Temples call from the sand 05JUN21
10
JUN/21
Camp Night:
Oni looked around the tent. It had been a lifetime since he had thought about his day and life. It was time to think about and make sure the new fresh gods knew of his and their deeds once again. He could feel Lathander coursing through him. He could feel the concern in his connection. He now knew that the gods were back, they had brought alleys of Tiamat with them. Set was here in this place. He closed his eyes for a moment to try and reach out to the Dawnfather, “Oh great dawn, help me find our alleys to help you and set Set back to hell. He and five can live forever in the nothing.”
Oni opened his eyes. Herman was sitting on his shoulder. This was the time. He had delayed this for as long as he could. Herman had been keeping something from him, but he could feel their bond stronger than ever. Herman as not trying to hide, he was just waiting. Herman gave him a sign, that maybe in their rest they could talk. Oni felt the same. He could feel this was the night they could talk as friends and equals in the place of equals. Oni watched as David and Mar’iya made plans for the watch. Oni wanted sleep. He yelled back to them, “I am going to get some rest.”
Oni and Herman found a small corner to go to sleep as the sun started to go down. Oni closed his eyes but could not drift into sleep. He struggled. He could hear Arnia’s armor. It was really bugging him. He could not understand as it had never bugged him in the past. His mind went to Herman, “that was the only bug for him.” His mind laughed. He could hear David and Mar’iya. He could hear them but was not processing their words or thoughts. He was sitting on the edge of sleep but could not cross over.
He opened his eyes and saw Herman standing in front of him, with two sets of his arms crossed. Herman looked at him, “You are not quite ready. Something needs to happen before we can talk.” Oni looked out and saw the Tower. The ghost was still present waving him in. It was that ghost stuck to the tower that drew his attention. Herman cleared his throat, “I will give you a minute, but you are not ready.”
Oni closed his eyes and opened them again. Mar’iya was standing over him, “we need to talk. Sorry to wake you.” Oni stirred and sat up, “no worries I was not really asleep yet. What is going on.”
Mar’iya: “Korus Eikoth, the Sheik’s second son showed up.”
Oni: “do we need to gather up?”
Mar’iya: “not yet. He told us that about 1/3 of the city disappears in the warehouse, only to return around the fourth stage on night. (3AM)”
Oni: “do we need to be ready to go?”
Mar’iya: “no. I think I will see if Inex can do a little recon work.”
Oni: “well I guess I do not need to be awake. I am going back to sleep. I am really tired. Wake me if you need me. Oh, in case it is not clear, do not wake me unless it is needed.”
Mar’iya looked at Oni. He saw the annoyance in him but was annoyed himself. He was about to turn but needed to say something before he did, “I guess I wanted you to know what was going on.” He turned and headed to tent entrance, “I guess I was wrong.” Mar’iya smiled as he walked out to join David. He liked layering in Oni’s own word against him.
Oni took in a deep breath almost as if he was about to meditate again. He laid back down. He opened his eyes. To his surprise he was standing next to his buggy friend once again. He saw the tower beyond and even the gods. Herman smiled, “glad you are back. It took you are long time.” Herman followed Oni’s gaze over the to the gods, “try to not think about them too much or we will be with them, and I think this is a private conversation.” Oni just nodded his understanding. His eyes and mannerism told Herman to get on with it.
Herman started to tell Oni about the Nexus in the broadest terms. It was an unwritten agreement that citizens of the Nexus would not reveal it to their masters. He explained that it was a place just for familiars. He explained that it was safe from Tiamat. The gods were present, but not in the same way as here. Many gods including Tiamat were present in many of the zones or connection of the nexus. You could even use the connections to connect to them if you were connected in another zone. You could not bring the gods from other worlds into yours section, but you could bring your connection. He knew he did not understand it much, and it was clear as he explained it.
He moved on to the great owl, Weaselton. He explained that there were connections beyond space and time. He could not talk about it, mostly because he did not understand it and would not try. Oni had questions about David’s thoughts and impressions. It was in that brief moment that Oni looked at his own body and he was a woman. He felt different but the same. As he focused it change and he was back to himself. He knew it was him, but it was not him. Herman made sure Oni understood that Weaselton was likely smarter than any of them, and could understand common, even if we speak it in the crudest way. Weasleton’s words not Herman’s.
