• Event • The Sleeping Heart Stirs

[Tristan Venora]

His words, together with Ashling‘s gentle and soothing song, seemed to put the Tunawa at ease. When she held her knife by the blade, as if she were offering it to his fiancée, Tristan smiled at her and nodded encouragingly, as if he wanted to tell her that she was doing the right thing, that she could trust them. He was far more relaxed now. It seemed as if everything was coming to a positive conclusion, after all. Maybe, there was even no poison as he had worried about before. Maybe they had done the right thing by waking the Tunawa up. Maybe they would be able to find something out that would help Melrath.

He was just about to ask the little Tunawa what kind of message she and her companions had been about to deliver when Musablot suddenly struck. Tristan had been worried about the grey mouser before – he had wondered if he would get poisoned – but at the moment, most of his concern was for the grey mouser’s victim. Normally, he absolutely loved cats, but by the Immortals (and the spirits, of course!), he was not particularly fond of Musablot now. His eyes widened in shock as the cat trashed the poor little Tunawa this way and that, and he instinctively told him, “Musablot, no! Stop!”

Musablot did of course not stop; and what more, the Tunawa lost her grip of her weapon, and the poisoned blade flew through the air and struck Ashling’s cheek. But a few moments later, she lost consciousness. Tristan’s heart skipped a beat, and he held his breath for a moment. He was about to rush over to her, murmuring her name, when the healers of House Imair moved over to her and began to check her, and the weapon.

For a moment, the young duke was completely overwhelmed. He looked from Ashling to Musablot and his victim and back, not sure what he was supposed to do, if there was even anything that he could do. And then he moved over to the table where the poor Tunawa was lying motionlessly, looked at Musablot who seemed to just be waiting for his victim to move again (Tristan wasn’t afraid of the Tunawa at all anymore; his heart just went out to her!), reached into his bag that contained various herbs and removed a bag of dried valerian from it.

He knew from experience that cats liked valerian, so he showed Musablot the bag and even let him sniff at it before he tossed it on the ground, hoping that he would lose interest in the Tunawa. He wasn’t entirely sure if it would work; but desperate situations required desperate measures, and this was definitely a very, very desperate situation!

“Can somebody take care of the cat?” he asked the other people present before he went to inspect the Tunawa that was … well, whatever was coming out of the wound was definitely not blood, but looked more like tree sap. It was definitely just as bad as blood though!

“Which Heart? What do you mean?” he asked it, still speaking in Treetalk, thanks to Chester, just as it went into shock. “Does anybody know how to keep a Tunawa from bleeding out?” he asked the healers before he decided to begin treating the little creature himself because he wasn’t sure how much more time they had. Had the Tunawa been a human, he would have put pressure on the wound in order to stop the bleeding; the Tunawa was kind of like a plant though – which suddenly gave him an idea. When one of the trees in his garden was losing sap, he usually applied a coat of tree sealer which would seal off the wound and protect it.

“I need … I need aloe gel or something similar to seal the wound”, he told the healers while he tried to put pressure on the wound regardless because that might have some sort of effect. As soon as he had the gel, he quickly began to apply it. Hopefully that, with the Tunawa’s healing abilities (if it was anything like a tree, it should heal pretty quickly) would be enough.

“Chester? Your Holiness? I don’t assume you know anything that could help?” he asked his Diri companion as well as Jasper who seemed to be busy doing some sort of meditation.

[Jasper]

Jasper
Rel
Ardiechy





The Sleeping Heart Stirs
1st of Cylus 721

Jasper focused on the connection and worked to follow it towards it source towards the heart of the colony. It was then that Jasper’s spirit side found itself drawn into a vision. The Aesir didn’t fight it but flowed with it. He didn’t surrender to it but he flowed along with it.

The physical Jasper sat there meditating unaware of what was happening in the physical world as the cat decided it wanted to snack on the tunawa. Normally he would have responded but Jasper was already to lost to what was occurring to help. Not that he would have actually been any help in regards to the cut and the poison but he might have been able to help calm the messenger.

No instead he stood at Tower Thrudheim watch some monstrosity made its way under the ocean along the cost. The brown eyed Aesir knew he wasn’t physically there but he still felt as if his eyes grew wider watching the creature. Part of him wanted to pull back and to go home and hide from his monstrous creature. He realized at this moment the home he wanted was where his family lived and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to face them.

