The Royal Party (Val, Pre-Unveiling & GF'd)

[Atl Myrsa]

Atl rode next to his lovelly wife Tariel and next to the Consul-Princess as the approached the area were Silrosia used to be. The forest was different from the vast sands that they had just left.

Once again dressed in white the two druids approached the mist that had settled upon the world around them. Atl called the group to a stop and turn to look around the party. Blue eyes looking intently at them. Atl could only imagine what his wife was thinking, it had been era's since she had left to join the nymphs of the Forest of Light, and now they returned when magic or something had conqured her original homeland. The Magus wondered if his wife was happy or sad or didn't care. He knew that if he found out his orignal village was gone he would feel sorrow, but he might never know.

Atl turned back. "Alright I think this is close enough for now, how shall we proced?"



OOC: here is a list of the Magus council NPC. nothing really just a vague sort of name and level. I am not expecting them to come on the adventure through the viel, but Atl brought them for their advices.

http://www.playbypost.com/forums/1238579-post1.html

[Valanthia L'Evienne]

Princess or no, Val wasn't much of a horsewoman, preferring instead to travel on foot. For this one instance, however, she'd arranged for a mount. She reined her horse in, and then looked over at Atl.

"I...I don't have a better idea than going into clara, trying whatever detect spells we've got, and then...if that doesn't turn anything up, actually walking up to the...the barrier, whatever it is, and seeing if closer inspection tells...tells us anything." She'd been pondering this problem ever since they left Arakmat, but given that this veil was something no one seemed to know anything about, even anything basic, their options were rather limited. "I don't...from the few reports we've gotten, I don't think it will...do us immediate physical harm."

Just out of sight, behind one of the many trees, was Umbrosus, Val's canine bondmate and companion. He was nearly as large as the horses, and in order to avoid spooking them, he had either trailed behind or used his ability to shadowstalk and remain hidden for the entire trip. Nonetheless, his voice was as immediate in Val's mind as if he had been standing right next to her.

I can go in first and have a look. The voice was a purely mental one, and only Val would be able to hear it.

Well, let me try casting first. I don't know whether I'll learn anything, but it's worth a try. If not, I might take you up on that.

Val looked expectantly at Atl, waiting to see if he or his wife or his other mages had any suggestions before they proceeded. She wasn't expecting a miracle, however, and she was already working on meditating, trying to enter clara.

[Amaranth]

The Veil loomed ahead, shimmering with a mysterious light beneath the silverish rays of the twin suns filtering from behind the wintry clouds as the party of mages and Sanguine approached the very edge of the forests. The cool breeze teasing through the outer edges of the trees caused the branches to wave invitingly, beckoning the Royal Magus and princess closer. Enter, they seemed to say. Don't be shy.

But they all had a right to be cautious. The Veil was the epitome of the dreaded unknown. What might await them in its shadowy innards?

Valanthia entered clara, slipping into the routine meditation with surprising ease. But no matter what spell of detection she cast -- or any spell of detection any of the party might cast for that matter -- she would be met with... nothing. Or rather, they would be met with something but it wouldn't be what they were expecting. No answers were revealed to them, but rather they felt the answers were there, just out of reach. A mental block of sorts, more translucent than the one that existed before their being unbound, but just as limiting.

As they reached out, extending their awarenesses, mentally probing the outer limits of the Veil, or whatever else they might try, all they would be met with was a pulsing sense of nothingness... and a soft throb of crystal clear sound buzzing in their ears.

[Atl Myrsa]

Atl nodded his head. "I think the princess is right we need to approach it. I think we are dealing with something more then a complext spell. Not sure what that something is."

Atl had been a druid for more then thirty era's and one thing that he had leared was that some times a spell was easly dealt with. One had to just do it.

The blue eyes of the island elf looked over the group and then to his wife. "I will go forward. I do not require you to follow me, but I would welcome the company."

[Valanthia L'Evienne]

Awareness was the spell Val tried, but although she could tell she had executed the spell correctly, it told her nothing. Well, nothing except the fact that there was something concealing the answers from them, answers that most assuredly existed. Which wasn't exactly a revelation -- they did know that this Veil, whatever it was, was here, that being why they had come and all -- but it was still a starting point.

