Quest Alchae No More (Reysin, Aislyn, Phobius)

[Fable]

It began with the rising of the sun, gentle shimmers of gold cascading over the slowly waking city that sparkled under the golden hues, twinkling like an earthbound star amidst the burgeoning green of the new season. People had already set about the streets, some marveling at the refracted beauty of the city's illusions, others finding it disorienting, able to see through several layers of the buildings, vision distorted by walls of imperfect translucence. They moved as the city moved, some with purpose, some without, but all a part of the whole. Sounds of music could be heard on the winds, whispered fractions of those preparing themselves for the festivities the entire city seemed to hold its breath for. The Festival of Illusion was nearly upon them, and the excitement, even in the brisk morning air, was near palpable.

The air seemed to shiver and spark. For a moment, it was almost as if the city itself were joining in with the excitement, but that was quickly disregarded as there was a sudden crack as the buildings snapped from glass to stone. The few people within the radius of strange effect were also affected, shifting to the same grey rock as the rest of the area before everything began to crumble. Dusty gravel tumbled from the disintegrating houses as everything sank down to the ground, a whole block leveled in a single chime. Those who were around to see it found the display odd, certainly. Some even cheered for the city's astonishing twist on what they thought might be a recurring theme of glass, impressed that the city would go to such lengths so early in the morning for so few bystanders.

This, however, was not the case. The buildings were truly destroyed, those particular lives lost. The Alvads continued their morning, chuckling at Inou's trickery, unaware that the god played no hand in the machinations displayed by errant magics. The toppled buildings were toppled for good, the rubble true, in spite of the thin line between dream and reality. There were those that watched and understood, those few who then drifted into the shadows cast by the morning light. They were watchers, observers, and they had seen what they needed. Others, however, thought it fun to explore the mess, playing in the dust of the dead as if it were nothing more than cloud spring shower. Laughter and excitement flooded back over the area as life continued over death, over destruction. Such was the way with Alvadas and its people.

Most of its people. A single man of shocking bright red hair and wide eye had seen the entire thing, the stone affecting the tips of his boots had long since disintegrated to leave his toes exposed to the elements, a very real sensation, though potentially an illusion all within itself. While others hopped over the debris, the man stared, the scene replaying over and over in his mind. The Alchae was no more.

oocPlease feel free to continue up to the point where you investigate the remains of the Alchae!

[Phobius]

1st of Spring, 515 AV

As if to signal the end of Winter's temporary reign, a lone tree had sprung up, overnight, right outside of the Cubacious Inn. Phobius had noticed it as soon as he'd woken up, its twisting trunk and vibrant green leaves seeming to call to him from beyond his window. Things had a habit of appearing one day and disappearing the next, though, so there was nothing particularly strange about the tree being there, other than the fact that it was by itself. And shiny. Very, very shiny. Were normal trees ever that shiny?

Wanting to get a better look at it, the boy slid out of bed and quickly dressed himself. His boots and scarf came last, and once the woolen cloth was securely wrapped around his neck he went for the door, stopping for a few ticks to pet Nini, his newly-named baby bird. "There's this really funny-looking tree outside. I'm gonna go and get a closer look, okay?" he murmured to the ball of downy fluff. "I'll be back soon." The fledgling falcon said nothing to him, and merely turned her head to watch him as he waved before stepping out.

Arms swaying carelessly at his sides, Phobius made his way to the main lobby and gave a cheery, passing "hello" to Miss Georgia, who smiled and said good morning. And then he was outside, with the strange tree sitting no more than a few feet from where he stood. The boy's eyes widened in wonder as he walked over to it; it was even shinier up close, every inch of its surface looking as though it'd been coated with some kind of glossy, see-through paint. Curious, he reached out and pressed a few fingers against it, only to draw them back in surprise. For some reason, it felt an awful lot like...like glass. Real, smooth glass, like the colored kind that the glassblowers made into pretty plates and vases back home. But was the tree simply covered in glass, or made out of glass...?

Mulling it over, he let his eyes wander. And then he spotted something interesting nestled between the leaves. It looked kind of like a pear, but was a whole spectrum of oranges, reds, and yellows; more colorful than any fruit he'd ever seen, before. Standing on the tips of his toes, Phobius pawed at one of the lowest-hanging ones until he could nudge it loose, then caught it and held it in front of his face. Pure glass, like the tree, and a bit smaller than his head...but big enough for him to have to use both of his hands. Puzzled, he turned it over a few times and glanced up at the others.

