TSW - Chapter 7: Remnants (2) - Chambers 1 & 2

The laughter sent shivers down Danton's spine. There was something all too familiar about it. He turned to Xera to see if the look in his eye confirmed his suspicions and the returning glance had the same tone as his. He swore to the walls of the cave over the rushing water before the movement of his arm quelled them into yelps of pain. Xera offered his assistance to help with Danton's shoulder, him being the only one who had read anything remotely about medicine but his utter inexperience with such things only made things worse. It was Raneaux in fact who managed to restore Danton's shoulder to normal, although even she admitted she had never had to do it herself but had suffered the same way before.  With Danton now  not feeling up to finding Lina in his present state, he demanded that he should rest and the others should follow suit or at least dry off. The rest was backed by the sound of the river running through the cavern but it masked a drum beat. As they recuperated, the group could slowly begin hear it. It was a hushed rhythmic  tone that slowly grew into a forceful beat.  The group drew their weapons, the rest would have to wait.

From the shoreline, this side of the cavern held two pathways. One was to the left and one to the right, each was carved out of the wall in front of them.  The drums were coming from right hand side and with Danton's leadership, they sought out what was causing it. Shadows danced on the walls of the next cavern by what was presumed to be  firelight. They were grotesque and misshapen. None of them were exactly the same but all were stood on two legs, almost human. Mhaast was the first to venture forward and saw the reality. The casters of the shadows were pale brutes that might have once called themselves humans . They were hairless and almost featureless apart from their overly developed muscles and  pinkish hues of veins under taught skin. Each carried a large metal object, all of which were taller than Mhaast himself. They were not drumming but banging their clubs against the ground around the fire in some tribal dance. His first instinct was use explosives but was stopped by Danton as the rest of the group spied onwards. The cave these creatures were in was carved out of what seemed to be the side of the passageway and with careful footsteps they could easily bypass.

Danton had a plan already in his mind when he suggested the stealthy option. He had a device he had picked up from Coe but they could not be in range when it was let off and they needed to move quickly and quietly. However neither happened, which included himself.  The ground was soft and stony and each footstep crunched. It soon turned into a mad dash as the abhumans turned towards them pounding the ground. Their grunts and sniffs made it clear the group was not welcome or perhaps may be their next meal. Danton yelled for Xera to throw the shoes he found at the ranch to distract them with light and sound, giving Danton time to arm the device. He told the others to keep going as he lobbed a small squat wooden orb riddled with holes towards the creatures. As it hit the ground, a thick cloud of gas poured out enveloping the brutish creatures. Their grunts soon turned to cries as they started to panic, they turned on each other with savagery, while some shivered in the corners staring at the blank space in front of them and others turned their clubs against the walls in a futile attempt to win against it. As exactly as Coe had promised, madness had taken their minds. Danton could see now that their clubs were not just lumps of metal but pipe work and what seemed to be parts of machinery. There was something familiar, very familiar about it. As he caught up with the rest of the group it hit him, it had the same hallmarks of the place they had found in the Feldspar Maw, technology and craftsmanship not created by living man. He couldn't tell Xera in case it spooked Deanna and Raneaux or alerted Mhaast to ask what really happened to the citizens of Darkperch.

Mhaast congratulated Danton with a pat on the shoulder that he had dislocated. Danton glared over and tried to stop his fangs from protruding and he winced in pain. Mhaast apologised, seemingly innocent of causing pain intentionally. Ahead, the pathway split in to two directions. None of them knew which was way would find Lina but opted to take the same path again as before, sticking to the right hand side. The cavern at first opened out into a room that contained musty furs, gnawed on bones and the remnants of a fire. This was presumably was where these creatures slept and ate. Curiously though, the settlement didn't pass two  pillars encrusted with moss and silt. They were barely noticeable, jutting out opposite each other from the walls barely three fingers thick. The group neither noticed the pillars nor the deliberate end to the sleeping arrangements and went further into the chamber.

