Quest [The Cytali] I Call You Back To Me

[Caelum]

A curious cold flushed through Caelum, skin prickling but strangely familiar. It was not unlike the chill that had swept over him in the past when he made the mistake of overgiving with projection and even at times in channeling the gnosis powers granted him by his rather demanding trio of goddesses. Yet the muted light and glittering shadows of the antechamber kept his attention almost jealously and when the night sky itself settled over him with what he imagined was the leftover warmth of his beloved sun, he continued to build and to nudge, decorate and fix. He was dissatisfied even with this beauty. It was not perfect, something was missing, and he could not seem to get it right. It was from this place of complete concentration the footsteps of a god called Caelum. Nysel's approach thrummed through his chest and he shouldered the sky, the hem of his cloak sweeping the floor as he turned to watch the Dreamer himself approach. His eyes widened a touch and in that moment that he first gazed in this life on one of his oldest gods, the gold in them glimmered and shifted, thinning in yield to dream. His heart clutched and then stumbled into a run, suddenly booming in his chest like the drums of war. Nysel moved like he had muscles in places nothing human ever had and emanated such intense magnetism that Caelum wondered if ever his bone marrow was shivering with awe. He was rooted in place, dreamscapes themselves clutching at his ankles where skates no longer were and rather he waited barefoot as if this were his own home, and here he belonged. "Caelum," he managed to answer at last. The name came out through his teeth and without apology. It was not his name, not that which his dreaming god knew him, but it was the only name he had left since tumbling into the sea off the coast of Black Rock. "I go by Caelum and can only hear the name Syna made for me, but not speak it. It rings in my mind, but little else. I --" He stopped talking, words piling up on themselves. At some point, he realized, he had dropped to the floor. He knelt there now, instinctual and with immense respect not just for the power that Nysel exuded, but out of his own love for the son of Wysar and Akajia. That love coated his throat and tinged color to every word he formed for Nysel, not freshly remembered but freshly made manifest and disarming in Nysel's divine presence. Caelum's eyes were on the floor as silence swept around them, on Nysel's feet and the darkly shimmering folds of the sky cloak that puddled now around him. The Dreamer's words echoed and returned in his head, words of a first fall, of a death at the hands of the Ruv'na before he could even crawl free of the water. Up until this moment, Caelum had no memory of that life, brief as it had been. He'd imagined that the last hour he'd spent in this world was as Kas'bel Sunsinger, the drykas Ankal who had led an army across an empire in a desperate bid to save Syna's treasure. Yet the lost memory began to take shape in his mind's eye, welling up like beads of blood. A shattering fall, a vicious struggle, and a death howl that had blackened the day as his ancient enemies butchered him before he could even hardly be born. He swallowed and lifted his eyes, slow as a sunrise. "I would have come to you sooner, my lord, had I not spent these past years alive again trying to fill all of the holes in my memory." Caelum had called no one his lord ever, none save Nysel. "Please forgive me. I cannot stand it if you do not. I have withstood so much already, but I genuinely do not believe I could stand that." One hand lifted in silent offer, still on his knees. There knelt courage then, willing to try and meet the desires of a god.

[Gossamer]

Nysel reached down and took Caelum’s hand in his own. When the flesh of the two males met, power surged between them. It was not an invasive sort of power, but the type that reaffirmed something was about to be very very right. Nysel drew Caelum’s hand up to his lips and kissed it gently almost reverently. “I hate having to share you with others.” He said, unashamed at the honesty. “You serve with so much passion and foresight it truthfully does you a disservice, Caelum. Gods want mortals in their stables that can think and act on their own because they are filled with life in a way that few understand. Many covet you. and would mark you if you only asked.” Nysel stepped closer, releasing Caelum’s hand and reaching out running his fingers into Caelum’s skull, partially wrapping his thumbs around Caelum’s horns. His fingers dug into Caelum’s scalp in a rhythmic caress that was intimate and as equally devote as Caelum’s posture.