They were all fruits, as far as he could tell. Did that mean that they could get eaten, like normal ones? Eating glass didn't sound like a great idea, nor a tasty one, but...maybe this was another one of Ionu's tricks. Maybe the glass actually turned soft when you tried to eat it, or maybe...maybe the fruit was inside of the glass?

Phobius let it fall from his hands. Surprisingly, it split in two, one jagged piece rolling away from him while the other lolled onto its side.

Huh. I guess it's not...real, then, he mused, blinking at the pieces. Then a smile grew on his face. I wonder if Kuvarakh's seen this, yet? I should go and show him!

Easing back up onto his tippy-toes, the boy stretched and strained until he could grab another fruit. Then, tucking it in the crook of one of his arms, he started off toward the Alchae. Along the way, Phobius noticed that there were more of the glass-fruit trees scattered about; other things had apparently turned to glass, too, like potted plants, flowers, chairs...even some buildings. It was odd, but surprisingly pretty, the sun giving them all an almost otherworldly glow, along with a glare that occasionally made him squint.

Without warning, the air around him suddenly cracked, the shrillness of the sound frightening his heart so badly that it skipped a beat. And it was as if the entire city throbbed, in that moment, an invisible, intangible tremor spreading throughout the buildings, streets, and alleyways. In the blink of an eye, the glass homes and shops that loomed before him had turned from glass to what looked like stone, along with whatever else happened to have been standing near them. Much too shocked to move, Phobius could only stand and watch as the changed buildings began to crumble, as if the sudden change had been too much for them. And within about a chime, all that was left was rubble and dust.

Feeling a slight breeze, the boy slowly directed his attention downward, wiggling his toes once he realized that he could, in fact, see them. The tips of his shoes had gone, too...

But...but none of this made any sense. Since when did buildings just...break like that?

Maybe it's another one of Ionu's tricks, Phobius told himself, though he was unsure of it as he stared back out at what was left of the block. And then something hit him.

The Alchae...it was supposed to be here. He'd been walking for a good few chimes, but after having spent seasons familiarizing himself with Alvadas' ever-changing streets, he was sure that he'd been going the right way. The Alchae was here. It was always here; sometimes wedged between buildings or tucked away in a corner, but here. Only now...now it wasn't.

It couldn't have turned to stone like the other places, could it? Well, it could, but...but Kuvarakh spent a lot of time in there. So did Miss Wanda.

Phobius' growing worries began to creep from his mind into the rest of his body, making his limbs feel uncomfortably stiff and forcing his heart to start thrumming against his ribs.

If the Alchae was gone, what if the alchemist was gone with it? What if...what if...

The possibility was too much for the boy to bear. Suddenly fearful, he took a few shaky steps away from the cleared block, his amber eyes widening as anxiety, confusion, and dread took turns hammering away at his brain. Help...he needed help, he needed...to tell someone about all of this, to find out what was going on...

Dropping the glass-fruit, Phobius whipped around and took off. Mister Ekans was nearby...Mister Ekans was smart and strong, and he'd know what to do about all this, wouldn't he? Of course he would.

The boy nearly burst through the doors of the Wolf's Cave, not stopping for any hello's or explanations as he turned down the nearest hallway and directed himself to the Dhani's room, remembering the way to go from his last visit.

"Mister Ekans! Mister Ekans...!" Phobius shouted as he banged his fists on the man's door, his voice practically trembling with worry. "It's me, it's Phobius! I-I need your help!! Mister Ekans!"

"This is speech in Nari."

This is thought.

[Yisanareysin]

An infernal banging, and a voice shouting in Common that Rey was too sleepy to translate woke him from his sleep. Rolling over, the Dhani buried his face in the bed, groaning. He'd been having such a nice dream too, about... well, he had already forgotten what it was about, except that he vaguely recalled feeling happy about eating someone. If he had been in his more serpentile forms, he would have curled his tail over his head. As he was fully human right now, a pillow and his blankets would have to suffice.

