Mikilos in Alexandria
Log Info
- Title: Mikilos in Alexandria
- Emitter: Mikilos
- Characters: Mikilos, Cryosanthia, Katsuro
- Place: A07: Fernwood Pub
- Time: Wednesday, July 01, 2020, 9:28 PM
- Summary: A wizard wanders into a pub, and that's the joke because walking is painful and plane-shifting is not. Mikilos is back from the dead! And not unscathed. He is tender with recently healed wounds and a ressurection to undo the damage Eclavdran inflicted on him. Cryosanthia, hugs him happily and tightly, causing him to cry out. Both ask each other what happened when they were separated, both explain their understanding of what occurred from what they saw, did, or were told. Cryo reveals Seldan's information about the demonic pacts he and Malik had, insights from the angel, their need to flee Alexandria, and how she and Acedia were tasked to get everyone back. Mikilos explains the pursuit to the Celestial Realm, then the Fae Territory of the Queen of Air and Darkness, where Mortal Dread was returned to her and Eclavdran's subsequent vindictiveness and cruelty. Cryo speculates the Demon Duke of Hell might have wished the blade to start a God War by killing one, or otherwise increase his god-like powers. Mikilos is unsure what limitations the blade had, if any, and was unwilling to test them. Finally, the sith-makar woman tells the mage how he has been a great friend to her, and both agree they need some down-time and new goals.
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-<* A07: Fernwood Pub *>--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-
The common room of the Fernwood Pub dominates the inn, spacious and airy because of the high, vaulted ceiling. Ornately carved beams of dark, polished wood form a lattice overhead, supporting the arched roof two storeys above the floor. To the right of the double-door entry is a spiral staircase, winding upwards to a balcony that rings and overlooks the main area. Large windows at this level grant an excellent view of the river to the west and colorful market stalls to the north and east. An air of coziness is salvaged by keeping the pub dimly lit; parchment-shrouded mana lanterns hang at intervals from the base of the balcony, nestled amongst lush, magically propagated ivy and ferns that grow over this false demi-ceiling and the struts that support it.
The bar is sleek and simple, comprised of meticulously polished black lacquer. Tables are set under the darker niches formed by the balcony floor as well as on the balcony itself. A few are deliberately sized to accommodate halflings and gnomes, but the majority are meant for human-sized individuals. A large common table is on the main floor, set before a semi-circular stage situated against the western wall. Beside it, with pipes mounted upon the wall and running up past the balcony and almost to the ceiling, is a refurbished pipe organ made to look like the one lost when the Fernwood was destroyed during the Merkabah Siege.
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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Appearing, in Order =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Mikilos 6'8" 180 Lb Dawn Elf Male Tall male dawn elf, rosey blonde and handsome. Cryosanthia 6'9" 267 Lb Sith-Makar Female A dashingly tall, elegant white-scaled lizard woman. Katsuro 5'4" 160 Lb Human Male A small but sturdy Xian man, young and keen-looking. -=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=
Mikilos shuffles his way into the pub, moving swiftly but stiffly. A hand rasied in greeting as the wizard approaches the bar proper, he winces slightly as he takes a seat.
Cryosanthia is sitting at a table near the fireplace. The warmth of the day has made it unnecessary to set one, so she has only soot-stained bricks for company. She is looking at a notepad, which has a few lines written, and has a room temperature drink in front of her. Movement draws her attention, but she isn't watching the crowd or really engaging with them, until she spots the mage.
"Mikilos?" She jumps up, she threads her way through the crowd with a spin and a side-step, "You're alive? What happened?"
The whitescale looks at the Bartender, "Get this man anything he wants."
Katsuro has shown up in the Fernwood for once, it's not a usual place for him. He will make his way to the bar and order a mug of ale, looking surreptitously around the pub.
Mikilos chuckles and waves vaugely. "Nothing plesant. Eclavdran killed me, but I got some messages spread before I died, so the guild was able to locate my body swiftly. Also managed to piss him off enough he didn't linger in killing me, just two quick chops. Killed Kira too, know her body was also recovered but not confidant what arrangements have been made. What happened to all of you? Did you make it out okay?"
