Base of the Pyramid - Shrilk Crossroads
This is the east side of the base of the mighty obsidian pyramid created by the Core computer. From this vantage point you can barely make out the glittering portal at the top. All around, in every direction, are the remains of what must have been an immense festival or gathering of some sort. Though it must have been weeks, if not months ago, the earth is still packed, and there are still scraps of debris, tent spikes, rope, and the cold ash remnants of firepits.
Beyond this clearing to the north and south lays a dense forest, to the east a two rutted dirt roadways join, offering travel to the east, north, and south. The air here is cool and refreshing, blowing from the west across the lake which is on the other side of the pyramid. There seems to be a well travelled path curving around the pyramid and leading off west, directly towards Lake Evarim.
Aubri is talking quietly with Fae in the early light, waiting for Dove to wake up. "Hrrrr! Sounds like fun," he murmurs, grinning and nuzzling the hen quietly.
Dove is sleeping rather soundly as she has been wont to do lately.
Faekawn is slightly flushed, and slightly fluffed, and nestled under Aubri's wing (as is Dove, on the other side). "Mmm hmmm," she murmurs in agreement, nodding her head slightly.
Kosamiargi yawns quietly, after a night of ill sleep. A presense of little comfort came from the three sleeping near, keeping him awake, and wishing he'd just gone back to the Fort to sleep, instead of being lazy around the pyramid...damn the wait for Githent's release...
Aubri hrrs quietly and looks up at teh sun.. "Perhaps we should wake her," he says finally, looking at the deep-asleep Dove. "We should probably get on the wing soon.."
Faekawn lifts her head, and peers across Aubri's back at Dove. "She's sleeping so well, but... yeah... it would be nice to get an early start. Especially where we're going..."
Aubri nods and leans over, nudging Dove in the neck, shaking her a little..
Dove twitches in her sleep, as if her subconcious knows she's being discussed about.
Faekawn trills a soft, "Do-ove...", and curls her tail around behind Aubri, to brush against the white hen's hindquarters.
Dove twitches again, her eyes popping half-open with a muttered, "..huh...?" She blinks the sleep out of her eyes as she realizes she's awake and it's daylight already. She looks around to refamiliarize herself with her surroundings and chirrups a greeting to Aubri and Faekawn next to her.
Aubri kisses Dove good morning and purrs. "You slept well," he observes, purring.
Faekawn just smiles happily at Dove, nodding... then letting Aubri do any further waking up that might be needed.
Kosamiargi rumbles softly, and flares his wings high, stretching out the muscles. Ahh, his shoulders still were sore, and the surgery slice was still tight. So close to healing...
Dove looks up at the sky while asking at the same time, "How long did I sleep? It's not too late past morning, is it?" She gapes her beak in a long yawn as she's still waking up.
Faekawn turns her head and peeks out from under Aubri's wing at the stretching Shkrill drake. "Oh, he's awake too," she chirps quietly, as she stretches a little, then eases out from under Aubri's wing, keeping her tail tucked quite neatly downward.
Dove huhs? softly, looking where Faekawn is looking, wondering who she's talking about. She snorts, "Oh him." She starts to stand up, stretching fore and back legs one at a time slowly.
Aubri shakes his head to Dove. "No, I didn't let you sleep late." He glances at Koso and nods.. "Do you two want to say good bye?"
Kosamiargi gets up, leaning his hindlegs back and stretching them out, bowing his neck, groaning a little at the release of tense knots. He shakes off a bit, and leans his head toward wing to preen out a few feathers...
Dove doesn't stop with stretching, going on to stretching out her wings carefully.
Faekawn shakes her head as she drops her chest down, leaning backwards, wings arching upwards and tail curling toward the sky as well... oohhh... even the young and uninjured get a little stiff and sore, overnight. "No... he just shows up here sometimes, it's not like I really know him or anything."
Kosamiargi turns his head toward the small group that had slept the night near. Hmmmh, ignoring him, as expected. His beak parts, as a long yawn escapes him, before he shakes his head to get rid of the sleep...
Faekawn chrrps, flicking wings and tail downwards, then arching the other direction, pushing back with her hindpaws. She looks over at Kosa again, and, if he happens to notice, she just gives a slight nod. Courteous, but not inviting.
Aubri just stands between the hens, waiting for them to finish warming up, having already done his own while they were both asleep..
A gryphon shaped shadow whisks overhead.
Windshadow glides downwards from above to land near the base of the pyramid.
Windshadow has arrived.
Faekawn sighs, looking up at the purpling skys, the stars almost fully gone, the east picking up the glow of the first sun. "Well... I guess I'm ready to fly. Uhmmm... if I remember right, it's easier to go north, first."