So he focused on the vision trying to understand it better. It was a creature of flesh and plant but it wasn’t a spirit in the brief moment of what he had seen so far it seemed to be observing them.

The Aesir focused on observing the creature and its behavior. He walked a delicate balance as he didn’t want to become lost in the vision but didn’t want to just leap right in either. So he observed and collected details seeing if the vision will show him more. He kept a wary eye out so that if he need to he could pullbacks and getaway.

Unfortunately as Tristian tried to get Jasper’s attention. The Aesir was deep in his meditation.

Diri Companion

Eldloga

The First Light

[Pig Boy]

Bloody Saun

One of the healers of Imair rushed to help Tristan. Thankfully one of them was good with animals, cats in particular, and lured the little stray away with a few links of sausage dangled in front of its face, then leading it into another room and shutting the door behind it. Musablot could be heard to munch on the sausage, purring even through the door.

Another purr came to Tristan as Chester responded to him, ”I can bridge the gap, let you talk to the Holy Man. You must tell him to come back, he’s delved into a dangerous vision. But first, save the tunawa…” So saying, the channel between Tristan’s mind and the Augur Jasper were opened, and he’d find himself able to communicate with the Holy Man as he treated the tunawa.

One of the other healers helped Tristan, giving him a bit of adhesive gel which was normally used to heal small blemishes and bug-bites in rare orchids. But might as well work on a tunawa as well.

Once applied, if Tristan went about it, it’d bind the sap and cause it to harden, and dry. Then, the tunawa seemed to take a long breath, and coughed. It heard Tristan’s question, and answered as best it could in Treetalk. ”The Sleeping Heart is the creeping mind and spark of flesh lost. Separated from its flesh, it craves new flesh. But it will not be satisfied until it finds its own flesh, sequestered deep in the dark.”

The tunawa coughed, ”The Flesh must be destroyed where it lies. Or the Creeping, Sleeping Heart will consume all of Melrath, spirits, mortals, and all.”

Meanwhile, Jasper was caught in the vision of the Sleeping Creeping heart. It had tendrils of vine-like tentacles crawling across the ocean floor, and onto the beaches of Noatun. It crept into the forest, and began twisting the wood it found there.

Jasper could hear Eldloga still, but his voice was only a whisper, warning him away, to come back. The fuel the Sleeping Heart Claimed wouldn’t nourish any hearth. It consumed all ephemera and ectoplasm and lifeforce alike. It's hunger couldn't be sated, and it sought to gouge its unnatural hunger upon the lands of Melrath.

As the whisper came to Jasper, the vines seemed to lift their points, to face Jasper now. With unnatural speed, they grew along those lines, flaying and disintegrating all life in their path in their search for his flesh. They were almost upon him...

With an echoing yawn, the maw of the Sleeping Heart, that dwelt beneath the shores of Noatun, seemed to speak to Jasper as though every breath it took was an inhalation. It spoke, "Come to me, blood and flesh of Arkenstone, and make us whole!"

[Tristan Venora]

Jasper, Tristan noticed, did not answer when he asked him for help. In fact, the holy man did not say a single word to him or even look in his direction for a moment which was something that he might have found strange if he hadn’t been too busy trying to save the little Tunawa’s life in order to ponder such things for any length of time. He was not a doctor, no matter how many things he might have picked up from Ashling or from her mother, and he couldn’t help but feel a little bit overwhelmed, especially since there was a lot that might be at stake!

Fortunately, one of the healers of House Imair lured Musablot who he would have been quite fond of otherwise (The way that the grey mouser had tried to flirt with Ashling when they had worked on the spirit-speech potion had been absolutely amusing!), but who he really didn’t want to be anywhere near him right now away. He could hear the cat munch on his sausage quite enthusiastically which meant that there was one less problem for him to deal with now. It seemed as if the grey mouser would be busy for a while!

“Thank you very much”, he replied politely when one of the other healers handed him a gel, briefly glancing at it and deciding that it would do before he quickly went about applying it. When it worked, and the sap started to harden and dry, he breathed a deep sigh of relief. But again, that relief only lasted for a few moments before more bad news arrived. When the little Tunawa came to again and coughed, he instinctively raised it a bit so that it would be able to cough with more ease, carefully watching it in the process so that he would be able to quickly intervene with more gel, or medicine, should the need arise.

