Graterras Chapter 3: Darkness Revealed [IC]

[Notus]

Marcus almost - no, not almost, he really fell off his chair this time. Getting up quickly, the Templar looked from the Ogre to the man in the middle of the room. Holy fires of Pyron, this can't get weirder.

Then he heard Helze call the newcomer "Lord of Life", and realized it wasn't a simple man he was facing now. "Wow wow wow, whait a minute there." he said aloud, unable to suppress his surprise. "You mean that goat of yesterday is actually Bartimis?! And Oarloff here is able to call him like that?!" He paused a moment, not actually waiting for an answer, and then burst into laughter. "Pyron be good, this is great!" Then, realizing he could be overdoing it, he tried to calm down a bit. "Eh, I don't mean any disrespect. It's just that... Well, you gotta admit this whole situation is a little absurd."

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Absurd? There is nothing Absurd about answering the call of of the child who saved me from a horrid death. Oarloff is a kind child of this Earth and it is only right for me to help him in his time of need. I see that he used the Ribbon to have me answer some of your questions." Bartimis said. The Whole time the Apple was bobbing this way and that as Bartimis tended to move around a lot as he talked and he looked quite ridiculous.((Think Johnny Depp in like literally any movie his is in.)). "And I know who is friend or foe here. Headmasters I ask you stay quiet for now, I know this is your school and it may be rude, but I am a god, and this is my world! I have a right to be rude! Now......where were we?" he said scratching his Ivy beard. He paced back and forth for a while seemingly lost for a second. Then his eyes lit up ((figuratively.)) as he realized why he was there. "Oh yes! Heros! As of now, you may ask me 3 questions, no more no less, about anything. However I choose if I answer one. If I answer a question of yours, then I get to ask one question of you and you must answer me truthfully. Ask Wisely my friends."

((Now this is a very rare occurrence, Bartimis is willing to answer 3 questions. However, thing she most likely will not answer will be exact locations of the shards[he will be dodgy if he does using cryptic clues rather than locations.], or any other exacts. Gods deal in secrets and evasion, so while he is truthfully answering you, he will do it in a way to confuse you, or not give you all the information right away. When he asks a question of one of you, I suggest you truthfully answer him.))

((Sidenote for Sigurd here, The Crimson King is probably going to be quiet here. since Bartimis probably would scare the shit [figuratively....I guess the words out of him since he is a book?] out of him, seeing as he is kinda the God of Life, if that wasn't evident already...))

[Chevaleresse]

"Pardon us, my lord," Xavier managed after a moment. "We need a moment to confer." He gestured at the other members of the group to gather with him. Not that he needed to hide things from Bartimus - he wore who and what he was on his sleeve, for the most part, particularly to the gods - but he wasn't particularly experienced with interacting with them outside of prayer.

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Shaking her head, as though to pull herself together as she stood up, she heeded the Elf-Templar's silent call to gather and went up to him, quietly waiting for the others to come over. "Was it a good thing he didn't consider what I said as a question?" she muttered halfheartedly.

[Supernovae]

Oarloff wobbled over to the group and shrugged at Helzebeth. "That's silly Miss Helzebeth, Misturr Buttons isn't tricksy like that, he's a very, very nice goatie."

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Helze looked up at the big fellow in surprise. "Hm? Ah, no, Oarloff, I didn't mean it like that. Mister Buttons-- or... Lord Bartimis, rather-- is one of the nicer-tempered of the gods, so to speak. I was just worried that if I didn't phrase my question properly enough, it would have wasted one of three chances that he offers to us now," the ranger said, in a hushed tone.

[Notus]

"Eh, yeah you're probably right." Marcus said to Helze, joining the group beside her. "Now, how would it be best for us to start this? Maybe we should go right to the point and ask where the shards are?"

[Chim]

Sigurd, still not realizing they were dealing with a god, walked over. “What’s the point in this? Let’s just ask the thing were those shards are. It’s as simple as that!”

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Thing? DO YOU NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DEALING WITH HERE?" Bartimis shouted. "I stick my neck out to help you mortals and this is the thanks I get.....being called a thing. I am a god you pathetic pile of a man, and you will treat me as such."