The banging continued, and Rey hissed in irritation. Perhaps his dream had been prophetic. Gods, what time was it? Was it even morning? Slowly, Rey pushed himself up into a seated position. Shaking himself awake, he became vaguely aware of the person at the door still shouting. And now, he could make out the words "Mister Ekans".

That would be Kuvarakh's little runner then. Siku preserve him, if this wasn't petching important, the human wouldn't be an emergency snack, he'd be breakfast to make up for waking Rey up early enough that it could reasonably be called breakfast.

Grumpily, Rey marched open to the door, and yanked it open, prepared to snap at the boy on the other side. The look on Phobius's face, however, gave him pause.

Phobius was visibly upset, and it looked like he had run here. His voice was quivering too, Rey realized. That didn't seem to bode well, either in general, or specifically his prospect of getting breakfast.

Before Phobius could speak, Rey quickly ushered him into the room, and closed the door behind them. Somehow, he had a feeling that this wasn't a conversation to be had in public.

What could have happened? Was it more criminals at the Alchae? Gods but he hoped not. The last thing he wanted was to end up in Ionu's Mercy again. Did Kuvarakh need another body? Or something else? Whatever it was, it didn't seem like it'd be good.

Rey gestured to the boy at the chair at his desk, then sat down on his bed.

"What happened?"

Snake Tongue : Common : Arumenic

[Phobius]

Phobius shrank back when the door opened, his arms bunching at his chest in an impulsive flinch. Then he calmed a little, his anxiety-riddled eyes settling on Mister Ekans' face and studying it. The man sure looked unhappy...which was fitting, considering the news that he was just about to be given, but was something else wrong...? Had he been in the middle of something important when he'd come urgently banging on his door?

Phobius frowned at the thought. Maybe he was asleep, and I woke him up... the boy mused. But this is really, really important...I guess he needed to be awake, anyway. I'll remember to tell him sorry.

Eager to get everything out into the open, he opened his mouth to speak, but Mister Ekans didn't give him the time as he half-guided, half-forced him into the room, shutting the door behind them. When he went to go and sit down on his bed afterwards, he gestured toward a chair. Phobius vigorously shook his head, however, choosing instead to stand up. He just felt so nervous...more nervous than he thought was possible for a single person to feel, and doubted that sitting down would do anything to help him, now.

"What happened?"

"Well, I was walking 'cause I found a thing...a big-ish thing, a fruit, that was glass," Phobius began, forcing some control back into his trembling voice as he explained. "I wanted Kuvarakh to see, so I went to the Alchae to show him it...a-and then, boom!"

The boy made a big gesture with his arms, looking as though he was pretending to be an explosion, of a sort.

"Okay...there was no boom, but...but there was a big crack. And then the buildings, a-and my shoes," he continued, glancing down morosely at his toes. "They all turned into rock. And then the rocks all broke, and I can't...the Alchae's gone!"

The words came almost as a wail, and Phobius' eyes started to glisten with an onset of tears as he stared at the Dhani, feeling utterly confused and afraid. Of what, he had no idea.

"I went the right way...I always do. And it was there, I know it! B-b-but now it's gone, and...m-maybe it got turned, too...and w-what if Kuvarakh was inside...? And M-m-miss Wanda...Mister Ekans, what do we do...!?"

"This is speech in Nari."

This is thought.

[Yisanareysin]

It took a few moments, and more effort than Rey would normally be expending this early in the morning, to work through what the snack was saying. So... what Rey was getting out of this was that Phobius had woken him up this early because he had been scared by an illusion of the Alchae turning into rock. And breaking. And something about a fruit.

He was going to eat this boy. No, he couldn't, Micah had made it clear to him she would not tolerate him eating humanfolk. Not even a little nibble, she said. Leaving aside that snakes swallowed their prey whole, and were therefore not actually capable of nibbling, he figured it would be best to take her advice and leave the more illegal activities for later.

Honestly, the boy could be a little childish, but Rey had thought he'd have known better than that. They saw illusions every day in this city. Admittedly, not many of them would affect just a few buildings and not the whole city. That sort of localized effect was rare, as far as Rey had seen. And, sure, most of the illusions were silly and lighthearted or full on bizarre, rather than something as ominous and, well mundane as a building breaking. And....

