In Syzygy

[Destyn]

In Syzygy

25 Frost, 122

"In Syzygy"

Destyn inspired a breath in South Ecith which he expired in North Karnor. It still felt like a miracle every time he used his Amulet of Wandering. It wasn't as though it was a boon he exploited constantly. He actually found himself enjoying the expedition far more than he'd initially expected. He'd known there would be a magical ship involved, but not an enchanted jungle teeming with life unlike any he'd known in this part of the world. He'd made friends there, but none who'd grown as close as the ones with whom he nested in Kalzasi. He wished he might have his closest friends in his favourite environs, but the twain rarely met with Torin and Sivan's Kalzasern commitments.

He relaxed his grip on the amulet at his chest and let the hitherto grasping hand fall to his side, as he peered into the hollow of the tree in Sivan's garden where he'd left his beacon stone. It was silly to check on it every time, he supposed, since the fact of his arriving in the correct spot verified its presence, but still he did so every time. It was pretty to look at, at any rate.

It was striking how different the plants were here from where he'd just left. The animals, too. They felt muted... somehow less severe than their elementally charged counterparts South of Solunarium. He reached into the pouch at his belt and felt around for a sterling example of their otherness. Drawing it forth, he regarded the glowing, green seed that had found him on a South Ecithian beach. It had landed right atop his head and, hoping it was a wayward buggy begging to be devoured, he reached up to catch it. And this was what he found in his palm.

If he couldn't bring his friends to the jungle, perhaps he could bring something of the jungle to his friends. It hadn't been a notion that occurred to him prior to this moment, but the mercurial Fae found a patch of soil in the garden that didn't seem to have been cultivated. He dug a little hole, and whispered to the seed:

"This is a wonderful home for you. Please grow and prosper here, little baby." As he placed it gingerly into the little crater and covered it. As he patted down the dirt, he heard footsteps on the grass and glanced over his shoulder.

"Good morrow, Sivan. I have planted you a present."

In Syzygy

[Sivan]

It wasn't that Dalquor and Silfanore hadn't gotten cold; it was that Kalzasi got cold so early in the year, so bitterly cold through Frost, and that cold lingers so much longer than he was used to. Thankfully, Khal and various other fire sprites kept his home and gardens at a relatively balmy temperature. Nut and the various air sprites kept the air clear of soot and other city smells, so he had gotten into the habit of letting Wolf enhance his sense of smell when he was home; it gave him a greater sense of the space and what was going on inside it. That way, he could keep track of where Flower was, if Rivin was skulking about, or if someone was about to knock on his door.

He sensed the bloom of magic. He smelled alien scents, but under that was the familiar Destynrael. He knew even before the spirits of this place began to sing to him of their friend's return.

Sivan bid Laurevere farewell, and walked barefoot from his house into the yard. Their greenspaces connected through the moon gate that Geb had carved for him, and he smiled at his friend. With his curved sword sheathed and slung over one shoulder, he looked weary from his practice.

"Andaran atish’an, lethallin."

Though he didn't think Destyn would understand the words, he would surely hear the welcome in his tone.

His arm outstretched for an embrace as he approached, he wondered allowed, "What have you brought home from your adventures abroad?"

Mindful of his wings, Sivan wrapped his arm around his friend and held him tightly. His muscles were sore, but getting stronger from the training. He always forgot that Destyn was a touch taller than him until they were up close; this made him laugh in delight.

[Destyn]

In Syzygy

25 Frost, 122

Destyn grinned broadly, but stayed himself from bolting up and straight into Sivan's arms. First, he graceful rose and bowed at the hips, replying:

"Ma serannas..." But then he set aside all ceremony and etiquette to plough into a big bear hug. He lingered bobbing from one foot to the next and swaying with the elf in his arms for a long spell, before stepping back albeit letting his hands slide from Sivan's back to grip his palms.

