World Tree MUSH

  Scouts from Death Mountain report something has the Twilight forces in Eldin Province, some days' trek south of Snowpeak Garrison, buzzing like a kicked hornet's nest. According to Zelda, multiple Goron sources corroborate that the Twilight Messengers are dragging something downslope towards the ruins of Hyrule Castle.

  Zelda had promptly saddled Lynel and headed south, taking whoever felt like going. The trip down is quick and uneventful, if very cold. Snow is still piled high, but someone has been maintaining the trailhead; most likely the Gorons. The closer to Death Mountain the party goes, the warmer it gets. Uncomfortably warm, in fact.

  By the time Goron City is in view, the scent of mineral water is in the air. Gorons pop up from the rock to greet the party as they pass by, waving with their usual enthusiasm. At the main plaza before the audience chamber, the party has a chance to compose themselves. Or be joined by new arrivals from the Vines.

  For her part, Zelda's taking the chance to shed layers, comb out her hair, and generally make herself at least somewhat presentable. Someone will be along to bring everyone up to speed, but for now, everyone has a few minutes to compose themselves.

    On the uphill trek, a mountain bike is rough going; but on the downhill, it can easily keep up with riding animals. Yumi isn't looking forward to getting it back up the trail, but for now, it's allowed her to keep pace with Zelda. There's also no one around with any real reason to steal the thing; so all she's had to do is stow it somewhere out of the way. She's happy to greet the Gorons along the way, offering the affable rock beings a warm smile, but she's already shedding her cold-weather extras as they approach the plaza.

    Thankfully, she also brought a bag to stuff it all in, which she's doing somewhat hastily. "Whoever or whatever they're dragging down off the mountain, I get the sense we don't want them to keep it."

    Riding a chocobo along with Zelda and the others is Cecil Harvey. The Dark Knight in spikey full plate armor with a full-sized black sword is impressive, but frankly, the other sword-users here have even more massive blades, making him look like a lithe fencer in comparison... especially with his helmet off. Such is the curse of the bishonen face.

    What Yumi says gets a shrug. "Maybe, maybe not. It could be something harmless, or even helpful. We should take great care though, you're right."

Paine's likely having to either hop a wagon or rent a horse. The latter of which is likely going to be weird for her because riding something with four legs is really different to riding something with two. Both the gait and the positioning in the saddle is completely different.

Fortunately Paine's managed to either find, buy, or steal a warm cape to wrap up in. Of course that had to be shed when the group got down to Goron City. It's somewhere in her backpack now, which she's got over the opposite shoulder as she'd draw her sword from.

Said sword is NOT drawn at the moment! Though it nearly was when the Gorons started popping up from rocks like that. Fiends make their entrances in similiar ways.

For the time being she's staying quiet, since she doesn't know the lay of the land here -- aside from 'this world looks like a disaster went off'. And that's kinda obvious so there's not a lot of point in pointing it out.

    No sooner than Zelda had saddled Lynel, Rydia was already mounted on her trusty chocobo. And all through the journey from biting cold to searing volcano heat, Rydia does not complain once.
    The green-haired Summoner doesn't even seem to sweat; the thin mist surrounding her seemingly keeping her cool all through the journey up Death Mountain to the Goron city. Though she does seem a little more tense than usual. It could be because volcanos are made of and are full of fire. But she still doesn't complain.
    "Want a chocobo next time?" She asides to Paine, whom she remembers from Remnant. "Though this world uses horses, we keep a few stabled where we're staying."

  "That would be unwise." Zelda's response is calm as she turns, watching a few Gorons file through the plaza. When they wave, she inclines her head; a gesture unconsciously gracious and regal despite her commoner's clothing. "The fact that the usurper is showing interest in it at all has made it of personal interest to me."

  The Hylian tilts her head, frowning and eyeing Cecil a little distractedly. He's an upstanding and just man, but that sword still makes her teeth itch in the most distracting way. She nods, once. "Mm. Sir Harvey speaks truth. It may be harmless, and it may even help my cause, but I will be handling it cautiously."

  They've attracted another person to their caravan, and during the quiet moment, Zelda takes a moment to size up the newcomer. The Hylian herself is dressed like a commoner, but her mannerisms scream aristocracy; the others have referred to her as 'Sheik,' a servant of the royal family, one who is presumably conducting some kind of rebellion from the shadows.

