Achronum

The Gifted - Concluded

James Kingston

---

Location: Outside the Hospital -> The Apartment Complex
Skills: N/A

“Thanks for handling that, babes.” James thanked Casper, offering him a soft smile and a kiss. “Yeah, let’s head home and figure out what’s going on. If she isn’t, we can still hear them out while we wait for her and get Danny settled in.” James suggested as they headed away from the hospital. He could still feel the lingering dread in the way the shaking hadn’t fully gone away but it was far enough that he could ignore it and focus on the looming matter at hand.

“Resurrection, huh?” James muttered to himself. Bringing someone back from the dead certainly didn’t seem like it was outside of the realm of possibility anymore. The more mutants they met, the more it seemed nothing was impossible anymore. His next comment was directed to Casper. “I don’t know how I feel about it. Like, I guess I should be jumping at the chance, right? How many people have died that didn’t deserve it? This last attack, at the hands of the purifiers, even all the infighting between mutants… But how do we decide who gets to come back? Not to mention, what are the consequences? Can a soul be hurt? Can we fuck it up, you know?” James asked,mostly in a rhetorical sense but frankly, Casper actually worked with ghosts. He might have some of the answers.

The Shattering of Aegis

The Soft Haven Bounty House

_{14th of the Full Autumn Moon, 1698 P.A.
Mid morning - Clear Skies}

_{@Hero@Trainerblue192@Obscene Symphony@Scribe of Thoth@McMolly}

“Considering we have met but just this day, my interest solely stems from the well-being of my and my Lord’s pockets.” Cerric laughed with a shrug and a wave of his hand. “Though I would be lying if I didn’t find your connections interesting, Ms. Aurelios, but everyone has their reasons for seeking out work in unconventional places. However, my Lord has an intense fascination with the aetheric and I would be remiss in my duties if I did not bring to his attention five aetherborn who found themselves on our doorstep. Don’t worry- our individual interests take second seat to the interest of the Bounty House so we will refrain from prying too deeply into your personal matters if they do not present an insurmountable conflict.”

Aleka’s quill paused as he stared at Cerric following his explanation. “And what connections may she have, Cerric?”

“We can discuss that later but there is nothing sinister at play, if that is your concern. If at all, she’s clearly the most reputable of them all.” Cerric explained quickly. Aleka seemed mollified for the moment and continued to write.

“Eila Aurelios, Physical Animas, skilled in athletic manipulation with additional proficiencies.” Aleka blotted the ink as he waved her away and gestured Ermes over. “Come here. Once we’re done, I will discuss the finer details of employment with the Bounty House with everyone.”

The Gifted - Concluded

James Kingston

---

Location: Outside the Hospital
Skills: N/A

It took James longer than he liked to shake off whatever came over him at the voices in his head. There were plenty of responses he’d wanted to give-reassure Ben that yes, this was in fact their child or chuckle at Casper’s concerns for their clothes or really anything acknowledging he’d heard him-but instead, his heart rate shot up, everything in him tense, shifting a little lower to curl over the baby, and he found himself searching for any sign that someone was messing with them. Anytime someone was in his head, he somehow fucking forgot where and who he was and he was really god damned tired of it. He didn’t want to lose this again.

But there wasn’t any immediate threat. Casper wasn’t panicking at the voices so that was a good sign. James took a deep breath, forcing himself to relax as much as he could, and tried to piece what was going on. Viel and Callie’s words were blurred by adrenaline and his own head chanting danger, danger, danger over and over again like a fucked up mantra but Casper’s follow up question put everything into reasonable perspective. Of course, that’s if your definition of reasonable includes one of the most leveled headed people you know to ask for help bringing people back from the dead. Casper was clearly starting to reach his threshold for the unexpected today and honestly, so was James. They were taking like a week off from everyone.

