Closed Papers Please

Spring 70, 125

An application to travel. Kage had always thought these things were a pain, but he could see the value in keeping track of where everyone was. The spy part of his brain always felt uneasy about anyone knowing more about him and his intentions no matter how necessary it was. He was old enough to assume that if he was going to die it was probably going to be from someone betraying him.

His thoughts drifted towards death as he filled out the application in the Okulærium. Travelling abroad always used to hold that risk and travelling to other planes only increased that likelihood. His phylactery now gave him some extra peace of mind, but if an aelf really wanted him dead, it wouldn’t be impossible to achieve… especially when he was away from home.

Paranoia had led him to filling his home with many of his treants that were usually used for construction and scouting. His familiar, Hana, was also there to keep a close eye on his phylactery. Was this what his life was going to be like now? Constantly obsessing over that little thing?

He sighed and turned his attention to the ‘purpose’ section of the form.

“To hunt Sidhe. I aim to kill or detain 3-5 of them for use in implants and imprisonment. I will be bringing a rifle, spells to mute sounds, several hundred bird fetches, and an elysian green knight treant to transport victims. I have a handful of defensive talismans in my possession, as well as a visor that can see through any illusion. I have given my familiar control over my tethers in case of my demise.”

He then got up from the chair he’d been sitting on and handed it to the appropriate employee.

293 wc

<notes>

Infighting was not uncommon among the Æld’Norai, but proper betrayal resulting in the death of any party involved was quite rare. Kage’s paranoia, while understandable for somebody in his position, was incredibly unlikely to ever actually come to pass. Realistically, his superiors knowing his location when leaving the country was a boon, as it meant that if he did not return within his estimated timeframe, then he would be looked for– his kin nigh never abandoned their own.

The attendant to which Kage handed his paperwork to was a petite, androgynous– likely male– Æld’Norai who took the paper from him with an amiable, if bored, expression. That is, until he read the purpose; international travel was a rare request, much less interplanar travel marked ‘personal’ in purpose.

“Ælphyne, huh?” the attendant asked in a lilting tenor. “Ambitious! You plan to leave your Maltrician with extra wings to grow for others? Seems like a lot of ‘em to collect if you’re only looking to cover yourself.”

Normally, attendants knew not to ask questions about official excursions, but this one was one of the rare occasions where somebody’s travel forms were both personal in purpose and actually interesting in destination. Nevertheless, the man would stamp the bottom of the form and then place it under what looked like a scanner of sorts. The device would activate and shortly thereafter, the parchment would vanish in a bluish glow.

“Have you a path to Ælphyne in mind or will you be needing assistance in finding a causeway?”​

Kage gave a grim smile, bordering on nervous, “I’ll take as many as I can get my hands on – I’m sure I’ll find some use for them. I would love to give my new maltrician an extra set for his troubles . Ideally I’ll be able to capture a sidhe alive, then their wings could be harvested over and over again. Tis a lofty goal, but the least I can do is try.”

The way he saw it, the more wings he came back with, the less aelves would be exposed to the danger of dying. Even if they had methods of resurrection, the pain and experience of death was surely not something he wanted any aelf to experience unnecessarily. There was also a part of him that really hated the Sidhe and made him think that eliminating them was a net positive for the world. He would hopefully be killing several birds with one stone this trip.

“I don’t have a way into AElphyne. I was hoping there was one you could point me to. Or if there isn’t a suitable one around I’d request to be notified when one comes to your attention.”

He wasn’t the type to keep track of those sorts of things. He almost always had assistants help him with travel plans. They were used to getting him around Antarok, however, not to and from other planes.

525

<notes>

It was no surprise to hear that Kage hadn’t come across an Arcadian Causeway on his own. Rare as they were, even a Vitæ with an extensive network of treants could struggle to find one without dedicating a good amount of time to their search. Luckily for him, there were a handful of Observatører charged with tracking the locations of Causeways in order to monitor travel between planes.

“Aye, of course~ Your fellow Okulærists kept cooped up in here do their best to track many things—Causeways included. There are a few active at the moment, and it looks like the most convenient one to reach lies in the wilderness of the southern fjord. It’s quite a ways south from Nýrthalas, though I’m sure a man of your talents can make it there. It beats wandering through caves or climbing mountains, at least.

Would you prefer to go on your own with coordinates or to have a guide?” Dalrós responded in a similarly laissez-faire tone.

“Oh, and do give me the name of your Maltrician—if you leave them with extra, I’d love to steal a pair of those wings for myself,” the clerk added, punctuated with an impish giggle.​

Kage nodded at the aelf’s words. Nyrthalas was quite a ways away, so he was going to have to hustle if he was going to get there in a decent amount of time.