  In the meantime, the volcanoes of Death Mountain may be made of fire, and full of fire, but they are at least warm. There's something to be said for not freezing.

  "Rydia." 'Sheik's' gaze slides over to the Summoner. Where more might follow, she doesn't add anything. She's just checking on the girl while they wait.

    "Yeah," Yumi agrees with a soft nod Cecil's way. "Could be right. But no way to be sure. I guess we'll have to find out one way or the other." Her expression is a little grim; the prospect of mounting a scouting mission is concerning, given her personal methods. She's great for straight assaults and battlefield situations, but scouting? Not so much. "Hey, by the way," she adds towards Paine, giving the older girl a casual wave. "Yumi Tachibana. I'm a frontline fighter, and a knight in- ah, a knight that's a friend of Sheik, Rydia and Cecil."

    It's much warmer here, isn't it? Cecil huffs, but with his helmet removed it's bearable. He wore this armor through frozen tundra and across multiple deserts, it can't be that bad, right? Doesn't mean it's comfortable.

    "They seem... friendly enough," he notes. Not that he's letting his guard down, but so far this doesn't seem to be a place that is going to require lots of fighting.

    "I should have offered a chocobo," he adds, glancing to Paine when it's revealed she might be better with them. "But we were in a hurry. If you'd like we can switch mounts. I'm still not great with horses but I've had to ride a few now and then."

Paine looks up as Rydia addresses her with that question. "That'd be great, thanks," she replies, shifting in saddle and trying not to fall off the horse. It's just weird to have her weight balanced like this.

She is keeping track of events though... huh, strangely regal gesture for 'Sheik' to make. Happily the Gorons seem disinclined to attack, so Paine is happy to return the favor to them.

It's then she notes, "Doesn't matter what it is. If they think it can help them, it needs to be taken away. Even if it can't, the psychological effect of having it taken away from them might shake them a little. Might either give you a rest from their attacks or give you a chance to go on the offensive."

Yumi's introducing herself, and with a nod, the leather-clad swordswoman offers, "Paine." Pause. "Yes, that's my actual name." She doesn't smell like darkness or anything like that. Just leather and good old steel.

She shakes her head to Cecil's offer. "I got it," she offers. She doesn't want to leave him at a disadvantage, after all.

    Yumi gets a little bit of a look from Rydia. What was that she was about to say?
    Nevertheless, the green-haired girl shakes her head slowly.
    "I'm. ... I'll be okay." She says when 'Sheik' checks up on her.
    As long as the mountain doesn't erupt or anything she should be okay.
    "Rydia of Mist." That introduction is more for Paine's benefit, in this moment that's much more calm than the midst of battle against Beowolves. But if the lady in leather can handle the horse she'll leave it at that.
    "I'm inclined to think, whatever it is, we should just take it from the Twilight things as soon as possible."

  The Hylian's summer-blue eyes slide toward Yumi as the girl is about to say the wrong name, unreadable, but her gaze turns aside when Yumi catches herself. She only shakes her head, distantly aware that the plaza is uncomfortably warm, especially when the rest of Hyrule is firmly in the grip of midwinter.

  "The Gorons?" Zelda glances to Cecil, tilting her head, and the soft breath she snorts is one of amusement. "Yes. They've always been that way, as far back as I can remember. The Gorons have always been staunch allies of the kingdom."

  The Hylian looks Paine over for a moment, the first time since the little party set off down the mountain from Snowpeak Garrison. Her regard is calm. 'Sheik' does not seem to be a civilian, either, wearing a full quiver, a bow, and rapier; the latter two are richly ornamented, fit for royalty.

  Zelda lifts a brow at Rydia's assessment, but she doesn't call the Summoner on it. If she thinks she's going to pull through just fine, then that's enough. Her gaze lingers, and she seems about to say something, when shuffling footsteps disturb the relative quiet of the plaza.

  Here comes a Goron. It's not like the rest, though. He's very small, very hunched, and about as wizened as one can expect a rock to be.

  "Cor Goron." Zelda greets the rock-man warmly, inclining her head with a breath of what sounds suspiciously like relief. "It is good to see you."

  He looks left, then right, taking in the party. The ones he knows earn a nod, beady eyes flitting from figure to figure. "Good. You're all here. That's good. Chieftain Darbus entrusted this matter to me."

