Latest revision as of 04:18, 9 June 2010

Days Ago

Resplendent Echo enters the Fallen Acropolis, a vast complex in which many of Amoth City-Smiter's servants live. Although the "ruins" were never actually intact, the illusion is complete.

Broken columns protrude into the air like rotten teeth; tumbledown walls of marble outline streets and plazas, many of which sport trees carefully pruned and guided to look like they have been growing wild.

The God-Blood's contact, a young woman with eyes of rusted iron, is waiting for him in an artfully wrecked cafe. She gets up from her seat on a suspiciously chair-shaped piece of rubble, and bows politely to him as he approaches.

"Good day to you, Resplendent Echo." Her voice is husky, bordering on a rasp.

Echo walks up to the woman with a pleasant smile on his face and greets her cordially. "It's a pleasure to see you." he says. He wipes some sweat from his brow with a small cloth and looks around. "Lovely place you have here."

Her eyes make a quiet rasping sound as she glances about the ruins with an expression of faint distaste. "I prefer not to take my work home with me, when I can possibly avoid it, but this -is- a place where we can speak relatively discreetly.

"You wanted me to look into the bureau's records of Southeastern ruins?" (The young woman, Crumbling Artifice, is the half-mortal daughter of one of Amoth's subordinates. She helps coordinate the records of Amoth's sub-bureau with the Division of Endings.)

Echo continues the gaze through the ruins. "I understand the feeling. This wasn't exactly my choice of location, but we make with what we can get. It seems I'm going to be in the area for some time. I was wondering if there was any story with the local former hot-spots. It'd be nice to know if there was something dangerous or worthwile in this place."

Crumbling Artifice nods, sitting back down. Her rust-red robes rustle across artfully, artificially weathered stone as she produces a fat folio of documents.

"I wasn't told much before coming down here," Echo says. "In fact, it was something of a punishment so I'm a little in the dark."

She nods. "There are not many records of the area you wanted to know about," she begins, undoing the folio and beginning to shuffle through papers. "Most of the detailed records seem to have been lost at the time of the Contagion, when the settlement there was destroyed." She pauses. "Or presumed destroyed.

"But, I was able to track down some information by finding out which documents were being requisitioned by certain members of the Gold Faction, and looking at them before they could be sealed." She consults some of the papers. "The area you were curious about was a small Shogunate-era settlement, built around a Manse constructed in the late First Age."

She hands Echo a sheaf of papyrus, on which someone (presumably her) has copied a drawing of a five-story tower with branches growing out of its pinnacle. "The 'Tree of Bounties' may have been designed by a Solar architect named Qumaid a Ta'if. He was apparently known for his great understanding of Wood Essence."

She shuffles through more papers. "Some accounts indicate that he could have been the equal of great Manse designers such as Kal Bax, if he had not confined his efforts to Wood-aspected manses. He was very interested in how wood essence interacts with living and unliving things, and performed many experiments with the goal of transmuting nonliving matter into living."

Crumbling Artifice closes the folio. "There was a listing of Qumaid's Manses, but it only gave names. By the time I was able to follow the paper trail, any documents relating to the Manse's actual powers had been sealed or 'lost.'"

"Looks charming," he says while looking at the drawing. "Hopefully there won't be too many experiments still out and about."

She nods. "I heard you have been dispatched on a mission by your patron. I wish you the best of luck." She smiles, flashing slightly crooked, pearl-white teeth.

Echo smiles back. "I'm sure I'll need it."

Echo thanks her for her help.

"When you return, expect me to ask you to repay my favor. There will surely be some gathering which your presence would make more... bearable for me." The corners of her rusty eyes crinkle up in good humor.

At a party in his mother's Manse, his last before departing for Yu Shan, and thence, the jungle, Hasan meets the Scavenger Lord Irin Potek, a man who owes him gambling debts.

"The Laughing Typhoon!" The one-eyed, obviously intoxicated man claps him on the shoulder. "I heard that you will soon be joining the ancient and honorable brotherhood of the scavenging trade!" He leans in closer, the smell of alcohol -- but expensive alcohol! -- heavy on his breath.

"Ah, my friend. You are indeed well-informed; this is to be my last party for some time." Hasan delicately refrains from breathing for a time.

"If the rumors I've heard are right, my adventures never took me near where you're going," says Irin. "But I've heard plenty of rumors of my own!"

Regarding his compatriot with a quizzical gaze, his eyes illuminated from within by a rainbow gleam, Hasan smiles. "Indeed?"

Irin pulls Hasan aside, away from the people and lesser gods engrossed in their games of chance and skill. "The jungle has all manner of powerful gods and monsters," he begins, in the same melodramatic tone he might use when telling a tall tale.

Hasan appears a dutiful and attentive listener, breathing softly so as not to overwhelm his senses with the man's breath, and nods encouragingly.

"There're parts where no man, or even no Dragon-Blooded, has journeyed and lived to tell the tale. I heard of one, a Prince of the Earth called Black Orchid. He claimed a demon sold him a map to a treasure trove, some kind of giant tree which grew treasure instead of fruit." Irin leans in closer, getting into the storytelling. "He gathered together a mighty band, he did -- Polun Iron-Fist, Dedric the Seer, and many others with less famous names.