“I suppose a guide wouldn’t hurt,” he said with a shrug. He figured that it’d be helpful if one of the Okulærists sent a treant along to point him to the exact location.

Kage stared off into space for a good twenty seconds, letting his ancient brain process who exactly his maltrician was. The diseased aelf’s face slowly came to mind, then his name. “Velho, in Hespaeria,” he said. “I’ll let him know when I deliver them to him.” He thought about Velho for a moment, wondering if he was the one he’d given Fluffy’s animals to. God his memory was getting bad again - he needed to make a trip to his Deep One therapist soon to help clear out the clutter.

He'd wait for his guide to arrive or go to wherever they might be. A mental command sent his relevant treants moving towards the shores where Kage assumed they would meet up with him and board a boat that would take them to the next island over. He was already packed and ready to go – everything he needed was on his person including some alkahest for ensorcelling and rations, not that he really needed to eat much as a druid.

He was already thinking about how his hunt was going to go. He thought of what he knew about Sidhe, how he expected them to act around the causeway, and strategies he could pull off to stay hidden and take out as many of them as possible in the shortest amount of time. Pixies were another thing on his list of things to keep an eye out for. Those were much more elusive and tiny than sidhe, but having one in a jar would be most amusing.

848

<Ælheim has static portals in temples called Ældrísal; they are elaborate temples housing portals to all other major cities, with one located in each major city. All major portals are available to all Æld'Norai. Some cities have additional portals to regional or special locations, some of which are accessible only to a select few.>

The name Kage gave didn’t ring any bells for Dalrós, though the clerk spent very little of his time outside the Basin—the only name he’d recognize from Hespæria was Hespæride herself. Granted, he would’ve also recognized their shared surname had Kage said it.

“All the way down in the bog, eh? No matter—for Sidhe wings, travel is well worth it.”

Regarding Kage’s upcoming travel plans: “One moment, please. I’ll see if there’s any Vitæ with constructs to spare who’ve knowledge of the area to help you out.”

And with that, the man stood from the elaborately carved console desk he’d been sitting behind and turned to enter a door behind him. Not more than ten minutes passed before he re-emerged.

“A fetch will join you when you go outside if you intend to leave right away. If not, simply verbally tell it the time you intend to depart, and it will wait there for you to return—the Vitæ on the end will be able to hear you.”

Should Kage desire to depart immediately, he would find the fetch as stated. It appeared to be a jack-o-lantern with spindly, wooden legs that gave it the silhouette of a spider. The creature would lead him from the Okulærium to the first Ældrísal, a grand stone temple nestled against Ældrassil’s massive trunk wherein portals to each of Ælheim’s major cities were anchored alongside a handful of others leading to a mix of locations. An elegant courtyard composed the entirety of the interior, decorated with large arched windows that glowed purple under the moonlight. The stone of its architecture was overgrown by thorny vines and bioluminescent flowers. A pool in the temple’s center glimmered like a starry night’s sky, and from it grew a branch of Ældrassil. If one looked closely at the coruscant portals, many would swear they saw reflections of the great dragon lurking within.

Nevertheless, the little fetch assumed Kage had traveled through these portals many a time as all Æld’Norai did, so it did not pause to marvel at the artistry of the place. Once it and Kage had stepped through the one labeled for Nýrthalas, the eerie little pumpkin would turn its unmoving gaze towards him and speak in an odd, raspy voice:

“Have you any need for supplies? We are to wander the wilderness for a time.”​

Kage would have divulged the rest of the name after giving it another minute’s thought. He’d only met the guy… once? Perhaps twice in person, but he’d sent letters which had somewhat familiarized him with his name.

“Much appreciated. I will be departing immediately - I hope to have wings for you soon,” Kage said with a nod. He headed outside to meet the jack o lantern.

“Who do I have the pleasure of thanking today?” Kage asked as they walked. Even with portals they still had a ways to walk and he knew from experience that many took for granted the help that vitae constantly offered people of the forest.

He glanced at the amazing craftsmanship of the area that housed the portals, appreciating how much better it was than any other culture that he’d ever come across. Perhaps he was a bit biased. His treants followed behind, trying to keep out of the way but ultimately bunching up behind him in line as they waited their turn.

Soon they were in a new place that he hadn’t visited for hundreds of years. Kage looked at the treant and said, “with my treants here, I think I’m set to go. With any luck it’ll be a short trip, but you know how these things go.”

