Monastic Puzzles [closed]

[Lathienas Miraq]

Closed to: Ailnea

Blistering heat washed over Thien as he stepped out of the tavern, holding an oil lamp. Although it had cost him a bit in labour, the light was just what he needed. The early evening sky was a brilliant orange just above the horizon as the sun sunk slowly below the skyline. Despite the beauty, Thien was uncomfortable. The thick, muggy atmosphere was not too his liking and he would prefer that the impending storm would just break and remove the humidity that soaked him with sweat. His step lacked its usual spring as he trudged up the cobbled street towards the edge of town. The dust on the road rose up and clung to his legs like a second skin and he longed for a lower temperature. Beyond the city limits, he entered the wood that he had made his temporary lodgings in. Wandering among the trees, he found the one he was looking for. A tall oak, easily three hundered years old, with intertwining branches and leaf cover, made an excellent hideaway. Thien scaled the gnarled tree, narrowly avoiding the wasps nest that had appeared shortly after Thien took up residence.

His abode consisted of several branches woven together, to form a matt-like floor, roofed by leaves. The basic form had been left by some previous occupants who had shaped the chamber - with magic, Thien suspected. Some additional vines, courtesy of a runestone or two held the roofing in place. He hung the lamp off of a branch, and drew a handful of stones from his pouch. Finding a fire-stone, he struck the lamp and ignited it. The flickering light set an orange cast over the leaves, giving an eerie glow to the arboreal house. As he settled down, heavy drops, started to hammer on the branches above his head. Althoughnot watertight, the leaves were better than an open roof and he smiled contentedly, listening to the roaring thunder as the storm broke overhead. He slept to the hypnotic drummming of the rain and dreamt of nothing.

He arose in the morning, the remenants of the torrents still pouring through the forest. Feeling sticky and unclean from the previous day, the cold winds of the morning were welcome. Making his way to the river nearby, he bathed and then replaced his cloak and clothes. As he washed in the flowing water, he thought back to his experience in the shadowy corner of the tavern. A hooded man had approached him and spoken only in riddles, talking of enlightenment and illumination in darkness. That is until the end, when he had revealed that he was a monk of an order based just outside the town in a monastary atop a hill. The man had said that Thien had the look of one searching for 'light', a state that sounded remarkably similar to Thien's concept of a Perfect State. He vowed to set out to the order's home later this day...

[Last of the Saratu]

The disk flashed in the evening light, its polished alabaster surface reflecting the oranges and reds of the setting sun. As it danced across the large fingers of its owner, the disk reminded the beast of the dancing lights carried by the ethereal gliddens of his homeland. The fell creatures used enchanted lanterns to lure travelers deep into the darkest woods before destroying them far from civilization. At the thought of a small wispy creature ending the life of a Saratu, a shudder went down Raelyn's spine. The men who had come and enslaved his race, the Saratu, had certainly used much more ferocious tactics than an enchanted lantern. Raelyn sighed. It wasn't easy being the last of his kind trapped in a strange world where magic seemed to be commonplace and travelers would slay any manner of beast they came across. As a matter of fact, that was how he had ended up sitting so high in this tree.

Earlier today, Raelyn had been spotted by two traveling swordsmen leaving the nearby village. Taken aback by his bestial appearance, the two had descended upon him quickly, shouting warcries and threats that Raelyn knew spelled trouble. You see, the Saratu were a peaceful race, but their appearance apparently said otherwise to all others they met. Standing seven and one half feet tall with thick spikes cropping out all across his scaly flesh, Raelyn looked like an ancient weapon of death conjured by the greatest shamans. If only these men would stop and learn that he had never even hurt the smallest of creatures in his homeland. If only they would cease their blind rage and talk with him.

Raelyn sighed once more as the flash of steel shook him from his reverie. "Ir kear astahii geou ocuir," he muttered as he rose to his full height. To their credit, the menacing display only gave the swordsmen a slight start before they were closing the distance with renewed vigor. As the leading man lunged forward to impale the hideous reptile standing inches in front of him, there was a nearly imperceptible flash of white and the beast was suddenly out of his reach. Without his sword connecting against the lizardman's flesh, the startled soldier toppled forward.

Whipping his tail around, Raelyn stuck the man's sword hand, forcing him to release his weapon or have his wrist broken. Continuing in the same path, the Saratu whirled about and began sprinting through the trees. He knew the first man would likely stop to retrieve his weapon, but the second soldier was far too close. Raelyn surveyed the landscape whipping past him until he saw the exact scenario that he knew would suit him well. Changing his course as abruptly as he could without careening into a tree, the lizard raced toward a rock jutting from the forest floor. It rose a few feet into the air like a stone seed pushing its way toward the sunlight far above.

