Unbound

Seventeen Months Ago

Atop the Klaven Cliffs the City of Neer stood tall, an edifice of grey-green stone and glowing sapphires. The slums of Neer, however, draped from the fractured cliffs like the cast-off rags most of their inhabitants wore. Housing was ramshackle at best, and most of the area was tacked onto the Klaven Cliffs; an unwanted, rotting appendage. Complicated knots of rope and rusted chains held the platforms relatively secure, though the sharp winds off the Darkwine Sea often set entire neighborhoods swaying. Men and women of all Races clambered across the rope bridges and slatted walkways, laboring at their many tasks while Market Day merchants rolled slowly through the elevated streets, crying out their wares.

In the midst of all this, a woman with pale, flaxen hair and bright orange eyes was quickly saddling her mount. Beasts of burden were uncommon in the slums, but not entirely noteworthy, especially not an avum so ugly. The giant bird had a squashed face with a blunt, hooked beak and dark eyes. Its coloration was closer to mud than the sleek black or white of the noble mounts, and the docked fantail curled against its rear revealed the truth. This was a mutt, likely the unintentional brood of some noble breeder. The avum kept nibbling at the woman's skirts, searching for treats.

"Focus, Grouse," the woman said, her smooth skin and clean robes telling against the general grime of the area. They stood in the uneven space between tenements, before a weather-worn wooden hut. "We've a long way to go."

"Do you truly have to leave, Ana?"

The woman, Ana, looked up and she beheld the crooked form of an elderly woman. She was draped in a thick woolen stole, despite the warmth of the autumn morning. "Avet's eye, Mauvim, not so loud."

The old woman didn't hear her, or at least pretended not to. "You'll take up a new Mask, then?"

Ana paused her fingers on the bridle of Grouse's kit. She cast her senses outward, letting her Perception bathe the area for a moment. No one was listening, and the wards she'd inscribed were still empowered. "If that is what I must do. The sabotage of the summoning will have diverted the Unbound. They'll be sent far and wide instead of to Amaranth. We must be there when they arrive."

"Unbound," scoffed Mauvim, her face crumpling in disgust. "That we have resorted to such tactics..." The woman shook herself, as if chasing off a line of thought. "I suppose it is better to have them in hand than give them to the Heirophant. She'll burn us all."

"She'll try," Ana promised, a light in her eyes. Mauvim smiled, and it was like the sun breaking from behind a cloud. Her ancient face was transformed into a map of joy.

"That is the fire I need to see in you, girl. The fire all Chanters need," she nodded again, which sent her jowls swinging. "The others are headed north and south, so where shall you go?"

"West, I've a position in Haarwatch's Guild that I've been gone from too long. The Guild will have the resources I'll need. The East holds no welcome for me anyway, and I would be foolish to tempt fate," Ana finished cinching a buckle on Grouse's kit and walked over to her. Mauvim was the closest thing she had to family, at least one that still lived. Yet the woman's smile faded into a thunderous frown. "What is it?"

"The West. The Song grows wild to the West, girl. It shall be dangerous."

"As it ever was," Ana said softly.

"As it ever shall be," Mauvim completed the ritual words. Their place was not to shy from the dangers of the Continent, not in this task or any other. "I am sad to see you run from this Mask, though. I've come to love your Ana. There is a Truth to it."

The orange-eyed woman smiled sadly and shrugged. "My Truth will carry with me, Mauvim. I shall be as I am needed, and in Haarwatch, this face shall not do."

A glimmering chime took the air, though none but they could hear it. Light and Mana shifted, so subtly and so quickly that to blink was to miss it entirely. Where once pale-haired, orange-eyed Ana stood now there was an equally tall woman with ochre skin and sea-green hair that fell in waves beyond her shoulders.

"A Naiad? Interesting, girl. Interesting." Mauvim's eyes were bright as she beheld her. "What's your name?"

"Zara Cyrene," she gave a curtsy in her robes and smiled a sharptoothed smile. "Back from an expedition, long overdue."

"Ah, an old Mask. Your Truth rides along. It makes my heart happy, girl."