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Frowning, sighing, and quite agitated by what she'd heard so far especially from Blue, she looked at the Wind Templar and explained with much pain and patience: "Sir, he is not a thing," she said slowly, "he is Bartimis, the God of Life. Not a thing.... not a thing."

[Chim]

Sigurd wasn’t impressed. In fact, he wasn’t convinced they were dealing with a god at all. He ignored Helzebeth, who called him a sir, and walked back to the middle of the table. “So you claim to be Bartimis, huh? Well, I don’t believe you,” he claimed. “You see, gods are supposed to be all powerful deities. Pure, strong and beautiful like the Lady Aelia! And yet you claim Big Belly over there saved your life while you were pretending to be a goat? Ha! You won’t fool me!”

“If you are a god, prove it. One of those shards belonged to you, right? Where is it?”

[Chevaleresse]

Xavier nearly stabbed Sigurd as he jumped up and told a god that he was a phony and a liar. "Please, please excuse my human companion. He's a bit, shall we say, excitable." He grabbed Sigurd roughly by the collar of his shirt and pulled him close, whispering in his ear. "Are you insane? Do you just have a death wish?"

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Bartimus snapped. and all of a sudden Sigurd felt his heart stop. He walked over to the man in the blink of an eye. "You do not disrespect the Lord of Life, do you not know how easy it is for Life to just slip away from you? If you have such an apparent Death Wish I will grant it to you. Die, you are not deserving of the grace that is life."

((and you aren't dead yet....you just while be SUPER fast.))

[Supernovae]

"Oh, no, no, no Misturr Buttons!" the Ogre called out, clearly scared of what was happening, "Please don't hurt Misturr Sigwurd he isn't a mean man, he just likes to be funny! Oh please Misturr Buttons don't be a mean goatie, he didn't mean it me promise!"

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Fine, but I don't like somebody who doesn't value his life. If you are willing to risk your life so easily, so recklessly, you don't deserve it. Life is fragile, it should be remembered. It should not be squabbled in this manner. It disgusts me that this man would as throw away such a gift I gave him that he would have a deathwish. But I will let him live, because it is you who asked me Oarloff." Bartimus said. He snapped his fingers once more and Sigurd's heart restarted. "And to answer your question, my shard lies in a place where life and bounty is plentiful. A place where death, disease, and decay are not known. A grotto in the shade of a massive tree, a special tree. One that slumbers, but holds ancient wisdom. Now, my question for you heros. Why do you risk your Lives and everything you have, to help the world?"

[Chevaleresse]

Xavier dropped the other Templar and turned to Bartimus. "Eternal life, of course. I can't speak for my companions, but I pursue this quest so that I may be remembered for the good I have done in the world. I desire to turn the tide of evil wherever I can, and the destruction of the world does not strike this servant as a noble purpose. If I am not remembered, or if I do not succeed, then my loss does not matter either way; whether I had tried or not, my life amounted to nothing, and it would be a waste of your gift to not risk it in such an endeavor."

[Ragnar]

Akuma finally break his silence through out this journey((and finally posted XD)), "Ay, I couldn't agree more" he followup Xavier's answer. "i'm sure we have different takes on this, but i can assure you, we're all doing this for the sake of righteousness."

Edited September 26, 2014 by typhlosionrulez

[Flux]

Nero stood in the hallway next to Glicks. He had to sort of stoop as he held the kobold's hand to compensate for the height difference.

"What sort of work did you mean?" Nero asked, unsure of what else to say as Glicks led him along. He hoped he could learn what he had been hoping to from this endeavor, but he was unsure where he was being led.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Glicks

"Work with the raw magics of Illusions. It will be long process, and it won't be easy, but meesa thinks you will get it in time." the Grumman's Kobold said shuffling his small legs. He put a lot of his weight on the Oaken Walking Staff he had, which made it even more evident to Nero that the little guy was older than he appeared. He could see ever the more grey hairs in his whiskers. They stuck out like sore thumbs amongst the Auburn Brown hairs.