"They went into the jungle, sure that they'd be the equal of any foe. But a month passed, and then two... and they didn't come back. One day, another band, on the outskirts of the jungle, found Polun wandering around, half-mad and feverish with a dozen illnesses.

"He raved for a day and a night about how Black Orchid had been seduced by a monster, and sacrificed his own comrades so that he could become king of a tribe of Wyld barbarians. 'People of the tree,' he called em. But none ever knew what he meant, for soon after, he took his secrets to his grave."

Hasan draws back, and takes a deep and thoughtful breath. "A worrisome tale indeed, my friend. Let us hope it is only rumour."

"Aye, lad, there's many fates worse than death to be had in the forests of the Southeast!"

Topaz is visiting his mother's house in Yu-Shan, gathering supplies before heading off on his mission. On his way back from the Market of Sighs, he sees a familiar face. Or rather, a Familiar face -- a small gray monkey with unusual red feet, perched on the shoulder of a dark-complexioned, disreputable-looking man.

Topaz glances over at the odd-looking monkey, getting a little half-smile on his face before glancing up at the man again -- why, yes, he does believe that's that...wanderer fellow who he see's now and again. Poaco.

Topaz does a double take, and then wanders over in that direction.

"Poaco? I say, is that you? It is!" Topaz walks on up closer, grinning oddly.

Poaco turns around; his monkey hops over onto his other shoulder as he does, chattering. "A-hey, it's the Topaz Savant!" The disheveled fellow grins widely. "I missed you in great forks, man. I had some great stories this time!"

"Oh??" Topaz always likes to hear more stories; often times even writes them down, to preserve them for all posterity. "Indeed, it is I. Just Topaz, please, no need for such formalities...though, I'd note, the Savant goes in front of the name. What are you doing here? I've been visiting mother; you know how she can be, I'm sure. She's sending me off on yet another little errand. To the Jungle this time, of all places."

"The jungle, a? I was just there myself, as luck would have it. Maybe you'll get to see some of the stuff I saw, first hand." Poaco grins some more.

Topaz shivers a bit at that thought; he's heard some of Poaco's stories. "You don't think mother would put me in danger do you? In any event, what kind of things are you referring to?" Topaz glances at Poaco over the rims of his spectacles.

Poaco puts a hand around Topaz' shoulders as they walk along. The monkey gives Topaz a look just as scholarly as the one the savant is directing at his master. Topaz spares a sidelong glance for the odd little monkey; he's always wondered of that little one was a God-Blood of some sort...

"Well, can't say too much; that would make some people upset with me, and I like to be everyone's friend, a? But I can tell you some of the most amazing parts!"

Topaz just nods.

"I was deep into the jungle, living by my wits." The monkey screeches. "And with Butos' help, of course. We were on our way looking for a star which had unexpectedly fallen. Along the way, we came across all kinds of interesting things. Old ruins, strange gods, that kind of thing." Poaco gives Topaz a sly, sidelong look.

Topaz listens intently, but finds little of huge amazement just yet.

Poaco sighs, seeing that Topaz is obviously not going to rise to the bait. "Ah, you're no fun to talk to. The ruins were all over the jungle. They looked like Shogunate stuff, but there was also some First Age construction. Wouldn't surprise me if there were an Anathema tomb somewhere in there, but we didn't have time to check. If you find yourself in that place, I suggest you watch out for a big pond with half a dome over it. A big snake-god lives there, and he hates visitors."

Topaz nods at the advice. "Noted; I'll be sure to avoid any hostile snake-gods. I have enough trouble with gods as is.

"First Age?" he says, adjusting his spectacles and pondering that for a bit. "Very interesting... What kind of construction?"

"Well, most of it was tumbled down in ruins. The snake had a stone dome, or what was left of one, over his pond, and Butos caught a glimpse of a broken glass tower under the water as his followers were chasing us with spears." Poaco shrugs. "Aside from that, just a lot of stone blocks."

Topaz files away 'spears' under 'lake --> dome --> snake god'.

"Well, that says at least that it was made of stone, eh? And that it had been fairly heavily damaged and ruined; many First Age ruins remain standing, after all. They knew how to build things, back then."

"It looked like some tribes lived in the area; there were signs around a lot of the bigger ruins, but we never actually saw any people besides the ones who wanted to skewer us. Not all the gods were unfriendly, though," Poaco adds. "A bit further in, just outside a big clearing with lots of ruins in it, there was a colony of Artisans. Very friendly."

"Interesting," Topaz guesses whatever Poaco was doing was indeed very important; this is one of the vaguest stories he's heard so far.

"I bet you're thinking this is pretty vague, but I'll bet you you'll find it useful soon enough." Poaco winks at Topaz.

Topaz gives Poaco a 'I was thinking no such thing!' type glance, before chuckling a bit. "I'm sure I will; thank you, Poaco. So...spears, eh?"

Poaco claps Topaz on the shoulder and laughs. "Yah, pointy sticks! Crazy, a? Well, man, maybe I'll see you again, and you can tell -me- some stories!" He ambles off, monkey in tow.

