Mineas Well Revisited

[lord_wizard]

Who: Felix and anyone on the expedition
What: Exploring Mineas Well
When: November 17th-18th
Where: Mineas Well
Rating: PG

After days of walking in the dense woods, the group eventually came across a slightly grown over but clear path leading through the trees, courtesy of marked circles on the towering trees all around them. Many of the trees seems filled with some kind of strange fruit, though they seem rather grey and unappetizing to look at, and the wizard leading the group only stares at them with an frown. Those who have been here may before may recall these were once glowing tubular creatures that came alive at night. But now they seem dead, or at least dormant. Early after setting out this day, they come across a large hand-made gate, absent of any fence to connect to it, sitting just slightly ajar in the middle of the path. A sign to one side reads "PRIVATE PROPERTY: To all uninvited guests:
please ring the bell to speak to a messenger. Thank you." A cord extending from the branches above seems to indicate it leads to such a bell. After a moment of consideration, Felix pulls it, and it rings softly in the quiet. After a few long beats, nothing at all happens. Sighing, Felix pushed past the gate with a slight shove, and towards the clearing on the other side...

...and the enormous tree on the other side, many hundreds of feet tall, with several levels of tree house built into the different sections of it's branches. Unlike last time, it seems a bit to dim here. Too quiet.

EXPLORING | STAYING THE NIGHT | THE MORNING

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EXPLORING

[lord_wizard]

At the base of the tree are many bowl-shaped pools. Once warm and fragrant, the waters are no more than lukewarm and half covered with a blanket of algae. Nearby is a wooden platform connected to a pulley system to take one up way way up into the tree. It takes a bit of work to get it going, but eases up the higher you go. Inside the treehouse there's lots to see. One end has nothing but fairly comfortable looking room - though their spidersilk sheets have gone a bit musty, and the remnants of the fruit in the bowls on the furniture have long decayed. A strange purple bulb in the ceiling seems to have once been a light, but no amount of poking will make it flare to life now. A large kitchen and dining hall seems to show similar signs of neglect and decay. There are other rooms on the other side, mostly empty, and many grown over with vines that make it impossible to pass. A few are clear enough to reveal they lead to platforms where swings are suspended over the dizzying drop to the forest floor below. The central platform may be of the most import, however. This is where Flora's office was, and still is, though the former mistress seems to be long gone. There is a large desk with many drawers, an empty loom against the wall, and a door behind leading to a master bedroom of sorts. The walls there are covered with old maps, most of which are different depictions of Nostos, each with a different purpose. There is a large bed, much like the smaller ones in the rooms on the other levels, a wardrobe, a chest, and table filled with dead houseplants, jewelry, and a few random shards of pink crystal.

Feel free to explore.

[lord_wizard]

Perhaps naturally, Felix is contenting himself with ransacking Flora's former room and office, digging through the desk and later on, pouring over the maps on the walls, making notes in his journal before he tries to take them down, muttering softly to himself as he works. There are several of note. One with several crisscrossing lines in different colors. Another with a pink diamond in several spots on the continent. And another with six large stars in a few rather recognizable locations. Cair Paradisa. In the Cindbreach mountains, where Cair Libet once dwelled. Another in the far northeast, where the mysterious Cair Ivera sits. Cair Draconis, on continent to the north. And two more, never seen before to his eyes - nearly in the center of area called the Candlespine mountains, and another on an island in the middle of a circular bay on the continent to the south.

[radiantwingedone]

Ah, Felix is after the maps. Duke waits until Felix is done inspecting one before looking over it himself.

The joys of not having been able to see here.

"The stars are castles, have previous expeditions passed through diamonds before?"

[lord_wizard]

Felix wanders over to peer at the other map, humming to himself.

"There," he says, after a moment, and points to an area on the eastern coast. "Terre Haute."

[inafadingcrown]

Galadriel has had much the same the thought. Her journal is out and she is making notations on an older map, updating it with the these new additions.

"I wonder where she has gone- and under what circumstances."

[lord_wizard]

Felix is silent a moment. The room around them is eerie in it's peacefulness, and he's afraid to say what he believes, but it seems the only thing logical to his mind.

"She was old. I don't think she would simply pack up and go. This tree gave her power, and power isn't easily surrendered. The fact that the tree is in this state tells me she's no longer in this world. There's really only two options, in that case. Either she was killed somehow, or the castle finally sent her back home."

[wishmadeinfire]

Ashura followed him, trying to handle some of the storm he left in his wake as he took his own note of things. His eyes fell on the maps as he leaned against her desk, noting the other castles, and that sparking a conversation he had with a particular dragon not all that long ago.

"I wonder... if those are the Castles the dragon spoke of, the ones she and her companions made," he said aloud, more to himself than Felix or anyone else in the room, glancing down at the papers in his hand as if they might hold some hidden clue the maps would not give up alone.

[lord_wizard]

Felix wasn't one to let a question go unanswered, as averse to silence as he often was. The tree in this state unsettled him, though he was one of the few here who remembered what Mineas Well looked like alive and full of light.

"Undoubtedly. All but these two are marked on the maps we have," he said, pointing to the two in the south with light fingers. "And if her story was true, then those and Cair Ivera are the three remaining of the five."