I think maybe it would be best if we went together. Somehow, I'm thinking that I'm not going to discover much from out here, not even if you go in and take a look. Her bondmate thought about this for a moment, then indicated his own agreement. Being mentally linked to Val, he could sense what she had sensed during the casting of her spell, and it did indeed seem unlikely that something that opaque would reveal its secrets easily.

"All...all right then," Val said, nodding her head to Atl. "Let's go." She urged her horse forward, and at the same time, Umbrosus began slipping from shadow to shadow in the Veil's direction. The princess kept her horse at a walk, moving slowly but steadily into the shimmering light.

As she did so, she tried to remain as aware as possible. Aetheria only knew what forces were at work here, and although they seemed relatively benign as far as things that made mysterious barriers went, Val knew all too well that appearances could be deceiving...

[Amaranth]

Unassuming and quiet, the Veil waited as the party approached, its mists swirling lazily through the trees, dancing amongst the branches as the light from the twin suns filtered downwards, breaking against the fog and scattering like thousands of fractured crystals. But while the forests of the elvish lands seemed fairly benign, their horses seemed to think otherwise. Snorting and stamping, the beasts pranced nervously as the party passed beneath the stretching boughs of the outer trees, their bits jingling melodiously in the crisp air of winter.

Almost immediately, the mists moved in, wrapping the travelers in its chilling embrace, pressing in around their bodies as it guided them deeper into the waiting forests. Even the natives of Silrosia became immediately confused within the disorienting presence of the Veil, but for a group of non-natives... the paths were practically invisible beneath the silvery curtain.

Around them, a soft wind blew though it did nothing to break apart the Veil. Instead, it just tugged teasingly at their hair and clothing, urging them farther and farther into the mists until directions no longer had any meaning. Which way was back? Which was forward? There was no way of knowing. All they could do would be to continue onwards and pray to whichever gods they chose that they wouldn't be passing into danger. Or, if they were passing into danger, that it would be a danger they could handle...

And survive.

[Atl Myrsa]

Atl looked over at the princess and turned back to the veil. His saphire blue eyes looked steadly forward. The mist soon enveloped them causeing them to only see their compaions, it was a strange trip slow as they traveled the forested lands, but the druid husband and wife had been in the forest of light and while not this stange one didn't enter that land with out being warry.

Atl glanced back and forth. His sword with its crystalium hilt sat in its sheath at his belt in cause, and his staff of arcane was a ivy patterned gauntlet around his right wrist, and his magic was but clara away.

They moved slowlly trying to keep from running head long into any dangers.

[Valanthia L'Evienne]

Val was less concerned than others might have been about getting lost -- she still had her ring, after all, which would take her back to Coldlight if things went terribly wrong -- but it was still eerie how quickly her sense of direction seemed to vanish. The horses seemed to be spooked too, and Val was almost starting to wish that she had insisted on traveling on foot after all.

Nonetheless, Val was very, very careful to keep within sight of Atl, his wife, and Umbrosus. She had no illusions that she would be able to find them again in this place if she didn't take that precaution. The wind and the mist combined with the sameness of the trees made it all too easy to lose focus and become inattentive.

Nothing about the situation immediately said "danger" to Val, but she was still acutely aware that there were powerful forces at work here, forces that had managed to isolate a town and baffle the Royal Magus himself. They had to keep moving, had to do their best to investigate and discover what in fact was going on, but it behooved them to be cautious even when nothing appeared directly threatening.

Besides, Val was a half-vysstichi here in lightborn elf country, and she was tempted to wonder if the forest might not share the elves' opinion of her kind, especially given the vaunted closeness of the elves to the land. Again, it was simply caution at this point, but she would be lying if she claimed the thought hadn't crossed her mind...

[Amaranth]

OOC: Valanthia, I will continue with you here Atl, we'll continue in this thread!