“Where can we find the Flesh?” he asked the Tunawa, again in Treetalk. “What is the Creeping Sleeping Heart?” he continued before his voice took on a gentler tone and he wanted to know, because the Tunawa’s health still worried him, “How do you feel? Is there anything that you need?” Now that the Tunawa had regained consciousness, it might be able to tell him more about what was bothering it, if it needed nourishment or, perhaps, something for the pain. In hindsight, he thought, it had been silly of him to be so afraid of it!

When Chester explained why Jasper hadn’t answered him and that he had delved into a dangerous vision, the young duke’s eyes widened for a moment before he inclined his head in a gesture of gratitude (He would reward his diri handsomely for his help when this here was over!) and turned to the holy man in order to speak to him and tell him to leave his vision.

Before, he had deferred to Jasper and let him take the lead because he was an Aesir and much more familiar with matters of the spirit, but now he would take charge. Tristan had been one of the most powerful men in Rynmere once upon a time, and he had been friends with an actual king. In Melrath, he worked as an alchemist and an artist for the most part, but he still knew exactly how to make people listen to him!

He addressed Jasper in a firm and commanding tone of voice that made it obvious that he would not tolerate any disagreement rather than the friendly and comparatively gentle tone of voice that he usually made use of, “Jasper. Your Holiness. Listen to me. You have delved into a dangerous vision. Do not explore that connection any further. Whatever is happening, do not look. You are at risk. Come back immediately. The Creeping, Sleeping Heart will consume all of Melrath, spirits and mortals alike. It may consume you as well. I repeat, come back immediately”, he continued while he watched the holy man for any signs that he was about to listen to him and leave his vision.

If talking to Jasper in his “duke” voice didn’t work – well, a firm punch or a bucket of ice-cold water over his head was likely to interrupt a trance, or whatever the state that Jasper was in was called. As punching holy men or dousing them with ice-cold water could have unforeseen consequences, even if you informed the people around you of your plan beforehand and he was a largely peaceful man, Tristan refrained from employing such methods for the time being though.

Besides, he was positive that talking to Jasper would work. His wonderful feline Diri had said that he could bridge the gap and let him talk to the Holy Man. With Chester’s help, anything was possible!

[Jasper]

Jasper
Rel
Ardiechy





The Sleeping Heart Stirs
1st of Cylus 721

Jasper watched and he began to learn many things in those moment that he began to watch the vision. The creature was growing and consuming and Jasper understood in that moment the terror that was being felt by Tunawa. This things must be stopped before it could be allowed to spread and consumed Melrath and who knew how much of the world beyond it. His soul felt drained at the horror of the thing before him.

It was then that he heard Eldloga calling to him from a distances. Apparently this vision had allowed the dirri to also gain understanding of what the heart was. Jasper wasn’t a some dumb hero, though occasionally he was accused of just being dumb. So when his companion told him to come back, Jasper began to back peddle towards the others. He focused on moving back and kept the panic he knew was there buried deep with in him. Survival was what was important here. The numbness was there still as only logic drove him.

It was good he had started to draw back because the Flesh noticed him at that point and called to him. Jasper took note of what was said, but didn’t wounder about it focused on his fleeing. He used his connection to Eldloga to propel him out of the reach of the reaching vines. Then he heart the voice of Tristan and the authority it carried and also grasped on to that connecting and used them to pull himself back even as the vines were also chasing him.

Clinging to those two he also had the image of Astrad come into his mind and also grasped out to the image of the woman who he had loved in some form or another since they were children, and used that additional motivation to really propel him out of the reach of the incoming vines. The was information Jasper now had and he had to protect all of them. His life was important now because he had information that hopefully should help.

He could feel his body in the distance and feel his blood pounding and could feel his breath coming out more quickly as the meditation was beginning to break. Jasper felt himself slam into his own body, and his brown eye flew open wide and he looked around, his eyes full of panic. Jasper felt himself wanting to be sick as the physical sensation connected with the mental again. He fought the urge but it was just to much and Jasper turned away from everyone and was sick on the floor. His breathing was ragged as he fought between getting enough air and emptying his stomach.

For him it seemed to take for ever but for the others his reaction was only a few moments. He slowly stood up once he was done being sick and looked around and said. “Can I please have a towel, and I will clean that up.” He looked around. “I believe I have seen what the Tuwana saw.” He paused and breathed and looked around his panicked eyes noticing some of the changes. “I must have missed something here.” He looked at the Tuwana who was being healed and then at Tristan whose call he had heard.

