they had been on was presumably the road from Auspar as tracks for carts had been worn into the edges but they were full of weeds and stone. The cable line from the city stopped at a small grey and green tower, about three stories tall, although from behind the discolouration it was originally white. The tower was nestled in-between abandoned shacks and broken windows much like most of the town. There was the sound of unseen farm animals and the bark of Seskii's from a ranch over to the left. Doors had been left open and the wind whistled through the empty rooms.  From the far right they could both hear a few men discussing about relocating. Eryn noticed as they got closer, that they were part of the Purple Order and immediately turned around and away from them as quick as he could.

Xera pointed out  a local tavern where the girl might be able to rest and be treated for whatever affliction she had. The Drunken Talon reflected much of the village it was in. Patrons inside were far and few between  and the large ground floor only emphasised the empty space. The villagers looked worn, gaunt and tired. Not a single person was smiling or seemed to have any energy at all. This changed however when Mavis, the tavern owner in her late forties, spotted the girl and shouted her name, Lina. It was obvious that the girl was a regular here as five patrons plus Mavis rushed to her side. They quickly bundled her up in warm linen and a father and son team carried her upstairs with a bag from behind the bar.

Across from where Eryn and Xera now sat,  a young woman was with man of similar age in the corner of the room at a dimly lit table. The only smile they offered to each other were the quick glances down to a ring on their respective hands. They only had eyes for one another and Xera wondered why they had not noticed them or the young girl. Mavis soon came over with an ample tray of libations as a thank you. The food had seen better days but the ale was crisp and overflowing. Although she tried to remain positive, the cracks in her veneer were obvious to Eryn. He asked her what was wrong and through a forced smile, she tried to explain.

The evacuation of Auspar had happened a fair few hours ago. Eryn complimented Silas on his speed but then remembered the man he was praising was not an ally, at least not to Eryn. She told them that everything had gone to plan, well the Purple Order's plan. They had somehow taken control of the evacuation with no representation from the Hawk-Eyes. Jarvi, their town guard and official Hawk-Eye representative of Darkperch, was already in the city.  In the confusion the Purple Order managed to gain control of the situation, directing everyone into the mines. One or two who had been part of the evacuation and also Purple Order members had stayed behind to help but most were forced into helping within the mines. Eventually nearly everyone had gone in, including some of the villagers to help settle the evacuees down. This was all under the promise that the Order had found a haven for them to stay in the caves, while the city was being rebuilt.

The problem now, according to Mavis was that when some of the Order were questioned by the villagers about the sanctuary that they had not heard of, the Order refused to give them a straightforward answer.  In fact the Order was so against a reply that they started to make plans to leave, regardless of their 'duty' to the evacuees.  They were slowly starting to pack everything up from their Oraea in preparation and had completely refused to speak to anyone.  Mavis trailed off into her own musing about what was down in the mines.  She was worried, that was for sure, but the order was known was its non-committal  to its own causes, and there was most likely enough people down there to look after themselves. Both and Eryn and Xera agreed they needed time before they would consider going into the caves, especially as nothing had actually happened yet.

It was at that point a music box sprang into life on the bar much to Mavis' delight. In response, everyone in the room stood up, apart from Xera and Eryn. As the music played the furniture; the tables, the chairs, even the paintings and the light fixtures all began to move with an almost animalistic motion. Tables bucked and jumped, chairs were herded into a corner by a service trolley. It would seem that anything that could have given a semblance of comfort, also the capacity to live under the influence of the music box. Mavis tried to calm down Eryn and Xera, who had been left on the floor after being dumped by their chairs. Mavis smiled and giggled, the only time she had done since the evacuation.  Her concern for those in the caves paled for a moment in comparison to the comedic pain her two new patrons were feeling.

Xera left as quick as he could, not being able to stand the madness. He needed a place of solitude and in the hopeful absence of its occupant, went around the village trying to find the perfect place to grow his new lab. Eryn on the other hand was brought closer to Mavis. She asked him why he was with Lina and he gave her as much of truth as she needed. She mentioned she had no idea when Jarvi would be back but he, and Xera were welcome to stay here for as long as Lina was resting. Eryn was allowed to for free as a Hawk-Eye, although she pointed out he was not an official member until Lina had vouched for him, and Xera was to stay at half the price, apparently because he was 'easy on the eye'.