The Tree of Bounties

The rainforest is dense and teeming with life. Woody creepers dangle from above, and weave together to form almost impenetrable barriers. Many of the trees are so enveloped in vines that climbing up them would be no more challenging than mounting a staircase. The forest floor is in perpetual twilight; any sunlight which reaches it has been filtered through several layers of canopy. Wisps of warm fog drift through the humid air, and the cacophony of insect and animal noises is constant.

Topaz walks behind Hasan, watching him hack away at the jungle vines, while leading his fully ladened pack-mule on the cleared trail. He keeps an eye out, however, for interesting plants or strange creatures -- both out of a bit of fear, and mild interest in his surroundings.

Topaz resists the urge to pull out his brand new (and heavily inaccurate) map of the Southeast, to try to locate where they are again.

Insects and crawling creatures of all descriptions scurry out from the fallen vegetation as it is crunched under the mule's hooves.

The soft thumping of Hasan's mechanised jade boots has been a near-constant rhythm for days, now, as has the alternating swish of a machete and rustle of vines being held back with a stick. By and large he's avoided large thickets, preferring to take easier paths than hacking directly forward; he seems to know a thing or two about jungles for one so fond of Yu-Shan's high life.

Topaz is wearing some insect-netting, and occasionally bats away large bugs, as well.

Echo looks around the jungle, the heat obviously making him uncomfortable. He walks alongside Topaz, every now and again taking some clumsy swings at the vegetation with his blade.

"Do you want me to check the map and see where we are?" Topaz offers, helpfully.

Occasional electric discharges flicker around Hasan, a faint reminder of the Essence surrounding him and keeping crawling irritants at bay. "You may if you wish, my friend. But I do not believe it is far now."

Topaz just nods, and decides not to bother then. It's a lot of work to get it folded up again...

Through the haze and underbrush, hints of direct sunlight, unfiltered through strata of tree branches, can be seen.

Echo is singing to himself softly. The insects don't seem to be giving him problems, though he does look worn from the trek.

The mule's hooves make a clip-clop sound as it steps on a hard surface. It leaves behind white hoofprints, a thin layer of dirt scraped away from stone pavement.

Hasan stops just short of the clearing's edge and smiles, though it is a tired smile. "I believe, good sirs, that we have arrived." With that, he sweeps his staff across the vines to pull them aside.

Topaz glances back at his Mule, just as Hasan says that, and smiles a bit -- that wasn't so bad...

The transition between dense forest growth and leafy groundcover is quite abrupt. White marble ruins poke up here and there through the vegetation; most of the ruins are nothing more than scattered rubble, but a few arches and columns still stand.

Topaz pulls away vines and other vegetations as well, trying to get a look at the marble ruins and date them as well as he can... he also looks for any writings that he might be able to find.

The party has arrived near the northwest end of the crescent-shaped clearing; the massive tree, and the tower sheathing it, are clearly visible. The sun sparkles through gaps in the Tree of Bounty's vast canopy. Many colorful specks glisten in the tree's foliage, like jewels caught in its branches.

If it were not for the miniature storm surrounding him, Hasan would be catching flies in his mouth right now.

Topaz doesn't quite notice the ruins at first, so caught up is he in the stones below, but when he does note it he goes momentarily still and just stares...amazed at the sight, wonderous at it's beauty, and intensely curious about how it was built and by whom. "...Amazing."

Hasan simply nods dumbly in response to Topaz; his eyes are literally glowing with wonder.

Topaz glances over the clearing as a whole, as he can, trying to find the most likely place to find something of note...especially writings that he might translate, or interesting sights of other natures.

Echo looks up at the tree and the tower. "It's so much more amazing in person. This must have been quite the place once. Even after it's all tumbled it's still quite the sight."

"Well then. Let us venture forward and see what can be seen, eh?" Drawing a deep breath to recover his wits, Hasan leans momentarily on his staff, then sets off apace into the clearing.

Topaz nods, following Hasan...and then moving back a bit, and dragging his Mule too.

The vegetation is mainly leafy plants and ferns, forming a dense groundcover which reaches to the men's waists in many places. White ruins poke up through the green in many places.

Topaz clears off his spectacles as well, rubbing the lenses against his shirt, now that there's things to see! He examines any interesting ruins that they pass, especially ones with markings! He sees fragments of bas-relief on several of the pieces of rubble. As they pass onto an open section, in which the plants have not pushed up through the closely-interlocked flagstones, a faded, damaged mosaic can be seen on the ground.

Topaz also inspects the simple vegetation for any signs of wyld mutation.

Hasan regards every new part of the ruins with equally great interest, trying to piece together a rough idea of the original structure's layout. To his trained eye, it looks like they are in what was once the central agora of a small, but highly developed, town. Topaz hrmmms, lightly, and mutters to himself about this having once been the center to a small First Age town.

Topaz, once he reaches the Mosiac, goes "Ooooh!", pushes his specatcles up closer to his eyes, and bends down to examine it. "This will have to be restored..."

The mosaic is faded with the centuries, but enough remains that it can be seen to be a depiction of some kind of revelry. Off to the edge, a group of people surrounded by colored halos sit on thrones; people kneel before them, presenting various types of offerings. Toward the other edge, stylized athletes compete in track and field events, and musicians perform for a crowd of gaily-outfitted dancers.

Topaz examines the figures and the offerings especially, more and more intrigued.

