2269/He Who Would Find His Very Own Sun

He Who Would Find His Very Own Sun
Date of Scene:	17 May 2015
Location:	Great Painting of Ariamis <PoA>
Synopsis:	Chasing down the scrolls of the fire arts left by the Witch of Izalith, Priscilla encounters Solaire at a most unlikely place.
Cast of Characters:	Tomoe, Priscilla, 168, 183, 248, 253, Reiji Arisu, 707

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Priscilla has posed:
    It's back to this again. Being summoned in a dark, vacuous place, marked only by sounds so distant and faint that they would only be noticeable if they suddenly went silent. There's no telling how far underground it is, but it most certainly isn't a building meant for outside, as there isn't a single window to be seen or current of air to be felt; coupled with the inexplicable feeling of millions of tons of earth looming overhead in that way that can never quite be explained. The only light present is a tiny globe of steady, golden light, like an excessively miniature sun, hovering a few inches away from Solaire's belt; the knight having found, killed, and skinned some gnarled, tentacled creature and fashioned it into some kind of charm. The visible radius shows worn, repeating sandstone tiles as large as dinner tables surrounding a single solid circle of the material underfoot, engraved with a mile of fine lines in maddening designs that hurt the eyes to try and follow, converging at the center like the roots of a tree. Where they are is probably obvious.

    "Mine apologies for not summoning sooner." Priscilla says first. "But this place was mine best guess to beginneth with, and the places preceeding, those which hath not changed with our passing. It was as Sir Hall didst say. We hath only to go forward, to meet our knight in the opposite direction." Solaire responds with a warm chuckle that echoes in his bucket helm; a relief to hear from the cold, joyless demeanor that he had last met the party with. "It is as I said before. Our goals are mutually aligned, but require me to trace an opposite path to the chosen undead. Where he goes to rekindle the sun . . ." Oscar picks up ". . . you go to find your very own." He says it as if he has understood something very important, and simply expects that someone may do the same.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Know who's totally here? Psyber. That guy is attending in the capacity of a Blue Spirit and hovering around. Even in spiritual form, he looks slightly tired and a bit underslept, but that's becoming a normal mode of appearance for Psyber, so it's not that out of the ordinary to see him like that.

    Psyber leans in to inspect the Charm that Solaire is wearing, "Hey, look at that thing. That's pretty nifty." He comments. It's like Solaire has his own mini-sun to hang around with him.

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    Reiji was summoned, and so he arrives. It's customary by now that Reiji tends to appear in Lordran in his full and natural form, rather than as a shining spirit of one color or another. He waves off Priscilla's apology, saying instead, "It's fine. I'm just glad we found him so quickly."

    The exorcist inclines his head in greeting, though he keeps his eye on that strange, once-living lamp dangling from Solaire's hip. What is that, some kind of horrifyingly bloated glow-worm? At least it's bright enough. "Good evening. I am Reiji Arisu, exorcist. Been told you're kind of an elusive man to find."

Fassad (248) has posed:
     Fassad appear with everyone else, standing tall and smiling. His shield strapped to his side, and his sword sheatehed. As usual, because he only manages to make it to these adventures on rare occasion? He only half knows what they're doing. Luckily, Priscilla manages to explain. They're looking for an knight! He nods slightly, though a worried look is given to Priscilla. He knows this world is in danger. Incredible danger. But he is no less worried than he was before: She has been working hard. Too much stress might break her apart, eventually.

     He bows to Priscilla, and the other natives. Smiling. "Ah, it 's a great pleasure to be here today. And I hope that today might bring us one step closer to resolving the situation!"

     Otherwise, though, he just stays quiet. Because the others know better what they're doing today.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Reiji was summoned, and Xiaomu appears next to him, looking around at where we just materialized ... or, well, the little that can be SEEN of it when it's almost all dark and there are only a few meager spots of light to see, much less to see anything else by. "Xiaomu," she introduces herself, following his lead. "Reiji and I are partners. So, kindling a new sun instead of trying to re-ignite the old one?" she inquires, picking up on what Priscilla and Oscar said by way of a 'mission briefing'.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe has long been over her head in this but in a strange way it was liberating to get away from the long running hunt for Death Gun. here she was once more as she's been summond to help and even in this place she tries to not think about what it is too hard. The nothingness of the void could drive a mortal mind like her's mad. Yet she came non the less.

"It's good that we were able to find you."

She also takes note of Fassad, because this is the first encounter she can recall having with them in person.

"Humm a curious thing I have to admit, trying to start up a new sun but that's a bit beyond me I got to admit...."