The floor rose a little before opening out into a wide room with a large stone table in the middle. Around the edges of the cave were sporadic plates of crystal in the slow process of being claimed by the rock. Xera could feel a hum in the room which no one else could sense. It drew him to the centre and the table. He saw it was made of rock but his senses convinced him it was machinery. He tried to force a corner off and found the shard of rock riddled with holes and strange indentations, this convinced him further of his own theory. He looked over to Mhaast and asked if his implants allowed him to interface with machinery and he nodded back a little sceptically. Xera traced over the surface of the table with his fingers and found what the thought could be a port or a socket covered by lichen. He told Mhaast this was the entry point and with reluctance Mhaast removed the upper part of his left hand index finger and plugged in. His body was flooded with a language he could not understand and it burned in his mind. His eyes were soon scrunched tight and his teeth became clenched. The table criss-crossed with lights as thin as a width of hair and ran down to the floor, changing at regular angles like channels up to the walls and to the crystal panels. Fervently, Xera chipped away the side of the cavern and found the stone to cover metal plates. He peered through the crystal and found misshapen bones  in hidden alcoves behind. 

Above them, the stalactites that roped together where cracked open by Deanna with the help of Danton. They revealed them to be tubes of liquid white light and not rock as first thought. Danton swallowed his apprehension and turned his attention to Mhaast. He was still connected and seemed to be in pain. With a sudden yelp he yanked his finger away, curled in whisks of smoke. He blew on his fingertip and as he looked down, he could see that where he was stood was a pale orange hexagon of light emanating from the rock beneath his feet. The rest of the group all bar Raneaux, had the same colour beneath them. Raneaux's was in fact pure white but equally unexplainable. With each step they took, the hexagon moved with them in a tiled fashion.  This was something that excited Xera but shook Danton to his core. He thought back to what happened in the mines, in whatever place they ended up in and the deaths that it caused. He told them the room was most likely a danger and ushered them out. As they reached the pillars, a curtain of dark orange light barred their way. It was solid and when struck, rippled out in a tiny honeycomb pattern like a drop of water on a pond. Not one of them could pass through barrier. They pounded on the wall of light again and again. From behind them a thick yellow fog poured in from back of the cave. It rolled over the stone table obscuring it from view. None of them could escape it.     

TSW - Chapter 7: Remnants (1) - The Decent

Although Raneaux could not pick up even the faintest of emotions from Lina, she was able to clearly find Xera's. She ran back down stairs and called for help. Mhaast and Willow followed her out to the domed building but they were all overtaken by Danton's determination. They abruptly stopped when they reached the closed brass door. Mhaast boasted to the group that this was an easy task but his strength failed him. They all then tried to move it with the door still barely moving. Without warning, a beam of light blasted from Willow's direction. They jewel she carried around her neck was channelling light to a focal point, which was now eating away at the metal doors.

Within moments the brass slab was cut from its hinges but as it hit the ground it fell towards them. Mhaast was taken unaware and was left shouldering the door, his mechanisms in his joints audibly straining against the weight. Danton acted before he thought clearly and dove in. He managed to hook Mhaast around the waist and tackled him clear along with himself.  On the other side stood Xera in shock. Everyone's eyes were centred on Willow, although she denied any involvement. For a moment or two Xera could only see the doors falling upon himself before he shook the vision out of his head. He urged them to find a way down the schism in the ground. They could all now hear the feint murmur of running water. Raneaux untied the length of rope around her to use as a rappel line. Mhaast was too involved with repairing himself to notice Danton's scheming eye. He thought to himself that saving Mhaast might be the first step in eventually turning him against Silas if things were to come to a head with  himself and Lord Lyathra.

That train of thought led him to that of saving Lina and he beelined for Raneaux  who was setting up the rope. He grabbed it out of her hand and demanded for a set of spikes to jam into the rock face. He tied off the rope around the handle of the brass door and lowered himself down.  With his serpentine eyes, the darkness yielded a surprise. The running water was actually a subterranean river. He dangled over the thirty foot drop into the water from the tunnel above and dropped a glowglobe into the water. The current swirled it around for a second below him before it was pushed out along the river at speed. He knew the current was dangerous but he had to brave the water. Above him, Raneaux threw down more rope so that Danton could lengthen the line, allowing him to partially submerge himself while remaining in relative safety.

