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| Formations; Part 1: Snowhaven | |
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| Topic Started: Feb 6 2012, 01:21 AM (560 Views) | |
| Volksgeist | Feb 6 2012, 01:21 AM Post #1 |
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Nathanial had nearly had enough of Snowhaven. Like most of his childhood, a lavish yet lacking one, it seemed cold and distant from him. When it was not snowing, there were the freezing winds to worry about. All of the townsfolk seemed to remain indoors, and the few that wandered were either vagrants clothed in naught but rags and sellswords searching for the nearest tavern, as they had to pass the time while the merchants who hired them attempted to pedal their wares out of the back of frost-covered, ox-drawn wagons, However, to say that Snowhaven was not with its interests would be a sin. Only a few leagues to the Northeast was Ivorywood, the ancient border that marked the edge of the Whitebluff mountain range. It was always caked with snow, branches heavily laden by the nearly incessant drifts that slipped down from the mountains and showered the trees. He had been there numerous times, with his cousins and his uncle, with other boys from the town who were within his age range. The hunting was good, and always fun, and tracking was not so hard, especially when it was a blood trail; red on the incessant white. Down the major trade road to the southwest, one could come across the rivers that, if followed, would bring one past the all-but-abandoned holdfast that had once been his fathers and finally to the port city of Whitefall, where good times could be had with sailors who had made their way north from below the Cinderpeaks, or east from the Orient, or perhaps even farther. But, for Nathanial, perhaps the most interesting was the sky. Though the days were often marked by snowstorms, the nights were almost always crystal clear. The cold at night carried with it an air of nostalgia, and Nathanial often times found himself turning toward the sky with his telescope. It was almost one of a kind; extremely powerful and widely-sought by self-called scholars from the south or elderly men enveloped with the ideas of astronomy or astrology. Nathanial was the only one to have such a telescope in the North, and so he often spent those cold and clear nights with it nearly glued to his right eye, as he peered at the far-off star formations. He felt at home when he peered upon them, as they were nearly unchaninging in the far North. The night before had been one of those special, strange nights that kept him up the entire time, gazing all around the sky as if it were some unreadable map that held hidden secrets. Perhaps, one day, he would learn some of those secrets, and, perhaps, that day was this day. Nathanial had been walking in the cold for a while. He had visited the tavern briefly for a drink to warm his bones, and then, when a fight had broken out between sellswords who had been gambling, he had taken it as his cue to leave. Since then, he had been wandering through the streets, which were nearly devoid of life, save for a myriad of traders all huddled together in caravans. Then, a voice caught his ears. "Boy. You, boy!" He searched and found the form of a withered old woman, sitting in the deep cold with only a thin fur blanket covering her form. In one hand, she held a small torch. In the other hand was a pipe, smokeleaf billowing out wildly against the cold wind. She looked at him expectantly. |
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| Damon | Feb 6 2012, 02:44 AM Post #2 |
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Ancient Bartender
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Nathanial had half a mind to take offense at being called "Boy." He was a man of twenty, and moreover, he was a lord. Lord of what? Well, nothing really, but in court, whenever he was addressed (which was seldom), it was always as Lord Knyre, unless he otherwise gave permission. However, This wasn't the court, he had no reason to draw attention to himself as a noble. Especially since his silver purse was heavy tonight, as every night. "Yes Milady? Do you have business with me?" Edited by Damon, Feb 6 2012, 07:40 AM.