It was with a rather eerie suddenness that Atl felt utterly and completely alone. The princess and the others were no longer nearby. Even his beloved wife was no longer present. He was alone, alone in the fog, with nothing but the sapphire and silver shadows to guide and confuse him and the nervous horse prancing beneath his solid form.

Any words he might have voiced, any cries for help or inquisitive calls that might have passed from his lips would be lost in the Veil, swallowed whole by the swirling streamers of mist and dappled sunlight.

The mingled scents of the forests surrounded him, wrapping the Nimanli tightly in its heady embrace. The dampness of the mist. The thick earthy scent of the soil. The crisp sting of the air. The spicy breath of the foliage. But then, Atl detected another scent, a much different smell... wilder... more volatile... more unpredictable... Burning. Something was burning. His already nervous mount detected the scent about as soon as the mage did. Stamping and whinnying with fright, the horse suddenly darted forward, sending the man off balance and tumbling from its back. He connected with the forest floor below with a soft thud that was muffled by the springy undergrowth, but his fall wasn't cushioned so much that the breath wasn't knocked from his lungs. As the hoofbeats of his mount grew softer and softer, the mage struggled to regain the ability to inhale fully and deeply.

But even after he had accomplished that, there was still one slight problem... the forest was burning. He couldn't see it. He couldn't feel it. But he could most definitely smell it.

[Atl Myrsa]

Atl paused and looked around glade that his breath was back. He wasn't particular concerned about his horse, not that he didn't care, but the creature was smart enough to get itself to safety. The druid looked around, he couldn't see the fire and sense it, which even in a fog the light of the fire should have been glowing.

He desided he needed to focus. What was around him was the biggest question. Clasping his hands together so that he could feel the gauntlet that was his staff of arcane he entered clara and the reached for the plane of nature and drew its forced around him.

He, while keeping his eyes opened, saw in his minds eyes a sort of force spread out from him that would detect the presences of others, and objects. He was looking for the aura around him trying to discover if the souls of the trees were in distress from a fire or if maybe it might be something else. He released the aura spell.

[Amaranth]

The spell spread out from the mage, unfolding from his body like wings that stretched out across the misted forests of elfhame, testing into the deepest corners of the silver and emerald shadows. Chaos -- that was what Atl sensed. Utter chaos. The trees shook and murmured, but not with fear... something else... something that the Nimalni couldn't quite name as the Veil itself clouded his spell's effectiveness, rendering him blind in an arcane sense and also in a physical sense as the fog thickened, encasing him in a flickering and damp tomb that threatened to crush him with loneliness and many more questions than answers.

And still, though he could not see it, he could smell the burning of the forest -- or what seemed like the burning of the forest -- growing more intense, closer, stronger.

Then, he saw it. Licking at the roots of a nearby tree was a flame... but a stranger flame the Island Elf had surely never seen. Icy blue in color, the fire danced over leaf and bark, leaving a scorched line of grey in its wake, as though it had sucked all the color from the surrounding foliage.

[Atl Myrsa]

Atl wondered about the chaos, but didn't say anything as he watched the ice blue fire approach him. His own ice blue eyes staired at it as he moved away. He was curious to see if the fire was intelligent or if it was just randomely moving.

He moved back away watching the grew coloring left behind it. He wonder itf it was some type of ice fire but he watched to see what else happened.

[Seregon]

Atl watched as the cool blue flame danced upon the air. He watched as it twisted and rolled, licking and lapping at everything it glided past. And he watched, as it moved, scorching every twig and every leaf, every flower and every insect, draining the very life from each. It appeared to be thriving on the energy that it took, growing as it fed. It also appeared to be drifting right toward Atl, slithering across the forest floor at an alarming rate. And, in an instant, it was indeed upon him! Swiftly snaking around him, the flame quickly trapped him within a ring of fire. After it accomplished that, it began to rise, forming a wall of flame. Thankfully, there was very little heat emanating from this magical force, otherwise Atl would have surely found himself baking alive. Instead, it seemed to make the air crisper, more cool. Watching this scenario unfold with a keen eye, Atl soon began to see something within the flames. Something that looked like...a face?