“Okay well, we can ask her to help or if you think it’d be too much for her, we can ask Veil and Callie to watch them? Or we can ask them to go pick up all the things we need while we do all this. Either way, we should talk to them and we can sift through their plans once we have all the information.” James replied, focusing on the logical decision of the moment rather than the slowly disappointing panic. “For now can you let them know we’ll meet them at the apartment and not to contact me via telepathy anymore? I think that’s going to be off the list for the foreseeable future.” James admitted, rocking Daniel gently.

The Shattering of Aegis

The Soft Haven Bounty House

_{14th of the Full Autumn Moon, 1698 P.A.
Mid morning - Clear Skies}

_{@Hero@Trainerblue192@Obscene Symphony@Scribe of Thoth@McMolly}

Delight sprawled plainly across Cerric’s face as more and more people began to volley their inquiries at him. “A wonderful bouquet of curiosities you’ve handed me and yet sadly, I am ill prepared to answer them. Let’s start with what I can answer and then we’ll drag in our favorite scribe to shore up the gaps in my knowledge. Aetherborn are divided into three categories: Primordial, Animas, and Genesian. Primordial aetherborn manipulate ambient aether to create elemental effects, Animas aetherborn manipulate others’ aether to affect the mind or body, and genesian aetherborn infuse their own aether into objects or aetheric constructs! A brief overview but were we to delve into the depths of aetheric theory, I’m afraid I’d have to enroll you in the Royal Academy.” He ticked off questions on his fingers as he answered.

“As for you, young lady, I frankly just learned the name of the plants shortly before we completed the Bounty House. Lord Mystralath is an avid collector of aetheric flora and shipped a small portion of his collection here. A poorly laid stone on the bridge led to one of our porters stumbling and some of the Lord’s collection found itself at a loss for wings as it flew over the edge and dove into the water. A week later and the Lord could only marvel as this mirage coral seemed to take a liking to its new habitat.” Cerric shrugged, ticking off another finger. “Not quite as exciting as the Rancor of Morn Og but far more real.”

“Cerric! Where in the hells did Katya go stumbling off this time?” A woman called down the stairs, irritation laced in her words.

“She answered the call of the unknown, of the adventure in her blood, as she does every night, Aeowyn.” Cerric shouted back up the stairs, receiving a slew of curses in response. Cerric grimaced at the foul language. “My apologies. Aeowyn is many things but the picture of grace is far from one of them. Unless she wants something from you but then she’s more of a terrifying shadow.”

Meanwhile, Aleka was studiously ignoring the situation and turning his head as if mulling over a puzzle as Kyerth spoke. The silence between him and Kyreth stretched until finally Aleka spoke. “Kyreth Bertasson. Notable skills are mending fences and roofs, willing to learn, fine with small jobs. I think you’d likely do best with a steady contract or apprenticeship so we’ll look at what options we have available after I conclude all this.” Aleka stated as he wrote in his book. “Unless your traveling companion is against it, at which point we’ll need to have a different conversation.”

“Aleka! Would you be so kind as to enlighten us to the meaning of Asvari? Such a pretty word I’d have no difficulty remembering but after having traveled the entrity of Othard, never have I encountered it. Is it a Verazian phrase?” Cerric interjected before Aleka could demand another person to his desk.

“It is what we call the Tainted.” Aleka nodded, waving at Lilann and Kyreth. “‘Tainted’ is a term derived from religious persecution. Othardian Gods call them blasphemers, heretics, and traitors but we hold no faith with Azaiza and her court. Veraz was founded by a collection of exiles. We would be doing them, and our God, a disservice to turn our backs on your Tainted and so we offered them a new name when some sought succor on Virazian soil.”

A slow clap echoed through the room. While Aleka was elaborating, a halfling woman descended the stairs silent as a ghost. No taller than 4ft, she lounged in plain but sturdy traveling clothes. A cloak had been thrown across her shoulders and it draped down to conceal her left side. She wore her hair long, tucked neatly behind long tipped ears that reveal some touch of elven ancestry, and her features were twisted into a sarcastic sneer. A fan drifted nearby, waving on its own accord to offer her a cooling breeze.