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| Volksgeist | Feb 6 2012, 11:01 PM Post #3 |
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The woman lifted the pipe to her lips and took a deep drink of the smoke spewing from it, the smokeleaf crackling deep in the bowl and momentarily illuminating her craggy features with a dim orange glow. She held the smoke in, powerful old lungs swelling in her chest beneath the fur blanket. Then, slowly, a cloud come from her nostrils and her mouth simultaneously, being seized by the cool winds and blowing off into the winterscape surrounding. "I seen you with that glass of yours, that starscope you use to stare at the heavens..." The old woman's voice was crackly from age and smokeleaf addiction. However, to Nathanial, it was not so much scary as it was alluring and almost mysterious sounding. The woman sounded as if she had all the time in the world to say the things she had to, and yet even with her long pauses between each word, the message seemed to get across to Nathanial. The wind was howling through the town, but the porch of the stone house seemed to shield him from it. "Some say that was the first magic, you know? They say men in the East could read the stars with their eyes and could tell what may happen in the days to come from how they moved. They speak of planets and stars, of comets, of other strange things beyond the realm of our world. I used to be a traveler, and I learned to read the stars from them. I was there when the first starscope was made, you know? Powerful things, they are. Powerful enough to let the man read the hidden meaning before the yawning face of the night sky." She was smiling now. |
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| Damon | Feb 6 2012, 11:18 PM Post #4 |
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Ancient Bartender
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Nathanial was intrigued to say the least. He definitely wanted to hear more of what this woman had to say. "That's very interesting, I can tell directions based on the stars, and sometimes the weather, but do you mean to say there's more hidden within the stars? Perhaps you could teach me." This was a welcome distraction. Snowhaven had grown dull as of late, and he longed for the City of Four once more, especially with the Tourney on the horizon. However, this old woman had an air of mysticism, and Nate couldn't exactly resist something so interesting, when everything else was so dull. |
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| Volksgeist | Feb 8 2012, 04:36 PM Post #5 |
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The old woman took another drag from her pipe, the smoke becoming a muddy halo around her head, orange in the crackling smokeleaf light. Her smile was still wide across her face. She had obviously meant to try to intrigue Nathanial with speak of the stars and formations, perhaps because she had had nobody else to talk to. As the smoke dissipated, she rose from her chair and beckoned Nathanial to come with her to the door. When he approached, she swung it open and entered the home with Nathanial close behind. The outside had betrayed what laid inside the abode. There were star maps, numerous starscopes and strange instruments. There were maps of planets, drawings of stars and comets and celestial bodies. There were star formations drawn, like connect-the-dots with hidden meanings that had existed forever and ever high above the world of men. All around the place pervaded the smells of the sweet-smelling smokeleaf from the old woman's pipe and the smell of ink and parchment together. Almost every wall, every wood table, every chair, and even in some places on the floor there lay maps and pictures and open books and closed, marked books. It was like a treasure trove of information on the stars above and the powers that lay behind them. The old woman made her way to a small table with a candle in the center. She sat and lit the candle with her small torch, and then placed the small torch into the roaring fire in her hearth. She sat down in an empty chair and asked Nathanial to sit across the table from her. Once he had done so, she asked: "What would you like to know about the stars above? Ask and I shall tell you as much as I can." |
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| Damon | Feb 8 2012, 04:53 PM Post #6 |
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Ancient Bartender
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Nathanial was awestruck as he crossed the threshold. He thought his was the only Star Scope in Snowhaven. He made a point to step near tables and walls as he followed the woman in, and inspect the charts that he could see without touching anything. When the woman asked him what he wanted to know, he thought a moment. "What can the stars teach? I've read texts where sorcerer's read the stars to divine the future, and predict the actions of others, and all kinds of strange stories. I figured them tales to amaze children, but I've often wondered if they were true. I've heard stories of different magics within Peralas, and far to the East, so why not this astrological mysticism?" He wondered at the meaning of the charts with stars connected by lines. What the purpose of the instruments that he could not identify were. But most of all, he wondered how this woman came by all of this, and what she knew, and what her angle was. He was not so quick to trust this woman, but what she could tell and show seemed to outweigh any risk at the moment. |
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| Volksgeist | Feb 8 2012, 06:22 PM Post #7 |