Dove looks to Faekawn and nods saying, "Yes, north, then east. That is the safest entrance to the Valley of the Damned." She looks over at the Shkrill, her attention suddenly pulled up as a shadow flies overhead. She looks for the source of it.
Aubri nods to Fae.. "Would you like to take the lead?" he asks with a grin.
Faekawn shivers slightly, and not from the cold of the morning. "I guess so..." she says reluctantly. "It's not real easy to find, even once yo're in the valley. I just found it... I dunno. I just ... went there."
Kosamiargi rumbles irritably for a moment, and shakes his head. He turns, and slowly moves toward the three. They may not feel any need to talk to him because of his choice of home, but that doesn't mean he's going to ignore once-aerie mates because of it as well...
Dove looks back over at Faekawn and nods. "I will warn you....I may not...um...be myself, if you catch my drift. If it becomes necessary, Aubri knows how to take care of me." She sounds..hollow, almost as she says this. No emotion whatsoever. Eerie...
Windshadow goes to ground after his pass, not risking a nearer approach to the group until he is ready to break his cover. For now he is content to watch and shadow from a distance, just in case.
Faekawn turns, and moves up closer to Dove. "I hope you'll be okay... I ... it's a weird place, still. I mean, I never saw it before the big changes, but... it's a lot different from what everyone warned me about. But there's still really scary spots... that just make your feathers tingle!"
Aubri nods and winghugs Dove gently. "Don't worry, love.." He pulls away again, nodding to Fae. "I hope you can "just go there" again.."
Kosamiargi slows slightly, listening in a bit, curiosity getting the better of him. The way the hens are acting, that noticable lack of comfort...He watches elsewhere, not letting his gaze fall on them and have their sixth sense warn, instead hoping to learn what's going on...
Faekawn frets, and shifts her weight nervously. "Well... alright. I guess... now." She turns... there's no wind to face into, at this hour, so she just runs north, and leaps up into the sky. The first sun's light shines a fan of rays across the upper skies, anticipating it's appearance over the eastern horizon.
Windshadow eases his way closer, using the deceptive light of dawn to his advantage. He is unsure what Aubri and Dove could seek where they are going, especially in company with Kosamiargi... but given their destination, he intends to stay close and alert. The Valley and his friendship with the mated pair demand nothing less.
Dove watches Faekawn take off and once Fae is clear, she crouches lowand uses the leaping method of taking off, her back legs pushing her off the ground as her spread wings beat downwards, lifting her small frame easily into the air. Once she gains enough height, she takes off north after Faekawn. She knows Aubri will not be far behind.
Aubri spreads his wings and leaps into the air just after Dove, rising into position behind Faekawn and pumping his wings hard to gain altitude.
Faekawn's months of training with the scouts have obviously taken strong hold, for she falls quickly and easily into leading the formation, adjusting her wingbeats to a compromise between those of the two that follow. Her gaze is intense, focussed, and strong, as she leads northwards, low, along the roadway at first.
Kosamiargi 's own eyes follow after the first two, and he blinks a bit, watching the general direction...Northern, but somewhat eastern, too. He blinks, and continues to watch, wondering why anyone would go that way. That ruined city is up that way, too... Even as Aubri launches into the sky, Koso flares his own wings. Their attitudes, and the direction they're heading warrant a need to find out what's going on. And preferrably without any of his clanmates seeing him follow after the Grylrans...
Faekawn wings her way into the air.
Faekawn has left.
Windshadow is in the air a few heartbeats later, taking a low path that hugs the lingering shadows but backlights the receding gryphons against the rising sun.
Aubri wings his way into the air.
Aubri has left.
Windshadow wings his way into the air.
Windshadow has left.
Kosamiargi leaps into the air quickly, once they've gained enough distance. The next drake to follow is never seen, but Koso seems to follow a similar path; low, near the trees, making watching easy and return notice not so...
Sky Above the Pyramid - Shrilk
You are gliding a few hundred meters above the glossy obsidian pyramid that forms the center of the sphere of Shrilk, the binary suns give way to warm upward thermal drafts that help to keep you aloft with minimal effort. From here you can see west over lake Evarim, and east, into the towering Magnarth mountain ranges... Beneath you is dense and beautiful forest, hidden here and there by morning mists. A few clouds are drifting through the sky, but that aside it is a relatively clear day, and a beautiful one to be out flying.
Faekawn leads onwards, staying low enough to avoid detection from most of the early patrols... but not so low as to attract undue attention. She knows just what would make HER suspicious... and avoids it, as much as she can. "Here..." she calls back, at last, banking to the east, to follow a deep cleft in the rocks... toward a place that is, unquestionably, horribly disfigured and blasted by ancient events.