Next down the rope was Mhaast. It was obvious to everyone, including himself that he was far too big for the crevice but he had no choice in the matter. He forced himself down, scraping his skin and metal on the rocks. The screech of the latter covered for his low grunting at the pain. He too eventually emerged and clung to the rope above the water. He had kept away from any large sources in case he ceased to function. With Danton on the other end of the rope he managed to swing himself to shore. With relief he looked up towards the crevice and a brilliant white light pouring out from it. Willow's glasses were emanating a dazzling light, allowing her to see clearly through the dark. It was like nothing Danton had ever seen. He had been admittedly attracted by her demure beauty and apparent raw power but her glasses caught him off guard. His hand slipped on the rope and the currents took him.

He fought back against the raging waters. His strength only bolstered by sheer desperation. The rope now started to sway and under Willow's tentative grasp she cried out for help. Mhaast immediately jumped into the water. He had little concern for his own safety or the preservation of his mechanical parts. The water however took hold, his body started to feel sluggish. Danton was fighting against being swept away from the chamber. His fangs protracted, his blood started to burn him as he forced himself to the side of the cavern and to desperately held onto an outcrop. Mhaast had now succumbed to the currents, falling short of catching the rope. He too suffered like Danton, although weighed down by his metal. Danton could clearly see Mhaast coming towards him and he needed to make a split decision. He could either save him, or let him drown down the river. The latter could have been useful if Silas was  to wage war, he would have one less asset, however down here, the more people the better. He gritted his teeth and held out his hand for Mhaast to catch. He felt his strong grip and the weight of him and the water trying to pull him downstream but held fast. Willow, seeing both men in danger, took a couple of deep breaths before commanding the rope to tie to the other side of the bank, to which it obeyed.

As she carefully descended down, her lack of concentration on her task and  the focus on the two in peril condemned her to the same fate. She too was buffeted by the waters before she grasped onto the chain, desperately clinging to Mhaast. Raneaux quickly scrambled down the line to help but in the desperation to survive, Danton had clawed his way up onto the sandy side of the cavern with Mhaast and Willow. He had managed in the process to dislocate his shoulder and was now hunched up in pain.  Xera, now hearing all that had gone down, was now visibly shaken. He was not the adventuring type and with only Danton's pained words of advice to guide him down he started to descended. He was slow and methodical, however his carefulness, it lead him to hold onto the rope for too long. His grasp faltered under his own weight and he plummeted into the water and straight below the surface. The  laughter of hundred voices echoed.

TSW - Chapter 6: The Past (7) - Folktales

Back at the Drunken Tallon, Silas' niece Lina, was blissfully unaware of her Uncle's arrival. She had been drawing more of the same pictures, a figure of royalty, three figures of magic and their beast like shadows cast by a candle. Raneaux was a little troubled by what the girl was drawing. There didn't seem to be any picture of the pale figure she was rescued by, only the looming dark beneath the feet of the figures. Raneaux tentatively asked where she had got the inspiration from. The next thing she knew, Lina had lead her upstairs to a room that sat between hers' and Danton's. Without even asking Raneaux, she knocked on the door and lady peered out.

She was a woman who hid behind thick rimmed glasses. Her hair was unkempt but it made Raneaux jealous. Lina bluntly asked where she had seen these figures before and showed her drawing. Through bleary eyes, the woman peered at it for a moment or two before they shot open. She hesitantly said they were figures from fairy tales although she was intrigued as to why Lina knew them. It was at this point Raneaux stepped in with a formal introduction.  Lina had disregarded the woman's personal privacy and walked in, in the meantime. She was called Deanna and what Lina was drawing was from a tale of three women working for a king who were tasked shut away dark and treacherous shadows behind magically sealed doors. The tale made her eyes narrow. Deanna seemed to live her life out of the trunks she was travelling with, that at the large volumes of books she kept. Raneaux looked at her a second time, trying to figure out the woman behind the glasses. She had a blemish free completion and lips that hadn't cracked. The two images didn't fit but Lina was happy enough and was rifling through her books while Raneaux could only apologise again for her behaviour.

