Ancient Scroll/ActIII

Roleplay from Aldo Unti

Message sent to everyone in the realm

Sitting in his study in deep thought over the events of the past few days, Aldo calls in his scribe. "Yes Consul?" Smiling faintly he hands over a scroll, "Proconsul perhaps.... See to it that the senate receives this letter. I will be going away for a few days to consider matters that have been long left idle and it would be most unbecoming to leave the senate unable to properly react to the present affairs." Blinking the man looks at the scroll as though it was a viper, "Y-You are leaving?" Chuckling faintly Aldo presses the scroll forward, "Only for a few days, a week at most. I regret that it was now, with the Thalmarkin issue going on, but one cannot alter every thread of fate." Looking down at the scroll and then back at Aldo the scribe inclines his head before shuffling out slightly dazed. Still smiling Aldo stands to look outside the window at the high moon, he'd thought there'd be a little more time, but no it began tomorrow at moon rise. They were in good hands though, their own. Looking over the gear that had been assembled earlier he nods, everything was ready, he could wait a bit longer before leaving, just in case.

Aldo Unti (Consul of Melhed)

Letter from Dorgund Miles

Message sent to everyone in the realm

Melhed, I am afraid the short notice of our former Consul's departure may have caught most of the Senators and rest of our nobles off guard. Despite that, I do not see myself replacing the Consul but merely as an aid while he is gone. Do not worry yourself as it will not diminish my efforts or desires for Melhed, but know that so long as Aldo takes breath I will strive to see him as our Consul. We do well to strive for excellence.

Dorgund Miles (Consul of Melhed)

Report from Dorgund Miles

Message sent to everyone in message group "Senate -Those who decide"

Senate, It would seem that we will need a General very soon, and a replacement in Mhed. Again I will note that I see my position as Consul temporary and would dearly hope to see myself returned to the seat of Mhed when Aldo returns. As for General I would put forth the name of Senator Ottokar as he has been instrumental in planning and execution of the Northern Army as well as unparallelled assistance in beginning (once again) talks of recruitment centre reorganization. That being said let's look to the future while I transition myself to the many, many pages of messages laid out before me.

Dorgund Miles (Consul of Melhed)

Roleplay from Aldo Unti

Message sent to everyone in message group "Forum Publicus -Those interested"

A cough from the back of the room, "I would add that all the daimons in Melhed territory are in fact already dead. Reports placed Rafferty and Ieara with nothing last I heard anyway. Seems adventurers can be most exact when they need to be." Walking forward, a little ragged around the edges, Aldo smiles, "Did I miss anything important?"

Aldo Unti (Pro-Consul of Melhed)

Letter from Aldo Unti

Message sent to everyone in your realm

I have one good thing to say about travel: it's the only way I know of to get from here to there. Getting back again can be a problem however, but fortune has smiled upon me. For those interested in where I have been, the next message will explain, otherwise it is good to be back.

Aldo Unti (Pro-Consul of Melhed)