Aubri follows into the unholy terrain, keeping a cautious eye on Dove as they cross into the Valley proper. Why Fae needs to visit this horrible place he doesn't know, but it seems so important to her and his mate that he can't help but accompany them.
Kosamiargi lifts his altitude a bit, keeping off the tree canopy a bit. He continues to hold some distance behind, and can't hear the three well ahead. However, he also glances around, looking. There was that shadow before, and...he almost feels like there has to be another...
Dove can't watch behind her as she flies forward, following Faekawn. Her own instincts draw her in the right direction, yet she let's Fae lead the way since she knows where to go once inside. She doesn't know about the two 'shadows' following behind the trio.
Windshadow has to take the risk of being more visible as the transition is made to the Valley... it's just not worth the risk to skim the blasted and cursed terrain too closely. His gaze is constantly on the move, as he has to maintain a watch on both the group ahead and the ground below...
Faekawn's nervousness is betrayed by sharp twitches of her head as she scans the landcape, far more than the skies. Her wingstrokes are tight, restrained, and careful, as she weaves her way through obstacles unseen. Not many... but definitely there.
Faekawn wings her way north east...
Faekawn has left.
Aubri wings his way north east...
Aubri has left.
Kosamiargi wings his way north east...
Kosamiargi has left.
Windshadow wings his way north east...
Windshadow has left.
Above the Valley of the Damned
You are gliding far above a desolate, ruined valley. In these skies the suns give little warmth and the winds seem more turbulent than expected. Far below you the land is scorched and ruined, though there are patches where vegetation has begun to reclaim long-shattered lands. As you soar along you can see that the very walls of the mountains are blasted and scarred, melted away in places. What used to be a wide roadbed winds through the foothills, only to be buried beneath a huge slide of rock. To the southwest is the great pyramid, to the northeast, the mountains of the Shkrill enclave.
Faekawn finally spots what she's after. "There... down there..." she chirps, and pulls her wings in closer to her body, dropping downwards sharply. "Just... um.... be sure to land in the green. It looks bigger than last time, but... there was a really nasty feeling just outside it... especially to the east? And it was totally gone, inside."
Faekawn heads downward, towards the earth.
Faekawn has left.
Aubri heads downward, towards the earth.
Aubri has left.
Kosamiargi heads downward, towards the earth.
Kosamiargi has left.
Windshadow heads downward, towards the earth.
Windshadow has left.
Valley of the Damned
Nestled here among the towering gray mountains is the site of one of the fiercist gryphon battles of their civil war. This place will live forever in infamy. The valley is quiet and calm - only the smallest of trees have finally started to grow in this ancient place, with grass poking up here and there. Scattered among the stones are obvious bone fragments - pieces of rib cage, skulls with empty eye sockets staring. Thousands must have fallen here, and for so much to be preserved after so long. Sections of the mountainside and rocks are twisted and melted, huge spaces of earth scarred as though seared with an unimaginable flame.
In one of the less-ruined areas of this immense area the land seems a little greener, a little more healed. Partially hidden within a thick tangle of brush and greening trees is a black stone couch, of the old old style... seemingly grown up out of the very bedrock itself. Pitted by the ages and the elements, it seems as though some gryphon took it's last rest here - only the bones remain, seeming almost fused into the couch itself. And yet, as if to belie how long ago this seems to have happened, a few jet-black feathers are scattered about the area.
Off the east end of the valley, you can see a small ill used trail leading further up into the mountains. To the west is sylvan forest, underbrush thin enough that you can push through without too much difficulty.
Aubri flares his wings as he descends behind her, taking her words to heart and aiming for the green, stretching out his senses to try and detect the "nasty feeling" she mentioned. Nothing presents itself, however, as he descends. Yet.
Windshadow debates as the others make their descent... the Valley itself may for his premature arrival in their midst, but that really was to be expected... he delays as best he can while sticking to the flightpath demonstrated by Faekawn and avoiding the nastier 'feelings' lurking nearby.
Kosamiargi is unable to hear the words given, of course, and is intent on keeping hidden from the small group, at least for now. He lands a little ways off, settling low, keeping about the rocks and watching carefully...
Faekawn also lands carefully within the green, quite near to the black stone couch... though now there seems to be plenty of room around it. She bows her head respectfully to the vacant skull that lays at the head of that resting place, then turns to watch the other two come in and land. She frowns, thinking.... was that a flicker of moment, back along their path?
Dove knows more about the Valley, but the was before the magic returned. She knows how she will react and does not worry about landing on the green area, not sure if there is enough room for three gryphons to land so close together. She lands away from it, her wings backbeating her descent to a slow drop. She stops dead still as soon as she's on all fours again, her eyes shut. She shivers a bit, as if having an iternal struggle. After a few heartbreaking seconds, she sighs, opening her eyes. Still bright pink as usual. She then pads over to the green spot where her friends are, oblivious still that there's company behind.
