The Mountain King
35th Ashan, 720
Scalvoris Mountains
Scalvoris Mountains
Woe reached out with his empathy spark, though was unable to sense a tangle coming from Truth. Spirits it seemed were somehow unaffected by magic. Was it just Empathy that didn't work on them, or magic in general? Perhaps that was something worth looking into in the future. Balthazar's attunement spark took little coaxing to synchronise itself to the frequency of Truth, and when it did the mage discovered another difference between humans and spirits. A spirit was concept given shape, and as such Truth's frequency only rang out a single note again and again: truth. As his name implied Truth really was pure truth; utterly incapable of lies, deceit or trickery. Whatever Balthazar had seen and suffered it was, from a neutral standpoint at least, true.
Truth gave Yeva a slight smile at her parting words. "Don't worry about it; I get this reaction from humans time and time again. I'm used to it. Goodbye Yeva, and good luck." And with that his physical form dissolved into discorporate mist once again and vanished, leaving the group alone to venture forward.
The party journeyed through the tunnel, and before long a strange sound began to grow in the distance. It was a deep, breathy and raspy sound that grew and faded in a rhythm which seemed familiar to them all, even if they couldn't quite place it. The tunnel came to an end, and the group found themselves in another cavern: this one perfectly round in shape. The floor was once again coated in mist, however this was not the same harsh white mist of Truth. This mist was thick and pink, like candyfloss, and almost seemed to be bubbling with energy. In the middle of the cavern was an altar, upon which slept what appeared to be a woman. She was objectively beautiful in an almost regal, doll-like way: snow white hair long enough to reach down her back, clear alabaster skin, and a pure white kimono that looked to be made of fine silk. The only spots of colour other than white were on her face in the form of make up: cherry red lips, sharp black eyeliner, and a rosy blush to her pale cheeks. She should have looked gorgeous.
She should have, but did not. Probably because she slept like an absolute slob. One leg dangled over the side of the altar, whilst both arms were thrown about loosely above her head. Hair that should look straight and neat was sprawled about all across the place; particularly over her face, where a clump half stuck in her open mouth rose and fell in time with her snoring. And the snoring! Zanik himself must have been playing the bagpipes in her lungs, for that was the sound they had heard during their approach. She snored with the thundering might of a stampede of elephants! There could not have been a greater contrast between the refinement of her appearance and the boorishness of her unconscious behaviour.
Victor, who had at some point found himself walking at the front of the group, stepped into the pink mist first, and the moment his foot touched it a ripple ran through the mist. With a nasally snort the woman jolted awake.
"Huh, wha- wazzat?" She mumbled blearily, hair-covered face turned to look at them with crossed eyes. For a second she was silent as she tried to process what she was looking at, then with a start realisation dawned on her face. "Humans! You're here!"
It a flash she was right in front of them, way too close into their personal space and fixing them all with an overly excited grin. "Yay! Backup's here! Tio sent you right? Gosh, it's so great to meet you! You guys are so adorable." Another flash, and she was stood behind Balthazar holding a strand of his hair between her fingers. "I love your hair! What dye do you use?" A flash again, and she was directly in front of Victor with a hand stroking his chin. "And your beard. Very rugged. I love the style!"
A fourth flash saw her standing in front of them all again, though this time thankfully with a bit more space between them. "Oh, but my manners! I'm Falsehood! Lovely to meet you!" She gave a quick, enthusiastic bow. "Anyway we don't have time to waste! You know what's going on right?!" She waved a hand, and one section of the wall shimmered and vanished, as if it had never really been there in the first place. Daylight and fresh air streamed through the hole, and with it the sound of music being played somewhere not too far away. "The party is in full swing, and all the Anak are glutting themselves on ephemera and getting each other worked up into a frenzy. Their Majesty," She span the name out sarcastically, a harsh scowl crossing her face momentarily, "Is in the middle of the party: right at the peak of the mountain with the cursed one. If you want to take them down we'll need to sneak you through a whole host of power-drunk spirits. Luckily that's where I come in!" Her grin grew wider, beyond the limits of what a human's mouth could manage. "It's makeover time!"
The pink mist around their feet suddenly exploded upwards, washing over them in a wave. Each of them felt a tingling sensation all across their skin, but it lasted for only briefly before the mist fell back down again. Each of them would immediately notice that they each looked very different from how they had a second ago. Falsehood was nowhere to be seen, but her voice whispered from out of nowhere clearly in each of their ears "Only Anak are permitted at the party, so in order you sneak you in I've made myself into disguises for you! Pretty cool right?"
Balthazar was on fire. No, not on fire, he was fire! Though his shape was the same as his human form, his body was made of the same blue flames he was capable of conjuring. Victor was a suit of shining knight's armour, complete with a sword sheathed at his hips, a regal blue cape covering one shoulder and a plume of equally blue feathers on the top of his helmet. Inside of his amour however he looked completely hollow. Woe had become a creature of tangible darkness, stretched tall and thin like a shadow cast in the light of a sunset. He was humanoid, though it was hard to tell beneath the flowing black robes he wore that fluttered as it caught in some chill breeze. A hood was pulled across his head, and upon it rested a black crown of wrought iron laced with spikes and barbs. Yeva looked a bit like a tunawa scaled to human size: with skin of smooth wood, hair made of autumn leaves, and a green gown sown from blades of long grass. In terms of shape she was not much different from her real self, though she had a strong smell of pinewood about her.
"Relax, these are just illusions." Falsehood's voice whispered chirpily. "You're still yourselves deep down. Most other spirits wont be able to sense that you're anything different from one of us, though I'd recommend not letting an Induk get the chance to examine you closely if you can help it. As far as anyone is concerned you are spirits of fire, chivalry, sorrow and healing arrived last minute to join the party. That said I can disguise the way you look and feel, but don't forget that you aren't real spirits; you don't have the abilities we do. Don't talk to anyone longer than you have to, don't try and walk through walls or anything, and for the verses' sake whatever you do do not drink the ephemera! Got it?!" Even though she couldn't be seen, each of them suddenly got the impression that she was giving them a Cheshire smile. "Okay humans, let's go crash this party!"