All 06.0 - The Maiden Atop the Mountain

A few days after returning from the Underdark, Pierce gave his new golden employees a rather mundane task: they were to attend a five-day course in photography, learning how to use the relatively complex equipment. Caitlyn was less than interested, and Lucca's short attention span led to behaviour somewhat unbecoming in a classrooom, but the three managed to more-or-less master the operation of a camera by the end.
On the seventh of Marcheshven, Pierce revealed his intentions: excited at the prospect of having potentially legendary heroes in his employ, he was going to waste no time in testing their skills. Giving them a camera packed in a Bag of Holding, he informed them that their task was to climb one of the infamous Seldarin Mountains and take pictures at the peak. Lucca and Victor agreed with little argument; a job was a job. Caitlyn needed further convincing; Pierce explained that there was a huge market for stories regarding the mountains: fantasy for children, feature news for the general audience, research for academics and so on. Actual pictures from the Seldarins had never been taken, and so could fetch a high price, especially from somewhere as auspicious as the peak of the tallest mountain. Further, he had found various sources that suggested that there might have been a castle there at some point, long in the past, and who knows what treasures might be found there if that was the case. As an added note, he suggested the current time of year, since the local griffon population would have migrated for the season. In exchange for the photos, he would pay the trio a cut of their sales, and they would be listed as the photographers, garnering fame. She somewhat reluctantly agreed to the mission, and the three were sent off to acquire the equipment they would need for the trip.
Using the Lightning Transit, they teleported to a mining operation that was in the mountain's foothills. From there, they started their journey. It was six days of hiking before they began to first feel the effects of Etheria leaking through.
The first odd instance they discovered was a drastic and pointedly localized weather shift. It was as though a literal line had been drawn, across which the weather turned disgustingly humid. Figuring that there would be no easy way to go around, they walked forward, only to be assaulted by clouds of millions of tiny biting flies. It was a relief to set up tents for the night.
Unfortunately, thanks to the insect bites, Victor and Caitlyn both came down with serious fevers over the night. The weather was pouring torrential rain, and Lucca was left to tend to the pair on his own. By the following day, with the help of restorative magic, the two had recovered enough to keep hiking, though the weather remained awful. The fourth day brought unusually strong wind; it had also become apparent that Lucca's shapeshifting powers were acting oddly, his colours changing without his conscious thought.
Finally, a day came that was both sunny and pleasant. Their hike took them out of the forested area into a wide open field, populated with a carpet of wildflowers. In the distance, they could see a trio of men, doing something strange. Quietly approaching, they saw that the three men, wearing archaic theatrical clothes in yellow and black, appeared to be conducting some sort of interpretive dance. Pondering this for a few minutes, Victor commented that these 'people' were unlikely men, but rather fey or animals of Etheria; Lucca excitedly exclaimed that, if that was the case, these must be bees, which reminded him of a children's story of a man who climbed a mountain to rescue a maiden, and who was helped by friendly bees. Encouraging the other two, Lucca approached the men, who at first backed away shyly. It seemed that they didn't understand common, so Caitlyn was eventually cajoled into trying to dance for them, being the only one who had any knowledge of the art. She made motions suggesting questioning their well-being, to which they replied with a display of sadness. It was eventually communicated between the two parties that the "bees" were sad at the loss of their favourite flowers, which had been taken over by some cruel force. Lucca thought it imperative to assist them, so they inquired as to where the favoured flowers were. Equipped with directions, the three traveled over to the other side of the flower fields, only to find three more men who were significantly rougher-looking, wearing black leather armour and yellow jackets. Immediately declaring these to be wasps, Lucca declared that they should be run off for the sake of the bees. Victor had no trouble fighting them, but Caitlyn was not convinced that these very human-looking "wasps" needed to be engaged, and had trouble overall accepting the premise or point of the whole situation. After some arguing, Lucca and Victor approached them, with Caitlyn trailing somewhat behind. The men made buzzing noises and rude gestures towards them, to which Lucca responded in kind. After a few exchanges, they drew weapons and things took an ugly turn. Victor and Lucca engaged the men hand-to-hand, while Caitlyn worked some magic from a distance. The other men were no match for the swordsman and the druid, and they were swiftly felled; each time one was brought down, they suddenly became an actual wasp falling dead to the ground. When they were finished, they returned to the bee-men and informed them their flowers were safe. They took this news with elation and merrily danced over to their flower patch. They followed, and once they arrived, the bees offered them each a flower. Taking the blossoms, they found them to be magic, but with no particular spell attached. Dancing once more, Caitlyn asked if they could direct them up the mountain, to which they enthusiastically agreed. The men pranced towards the edge of the field, followed by the three adventurers. They lost sight of them in the trees, but when they looked, they found three bees trailing sparkles in their wake. The bees led them further up the mountain, taking them up specific paths and around certain trees and rocks for two days. Caitlyn found the whole thing ridiculous.
