No Tolling of Alarms
Slowly Perious and Ruby walked on either side of the room behind the statues towards alter the where Jenkis stood. The linguists watched Perious' movements, transfixed in terror at his words. As Perious ascended up the stairs he removed his cloak. The linguists forgot for a moment of the terror his words struck in them. They marveled at the intricate dye and craftsmanship of his clothing. No, it couldn't be clothing. The material was too hard and the joints made it look to be one piece. A full suit of black leather, with fabric and metal accents made little sound. The oil on the leather held a soft sheen in the flame light and lessened the sound it made while he moved. Red and blue dye mimicked the door handles, reminding them of what was their last hope of escaping this nightmare. Perious slowly turned from the top of the stairs his hair turning blood red, seemingly sucking out color from his skin. Perious looked over at Ruby with a smile as she changed as well. Her change was more literal. She removed the cloak to show off dark armor with no markings or accents. The light seemed to be sucked into the armor, no shimmer or sheen was visible. She produced a small glass vial that contained a red liquid that matched her hair. Slowly applying it to her index finger she drew tribal markings over her right eye, several broad strokes with minor accents around the top, and bottom of her eye with both sides left open. A malevolent aura seemed to ooze from the freshly placed liquid.
The linguists looked in horror at the three of them. Cold sweats broke and silent prayers were uttered as their eyes darted back and forth. Jenkis slowly stepped down the stairs with the same smile he always had. Its meaning finally revealed to the group. He coughed for a moment into his fist and drew in a breath. "Well now, welcome to one of our homes. Please do make yourselves comfortable as you will be with us for a while." Giving them no time to react Jenkis traced symbols in the air and started chanting, the ear piercing ringing started up again. "Luix mei huij fuij-ldge overcome what is enshrined here. From the light within the mist, let the essence entombed within take root. The seed of life, planted ages ago blossom and give us the fruit of our toil." Ending the chant and tracing, Jenkis reached out towards the group with his arms in an inviting gesture to the linguists. The invitation was not taken up by the now trembling fearful linguists. The youngest linguist turned to the Luxon and pleaded, "Please! You need to help us, they'll get you too, all of us need to…" Her voice trailed off as she looked, really looked at the Luxon. The makeup used to make his skin look tanned enough to be a man of the sea was starting to flake and peal off. Beneath it was fair skin more akin to those from the low lands to the East, not something belonging to a people who live out at sea for most of their lives.
"You, you're one of them. I can't believe this." She wiped the tears that were blurring her vision away. "Why? Why would you work for these people? What happens if they turned on you? They'll do to you what they are now doing to us." The man stepped forward and placed a finger over her lips to silence her, "My dear lady, they could never turn against me. Nor would they dare for they are apart of my guild and fellow worshipers of the same seven gods that I follow and embrace." His voice grew deeper with every sentence. Almost comforting to the linguist he spoke to. She was very aware of the others behind her still wrapped up completely in fear. She felt it too, but not as powerful as before. The man stepped back and cracked a small smile. Her vision blurred once again, this time not by tears. Her body felt light and a little bit drained. Her head lolled about until she looked towards the raised portion of the room. She saw small white orbs floating slowly away from the group. With a single thin strand drawn back attaching a single orb to each linguist. "What in the world is this," was the last thought that crossed her mind as she closed her eyes and fell hard to the ground.
With a flick of her hair Ruby walked on top of the bodies of the linguists, "Well since that's done I'll be heading to gather the other groups and get this done at our main temple. I hope you boys do place nice. I don't want to be cleaning up any major messes." She looked at them, Jenkis' eyes were bright and smiling, his face mirrored such emotions. Perious had that look of satisfaction gained after a job well done. Slowly Ruby turned and walked past the last member of their group pausing as she waited for the doorway to rise from the ground. "Sir, we all know you do what is best for the guild. So I feel odd that I want to ask you, why are we doing this? We retired from this world content to come back in small groups from time to see how our descendents have faired." For a few minutes the only sound was the flicker of the flame. "Yes, you all do deserve such an answer. Please, all of you come out before me and listen." The specters oozed out from the sides of the room behind all of the statues, each one flickering in and out of materialization. The man's eyes watched all of them carefully as they all filled into the room.