“Thank you.” Jasper said bowing his head. “I fear that what we face is something that big, something that can’t be ignored. I understand now why the Tuwana fled into sleep.” Jasper looked down as Eldloga and though to him. ‘And thank you friend,’. He looked back up his mind all over the place after what he just saw. “A moment please.”

He took some more breaths and then felt his mind focusing again. “Is everyone okay? What did I miss while in my trance?” He would wait and listen. Jasper wasn't much of a healer but his expression grew concerned when he would hear about the wounded healer and tuwana. Once he made sure everyone was recovering then he would share in brief what he had learned avoiding focusing on the vision itself to avoid being draw into it. The Aesir would then say to Tristan. “Do you mind accompanying me to speak with my elders. This situation must be handled sooner rather then later.”

Diri Companion

Eldloga

The First Light

[Pig Boy]

The Sleeping Heart

The Tunawa was swiftly recovering from whatever illness had taken him earlier. Yet the tunawa had a somber look on his face, as he responded to Tristan's queries. "The Sleeping Heart isn't of Melrath. But it is drawn to blood, the blood of sacrifices. Your peoples' barbaric practice has attracted it here, but it must not be allowed to take root..." But then, the Tunawa said no more of the Sleeping Heart, but clung to Tristan as he tried to go to the Holy Man, "I need your warmth, human. I would come with you to meet the Elders, when you do."

Then Tristan woke the Holy Man, successfully, thanks to the communication of Chester to him. He awoke, and without wasting much time, asked to be led to the Aesir Elders. The guards of the Jarl entered at that moment, and furrowed their brows at the commotion. "What has happened here? Are you alright, Holy Augur?"

When asked if they could be led to the Elders, the Guards gave each other a look, and then nodded to the Augur. "You may want to come with us, Duke Venora?" They sai, a rare sign of respect, using his native title.

Then, provided the two would follow, the guards led the way out of the Lodge, and on the road toward the Dawn Gate, where the Yggdrasil Citadel lay. It was a frozen landscape outside, lit by a mix of luminscent plantlife and torches and lanterns. They could see the great tree growing fro the center of the Citadel. It took not half a break before they arrived at the Dawn Gate, where they were swiftly admitted when the guards had word, and showed them the Augur and Duke.

They were let inside, and directed toward where the Aesir granted spiritual guidance. It was a nicely warmed space, dug out from a pile of snow, but with a large bon fire burning in the center. Around the depression, stone walls surrounded. A couple of the Elders sat there, comfortably on a pair of slabs, meditating on the spirits, presumably.

One of them lifted their head, and looked into the Augur Jasper's eyes. He spoke, "What is it, Augur? You have a strange look about you? Is Eldloga keeping well? Let him rest here, and regain his strength from our fire." The elder gestured toward the bon fire, inviting Jasper to imbue it with Eldloga's flame. The tunawa beneath Tristan's shirt would be squirming, and trying to get warm, but poke its head out of his collar. (If he allowed the plant to accompany him, that is)

[Jasper]

Jasper
Rel
Ardiechy





The Sleeping Heart Stirs
1st of Cylus 721

Jasper was glad that the guards didn’t ask a lot of questions. He did give the a short answer that he had just had a vision. But was glad for not more partly because Jasper needed time to think about he had just seen and didn’t feel like explaining until multiple times. As they began to gather up he noticed the Tuwana was awake and seemed to be clinging to Tristan.

The Aesir bowed his head and said. “I am glade to see you awake.” His brown eyes looked inquisitively at the creature. He would normally ask more questions but if they could get to see the Elders the young man hoped that the Tuwana would explain what he knew. He also bowed his head towards Tristan in thanks fo his help. “Thank you for your help” Soon they were out of the Lodge and making there way towards the citadel.

Jasper breathed deeply as the traveled running through in his mind the events that had just occurred. He was mildly distracted but didn’t ignore Tristan and the others as they approached the center of Aesir spirituality. He still couldn’t hold back the shudder that racked his body at the memory but he moved forward with determination. He felt that this was something that had to be reported immediately.

As they came to the Dawn Gate Jasper felt himself gain some control and he leaned closer to Tristan and spoke. “I am sorry. What I saw was a bit disturbing.” He said his brown eyes focused. “How is Ashling doing?” He asked remembering the other member of the party who wasn’t with them. “How did your conversation with the tuwana go?” She waited for an answer and the gave a short version of what he had seen.

