Exploring the Pit [Tarot Hierarchy] Part 3

[Ioder]

It has been a long week for Ioder the seraphim, both physically and mentally he felt drained. He was drained of energy, drained of happiness, longing for something other than him wasting his eternity away dwelling on the past. Every time Ioder closed his eyes at night he would see her, he would see his beloved. Ioder shivered at the foot of his bed, flashing back into reality from his dreamland. He sat up hastily and found himself checking his heart rate. Breathing in deeply he scanned the room for her, checking everywhere for his beautiful beloved. “Estelle” he called out loudly still in shock. It felt so real; he saw her smiling face in his sleep.

It was quite in the House of Cards, the official name for the Tarot Hierarchy base. Ioder argued the point that this was far from a house and far closer to a pit, but Leona simply shrugged of his idea as normal. Ioder laid back down and tried to calm himself, he tried to convince his body to fall back asleep. Grunting off his emotions and angrily gritting his teeth Ioder fidgeted for a while. But it was no luck he had already woke up, there was nothing he could do he was awake nothing was changing that.

After a few more frustrating minuets of lying in his bed Ioder sat up again and reached for his white cotton shirt and quickly pulled it over his shoulders. After a few choice softly spoken curses Ioder rose to his feet and made for the door. If anybody was awake at this hour it would be Vincent. He was always staying up late now doing exciting research or whatever. Ioder didn’t really understand everything that came out of his mouth but he was the only person in this entire place that he could truly be himself around.

Ioder knew this was a long shot but he desperately wanted to take his mind off of Estelle. And what better way to do that than taking the floor exploration even farther. Ioder was hopeful as he made his way down the hall to the library. It’s been a while but he was sure that even with his limp Vincent would still be more than happy to come with him. Passing Alyssa’s room Ioder stopped dead in his tracks and looked at her door. Would she want to come?Ioder thought for a moment. He walked up to it and brought his hand up to the door to knock but froze. Half in fear of the wrath she might deliver if he woke her up, and the other half fear she is awake and not wanting to be disturbed.

“Nah,” Ioder said softly talking to himself. “Better not, but next time.” He finished as he continued to Vincent’s nest. The door was hanging open a bit when Ioder reached the end of the hallway where the library way. From inside he saw a faint sliver of candle light atop a mound of books. It clearly Illuminating Vincent’s happy face planted in a book like usual. Ioder entered and began to sparkle illuminating himself in a radiant but dim light. “Hey Vinnie “ Ioder said as he closed the door behind him.

[Cards of Fate]

Hours had passed away in mere moments for the scholar as he studied in zeal. His topic? Various undead and their inherent weaknesses. Long ago he had been attacked by something in the woods, piercing and crippling his left knee. In the process his blood had come in contact with the core of Bertha, a large leaf golem who protected the House of Cards. The two had formed some rudimentary bond, and while he had never seen his assailant, he had gotten a vague idea of...undeath.

His candle had begun to flicker as Ioder walked in. "Hey Vinnie..." the words seemed to break a spell an Vincent jolted into an upright sitting position before turning to see Ioder walking in. His blue orbs scanned the angel curiously. He hadn't heard many people stirring outside his door, so he assumed it was either incredibly late or incredibly early. The same side of a coin really. The seraphim flashed him a toothy grin, but it looked slightly forced.

"Hey Ioder." Vincent said scooting his chair back and forced himself to stand, pulling his cane from a nearby table and leaned some of his weight on it.

"You don't need to get up just yet Vince..." Ioder said crossing the room hastily.

"Bullshit," Vincent said giving the young man a hug as he approached. "What do you need bud?"

Ioder chuckled. "I couldn't sleep." He confessed. "Would you like to explore the base with me?"

The scholar paused and thought for a moment before limping over to a table covered in vials of all shapes and sizes. He paused for a moment and glanced over them, searching as he walked his fingers over the tops each. “Where are you…” he muttered as he fumbled with the various pain killers.