Last he told him about the plan to help Oni and his group. He told him about the giant that fell into the Nexus. This seems to have broken the Nexus in some fundamental way. His friends on the other side were working on it. It hurt Herman to talk about the next piece, but he told him about the sleep poison to test some theories. As part of this conversation Herman promised to never use Oni in that way without his agreement. He also asked that Oni not share this information. That is why they were here talking about it here in the god plain, and not some other place. Tiamat could never know.
With their conversation over, they both started to look around. Thoughts of the gods flowed into their minds. Oni looked up and could see some of the other plains above them. He wondered if this was similar to what Herman had described. The tower here was the one connector, where in the Nexus they were connected on the edges. He wondered if some god could have listened to them if they had been in the levels above. This was too complex for Oni to think about. It was like the powers of magic. His mind was becoming a jumble as all things were becoming the same thing. He knew he must be wrong somehow.
The light of the Dawnfather filled them. Oni bowed his head a little. The Dawnfather did not say anything, but words or communication were shared. A hand of light came out and touched Oni on his forehead. Oni knew in that instant that Lathander was sharing more with him. It was clear to Oni that more evil besides Tiamat had filtered into the world. Was this a good thing could not be seen? Oni was given a gift from the Dawnfather. He could feel healing energies flow through him.
Camp Day:
A beam of light and heat from the dawn struck Oni. He was awake and up in moments. Almost in a trance he moved out into dawn. It light warmed him as he went through his meditation. As the dawn rose through the tents, Oni moved through many dawns that morning. Power rushed into him. His ki was energized somehow this morning. He could breathe through his forms and always feel his ki. This morning it pulsed in a way that was new. He stopped and looked at his hands. They hurt a little. Pain was not right; he could feel them. He studied them and could see an orange like glow upon them.
Mar’iya walked to Oni. He had never interrupted him before, so Oni knew he wanted something. Mar’iya bowed slightly, “my apologies, but I must tell you what we found last night before I take a nap.” Oni listened intently. Last night’s conversation made him feel better, so he was eager to start the day. Oni nodded back as he wrapped his hands with cloth, “everyone okay?” Mar’iya nodded yes.
Mar’iya went on to explain that Inex changed into a bug and went into the warehouse. They had found the guard asleep. They had been placed into a sleep like magical state. Right before the fourth nightly movement a trap door opened, and the missing towns folks came marching out in sets of two. They were in some kind of trance as they moved back out into the oasis and went back home. As soon as the people finished coming out of the underground, the guards woke up. When they awoke, they continued a conversation that they had clearly started hours before. Korus is offering to help. He is going to place guards there tomorrow night, that he would not care about losing. Oni felt uncomfortable with the comment.
Oni looked from Mar’iya to David, “we will go check it out while you rest. Maybe Arnia can stay here so you will be safe. We can just head over to the warehouse and check it out during the day.” Mar’iya nodded. Oni grabbed David and Inex and headed out towards the warehouse. In the back of his mind Oni worried that he was splitting the party once again. He had dreaded that the day before but now he was all weapons out to separate. He looked up to the sun but had now moved well beyond the dawn.
Oni, David, and Inex walked up to the warehouse. There was a line of folks moving in and out of the tent. Inex looked around, as if to ask about how they were going to sneak in. Oni smiled to both of them, to tell them that he had this. At this point he had seen Mar’iya as Vashir just go through the front door. The lined move up until they stood before the guards. He looked up to Oni, “your reason for being here.” Oni moved a broad smile across his face.
Oni: “good sir, the Sheik has asked us to look around the camp for anything strange.”
The Guard: “sure, do you have any proof?”
Oni: “I am sorry we just came into town yesterday and that has not been arranged. We have nothing to hide, you could come with us.”
The Guard: “I suppose.”
Oni: “By the Dawnfathers glory, that would be great.”
The Guard: “what? Wait? Do you know about the dual dawns?”
Oni: “of good sir, I have two dawns almost every morning.”
The Guard: “would like to have dinner with me and my wife tonight.”
Oni: “I would love to. I can tell you all about the Day of Two Dawns.”
