OOM: Elysium or Shephard's quest for an arm.

[brave_kreyu]

Even before the Combine came, Shephard's world had few places left that had never known the touch of men. This forest has no name, for no tribe of wanderers has ever dared to settle here, to harvest the mighty oaks that tower far above his head.

It is nearly noon on Midsummer's day, but little light reaches Shephard and Kreyu down here on the forest floor. The only thing of note in the clearing is a large ring of mushrooms, a formation sometimes called a faerie ring.

Comments

[hecu_marine]

Shephard leans all the way back on his heels, peering upward into the treetops; then he glances down again at the forest floor all around.

"This place has got to have some truly fuckin' incredible boars."

(He's done a little research, ever since Kreyu mentioned Faerie was the target zone. There's more than a few pigs of legend out there; you don't want to piss them off.)

[brave_kreyu]

"There are indeed," Kreyu replies. "And likely they have far greater kin in Elysium proper."

Wait, what?

"Elysium is not a place that can be reached readily, much like a certain Bar of our acquaintance. That circle is our way in."

Kreyu looks at him, deadly serious. "It would take me years to teach you all that I would deem useful about Elysium, but a brief primer must suffice."

"The laws of nature do not always apply there. Your sense of direction, time, space, sight, sound, scent, taste, and touch will all lie to you at times. If you wander more than an arms length or two from me you could leave the path and I might never find you again."

"Carry no iron with you, for the fae will kill anyone who brings their bane within their realm. Accept nothing from anyone, lest it be a debt used to your detriment by a malicious fae."

[hecu_marine]

"...."

Yahuh. Okay. Well.

He's got the shield; that's bronze. The sword, too. The only other metal he's got on him is his fly, and that's brass; that ought to do the trick. All he has to do is stay close to Kreyu in a completely unfamiliar place that essentially wants to turn him inside out and never let him go.

So, Xen basically. But with a dragon.

"Bring it on."

[brave_kreyu]

Kreyu looks a bit amused at that reply, but nods in acknowledgment. They step into the circle and the world blurs a bit, as if he's got something greasy in his eye.

When his vision clears, the clearing is not as it was a second ago. Earthly oak trees don't get THAT big, do they? The trunks of some of the trees ringing this clearing could be hollowed out to allow medium sized sedans to pass through them.

Something white and graceful looking stomps its left front hoof and makes a huffing noise before leaping out of sight into the brush.

[hecu_marine]

The word Shephard briefly blurts is difficult to translate out of the Polish language, save to say that the person who taught it to him warned him never to use it in front of nuns.

At least he has the good grace to look embarrassed about it as he turns in Kreyu's direction.

[brave_kreyu]

Kreyu smiles softly at Shephard. She doesn't mind his language. "Elysium surprises even me from time to time," she admits.

"We're lucky that unicorn did not have a foal at its side, they can be quite aggressive when protecting their young." Kreyu extends her senses, looking for the road. "Ah, directly ahead, for once."

As they make their way forward, a large iridescent blue butterfly the size of Shephard's hand decides to ride along on his head. (If Kreyu's reaction is any indication, the gigantic butterfly is precisely what it looks like, and therefore harmless.)

[hecu_marine]

"Any momma would be," murmurs Shephard. "It ain't never wise to git too close to a momma wild thing with a baby. You gon' end up in a whole new world of hurting."

The butterfly's a bit of a surprise, but Shephard doesn't seem too fussed by it. The way he sees it, if an insect that big thinks he's harmless enough to perch on, it's probably a good sign. If nothing else, at least he's not being grotesquely unnatural.

[brave_kreyu]

Kreyu nods in agreement. As they move forward, they can hear the sound of rushing water. A stream close by, maybe?

Maybe not. Several miles pass by with the sound of water growing ever louder. Then, at last, a fast rushing river stretches out before them and Kreyu curses softly under her breath. The correct route here seems to lie in hopping from stone to stone across the turbulent water.

She frowns. "Something doesn't feel quite right about this...." she mutters.

[hecu_marine]

Shephard glances at the water, eyes narrowing a little. "How deep's it get out here?" he says. "Deep enough for somethin' to live in that might jump out at a bad time?"

[brave_kreyu]

"It's entirely possible," Kreyu replies. "But we must cross the river, whatever there may be beneath the water."

The blue butterfly lifts off from his head and lands on his nose, flapping its wings twice. It flits a few feet a way from them, then comes back to land on his nose again. It's almost as if it's trying to tell them something....

[hecu_marine]

Shephard grunts, and eyes the butterfly. "You gon' have to try a little harder'n that," he says, and only half sounds as if he's joking. "I know Bee, not Butterfly."

There are advantages to growing up with a mother who kept hives.

