Legend of the Everglow Part 1: Northward Bound

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Zero Venkage
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Re: Legend of the Everglow: Northward Bound

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Zero sighed, Bo’s litany of questions was expected, maybe not all at the same time. His enigmatic stance on responses served him well in situations where he didn’t need the trust of his companions. It had been so long since he actually needed to explain himself to anyone but Atra, and that shadow-clad Fae was even more enigmatic than Zero tried to be. His aloofness belied the true nature of the young flyman.

As the windmobile barreled across the dust and debris, Zero moved his neck in small circles to loosen up a bit of the tension he retained from escaping Duster’s in the nick of time. No need to bring that stress into a place where it’d only multiply. Gotta keep things light and loose.

“You might not have heard of Uran, but you might have heard legends of a few of its expats. The Urani people are pretty well known as ‘travelers from a far off land’,” he began.

“There’s more than a few legends across all corners of Vescrutia about distant travelers helping to cultivate order, win wars, being heralded as heroes of a people who turn their feats into legend. So their homeland is under constant siege-ish. Lots of people want revenge for their own fallen countries. Others want to conquer it and take the land for themselves. Which is why they’re tucked away behind a spell that hides them from prying eyes all the way out here in the Ganjun Wastes.”

Zero stretched, the sound of his own voice boring him as they made their way. He hated monologuing, but Bo hit him with everything all at once, so he had to sit through it all.

“I happened to be part of a group who was just looking for a few pieces of treasure. We found it, but not without some… complications.”

He paused as the speckled plot they approached seemed to ebb and flow, waving on the horizon. The heat made it hard for him to discern the kind of movement. He squinted for a moment and made an inquisitive groan to himself. Could have been dust or a mirage, but they’d have to get closer to discern.

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Dalazar Denkou
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Re: Legend of the Everglow: Northward Bound

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His eyes would widened as he listened to Zero's answers to his little pop quiz. Bo has gravely underestimated the esteem of this journey. They were actually going to a place of legend?! His eyes were sparkling with intrigue absorbing the tiny crumb like details he was hearing. He whipped out his pocket book. It was where he jotted down anything of note to him so that he could research it later. He'd start a fresh page and column for this journey alone.


He knew he smelled it on him. The scent of a man who has seen his fair share of the world. Bo's instincts about people were scarcely wrong. The Urani sounded much like the Denkou in the sense that outsiders were typically unwelcomed. A place riddled in myth and prestige abut nothing was known of the Denkou as far as he had come to know. No legends to behold, no story told. The seclusion of maintaining their heritage came with the territory of being an autonomous power. No...there had to be something out there. His people marched for ten millennia in search of a hoe. What happened during that time ? Just their lands alone were this infamous? Bo had to admit the deeper into this realm they went the colder he was begging to feel despite the heat around them. It was more of an inward chill, an omen?


This is an Errand to him? Heh...he's nuts

Though he'd have to have been just as crazy for deciding to tag along with a complete stranger. Though never in Bo's wildest dream did he think te would be searching for what sounded like a literal utopia. Bo listened intently to Zero's mini discourse. Noticing the slight somberness of his voice...
“I happened to be part of a group who was just looking for a few pieces of treasure. We found it, but not without some… complications.”
Complications?

"Meaning...People died"

Bo said as they continued towards the horizon. He would fold his hands in a pyramid formation. A signature of his people that gestured for the safe passing of the souls of those who chased the beyond before him. Seekers of legends pursuers of ancient hidden knowledge. This is what he came from. He thought back to his time at the academy and a rather strange occurrence that prompted him to take start this journey across Vescrutia.
Suddenly Dazuma realized that he wasn’t looking at Hughes, Misha, or the Neovian Arcadium anymore. He was looking upon Vescrutia from space. Watching the suns and moons dance around the mother planet in a celestial waltz.

“You remind me…”

A voice called out to him, familiar and foreign. As the cosmic entities spun faster and faster a flash of light flooded Dazumas vision as Vescrutia regarded him by name.

“Dazuma, it is not secret that you are destined for great purpose. Like 42nd Pillar you walk the path of the Recorder. It’s time to uncover the truth. And it begins with a single question…”
"I promise Zero...You will not witness my fall today...I absolutely must survive"

It would all unravel before him, this purpose this path. He just needed to keep searcher...hunting for the answers. He didn't mean to pester Zero but he had to ask whatever he could...he would consider it currency for his help here.

"One more Question."

He said as his hands seeped into his pockets, grabbing his pocket book once more.

