TBA: Every Story Begins with a Name

Suggested Music: Chrono Symphonic - Manifest Destiny

The Lap, 5 Ascending Air

"Baldur."

The burly bartender uttered the foreign name in a characteristically gruff tone (Although Baldur was of Delzahn birth, his chosen title was of Haslanti origin, where Skytongue was the language of choice).

"Baldur, eh?"

The half-interested patron polished off the cheap lager, letting the stein clang emptily back onto the counter top. The bartender, though scornful of his customer's disinterest, continued.

"They say he's one of the Shining Ones. He doesn't come t'town much, but I know a family whose entire farmland he saved. 'Fought off the ghost of an angry ancestor who was tryin' t'raise hell there. From what I hear, he operates mostly in th'mountains west o'here."

The patron's attention had been piqued by the tender's speculation.

"Y'don't say, a Shining One, here?"

The bartender slammed his right hand onto the bar top, though not severely, this time admonishing the man's enthusiasm. As he spoke, he began to refill the man's stein, this time with a helping of red ale, perhaps as a gesture of good will toward a fellow Illuminated One.

"Shh! We should be safe here, but you never know who's listening. And yes, here. Sort of - like I said, he works mostly to the West... I don't know what he does, honestly... "

The bartender scratched his head for a moment, recovering from his trail-off with admirable vigor.

"... But you can bet we've not seen the last of him!"

The patron smirked. Though his skepticism was tangible, so too was an almost childlike sense of hope. As strong as his doubts were, he wanted it to be true badly enough that he couldn't help but lend the theory some credence.

Another of the bar's patron, also a familiar face, took the nearest open seat on the right. He leaned in as he dropped a few nuggets of jade on the counter.

"Baldur, right? Word on the street says he was in Northleg last month..."

At any ordinary tavern, even in The Lap, it would be looked upon as unusual that so many patrons should be familiar with the name Baldur, and the rumors and truths that surrounded it. 'The Mile-High Broil', however, was no ordinary tavern. Located in the heart of The Lap's Fold region, The Mile-High Broil doubled as a safehouse for the Cult of the Illuminated, albeit a small one.

The Mile-High Broil was a cramped affair, built straight into a narrow alley formed by two of the storehouses so common in the Fold. The construction was shoddy, and it looked as though it wouldn't hold up well in a storm. Fortunately, weather was fairly calm in the lap, and its larger warehouse cousins provided a fair degree of elemental protection to the tiny building. Its interior was surprisingly well-lit for a tavern -- even a commensurately small number of torches kept it bright enough to read even in its shadiest corner. Enough effort had been put into its construction to give it a wooden floor and roof, but few other amenities had been provided - most of the tables and the bar were all made of the same wood (it was clear the bar had been built quickly, and all from the same load of lumber), while the chairs and stools appeared to have been lifted from other establishments in the area. Nevertheless, the mood was almost always jovial - the Illuminated were some of the Lap's most optimistic citizens. A lone olive branch was displayed quaintly behind the counter, hanging alone near one of the keg barrels. Unknown to any but those within the organization, this signaled the tavern as a safehouse for the Cult of the Illuminated. In the event of a persecuted individual or Shining One needing asylum, four bedrooms had been dug out and furnished beneath the Mile-High Broil, the keys to which were possessed by the bartender on duty.

---

The young Sidereals emerged from Celestial Gate 52 eager to embark upon what may have been their most significant assignment to date. As suggested by their mission dossier, the Fold region in the Lap held the highest population density of Cult of the Illuminated members, and it seemed like a reasonable place to begin a search for a man who'd dissapeared from the Loom of Fate in the past month; Baldur was known to have limited association with a number of Cultists in the city, and, as rumor had it, had allegedly slain a hungry ghost attacking an agricultural family's farm, cousins of the bartender at none other than the Mile-High Broil.

The Sidereals shot each other wayward glances of skepticism as they approached the shoddy construction, hoping for something that may have been a bit more accommodating -- the Mile-High Broil took its name for a reason, and the 1,000 foot hike had not been a pleasant one, even for the Chosen of the Maidens. Nevertheless, the skepticism was fleeting - the beginning of a mission was always exciting, and the pair knew there was work to be done.

The post will stop here, just in case there was anything the two of you wanted to do or say before actually entering the tavern. We should also sort out resplendent destinies - perhaps we can set a few minutes aside tonight (It is technically Friday) and do that.

---

Resplendent Destinies: The Rising Smoke: Duration 1 Season, 5 Endurance Points. The Sword: Duration 1 Season, 2 Endurance Points.

