The Hard Part

Suggested Music: Noriyuki Asakura (Kenshin) - Mountain Pass

Ascending Earth 13, Dawn - Just outside the gates of Great Forks.

Arellious let Husk lead the trio of exalts as they departed from Great Forks, after all he created quite the center piece with the seemingly infinite ox-cart being pulled behind him. Sarefine and Arellious walked on either side of the solar exalt, Arellious's simhatta left to roam on its own without going too far. The three had gathered behind Aktuelle's Temple on the previous night to look at the blip on the crystallized map on the chest of the magnificent, though unkempt, warstrider. Arellious had recognized the location right away, to the west and across the wide banks of the Yellow River, near the small town of Melevhil. Though he knew the area well, there was larger reason he thought he knew where this map was leading them, though he had yet to speak up about it to his companions.

They set out at dawn in hopes of making the near shores of the Yellow River by nightfall, they would need to find a ferry that was both willing and capable of carrying them across. Normally a relatively easy task, but with the needed towing of Penance it could take more time and resources to find and secure transport. They could travel along the banks of the river waiting for a ship of adequate size to pass by and attempt to wave it over, the worst case scenario would find them traveling to Zelanor where Arellious could easily find them a way across.

The beginning of the day was spent traveling through the familiar territory west of Great Forks and past the slave run opium fields that surround the area. Conversation remained light and mostly small talk and information passed between three people who did not know one another all that well. From the humble southern background of Husk, to the militaristic Lookshy upbringing of Arellious, to the prestigious nobility of the Realm and Sarefine. They traveled mostly without stopping, not in a rush but anxious to get to their destination. And as afternoon turned to evening, and Arellious considered their progress and if it was best to push on to make the shores of the river tonight, the conversation turned to a matter of higher importance or at least pertinence.

"Tell me Husk, what is it you are trying to accomplish carrying that mighty machine behind you all this way? From what I hear of the artisans of Gem, you would have had better luck getting it repaired there and than here, and certainly better luck here than in the North."

--FyreFly 20:04, 30 April 2009 (EDT)

---

Husk let slip a grin that could best be described as roguish. He shook the matted locks of crimson from his face and replied to Arellious, hefting the handles of the ox cart and adjusting his grip as he did so.

"I get that one a lot. Thing is, I don't have a choice, really. For whatever reason, this thing picked me. Well, sort of -- "

Husk hesitated momentarily, unused to speaking in exclusively Exalted company. After a brief glance to Sarefine and Arellious, he regained his bearings.

"When I was Chosen, the Unconquered Sun showed me only one thing. He showed me a cave surrounded by twin peaks of sandblasted rock. To make long story short and cut out a lot of the yelling parts, I skipped my wedding to go look for it."

After a sheepish chuckle, he resumed his narration, "Unbelievably, I found the cave, and inside of it, this thing. It seemed pretty dead at the time, and after trying to spring it to life for awhile, without success, I returned home, figuring that if I wasn't going to move it, nobody would. You can imagine how shocked I was to find it missing when I returned the next day with a cart - I was a firedust farmer back in Chiaroscuro, so it was easy enough to snag one - to carry the damn thing. After searching frantically for awhile, and to this day, I don't know it happened, the thing got the jump on me!"

Recounting his bewilderment, he threw one hand up in the air in a gesture of surprise. Quickly re-gripping the ox-cart, he continued.

"So here I am, waist deep in sand, in a pitch black cave, and all of the sudden, a 30-foot war machine is staring me down. Before I even had the chance to conjure up the stream of obscenities that would have accompanied the scare, it spoke to me in a booming, oddly human voice, 'Only we stand between the darkness-', and then, in a spectacular gale of sand and debris, it collapsed to the ground. I've not replicated the effects since.