"I found a seed. I do not know what it will grow, but it is clearly special. It glowed green and made me feel funny inside when I looked at it. A good funny, though... a stirring." He wished he'd been more patient, not just so he could display it to Sivan, but also because he wished he could look at it again himself.

"It was very pretty. I am sorry I did not show it to you before I planted it, but hopefully what grows will be prettier still. It is from very far away, but I cannot imagine a friendlier home for a foreign thing than your garden." Destyn himself was a foreign thing in Kalzasi, after all, and Sivan's garden was among the homiest of venues he'd been fortunate enough to visit in the city.

"I think I will lay my head here tonight, if you are not opposed." He suggested, glancing not to the cottage but to the grass. Even in Frost, he preferred it and Sivan's spirit friends kept it warm enough to be comfortable even under nothing but the stars and the shade of the tree. He didn't wish to be far from the seed, even if such things took more time to grow than he had patience to await.

In Syzygy

[Aegis]

It would come to Destyn gently, curiously, cautiously, like a bug treading upon the foreign ground that would be Destyn’s arm. It was a feeling, just like with the seed, just like with the Duck, one that could be reached out toward and acknowledged.

And in the moment that Destyn would do that, he’d find that he no longer saw the world of Sivan’s garden, or Sivan, or anything at all remotely resembling Kalzasi. Instead, he’d find a gaze that was looking down upon a lush, grassy scene from above. His point of view was spiraling downward, toward would could only be described as a particularly large dung pile.

As he spiraled in closer, a small sapling of some sort appeared to be growing out of the top of the pile, and Destyn, in the form he was in that is, alighted atop one of the two leaves that were presented. As the sapling shook to and fro under his weight, his vision changed, looking out away from the dung pile to see a large mound of moss and ferns obscuring the majority of jungle trees behind it.

And the mound rose up and down slowly.

Destyn’s vision lifted off from the sapling, flying toward the mound, and danced wildly, looking in at several flowers and ferns and other green places to land. A ridge was selected. And it landed upon the ridge, once more looking back at the dung pile, as it now saw large beetles crawling in, around, and about the pile. These beetles weren’t just iridescent like many a crunch beetle. These ones were actively shifting between every color along the visible spectrum of Destyn’s sight, and many he could not see, but would know they were there.

The vision turned away once more, looking at the mound the host was sitting upon. There was a tremble in the vision, then some of the moss slid upward and away, revealing a large, brown, draconic eye staring at Destyn.

And then the vision was over, and Destyn would find himself exactly where he’d been before, and his life would go on.

!	Message from: “Aegis”
	This is a one off mod bomb, so please feel free to continue the thread at your leisure. Let me know when this thread is finished and I will review it. If you pursue the above vision or further interact with the seed that has been planted, contact me for more information. Thanks and enjoy!

[Sivan]

With a laugh, Sivan set his sword aside so he could embrace his friend more fully, and made no move to shorten its duration. There had always been a wildness about Destyn, and Sivan thought he understood it more fully since his initiation with Wolf. When the embrace turned into an avid hand-hold, Sivan paid close attention to the fae's stream of consciousness, his Rune flaring invisibly as he tried to catch all the meaning and to get a sense for the nascent life that had come into his demesne. Though the green glow wasn't visible now, he could sense things about it, mostly aligning with the story Destyn provided; in time, he might garner more from the seed's aura.

His smile broadened for the compliment.

"I will do my best to take care of your seed," he promised. "And of course you are always welcome here." Indeed, the spirits were whirling around them, teasing Destyn's hair, brushing against his cheeks, his lips.

Chances were Sivan would sleep outside as well if Destyn was staying. He did let his garden experience a winter, but he knew it would certainly be warm enough if they were outside. He was already considering where in the garden Destyn might most easily find some bugs to satisfy any hunger he brought along with him, but then he noticed those blue eyes going a bit vacant. It wasn't unlike his friend to get lost in thought, but this seemed different. There was no immediate reason for alarm, but Sivan stood quiet sentinel, hand still in both of his friend's, waiting to make sure all was well. He was well- and far-traveled now, and there was no telling how he might be affected.