  He shuffles just a little closer to the group.

  "As Sheik is well aware, we have been monitoring the passes for any activity out of the ordinary. The usurper," he states seriously, "is very much out of the ordinary. He has been sending his creatures to Eldin Province, but we do not know why. Now we do."

  Cor Goron snaps his fingers. The sound is surprisingly loud in the empty plaza. A guard shuffles out from a nearby doorway, helmeted and armoured, with a warhammer slung over his shoulder. He offers something long and thin to Cor Goron, who takes it carefully. The staff is elegant, carved intricately with runes and swirling shapes that almost seem to shift like smoke. Some of the sigils evoke the royal symbols on Zelda's ritual dress; and repeating motifs evoke the tiny, tiny stitching at the back of her mourning cloak's collar, a symbol of some evident significance she's called the Weeping Eye.

  "This doesn't belong to the usurpers," Cor Goron adds, pointedly. "We found it near where we heard activity from the usurper's beasts. There was a battle of some kind, there; this was among the signs that were found."

  Carefully, Cor Goron offers the staff for the party to pass around.

  "Does it bear any significance to any of you?"

  Zelda shakes her head, mute, but there is an odd look in her eyes and a tension about her shoulders.

    "I've heard weirder," Yumi replies with an amused tone. "But more seriously, I don't think we can afford to move on whatever it is, unless we're denying them an asset. We don't exactly have a lot of forces to capitalize on any momentum we swing, and if we provoke a counterattack, it's the innocents of Hyrule that will feel it." To Cecil, she adds, "The Gorons are pretty good people. I like them well enough."

    And speaking of which, here comes a Goron she remembers quite well. Yumi remains quiet, but she regards Cor Goron with similar warmth to what Zelda shows. However, the matter at hand is serious enough that warm greetings will have to take a sideline. Out comes the staff they found; after a moment to examine it for herself, Yumi casts a brief glance towards Zelda, but rather than comment on the familiar symbols, she observes, "Well, if you all don't recognize it, and it doesn't belong to the beasts, my guess would be that whoever this staff belonged to, that's who they're taking down the mountain."

    "I am not a magician, but..." Cecil steps forward, taking a look at the staff. He does have a serious look on his face, even as he shakes his head and passes it along. "I don't recognize it, but ornate staves are likely to mean artifacts of power are involved. This is... likely not good news." His expression is grave as he passes the staff over, heaving a sigh.

    He adds after a moment, "And it likely means something magical. We should be wary, we're a melee-heavy party." Zelda has her arrows and Rydia has her summons, but the bulk of the party is blade to blade.

Paine nods to Rydia's introduction. "Good to finally put a name to you," she replies. It's much better giving those introductions when not being beset upon by exploding wolf fiends, yes!

She listens to Cor Goron's explanation of what all's been going on, and then looks at the staff when it's placed down. Of course no, the weapon means nothing to Paine, not being a native of the world. She remains quiet here, figuring the others won't need any help to come to the conclusion that she personally doesn't recognize it.

Yumi's observation gets a frown. "...So not a 'what', but a 'who'. I'd say that makes it more important to get them outta there." Cecil's observation of their melee focus gets a nod. "I can make elemental strikes. Might help a little."

    Rydia remembers Cor Goron. The ancient elder of the goron people coming to meet the group doesn't surprise the Summoner. And he produces a stave the likes of which she... Has never seen before yet has such familiar markings. It makes the Summoner's brow knot as she tries to piece things together.
    "At any rate, if it's a person they're dragging around, we need to be quick about rescuing them before they're taken somewhere we have no chance of reaching them."

  "We are absolutely denying the usurper an asset," Zelda answers Yumi, and her soft statement is almost breathless.

  As the staff finally finds its way to her, she closes her fingers around it. There's a great age about the object, the planes of its rough-carved head polished smooth. Paint is daubed into some of the carved, rune-like shapes. It's slightly warm, but whether from enchantment or being handled by the others, it's hard to say.

  Lifting the staff, holding it flat, Zelda eyes the decorations from a vantage point of inches away from her nose, studying them with single-minded intensity. Her study is so single-minded, in fact, that she seems to hear nothing of what the others are saying, nor Cor Goron, who's stepped up to address the others. He doesn't make any move to take the staff back.