In the center of the mosaic, a huge tree rises up, separating the Dragon Blooded on the left from the mortals on the right. Although the mosaic is too damaged for its full extent to be seen, it looks like the branches fan out to frame the entire mosaic. Topaz notes offerings of food, finely-crafted metal goods, and attractive slaves. He hrms excitedly as he watches.

It appears that the Dragon-Blooded are attended by many servants already, though. Most of the slaves standing by them look similar. The colors are almost too faded to tell, but they all seem to have willowy builds and long green hair.

Hasan meanwhile, having suddenly recalled something old Irin Potek told him, gives a decidedly wary and extended glance to the Tree of Bounties itself.

Echo gazes around at the ruins wondering what life must have been like here, and how the people lived with the heat. He pulls out the drawing of the manse Cumbling Artifice gave him and compares it to the actual thing.

The drawing looks like a relatively faithful depiction of the Manse, albeit distorted by the God-Blooded woman's unpracticed hand. It consists of five storeys, the lowest one significantly taller than the rest. All of the storeys are pierced by arches; the ones on the first floor are open, while the ones above shine with glass. The glass must be the same durable substance used in Chiaroscuro, because it has survived the years fully intact.

Topaz hrms, carefully dusting off one of the Dragon-Blooded figures to get a better look. "Shogunate-era, I'm sure..." Topaz confirms it, with a self-satisfied nod.

Hasan sees some signs of movement in the tree's canopy, but it's uncertain if it's a breeze rustling the leaves, or something else. Looking closer, He catches a glimpse of a a long-limbed figure swinging from one branch to the next; the movement in the tree was probably monkeys, like it.

Topaz gives the mosiac another once over, to see how hard it'd be to restore. He then glances up, toward the Manse, and his companions..

"Hm." Hasan withdraws his gaze from the Tree, and regards the mosaic for a time more, comparing the two. "And these willowy figures would be the People of the Tree old Irin Potek spoke of, I suspect. I see none around here, though there are monkeys above it seems."

"The Mosiac," he notes to them at last, "is Shogunate era. Notice the seated Dragon-Blooded, with their elemental animas, and the mortals proferring them gifts. I'd imagine there was a fairly developed Shogunate settlement here at some point during that time... It doesn't, however, conform to what I'd expect of the Immaculate Order..." He thinks back to Heresies that could account for this mosiac, idly, while he watches the enviroment waiting for his -- slightly more experienced, his eyes at least -- companions to decide what to do next.

Suddenly, something plummets down from above, landing right next to the mule. The stolid animal doesn't even bat an ear as he is splattered with bright burgundy juice and pulp. Topaz does, however, bat an eye -- skitting away a bit, turning and going all wide-eyed and shocked at the sudden disturbance! "What was that!!!?

Hasan startles more quietly, and then chuckles. "A monkey, I suspect."

Echo yelps aloud and then looks around sheepishly.

Another object plops down nearby, landing heavily amid the plants.

Looking up, Echo sees animals moving in the branches above, and hears monkeys screeching.

Topaz readjusts his spectacles, frowns, and glances at the other object... "Devillish beasts. We'd best get under some...cover. Shouldn't we?"

One entire side of the mule is dyed purple with the same juice which has splashed all over the mosaic.

Collecting a handful of jungle mist from the shawl of it that passes for his hair, Hasan conjures forth a small creature from his stormy nature and sets it to guard against falling objects in his vicinity. Duly warded, Hasan steps forward to regard the object himself.

Topaz looks at the Mule, making an annoyed clicking noise with his tongue, glad that he carefully packed up his books...

Topaz then, sniffs a bit, hrrms, and walks over toward the mule. He more carefully inspects the object that fell from the tree...

Echo looks up into the trees, annoyed before moving over to the other..

The jellyfish-like pseudocreature conjured up by Hasan hovers above his head like an umbrella, then abruptly darts to one side, intercepting something purple. The watery umbrella splashes against the ground and dissipates, but it has broken the object's fall. The object is a big, eggplant-shaped fruit. It is the same color as the juice covering the mule.

"Fermented wine. GOOD Fermented wine, either.." Topaz wonders if his mother knows these monkeys... he also wonders how you toss Wine...

With a bit of searching, Echo locates the remains of the second fruit. Its silvery rind has split open from the impact, revealing a pale pink interior. On closer inspection, the "rind" of the fruit is actually composed of silvery scales. Its flesh gives off the unmistakeable aroma of fresh fish.

"Do you suppose those monkeys could be your 'People of the Tree'?" asks Topaz.

"Perhaps, though I got a more sinister impression from Potek than monkeys." answers Hasan, while he pulls forth a number of replacements for his wine-splattered wind guardian.

"Monkeys can be quite sinister," Topaz notes, idly, but nods anyway. "What kind of monkeys throw wine, in any event?"

"In my experience, monkeys simply throw whatever is at hand. In this case, plants made of wine."

Topaz glances over at the thing that didn't plop noisly to the ground, and notes its appearance -- wandering over toward it, pulling the mule.

Echo picks up the silvery fruit and smells it, taking in the aroma of fish. "And fish as well? I must say, these monkeys a certainly gracious hosts, though." he says.

"What if that fruit had landed on your head?" Topaz warns, to Echo.

