The Humble Gather

The Humble Gather

A day had passed since the blizzard forced Kaelen Thorne and his fellow adventurers to take refuge inside the Mountain Top Inn, high in the Alfadin Mountains of north Kefar.

Kaelen and Tajan appreciated the chance to get warm. She was much less adapted to the cold than he was as a native of the Solaryn Reliquary, a much drier and temperate place. He had been studying in Kefar for years now and had spent a few winters there. Though truthfully, Kaelen himself, born of the Thalorian Tide, was finding this elevation and biting cold harder to adjust to than he would ever admit out loud.

Blena, a young but hardened warrior from the Ironroot Bastion, had volunteered to come with him when he explained his mission. They had met by chance, a friend of a friend at the gates of the Kefar Academy, and were coming up on two years now. She was on her Year of Service, a requirement of all fifteen-year-olds in the Ironroot Bastion, and had been visiting fellow guardians, good friends at the Academy who were studying water and fire powers from the masters there. Blena’s assignment was protecting the wealth of Aethoria in the Ironroot Bank.

Blena was starting to regret volunteering for the quest in the cold, but she was enthralled with the idea of a challenge, and it was for such a noble goal. They had been tasked, well, Kaelen had and she was now a part of this thing, to find out why the Heartwell Crystal was losing power. Blena thought it a sign of great change about to happen. Kaelen believed it was far more likely connected to fluctuations in underground lava flow or pressure of some kind.

No matter what it was, the Heartwell Council had tasked him with investigating, and that alone was enough reason to suffer through frozen fingers and questionable food. His numb hands were starting to thaw as he sat by the fire in the corner of the inn. He glanced across at Blena, who was still shivering and loudly complaining about the lack of anything remotely edible on the Mountain Top Inn specials they had just ordered.

“Special, in that you are unlikely to find anything as bland and fried in fat as this anywhere in Aethoria,” Kaelen joked to his new compatriots.

Blena looked out the frosted glass window into the Alfadin range and declared, “Looks like the worst of that storm has passed.”

Kaelen was eager to reach the Alfadin Tower, eager to prove to the Council and, more importantly, to the Academy, that he was not just another student with ideas.

He remembered the Voice Casting at the Exchange Amphitheatre. A teacher had pushed for him to be heard, gone to great lengths to get him a place to speak. Many had listened. Some had even been impressed by his explanation of the lava-crystal connection. Others had not.

If he could reach the tower, if he could uncover what the pre-Sundering people had left behind, he might finally prove what he had been saying all along. He was sure there was a system and that the Heartwell’s fluctuations were not prophecy or omen, but something measurable, something explainable. In that building, he may be able to explain Heartwell's fluctuations. Like Blena, many superstitious Kefarians believed it a portent to a great cataclysm and the Council wanted the speculation to end.

If he could find and prove a connection between the blue lava and the Heartwell Crystal, then he would build a name for himself, perhaps even a place at the Academy one day. That was the dream. Kaelen knew he was young to be on a quest such as this, and the Council had taken a risk in allowing him to choose his own party, so he had much to prove.

The door of the Mountain Top Inn slammed open. Wind and snow burst into the room, and every patron shrank into their shoulders as they turned toward the entrance. A man stumbled in, mustache and clothes caked with snow. He looked frozen through to his bones, like he had been wandering outside for hours.

Kaelen was already on his feet before he fully realized it, guiding him to the fireplace, where Rintaron introduced himself and told him he was a nomadic Healer studying rare mountain flora of the Alfadin.

“I was exploring and on my way back to the Alfadin temple tower appeared to flash, out of nowhere,” he said. “My Veylborn companion was overwhelmed and she wasn’t able to stay by my side.”

Blena was intent on listening but rushed toward the door. “My Veyl, man! The door. It’s freezing.”

She quickly stepped to the door flapping in the wind and bolted it shut. The quiet allowed them all to finally focus on the healer.

Rintaron continued. When he looked at the tower, he could see a beam of blue light shooting up and trying to split sideways. It was so strong that plants were wilting and the snow melted around the tower’s base. He swallowed.