The Alf woman really is meat but she's seemingly fine with being such.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan is here, as a white phantom. He's also in his less businesslike mode of speaking, because Solaire seems like a pretty good guy overall and doesn't need a ton of verbal guards and caution. "Solaire. Hi, good to see you again, very good to see you again. Seems like, you know, seems every time we meet, you're a huge help to us. Really, a very great deal of help." He gives a quick respectful nod. "Oscar, Priscilla, good to see you as well." He makes sure to greet the main players here with some respect. Back to Solaire, though. "Wanted to ask you. Wanted to ask, just in case, you still have those scrolls, don't you? The scrolls of the arts of fire, you know, the... Well, the incredibly dangerous sorcery recovered in the lost Izalith."

    He makes a worried sort of noise. "Figured we'd ask, since, turns out we might need it. Turns out we might really need it, to do something important." Nathan has a monotone that suggests that he'll explain in full if asked. Solaire seems to have a certain kind of insights, one that Oscar is clearly recognizing but Nathan himself is at a loss to explain, so he'll let Solaire in on things as well when queried, but he has to figure Solaire's own leanings on the matter first. He does consider that, though. Those fire arts, attempting to recreate the First Flame... Huh, well, no, it's likely that Solaire isn't going after that, otherwise he'd be ash. Nathan turns this over in his mind.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki is so silent as she is summoned, and her form so scarce, that it may take the members of the group an excess of time only to realize that she's there. She makes no attempt to draw attention to herself either, preferring instead to take her usual place at Priscilla's left as her leisurely gait sees fit to deliver her. She has neither her sword nor her shield drawn and is, for the time being, keeping her arms locked officially and placidly behind her back. As is her custom, her eyes scroll idly through the area -- to the ceilings, the dilapidated structures -- until they finally come to rest on Solaire. There's a quick glint in her eyes, though whether that was a reflection of the environment or her own thoughts is anyone's guess.

    She has never understood these denizens of the sun; never grasped their adoration of the light of day. Solaire is anything but bombastic in his reverence, though, and if he is any aspect of his idol, he would be have to be the hour of its rising. Mizuki nods to herself. Yes, dawn is a quieter time, more modest like her moon: quiet in appreciation of the day that had preceded it, but hopeful also. And that's something that she can respect in kind.

    "Such dedication to purpose befits a knight," Mizuki eventually, offhandedly comments to Solaire. "I wish you well in your mission, as ever. And if you are successful, I trust that you will make for a learned beacon indeed. You have seen darkness many times over, after all, so you know exactly what the light of the flame fights to abate." Her commentary is oblique enough to have been made in the mumbles of sleep, but she hopes that her words will have an impact that is at least a shade of what Oscar's will.

    Then she promptly returns to her silence. Her eyes remain misted over, and her gaze continues to wander.

    Will they ever see him again after this? ... probably not. Still, she has no idea what to say. Perhaps silence is best.

Priscilla has posed:
    "I'm glad you think so!" Solaire says to Psyber. "I found it in a dark cavern full of parasites. It was unpleasant business, I will tell you, but ultimately, it serves a fitting use, don't you think? It's not much, but I like to think of it as one step closer." A little memorial token, to remind him what he's after. It's kind of charming in a way, even if 'finding his own sun' still sounds like complete and utter nonsense. "I am Solaire, Knight of Astora, adherent of the Lord of Sunlight." he says to Reiji, conveniently introducing himself to the others he has yet to meet. "As ever, you find ways to surprise me Lady Priscilla. You and your chosen undead are at no shortage for strange companions! Hahaha!" What is it about Reiji that's strange? He looks fairly normal compared to some of the other people Priscilla has brought along. Surely he can't mean Fassad. If he was a little less clean, he'd look right at home here. It'd seem obvious he'd meant Xiaomu, were he actually even looking at her. "Nothing quite so grand. Whoever succeeds Lord Gwyn will be the new Lord of Sunlight by default. I'm after something of my own." Cryptic as always.

    He waggles a gauntleted finger at Nathan in good humour. "Pyromancy, not sorcery. The two couldn't be more different from each other, and the former predates the latter by a good long while. Though you have ever been a steadfast and honest man, understand that I cannot simply hand these over without full knowledge of what you intend to do with them." He taps the carrying case at the back of his belt. It's surprising hearing that coming from the person with the least reason to mistrust Nathan.

    Oscar regards the question in silence, before hitting his heel against the whorl of engravings at the center of the dias, depressing it with a dull clunk, and causing a series of red lights to pulse outwards through the filligree like the beating of a heart, racing towards the edges, and then kicking up a plume of ancient dust as the whole thing begins to move downwards, giving off the grind of stone on stone as the platform descends on some kind of mechanism. "I see no reason to hide it from him." Oscar says. "Asides, I cannot lie to a countryman, even if in name only." The hell does that mean? "I hath told Sir Solaire some measure of what hast transpired, but such can be presumed by the fact that the both of us knew to be here. There is one other thing we must accomplish asides the scrolls. A far more valuable piece." says Priscilla. The Lordran natives aren't being terribly clear today. Is this some kind of cultural thing?

