Memory Closed Ties That Bind

[Vicissitude]

fall 17, year 114 of the third age​

Cælum's mother, or rather, his extended family, had been on the radar of the Æld'Norai since they settled not far from Ælheim's territory. A burrow of dragons was rare and, because of their innate Grist, they were worth keeping an eye on insofar as how they might end up shifting the nearby borderlands. What shifted their focus, however, was the choice of the mother to bring herself and her dragonlings into Ælven territory– though of course, this was not inherently unwelcome.

Their stay was ephemeral; the mother-dragon had stated upon her arrival that such was her intention. And so after a time, those dragons would return to their burrow…sans Cælum, that is, who had developed a bond with Ælheim and its people during his formative years. Rather, he alone pursued the standard form of citizenship afforded to outsiders at first, and then after the finalization of his Three-Among-Many, sought to apply for true naturalization. Approvals of this nature fell under the purview of the Fresbævar, or the Ældar'i charged as being the voice of the people, directly. And rare as it was for these things to go through, Cælum's Three-Among-Many stood on their own as a testament to his dedication towards the betterment of both Ælheim as a nation and the Æld'Norai as a people.

Once approved, Cælum was given a date and time for the tethering ritual which would take place at Nýjungskogen– a ritual site deep within the boughs of the dragon-tree. There was no place else with concentrations of Saol quite like this in all of Ælheim. Further, it was a spiritual epicenter of sorts, and the only place where one had any hope of truly communing with the dragon nestled deep within the tree's bark.

And while access to Nýjungskogen is restricted, Cælum was instructed to meet with a 'guide' at a public pavilion near the base of the tree beforehand. The guide, of whom he was given a description and name, was a pale-skinned ælven woman with equally pale features and of youthful appearance named Vrítræ. She wore a dress of simple black silk and was adorned in gold jewelry resembling foliage 'round her head, shoulders, neck and arms. She'd arrived some time before the scheduled appointment, wanting to make sure she got there before Cælum did. The pavilion under which she stood was built into, or rather out of, one of the major roots which extended from Ældrassil and itself was buried in the vines and leaves of the surrounding foliage.

꧁══════════• ༺༉ { Vrítræ } ༉༻•══════════꧂​

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꧁══════════• ༺༉ ❁ ❀ ❁ ༉༻•══════════꧂​

 

[Caelum]

It had been a long journey. Years of living as a hybrid between dragon and human as he'd slowly discovered who he truly was. But now he was fully human, or was it aelf, or perhaps a mix of both? It'd taken an elder pointing out to him that his inner alchemy was most likely simply 'the people of AElfheim,' which made sense but he still wasn't 'truly' one of them.

No, he was still very much a dragon on the inside. Despite his form change he still felt like stretching his wings that no longer existed. He still thought like a dragon, he still often behaved like one too as it was hard to 'undo' nearly a century of instinct. But he'd done his best to change, to become friends with the locals and accepted by them. He was ultimately happy that they had agreed to allow him to officially go through the naturalization process. Happy because it was what he truly wanted and also because he did not know what he'd have done with his life if he'd been denied.

Caelum showed up to the pavilion several minutes late as he'd taken a wrong turn. He'd intended to arrive early, but alas. He walked up to the aelven woman and waved. "Vritrae, right?" he asked. She looked dressed for the occasion, definitely more than he was. He'd no jewelry or hardly any noteworthy possessions at all but a friend had set him up with some basic clothes for the occasion. He wore a black tunic that fit him well enough and his hair was cut neatly along with a clean shave.

Not knowing what else to say, he decided to continue, "I like your jewelry, it looks quite exquisite." He sounded a little nervous but he still gave her a small smile.

​

 

[Vicissitude]

fall 17, year 114 of the third age​

Though Vrítræ carried not a shred of envy on the subject, she had to admit she was a bit curious about the young dragon's circumstances. While she was pure blooded Æld'Norai, he was, by nature, all dragon– yet by magic and circumstance, he was arguably a combination of dragon, Æld'Norai, and human? How very strange, that. Nevertheless, his devotion was admirable.

By the time he did deign to arrive, Cælum might've caught a glimpse of Vrítræ appearing to communicate with a small, treant-like creature about the size of a house cat. The thing scuttled away during his approach, about when she noticed him, perhaps at the sound of his voice. One could assume it was either a pet, familiar, Fetch of a Vitæ or the like– it was some sort of living magic and biomatter, at least.

But as it skittered away, the woman directed her attention unto Cælum. "Aye– and you must be Cælum," she began, "...a bit late, but I suppose that's never hurt any of us," her comment punctuated with a subtle, wry smile.

"But thank you. I'm quite fond of this set," she added, lifting an arm to almost admire that which adorned it.