His amulet seemed safe enough, but there was always an element of mystery to magic.

[Destyn]

In Syzygy

25 Frost, 122

No sooner had Sivan offered his kind indulgence than Destyn's head tilted back slightly, jaw slacking open as his eyes shifted away from Sivan and fell out of focus. Internally, he was somewhere else... or perhaps sometime else. Where or whenever it was, it amplified the feeling he'd just described to Sivan as 'a stirring'. Something in his soul was germinating. Perhaps Sivan would sense the quickening of the Fae's pulse and other telltale marks of excitement that bucked against his otherwise ostensibly catatonic state.

After a few moments, just as a droplet of drool was beginning to crest over his full, lower lip, he sprung back to life. His first act was to suck in the errant saliva, and gulp it down and then his wide eyes focused on Sivan once more.

"I have, you know, had a revelation!" He exclaimed loudly enough to potentially alarm the neighbours. "I think the little baby plant was telling me what it needs to grow!" He knitted his brow, recollecting the vision and considering the implications.

"It needs to be, I think, fertilised. I saw a wee baby tree growing out of a hill. Well, I thought it was a hill at first, but then I dream-smelled it and it was not made of dirt. It was, you know, manure from a very gigantic animal. And there were some pretty buggies with shifting colours on their shells crawling through it. And also a big gigantic something was looking at me at the end. Maybe something big and gigantic enough to make a whole smelly stink hill!" He was clearly putting the pieces together in real time as he was relating the vision.

"I think we will need help to make the baby tree grow. This is not, you know, a simple seed. It is, um... portentous?"

In Syzygy

[Sivan]

Sivan was peering curiously at Destyn when he came to, but he wasn't concerned. The elf wasn't going to let him fall over. He smiled at the revelation, and considered.

"Hmm... fertilizer for the portentious seed. I could get horse manure here easily enough, or cow. Do you think those would please the baby tree?"

If the foreign plant required more exotic manure, he supposed he could find a source or alchemize a substitution. But for the time being he would rely upon Destyn's revelations; with more time, his Rune would help him suss out the seed's needs, and he was rather certain he could get it to grow and thrive in his gardens. The spirits were humming curiously at it now as well.

"Or... are you going to have to use your amulet to fetch something special?" Often he wished he could travel with the fetching fae'ethalan, the better to keep an eye on him and prevent anyone from taking advantage of his sweet disposition and kind nature. Perhaps Torin would produce something that allowed for easy travel for him, as well.

Or perhaps Sivan could construct a proper golem guardian for his friend, something durable. The clockwork wheels in his head would have to whir about that later, though, as this was the more pressing thing to figure out. He hoped it would be a thing that brought Destyn back more often to visit; it did Sivan's heart good to know his friend was alive and unharmed.

"Or does your amulet require recharging?"

Sivan hadn't looked at it as in depth as their friend the runeforger had; he generally took Torin's word when it came to thinkgs in his bailiwick.

[Destyn]

In Syzygy

25 Frost, 122

Destyn frowned.

"I do not know..." He conceded after a pensive, ponderous pause. The vision had communicated more in the way a plant does than a person, albeit touching on more senses than a normal plan was capable of. Perhaps it was the seed itself or the parent thereof... Being in the vision felt like the jungle that existed on The Duck and served as his cabin.

"I will, I think, need to talk to wiser souls." The Fae decided. He was a bit out of his depth, but perhaps this was some sort of calling for which he was intended by Fate. He very much believed in preordained paths. After all, Fate was one letter away from Fae and Destiny was one letter away from Destyn. Could that be a coincidence?

