Gyr clapped his paws and harnessed his staff.  "Well, you look like you needed some space," he responded and proceeded to pace, cradling his chin and stroking his mane.  "What a mystery..." the Ulh simmered, "Let's avoid waking her if we can help it, though, she was trouble even when pinned by Drex.  What 'stone' could be so important that they would focus fire to drop so great an adversary as a Kaetyma paladin from 'reaching' it?  They were desperate to stop you, as much is certain, so perhaps you are the key to identifying whatever this 'stone' is," he postulated.  Gyr continued to pace, surveying the warehouse, the assassins, the snipers... and the Umbrean Particular.  "They would have called out your name if this were personal, Jubei," he then remarked, "and yet, they did not point to Krath or myself in their kill-order, ergo, it must be because you are a 'Kaetyma' 'paladin'; either of these aspects could factor into why they must stop you from reaching this 'stone'.  Maybe not 'Kaetyma', after all, a 'Musadi' did not garner their interest any greater."  The Ulh passed over the fact that he, too, was largely ignored in that regard.  "Could it be because you are a paladin?" he thought aloud, "Divine power... but the kill-order did not shift to Drex even when the Particlar's life was in danger.  No... Jubei is the threat to this stone... this large stone, even, if it is something so simple that a large paladin need be strong enough to either take or crush it," he mumbled.  Gyr continued to broadcast his susurrant thoughts before stopping full and bracing his hips... and sighing.
"A 'large', 'divine' stone...  You know, it's funny, I was confused as to why the Umbreans were holed up in this dead city, preparing a war upon the planet when it would be so much easier to infuse life back into this place, isolate it as a bustling Umbrean metropolis.  All the infrastructure is here, they clearly have the resources, and I'm sure some diplomacy was possible if the civilians stayed put; they would only need to kickstart the ecosystem again (no insurmountable task).  It even seemed to me that some of the guards weren't sure why they didn't just stay, past wrongs be damned, let everyone live their own lives; I could see it in their eyes.  It's making sense now.  They're acting the same as a predator guarding its lair... or should I say, it is."
He sadly chuckled and rubbed the bridge his nose before addressing the group again.  "Something I learned about in my travels was an ancient calamity... the 'Old Moon'.  The story goes that it was turned to dust, that any appreciable chunks were treasures for fools and maniacs alike for it granted the power of godhood itself... all you need do is succumb to its influence, surely as these Umbreans have done.  Gyr then looked to Jubei.  "If there is, indeed, a chunk of the Old Moon within this dead citadel then it must fear that you can destroy it... or that you can take its power for yourself."

Jubei listened with furrowed brows to the borderline rambling of the Ulh before he shook his head.
"An interesting theory to be sure, but I do not think that to be the case.", He spoke before his expression crunched up a little more and he nodded. "Perhaps part of it may be true. I think that the reason I was specifically targeted is not so much because of my chosen calling, but because of my bloodline. We kaetyma are of the blood of dragons."

He paused for a brief moment as he let his gaze drift around a little.
"These umbreans may believe themselves related to the dragons because they used to live, and died, here, but truth is that I am most likely the only living being here who actually has a sliver of dragon in them. I assume that this stone would... react to that. If it is at all what I assume it is. I don't remember if I even told you the reason for us being here originally... if I forgot then I am very sorry, there has been a lot on my mind recently."

He took another deep breath and stretched himself as he looked down at the unconscious umbrean again, where it lingered for a moment before he looked back to Gyr.
"I am searching for something that will allow my broken people to come back together again. The rise of the Musadi took what little pride we had left and we have become little more than disillusioned scavengers. I want to find something that my people can find common ground on. I look for something the dragons called Conflict's End, and from what I have learned, the very last dragon in existence might be found here, imprisoned on this moon. I boldly assume that his imprisonment is what allowed him to avoid the same fate that befell the other dragons. And I strongly believe that if anyone knows about Conflict's End, it will be him."

He paused yet again to allow his words time to process, before he continued yet on.
"Given what we just have seen, I am thinking that it might require a dragon to free him, given that it were dragons who imprisoned him, though it also very much sounds like they do not want him freed. Which I can understand. It will be a call to make once we reach his prison."

Willa awkwardly made her way down from the walkways and dropped onto the boxes, where she started to sift through their contents.

"Umbreans slippery be.  Must to..." she shivered a little..." being contained.  Also, umbreans spawning from others' energies are!  Willa think up-here umbreans must to be from dragons.  Iron Jubei be dragon-kind body de-send-ant.  Up-here umbreans be dragon-kind spirit de-send-ants, maybe?  Is connection?"