  "Friends," Zelda breathes, "this is something I have only heard in tales from my grandmother, Goddesses rest her soul, or dusty scrolls in the royal archives. I thought at first we were dealing with the implement of a Sage, but I think that is only partly true."

  She turns the staff, looking at the carvings even more closely. At length her mouth twists in a grin; an expression of genuine, gleeful delight completely and totally unbecoming of royalty. Or aristocracy. Or whatever she really is.

  "This is not a Sage's weapon. I do not think this is Hylian, and I can say with confidence it was not made by Goron or Zora hands, either. Not even the Gerudo, died out largely in my mother's time... this is far older." Her thumb brushes the carvings, reverently, and she holds it up so the others can see. "This is a sacred symbol of the Goddess Nayru. And here, these paired symbols evoke the royal family. That symbol there, perhaps you have seen it on my cloak, Rydia." Her thumb indicates a tiny eye with a stylized teardrop motif beneath it.

  "No, this does not belong to the enemy. It is a friend, I hope. A potentially very useful friend. What I am looking at defies belief, though, because... the people to whom this staff belongs had died in my grandmother's day. Or so I was led to believe. That..." Zelda deflates just slightly. "Or someone has stolen a relic of theirs."

    "...then whoever that staff belongs to," Yumi says, "We have to go get them ASAP." Not that she needed more reason to go rescue someone; but this just made it all the more urgent.

    "A possible ally?" Cecil perks up at that. "Hmm. Then maybe they are being forced down for imprisonment or worse. This puts the whole situation in a new light. And if it is not an ally, and that was stolen, then..." He rubs his chin.

    "Well, let us hope that is not the case, but if it is, we can find more information yes?"

It's fortunate that Sheik seems to know about the item. And the explanation is well-taken. "Think this person might have other relics?" Paine asks. "Maybe that's why they took whoever it is," she suggests.

"Rescuing them might turn them into an ally, if they're not already," she suggests. "If it's not a trap. Liable to be, given everything."

    So Zelda does seem to know what the staff is.
    "So what's with the eye symbol?" Rydia asks point blank when 'Sheik' points it out to her.
    "I'm still of the opinion we get them back from the Twilight flunkies first. Then we figure out everything from there."

  "Yumi Tachibana, I have come to the same conclusion," Zelda states, briskly. There's a note of approval in her voice. "Friend or foe, whether they are the one who made this or not, whoever owns this staff is not a friend of the usurper. The possibility of recruiting them as an ally is worth exploring... if we can save them in time."

  Cor Goron shrugs, shaking his head. "Whoever or whatever it is, it looks like they're being taken down the mountain. We found a few throwing knives further downslope. They aren't made in any style I know."

  "No?" Zelda cocks her head at that. "Interesting."

  To the question of providence, she smiles, thinly. She turns the haft to show the eye-like device. "This is the Weeping Eye. In Hyrulean history it has been closely associated with the royal family, but it is not a Hylian symbol. It does not come from the Gorons or the Zora, either... it is an ancient symbol of the Shadow Folk."

  Huh?

  "The Sheikah were a tribe that swore themselves to the service of Hyrule's royal family, long ago. They have served at times as assassins, bodyguards, companions, couriers, scouts, and spies; they have also served as keepers of lore, and many have been Sages. They were never very numerous. Supposedly they've died out." Her eyes sweep the group. "The very last of them supposedly served the queen, in my grandmother's time."

  That is to say, to the ones who know who she really is, the last one served her grandmother.

  "I did not know there were any left. Either this prisoner is one of the Shadow Folk, or they are somehow affiliated with them: Enough to have stolen relics of theirs." She runs the pad of a finger along the haft of the weapon, frowning. "Whether a Sage or a thief, this prisoner is worth rescuing. Cor Goron, how soon can we follow your scouts?"

  The small Goron shrugs. "The weather is treacherous. You may be better served waiting a few days for a better chance."

  "Next week," Zelda says, something like steel in her tone. "We will go down the mountain and find them, and then find what they know. Thank you, everyone."

  "Stay as long as you like." Gor Coron waves his hands dismissively to the party. "It isn't as though you aren't known to us, in most cases. There are inns on the second level that are equipped to deal with Hylians, which means they ought to serve for the rest of you, too." His expression twists as though he wants to say something else, but he doesn't, instead managing that benign rock-guy smile. "Enjoy your time in Goron City."