"This way, then," she continued abruptly, directing him towards the small, stone circle in the middle of the pavilion.

With a wave of her hand, the circle was set alight with an arcane glow– colors shifting between cyan and deeper blues. She didn't stop to wait, walking over to stand within the small circle. When she did, her form would flicker and then fade into a blur before disappearing entirely. Cælum might recognize this sort of portal system as the magic of Exodus. Should he choose to follow her right away, the portal would close as soon as he'd come out the other side.

And on the other side once he did go through, Cælum would find himself in an altogether different place. Surrounded by walls of bark, plantlife and the bright glow of Saol on all sides, they were now deep within Ældrassil's boughs, standing just before Nýjungskogen proper. The room was a circle, and the ritual site was a large inner circle limned by all of the moon's phases, likely drawn and cemented into the ground with Alkahest. And standing atop the image depicting the new moon was another figure, this one much stranger than Vrítræ.

He was a gnarled old thing, with pale, wrinkled skin, ears and features almost bat-like in appearance. The old man was dressed in dark robes that were simple in cut but adorned with complex filigree. Upon his head he wore a cowl, this garment being slightly more complex in design as it draped down his neck to form pointed shoulder pads and was adorned with more of the gold accoutrements than the rest of his clothing.

He tilted his head in greeting towards Vrítræ and their guest, "...this is the whelpling?" His question sounded curious, rhetorical as it was. "Hmm." The ancient-looking man squinted as if scrutinizing Cælum.

Waiting not for anyone's reply, he smiled abruptly something broad– perhaps a bit uncanny. "...wend on, then, boy-- to the circle's cent'r." He spoke a bit strangely, his accent sounding archaic, almost.

As the elder ælf spoke, Vrítræ moved without instruction to her place on the outer ring atop the drawing of the full moon.

꧁══════════• ༺༉ { Vrítræ, Reykr } ༉༻•══════════꧂​

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[Caelum]

Caelum was intrigued by the Fetch and wondered if it were an extension of someone's magic or if it were some sort of sentient tree life. He swore that every day he spent among the aelves he saw something strange. His eyes would follow it for a time, but the pretty aelf didn't waste any time getting started with their journey.

The dragon nodded and said, "after you," not that she'd waited. He looked at the magical circle quizzically for a few moments before realizing it must be a portal. He didn't think they'd be travelling anywhere like that but he wasn't complaining. The less walking the better.

Once through, he noticed that the scenery had changed quite dramatically. They were now inside someplace as far as he could tell. Judging by the walls, he wouldn't have been surprised if they were inside the great ol' tree itself. Something about this place felt different from the outside. It felt… sacred. He was particularly taken by the images of the moon, the meanings of which he yearned to know more about but was too nervous to ask.

Motion.

Caelum's gaze fixated on the aelf who stood at the new moon. He couldn't remember if they'd met before since he still had trouble telling people apart. All the old aelves looked pretty much the same in his book but this one looked and sounded particularly ancient.

"Yes, that's me," he said, not knowing if 'whelpling' was supposed to be an insult. He gave the elder the benefit of the doubt; he'd been called worse.

Not wanting to be rude, Caelum hurried over to the center of the circle and tried to keep his eyes from wandering. "Right here?" he asked as she shifted his weight from foot to foot. "Is this Nýjungskogen?" he continued, struggling with the pronunciation. He wanted very much to be silent and focused but his curiosity was getting the better of him.

​

 

[Vicissitude]

fall 17, year 114 of the third age​

Vrítræ wasn't always a woman of little patience; she understood that being late a few minutes was ultimately fine and didn't matter much. She didn't judge Cælum for it, but her brusqueness was, in large part, due to the fact that they were operating on Reykr's time– something she was loath to waste. Whether he would be bothered, however, one couldn't yet say.

Cælum's nervous movements surprised neither ælf. Rather, they expected it; nobody had actually explained to him the exact nature of the arcane processes that they intended to employ here. He'd only been informed the ritual was harmless and posed no risks; in the eyes of the Æld'Norai, the bond they shared with Ældrassil only offered boons.

To his question, Reykr offered a small smile, as if he were amused.

Vrítræ answered, "aye, thought you'd have been given that detail, at least."

Reykr's voice cut in, "we standeth at the heart of the tree, wh're t all began." He sounded a cross between pleased and…nostalgic?

"But f'rgive mine own rudeness, i f'rgot to introduceth myself; I am Reykr." At this point he sounded giddy, proceeding to perform a short nod in lieu of a bow.

"And t's an hon'r to doth thee this s'rvice, rare as t is to p'rf'rm the binding," the longer he spoke, the more the old ælf sounded genuinely excited.