Planting his massive foot on the end of the rock, Raelyn forced all of his muscles to propel him forward. His tail spun around behind him, keeping him balanced as he flew through the air landing on the trunk of a tree nearly thirty feet away. The impact knocked the breath from his lungs, but he clung to the fibrous bark for dear life. He knew that falling back down would spell his death, climbing up out of reach was his only recourse.

As the swordsmen arrived at the base of the tree, Raelyn was already far above their reach. Cursing their luck, the two men circled the base of the tree for several minutes. However, as rain began to patter down around them and thunder rumbled from across the mountains in the distance, the men gave up their pursuit of the beast and returned to their journey.

Raelyn sighed, finding a large enough branch further up the tree to provide him with a bit of shelter. As the raindrops came harder and steadier, the Saratu dug in for the night. In the morning he's go back to scouting out the village, working up the nerve to approach it and seek sanctuary. But after today's incident, his fear that he would be turned away had grown. Closing his eyes even as he sunk his claws deeper into the tree, Raelyn's dreams were of home and of his family.

[Ailnea]

Ailnea cringed in the room of her inn, The Drunken Sailor. Each time the thunder rolled, it made her think something big was coming down on the inn. Deep within the Monastery inside the citadel, Thunder got lost amid the opening and closing of doors, shuffling feet, and the near constant chanting.

She was in Scara Brae for one reason, and one reason only, Grandmaster Onox, her teacher and master in the Aibrone order had contacted the young nun directing her to visit a temple in Scara Brae “while she was out traveling”. She wasn’t really out traveling of course, she was on the run from another Grandmaster that wanted to kill her for reasons she could barely fathom.

Of course, her visit, and her fleeing were interconnected. She wanted to find out who, and what she was, and where her mother came from. She wanted to know what her mother’s power was that could so easily defeat the Aibrone’s powers of resurrection and healing. Most importantly, she wanted to know why the order’s vaunted powers were fading. For all those reasons, and possibly more Ailnea did not know of, a Grandmaster named Akim wanted her dead.

But poor Ailnea, as she cringed in the lumpy feather bed under the thin cotton sheets, she knew she wasn’t prepared for a life of adventuring. She’d much rather be back in the monastery, tending the gardens, assisting with the Citadel arenas, healing sick and wounded fighters, and not being subjected to an intimidating storm.

A particularly loud crack of thunder made her sit bolt upright and check that her night’s lodgings were still in one piece. Satisfied, she went back to bed, wearing her plain brown robes for added comfort and warmth, and slowly fell asleep. She tossed and turned all night long, seemingly trapped in an unending nightmare in which she was chased down by her fellow monks who were all throwing lightning at her and shaking the ground with thunder.

Morning saw an exhausted Ailnea slowly trudging out of town, who would admit to no one that the only reason she did not sleep well was because she was as frightened as a small child of a common storm. Heading into the forest on a direct path to the monastery, she wondered what this other order was like, and how they would react to a visiting Aibrone monk. Her blond hair shone brilliantly in the morning light as she took in the forest before her, and quested with deep-blue eyes for the best path to take. Choosing what looked to be a decently traveled route, the nun left the city behind,

[Lathienas Miraq]

Thien wandered through the woodland, the soft ferns and mosses brushing his legs. He whistled an elvish ballad and tears stung the corners of his eyes as he thought of his homeland settlement. As he wiped his eyes, he noticed that the mud under his feet, slimy from the night's rain was churned up. The mud had two distinctive sets of footprints, human as far as he could tell. The footfalls were deep and widely spaced, as if the owners had been sprinting, hell-bent on some unknown objective. He debated following the footprints for a moment, and his curiosity got the better of him. Although he sorely wished to get to the monastary, a short detour couldn't hurt...


He followed the tracks along the forest path, glad for the storm that preserved the footfalls. The only sound he could hear was the echo of his own step and a distant bird-call, screeching above the canopy. He struck up a new tune as he walked. The tracks terminated under a huge tree, and it seemed that the owners had milled around for a while and then left in the opposite direction.


What caught Thien's attention was the tree's bark. Indented in the wood, each thick enough for him to place a finger in, were several gouges. They were obviously claw marks from the rough edges and uneven stripping of the bark. Thien had never encountered bears in these particular woods, nor any other creature capable of such territory markings. On the other hand, he had no desire to encounter them any time soon either. Grasping a healer-stone in one hand and activating his club with the other, he looked warily around. His nerves were now on edge and he jumbed as a spider fell from the tree on to his arm.


