An Elemental Quest

By: Kirrh Posted on: September 29, 2004

Aetaleine stretched, then flopped herself onto the lush grass, staring up at the sunlit clouds as they drifted lazily by. It was a beautiful day in the Pash Valley; the sun was out, the breeze was warm and refreshing, and the nearby Pachacacha gurgled along peacefully. Yet the Rajamala was unable to enjoy her surroundings, so troubled was she by recent happenings in her life.

- ~ -

For nearly fifty years Tal had served as a Paladin of Shallam, and truly did love her Guild. But things had changed, and she no longer felt as though it was the proper place for her. And when her beloved falcon, Bwilanim, with whom she had lived and fought beside for forty-seven years, had been slain in battle, she knew it was time for her to move on. Retiring her swords had been painful, but the Guild had understood, and had made it clear that she was welcome back if she ever changed her mind.

She had thought long and hard about what to do next. She had always considered herself close to Nature, and had for a time pondered the Forestral Guilds. She realized, however, that she wanted to stay in the City she had loved her entire life: Shallam. Her mind then turned to the Magi, with their abilities to channel the Elements.

So with that, she had spoken to the Magi Guildmistress and been accepted into the Guild. A friend of hers who was in the Guild volunteered to help her learn the spells of Elementalism, and so the two of them headed over to a quiet corner of Azzul Square. Tal watched and listened closely as her friend, Colaur, demonstrated the use of various abilities. Colaur had described the workings up to the Waterweird spell, then decided it was time for his charge to try out her new knowledge.

The apprentice Mage had reached out with her mind as she had been instructed, searching for the soothing calm of the Water Plane. She found nothing. Confused, she tried again, recalling the meandering Pachacacha, the warm waters of Polyargos, the icy falls of Aeraithia... But despite her efforts, Tal could not even contact the Element, much less forge a channel to it. Noticing her troubled look, her tutor asked what the matter was. As she had answered, his Grookish features matched hers in a frown. He demonstrated again, searching for the Plane then calling its power to him. Still nothing, however, for Tal.

They had asked the rest of the Guild, but no one had ever had this problem, and nothing they advised had solved the issue. Even the Guild tutor, Ariela, had no answers. When Colaur had thought to go consult Hycanthus, the reclusive but powerful wizard, Aetaleine stayed behind in the Guildhall to search the library it contained. Nothing seemed to relate to her cause until she came across a small journal.

Flipping through it with no expectation to find useful information, she stopped at a page written early in the history of the Guild by a Magi called Aspin. Her hope had returned to her as she read his record of a dream he had once had-- meeting with the Elemental Lord of Air, Whiirh the Western Wind. If anyone could show her how to master the Elements, as Whiirh alluded was possible, it would be the true Masters of the Elements themselves.

When Colaur had returned from the Vashnars with no good news, Tal had told him not to worry, and that she had something she had to deal with. And so she had left the Guildhall and walked out to the valley in order to plan her next step.

- ~ -

As the clouds continued to float unseen past her eyes, she considered. Somehow she needed to beg audience with the four Elemental Lords. She had decided earlier that she would seek them out according to the order in which the spells for the respective Elementals were taught. The Waterweird being the first Elemental, that meant Sllshya, the Great Ocean, would be her first quest.

But where could one find the Water Lord without the ability to contact his Plane? In the waters of Sapience, she supposed. Somewhere big, uninhabited, with nothing but water, deep and blue. The moment her destination occurred to her, she was up and moving. She reached the Pachacacha bank in a few long strides and dove in without a second though. Her grey- and rust-colored fur getting more soaked by the second, she swam slowly but surely upriver.

Before too long, she could see the Southern Old Road ahead of her, and pulled onto the road when she reached it. Shaking herself off, though not bothering to dry off fully, she turned south. Down the road, then through the Northern Vashnars and deep Aalen Forest she continued, reaching her target at last.