Vítræ almost looked relieved; as if she hadn't known what to expect from her companion.

It was possible that Cælum had heard the name 'Reykr' in the past, and if he had, he might've heard that Reykr was positively ancient. While his exact age was unknown and he patently refuses to say (the gnarled old bat probably lost count ages ago), documentation indicates it was he who performed the Nekromantic ritual nigh twenty-thousand years ago that birthed the Æld'Norai; he was one among the first.

"Bef're we beginneth, has't thee any questions? Few oth'rs has't mine own…p'rspective," Reykr added with a chuckle; he looked chuffed, pleased with himself.

꧁══════════• ༺༉ { Vrítræ, Reykr } ༉༻•══════════꧂​

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꧁══════════• ༺༉ ❁ ❀ ❁ ༉༻•══════════꧂​

 

[Caelum]

Caelum nodded to the female aelf. He'd only known the term because of the instructions given to him, but he didn't know if there was still someplace he was meant to go… or if this was his final destination. At least now he knew for sure. So, it's all happening here he thought.

"It's an honor to meet you, Reykr," Caelum said with as respectful as a tone as he could, "and an honor to have you perform the binding." The name rang a bell, but he wasn't in the right state of mind to recall exactly what the name entailed. The term 'Old' came to mind, but that much was clear based on the aelf's appearance.

Caelum considered his opportunity to ask questions. He hadn't come prepared with any but he thought hard about what he might want to ask what was perhaps one of the oldest aelves alive.

"If you put yourself in my shoes… what would your aspirations be? What would be your place in this world? I ask because I myself do not really know what I'm to do with my life. I feel… conflicted. As much as I've come to love the humans and aelves, I am still dragon inside. I see the potential to do great good with my alchemy… but I also breathe fire, a risky ability to have in a forest."

Caelum paused, collecting his thoughts then finished with, "what I mean to ask, is for guidance."

Of course, no answer the elder gave would affect the fact that he still wanted to go through with the ceremony and live amongst the aelves. He'd had similar conversations with aelves before but none of them had been this old so perhaps this elder would be able to offer a unique perspective. Most of his life had been spent making his own decisions but being part of a community meant that he had to think about others and be willing to both ask for and accept guidance.

 

[Vicissitude]

fall 17, year 114 of the third age​

Ah, to ask after ambition– Vrítræ brought her arms up and 'cross her chest, though the expression on her face was a curious sort over anything else. She'd asked Reykr a similar sort of line quite a few years back, and she herself wondered how different his answer would be this time, in these circumstances, and to this audience. She awaited the old man's reply with likely a similar interest to Cælum.

Reykr, on the other hand, smiled something so broad it might be construed as creepy on those bat-like features. His head then tilted with the same, strange, almost mechanical movement a bird's often does as his face shifted to something thoughtful. Perhaps pondering a point in his life where he could've been considered 'young'?

"W're i thee, i wouldst findeth a goal and keepeth t. Beest high-sighted, utilitarian, and creative in thy pursuit; ign're not the many boons Ælheim may off'r thee f'r advancement," Reykr answered after a moment. The way he talked was slow and strange, very much with the sort of meandering drama and gesticulation one would generally associate with the faefolk.

"If 't thy eyes art keen enow, thee may findeth aught thy heart desires h're–" he continued with a wan smile, "...squand'r not this gift." The last sentence was a bit more pointed than the rest, lower in whimsy than before.

"Alert us, then, when thou art eft," Reykr added.

To which Vrítræ would clarify, "...he means let us know when you're ready. On our end, the spell circle and our own Arcana are all we need."

꧁══════════• ༺༉ { Vrítræ, Reykr } ༉༻•══════════꧂​

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[Caelum]

Caelum listened to the words, as hard as they were to discern and make sense of. It sounded like the advice was to set a goal and use the advantages Aelfheim offered to achieve it. It was advice… a little different from the usual. It was the first time someone had suggested that he might be able to benefit from the aelve's resources. Usually, the focus was on what he could offer the aelves, as if he had to justify his presence among them. He'd come to understand why and even agreed with them – foreigners should be judged harshly.

"Thank you for your advice," he said gratefully. As he tried to make sense of the old aelf's latter words Vritrae came in with a much needed explanation. "Oh," he said to Vritrae, "I'm uh… I'm ready. Ready as I'll ever be I suppose."

He tried to stand straight and keep his eyes fixated on either the female or the male. He'd been expecting more people to show up, one for each phase of the moon at least. The details of the actual process themselves weren't conveyed to him but he was surprised to hear that this process only required two aelves. Perhaps they were powerful, or perhaps the process was simple but closely guarded.