When the trees began to thin out, the bees took their absence, leaving the three to carry on. The weather was alternately terribly cold and foggy for a few days as they climbed the craggy heights. Lucca's shifting became increasingly erratic, now impacting his shape and gender. Travel was slow, since much of the ground was gravelly and loose, slipping out from under their feet.
Eventually, they came to a dense thicket, strikingly odd against the barren rock. Lucca was pleased; according to the story, they needed to find birds next. As they pushed through some dense undergrowth, Lucca explained some general facts about songbirds. Hearing some noises, they ducked behind some cover; inching forward, they spied three tan-skinned women, wearing simple, low-cut dresses and lounging on what appeared to be chaises made of vegetation, gossiping to each other in some indecipherable language and laughing. The three argued quietly over what to do next, when suddenly a loud male voice called out from above, demanding the intruder to reveal himself. Reflexively, Caitlyn shoved Lucca out into the open. As the druid stood up, watched silently by the ladies, a man wearing shining black clothes and adorned with a bright red cravat and a red hat with a large plume lept down from above. Wielding a foil, he demanded that Lucca begone from his lands; Lucca tried to explain that he needed to go to the top of the mountain and needed directions, but the man seemed to find this preposterous: the only explanation was that he was here to challenge him. What followed was a drawn-out exchange that involved lots of noise and little progress, that ended with the two parties slapping pointlessly at each other. After some time, Victor grew tired of the whole scene, walked out, physically separated the pair and, with no small amount of sternness, told Lucca to back away and the man to leave. Visibly intimidated, the man backed off and ran away. Victor then turned to ask Lucca and Caitlyn what to do next, when he felt hands upon him. The three ladies had surrounded him, and with no question of intent, began to caress and undress him, pulling him towards the couches. Caitlyn, with prodigious speed, vacated the area, yelling over her shoulder for him to not to forget to ask for directions; Lucca, rendered awkward at the scene, followed suit swiftly after seeing one of the ladies give him a rather carnal glance. The pair waited uncomfortably outside of the grove for nearly two hours, any attempt to check in quickly abandoned when familiar noises were heard, until Victor finally emerged. He had a trio of speckled brown magic feathers and stated that the three would lead them further up the mountain; both of the others refrained from taking a feather, and proceeded to shame the man with great glee. Following the brown birds, the trio progressed up the mountainside for a few more days. 
When snow began to collect upon the mountainside, the birds took their leave, returning to their nests. Traipsing ever upwards, the group fought off bad weather for a while longer.