“I would be a liar to say that it does not bother me. Syna and I have had words over you more than once. Others have and will fight as well, both past and present. You inspire jealousy, Caelum, for it is true that a mortals’ devotion feeds power into the divine plain and aids those he worships considerably. The people you walk shoulder to shoulder with think that they can exist without The Gods. They are right. They can. And it would be a poor world indeed, for without us much would be withdrawn. But what they don’t realize is that we cannot exist without you. Most of the immortals would not acknowledge the truth of this, but the Ukalas is far more fragile than it might seem. If our enemies wish to wound us, all they need do is take out important targets like yourself.” Nysel said, His head bowed over Caelums. He leaned over until his lips touched Caelum’s forehead and he kissed the man softly there. He lingered, his lips playing across Caelum’s forehead until he pulled back slightly and lost his grip on one of Caelum’s horns to reach down and cup his chin, bringing his eyes back up where Nysel could see into their amber glow.

“I’ve had to trick the strong into serving before they would acknowledge we belong together. I’ve had to steal people of quality because no one realizes the power a single dreamwalker has over the world. If they did, my doors would fall for all those who would knock upon them. But not you… never you. You understood. Of all of my followers, I trust you to forward my agenda, Caelum. We need a presence back in the world, especially since it is healed enough for all the dreamers to start waking from their slumber and begin dreaming again. You might think the destruction of our enemies is our first goal, but it is not. They are still weak in their Godlessness and will take centuries to be a threat to any of us. Our first priority lies in a different route. It always has.” He said, digging his hand that was still buried into Caelum’s scalp even deeper.

“We must build a network. From one stronghold, we must repopulate and educate, and then build others. And once we’ve repopulated The Dreamwalkers with strong like-minded people, we are going to begin again. There is great power in the world, Caelum, and it terrifies me. Some, the gods have collected and stores. Most of it is unguarded and undefended and just there for the taking. I want you to start using the skills to recruit and then begin your search. Where you dwell on the mortal realm alone has vast power all around you within easy reach. It will become a race, in the years to come, over who gets to collect it first and why. If some of these powers get into the wrong hands, what happened five hundred years ago might seem mild. But, as it stands now, I cannot send you out or any of those with you because you are too few and too new to what it means to be Cytali. The meanings will come as you grow into your place, so your priority must be building the network. Pick people of diverse skills but firm mind. Solid hearts are a must, but do not choose only those with light or dark. Our kind must be equal parts saint and monster, as you well know.” Nysel said, his hand starting to burn Caelum’s skin beneath his hair began to burn in a spiral pattern that only hurt for a moment. Then, suddenly, he knew he was marked beneath his hair, where it would be mostly concealed from a casual touch.

“I give you full access to the Chavena, Caelum. I give you full permission to access any chavi you can find and learn what you can from it. I also give you full access to my plain of existence in the Ukalas. Visit often, visit with purpose… and visit when your spirit is wounded and you need comfort.” He said softly, withdrawing his hand and releasing Caelum’s chin with the other one.

He stepped back and smiled, knowing Caelum might have something further to say.

[Caelum]

A god’s jealousy was a terrifying thing to endure. It spilled through Caelum when Nysel took his hand, riding the wave of power that the Dreamer’s touch brought to bear. It was not an invading party, but rather a welcomed force returning to familiar territory. It still trembled the ethaefal as though he were the ground beneath the passage of an army. He held his breath, and held his tongue. Jealousy tasted tart and slick, sticking to the roof of his mouth until he swallowed. It melted through the rest of him and Caelum imagined he heard Nikali’s throaty chuckle, perhaps the only one of his trio of goddesses who would have been amused by Nysel’s jealousy. After all, he wanted Caelum, and desire was what Nikali did best. Nevertheless Nysel’s desire for Caelum to belong solely to him was one completely impossible for Caelum to fulfill. He could no more sunder himself from Syna’s horns than he could ignore Rak’keli’s compassionate compulsions. And any attempt to turn from Nikali to Nysel would eat in at itself as in doing so Caelum would still be walking the goddess of slavery’s path. Caelum understood then with an echoing finality that this would haunt him, for no stronger phantom of unanswered wishes was that of a god’s. He didn’t know he was gripping Nysel’s hand tightly, holding onto Dream as if he was the only silver lining in a sky full of storm clouds. Caelum did not exhale until Nysel’s kiss emblazoned itself upon his face. Lashes drew low and then rose again so that he could meet the god’s regard, feeling the incredibly soothing warmth of his fingers in his hair. It relaxed him degree by degree as he listened intently to what Nyself was saying. He wondered then what sort of soul it took to deny Nysel such that Nysel had to trick them and tempt them to his side. Of course, Caelum loved Nyself and when he loved – and he had always loved so very fiercely – it was difficult to fathom how anyone could not help but do the same. To think that Nysel and Syna had exchanged words over him was at once daunting and incredible, especially when he thought of his Bright Lady and how long it was she had left him in the dark. Then Nysel spoke of his hopes and expectations, and Caelum catalogued them one by one. His eyes narrowed, growing heavy lidded and shrewd, as he laid the will of the Dreamer over the map of his own ambitions and began to alter and redraw all of his to better fit Nysel’s mountain ranges and roads. Networks and strongholds, firm willed recruits, monsters and saints, growth and defense against the godless, these things and more were writ on his soul. They were the blueprints for Cytali’s resurrection and the outline of a strategy for the vanguard of the gods. He would remember them all. Pain cut through his skull, searing but brief; and when it faded Caelum could sense the power of the gnosis placed upon him. A smile drew itself across his face, disarming and down right dangerous as he turned it on Nysel. He was right to be jealous, that smile said, and right to be proud as well. Caelum would make sure of it. “I will do all that you ask,” he promised when Nysel withdrew his touch. The puddled cloth of his cloak of stars rippled as he rose from his obeisance, thrice blessed by the god’s kiss and devotion and power. “I won’t give in or give up and I will help to make all of the Cytali strong again. Your follower Kavala has already introduced to me to some of these plans, and I will further them. “ It was Caelum’s turn for his smile to gentle. “You may depend upon me, my lord.”