A quick glance down showed that Phobius was right. The tips of the boy's shoes were gone, the tips of his toes visible. That was new too. Rey had never encountered an illusion that would affect someone's possessions so directly.

Perhaps there was something to the boy's panic after all.

This was an intriguing turn of events. Either something had happened in the vicinity of the Alchae to warrant a most unusual illusion, or all of the events that Phobius had so hastily relayed were not illusory. Either ways, something interesting was happening. Hopefully less dangerous than last time.

Besides, the boy had come to him before anyone else, most likely because Rey had made himself a "problem solver". It couldn't hurt to keep up that reputation.


"Firsst, you calm a little. Then, we go to the Alchae. I sshould ssee firsst. Then we make a decision." A sly thought occurred to him. Phobius must know where the illusionist lived, since he'd fetched her before. This was his chance to kill two rats with one bite. He couldn't make it sound like his idea, of course, but Phobius shouldn't be too hard to fool. A little too earnestly, he continued."Anyone else can help, you think?"

Snake Tongue : Common : Arumenic

[Phobius]

Phobius had tried as hard as he could to sound convincing, but as he stood and awaited the Dhani's answer, his hands gripping at fistfuls of his scarf, he wondered whether or not he believed him. Weird stuff happened in Alavadas all the time, but the boy was sure of what he'd seen, and he was equally sure that the Alchae was completely gone, though his mind refused to accept that it might've turned to dust like everything else.

Ionu and Kuvarakh were kind of like friends, weren't they? It wouldn't make sense for him to suddenly destroy the alchemist's shop...unless maybe he'd hid it, as some strange sort of test or joke. An unfunny joke, at that.

Mister Ekans didn't look anywhere near as worried as Phobius felt, which probably shouldn't have been as surprising as it was. Still, the boy wondered why the man didn't seem to be the least bit concerned when he finally spoke, telling him to calm down and that they should go to the Alchae. But there wasn't an Alchae to go to, anymore...what things would he be able to figure out by staring at an empty spot on the street?

It didn't make any sense, but the boy figured that Mister Ekans would know what he was doing. Sniffling a little, he gave the man a nod and rubbed at his eyes with a handful of the blue wool, clearing away the tears that had begun to spill down his cheeks.

"Anyone else can help, you think?" the Dhani asked. Phobius blinked at him, still sniffling, and thought for a moment before it came to him. Miss Maya...! She can help, too. How come I didn't think about her, sooner?

The realization was clear on his face. Still-glistening eyes widening, Phobius stared at the man for a few ticks before abruptly twisting around and darting out of the room. He stopped himself once he'd reached the inn's front doors, anxiously waiting so that Mister Ekans would have some time to catch up. Then he started to run, again, but in spurts, never straying too far ahead of the man. There was no real point in him running, to begin with, but the worry and gradually mounting fear that was swirling around in his head made it hard to stand still, let alone walk to places. Miss Maya needed to find out what had happened, and soon; the sooner both she and Mister Ekans knew, the sooner all three of them could come up with something to do.

They arrived at the woman's abode a short time later, with Phobius taking it upon himself to knock loudly on her door and call for her, as urgent as he'd been at the Wolf's Cave.

"Miss Maya, Miss Maya, Miss Maya! It's Phobius! We need your help!!"


"This is speech in Nari."

This is thought.

[Aislyn Leavold]

Aislyn had been awake for a while.
She’d spent the night sitting on top of her humble abode, watching the night sky as if it would be possible to spot the brilliant colours of the Watchtower’s change. It had been the first time she’d sat out to see if she could spot it in a while; She hadn’t searched for the sight in several seasons, possibly years. Not to mention the fact that actually spotting the change was an entirely different chance of luck. If she remembered correctly, she used to watch for the change nearly every season when she was younger, though she’d only caught a glimpse of it once or twice. Alvadas did not have a watchtower, nor did a tower sit nearby, so it was quite difficult for her to be able to see the change from where she stood. Still, she had hope. Her mother had once told her that it was possible to see the faintest light of the season change if one looked a certain way at the horizon.
But with the constantly shifting momentum of the city, that ‘certain way’ was very hard to find.