Anyway, at this point, I was astounded enough that I informed some of the village mystics, and we tried everything. I'll spare you the details, but at one point, I was actually dressed as a Yeddim praying to the sand gods where the thing had fallen, while the local elders danced around me in a circle. I wish I was kidding. But that should give you an idea of just how desperate we got. By that night, everyone else had gone home, and I figured, for the hell of it, I'd give it one last try. To my dismay, I was able to heft the thing, albeit slowly, onto the ox-cart. After wheeling it back to the village, we quickly discovered that I was the only one who could move it. We tried oxen, yeddim, ten men, twenty men, and any number of combinations thereof. Just me - to this day, I can't fully explain the effect, but I assume it's some kind of selective attunement. Why I'm the attunee, I have no idea."

Husk wiped just a bit of sweat from his brow - even for a seasoned desert traveler, a royal warstrider was not light cargo. Nevertheless, he kept up his story.

"After spending some time trying to coax some response out of the machine, I got a blip on one of its readouts, just like the one I showed you, Arellious. Again, in a drastic summation of a much longer tale, I decided I had to go find it. Lo and behold, it was a piece of the machine - It wasn't airship science for me to figure out that this machine had a built in mechanism to locate its own components. The problem is, a few more intermittent blips have led me to suspect these parts are scattered all about Creation. This thing was one of a kind though, even in its time - The greatest artisans engineers in Creation, Gem or elsewhere, would be at a loss to comprehend what would be required to fix it. There's simply no other way to restore the machine - and, I suppose I should hesitate to say machine, as I've since discovered that Penance is, in fact, quite sentient - to its full functionality.

So, why do I do this? Well, at first, it was out of curiosity and a desire to discover more about this machine. It wasn't until my encounter with a powerful demon in the desert that I realized how necessary it might be. I have, even since before my Exaltation, always driven myself to inspire the best in people - I always have, and still do believe that every living soul has in it a capacity to do good. My encounter with the demon, and number of encounters after, up to and including events most recent, have taught me that perhaps the darkness that dwells within man is not man's only threat. In fact, a great darkness lurks at the edges of Creation, threatening at any moment to seep in and consume us all. It was only then that I understood Penance's brief, but poignant prophecy - only we stand between this darkness and Creation. And so it became my path, chosen or not, to travel Creation and restore what may be its best hope at resisting the oncoming storm. Unfortunately, a combination of size and cargo related issues mandates that I do this on foot."

He sighed briefly, giving a playful but dejected shrug.

"Hopefully I can do some good along the way, y'know? Heh, if anybody has any questions, I mighta glossed over some stuff... "

Husk briefly let go of the ox cart with one hand again and scratched the back of his head, a bit shyly, and looked to the Dragon-Bloods with a grin, giving them a chance to respond.

---

Arellious listened to the story intently, chuckling and nodding in all the right places as the humor of the story almost surprised him. Though the expected elements of tragedy were partially in place, it was not quite the story he expected and so often heard from the chosen of the sun. It seemed fate had a way of driving them out of their normal lives, and when it did not it had the effects on those closest to them. A sobering fact for Arellious.

"You've come a long way, and gone through quite a lot at the behest of a first age machina. That takes an admirable amount of trust and dedication."

He looked up to Husk and the shy look, oddly fitting for the large man, a bit of an amused smirk. A thought seeming to cross his mind in the moment of silence and he looked over to Sarefine, though the first part of the statement did seem more geared towards Husk than her.

"I'm afraid our resident occult expert is oddly missing... where is Aktuelle anyway? I had hoped to talk with him after we returned, but he wasn't at the temple."

Aktuelle, along with his present company, was someone who he wished to talk to but it seemed he never returned from Nexus with the others. They had grown reasonably close and he valued the priest's advice, even if he was a bit of a character at times.

"We better make camp for the night. We'll cross the river in the morning, after that it shouldn't be long. And I think I'm starting to suspect what Penance is leading us to."

As he finished he came to a stop, the running of The Yellow River could now be heard in the distance to the north. It was best to keep a reasonable distance from the river during the night, anything from river dragons to river pirates could cause trouble for unsuspecting travelers. Not that the three exalts likely had much to fear, but best to avoid the confrontation if it is unnecessary.