Season 1: Recap

Auspar by Jeff Brown

On the sixth day of the Ritual of the Winged Cascade, Eryn Thrax and Chloe Rue who were both slated for sacrificial execution, were set free by a serpentine voice in their head along with a manacle. This freedom was exchanged for them finding the Princess, which the Ritual of the Winged Cascade was meant to bring about. They were kicked out from the Grapnel Arena and dumped into the lower portion of the city called The Foundations, where the poor and the criminal reside. They came across Matthew Shroud and Meow in the Pale Spine, an unsavoury tavern. After a brief fight with some drug smugglers, Meow left the group with the drugs while Eryn and Chloe followed Shroud to the Undercroft Market. Shroud had gained information that would allow people to know him as a Lord, yet he needed to be perceived as one, including the trappings of wealth such as servants and finer clothes. The first came in the form of Neave, a downtrodden and out of work Seneschal who had a family to feed and provide for. She returned to her family to say her goodbyes.

On return from visiting Neave, Shroud encountered the Silver Palm guild-member, Dehart, and his companions looting a shop. Shroud was there at the time of the founding of the Silver Palm so walked over to introduce himself. Looking how he did, and speaking with such familiarity, Dehart had his Guldspar inject him with Judgement. This was swiftly apologised for after Shrouds credentials were verified. Eryn and Chloe stumbled upon this situation, with Chloe antagonising the Silver Palm and in return breaking her lute.

Chloe soon became ill under the effects of the Untethering and so the group visited a Narrkonis Atrium. They 'acquired' a set of earrings that were meant to combat the sickness, in return for exploring an area of the city where a body had been found floating. When the group arrived they were attacked by mechanical beasts. They fought them off, however after the struggle Shroud was separated from them by being detained by Aeon Priests who worked for Cairn. Eryn and Chloe found themselves under the city with a woman called Lily and a creature she had found called Valma. Investigating the rock found that it was perhaps originally a machine that had somehow fossilized. At the end of what was explorable, they discovered a cure for Chloe and found an exit. Before they left Chloe touched a crystal egg that transferred a consciousness to her mind. The voice was piercing like glass and was slowly using her power of transmutation to transmute her own body, eventually including hair, eyes and nails..

Chloe, Lily and Eryn returned to the Narrkonis Atrium in hopes of returning the earrings but did not. Instead Chloe managed to get into a fight with a Purple Order Monk over theology and Valma followed by attacking the woman. Lily is offered an assignment by her employer via a note handed to her by a monk. The group are then offered flowers to smell, after she accepts, and are transported to a stone room. They eventually escape the exit-less room and corridor by walking through the outer stone wall which had writhing hands out-stretched. They had left the Foundations and on to the Merchant floors.

The assignment Lily received was to interrogate the Grapnel Guard and Glaive Keeper Xivians Cairnin, who had been blamed by the public for Chloe and Eryn's acquittal. During the time Lily was trying to ascertain information on Xivians whereabouts, Chloe was slowly losing her mind to the two voices in her head and attacked a cook from the Beyond and her fellow patrons in a restaurant. Eryn found a fan of his called Arden, who had heard of his heroic deed of slaying the first born of the criminal Marish Clan in the city of Qi. Arden had told the Hawk-Eyes of his bravery and requested an invite to be sent to Eryn to join if he was to ever visit. Adren did not expect him to visit, nor for Eryn to deny the rumour Arden was left dejected by Eryn was summoned by the Hawk-Eyes.

When the group finally came together Lily had found out that a select few merchants would know of a way to get inside the Grapnel Academy, where Xivians was located. Eryn was tasked to find this merchant with a sleeping poison on a ring. Eryn found a cigarette salesman called Styenbeck. A freak accident caused Styenbeck to be poisoned and was taken to Mezzo Holdings. At Mezzo's Lily had found a man named Mephisto was living in the room she had rented. After a brief discussion they were interrupted by Eryn and Chloe's arrival as the receptionist Margaret would not let them in. They were allowed to pass but on returning to the room they found Zarik, Mephisto's brother, dying on the floor, to the indifference of Mephisto.