“Aha.” He exclaimed pulling out a phial with a crimson elixir inside of it. He popped the cork and took a large swig of it, cringing as it bitterly washed over his tongue. “Ack…” he grumbled as he recorked the bottle and set it back down. “I’m going to find the bastard who did this to me…” his voice trailed off as he pondered possibly meeting his assailant again.

“We’re gonna put him in the ground!” Ioder spat, a scowl crossing his lips. “I promise you Vincent…” the two exchanged glances and grinned.

“Make sure to save some of the fun for me bud” the scholar replied as he limped back over to Ioder and clapped him on the shoulder. “Lead the way bud.” They were off to map out the uncharted unknowns of their home.

[Ioder]

Ioder pulled his friends left arm over his shoulder and let Vincent put his weight all on Ioder as he limped through the night. The piercing sound of his cane hitting the stone floor of the hall echoed all around. Ioder sensed the shear hatred that oozed from his friend every time his cane made any noise. It must be deliberating to know that who crippled you was still alive and healthy somewhere. He felt sympathetic and forced another smile to Vincent as the turned the corner of the hall heading towards the second level. Despite how Ioder felt, Vincent must feel worse being a transplant to this world he has no one.

Well he has Ioder anyway…

The stares were a problem for Vinnie, having to take a few breaks before he could make it to the bottom of the flight. At this point Ioder felt bad making his friend make this trip. He should have just left to his studies.

“Are you ok?” Ioder asked as the came to the new official entrance to the training field. The door was constructed last weak officially opening the training room to the other minor arcana members. Vincent looked over at the door and frowned, it would be a while before he could properly do any training in the new expansion. He had been planning on it for weaks now, but it will have to be pushed back until he could properly walk.

“Yeah, I just feel a little week in the knee.” That was Vincent’s awful attempt at humor. The walked in silence for a few moments before Ioder caught the joke and chuckled a bit. “Good, I was worried for a moment you had no sense of humor.” The two were reaching the extent of explored territory of the house of cards. Nothing beyond the training room was mapped and very little was even illuminated. Ioder began to glow once more as the light of the wall torches were no longer lighting up the way for them. Ioder made sure he was only bright enough to provide just enough to see but not to blind Vincent standing just next to him.

“Leona should just come down here herself, she obviously already knows what all is down here right? Why else would she choose this place?” Ioder said sarcastically knowing if she heard him he would be going to bed with a knot on his head. She was not one for sarcasm from her cards and showing that she isn’t a push over often knocks them around a bit for it.

There was what seemed to be another stretch of hall lined with rooms along both sides presumably more bunks. Ioder let Vincent rest against a wall while the seraphim opened up one of the rooms. He poked his head through the Frame and saw that there were three very ancient bed looking things against the wall. It wasn’t the same as the rooms up top; these were small and held a lot of sleeping room. Regardless of what it is or what they were used for these rooms would be perfect for refugees.

[Cards of Fate]

As Ioder checked out rooms Vincent leaned his weight on the wall and continued down the hall. Between the wall and his cane he had managed to take most of the weight off of his bad leg, but still every step sent a wave of searing pain up his thigh. The wounds had closed, but the tendons and joints were still taking their time to get back into full working order. He began to feel a clammy sweat form on his face an neck as he exerted himself. Soon he found himself straying from Ioder's light and fished through his pockets to pull out a fist sized glass orb.

"Illuminate..." he muttered as the orb sputtered to life, filling the hall with natural sunlight.

"Whoa what's that light Vinnie?" Ioder asked as he stumbled out of the room he was exploring.

"A little toy I took the liberty of buying..." Vincent replied rolling it down the hall. "Should stay lit long enough for us to work out what we're exactly looking at." he replied as he continued to the next door. Most of the hall seemed to be smaller quarters for prisoners or refugees, but some of the doors up ahead seemed to be larger and more ornate. Those were his targets.