Starfall paused at the side of the street, eying the Mile-High Broil from the shadows of the poorly lit streets. Without a doubt nicer accommodations would have been preferred, but it was far from the worst place his journeys had carried him to. As he lightly leaned against a neighboring building he looked to Magistrate as he pulled a thin hand rolled cigarette from inside his robe and tucked it into the corner of his mouth, chewing on the end instead of lighting it for now. The mask of The Sword slipped over him, turning him into a hopeless traveler, a man of martial prowess who had failed and lost everything, a man with little left and no sign of hope. Donning the resplendent destiny The Sword and activating the charm Prior Warning with personal essence.

"We'd probably be better off going in separately. I'll go in first and sit down at the bar, come on in a few minutes and ask the bartender some questions. If it's our man he might know something about Baldur."

He pushed off the wall of the building with a bit of a shrug, the plan was a bit raw but they didn't know exactly what to expect. Besides for this it didn't need to be all scripted out, it wouldn't have been any fun if they knew everything that was going to happen.

"Unless of course you've got a better plan?"

--FyreFly 17:17, 25 March 2009 (EDT)

---

Resplendent Destiny: The Gull (Duration: 1 Season, 5 Endurance Points)

Activating resplendency: Joyous Grasshopper Spirit (effect lasts until 1 Ascending Water) Effect: For the purposes of regaining Willpower, the Sidereal gains an additional Motivation: "Enjoy myself and fully express it." In addition, he reduces by 1 the target number of his Conviction rolls to regain Willpower.

Magistrate smiled at his Sidereal companion. He loved to drink, and he loved to talk. This was going to be a good evening. "Go on in," he said, "I'll just be a moment."

After Starfall left for the tavern, Magistrate decided to take a closer look around. He walked around the perimeter of the building, noting other entrances, windows, or other interesting tidbits of information. While he expected no trouble today, he had the feeling this wouldn't be the only time they were going to end up here. Best to get to know the place, he concluded. While behind the tavern, he spends 6 motes of essence, calling upon his power to protect him from unexpected threatening events by activating Prior Warning. He then spins his Dreamcatcher staff around, watching it as it transforms into a crude staff. He dons the resplendent destiny The Gull, taking the form of a wayward, carefree traveller named Brennus Windstead.

He waited for a few moments, to give Starfall some time to get settled. He was back in the main alleyway now, near the entrance to the tavern. He laughed loudly and waved to a few passers-by, who paid no attention. It's time for a drink, he decided, and he entered the Broil, staff in hand.

Kirkland 03:15, 22 March 2009 (EDT)

---

Starfall pushed the door open quickly, so it flew around it's hinges until it hit the back wall with a thud, but meandered into the well lit tavern slowly. He headed straight for the bar, as if finding purpose for the first time in ages, he slunk into a stool and leaned against the counter heavily as he thudded an open palm upon the counter to get the bartender's attention.

"Hey buddy, how about you mix me up a Sandstorm? Dry and hot. And keep'em comin." He called out across the bar in a melancholy tone at the tender who just turned his attention that way at the pounding. As the tender approached he plucked the unlit cigarette from the corner of his lips between thumb and index finger and waved it about absently. "Who ya got sleep with to get a light around here?"

The bartender set the custom made local drink on the counter in front of him as he struck a match against the underside of the bar, he held it out to Starfall who stuck the cigarette back in his mouth as he leaned across the bar to light it. He leaned back with an exhale of smoke, and expectant look to the bartender who dropped the match to the liquor catching it on fire in the glass, shaking out the match and discarding it as he moved on to the next customer.

--FyreFly 16:58, 27 March 2009 (EDT)

---

After disposing of the match used to light the new customer's sandstorm, the bartender turned his attention to bar's other unfamiliar patron. Though his gaze remained loosely fixed on Magistrate, he made two brief pauses on his way to Magistrate's seat to attend to the needs of regular patrons. As his rounds came to Magistrate, he stopped, looking across the bar to the traveler.

"What can I get f'r ya', stranger?"

He spoke as he lifted a handled, pewter stein (of a considerably different make than the one from which the man next to Magistrate was drinking, further enforcing the notion that many of this bar's furnishings were "on loan" from other establishments) from beneath the counter top, tossing it from hand to hand as he listened for Magistrate's drink order. After he placed it, the bartender set about filling it as he continued speaking.

"I haven't seen you 'round here before. Most folks with the gumption to come all the way out to the Lap don't bother with the Fold - what brings you around these parts?"

The bartender turned around, placing the stein on the counter; it was full to the brim, a bit of foam spilling over the side as the vessel contacted the bar top. The bartender watched the foam runoff carve a path down the stein's surface for a moment, briefly commenting before Magistrate answered his question.