Roleplay from Aldo Unti

Message sent to everyone in your realm

I arrived at the base of the mountain, a more fitting start to my journey I could not have planned. Shouldering my pack I spared a moment thought for the responsibilities I'd left behind, but knowing that the republic was in good hands, I was able to continue forward with only constant nagging worry that something would go wrong. The journey itself was not as long as it could have been. Accustomed as I was to travel with a regiment of retainers and a second, smaller force, of soldiers, the wandering alone was quite a change. The mountains of Jedencial are always a dangerous place, like all of Beluaterra, but the stars were auspicious and I met only one pack of mountain crocodiles, one blood-guzzler, and a goat; I lost a pack to that goat. Either way my axe sated and my pack missing I made camp the first day nearly at my goal, far closer then I'd ever have accomplished normally. It was at this juncture that I pondered the travel of plebeians, how brisk it was, and wondered how it was that an army of them became so slow. I slept lightly that day, which I must admit is becoming distressingly easier for me as time wears on. Never less before the moon had risen in the sky I was again on my way, following the map as laid out by the ancient scroll. All the effort with the stone table, the politics, the arguments, the toil, all of it came down to this scroll, the reason I went on the first place. It had turned out to be not a scroll, but the torn page of a book, a journal written by an unknown hand. Yet on the page I held it spoke of a place that one could find, but only if one knew where to look. I had gone to a great deal of trouble for this quest, and here, in the desolate wind swept peaks, a world apart from the dusty vaults of Silantin and the luxury of Agyr, was where that trouble had brought me. I stood, poised on the edge of a ravine, waiting for the first rays of the moon to tell me if my journey had been in vain, and I was not disappointed. Events unfolded before me as only the bards would write, yet I assure you it is truth; perhaps the universe had some sense for dramatics after all. The mystery aside, as the pale moonlight danced across the valley a light glittered, as though reflected off mirrored glass, the dazzling kaleidescope of shimmering rays nearly blinding. When at last my vision cleared I could not help but grin; before me was the great Halls of the Mountain Queen that I sought. Hewn from the mountain as if by a great hand, the fortress, previously hidden from mortal eyes, stood proudly surveying all the valley and peaks around it. The walls had no seam, no joint, nor mortar, as though the whole thing were made of one stone. The great towers stretched towards the heavens, so tall they seemed sure to scrape the clouds. And with some trepidation I stepped on the great causeway, straight as an arrow across the rift, yet lacking any support I could see. I wondered briefly if I could have walked this path without the moon's rays to guide me, perhaps in the future I would test that with a plebeian, but such thoughts were quickly replaced with unease as I found myself gazing down at the valley floor. However I could not long worry myself with the height, because soon enough I found myself confronted by a pair of flickering spectres. Shimmering like fog the creatures blocked my path with an iridescent hand, their thin mouths forming no words while icy blue eyes, the only part that seemed truly solid, gazed at me evenly. Confronted with the gate guards I clapped my hands before me and called the key to show them, the dark flame of incendia matching their own shadowy forms. As they stepped aside I let the flame die out and continued the march with an even tread. The great gates opened with little effort, unseen hands assisting me, revealing the dark-lit , icy hall beyond. Though I had shown the sentries the key, the guards still gave me their undivided attention, the cold witchfire eyes of the numerous ancestors standing in rank and file following my every move without blinking. I know not what possessed me at that time, but I gave a wave to the legion before continuing my journey down the vaulted cavern, and in the violet light I could have sworn that gesture was returned. Passing between the ranks with eyes sharp I eventually walked beyond the army, through the great doors at the end of the hall into a place I had only seen in my dreams. So long ago I saw the place before me, I thought it a metaphor, a symbol of humanity's dreams restrained by nature and the fates, but here it was, the grand throne room of the Dark Mistress, the Mountain Queen, the Dead Goddess. So unlike the ostentatious hall of the Emperor with it's gold and silver, or the simple marble of the senate, I spared a moment of thanks that the place was short on bones as the unimaginative bards would have one believe. Runic tapestries hung from the ceiling, the vibrant colours in stark contrast to the dull stone, while inlays of precious gems threaded their way across the ground and walls in alien inscriptions. An amalgamation of wealth and poverty, simplicity and complexity. Yet the most surprising of all the many wondrous things in the room was the throne itself and not by content, but by meaning. The chair was much like any other, but to either side rested two great chains of heavy iron, each link as thick as a man, shackles that would hold a figure rooted to the dais though they might wander their way around the room if they could muster the strength to lift such a load. However the great chains were broken, the ends shorn clean as if by a mighty hammer, the Goddess they were supposed to contain no where in sight, but the fact that they were there was remarkable. That is what the ancient scroll I had studied for so long said you see, the location and time in which one could pass through the great gates. The hidden paths were outlined, the manner by which one might appease the guards, and some of what to expect. How the writer knew these things I cannot say even now, but knew they did. There was one thing not recorded on the scroll, one vital piece that I did not learn until I was there and only my good fortune saved me I'm sure. No where did it say when one could visit, only where and how. Standing in the throne room filled with wonder at all that lay before me I could not help but question where the lady of this place was, and what she would say upon finding an interloper. I was distracted from my study of the throne room when I heard voices coming from the next room over. Alien things, I could not tell what it was they spoke of, the language they used unknown to me, but I could hear that they were far removed. Peering into the room beyond I found it to be a study, it's book lined walls reaching well above my head, some volumes so large they would require two men to carry. In the centre of the room was a great table which held a basin of polished jade, and it was from this pool of, I would swear, mercury I heard the strange voices ring. Peering over the edge I found myself gazing into a shimmering glass of lights that danced and spun. A collection of stars, pulsing wildly, swirled seeming to pace before the assembled lights, as if daring the others to interrupt. I could see in the confused mass many symbols and shapes that were familiar to me, and yet so many that were not. Truly if this was a meeting of the gods I had privy to watch we greatly underestimated their numbers. I could not tell what they said, curse the loss of the Scroll of Time, but as the stars gave way to the winter chill, so cold I could feel my skin burn as I watched, I got the impression, from my long experience with matters of council, that the assembly was in distress. That something might worry the gods was not a pleasing thing to learn, but I had no idea what they spoke of, or even if my guess was true, and so in frustration I turned from the pool to study the books. Confronted with such a collection of lore, I did what one would expect a scholar for whom the taste of new knowledge was sweeter then wine or women, I saw what I could take. Madness I know to steal from a goddess, but I had some things in my favour, that I was not halted in my entry, that the chains could not reach here, that Ancestors were operating without the instructions of Summoner, all of these things told me that perhaps I could get away with my theft. Most important of all I could not let this opportunity pass by, the knowledge contained here in would not slip away. I emptied my remaining pack of everything that I did not need, and pilled book after book into the confines until I wondered if it would burst. Skulking like the thief I was, I took one last look around the chamber, a smile at my lips and a thrill in my heart, before striding back out of the fortress. I passed by the throne without trouble, the legion, though watching me, did not move, but the ones to fool, so said the scroll, were the spectral sentries. Once again the pair bade me halt, and for a long few minutes their blue eyes studied me. In the end they let me pass, and even now I cannot shake the feeling that it was by their lady's wish. Only time would tell what had I gained, beyond the sense of wonder and awe. It was while leaving that valley of mystery that I paused. That fortress had existed longer then any nation on this continent, nearly all the sites, and artifacts I collected, the volumes I translated, or the creatures I studied were. Of all the nations of men, only Melhed and Enwiel yet lived with their line unbroken. I wondered to the stars, if one day our ruined cities would be picked over by children, just as the holdings of the Children were by me. Melhed had walked a long road indeed, but where next would it go, and how long would I walk it? The sound of a hungry goat, the same or another I know not, broke my contemplation, and I continued my trek home without a moment's hesitation.

Aldo Unti (Pro-Consul of Melhed)