Legend of Ransera

"Gratias..." Khyan sighed contentedly, as Finn withdrew his nimble, lute-playing fingers from taut flesh, eased by the minstrel's ministrations.

"For some of us, Hilana, sobriety is the impairment..." Khyan quipped, but pressed the matter no further. It wasn't as though her fears were unfounded. Æros, adoring as he was, could certainly be cavalier in his use of Mesmer and would have been within his rights to ply it upon Hilana as her social superior. The former patrician might have bade him against it, given the new senator's previous run-in with the Mistress of Chains and the Vastiana's apparent divine and draconic attention, but Æros could be impulsive and was wont to fixate upon that which vexed him. Founders save Hilana if she found herself the source of his confoundment.

He followed Finn with his dark eyes, cocking a brow at his offer.

"I'd not have expected you to seek me out. We only met the once, and... Well, we'll see. It is... politically inconvenient for Æros to emancipate me, at the moment and..." He glanced to Hilana, "As our squad leader observes, freedom in and of itself isn't necessarily to my benefit. I'm not sure whether I fancy the notion of becoming a plebeian if it meant I'd have to seek out so-called 'gainful employment'." He wrinkled his nose in distaste.

"And I fear I might lose the boons of House Sælyan's largesse if I were to circumvent the senator's influence in seeking yours."

"Now, that... is a sound plan. The Argenti will almost certainly pledge to the Luxian Crown, if they haven't already. To do otherwise would be political suicide. Given the complete upheaval caused by the rise of a concurrent Umbrian Court, the Nykara might find advantage with the support of the Draconic Crown... to whom we would obviously pledge our undying fealty unto the thousandth generation and all that." Another bite, another sip. Looking at the fair feast spread before them, Khyan chuckled and glanced to Finn.

"You're a strapping sort, but it would verge on gluttony to append one of Hilana's repasts. Please don't do any hunting on my account. I eat like the bird I occasionally become." He plucked up one of the pies and took a delicate bite. Swallowing it, before replying to Hilana's espoused scheme.

Khyan nodded, comprehending and appreciating Finn’s position. It certainly wasn’t his intention to press the matter… at least not this soon. The matter had been broached and that was enough for now. Were his predicament more dire than at present, he might have had the drive of desperation lending urgency to the opening gambit. Such as this were, he was content to let it lie.

Hilana’s words were encouraging, as well. His spirits were encouraged enough that he didn’t even groan at the prospect of losing beauty sleep to take a sentry shift. He would do whatever the group decided, though he wouldn’t exactly volunteer anything beyond his wyvern-helming duties. As to those, he was eager to get back to them the next morning.

The weather was similar as they set off, though the moisture in the air became more apparently as they headed deeper into the West. The topography below would also begin to shift from open sands to low light shrubs and eventually a forest. As soon as they crossed over the tree line, something shifted. They had crossed outside the borders of Atraxia, where the Sceptre of Aværys cast no light. Behind them lay an opaque, black wall that rose higher than their eyes could follow.

The sounds of distant shrieks could be heard ahead, but the source remained unseen. Khyan would keep them moving forward in the dim, perpetual gloaming created by the now-visible eclipse, which couldn’t be seen in Solunarium. They weren’t far into the forested area when they would see as overt a landmark as one might find on any map.

There was a large, open clearing wide enough to be visible from on high. Like a crater in the woodland canopy, they would find a vibrant meadow… a flat but florid plain with grass of such a bright green that it seemed to glow, peppered with a panoply of flowers of many equally luminescent hues.

Hilana would know from her studies, and in her soul, that this was it. Khyan felt it, too… emanating through his Rune. Something potent had happened here. He would need to get closer to glean whether it would yield the intel they sought.

He glanced over his shoulder, as Kherdroth began to circle the area, awaiting further instruction.

Far in the distance on the summit of a mountain peak in the Zalkyrian Mountain range to the North of the Solunarian capital, a golden figure lift His head and opened His eyes. His gaze of gold found the soaring Raithen scouting overhead, but His mind was drawn some distance farther… away from the warm blanket of the second sun forged in His name. His name and grace had been invoked, and seeing briefly through the sapphire gaze of his favoured charge, he regarded the fell darkness he’s last seen at Kaladon when, upon regaining his ancient power, he’d had immediate cause to use it against the creatures of darkness that lurked in the shadow of the eclipse. In distant Ecith, a surge of light would illuminate the Emblem that crowned Finn’s brow. It cast enough light to make the their already luminescent surroundings glow even brighter than the light cast by the foliage alone.

Finn would know that this light was his to summon, and he would feel his Cardinal Runes surge with greater power under its glow, as would those of Khyan and Hilana. But after that brief burst of light, He who energised it shifted His attention away and Aværys returned to His meditations. As the light faded from Finn, his companions would feel their Runes weaken. Bereft of the Light of Majesty, their Craft was diminished. The light glow of the plants peppering the clearing was enough to let them access their powers, but little more than that.

A sound like a whisper on the wind could be heard from shadows beneath the tree line, where the glow ended starkly as if obscured by a black curtain. Perhaps they would have the sense of soundless motion stalking only the lightless voids created by the canopy’s shadow.

Khyan landed in the clearing. It was a perfect landing site, really. It was flat, open with plenty of space and, comparable to the grim darkness of the surrounding woodland, it was well lit. There were no overt signs of remains, Draconic or otherwise, and Khyan’s Sembling eye wasn’t able to glean more than the most cursory of assessments… little more than any of them could with their mundane vision.

“What is going on…?” Khyan had no reason to know about the effects of the eclipse as they presented themselves outside of Solunarium. The current affairs of foreign climes hasn’t been at the top of his priority list at the best of times, let alone now that was a servus spending the bulk of his time in the Umbrium where neither sun shone.

He blinked, eyes widening as Finn began to glow with radiance after uttering a Vastian phrase under his breath. That was new, he thought, admiring Finn in that moment with new appreciation… and an attraction that was augmented by the pull of his Mastercraft, as he recognised the presence of his liege God highlighting the already formidable beauty of the foreign human.

“Gods…” He whispered, but the moment passed too quickly and his Rune dimmed back to its former weakened state. He shook off the awe and regarded the open glowing glade, with a grimace.

“Can you do that again, Finn? My Rune seems to be mitigated, but whatever just happened unclogged the works. I don’t think I’ll be able to Semble anything helpful unless you can repeat your… what we that was.” He gestured broadly.

The sound of Kherdroth hissing drew Khyan’s attention back to the wyvern, which seemed to be fixated on something in the woodlands beyond that Khyan himself couldn’t see at this distance without more access to his Craft.