Glicks walked Nero to the staircase as they took a flight of stairs up. This floor was a lot more bare then the others. It was simple, with just an indigo coloured wall. Much of the decor was either matte black or a similar Indigo. It didn't really have a smell that heavily lingered in the air, just the faint smell of something hard to identify. Was it Nightshade? Either way, Illusion magic was more discreet then other magics, so it made sense that it didn't smell heavily or have other clues. Glicks opened up a a door, matte black in colour, with no fancy carvings or embellishments. Inside was a lecture hall, that seemed to have a small area for for magic practice. In the front was a poduim and a Huge desk with papers and others things strewn all around it. the small device Nero saw Glicks working on at the inn sat on the desk as well, so this must be his classroom. "Meesa be back in a second." He said as he shuffled off into a back area. He was back for a while, and Nero heard a lot of bumping, banging and scrounging for something. Occasionally there was a yelp or 2 accompanied by a small outburst of frustration. But soon the Kobold came back out, holding a few small bowls. He placed them on his big desk. One was full of a white chalk, the second seemed to be filled with nothing, and the third was filled with small gems. "These are for meesa, Wizards use compentants for spells sometimes, unlike your kind, Sorcerers. Meesa must also use a focus to cast as well." he said, tapping his staff twice to indicate that was his focus. "Now starts with a basic spell, a Color Spray. Then cast for me a basic Illusion, of anything, I do not mind."

[Flux]

Nero turned to the side and held out a hand. A Color Spray was quite an easy task, and one of the first Illusion Spells he had learned from Scuro as a child. A cone of vibrant colors spread from his outstretched hand, spinning and twisting amongst each other. He stopped the spell after a few seconds, figuring that Glicks would have seen all he needed to. He assumed that the wizard was testing his current abilities, figuring out if Nero was at the level for invisibility or not. He was determined to prove that he was.

Next was an Illusion. Glicks had said it could be anything, so Nero decided to go with his favorite animal. He stuck out his right arm, the gloved hand facing palm-down in a fist. There was a screeching sound from the corner of the room, as a raven flew towards Nero, wings flapping as it landed on his hand. It looked around as it perched there, before disappearing into a wavy form of blackness when Nero waved his left hand in front of it. He looked up at Glicks, wondering what the kobold had thought.

"Is this what you wanted?"

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Yes, now, forget those spells. If when casting invisiablity spells, yousa feel energies like those....you are doing it wrong." Glicks said. "Invisibility is like nothing yousa have cast before. It is not about shaping latent energy in the world like many other spells. It is shaping the energy latent in your body instead. Try it, try to become invisible."

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Looks like Helzebeth had to answer too; the questioning game was, after all, being played on the terms of the god. "... I didn't leave home for the world, or to necessarily do good. In fact, there probably is nothing material for me to even risk. Nothing, at least, when I started. But, what can I say now?" She drew breath for a moment and then continued, "See, o Lifegiver, I don't like to accept defeat. That day that the wretched beast"- she said this with a grimace, with stormy eyes, resentful- "slew and killed... That foul creature will regret that day." Underneath her cloak her fingertip brushed the vial that contained the fallen dwarf-paladin Magni's ashes. And I must find my father, the ranger added mentally; if the others didn't know that that was why she left in the first place, then she could tell them any time if deemed necessary. "The world may not have been my friend, but there is a greater evil that has done worse to me and my companions here. I fight to slay this demon that it may gloat, harm, and torment no more."

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Hmmm, I see, I see. you all seem to have a similar call to duty in this fight." Bartimus said. "You may ask another question. I feel satisfied in the answers there already have been."

[Notus]

"Uhmn... Lord Bartimis, would you give us any advice as to where we should start our quest? There's gotta be some shards that are easier to get then others, and guess having some of them when we reach the harder ones would be good."

[Chim]

Sigurd was lying on the ground, still coughing. That damn god and his little tricks…Now he knew they were dealing with the real deal and he was impressed, but at the same time it made him angry. If Bartimis threw him through a wall or even stabbed him; he would have more respect for the god’s battle skills. But this way felt a little cheap and dirty and he just couldn't understand those ways.

By now Sigurd knew it was best for him to shut up, but he wanted to know where that shard was. He only heard half the riddle, not that he would solve it otherwise, and he had no idea what Bartimis meant with it.

“Damn –cough- where shard –cough- trick –cough cough,” was all he managed to blur out.