Several bells after midnight, Aislyn decided she’d waited long enough, obviously having missed it for yet another season. The woman resigned to laying on the cool platings of the roof, watching the night sky shift as the night danced on. After a bit of this, she dozed off,

Unfortunately, she hadn’t caught it that day. Not at midnight, and not a bell after. Originally, she hadn’t been all that tired, but after several bells of sitting up on a rooftop, sleep overcame her.
A couple bells later, she had the worst awakening one could ask for.
The woman abruptly awoke to a loud crack- like wood shattering, if wood could be considered to ‘shatter’. Strangely, it sounded more like glass. But louder. The sound came from very nearby, almost deafeningly close. The shock of what was happening, however, didn’t come for another good few ticks, after Lyn had properly rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and looked up at the scene before her.
Right in front of her, the building that, just last night held a family, had turned to stone. And was tipping.
For a good few moments, Aislyn thought that was going to be the end of her life. Then, inexplicably, everything stopped; and instead of a hulking mass of rock crushing the woman, a thin layer of stone dust- almost ash- coated the rooftop. And, of course, Aislyn.
Coughing in the newfound collection of dust, Aislyn decided that this would probably be the best time to go under the guise of ‘Maya’ before anyone she knew walked by. Surely there would be crowds of people rushing to the sight of the collapse, hysterical at the debris. Where there was destruction, there was panicking people. Always.

After she was properly illusioned and slightly dusted off, Aislyn returned to the scene…
Before immediately being covered in dust again.
A young girl, coated in the grey dust, was standing in front of her, smiling gleefully at what she had done.
Aislyn's first thought was Why, in the petching world, was a child playing in the ashes of collapsed building?. Her second thought regarded the fact that such a child was also throwing said ashes at her.
And, as luck would have it, her third thought was interrupted by a voice from behind her.
”Miss Maya, Miss Maya, Miss Maya! It's Phobius! We need your help!”

As the child scampered off to return to a nearby building- the one that had nearly crushed the illusionist- Aislyn turned her attention to the very familiar greeting. Phobius.

Ignoring the fact that she was coated in a less-than-comfortable amount of dust, the woman turned towards the sound of voices. Or rather, the sound of knocking. Phobius was standing at her door, and obviously believed her to still be inside.
From where she really stood, however, she could observe two facts. First of all, Phobius seemed very, very scared, and second of all, he had brought a "friend".
Reysin.

”Of bloody course-”
Whoops. She'd momentarily forgotten the fact that they hadn't seen her yet. She didn't mean that. Well, she did, but not to Phobius. It was still, however, just her luck that the boy had decided to let petching Reysin Ekans tag along.

”I mean- Phobius!” Ignore the snake. Ignore the snake. Ignore the snake. ”What are you doing here- ah- I mean…”
Sigh.
”Do you know what happened?”

[Yisanareysin]

To Rey's surprise, the boy took off without answering his question. Stressed out humans did strange things, it seemed. Quickly yanking on his boots, Rey chased after him, snagging his coat and dagger on his way out the room. Fortunately, the boy had the sense to wait for him at the entrance to the inn, though he did seem very eager to keep moving. Then off he went again, leading Rey through the streets of Alvadas.

Running in public was always frustrating for Rey. It was a balancing act, between keeping his speed to roughly what he guessed a human could reasonably reach, and looking like he was actually running as fast as he could, instead of holding back to around half his normal speed. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, he didn't have to fake the physical exertion. By the time Phobius stopped, Rey was breathing heavily, his legs aching. Gritting his teeth, he ignored the pain in his lungs and muscles as he studied his surroundings.

The first thing he noticed was the dusty, empty area just nearby. The sight of it sent a tingle through his scales. It was at that very moment that he really understood that something, right here, had gone drastically wrong. This didn't feel like an illusion, more than it did anywhere.

He turned when he heard Phobius start to shout for "Miss Maya." So, the boy had listened to him after all, and led him straight to her. Rey stepped closer, studying the building that the illusive girl apparently lived in. It looked to be a fairly regular cottage, much the same as any other, with two particularly notable features. The first was the garden, or not garden, as the case seemed to be. In front of the house was a plot of soil, within which were growing, or dying, what he could only assume were desiccated flowers. Within Rey's mental list of facts about the illusionist, he carefully added "Shyke with plants". The second notable thing was drawn on a sign in the window. Some sort of runic drawing, it seemed. A letter or a word in some language Rey didn't know, maybe.