Above, the simian chattering fades away. It seems the monkeys have moved deeper into the tree's canopy.

Picking up the egg-plant-like fruit, Hasan sniffs it curiously.

Topaz pulls on his mule, moving in a bit closer to the Manse... he doesn't wanna be out in the open when they start throwing sticks, or rocks...

Echo quips "Entertaining as well! Trying to get a meal without being knocked unconcious could be a fun challenge. But still, pehaps we really should find cover. It's been a long enough trek without being covered in fish."

On closer inspection, the "eggplant's" rind appears to be a transparent, hard shell containing a core of burgundy liquid. It has a green stem at one end.

Topaz pulls his Mule -- who is named 'Natasha' -- toward one of the open arches, glad that it's not struggling like it did when they tried to get down that steep hill. He is already thinking he'll have to get one of those wine-fruits for Mother!

Hasan nods to Echo, and then tosses the burgundy fruit to Topaz as he speaks "More of your wine, I think."

Topaz catches, though only barely, the wine-fruit...nodding, if a bit red-cheeked from the surprise and shock, deciding that this will do. "Thank you; I might have a use for this..."

As they draw closer to the tower, the trio gets a better conception of its scale. The tower's diameter is more than eighty feet; it is made of some kind of seamless white material, superficially similar to that of the ruins.

Curtains of some kind of hanging lichen curtain off the archways, but don't appear too solid; they sway as a slight breeze wafts through the clearing.

Topaz ooohs, as he finally gets closer to the archway, wine fruit in one hand...

"What is it, Topaz?" asks Hasan.

Topaz moves closer, pushing away the lichen, and dusting away some of the lichen. "Magically reinforced marble, which seems to have been organically grown with some kind of artifact. Very rare; I've only seen a few things like it, including a demonstration of some magical staff in Yu-Shan once at a party hosted by mother..."

The lichen is dry, feathery, and gives off a faint, not-unpleasant chemical odor.

Topaz points out the growth rings. "See; it looks almost organic! Fascinating, yes?" He adjusts his spectacles, and practically glows!

"Indeed it is," agrees Hasan. "I have heard of such things in my studies, but never witnessed them myself."

Topaz draws his dagger, and uses it to cut down one of the lichen curtains, heading inside... he glances around, all amazed like, at the interior! He looks like a kid in a candy-store.

In the Tower

As they pass into the atrium-like ground floor, Topaz sees even more evidence of organic growth -- but not directed by humans. Once, it was obviously an open space paved with white, tessellated flagstones.

Hasan strides inward, his path swept of debris by a school of tiny man-shaped rainclouds, and gazes about himself with interest.

Over the centuries, the tree's roots have grown, thrusting up through the floor. Several of the paving stones are shattered, and others jut up at unsightly angles, resting against huge, woody roots. The vaulted ceiling is about sixteen feet high, and crisscrossed with vines of all sorts.

Topaz frowns a bit. "You know...I never imagined that ancient First Age ruins would be so...damaged." He pets a root, idly, as he looks about.

The tree's trunk dominates the center of the space; it, too, has grown, pushing the spiral staircase which hugs it slightly off-kilter in spots.

Topaz still, forces himself to admit, it's quite interesting. Better than reading about it...

Echo moves forward to rest on one of the larger roots and looks around the interior.

There is surprisingly little debris on the floor. It looks like some leaves have been blown in, or fallen from the vines above, and a couple snakes and other crawly creatures slither away when they see the men approach, but there is nowhere near the amount of detritus one would expect from centuries of neglect.

Stepping to one side, Hasan concentrates, tasting the air and trying to find any tell-tale sign of the Manse's Essence; such ruination may have disrupted its geomancy in worrisome ways, and if it is strong enough for even his unrefined senses, they have much to worry about.

Even to his relatively unrefined senses, the flow of Essence is strong. Currents of powerful Wood energy follow the roots of the tree, and twine about its trunk, flowing upward. Although the Essence is not free or wild by any stretch of the imagination, it does seem more... primal than one would expect for an edifice built by men. The flows acknowledge the tower's geometry, but are clearly following the tree first and foremost.

"Hm," muses Hasan. "It would appear to my eyes that the ruined condition of the place has not disrupted the Manse notably; it is not entirely tamed perhaps, but as long as the tree stands firm, the tower is not critical."

"Well that's certainly good; it explains why this place attracted so much attention..." says Topaz. "Still, it seems like we're in for a lot of work."

Hasan pauses to reflect. "Indeed. I believe we will need to be contacting those Artisans you mentioned in short order."

"If the tree is that important, would dealing with these errant roots have any negative effects?" asks Topaz.

"The Artisi--ooh, that Poaco mentioned. Hmmm, your right, they could prove useful..." Topaz gets out his map, to try to locate on it's flawed and inaccurate contours about where they'd be.

Hasan shakes his head. "I would assume not; I doubt the exposed roots were part of the original design, and thus removing them will be necessary rather than damaging. Needless to say, I will have to perform a full survey before I know more. Shall we?"

Topaz nods absent-mindedly to that...

Hasan gestures upward.

"Oh, yes, I suppose so..." Topaz tries to put away the map, and trails after Hasan.

Echo readies himself and follows along, taking out his quill and paper to sketch a rough map of the interior layout as they go.

