Chronicles of The Omniverse Archived Nasazura's Rest: Temple Grounds

as written by duramon

A guided tour would have been interesting, but it seemed more like things were winding down to people passing out in the accommodations, or at least dropping off their heavy loads. Pfft, living. Honestly Noche often forgot she was dead, but that didn't stop her from sighing inwardly at their fatigue. Was she ever out of breath? What kind of gross malfunction would that feel like?

The undead shifted the load on her shoulder and glanced behind the woman in front of her to the ensemble of heroes and dramatic landscapes. She knew it would be prudent to drop her burden and feign fatigue for the time being, but she was a mere few feet away from the kind of thing a bard would spasm over. Resistance was difficult, but she managed a stoic grunt and to seal her lips shut, glancing behind herself at the young mage and his....surprisingly dead maid.

At least her curiosity would be sated whichever came first, and both provided interesting opportunities. It wasn't often she met anyone quite so preserved and sated as her, and a step beyond that, the maid bordered on regulated life. It might be smart to put a talk with her on the list of things to do, as much as she refused to admit it, Noche didn't have a solid hang of this whole, being dead, thing. It'd been a solid chunk of years, but surprisingly the opportunity to research and explore undeath didn't come often in the regular life of an illegal fighter with no medical experience. Go figure.

So in the end grunt did Noche, grunt and confuse herself, a staple of good orcish behaviour.
 
as written by Tiko and Script

"Your bags are already dropped off," Shelby replied with a gesture to the looming barracks situated at the south end of the courtyard. "Your belongings can be left here and will be taken inside for you," she explained. "Trust me, you won't want to be out here once the sun sets, let alone stumbling around lost," she explained. "It would be best if you know your way around before it gets dark." There was a serious note to her words that suggested she was't jesting.

It would take time to properly unload and strip down all of the pack animals and to get the bags moved inside, but an older man with a limp was making his way towards the group. He was bundled up against the cold, but the ragged scar down the side of his face left one to wonder just what other old injuries lay beneath the thick layers of leather and fur. Just ahead of him, a slight young boy who looked to be around the age of the youngest of the newly arrived group trotted. He was wrapped up in worn-looking furs of his own, a bright red scarf covering half of his face, and tiny little brown bird was perched upon his shoulder. He came to a halt a short distance away, stopping to stare up at Sylvire with wide eyes. A muffled "Whoa" was faintly audible from beneath the scarf.

"Oy, ma'am. I was sent for?" the elderly man hollored.

"We have some new arrivals," Shelby explained.

"I ain't blind, I can see that! I still got me one good eye you know!"

Shelby let out a low chuckle.

"This is Balder, our stable master," she explained to the group before addressing the old man himself. "Where's Ivan?"

"Damnded if I know, that lad is always getting into trouble," Balder grumbled irritably. "You know he let all the gryphon hatchlings out yesterday? Damn near started a stampede when they came tearing through the stables." He muttered something or other under his breath to the likeness of 'incorrigible brat' as he made his way over to check on the pack animals.

"He's pokin' around the old temple, ma'am," the boy piped up, tearing his eyes away from the woman who had, last time he'd checked, been a statue. "The underground one."

"Well someone round him up and have him help get this stuff inside the barracks," Shelby said. "Rayen and Keren can help too if they have nothing they're doing right now."

"I'll go fetch him C'mon, Flick," the boy shrugged his shoulder, prompting the little bird to take wing and fly alongside him as he turned and ran off away from the courtyard.

Shelby sighed and shook her head, but she wasn't so old yet to have forgotten what it was like to be young once.

"Shall we?" she inquired to the new arrivals. "There's also a few protocols we'll need to go over in the event of an attack against the temple itself," she explained.
 
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as written by Script

Kallis silently shrugged his pack off and left it to one side with the animals, where his other bags were. He took note of the names - Rayen and Keren - that he assumed belonged to the two younger observers that had arrived a little after the bulk of the Vanguard. He reasoned that they were most likely other students at the temple, going by their age and the fact that they were asked to help with bags.

