Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

It was strange. Just how different this group was compared to when they’d first been called here. Tears had been shed, vows and oaths made, challenges given, declarations shared, and yet now barely a dry eye was to be found. Save for the two mortals called to bring balance to an otherwise one sided fight. Things had been shared. Memories. Lies. Truths. Love. Some Kesindir felt a connection with and others felt as foreign as the bed he’d laid down on not two nights prior.

What was he doing here? Kesindir was worse than a fish out of water - young, inexperienced, and utterly weak - in comparison to... what, Gods? Immortals? Hell even the half mortal still were part immortal. Words Kesindir had never thought, or spoken aloud, and yet this was now his reality. A world full of impossible beings with impossible powers, and he was a simple fisherman. He simply shook his head to clear his mind of the thoughts, before the sheer overwhelming magnitude of his new world threatened to overtake what semblance of sanity he had left.

Then, of course, it came time for the congratulatory hugs, smiles shared amongst individuals who barely knew each other, yet somehow still loved each other, and Kesindir welcomed it all. Each hug, each smile, each handshake. It reaffirmed for him that he’d done something right for once and - as of now - come out of it rather unscathed. So he went down the line of those that offered.

First was the woman, the very cause of their gathering, Auya Trueheart. It hadn’t occurred to Kes that she didn’t know him. He knew her. Potentially more intanetly than the tall Ithecal would ever dream to. ”It’s Kes, and I am...” the Biqaj paused for a brief moment, mulling over the words in his mind. Glad? Overjoyed? ”Honored, to have helped.” He said with a smile before the tall ... very tall ... lizard offered a hand.

He could crush me with just his fist. Entranced by the sheer size of the man, Kesindir almost forgot to take his hand and reciprocate the handshake. ”I was glad to, Varlum.” He smiled again, though it was more a curious smile this time. Sure, he knew the Ithecal’s name because he’d offered it when they first arrived and met The One, but he knew him the way Auya knew him. How strange it would be to have that role reversed, or to even be able to experience that again. To know something from someone else’s eyes and mind.

Next came Eliza. Ymiden’s daughter, one whom had marked Kesindir, his hair now showing faint blonde streaks at the tips. She he did not know, save for the limited time Auya had spent with her, but they cared for each other. Like family. Kes hugged her back but exchanged no words. She’d played her part just as he had, and in that they shared an understanding.

Then there was Hart. Mortalborn of Need, son of Edasha, and a friend. Someone without whom none of this would have been possible. Choices are made and, much like ripples from a stone thrown into water, they echo out. Changing the very fabric of what is known. ”We did it,” Kesindir said with a soft smile before hugging Hart, ”together.” What he meant was that Hart wasn’t alone in any of this. He had friends.

The masked man, Tio, was an enigma. He knew so much, acted exactly as was needed, and had an answer for things that no one else seemed to even have questions for yet. Tio had played his part perfectly. Kesindir had already thanked him, at least once, but felt another - with a proper handshake if Tio would allow it - was warranted, given the circumstances. ”Thanks again, Tio.”

What transpired next, the heart forming on Varlum’s chest, a mark - much like the whitening of Kes’ own hair - that of an Immortal, had come from her. Kes watched in awe, as there was no other way to look at such things from his perspective. He was certain, 100% she was nothing but a mortal, no divine energy, nothing. Yet. She marked Varlum. ”That’s....amazing.” Everything that had transpired ... all of it had an air of magnitude, but this, this changed things. Kesindir’s own path could one day reach here perhaps.

That thought threatened once again to overtake what sanity he had left, thankfully y’all of a place called Rharne was brought up as a likely destination. How far was that from home? From Dji’Oriq and Tick, Korva and Ashan? From everything he knew. ”Sounds like the start for a new journey. I’m in.”

And so, Auya had one new ally, the one man in the entire world she absolutely knew she could rely upon. And she could feel the love from him radiating through his mark he bore. She could feel it in her own heart. It was not like the love she felt before, it was more. It was more real. She could feel true power radiating from it. And she knew that the Heart was her power now.

She was the Immortal of Hearts.

And her own heart had a change come into it. She remembered the state of the world. Everyone had been sleeping, there would be those that were lost and confused, those that were injured or even killed because they'd slept. There may not even be a tavern open in which they could discuss things.

No, they had work to do.

She smiled at all of them, "I think we'll be too busy for a drink and discussion." She grabbed one of Varlum's massive fingers, squeezing it tightly. She knew they would have to go their separate ways now. So, she looked at each of them in kind, "If you wish to find me, please, do so. If you need my help, ask and I will do what I can."

She could feel a pull inside her, a desire to reach out and mark them. This was not part of her own personality, but rather, it felt as though it were ingrained. Built into her very being. The power in her wanted to be spread among followers. She quelled it. She was thankful to Hart, to Tio, to Eliza, to Kesindir, for everything they did, for all the help they gave. But she did not yet know them.

She wanted to though.

So she chose not to mark them, nor would she mark anyone she didn't know well, nor that didn't know her. And she would never mark anyone against their will. She remembered the pain of being marked by Faldrun had caused. She smiled at them all, "Be well, be safe. And I hope to see you again, soon." And with that, she turned to the door, stepping through it, pulling Varlum with her, exiting into her forge.