Topaz keeps an eye out for anyting interesting, dangerous, or curious but mostly lets Hasan and Echo direct this toy -- knowing that they'll need to get a survey done, and that he doesn't want to be distracting.

The stairs, although slightly tilted and overhung by trunk in places, are clean. They are broad, with a low railing. They pass up through the ceiling, and discharge into a hallway which curves about the trunk. Another hall, perpendicular to that, heads out to the perimeter of the tower. The clearing can be seen through the glassed-in archway at the end of the radial hall. It looks like there is another hall, circling the edge of the tower, on this level.

Dark-barked branches extend out from the trunk along the ceiling, passing through nooks in the walls. Here, too, the floors seem unusually clean.

Topaz imagines there's some kind of magic at work keeping the floors clean.

Hasan leads the way up and out into the hallway, jade-booted footfalls echoing outward. After a pace or two he stops, and glances back at the other two.

Topaz adjusts his spectacles, looking back at Hasan, as if to ask 'what?'

Echo ponders "It's probably enchanted like the street in Yu-Shan. Or the monkeys have taken up housekeeping."

Echo gives Hasan a quizzical look.

"Do you wish to do this one level at a time, or go straight to the top?" asks Hasan.

Topaz just looks blank; he's not really an architect, Manse or otherwise, and isn't entirely sure.

Hasan shrugs to himself, his momentary indecision having passed.

"One level at a time seems more systematic, but working from the top down might work." Topaz notes the shrug, and quiets. He goes back to inspecting the walls for any interesting designs! Pretty architecture.

"Systematic it is." Hasan plods onward, trying not to make too much of a racket.

Topaz keeps up, such as he can.

Echo follows behind, quill in hand, marking out their path as they go.

The walls on this level are mostly featureless. As is apparent from the outside, the outer hallway has large windows, regularly spaced along its outer edge. As they progress around the hall, they see doors, made of the same marble-like material, in the inner wall. Up ahead, ninety degrees of arc from the crosswise hall, another spiral staircase leads up, this time alongside the rim of the tower.

Topaz tries to open one of the doors. The door looks to be made of two parts, with a shiny golden disc in the center, along the seam. The disc is inlaid with a stylized tree, in what looks to be green jade. Topaz tries to puzzle out what the Disc means.

The door does not budge when touched.

Hasan regards Topaz as he prods the door. "Need a hand?"

Although nothing happens when Topaz touches the disc, he feels a slight tingle.

"Hmm, perhaps..." Topaz tries to channel a bit of essence into the door.

A small green spark jumps from the orichalcum-and-jade disc to Topaz' finger. The disc glows briefly. Topaz tries to open the door now... he hrms, confused-ly. The door's two halves rasp against the floor, but stops before moving more than an inch.

Hasan recalls that many Manse designers of days past used the Essence of their edifices to create moving doors, elevators, and many other devices. This disc is obviously a control node for such a device, anchoring an Essence flow to the door.

The disc has split into two halves, each half moving with a part of the door. A faint nimbus of Essence can be seen between the half-discs; it fades as the door grinds to a halt.

"Be mindful, Topaz, that with the tower's Essence disrupted, opening such ways may require far more effort than the designer intended," Hasan warns. "Do you see anything within the chamber?"

Topaz shakes his head, he didn't.

Hasan supposes that a string of Essence might be attached to each part of the disc, meant to pull them apart. Or, essence stored in the discs might cause them to repel or attract, pushing or pulling the door halves as desired.

Moving closer, Hasan peers first at the disk and then through the gap, to see what can be seen.

Echo watches on with interest trying to see beyond the door, hoping they figure out how to work the doors soon.

Topaz steps out of Hasan's way, letting him handle it...

The disc appears to have discharged the Essence Topaz put into it; neither half is glowing anymore. Through the narrow gap, Hasan (and Echo behind him) can see that the interior of the room is lit, as though by dim sunlight. Much dust covers the floor; some furniture looks to be still intact. White bones glint in the corner. Something shiny and golden lies among the bones.

"Bones," notes Hasan grimly, "and much dust." Idly he pushes on the part-opened door, to see if it moves at all without Essence now it has split. The door does not budge. It is too heavy to move without whatever motive power Topaz' stimulated in the lock.

Working from his knowledge of such things, Hasan contemplates exactly what the door's Essence must do, and mirrors his own to match; his touch crackling with another mote of Essence, he tries to simulate the Manse's own design and temporarily fix its damaged currents.

Sparkling lines of green wood Essence flow out from the tree inlaid on the half-discs, coursing briefly over the door. The discs glow brightly for a second; the door springs open, slotting into the wall with a thump and a small puff of dust. Stale air whooshes out of the room.

Topaz coughs a bit, in the stale air. Hasan blinks a few times to clear his eyes, and steps boldly inward. Echo wrinkles his nose at the air.

The room appears to have once been living quarters of some kind. It is fairly small, but large enough to comfortably hold a desk, and a broken bureau. A sleeping mat lies in one corner; in front of the desk, a human skeleton is sprawled.

Topaz follows in after Hasan and Resplendent Echo, checking to see if anything within is of interest. Dust puffs up around Hasan's feet.