Danton arrived back with lead in his stomach. He was tired of his plans being complicated by one person or another and was seriously considering doing something drastic. Xera pointed out that both Lina and Raneaux had gone and presumed the worst. They asked Mavis and Jarvan where the girls were and they pointed upstairs. The pace of his footing was heard from the door of Deanna's room. Raneaux peeked out and saw both of them panicked in Lina's room. She called them over and introduced Deanna. Danton was a little distracted, the only women he had in his life were either too young, too volatile, or were related to him. Deanna seemed an innocent, someone free of preconceptions. She reluctantly invited them both in as well. Her books were found to not just folktales but were also on history and geology. She was intriguing to Danton, which made him deaf to Jarvan's message of Silas waiting downstairs. Xera accompanied him in Danton's stead. He was feeling a little claustrophobic and a little out of his depth. On the way down the stairs he asked Jarvan if Danton was okay. His reply was solemn. Everything was fine at the minute but he seemed to be falling back into his old ways with people he should know not to get involved with.

Sat the centre table, straddling a straining wooden chair, was Silas. He was flanked by what seemed to be his body guard. A tall figure with his flesh fused with metallic implants. His clothes did nothing to hide his mechanics, nor did the holstered axes and swords belay Xera's fears what may be in store. The man's face was barely human, his form was unnatural and imposing. He was a perfect counterpart to Silas. Mavis was flying around the room tidying up everything in sight even if she had just cleaned it. Jarvan left Xera to go help her, or at least calm her down. Xera shook Silas' hand but pleasantries were not given, he demanded for his niece, and why Danton had not come down himself. Xera's excuses bought him some time to dash back upstairs to grab Danton and Lina. When she heard her Uncle had found her, she grabbed both Deanna's and Raneaux's hand and would only see him if they came with her. They both agreed, with Raneaux apologising again.

Downstairs, Silas greeted her with open arms, lifted her up and swung her around the room in a tight embrace. She didn't seem as frightened as she had upstairs and Raneaux could find no trace of it in her mind, no matter how hard she tried. Lina told him everything about her recovery; Jarvan looking after her every day and the tall pale figure than brought her flowers and woke her up. She was put down pretty quickly after that and told to go sit with Raneaux. He brought Danton over to where his drink was and clicked his fingers as he sat. Mavis almost fell over herself as she arrived at the table and took Danton's order. Silas had no qualms in insulting the selection he had been given here. He was even vocal about his distaste for what he was drinking but Danton ordered the same in hopes that at least, mimicry would help.  Silas was unhappy about the details of his niece's recovery. He suspected this to be a power play by one of the other families and tasked Danton to figure it out.  If he was wanting to reach Ickwell then solving it would certainly help towards how he was viewed. His reviewer would be Mhasst, Silas' bodyguard and head of personal security to which he gestured to the mechanical man. Danton swallowed heavily. This was perhaps the best Danton could hope for and provided him with at least some  way to influence Lina into handing him over control of Darkperch.

As Danton walked Silas out, Lina had gotten hold of the book she had stolen from Deanna. She had been in the midst of ordering a drink after hearing the tale told by Silas, Lina and Danton. The drink was to bolster her courage to ask to join but was that interrupted by Lina rifling through her book.  Her heart felt clamped as she saw Lina turn the pages and she called out in despair when she noticed how close the paints were to it. Xera managed to grab it off of her in time, knocking down the vial of green paint onto the floor. Xera sighed and gingerly handed the book over to Deanna before starting to clean it up. She on the other hand was almost vibrating with anxiety even after she clutched the book to her chest. Lina didn't seem to care much, her mind was in another place. She muttered under her breath that the pale man had returned and she bounded upstairs without warning.

Raneaux quickly followed and found her room empty, although the flowers had changed. She could no longer sense her but caught her voice on the wind by the other end of the landing. It was Xera however that followed the voice. Raneaux was now too confused about not being able to sense her. From the balcony of the upper landing he saw a slender pale figure slip past the heavy brass doors of the domed building across the road. Without thinking, he jumped down and raced across. The door was still open and he slid inside into the darkness. There was nothing there, only the dark, the fissure in the ground, and the hushed echo of running water. Under his feet were parts of rat, synth and metal junk. He turned around a couple of times to make sure Lina really wasn't there. He called out to her, his voice the only reply. With his back to the sliver of light, he heard the laughter of many voices before the brass door slammed shut and he was plunged into darkness.

