The Eye of Anubis: Book Six

[DocBeard]

"Kuzan." Tomas meets the priest's glare with one of his own; any good humor on the Lamordian's face has evaporated in the face of this latest threat. Tomas has, in its wake, the same simmering, furious appearance he did back in Barovia, as if he were a pot a few seconds from boiling over. Tomas does not believe he needs to verbally express himself to the priest.

Instead, Eisenwald turns around, deliberately, looking from the child to the mad fairy. "Are you that afraid of the Featherflute?" Tomas asks, finally, after a moment. "That you would kill the one person left in the city who remembered your song, river woman? Because, y'know, faith ebbs and flows, just like the water. As long as there was life, there was a chance that your...people could return to you. But now?"

Tomas gestures with his shield arm at the city. "No one in that town is going to be believing in anything. Their souls, the very spark of humanity that makes their faith special, are sucked dry. So it's just kind of funny, in a side show sort of way." Tomas doesn't laugh, though his face does split into a sick sort of grin, like when you get a dirty joke just before throwing up. "You're blaming the people of the valley, the outside religions, the lack of sacrifice...but the real reason you won't be honored anymore isn't any of those. It's the man who's cause you're championing. And you, naturally."

"The only worthless thing here." Tomas continues, "Is the ego of a would be goddess too proud to realize her poor judgment drove her followers away to gods that didn't want their children as a sign of faith. To beliefs that did not sell their souls without so much as a protest to a stronger Fairy Lord who saunters into the territory." Eisenwald laughs, now, a bitter bark, as if he recognized the soul of the woman, a self proclaimed mother who only knew how to hurt her children. "Don't you get it, Lorelei? We're not the ones Featherflute's making fun of. You are. This whole thing is his way of stamping your face in the dirt, so that no one else gets any bright ideas about being top fairy."

"If you have to kill a child who believed in you, just to create an illusion of strength and control over your smoking wreck of a life..." Tomas shrugs, finally. "...better to die a whole, living being, than to live forever as a slave that's as good as dead in any way that counts. But it's not our decision, fairy. It's yours. You're killing this child, and letting him win. We will not damn thousands of souls because you felt like throwing out a dramatic plot twist."

"The responsibility is yours, fairy, was yours from the moment you decided to be the patron of this valley! You failed them, their city, their very souls-so fail again, Lorelei!" Tomas steps forward, his shield hand shaking, his voice rising in a merciless crescendo!, "Prove to the rest of the court that you're as much of a fool as they thought! As they chuckle and guffaw, I'll watch understanding creep into your eyes, and your soul buckle and break under the weight of your humiliation, and THAT will be the requiem to which the souls of this lost city may finally find rest! The suicide of the relevance of their washed up, quitting liar of a goddess!"

[yalenusveler]

"Will one child salve the hunger of an age" Andre asked, finally getting up from his spot. "I cannot agree to the death of this child, but then again, I cannot agree to the enslavement of the souls of the townsfolk."

He rubbed his chin as if pondering something. "No child need die tonight, yet you would still get sacrifice, and more than one child's fill. And more important still, you would be remembered." He began to pace, his gaze not leaving the Lorelei.

"Once, you were a goddess, worshiped by the people of this valley. But time and invasion has wiped you from history. And now you live on as a courtier in Featherflute's court. But when time makes of this court like it makes of all, what will be of the mother goddess of the river then?"

"I cannot abide by a drowned child, but I can offer my blood sacrificed freely upon each moon both new and full, shed in memory of the Mother Goddess of the Valley." The expression upon his face suggested he was...distressingly serious.

"I can offer you a return to the pages of history. I teach men and women of the faiths of the world. They would now learn not merely of the interloper Akiri gods, but of a proud mother goddess, nameless from a time when names were unneeded. Who loved the children of her valley, who defended them by raising her mighty waters and crushing interlopers. Of how she was adored, how she grew wrathful and called for sacrifice, and how in the end, cruelly forgotten by her people, their once fertile home became a land of dust and rock. A cautionary tale in taking those who love us for granted."

"However, you would not be forgotten, memory of you now living anew. Men and women of learning would know of you, and learn of your might. And if the court here were to become dust, knowledge of your divinity, of your love and of your anger and sadness, would live on." His eyes didn't leave the mad fey's eyes.