“Gertina, the Veylborn that helps me, tried to warn me. But she couldn’t hold in this world. I’ve lost her.”

Blena was already strapping on her gauntlets and picking up her pack.

“I am not sure what "holding in this world" is all about but it sounds like your Veylborn needs help. We’re headed for this tower. If you can show us the way, maybe we can help you figure out what’s happening to your Veylborn friend.”

Kaelen liked that about her. It was exactly why he had asked her to come.

Quick to act.

“She is brave and leads with action,” he thought, judging her actions, “but I wish she would take it a little slower.”

“The tower is our destination,” Kaelen said, stepping in, “but we should be cautious. Power like that could have strange effects.”

Rintaron's eyes flickered with a mixture of hope and dread.

“The way there is treacherous,” he warned. “The blizzard has left the path unstable. Avalanches are common, and the wildlife has been stirred up by the storm. It could be a harrowing journey that might take quite an effort.”

Kaelen felt a shiver run down his spine, not from the cold but from the warning in the healer’s words. The journey ahead couldn’t be avoided, but now it promised not only physical challenges but unexpected dangers lurking in the shadows of the Alfadins. Kaelen decided to try and ease the growing concern he saw on his companions’ faces, well, not on Blena’s, but the others.

“The pre-Sundering peoples were known for their great knowledge, cunning, and their secrets, mainly because their language was now somewhat lost. From the description of the power in the Alfadin Tower, that knowledge would be very useful right now. This tower is acting as if it has been unbalanced, and it likely would need our scientific minds and some of Blena’s muscle to get us there.”

He glanced around at his companions after his inspirational speech, each one reflecting his own determination and readiness for the challenges ahead. Alster, the only native of Virielia with them, was packing his herb pouch and checking he had what he would need on the daunting task. Tajan was saying a well-known mage incantation to protect the party on the journey and was igniting a heating fireball in her glove in preparation for going outside.

Kaelen, who had just met them a short while ago while on a study mission at the Kefar Mage Academy while at the Library of Crysalise, was suddenly faced with the gravity of the situation. Somehow, at seventeen, he had been tasked with investigating the anomaly and was starting to wonder if not always being right would have been a better strategy. And it was really cold out there.

Rintaron gathered his things, hands trembling.

“I’ll guide you,” he said. “But be prepared for the unexpected.”

“How we gonna do that?” Kaelen muttered under his breath as he glanced at Blena.

“The tower’s magic is ancient and unpredictable,” Rintaron added.

Kaelen straightened slightly.

“Well, it’s not actually magic,” he said, almost automatically. “That’s why I’m here. If I have time and if my lips don’t freeze, I can explain how it works. At least, according to what I’ve learned so far.”

Kaelen looked at Rintaron, and he didn’t seem very convinced or impressed. But Kaelen knew what he was talking about, and visions of the Voice Casting came back to him. Hundreds of blank faces not responding to his explanations, some faces even turning to a scowl and yelling, “That doesn’t sound right!” and “You can’t prove that!”

Blena broke his long off-stare and said, “We'll need Tajan’s heat powers and some snowdrops,” aware of the biting cold as the wind came through the opening door. “You got any of those, Alster?”

He tapped his pouch as if ready, and with a nod and a wry smile, they all knew he was. Kaelen flipped a gold piece onto the table, which spun for an awkwardly long time before clinking in audible payment. The innkeeper acknowledged the transaction.

With that, they all stepped out into the biting, sub-zero but wonderfully clear air. The path to Alfadin Tower wound up a mountain pass ahead. As the sun was setting behind the peaks, casting long shadows across the lowlands down the mountain, Kaelen couldn’t shake the feeling that this journey would test him in ways he never imagined.

Together, with Rintaron at his side, he began the long trek up the snow-covered path to the right that looked like it disappeared into the sky.

Thy Quests
What mixture of emotions does Rintaron experience when Blena offers to help him, and how does he describe the journey to the tower? Add your answer in Thy Quests below to move forward. And remember, if you ever need help on your journey, you carry with you the Tome of Knowledge, which holds the answers to great reams of information.