As they climbed up the rocky slope, they heard a noise calling them. Squinting, they could see some movement around a large rock. Closing in, they saw that a pack of hungry-looking coyotes had surrounded the rock, trapping what appeared to be a huge raccoon, wearing faded yellow pants, at the top. It was the raccoon who had been calling them; now that they were closer he called out again, speaking perfect common, pleading for some help. Figuring that it was rather cruel to leave him, Lucca and Victor scared off the coyotes, allowing the raccoon to climb down. As he clambered down, he thanked them profusely, explaining that he hand't really been paying attention, had wandered into the area and before he knew it, the coyotes were chasing him down for a meal. He apparently had no name, as according to him he didn't go for that sort of thing; the three assumed he was a tanooki, a sort of fey. He thanked them again profusely, and insisted that he owed a debt that had to be paid. He thought for a minute and began rummaging around inside his pants, looking for things. He pulled out a trio of leaves and handed one to each person, explaining that he had to at least give them these. They were fey tokens, small items that marked the holder as a good person, a fey-friend. That wasn't good enough to pay off his debt though, he claimed, and kept digging. Eventually he had a brainstorm and pulled out a set of small wooden cards; he said that they were a great magical item he had picked up a while ago that gave out gifts when you drew one. He insisted that they all take one, since he owed them. They all tried to insist that they were fine, and that directions to the top would be a great payment; he shushed them, saying that he could easily show them to the top: there was an old tunnel not far from them at all, and showing them the entrance was hardly payment. He continued to insist until the three agreed, each tentatively taking a card and praying for the best. Each of them heard a poofing noise; Caitlyn and Lucca were quick to try and identify what the cards had done, while Victor opted to keep his eyes shut, unwilling to embrace whatever horror he was certain had been wrought. Lucca had a strange, powerful feeling of being watched; Victor and Caitlyn appeared unaltered. The tanooki, for his part, looked genuinely pleased, happy that he could give out such great presents. He went to Lucca, who held a card with a little man and a spade on it. The tanooki thought for a minute, then exclaimed that that was a great one, and meant that no predator could ever sneak up on him again. Apparently, as long as any living, thinking being was within fifteen feet of him, he would know; Lucca was reasonably pleased with this development. The tanooki turned to Caitlyn next, holding a little woman with a spade. He considered it, then clapped his hands; he asked what gender she was, and she replied female. When questioned as to whether either of the others were female, Lucca immediately shifted and replied yes. Impressed with the shift power, the raccoon clapped and told the two to touch hands. Caitlyn was hesitant, but Lucca lunged forward and grabbed her arm. With no fanfare or transition, Caitlyn was suddenly, visibly, a man. Shocked and offended, he stood there as the raccoon told her to then touch a man. Immediately grabbing Victor's wrist, Caitlyn returned to her female self. Lucca thought this hilarious and began trying to touch her to force the change; Caitlyn took Victor's wrist in a death grip, preventing further changes. The tanooki explained that was a great one: good for disguises and parties alike. Caitlyn begged to differ, but said nothing unkind towards the fey. For his part, Victor was still muttering and expecting the worst; as he stood there, he felt something land on his head. He froze and began demanding explanations, as his two companions began laughing and drawing parallels between the morning dove that had roosted on his head and his previous liaison with the bird-ladies. With little pause, the dove cooed, swiftly yanked out a piece of Victor's hair and flew off. Panicked, Victor demanded explanations from the tanooki, who looked at the card adorned with a woman and a heart. He worked it through in his mind, then explained that that card was the mother card, and meant that he would get a visit from the stork soon. Victor was reduced to broken babbling noises as the tanooki explained that the stork was an actual fey, or group of fey, that delivered children; he expected that they couldn't just make a proper mortal child like they could a fey one, so they needed a piece of him to make one correctly (he didn't profess to know how mortals had children; he'd heard it was messy). Happy to have helped them all, the tanooki started to lead them over to the tunnel entrance, asking them cheerily about what they were doing at the mountaintop anyways. Lucca managed to have a chipper conversation, while a very offended Caitlyn, still clinging to Victor, pulled the mentally-stunned man along. Knocking away some crusted snow, the tanooki revealed a hidden tunnel. With a wave and good-day, the tanooki walked off, leaving the three to carry on. 
It was several hours before Victor regained enough sense to tell Caitlyn to move her grip so that he could feel his hand again.