"I offer you prayer, my own at first, but if any chose to take it up, my place would not be to stop them. " Andre's resolve didn't seem to waver, even though weariness entered into his voice from lack of sleep if nothing else.

"I offer you this, Goddess of the River. How much is it worth to you? A piece of shattered glass, discarded? Eight drops of Fey blood to replace mortal blood spilled for you? The life of a child, worthless because to humans to assign it worth is to price the priceless? All these things? None?"

[Kaitou Kage]

The priest's glare didn't subside. It simply changed. He stood apart from Lia, but he watched every move she made. He said nothing, and didn't even look like he was going to say anything. He simply watched. He wasn't trying to get the whole expedition mad at him, but he did see his point becoming realized. He didn't want to see anyone hurt, but he did want to see Lia come down off her high horse already.

He learned that doing the right thing for the wrong reasons was worse than doing nothing at all. And Lia all too often took the worse path.

[NeoTiamat]

Statue of Beyrath, The Mazes, The Kermanevar, Sebua
June 24th, 761, 4:28 AM; Day 99 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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"Prove to the rest of the court that you're as much of a fool as they thought! As they chuckle and guffaw, I'll watch understanding creep into your eyes, and your soul buckle and break under the weight of your humiliation, and THAT will be the requiem to which the souls of this lost city may finally find rest! The suicide of the relevance of their washed up, quitting liar of a goddess!"

The Lorelei's dark eyes focused upon Tomas, dark orbs that revealed no emotion as the paladin delivered his thundering tirade. The small, sad smile drained away, leaving an expression best described as curious. And as Tomas finished, the Lorelei.... laughed.

"You are cunning, mortal." The water-fey chuckled amidst peals of light-hearted laughter. "But I am no Malice, to fall for such trickery. Nor am I the Featherflute, to judge things by whimsy. But Mortal..."

"Nor do I aim to forget."

"I can offer my blood sacrificed freely upon each moon both new and full, shed in memory of the Mother Goddess of the Valley....I can offer you a return to the pages of history. I teach men and women of the faiths of the world....Men and women of learning would know of you, and learn of your might....I offer you prayer, my own at first, but if any chose to take it up, my place would not be to stop them."

"I offer you this, Goddess of the River. How much is it worth to you? A piece of shattered glass, discarded? Eight drops of Fey blood to replace mortal blood spilled for you? The life of a child, worthless because to humans to assign it worth is to price the priceless? All these things? None?"

What was probably the most disturbing of the event, and there were a great many disturbing things about this mad goddess, was how unsurprised she was by Andre's offer. The Lorelei watched the professor of theology with darkling eyes, even as the waters rose higher and higher, raged stronger and swifter about the rock on which you stood.

"Your worship... and the spreading of my rites... in exchange for the life of this child?" The Lorelei said simply. "I accept. Will you swear my oath, upon life and death?"

[Kaitou Kage]

"Be careful what you choose, Andre," Kuzan's voice was very calm, controlled, "She demands much from her worshipers."

He continued staring at Lia, but his words were directed to Andre. Or were they. "You offer your place in exchange for the child's, but what will this spirit demand of you? Your next child? Your lover? What? You are swearing your soul to an insane creature, do you know for certain what evil you are letting free by doing this?"

[DocBeard]

"He knows." Tomas adds, looking kind of sad at Andre, but recognizing nobility when he sees it. "And he knows what will be done if he is forced to participate in that sort of...evil."

Tomas returns the Lorelei's look, then, because he doesn't forget much either.

[Kaitou Kage]

"Is it worth stopping the evil before you only to perpetuate more in the future?" Kuzan's reply was quiet, just as controlled a before.

[NeoTiamat]

Statue of Beyrath, The Mazes, The Kermanevar, Sebua
June 24th, 761, 4:35 AM; Day 99 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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Conducted in AIM

"My life...but whose death?" Andre asked, his spare dagger already making its way to his hand, incase she requested an oath shed on blood. Most old oaths were. His tone wasn't evasive...simply...curious.

The Lorelei smiled a little, a very simple smile. "Kermanshah's. Should you break your promise... then I shall drown this village. Slay every man, woman, and child, every beast and bird. For you would have gained their souls under false pretenses, no?"

"A rather severe method of ensuring negotiations in good faith, River Mother. There are usurers in Dementlieu who would envy your talent." He almost smiled. "But without their souls, what good is life?"