[Gossamer]

Nysel chuckled at Caleum's last words. He released his grip, stepped back and shook his head. Depend upon Caelum? Certainly, to an extent, but in the end they all let him down. It was the nature of mortality, even those who wore the guise of immortals. Caelum would do his best, of that Nysel was certain, but he also knew that Caelum was woefully unprepared for what was coming in the future and even though Nysel had his own agenda's for the newly born Dreamwalker, Caelum would take on his own projects as well.

"Be careful, Caelum. Things are coming in the future that you need to be ready for. Some of them will be blessings and allies, but for the most part many of them will mean your death and the death of those you care about if you are caught unaware." He said at last willing to say that, but no more. A warning should be enough, and if it wasn't, there was little he could do in the end anyhow.

"I would like to will all my followers to have a long and happy life filled with rewards untold, but that is not the nature of the world nor is it something I think you would be comfortable with anyhow. Train. Fight. Matter in life. Make sure that your presence is at turning point in the lives of others and that will please me greatly." Nysel said, stepping back abruptly one more step. He knew there was more Caelum would perhaps want to say or ask, but there was little he wanted to impart at that moment.

"Seek my council when you need it. I will always be here and about in the world. And make use of my realm when you will. Bring others to my attention if you think they merit it. I dislike putting my followers in the front lines, but that is where you will be. Few others understand the threat. And they won't until its too late. My words fall on deaf ears because they dismiss my sphere as useless and weak. I do not control Strength or Power or Fear. Dreams... what good are they? That's what others think. I might as well be The God of Ignorance. But in the end, it will not boil down to who knew what when, but instead it will boil down to who listened and who acted on what they saw going on in the world. We will do both. I trust you to understand this." Nysel said, then bowed his head, stepping back even further.

Dreams and Nightmares, after all, were about the details in life and what they meant, not about overarching ideas worked about in depth. It might have made Nysel a lesser being, but it was something he cared nothing about. He know his own power and was secure in it.

The God took two more steps back, fading as he did so. He only had one more thing left to say to Caelum.

"Speak often of me. Give people hope that their dreams are not empty and that they are not unknown. They are. I pay attention and I understand, sometimes.... most times... when I can." Nysel said, fully fading out of existence. He paused then, in the middle of vanishing, and smiled suddenly.

"I even see yours, Caelum. Even if you haven't seen them yourself yet. I know you are filled with sadness often, and you cannot at times see past that. I know the darkness it cultivates in you as well, from a painful past that stretches out behind you. I cannot promise there won't be more pain. There will be. But it is not without reason and not without purpose and there is hope for you Caelum.... hope for happiness too." Nysel said, smiling gently.