"Mind the shiny thing on the skeleton, it may be what killed him," cautions Hasan.

"Oh?" Topaz walks right over to the shiny thing, to find out what it is.

Now that they are closer, it can be seen that the shiny bit is a necklace. The chain appears to be gold, but the medallion dangling from it shines brighter; orichalcum, inlaid with a miniature version of the same tree seen on the door's lock.

Topaz has images of his books and accumulated stories of the various wonders of the First Age -- especially, given Hasan's note, the ones that were particularly murderous -- as he does so. Intense curiosity, yes, that's what it is!

Hasan promptly checks the bureau and desk for anything interesting or dangerous. As soon as he touches the furniture, it collapses into bone-dry tinder and dust. Echo coughs as the dust is kicked up.

The necklace does not appear to be anything dangerous. Both Hasan and Topaz are struck by the medallion's similarity to the locking disc. From the inside of the room, a similar disc can be seen on the wall next to the door.

"A key of some sorts?" speculates Topaz. He picks up the Medallion, quite un-cautiously. The medallion jingles slightly. The skeleton is wearing a few other pieces of jewelry, but they all appear mundane.

"That would be my thinking." Hasan quickly sifts through the tinder and dust in case anything in the furniture survived, but it is only a cursory glance. All the contents of the bureau and desk have long ago crumbled to dust.

Topaz takes the Medallion to the similar-seeming disc, and...well, does something intelligent with it! He starts with placing it next to the disc.

"We're going to need a lot of new furniture, too, if this is the condition it's all in," observes Hasan.

As Topaz tries touching the medallion to the disc, the door rasps, lurches, and smoothly slides shut. Topaz panics a bit and touches the medallion to the disc again. The door slides back open.

The clump of the door sliding home causes something to fall from the ceiling. Hasan steps back, startled, and regards the new arrival. A glowing fruit drops down and hits the floor, spattering a small amount of glowing juice.

Topaz relaxes...

A branch, sprouting several more of the glowing fruit, runs along the ceiling of the chamber. Aside from the shining fruit, and the forlorn skeleton on the floor, there appears to be nothing else in the room -- anymore -- except dust.,

Echo picks up the fruit and looks at it. "This tree has a little bit of everything." He makes some notes on the different fruits encountered so far.

"It does indeed," agrees Hasan. "Topaz, would you care to lead on into another room with that key, or shall we head on up?"

Topaz nods, and heads back out -- closing the door behind the others with the medallion, to keep out any playful monkeys, and leading them to more of the rooms on this level...

The next two doors are similar to the first, and open into similar rooms. One of them is empty; the other contains two skeletons, each with another medallion. The bones are mixed together, as though their former owners died in an embrace. This theory is supported by the identical white-jade and gold wedding bands on the skeletons' fingers.

Topaz pauses, slightly confused at this, exmaining the wedding bands more closely.The rings have words on their inside surfaces; two names written in Old Realm characters. Topaz just happens to read Old Realm especially well, and casually reads off the names. "Musa and Soros," he notes, calmly, looking down at the bodies below...frowning.

There seems to be nothing special about the rings, besides their sentimental value to their long-dead owners.

Topaz leads the others onto the next floor, after they've investigated the rooms, though now each of them have a gold medallion. "I hope we find another one of these, for our host, else we'll have a hard time getting around..."

The third room is larger; it appears to be some kind of dormitory. Marble bunks have been extruded from the wall. On the opposite side of the second floor, there are two doors; both lead into a large room which is completely overgrown with branches and twigs. Dozens of fruits, of all kinds, hang from the branches. A large kiln stove can be seen in the back of the room.

"This would be the kitchen, then?" speculates Hasan.

One of the doors to this room was open; the three startle some small monkeys when they inspect the room; obviously the animals have set up a nest in this cornucopia of gourmet fruit. After taking stock of this last room, they head up the stairs.

The third floor is not separated into rooms; like the first floor, it is completely open except for the huge, twenty-foot-wide tree trunk transfixing its center. It, too, is clean. Marble benches and tables rise organically from the floor. Also like the first floor, the staircases hug the trunk.

The stairs themselves are blocked off by what looks for all the world like a huge basket. Nearby, a pair of lifelike statues stand. One of the statues appears to be made of orichalcum, and has the form of an exquisitely beautiful, completely nude young man in a relaxed pose. The other has the liquid sheen of moonsilver, and is a similarly lifelike, beautiful, and naked young woman. Two large harps, constructed of some imperishable material, stand near the statues.

Topaz moves over toward the statues, investigating them carefully and in a completely professional manner -- the nakedness not bothering him. He did grow up in his mother's Sanctum, after all.

Echo moves over to look closer at the basket-like object. As he approaches the "basket", it begins to rustle.

Hasan steps closer to Echo, regarding the 'basket' warily.

Echo stops. "Something's moving over here."

Topaz comes to attention at Echo's words, and moves over toward the 'basket'...

Sixteen resin orbs glint inside the weave; with a click-clack of wooden legs, two giant spiders made of twigs and brambles clamber to the outer surface of their wicker web.

Topaz eyes' go wide, all pupils!

Hasan knows enough spirit-lore to recognise a wood-spider when he sees one, let alone two; he assumes his companions are likewise aware of their nature.