He stepped back to the group, waiting for Shelby to lead on once the others were ready.

____

Atop the steps, Ari gave a sidelong glance to Trys, who had settled back to lounge against one of the temple's walls. "Why don't you make yourself useful too, huh?" he murmured, stepping back so they could speak without interrupting the conversation below.

Trys looked up at him with a dubious raised eyebrow. "You what?"

"You've not got anything better to do either, right?"

"I have literally anything better to do, boyscout." Trys rolled his eyes and grinned. "Or are you that eager to run errands yourself?"

"I actually do have other things to do. I'm helping Sarael out with-"

Trys waved his hand dismissively. "Yeah yeah, don't think I won't drag you down with me if you draw attention to us. I mean, you can literally be a packmule."

"... well, you're doing a fine job of acting like an ass, literally or not."

"Oh, fuck you and your puns. That was criminal."
 
as written by Netin

Keren nodded shortly and started slendering towards the luggage of the new arrivals. "Of course Ma'am. Good day Balder." He was disappointed, this was not how expected the big arrival of the new recruits. He tried to not make it visible, of course the formalities had to be done before anything else.
 
as written by Tiko

Rayen groaned internally, but to be fair they weren't doing anything of importance at the moment other than gawking. With that in mind she joined Keren in making her way down the steps with a bulky dragon nudging and weaving its way through the gathered people as it followed her into the open courtyard.

Meanwhile despite the hope of the latter, the exchange between Ari and Trys didn't go unnoticed. Syvil's shadow fell upon them as she looked down upon the pair with scrutiny before she nodded Trys towards the courtyard.

"Go on and help them," she told him.

There was likely something unnerving about having the centaur woman looming above him, and though she made no active effort towards intimidation, the void taint often had a way of leaving people instinctively unneasy around her. Even those who didn't recognize it for what it was tended to take a while to grow comfortable in her presence.
 
as written by Script

"Ah for-" Trys bit his tongue, refraining from voicing his displeasure, and settled for shooting Ari a glare. The other teen simply shrugged, and grinned back at him. Despite his annoyance, Trys had done enough community service hours to know when to suck it up and get on with it... but that didn't mean he had to be happy about it.

Sighing, he pushed himself off from the wall and sauntered down the steps, hands in pockets. He nodded his acknowledgement to Keren and Rayen as he made his way over. "Sup."

After scanning the pile of bags, he set about slinging as many of them as he physically could onto his back or arms like they were no heavier than dainty little purses. It quickly became a game of tetris-buckaroo, to see just how many he could stack atop his shoulders without risking them overbalancing.
 
as written by Tiko

It was up the steps of the main temple that Shelby led the group first, and it would afford many of them a close look upon the elder champions of the order that they too would one day swear their lives to. Some were beginning to disperse, but others remained yet to size up the new arrivals as they were herded past.

"You have all journeyed a great distance, and many of you are weary," Shelby explained as they reached the top of the steps. "But there are some matters that cannot wait to accomodate rest." She paused at the top of the steps. "There existed a temple below this one many years ago. It fell to the Orsa of Terminus. This temple you see now was built atop the ruins of the old, and though the Orsa of Terminus have been purged from these lands there will always be those who would see us destroyed. They are the enemies of the Light and they will not care that you are young, or inexperienced. They will not care if you are not yet sworn to the Order. They will only care that you will one day grow to stand against them. It is our sworn duty to protect all of you, and to ensure that you survive to reach that day, but it would be a grave oversight of that duty to not prepare you in the event that the temple itself could come under attack. Even from within..."

She turned her eyes upon the new recruits, and again a hardness was etched into the eyes of her otherwise soft features as she gestured to the archway above the door where archaic runes had been etched into the stone.

"For those who cannot translate the ancient script of the draconians, it reads: Wayward soul or hero to be, all with benevolent intentions will find sanctuary within these halls," she recited. "These runes are perhaps our most basic line of defense. Come, enter," she instructed as she waved the group through.