He limped forward to the first set of large double doors on his side of the hall, a twenty five foot walk of pain and misery, whilst Ioder continued to work on a door by door basis. As he reached the rough wooden doors he pushed them open to expose a large dimly lit room.

“Ioder can you bring me my orb?” Vincent asked straining his eyes to make out any details.

“Sure thing Vinnie, you find something?” Ioder asked fetching the orb and placing it into Vincent’s outstretched hand.

“We’re about to find out.” Vincent replied stepping into the room. The orb filled the dust covered room with warm light as he found several anvils covered in centuries of dust and spider webs. The back of the room seemed to have a forge of some sorts, but it looked like it had been ages since fire had graced it’s bowels. Suits of tarnished armor stood silent watch over the abandoned room with stoic sadness

“We have a forge?” Ioder asked stepping inside.

“It appears so…” Vincent replied as he watched the seraphim carefully enter the room. “Tread lightly, the deeper we get into this place the more and more I suspect we will come across traps meant to ward away intruders…” the scholar warned.

“What purpose could this pit have possibly served that warranted a forge?” Ioder asked standing in the middle of the room. “With all of this dust it feels like this place has been abandoned for an exceptionally long time…”

“I tried looking for records of this place’s past owners in the library.” Vincent replied shrugging. “I didn’t find anything though. “I am under the impression we might find some more information in a room deeper down though, possibly in another archives.”

[Ioder]

From what they gathered so far The House of Cards was turning out to appear like an underground garrison of sorts. It was clearly outfitted to hold a large number of people well enough that it would have both a training room and a forge. The war room wasn’t altered much from how we found it and neither was the kitchen other than sprucing them up. Now with the discovery of this wing of the fort it was clear that this place was once used for a military of sorts. Or it was at the very least home to a well prepared group of bandits.

Ioder walked up to one of the sets of ancient armor still standing tall along the border of the room. He reached up with a finger to wipe the dust from it revealing they were made of a black metal. None of the sets looked exactly alike all possessing some feature that made them different. He looked down the line and saw a still fully stocked weapons rack chalked full of blade galore.

“Whoever was here last sure left in a hurry.” Ioder said pointing to the weapons that were left behind. “Even for scrap these are worth something.” He said walking up to the rack and grabbing a fun looking blade. He held the sword out spinning it to check the balance of the blade. “This is good steel.”

“What could make them leave all this behind?” Vinnie asked walking up next to his friend.

“I’m not sure but it’s good to know we have this.” Ioder said lifting Vincent up as both started to leave the room. Ioder shut the door and both walked even farther down the unexplored wing. The hall extended only linearly for a while before opening up into a cross roads of adjacent corridors. “Do you hear that?” Ioder said raising a finger indicating to focus. There was a faint sound of running water coming from the right passage way.

“It sounds like a stream or something.” Vinnie said before signaling him with a nod that he was ready to go down the hall. Ioder obliged happily and started for the sounds of water. The passage only extended a few yards before the two could see the wooden door. Every step they took closer to the door the sounds grew and they were sure there had to be some kind of waterfall behind the door. Ioder and Vincent both pressed on the door pushing it open.

What could possibly behind the door? At this point the had discovered enough to m convince Ioder that this was a military institution at one time. Ioder was prepared for the worst as the door slowly pushed open. The second a gap was made billows of steam rushed out o meet them.

“Now this is what I call a jackpot.” Vinnie barely let out.

[Cards of Fate]

The two walked into a steam filled room with what appeared to be the remains of a desk at the back of the wall. Even with all of the light they possessed it was hard to see, steam seemed to flow freely in the room from two portals on either side of the room, ancient doors torn asunder from their hinges.

“Is this a sauna?” Ioder asked looking around curiously.

“Im not sure but we should probably split up to explore the sides simultaneously.” Vincent suggested letting go of Ioder to head out to the door on the left.

“You sure Vinnie? There could be traps…” Ioder replied looking cautious.