"You ever heard the term "Pillar" before?"

If Uran was home to deep rooted treasures perhaps information about these Pillars also exited there somewhere. The 42nd Pillar; The Recorder. This is what he heard in that vision. How many of them were there? What did they all stand for? He didn't know if he would even find any information here. BUt he had to ask...there was a common thread here somewhere...
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Zero Venkage
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Re: Legend of the Everglow: Northward Bound

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“This is probably the most dangerous part and we’ll be fine.”

Zero answered absentmindedly. Once he started going on about vows to not fail he lost interest. He imagined how many of these felled warriors strewn about this district of desolation who arrived with the same sentiment, following some military into the maw of doom. Even his companions from his first venture came with the same energy, devoted to the cause. But Zero learned better than to trust these placid convictions. Sadly, not everyone could live up to their own expectations. The sheer amount of bones, corpses, and convictions laid to rest in this wonderland of dust punctuated the notion.

They approached an area marked on four straight sides rusted weaponry and mangled bones. The stretch of bedrock they floated above ended at a hard line where the heat intensified into a wall their weightless chariot ground against. The heat waves roiling above this perfectly square depression obscured any details from their sight like looking through swift running water.

Their blustery transport let them disembark slowly, dropping them right at the edge of this massive depression. The heat of the suns was nothing compared to this wall of boiling atmosphere flowing in front of them. The debris nearest to it either melted, bones bleached to a pristine, glistening white just inches away from its perimeter.
"You ever heard the term "Pillar" before?"
“I don’t know much about pillars, but here’s a pit,” Zero responded jokingly. Pillars came in all shapes and sizes across Vescrutia. There were too many to really sift through, Zero traveled at least half of the seas across their world and many pillars he came across were felled or even underwater. He might have seen one of the types Bo sought if he knew the style.

“What kinda pillar are you looking for?”

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Dalazar Denkou
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Re: Legend of the Everglow: Northward Bound

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Bo meant every word he said. He had to believe them to be his only present truth. It was those very words that laid in tandem with his duty. He thought about the vision he had. The world had seemed to fade around him and he found himself nestled within the cosmic bosom of the stars. A voice called out to him. It echoed in his soul. He wasn't given much to work with other than the mentioning of something or someone called The Recorder.

"Of Change...I believe"

The world around them began to change, and although not to the effect of his vision prior to, it still would manifest as a harbinger to the dark. The hot smoldering heat of the pit almost singed his nose hairs. He Adjusted his scarf making it looser for fear it'd be drenched in sweat. He would began to disrobe, taking off the scarf and cloak placing the cloak in his sack and tie the scarf around his head. As he styled it in the traditional Denkou head dress that many of the royals were known for he, thought to ask further.

"I have had... a most precarious vision."

He said as he nearly finished styling his scarf.

"It happened in the very halls of The Neo Conservatory. I spoke with profressor their, accompanied by a Warg in the middle of there conversation the World melted around me and i found myself drifting amongst the cosmos"

With his slightly above shoulder lentgh hair now resting comfortably in a high rise ponytail now resting over the scarf. He turned to Zero.

"It was there that I heard...a voice. It told me i bore likeness to the 42nd Pillar; The Recorder and that I myself might be one such Pilar. A pillar of what however...I have no idea"

He reached into his pouch and from it emerged a cantine. He'd drink from it, he couldnt tell if Zero packed water of his own so he took out a spare one he had and chucked it Zero's way Hydration was important in these kinds of climates. Bo's frame made him resistant to such extremes but even still he had to keep his body care for. The real journey has yet to begin.

"Something tells me...it is imperative that I find out before the coming of the next Astral Year..."

Time was running short. If he did not walk into in fullness his birthright the Denkou very much so the very nature of this world they all shared could meet it's end...
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Zero Venkage
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Re: Legend of the Everglow: Northward Bound

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"Forty-two? That’s a pretty serious number in some cultures. Your visions are talking some serious business, aren’t they?"

Forty-second Pillar, The Recorder. Zero mused over the image of Bo playing some sort of wind instrument while floating through the expanse of immutable, unpredictable space in his mind. If his visions were to be believed, Bo’s destiny started to lay itself out for him already. Zero rarely felt that way about the events that befell him. Many of them he considered unlucky happenstance or just being at the right place at the right time. If you come out on the other side of those things a little bit better, then it’s a power up. Visions had a way of being incomplete, so they couldn’t always be trusted.

"I guess you have your hands full until then, don’tcha?"