“The only succor they need is six feet of piss soaked dirt.” Aeowyn scoffed as she pushed herself upright, barely making noise as she crossed the room to Cerric, who seemed unphased by the halfling’s declaration. “What horse shit are you feeding these shit stains? They aren’t your moronic customers that you have to woo to purchase your second rate goods so let Aleka do his gods damned job and go finish balancing our accounts.” She stopped her way across the room, ignoring the rest of the group as she tapped one of the doors and it flew open. She threw a short farewell to Cerric over her shoulder and the door slammed shut.

“Next.” Aleka gestured for Eila or Ermes to take their place in front of his desk.

“Aeowyn Silventria, everybody. Don’t cross her and she won’t make your bedsheets crawl down your throat in the middle of the night.” Cerric said cheerily, picking up a little bell on one of the side tables next to the couch and ringing it. Footsteps could be heard of the stairs from far up the Bounty House before an older human woman, gray and black hair tucked neatly into a cloth around her head, came down in Mystralath finery.

“Good morning, Mr. Liadon. How may I be of assistance?” She inquired after offering him a curtsy.

“Vivian, darling that you are, would you be so kind as to collect Aleka’s records book for Lord Mystralath’s perusal once he has finished adding them all? I’m certain our Lord will be quite interested in our newest additions and I would loathe to make him wait to satiate his curiosity.” Vivan offered another curtsy and stood patiently at Aleka’s desk, a polite smile firmly fixed in place as she waited.

The Gifted - Concluded

James Kingston

---

Location: The Hospital
Skills: N/A

“Oh, uh, yeah. Uh, thanks for the help and sorry for bothering you again. Have a great day.” James waved goodbye, again, and stiffly marched back to Casper. An awkward pit settled firmly in his stomach because of course someone was going to deal with the weather. He’d been here for months, he should be used to that by now and if he’d have waited for longer than two seconds, it would have happened anyways. Now, he just looked like a demanding idiot. Thankfully, Casper was an easy subject to get distracted by, either because he was handsome, adorable,and sexy all wrapped into one person or he was about to do something terrible for his and/or someone else’s health. Though if James was being 100% honest, it was usually both.

And in this instance, it was Ben’s return. James would never say anything against Ben nor their friendship; afterall, Ben was here first and he was a chill ghost but Casper was far more easily riled up with Ben around and considering their 2 month old son was in Casper’s arms, James was a little hesitant to let that slide. “Well, now that they chased the rain away, do you mind if I hold Daniel on the walk home? I want to cuddle the baby a little.” James asked, not technically lying. Now that the doctor’s visit was over, James did want to hold their son again but he didn’t slide in the extra bit. “How was Ben’s day? Where was he hanging out today?”

The Shattering of Aegis

The Soft Haven Bounty House

_{14th of the Full Autumn Moon, 1698 P.A.
Mid morning - Clear Skies}

_{@Hero@Trainerblue192@Obscene Symphony@Scribe of Thoth@McMolly}

Cerric clapped his hands together in delight as one of the newcomers engaged with him. “That we do! When we finally decided on this beautiful locale, the residents of Soft Haven were quick to bend our ears with tales of The Rancor of Morn Og. As I’m sure you will recall, the Siege of Soft Haven raged for nearly a week before the arriving forces of Finnagund bravely broke their ranks and cut down their leaders in barely half a day. Morn Og was the orc leader of this army of curs and when the commander of the royal forces cut him clean in twain, Morn Org’s dying breath was a curse imbued with so much loathing and hatred, it gave birth to a demon.” Through the story, Cerriac made simple gestures with his hands, bubbling water swirling together between them to create vague silhouettes of the scenes he described. “Everyone gave us a different detail: more eyes than a spider, more teeth than a shark, more claws than a wolf, all tucked into the body of a massive stag trailing the stench of burned flesh and rot.” The water warped into the likeliness of such a creature and then froze at Cerric’s command, the ice sculpture in his palm.