TSW - Chapter 6: The Past (6) - The Lyathras

Raneaux belted through the inn doors and sidled up to Lina. As she skidded on the bench as she sat, Danton was walking down the stairs. She tried to compose herself as much as she could before he reached the ground floor. His first words to her made it clear that he knew she had most likely left the inn while he was upstairs.  She admitted that she had left Lina to go exploring, although protested that she didn't leave her alone. Danton's reply was a little out of character, she told her that he was just glad she was safe. Lina had, in the meantime, been painting pictures of women, crowns and dark black patches that looked liked spilled ink. Raneaux was a little patronising to her, praising her on her paintings. In her mind she told Danton that they needed to go to the domed building as soon as possible. They were interrupted by Lina who cried out at both of them to stop leaving her out. Danton did a double take before asking Raneaux  in her mind if she had heard what Lina said. The girl now started to pout and angrily told them to stop treating her as a child, she was a Hawk Eye after all.

The revelation of Lina's abilities and the fact that this young girl was a Hawk Eye was impressive to Danton. He told her that she was incredible, although she did not take to well to the compliment. Raneaux apologised to Lina and went over to hug her and as she did so, Mavis approached. She saw Lina's red eyes and Raneaux comforting her, then blamed Danton for whatever had caused her to be upset.  Danton tried to tell her that it wasn't his fault but soon came unstuck when Lina asked where her best friend Javis was. Mavis cocked an eyebrow and tilted her head at Danton expectantly, relishing the fact he was about to try to lie to her. What came out was in fact the truth. Lina started to cry again but Mavis backed off a little, confused at why Danton had suddenly changed his tone. Mavis then took Danton to one side and asked about Eryn, to which he told her about the kidnapping.

She looked at him a little dumfounded. She told him that the line of succession as leader and protector of the village fell upon the Hawk Order. Feral Hawks held positions outside of the main cities and if they were to become incapacitated in some way, the nearest Hawk would be next in line. While Lina was unconscious, Mavis had been taking on the mantle but she couldn't rightfully hold onto it and Lina was far too young. She said that she feared for the future of the village. Danton tried to keep his tongue pressed lightly against his cheek and his mouth firmly shut as his fangs grew and retracted. He offered his assistance of looking after the village but Mavis had reservations about a member of House Ethis taking over the village once again. She had suffered through their exploitations of the villagers for their private mining business and had vowed to never let another take root. He winked at her, telling her that he wasn't Ethis and Darkperch had now become his home.

She sighed, knowing that the resources Danton could provide could rejuvenate the town and perhaps keep the Oraea in line. She told him that he needed to make sure Lina was okay with the line of succession. If she wasn't happy, then she would have to return to Auspar to consult with the City Hawks to install another Feral. He replied with a smirk that if he stayed, Jarvan would too and with that she went bright red and slightly smiled.  This was now his new task, to make sure Lina was on his side so that she wouldn't find a replacement. His first instinct however was typical of his family. He offered a little money for her to buy food and drink but Lina refused. She bluntly told him that Mavis had and always would look after her out of kindness and no money could change that situation. She tutted at him. Danton hated the fact he was being judged by a young girl and bit his tongue not to say something. He picked out of his pocket the pot of green paint that had managed to keep from overflowing or staining his clothes and placed it on the table. He offered it as a gift before there was a knock on the inn door and a member of the Oraea stepped in and walked out with Danton.

Xera had now regained consciousness and had no idea on how much time had passed. He found himself in Lina's bed in an empty room. He rubbed his head trying to dissipated the migraine he had woken up to but it didn't leave him. He plodded downstairs to see where everyone was and saw Lina and Raneaux painting. He asked her where Danton was and she said he had already gone to meet with Lord Lyathra. Xera shook his head, he knew that he would have better luck with Silas than Danton would and made for the door. Before he left however, Lina said she was sorry about the child to him, to which he stared back at her for a second. He shook his head, believing he had misheard her and headed for the Oraea.