"You're not the only unfamiliar face around here tonight..."

As his voice trailed off, his gaze turned briefly toward Starfall, though he kept an ear open for Magistrate's story.

Dan 18:30, 29 March 2009 (EDT)

---

Brennus set his staff down beside him as he took a seat at the bar. He was elated to get instant service. The bartender appeared to be a friendly chap, which was a necessity if he was going to enjoy his evening at this establishment.

"What can I get f'r ya', stranger?" the bartender said.

Brennus lowered his hood and looked up to the bartender, smiling, and said, "Allow me to try a local brew, if I could?"

The bartender obliged, filling his stein with one of The Lap's local ales. He then continued, "I haven't seen you 'round here before. Most folks with the gumption to come all the way out to the Lap don't bother with the Fold - what brings you around these parts?"

Brennus ignored the question, only because he was distracted by something else. He looked down the bar at a plate of chicken, half of which had been consumed. It looked, and smelled, delicious, and Brennus was feeling pretty hungry.

"Hey, how much for one 'f them?" he asked, pointing the plate.

"Th' chicken? You want some chicken?" the bartender responded.

"Aye," Brennus responded, not caring that he didn't answer the original question. He was hungry, and he was in The Fold. How expensive could it be?

The bartender gave the order to the cooks, and came back to the bar, filling up the glass of the patron next to Brennus. Brennus spoke, answering the tender's original question with another one. "So, what's wrong with The Fold? I just came from Northleg--somewhat rude on that side of town wouldn't ya say?"

The bartender laughed, and Brennus continued, "Tis not the wealth of a district that makes it great. It's the people." He pointed one finger up, to emphasize these points. "It's the attitudes. It's the..."

A plate of chicken came out from the back, and was set down in front of Brennus as he spoke. "It's the food! See, I'm having fun already." He looked to the patron next to him, trying to bring him into the conversation along with the bartender. "So, my friends, it's my first night in town. What's making news in these parts? Hmmm?" he asked. He sunk his teeth into the chicken leg while listening to their responses.

Kirkland 00:45, 30 March 2009 (EDT)

---

The patron on Brennus's right was a bit taken aback at first by the forthright nature of the stranger, but upon realizing that the man's enthusiasm was genuine, returned it with a sloppy raise of his mug, spilling foam from either side as the ale within sloshed about.

The Mile High Broil was a peculiar establishment - it was a healthy balance of secrecy and propaganda; after all, how were they to spread the good word without uttering it? The key was maintaining a balance between innocent, vocal support and underground notoriety. As such, information flowed freely to a point - rumors and praises of the Shining Ones were sung readily, but concrete information was much harder to come by.

"Well, I'm guessin' y'er new in town, by the looks o'ya, but mayhap ye've heard of the Shining Ones?"

Without really waiting for Brennus to pause, the patron continued, a certain drunken giddiness apparent in his statement of Illuminated dogma.

"I won't bore ya with the details - it ain't bar talk, anyway - but they say, like in the old days, Creation's saviors will fight back the darkness that seems t'be creepin' in from all sides and corners. Things've changed, nowadays, though. They have to return slowly - one by one. And rumor has it, around here, we've got one of our own who has returned from the days of glories past..."

The patron took a drought of his ale with a hopeful sigh.

"Anyway, that morsel seems to be the talk of the Fold this given week. Humor me, stranger, where y'travellin' from?"

He set his mug down on the bar with another splash of foam and a friendly half-grin as he turned his bar stool more directly toward Brennus.

Dan 02:10, 21 April 2009 (EDT)

---

"I hail from Gem, my friend." Brennus answered, taking another swig of his ale.

"Shining Ones, eh? " Brennus continued. He then lowered his voice to a volume that could not be heard above the clatter of plates and the ruckus of other patrons. "You speak of Baldur, no?"

The patron lowered his head inwards in order to hear Brennus's words. He then looked Brennus in the eye, feeling a mix of intrigue and anxiety. "You know of him?" he asked.

"HA!" Brennus slapped his hand on the bar, rattling the plates and mugs of ale, causing foam to spill over. He brought his volume back down, "Know of him? I sent him here."

There was a pause in the conversation, with the patron giving Brennus a dumbfounded look and Brennus cracking a slight grin. Brennus then pointed at him and busted out laughing. "I had you there, didn't I?"

The two chatted a little while longer. The drunken patron got more and more talkative as he continued to consume alcohol. The conversation worked its way back to the rumors surrounding a Shining One's return. "I s'pose his return is a good thing. It might be a sign that the darkness is coming, but it's probably a comin' anyway. Where was he seen, ya know? I want to steer clear of that area," he joked.