Zara stooped down and hugged the old woman, careful not to bruise her ancient limbs. Endurance had never been Mauvim's point of focus. "I'll find them, Mauv. All of them. The Heirophant's council is scrambling since the sabotage. Not even they know where the Unbound will land."

"Harmony does," Mauvim pointed out. "They aren't blind to it, much as I wish they were. Have a care in the wilds."

"I will."

"You better," she warned. What she didn't say thrummed between them, the rapid fire impressions of their Affinity stats speaking at a level far more comprehensive than mere speech.

Zara mounted Grouse and wheeled the big bird around. She didn't say goodbye. She didn't have to, as their Spirits communed with the Harmony around them, between them. She could feel old Mauvim's care, her worries, and beneath it all, the bedrock foundation of their order: faith.

In people. In her.

"Come, Grouse. We've a long way to go."

Felix floated in the dark.

No.

Not floated. Suspended. Held.

Tentatively, his Mind quested outward, and he felt a smooth stretch of...something attached to him. In all directions. Threads? It was too dark to see color, to see anything. No solid surface was within reach, no matter how he shifted.

Shifted.

He could move his arms and legs, completely freely. Still, he felt...constrained. Like a huge weight was pulling at him from every side, so balanced that it wasn't tearing him apart, yet also heavier than anything he'd ever experienced.

A chime sounded, both far away and up close, resolving as a blue window appeared before him.

You Have Gained 8 levels!

You--

The edges of it flickered and spat golden sparks. It degraded completely after only a second, unable to complete the notification.

What?

The darkness began to waver before him, and sounds akin to an orchestra falling down a set of stairs started to fill his ears. Golden light, streaked liberally by a blue radiance, stabbed into the dark and released pure, refined notes that shook his Mind, Spirit, and Body as one. It was excruciating. A pressure built inside of him, one that began to match the forces that yanked him outwards, until Felix could no longer tell the difference between his screaming and the cacophony of music.

Then, thankfully, someone stabbed him.

The chaos vanished as Felix was catapulted back to his Body, and he became aware of two figures whispering harshly nearby.

"Why'd you do that?" One of them hissed.

"He moved!"

"So you stabbed him? What if he woke up?" Hisser shot back. Felix could feel the air shift around him as Hisser walked closer to his prone body.

"You think he'd wake up now? He fell through the roof!" Stabby said.

"And he's not dead, is he?" Hisser crept closer. Felix could practically feel him breathing on the back of his neck. "Where'd you even stab him? I don't see a--YUAHH!"

Felix grabbed Hisser's leading leg and yanked. The man's cloth pants ripped as he was thrown at least ten feet. Felix spun to his feet and turned on Stabby, but the other had already reacted.

He ran.

Taking in his surroundings, Felix leaped after him. Stabby tried dodging around some sizable fallen masonry, but Felix merely somersaulted over it and hit the jerk with the heel of his boot. Stabby dropped bonelessly to the ground.

Felix flared his Perception and felt his Mind begin to chug along, clearing away some of the cobwebs that had built up. Around him was a large stone...basement, was the first word that came to mind. It was huge and dark, the only light coming from a set of torches that these two had brought down with them, burning merrily near the center of the space. Big blocks of stone were scattered about, along with much smaller, broken pieces that had the look of bricks. Where they weren't ruined, alcoves dotted the walls, filled with small tables and a few unmarked vases.

Above them a hole gaped open, revealing a pitch black sky.

Where the hell am I?

Felix reached down, grabbed Stabby by the collar of his dark jerkin and started towing him back toward Hisser. He could sense the man was only just rolling painfully to his feet. A Human, just like Stabby. Without even activating his Eye, Felix could tell neither of them had advanced much farther than Apprentice Tier, which would explain why they were so easy to beat. Yet when he tried to use his Voracious Eye he felt a sharp pain in his gut, just above his navel. Like a pulled muscle that was also on fire. The sensation spread outward toward his limbs, traveling along his channels.

Notifications flashed in he corner of his vision, but Felix suppressed them. He didn't have time for this.

