< A Series of Conversations | Sol Invictus Logs | City Underground >
Summary: Cerin, Zahara and Marku go to find the tomb of Ymir, the bearer of Cerin's spark in the previous age. What they find is ...unusual and somewhat disturbing.
XP:C1, M1, Z1
Tags:Cerin ventures once more with Marku and Zahara into the tombs of Rathess, this time seeking his own tomb. He wanders at random, letting whim or intuition guide him. Eventually he comes to a low building on the northern edge of the necropolis, it is rather plain, except for some small lines and details picked out in gold. Its door faces to the north, made of a strange violet-tinted metal, inlaid with a golden design.
<Cerin?> "Marku, I would prefer it if you did not sunder the doors of my tomb." Cerin notes, studying the doors himself.
<Markuran?> "Not until after you've entered, certainly."
<Markuran?> "How'd you do that?"
<Cerin?> "The mechanism was fairly simple to deduce, especially with the clues on the door."
<Zahara?> "He's good like that."
The inside of the building is... unusual. In the sense that it appears to be a single empty room, featureless and dull.
<Cerin?> "...nothing?" Cerin says with a mixture of suprise and some concern. He starts to look about the room with more detail.
Cerin notices a faint trickle of Essence running in a thin line down one wall of the empty room.
<Zahara?> "Nothing... not even your corpse."
<Markuran?> "Maybe he was so sneaky he hid himself."
The line flows downwards, then bends to snake across the floor. It stops at an unlikely spot, far from either the middle or edge of the floor, where it seems to have created a tiny pool of Essence.
<Cerin?> "Watch out!" he says, as something starts to happen.
In just a moment, the floor of the room detaches itself from the walls, and begins to plunge downwards at an extraordinary speed.
<Markuran?> "ZAHARA!!!" Even as he yells at her for not catching him, Mark flings himself at one of the walls and with a great SMASH, clings to suddenly-made holes in the stone.
<Zahara?> "Well, I thought we could follow in a more leisurely fashion... Sorry Marku! I could only grab one at a time."
<Markuran?> "Well, if you'd like me to make more holes, sure.."
<Cerin?> "I would prefer it if you didnt, Marku."
The large barbarian begins to descend into the deep, deep pit left by the drop of the floor. The walls remain featureless as they descend, for what seems like an inordinately long time.
<Markuran?> "I can drop you if you'd like.."
<Zahara?> "No thanks, But you could step it up a little bit. I'd prefer to get to the bottom before Calibration."
Eventually the three reach the bottom, where the floor of the room sits, seemingly unharmed by the fall. To one side is a simple rectangular opening, leading into a room in which a simple stone casket can be seen.
<Markuran?> "Sure..your bottomless pit has a bottom.."
<Zahara?> "Yes, Marku, your bottomless pit is better."
<Zahara?> "Do you think it would have hurt much if we'd gone down with the floor?" she asks idly
The room containing the casket appears to be largely featureless as well. The casket itself is blocky and smooth; the walls bear no great mosaics, no incredible decorations.
<Cerin?> "I doubt it was intended to injure. I felt no danger as I pulled the essence.
<Markuran?> "ASk the floor...why didn't Cerin get any pictures?"
<Zahara?> "Do you normally feel danger?"
<Cerin?> "If it was going to be dangerous, yes, always"
<Zahara?> "Hmmm.. always? Or just when you're manipulating Essence?"
<Markuran?> "I should try to do that. I sounds useful. Do *you* see any pictures?"
<Zahara?> "No pictures from this angle."
<Cerin?> "Could you leave that alone please, Zahara, for the moment" as she touches it.
As Zahara barely touches it, the lid of the sarcophagus easily slides off with a loud CLUNK. Within, no remains lie -- merely a small, leather-bound book.
<Zahara?> "Apparently your pictures are in here."
The book is small, with no lettering of any kind on any outer surface. It is bound in brown leather, undecorated, and tied closed. Its pages show no obvious signs of aging, from a quick glance.
<Cerin?> "Though no body...still. Did I not leave one?" he frowns then looks at Zee "Could I have the book please?" he asks, curious as to its contents
<Zahara?> "Only if you open it."
<Markuran?> "You have the strangest buriel chamber, Cerin.."
Within, written in a glittering gold lettering, are strange, scratchy characters, unlike any the Solars have ever seen before.
Suddenly, Cerin finds himself overcome:
---
He remembers himself, carrying a quill of orichalcum behind his ear; drawing it out, and writing scratchy characters into just such a book, seated upon a balcony that looks out over a vast sea.
---
Remembers feeling, reflexively, for the book where it hangs at his belt, as he ducks through a collapsing tunnel, the shadows just behind him -- one catches at his foot, and he falls....
---
Remembers standing in a vast hall, receiving a report that he quickly notes down into the book. The man speaking to him -- he wears long, flowing robes and he looks so familiar he knows he's seen him before many times maybe only he just can't seem to make out his FACE and there's a tiny little pin in the shape of a golden flower on his lapel....
---
Remembers putting the book down upon his desk, and looking up into the mirror -- seeing his -- her -- own beautiful face, framed by pale blond, almost white locks, and the dark blue-skinned man waiting in the bed behind her....
---
The visions end, as suddenly as they began.
<Zahara?> "What is it, Cerin?" she lends him an arm to hold him steady, and looks from his glazed expression to the book and back
<Markuran?> "What vision was sent?"
<Cerin?> "I...I am not sure." he seems confused, and reaches up to touch his face. This is his face.
The characters are clearly written in some form of elaborate cypher -- even a thorough, Charm-aided glance reveals nothing of their secrets.
<Zahara?> "Yeah.. where did your bones go?"
<Markuran?> "And didn't you have any treasures?"
<Zahara?> "That book, I think, is a treasure."
<Cerin?> "I do.. not know." he looks at Zahara "That book was my life. I am not sure what I would value over it."
<Markuran?> "You mean you wrote down your whole life?"
<Cerin?> "It was with me. Every single time I saw myself, It was there. I risked my life for this book."
<Zahara?> "It seems to have some kind of ... cryptic spell on it. I cannot read the words."
<Zahara?> "There's nothing else?"
<Zahara?> "I was hoping to use your bones..." she pouts a bit. "Are you sure there aren't some secret hidden doors?"
<Cerin?> "I do not think so. The chamber is bare, there are no hidden wires of essence for me to pull here."
<Markuran?> "Then how did they expect us to get back up?
<Cerin?> "Perhaps they did not." he shrugs. "I will study the platform outside."
<Markuran?> "We best be standing on the floor. Otherwise there might be demons and dark clouds under it when it rises, trapping us here forever. Or some such thing."
<Zahara?> "Wooh, what a trip!"
<Markuran?> "Can we see about the doors, now?"
<Zahara?> "What do you want with the doors?"
<Cerin?> "See what about the doors, Marku?"
<Markuran?> "They're made of something interesting.."
<Markuran?> "And there's nothing even in your tomb anymore, so they aren't needed."
<Cerin?> "I would prefer that you left them alone. At least until I discover just why I was buried like this. No Great Mosaics. But no warnings either."
Once all the solars are out of the tomb, Cerin closes the door, then taps it ...there. Within the door, barely audiable sounds can be heard as the doors relock themselves.
<Markuran?> "We should re-seal the necropolis."
<Cerin?> "You might have Marku. I think I might have a bit of searching yet."
< A Series of Conversations | Sol Invictus Logs | City Underground >