A Rose In The Wind: A Saga of the Halmae -- Updated June 19, 2014
ellinor
Explorer
32x02
Hello all!!
First, thanks for the bumps. And second, apologies for the massively long break between posts. Professional obligations intervened for both Ilex and me, but now we've had a chance to do some story hour writing, and are ready to get back on the regular-posting train. There's a lot more wonderful story to tell!
I feel that considering the 9-month hiatus, we need a "Previously On" segment to get rolling. So here's the synopsis:
The party has traveled from their Pol Henna home base to the Kettenite-governed Sovereignty. In the Sovereignty, they generated unprecedented political change in the city of Cauldron in what the Cauldron natives may forever call "The Summer of the Heathen" (and what the players will forever call "The Skill Cascade"). This required going "the long way 'round the circle" of Cauldron's political Rings. The most significant result of this massive political undertaking was that the party uncovered and defeated a nefarious conspiracy orchestrated by the Restless Tide of the One True Path and restored a future of religious freedom for the city of Cauldron. In so doing, the party also caught the attention of Lady Akiko, heir to the Lord High Regent of the Sovereignty. Lady Akiko requested a meeting with the party...which brought the party one step closer to the possibility of meeting the ailing Lord High Regent...which in turn the party believed might bring them closer to deciphering the prophecy's language about "the last words of the Dying King"...and just that much closer to deciphering Rose's destiny.
To meet Lady Akiko in the Sovereignty's capital city of Divine Mark, the party began by teleporting to the nearby city of Overlook. But when they arrived, Rose was missing. With the help of the Overlook Telemancer, Goodman Miele, they identified what they believed was Rose's location. But when they landed there. . .
32x02
Twiggy jerked her head left, then right. Looked behind her. Where was everybody?
What if she’d been pushed from the teleport this time? Or what if everyone else had been? Or what if they were all stuck somewhere in the teleport plane?
She looked down, and saw a pile of stones and feathers, in a crudely drawn circle in the forest. She’d landed in the middle of Rose’s beacon. It looked exactly as it had in the scrying pool—but then it had been daytime. Now it was night, or almost so. And the tree cover made everything dark. And her friends were gone. Twilight, Twiggy thought, Sedellus’s hour.
But this wasn’t Sedellus’s fault. It was hers. It had been her job to get them all to Rose, and now they were gone. Twiggy felt the pressure of tears welling behind her eyes. Time to bring Rose back, she thought, pulling herself together. She cast light on her orb, and saw a few stones arranged in an arrow a few feet away. She followed it.
“Hello?” It was Tavi’s voice, faint but real, ahead and to the left.
“Tavi!” Twiggy cried out in relief. But then she tripped over a branch, and by the time she stood up, she was lost again.
###
Tavi heard Twiggy’s voice, but couldn’t see a thing. He began to climb one of the trees, to get a better vantage point. He got about five feet up when a screeching sound rang just beside his ear. Then a slash. Something had scratched his shoulder. Ow! he thought, and tried to keep climbing. Ow! another scratch. Then another. Then another loud screech.
###
The first thing Kormick did when he found himself alone in the forest was to light a fire. We must have been scattered by that kludged teleport, he thought, and it’s easier for the others to find me than for me to find them. He made a circle of rocks and tindered the dry leaves underfoot. Sparks rose from the fire, and hit the branches above. Instantly, Kormick was surrounded by…creatures. Just feet away, dozens of them. Some sort of monkeys, he thought, but they seemed to be attached to the trees somehow. Their fur looked like bark, but their faces looked like lemurs, and their claws were sharp. He lit a crossbow bolt aflame and fired. A tree-lemur fell to the ground, dead. Kormick re-loaded his hand-crossbow and lit another.
###
A flaming bolt from Kormick’s crossbow flew by Tavi’s face and lodged in the next tree, setting the bark ablaze. Tavi rubbed his eyes. What were those things? Another screech, another arrow—this one from Nyoko’s bow. It lodged in a tree-lemur in the pool of light, only a couple of feet from Tavi’s head. Tavi could see the creature’s claws, sharp splinters at the end of the creatures’ bark-covered arms. One appeared—as if from inside the tree trunk,—and slashed him in the face. Whatever they were, they were dangerous. Blood poured from below his eye. He responded with a fire pulse. The creature burst into flame. Tavi let go of his branch and landed on the leaves below.