Aubri drops to the ground behind Fae and watches silently as she makes obiesence to the skull, then turns toward Dove. He lurches toward her as she suddenly stops, ready to "turn her off" if need be, but she retains control and he relaxes visibly.
Windshadow banks, taking a calculated gamble to set down under cover some reasonable distance from the group where the 'vibe' is still comparatively benign...
Faekawn chirps in concern for Dove, when she lands 'out there', and looks very nervous for a moment, before she seems to be normal, and comes up to join herself and Aubri. "You're alright?" she wonders curiously, touching beaks with Dove as she comes close.
Dove looks around, taking note of the green and the black couch. She looks actually happy as she walks up. She returns Fae's touch of beaks and nods saying, "Yeah, I could keep total control around her for once. The old magics are finally starting to fade..."
Aubri shifts close to Dove and puts his wing over her back, sighing softly. "So.. what are we here for?"
Windshadow slinks through the rocks, carefully feeling his way through the physical and mystical obstacles, closing distance with the group of gryphons...
Faekawn laughs softly, at that question, and nuzzles Dove again, just briefly, before turning back to the seemingly ancient body. "That's her. I'm just sure of it."
Kosamiargi settles slowly, keeping close to the ground. He rumbles quietly, and rouses his feathers a bit. Something about this place is unsettling...Again. Like that first time, with that scarred hen...who he swore was gold before. He shakes his head, and snorts quietly, instead flaring his eartufts to listen in as best he can..."
Aubri looks over at Fae. "That's who?" he asks as he looks at the gristly stone, trying to imagine who it would've been with skin on.. rather tired of being left out of the loop and having his head talked over by the two hens!
Windshadow decides to make his presence known, now that the group has arrived... especially since Kosamiargi is intent on lurking at the periphery. He rises from cover and chooses a more direct path, making no attempt to hide his presence as he approaches the green.
Dove looks at the stone couch and the bones melted into it. She says softly to Aubri, without moving her eyes from the couch, "It's Altair's last resting place. Old magics were used here..." She's silent after those words. She can only look and remember...past things, places and people.
Faekawn nods quietly at Dove's comment, then blinks, lifting her head up sharply. It's only a moment or two before her sharp eyes pick out exactly who it is who'd approaching, on foot.... "Windshadow?" she squeaks faintly, to alert Aubri. She's obviously quite startled.
Aubri stares in silence for a long time, reaching out to lay a claw lightly on the bones.. "Al.. tair?.." he whispers, tasting the bitterness of an old and irreperable grief.. "She did this?..." he asks, pulling up a few blades of grass.. not even noticing Windshadow as Fae speaks his name..
Dove looks up sharply at Faekawn's quetioning alarm. She looks around, looking for the silent drake. If he followed...she keeps looking around for any others who might have tagged along... Her fur and feathers flash bright for a second, as if light shone but for a oment on metal, not flesh and fur.
Kosamiargi blinks, looking to the fourth gryphon that suddenly made his presense known. That fourth body he swore had to be around, that's who it was. He rumbles irritably, lowering his head just a bit more...How likely is it his cover will be let off, by this one. Damn...
Windshadow pauses at the edge of the green, gazing long and contemplatively at the stone couch. He nods once to Faekawn, but lets her make the other two aware as he takes in the couch and its occupant, and considers Aubri's overheard words. As well as the tone emotion behind them. His body language is impassive, but his eyes are deep.
Faekawn gapes her beak, trying for words, but finally just gives a rather weak and inadequate "Hi..." to Windshadow, before turning back toward Aubri. "I... I think she did. Somehow. I mean... it just feels like her. And when I found this place, there were still feathers. A lot of them. Just the same black as she was, at the end."
Aubri squawks and comes back to reality, looking around at Windshadow. "What? Wind--??" He twists around and blinks, trying to catch up with events.
Dove doesn't see anyone, it's hard to tell with this place what is real and what is not. She turns back to the couch and examines it closer. She goes so far as to reach over to touch it where the rock bubbles from the ground. Her foreclaw slips easily into the rock as though she was reaching through water. She stands, head bowed, claw embedded, as she concentrates on thew magics here.
Aubri stares at Windshadow for a long time, eyes locking, then looks away back to the couch. Accepting the fourth's presence, he watches Dove fish around in the stone, murmuring, "I think I misjudged her... even up to the end.."