It was unlikely that anyone of the new recruits would find entrance to the temple barred to them, but should any among them harbor malice or malevolent intentions within their hearts they would feel the weight of judgement upon them as they attempted to cross the threshold.
 
as written by Tiko

Syvil meanwhile turned her attention back to Sylvire and the others at her side.

"I will begin preparations for the journey to Amarathia that we spoke of," she said. "I will not fail in impressing upon them our need here in Valore. It was an honor to meet you, Lady Nasazura."
 
as written by Krysis

Jude gladly relinquished his bag to the pile of luggage, after making sure it was clearly labeled of course. He grinned at the other young folk that showed up to carry things and waved, naturally assuming that he would be pressed into such service at a later date, for the next batch of recruits.

He had polite smiles for the older folk that remained to look them over as well. The young Mr. Rake payed closer attention to those that seemed of the more mystic variety, spellcasters in general, but elemental mages in particular and gave them respectful nods if they glanced at him. Those were the sort he expected to work with more closely, after all.

Then the lanky, pale boy jogged to catch up to the tour. He would have no trouble passing through the protected doorway, and barely glanced up to admire the carving and how the spell was holding up after so many years. After all, his heart was at peace with all topics save one, and that one was barely annoying.

That 'annoying topic' didn't change from her happy smile as her charge dashed off so suddenly. Mariah's expression remained as sunny as always as she set down her load carefully and started trying to shake some of the wrinkles out of her stained and travel-weary ruffled dress. Though the maid zombie did not mention it out loud, she was rather worried about the door.

After all, she was aware that her notions and desires were not precisely benevolent. She had a hard time remembering how to seem kind, and had her own selfish reasons for putting the effort into it. Since she did put an effort into it, in order to win the affection of the subject of her love, she hoped that was enough to allow her passage, near the back of the group.

So wrapped up in her internal thoughts, which did not make it to changing her expression, the slender young-looking woman barely noticed the living around her, except as moving obstacles in her way, whether they were ancient heroes, modern ones, or young recruits. Still, they could not be pushed aside or trampled, no matter how panicked Mariah was feeling inside. So she flung up her hand and begged then, "Young Master! Please wait for me!", as she dodged about to try to catch up to the fair-haired youth that had so little concern for her.

Jude grimaced at the summons from the trial that insisted on accompanying him, but stepped aside from the group of the tour to wait. He had known her his whole life, and so owed the zombie at least a little respect, no matter how much of a nuisance she was being.
 
as written by Emperor Jester

Hendrik was more than apprehensive at leaving his cases and equipment behind, especially considering the only distraction keeping him from setting up his mystical lab was time and a tour group. A tour group. This was not University, nor his first day on the job. And after so long with so so many people, the recluse was more than chomping at the bit for a chance to be alone with himself, and his miraculous work. Still. For now, he was a guest, and this was probably some sort of tradition. No matter how much he wanted to, the youthful doctor would fight his own introverted tendencies and remain with the group.

Of course, only after making sure the padlocks and number wheel-locks keeping the various metallic suitcases locked were still secure. Several times.

Again, he'd join the tail end of the group, keeping to himself now more than ever. In truth, there was nothing Hendrik would like more than to open up to his many new associates and masters, but he'd seen how people often reacted to his disfigurement before. Considering his physical malady, the trauma ran deep, and was not something the medic would be getting over any time soon. Especially when he was surrounded by people he had yet to even memorize the names of.

At least the second challenge of this new chapter of his life proved easier to conquer. The gate and its wards did not slow his long legged stride in the least. How could they? There was nothing the doctor wished more for than to help his fellow man, his fellow mortals, his all ways he could. At least that is what young Hendrik had told himself for the past several years, anyway.
 
as written by Tiko

In Mariah's rush to reach Jude, she nearly collided with Syvil as the centaur turned about to make her own way back inside. She towered over the smaller form of Mariah and threw her a calculating look as she glanced up and down and took her in.

"Patience," she said.

It was the only word she spoke before she moved on, leaving Mariah to her panicked efforts to reach Jude as everyone made their way inside.
 
as written by Tiko

A short time later...

