Relating the Shaman's fortune reading to the others had mixed reactions. Gabriel was more interested in what Tasha found in the cave, for one. Hakeber seemed completely lost, and had to have divination explained to her. Aaron was laying on his back, one knee raises and the other leg resting across it and bobbing up and down. "So, doesn't sound like there'll be any surprises," the Lapi notes. "Unexpected surprises, I mean."
"Oh I wouldn't go that far. There are always unexpected surprises," Tasha warns as she sits, Gabriel's foot propped in her lap as she massages it. "And we'll need to meet that Mistwalker tomorrow. I think we should leave a few hours after sunrise, or earlier if the Mistwalker prefers."
"I wonder if this Gerryonde character will be mysterious," Hakeber says. She likes mysterious sorts, after all. "Was the Shaman cute?"
Tasha opens her mouth to reply, but seems to think netter of what she was going to say. Instead, she says, "No. He is deformed and an outsider for it; they almost killed him, because he couldn't fly. He has, however, risen to a position of prominence through kindness, luck, and his own skill." Her tone is one of a certain pride, but she doesn't look Gabriel or Hakebrr in the eyes as she speaks, and she smells a quiet sort of angry.
"So, just his wings then?" Hakeber asks. "He's still a Vartan in every other way though, right?"
Aaron puts his hands over his face, off in his corner of the space that's been set aside for the travelers within the ancient hulk of the Garuda.
"More or less," Tasha confirms, turning to give the woman a curious look.
"He sounds interesting," Hakeber admits, sitting, and wiggling her toes at Tasha. "So little is known about Vartan culture, and he's both deeply entrenched and has the perspective of an outside observer. I'd like to interview on the way back."
Obligingly, Tasha pulls one of Hakeber's feet in her lap and, after pushing both feet together, begins working on them both. "I'm sure he'd be glad to see you. I don't think he gets many visitors. He is a nice man, and his eccentricity is understandable given his position and history. Kind of like mine." The half-Vartan winks, then asks, "I guess I'm not enough of Vartan culture for you?"
"You're Rephidim culture," Hakeber points out with a grin. "I suppose we should try to get some sleep before we're forced to climb up the mountain again."
"I'm sure we'll be worken before dawn," Gabriel notes. "This seems the sort of place to wake up early."
"Oh sure, I grow up on a ship full of Vartans but I'm not Vartan enough." Tasha rolls her head to give her mate a mellowdramtic sigh. "And just a few months ago I wasn't Karnor enough. I suppose now Harmonia and Melchior will tell me I'm not robot enough what with my fleshy body and limited cybernetics."
"If it's any consolation, I think you're still loud enough," Aaron quips from a safe distance.
"I know you love me anyway," Tasha retorts before she drops back on her own makeshift bed, evicting the feet from her presence. "I've had enough abuse! I'm going to bed." She then grabs a pillow and promptly lays a pillow over her head.
Gabriel lays next to Tasha, and Hakeber drags an unresisting Aaron over to be her body pillow for the night. After the long climb and everything else, it's no surprise that everyone falls asleep quickly. Tasha is woken up by a gentle poking at her shoulder some hours later.
"Naaaaa-don't-want-to," Tasha groans as only the just awakened can, rolling over and tucking her head under her pillow so just the tip of her nose can be seen.
The poking stops, only to be replaced by a feather to the nose.
There's a lot of nose twitching and snorting until finally, Tasha's right hand comes down like a hammer!
"Squark!" protests the Vartan who just got her wing smacked. "Wake up! Jupani part must be lazy!" comes the shrill retaliation, which wakes everyone up.
"Ahhh!" Yelps Tasha who bolts upright, eyes wide and ears twitching like tracking radar dishes. When she finds a (very blury) Vartan woman starring down at her, she asks, "Mom? Then she yawns. Cavernously.
"Gerryonde! Wake up, silly woman. We must beat the sun to the Devil's Hoof if we are make it through the mist before dark," the blurry Vartan claims. She slowly resolves into a lean, tan girl with oddly pink wings.
Tasha blinks several times until the blur resolves fully, then she simply breathes a "Hokay," and rolls over to get dressed with out any further prodding.
True to her airship-born origin, once Tasha is awake and told to be ready, she's ready very quickly. It only takes her a couple of minutes to have her clothes on, gear equipped, and hair combed out.
As for the others.. well, they pretty much just needed to put their boots and coats on. "Are you going to introduce us?" Gabriel whispers to Tasha. "We don't speak Vartan.."