<>Kosamiargi 's eyes pin, focusing in on the small group, and to that stone couch. He'd seen it the one time...hrrr, this place is so very odd. He blinks a couple times, watching Dove, having seen that momentary change, and now her claw dip into stone. He's careful, watching until a good moment when none seem to be watching, then slips around some rocks to get a bit closer. This place is so...strange. Even for the time he has been a gryphon, nothing has ever found it's why to being as odd.Faekawn makes a tiny sound of dismay as Dove slips her claw into the stone... then stills, and finally just lays down, watching. She nods to Aubri, and says, without malice or anger, "Almost everybody did. Even poppa. He was going to kill her, I know it. So she came here, and she... she just... I don't know."
Windshadow pads across the intervening distance, taking up a position on the flank of the gathering. "And her death brought life back to the Valley... It's growing, you know." The tone is matter-of-fact, and he nods at the perimeter of the green.
Aubri lays down and puts his wing over Fae's back, nodding a little, silent.. "I'm sorry, Altair," he says, finally.
Faekawn blinks, then arches her head proudly. Strong, as she has always struggled to be. "It's okay, Aubri," she says quietly. And then, softer... "Thank you."
Kosamiargi quietly scans the rest of the area, as best he can see it. That hen isn't here, now, not protecting these lands. He raises his head slowly, trying to get a good look, without them seeing the movement. By their words and actions...skies, being here likely isn't the most brilliant of moves, but he wants to know about his home....
Dove opens her eyes, blibks rapidly as if confused and sits down so she can stick the other foreclaw into thew rock before her. Something's confused her and she's bound and determined to find out more...
Windshadow stands quietly by for long moments, letting each of his friends come to grips with the situation as best they can. He hasn't forgotten about Kosamiargi, but now is hardly the time to bring up the other gryphon, and it will be impossible for the Shkrill to spring any kind of surprise now.
Faekawn gives Dove a puzzled look, but remains quite silent... not wanting to disturb whatever it is she's doing.
Aubri comes back to himself after a few moments, putting this aside to think about later. He scoots closer to Fae with a nod.. "What is it?"
Kosamiargi carefully moves, and slips a bit closer once more. Unfortunatly, this time the shield is not as big, and his wing and eartufts are seeable, that one of the group happens to look. He keep settles for the moment, waiting and listening...
Dove focuses longer than before, before opening her eyes and pulling her claws out of the rock. She stands and turns to the group saying, "That is the wierdest thing. Yes, Old Magics are at work here from this stone, but there's more that's still active somewhere nearby...but I can't tell a thing about it. It's as if...as if...it doesn't want to be found." Her eyes wander as she speaks. What the...? Her eyes suddenly narrow as she sees she is being spied upon. She motions for silence and for everyone to stay put. She then slinks down and starts prowling close to the eartufts, trying to catch the hidden by surprise.
Kosamiargi continues to listen, noticing the silence suddenly set in. He frowns just slightly, and stays still, unsure of where they are now, or if they can see toward his hiding spot, and he doesn't want to get caught, if possible...
Faekawn shakes her head a little. "Old magics?" she wonders... having very little real understanding of things like that ... just what her mother taught her, and the few history's she's learned. She rrrs softly as Dove spots the watcher, and she turns to look at Aubri. "I hope you're not too mad at me for having flown out here, before...?"
Aubri stays silent as Dove motions, cocking his head a little, then nodding at Fae.. keep up some conversation.. "No, it's all right," he rumbles absently, watching Dove..
Windshadow speaks up then, to Dove. "Don't mind Kosamiargi over there. He decided to follow you three, but he's chosen to stay out of sight. I was going to tell you but... well, frankly, the timing wasn't quite right." He nods to the bones again.
Kosamiargi blinks, hearing his name...hearing his name? That hidden one, it had to be. Skies, grand, he just had to see. Koso continues to hold still, waiting, hoping for some luck that he just heard things...
Faekawn ohhhs, and relaxes. "Yeah, I guess not. Um... why'd you follow us, Windshadow?" She only barely knows the older drake, but she's seen him around often enough to recognize him.
Dove sneaks up rather quietly until she's on the other side of the rocks that the hidden is behind when Windshadow speaks up abruptly. She stands up, looking just barely over the tip of the rocks and sees that it is, in fact, Kosamiargi. She snorts and goes back to the stone couch and sits in front of it, staring at it as if nothing just happened.
Windshadow inclines his head slightly. "Two of my oldest friends and the daughter of a third were heading for the Valley, with another gryphon shadowing them. It seemed a good idea to keep watch... we all know what the Valley can be like, even now."
Kosamiargi glances up in time to see Dove as well, and notes that snort. His head raises, and watches the hen move back toward the couch without a single reprieve. He sighs silently. No reason to stay 'hidden', anymore. He gets up slowly, and continues to watch the ground, but is a little more...casual, now? He takes a flanking course, not at all offensive or defensive, but still fairly careful...
