The Call

[Tobias]

Darkness called as the airship flew into the distance, between a place where Tobias had never been before. It was ominous, dark and strangely brooding with nightmarish intent. He got off the airship as he watched the giant structure disappear behind him "Eitan?" He shouted; there was a mix of fear inside him. There was nothing to hold him back except the moment where he took initiative. He was on his own, but that didn't mean he was lonely. He made his way through the structure to find an giant winged man, a lysanrin, a small Siltori girl, an Orkhan woman and a tall Hytori male. It appeared that there were two doorways.

A strange man had hit forward as he realised this was not somewhere he belonged in. There was a moment where he had realised someones life hung in the balance. Someone who he didn't know. The feeling of dread grew closer as he looked to the others on his right as he watched the avialae glance down in pain. He imagined the worse, yet there was no questioning the moment of truth. He eventually clenched his fist as he looked over at the unknown avialae, who appeared shining in light as he took a step forth. The pain that he must had been going through, to see a loved one broken down like that. It was scary, dark and yet he empathised with him, before he took his steps into the door of Soul. He watched the others as they took their first steps into their designated doors, he was conflicted with right and wrong; firstly, why was the man here?

With a deep breath, he opens the door of Wisdom and enters through the long corridors. It was someone elses life in the balance, but yet he had no clue what he was facing or where he was. He needed to follow his instincts, without his mentor around he had no choice.

He was mentally backed into a corner.

I hope this is the right thing He thought.

[Avamande]

Avamande understood why they were even less after the explanation than before. They were neither a great sage nor a close confidant of Rickter, but if they had been summoned than so be it. A great need had called to them, and that need they would meet to the best that they could. The Crown Prince of Kalzasi had asked no less of them. Still, their brow furrowed as they considered the task set before them - and the giver of it. The strange knight was clearly powerful, and yet held powerless, strong enough to summon them within a suitable representation of Rickter's innermost being, but unable to save it himself.

And then the Trials. Power, Wisdom, Valor, Vitality, and Soul - each a defining aspect of the man's very self. What precisely they were meant to do was hard to tell, but perhaps the Trial itself would answer that question. Curiosity only compounded at how such a strange arrangement had come to meet this take, the only one who seemed unconcerned at this state of affairs being Talon himself, who was far too busy being enraged to be of much help. They knew, at some primitive level, that they ought to be terrified of the living god's wrath made manifest, that the fires of his righteousness would sear saint and sinner alike. But somehow, they doubted that Tiberius would permit this. Not here, at the least.

The workmanlike attitude of the Orkhan woman was strangely reassuring, drawing them out of their dour contemplation and reminding the Hytori of the simple fact that whatever arcane arts were about, they had been given a duty to perform. The Siltori woman's song then sung out, as if to further remind them of the true nature of that duty. This was no mere errand. Resolved, they made for their chosen door and Trial, stopping in shock as an airship split open the shadows. A confused looking man clambered out, entering into the very same test that they had picked.

More than a bit confused themselves by this turn of events, but with curiosity roused, they glanced back to see where the others had gone and if yet more strange events were about to occur. Only the man cloaked in shadow remained, he who seemed comfortable in the very darkness that he had been summoned to thwart. Some would consider it an ill omen, perhaps, but once more Avamande doubted that Tiberius would allow such to sully a place where he yet held power. Leaving the one armed man to his own test, the mage followed after the newcomer, into the Trial of Wisdom.

[Florian]

FLORIAN

through the door of Valor

Another man who knew his name when he didn't know his; though it didn't seem that behind the door was an offer of power for himself. They were all here to restore balance to a man that he had never met. Why he was chosen and why he had come were mysteries to him. He was not a balanced individual in any sense of the word. The man continued his explanation, culling the shadow of a man and collecting an orb that disapeared as his explanation waned.

On the whole, Florian didn't pay much attention to the others. His mind wandered as he realized that, for the most part, they were not going to be working together with how few people had been called. Not that it particularly mattered to him, but even if he had wanted to banish the shadows he had no light nor weapon to do so. Just himself, his magic (that was all but useless without more aether), and the mark that sought to control what he had been sent to eradicate. This man was set on eradication, at least, but he considered that that may not have been the sole method of collecting these pieces.

Florian may be selfish, but he wasn't unreasonable. If he had come for a task, he would finish it, even if he did not remember why. It was hardly the most terrifying endeavor he had faced in the dark. He watched as the doors were selected, one by one. The emblem of a castle drew his eye, and not just because it was the last door to be chosen. It was valor, courage in the face of great fear and danger, and it seemed fitting for a man who had been granted a semblance of meaning over both to restore balance to a man's bravery. He stepped towards the door of Valor and opened it, keeping it held open with his shoulder as he looked back at Tiberius before walking through entirely.

[Rickter]

Tiberius steadily observed the reactions of those that had arrived, expecting none the less from the Prince when he made a bit of a scene. But of course, his determination to see his lover saved set forth newfound hope, if not concern for the state Rickter would be in once Talon had crossed that threshold. It was beyond the knight's hands now, whatever would come of the situation, he knew Talon would not fail to disappoint in the end.

Then the arrival of another who seemed lost, at least, well enough to determine where they wanted to carry out to. While Tiberius hadn't the real chance to appraise him, the choices that the others made going into their trials were acknowledged. "Good luck to all of you, and remember, the shadows will haunt you." He warned a final time before the doors to the trials sent their participants away, leaving the knight to observe each one individually when they all started.

"Uh, not to be rude, but isn't this a little reckless of you?" Another voice chimed from beyond the boundaries of the platform, before a dark-haired man in a Zaichaeri private investigator uniform stood behind Tiberius.

"Hmph, sticking your nose where it shouldn't be - isn't that how you died Callen?" The knight huffed with a fold of his arms, his concentration still shifting from door to door as he listened. When he heard the Mountain door a vacant smile pressed in his lips, just as the Castle door intrigued him with sounds of home. He hadn't felt these things in a while. Music. Joy. What fleeting emotions they created were just enough to remind Tiberius, leading the knight to breath in deeply as he experienced different smells.

"No need to make it personal, yanno. Besides I thought you weren't supposed to reveal the Echo's power this much? Innat whatchu said to me when we met?"

"Time is short, unfortunately..." The knight exhaustingly sighed at that admittance. "What becomes of my successor now is better than losing him." His attention honed on the door to the Soul trial, the knight's expression tensing into a look of shock as he witnessed the flash that came for the door. Light poured through to bath the immense space outside with radiance, Tiberius and Callen both covered their eyes as the knight looked away, his eyes fallen on the sword Howling Fang which still rested within the center of the mosaic. Through that blade a vein of light cracked through, tearing its way down toward the crossguard as the metal thrummed from the amount of power that channeled through.

The blade continued to crack a few more times, the perpetual veins of light still glimmering when the rest of the radiance lessened. Even the mosaic had been cracked from where the sword rested, though, all of the Foundations no longer possessed the lingering dark clouds clinging to them before. "What happened!?" Callen called out to Tiberius as the knight himself rushed to gaze through the door, there he witnessed it, Arcas fully reborn as the light he bathed Rickter's soul with cleansed him of all the darkness. Yet it came with such an immense sacrifice, one that not even Tiberius never even planned. "Tiberius!"

"We failed..." The knight reluctantly admitted to himself, with a shared sense of hope and despair in his tone. "I have failed." Yet again he felt the call of the void pulling him away, as the knight fought harder and harder to maintain his presence here.

No matter the cost, he had to see what was left of this event.

"Common" "Synskrit" "Norvaegan"
"Tiberius" "Callen"