Soon they found themselves allowed through the gate and to a spot where the elders gathered to meditate and connect with the spirit world. Jasper bowed his head in respect towards those who were here. He nodded his head at his Elder’s questions. He took a deep breath and walked over to the hearth and so that Eldloga could take a chance to join and rest in the fire. He said quietly to the spirit. “Thank you.” Then he stood up and looked at the elders and addressed the rest of their questions.

“I heard about a strange event where some Tuwana where found in a frozen hibernation that they couldn’t be woken from.” He indicated to Tristan and said “Others, such as Duke Tristan here, also came to look into this issue. They were eventually able to awake one of the Tuwana while I with the help of Eldloga looked on the spiritual side. While doing that I was pulled into a vision.” Jasper processed to give a detailed account of his vision. Once he was done he bowed his head again and turned to looked Tristan to see what he would add.

Diri Companion

Eldloga

The First Light

[Tristan Venora]

Tristan was quite relieved when Jasper returned from whatever dangerous vision he’d delved into – and he was glad that he hadn’t been forced to punch the holy man or douse him with icy water in order to save him. When the holy man turned around as if to spare the other people in the room the sight of him being sick and subsequently emptied the contents of his stomach on the floor, the young duke was neither disgusted nor horrified.

He was just sympathetic. It was obvious that whatever Jasper had experienced had been terrible.

He didn’t give the holy man a towel so that he could clean up his vomit, but simply produced a towel and quickly and efficiently removed the mess on the floor before he remarked, “Musablot bit the Tunawa. Fortunately, I managed to save its life though.” He was a little bit shaky himself, he had to admit, but more than that, he was happy that both Jasper and the Tunawa were fine.

When Jasper said that he understood now why the Tunawa fled into sleep, he raised an eyebrow before he nodded. “It revealed some information to me as well. My spirit companion allows me to communicate, no matter which language someone speaks”, he explained as Jasper and the others might be wondering how he had been able to understand the Tunawa.

“Not at all”, he replied when Jasper asked him if he’d mind accompanying him to speak with his elders. “The situation is quite urgent. They should know about this as soon as possible”, he added before he turned to the little Tunawa that clung to him, the expression on his face softening. In hindsight, he didn’t understand how he could ever have been afraid of the poor little thing.

“Of course, you can come with us. Let me know if you get cold again”, he said when the Tunawa hid in the warmth of his shirt before he turned to face the guards. He had been living in Melrath long enough to know that them using his title was a rare sign of respect, and he inclined his head as a consequence and nodded before he followed them.

“I’m glad that you are feeling fine again”, he remarked when Jasper thanked him for his help before he followed the others to the citadel, quickly, because time might be of the essence.

Normally, he might have enjoyed the walk through the city – it was beautiful – but as it was, he was mostly focused on what he had seen and mentally preparing himself for the meeting with the Elders. When Jasper asked him how Ashling was doing, he replied though, smiling slightly, “My fiancée is fortunately fine. As for the conversation with the Tunawa”, he continued, and the expression on his face grew much more serious again as he quickly relayed what he had learned, checking if the Tunawa under his shirt was alright as he did so.

When they finally reached the Elders, Tristan inclined his head in a gesture of deep respect. He was about to make a step back and position himself behind Jasper, as was appropriate in his opinion – he was among holy men here – but when the little Tunawa started squirming, he decided to stay close to the flame, so that it could enjoy its warmth.

“While Jasper experienced his vision”, he said to the Elders in a polite tone of voice, once it was finally his turn to speak. “I healed the Tunawa. With the help of my noble spirit companion, I was able to communicate with it. It told me that the Heart Wakes and that it sees us”, he continued in a serious tone of voice that hopefully conveyed the gravity of the situation and repeated everything that the Tunawa had said to him, including the fact that the Sleeping Heart was drawn to the blood of sacrifices.

“The Flesh must be destroyed where it lies. Or the Creeping, Sleeping Heart will consume all of Melrath, spirits, mortals and all”, he repeated the Tunawa’s words that would be engrained in his memory forever once more and proceeded to suppress a shudder. Rynmere had been ravaged by a civil war and a plague, and now the fate of his new home was at stake as well!

“His Holiness mentioned Noatun and Arkenstone”, he added. He remembered an earthquake in Noatun a few seasons earlier, but the name Arkenstone didn’t tell him anything. He didn’t have any idea whether Arkenstone was a place or a person, but maybe someone knew.

The name seemed to be of great importance.