Dove finally turns to Faekawn and nods to her slowly, "I'm pretty sure this is Altair's resting spot. She's the only other gryphon I know who had the Old Magics still and these havn't been here for as long as the rest....Unless there's another I don't know about..." She mutters that last almost to herself, but still loud enough to be overheard.
Faekawn nods slowly. "The bones are stuck into the rock, but... I don't know... there wasn't any dirt or dust or anything. At least, not back when I found them. And there wasn't any body to explain all the feathers I found, either.
Dove nods, "The feathers are the same coloration as she had. As for being stuck in the rock..." She starts slowly sinking into the rock where she sits, until *she's* embedded in th rocky ground a good couple inches. "...that kind f happens with the old magics." With her point hopefully made, she stands up, rising from the stone with perfect ease, not a scrap of dirt or mar on her.
Kosamiargi settles down quietly, getting comfortable. The black drake seems all too content to listen, and nothing more, not seeming to have anything against those here...
Faekawn shakes her head a little... that whole ability to just play with stone like that makes her head itch. "I guess so..." she chirps weakly.
Windshadow has seen plenty of it from Dove... comparatively, this bit is like watching her preen. "Any idea of what she did here, Dove? A rough guess at least?"
Faekawn nods firmly. "She could give life back! She did it a lot! Nobody ever believed it, but I saw her do it! She saved a couple of hurt gryphons... and... some other stuff. She even made people just ... stronger again, after all the work they did during the recovery..."
Kosamiargi takes the chance of glares or worse to fulfill a certain curiousity. Thus, his own voice finally perks up. "Who was she?"
Windshadow nods thoughtfully. "I guess she made the ultimate statement about her choice in the matter... we were so concerned with what she might take away, and she settled the matter by giving everything she had."
Windshadow adds, softly, "I would hope she'll be remembered for that choice."
Dove looks over at Kosa and thinks, 'Is he still here? Oh well, better answer.' So she does and says, "She was the mate of Stormdancer and an unknown mage of the Old Magics...the dangerous ones."
"Altair was my mother," Faekawn says proudly.... and then, much more softly, "I... hope she will be, too, Windshadow."
Dove looks at Windshadow and sighs, "No one's really sure she's even dead except us and Storm. How can they remember her if they still fear her lurking about?"
Kosamiargi tilts his head curiously to that. Old magics..."Is that what scarred Grylra?" He sorta asks himself, though aloud, given that they go back to talking between themselves. Not a surprise, nor does he feel offended...
Dove shakes her headm "Not exactly, that was me, one of the mages of Windhaven and a few hundred very pissed off bugs." She's very casual about it all.
Windshadow flicks a wing, gesturing at the patch of green around them. "If the Valley grows lively again, why hide the truth? A time will come when we can tell them."
Kosamiargi blinks. Krzzn'ta...something like that. The bugs that came but a short time before he arrived, as he remembers. He glances back up and around quietly...and raises. He starts to head more into the Valley, looking around. Unlike most of his clanmates, learning about all this is important...
Faekawn lifts her head up. "Kosa... don't... umm... it's kind of a dangerous place to walk around in. Or even fly over, really..."
Kosamiargi slows, and glances back slightly, for a moment. "...I'll be fine." He waits to see if anyone else objects. If there is danger enough to scare them, then...
Dove just watches as Kosamiargi walks into the Valley. Her conscience does get the better of her and she at least calls out a warning, "Be careful where you tread, Kosamiargi. Not all the Old Magics are faded and gone from here. And they make *me* look tame in comparison."
Kosamiargi rumbles quietly, looking into the Valley once again, scanning for a time. Even Dove have a warning, and she's seemed to hate him the most at this point... Not something to take lightly. "...What are these Old Magics? And...what happened here?" He returns his gaze to the white hen once more.
Dove remains sitting and asks quietly, "Do you wish to hear the whole story? Of what happened here and what has happened because of it?"
Kosamiargi focuses his eyes a bit, and then slowly nods. "Being here for as short a time as I have, seeing such amazing things like Grylra's scars, Crag's very being, and this...place...I want to know."
Windshadow fades quietly into the background as Dove offers the tale to Kosamiargi... he'll enjoy hearing her recount it to the other drake, and seeing the response. He begins to prowl a bit around the edge of the green, staying reasonably close but probing the vibe of the lingering magics.
Dove nods, laying the front half of her down. With her resting on the ground right in front of the couch, you could almost see another gryphon sitting just as regally upon the black stone. She says softly, "A number of hundreds of years ago, some say 300, some say 400, the gryphons of this sphere were one clan, one city. Raenlocke." She looks further to the northeast, where the ruins now lay.