Arden saw a fire in the distance. She crept toward it, silently. As she approached, she saw Kormick by the fire-light, surrounded by attacking lemurs. She threw her dagger at one of them. It screeched and hissed as the dagger knocked a chunk of bark from its back. The magic dagger returned to her hand—but now the tree-lemurs knew where she was. Within seconds, she was dodging slashes.
Nyoko heard Tavi’s voice in the distance. “Nyoko! You got one!” A flash of Tavi’s green flame illuminated Tavi’s face for a moment, a small pool of light nearly 30 yards away. Then, with a screech, a lemur popped out of the tree beside Nyoko and slashed her in the back.
“Everyone! I found the beacon!” Twiggy yelled, hoping they could hear. “Look for my—” her voice caught in her throat as two enormous branches came flying toward her. Tree-lemurs popped out of the branches. Their claws and teeth dug into her face and neck. Twiggy grasped at her neck to stem the bleeding. It barely helped. Acorn squirmed in her pocket. “Help!” she screamed as loud as she could, but it was little more than a gurgle.
Mena heard Twiggy’s cry. It was somewhere ahead and to the left—but where? Mena was standing amid a pile of rocks, with a hill behind her. She dashed forward. The rocks slid, and her ankle turned. She stumbled and slid to the bottom of the scree. Twiggy’s voice again, pained. Too quiet. Pull it together, Mena told herself. She freed her ankle and clambered ahead, toward Twiggy’s voice. Above her, the trees rustled.
Kormick spun around. A tree-lemur was right behind him. It slashed his chest and gut. He managed to seize it and throw it away, but blood streamed through his coat and he doubled over in pain. Another tree-lemur hissed. So this is how I go, Kormick thought. A nature guide killed by animals I didn’t even know existed.
A dagger whizzed over his shoulder. The hissing lemur fell to the ground. “Arden!” Kormick peered through the smoky fire-light at her hazy shape, coming toward him. “My favorite murder-slave!” A tree-lemur jumped out toward her. He bashed it with the war-hammer in his left hand. So glad to see you!” Kormick coughed in pain.
Note: For those keeping count, the tree-lemurs have just rolled three crits against us in a single round.
Savina could hear everyone, but couldn’t see anyone. They were far away—too far for her to help them. But she knew they needed help. She could hear their voices, unmistakably in pain. She felt her way past tree trunks, toward the voices. She followed Tavi’s voice, but when she got to where it had been, he wasn’t there -- there was just a bunch of bark, and a spiked branch sticking up from the ground. The spike had blood on it. Savina hoped it wasn’t Tavi’s. She suspected it was.
Twiggy grasped her throat and felt the hot, wet blood seep through her fingers. The world swam in her vision, and the trees above rustled. She heard Mena’s voice: “Twiggy! Behind you!” and cast shield. It was all she could do. I know how to work together, she thought. How do I work apart?
Back to back, Kormick and Arden fended off the lemurs. But they were surrounded. Arden could hear Tavi’s and Nyoko’s voices, only feet away, but it might as well have been miles. A lemur slashed through their defenses, gashing Kormick’s gut. He doubled over and moaned in pain. Another swiped at Arden. Blood streamed from her neck and side. She could feel her energy ebbing away.
“Justicar,” she began, surprising herself. But suddenly she couldn’t bear the thought of them dying like this, joined back to back in battle, without him knowing the truth. “If we’re going to die here, there’s something—”
He wheeled around to glare at her, his face pale with blood loss.
“Shut up, Arden. We are not. Dying. Of monkey bites. Stay right there.” With some last reserve of energy, he launched himself up into the tree above them and started climbing.
Arden heard a series of crossbow twangs, hisses, and yelps. Moments later, Kormick fell back to the ground, covered in bark and blood. “You won’t believe what’s up there,” he croaked.
“Monkeys?” she ventured, surveying all his fresh scratches and bites. She hoped he was rolling his eyes at her, but his eyes stayed rolled. He was unconscious.
Nyoko let loose with an arrow at the lemur nearest her. It tore away a huge chunk of bark. Nyoko arched her eyebrow. Finally, some progress.