The white sith surges forward and hugs the mage tightly. She's on the cool side and has some hard edges from some of her scales, and likely isn't good for the recently injured. She releases the hug, placing her hands on his shoulders, simply staring at him.
"Some! Malik, Seldan, Morgan, Acedia and I arrived outside the Temple of Eluna. I last saw Duncan with his Digger, still in Winter's Realm. Mikilos, Seldan and Malik have left Alexandria, the same reasons I had to go, that the Demon Duke will come for them, for the betrayal and the humiliation at their hands."
Her pupils grow wide, "He killed you? So he was able to take Mortal Dread? You should have given it to me to carry, with Oil of Slipperiness and my slinky moves, this one could have played keep-away better!"
Katsuro looks alarmed at the news of people being killed. "You seem to have recovered," he observes. His food and drink are served, and he eats slowly, curious at the news. He falls silent at Cryo's comment, and listens. It's clearly serious business!
Mikilos cries out at the hug, obviously in pain, but returns the embrace carefully. "No no, that's what made him so mad. When we shifted away from teh fey realm, headed to teh celestial lands. i figured he wouldn;t follow there, or at last would be slow about it. I was wrong. Seems he had a small army of deamons waiting to cause a fuss as a distraction while he came after us personally. managed to hold him off long enough to shift again to the Enless night of the fey realms, and call for the Queen of Night to return her sword, then ducked into my magical mansion. Eclavdran showed up soon after with a fair group, but wasn't able to breech the doorway. I was able to open a portal to Doyle, the Queen's assisant, who took the sword back to the Queen. The demon was -not- happy, but I doubt he'll be able to get the blade. He waited aorund outside the mansion until the spell ended. I was able to memorize some spells in the meantime, sent some messages, killed off a few of his followers, but ultimately was only able to delay him a few moments. Nearly cut me in half with the first blow, all but severed my arm in the second, but was enough i didn't linger to feel it." The mage carefully opens the top of his robe, where a wide red scar crosses his torso a bit below shoulder level, a second scar starting at the base of his neck and cutting down towards his heart. The wounds are closed, magically healed, but still fresh and very tender.
"This one... should have not grabbed so tight. This one wanted you to know, she's glad your back." Cryo says, flinching when she hears the pained noise. She listens, slowly standing taller with shock as he tells the tale, straightening her neck, eyes fixed. Her head moves as she gazes along the revealed wound.
"It sounds horrific, those wounds reflect great pain. I'm glad you kept it away from him. I'm overjoyed you are back. Acedia and I, Seldan has tasked us to find what happened to the others. We had no idea. Expected pursuit, there was none, and then the stillness grew longer and longer."
Katsuro looks alarmed at the scars and the tale is harrowing! "Thank goodness you're allright now. Or mostly allright, at least." He nods about glad to have kept it away from the demon, "That's fortunate, and well played on your part!"
Mikilos nods. "He only cared about the sword. Funny, but had he just asked, I likely would have given it to him, had he simply vowed to use it only upon Winter. Before we knew the full story, of course."
The white sith nods slowly, still staring at the mage as if in disbelief. "What is the full story? Seldan informed this one that both he and Malik had Demonic Pacts with the ArchDemon. Malik one, that Alexandria and we would be undisturbed if we held off engaging him, Sir Seldan, that he must kill Salina or Malik would be taken. The ArchDemon hoping to corrupt him."
"How did you know she was imprissssoned, that your blood fingerprint would break it. Why was her dream our reality? She was not very apologetic. We were not inside the loop, yes? This was not the prophesy that the Bells would ring and it would start again. Did I need to lie to her at all?"
"Mortal Dread could have been used to kill anything, even Gods? Did we avert a Diefic slaying?"
Katsuro says, quotes maybe, "It's the fate of evil to misplay opportunities that could be won by goodwill." It sounds like a quote. He falls silent again, Cryo's questions are worrying, and the answers may not make things any easier!