She stopped in her sifting for a moment and puzzled over something, then cocked her heand and looked curiously at Iron Jubei.

"Up-here umbreans and Iron Jubei relations being?"


Willa is trying to find some sort of pot with a sealable lid to put the unconscious umbrean in

12:58, Today: Willa rolled 14 using 1d20+2.  Perception - Jarring.

    A familiar voice called out from somewhere in the hall.  "If you have a moment I think I need some help here." Amare's voice issued from a cerulean duplicate of his staff being held in Volon's hand.  The black armoured warrior stood frozen.

  "Your conversation about old moons and such have stirred some uh-" the disembodied voice issued from a spark between the prongs of the bident "-traumatic memories." he finished.

  In her digging Willa finds a glass pot about as large as herself, a bit smaller truth be told.

Willa struggles to haul her find over to Gyr, Iron Jubei, Krath and Drex.

Seeing his bubbly little companion struggling, Krath slithered over to Willa to offer his assistance. All this talk was hurting his mind, so many theories and conspiracies, and now the stick was talking too? No, he would help carry things. He was good at that.

Gyr hummed at Jubei's rationale.  "Ah, right, dragons and all that; ancient dragon city... mayhaps you are a long-lost dragon prince..." he idly speculated.  A severely arched brow then acknowledged the talking stick... he never met Amare before but as it was coming from Volon, he assumed the two were related in some way.  "Welcome back to the land of the... being, I suppose," he offered in greeting to the disembodied voice, aiding in whatever way possible to shove the Umbrean Particular into the friend-jar, "Speak, phantom, what can you tell us of the Old Moon?  What terrible destiny does it impose upon our Iron Jubei?"

  The voice from the staff chuckled with amusement. "Thankyou, but I never left.  Oh corporeally I'm a bit indisposed but a fragment of my consciousness resides within Volon's vessel.  My abilities are very limited but if you have a moment, approach and I shall illustrate things to you directly by sharing with your minds eye." he said.

  The unconscious peculiar fit into the big jar with only some ceremony and a loud, GLOOP! noise.

The kaetyma flinched a little at Gyr's words and let out a brief growl, or perhaps a sharp inhale. He did however know better than to keep this here waiting now. After all Volon wasn't exactly harmless, far as he recalled.
"What can we do?"

    A long "Hmmm..." came from the ghostly bident.  "Normally I could tell you very specifically what you need to do but this is a unique situation in my experience.  I don't really understand who or what Volon is exactly.  Its like seeing a silhouette of someone you know but there is something inside that's like an abyss.  Something unfamiliar and frightening." he said pausing a moment.

  "He's trapped in a moment of time he can recall with amazing clarity.  I can't see what that moment is exactly, but I can perceive the outlines of it.  Like shadows upon a wall.  You must bring him back to reality.  In order to do that usually, you'd have to calm the subject down and assuage their fears but the emotional content picking up from Volon leaves me very confused as to his nature and mind."
  "Put your hands upon the staff and when you are ready I'll draw you in.  I'll explain the situation you'll find yourself in once you have decided who shall go."

Willa was elated to hear Amare's voice again and almost forgot what she was doing, already bouncing over to him before remembering that one of the reasons they were here was to help him.  So with a "Hi Amare!  Willa missed! Happy to hear!  Will see again soon!" and a friendly wave she turned back to the jar and the unconscious body.  Perhaps she knew where the pool was that they needed to save their friend.

"Krath help?"  Willa enquired as she attempted to haul the umbrean into the glass container, with renewed determination.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:16, Sat 10 Apr 2021.

Jubei gave a nod to Amare's explanation.
"Very well. Gyr, you're with me. You are experienced with... mind-to-mind communication. Let us aid our enigmatic companion.", He spoke as he raised his hand for the bident, but waited for the Uhl to join him in that, before he would touch that thing.

    "Ah!  Good, just put any one of your hands or more if you wish on the staff.  Will that be all of you?" Amare asks.

Krath would not be touching that staff unless it was entirely necessary. He helped Willa to contain the pot instead. He could do that. It was already inside of the pot, but this way he could ensure it would not escape. Yes, that felt like a good reason to avoid touching the staff.

"Yes, Willa. Krath will help."