When he arrived, Danton seemed to be in a quandary with Silas. He was questioning Jethra as to why a member of House Ethis was even present and Xera quickly acted by tapping Silas on the shoulder. He didn't know how well this would go down but he needed to take the focus of Danton. Silas shuddered and turned on his heels and a faint smile grew. He gave a warm reception to Xera, to which Danton seemed to not have received. Within moments of the greeting, Jethra was ordered by Silas to provide hospitality for him and Xera and soon both were given wine and the best of the leftovers.  It was now as if Danton did not exist. The two of them talked about the escape from Auspar, the binary code from the holographic creature and the search for Morianna. Xera admitted that his lab had been broken into and his notes on both Morianna and what Silas was interested in - the research by Melvile - had been stolen. This riled up Silas. He told Xera he knew something like this would happen and told him they needed to quicken the pace. He offered passage to the home of House Morianna, Ickwell Manor, in a day or two after he had visited his niece. Xera's mouth was left wide open.

A little confused by Xera's reaction, Silas tried to change the subject by asking why he was travelling with a snake from House Ethis. Xera bit his lip while Danton let out an accidental hiss. Silas said to Xera that inviting a member of House Ethis into the Manor could be disastrous, with his plans most likely to become compromised. Xera replied that if he was to go find Morianna, Danton would have to come too. Silas shook his head and turned it to face Danton. He addressed him in a sever tone. If anything was to go wrong, if his plans were jeopardized, then Danton would bear the soul responsibility on pain of death. Xera bit his lip again and tried to draw away Silas' attention.  He mentioned that the Oraea monks had threatened both him and Danton at the lake and accused them of murder and thievery. Within an instant, the large frame of Silas was up on his feet and stomped towards Jethra. He demanded to see the two responsible. They were both soon thrown to the front. Their heads bowed, Silas asked them to join in prayer for the Vessel. They closed their eyes and recited until the slash in their throats from Silas blade drowned their words in their blood. Danton took a step backwards, he never considered the rotund man to be of any threat and now the warning he had given Danton rang in his ears.  Silas demanded to Jethra that he was to apologise to both Danton and Xera for the monks insolence and for someone to take the bodies away. His next question made Danton's stomach churn, he asked Xera if heknew where his niece Lina was. 

TSW - Chapter 6: The Past (5) - The Dome

Xera's eyes were no longer his own, he knew that but they felt familiar. He saw out in darkness, comforted by a crowd of hooded figures behind him. As he looked onwards the dark gave way to pinpricks of light, then to an alter and a crying baby upon it. There was the glimmer of a blade in his hand and ring that adorned it. There was the smell of a familiar perfume in the air mixed in with smoke from the torches. He turned his head to the moon and saw a large manor house casting its shadow over them all. A name danced on his tongue, Ickwell before he was ripped back to consciousness.

Raneaux meanwhile had slowly become overwhelmed with feelings of loss and guilt. She looked over at Lina and only felt failure.  Something or someone was broadcasting strong emotions, strong enough to infect her. She had three options;  stay with Lina and hope for the best, inject herself with the Guldspar drug in hopes to disconnect herself or try to walk it off and get out of its range. Although she didn't want to leave Lina, both Jarvan and Mavis where there to look after her and she didn't want to knock herself out in case she was needed. A long walk around the village would help, as long as the source wasn't following her or became more intense.

Clouds were slowly covering the afternoon sun and the light breeze carried with it a tinge of cold. The Oraea monks were frantically tidying up which made her giggle, although she kept that to herself under their watchful gaze. There had always been one building that she had never broken into. It was a curiosity in the make-up of the village. A domed building made of grey hexagonal tiles. Time had worn away any details that would have marked them out as being made of any particular material. This perhaps was as good as time as any  to investigate. She put her ear to the outside and heard  violent winds with the occasional  bang of something heavy being thrown up against the side. The feelings she had felt within the inn were rapidly being superseded by hunger in the pit of her stomach. Neither the wind nor her hunger made sense together and although it brought back memories of Braxx and the Blue Famine, she dared herself to investigate further.