Mikilos shakes his head. "The full story that it was a dream projection troubling the city, not the true fae. Eclavdran contacted me telepathicly that placing my blood on the ice would end my debt to him. i wasn't recalling teh exact terms of the debt, so agreed. I had no idea what it would do. I am glad it worked out. As for Mortal Dread, it could kill a fey lord, but I don't know if would be any more useful or not against other sorts of creatures. I know it was powerful, but didn't dare test it's limits."
"He did not miss any opportunities and his goodwill is also a trap. The demon would not have sworn, this one believes he had plans beyond slaying Salina the unbound blade would have furthered." Cryo answers Katsuro, staying focused on Mikilos.
She exhales softly, "Why did she not recognize us?" She asks, implying a deeper question, 'why didn't she recognize me after everything she did to me?' The sith blinks, "Was her dream projection her? Perceiving for her? It acted beyond her control? When she met herself in the Tower, that was two dream projections or the same one using the Tower's power?"
She slides onto a stool, still watching Mikilos, "You should still not say his name, if he knows you live he may stop by to punish you anew. The circle beneath the city remains, he seemed unrestricted in arriving."
Katsuro listens quietly, his food all but forgotten. "I see," he says softly, to Mikilos, and then to Cryosanthia. "I see." A fellow comes downstairs from the rooms, and Katsuro bids you all, "Farewell, now, I must go." He hops off his barstool and follows the man out.
Mikilos frowns mildly. "I think the circle has been broken. Not destoryed, not yet, but a piece filled in so it's no longer whole. I may have misunderstood, there was a lot of information being tossed around." He nods, waving fare well to Katsuro. Katsuro has disconnected.
"I was not informed of many things, nor Acedia. She was given a bundle of documents, but has not shown them to me. I have no idea what information has passed." The white sith sits back, her tail wagging happily from seeing Mikilos, even if her thoughts are lost.
"This one didn't even witness well, I am missing so many pieces. At best I handed out candy. I am glad you survived, returned!"
Mikilos nods. "There's quite a few details I'm not sure about myself. I think Seldan knows the most, and even he is unsure about several things."
"He explained some, but it was rushed, they were preparing to leave." Cryosanthia says, "It seemed Eluna's angel revealed things to him, that made sense once he saw the situation. I thought we were in the past with her, before all that happened to us happened, at first. Time is strange there."
Mikilos nods. "I'm still not clear on the full order of events. I suspect I never fully will be. Time is complex enough when it flows in a straight path."
"I sought to piece things together from my time in the Tower, but I did not see outside much, or many clues to what she was up to." Cryo admits, nodding slowly, "It does not matter much, now they are done. The opportunity to erase Mistakes will not arise, we shall have to live with our choices and actions."
The sith smiles cheerfully, "good thing it all worked out, yes?"
Mikilos nods. "Not the ending I might have hoped for, but far better than things might have gone. So in the end, I suppose I'm content."
"This one shall have to be too." Cryosanthia says, the mirth in her voice cracking and sounding false. She rubs at the back of her left hand with her thumb, looking thoughtful. "Redeemed as she was, it would not have been the liability it was. Still, this one is happy to no longer have a constant audience."
She slaps her hand on the bar, looking at the bartender, "Drinks, food! He has been to Heaven and Hell, Winter and Darkness, one of the Heroes that saved you all! Without Mikilos Mithrallas, we would all have been lost!"
Mikilos chuckles and waves vaugely. "I was hardly the only one. And despite the resounding presence of a demon, didn't go to the infernal realms. one place i;ve managed to avoid visiting, though have scryed a few times."
The bartender is quick with two drinks, as they were unspecified, they're beer. They are followed by two bowls of stew, placed by the elf and the sith.
"His company would be hell enough, it was every time I experienced it." Cryosanthia says, taking up her mug, sipping. "This one still needs your help with Ezil's friend, and if you can scry Hell, do you think you can find Merek without provoking the Demon?"
Mikilos ahs, and nods. "I keep getting distracted from that. Yes, should be possible."