Kosamiargi follows the gaze. He's seen the ruins before...Not close, but...
Dove continues, "Magics then were powerfull. That power did great things, some good....some not so good. 'Death Magic' was one of the most dangerous of them all and those who harnessed that power grew evil in their hearts, for they could take life and give it at a whim. They felt as powerful as gods and that power corrupted their souls." She sounds sad, as if she had really been there.
Kosamiargi returns his gaze to the hen, keeping quiet for now. He gives a slight shift of wing, subconsciously hiding the surgery scar at his side.
Dove goes on. "The Death Mages built another city, not as big as Raenlocke yet. They decided that they were going to separate themselves so the other mages could not learn their secrets and try to stop them. The other mages discovered this and were insulted at such treatment. They argued and bickered. It soon escalated into a full-out war. The magical backlashes were equivalent, if not worse, than what you saw in Grylra."
Kosamiargi tilts his head, then looks along the Valley. "And it caused this?"
Dove shakes her head, "Not yet. Let me finish. The fighting was intense, both by magics and by beak and claw. gryphons fought and died by the hundreds throughout the sphere. Both sides created constructs to fight when they started running out of expendable gryphons."
Kosamiargi blinked a bit on that thought. Constructs?...
Dove nods, "Yes, constructs. Magically powered creations that would follow their creators' commands. The mages who fought against the Death Mages pooled their powers together to create a fighting force of unspeakable powers over the elements. Brute force, but very artificial."
Kosamiargi gives a slight nod, as she near reads his mind on the curious idea...
Dove finishes, "Well, a small handful of mages were unsure if brute force would be enough against the dangerous powers, so they snuck off to start work on a new type of construct in secret. But while they were still working on it, the others unleashed the full force of the other constructs all at once on the location of the Death Mages. The fully combined powers of innumerable magical constructs so thoroughly destroyed the hillside that they targeted, that it became a valley. The side effect of it all was that the Death Mages' powers mixed with the powers of the constructs to relive the fighting for centuries. The life was sucked from the land as it was simultaneously destroyed. Thus, the Valley of the Damned came to be."
Kosamiargi turns once more, tilting his head slightly and looking along the wasteland silently. To try and imagine the place as once being a hillside...it was impossible. And amazing. A soft twinge in the back of his mind, a momentary flare of memory from Before. Scadazia missile attack... The black drake rumbled, and thuroughly shook his head, trying to figure out what that just was... "Hrrr...Then what of the city?"
Dove sighs, "It was destroyed by the fighting and the backlash of the destruction of the Valley. Not all gryphons were destroyed. The fighting did not immediately stop all the fighting. It continued and ravaged for a few years longer until finally the gryphons realized that they were going to run themselves to extinction if they didn't stop. But they still didn't agree and hence, they split off into different groups. Aeries came and went, until they became what they are today. The Old Magics were mostly lost in the war. What was left was weaker and changed as the years went on. Windhaven has the most extensive of libraries and still actively practice such magics. But only their Great Mages can even come close to that old power..." She almost sounds embarrased about this part, "Except me."
Kosamiargi rumbles quietly, remembering well enough the magics she had used before. The abiltity to force stone and wood to fly up, to form walls. He shook his head just slightly, pondering this. "You have power like they once did?"
Dove shakes her head, "Not exactly. Remember I said that some mages snuck off to work on a new construct? Well, their work was interrupted when the Valley was created and that construct was hidden away with magic but the only problem is they didn't return to finish their work."
Kosamiargi gives a slight nod to that...and then goes still, quietly thinking this over. "You...?"
Dove adds softly, "It took a few hundred years before the magics wore off and I woke up. But I had no memories of my past until I had a memorable run-in with a certain Shkrill. I repayed him by nearly destroying the entire Aerie where the Shkrill used to live, making it unfit for anyone to live, against my own will."
Kosamiargi frowns just slightly, and slowly tilts his head. "So you are....artificial...."
Dove shrugs, "Not sure. I'm just as real as any gryphon. I bleed, I cry, I have emotions, I eat, I sleep." She looks down at herself and says, "I just wasn't finished." She looks up and says straight out without any sadness or regret, "But I'm not normal, no."
"How are you not complete?" This does rather strike him as out of the ordinary. But then, he also wonders why he...doesn't fear her, either. Her power, as strong as it is....She could likely kill him easily. And not being complete could only... The black drake sighs, and looks back up into the Valley quietly. Skies, he was brought here at the best of times. Just think if he had arrived back then, how weak and easily killed he would have been....
