[Log] West Haven

[thequestgiver]

Characters: All on the road to West Haven
Open? Yep
Where: Starting at the gate of Schwanheim, on the way to and in West Haven
When: The 5th of Rebirth's Height


It was a clear morning, a touch warmer than the previous days, a sign that Rebirth was progressing along. For the more superstitious of Schwanheim's residents, it seemed a good omen for the heroes' journey to the unfortunate town of West Haven. Of course with how the weather of Rebirth ran, it might be pouring rain by the time they left the gates but that was Rebirth for ya.

[[OoC: this log will be split into 3 parts/sub threads. You don't have to tag the preparations or travel threads to arrive at West Haven.]]

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[sorcerous]

Under deprivation of oxygen, he cannot maintain the form he has chosen, and he reverts, floundering in the water. His hand touches the side of the well and he swims up, to the surface.

[shiromadoushi]

Bakura had been peering cautiously down the well, watching curiously, and had startled at the transform back in mid water. That... shouldn't have happened, he was sure! "Are you okay?" he asked, reaching a hand to help pull Loki up if he needed it. "What happened?"

[sorcerous]

Loki ignored him, for the moment. He lifted himself into the rim of the well -- why hadn't he thought of it before? The water shouldn't even be so high up. There was a reason wells were dug so deep. He reached out, and attempted to freeze the surface of the water. Would magic even take, with something like this?

[thequestgiver]

There was the expected crackle as ice seemed to almost race out from Loki's focal point, swiftly covering the surface of the water until it was solid.

[sorcerous]

"This place," said Loki, "is made of nothingness." He ignored the sodden robes, stepped over the well's edge and landed lightly on his feet, on the ground. "It's time we go."

He reached out for the gem, and began to make his way quick to the edge of the town.

[for_that_i_run]

Eagle didn’t bother to say much to the orders this person was giving even if the ‘take this to the king’ bit was something Eagle had reservations about. At least there wasn’t any point in staying here, he could agree with that much. Still as he too moved to walk towards the exit of this village, back toward the horses, Eagle’s hand fell instinctively to the hilt of his sword.
This place was made of nothingness? Then why had so many people been convinced that people had ‘disappeared’ here? And if it was a trap of some kind wouldn’t attempting to leave trigger it?

“Be careful.” The warning was likely unnecessary but he offered it anyway. “This town had to have been made for a reason. If it wasn’t to house people then it might have been to lure others here.”

/returns for a brief interlude

[ex_apaintingdarkly917]

It wasn't that Dark hadn't found anything on his venture to town. Sure, he hadn't found anything game changing, but that was because there was literally nothing to find. Whatever held the key to this place was elsewhere.

Unfortunately, when he returned to the edge of town his horse had gone. Most likely back to the stables he had come from.

Dark grumbled angrily and stomped around for a few minutes before sighing and closing his eyes again, this time to summon his wings. But something was wrong. For the first time, it hurt. Maybe Bakura was right. Maybe Dark finally had his wish. Maybe he was human.

He took a short time to recover, no longer than it would have taken Loki to get back out of the well, before taking off and flying in the direction of the castle.

[shiromadoushi]

Bakura held it out to be taken before following. There was something about this...

"That gem's the only thing that was here, though..." he pointed out. "There wasn't even an ambush..."

He looked over at the bag with the gem in it, expression rather wary. "I don't think we should bring that back with us... just in case."

[for_that_i_run]

It never hurt to hear the opinion of others so...

"What do you think we should do with it then? Just leave it here? It is the only thing we found."

[a_wider_world]

"Find a way to contain it."

Obi-Wan had moved up to observe them after making his own sweep of the town, a deep frown already darkening his face.

"If it is, itself, transmitting whatever is wrong with this place, it needs to be stopped. We need to show the King evidence of what has happened, but we can't take this thing back the way it is."

[for_that_i_run]

“If I still had any of my weapons with me it would be easy to contain it behind a force field,” He frowned ever so slightly at the weapons he had been given instead, a sword and shield were just not useful in a case like this, but the smile was quick to return a moment later, “but since I don’t I suppose that leaves it to you magic users.”

Eagle stepped away from the crowd and over to the Knight who had so kindly given him a lift out here.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. I should have told you to head back to the castle once we arrived. I won‘t be riding back with you.”

The Knight looked shocked and even thought to protest the idea as he opened his mouth as if to say something but Eagle pleasantly ended that by continuing to talk himself.

“Don’t worry. From the start I didn‘t intend to return with you.”

He took a few of the supplies that had been packed for his journey to West Haven but left enough to see the Knight back to the castle. The others could return to that castle if they wanted but he wanted to have a look around the area. Maybe he could find a few of the answers instead of more questions.
Eagle watched the Knight ride off before gathering up the things he had decided to bring on his little journey and heading off himself, granted at a significantly slower pace than a horse.

[sorcerous]

"Contain it?" asked Loki, with a raised eyebrow. "Our options are three: to keep it, to leave it, or to destroy it. I favor destruction. I favor that we raze this place to the ground. I have no doubt that it is a trap; this city did not exist before two days ago, perhaps three, and that those in the kingdom are convinced otherwise bodes very ill."