Zero chuckled and gave Bo a friendly pair of finger guns. His dedication to his gifted vision eased some of Zero’s apprehension to his earlier convictions. Maybe he could really hold his own in a pinch. Or, he’d make for a great story subject.

Then his attention turned to the roiling pit in front of them. The concentration of heat and Naten made him curious. Legends about the Golden City he originally studied to find the entrance warned of traps along the way, but only spoke of the desert itself. The blistering heat multitudes hotter than the desert appeared to be more deterrent than trap.

"Ok, here’s where we’re at. I don’t know the best way to get us both in there without... Being extra. And I don’t think being extra is going to help down there. So, I don’t know how to ask this but… Are you gonna melt if we go in there?"

Bo’s response would dictate how extra Zero would have to be to take their expedition to the next, lower level.

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Dalazar Denkou
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Re: Legend of the Everglow: Northward Bound

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Forty-second Pillar, The Recorder. Zero mused over the image of Bo playing some sort of wind instrument while floating through the expanse of immutable, unpredictable space in his mind. If his visions were to be believed, Bo’s destiny started to lay itself out for him already. Zero rarely felt that way about the events that befell him. Many of them he considered unlucky happenstance or just being at the right place at the right time. If you come out on the other side of those things a little bit better, then it’s a power up. Visions had a way of being incomplete, so they couldn’t always be trusted.
So the number is what bore the significance not the title itself? He smiled his eyes would've teared up a little if it was so got damn hot around here. Finally, after 4 months of wandering and searching he had found a at least an iota of a clue. That was all he needed for what was to happen next. He looked to Zero and smiled his normal cracked smirk grin.

"Oh Zero... didn't you hear me?"

He said as his index and middle fingers on his right hand began to radiate a soft green hue before a sharp snapping sound would be heard. This action activated a sigil of Bo's Shirt that caused it to totally dissipate into nothing revealing his bare torso. Hi body was quite defined and toned. Bo' had spent year honing his vessel into the perfect container for his inheritance. His standing as one of the purest Denkou blood duty bound him to train vehemently in the pursuit of mastering his physical so that he might one day master his magic just the same, Upon his body would be seen several runic like tattoos. The Emerald Serpent, The Crimson Ant, The Ebon Bear, and the Sapphire Mantis. Each representing on of the Four glorious Houses of Denkou who have governed the precarious nature of lightning magic through several millennium . It was this his pride, for them his joy he stood here today. He would face toward the pseudo gate way to hell. He would inhale deeply, closing his eyes for but a second before exhaling staring into the searing abyss.

"I...will not die..."

His tone was solid. Unshakable. A mere moments later and Bo would began gathering his naten. His frame began to radiate a beryl hue as his eyes shimmered with a subtle blue flare.

"I wield this power with the intent to protect those near me"

Bo's particular magic was one crafted through his desire to speak things into existence. Both his desire and need to manifest his truths to forge a path ahead. When he names his intent before casting a spell it can be furthered by also using a specialty of his. They would not perish here

"Concentration Magic; Light: Cloak of the beryl Wraith..."

Several greenish blue glyphs would manifest around Bo as he outstretched his palms to his left and right ,slowly he brought them together concentrating the light energy into an orb in his hands. He'd lift right his hand which now carried the orb and crushed it dispersing the light particles over the two of them. Upon their person would manifest a light veil of naten(Like Mana skin from Black Clover). He wasn't sure how hot this place was going to get, nor what extremes Zero needed to take, but he'd offer this boon to add a another layer of safety for the journey down. So long as he had naten and they weren't two far apart he could increase the magic power as needed. Within Bo was a writhing sense of anxiousness and excitement, a tinge of fear and a shit ton of readiness. Things were stating to get a little exciting.

Even if its just a small chance...right now I have to take it...I must..
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Zero Venkage
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Re: Legend of the Everglow: Northward Bound

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“Haha, word, my guy.”

Clad in a glowing skin not unlike some of his own enchantments, Zero took a step down into the undulating heat. He felt the pressure of Naten flowing from deep within the pit’s corridors, but the heat’s intensity dropped by magnitudes. The atmosphere pressed on them like water a few feet beneath the surface of the sea, just enough to make it difficult to breathe naturally. Zero turned over his own palm in front of them and produced his own glowing orb as a navigating torch.

“Experience goes to show that the deeper we go into this possible labyrinth, the closer we’ll be to what we need. The Urani don’t really don’t like to be found easily. Not even their own people can get back home easily with setups like this.”