"Who are you?" Hisser asked as he straightened to find Felix stepping into the circle of firelight. "We--we just found you like that! I swear on the blackest Night we didn't do nothin' to you."

"Where are we?" Felix growled, trying to ignore the building pressure in his core. Hisser blinked in surprise.

"You don't know--? I mean, o'course. We're in the Cathedral of the Pathless. In Haarwatch," Hisser licked his lips nervously. "In the vault."

Felix just stared at him, not saying anything.

"We didn't break in! The area already collapsed, see! We just saw an uh, an opportunity," Hisser said.

"We're in the basement of a cathedral?" Felix murmured and looked up again. From his newer angle, he could barely make out dark shapes looming above the hole, black against the far darker black. "Why's it so dark?"

"Where you been--?" Hisser said before he literally bit his lip and stopped himself. "Er, its been like this since the fight. Ya know? The big fight?"

"Fight?" Images flashed passed Felix's inner eye, memories recalled in painful clarity. "The...dragon?"

"Yeh. Dragon an' the Fiend fought, and the Fiend won!" The man laughed nervously, still eyeing Felix and the nearby darkness. "Clouds rolled in then and ain't left since."

"How long?"

"Wha? How long what?"

"How long since the fight," Felix practically snarled through the pain. His Song of Absolution felt like it wasn't doing anything for the pain, and Felix had to blink rapidly to keep his focus on Hisser.

"Uh, that was around sundown, so eight or nine glasses?"

Felix felt a knot loosen in his chest. He hadn't been gone for long. An irrational part of him worried he'd been Rip Van Winkled by all the essence he'd taken in, but thankfully not. A thought occurred to him, so suddenly he felt it like an electric jolt down his spine to accompany the fire in his blood. PIT!

Hisser flinched, but Felix was gone before the man so much as raised his arms to shield himself.

Felix felt their bond warm in his chest, not so much leading him as it was slowly revealing information about where Pit currently was; which was a relief, as he sensed stone and shadow in abundance. He found the tenku only a bit away, and realized why the two Humans hadn't found him: Pit's wings were pools of shadow in and of itself, and Felix could catch only the barest amount of crimson on his pinion feathers.

"Pit," Felix whispered, sending a pulse of inquiry through their bond. "Pit? You okay?"

Pit grumbled a bit before letting out a series of sharp, gurgling noises. Felix felt a part of his stress fall away. He was snoring.

"Jesus, you had me worried," Felix breathed, before berating himself. He could have just checked Pit's Status. He found the small feather icon in his vision and toggled it.

Name:

Pit (Companion)

Level:

29

Race:

Chimera - Tenku (+2 to PER, +2 to VIT, +2 to END, +3 to INT, +4 to WIL, +4 to AGL, +5 to DEX per Level)

Health:

599/861

Stamina:

485/613

Mana:

1188/1188

???:

???

STR:

106

PER:

117

VIT:

172

END:

112

INT:

158

WIL:

221

AGL:

197

DEX:

174

Skills:

Bite (C), Level 31

Rake (C), Level 34

Cry (R), Level 35

Skulk (C), Level 31

Etheric Concordance (L), Level 32

Wingblade (U), Level 35

Frost Spear (C), Level 36

Cold Resistance (C), Level 23

Poisonfire (R), Level 23

Flight (R), Level 10

Active Titles:

Survivor III

Butcher III

Unconquered

Face the Charge

Bulwark of the Innocent

Pactmaker

Work Horse

Blind Pugilist

Hero

Iron Will

Apprentice Magus

The Broken Path

Cage The Beast

Voidwalker

Indomitable

Unleash The Beast

The Shape of Fate II

Blessing of the Lost

Fatebreaker

Frostbane

Architect of the Rise

Pit's Harmonic Stats

RES:

32

INE:

72

AFI:

30

REI:

52

EVA:

52

MIG:

30

ALA:

54

FEL:

40

The chimera was hurt, but healing just fine. Felix hadn't had the presence of mind to keep track of Pit's Health during their latest struggle, but it seemed he hadn't been too terrible hurt before they'd converged. With the tenku residing in his Spirit or whatever, he suffered no damage at all; even if Felix had taken a giant lance of light to the arm and several tons of stone to the face.