“Is there anything that you would like to tell the Elders?” he gently asked the little Tunawa that hopefully felt warm again now before he finally fell silent and waited, for the Elders to speak or for the Tunawa to add something to what Jasper and he had said.

[Pig Boy]

Lanneisse,

The Broken Promise

The Elders listened carefully to Jasper's recounting of the vision he received. Normally visions were events to bring joy and reaffirmation that the spirits still smiled upon the Mortals who settled Melrath. Yet this vision gave them nothing of the sort. In fact, some of the Elders and Wise People with them shared looks of concern and consternation, as though they already knew some of what he was telling them, and that his vision only confirmed it and elaborated upon something they were aware of.

"Take a seat, Augur..." The Elder that spoke for the rest requested of him. "The story I have to tell is long and meandering, but it has, we believe, a direct link to this hidden threat you've foreseen."

So saying, once the two were seated before the assembly, and comfortable, they began to recount their tale.

"It began, as often happens, with a sorcerer, slaying innocents, trailing a wake of blood right up until her very end." So saying, the Elder told them the Tale of Alora's End minus or plus a few details that they were privy to, through deep communication with the spiritual forces and mortal forces involved in her downfall.

"After that Bloody Saun, where she finally met her doom, through some hellish incantation or ritual corruption of magic, she managed to destroy an entire lake. A lake which had a fledgling Induk associated with it. This Induk is unlike many of ours. Very silent through our history, yet still very sacred, with a deep connection with Svariella and Myrkvior. The Induk was not destroyed, for it takes more than a singular stroke of mortal ingenuity, however evil, to bring about the downfall of such a spirit."

"It was, however, warped beyond recognition, but not solely by the arcane might of the sorceress. There was more involved..." Here the Elder's countenance darkened, and Eldloga's voice echoed through the Hearthfire, even Tristan could hear it, as Chester related the diri's words to its bonded friend.

"Immortal meddling was in some way involved, we believe. The Naer that came to give themselves willingly to the Vynmur, resulted in a vast clouding of knowledge from the minds of all who drank from the river. All of those in civilized Melrath."

The elder sighed at Eldloga's words, and then looked at Jasper and Tristan, "What the secret that was absconded with, we may never know, but we believe it was tied to this Sorceress's treachery."

"However, as it is with nature, the spirits sought to correct the imbalance, birthing a spirit from Vynmur's waters. The River's Daughter, embodied by three faces. Svellhulda, Framilia, and Vitra. There, more Immortal-born mischief ensued, but we lost track of the man we wished to speak to regarding this. A strange man, an outlander named Eihr was said to have stabbed one of the spirits, its blackened blood leaking into the waters, which formed a tributary leading directly into an underground trench." The elder shook his head at such sacrilege. "We need to speak to him, and soon. He may possess something that will put an end to this crisis before it comes to a head..."

So saying, the Elder looked toward the Hearthfire, and rubbed his hands together. "Something will be coming on the anniversary of the Induk's transformation. This vision of Jaspers only gives us the final piece. This crawling chaos that seeks out our shore, it must be drawn to us for a reason. Perhaps Lanneisse is serving as a beacon for it, for its changed nature..."

"You see... The Induk did change for all of these terrible events. Not for the better. You are aware of the frequency of natural disasters, and the ineffectual sacrifices that have failed us, time and again?" The Elder waited for them to say so, and then went on, "We believe the Induk, in being promised the blood of the Ragnari that pursued the sorceress, has taken that broken promise to an extreme. Through the tributary formed from the wound of Vitra, one of Vynmur's 'daughters', it has taken all of the blood of sacrifices offered. Even those that burn find their way to her in their time. Her hunger is insatiable, and it may not be satisfied, until that crawling menace you described finds it. What happens then? We don't intend to find out, but we have reason to believe based on the signs you saw in your vision, that it will be arriving on the anniversary of the transformation of Lanneisse that first occurred. The Cold Cycle of 721. These two forces must not be allowed to join together, or we fear the vision of doom promised in your own, will spell ultimate disaster for Melrath"

[Tristan Venora]

Tristan remained standing when the Elder that spoke for the rest told Jasper to take a seat, and he did so until he was told that he was allowed to sit down as well. He was among holy men, and he would not be so arrogant as to presume that he would get the same treatment as an Aesir. When he was finally seated as well, he made sure to check how the Tunawa who was still residing under his shirt was doing and adjust his position accordingly if it seemed that is unexpected new companion might be uncomfortable.