"Oh, aye. This is Gerryonde, our Mistwalker. She wants us to get going um, /soon/ I think." Turning to face the newcomer, Tasha then begins indicating her party in turn. "/Gerryonde, this is Gabriel, my mate and our leader, Hakeber, our resident scholar, and Aaron, our usual guide. And I, of course, am Tasha. It looks like we're ready to go."
"You are a funny group," the Mistwalker notes, and waves for everyone to follow her as she heads towards the boarding ramp.
Tasha follows after, nodding. "Don't worry, we're a lot of fun and wo't get in your way. We may not look like much, but most of us are experienced travelers or else have other skills useful to exploration."
Most of the Aerie is still waking up as the group is led through the community, and higher and higher along the back of the small valley. The sun is just starting to illuminate the mountain when they begin taking a very narrow, winding route. "Watch your step," Gerryonde advises. "Soon be grabbing eachother's tails.. so Bunny needs to stay at back."
"Let me stand to the rear, I'll keep my hand on his shoulder and I can be here to help anyone who trips," Tasha says as she scoots her way around the others towards. "Are there any other hazards to be aware of?"
"You should stay up front," the guide claims. "They don't understand me, only you do. The mist will be the worst. Everything will be slippery."
Pausing in her backwards wiggle, Tasha nods and scootches her way back to where she was. "I'll repeat everything you say unless you ask me not to," she confirms, then begins repeating the guide's earlier warning.
"Can it go Gerryonde, you, Gabriel, Hakeber and then me?" Aaron asks Tasha, before they're forced to get into single file. "I'd rather not be holding onto Gabriel's tail, and you probably don't want him holding onto Hake's.."
"Noooo.." The request is quickly forwarded by the half-Vartan.
Gerryonde nods, "That fine, put strongest ones up front."
"She says it's fine," Tasha reports, the woman pausing to wait for the reordering.
As they continue to climb towards the clouds there are some small blesslings - mainly that the slope is gradual. Things change when they enter the unexpected rain forest within the clouds. Such large trees are unusual so high, as well as much of the other vegetation they have to deal with. It's nothing like the jungles of Xenea or the forests of Sylvania, although there seem to be aspects of both. The ground is covered by tiny rivulets of water, and exposed stone is very slick. Gerryonde takes them zig-zagging between patches of lichen that provide better traction.
"I can see why you prefer to walk this -- a flyer would just as soon run in to a tree as make their way safely, not to mention the slippery landing surfaces. It is very pretty though," Tasha remarks as she makes her way, never having experienced a place quite like this.
"Good hunting, but dangerous," Gerryonde explains. "Lots of tree lizards, but also a hawkbear. Haven't seen it in awhile though."
"What's a hawkbear?" The half-Vartan inquires as she glaces around, just in case one might be nearby.
"Very big and nasty," Gerryonde says. "Toothed beak, six legs, long and thick. Fur is nice."
"What are you talking about?" Hakeber asks from behind Gabriel.
"Very interesting! I better not tell hakeber though -- she'll just laugh at it," Tasha whispers in squawky-talk before chiming back in response, "Nothing!"
"They're talking about you, of course," Aaron teases the scholar. "Probably negotiating Gerryonde's price.."
"Hakebear!" There's some suspicious cackling from the second in line.
"Everyone knows Lapi-meat is the best tasting," Hakeber declares.
Once she can manage down the giggling, not to mention the mental image of a multi-legged lizard-bear-wolf-girl-thing, Tasha clears her throat and insists. "Remember, we're professionals."
"Well.." Aaron starts to say, until Gerryonde hisses and raises a hand to bring everyone to a halt.
While in the joking mood, Tasha knows when to be serious. Her years of dealing with back-alley threats and more recent adventures have taught her when to talk and when to listen. She quickly comes to a halt, hand free hand slowly inching its way towards the hilt of her sword as she scans her surroundings, ears flicking.
It isn't clear what spooked Gerryonde, but the Vartan is stock still. The forest is silent.. until the chirps and wirrs of insects and lizards starts back up again. With the noies, the girl relaxes and waves everyone to start moving again.
Tasha's hand leaves her weapon as she relaxes, and soon, she's back on the trail. "What did you hear? Or thought you might have heard?"
"Nothing," Gerryonde says. "When you hear nothing in a forest, then everything is being quite for a reason."
"That makes sense to me. I guess I'm used to the cities, where the noise never ceases and danger is usually a yell or a crash away," the red Vartan admits as she fllows along. "How are we doing so far?"
"Good pace," Gerryonde notes. "Expected pretty one to be complaining, but she's keeping up. We should be out of the mist with daylight to spare."