Much of the gathered group had dispersed while Rayen, Keren, and Trys were working at lugging gear and supplies inside the barracks common hall. A few lingered yet though. Sylvire and Elante were discussing some matters atop the steps of the temple while others came and went about their days business before the sun could set on them.

A couple individuals of plainer garb and look could be spotted carrying some sacks and crates into the temple. Keren and the others would know them as the cook hands that were employed by the Vanguard, alongside the other general caretakers of the grounds.

Balder had already begun stripping the packanimals of their packs so they could be led to the stables to be fed and cared for. As he was leading a trio of the animals across the courtyard, Kye and a young lad of maybe eight or nine years of age had turned up.

"Hey old man!" the lad, Ivan, hollored with a grin.

"Oy, stop your gawking and help get these back to the stable," Balder grumbled. "They all neeed to be brushed down and fed."

"Aw.... I want to go meet the-"

"If you're wanting dinner, you'll get these animal taken care of before sunset," Balder growled irritably.

"Fine... whatever," Ivan muttered before whispering to Kye. "He's such a grouch."

"I heard that!" Balder hollored as he kept on his way towards the stable.

Ivan grinned at that, before taking off after the old man to help with the pack animals.

____

"I'm not sure which of those two loves irritating the other more," Rayen said with a grin to Keren and Trys.

Meanwhile as people were going about their busines it would seem one more visitor would yet grace the steps of the temple on this day as a lone figure appeared upon the main pathway to the temple...

____

A short while ago...

as written by Lobos

Trudging along the path through the mountains, the figure of a lone wanderer paid little heed to the winds that plucked at his seasonally inappropriate garb, tossing his hair about, kissing pale skin with its moderate chill. He'd been tirelessly on the roads for some time now, following both the suggestions of a chance encounter, and a siren pull he couldn't quite place. The struggles involved in the journey were not of the mundane that plagued him, but rather those of a personal nature.

Sometimes he wondered if the effort was worth the redemption.

Joshua pushed onwards, the goal finally entering his sight, the peak of the temple called Nasazura's Rest. Pulling the scarf from his face, a stray burst of wind cast snow at him, yet strangely it seemed to pass through him.

'There's the damned thing. It's not too late to turn back, you know?'
"Not a chance. I don't want to end up stuck in some pit for all eternity because you couldn't control yourself, Kushin."
'But going there means being...nice.'
"You'll learn."

No answer to that but a sense of sullen sulking. Rolling his eyes, Joshua pressed on.

Before much longer, he reached the end of the path, the natural walls yawning into an open expanse, the temple in its center in all it's grandeur, a few structures carved from the stone itself occupying the grounds. Glancing at the natural faces, he ran his hands over an unusual streak, metallic. Shrugging, he continued into the open, eyes narrowing at the group of people gawking around, draped in heavier clothing. Muttering, he made for the gaggle, shaking his head as he strode across the open area.

"So nice to travel in company. People to talk to on the road, all that shit."
 
as written by Script

Kye smirked at the exchange between Ivan and Balder. "I'll give you a hand, then we can both see 'em, 'cause we'll be done twice as faster," he said, taking off after the pair of them.

____

As the new arrival stepped into the courtyard, Sylvire turned to regard him. There was a sense of something dark to this one, she noted. More prominent than in the Caldonian boy, in whom she had sensed a far-removed influence. No, this presence was much closer at hand.

"It seems we have a latecomer," she remarked to Elante, who had turned to follow her gaze. The young mage nodded his head.

"Not one of Akosua's, I presume. Shall we, then?"

Sylvire nodded, stepping forwards down the temple steps to meet Joshua as he stepped into the courtyard. "Greetings, traveller, and welcome. What brings you to the temple of the Elysian Vanguard?"
 
as written by Lobos

"Sure as hell isn't sightseeing." The specter sniped without thinking, before grimacing. "Sorry about that. It's been a long, slow walk."

Unconsciously, Joshua rolled his shoulders, the habits of life still evident despite his state. "I've come on the...very strong, um, suggestion of someone who called herself Taima. Something about the redemption I hunt being here, on what feels like half across the other ass end of the world."