Twiggy couldn’t see anymore, and could barely breathe, but she listened. She was surrounded by lemurs, rustling above her. She cast upward, igniting her flaming sphere in the canopy above her head. She heard crackling and shrieking as a lemur ignited and kept burning. She smelled smoke. It was exactly what she had hoped for. Lemurs scuttled away above her, and—she hoped—everyone else could see the fire. She sat down to avoid falling. You can’t fall off the ground, she thought, and strove to remain conscious. To keep the ball of fire burning…
Savina took off running toward the ball of fire in the distance. After a dozen yards, she found Kormick and Arden. Arden was kneeling over him, holding bloody fabric to his gut. Savina dove in, and prayed for Alirria’s grace. The familiar blue glow coursed through her, and she felt relief as Kormick gasped awake.
Gradually, the party converged on Twiggy’s fire, fighting off lemurs the whole way. By the time the group could all see each other, they were all covered in blood and leaves—and Rose was still nowhere to be found—but the rustling in the trees above them was only wind.
Hello all!!
First, thanks for the bumps. And second, apologies for the massively long break between posts. Professional obligations intervened for both Ilex and me, but now we've had a chance to do some story hour writing, and are ready to get back on the regular-posting train. There's a lot more wonderful story to tell!
I feel that considering the 9-month hiatus, we need a "Previously On" segment to get rolling. So here's the synopsis:
The party has traveled from their Pol Henna home base to the Kettenite-governed Sovereignty. In the Sovereignty, they generated unprecedented political change in the city of Cauldron in what the Cauldron natives may forever call "The Summer of the Heathen" (and what the players will forever call "The Skill Cascade"). This required going "the long way 'round the circle" of Cauldron's political Rings. The most significant result of this massive political undertaking was that the party uncovered and defeated a nefarious conspiracy orchestrated by the Restless Tide of the One True Path and restored a future of religious freedom for the city of Cauldron. In so doing, the party also caught the attention of Lady Akiko, heir to the Lord High Regent of the Sovereignty. Lady Akiko requested a meeting with the party...which brought the party one step closer to the possibility of meeting the ailing Lord High Regent...which in turn the party believed might bring them closer to deciphering the prophecy's language about "the last words of the Dying King"...and just that much closer to deciphering Rose's destiny.
To meet Lady Akiko in the Sovereignty's capital city of Divine Mark, the party began by teleporting to the nearby city of Overlook. But when they arrived, Rose was missing. With the help of the Overlook Telemancer, Goodman Miele, they identified what they believed was Rose's location. But when they landed there. . .
32x02
Twiggy jerked her head left, then right. Looked behind her. Where was everybody?
What if she’d been pushed from the teleport this time? Or what if everyone else had been? Or what if they were all stuck somewhere in the teleport plane?
She looked down, and saw a pile of stones and feathers, in a crudely drawn circle in the forest. She’d landed in the middle of Rose’s beacon. It looked exactly as it had in the scrying pool—but then it had been daytime. Now it was night, or almost so. And the tree cover made everything dark. And her friends were gone. Twilight, Twiggy thought, Sedellus’s hour.
But this wasn’t Sedellus’s fault. It was hers. It had been her job to get them all to Rose, and now they were gone. Twiggy felt the pressure of tears welling behind her eyes. Time to bring Rose back, she thought, pulling herself together. She cast light on her orb, and saw a few stones arranged in an arrow a few feet away. She followed it.
“Hello?” It was Tavi’s voice, faint but real, ahead and to the left.
“Tavi!” Twiggy cried out in relief. But then she tripped over a branch, and by the time she stood up, she was lost again.
###
Tavi heard Twiggy’s voice, but couldn’t see a thing. He began to climb one of the trees, to get a better vantage point. He got about five feet up when a screeching sound rang just beside his ear. Then a slash. Something had scratched his shoulder. Ow! he thought, and tried to keep climbing. Ow! another scratch. Then another. Then another loud screech.
###
The first thing Kormick did when he found himself alone in the forest was to light a fire. We must have been scattered by that kludged teleport, he thought, and it’s easier for the others to find me than for me to find them. He made a circle of rocks and tindered the dry leaves underfoot. Sparks rose from the fire, and hit the branches above. Instantly, Kormick was surrounded by…creatures. Just feet away, dozens of them. Some sort of monkeys, he thought, but they seemed to be attached to the trees somehow. Their fur looked like bark, but their faces looked like lemurs, and their claws were sharp. He lit a crossbow bolt aflame and fired. A tree-lemur fell to the ground, dead. Kormick re-loaded his hand-crossbow and lit another.