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    "It's a pleasure," Reiji replies, giving another slight bow of his head. He's not quite sure what the knight finds so strange, however. As far as he knows, he, himself, is perfectly normal! So are the others. This is what happens when you grow up surrounded by things that aren't-quite-human. "I apologize. It does strike me as a little odd that a follower of Gwyn wouldn't be looking for a way to succeed him. What are you looking for, exactly? We may be of some assistance."

    He shifts a bit as the floor beneath him begins to move and descend. It seems that he spends a considerable amount of time far beneath the surface of this world. Perhaps its nature really is that of a tree? Though somewhat in reverse. As it ages, it builds layers. Each new layer hides the previous, so that the oldest resides at its core, lost and forgotten to all but those who dare to search it out.

Hm. But then, what is the Abyss?

    "Mm, as for our own reasons," Reiji muses, turning to look towards Psyber and Nathan. "In summary, we may be able to use it to... Fix Lordran. Make the cycles less severe. Though I believe Nathan would be better at explaining it than I." He shakes his head, "It's a pretty simple goal, but the steps required are getting pretty complex."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber smiles at Solaire, "A small token, but a symbolic step. It is good to hear you handled such disgusting monsters with ease. I would hate to see something ill befall one such as you," Psyber notes as he stands up more fully, folding his hands behind his back. Psyber doesn't have too much to ask of Solaire, so he will let Nathan take point on negotiating for the most important parts.

    "Tell me, Solaire. How will you know your Sun when you find it? And why do you seek it?" He asks curiously, tilting his head a bit. It's an odd gesture while in Spirit form, "I'd like to help you with that goal, if I can, in some way? A bit of repayment for whatever help you have given or will give us over this time."

    He frowns slightly at Solaire, "And yes, the short answer is the pyromancy will be used to fix this world. Not by creating a new first flame, but by removing its necessity and allowing the world to continue in its absence." He smiles a bit, "Like a new sun for the whole world, I suppose."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
If Xiaomu thinks she's being either deliberately snubbed or insulted, she shows no particular signs of it, just leaning lightly on her staff as she stands next to Reiji. 'Strange' is a rather unfriendly word for somebody who isn't human, and she's no more 'undead' than Reiji is, so being referred to as such rubs her the wrong way for sure.

Apart from that, she's largely listening and contemplating what she hears. Trying to become the 'Lord of Sunlight' ... if there are two people actively contending against each other to claim that title, one way or the other, then it could mean trouble in the longer run - especially if they wind up tossing obstacles in each other's way.

With the stone 'platform' descending, th9ough, she perks up a little more, starting to look around. If this place is so dangerous that coming as a 'ghost' is routine, it's probably not because the land is all flowers and bunnies ... unless of course the flowers make Audrey II look like a dandelion and the bunnies are even more vicious than the vorpal rabbit in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. And riding an elevator in a hostile land like that is typically just ASKING for an ambush ...

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe looks Solaire as he mentiones some of what he's been up to since he lass crossed paths with them.

"That must have been an experiance to deal with something like that Sir Solaire."

She then goes quiet for the moment as he's got more to tell the party about what's going on and what he's been up to. She mills over what he's had to say and is slightly lost in thought.

Fassad (248) has posed:
     Fassad is quite self concious. As such, he looks himself over for a moment. Is... is he the strange one here? No. It can't be. Quite obviously it must be Reiji.

     But for now he smiles and listens. He turns to Psyber, smiling, "How wonderful, that we great heroes shall bring a great new light to this world! How symbolic and meaninful and literal at all the same time!"

     He is, of course, /hoping/ for random monster attacks. He hopes they'll have at least one.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    "Apologies, I was using my own culture's standards. Apologies, something of an equivalent, where I'm from. I understand, Solaire, I definitely understand. I'll explain it if you want to know." Nathan takes a more professional stance, linking his arms behind his back and nodding to Psyber. "He is correct. I will explain the mechanisms." He takes on his old, less exhausted monotone for a moment. His voice fills with the older energy, that energy where he has some goal that he's become hyperfocused on.

    "We will utilize the flame arts written in the scrolls to develop a means of autonomous pyromantic conversion from souls to a constantly rekindling energy, ideally using the processes founded by the Witch of Izalith. The souls will be acquired independently by way of an apparatus crafted through the use of the Ashen Mists and a drawing influence, as taught to us by the Gravelord Nito. The influence that draws in a small fraction of the soul energy released upon the deaths of individuals will be the Dark Soul, which we believe is currently held by the ancestor of humanity. We will use the ritual left by Gwyn in the first place to exclusively access the Flame-rekindling apparatus, and to ensure that afterwards, when the oscillations of the cycle are thereby eased, it will not be accessed again."

