Post by Mizagium on Feb 12, 2014 20:57:50 GMT -5
Eva gave the enchantment a timid test, sipping the purified air before sucking in a full breath. She could taste the aether. "Hey, not bad, kid," she said without a smile and lead the group on.
"You better be careful with that, though. Once you start helping people, I hear it's a slippery slope." A town more real than should have existed this far underground slowly unfolded as they walked. The mood was drier and more sturdy-looking the further they moved inward. People didn't stoop or shuffle as much. A few of them appeared almost happy.
"Let me tell you a story. A long time ago, a man decided he wanted to cure the deathlight. You kinda remind me of him. He was a good kid. Anyway, he came down here,armed with magic - the best physicians in service to the king hadn't devised a cure or preventative for the deathlight, but he had it in his head that he could. He made a big stink about it, claimed he was going to save the Crawl.
"He set up shop here and people flocked to him. He took everybody that showed up. Even when he couldn't numb all the pain, they came. You ever had a fungus ripped out of your lungs? Screams echo in the Crawl. But when they left, they were crying and smiling and...happy. I don't remember this place ever being that happy.
"But that kind of magic...it takes a toll. Less than two weeks of nonstop healing and he couldn't move his hands; they had completely crystallized. Someone came in and helped feed him, but he never stopped. Neither did the magestone. By the time it reached his elbows, we convinced him to stop accepting everyone. He decided he would only take the worst of the worst - the ones you could see the deathlight in their breath."
They left the heart of the town behind, moving down a sidestreet. The buildings had swelled to three or four stories, but now ebbed back to single stories. Somewhere in the distance, a vertical green-and-white flag loomed over the ramshackle town.
"By then, the magestones were so deep in his body, patches of crystal started forming all over. One day, he realized he couldn't unbend his legs. He stopped eating or sleeping. We stopped sending in the walking dead, only allowing in the ones with minimal infections. Two months after Rianndron came down to the Crawl, he was dead. The crystal had spread to his heart and lungs. He suffocated while trying to prevent the same thing from taking so many others."
She finally stopped. "And the punch line is: every single person he helped contracted the fungus again. It took a while, but I know a few of them have already died. That's his clinic, with the flag. We left him there, seated like he's still trying to heal the world. Deathlit still go there and touch his crystal body, praying for a miracle."
The building before them was more of a pile of wood than anything else. Wood planks had been arranged apparently haphazardly against the rock wall. A emblem of three crossed daggers adorned the front in bright green, to stand out in the low light. Two raggedy looking kids stood guard. The same emblem had been carved into many other buildings as they made their way through the crawl.
"You're a good kid, Vynce, but don't get killed trying to be a hero. Come on. We're here."
The kids snapped to attention, drawing blades at her approach, then thought better of it and allowed her to pass. Inside, a single desk passed for decoration, at which was seated a young man about Eva's age - maybe a little younger.
"Damn it, Rael," he sighed. "I told you not to let every Tom, Dick, and - Eva!" He jumped up at once and vaulted over the desk, embracing her. "I don't believe it - you actually went did it." The boy was Ehk - blond and inexplicably tan, despite his environment. His tunic and pants were clean and actually seemed to be of a proper fit. A single dagger hung on his belt.
She patted the Blackblade proudly. "That's Champion, to you."
"Uh huh. Who're these...?" He couldn't seem to find a word to describe the collection of mercenaries, a healer, and a street rat.
"They're with me."
"Uh huh. And you are doing...?"
"An errand for the king."
"Oye." He massaged his temples. "I've got the Champion of Cerka in the Thousand Blades Guild Hall. What happened to my life?"
"It's the shockweed."
"Shockweed? What about it."
"Apparently the Hound Carta's getting ballsy and peddling it up top. Karyein doesn't like that."
He frowned. "That doesn't sound like Falgrien."
"Where have they set up shop?"
But the Ehk was pacing.
"Arrick!"
"Wait here, Eva. I need to go check something." He rushed out the entrance without waiting for an answer.