###
A flaming bolt from Kormick’s crossbow flew by Tavi’s face and lodged in the next tree, setting the bark ablaze. Tavi rubbed his eyes. What were those things? Another screech, another arrow—this one from Nyoko’s bow. It lodged in a tree-lemur in the pool of light, only a couple of feet from Tavi’s head. Tavi could see the creature’s claws, sharp splinters at the end of the creatures’ bark-covered arms. One appeared—as if from inside the tree trunk,—and slashed him in the face. Whatever they were, they were dangerous. Blood poured from below his eye. He responded with a fire pulse. The creature burst into flame. Tavi let go of his branch and landed on the leaves below.
Arden saw a fire in the distance. She crept toward it, silently. As she approached, she saw Kormick by the fire-light, surrounded by attacking lemurs. She threw her dagger at one of them. It screeched and hissed as the dagger knocked a chunk of bark from its back. The magic dagger returned to her hand—but now the tree-lemurs knew where she was. Within seconds, she was dodging slashes.
Nyoko heard Tavi’s voice in the distance. “Nyoko! You got one!” A flash of Tavi’s green flame illuminated Tavi’s face for a moment, a small pool of light nearly 30 yards away. Then, with a screech, a lemur popped out of the tree beside Nyoko and slashed her in the back.
“Everyone! I found the beacon!” Twiggy yelled, hoping they could hear. “Look for my—” her voice caught in her throat as two enormous branches came flying toward her. Tree-lemurs popped out of the branches. Their claws and teeth dug into her face and neck. Twiggy grasped at her neck to stem the bleeding. It barely helped. Acorn squirmed in her pocket. “Help!” she screamed as loud as she could, but it was little more than a gurgle.
Mena heard Twiggy’s cry. It was somewhere ahead and to the left—but where? Mena was standing amid a pile of rocks, with a hill behind her. She dashed forward. The rocks slid, and her ankle turned. She stumbled and slid to the bottom of the scree. Twiggy’s voice again, pained. Too quiet. Pull it together, Mena told herself. She freed her ankle and clambered ahead, toward Twiggy’s voice. Above her, the trees rustled.
Kormick spun around. A tree-lemur was right behind him. It slashed his chest and gut. He managed to seize it and throw it away, but blood streamed through his coat and he doubled over in pain. Another tree-lemur hissed. So this is how I go, Kormick thought. A nature guide killed by animals I didn’t even know existed.
A dagger whizzed over his shoulder. The hissing lemur fell to the ground. “Arden!” Kormick peered through the smoky fire-light at her hazy shape, coming toward him. “My favorite murder-slave!” A tree-lemur jumped out toward her. He bashed it with the war-hammer in his left hand. So glad to see you!” Kormick coughed in pain.
Note: For those keeping count, the tree-lemurs have just rolled three crits against us in a single round.
Savina could hear everyone, but couldn’t see anyone. They were far away—too far for her to help them. But she knew they needed help. She could hear their voices, unmistakably in pain. She felt her way past tree trunks, toward the voices. She followed Tavi’s voice, but when she got to where it had been, he wasn’t there -- there was just a bunch of bark, and a spiked branch sticking up from the ground. The spike had blood on it. Savina hoped it wasn’t Tavi’s. She suspected it was.
Twiggy grasped her throat and felt the hot, wet blood seep through her fingers. The world swam in her vision, and the trees above rustled. She heard Mena’s voice: “Twiggy! Behind you!” and cast shield. It was all she could do. I know how to work together, she thought. How do I work apart?
Back to back, Kormick and Arden fended off the lemurs. But they were surrounded. Arden could hear Tavi’s and Nyoko’s voices, only feet away, but it might as well have been miles. A lemur slashed through their defenses, gashing Kormick’s gut. He doubled over and moaned in pain. Another swiped at Arden. Blood streamed from her neck and side. She could feel her energy ebbing away.