The next day brought them to the end of the tunnel and the culmination of their goal. Climbing up a steep rock face, they were very near the top of the peak. Lucca reached the plateau first; as he breached the edge, he felt a strange static in the air as he pulled himself up. Once there, he was greeted with a strange sight: a wide verdant area, sporting trees, plants, a small lake and weather that was solidly reserved for late spring. As he looked about, he noticed a stone cottage, lacking any particular sign of life. The other two pulled themselves up, feeling the same strange static, and beheld the strange sight. They agreed that the best plan of action was to start to take pictures before exploring, since it was vital that they at least get some photographs. They took some sweeping panoramas of the mountains around them, as well as the grove, focusing on some ruined walls that suggested that there used to be some sort of building here. With that task almost complete, Lucca started to press further inward. He made his way down to the lake, heading towards the cottage, when he saw that there was someone by the water's edge, sitting by a tree. He approached slowly, assessing the person. By the time he got close, it was apparent that she was not human; her hair was shining gold and was extremely long, and her skin and features suggested something other than mortal. He cleared his throat and her eyes opened, revealing solid gold irises lacking pupils. She was stunned for a moment, then began asking him who he was and how he had gotten here. Lucca, for his part, was very poor at giving a clear answer to this. She explained that she was an angel, and had been trapped here for a very, very, very long time, with a powerful barrier keeping her in; Lucca could not give a very good explanation for their appearance, guessing that the barrier was that static-sort of feeling they had when they had climbed up. Eventually, he told her to wait while he got one of the others. He ran over to where Victor and Caitlyn were still taking pictures; he explained that he needed someone who was better at writing things to come quick, since there was an angel and it was probably pretty important to record this stuff. Victor followed him back to where she was sitting and was introduced. The angel took one look at him and quickly took on a hostile, dismissive demeanor towards him. Confused at the sudden persecution, Victor made a disgusted noise and muttered about Detect Evil. She made it clear in no uncertain terms that she had no tolerance for evil creatures, and would rest happily when all evil had been purged from the multiverse. Lucca tried to argue that that would ruin the balance, which she first thought was a strange belief, then dismissed it as a quaint notion of Materia. Victor, after hearing some calmly stated facts about the irredeemable nature of his soul and the benefits of his eventual utter destruction, returned to the camera, obviously offended. Caitlyn took his place and was rather excited to talk to an actual angel. The pair talked with her for a while: when asked her name, she said that they couldn't pronounce it, and when she uttered it aloud, they agreed. She denied any sort of other name, stating that she disliked it when her name was mangled; Lucca called her 'Julia', since he had an equal dislike of things not having names. She explained how she had been sent, long in the past, to stop a devil who had taken to this plane with evil designs. She worked for a group known as Pandemonium, who fought evil at its very root in the depths of Hell; she destroyed the devil and his minions that lived in the castle here at their request. Unfortunately, the fey, for their reasons, had erected a barrier here that prevented her from leaving. They worked out that the group of humans had entered through the grace of their pile of fey tokens, and postulated that maybe if they gave the angel them, she could exit. There was a good chance that, when she left, the barrier would dissolve, and she swore that if it didn't, she would make sure that she got help to get them out as well. Caitlyn immediately handed over her flower and leaf, but Lucca, beginning to take exception to her patronizing attitude and not liking the concept of being possibly trapped, demanded payment at least. Julia considered this concept, suddenly remembering the process of trade like an old, forgotten school fact, and agreed to give them something from her possessions in exchange, honouring the Materia tradition of balance and laws of equivalence. First though, Caitlyn asked if she might have a picture taken sitting with her; she agreed, saying that she had had portraits taken of her in the past. The two sat quietly as Victor and Lucca worked the camera, capturing the encounter on film.
With that finished, she offered to trade the two for their tokens, ignoring Victor utterly. Caitlyn tried to refuse payment, as she had already given her the tokens, but Julia insisted, saying that she would honour the tradition of 'fairness'. She went to the small cottage, which she had apparently built out of rubble and reconstructed every once in a while for something to do, and came back with an assortment of objects. She showed them a beautiful and deadly-looking sword, an emblazoned shield, and a glorious harp, telling them that they could take anything. Victor piped up then, saying that they should also consider her other possessions: her golden tunic was probably very valuable, and shouldn't she have some sort of halo or something? Caitlyn chided him for his rudeness, particularly regarding the taking of her clothes, but he merely groused that if he was the villain, he may as well play the part. Julia gave him a disgusted look, but conceded that yes, she could also give her tunic, which was indeed valuable, and pulled a small, red-copper hoop out of an inside pocket and