"Three men came walking into a tower," says the spider on the left.

"Seeking perhaps to discover its power," speculates the spider on the right.

"Three men climbed up and beheld two spiders," continues the left-hand spider.

Topaz backs away from the spiders...

Hasan's shimmering rainbow eyes flow to regard Resplendent Echo now, for measured words may be needed to trick anything useful from the spiders... or avert trouble from them.

"What would three men offer the spiders," inquires the right-hand spider.

"... to pass through their web and see what wonders lie higher?" finishes the left-hand spider. The two spiders, done with their rhyme, sit perfectly still, beady pine-sap eyes fixed on the three God-Bloods.

Echo bows courteously to the spiders and addresses them in Old Realm. "Most honored spiders, we knew not that you dwelled here or we would have announced ourselves sooner."

"The man's honeyed words won the two spiders' favor," singsongs the spider on the left.

"But the spiders' desire was a different flavor," says the spider on the right.

The two spiders once again become perfectly still and silent.

"We have come from Yu-Shan to restore this manse for one of the Princes of the Earth. If I could know your names I would be able to offer prayers to you for your troubles."

Topaz just quivers somewhat, near one of the statues...

"Our true names we keep closely hidden from others," chides the right-hand spider.

"But you may call us Right- and Left-Hand Brothers," offers the left-hand spider.

"For gold and for incense and for prayers we care little," says Right-Hand Brother.

"Unless a fine person weaves prayers into riddles," says Left-Hand Brother.

Echo nods and thinks to himself for a bit, trying to recall some of the riddles he knows while preparing himself.

The two spiders wait expectantly.

Echo thinks of something he heard once, trying to put a new, entertaining spin on it. He feels a little shakey about it though. The spiders listen to Echo's riddle about a four, two, and three-legged beast, but seem disappointed despite his eloquent delivery.

"The riddle was old and did not please the spiders."

Echo bows apologetically to the spiders.

Topaz has been there panicing, ever since he heard the riddle. "Please don't kill me; my mother is Burning Flo---"

"They let the men pass unmolested," says Left-Hand Brother. Topaz turns a shade of red, and nods.

"With the understanding that when they return," says Right Hand Brother.

"Their riddling minds will once more be tested," chorus the two spiders.

Echo wipes some sweat from his brow, making a note to learn some riddles before his next trip into Creation.

The spiders skitter to the side, and part their wicker web, allowing the men to pass. Topaz makes a note to help Resplendent Echo with some riddles before they come back down.

Echo thanks the spiders and walks up the stairs. Topaz follows, hesistantly, Echo up the stairs... Hasan follows Topaz up with a smile and a polite nod to the spiders.

he stairs lead up to another floor like the second. This one is divided into five equally-sized rooms, each with a door bearing a different elemental symbol, inlaid in the corresponding color of jade. The medallions, when touched to these locks, do not open the doors, but do produce a low chiming sound.

"Servants' key not up to the task, perhaps?" Hasan lets someone else try supplementing their efforts with Essence, as his earlier elemental antics have taxed his internal reserves somewhat.

Topaz asks Hasan how he did it last time, and then repeats the performance. Channelling essence into the locks works much better on these doors; they seem designed to work that way. The lightest magical touch causes them to spring open.

As on the second floor, the rooms are filled with furniture which crumbles to dust when disturbed; they are lit by more sunfruit.

Topaz walks confidently through, smiling a bit, feeling considerably better...

Echo begins sketching down the layout again while following the others.

Each room is decorated in a personalized fashion; it is fairly obvious from the iconography, and the materials used, that a group of five Dragon-Blooded, one of each Aspect, made this floor their home. None of the rooms contain any remains, or artifacts beyond trinkets.

The only artifact of note is a tablet of blue jade in the Air-Aspect's room; it has words inscribed on it in an old Realm dialect, and looks to be some kind of journal. Topaz gives the journal a glance over, looking at what is written and in what dialect.

The other artifacts are mainly jewelry of one sort or another. The Wood-Aspect's room contains some kind of unusual granular ball of jade beads, clumped together around a jade bracelet.

The journal entry, from what Topaz can make of the archaic dialect, appears to be an account of everyday life, with little of interest. It also does not appear to be complete; it is truncated at the beginning and end. Inspection of the tablet reveals no obvious way to access the rest of the diary, if more in fact exists.

Stairs on the outer rim of the level lead up to the fifth and final level of the tower.

The last storey of the tower is an open balcony, with low battlements. Like the other levels, it is relatively clean, though its white flooring is stained by old and new fruit juices.

Hasan keeps a wary pair of eyes out for monkeys.

Tables and chairs grow up from the floor here, too; it looks like, at one point, low-hanging branches were trained to form more furniture, but have long since followed their own random paths. There are some steps set into the trunk of the tree, leading up into the spreading branches. Near the foot of the steps, there are some piles of things which look like they were purposefully arranged. Mainly unusually-colored stones, but also some (normal) fruit, most of which is quite rotten.

The sun is beginning to move down the western sky, but is still high enough that it is shining through the Tree of Bounties' canopy, painting the rooftop in chiaroscuro blotches.

Topaz glances up at the sky, through the sky ... maybe this isn't going to be so bad...

On toTreeOfBounties/TreePeople.