Dove looks at you and shakes her head, "I was not given the full powers of the others." She looks down at herself and then back up at you, "Besides, I don't *look* normal, now do I?" She sighs, "I am as powerful in some respects as the Great Mages of Windhaven and I'm not complete. That gives you an idea of the power once wielded. Gryphons everywhere were terrified of me at first...except Stormdancer and a few others at Grylra." She looks at the bones on the couch, "Even Altair believed in me after she got to know me." She looks back, "That is why I understand what she went through. When magic left the sphere, her powers were awakened out of self preservation. It terrified gryphons just as I had done." She sighs. "But she did not try to live as a gryphon anymore..."
Kosamiargi looks to the bones quietly for a time, thinking about all this. Eventually he looks back up along the Valley, and up where the ruins would be. "You say these lands, those ruins...They could still hold the power of the Old Magics. Which would mean what? Another could gain them, or perhaps be killed by them?"
Dove wingshrugs. "I'm not sure. I feel Altair's power at work in healing the blasted landscape here. I feel the power of the destruction out there." She points to the lands around the green patch. "But I feel more, somewhere. Something got left behind, survived, and is still there. But I can't tell where or what it is or what it can do. I was built to destroy, not scry. We may have to go to Windhaven and ask them." She refers to her quiet friends nearby and continues, "But we'll return to Grylra first and see what Stormdancer and *our* mages want to do first."
Kosamiargi rumbles quietly, curiosity deep. He wants to look, to see what's up there. Even if there's nothing, it's a part of history that's beginning to really interest him. "You know..." He tilts his head slightly. "If there was something else alive out there...Something like you...Who's to say the aeries wouldn't go to war to try and be the first to gain that power?"
Dove shakes her head. "Trust me, I know this for a fact. There are no more like me. They were all used in that attack on the Death Mages. Only reason I'm still here was because I was hidden away."
"The Shkrill have weapons...items of old, that I guess hold some kind of power from how they're guarded. You think that there is something still up there, so it could be something similar." He tilts his head. "It's a thought, merely. One I'd rather not think of, no matter the clan I happen to be part of." He gives an idle glance towards you, both to make a point of himself, as well as to see your expression os such things. "I don't know anything...I know this. I could, perhaps, be using thoughts that pertain too much to Before, but...To me, if what you say is right, I could see some of my own wingmates trying to fight for such power as that..." He shakes his head a little...
Dove shakes her head as she wingshrugs, "No one knows how the Shkrill are going to be from day to day. Many have rejected magic outright, preferring brute force. Some just want power, no matter the cost. Now you can start to see why no one trusts the Shkrill. Why we warned you about joining them. I'm sure they know about the potential this place has...and the dangers. If you think you can just walk around and pick something up without danger, you are sadly mistaken. The same goes for what lies in Fort Crag. The elders may have discovered that the Old Magics do not give themselves up easily. Many guards and wards are placed over such things. They may have put them under lock and key for your own safety. They are brutal, but they are far from being stupid."
Kosamiargi chuckles ever so softly, and gives a nod toward the hen. "I...un..." He clears his throat a little, a rumbles deeply. That she knew of what had happened...and what still will happen between him and Githent... "I understand this idea for power and such. I see it in some. Perhaps I just help in the sane air of it all." He tilts his head softly. "In some ways, I admit...I feel sorta...the same. Though my hatreds and fights have near-almost only been back at the clan I live in..." He tilts his head slightly, and flattens his feathers. "Ever feel like you've found yourself caught up in more than you want to be part of?..."
Dove literally raises a forearm to rest her beak in her claw and looks at Kosamiargi with a bored look. "I'm a weapon of destruction, capable of destroying whole areas, or saving them as the case was with the bugs in Grylra. Um, yeah. I know how it feels."
Kosamiargi grins, and snickers softly. "Did you ever get the feeling someone was being sarcastic?"
Dove just grins.
Kosamiargi gives a slight shrug of wing, and nods. "I meant for myself..." He looks up toward the western skies. "Too curious, too busy trying to learn everything all at once. I'm not sure if it's good or bad that I do that...But I'm starting to learn quite a bit about things that could...potentially be bad? So to speak?"
Dove nods and simply says, "Welcome to the real world, Kosamiargi. At least your new one." She looks to her friends and asks if they are ready to go. They answer yes and she stands up, spreading her wings. She turns to Kosa one last time. "Fly safe and stay safer. Good bye, Kosamiargi."
Kosamiargi gives the slightest of nods in return. "And to you, Dove. Clear skies." He simply watches for now, to see her and the band leave...Safe or no, he still plans to explore. Too much curiosity to merely go back...
All four Grylrans step back and give each other space, each one taking off after the other until in seconds all four are airborne. Within minutes they are specks in the sky, leaving one lone Shkrill to think and consider what he has learned this day.