--FyreFly 22:35, 15 May 2009 (EDT)

---

Sarefine shrugged at Arellious's question. "I haven't seen Aktuelle since he left for Nexus with Lazurus and Fury."

She helped the group set up camp for the night. She stared at the stars for nearly an hour before she fell asleep, wondering where her brother Saros was and if she would ever see him again.

Kirkland 03:26, 28 June 2009 (EDT)

---

The next morning they departed early from their camp and made their way to the River. They waited half the day before a ferry large enough to transport Penance across the river came by. Between the three of them they had enough jade and silver to buy their way across, no questions asked. The remainder of the trip to Avalon took the rest of the day, Arellious encouraged them to push on into the evening so that they may arrive that night. As they drew close to the manse Penance stirred slightly and cracked with essence, but said nothing recognizable.

Finally, as the last rays of the sun faded over the horizon they steped suddenly to the edge of a massive depression in the earth. Like an inverted cliff in the rocky terrain it was amazing that they hadn't noticed their approach sooner, and it appeared to have no way down other than a sharp drop off the ledge. In the center of the large depression sat an enormous stone structure that appeared to be a mixture of a fortress and a temple that surely dated back to the first age.

"I'm afraid you may have to leave your cargo up here Husk. Though I don't dare doubt your strength, the way down is both narrow and shear. If there is a better way, I've yet to find it."

Arellious led the way off to the right, only a few yards taking a step over the ledge. The first step of a long flight of old, narrow steps carved into the face of the cliff sat perilously low over the edge, this made the stairs quite difficult to notice, especially with only moonlight to guide them. Arellious paused atop the first step of the long, winding stairs and looked back to his two companions before leading the way down into Avalon.

I wanted to pause here to give you each a chance to respond given the amount of time that passed and the arrival into Avalon. If neither of you as much to add I can post again with the rest of their entrance and arrival. Let me know.

--FyreFly 00:04, 10 July 2009 (EDT)

---

Husk grinned, momentarily considering hefting Penance over the cliff face, confident it would remain undamaged. Humorous as the thought was, he decided against it, thinking of the climb back up. Debating the issue internally, and only briefly, he concluded that Penance's theft was highly unlikely - Husk would be borderline relieved to find someone else who could move the damn thing; he'd hire them on to travel with him and take shifts.

Eying Avalon, Husk offered up a bit of commentary, "So, looks... roomy."

He turned to Arellious as he set about securing the ox cart at the top of the staircase, though he knew not why.

"I've got to assume this probably a pretty old structure - Shogunate at least, but I'd place my bets on First Age."

For a rugged firedust farmer, Husk made had it abundantly clear throughout the trip that he was fairly well studied in history and matters occult. He continued, "This seems to be about where Penance's readout was pointing us, and now that I see it, that's not too surprising. Hell, I think you'd actually have room to fit Penance in there. In fact..."

Husk pondered for a moment, wondering if that had perhaps been the case. His hopes were high now - if Penance was suggesting its connection to a First Age temple, more clues to its mystery seemed likely to reveal themself. Without finishing his thought verbally, Husk, who had previously been kneeling to tie off the ox cart, stood straight. Dusting his hands off, he looked briefly to Arellious, and then back to Sarefine, with a smile.

"Looks like we're getting the tour!"

As he started down the staircase behind Arellious, Husk broke the clatter of their various footwear slamming against stone-carved steps.

"So, how did come across this place?"

Husk peered further down the winding path, finding that Arellious's prior assessment of the staircase as narrow was somewhat understated. He was beginning to wonder if he'd fit down the stairs.

Dan 19:27, 12 July 2009 (EDT)

---

"Yes, its quite spacious..." Arellious paused briefly as he looked over his shoulder down towards the main structure of the area.

"I think you'll find the inside of more interest however. And I agree, I'm fairly certain this dates back to the First Age, for more than one reason. I'm quite familiar with the Shogunate Era, and I've never seen anything quite like this."