    And then he seems to falter again, losing that energy. "So. That's the plan, you see, that's the... Idea. The scheme, I suppose, could qualify as a scheme. Think it's worth it? Think it could be worth the risk on the pyromancy?" Nathan seems entirely open to the idea of 'no', but he's hoping that the plan is going to stick through Solaire's scrutiny. "After this, we just need to pay a visit. Pay one last visit, really, to the Abyss. Went... Well. Went terribly well, the last time. Went, well, no, terribly. Went terribly, but it worked out in the end, and I think we can do it again. Just need to work out something that would draw out the ancestor."

    Wow I wonder who we have here who's defined conceptually by light and who is hinting at potential future relevance to the group's plans? "If you agree with the plan, your assistance would be invaluable. I understand you have your own tasks, but any help you could offer would bring us great relief."

Priscilla has posed:
    Solaire is long thoughtful as the elevator descends, quieting into a silence that is completely inscrutable with the helmet over his face. The entire journey throught Lordran has been this way, now that one stops to think of it. Faces hidden behind helmets, hoods, masks, and inhuman visages. So very few people have met them with bared features, and even those were so very inexpressive. "An ambitious goal." he finally responds, tone guarded and even. "Even for those from such distant places and times. Let it not be said that I think ill of lofty aspirations such as those. Otherwise I'd be a pure and simple madman in my own quest." He chuckles very quietly. "Of course it is mad all the same to work with the fundamental origins of the world, in ways they were never meant to be together, but this land, this quest, this age, has been nothing but madness from the start. I dare say it is a plan not even the gods would dare dream of, and the Lords scarcely so. Those kind of dreams have ended poorly in the past, but at this point, further misfortune would be another drop in the bucket, and this world desperately needs something like that to work, just once. Try enough times, and maybe one will succeed, no?"

    The elevator breaks out of its shaft into the blistering heat of Lost Izalith, the currents of superheated air causing the hellscape below to shimmer as if a reflection cast on the surface of a pool disturbed by a stone. This is the one place where the party's adventures have ultimately changed nothing. The sprawling, alien roots twist throughout the ruins of the sunken city for miles all around, drowning in an ocean of perpetually molten rock. The air seethes with the hisses, screeches and roars of its twisted inhabitants, visible as massive shapes stalking through the burning fields, creeping across the walls, and slithering in and out of holes in the stonework. Strangely, the platform lands at the towering ziggurat at its center; a destination that has already been cleared out on a previous visit; the Bed of Chaos put out of its misery. It is a good question as to why Priscilla then ventures inside, followed by the two knights in determined, understanding silence.

    Solaire speaks as they breach into the central chamber of melted, glassy smooth walls and tangled and knotted wood, delayed in his answer. "The sun is a wondrous thing. Once I had the chance to be one with its light, but I thought nothing of it, for I understood very little at the time. In my journeys, I have come to see what it is that I have missed. The order of the sun is long gone, and there will only ever be one Lord of Sunlight. I am not fit to succeed either, but still I seek that magnificent celestial body. If not the sun in the sky, then I will find a new sun to call my very own. Something worthy of that magnificent father of life, to which I may dedicate myself to in full." Priscilla picks over the broken branches, stooping into the alcove at the base of the eerily humanoid tree, its breathing stilled to nothing.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber follows along. He lets Nathan say his piece and, beyond that, never strays beyond an arms reach FROM Nathan. It's a casual demeanor used to veil his hawk-like vigilance over the librarian. He grins at Solaire and says, "I used to have a very similar feeling about my life." He ponders, tapping his chin as he does so, "Aimless. Like you should have a purpose, but you don't."

    "That was fulfilled when I became a guardian angel," He notes, arms still held behind his back. It's that casual and more jovial demeanor he carries some times. The detective in him that takes a certain joy from taking people apart in conversations and figuring out gentle social cues. He hrms, "You're not weak if you've been alive this long. Have you considered being a guardian?"

    Psyber phrases it differently a moment later, "A protecting force, meant to light forward those lost people trapped in darkness, surrounded by monsters. The sword that pierces and the shield that reflects," He scuffs a foot along the ground, paying less mind to the surroundings but still holding close to Nathan, "Train others to be your rays of light, sent out into the world to light even its darkest corners."

    "Just a thought, more than anything," He frees one hand from behind him, waving it, "I admit to being biased on the front of what to do with power."

Fassad (248) has posed:
     As the talk goes on, Fassad continues to listen. He only gets bit of this. His understanding, more or less, is that they'll be using soul-thingies to make a giant light get lit. And somehow that will... Fix things? Like literally a new sun or something? Still, though, the one important thing is that this, from what it sounds like, is a source of hope to fix the land.

     He smiles, "The one thing you all must keep in mind. When things look their worst, that is often when the path forward comes. I do not think we can guarantee success, but we can guarantee we will do everything we can to succeed."