When all were settled the man breathed deeply in and out. "I promised all of you the same thing when you kneeled before the guild leadership. That I will do the following for all of you; I would make sure all of your names would be remembered. All names would be spoken with reverence. To that end I have pushed all hard. To achieve that, we have battled on the front lines of history leaving our mark on every battlefield." The spirits shifted slightly in position, while Jenkis and Perious nodded in agreement to his words. "The world has changed much from when we truly walked the land. Creatures we knew are now gone. Foes and friends have shed this mortal coil, their banners lay un-manned. The sound of the drum has been drowned by the roar of trumpets for their monarchs and the lock step march replaced by the din of peace and safety. The minds of those who walk this land now wish to forego the words and ballads of wars of old. With that our work has been moved from the storyteller and song to seeking out the dust of time. We have moved from the campfires and taverns to the lecture hall and academies. Resurrecting the past from tomes once thought lost. Those of us who left the mists now work to find what we never lost, but those of life alone have forgotten."
He paused and looked at each spirit individually, locking his gaze with their blurred faces. With a simple gesture towards the people strewn about the middle of the room sweeping across the room towards the floating essence stripped from those on the ground. "With that, my dear friends, we shall begin the true restoration of your names. Today we restore you with all that once was on this land. Please proceed to your assigned rooms and await one of us to finish what has been started. Never falter. Never flag. Never fail." He turned to Ruby and looked her in the eye, "Well, does that answer your question?" Shifting her weight to her back foot Ruby crossed her arms. "Hmmm… Mostly, it does answer a few things that seemed to be loose ends for the three of us. In any case I'm off. Don't want to keep the young ones waiting." With a final nod and wave Ruby headed back down the hallway they had just lead their victims down.
The sound of a fire slowly stirred the young woman. She sighed in frustration, the light of the fire rousing her from a fitful sleep. The smell of freshly made bread surrounded her. A smile crossed her lips and with a hushed voice, "I'll be in the kitchen to help you clean up Mom. Just let me stay in for a while longer." The sounds of voices talking reached her slowly waking mind. She eased herself up slowly feeling sore across her body. She drew in long slow breaths with some effort. "Oh, that is the last time I let Darvak talk me into going to those parties," she though to herself. She lifted off the comforters and slid her legs over the side. Looking around the standard sleeping quarters of the university what it lacked gave her pause. The room was too clean for it to be hers, the notes of long lost languages were always scattered about, with a tome or two on her table. Yet this room was pristine. A lone leather bound book that was far too well kept for it to be anything from the library. She swung her legs off the bed to touch warm stone floor, yet another thing her room lacked, and slowly walked to the tome. Sitting slowly in one of the wooden chairs at the table she gingerly opened and gazed at the pages. Flipping from page to page few pieces of the text was readily readable. All of it was about the soil and produce from farms around the city of Rin. Her fingers rested on the word. "Rin, where have I seen you before?" She finished flipping through the tome. While the words were nearly gone, the pages and binding looked to be in very good condition. It was an oddity, much like everything else. She stood up and walked towards the door pausing to look in a mirror. She reached up and touched her short hair neatly combed and freshly washed, it smelt of raspberries. Her sleeping garments were not of the stiff linen she wore normally. It was a softer fabric, silk likely. But such a thing would be expensive; no one would spend so lavishly on something used so sparingly. The gown contained the same marks as her traveling cloak, all weaved into the fabric from creation not embroidered as she expected. Puzzling over yet another odd point, she opened the door to her room and was confronted by another strange sight.
Her room exited into a long meeting room of some sort. Half a dozen doors flanked the hall marked by symbols on each door. One end was a double set of sturdy looking dark oak doors. Her amber eyes slowly drifted towards the source of the voices. Down around the far end of the hall she saw people talking and eating, laughing and joking. She recognized the voices and half ran to the group. One of the figures stood up and walked towards her wearing similar garments. "Darvak! I thought… I thought you were," she crashed into the man almost sending him flying onto the ground. "Urk, I thought I was too Kana. I thought you were too." Darvak slowly rubbed the back of her head soothing her nerves. "Kana, you need to sit here and listen for a bit with us. Apparently there is something we need to learn." Holding his arm in an eagle like grasp she nodded slowly and sat down amongst the group.