"None at all." The Lorelei answered. If nothing else, she was honest.

"I have no intent of becoming forsworn."

"Then step forth, and begin." The Lorelei gestured at the edge of the cliff, opposite herself. "Step forth, and bind yourself."

The river was rising, frighteningly fast. The mad spray was close indeed, scarcely a dozen feet below. A few more minutes.... and it would crest the top of the stone island.

"Upon life and Death then." Andre stepped forward, Kneeling by the edge of the cliff. He grasped the knife he carried, so hard that his hands bled, his blood spilling onto the raging water below.

"I dedicate myself to the river mother, who nurtures her children in happier times, but when her ire is raised, her wrath wears away all opposition, like the river wears away stone." Old words appeared in Andre's mind, words in ancient tongues, spoken by ancient priests from a time before. Andre could almost fancy that he could hear the old priests speaking. Or perhaps it wasn't so much a fancy as that.

"Oracle of the Water, accept my sacrifice.As you have given life freely, so I freely return it." Andre sliced into his arm, willingly shedding his blood. The words he spoke were ancient, beyond the knowing of any alive today most likley. The water lashed at the stone, doing their level best to tear it down, to bring everything within reach. The rocky island shook slightly, even as the river surged below.

"As you have given protection, so do I give fealty" Andre knelt, ignoring the shaking of the stone before the mighty river, surging with the power of a goddess herself. The water rose upward, almost as if it tried to meet this new priest. Drops of water splashed against Andre, and as he tasted one, it seemed metallic, coppery.

"As you have given knowledge, so do I give devotion." He offered the knife to the Lorelei, hilt first. The coppery water suprised him little, for truly water was the lifeblood of the world.

The Lorelei nodded gravely, even as the blood mixed with the water below in a maelstrom of power. Andre felt the presence of a hundred priests, each acting out this ritual, in languages different, with knives of stone. It felt... familiar.

"This I do swear: To bind your memory in my heart,until all else is unbound." He felt his voice joining a chorus of hundreds, words long unspoken, no longer so.

"Then rise, Priest of the Oracle." The Lorelei said, her voice no longer the soft, quiet voice, but containing in it the notes of command. There was the roar of a river in those words, the crushing sounds of a flood. "Rise, Darzegal, Last Priest of the River."

Andre stood as commanded by the River divinity, his head still bowed low in supplication. The river gave one final burst of power, sending a splash of white foam lapping across the surface of the stone island, cresting the tip, before finally, thankfully receding.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Lia sways on her feet during all of this ... sways ... sways ... and stays silent. But Kuzan, who looks at her so closely, can see her eyes. Those eyes burn. There is a madness in there, an unhinged fury which is being pushed back again and again by mere inches. When Andre makes his fateful deal, the Wizard makes an odd croaking sound, stretches forth a hand, only to slap it down herself as it starts to make the gestures of a spell. And the glow in those eyes is building, building, the madness seething ... much like the tide, coming in and out.

Kuzan, who watches so closely, may hear the mad babble that erupts from Lia when the river roars loudest, obscuring her words: "Killkillkillkillkillkillkillkillfirefirefirekillkillkillkillmyfaultmyfaultthisalsomyfaultkillkilkilkillll-!"

But when Andre makes his vow and sheds his blood, the Wizard bares her fangs at the world, raises her head to the loveless sky, and makes a single, strangled noise ... before falling down limply in a faint. Lia Mournswaithe lies twitching upon the rock of the mesa for a few minutes, and then is still.

[Kaitou Kage]

Kuzan didn't say anything. He simply walked quietly over to Lia, knelt beside her, and checked her pulse. After a moment passed, the priest murmured a prayer in Rajian.

"Om, Lord Vishnu, keeper of life,
As you sustain, teach me to sustain.
Show me your path, teach me of life. Om."

A soft, gentle white light, the familiar healing glow emanated from the priest's hands. Then he placed his hands gently on Lia, channeling the energy into her. And he watched solemnly for her to awaken.

Casting a cure light wounds on Lia to bolster her energy. No dice, the amount healed is pretty academic right now.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Ever so slowly, Lia's eyes flutter open. Dazed, they glide over Kuzan's face at first, wandering, seeking meaning in the position she finds herself in. Then, drop by drop, understanding trickles down into a mind overburdened by recent experiences. Slowly, emotion flows into those eyes, pooling like raindrops.