"It does not right now need recharging. It does not cost much to come home. I will stay awhile, I think. Maybe there are people who know of Ecithian plants in Kalzasi. There are, you know, not many people in the jungle I know who did not come with me. I could ask the plants, but..." They would, at best, have similar things to say as the vision and more limitations on how to relay them. He might be better off poring over archives in a civilised place or seeking scholars to ease the path to greater knowledge.

"I do not think there is urgency, though. It is important, but not impatient. I will... think on these things and speak to people. If you can think of anyone who might help, please ask for me? I thought it was only a special gift, but it seems that it is, you know, specialer than I realised."

In Syzygy

[Sivan]

"Well..." he mused. "The longer the seed is here, the more the spirits will get to know it, and they might tell me what the seed needs or help the seed itself tell me what it needs. But now that you mention it... I'm in communication with a coven from Zaichaer. Witches are criminals there, but they survive in the face of state violence..." His voice softened, not wanting to bring up old hurts, but he thought Destyn might trust others who had also been harmed by the cogs and wheels of the Brass City. "In any case, they are summoners, like me, but also gardeners... Hm, like me. I will see if I can't get word to them and see if they know anything that might help. And I can help you research at the Academy's archives, or perhaps in the Tranquil Garden's..."

The elf's mind reached down various avenues that might help Destyn.

"In the meantime, I'm glad to have you back for a while. You can borrow some of my clothes when you leave the garden... it's so cold out there now." He smiled fondly at his fey friend. "Should I invite Urs over to enjoy the gardens with us?" Sivan knew Destyn had taken a shine to Urs, and would be happy for an excuse to invite the busy surgeon over. "Or any of your other friends? Torin and Timon will come over, of course, once they know you're here."

The sprites were too excited by Destyn's presence and the strange new seed in the earth to pay heed to his normal requests, so he picked up a watering can and began to irrigate the new planting. When things calmed down, he would have them aerate the soil until the seed hummed with comfort. Plants had thoughts and spirits, and Sivan had learned to communicate with them rather well by now, so if they didn't find out from a book or an expert, it was likely he could figure things out on his own. He would be a good steward for Destyn's friend.

"Speaking of friends, did you make any on your journey? Other than the baby tree."

[Destyn]

In Syzygy

25 Frost, 122

Destyn nodded profusely, pleased that they would have help in spirit form to aid in this odd endeavour. His excited smile eroded at the mention of Zaichaer, and his body tensed with worry.

"Zaichaer, though?" He knitted his brow. He heard Sivan's disclaimers, but well he knew that smoke was blinding, as well as toxic. The black mists of industry could conceal many dangers beyond just its own noxious billowing.

He nodded, if a bit less emphatically now for his renewed sense of caution, as Sivan posed other possibilities. He'd appreciate any help, and embark upon dangerous enterprises if need be. The baby plant was clearly important and, thus, worth the risk.

"Oh!" He glanced down, realising his clothes must have looked like tatters by city standards at this point. He didn't focus much on his outward appearance down in South Ecith. It was a lifestyle to which he was more accustomed in many ways. Perhaps he'd forgotten some of his city training during his prolonged absences from Kalzasi.

"Urs?" He blushed reflexively. "Yes, of course! I would like to see everyone." He'd met someone else who made him feel similarly to how Urs did, though not precisely the same. They both made him feel not just warm and cozy like friends or kin, but sort of afflicted... There were actually symptoms to their presence. It was akin to the way people described allergies, though he had no experience with such blights.

"Uh, yes! I mostly keep myself to myself, but I have gone on a few adventures. There is Avamande, who is very clever and handsome..." This was they who stirred the aforementioned symptoms in Destyn,

"There is also Imogen, who is very large and powerful and fun when she is not accidentally drowneding me in the ocean... Speaking of the sea, I also met a salty slime person. She gave me food, but was then unkind. Have you met any slime people? Are they all like that?" He wrinkled his nose, as if the memory was as seawater upon his tongue.

In Syzygy