The door that she could never open was somehow ajar. It was made of polished metal, possibly brass and two foot thick. She peered into the darkness staying as low to the ground as possible so that she didn't obstruct the only sliver of light piercing the darkness. The winds howled past her, as a brief flicker of an object passed within inches of her face and smashing into the shell of the room.  It felt as if the Iron Wind had been compressed into this small space, that or some other chaotic storm. She through a glowglobe into the darkness, hoping to catch a glimpse of what was going on. Her eyes followed it round and round the room as it cast its light on shards of metal and synth and odd dirt clod. At its centre was a black void, a black ever darker than the room itself, suspended over a large crack in the ground. The hunger she felt intensified. Objects caught in the winds were quickly being swept towards the centre and as they did, they were slowly disintegrating. The hunger she felt masked a loneliness and a deep longing to be free which bubbled to the surface of her thoughts.

She darned not go closer in case she was pulled in. Luckily for her and perhaps not for Xera, she had managed to procure the set of glasses that had been found in the Ethis Manor. She had hoped they could be sold for a substantial sum but there didn't seem to be an opportunity to return to Auspar. She knew he had warn glasses before when investigating or carrying out experimentations and perhaps in some way  they would help her here.  She wanted to know more and hoped they would at least allow her to see better in the dim light. As she did so however, the arms of them sprouted wires like tendrils of a plant's roots. They burrowed through her hair and her skin. For a split second her head felt as if it was being ripped apart before it subsided. She tried to yank the glasses off but they remained firmly in place, causing her pain with every tug. She muttered under her breath before throwing another glowglobe into the vortex. Her words somehow appeared on the lenses on the glasses in a pale gold colour. She muttered to herself again, and the words appeared. The winds howled again, bashing more debris against the side of the structure. White words appeared under hers.   I hunger.

She stepped back for a second in shock. She had seen madness, she had known madness. The wind did not talk, it was not alive. She convinced herself to act like Xera, and test just to make sure. Proof was better than doubt. She called out asking what it wanted, why it was hungry, why it was lonely. The replies she got made her shake a little. It hungered for existence, matter, anything.  She could see what it was feeding on, the disintegrating metal and syth and now screeching rat. Fur disappeared from its hind, then its flesh then bones, without a single drop of blood. She swallowed with a gulp. It was lonely, trapped with only brief moments to feed. She panicked.  She threw what little she had on her; shins, Numenera and scraps of cloth into the maw of the void and ran. The winds tried to grasp her as she fled. She tripped and fell. The lenses shattered and the glasses fell to the floor. Her body was being pulled back into the crack in the door. She kicked out, she heard the sound of glass and metal bash against the door. She became frantic, violent and pleaded for her life. She scrunched her eyes and felt the earth shudder, as the brass door slammed shut. The feeling of hunger was gone but she was too scared to carry on alone. She faced the door and put her hands on her thighs and tried to slow her breathing. She turned her head left and right to see if anyone had seen her but both ways were quiet. The only thing she did notice was a small swathe of flowers outside the domed building, that had been neatly cut. 

TSW - Chapter 6: The Past (4) - The Benefactor

In light of yesterday's events, there was one obvious way to keep the bodies hidden and easy to transport. Barrels allowed the quick transportation needed without raising suspicion and it luckily seemed that the Oraea had not investigated further on the blood that had seeped out from under the doorframe. The barrel was politely sequestered from  Mavis and soon the headless body of Moma had been delivered to Xera's lab. There had been a suggestion to dump the rest of the bodies into the pond but due to the Oraea's attention and their reluctance about getting too close to the water's edge, it was better left till nightfall to dispose of them in another manor.

The Oraea monks were still at the pond and in their infinite wisdom had decided that the waters were the best dumping ground for the remnants of the festivities. Raneaux was livid and preceded to insult and antagonise the monks after they arrived back. She was trying to enforce her point of view on befouling the pond which fell on deaf ears. Although not intentionally, this allowed Danton to pick up another metallic shard and finding another crab like creature inside. He marked it to be traced and secretly threw it back into the lake hiding the fact that it had tried to burn him in self defence. Before the Oraea could ask what he was up to he demanded to see Jethra. The Grand Orator arrived although he took much longer than previously. Raneaux interjected about the littering and polluting of the pond by the monks and they soon found themselves at the mercy of their leader, who clipped them over the head before ordering them and the rest of the monks to hurry up with the cleaning up of the village. He seemed very concerned, in fact he seemed worried, which intrigued Danton.