     Otherwise, Fassad is just looking in /awe/ at everything that is going on because this place is just astounding in many ways. This world is just so... vast and varied.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki can do little but follow. Try as she might to play along with the locals' riddles, she can do no such thing right now. Somewhere, it seems, Nathan and Psyber figured everything out. As she was contemplating the dragon's alternative, that pair was already three steps ahead in the chessgame, already contemplating how to change this world entirely. It's somehow ironic that they would find their way about questioning the machinations of this world before she herself could, really -- it's ironic enough that it makes her question her own intelligence and grasp of the situation. A small, reserved sort of frown might find its way to her face at the thought, though she would be completely unaware of this herself.

    Once, she had been a ragdoll in her own world, teased about by the keen hands of her past self. And now that she has her so-desired place on the periphery of things in another world, what has she been able to accomplish? Nothing, it seems. All she can hope to do now is play the part designated her by more learned sorts. All she can do is watch, which is sentiment that comes much more bitterly in this circumstance than others she is accustomed to.

    Even -she- realizes how petty it is to be so concerned over her part in things when the realm of Lordran is the plane being affected, though. To that effect, she does her utmost to expunge these thoughts for something more constructive as they make their trip over. A part of her is glad that the others are doing the talking for her so that her inward preoccupations can't be realized, but then again, if they weren't she wouldn't be having those thoughts in the first place.

    Then they arrive. She's face to face with an eerily humanoid husk of a plant. In this instance, she is far too caught up in her own thoughts to concern herself overmuch with the environment -- a tidy enough inverse of her usual condition.

    She stays still, ever remaining idle and silent. Unconsciously again her body begins to fade in with the tarnished, grime-clad stone until she is completely invisible. Far better that she isn't noticed this evening, she affirms.

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    "Dire circumstances demand bold action," Reiji answers with a shrug. A dying world is no laughing matter. A world that will continue to veer towards decay even after it is restored requires a fundamental change. The balance here is tenuous, the world continuously swaying like a pendulum between extremes. Life may endure, but it is difficult indeed. "But it's exactly because we are not gods that we can take these kinds of risks. Mortals cheat death from the moment they're born, after all."

And then, heat.

    Reiji flinches away from it just as the elevator descends into the open, roiling magma chamber that is Lost Izalith. The orange glow radiating from the molten, ichorous earth stings at his skin as they descend. Fortunately, they are still quite a distance away from the lip of the churning magma, and the ziggurat provides ample shelter from much of the heat.

The Witches who lived here clearly built their buildings to weather such things.

    What dwelt in these ruins following their downfall seems to be no more, however. Reiji peers up at the shattered body of the Bed of Chaos. Does it... Still live? Are there still embers of life in its hollowed heart? "I see. Finding a second sun to rival the first doesn't sound like an easy job. Seems you've got your work cut out for you, too," he says to Solaire. "Psyber does have a point. Once you do find this sun of yours, it would be a shame if you didn't let others share in its light. Ignite more suns in the hearts of those who may follow you. Like torches lighting other torches. A sun whose light is multiplied in the hearts of those who look to it for guidance."

    He smiles, just a bit. "Though I guess that's a pretty poetic notion. Not usually my style." Even if he does have a taste for idioms. Sometimes. Xiaomu knows.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
No elevator ambush. That's kind of a relief. The cavern which is very close to being volcanic isn't much of a relief, though - even if the heat is somewhat welcome, THIS much heat isn't really; it's on the edge of tolerable, though, so Xiaomu tolerates it. At least for the time being. "Poetry notwithstanding," she comments, "too many suns is about as bad as too few ... life needs light to survive, but the darkness has its value too." She inclines her head to Reiji, "Metaphorical sharing and spreading of light, though, has its uses - bring light where it's needed, and all that."

She looks around the cavern some more ... possibly still expecting something to leap out and start trying to eat face,s or other parts. Still trying to follow what's beign said, though.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is glad for the company on this Elevator eide and Sunbro's reaction to their plan seems to be at least he's not seemingly against it. Whatever he's up do she's got to wonder. Though still she doesn't think the's got any malice in his heart. They contiune the ride down and group contiunes to converse as they decend down the lift.

"My world has a saying, you don't know what you got till it's gone. It seems you learned well and kept going, Sir Solaire."

Fassad offers some insight of his own.

"Ya if ... my friends and I had given up we would have died either from the hell we were trapped in or when our real bodie withered way to nothing. Got to keep going forward."

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    "Ambitious, that is correct. Very correct, really." Nathan says. As they enter Lost Izalith, Nathan does an odd twisting motion with his left arm and rather abruptly several growths of ice form over his body, erratically providing him protection against the heat through odd magical emissions. The terrifying creatures that lurk around here remain, but the obstacles remain clear this time, and he recalls the way right to the base of the strange tree.