After Zarik died, Mephisto was offered by Lily to talk to his brother. The reason he had been killed was related to the Rings. Styenbeck revealed afterwards, although not knowing of Zarik's death, that he had heard Zarik had returned to the city and was working as Ring of Melch. The interrogation Lily had planned for Styenbeck failed due to Styenbeck's abilities and he demanded that they accompany him to the Tangent Bank to rectify the loss of his business, that of his stock and his peddle cart. The former had at the time of abduction, been taken by Chloe. She, during the interrogation had disappeared onto the rock garden.

She had found a device used by the Whisper Network and transported herself via the Flower Network to where a Professor Melvile was researching in captivity by House Lyathra and that specifically of Silas. He warned her not to have anything to do with the Network and quickly sent her away after noticing the bloody hand-prints on the device. These hand prints belonged to Zarik.

Outside the bank, Lily followed Styenbeck and discovered his links to the Whisper Network and eventual discovery of the eight versions of an old woman who was a gatekeeper to the Tangent Bank. Eryn and Lily found Neave and Shroud at a cafe, deciding how best it would be to steal from the bank. The group joined forces and found their way into the marbled and mirrored bank with Mephisto staying out the outside to keep guard. They eventually found the top floor where Styenbeck took off with a Silver Palm coin from Eryn. Neave was then attacked in the Mirrored Vault. Eryn, Lily and Shroud all hurried into the dimly lit vault. All the surfaces excluding the floor and ceiling were mirrored, and in this were visions of a monster. Chloe was discovered by Lily in a vault drawer.

The monster was a writhing mass of bloody flesh with a brilliant and terrifying golden eye at its centre. Although it was seemingly trapped behind the mirrored glass, it attempted to attacked the group forcing them back out of vault. Outside they quickly hid from approaching Grapnel Guard, who swiftly took Chloe Shroud and Lily into custody. Leaving Eryn and Neave. They both followed behind, with Eryn being interrupted by Arden trying to sell images of a Hawk-Eye version of Eryn. As Eryn tried to stop him he was introduced to Arden's fiancée, Rose, who was also Eryn's ex-girlfriend. This was interrupted by the introduction of Rose's sister, who turned out to be an exact copy of Neave. Eryn knew something was wrong and ran towards the Academy being chased by this clone.

Meanwhile at the Academy, Lily had been introduced to Ellin Darkspur, a plant from the Whisper Network and a member of the Metricious guild. He was there to facilitate her 'slow' progress. Xivians had died and was in the morgue. Lily was able to ascertain that Xivian's was attacked by Zarik before fending Zarik off. Xivians had already taken a slow acting poison due to his guilt and had been spending his time away from the public to repent before he left the earth. Lily, out of curiosity checked a few more corpses and found one of them similar to Neave. The corpse then awake and rampaged inside the academy. Outside, Chloe was with Shroud when Neave approached them, she asked them where Valma was but neither of them had it. The creature was with Lily but Neave was impatient, regardless of Shroud telling her otherwise. Within a few moments Eryn arrived and yelled at Shroud and Chloe to move away from Neave. The one that had given chase arrived as well as one from the morgue, who had thrown Lily's unconscious body out onto the walkway.

The Neave clones were defeated and another Neave, who they believed to be the one the group was associated with, arrived, decapitating one of the Neaves still left on the walkway. She then took Shroud and Valma with her a corner away from Lily, Eryn and Chloe. She opened up Valma, much to the groups on-looking dismay, and rearranged the internal structure. She then apologised for the situation. She explained that she was also a clone, but she had given birth inextricably to a family and she and her were under threat. She was to leave with Shroud for the top floors to get away from her pursuers but she asked if they could find her children. They had been taken into hiding but Neave had wiped the hiders memories clean remotely so needed the group to take them to a man named Braxx to restore their memories. She also explained that Valma had a vastly larger database than original thought and that it was the interface and firewalls that were blocking access. She explained that she had 'fixed' Valma, but during the rebuilding phase of the library, its behaviour would change from childlike to adult. During the adolescent phase she instructed Lily and Eryn to be careful with it, as its programming could become corrupted and may react violently. It was also at this point Valma gained the ability to shrink into a size that fitted onto an attachment onto belts or to a pocket size.