Walking quickly away from the tree, he resumed his journey towards the monastary. Altough he remained uneasy for the next few hours, he settled and resumed his jaunty whistling as he approached the monks' hill. He sighted it on the horizon, towering above the treeline on it's precipice, and felt his heart leap. The outer gates were huge wooden and brass structures but they stood open, welcoming travellers and he could see the buildings beyond were simple wooden shacks. Heading onwards, he redoubled his efforts to advance.

[Last of the Saratu]

One lone traveler passed below the tree a few hours after Raelyn woke. His personage was missing several of the markings that the Saratu had come to realize spelled trouble for him. The tall but sleight man had no flash of metal at his hip, no jangling armor bouncing from his frame as he walked, and no murderous war cry bubbling from his lips. He traveled rather quietly and the only reason the lizardman had spotted him was because the man had stopped to examine the tree. Intrigued by what differentiated this man from the others Raelyn had seen, the Saratu scrambled across branches as quickly as he could without making a ruckus, tailing the new stranger from high up in the forest canopy.

After a few hours of travel, the trees began to thin and Raelyn was forced to take to the ground if he wanted to keep following the strange man. As he clawed his way down a trunk, he was worried that he wouldn't be able to find the man among all the underbrush. But as luck would have it, the traveler began whistling and the lizardman scurried to the forest floor, using the light-hearted tune as his guide.

The heart of the forest had offered safety and protection to the outcast beast and now the poor creature felt anxious as the cover began to become more and more sparse. Sunlight streamed through the large gaps in the canopy, illuminating the actions of its inhabitants from far away. Raelyn spotted several forest animals going about their daily business, so vulnerable here in broad daylight. He knew how they felt, if indeed they had any awareness of their plight at all. Without the darkness to hide their secrets, how did they survive? Perhaps, thought the lizardman as he stalked the stranger up the hill, I can learn from this man. He seems not to fear.

Raelyn's prey had quickened his step and the Saratu found himself elongating his stride to keep up. However, he soon realized that the man might have sped up because he knew he was being followed. Growling low under his breath, the lizardman instantly dropped into a crouch and scurried off to the right of his target. So long as the stranger didn't see him, Raelyn had a chance. When men spotted his scaly flesh and hideous countenance, all sense of reason left them and they could only focus on slaying the beast.

Setting a course across the grade of the hill, Raelyn planned to intersect with the man's present trail on the other side. If he still showed signs that he knew he was being followed, then Raelyn would deal with it then. However, the forest dwelling Saratu knew he had the element of surprise on his side. After all, few things could sneak up on him.

[Ailnea]

Ailnea was making her way up the steep hill, she wasn't going particularly fast nor particularly slow, but she was making good time all the same.

Relative to Thien and Raelyn, Ailnea was coming up on their right, and crossing over to be behind Thein. She was mostly quiet, the usual rustle of grass. She wasn't really intent on announcing her presence, just passing the pair on her way up the mountain, when a rather dry twig snapped beneath her feet and reverberated with a loud crack throughout the area.

"Pardon me." she said, apologizing for disturbing the peace. She moved up beside Thien, but in her own space, putting perhaps ten feet between the two. Her gold medallion with the seal of The Citadel shown brightly in the sun. There was no mistaking this woman for what she was.

[Lathienas Miraq]

Thien was completely ignorant of the prescence of another until he heard the flap of cloth and the clap of footsteps on the path behind him. Turning his head he saw the blond haired monk walking along the path. As he was taking her in, the loud crack sounded from her feet. He smiled at her as she apologised and resumed his contented whistling as she fell into step to his right.

Her dress indicated that she was a nun and he briefly wondered if she was connected to the monastery that they were headed towards. A glint of gold caught his eye however and he noticed the bright medallion hanging from her neck. She was of the Aibrone order. Thien had heard much about the order but had always assumed that they stayed in one place, confined to the citadel they monitered so diligently. However, he thought she might be of use in his quest if she had contact with whichever order owned their destination.

Up ahead, the monastery gates were bearing down on the pair and Thien could just make out a pair of armed guards at the gate. They appeared to be stopping travellers and interrogating them before allowing them entrance. A brief period of apprehension preceded his attempt to befriend the traveling nun. He offered an outstretched hand towards her.

'I'm Thien. You wouldn't happen to know anything about the monastery up ahead? I've been directed here but I've got no idea why. Apparently their meditative techniques are matched by few in this world.'