“Justicar,” she began, surprising herself. But suddenly she couldn’t bear the thought of them dying like this, joined back to back in battle, without him knowing the truth. “If we’re going to die here, there’s something—”
He wheeled around to glare at her, his face pale with blood loss.
“Shut up, Arden. We are not. Dying. Of monkey bites. Stay right there.” With some last reserve of energy, he launched himself up into the tree above them and started climbing.
Arden heard a series of crossbow twangs, hisses, and yelps. Moments later, Kormick fell back to the ground, covered in bark and blood. “You won’t believe what’s up there,” he croaked.
“Monkeys?” she ventured, surveying all his fresh scratches and bites. She hoped he was rolling his eyes at her, but his eyes stayed rolled. He was unconscious.
Nyoko let loose with an arrow at the lemur nearest her. It tore away a huge chunk of bark. Nyoko arched her eyebrow. Finally, some progress.
Twiggy couldn’t see anymore, and could barely breathe, but she listened. She was surrounded by lemurs, rustling above her. She cast upward, igniting her flaming sphere in the canopy above her head. She heard crackling and shrieking as a lemur ignited and kept burning. She smelled smoke. It was exactly what she had hoped for. Lemurs scuttled away above her, and—she hoped—everyone else could see the fire. She sat down to avoid falling. You can’t fall off the ground, she thought, and strove to remain conscious. To keep the ball of fire burning…
Savina took off running toward the ball of fire in the distance. After a dozen yards, she found Kormick and Arden. Arden was kneeling over him, holding bloody fabric to his gut. Savina dove in, and prayed for Alirria’s grace. The familiar blue glow coursed through her, and she felt relief as Kormick gasped awake.
Gradually, the party converged on Twiggy’s fire, fighting off lemurs the whole way. By the time the group could all see each other, they were all covered in blood and leaves—and Rose was still nowhere to be found—but the rustling in the trees above them was only wind.
It's so great to be back! Thanks everyone for your patience; the break was needed but the return is sweet. Other than the party turning permanently into irrational tree-lemurs in the very next update due to some contaminated bites -- which does somewhat change the campaign's flavor (whoops spoilers) -- I think we have good stuff coming up. ;-)
Shieldhaven
Explorer
I, for one, welcome our were-primate overlords.
Wait. A human cursed with lemur-therianthropy just has two different primate forms. Is that enough change to qualify? I'm so confused!
I can't wait for the next installment, when all of my questions about life, the universe, and everything will be answered.
(Welcome back, y'all.)
--Haven
Wait. A human cursed with lemur-therianthropy just has two different primate forms. Is that enough change to qualify? I'm so confused!
I can't wait for the next installment, when all of my questions about life, the universe, and everything will be answered.
(Welcome back, y'all.)
--Haven
ellinor
Explorer
33x01
Thanks for the warm re-welcome! With no further ado:
33x01
Tavi listened carefully to the rustling branches. Still only wind. By the rays of the moonlight, he began to explore for signs of where Rose could have gone. Savina was healing everyone, and Twiggy was reading from her magic map. They were in a small, forested valley, surrounded by mountains, with no structures of any sort in the map’s radius.
“She’s probably in a cave somewhere,” Tavi said. He remembered playing hide-and-seek with Rose and Twiggy when they were kids. Twiggy had ended up in the kitchen’s coal scuttle, and had to be freed by the butler. Rose had been under her bed the whole time. “This is my cave,” Rose had said from beneath the bed, as the butler dragged the coal-covered Twiggy toward a bath. “Come on in.”
Tavi spotted a bit of torn fabric caught on a branch, and beneath it, a few sticks arranged in the shape of an arrow. “This way!” he announced. They followed Rose’s markers, spotting them in the moonlight, until they reached the mouth of a cave. They inched toward it cautiously.
Tavi heard flapping and caught a gust of wind. Something flew toward him from the darkness. He ducked and shut his eyes…and Whisper landed on the top of his head.
Hey! Move! That’s my spot! thought Phoebe.
Tavi was too relieved to tell Phoebe to be quiet.
###
Kormick brandished his hammer and followed Whisper into the cave.
Rose sat in the glow of a small fire. “Glad you could make it.”
“It isn’t pretty out there,” Kormick replied.
“No kidding,” Rose said.
