QueenOfOpals

“Shit.” Artemis’ word was swallowed up by the angered screeches of the opposing haedians. She quickly took a defensive position, and wasn’t afraid to draw on her magic. Lavender glowed around them, coming from the shield he rippled into existence, ready to float around them defensively, and her axe animated, the entire weapon glowing as it floated beside them, ready to cleave. Her own eyes held the purple fire, as she prepared to stand up to whatever would come their way. She probably should have expected this sort of response, given how much the pair had just spat on their god, but it had been years since she had dealt with such cult like following, and she had forgotten what sort of fanatics others like that were. After getting the suspicion they’d have to fight when doing research with the Keepers, Artemis had also stocked up. The extra weight she carried now came in useful as her magic popped the corks of perhaps a dozen bottles. “There’s plenty of water if you need to use it, a

“Umm, do you think we could get your assistance?” While spending a little more down time studying in the Keeper’s library, the pair of vayrons were approached by a haedian. Their sparkling cape indicated a member of the Watchers, and seeing as they had nothing better to do, not having yet been told they could move on to the next clan, the pair nodded in agreeance, letting one of the Keepers know where they were going. The haedian was relieved they were coming with them, and babbled the entire way. “We noticed a problem and originally was just going to let it go, but the Tranquil got our attention and asked that we send for you. You made an impression with some of your little talks previously, and well, we hoped you might be able to help us now.” It did not escape Artemis’ notice that the haedian was mostly addressing the runner. Quilo had more than proved himself and his diplomatic abilities on this journey, and she was proud of the fact that he had made an impression on these

The Watchers continued to encourage the little group further into the depths of their clan, wanting to share in their culture further than just apparel. They were brought to an area where half the cave was covered in paint, various parts of a mural in progress. Some haedians were here already, painting in some of the bare spots, and it was clear from the patchwork appearance that many different haedians had come in to paint their own style in their piece of the mural. It seemed they wanted the newcomers too to experience this, and were shown to the shelves that were set up to house paints and bowls, brushes and water, various tools to add texture and some things that the group could only guess at their purpose. While they were left alone for the most part, as the group started grabbing tools and supplies, they could see some of the clan watching them from the corners of the cave, curious and interested in what they did. Rowan was quick to grab some paint and started tossing it. She

It seemed the group had done enough for the haedians to come out of hiding, and they were invited forward for further induction to the clan. They had a few options ahead of them, but Shaa wasn’t feeling up to sitting awake all night after his excursion, and Rowan had a gleam in her eye when she was offered to explore the garb of the Watchers. While playing dress up also didn’t appeal to the male, he had a pair of females with him and he was not going to win any arguments against this. What was a little bit of clothing in comparison to their happiness? While the haedians only really had clothing that fit them, Rowan requested some tools, and Lissana’s deft fingers went to work. Most pieces draped over the vayrons quite well, just with large areas for non-existent wings. A little bit of needle and thread and the elf managed to sew up the holes so the pieces fit more naturally on their bodies. Thankfully haedians were mostly comparable in size to the vayrons, so there were pieces

Shaa wasn’t a young reosean. Rowan wasn’t much younger than him, but she did hold more energy. When faced with the prospect of the more physically demanding race along the ledges of the Watcher’s domain, one of them was clearly less enthusiastic than the other. “Come on, you do hard labor all the time! You run frequently in your job description and you can wield a weapon in battle! I’ve seen you dodge and duck and weave with grace!” Rowan was tenacious, Cabi dancing at her heels in time with her energy. “Lissana, you’re on my side here right?” Her question only made the elf smirk. She was older than all of them combined but still young for her race and still well in her prime. The male sighed, shaking his head. “My joints are creaking just thinking about doing this.” He didn’t trust them to not give away his plans too much, so he went along with things for now. Lissana had decided to race ahead, and was leaping between ledges like a squirrel, her fingers finding hand holds that

“The Keepers held plenty of knowledge in their halls, but they thirsted for more, and very eagerly desired us to tell them of the world above. They record memories in crystals, almost like visions to be replayed instead of books to hold knowledge. It is a fascinating experience. Their leader was a quiet sort, but he personally gave us a crystal to view - it seemed to be a warning of the crystalline creatures, something we knew about, but a confirmation that they do know what caused the zataro’s rampage. It’s a mystery for sure. We’ve been ushered along to the next clan, but given a warning. I have the feeling that if something goes wrong, if for some reason we don’t make it home, it might be the fault of The Order. I didn’t find much information on them when looking through the Keeper’s library; we were kept from plenty of knowledge, still clearly harboring distrust of the outsiders to not tell us everything about life down here. But Quilo isn’t a fighter, and I am getting old, and

Rereading the Elder's summons, Artemis frowned at the document. She knew their guild wasn't the only one to receive such a letter, nor would it be limited to guilds. This wasn't the first time she contemplated the contents, how vague they were but pertaining to recent events. She had stood in front of the scrying mirror and talked to the other heads of Vanquest, to Akodai herself to determine what to do. Verfalle was the only headquarters with two leaders, so it made sense that one of them would be sent away. Horai, as much as Artemis loved her, wasn't great at keeping a level head or anything of a potentially delicate nature. For events such as this where they were walking into an unknown, it would be best to send Artemis. But she would miss the family she was building here. She would miss Horai. They hadn't been separated more than a few miles since their bond settled in, and they knew that they may not even be able to feel one another at that distance. She'd have a portable

Observing the crystals was like viewing a memory, seeing it through the eyes of someone else, and it reminded Artemis of the times when she and Horai truly settled into the bond with each other. It was a fascinating experience, and it made her wonder if they could learn this sort of magic and bring it topside. So many books were ruined by the weather and time, but the crystals only seemed to need to worry about breaking, and likely could last much longer. Who knows how much information each one could store too, perhaps taking up less space. It was a possibly revolutionary thing they could learn to use. These recorded things like a scene playing out in front of the viewer, which was also intriguing and added a different element of storytelling, but those around the viewer were not interrupted by the scene unless they too were viewing it. Artemis liked the concept, but would probably never give up books completely. There was something about the smell of parchment and ink that would

Perhaps the pair overdid it, for the haedian’s eyes were sparkling with unknown knowledge, and a clear desire to learn more, the pair were ushered on to the public hall. A great many haedians were in attendance, some telling stories to young ones, or sharing information with each other. Many were studying the strange crystals that recorded knowledge, either adding to them, or learning more. Clearly it was a place to continue to share information, and the pair were encouraged to go forth and learn. It was almost overwhelming to see, and the pair were unsure of where to even start. Best thing to do would be to ask, which is exactly what Artemis did. She found someone who was jumping between different shelves and tapped on his shoulder to grab his attention. “Excuse me, could you tell me how the information here is organized?” The haedian lit up as he started to describe various aspects of the hall. Some shelves were devoted to specific clans, others to the flora and fauna that

‘The Depthstriders were a playful bunch that focused on art among their joy for the water. I feel many of our finned mutated reoseans might find themselves more at home down here than they do elsewhere, as would many of our artisans. While not crafters in the sense of all the arts we know, it seems these haedians are fond of textiles, and many of the pieces they used were waterproof, great for not only their own clan, but for the dank reaches of the tunnels down here. They seem to balance well functionality and decorative, with corals and paints being popular choices for adding color and variety. We seemed to have made an impression, and are moving on to the Keepers. These haedians are record keepers, full of stories and knowledge. The crystals we keep seeing have come into play hugely, as we’ve noticed they keep the information within the crystals like magic, very little being recorded on parchment like we do topside. This clan might be where we discover more about this mysterious