The Other Guard: “um-hu, the line is getting long.”
The Guard: “You can go in.”
Oni: “great these are my two friends.”
The Guard: “go ahead.”
Oni: “thanks my friend, see you tonight.”
The Guard: “Oh by the five, I cannot do dinner tonight. It was my day off, but I was moved to guard duty tonight.”
The Other Guard: “Just go!”
The inside of the tent was chaos. A controlled chaos but a chaos none the less. People moved around like bees. Moving to whatever area they needed. The gathered-up supplies from some boxes. Just like bees going out for honey, they took the supplies out into the bazaar to sell or trade them. They moved about as they did not want to go straight to the trapdoor that Inex had seen the night before. Many of the crates were marked by symbols. As they approached the trap door, it became clear. A guard stood in front of a large crate. David touched Oni’s shoulder, “this might help.” Oni looked around and could see into the boxes. Oni moved up to the large crate and could see the trap door below. The crate itself was filled with a Tiamat ton of rocks. He was not sure if even Arnia could move it. The trap door was there. Oni started to move about again. He looked in as many of the boxes as possible. He wanted to know how the symbols matched their contents. Symbol for produce, dried meat, weapons, and slaves.
They had been there for hours. Mar’iya and Arnia had likely gone to the bazaar by now. They were about to leave when Oni saw the slave merchants. His blood boiled. He first wanted to kill them all, but knew he could not. It would lead to their own death. Maybe if Mar’iya and Arnia were here, they could take them without their own death, but the just the three of them. No. He wanted to mess with them and maybe he could gather some information from them. He broke off from his two friends to head over.
One of the slavers looked up. He was wearing one of the pins Oni used to have. He scanned Oni for a pin, “what do you want.” Oni did not smile, but instead engaged. He was trying to stand stoic as Vashir would, “We are here from Raam. Do you know Sandini?” A little puff of air left the side of his mouth, “that idiot destroyed our group in Raam.” Oni heard that and moved in, “I know. What in Tiamat’s glory was he thinking?” The slaver shifted a little into a more comfortable stance, “where is your pin?” Oni looked down, “I through it at Sandini when we left.” The slaver scanned up past Oni, “what is that thing?” Oni turned looked at Inex, trying to apologize without saying a word, and back handed him, “I told you to step back.” Inex understanding stepped back and bowed his head. Oni turned back, “He is a great help, does not always know his place.”
Oni: “My friends are looking for an armorer in the bazaar, I was hoping you could help.”
Slaver: “Your friends will not find a good one.”
Oni: “Can you do better?”
Slaver: “what do you need.”
Oni: “well on our way here, we killed a couple of great worms. We recovered a couple of plates.”
Slave: “oh really. Come by for dinner. I will bring my guy.”
Oni: “Great we will.”
Oni led his group out of the warehouse and back to the groups tent. They beat Mar’iya back. Oni looked at his little buddy, “Do you mind keeping watch until they arrive.” Herman ran down his arm and leg and headed to the tent opening. He climbed up and started to pace as a good sentry would do. They started to make a little food. Oni remembered one of the books from his childhood and longed for a meal from the great chef Nalla. He had no idea who she was but loved reading about her meals. They showed up just as the food was ready. They had found someone to work on the armor. Oni shared his connection and the dinner plans.
They gathered around a meal. Oni loved this part. The dawn connected him with Lathander the Dawnfather, Magic connected him with Herman, and food connected them as a group. They ate, laughed a little and planned the day. It seemed too dangerous to try the trapdoor while the sun is up. They decided to explore the oasis a little first. They heard about a burnt-out tent. They wanted to go investigate the statue on the north end of town. Mar’iya and Oni had gained a lot of insight and help from obelisks, and this seemed like the place ancient help might have carved a message of assist them. In route they would quickly check out the great white palm.
We all gathered around the statue. It was old just like the obelisks they had seen in the past. It was a statue of a female that was short in stature. A short in stature statue. The head had been removed. It was impossible to know how it was removed. Some blade lopped it off. This mythical blade had to be so sharp it left no markings. David used his objects power to know some of the past for the statue and trapdoor. It had been a long time since anyone had used the trapdoor. They decided to investigate and go in.