We each go our own ways, i follow the torches, i even pick one up to examine it. The torch is quite odd, in the middle is a small shard of ice. I lift it up to get a better look, its got small runes all over it. Their on the simple side. I am not well versed in runes, but I can recognize general trends among them. These seem to be what's making the pale blue flames from what i can tell. Why their pale blue, i can't quite tell. Well more of a pale teal not quite pale blue. I flow a small amount of essence into the shard and it bursts into a small flame. I drop it holding my hand
"too cold..."
it almost felt hot because of just how hot it got. Soon it goes out and I pick it back up. Nothing, no lingering cold, I see why it was used. If all the torches have them they could be useful for weapons, combining quite a few and using it as a kind of bomb may work, or making ice arrows. I'll gather them as i walk around trying to find the gateway. From what i can tell, it will likely take some to finally find but I don't doubt it will only take a day or maybe two at most. Probably at least.
The next day I look around again still searching for, well just about anything to even slightly hint to where the gateway is. I come across morgan on the walls. She's using a small dagger to whittle a small fallen branch from the ice tree.
"What are you doing out here?"
She uses the dagger to gesture around
"keeping watch. Someone around here has to."
I look out at the bright, endless, dunes of pure white snow, and a distant wall of fog.
"Is the fog related to any nightmare creature?"
She goes back to carving the branch.
"I asked dread, apparently that leader, seer of the infinite, has a ability similar to Cassia, from what she...."
morgan seems to get troubled by something
"used her aspect to find out, it seems that no its not made by any nightmare creatures."
She starts craving, faster now.
"How long until it will be here?"
"About 3 days, or at least from what i can tell."
I sit down next to her, not much to do. We've looked around the whole place five times over
"what are you making?"
She shows the branch
"a arrow. Not much else to do, so im making an arrow, using one of the claws from that shadow spawn."
She goes back to whittling down the branch
"its not like we won't find a way out of here, but its going to take a while, i think."
I glance down at my bag, a storage memory. I hand her a ice shard from it.
"These had been in the torches, putting essence into them makes them start burning. Probably even better for a arrow head then the claws are"
she takes it, lifting it to the light, she turns it around in her hand slowly. She slowly becomes more and more focused on it.
"You said these had been in the torches, right?"
I nod slowly
"yeah i did"
she puts her hand out towards me
"can i have some more of them?"
I take out a few more, putting them into her palm.
"Is there something wrong with them?"
She keeps looking it over
"no its.... you know how my father was skilled with runes? Well that meant I was around them a lot, these are nothing like his. Everyone else's share components, these are runes, im sure of it. Their just different. So different."
She looks at the ones in her hand
"well i guess you've got something new to do"
she nods
"Yeah. I think i do"
The next day as I'm gathering more touches I come across saint dread. He's looking at a... painting on the wall.
"Oh hello caster. Need something?"
I gesture at the painting
"whats up with this?"
He covers his normal torch and it goes away.
"They disappear in the dark. Not sure how"
i look it over with him. I think.... Maybe i should ask.
"I spoke to morgan yesterday. She seemed freaked out by saint seer of the infinite."
He looked down
"yeah. I over shared, some facts maybe shouldn't be known. I sure wish I didnt know it"
i check that nobody else is around.
"I get that it freaked morgan out but... look it has been appearing, talking to me and I would like to know why seer of the infinite is doing that, if you know"
he looks over at me
"she's been seeking you out?"
I nod
"a few times. Right before I went to the party you had been overseeing, on the walls right before it got announced that the raid would be tomorrow, I think she or someone in the midnight actors guild broke into my clans compound."
He seems to get clearly troubled, he just stares at me for a while before he shakes his head
"look. I said before that maybe there's thing people shouldn't know, but you do need to know it."
He grabs my shoulders. I can feel the gold even through my armor. Its so cold.
"Her dormant ability let's her use symbols made of blood, the higher the rank the better, to find out information from what all of humanity knows. Her awakened ability allows her to store information. The ascended ability is to mark others, like lady cassie, but she can only transfer information between herself or others. Her transcendent ability is to turn into living ink."
He looks around clearly becoming paranoid, I try to back away but his grip only becomes tighter
"you have to listen to me, and listen well. When she takes interest in someone it always ends in them joining. Please I was the first, listen to me and stay away from her"
he finally let's go.
"Just.... just please don't let her win."
He let's go sitting down, and finally taking off... her helmet!?
"Please leave i have some things to think over"
i....
"I'm sorry, I didn't know you... where, are? a woman"
she looks at me, her face twists into mild annoyance
"just go."
I nod quickly leaving, she seemed to not be doing well anyways. I shouldn't have said that. Why am I making these mistakes all the sudden? I'm normally so much better with my words.
I avoid her for the rest of the day. I don't even speak to morgan much after. The next day is the first time i really come across saint elderwood. She's under the massive ice tree, it sways in the wind, a single red ice leaf made of ice lands next to her. It would look peaceful if saint elderwood didn't seem so irritated. She hears my steps
"what do you want?"
I lift my hands trying to calm her down
"I'm sorry. I tried to speak with morgan but she wasn't in the mood to talk"
she points her staff at me
"and what makes you think I want to?"
I lift my hands
"I'm sorry."
She sighs
"fine what do you want?"
I gesture at the tree
"any leads?"
She taps the bark
"on this thing? No. Not one. A few of the murals have it, but those show the whole temple."
I nod picking up a fallen branch, feels and looks like wood but its made of ice. How odd. I look deep into a tree, is that a outline in the Blackstone? I tap the tree
"look there, maybe if we cut th-"
she snaps at me, hitting me in the shoulder. I stumble away looking at her
"you- you freaks! All of you forgotten shore freaks annoy me to not end. Do none of you have common sense?"
I put my hands up taking a step away from her trying to maintain distance. Enough to react hopefully
"i didn't know you wanted the tree to stay up so much"
she stares me down with a heavy grimace.
"Get the hell out of my courtyard."
I nod backing away, never turning my back on her. I finally get out of the courtyard, i take a deep breath, I reach into my armor to hold my charm. I swear I'm being watched but by what?
The next day I run through the halls everything is covered in fog. I barely miss a vine trying to grab me. What the hell is happening?! I get to the courtyard, its covered in a thick mist, i have to swipe my hand around to see. I slowly make out two shapes, the tree and
"Morgan!"
I run over to her, she's not facing me but still
"they've gone crazy! I don't know why, its only been a few days"
i reach out for her hand
"we need to go, you've got a way to contact heat seeker right? I think they've been gotten by the dreamspawn."
She moves her hand away.
"No no. Their fine, Asterion hasn't gotten to them"
she starts turning around
"morgan please their acting crazy, I think its the fog, maybe seer of the infinite was wrong and it is made by a nightmare creature. Either way we need to leave"
she turns around fully. No no no no the whites of her eyes are all red like theirs are. This can't be happening, shes meant to be the best of us.
"No we really don't. That whole conflict was foolish anyways."
She slowly reaches for me
"just.... just let happen caster. This is a temple to death, and well, a sacrifice has to be made"
i turn to run, saint dread and saint elderwood are there. I turn back to morgan. She's so calm.
"Caster please you really have t-"
the mist around us moves, forming into a human figure welding a war scythe. She strikes at the tree her weapon going right through and into its soul, it moves shaking, the movement of the leaves sounds like screams. Morgan stumbles putting her hand on her head