The spirit seemed hesitant for a moment, mouth slightly open as though to speak again, before he shook his head and stood with his arms crossed, watching the elven woman intently. Unlike those that came before, he was ignorant of who he stood in the presence of, though he offered the male with her a nod of greeting. He knew he himself looked solid enough, but lacked any notion that if whoever these people were, they could easily choose to unveil what he was. His arms shifted slightly, all too conscious of the unsettling feeling of that clawed hand against his own chest. Of his encounter with Taima, that troubled him more than the consequences of harming an innocent.

He hadn't felt another's touch long enough that he'd thought himself truly beyond the grasp of the world.
 
as written by Script and Lobos

“Taima?” Elante’s voice cut across before Sylvire had a chance to respond. The young man’s eyes had widened in surprise. Sylvire, in the meantime, only betrayed her surprise with a raised eyebrow and her momentary hesitation before speaking.

“If it is redemption you seek, then you may well find it here,” she began. “But first, tell me more of this encounter you had with the one named Taima. Tell me of her.”

It was possible that the stranger had merely encountered a woman by the same name as the Taima they knew, but given the context, that seemed unlikely. Then, did Taima yet somehow live? Or did her spirit persist in a manner similar to Sylvire’s own, but independent from the Well of Souls?

"Well, big, scaly, and female for sure. Had an attitude like a mountain facing a storm, and overall came across like someone you don't ignore." Joshua shifted, the reaction not what he expected. "She...uh...found me in Westeria City and told me if I was looking to find redemption, this is where I should head."

There was no mistaking that description for anyone else. That was definitely the Taima that they knew. That she had returned - in whatever capacity - was a startling revelation. Then, was there something preventing her contacting them? It raised a great many questions. But they were questions that would have to wait till they had adequate time - and privacy - to discuss them.

Sylvire nodded her head. "We know of her," she answered. "It is surprising to hear of her again... We had thought her lost. But that is a matter that can wait, for the time being. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sylvire Nasazura, current and past leader of the Vanguard. And how might I address you?"

"Uh, Josh. Joshua Moon." His gaze remained steady, no deference made for the accolades she claimed. While he'd indeed heard of the Vanguard, he knew next to nothing of those involved with it. Glancing at the man with Sylvire, he quirked his own brow.

"How about yourself, mister...?"

____

"Elante. Elante Vadrillion." The mage replied, inclining his head politely.

"Tell me, Josh. How much do you know of the Vanguard?" Sylvire asked. "If you are to find redemption here with us, you should know what our order represents, and the path that lies ahead of you."

____

"Honestly? Not much." Grimacing, he glanced skyward, seeming to study what he saw before shrugging. "You're supposed to be the good guys, is about all I know. Fight evil, all that stuff."

Yeah, like the sort I have with me right now. The shade was glad he still had his grimace from his own ignorance, his other worry about this path on his mind now. The other persona, Kushin Zetsumi, lay still, not struggling to come to the fore, but how long would that last? Shrugging as he set the distracting thoughts aside, he brought his gaze back down.

____

Sylvire smiled. "A simplistic way of putting it, but yes. The Elysian Vanguard has existed for thousands of years, though it is only in the last five that we have returned to open activity on Valore as a whole. We are an order of protectors, in the service of the Light, to combat the Void." She paused, turning to gesture towards the temple proper.

"Come, let us step out of the cold. I will explain more inside."

She looked then to Elante. "Elante, I won't keep you from your efforts any longer. I shall join you in the Scrying Tower once I am done here."

The young mage nodded briskly. "Till then." He turned to nod at Josh. "And welcome, again. If you decide to stick around, I'm sure we'll have time to talk more later on."

____

Joshua nodded, unfolding his arms. Offering Elante another nod, he casually twisted one hand in a lazy wave. "Yeah. See you."

____

As Elante stepped away, so too did Sylvire and Josh move up the steps and into the temple.