'Someone is too close to me.' Drop. 'Kuzan, who hates me, is too close to me.' Drop. 'Kuzan, who hates me, is too close to me and I am not wearing my mask.' Horror fills those eyes, and Lia starts to thrash to get away.

And then those eyes move across Andre. Drop. Drop. Dropdropdropropdropdropdropdrop-!

Lia's eyes start to glow again, the irises expanding until barely any of the whites is still visible, her pupils pencil-thin. The fury and the madness are back. The eyes are the windows to the soul and can tell so much, and what these are expressing, right now, is a desire to burn the whole world to ash and make all go away. All.

Lia starts to scream as she tears away from Kuzan. Body shaking from head to toe, she rises. Hands curved like claws, the Wizard howls, fangs bared at the sky, wings unfolding, cutting the air like swords. She screams, a sound of unhinged fury, of loss too powerful to put into words. Screams, while the sensation of arcane power makes the air around her crackle and sting.

Something terrible is about to happen. That is the feeling projected by Lia as she cuts off her shrieks only long enough to suck in a breath so she can screech more, and the sound is not even remotely human anymore.

Something terrible is about to happen -- and then Lia's claws spasm against her belt, ripping at something there until it comes free. The next moment, those same claws slam the mask against Lia's face. A simple, featureless oval of felt with those eyeslits, covering the fangs, the grey skin -- and Lia's voice shuts off as if her vocal chords had been cut.

Hands pressing the mask to her head, Lia turns jerkily and totters away across the mesa, to stand at the edge opposite from the others, wings folding under her cloak as she goes. She does not turn back, and no part of her invites approach or comforting.

None.

[Kaitou Kage]

Kuzan didn't watch as Lia stormed away. He barely flinched as she shoved him, tore herself away from him. He just let her go, instead turning his hard, golden eyes back toward Andre, to watch the remaining proceedings between him and the Lorelei.

He'd explain to Lia after she got over the shock. She might understand right away, she might not. But he would explain, for what it was worth, and sooner or later, it would make sense to her.

[DocBeard]

"Gotterdamnerung!" Tomas exclaims at Lia's...seizure? Fit? Magical backlash? Tomas has no idea what it really is, and only a tiny, cynical part of him makes a guess...and the rest of him refuses to think that about Kuzan until given better evidence than the man losing his temper.

Things calm down, the woman steps off, and Tomas breathes-deciding to make sure the Lorelei leaves before checking on Lia.

[NeoTiamat]

Statue of Beyrath, The Mazes, The Kermanevar, Sebua
June 24th, 761, 4:41 AM; Day 99 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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For her part, the Lorelei watched the drama unfolding before her with a small, cruel smile. Her gaze rested for only a moment on the departing sorceress, but there was something triumphant in that soft, sad visage. Finally, she spoke, her voice quiet and soothing.

"I believe that you shall serve me well, Darzegal." The Faerie murmurred, a sound that called to mind the stirring of a brook. "Let it not be said that the Oracle does not keep her promises."

With a gentle grip upon the child's shoulder, the Lorelei drew the young boy back, safely onto the cliffside, away from the tempting drop into the still raging river below. Kindly, the water-fey placed a single finger upon the child's forehead, and hummed a little tune. The boy's eyes shut, and he slumped to the ground, deep in a soft and dreamless sleep.

"Sleep... He shall be well enough." The Lorelei cast a glance at the gradually brightening skyline. Dawn was not so very far away. Turning back to you, the water-fey's gaze sharpened. "For your part, Darzegal, seek the knowledge of my rites within the old tombs."

"Now I shall leave you... do you but greet the dawn with courage, all shall be vindicated." Then the Lorelei shimmered once more, and flowed to join the river of Kermanevar.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

'Vindicated,' Lia repeats in her thoughts. 'Vindicated.' The Wizard looks up at the pure, unblemished moon and thinks. Thinks about ... clockworks. The wheels go round and round and round, all ticking along. Then something jars the clock, and the ticking becomes a little erratic, the wheels move a little less orderly. Another shock, and the discrepancies become more obvious, the noises become strained. Just another little tap, and ...

Clunk.

Lia stands where she is, eyes seeming to be rapt upon the silver moon. Her mask reveals no emotions, her posture does not change significantly. She just crosses her arms and looks, silent.