He wasn't letting go of the bag. Not yet.

"I will not leave it here," he said, "a trap baited for the unwary. Nor will I abandon companions to its mercy. Keep it, or destroy it."

[shiromadoushi]

"I think we need to figure out the point of the trap before we do..." Bakura pointed out. "To bring it back to a crowded town without knowing what it does could bring danger there, if there's a seal on it holding back something, destroying it could only make things worse."

If such things could even be destroyed...

[a_wider_world]

"Then we need to neutralize whatever is inside it. I'm afraid I'm not terribly familiar with magic and its disciplines. But whatever sort of energy this thing contains and emits, we need to identify it and cut it off. Ryou is right--simply destroying it might only spread the effect, so we'll need a more subtle touch."

He glanced meaningfully from Bakura to Loki and back.

"Suggestions?"

[sorcerous]

"Were I at my full power, a binding or destruction would be a trivial matter." As it is, he's only truly been able to summon ice and illusion -- an insult, truly, as this world seems to allow him only affinity with lies and his Jotunn heritage. "As it is, I may attempt it, but I can hardly guarantee success."

[shiromadoushi]

"Maybe if we work together? To combine magics?" Bakura suggested. His magic was support magic, after all! And that would be the sort of thing that would work back home...

He looked over at the bag again. If only they could get more information on what they were dealing with!

He paused, blinking once. Maybe...

"I wonder if it would work trying to purify it..." he wondered idly. "Or something like that so I could see inside it..."

[a_wider_world]

"Would you be able to keep yourself safe from its influence if you looked into it?" Obi-Wan ventured. "We'd do well to know what we're up against. But if it's unsafe I don't want you risking your safety before the thing is properly bound."

[sorcerous]

"Allow me to take the risk," said Loki. What more risk could there be? He had already fallen from the Bifrost and survived. Besides, it wasn't as though his purity could be threatened. He was as impure as a being could be.

Loki took a few steps away, and drew a circle in the dust with the tip of his boot. Paused, with the circle incomplete.

"Well," he said, testily, "step inside, and let's at least have protection from a bare handful of the danger here." He raised his voice. "And any other magic-users who feel inclined to lend their assistance."

[shiromadoushi]

Bakura nodded, carefully stepping inside, grip on his ridiculous looking staff tightly just a bit as he tried to ignore the feeling of mild apprehension. He'd just be lending Loki power, right? And Loki was far more experienced with this sort of thing, so nothing could go wrong...

Right?

[a_wider_world]

Obi-Wan followed his son's lead, moving into the small circle with an easy stride.

"What I have isn't quite magic," he told Loki, "but it may serve as an amplifier. And a buffer of sorts, I hope. Close the circle."

[sorcerous]

He dragged the circle closed and opened the bag, dropping the jewel to the dirt in the center. The circle thrummed with energy, flickered with it. An easy magic casting, but Loki has always done that well.

He knelt and drew runes in the ground. The runes of unmaking and ending and shards.

"We'll do this the simple way," said Loki, and reached out, for their hands.

[shiromadoushi]

Bakura nodded again, taking Loki's hand and closing his eyes, concentrating. A very faint white glow began to build up around him, as it always did when he used his magic. He didn't direct it, however, letting it hover around him for Loki to call upon when he began his spell.

[a_wider_world]

Obi-Wan took his companions' hands, drawing in a deep breath to center himself. He let himself relax into the living Force, into the sensations of life and energy gathering around him. His breathing was calm and even, his own power a steady, safe thrum between Loki's strangeness and Ryou's blinding light.

[sorcerous]

And Loki called forth power.

From Obi-Wan, there was a low pulse, like a pitch countless octaves below voice. It hummed in his chest, all around him, and as he breathed, he felt it revitalize his spent energy. He could hardly catch a glimpse, but he saw the bare corner of a web, a thousand strands woven together and trembling with a life force -- a web the size of the nine worlds. Power and potential too large to tap entirely, and Loki would have voiced his amazement at the very idea, but he was busy. After the spell.

With Bakura, he was more direct. He took the power and drew it into himself, breathed into his chest. Blinding-white, and it stung his skin, his heart, his bones. He was not the sort meant to wield the light, and the more he held it, the worse it ached.

He opened his eyes, and touched his hands to the runes.

Thurisaz (of power, of destruction), Hagalaz (of terrible, terrifying harnessed energy), Nauthiz (for need, for toil, for resistance) and Perthro -- the last, of mysteries, of investigation. He might as well cast one rune for their true purpose.

He drew the power and directed it, little channels and paths, finesse and talent. A lesser sorcerer may have simply bludgeoned the spell with the power, but Loki used it. He worked the spell to see what this gem was, to understand it's purpose, to locate that flaw within and break it apart, destroy, shatter. First, to see; next, to break.

[thequestgiver]

There was a hideous moment of silence as the nothingness of the gem seemed to almost absorb the energy being poured into it before the band of shadow in the center began to glow, a dull, sickening grey. There was a sudden snap as a crack flashed across the surface, the same smoke winding at the ground of the village beginning erupting outward from the glowing flaw.