[brave_kreyu]

The butterfly flits farther away this time, over to the riverbank. It ignores the stones entirely and moves toward the rapidly rushing water. It lands on the surface of the river as if it were no different than solid ground. The river rages, but the butterfly stays in place, entirely unruffled and at ease.

[hecu_marine]

"...."

He's almost sure that a place like Faerie isn't supposed to reference Christian miracles, but whatever.

"I'mma close my eyes for this one," he promises, and does so. Because looking at the surface of the river as he steps on it is just going to screw up his already-wobbly balance.

[brave_kreyu]

The river feels solid under his feet as they cross the water, Kreyu leading ever so slightly. When they reach the other side, the river is suddenly.....gone. As if it was never there.

Up ahead is a stone archway, overgrown with ivy. A great stone gargoyle lurks atop the doorway, its face ferocious and its body made of sharp lines and angles.

As they are about to pass through the archway, the gargoyle opens one eye and spreads its wings with a cracking sound. "Who dares pass this way?" it rumbles in a voice like a landslide.

[hecu_marine]

The first thing that comes to mind does not get said.

However, the second thing does, and the second thing that comes to mind is, "Who wants to know?"

... we're so sorry.

[brave_kreyu]

Kreyu represses the urge to facepalm.

"Hah!" It rumbles. "As if I would give my NAME to any fool who asked for it." The gargoyle peers at him, its yellow eyes glowing as if lit from within. "I am the Guardian of this gate, man-child..."

"We are two travelers, seeking the court of the Daea," Kreyu interjects, diplomatically.

The gargoyle turns to look at her. "Then the toll must be paid, Shadow Spinner." The gargoyle settles back onto its perch, "Proof of wit and cleverness I must have from any soul that would pass this way."

Kreyu raises an eyebrow. "A riddle answered?" The gargoyle nods.

[hecu_marine]

"Oh, for- yeah, okay." Shephard resettles himself carefully; that shield is heavy and he's been carrying it a while. "I c'n do that for you. What've you got?"

[brave_kreyu]

"A cloud was my mother, the wind is my father, my son is the cool stream, and my daughter is the fruit of the land. A rainbow is my bed, the earth my final resting place, and I'm the torment of man. What am I?"

[hecu_marine]

Sure does take the thing a lot of words to put forth a fairly basic question, but Shephard's not about to complain, seeing as how he knows the answer right off.

"That'd be rain, I'm thinkin'."

[brave_kreyu]

The gargoyle scowls. "That is so," it snarls. Clearly, it did not want him to get the answer right.

Kreyu gets a riddle of her own. "There are four brothers in this world that were all born together. The first runs and never wearies. The second eats and is never full. The third drinks and is always thirsty. The fourth sings a song that is never good."

"Water, Fire, Earth and Wind." The gargoyle grunts a reluctant affirmative. "I am bound by my oath to let you pass," it grumbles. "Go in peace." With that, the gargoyle is once again lifeless stone.

[hecu_marine]

As they pass, Shephard glances over his shoulder. "That's the lowball, right?" he says. "The one they throw at us to make me say somethin' stupid like 'shit, this is gonna be a breeze'?"

[brave_kreyu]

"Faerie is what it is," Kreyu explains. "The gargoyle is bound to guard that gate and demand an answer to its riddles. In return, it has the right to devour all who fail."

There are definitely bones, human bones, scattered on this side of the arch as if from something feeding on the top of it.

"Beings such as he are as much a part of the landscape here as the deer and the trees."

[hecu_marine]

"Didn't know about the devouring part," says Shephard, a little startled. He's not going to get any louder than that, though. He'd pretty much expected a whole lot of homicide around these parts to start with, from the way Kreyu had spoken of it.

"I'mma keep that in mind. Where to next?"

[brave_kreyu]

"Had he tried to devour US, he would have bitten off more than he could chew," Kreyu replies with a predatory grin. Nom nom nom tasty minerals.

"A left here, and....." Oh look, a hedge maze! A really, really, frustrating hedge maze that appears to have been inspired by M. C. Escher. It looks like it will take HOURS of backtracking and cursing to find a way through this thing.

Several hours later....

Kreyu curses at length in at least 4 languages as she finds herself standing upside down on the "floor" of yet another dead end. Hacking at the maze does nothing, and flying over it has proven impossible.

[hecu_marine]

Shephard's going to have to remember a few of those. Well, okay, all of those. You don't waste perfectly good profanity.

However, when navigating the maze no longer works, and cursing no longer works, and cutting your way free no longer works... well, he's gonna sit himself down on the ground and think a bit. He's tired. His right arm's starting to shake some. It's been a long walk so far and it's not getting any shorter. Might as well try thinkin'.

Eventually he looks up at the hedges and calls out, "Don't suppose you'd be so kind as to open up and let us through, pretty please?"


(What? The Green Faerie told him he had to ask the Big Damn Fish nicely before it would come out of the pond. Maybe it would work again.)