    "Once had a chance. Started at the sun, or, did you find it once before?" Nathan says, tilting his head and deciding to indulge the metaphor. His head remains tilted a bit at the matters here. He's beginning to think this has something to do with the scheme that the Everlasting Dragon explained was necessary to draw the ancestor out. They needed 'the seat of fire'... No, but that needed 'its original souls'. What's going on here? He looks on with no expression and much curiosity.

Priscilla has posed:
    Solaire turns to regard Psyber and Reiji with some manner of obvious thought, as if it isn't something he hadn't ever even fleetingly consider, but which is suddenly worth much more consideration with someone else, or perhaps these specific people, suggesting it. "Truthfully, I don't think there can ever be another Lord Gwyn, but to be a champion of sunlight even after the title has passed certainly has appeal to it. Perhaps it would be a little out of taste, holding to an old tradition like that in the new world . . . but I think it might be worth it." He nods towards Fassad with subtly renewed confidence, as if he is always able to agree to something like that, even as token as it can sound. "Unfortunately, this world's sun is just about at its end. Whether it will be revived or whether something will take its place, I think we can all do with just one more, even if it is very small." is what he offers Xiaomu. The lyrics courtesy of Tomoe blissfully slide without her being called out on it, for obvious reasons. "It was offered to I, and I alone." is all he has for Nathan.

    Solaire however, seems content to stand by while Priscilla enters the alcove, and Oscar with her. The crossbreed kneels down low under the arching roots and once-living branches, and over the withered remains of the fire that had once sprung up at its heart, twisted as it may have been, in the white ashes of its bones. She extends one hand towards the barren tree that has sprouted up from the charred husk that once slept within it, laying her fingers upon the stone-like bark, and closing her eyes, whereupon tendrils of familiar, eerily monochrome mist swirl outwards from her palm and trace over its branching shape. The Ashen Mist fills the pit, billowing outwards until it engulfs a space a few meters in diameter in a perfectly spherical, softly swirling cloud. Oscar looks towards the group, uttering only "Let us follow her." before taking two steps forward and disappearing into the fog himself.

    Anyone doing the same will find themselves not cloaked in grey, but emerging back into the same room all over again, through the front door. The sensation of deja vu somehow only intensifies when one realizes they are viewing the world through a filter of muted greys, and hear the reverently hushed taps of their footsteps. The air is thick and difficult to breathe, and the chamber is far warmer than it was before, with the corners of the walls smouldering like burning paper. The roots have yet to fill the entire room, but not for lack of trying having breached through the ceiling already. What stands out most is the silhouette of someone knelt at its very center; the 'tree' originating from their back, having exploded from the black, gold-hemmed robes that cloak them from head to toe and anchored them to the place. The spider's silk of their garment burns steadily with crackling tongues of flame, seemingly originating from their flesh underneath. Right before them, in the dusty indent in the floor, burns one additional fire; a small guttering thing of bright, bloody red, twisting and dancing as if caught in a vortex, shuddering as if in violent ecstasy. The figure looks up, revealing the lower half of the pallid face of an ashen-skinned woman beneath. Priscilla kneels across from her.

    MEMORY OF IZALITH

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    "If the sun sets, it must someday rise again," Reiji replies, nodding toward the Knight of the Sun. "I just hope we'll be able to keep it rising and falling regularly, instead of... All this." This decay. This fading of the light. He glances towards Xiaomu, "Yeah. Darkness is how we rest, among other things. S' why we're trying our best to rebuild the balance between them. Whether we succeed or not, though, people will always need someone to light up their lives. Just because a tradition is old doesn't mean it's not worth keeping around, right?"

    He glances up as the fog begins to roll out from the hollow in the great, withered tree. That's... Interesting. "...Right," he replies to Oscar, before moving in to follow him. Reiji hesitates at the fog's threshhold, before pressing one hand to its surface and pushing /forward./ The mist parts, seeming to swallow him up, as the world goes grey...

Literally, in fact. Everything seems washed out. And they seem to have... re-entered the chamber? How odd. Reiji takes a breath, only to find that the air is stale and heavy with... age? He glances about, peering at the tree growing from a woman's back. What is this, exactly? Is that the Witch he's heard so much about?

...Did they travel back through time? She was supposed to be dead, by his reckoning.

    Reiji approaches the woman and Priscilla across from her. The exorcist inclines his head deferentially, though his gaze remains fixed on the woman's pale face. "Ma'am," he says, lifting his face to peer up at the still quite living roots spread throughout the room, before his eyes lock- as man's eyes are wont to do- onto the blood-flame dancing between the two women. "...Priscilla, is that what we've come here for?"

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "I cannot say what actions would be best for another man. Nor can my friend," Psyber indicates to Reiji as he smiles gently to Solaire, "Merely say what my own path was, and what you seem to enjoy. Your sunlight will almost certainly come from doing what you love," He remarks before shrugging, "The past holds no light. Merely memories that fade to black. One finds light in seeking forward, more often, to the future."