Although his speech was a little rushed and jumbled, he hoped he didn't sound too imposing or confusing to the girl beside him.

[Ailnea]

"I know only that before I can begin my novitiate I must visit this temple. My name is Ailnea, it's a pleasure to meet you. We might as well go together, headed towards the same destination. Also, you don't have to rush to get it all out at once, you're not on a time limit. It is improper to throw your words at someone else in a jumbled mass. If you must stop for air, then do so." She said, speaking slowly, and clearly. There was only the slightest hint of irritation in her voice over the subject of speech.

"Gods its hot." she said, and promptly removed her robes. Underneath were a pair of greenish tan pants that tied up the side of the leg, revealing silky smooth skin. A yellow blouse billowed in the light breeze. Folding as she walked, she put her robes in her pack.

[Lathienas Miraq]

Thien thanked the monk and apologised for his lack of courtesy. He admired the toned body that was clear beneath the rippling of her loose clothing. He turned ahead towards their destination, lest she should think him lecherous in his gazing.

The gargantuan gate of the monastery bore down on them, looking as though nothing as small and insignificant as a human could have fashioned it from the titanic blocks of stone that made up its visage. The tall watchtowers either side of the wooden gate soared many hundreds of paces into the sky. The stones around the base of the towers had been coated in a black substance that had an oily sheen to it. Thien recognised it from the tales of the elders of his settlement as obsidian or volcano glass. He wondered at the ability of the monks to work such a beautiful material into something as mundane as a wall. The open gates were inlaid with intricate tracery and cracks riddled the giant hinges, although they were still obviously as steady as the hill the monastery was built upon.

The gate was perhaps 20 paces across, allowing 3 carts through side-by-side. Despite this it was manned by only two men. One was of discernibly greater rank than the other. They both wore glinting chainmail suits, complete with coifs and gauntlets. The leader however also bore an ostentatious tabard, embroidered in purple and gold on white cloth to highlight his status. It was he who was conducting the investigations into the travellers and he looked up as the pair approached.

'State your name, origin and purpose.' The armoured guard had a deep voice that rolled slightly on the 'r's when he spoke. Although he must have spent his whole life giving this same command his speech was neither dull nor bored. Throughout he kept his left hand on the hilt of the bastard sword at his right side.

'I am Lathienas Miraq, from a small settlement on the northern borders here to investigate rumours that this order are seeking a 'light' that sounds remarkably similar to what I am seeking myself.' He hoped the response did not sound too evasive but, too his surprise, the swordsman laughed. It was a deep chuckle and came from deep within the man's stocky body.

'A mystic I see! You'll fit right in here, believe me.' The man continued smiling as he ushered the half-elf through the gate, his sky-blue eyes glimmering with good humour. 'Don't worry about surrendering your weapons, these holy men are capable of defending themselves.'

Thien stepped through into a courtyard. The main bulk of the monastery rose ahead of him, seemingly all points and intricate carvings. He waited for his Aibrone companion as she talked to the guards and decided the best course of action would be to enter the body of monastery and enquire within about the 'light' he had been instructed to seek.

[Ailnea]

The other guard had approached Ailnea.

“What does the Order seek with us?” asked the man.

“The Order seeks peace and friendship.” Ailnea said. There was a certain rite to be practiced between the Aibrone monastery and all other temples. As the most powerful order, the Aibrone monks were universally feared and respected, and so certain traditions and rites had been instituted to prevent misunderstanding.

“But you are not yet even a Novice, why does The Order insult us by sending an initiate in place of someone with more experience?” the guard asked.

“It is precisely because of my inexperience that I have been sent. I am open to change, and new ideas. Even a Novice will have been colored by his or her experiences, and not so very open to change. To foster continued goodwill and friendship, I have been sent to learn of your ways, and accept them, that I might carry them back to The Order with the enthusiasm and fire they deserve.” Ailnea replied, and then bowed gracefully before the guard.

“I shall let you pass, but know this is not the last trial you shall face before you depart our gates.” The guard said.

“I thank you, and take your words to heart.” Ailnea said. Then she hurried past.

She was almost afraid she wouldn’t remember the right things to say, having learned them in early childhood, but certain things, having been drilled into one’s mind daily for several years, become as second nature.

She walked with a measured stately pace, all show now, and reached Thien’s side.

“When visiting another’s house, it is always wise to present one’s self before the lord of the domicile and remember to always carry around you an air of respect.” She said, the nodded towards the monastery. She did not wait for him, but continued on in her measured stately pace.