She returned Nolan's nod of greeting as she looked across to the west. Nothing but sea and sky. Bidding Nolan a good day, and ignoring his protest that she was insane, she stepped into the waves, walking until she was forced by the sea's depth to swim. For a full day she swam, occasionally swept about by waves, until she had lost track of time and direction. Looking about her, Tal saw no movement but the waves, and no existence but the wide water.

She didn't know how long she stayed there, she just let herself float in the blue, feeling the water surround her and flow over her. She called out hesitantly in her mind, seeking Sllshya's guidance. She would reach out, then settle back, sometimes for minutes, sometimes for what could have been days, and wait for a response, then call for the Lord again.

"I have never seen such a well-floating kitty," a voice echoed around her, sounding like hundreds of tiny sphere of glass rolling and clinking against each other. "I suppose there's a first time for everything... Well, Aetaleine? What do you seek from me?"

Tal could only stare in hock, awe, and perhaps even some horror as a figure rose from the water before her. The body of a kraken rolled up from the waves, then water continued to flow up through it into a human torso of proportionate size. The form itself remained static, but she cold see currents inside the great figure shifting and swirling. There were no features to his face; no eyes, no ears, no mouth.

At her silence, the glass-voice rolled with laughter around her. "Greetings, child. I am the one you seek. I hope my appearance does not... startle you. It merely seemed a fitting way to greet my first mortal visitor. Yes," he laughed flowingly to her stammered question, "I am Sllshya. I ask again," he resonated kindly, "What do you wish of me?"

Slowly Aetaleine stumbled through her story, pausing often in confusion, mild embarrassment, or the undiminished awe she felt for the Element Lord before her. There was a long silence once she had finished, when even the currents had stopped their gentle pulling. Then they rolled about her again as her host chuckled.

"An intriguing case indeed, kitten." Suddenly he was coming towards her; his form did not move, but rather was moved-- as with a wave, it simply held the same shape while the water that made it up was constantly being replaced. "And what do you expect me to do for you, Aetaleine?"

Tal could not respond immediately. She had faced down the most powerful foes life could throw at her, but nothing could have prepared her to come face-to-face with the mighty Lord before her, surrounded by his Element. Cautiously she admitted that she didn't really know what to expect, it had just seemed like a good idea at the time, really...

Unexpectedly the water beneath her swelled up, taking her with it as it formed a large chair. The blank, watery face leaned in closer, as if it would have peered at her had it possessed eyes. Then Sllshya laughed, more harshly than his previous chuckles. "I have seen many things in my time, Aetaleine, and I have had a very long time to see things. But never have I even considered a thing like this. The mere thought is ridiculous, after all. But here you sit before me: an Elemental Mage cut off from the very Elements!" She started to protest, but stopped short in surprise as the water-chair collapsed under her, dropping her fully into the sea again. "Go home, child, and seek out a new change. The Elements are clearly not calling to you, if they even ignore your calls." Before Tal could do or say anything more, the Great Ocean was gone, and she was alone once again in the vast blue.

Sixty-six years of living had never been able to hammer out the one quirk that had often gotten Aetaleine into and out of conflicts; her sheer stubbornness. She stayed where the Elemental Lord had left her, not saying anything or calling out to him again, merely waiting. After what was probably a few days, the water surged around her with a sigh. "Don't you ever give up, kitten?" Sllshya didn't take a physical form this time, only surrounded her with his consciousness again. Tal's answer was simple; no. "Good," the waters rolled, "I can give this to you with a clear conscience, then."

A smaller form flowed up from the waves before her-- a water weird. There were two things strange about him. First, on examining him, she could sense that he was loyal to Sllshya, the Great Ocean. What a Water Lord needed with a weird was beyond Tal's comprehension. And secondly, there was a ring on the smallest finger of his clenched left hand. He turned the hand over, so that the palm was facing up, and opened his fingers. There was a second ring there, identical to the one he wore.