Tavi reached down to help her up, and she threw her arms around him. “Really. I’m glad you made it.” Her voice cracked as the tension of her wait came flowing out in long, ragged sighs. She hugged Savina, and Twiggy, then Mena, one by one.
“You’re fine, kiddo. You did well. Good job with the arrow markers,” Kormick said.
Twiggy arranged the components for the scroll of linked portal that Miele had sent with them. She began casting. “Something’s wrong,” she said. “I can feel something trying to push in. But it’s faint, as if I’m listening to something from under a blanket. It’s coming from that direction—” she pointed southwest, toward whatever had pushed Rose from the original teleport. “Whoever it is, they know we’re here.”
The runes glowed brighter. There was a rustling at the mouth of the cave. A sharpened stick flew into the cave and shattered at Kormick’s feet. Then another. One caught Tavi’s ankle. A high-pitched chittering came from outside. The lemurs were regrouping.
Tavi shoved Rose into the teleport circle. She disappeared. Savina stepped in, and Kormick dove in behind her, dragging Mena, who grabbed Arden. The world went white. Then they were all in a heap on the floor of the Teleport Center in Overlook. Everyone was there. Miele stood over them.
Kormick looked up from the bottom of the heap. “Some very strange monkeys may be following us.”
###
“If we don’t do something, this will just keep happening,” Savina said. They were all gathered in a private room at the Overlook Teleport Center, deciding their next move. “We need to be able to teleport safely.”
“They could find us on the main roads and in the teleport,” Kormick pointed out, “but not in the city. Whoever it was had a limited idea of where to look for us.”
“But until we get to Divine Mark, we’ll be on the main roads,” Tavi pointed out.
“Well, we know something about them now,” Twiggy said. “They have a mix of arcane and divine magic, and they’re…” Twiggy motioned toward a place on the large map of the Ketkath that hung on the wall “somewhere in this area. I could feel the energy, and it was coming from the same place Goodman Miele identified before. Whoever it is, they would have had to set up something pretty elaborate to push Rose out of the teleport like that.”
“We are expected in Divine Mark,” Unsuku said. “When Lady Akiko-san calls, one does not just wander off into the woods and keep her waiting.”
Nyoko raised an inscrutable eyebrow.
“I have an idea,” Twiggy said, and called Miele into the room. “Can you help us scry the location where the teleport meddling originated?”
Together, they built a scrying pool. In the water, Savina could see some feathers and leaves . . . and an old Alirrian symbol. That seemed surprisingly promising. “Maybe this is someone we can just have a conversation with,” she said. “We can get another scroll of Linked Portal from Goodman Miele. We can go right there, and come right back. No wandering at all,” she said, staring at Unsuku.
It was decided.
“We’ll be ready to send you off first thing in the morning,” Miele said, with a deep bow to Tavi.
###
The next morning, they all rose with Savina. Twiggy packed as Savina prayed, and they arrived at the Teleport Center shortly after dawn. Miele was ready, waiting. Twiggy wondered whether he had slept.
They gathered in the teleport circle. The world went white.
And then they were in a cave. A small one, but they were all in it—together. Already better than last time, Twiggy thought. They stood on a raised stone platform, surrounded by runes, feathers, and shards of tile, each with different patterns. The arrangement looked wrong to Twiggy, as if someone had had a teleport circle described to them, but had never seen one before. To the side was a small pool of water—for scrying, Twiggy presumed.
“We’re in the side of a mountain,” Kormick announced. The morning sun began to stream in the cave mouth, illuminating the walls of the cave. They were covered with glyphs and icons that Twiggy couldn’t understand.
“These are Alirrian,” Savina said. “They’re for consecrating a space. But they look old, somehow. Used.”
“Maybe refugees stayed here to keep away from the Sovereigns,” Tavi suggested.
Twiggy picked up a shard of tile and cast object read to see its past. Her vision began with a view of a plaster ceiling—it must have been a floor tile—until a woman came into view. She had gray-blonde hair peeking from a scarf, and wore the simple Alirrian shift of a Tender. Her features were unclear. Twiggy could see the room behind her. It was a Teleport Center. These tiles must be from the floors of different Teleport Centers across the Halmae, Twiggy realized. Perhaps a way of knowing when we were teleporting. Whoever this is, she’s just been waiting for us to teleport. Then the Tender in her vision leaned forward, threw a powder, and seemed to speak. There was a flash.