    He sighs a bit and then turns to Priscilla as she vanishes under an alcove. He gives a faint sigh and a nod to Oscar, stepping forward to move in behind her and the knight as they both vanish. He then steps into the portal soon after, vanishing to reappear in the new, greyer memory of a time long past. This is new, even among Lordran's standards. And he is ill-at-ease. He feels disjointed, out of the natural flow and order.

    "Whatever we are here for, we should do so quickly. I do not like being here at all," He complaints to Reiji, letting his gaze fall over to inspect the flame between the two women as well, "Mmn. I wonder..." He trails off.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Follow? Xiaomu looks somewhat suspicious - even though she's starting to accept that maybe there aren't going to be any surprise monster attacks - but follows the others into the base of the old tree ...

(How is a *tree* growing this far underground, anyway? Or is the ambient heat and light from the magma crack enough to make up for the lack of sunlight?)

She almost doubles back when she realizes 'where' the group is again, but she's sticking close to Reiji, looking over at the crone(?) behind the fire, whom Priscilla kneels in front of.

She may be trying not to make a joke about cloaks of apocalypse. Or she may be too disturbed by the overall gloomy weirdness to actually think about making jokes.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan presses on, at Oscar's beckoning. He also does not react in the least when they emerge in the memory of izalith, or at least he doesn't for several seconds, before he shakes his head and looks around, making a worried sort of noise. He can tell, vaguely, that they've gone back in time. Or maybe they're perceiving a memory of old times? Lordran is a strange and terrible place. He does know one thing he needs to do here, though.

    He activates his [SCAN] ability, attempting to gather information on the fire processes while his glasses gleam gently in the gray. He feels INCREDIBLY nervous about this whole thing, as diving into the past, even assuming it's some kind of memory or something, is dangerous. But hey, if Oscar, Priscilla, and Solaire didn't give him instructions, he assumes this sort of thing can't hurt.

    He would like very much to observe this sort of First-Flame-related magic right up close and gather data about it, so that he can get further techniques replicated in their construction of the rekindler.

Priscilla has posed:
    "It is." Priscilla and Oscar say in unison to Reiji, the both of them in utter, deadly seriousness. The former is who continues. "It is not a pleasant memory, but it is still that, a memory. Solaire himself didst speak of such before; that time is disjointed here, amidst the traces of the mist from which the world arose. Whilst here, there is simply one thing . . ." Nathan's SCAN identifies what he might have suspected. The woman opposite Priscilla possesses the same general characteristics as had registered with Quelaag and her sister, but to an indescribably greater scale. Even as it slowly trickles away, consumed bit by bit by the fire that gradually eats away at her form, her raw power is easily greater than Gwyndolin and Seath put together. The room still stings with the motes of some great magical reaction, though it reads not as sorcerous energy, but the essence of something living. Oh so very distantly, he can hear screams.

    The woman speaks, with a harsh and broken voice; one that might once have been beautiful to hear. "These are the others you will entrust the future of this flame to?" she asks, eyes hidden in the shadow of her hood, and yet casting a piercing, and yet very sad stare all the same. "Then for the sake of those that will live on, please hear my profound regrets for what I have done, and what must still /be/ done. Through no error but my own, I have singlehandedly destroyed my life's work, and the lives of so . . . so many others. I will never live to see the end of this catastrophe. I can only take solace in that it has not been the end of the world as I know it." She lowers her gaze to the living flame at her knees.

    "If history remembers this at all, it will be for my error. I sought a thing to you before this. Not a rekindling of the flame, but a new one that would burn without end; without need for this chain of sacrifice. A flame that would feed on the replete Humanity of the world, which multiplies without end in the hearts of humans; those which the Lord of Sunlight so feared. Something to forever forestall the coming Dark. I knew no better; nothing of man, or what the Dark truly is. You will find no salvation in these embers. Not in the form they are now. Giving life from something as strange and unknowable as that which Humanity holds within its breast reflects only their nature, which even they do not comprehend. I know not what purpose you could have for a Flame that feeds on Dark, even as the Dark feeds upon it, but make no mistake. Whatever you do, you are diverting the natural order. Something, somewhere, will be forced to give way. Pray only that it is something that can be lived with."

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    Reiji falls silent as he's answered- and as he realizes what it is he's staring at. That is no mere flame. No simple guttering ember. That is the Flame of Life- one of the Great Souls mentioned by the ancient dragon in the Ash Lake. An artifact that simultaneously expresses and defines one of the fundamental forces that drive this world inexorably forward. And they are to... Use it, for something?

But will they fall to the same fate as this once-great prime mover?

No. They could not afford to do so. Success is the only acceptable outcome. Reiji's fists tighten, his jaw sets into a hard angle.