Eva shrugged and took his seat.
"Everyone take a minute or five," she said while beginning to rummage through papers. "Arrick'll get us the info we need."
"You better be careful with that, though. Once you start helping people, I hear it's a slippery slope." A town more real than should have existed this far underground slowly unfolded as they walked. The mood was drier and more sturdy-looking the further they moved inward. People didn't stoop or shuffle as much. A few of them appeared almost happy.
"Let me tell you a story. A long time ago, a man decided he wanted to cure the deathlight. You kinda remind me of him. He was a good kid. Anyway, he came down here,armed with magic - the best physicians in service to the king hadn't devised a cure or preventative for the deathlight, but he had it in his head that he could. He made a big stink about it, claimed he was going to save the Crawl.
"He set up shop here and people flocked to him. He took everybody that showed up. Even when he couldn't numb all the pain, they came. You ever had a fungus ripped out of your lungs? Screams echo in the Crawl. But when they left, they were crying and smiling and...happy. I don't remember this place ever being that happy.
"But that kind of magic...it takes a toll. Less than two weeks of nonstop healing and he couldn't move his hands; they had completely crystallized. Someone came in and helped feed him, but he never stopped. Neither did the magestone. By the time it reached his elbows, we convinced him to stop accepting everyone. He decided he would only take the worst of the worst - the ones you could see the deathlight in their breath."
They left the heart of the town behind, moving down a sidestreet. The buildings had swelled to three or four stories, but now ebbed back to single stories. Somewhere in the distance, a vertical green-and-white flag loomed over the ramshackle town.
"By then, the magestones were so deep in his body, patches of crystal started forming all over. One day, he realized he couldn't unbend his legs. He stopped eating or sleeping. We stopped sending in the walking dead, only allowing in the ones with minimal infections. Two months after Rianndron came down to the Crawl, he was dead. The crystal had spread to his heart and lungs. He suffocated while trying to prevent the same thing from taking so many others."
She finally stopped. "And the punch line is: every single person he helped contracted the fungus again. It took a while, but I know a few of them have already died. That's his clinic, with the flag. We left him there, seated like he's still trying to heal the world. Deathlit still go there and touch his crystal body, praying for a miracle."
The building before them was more of a pile of wood than anything else. Wood planks had been arranged apparently haphazardly against the rock wall. A emblem of three crossed daggers adorned the front in bright green, to stand out in the low light. Two raggedy looking kids stood guard. The same emblem had been carved into many other buildings as they made their way through the crawl.
"You're a good kid, Vynce, but don't get killed trying to be a hero. Come on. We're here."
The kids snapped to attention, drawing blades at her approach, then thought better of it and allowed her to pass. Inside, a single desk passed for decoration, at which was seated a young man about Eva's age - maybe a little younger.
"Damn it, Rael," he sighed. "I told you not to let every Tom, Dick, and - Eva!" He jumped up at once and vaulted over the desk, embracing her. "I don't believe it - you actually went did it." The boy was Ehk - blond and inexplicably tan, despite his environment. His tunic and pants were clean and actually seemed to be of a proper fit. A single dagger hung on his belt.
She patted the Blackblade proudly. "That's Champion, to you."
"Uh huh. Who're these...?" He couldn't seem to find a word to describe the collection of mercenaries, a healer, and a street rat.
"They're with me."
"Uh huh. And you are doing...?"
"An errand for the king."
"Oye." He massaged his temples. "I've got the Champion of Cerka in the Thousand Blades Guild Hall. What happened to my life?"
"It's the shockweed."
"Shockweed? What about it."
"Apparently the Hound Carta's getting ballsy and peddling it up top. Karyein doesn't like that."
He frowned. "That doesn't sound like Falgrien."
"Where have they set up shop?"
But the Ehk was pacing.
"Arrick!"
"Wait here, Eva. I need to go check something." He rushed out the entrance without waiting for an answer.
Eva shrugged and took his seat.
"Everyone take a minute or five," she said while beginning to rummage through papers. "Arrick'll get us the info we need."