“If this is what I think it is I highly doubt it’s rigged with traps.” Vincent replied stopping at the wall to observer a carved message. “Huh…It’s high elven…” he muttered looking towards Ioder. “It says women…” he paused and limped to the other door and peered at it curiously. “This one says...” he stained to read it in the heavy steam. “Men?” The two exchanged glances.

“It’s separated by gender…” Ioder replied rubbing his chin, “could it be a set of baths?” he continued. Vincent nodded slightly in agreement.

“Sounds about right.” Vincent replied.
“Here, I’ll take the woman’s side so you don’t have to limp all the way across the room again.” Ioder offered disappearing through the steamy portal. “Shout if you need anything!” he called out, barely heard by Vincent.

“Will do!” Vincent hollered back as he limped into the next room. Sweat was beginning to soak into his clothes as he glanced around in the large room he had entered. It appeared there were small compartments carved into the wall itself, once covered by hinged doors that littered the floor around them. Small stone benches seemed to line the wall as well.
“It’s a locker room…?” Vincent thought to himself as he limped around. He found a simple opening in the wall to his left that seemed to have once housed a curtain over it judging by a rod suspended over it covering the width of the opening. This once again seemed to be the source of the steam in the previous two rooms, as well as the sound of running water.

Silent prayers left Vincent’s lips as he stepped through to find a large pool of steaming water fed by a waterfall the flowed out of a statue of a dragons head. The room seem to be lit by some magical mean, just bright enough for one to see, but dim enough to calm the senses.

“Douse…” Vincent uttered, extinguishing the light from his orb. Tucking it into his robe he sighed and shrugged the article of clothing off to reveal a white woolen shirt and brown trousers. He tore of his shirt, kicked off his boots, and dropped his trousers.

“Oi it’s a hotsprings!” Vincent called out into the silence. The room seemed to be connected to what he assumed was where the other room led to, however a large wooden wall seemed to partition the springs into chambers, with a small gap at the top. “Make sure you take your clothes off before you…” Vincent was interrupted by a loud splash.
“Whoops!” Ioder called out gleefully from the other side.

“God damnit…” Vincent sighed as he slowly approached the edge of the water, cane still in hand. He he gently lowered himself into a sitting position, sliding his legs into the warm water, hissing as his wounded knee entered the water. The stone was cold against his skin, but the water was almost uncomfortably hot. Once his legs were used to the water he began to lower the rest of his body in, letting out a soft sigh of pleasure as the warmth began to flow through him.

“This feels fantastic on my knee…” Vincent called out over the wall.

[Ioder]

Ioder listened to the soft sound of the waterfall flowing into the female side of the hot spring. He and Vincent hit the ultimate jackpot. Who would have thought that there was a sauna this sophisticated in the House of Cards? What could have this place possibly been before? Ioder was puzzled.

As he floated letting the warm relax his mussels Ioder couldn’t help but notice his mind was drifting. Drifting back to where it always did, to her. He closed his eyes and remained very still as he pictured her dancing in a field of white flowers. She danced just like she did back then, back when Ioder still had her.

“Estelle…” the troubled angel let slip from his mouth. Ioder missed his sister, more than life itself. His entire purpose of joining the Tarot and obeying Leona was to find a way to see her again.


--------------

Four hundred years ago, back when all of the lands were still young. Ioder lived in a small town buried in the rolling hills of Corone. He lived as part of a convent that worshipped the Thaynes, even in these days he hid from the world. Living in secrecy the seraphim lead an honest life. Worship and hard work made him strong and durable, kind and understanding, loving and a bit reckless.

He lived as a part of the community of the small nameless town for a number of years, watching the world as it grew. One day as he was traveling to see a family in need of final rights, Ioder found himself waling into a horror scene. In heavy rain on the road leading to the family there was an over turned wagon and a bloody mess all around. A caravan had been under attack, everyone killed and left to rot.