The Elders seemed to not have paid a lot of attention to the little one so far, but in Tristan’s opinion, the Tunawa was just as much part of this here as Jasper and him, probably even more so, for the Tunawa and its companions had delivered the initial warning.

The holy men, he observed as he sat there and waited for the tale to begin, looked concerned, as if they already knew what was going on – or did at least have a definite suspicion.

When the Elder who spoke for the rest of them talked about Alora’s End, the young duke listened attentively. He had been vaguely aware of the existence of a place called Flayer’s End in Myrkvior’s Forest, but he had not known the story behind it. The events surrounding the Defier Alora and her dramatic death had taken place before his arrival in Melrath. Even though it sometimes seemed like an eternity to him, he had only arrived in Zi’da that arc.

When the Elder said that the lake that Alora had destroyed had had an Induk associated with it and that that Induk had been warped beyond recognition, Tristan’s eyes widened in surprise and shock. He had a suspicion as to where this might be going now, and he couldn’t help but worry, especially after what Chester told him about the Naer’s sacrifice.

The Tale of Alora’s End and its consequences had already constituted the cause of considerable concern in his opinion, but when the Elder mentioned the meddling of what he called “Immortal-born” – and subsequently said Eihr’s name, the effect was worse. At the same time, he was hopeful though. The Elder had mentioned that Eihr might possess something that would put an end to the crisis before it came to a head – except that Eihr was not Eihr anymore. He wondered how he was supposed to explain that to the Elders.

He also had questions now – more than just one – but he decided to save his question for later as it seemed as if the Elder was not done with his story yet, and it would be inappropriate to interrupt him. So, he sat there, his gaze firmly trained on the Aesir and continued to listen to him.

“I am”, Tristan replied in a polite tone of voice when the Elder asked Jasper and him if they were aware and inclined his head. Ashling has asked him to attend a ritual sacrifice, back when they had first gotten engaged, and he had heard of an earthquake of sorts in Noatun, among other things.

When the Elder said that they believed that the crawling menace would arrive on the anniversary of Lanneisse’s transformation and that the two forces must not be allowed to join together, Tristan’s heart started to beat faster. The situation was, he decided, even more dire than he had thought before. He looked at Jasper and the little Tunawa for a moment, wondering what they thought of the story the Elder had just told, and then he raised his voice.

“You mentioned a man named Eihr, Your Holiness”, he remarked in a respectful tone of voice. “I met this man, before he stabbed the spirit. He is not in Melrath anymore, as far as I know, but perhaps, it is possible for me to reach out to him or find him, or at least get what you need”, he continued, thinking about the crystal heart that Eihr had given to him when he had first met him. It told Eihr if he was well, no matter the distance between them, and if he ever came into danger, it would Eihr to teleport to him, at least once a cycle.

Maybe, he thought, Eihr’s heart would activate as the Cold Cycle approached and the danger became more imminent, provided that he wasn’t found and arrived in Melrath first.

It occurred to him that there might be a certain risk involved for his brother if he returned to Melrath – the Melrathi didn’t take the wounding of a spirit lightly – but it seemed as if the Elders were more interested in speaking to him and acquiring whatever item he had than anything else. And if something happened, after all, he might be able to keep him safe. And anyway, he couldn’t keep quiet and possibly risk the destruction of an entire nation.

For the time being, he decided not to mention that Eihr was the entity that had occupied his brother Hart’s body for a while, and that Hart was a Mortalborn, an all the other complex aspects of his history. Trying to understand what exactly had happened had given him a headache. They needed clarity now and not a story that was confusing beyond measure.

“You also mentioned Immortal-born mischief”, he continued in a polite tone of voice, hoping that the Elders would not mind his asking questions, at least not too much. “Do you mean Mortalborn, the children of Immortals and mortals?” he asked, because he wanted to make sure that he understood that particular aspect of the story correctly.

“And have you ever heard of a place, a person or a being called Arkenstone?” he asked as his wondering about that seemed to have gotten overlooked next to all the other information.

“Is there anything we can do to prevent the joining of the two forces you mentioned, apart from acquiring whatever Eihr has?” he finally wanted to know and added, “I offer you my help, if you want it.” He did not mention how he might be able to help – the Elders were without a doubt aware of his skill as an alchemist. He simply fell silent and looked at the Elders and at Jasper, as he might have something to say as well.