Aside from his magical gear, he had a flask of water at his hip and his largest treant had some food and water in its storage compartment. And while he was not at all good at fieldcraft, he could make shelter and required little to survive through the grace of druidism. He was much more worried about getting into a prolonged fight with fae than he was about keeping warm at night. Then again, he was a very combat minded individual who overlooked other aspects of adventures. He need only think back to the previous season when he’d needed to row a boat – that had been a long day.

Perhaps he was getting ahead of himself - they hadn't even gotten to the causeway yet!

1173

<notes>

When Kage inquired after the name of his guide, the raspy voice of the pumpkin answered as follows: “Vænir, Vrítræ fyn’Byrne Eunæ. I do believe we’ve met before, Kage, though it is understandable for you not to recognize me in this form.”

Vrítræ and Kage would’ve inevitably crossed paths at points throughout his storied career, as she was a fellow Oculærist and Grafviðr, though her Ascension had come some four-score years back. And while she bore the title 'Oculærist,' she was classed as Vænir instead of Æsir because she was an agent favored by Reykr, and all of his direct personnel were considered separate from Ælheim’s military. Mysterious in nature and often hard to track down, it was usually she who found people, rather than the other way around. So while he may not remember their interactions with perfect clarity, he likely would recognize her name. Why it was that a woman of such import volunteered for this job was anyone’s guess.


Once they’d arrived and Kage had confirmed his readiness, the pumpkin would commit a gesture that vaguely resembled a nod and begin to scuttle forth out of Nýrthalas’ Ældrísal. Though equal in beauty to any other, this one contrasted heavily to that which they had just departed. Rather than be carved of stone, the entirety of this temple was carved from ice as clear as crystal. Despite this, plants still clung to the frozen, prismatic shards creating an enchanting, if frigid atmosphere. There were many purely decorative carvings and plants growing along the portals themselves and the path out, with Kage able to see his reflection—though warped—in any surface not obscured by flora or snow.

Once they exited the crystalline temple, however, the city opened up in a fashion far more traditional for Ælven settlements. Snow-capped buildings hewn into grand trees, painstakingly detailed carvings of both wood and stone, and all manner of bioluminescent alpine plant life seemed to thrive along the city’s well-trodden stone paths. The locals of Nýrthalas eyed Kage and his cavalcade of treants with curiosity, rare as Vitæ are, and stranger still was it to see anyone be led by a skittering pumpkin.

“Hardy as I know we as a people are, how well fare you in the cold?” The jack-o-lantern inquired as they moved out of the city’s Ælven districts and into the far more utilitarian Fælniri domain. “Your destination is likely far warmer, but we will be traveling along the fjord to get there.”

It wasn’t that the where the Fælnir lived was squalor, no—rather, it was that they preferred function over the Æld’Norai’s love of decadence simply for the sake of it. For not being Draoidh, too, the craftsmanship of their homes and businesses was actually quite impressive. And while Fælnir were less wont to openly stare, it was abundantly clear that Kage was an object of immense curiosity for them.​

“Ah yes, it’s been a while.” He always kept up with those who ascended in Vitae. They were people to look up to, especially if Reykr favored them. It was no secret that the more ancient aelves had some screws loose, and so Kage was wary of those who earned a spot under his wing. Not that he thought it was relevant to their trip through the mountains. He’d assume that the aelf was just the only one that was free to help.

When they walked out into the settlement, Kage was presented with an interesting question. The pumpkin asked him how he fared in the cold. This was the second time that he’d been asked about his preparedness, which made him feel that this was a strong hint that he was not as prepared as he should have been.

“As much as I would love to put my phylactery to the test, I do not think I want to do that today. At least not before I make it to aelphyne. I have no particular resistance to the cold. Surely we could stop by an alchemist to pick up something to remedy that. I’ll keep my eye out for an alchemist.”

The hundred bird fetches flew in a flock above their heads while Mordva followed behind. They sure did look out of place so it was no wonder that people stared. Kage paid them little attention as he was busy searching for an alchemist as they walked along.

Assuming he would be able to find one, he would ask for an incredibly potent Fuar concoction. One that would be able to grant him expert level resistance to the cold with a single sip. If only a lesser concoction was available, that would be fine too, so long as he ended up with at least enough for two expert level doses that would last 6-12 hours each. He had contemplated buying a similar potion for counteracting shimmer’s effects, but he had settled on the visor that was presently over his eyes. It would have certainly been cheaper, but alas it had been his splurge purchase for the season.

If he was not able to purchase anything like the potion described, he would go for a thick winter coat and hat. Afterwards he would say, “I think I’m well enough prepared for the cold now.”

Master Fuar 500SP
Master Alchemist 500SP
1 sphere / 81g ardorite -810 SP
-1810 SP

Taking a 1/3 sip if purchased

1567