As Ioder investigates the terrible scene he came across one survivor. A young human girl covered in blood stained rags and unconscious but still very much alive. Disregarding his life of solitude and hiding Ioder for the first time in years revealed his wings and scooped her up taking her where ever he could. The closest place being the family estate he was traveling to perform the rights. The seraphim felt as her life slowly fading from her as his wings carried them as fast as they could.

Ioder was week; he was having a difficult time caring both himself and this girl all the way to the estate. Persevering for the sake of the girl, Ioder made it crash landing hard into the main door of the main building. He making sure hides his wings before passing out of exhaustion. The next thing he could remember was waking up waking up in a bed seeing a blurring outline of the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

“Are you ok?” She has a soft and sincere voice. “You’re the one who saved me.” She said as she grabbed Ioder’s hand. Her long curly brown hair came into focus along with her cherry blossom pink eyes. “Thank you, Im Estelle.” She said as the soft voice was joined by a soft smile.


-----------------

Ioder was feeling very relaxed washing himself in the waters. His mind was for more or less at peace and he was sure his friend was feeling just was good. Ioder stood up and lifted himself out of the water and made for the locker room. “Im getting out buddy!” He yelled out to his friend.

“Me too.” He heard his friend yell back. He was sure he spent at least fifteen minutes day dreaming about Estelle. The sun was going to rise soon he assumed and the day was going to start maybe they should start heading back.

[Cards of Fate]

Vincent let the hot springs relax his muscles as he massaged his injured knee, feeling the jagged scar all along his knee. He gritted his teeth, such an ugly wound that only served to hold him and his teammates back. It was almost ironic, the weakest member of the team had only gotten weaker and was already holding the rest of the team back. He heard Ioder begin to get out and he figured he should do the same. He made his way towards his pile of clothes and lifted himself from the water. He paused for a moment, letting some of the excess water drip off of him and glanced around. Had their once been towels in this springs they were long gone. With no other choice he simply dawned his trousers and boots and used his shirt to dry his face and hair as a makeshift towel. He reached for his cane and then slid his robe on to cover himself partially before he began to walk back to where he and Ioder had split up.

As he approached the angel shot Vincent a strange look. "You feeling ok bud?" the Seraphim asked frowning.

"Yeah I feel..." Vincent paused as he realized he was bearing his full weight on his injured knee. "Significantly better than before actually..." Vincent said grinning as he took a couple practice steps without using the cane. The scholar's glance shot up to the angel with a conspiratorial grin covering his face as he took another limping step. "I have a feeling pretending to be lame might come in handy..." Vincent said as he "limped" over to Ioder. "Let's keep this between you and I..."

Ioder nodded, grinning ear to ear at his friend's clever plan. "We should probably go get breakfast soon, wouldn't you agree?"

"Most definitely." Vincent replied as the two exited the steamy lobby into the darkened hallway. "I've been working on my scambled eggs, do you want to try them?"

"Duh, Master Chef Vince is the best cook in the Hierarchy." Ioder replied grinning. As the two approached the stairs they noticed two doors that they hadn't seen, just behind the stairwell. The two paused and each took a door, opening them to reveal another unlit hallway.

"Looks like there is more to explore at a later time..." Vincent said shrugging. "Just more time for us to hang out under the guise of doing something for Leona eh?" he said turning to his angelic freind.

"Hell yeah Vinnie." Ioder replied high-fiving him.

[Ioder]

The two friends made their slow way back to the upper levels of the House of Cards. They both felt completely relaxed and better than they did before they found the holiest among holy paces to be found. The sauna wound definitely cause a stir with the rest of the Tarot Operatives. Slowly they arrived on familiar ground outside the remodeled training room. Ioder let Vincent take a quick break as they chatted about basically nothing. It didn’t matter what they talked about it was fun to spend time with each other. Grabbing his friend by his shoulder he lifted him back up and helped him finish as they reached the stairs.

“You alright!” Ioder said catching Vincent as he lost his footing. Luckily Ioder was quick and caught his fiend before he fell.