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The old woman set her pipe down. The smokeleaf inside had all but burned away, so there was no use on puffing on it any longer. The room that Nathanial and the elderly woman sat in was warm, due to the roaring fire, and was certainly a nice change compared to the roaring, freezing winds outside and the light snowfalls. She began to speak: "The stars can teach many things. They can teach how a person will be based on when they are born, and how they will treat others and react to experiences. Like the stories you speak of, they can tell of the future, but not so much as one might think. There is a strong line between magic and mysticism, young man, and that is one thing that you must remember when gazing at the stars. The stars arrange for major events, events that will happen in an undisclosed amount of time and will decide a turning of an age. One can look on them and see another's future, but who that other is or what that future is can be very vague. When I was in the Far East, with some of the most renowned Stargazers and Mystics of their great cities, I was interested in the stars not only because they are intriguing, but because I thought that perhaps it could teach me to look into my own future. I was warned against this practice by others, because often times the stars lie to those so selfish, or are too vague and cryptic to understand and thrust the gazer into despair. I went against their words and looked for my own future in the heavens above. What I saw were lies and vagaries, things that never came to be that perhaps could have been had I not been greedy for knowledge. However, it is also from this looking into that starscopes came to be... the stars told me that I was to play a part in the creation of them, and surely enough a decade after my stargazing, the first one was created by myself with aid from those same Stargazers and Mystics.. I've seen you looking at my charts and pictures, my open books and marked books since we walked inside. They are decades of studying, young man, and I still do not know even a modicum of the secrets the above holds. There are books on celestial bodies, there are images of star formations that only happen once every thousand years. Vikars, Mystics, and Abbots alike look at such books and wonder what they mean.." The old woman trailed off and looked deep into the fire. As the silence lengthened, it became clear that she was deep in thought. |
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| Damon | Feb 8 2012, 06:37 PM Post #8 |
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Ancient Bartender
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Nathanial listened long and well. He felt as though the woman's story were true, but he didn't know how he felt about this mystic practice. He took a moment, and thought of his own future. He intended to attend the Tourney being held shortly to honor the last of the first Tetrarchs, however, he had half a mind to stay in Four Thrones, to ask the Tetrarchs for a new office within the city, and to establish himself there. Or perhaps a new estate. Then there were his plans for the kingdom as a whole. If the Forest Claimed All, he would establish himself as its root. Roots are walked upon unseen and unregarded, but they truly decide how the forest grows and lives. "You say it is unwise to use the stars selfishly, but would it be selfish of me to ask you if you could learn of my future? I am at a crossroads, The paths I might take are clouded from my sight, but I cannot simply stay where I am." He said, after a moment, pawing at his chin with his fingers. He wondered if she even could give him an idea of his future, or if she would even try after all she had said tonight. |
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| Volksgeist | Feb 8 2012, 06:55 PM Post #9 |
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The woman turned from the fire after hearing Nathanial's request and anger blazed in her eyes. For a moment, he might have thought she would fly across the table and swat him upside the head, and yet, instead the fire that burned angrily slowly subsided until her eyes were cool and placid once more. She let out a half-sigh, half-yawn and stood up. She strode out of the room and returned with perhaps the most magnificent starscope that Nathanial had ever seen. It was made of gold, almost entirely, and he could see that it was quite collapsible. On the end nearest the eye, surrounding the eye hole, was a ring that could be adjusted, perhaps to see the stars closer or farther once the starscope was extended. She brought it to him. "This is my personal starscope, one I built by by myself when I first reached Snowhaven. I chose this town because it often has clear nights and makes stargazing extremely easy. I melted and shaped the gold myself, made the adjuster mechanism too, and there are a few interchangeable lenses inside made of a crystalline glass called Diamondglass, which is almost as rare as its precious namesake. If you so wish to see the future as much as the stars will tell it, then follow me." When she spoke, there seemed to be a renewed vigor in the ancient woman, but it was echoed by a sadness. She led Nathanial out another door to a separate room and puled on a rope in the ceiling. There was a click and a a staircase came out of the wood and slowly made its way to the cold, stone floor. One by one, she climbed the stairs, and eventually they were in a dark room with one small torch with a table underneath it. On the table was a journal, a quill, and a well of ink. Directly above it was a circular hole in the room plated by perfectly clear glass. Beyond that... the sky. The old woman sat down on a cushion in front of the table and held the starscope up her eye. She adjusted the ring around the eye hole a bit, fixing on the stars above. Then... she began to mutter. "I see the Withered Tree with three stars underneath it...the Masted Ship to the right...The King...The Widow...The Fox..." she lowered the starscope from her eyes. "There will be three deaths, you will venture to the City of Four, there you will find celebration and sorrow, and there shall be duplicity." She eyed Nathanial closely for a moment, but then she returned to gazing through the starscope. Moments later, a gasp escaped her. "The stars tell of much greater things, though, bigger things..." She flipped open the book on the table and began to scribble, all the while still peering upward. "The Fire, The Child, The Colossus...The Skull..." a sob escaped the woman. Her muttering became incoherent, and yet her hand etched away at the paper. |
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| Damon | Feb 8 2012, 07:17 PM Post #10 |
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Ancient Bartender