"You are one of my greatest weapons. And as such you have to be forged harder and longer than most. But when that process is done, your edge will be far keener than my other tools. And the Gods who have also marked you know this to be true as well. That's why they ride you as hard as they do. Remember that... its important." The deep toned God said as he seemed to dissolve into the realm around him. He left Caelum alone, but he was already sure Caelum knew the way home.

[Caelum]

The dreamwalker watched as Nysel dissolved into the star studded walls, hundreds of thousands strands of light unraveling into the gold chased veins of his citadel stones. It was not unlike watching the sun set, an encapsulation of power bursting to saturate a world with color. Words wizened in his mouth, unspoken, questions unasked and so was his silence offered like homage at the feet of the Dreamer. He understood that it was not the hour for further conversation. All of the warnings his lord had delivered him may have seemed cryptic to the uninitiated, but Caelum heard them and was vindicated. Every half remembered omen, every restless hour. All of the races down unknown roads, each of the fears that left bitter stardust in his mouth. They had been right; he had not been wrong. A smile appeared like grim satisfaction. It was not that Caelum wasn’t afraid. He was neither headstrong nor foolish enough to dismiss the dire warnings of his god. In fact he filed them away, word by word, deep into the vault of his mind. They would be heeded. He would not be caught off guard. He smiled because he was afraid. He smiled because he was familiar with fear and with terror, because he had survived nightmares and endured untold agonies of both body and spirit. He had walked the dark roads and left whole skins of himself behind. He had failed and he had fallen. He had died that many times, had been a coward and unsung. He had been the monster, and he was relearning how to be the saint. Yes, he was afraid. But he knew he could survive it. The ability was in him. The potential was there. Redemption was at fingertips, and it came unexpectedly cloaked in shadow. Nysel was gone and the dreamwalker threw a glance across the antechamber, memorizing all of its lines before he raised his hands. The stars in his cloak flared as he curved his fingers and brought down the citadel walls. They toppled, bricks plunging through the fabric of the night like meteors and Caelum imagined an ocean below, waiting to catch them and to bear them back into breath. Back into the cycle of life and death. It turned out he did know the way home. He had been mapping it all along. He knelt, a swift genuflection, and rose only to turn and step off the edge of this forever. The familiar again strand of his chavi stretched behind him as he flew much more than he fell, all of his lives rushing past in an intricate conflagration of light. There was every fearful smile and every joyful tear. There was every word his heart formed that his lips couldn’t understand and every frantic heartbeat in the patients beneath his hands. There was every lie he’d told to save the truth from being shamed and every hope he’d ever placed in the whisper of a name. There was every life he’d ever broke and every soul he’d ever loved, every prayer he’d ever fought for and every battle he’d ever won. There was every secret stored and every promise kept and all of his best moments lined up like aches inside his chest. The strands in places were knotted like a crooked spine and he knew it was for all those failures he couldn’t fix in time. Every choice he’d ever made that led from there to here put bloodstains in the red strands and proved that the blue strands were tears. There was every song his heart heard but his throat couldn’t form and every precious glance from a lover’s eyes. His chavi was complicated and sometimes torn, vibrant and containing infinities. The end approached in a rapid flare, face after face flickering by, until he dropped off the tip of a moment and back into bed. He opened his eyes, coming awake with a start. “Nysel,” he whispered, and began to laugh.

[Gossamer]

XP AWARD!
Thanks for threading in Riverfall.

Character: Caelum
Experience: Leadership +3, Ice Skating +4, Observation +5, Strategy +3, Persuasion +2, Investigation +1, Deduction +2, Bodybuilding +1, Endurance +1
Lore: Ice Skating: Standing up on skates, Ice Skating: Doing Basic Maneuvers & Jumps , Trelissa: One of Nysel’s handmaidens, Dreamwalking: Entering the Chavi, Dreamwalking: Bending Reality, Dreamwalking: Creating ones on personalized dream, Dreamwalking: Moving instantaneously from one place to another, Dreamwalking: suspending belief, Nysel: Meeting the God in Person, Nysel: Jealous of Other Gods’ Attention on Caelum, Nysel: Purposely let Caelum toughen up and suffer, Nysel: Claims more trying times are coming.

Additional Award: 1 Nysel Mark in Dreamwalking.


Additional Note: This was a really great thread for me. I enjoyed writing with you enormously. I hope you had a great time with it too. I could go on and on but I suspect you know what I think and feel by how the thread was written.