To one side of the group seated near the fire was an elegantly dressed woman. Her dark green and gold gown billowed and flowed around the seat. The gown had no front it seemed for her legs, apparently for showing off thigh high boots on crossed tucked legs. Her glove hands rested neatly on one thigh. They met her arm length sleeves. Her jacket seemed to be apart of the gown, trimmed nicely and seamlessly fitting over the top of the gown. Thin lines of gold the only accents on the gown. The woman's face was framed by a pair of slim spectacles. The autumn red colored hair rested over her shoulders. Her olive complexion was very exotic and to see. Ice blue eyes looked at the newcomer to the small gathering and a bright smile quickly greeted her. "My dear Kana, welcome and good morning. How are you? Did you sleep well? Are you hungry? We have some bread I baked and some fruits, figs, and nuts from our garden." Kana was bewildered by the speed of the questions and the bright mood of this person. "I'm good… no that's not true at all. I'm confused." She breathed deeply and slowly. The woman waited patiently for Kana to speak with a slightly concerned look on her face. "I woke up in a room like mine back in the academy. It was way to clean to be any room I've ever seen there. I stepped on a heated floor that we aren't available to anyone aside from professors or students who are in advanced studies. Then there's this," She held her arms out, "This is silk. It has emblems in it that are apart of the fabric." The woman nodded slowly and looked thoughtfully at Kana.
"Yes, I can see how troubling this can be. Being here is much like being at the Academy in the White Stronghold. Certain things are nicer here. The floors here are much nicer. Our cook here is better, cute too," the woman said with a wink. She took a small cup from the table and took a sip, "Well, I guess I have to be business like the other four you've met. It's a shame to have to get all stuffy. You know, I'm not going to act like them today. I like all of you, so bear with me. You're all very energetic and lively. Something this place has missed for some time. So, let's start off with the basics. You are currently below the ruins of the guild that you, forgive the pun, stumbled onto. Your rooms are yours until you recovered from the ritual. The fear that my leader and officers visited upon you was not cruel. I know you might not agree with that, but trust me it was for your safety. Now, it has been about one day since you all passed out. Myself and a healer tended to all of you to make sure you were safe and sound. As you can see half of you are here. The other half are beyond that set of doors and across the hall. They are still tired from the event before. So the healer is currently tending to them while all of us get to chat a bit. Before we carry on any further, please eat and drink. Regain some of your strength and I shall entertain all of you."
Fruits, nuts and slices of bread were tossed onto plates; while tankards reserved for copious amounts of ale brimmed with mixed juices of fruit. The woman slowly placed light wooden tables next to everyone for a place to rest their food and drink. She took some figs and refilled her cup. Moving her seat a bit to face the fire a bit more and resuming her elegant posture she resumed speaking. "I realize I have been so familiar with all of you, yet never introduced myself. I am known as Voice of Lyssa. You are correct in believing that this is not my real name. I have forsaken that name and forgotten it when I took upon that mantle. I am the storyteller of this guild. I teach the lore to our new members and tell spellbinding stories for those who are visiting. Seeing as you are currently visiting with us, shall I share a story?" Nods and mouth full affirmations came quickly from the linguists. "Well then, let me think for a bit. Ah! I know the perfect story for all of you. Turn your gaze to the fire, my dear guests." With an outstretched hand the woman began to draw some symbols in the air, the group watched with caution budding in their minds. Slowly magical essence began to flow to the fire, turning it from its reds and oranges into the rainbow. Slowly into view came a vision of a peaceful path covered by graceful branches bearing autumn leaves. Light filtered lazily through the leaves. It turns into the view of a narrow road passing around a hill, grass and red iris flowers lined the path. Slowly the view slowly crossed the road and crested the hill revealing a peaceful hamlet of nestled beside a small pond with a small waterfall nearby. Butterflies fluttered by dancing on an unseen breeze. As all of this entranced the linguists the woman spoke. Her soft voice added to the scene unfolding before their eyes.
"The last day dawns on the Kingdom of Ascalon. It arrives with no fanfare, no tolling of alarms…"