He tried to diffuse any tension between him and Jethra by offering his services in any way he could. Jethra surprisingly accepted without much consideration as to his motives. A high ranking noble was arriving from Auspar and in order to maintain the funding for the Oraea he needed to provide the perfect image. The revelry from the night before and the current contempt for the area by his monks was making him desperate. Danton asked for more specific details and found the investor was a member of House Lyathra. It was in fact Lord Lyathra, the benefactor and founder of the First Oraea of the Vessel. Danton felt a twinge on his shoulder, he knew of the Lyathras and what they were capable of, although they were the more mediocre of families in terms of wealth and providence. 

From Jethra's position however, Danton was not presentable in his current state and demanded that if he was to help, he would need to change clothes .He further mentioned that  if Danton agreed, there would be an Oraea monk coming for him when Lord Lyathra arrived. He departed on amicable terms, which was more than what Danton had hoped for. Raneaux looked over at him, not understanding the demands for a change in attire. Xera on the other hand was now concerned. He knew exactly who Lord Lyathra was, in fact Silas had helped him escape the city before the Great Decent but he had no idea that Silas was not only responsible for the founding of the Oraea, but was also its soul patron.

He discussed with Danton what he knew about his former employer from the little he had gleamed from his time in the city; in hopes that Danton would open up about his relation to the insignia and the necklace he wore but the words never came. Any hopes of an explanation vanished when they noticed a girl in the corner of the ground floor of The Drunken Tallon, sipping on what seemed to be steaming broth. The girl that had fallen with Eryn and Xera, the Hawk-Eye Lina was somehow awake. It had been so long since they had arrived here and her illness had lasted for such a time, that it had almost faded out of Xera's memory. Jarvan was the first to speak when the group entered and steered them away from her for a time. He explained that she had miraculously recovered over night with no due cause. Mavis chimed in telling Danton how wonderful Jarvan had been, there was a look in her eye that said much more than just looking after the sick child. Raneaux immediately went to Lina's side after the briefing by Jarvis and they immediately hit it off.  Raneaux warmed to the girl instantly, seeing her as almost a sister, family that she never had.

Danton was a little suspicious about the miracle and asked if he could see her room. Jarvan obliged by opening up the room key box on the wall by the fireplace with a key he had on a chain around his neck . He handed it over to Danton and showed both him and Xera up to the room and stood outside and waited. There were freshly cut flowers although the quality of them seemed to vary. Xera had suspected  the flowers themselves and removed them from the vase, only to find them cut to the same length rather than attached to any root ball. A little disappointed, he turned his attention to the bed. Underneath he found a small pearlescent shell with an insignia scratched onto its surface. By the window, Danton found a wet handprint and in conjunction with the shell, they both came to the conclusion that the water of the pond held more than just monsters.

He thought it best that it was time to finally explain to Xera the origins of his necklace before they were interrupted once again by circumstance. He dismissed Jarvan although he was still unsure if was the right thing to do and shut the door. Danton reached under his shirt and revealed the entirety of the necklace. The chain had fused to the skin and flesh of the back of his neck to Xera's uncomfortable surprise. Danton's slow and methodical explanation of the history of the necklace was similar to his explanation to Coe. He was banished from Auspar from Qi due to his mutation of his eyes and his life became lonely and with what little entertainment he could find, eventually boring. He used his family's name, money and influence to buy and coerce his way into power but it didn't go far enough. He needed his own control and desperately wanted to not rely on his past. He strolled the streets of his territory in  Qi to clear his head and came across an old woman. He took pity on her. He assumed that she had been beaten and scarred by the Marish Clan as she mentioned the she was seeking refuge. She was peddling trinkets and keepsakes and for his kindness he was given the necklace. He put it on and felt a sense of power but found whatever it had imbued him with had cost him the ability to remove it. He turned back to the old woman for answers but she was gone. With the tale over, he motioned to Xera to look over the necklace himself and held it out for him. As Xera touched it, a burning surge like electricity coursed through his body and he fell to the floor unconscious.   

[Sorry about the lack of posting the past two weeks, I've been ill and needed rest]