After a stopover at Areanna's,  Lily was made a full member of the Whisper Network and was tasked on relaying all information on Chloe to her Entwined Evaline. The next morning, Eryn left early to find a way to gain favour with the Silver Palm, remembering their smuggling business from when he first was released. This woke up Lily who quickly after Erny leaving, used her new connections to organise him to be followed. Eryn found that the Minotaur's, a rogue criminal faction against the Silver Palm, were slowly being 'cleansed' from the lower areas. Eryn decided to find the leader and hand them in. This turned out to be Rose. He placed her unconscious body in a barrel and transported her to Dehart. Dehart told him that Neave's house was currently being occupied by grunts with heavy machinery and medical equipment, although they had no insignias.

Erny arrived at the house, created a hole outside the house to trap a few grunts and then went inside. He found an elaborate autopsy set up amongst the humble property. He was attacked to a shadow and a man Eryn was unable to grab. He noticed after that there were multiple body parts of young children but no heads, spilled blood and mercury. He also found information by Melvile about a poison called Prosapiae. Chloe and Lily soon arrived, with Lily stopping Chloe from entering. Eryn handed Lily the research before she was abducted through the floor without Eryn's notice. He heard her Whisper Network box fall to the floor and used it on a flower and left.

Chloe was now on her own. The crystal voice and the serpent voice fought in her head. She received a vision of a gigantic spaceship crashing into earth. Valma heard the crystal voice crying to this and appeared to Chloe. Valma told Chloe of records it had of a 'transdimensional gramatrix drive' failure and an 'emergency shift to evacuate all personnel'. Chloe was convinced Valma, the voice and the ship crash were all linked. She tried to tell Eryn or Lily but both had disappeared She remembered the frequency of the Flower Network on the rock-garden outside Mezzo's and teleported.

Eryn was transported to the back of a shop where he met Xera and Eciton who were working on another part of Prosapiae. They were attacked by the Rings of Melch and managed to capture one member. They brought him back to Mezzo's where he revealed that Melch was believed to be real, confirmed by the serpentine voice in Eryn's head. Chloe arrived and in a fit of madness cut off her own arm in an attempt to remove Melch's voice. She passed out afterwards and during the confusion the manacle attacked itself to her leg without being seen. Eciton and his Ricora soon left suspiciously quick after Chloe's self infliction and the disappearance of her manacle and was blamed as a thief.

Xera offered Eryn to help work on Prosapiae at his lab in the Foundations. He accepted and so took both Eryn and Chloe with him. Eryn decided to contact Neave about the possibility of House Lyathra of the Whisper Network being involved with her childrens' capture. She snidely thanked him for being useful, ordered the removal of Shroud's memories and cut all communication. On the way down the group was cornered by Aeon Priests and Chloe was quickly handed over to them. She was subsequently taken and examined and imprisoned by the Aeon Priests. Eryn and Xera finally made it to Xera's lab only to encounter Xera's partner in his drug creation enterprise, Styenbeck. All too soon however they had to fight off one of Xera's ingredients, Jesanthums.

During this Lily had been taken by House Lyathra, specifically that of Silas. He warned her for using his property for frivolous and unsanctioned affairs, such as hiring someone to follow Eryn. He then made her apologize and forced her to take an assignment called 'The Harvest'. She was then transported via the Flower Network to Styenbeck during the middle of the fight. After the fight was over she and Styenbeck carried out the mission they had been assigned. Xera was attacked by a presumed dead body of a Neave clone, one of a number who had started falling to their deaths. It grabbed hold of Xera, Eryn tried to free him with a fireball, and accidentally set his lab on fire. Xera managed to rescue some ingredients, notes and lab equipment and some vials of the drug he had been working on called Black sunshine but most it was turned into a blue cloud that drifted up and around the city.

This fire sparked Deharts anger. Xera enquired as to where they might find the ingredients for the poison they were working on. Eryn handed over five Silver Palm coins. Dehart could not refuse, he told them that House Lyathra had one of the ingredients as they had delivered it themselves. He would offer his guild's full services Eryn and Xera collected all the bodies of Neave to which they agreed. Eryn decided to use barrels and so went to the Pale Spine. This lead him to find out that the Hawk-Eyes out of the city and t criminals were known as bounty hunters and was given everything he wanted. Xera on the other hand went to the local Narrkonis Atrium to gain supplies using Silas' name. This also allowed time to pass into night so that they could easily collect the bodies.