[schrodingersghost]

Danny pokes around in the empty rooms a little, but he really had no idea what he was looking for. And this kind of careful investigation wasn't really his thing. Give him an enemy to stop or a villainous plot to unravel, and he knew exactly what to do.

This?

He eventually makes his way up to the highest part of the tree and perches there, looking down on everything.

[lord_wizard]

Felix takes to wandering the paths after he's scoured the main room long enough. His eyes are mostly on the ground, but every once in awhile he glances up at the boughs, and eventually spots Danny there.

"What are you doing up there?"

[schrodingersghost]

"What does it look like I'm doing?" He may have been a little grumpy.

[inlifesname]

This entire place is stunning. Nita can only imagine what it looked like when people where here. She spends a decent amount of time just exploring, wandering up and down the pathways, poking at the pools of water, and foraging through the desk drawers.

But she seems particularly interested in the crystal, picking it up and turning it over in her hands.

"I wonder what it would tell me, if wizardry worked out here."

[lord_wizard]

Felix looks away from where he'd been poking at a dead plant and angles his gaze over her shoulder. It's not hard to do, for one of his height.

"It's another one of those shards, like the ones she gave us years ago. The ones that power things in the Dead Zone."

[inlifesname]

Well. That is useful information. "You mean they work like batteries? How come we didn't bring a bunch of them with us?"

[wizard_redfive]

Dairine is not far away, looking at the long-unused bed with a strangely intense, quiet stare. Something heavy is on her mind, but as usual, the young wizard is keeping such troubles to herself.

However, her big sister's voice is enough to shake her out of it. She starts slightly, but tries to act nonchalant.

"It might not say much. They don't near the castle."

[inlifesname]

"Nothing says much around here." It's a complaint, but there's not much bite to it. She sees where her sister is looking and it doesn't take a genius to guess what she's thinking.

"You met her, didn't you? The woman who lived here."

STAYING THE NIGHT

[lord_wizard]

It's been a long day, and it's time to get some rest. The rooms, while a bit dusty, are still fairly welcoming to a weary traveler. Why not take advantage?

Or you could sleep on the ground if you preferred.

[radiantwingedone]

It shouldn't surprise anyone that Duke is looking for a low room that his pokemon can get into with him. Aina fortunately isn't that much taller than him, just terribly heavy.

"I don't suppose we could manage to get Cappuccino in here as well.." Duke mutters, looking about the rooms. No Duke, the quietta probably won't like the stairs.

[inafadingcrown]

There's nothing quite as likely to make Galadriel homesick as an elaborate treehouse, empty and uninhabited, though it may be. She hadn't been here for the first expedition, but she can imagine what this place must have been like when it was filled with life- filled with light- and it hits a little too close to home.

Elves don't really need to sleep anyway, so she'll leave the rooms for those who have more need of them. She doesn't want to be behind walls tonight anyway. She finds a quiet spot on one of the many walkways of the treehouse and seats herself there, her bare feet dangling into the air. And then, she begins to sing.

It's a hymn, something not unlike this, haunting and beautiful, filled with both reverence and longing for a time long past. She sits utterly still, unmoving even after she's finished her song, letting the final notes fade into the night sky.

[schrodingersghost]

Ghosts didn't sleep that well either. At least they didn't when they were half ghosts who usually spent the night superheroing.

So of course when Danny heard singing he goes to check it out. You never knew when some random singer was secretly trying to brainwash everyone and take over the world.

...It had happened in his world, okay?

When he finally finds Galadriel he stands and listens for a moment. But quickly grows bored. What kind of music was that? It sounded kind of like the boring stuff Jazz listened to.

"Did you have to pick the middle of the night for this?"

[inafadingcrown]

Galadriel turns at the sound of Danny's voice, offering an apologetic smile. "Did I disturb you? I apologize; it was not my intent."

[wishmadeinfire]

He had been dozing, exhausted from the exploring and from the long walks through the dead zones, his powers subdued. Other things too, but Galadriel's song drew him up and out of the light doze. He closed his eyes, listening to the haunting melody of it, letting it wrap itself around him and give him comfort.

He pushed up and walked towards her, waiting until she finished to lightly clap his hands, smiling at his friend, the woman who had once held place as his grandmother according to the Castle.

"That was lovely, Galadriel. I do not think I have ever heard you sing," he smiled, sitting down near her.

[inafadingcrown]

"Have you not?" Galadriel turns to offer him a slight smile and nods in acknowledgement of the applause. "I am somewhat surprised, for I do so often. Perhaps I have simply been less public about it in my time here."

[lord_wizard]

He'd heard the song in the distance and come looking for the source, though he keeps his distance for awhile once he sees who it is, and stays there for a while after she'd finished. It had seemed like a personal thing, and it gave him a chill that was nothing to do with the autumn night air. But with it brought loneliness and the nagging reminder that she was part of what little he had left these days. How much distance could he really put between himself and the people who were trapped here with him?

Eventually, Felix approaches on the walkway and stops next to her, leaning on the railing next to her.

"What was it about?"

THE MORNING

[lord_wizard]

Was it a quiet night? Did you get any sleep? Well, either way, it's time to get ready to go. There's little else to be learned here, though a little last minute exploration might not hurt.

Later that morning, Felix will round up the group and set back towards the castle, for better or worse.