Well, not to the face. Felix looked up a the gaping hole above. The memory is fuzzy but I landed after eating the Ravager King. I just don't think I kept my feet.

Everything must have collapsed beneath him, somehow.

Someone moved in the dark.

Now I gotta take care of that. Felix growled.

He found Hisser twenty yards away, putting a crowbar to a set of thick, paneled doors. Felix felt something swirl in the air, a feeling he normally didn't experience without activating his Manasight. His eyes widened. "Don't touch that."

"Ah!" Hisser leaped back, crowbar clattering to the ground as he tried to flatten himself against the far wall. The way the man's eyes moved, Felix could tell he was even more blind in the dark than Felix was feeling. "I wasn't stealin' nothin'!"

Obvious lie, Felix furrowed his brow. What could you steal from a church? But Felix could feel the air thicken as he drew closer to the ornate door, so he took a risk.

Manasight.

Felix's vision bloomed with unspooled light. Vapor hung tight against the surfaces of stone and iron and gold, while the thick shadows breathed with a grey-black mist that undulated through the space. Orange sparks danced above the two torches, while the dim outlines of crimson and green-gold pulsed through both Hisser and his unconscious friend. The Mana practically thrummed with a vibrancy Felix hadn't experienced before, possessing a liveliness he couldn't explain. Despite the jagged ache in his core, it felt right and natural, as if he'd been willfully blind before.

Ah. All around the ornate door were layers of Mana constructs. From ten feet away, he could pick out where sigils had been carved into the stone and metal, and where the Mana flowed through them like tiny rivers of molten light. Wards. A lot of them.

"What are you trying--"

Before Felix could finish the sentence, Hisser jabbed his crowbar at his face. It didn't even hurt, and as the crowbar rebounded from Felix's face and Hisser stared at him in growing fear, Felix struck once. The man flew back, directly into and through the warded doors.

Whoops.

The wards went off like fireworks in his Manasight. Squinting, Felix watched as several wards activated at once, each construct trying to ignite and drop a payload of a half dozen nasty surprises for the would-be thief. Groaning, Felix stepped forward and thrust his arm into the chaotic assembly of discharging wards. You're mine.

Ravenous Tithe.

Ravenous Tithe (Epic)

Consume completely an object or creature which you have claimed and can physically touch. Uses Mana to power conversion. Chance of gaining Skills and/or Memories from target if applicable.

The burning in his core intensified tenfold as he pulled Mana out of the air and into himself, while the pressure within him skyrocketed to all new heights. Yet as the air was denuded of Mana constructs and power streamed into him, Felix felt his core start to cool and the force in his channels ease up the smallest amount. He felt...better.

"Uuugh," Hisser groaned from the floor, and Felix's attention retracted from his aching core. He stepped forward through the cleared air, and found himself within a large room filled with rows and rows of tall shelves. He almost turned off his Manasight, as the fireworks from before were nothing compared to the radiance that absolutely dripped from the overstocked shelves. Vials, stones, statues, all manner of objects filled the room to bursting, and all of them gave off a dense concentration of Mana.

"By the Voice of Light, halt! What are you doing!" A voice shouted from behind, followed by the distinctive sound of discharging Mana.

Spinning, Felix batted the bolt of light out of the air with a bare hand, sending it smashing through several artifacts to his right. With his right hand, he formed it into a gasping claw.

Shadow Whip!

The burning returned, redoubling the pain. Smoky black vapor congealed in his grip before stuttering and bursting apart. Felix glared at his right hand as someone advanced on him, light Mana gathering between their hands.

"How dare you profane this house of faith! Thieves of the Night!" The man walk further forward while Felix fought against the pressure in his veins. His peripheral vision caught an aged face with a thick grey beard and somewhat dusty, once-white robes. The details weren't too important to Felix at the moment. "Begone from here!"

Screw this, Felix panted, before reaching both hands onto the nearest shelf. Mine.

Ravenous Tithe!