Then another vision. Under a blue sky. No buildings, but then the face of the Tender. She concentrated for a moment, and spoke again.
Then the third and last vision. A flash of light, then the Tender’s face. Her eyes widened, then she turned away and ducked down. It was in this cave.
Twiggy explained the visions. “Sorry they’re not more help,” Twiggy said.
“At least we know now that the teleport circle has something to do with a Tender,” Savina said. “That must be a good sign.”
BEHIND YOU! Acorn suddenly screamed in Twiggy’s head. Twiggy ducked reflexively. Not down! It’s a rat!
Savina pointed at the rat. “Stop,” she commanded. It did.
Nyoko peered at the rat. “What’s this?” she asked, pointing to its neck. There was a thin ribbon tied around the rat, holding a small bundle of feathers and moss.
Twiggy identified it as a scrying sensor. “Someone’s watching us through it.” She instantly felt unsafe. “Probably that Tender.”
Savina spoke to the rat. “I don’t know why you’re trying to harm us, but what we’re doing is good. I’d hate to oppose an honest Alirrian without need. We will not harm your creature. We will wait here until dusk if you wish to meet.”
Really? We won’t harm it?” Acorn asked. But it’s a rat!
And so they sat at the mouth of the cave and waited, as the sun passed overhead.
Thanks for the warm re-welcome! With no further ado:
33x01
Tavi listened carefully to the rustling branches. Still only wind. By the rays of the moonlight, he began to explore for signs of where Rose could have gone. Savina was healing everyone, and Twiggy was reading from her magic map. They were in a small, forested valley, surrounded by mountains, with no structures of any sort in the map’s radius.
“She’s probably in a cave somewhere,” Tavi said. He remembered playing hide-and-seek with Rose and Twiggy when they were kids. Twiggy had ended up in the kitchen’s coal scuttle, and had to be freed by the butler. Rose had been under her bed the whole time. “This is my cave,” Rose had said from beneath the bed, as the butler dragged the coal-covered Twiggy toward a bath. “Come on in.”
Tavi spotted a bit of torn fabric caught on a branch, and beneath it, a few sticks arranged in the shape of an arrow. “This way!” he announced. They followed Rose’s markers, spotting them in the moonlight, until they reached the mouth of a cave. They inched toward it cautiously.
Tavi heard flapping and caught a gust of wind. Something flew toward him from the darkness. He ducked and shut his eyes…and Whisper landed on the top of his head.
Hey! Move! That’s my spot! thought Phoebe.
Tavi was too relieved to tell Phoebe to be quiet.
###
Kormick brandished his hammer and followed Whisper into the cave.
Rose sat in the glow of a small fire. “Glad you could make it.”
“It isn’t pretty out there,” Kormick replied.
“No kidding,” Rose said.
Tavi reached down to help her up, and she threw her arms around him. “Really. I’m glad you made it.” Her voice cracked as the tension of her wait came flowing out in long, ragged sighs. She hugged Savina, and Twiggy, then Mena, one by one.
“You’re fine, kiddo. You did well. Good job with the arrow markers,” Kormick said.
Twiggy arranged the components for the scroll of linked portal that Miele had sent with them. She began casting. “Something’s wrong,” she said. “I can feel something trying to push in. But it’s faint, as if I’m listening to something from under a blanket. It’s coming from that direction—” she pointed southwest, toward whatever had pushed Rose from the original teleport. “Whoever it is, they know we’re here.”
The runes glowed brighter. There was a rustling at the mouth of the cave. A sharpened stick flew into the cave and shattered at Kormick’s feet. Then another. One caught Tavi’s ankle. A high-pitched chittering came from outside. The lemurs were regrouping.
Tavi shoved Rose into the teleport circle. She disappeared. Savina stepped in, and Kormick dove in behind her, dragging Mena, who grabbed Arden. The world went white. Then they were all in a heap on the floor of the Teleport Center in Overlook. Everyone was there. Miele stood over them.
Kormick looked up from the bottom of the heap. “Some very strange monkeys may be following us.”
###
“If we don’t do something, this will just keep happening,” Savina said. They were all gathered in a private room at the Overlook Teleport Center, deciding their next move. “We need to be able to teleport safely.”