"I'm not the pretty one? Tasha inquires curiously, leaning forward more than is strictly necessary.
"It's not your defining feature," Gerryonde notes. "You are Odd. Odd, Hunk, Pretty One and Chewy Looking."
Tasha's ears flatten. "I, um ... thanks?//" She resolves that insisting Hakeber not touch Gabriel was the right choice, and moves on.
The forest begins to thin out after another hour, which makes the mist suddenly thicker. Visibility is bad enough that Tasha can only just make out Aaron at the back of the line, even though he's less than a dozen feet away. There is a lot of hands-and-knees climbing now, even though the slope isn't that bad - it's more for maintaining maximum traction on the slick surfaces.
It is here Tasha is doubly glad she agreed to the shoe replacement Gabriel and Fred thrust upon her; her Expedition-era advanced composite horsehoes seemed a bit indulgent at the time, yet without them she's sure she'd have slipped by now. "How are you holding up back there?" Tasha thinks to ask, hoping their footing is holding out as well as her's.
"Hakeber's only slipped twice," Aaron calls up. "If her butt hits my face again I'm biting it out of principle."
"She yanked my tail, but I'm not complaining," Gabriel notes, and gives Tasha's a playful tug. "At this rate, we'll have to hold the tails in our teeth to use both hands.."
"She can feel happy she's the pretty one then," Tasha calls back as she trudges along. A part of her wonders exatly how many more steps she has left before her wings fall off and she just becomes a somewhat demonic looking Karnor.
Tasha jumps a little at the tug, which causes her to pinwheel her free arm a moment before regainning her balance. "So is this the adventure you always wanted?" She asks her mate. "Mist, walking, more walking, more mist ... "
The mist finally begins to let up, going from a thick, dark blanket to a glowing electric haze to.. clear air.
From here, the gateway is open and the drawbridge is down, but there isn't any motion on the ramparts or towers.
"Oi, look at that," remarks a clearly impressed Tasha, who then points at the equally clearly visible castle. "What a beautiful castle! But ... "her gaze sweeps the castle once, then twice, back again, "I'm not seeing any movement. Or even indication anyone is here. They might be hiding, but, how often could they possibily get visitors enough to be ready for them?"
"Big structures clearly meant to keep people out, found with the door open and apparently abandoned," Aaron says. "As a rule, I would turn around right now. But, I know you aren't going to do that," he notes to Tasha.
"Maybe they're all drunk from a big celebration?" Hakeber suggests.
"I don't see any signs of battle from here," Gabriel notes, after studying the walls.
"You know me very well by now Aaron," remarks the half-Vartan as she, as predicted, walks towards the keep. "So, here we have a fortified castle in a remote area with largely xenophobic inhabitants. And yet," she gestures towards the nearest fortified wall, "walls enough to keep out a army. A presumably non-flying army, but I guess it would be hard to assail from the air, too. Now, it could be an athetic choice of a warrior-people, or ... they were concerned with their neighbors. Paranoia, perhaps, or genuine hostilities? Demons, maybe?" She stops at the drawbridge, leaning forward to peer inside.
"I'll camp out here," Gerryonde says. "You send up a signal every day. I'll wait for two days at most after not seeing a signal."
Tasha pauses her inspection to turn and nod. "I'll pass that on to the others. Thank you for your assistance, Gerryonde!" She gives a wave.
The Mistwalker heads back to where a large boulder provides some shelter, and begins setting up her camp. Gabriel, Hakeber and Aaron all join Tasha.. and sniff the air.
"I smell an old fire, but not that old," Aaron reports. "Maybe put out a day ago. No blood that I can detect."
"Lots of Vartans," Gabriel notes. "But not there now."
Sight having been denied for hours, Tasha seems content to exercise her vision rather than sniff as she turns to walk deeper in to the castle. "Hello?? Is there anyone here??" The young woman calls out in a rather piercing skrawk.
The sounds echo back from more walls. The central courtyard is surrounded by a maze of structures, but there's a clear path (which still involved opened gates) leading up to the castle proper, built into the face of the mountain itself.
"No one then. Given the state of the keep, it seems that they all left en mass. Gabriel, Aaron, would you look for hoofprints along the trail and toward any exit to the interior we may have missed? I'm going to try the castle proper. Hake, why don't you start us a fire and ready the cooking pot?" Tasha directs.
"Start a camp.. right here?" Hakeber asks, looking around the abandoned courtyard while the two men start tracking.
