Meeting Taharjin

General Summary

The light of the sphere returned to its previous dull glow... We remained in silence, and the statue offered no further words. I moved first. Something bothered me. I followed the flow of the water, and found a very well hidden door low in the wall, with no discernable way to open it... Well, maybe. I thought I would try... To cooperate with the not water this time. Guide it to the door it so wanted to meet. I was on the floor before I knew what had happened, covered in the viscous not water... It was strangling me, hardening. I quickly cast an absorption spell, trying to divert the energy... In a second, it split off me, not-mind screeching in pain as it burned me, its form changing to a more acidic one... I felt an arm grab me, and I brushed it off, standing on my own. Davina looked down on me with concern. I did not mind her. I watched as the not water slunk back into its basin, like an injured fox to its hole...
"I don't think the water likes us," Dinu said.
The voice from before spoke again, "Do you come to make the sacrifice?" "Umm..." Davina spoke "Who speaks?" It asked. "I'm sorry, when you speak of sacrifice, what do you mean?" "..." Silence fell, then, "You are no priest." A loud clank boomed closer than before, then another.
"Let's go-" Davina said. "I would like- er, I mean..." I stuttered, "Um, yes. I suppose so..."
She led us down the hall, Dinu and Octaviu keeping up the rear. We passed the statues, and after a brief thought, I picked up two more. No more clanks echoed, and we pushed on. As we quickly walked, there was another clank, and a sound similar to the one the door made when it opened... We returned to the entry hall, and another clank resounded. Then another. Louder and closer. Another, from right behind the second door.
"Okay so our options are the sacrifice room or getting torn apart by whatever is behind that door..." Davina suggested. A ridiculous ultimatum. "I would rather rip apart whatever wishes to rip us apart," I replied. The clanking returned, getting quietly as it left the way it came. It was mechanical, methodical. A thought occured to me, "Patrols..." We stayed in silence as the patrol left. "So you wanna test that or sacrifice room?" Davina said. "I do not want to return to the sacrifice room, thank you very much." We waited for it to leave us, then Davina guided the sphere to the door, and after it drifted in, it opened.
It was... Beautiful. A starry room greeted us. Colourful glyphs pulsing with light lined the walls, faded in and out as illusionary stars floated about... Illusion magic? In the centre of the room, a dais rose, and inside of it a glass platform projecting images... Sabellis was one for a moment, then another, and another... They seemed to all be real places. People walked through city streets, and animals stalked through forests... Behind the platform was a large window, of a night sky... Or maybe a painting. But besides all that, there was nothing else here. No sign of patrols or shadowy bugs or priests... Bizarre... And no signs of dust or age here... Even more bizarre.
I brushed the looking glass. It brought back an old image. One of another town. I moved my hand the other way, and a new place appeared. Interesting... I think I understand this. I wondered if I could find Suka, or the college, or... A bluish light emerged from the looking glass, raising and meeting my hand as I thought. It dissipated into bright sparks as a familiar place appeared- Master Errol ran around doing his chores, the blacksmith's hammer swung down, and deliveries were made.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel really out of place here..." Davina muttered behind me.
"Hey Rianemi, you recognise these runes?" Octaviu's voice spoke up. I got up, and met him where he stood by the dais, picking at a panel below. He pointed to two runes on a smaller panel, each marking a button of some sort. I frowned at them, they were very... Familiar, but I couldn't place them. I was sure I studied them some time ago, but... "I'm... sorry, but I can't quite place them. I've seen them somewhere before though," I said. Octaviu asked if we should press one. I was not opposed to it. "In for a copper..." Davina said as she pressed the button. The room went red, and the panels darkened. The triangle in the centre glowed, and smoke rose from it. A figure appeared in it, before dissipating, appearing in front of us. A figure draped in a large red cloak stood before us. Octaviu lifted the panel, "What's this made of?" It did not answer him. The red lights pulsed at us. It stepped forward. A loud, familiar clank echoed in the room, and it stood still. "I'm guessing you're not the high priest?" Davina asked. It did not answer. The magics coming off of it were greater than any person... Grandmaster levels... But this could not be a person, could it? I stepped slightly closer, moving to its side. I wished to see more of this... Being. Octaviu repeated his question, "What's this thing made of?" I moved quietly around it. It turned, meeting me, not answering Octaviu. Good, it seemed to have a mind. I reached out to it, and its eyes glowed red. Or rather, eye. It appeared to only have one. It did not yet speak in words, but I still understood what it tried to convey. It was a guardian, I felt, and it was waiting for me to speak. I obliged, "How do we leave this place?" /Where did we wish to go?/ It asked. "Out, back to the mines we came from." It silently watched, then raised a finger to point to the glass.