So, now Rey knew what her home looked like. Excellent. Now, all he needed wa-

"Of bloody course."

Ah, and right on time. He grinned in amusement as she seemed to be deliberately ignoring him, choosing only to address Phobius instead. Still, she wasn't a major concern for him at the moment. What was really interesting to him was that patch of emptiness. Ignoring his companions, he moved over to it to investigate, and see what he could find and sense.

Snake Tongue : Common : Arumenic

[Phobius]

Hearing his name called, the Inartan boy let his slightly-aching fists fall away from the door and turned his head. Miss Maya was rounding a corner to walk over to them, and Phobius was glad that he hadn't needed to shout for long; despite how serious things were, at the moment, he couldn't help but feel a little awkward about calling her for help. It was just so...sudden, and for all he knew the woman could have been busy with something, like how Mister Ekans had been busy taking a nap. After studying her face for a few ticks, though, he was relieved to see that she didn't look as annoyed as the man had been. And then he noticed the fine layer of dust that covered her, clothes, skin, hair and all, as if she'd gone rolling around in a pile of ashes.

She liked to draw things, didn't she? Did people use dust to make art, sometimes...? Or maybe...

The woman, seemingly unaware of the crumbly powder that she was coated in, asked him if he knew what had happened. Phobius immediately opened his mouth to respond, ready to tell her that he did know, that he'd seen it firsthand, but then he faltered and fell quiet. It wouldn't be a lie, but...while he was fairly certain of what he'd seen, he wasn't really sure what "it" was. Nor did he specifically know why the entire block had suddenly imploded. It just...had.

"Ye...no. I was there, but...I don't know," the boy said, visibly struggling with getting his words and thoughts to agree with one another. "I went to the Alchae to find Kuvarakh, and then everything was...broken. Dust. Just...fwoom! All gone. A-and the Alchae...gone, too."

At the mere mention of the missing alchemy shop, Phobius grew teary-eyed, again, unable to help himself.

"And Kuvarakh, and Miss Wanda...I dunno where they are. So I got Mister Ekans, and then came here so I could ask you for help..."

The boy then turned a little, wondering where the Dhani in question had gone, all of a sudden. He'd been standing next to them a moment ago, but now...

Oh, there he was. Walking away from them, actually, looking as though he'd spotted something interesting. Blinking, Phobius stared for a tick of two before begininng to trail after him, his hands having re-nestled themselves into his scarf.

"This is speech in Nari."

This is thought.

[Fable]

Reysin's misgivings as to the illusionary nature of the destruction that expanded out over the entire block before him were validated the moment he slipped into his more keen senses. As the Dhani's djed seethed and shifted within him to amplify the flavors that drifted on the wind, head turning to follow eyes that scanned the area, there was, at first, the distinct flavor of stone. The stone, however, was wrong. There was an acrid taste to it, similar to bile, that pervaded everything within the dusty wasteland. As he moved, feet sinking a few inches down into the debris, the bite of the unnatural djed intensified, drawing him down a particular path. There were other scents, other flavors, that passed over him as he made his way, but the biggest draw, the most curious and foreign interest continued to pull him along.

When Wanda groaned, her own aura was so mottled by the overwhelming acidity of the foreign djed, Reysin was forced to either release his auristics or lose what little food was left in his stomach from the night before. In either case, what he saw wasn't the mousy haired, weary looking woman who so often wore a tired looking smile when she teased Kuvarakh in her melancholy way. The figure before him, for starters, didn't have any legs. Or, better, she had had legs, but they had seemingly crumbled along with the rest of the stone around her. The torso rose and fell in a steady rhythm in her unconsciousness, her body huddled in the confines of large circle with small circles along the contour. She shivered slightly, despite the pleasant warmth of the spring day, and there were the distinct lines of tears the marked her face. Strangely enough, no dust had settled within the area of the circle. In fact, there seemed to be a wake around the circle's edge, as if an invisible force had exploded unidirectionally from the center of the ring.

A group of children giggled in the distance, their dust fight escalating to the point of great excitement. It seemed the three were the only individuals who had begun to take the event seriously.