Zero waved Bo down into the darkness with him, the corridor they entered only wide enough to fit two bodies side by side. As the way forward narrowed, so did the amount of pressure on them. Without Bo’s mystic magic veil, the pair might not even have visibility beyond their hands.

Immaculate brick patterning lined the walls, a deliberate construction by some fine craftsmen. Juxtaposed with the various rusted weaponry and bleached bones, it gave Zero a familiar sense of anxiety. Anywhere they stepped could be a trap.

“Tread lightly.”

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Dalazar Denkou
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Re: Legend of the Everglow: Northward Bound

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The further they traveled the tighter the fit. It would go without saying that Bo posses a bit of a phobia concerning caves. Being born in a Kingdom who’s roots are embedded in the Emerald Ascension, It was strictly forbidden for anyone not sanctioned to do so to be in the mines. Carved into its walls are hundreds of tunnels and caves that as a kid he was told contained a litany of horrors. After what he experienced in that cave…his brother…the blood.

Focus!

He snapped at himself his eyes adjusting to the darkness that was slowly swallowing them. The soft hue highlighted the finely laid brick of the walls. Such craftsmanship even here in the midst of a boiling abyss. That actually was a bit calming to him. It did not cause him to lower his guard but at least keep him from hyperventilating. He was not back home anymore, these were not the forbidden halls of the mountain. Here in this moment. He was here as nothing more than an adventurer.

“Oh trust I intend to “

He said taking a large gulp making sure to keep his footing steady. His magic supply was in good demand. He stayed near Zero. Following his light through the dark. He could keep going. He must.
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Zero Venkage
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Re: Legend of the Everglow: Northward Bound

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Their expedition led them down dark corridors lined with all manner of underground fare. From cobwebs to trapdoors, the pair navigated narrow hallways and deep pits. Their abilities paired with one another traversed most of the trials unaided. Zero floated them across most of the trap doors with a twinkle of his nose and cast most other trap weaponry with a breath. The concentration of deterrents grew less frequent as they traveled through the labyrinthine tomb, but their design increased by a similar proportion. Basic pits were filled with lava; some of the giant boulders were covered in armor melting acid judging by the state of the corpses within. Uran was a nation of wonders and there were a bunch of different, storied entrances in legend. When dealing with going to or leaving from, most cohorts lost most of their members on their way in, no matter the opening they stumbled upon.

They breezed their way over a quicksand whirlpool and Zero stopped to look back at how deep the pit went. Even as all the sand disappeared into a pit in the ground, the pit itself showed itself to be a spinning, gnashing maw of blades to finish the job.

“Jeez. I feel like that’s just a bit overkill,” he sighed as if the walls had ears the way they seemed to have eyes. Each one of their tiny triumphs led to a trap that much more treacherous than the last. And there was no clear indication they would ever stop. As he turned to walk away from the grating sandpit, slits opened in from the walls to release streams of lava, presumably to pick off any stragglers who might not have escaped the quicksand in time. The theatrics of doom always made him chuckle, but he never got used to the smell of charred earth.

The duo moved along until they came to a fork in the road. Zero looked to Bo and nudged his shoulder.

“I didn’t know there were gonna be forks in the road down here. Chances are we’re gonna run into trouble in both pathways. Which way do you wanna go? Left or right?”

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Dalazar Denkou
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Re: Legend of the Everglow: Northward Bound

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Bo made sure to keep up with Zero’s movements as best he could. The way he moved about the space affirmed Bo even further that he had chose the right man for the job. Almost as if with little effort the pair made their way towards their destination. A litany of dangers clad in damn near every wall, floor etc. Zero had even gotten him out a couple James along the way. His heart was racing, the heat of the burning pit the swirling of the sands, the bone chilling chattering of the blades it was all so…

“I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun in my entire life!”

Bo could barely contain his excitement. It’s not like he wasn’t taking this expedition seriously, quite the opposite, he knew at any given slip up his life could be forfeit. He, however , had already spoke his vow. Might as well enjoy the journey. They eventually came to a split path.
“I didn’t know there were gonna be forks in the road down here. Chances are we’re gonna run into trouble in both pathways. Which way do you wanna go? Left or right?”
He waved his nose of the charred smell before Zero nudged him gifting him the choice of their path. Maybe it was the adrenaline of their journey but Dazuma didn’t take long at all to choose.

“Right is right,right?”

He said to his companion with clever fox like grin. He truly chose at random because he had literally no idea about this path and if zero didn’t after he just finessed through the majority of the corridor, then he surmised they had only their whims to trust. Let Zero tell of it, either way, he was in for an adventure.
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