Gyr seemed a million miles away, glancing around at... whatever it was he was looking at... before snapping back to reality.  "Oh!  Yes, certainly," he projected, "I've aided several pilgrimages and spirit walks, this should be no different.  But," he hastily added, gesturing to the recent battlefield, "let's not get caught with our pants down.  If we all are to enter a meditative state, we need a proper site."  His psychokinetic tendril gathered the windchimes, twirling and bobbing them as he retrieved his staff once more, striking the butt against the ground to walk about the crates to an overlooked doorway, a long hallway with forgotten doors to forgotten warehouses.  Primal energies -- weak though they might be -- stirred in the dust and the rust to welcome him into a forming labyrinth of bending walkways and featureless passages.  They were old and deathly, even in regards to spirits, and the air was acrid, the floor riddled with the husks of insects long since dead, and even the cobwebs would hardly hold their own; it was a tomb... except a tomb knew life sooner than that place.

Still, the spirits were as accommodating as they could be and had not entertained visitors for too many an age; the abandoned warehouse of a dead city on the moon would hardly entertain the notion of visitors, much less visitors themselves.  They hadn't a minute to tidy up properly but all the same, they provided a clean space as ventilated as they could manage, with pipes or crates or jutting stone on which anyone might sit and relax.  It seemed that even in that dead place, the dust was happy to dance once more, and best of all, it was hidden from anyone who might come looking, tucked away in sound-proofed construction or lost amongst the echoes of a large building.  The thrill of a secret rippled through those ancient walls as it all settled in to watch, for few things are more exciting to an abandoned warehouse than a conspiracy.

The druid sat with his staff in his lap and gestured for Volon/Amare to present the bident.  "Lead the way."


Ritual: Create Campsite

Time: 10 minutes

Duration: 8 hours

Space: 5sq burst

Nature Check: 31 (DC to find the campsite)

  Amare appeared to be capable in some way of making Volon's body move but lack and sort of direct control. Amare likened it to riding a sleep-walking horse.  He couldn't get Volon to sit or lie down however.  "Something in him seems extraordinarily adamant against reclining and I'd rather not force anything." Amare's voice added when Gyr's campsite had completed itself.

Drex stays quiet and listens. Occasionally checking that there captive is still secure and not escaping.

OOC: @Author could we take a short rest?

    Jubei had to sit down so as to grab the tall bident properly, for the big kaetyma it was almost a branch thin twig only as long as one of his arms.  Gyr could easily stand beside it and put his a hand on the staff.

  Both of them stood there for a moment then they seemed to freeze in place. Barely moving their eyes closed.  On closer examination even their breathing was slowed.  The ghostly blue bident remained as well but Amare didn't speak from it when spoken to.

Kthratharath sat at the campsite, resting but carefully watching in case more danger should appear.

    Jubei and Gyr stir blinking open their eyes.  The ghostly, blue bident vanished.  Jubei and Gyr felt like they had just abruptly woken from a nap.  It seemed like they had only just put their hand's on the apparition of Amare's staff.

The Ulh jerked his head and shook his mane.  "Terribly sorry for our delay-" he offered, his thoughts broadly cast only to abruptly stop, "No, of course, it's been only a moment."  He did seem mentally winded, though, and opted to sit.

Jubei let out a low rumble and his feathers bristled a little as his hand lowered again and he shook his head.

"That was... quite something.", He uttered and looked around to find that apparently very little time had actually passed. "Well then. The situation is resolved."

He took a step back, before he nodded and turned to the others.
"Our companion's past is one of legend, for he defended our world from an ancient evil. The beast rather fled than be slain by his hand, and it was this which saw him in conflict, for it was the very task he was created to do. He was the Soldier of No Sorrow, he was the Nameless One. But he is nameless no longer, from now on his name is Moonchild. Let us help him find his place in the world that extends beyond the legend."

Willa had been keeping a close - if somewhat guilty - eye on the umbrean-filled jar.

Snapping her head up at the sound of voices, she cocked her head at Jubei and tried to puzzle things out.

"Uh, Moonchild who is?"  She blinked and started, suddenly understanding.  "Oh!  Volon being?" She clapped excitedly, then gasped.  "Volon great hero, is!"

Unsure how to act in the presence of such a person, she looked between her friends questioningly, then settled on bowing deeply in front of him, to the point of almost tipping over.  Without rising she asked:

"Uh, hi.  Mr Volon Moonchild, sir.  Willa is.  Be friends?" 

    The black knight opened his eyes, now a faint green, and pent down to his knees to look Willa in the eye at about her level.
  A groan, followed by a horse, husky sound came from the warrior as he croaked out something that sounded almost like "Hello." before breaking out in a fit of coughing.  Which caused him to fall back onto his behind and spend a moment more coughing before getting himself under control and sitting upright properly.

  "Ju-just Moo-Moon...ch-child." he struggled out with a long croak.

Gyr was quick to brace Moonchild's back.  "Just take it one word at a time," he 'said', "I know it's a trial to speak with a voice long unused."