But would they achieve it?

He can't say. But doing nothing is worse than failure.

    He speaks only once the witch has said her piece. Reiji makes his way forward through the colorless fog, through the oppressive mists of time, eternity and memory. "Humanity has been defying the natural order since its inception," Reiji answers, kneeling to peer into the flame. Perhaps unwisely, he lifts one hand to warm it against the dancing light, "Our history is defined by man standing in defiance of the world. Only too late do we realize that we, too, are part of All Things In Nature."

    "But... It is because we are part of nature that we can change it," he resolves, drawing his hand back. "And it is because we can learn from our mistakes, and the mistakes of others, that we can learn the proper way to do so. Man must remain in harmony with nature, but that does not mean that one cannot change the other."

A hurricane can shatter a city just as mankind can drive an animal to extinction, after all.

    "We will do our best with what we have," he says, turning to nod at Priscilla. "We do not intend to stoke the flames with humanity, but with something else. Maybe it'll work. Maybe not," he shakes his head. "Something will likely be lost in the process, but the alternative is far worse, isn't it?"

    "That's why you tried all this, isn't it?" Reiji's voice takes on a... reassuring tone. Is he trying to console the witch? "Because doing nothing and permitting certain doom was worse than taking risking it all on a gamble. Whatever the outcome, you acted. I don't think anyone could fault you for trying, only regret whatever may come next- success, or failure."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber looks at the Witch and tilts his head, "I see," He frowns a bit, "Humanity cannot be contained or controlled. It is a race who became apex predators not through a place in nature, but through their utter defiance of all that is natural. This is a constant in so many worlds," He comments, his hands falling into his pockets somberly.

    Psyber sighs a bit and looks at the woman, "What you gave us..." He scowls slightly, "We're going to do good with it. We're going to save the world in our own way. Find the solution. I'll try to honor this by doing that."

    He's not sure what else to say to the echo in time, so he shuffles awkwardly.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan continues staring through the statement that the Witch makes. He gives her his full attention and does not appear to react. Once the statement is concluded, Nathan nods. "I understand." He says, simply. "I perceive and comprehend the risks of what we have chosen to do. It may consume us all. But we do not seek to sacrifice humanity to the flame. We will fuel it with the light."

    Nathan kneels alongside Priscilla, in what he hopes is a respectful gesture, the due to the dead. "We have sought to understand the Dark, and the Light. When we act, we will do so with all our knowledge. I will ensure, without uncertainty, that we act with respect. For dark and for light. For the dead such as yourself, and for those who may yet die." He gives a respectful, bow-like nod. "I do not seek to change the natural order. I seek to let it be what it is without obstruction. To protect it from its own end." He then clasps his hands politely. "We have to. Not because it is right, but because we are and always will be the people like you, who seek for the best. You have my apologies for that similarity."

    At their core, what people /really/ want is respect, for them and for what they respect as well. And so Nathan has done his best to express it. "We seek to convert souls, not humanity, to rekindling energies, in small amounts, over time drawn from battles in Lordran and beyond, conveyed not through a body but through the attraction held by another, darker soul. I will ask you with all due respect. What must we beware if we seek to take such a route?"

    They may not be here long, but the Witch has had all the time in the world to summarize the details of her own failures.

Priscilla has posed:
    Visible only in the guttering firelight, the witch's lips twist into what must be a painful smile. "In that, you are right. Man was always ever a furtive creature, so easily forgotten. It is the hubris of those who own the world to assume to know the place of everything in it. It is only in the dying of the light that the gods begin to have an inkling of what humanity is, and what it might become, and so they fear. Such fear is not unfounded, and it is perhaps not misplaced. I thought different, but it was arrogance all the same. In my final moments, it does my heart well to know that there are others who see more clearly than I, still yet holding to the same intentions. I know not where and when you have journeyed to theorize such a thing, but I can only pray that it finds you well, and warn you only thus: regardless of how similar things may be, you are creating something new, even if from the order of old. Fire is alive. The world is alive. And living things are known to grow in ways nobody could expect."

    Priscilla seems to have already asked her questions before the rest arrived, getting whatever strange thing she might have come for in visiting a figure of her childhood for the very last time. She only murmurs "One cannot reside in memory for long . . ." and Oscar takes his cue, kneeling down to grasp the living, breathing flame in his hands, and thus dispel the mist, blanketing the room in darkness as the light shrinks to a single point, before the veil lifts, and they are back at the ruins as they are, not as they were. Solaire has waited patiently, and has the scrolls in hand, changing them off to Priscilla in silence. "Whatever they may be, her words are more valuable than any of mine could be." he says. "I'm sure we'll meet one more time. All of us. Whatever happens from there, well even I can't imagine."

    Thus marks the final piece on the board. All that is left to do is to play.