“Im good,” Vinnie said still with a firm grip on his cane and Ioder’s shirt. “Thanks.” Even after the resting bath Vincent was still to week to do much exercising. But it didn’t matter, as long as Ioder was round he would take care of him. It was programmed in his very being to care for the souls of the mortal. Whether he chose to listen to his moral compass or not was another thing. But for Vincent it was unquestionable.

The two after a few moments reached the kitchen at the end of the hall. After Ioder helped Vincent to the stove and gathered the ingredients for his masterful culinary exploit the angel sat down at the counter. Watching his friend crack the eggs and drop them into the pan Ioder tried to find the confidence to bring up his troubles with his friend. The sound of for the eggs frying and their smell filled the room along with the sounds of others starting to stir in the base.

“Vinnie while we have a moment can we talk.” Ioder said as he made a pyramid with his fingers and rested his head on their form. Vincent looked over his shoulder and nodded back. “I didn’t mean to bother you this morning but I just couldn’t sleep. “

“Its all good friend,“ Vincent said as he flipped the eggs in the pan. “What was keeping you up?”

“It’s a long story but let’s just say it’s the reason I’m here. Leona when we first met promised me power, the power to see my sister again.” Ioder stopped for a moment “I dreamt about here again last night.”

“Your sister…” Vincent felt his friends tone and turned to face him giving him his full attention. “Has it been a long time since she’s been gone?”

“For longer than I can bear…” Ioder paused again. “She was the one, my mortal, and I was her guardian angel.” Ioder said as he got up and walked over to his friend. The eggs smelt done and Ioder grabbed for a plate. “I don’t want to burden you but when I start to think of her I feel dark inside.” Vincent scooped a helping of eggs and dolloped them onto his friends plate.

[Cards of Fate]

Vincent paused at his friends words. Realizing what his friend was getting at he scowled, pulling a forkful of eggs to his lips. “Ioder sometimes we need to stop looking into the past…” he said shrugging. “And look to the present and the future.” The angel stopped and paused and glared at his companion.

“What do you mean?” he asked chewing on his eggs. “Are you saying I should just forget her?” he continued setting his plate down.

“Not at all,” Vincent replied between bites of eggs. “Depending on how long ago she died she might not have even lived to see today naturally. With the immortality you bear you will see many mortals come and go. Eventually even I will grow old and die.” He said setting down his empty plate and patting his friend on the shoulder. “But your sister lives on in your heart…” he said poking him in the chest, “and before you run off going all Victor Frakenstein on me..” he continued growling. “Remember that even if you did bring her back to life…would she approve of the method you used.” He asked raising an eyebrow.

“Victor who?” Ioder replied looking confused. If he was taking anything Vincent was saying to heart he was hiding it rather well.

“It’s….an earth thing.” Vincent said nodding. “Literature, guy wants to make life…makes a monster, shenanigans pursue.” He shrugged. The two washed their dishes in silence. “Anyways…I’m tired, but before I go to bed…” Vincent trailed off as he pulled his friend into an embrace. “I love you bud, platonically of course. If you ever need to talk to me my doors open.”

With that the Hierophant left the angel to his own devices and returned to his bed.

[Philomel]

Name of Thread: Exploring the Pit [Tarot Hierarchy] Part 3 (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?28747-Exploring-the-Pit-Tarot-Hierarchy-Part-3&p=243629#post243629)
Judgement Type: Workshop Submission
Participants: Ioder and Cards of Fate

Rewards:

Ioder (http://www.althanas.com/world/member.php?17424-Ioder) receives:
565 EXP
65 GP

Cards of Fate (http://www.althanas.com/world/member.php?17720-Cards-of-Fate) receives:
480 EXP
65 GP

Notes: Submitted to Workshop for commentary. (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?28780-Workshop-Exploring-the-Pit-Tarot-Hierarchy-Part-3&p=243644#post243644)

[Lye]

EXP & GP Added!