He'd been told the process was safe but there was no way of knowing if they were lying or not. If this was a secret process then surely most wouldn't know the truth. Plus he'd heard that some magic catered death to initiate into… so he was not exactly calm in this moment. Confident that he wanted to continue, but unsure of his safety. He knew enough about the aelves to know that his sudden death wouldn't be mourned by many, if any.

 

[Vicissitude]

fall 17, year 114 of the third age​

Reykr brought his fingertips together, forming a triangle with his hands and wearing a pleased expression. "Then we shalt delayeth nay long'r," he replied to Cælum's acquiescence.

There was no further exchanging of words between the two Æld'Norai. Reykr maintained the same pose he was in while Vrítræ moved to mirror him, and when she did, their eyes would glint before shifting into pools of opalescent fire. In turn, the drawings on the floor waxed effervescent, each setting alight with a moontouched, arcane fire one by one.

And with each phase of the moon aglow, the coruscant illumination would start to convalesce upon Cælum until he stood in what appeared to be a condensed shaft of moonlight. For a moment, an intense, sheer cold would wash over him, and then that sensation would shift, leaving him feeling more alive than he had ever felt before. Their moonlit magic would slowly fade into glimmering sparks mingling with the latent Saol in the air; the ritual had succeeded, Cælum's tether tied.

In the aftermath, Reykr would bow as if he were a showman on stage after a performance before rising to say, "...thou art one of us anon; careth not to maketh me regr't granting thee such a sacr'd gift." For a moment, he looked painfully serious.

"F'r none escapeth mine purview in this land." And then, as quick as the more somber expression came, so too did it wash away.

Reykr would smile broadly once more, cackle, and then turn to Ash before blowing away on a nonexistent breeze. Vrítræ appeared amused at the old man's behavior.

"Well!" Her voice called out to Cælum. "How do you feel?"

꧁══════════• ༺༉ { Vrítræ, Reykr } ༉༻•══════════꧂​

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꧁══════════• ༺༉ ❁ ❀ ❁ ༉༻•══════════꧂​

 

[Caelum]

Caelum stood dead still for the duration of the ritual. It was over fairly quickly, all things considered, and he had definitely not picked up on how the ritual was performed, only that it seemingly only needed two aelves to do it. What was more interesting than the visual effects was how he felt. He felt invigorated, as if he had been living his whole life up 'til this point as only partially alive. Now, he felt full of life in a metaphorical sense.

"I won't make you regret your decision," Caelum said to the aelf that he just then recognized was talking to him. A lot was going on in the dragon's mind at the moment. Then, in an instant, the old aelf was gone. Disappeared into nothing, with no trace of having ever been there to begin with.

Caelum blinked to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him then looked to the only other person in the room. "I feel different. Less dragon, more aelf, in a way I cannot describe," he said to her question. He stretched out his arms absent mindedly, verifying that he didn't feel stronger or anything of that sort.

"I take it that the process was a success?" Caelum kept his eyes on the aelf, not knowing what was to come next. Would they send him on his way now? Or did she have other plans?

 

[Vicissitude]

fall 17, year 114 of the third age​

"...and don't mind Reykr– he's retained quite a bit of his Sidhe sort of, ah…whimsy? somehow over the years." Vrítræ commented once the elder ælf had vanished from sight, though she was quite certain he wasn't yet entirely gone.

With his Apparation, the old coot might be hanging around in the breeze for fun. Or he could be long gone. Who's to say?

"Anywho, yes– it was. Your Draoidh will warp in the coming days to our own unique flavor, Æcturnis, and you'll likely find yourself joining the rest of us in our nocturnal sleeping patterns if you don't already. But surely, that isn't a bother, no?" She said with a warmer, friendly sort of tone.

Vrítræ continued, "...we've naturalized other dragons in the past but not ones who've chosen a form so close to our own, so do feel free to contact me personally if you notice any, ah… unintended side effects? Good or bad, Reykr and I would like to know for record-keeping purposes"

With that, the woman moved from her circle and back over to the early one off to the side that they'd used for the purpose of teleportation. "Other than that, though, you are now free once more to do as you please once we leave here– come," and again, she'd perform the same motion as she did before to activate the teleporter and then flicker out of view.

꧁══════════• ༺༉ { Vrítræ } ༉༻•══════════꧂​

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[Vicissitude]

꧁══════════• ༺༉ { Reviewed/Canonized } ༉༻•══════════꧂​

Cælum

+15 XP
+1 Tether to Ældrassil
+Draodih converted to Æcturnis

And he has also gained social threads to Vrítræ & Reykr.

Vicissitude

+21 XP​

꧁══════════• ༺༉ ❁ ❀ ❁ ༉༻•══════════꧂​