Shrugging, Joshua followed Sylvire up the steps, clasping his arms behind his back and glancing at the sky one last time.
 
as written by Tiko

As the group exited the temple once more, the temperature it would seem was on the decline with the setting of the sun. There was plenty of light yet but the sun was definitely low on the horizon. It wasn't to the barracks that Shelby led the group next though. Instead she headed along the grounds towards the north. They passed a large smithy and several storage buildings along the way as Shelby spoke to the group.

"We do get supplies brought from Windcrest," she explained. "But such shipments are often at the mercy of the weather out here. And as of late, other ills. We have several greeneries to grow essentials. Food and herbs," she aid as she gestured to row of buildings they were now passing.

It was a vibrant splash of color to the snow and rock they were surrounded in, and the plants within seemed to be thriving.

Their route was taking them around the back of the temple and as the storage buildings and greenhouses fell away, they came upon a rough hewn staircase leading up further into the mountains were a stone tower could be seen peaking out above the rocks.

"These stairs will lead you up to our scry tower, and beyond that the Aerie," Shelby continued. "The Aerie is a relatively new addition, and worth the climb to take a look at it. But that's for another day," she said. "You should know it's there though, for it also serves as a point of escape should the temple ever fall. The caverns and caves that lay up there run deep into the mountain."

The training yard stood empty as they trecked across it, but scorch marks on the nearby rocks and the well worn earth beneath their feet suggested it had seen recent use.

Up ahead lay the stables, and they could just make out the stable master leading the last of the pack animals inside. As their journey led them near full circle and they could see the barracks laying ahead one moce, a path split off from the one they were walking upon, and headed south into the rocky mountains.

"Down that way you'll find our livestock," Shelby said. "We don't have much, but it keeps the place going," she explained. "We employee a handful of individuals who see to the care of the grounds and the animals, but not a lot flourishes up here."

As they neared the courtyard once more, the scope of the place was likely coming together. All around them they were surrounded by mountains, and it was as if the temple and its grounds had been nestled within a small bowl within the rocky range. You would need to be all but on top of the place to spot it - even by air - and it was well defendable from the ground with the pass they had arrived from providing a natural choke point.

"Do any of you have any questions, before I show you into the barracks?" she asked.
 
as written by duramon

Noche had been quiet for the majority of the tour, not a whole lot was to be said, she was impressed, and as an avid enjoyer of the fantasy-genre the place tickled her pink. Runes, magic, fancy ghost statues, all of it very impressive, but not what she was here for. She was sure she'd come to love it eventually, but right now that's all it was, impressive, a pretty and effective backdrop for a good old-fashioned quest.

The quest itself was what she was excited about, training, fighting, learning, fighting, getting to know the other recruits (by fighting), and the occasional saving of lives here and there. All in the name of a war against the deep dark, it reminded her of old tabletops she used to play, something about spooky basements and dragons, much like here, it was the dragons and thwarting evil she was all about.

Speaking of, she raised her hand like a high-schooler, signalling her question. "For those like myself looking to expend some energy, any recommendations for a place or person to head to after the Barracks? Or are we to be cordoned off for the night?"

Noche had been dreading the settle-down time, pretending to sleep or rest was a boredom she'd been able to avoid for years now, laying down and just staying dead still for hours and hours on end would drive her mad. She was here, she was pumped, she needed to burn it off not chill it out. First world undead problems she supposed.
 
as written by Tiko

Shelby mused for a moment before offering Noche a response.

"For the safety of everyone here, no one is permitted to come and go from the temple grounds after dark without express approval," she explained. "Roaming the grounds after sunset is also prohibitted for the time being."

"Are we not to be trusted?" Ritza asked.

She wasn't sure what to make of Shelby's words. To have traveled all this way, only to be treated like school children?

Shelby shook her head at Ritza's words though and offered an explanation in response.

"There have been a growing incident of troubling occurances in the region," she said. "Several outlying towns have already fallen victim to creatures of shadow. Until we can uncover the nature of these attacks, we all must take care after sunset to not put ourselves at risk - or this temple. Come sunrise, the entirety of this temple and its facilities will be your disposal. But come now. If there are no further questions, let us get you all settled."

She led them up the steps of the barracks and into the central hall where they would find their belongings had been deposited.
 
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