"Of course. We need to eat, and if they're going to ambush us, we're not going to fair well either way. No use dying on an empty stomach!" Tasha insists as she begins the long walk up the steps. In reality, the young JEF Second just wanted to give Hakeber an excuse to rest a while without hurting her pride, while the smke and scent of food will both give them a second wind and draw any Storm Riders that might be nearby.
"Oh, and keep the rest packed! We'll relocate to the castle if it seems safe! Safeish!" the half-Vartan adds as she ascends.
Along the way, Tasha can tell this was a fairly thriving community. There plenty of private homes and businesses, all decorated in appropriately Vartan fashion. But the shutters on the windows are open, and the hybrid can peek inside to see that everything looks.. neat and orderly. The main doors of the castle are also open.
It's as if they just opened their doors before disappearing. If there had been a natural disaster, there'd be mroe signs of a panic withdrawl. And if this was a planned exodus, it doesn't make sense so much would be left behind, unless they had very little time and space in their packs. A quickly planned exodus, perhaps. But from what? What could send an entire community of Varatns from their homes without a fight? Tasha ponders as she makes her way upward. It's about half-way that she decides she's had enough of walking and instead she takes wing towards the castle proper, using her height advantage to look for patterns and other signs.
There are plenty of landings at different levels of the castle, but from every vantage it still looks abandoned. But there is one sign of life, of a sort: a white feather, glinting in the sunlight from just inside the main entry.
Tasha pauses as she reaches the entry way, having just landed from flight to inspect the feather. The sistuation reminds her of her meeting with the draconic ghost further down on the mountain, and it puts her on edge for all the same reasons: a attractive item just inside a gloom enshrouded entrance is the perfect place for a trap. Still, she had half-expected a trap might be in the waiting, and since the clan hasn't taken the bait yet, she doubts that it will. No, it's not the missing clan she's concerned with now.
Before entering, she pulls out her notebook and jots down what she's about to do, then tucks it against the step below. With that precaution out of the way, Tasha unlimbers her sword and walks in inside, eyes to the walls.
The castle at least seems familiar. It resembles the grand entry of the Temple of Rephidim, just at a smaller scale and done in stone. There are some colored-glass windows, but the lamps that must illuminate them are unlit. The stone floor is worn from centuries of hoof-traffic. At the end, it opens into a large chapel, but instead of an altar there's a statue. A larger-than-life armored Vartan sits on a throne which resembles a pilot's chair. In his right hand, he grasps a sword held point down, the tip resting on the base of the statue. His left hand rests atop a hexagonal-shaped stone with the image of a male and female Vartan carved into it. It's too big to be the actual Origin Marker, of course.
Ah-ha. So we were right, Tasha thinks as she pauses near the white feather, gaze lingering on the kingly statue ruling over a darkened court. First thing is first though. Kneeling, Tasha reaches down to pluck the feather off the floor.
Nothing happens. No traps are sprung, or figures appear from the walls to grab the interloper. But there's a tuft of down at the base of the feather, so it probably came from a child.
Tasha turns the feather in her hands a moment, wondering why this one feather, out of all the people that could have been here to shed one, is here. Rising, she decides the castle merits further inspection. After tucking the feather away, Tasha makes her way to the side of the room to light a few of the lamps to provide better illumination, then she proceeds to the statue.
The light casts odd shadows, making the statue almost seem alive. The details of Apollyon Stormbreaker are familiar to Tasha, given how often she's studied the ancient photograph of the man. There is another doorway behind the statue, along with others branching off. There's also a balcony above. The one behind the statue is the only one that's opened though.
"I guess I'm a couple thousand years too late to meet you, but it's nice to see a familiar face. It looks like you were the first Bird of Hermes. I'm taking good care of 'him.'" Tasha's gaze lingers on the statue a moment longer before she bows her head. "I hope you had a good life, Apollyon." She then kisses her hand, laying it on the base of the statue as she proceeds past it in to the doorway behind.
Progress! There is light at the end of the tunnel - or in this case, stairway. The stairs are carved from the stone of the mountain, and descend quite a distance. The wide, deep steps show the same signs of wear as the castle entry.
Ah, maybe not abandoned? Perhaps the owner of this feather? Tasha takes a moment to leave a note outside the entryway, then continues downward. And well worn to boot. Much more so than I'd expect of a crypt, but maybe this leads to living space for the clergy, or even rulership. Perhaps storage? Her hooves echo back at her as makes her way.