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Three Deaths... Before he would leave for the City of Four? That troubled Nathanial. Celebration and sorrow.. duplicity... It helped. He was considering whether to ride to the city, or to sail to the mountainous capitol via Tearvale or Echo Point. The Masted ship could be predicting that he'd sail, and he would feel a bit more comfortable if he was bringing any significant portion of his treasure. However, there were always pirates, and if there were to be three deaths from now until then, a pirate attack could easily cause them. But what would it mean to defy the stars' prediction... If he rode, he'd have to send for his treasure over time, or travel with a huge party. He wanted to ask more, especially about the signs she didn't explain, but it seemed he had already asked too much. "Thank you, milady. And I apologize for offending and troubling you, perhaps I should go." He said quietly, looking up at the sky, then back at her. |
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| Volksgeist | Feb 8 2012, 10:59 PM Post #11 |
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"The stars foretold of our meeting, young man. Many years ago, it told me there would be a boy that would come to me in my old age, and I would tell him of the stars above. I had always assumed the boy would be a son of mine... yet... I never wed because I was too attached to the sky." Tears were rolling down the woman's face. "The stars said the visit would mark a turning point for me, or so the Mystic I conferred with said. I have told you all I can. Come back tomorrow." After saying this, she finally took her face away from the starscope at her eye and Nathanial could see tiny tears streaming down her face. |
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| Damon | Feb 9 2012, 05:16 AM Post #12 |
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Ancient Bartender
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"Tomorrow?... Alright Milady, I will return tomorrow." Nathanial said. He had meant to arrange his transport to the City of Four on the morrow, however, he supposed he could begin looking into transport and the details, as well as go to the woman's home. He descended and exited through the house, taking a moment or so to try to commit a few star charts that lay near his path to memory. He'd copy them into his own journals before he slept. He exited back out into the winds, and headed for his home within the keep of Snowhaven. |
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| Volksgeist | Feb 9 2012, 11:09 PM Post #13 |
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The walk was not so long, but the wind and the snow cut to his bones and within only a few moments of leaving the house of the old woman, Nathanial found himself shivering and huddled in his furs and clothes. He stamped through ankle-deep snow and made his way to Frosthall, a great keep of a whitish marble, pockmarked by icy-blue veins. The towers were high and black, and as he approached, he could see the great starscope of the observation tower being moved slightly. It was not a portable starscope like his and the old lady's, but rather a stationary one that was nowhere near as strong. The Castle Vikar had had one made for his own infatuation with the stars, and had been moderately interested in Nathanial's personal observations as well. He made his way to the portcullis which was quickly drawn up by one of the night guards. He made his way down a narrow walk that lead to the large oaken doors to the castle, which were promptly swung open by another pair of night guards. Once inside, Nathanial shook off the snow and stamped off his boots. It was warm near the light of the torches by the door. |
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| Damon | Feb 10 2012, 04:14 AM Post #14 |
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Ancient Bartender
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Nathanial wondered at the time, he had lost track during his strange encounter, but perhaps a guard or night custodian would have some idea. He looked for one on his way to his chambers, deciding it wasn't important enough to go back outside to the guards. |
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| Volksgeist | Feb 10 2012, 04:14 PM Post #15 |
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As he made his way through the blue-veined pale castle, through winding corridors and shadowy openings, Nathanial slowly realized that most of the Night Guard must be out on the walls. He made his way through wide corridors, passing the entrance of the Great Hall and his uncles Solar. After a while, he found himself climbing a couple flights of stairs and passing by the entrance to one of the local Vikar's towers. He climbed a few more flights of stairs and then passed his Uncle's and his cousins' rooms, which were more or less the only thing of interest on that specific floor of the castle. It was not uncommon for Lords to cluster their family's personal quarters together so that, if any issues arose, they would be together for better or worse. However, Nathanial had not been given a room here, but yet had to continue up a number of flights of stairs and through more of the vast expanse that was the castle. Finally, he reached a straight corridor which had but three doors clustered near the end. The first, on the left at the end of the hallway, led to the local Vikar's room, where he almost never stayed. The door that led straight would lead anyone up a winding, inclined staircase to a great observatory within another spire. It was there that the Vikar spent most of his sleepless nights, studying the stars. Finally, the door to the right was Nathanial's own room. He had been given one close to the observatory when his Uncle had learned he enjoyed seeing the stars and that the Vikar and Nathanial often conferred about them. As Nathanial approached his room, he saw a guard who was doing his rounds. When the guard turned, Nathanial posed his question of the time and the guard removed his helm, smiling, a thin layer of sweat on his brow. "It is past midnight, m'lord. There is still some time before dawn. However, it seems that our resident owls are awake, that being you and the Vikar of course." He smiled kindly and then waited to see if Nathanial needed anything else. |
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2:08 PM Jul 11