The white sith smiles, takes another sip, "There were many distrations, it is understandable."
She sets her mug down, she leans forward, her snout very close to Mikilos' face. Her breath is cold, and on the strong side, and details of her scales are remarkable when its possible to see the striations in them, and the subtle differences between the bright white ones and the others with pale blue hues. Her eyes though, are riviting and intense, hard glittering gems fixed on the elf's. "You know you are important to this one? Yes? You have helped me heal, and other things. I consider you a friend. Tell me what do you need? How do you feel after the struggles and injuries. Is there something this one can do for you?"
Mikilos smiles. "Thank you. I appericate the offer, but I'm alright. I intend to rest a few days, and then take some time to really consider what I do want. i;ve been reacting to the plans and plots of others, without being very proactive to my own goals. But i want to make sure what my goals really are, long term. The world has changed, and I'm not confidant I've been keeping up."
Cryo bobs her head, listening to the plans, a grin spreading along her snout, "Romancing? This one can help with those. Her advice has only lost one beau to a demon and a cihuaa. This one... still needs time to imagine life without the Mistake. I think, I do not want to clean for anyone anymore, though if you absolutely need it I might."
She looks out across the pub, gazing at the faces, "So much change since I left Am'shere, then the stagnation of the Tower, the insanity after. I got boots to go faster and I still can't keep up."
Mikilos nods. "I do plan for a family some day, but that's still years away. I'm thinking more a research project. Something to help the world find a better way to do things. But I'm not sure what. loftly goals is one thing, but do need to remain at least a little practical."
"High goals are good. I shall find some." Cryosanthia says, "I may spend more time in Mictlan, I have forgotten how to be a sith."
Mikilos grins. "Not quite a problem I've ever dealt with, but i do think i may take some time to be amoung my own people again, if only for a few days."
"It cannot hurt! Wear your good dresses!" The whitescale grins back, rocking on her seat, her tail swaying back and forth.
Mikilos tries to hide his grin behind a frown. "It's a robe and you know it. Though I may change into somethign else for a few days. The material isn't exactly rough, but still rubs uncomfortably on my wounds."
"This one knows!" The whitescale returns an even brighter grin, concentrating and announcing, "Dress! Robe!"
She was wearing her leather and mithral swashbuckling ensemble, which then switches to the layered wizard robes she's worn before, with the snowflakes and dragon eyes. Those change into their velvet version, which looks essentially the same, only thicker and fluffier.
After which, she maintains a cold stare, seemingly waiting. A small, embroidered blue lizard emerges from a pocket, then slowly 'crawls' across her robes in a series of jumps every few seconds which animate it into a new pose. As she maintains her gaze, the lizard crosses over her chest then vanishes beneath the sleeves.
After that, all the clothes switch back to the white leathers. "Softer is better, you do not want those aggravated."
Mikilos nods. "I have some silk shirts, i think those will be fine. just a matter of trying and seeing what works."
"Ah! This one has a memory of Silk on Softskin! Yes, that would be a good choice." Cryo exclaims eagerly. She glances at her table, with her discarded book, "This one has an errand to run, but would not leave you. If you are remaining I shall quick return in case you need assistance, if you must go and I have not, don't tarry for me, I shall check on your shop."
The white sith slips off her stool, makes a small bow then scampers after her things. She does pass by on her exit, to slurp down the stew and the rest of her beer. She pauses by the door.
Her hands dance through a cantrip, her voice is much louder. She announces to the Fernwood, "Know all, you are graced by the presence of one of the Heroes who defeated Endless Winter, deprived A Duke of Hell of his prize, and brought about the cure of the Plague which has infected and troubled Alexandria and the land. Do not touch him, as he is sore from death, but shout rounds and cheers to Mikilos Mithrallas, Archmage Extraordinaire!"
She gives a quick wink to the dawn elf and darts outside before the crowd reacts.
Tribune: FALLEN HEROES RECOVERED!