"Aetaleine, this is Biri'nu. There is nothing I can do to connect you to my Plane, because it is not within my power or right to change what Sarapis has made you. What I can do is grant you a companion who is a part of that Plane. When you put on that ring, his mind shall be connected to yours. Biri'nu will be your channel to the Water Plane; he can cast your spells for you. He will not return to my Plane, as others of his kind do, until you no longer can use his assistance. You must do well for him in reply, never forget. If you should fail him-- cause his death, abandon him, or share his true origins-- he will came back to me, and you shall lose his and my help forever."

At Tal's oath that she would fail neither of them, the weird held the ring out to her, and she took it. It was made of mithril; a wide, flat band with specks of sapphire embedded seamlessly in it. Symbols were engraved inside of it, which she somehow knew spelled out Biri'nu's name in his own language. She slipped it on to the same finger that he wore it and smiled.

"Remember, kitten, that Binu-- as he asks to be called-- can only give you the power of my own Plane." A trace of humor crept into the glassy voice. "The others you shall have to petition my siblings about." The liquid around her rose up and encompassed her for several long moments as she felt spells rushing through her mind. It wasn't until it fell back away that she realized she had encountered no trouble breathing. "In order that you be more prepared to meet Garash-- for I assume that is who you will be seeking next, I have given you knowledge of the spells up to his Elemental companion." The presence around her faded away as Sllshya departed again. "Now begone, kitten, before I find a reason to change my mind."

Tal would have been happy to comply had she even the faintest idea which way to go. Before she could make a comment along those lines, Binu began to glide across the waves. Since that was as good an instruction as she felt she would get, she followed with grateful, if wary, relief.

Before the sun had moved very far above her, she could see the volcanic island of Polyargos on the horizon. The voice of the Water Lord rang once more in her consciousness as she reached the shore: "Do be gentle on my brother, you are certain to be a unique occurrence to him. I doubt he has had experience with anyone as stubborn as you, kitten. After all, Garash has never had to deal with himself, has he?" The watery chuckle surrounded her for a last time, and that was the last she heard from Sllshya the Great Ocean.

Nathan was shocked at her appearance, trodding across the waves from out in the empty ocean. His brother had told him, on a trip several days ago, of a Rajamala who had just jumped into the water back east at the Aalen Forest's edge. But Nolan was always making up fanciful stories, and Nathan hadn't believed that one any more than the one about the purple flying goat from a few years ago. Yet here was just such a person, emerging from the neutral sea.

With no small amount of chagrin, Tal realized that she didn't have any gold with her; she was unable to pay her fare back. With a lopsided grin, Nathan offered her a free ride in exchange for what must have been an interesting story. Responding with a small grin of her own, the first in more days than she could remember, Tal informed him that it was not her story to share. After a moment's through, Nathan shrugged and offered her a ride anyway. She gratefully got in the boat and they set off, Binu choosing to glide on the water beside them. The ferryman shot the weird several pondering looks throughout the trip, but asked no more questions.

Nolan was not on the beach when they arrived, most likely taking someone to the jungle island Shala-Khulia. Nathan had to get back to his own post, so they parted ways as the seeker thought on her next move. Garash, the Immovable Mountain. Her smile spread as she reached a decision and she set out, stopping quickly at the Tsol'aa bakery for a few loaves of waybread, but giving up that plan when she remembered she had no money. At the moment, though, hunger was one of the least of her worries.

She worked her way back through the forest and mountains, turning north across the river. She followed the road as far as she could to the north, then continued into the less-charted wilderness beyond the roads, checking her position as best she could. After a day's travel, perhaps a bit more, she reached her destination. She hiked into the heart of the Rheodad Forest and looked around. As likely a place as any. She reached out, calling that she sought audience with the Earth Lord.

Garash answered more quickly than his sibling, but in a much different manner. "Leave me be, mortal," thundered a voice that sounded like a pack of howling dogs. "I have no wish to attend you. Begone before my patience wears thin!" The roaring presence faded.

With a resolute, determined smile, Aetaleine settled against a nearby tree, sitting down and preparing herself for a long, vexatious battle of patience and obstinacy.