“They could find us on the main roads and in the teleport,” Kormick pointed out, “but not in the city. Whoever it was had a limited idea of where to look for us.”
“But until we get to Divine Mark, we’ll be on the main roads,” Tavi pointed out.
“Well, we know something about them now,” Twiggy said. “They have a mix of arcane and divine magic, and they’re…” Twiggy motioned toward a place on the large map of the Ketkath that hung on the wall “somewhere in this area. I could feel the energy, and it was coming from the same place Goodman Miele identified before. Whoever it is, they would have had to set up something pretty elaborate to push Rose out of the teleport like that.”
“We are expected in Divine Mark,” Unsuku said. “When Lady Akiko-san calls, one does not just wander off into the woods and keep her waiting.”
Nyoko raised an inscrutable eyebrow.
“I have an idea,” Twiggy said, and called Miele into the room. “Can you help us scry the location where the teleport meddling originated?”
Together, they built a scrying pool. In the water, Savina could see some feathers and leaves . . . and an old Alirrian symbol. That seemed surprisingly promising. “Maybe this is someone we can just have a conversation with,” she said. “We can get another scroll of Linked Portal from Goodman Miele. We can go right there, and come right back. No wandering at all,” she said, staring at Unsuku.
It was decided.
“We’ll be ready to send you off first thing in the morning,” Miele said, with a deep bow to Tavi.
###
The next morning, they all rose with Savina. Twiggy packed as Savina prayed, and they arrived at the Teleport Center shortly after dawn. Miele was ready, waiting. Twiggy wondered whether he had slept.
They gathered in the teleport circle. The world went white.
And then they were in a cave. A small one, but they were all in it—together. Already better than last time, Twiggy thought. They stood on a raised stone platform, surrounded by runes, feathers, and shards of tile, each with different patterns. The arrangement looked wrong to Twiggy, as if someone had had a teleport circle described to them, but had never seen one before. To the side was a small pool of water—for scrying, Twiggy presumed.
“We’re in the side of a mountain,” Kormick announced. The morning sun began to stream in the cave mouth, illuminating the walls of the cave. They were covered with glyphs and icons that Twiggy couldn’t understand.
“These are Alirrian,” Savina said. “They’re for consecrating a space. But they look old, somehow. Used.”
“Maybe refugees stayed here to keep away from the Sovereigns,” Tavi suggested.
Twiggy picked up a shard of tile and cast object read to see its past. Her vision began with a view of a plaster ceiling—it must have been a floor tile—until a woman came into view. She had gray-blonde hair peeking from a scarf, and wore the simple Alirrian shift of a Tender. Her features were unclear. Twiggy could see the room behind her. It was a Teleport Center. These tiles must be from the floors of different Teleport Centers across the Halmae, Twiggy realized. Perhaps a way of knowing when we were teleporting. Whoever this is, she’s just been waiting for us to teleport. Then the Tender in her vision leaned forward, threw a powder, and seemed to speak. There was a flash.
Then another vision. Under a blue sky. No buildings, but then the face of the Tender. She concentrated for a moment, and spoke again.
Then the third and last vision. A flash of light, then the Tender’s face. Her eyes widened, then she turned away and ducked down. It was in this cave.
Twiggy explained the visions. “Sorry they’re not more help,” Twiggy said.
“At least we know now that the teleport circle has something to do with a Tender,” Savina said. “That must be a good sign.”
BEHIND YOU! Acorn suddenly screamed in Twiggy’s head. Twiggy ducked reflexively. Not down! It’s a rat!
Savina pointed at the rat. “Stop,” she commanded. It did.
Nyoko peered at the rat. “What’s this?” she asked, pointing to its neck. There was a thin ribbon tied around the rat, holding a small bundle of feathers and moss.
Twiggy identified it as a scrying sensor. “Someone’s watching us through it.” She instantly felt unsafe. “Probably that Tender.”
Savina spoke to the rat. “I don’t know why you’re trying to harm us, but what we’re doing is good. I’d hate to oppose an honest Alirrian without need. We will not harm your creature. We will wait here until dusk if you wish to meet.”
Really? We won’t harm it?” Acorn asked. But it’s a rat!
And so they sat at the mouth of the cave and waited, as the sun passed overhead.