Chloe who had been captured slowly made her escape, aided mysteriously at each turn. She found her way up to the office of Egron Mar, the head of the Aeon Priests in Auspar, only to discover communications between him and another, talking about her. The letter jokingly referred to the amethyst that was showing on her would break if she was to lose anymore sanity, referring to her as the 'Shattered Child'. This was only offered as an alternate explanation to the reference. Chloe took the letter and escaped with the aid of a maid and cook, who Chloe realised too late, that she might have possibly been her murdered handmaiden. The crystal voice offered Chloe a new hand but she was distracted by the faint voice of Valma, who she followed to the bottom of the city.

When she arrived on the first floor, she bumped into Styenbeck. He was carrying the head of a Neave and instinctively Chloe tried to stop him. She had intended to remove the walkway in front of him, however he fell into this hole and was swallowed by the rubbish. She went over to where Styenbeck had been and found the body to go with the head. As she was discovering this she was shouted at by two indistinguishable men, who she believed were Aeon Priests. They were in fact Eryn and Xera but she managed to lead them on a chase through the Foundations.

The next day they were lead by Deharts contacts to the place where the ingredient was being held. They were transported half way up the tower by a few Untethered members of the Silver Palm. During their entry they managed to escape detection and make their way upstairs. On their way up they discovered more details about Prosapiae, most of which were in a kind of binary format as well as details on types of shadows being considered the true rules of House Lyathra. At the top of the tower they discovered more research notes as well as a seven foot tall vase with similarly large flowers. The group were prompted to connect to the flower and were transported to what looked like an underground cellar.

Inside this cellar were more gruesome aspects of the research into Prosapaie. In one of the locked rooms, Eryn and Xera found the body of Lily with a Neave head. This head started talking to Valma in another language before Eryn permanently put a stop to it by melting the flesh off the metal bones. Chloe meanwhile was downstairs. She had encountered the creature known as a Nychthemeron, a monstrous creature who only spoke in questions. After Eryn and Xera joined him her they discovered they were being watched by Silas. There was a sudden earthquake and Silas offered Chloe, Eryn and Xera safe passage out of the city .As the cellar was collapsinging they noticed that the creature was just a holographic projection, even though their interactions with it had been visceral. Silas also told Xera to use a Cypher to convert the words of the creature into its own language.

They agreed hastily and they were transported to the Narrkonis Atrium. From there Eryn directed the group to the Hawk-Eye tower. Silas explained, that as a member of the Purple Order, he had noticed that Chloe had a prophesy on her amethyst transmutations and needed to see the rest so she must be saved. He then revealed that the cause for the earthquakes, the Obsidian Spire in the city gyrating up and down, was caused by the Whisper Networks interference with the Neaves. It had triggered an alarm which seemingly cause the earthquakes.

Silas offered Chloe a serum that would re-grow her hand, she agreed. This not only allowed Silas to read her hand for prophecies but had the intentional benefit of converting her own flesh into amethyst. The group eventually reached to top Needle-Point summit where Silas revealed the extent of the prophecy and Chloe's conversion to a group of Purple Order Monks and Hawk-Eye guild members. They all agreed that the three should be evacuated. However Melch had other ideas and used the manacle to poison Chloe. The crystal voice sped up the conversion, stopping the organic poison from harming the body. However as this process was sped up, it resulted in solid rather than organic crystalline structures, eventually converting Chloe completely into amethyst.

Silas told Eryn and Xera to take the notes Xera had gathered from the creature and to find the House of Morianna. They were the only ones capable of translating. He told them they would look after Chloe and sent Lina Rennis with them. She instructed them on a man named Jarvi being their guide outside of the city. She also asked if they could find a man for her. His name was Zarik and he had gone missing after fighting with his father, Silas and she wanted Silas to be happy again. She took them to a zip line that lead far off into the distance to a village called Darkperch.

As they ventured down the line, Eryn's manacle was caught in an invisible barrier over the caldera edge. It had yanked him from the zip line and he was losing his grip. He could hear Melch laugh as the Obsidian Spire slammed for one last time, sending a shockwave through the city. This reached Chloe and shattered her into dust. A split second later the cable snapped, leaving the fates of Xera, Eryn and Lina in the balance