Arellious waited for Husk to finish securing Penance at the top of the steps before he started to lead their descent, quite certain that anyone who could move the hulking machine would not be deterred by the securing. As the two other exalts followed him onto the steps they immediately felt the familiar tingle at the back of their minds that told him they had entered the territory of a manse. The climb down was as rigorous as it was impressive, the built in steps were narrow and steep as described and Husk had no doubt he was probably the largest man who'd ever successful climbed down them. Due to the necessary concentration of the climb talk was somewhat limited, but that allowed an appreciation of the breath taking scenery and Arellious occasionally called back in short explanations of how he'd come across the place.

"To be honest... I nearly fell over the edge... I travel these parts fairly regularly and I'd never come across it somehow, but I was traveling back from looking over a friends tribe and found myself suddenly falling off this cliff. At first I thought it had to have been some new feature in the landscape, perhaps the effects of powerful sorcery. Closer investigation assured me this has been here for some time however..."

They had managed to make it about halfway down the steps in the first hour of travel, there was a small platform there that was no wider than the stairs had been but served as good place to pause given the flatness. Arellious didn't break stride however and continued down the steps on the other side unless one of the two traveling companions spoke up in protest.

"After some further investigation I found that no maps I'd ever come across, or found up until now had this landmark on them. Given its nature I haven't shown many people the location and despite the size it remains hidden quite well... not well enough to explain going unnoticed for so long. But I have a theory about that, Husk you may be able to help me with that."

It took them a full hour to reach the bottom from the landing that seemed to serve as a halfway point of the climb, there descent had led them several hundred feet into the stone earth and a full 180 degrees around the fairly circular depression. They now stood on the exact opposite side of the temple fortress as they had when they started their climb, approaching it from back now. The rocky terrain managed to support a thriving wildlife of brush, mosh, and vines that covered the rough gray surface in vibrant green. The closer to the temple they got the more sparse the vegetation became and eventually they were on some sort of narrow path that led towards the structure at the center, it was around this time that they could not ignore the feeling of being watched and the occasional odd movement in the brush.

Arellious led on a bit further down the path before pausing briefly, he spoke in a lower tone as his eyes followed the movement in the brush that moved quickly on ahead of them.

"Best I can tell this place as some sort of bound guardian... So far it has kept its distance, but be weary. We are likely the only three people it has seen since the First Age..."

Finally the reached the front stone steps of the structure, much of it was overgrown by moss and vines and the stone was clearly worn by thousands of years of wear from the weather. The climbed the steps into the antechamber of the manse, currently a large but barren entrance to the impressive structure. Certainly it appeared to have been uninhabited for a very long time, the architecture inside was certainly not of this age. After they passed through the antechamber they entered what appeared to be a great hall, the lower floor at least gave the impression of a fortress more than a temple.

"I'll give a more comprehensive tour later, but first I'd like to show you both something. Sorry about all the stairs..."

Arellious led the way out of the great hall and through a couple of rooms quickly, finding a set of stairs that led to the upper levels of the manse. These stairs at least were clearly designed to be used and were a far easier climb than the previous had been, the stairs took them up to what appeared to be the fifth floor of the structure. Though the floors seemed to all have varying heights, the first floor was undoubtedly the tallest. The stairway grew slightly smaller towards the top but was still comfortable, even for Husk and the architecture seemed to gradually shift from that of a fortress to that of a temple as the ascended. The fifth and top floor of the structure seemed to be a magnificent chamber that contained and alter and was certainly the hearth room of the manse. The room was filled with crystal windows that gave a magnificent view of the full 360 degrees of the massive crater that the manse occupied, looking down over the entire rocky landscape.

Despite this, the most impressive feature of the room was without debate. Around the alter was a large Orichalcum device that seemed to be wrapped strangely around the alter and pulse with a bright golden essence. It was difficult to tell what the devices purpose was without substantial research, but it certainly did not fit into stone construction of the rest of the manse. All three immediately would know that whatever it was it had been added to the manse for some reason, that it channeled the manses essence to some purpose. Husk certainly would not doubt that whatever this was, Penance had led them here and to this...

--FyreFly 17:39, 19 July 2009 (EDT)