============================================================================== Printed on the front page, in large, flowing script: FALLEN HEROES RECOVERED! Earlier today, the Temples of the Holy Order reported the recovery and resurrection of several members of Alexandrian society that had recently fallen in their battle with the Duke of Hell, Eclavdran, and the dark fae Salina, who brought the world so much suffering through the plague. "Bless the souls of those who fell with noble intentions in their hearts," the High Seeress was quoted as saying when questioned about those fallen heroes. According to sources, several of the leaders of the Faith banded together to call upon the Celestial Host to recover and restore those lost to the Hells. "Truly astonishing," one priest of Tarien was quoted as saying. Other sources claim that some of the leaders were pressured into taking action by a tiny, armored paladin, diligently working to organize the leaders and rally the necessary resources, though according to at least one source, repeated threats of future bitings were made. Either way, the Tribune is proud to honor our fallen heroes, and we wish you many happy, healthy, safer days in the future! ==============================================================================
Dramatis Personae
Mikilos
Mikilos is a slender male Dawn Elf, freakishly tall by elven standards, standing a full head over the average human. His ivory skin and long blonde hair hold a rosy warmth, as if dappled in spring sunshine, even when such light is not present. His hazel eyes are deep set, and spark with curiousity. His hands are long and nimble, but hold callus and stain from long use in craft.
He is dressed in a simple Grey robe, of a simple cut, unadorned with decoration. It is however a strange, almost painfully Neutral Grey. His waist is defined by a simple leather belt, from which a scroll case hangs upon one side, a well-used scabbard on the other. Both trousers and boots are simple, black, and practical. An occasional cloak guards against the weather or dust. Upon his brow sits a simple circlet of silver, set with a small stone which shifts from blue to violet, depending on the light.
Cryosanthia
For those who have known her, Cryo is older, much older. Gone is the light on her feet, heavy in the fray, whimsical lizard girl. There is no trace of the fading youngling features which betrayed her youth, her lithe build, her playful exagerated expressions. She looks like her mother might, bigger overall with larger horns, more scale plates, a stronger keratin crest and fearsome talons. Even her gory tattoos have vanished. The Cryo you knew is gone. In a seeming instant.
For those who meet her afresh, Cryosanthia is an elegant sith-makar woman in the first year of her second century. She radiates confidence, a deep power from within. Her scales are a brilliant white, highlighted by ones which are the palest of glacial blues. These pale scales trace out the scars she used to bear, her hide is restored. She bears two fantastic patterns of these, one on her chest, the other completely covering her back from crest to tailtip. When the light hits right, one sees the dragon within. Her bearing is intense, her motions minimal grace. Two horns sweep back from her brow. Her eyes are like glittering saphhire gems, and when she blinks her eyelids have the glacial blue to them as well. She wears a white layered robe, cut for her species, with shimmering blue piping, highlights and whorls. She carries no weapons, and still keeps a tiny bag close to her heart.
For those who know the story, Cryo has been changed, physically and fundamentally by her experiences. She is a lifetime older, but a human lifetime. Still young for a sith-makar, she has centuries to go. Cryosanthia grew into herself under the fae Queen and is the only one to return with memories. These are, sadly, disrupted and Cryo struggles to reconnect with herself, her body, and friends she hasn't seen in decades. Alien at times even to the sith-makar, her heritage is written on her scales, along with her spells.
Cryosanthia, Speaker of the Sith-Makar.
Katsuro
Katsuro is a short human of Xian descent in his early twenties. He's got tanned skin, with dark hair cut short and dark eyes, with thin eyebrows that arch. His build is pretty sturdy, with thick arms and strong legs, and he has a graceful stride, like a dancer.
He's currently wearing a plain tunic and breeches in neutral brown, with thin black slippers. The tunic is drawn up and closed up to his throat, the breeches are drawn around his ankles and puff out a bit to his knees. Over the tunic and breeches is a boiled leather cuirass dyed dull black. A thick belt around his waist boasts dull metal studs, and from it hangs a short sword, with a well-made scabbard in the Xian style. A backpack on his back has a few items in it, and a dark blue cloak hangs down his back to his knees. It's voluminous, and he could wrap it around him if he desired.