placed it amongst the other items. Caitlyn worried that taking these would get the angel in trouble, but Julia sighed and said that no, everything was replacable, and she had said that they could have anything she possessed. Lucca, still very untrusting and upset with the angel's attitude, demanded that, in exchange for his things, she would have to swear to never, ever meddle with him or any of his affairs ever, including Victor. Julia commented on her acceptance of the use of an evil person as a slave as a somewhat reasonable excuse to associate with one; she agreed to Lucca's terms, but said that he should take an item anyways. Not particularly impressed with any of them, he took the halo that would apparently give him wings for a short period. Caitlyn asked that, if she could, she would like to visit Pandemonium, but Julia replied that, not only could she not shift between planes and therefore couldn't take her, but that mortals did very poorly on other planes and probably shouldn't consider it. However, she did say that if she did manage to find her way there, she was more than welcome at her house. Finally, with some shyness, Caitlyn indicated interest in the tunic, and traded it to her for her fanciest dress that she had brought up the mountain. Julia changed in the cottage, and returned with the tunic folded up neatly for her, telling her that it would reflect spells aimed at the wearer. Taking the four tokens from Caitlyn and Lucca, she attempted to leave, but was still stuck at the barrier. She returned to the three, and asked Lucca to tell his vassal to remit his tokens. Lucca directed her to Victor, who was rather smug about the exchange. He postulated that, if she went to Hell, she'd need something to keep her alive, and surely that was the most valuable thing she had on her; he would have that for his tokens. Though she didn't argue, she was visibly furious and disgusted as she took off a necklace with a large pearl attached to it and handed it to Lucca, who passed it over for the leaf, flower and feathers. With a farewell and thanks to Caitlyn in particular, she went to the edge of the cliff and hopped off, apparently off to find someone who could Plane Shift her home. When she left, a cold wind blew over the fields; the barrier was broken, and the kind weather was gone. Packing up their things, they prepared to leave, with Caitlyn taking a moment to carve their names and date into one of the stones in the cottage as a marker of their passing.
With their mission complete, they began the trip back down. The weather was still erratic, but the going was much faster than it was when they were hiking uphill. 
One night, nine days after meeting the tanooki and now spitting distance from the foothills, the group was camped out as normal. Lucca was cruelly awoken with a kick, and woke in time to see Victor grab his bag and start running, muttering "no" repeatedly. As Lucca came out of the tent, he saw what Victor was running from: an absolutely gigantic stork, standing over five feet in height, stood nearby, a swaddled bundle hanging from its beak and a confused look on its feathered face. It watched Victor retreat, then with a sort of huff, took off after him in the air. Shrugging, Lucca stayed at camp.
The next morning, Lucca decided to try and follow Victor's trail, while Caitlyn opted to stick to the path; she was made to promise not to leave without them, should she make it back to the mining camp early. It took about three days for both parties to find their goal. Caitlyn entered the camp and availed herself of the available bath, bed and proper food. Lucca found that Victor had been running fairly continuously, but hadn't been keeping a straight or decent path. Eventually, he found the older man hiding in a rock crevasse. Victor was rather miserable and panicked, professing a complete inability to take care of a child, coupled with the knowledge that he wouldn't be able to ignore the responsibility once given it. Lucca tried to calm him down; as he did so, the stork landed, effectively trapping the man in the shallow cave. The druid convinced him that he really couldn't run forever, and he wasn't about to dig his way out the back of the crevasse with a spoon. Resigning himself, he crawled out and took the bundle from the bird, who glared at him and gave a very irate squawk before flying off, obviously upset at the inconvenience. Inside the bundle was indeed a baby: a small, half-elf boy with dark hair and grey eyes identical to Victor's. He seemed older than a newborn though; apparently he had been aging in the stork's care. Between the two of them, despite their lack of preparation, they managed to keep the child well over the two days it took to make it to the mine. Over the span, Lucca insisted that the child be named Jimmy; Victor finally relented to make James his middle name.
Meeting up with Caitlyn, the trio returned to Kalleandar to hunt down their boss. Caitlyn was rather excited to hand over the photographs and show off her tunic of otherworldly beauty; Victor desperately needed the advice of someone who knew how to care for a baby. Pierce was elated with their return, and his mood was only heightened by the revelation of what had been on top of the mountain. He gave Victor the name and address of a good nanny and sent him off, as he was obviously in no mood or state to discuss things in depth. He then began to scrupulously interview Caitlyn, who was all too willing to be put on the front page of the papers; Lucca, generally uninterested and tired, wandered out. Over the next few days, Victor adjusted to his new child, Caitlyn reveled in her moment of fame, and Lucca helped Victor out where he could. After pouring through a book of names, Victor settled on the name Virgil James Erzebet; Lucca agreed that it was the sort of name he could see Victor giving a kid.
Category:Advent of the All