“Of course, Katya took to the tale like a fish to water. She’s been hunting this beast since we first heard of it. A tale tale indeed but there is power in stories, true or not. As our hired labor came in, we kept constant watch. A few claw marks here and there, spooked a few men away alright, but nothing more than that.” Cerric offered up the sculpture for Ceolfric to take, even as it started to drip. “So the short of it is yes, we are aware of it but no, we are not concerned. While we’ve never seen it, It’s made little more than threatening gestures and should it decide to take a more aggressive approach, Katya will finally have the opportunity to rend it limb from limb with all the gusto of a gluttony at a feast!” Cerric finished brightly, addressing Eila next “But by all means, my Lady, please share your worries. You look as if you’ve seen a ghost!”

“Classification of aetherborn. If you plan to take some of the better paying opportunities, I recommend you educate yourself on the basics of aetherborn. A better understanding of your skills will serve well to increase your chances of survival.” Aleka commented as he wrote, his words entirely without inflection. “Liliann Storyborn, Asvari in race, no kin to speak of, storyteller, and another Dranirian. A Genisian Aetherborn. I would recommend Lady Silvantris as a potential mentor but she finds those in your profession exhausting on a good day. On a bad one, you may very well find your clothes trying to strangle you.” Aleka turned his attention to Kyreth as he carefully blotted Liliann’s page dry.

“Another Asvari, I see. Your name, if I may, and an elaboration on the details of your partnership.” Aleka stated as dipped his quill in his inkwell.

The Gifted - Concluded

James Kingston

---

Location: The Hospital
Skills: N/A

"In a controlled environment but rain is not that. We don't want him to catch a cold. Damn, it's really coming down too." James hadn't realized rain was in the forecast or he'd have brought them an umbrella. He could run home and grab one but he really didn't want to be away from Casper and Daniel. Not because an unsupervised Casper had a knack for finding trouble but because Casper holding their kid was adorable as hell and Janes didn't want to do anything but watch their little family together.

"Hey Ben." Greeted the ghost, even if he didn't know where he was at the moment. Maybe they should just wait out the weather? But they still had shopping to do and he'd rather wrap Casper and Daniel up in the blankets at home than make them wait in the hospital. He tapped his foot, more than a little annoyed but maybe the hospital had something to help?

"Give me a sec, babes. Gunna see if we can get umbrellas or something from Bee." He kissed Casper and little Daniel and headed back to the poor woman he'd been bothering so much. "You're going to hate me by the end of the day but do you know if there is somewhere nearby we can grab umbrellas? I don't want to take our baby into the rain without something covering him."

Fire Emblem: The Slumbering Goddess

---

The bite of unforgiving wood and the creeping chill of the unnatural fog left Clarissa mourning the loss of her carriages back home. She took a moment to shake out the ache once she’d disembarked and rubbed her hands together despite the gloves. Clarissa and the cold held each other in equal contempt and neither were pleased at the intrusion of the other, if the vindictive way the ever present chill clawed its way down to the bone was anything to go by. Clarissa clicked her tongue irritably as she was wont to do in displeasing situations as she attempted to gain some meager understanding of the town around them.

Despite her claims otherwise, fear was an emotion Clarissa was well acquainted with. Its chokehold had cost her two years of her life, buried beneath the once insurmountable weight of her bloodline. So she was quite sure the quickening of her pulse and the faint tremble in her fingers wasn’t fear. A twinge of concern, sure. After all, her closest friend and staunchest ally was off galavanting elsewhere beyond her magic’s help but if anyone would make it out of an impossible situation, she knew it would be Jorah. Still, she bowed her head briefly and offered up a prayer, that Jorah’s arrows would fly true and his steps would carry him safely back to them, unharmed and unburdened by the weight of his gifts.