Kirkland 01:14, 12 May 2009 (EDT)

---

Suggested Music: Final Fantasy VII - Voices of the Lifestream - A Life Without Parole

After some socializing with the patrons at the Mile High Broil, the pair of Sidereals discovered that Brennus, the bartender on duty, knew the whereabouts of the family who claimed to have been saved by Baldur. Although they were able to obtain the location of the family's farm after some more drunken gallivanting with the Mile High Broil's customers, they were confronted outside the establishment by a cloaked man calling himself Shugir. When it became clear he was associated with, or at least knew of Baldur, the Sidereals were more apt to listen to what he had to say. To call him amicable would be a stretch - he promptly told the two to drop their investigation and leave the Lap. With some persuasion, they convinced Shugir of their trustworthiness, and the group agreed to meet at the Mile High Broil at noon the next day. At this point, the Sidereals still wore their Resplendent Destinies.

Deciding that they too could stand to sleep off the booze for a bit, the two retired that night after their tense encounter with Shugir. The following morning, the morning of Ascending Air 6, they traveled to the farm allegedly visited by Baldur. The farm's owner dejectedly agreed to show them around, figuring the Sidreals, who had dropped their astrological disguises, to be yet another pair of Illuminati hoping to gawk at the site of Baldur's alleged appearance. Using the Deathsight lenses given to them by Black Ice Shadow, Magistrate and Starfall located an area in the man's cornfield where the barrier between the Underworld and Creation was especially thin. Curiously, they also noted that along the path Baldur was claimed to have walked, the corn had grown much taller and more quickly than its surrounding vegetation. During their tour of the premises, the farmer also divulged that he'd been visited by Shugir and an unnamed counterpart after the attack on his farm by a spine chain, which was slain by Baldur.

By noon, the Sidereals had made their way back to town. Magistrate resumed his role as Brennus, slipping back under the cover of his resplendent destiny. He met with Shugir at the Mile High Broil and organized a meeting with Baldur for that night, at the base of the Fold. Afterward, the two contacted Black Ice Shadow with their Torc of Personal Projection, who insisted they find out how Baldur knew to show up at the right place at the right time. The pair took care of mundane preparations during that day, and nine hours past the Zenith, they traveled to the fold to meet the illustrious Baldur.

The scene was unnerving - when the group came within nearly a mile of the location, archers armed with fuel bolt launchers could be spotted in the mountain tops, tracking their movements. The pair had chosen to wear no astrological cover to this meeting - they presented themselves to Baldur as Empyrean Dream Magistrate and the Bodhisattva of the Masked Starfall, agents of Heaven and the Bureau of Destiny. Baldur, for his part, had shown up to the meeting with two companions - Shugir, and a similarly clad man named Fong. Somewhat to the surprise of the investigators, Baldur was quick to admit that Five Thunders Falcon met his end at the hands of Baldur in an Underworld cavern. Baldur's claim, however, was that Five Thunders Falcon had become irrevocably corrupted by the First and Forsaken Lion's chief agent in Creation, a deathknight known among Exalts as Meticulous Owl. Knowing he'd be greeted with intense skepticism, Baldur was quick to present evidence - he led Starfall and Magistrate to a cave underneath the Penitent, where a number of questionable items were located within the place Five Thunders Falcon had once called his forge. Among these items were a map with certain locations marked - presumably locations where the barrier between Creation and the Underworld had grown thin. Baldur used this map to predict the location of the spine chain attack, and suspects there will be more, though he has not for sure ascertained the true purpose of these seemingly senseless attacks.

Although not fully trusting of Baldur, the group was convinced enough that something very serious was amiss, and chose to give him the benefit of the doubt - if only for the moment. They arranged another meeting in the same spot, five days later. After paying another visit to the farm to inspect it on their own terms and finding little, they retired to their lodging. The next morning, they contacted Black Ice Shadow once again, who suggested that proof of a relationship between Five Thunders Falcon and Meticulous Owl would be essential to verifying Baldur's claim. With this in mind, Starfall and Magistrate made obtaining such evidence their top priority. Although they trusted Baldur for the moment, they had no reason to extend this trust to the local Cult of the Illuminated just yet, and decided to investigate it for themselves. The other focus of their investigation would be the local ancestor cults, knowing that these were a very common source of influence for Abyssals operating in Creation. After stocking up on salt for the nights to come, they went about initiating their plans, discussing them within the cramped privacy of their room at the Mile High Broil.

Thread closed. Experience awarded: 2 from thread, 4 from session - Total 6