The stairs go down, until they come to a balcony overlooking a large cavern. The stairs continue from both sides of the balcony, curving down the walls to the floor of the chamber. The altar missing from the chapel above is here, an edifice of black stone with disturbingly organic looking sides. A white Vartan chick sits on it, flanked by two hooded, wingless figures. Hundreds of Vartans kneel on the ground, facing the altar with bowed heads. Mounted on the wall behind it is the Origin Marker, it's marbling of its exotic material seeming to move in the firelight.
Tasha lowers herself down, reaching to unfasten her weapon to avoid its glint announcing her presence. Quickly, she jots a note and considers taking it back upstairs but decides she doesn't have time; instead, she rubs it against her fur before stuffing it in a crack a few steps farther up the stairs, where she knows Gabriel will smell it. It doesn't feel like enough, but she can't risk going back up again. So, she watches, concealed by the dark.
It isn't clear what exactly is happening. The chick wears a shimmering gown of sorts, and has a silver ring atop its head. The robed figures produce.. wands? They look like staves, made of metal - or like flutes with precious gems stuffed into the holes. The gesture with them in tandem, performing a hand-dance with them as they are waved around and over the chick.
Some sort of coming of age ceremony? Or ... a wedding? It's a sudden though, surely Nora's, that what she's seeing may be some form of marriage ceremony. But, to whom? Tasha leans forward; maybe time will reveal the answer.
The chick hasn't moved at all yet, and seems glassy-eyed and unfocused. More robed figures appear from a narrow passage (possibly a natural fissure) below the Marker. They are carrying a cloth-covered rectangle, which is set in the chick's lap. Blocky arm rests are added, and the arms of the chick are placed on them. A figure in a slightly more ornate robe (which is to say, it's slightly lighter-colored than the others) opens a box containing tattooing supplies.. and proceeds to tattoo the chick's hard-skinned forearms.
It does seem like some sort of coming of age ceremony, but by whom? Am I looking at a group of deformed people who have taken the shaman's role, as with Titan, or ... could these be the demons of shadow? To Tasha, the room, certainly looks like it could lead to a murky shadow realm; the whole scene is making her hackles raise, but she can't precisely put a finger on why. She finds herself unable to look away, hoping for the best, but inwardly dreading the worst.
The tattoo is very ornate, made of curlicues and filigree - but not quite symmetric enough to be just art. Hakeber would probably say it was a language.
Even Tasha's keen eyes can't help her when she doesn't understand what she's looking at. And while Hakeber might be useful here, she dearly hopes her friends don't arrive. She whispers a silent prayer that they don't. When she's done, she pulls out her note book and begins skethcing the symbols in case they don't have a chance to review them again.
The ceremony.. if that's what it is.. continues until most of the forearms are covered. Despite the pain of the needle, the chick still doesn't move or change expression. Finally, the tools are packed up, the armrests and tray removed (although the chick's arms remain in place), and the cloaked figures begin to file out through the fissure. The final pair take long hook-ended poles and lift down the Marker from its cradle, and that too is taken with them into the fissure. Only then does the spell over the room seem to break, and the Vartans stir.
Inwardly, Tasha breathes a sigh of relief. She knew in her heart if the priests had raised a weapon, that she would need to intervene. Common sense and the future of the JEF would not be enough to have stopped her. Nor, does she think, she would be able to fend off a legion of her kin alone.
Hurrying now, Tasha completes the sketches and lingers a moment more, wondering if there's anything else. She keeps an eye on those nearest the exit though -- she must leave before they notice her. Spying on sacred rituals is, at the very least, unseemly for guests.
A pair of Vartans (the parents?) leave the front row to pick up the chick, which still seems oblivious to everything. The others are standing, and beginning to talk to their neighbors, or stretching. It's then that Tasha realizes there are other exits down there, as some of the local begin to vanish under the balcony.
Tasha grits her teeth -- it's time to go. Picking up her weapon and stowing her notepad, she quickly hurries up the stairs.
Things aren't so quiet now. But the other Vartans don't seem to be in any hurry, whereas Tasha is nearly running. She makes it to chapel, and sees light flicker behind the stained glass windows as lamps are being lit. Nobody is in the chamber itself yet though.
Realizing there isn't time to warn the others and trusting them to know how to how to handle themselves -- not to mention how to signal a surrender -- Tasha's mind tries to plan out how events will now unfold. Strangers will be caught looking around. If they don't fight, then they will probably be rounded up and brough before an authority. This is the largest building here, so it's a safe bet they'll be brought here. Therefore I should be here and think on what to say. As she enters the main room, Tasha slows to a trot, then a walk, stopping before the great statue of Apollyon Stormbreaker.
And then she sits down, crosslegged, hands folded in her lap. And waits.