No, what quivered in her fingers and boiled in her blood was anger; righteous and white hot at the obvious bait laid out before them. Their numbers cut, their vision questionable, and their intel even worse, the only thing Clarissa was certain of was that the battle was already decided. The Goddess was on their side and thus, the only ending to this trap was victory. “Rudolf, let’s apply your analysis into something a tad more productive than questioning the orders of our Professors. The one thing you can trust is their politics‒the massacre of their students would likely obliterate the institution’s reputation, especially since they’d be crippling the future of all three nations in a single blow.” Clarissa couldn’t remember the last time she’d thought about the quiet boy but she couldn’t help rolling her eyes at his whining. They were here to learn, to improve, and to help, not whine and protest an inescapable situation.

“Furthermore, the Goddess smiles on us and us alone here. It is we who will carry Her light into this Darkness and with Her radiance in hand, emerge triumphant. Every choice and every decision has brought you here beneath Her gaze. None of us have failed Her before and no amount of heresy shall mark this as our beginning. Stiffen your spines and hold up your chins. It is we who carry Deliverance this day. Through whatever horrors may await us in this mists, we shall emerge victorious in spite of them!” Determination radiated off her in waves as she spoke, her voice carrying into the mist.

The Gifted - Concluded

James Kingston

---

Location: The Hospital
Skills: N/A

"I'll keep that in mind. Maybe we'll do a little testing with your power. Already have some interesting ideas if you're up for it. But thank you for this. We couldn't get this anywhere else and we'll treasure it forever." James gestured at the cube as he tucked it away in the little bag of supplies. He pressed a kiss to Daniel's forehead and then to Casper's cheek. "Yeah, we'll lean on her a lot I'm sure. Gotta have her in Daniel's life as much as we can." James knew it wouldn't be any other way; Casper was a total mamaa's boy, after all.

"Well, why don't we swing by the apartment, drop off this kit and see if the baby is hungry, and then we can go introduce him to your mom and see if she is willing to help us hunt down some supplies?" James suggested as he waved a quick goodbye to Bee and headed towards the apartment. As much as he wanted to keep this to themselves a little longer, they did need more help than not from this point forward. "'Cause honestly, I don't even know where to start or what to consider about some of the supplies we'll need."

The Shattering of Aegis

The Soft Haven Bounty House

_{14th of the Full Autumn Moon, 1698 P.A.
Mid morning - Clear Skies}

_{@Hero@Trainerblue192@Obscene Symphony@Scribe of Thoth@McMolly}

Aleka nodded as Ceolfric spoke, quill writing small, neat lines across the blank page. It continued far longer than the brigand spoke, the briefest pauses only when the half-elf glanced up at new faces wandering in through the door and then at the pianist whose excitement grew more and more visible with each and every person entering. “This information is necessary in deciding what jobs we consider you capable of handling, including what connections and influence you may wield as well as what connections and influences wield you. Both the Bounty House and Lord Mystralath strive to maintain excellence in their service and reputation; sending the wrong person to a job reflects poorly on both.” Aleka explained as he procured an ink blotter and carefully rocked it over the ink.

The blue elf finally shoved himself off the piano bench, smoothing out his vest before making his way to the amassing group with a wide smile. “Welcome, welcome friends! Such an interesting cast of characters walking through the doors this morning. And from the looks of it,” The man took in the glow on Kyreth’s face, the shining orange of Eila’s eyes, and the writhing mass of shadows with blatant glee. “Most of you are aetherborn, though I’m not sure about our fine masked friend here. You are safe here; if you wish, you may remove your mask. We have no qualms about any and all joining our little venture! Oh but my manners. My name is—”

“One moment, Mr. Laidon.” Aleka interrupted, ignoring the dramatic flourish the elf was building up to. “If you will please move off to the side Ceolfric. I will continue to process others and then will address you all at the same. Next individual interested in joining the Bounty House please step forward. The rest of you may continue to be entertained by Mr. Laidon until it is your turn.”

The elf had been holding both arms out, seeming frozen as he waited for Aleka, before performing an unnecessarily grand bow. “Cerric Liadon, merchant by trade, primordial aethornborn, and Master of Coin for the Soft Haven Bounty House.” He continued as if never even interrupted. “I am truly looking forward to a profitable relationship for us all! If you have worries or concerns, I would be absolutely tickled pink to assuage them!”