I've made contact. It did not seem hostile, quite obviously. There were so many things to ask. "What is your purpose?" /A guardian for the queen/ It answers. "Who is the queen?" It gave a self referential answer, as if the existence of this queen is completely obvious and granted. I tried a different approach, "Do you know the voice that speaks through the statues?" This provided a more enlightening answer, /It is the voice of all voices. Her holiness./ It then took the initiative, and turned a question to me, asking if my companions could speak. I had completely forgotten we had company. I glanced to them, then returned my gaze to the guardian, "Not... In the way we are... I don't think." /We shall see/ It said. Lights of the same sort the sphere used burst forth and engulphed my three companions. I felt their minds with mine and its. /Do you come to pay homage?/ It asked the new minds. Davina questioned what it meant, "When you say homages and sacrifices... What sacrifice?" So they could communicate as well, with the help of the light... What could it be made of, to allow that... It answers her, /Those were not my words, my queen speaks./ "Many things can be sacrificed," Davina continued, "What does she seek?" It does not answer, instead asking the same, /Do you come to pay homage./ She told it that it would depend on what homage meant. I meant to ask it another question. By what means does it move? How does it contain so much magic? Could it cast as a mage could? Was I right in assuming it was not alive as we were...? But, alas, it came first with, /How did you enter this place?/ "Through the door, in the mines," I offered, "It opened to my and the Razor's magic." It silently regarded us. It then gave us a simple, /I shall need to seek counsel./ It stepped back onto the triangle, and vanished as quick as it came. The lights returned to as they were. I cursed myself for not questioning it more...
"Really wish they'd answer our questions or just let us leave..." Davina sighed. Oh. Right. That is something important to share. I looked to my companions, "It told me if we wished to leave, we were free to use the panels to leave whenever we wished." "Oh," Davina said, surprised by this answer. "It did not tell me how to do so," I said, "But maybe..." I approached the looking glass again, calling up the entrance of the mines... And there it was. The triangle. I did not move to enter the triangle. Davina tossed a rock through. It appeared in the looking glass a moment later. I felt hesitation. Could we really just... Leave? Especially when there's so much more... Davina asked me if I wished to leave. "There is so much more to discover here, and I will be staying. I will not stop any of you from leaving should you wish, however," I said. "This place stole my blood, and I still don't know what this panel is made of. I'm not leaving," Octaviu added, raising the panel. Dinu offered a shrug, and said he'd stay with us. "Then I guess we're staying..." Davina said with what sounded like disappointment.
The panels then darkened. "Well so much for leaving..." Davina said. The guardian had returned. It reached out to me. /My queen is interested to entertain you,/ It told me. I followed it. I wished to see this... queen of its. My companions followed me as it led onto the triangle. There was a bright flash of light, and we were then inside a giant chamber, more opulent than any of the rooms before. It was mostly empty, save for the sarcophagus in the centre, with clear tubes reaching up to an enormous oculus containing the largest orange gem I've ever seen. Eight of the spider eyed dragons stood around the room, elaborate patterns carved within. The guardian was no longer with us. I felt it still within the previous room. I approached the coffin, followed by Davina and the others.
A voice spoke out, in a language unknown to me. It felt like pure magic. A beam of light struck me, and then I could not move as I was raised into the air. I felt an intrusion in my head. I was lowered, and the voice rang out in words I could now understand, "I am what remains Taharjin." "That's... Not... How?" I stuttered.

Report Date

08 Jul 2023