RP:A Rock Solid Friendship
Part of the Thy Kingdom Come Arc
Summary: Stumbling across a resting Linn, Hildegarde stops to say hello to the enchanter and catch up with him before moving onto Gualon to seek the support of Tristram. Linn tells her about Frostmaw and how Pilar is hiding there in the effort to help a mysterious friend. The Silver plots of a way to assist Pilar and this mysterious friend.
Xalious Tree
Linn sat cross-legged under the Xalious tree, his head dipped forward as he took relaxed, even breaths. One would think he was meditating to calm himself, though if anything he was doing everything in his power not to fall asleep right now. His current attire was a rather rare sight: loose, simple clothing that did little more than cover most of his body rather than the protective armor he usually wore. Visible around his exposed elbows and bare feet were linen bandages, the white cloth stained with splotches of vivid red under the soles of his feet. Every now and then he would glance upward to check the evolving surroundings and time before returning his gaze downward.
Hildegarde had enjoyed the hospitality of Kyl’oriel and his family, Jessa and Josleen serving as the perfect hosts, but felt as though she had best stretch her legs. After all, she needed to be moving soon and finding her allies so she had to be sure she could withstand a journey. Walking with her is the giant, Mikael, who walks at a slow and relaxed pace so as not to outpace Hildegarde. The knight comes along the great and powerful tree to spy Linn resting beneath its magical boughs. “Linn,” she said the name with a friendly smile. Maybe Linn was seeing ghosts.
Linn began to slowly grin hearing Hildegarde’s voice with a slight nod before he looked back up to set his gaze on the former steward. “Hildegarde.” He returned the greeting with the smile plastered on his face, savoring the ability to use her name in this way since the ball in Frostmaw. “Good to see you back among the living. I was beginning to wonder how long I’d be hearing these rumors before I would see you.” He sighed, looking his own condition back over, “Wish I could give you some good news regarding the state of things. Frostmaw’s gone the way of pushing non-giants out. Elves especially. I wound up having to leave as well because…” he rolled his eyes at himself, “I wasn’t exactly trying to go beneath the attention either.”
Hildegarde shook her head as Linn began to inform her of the troubles in Frostmaw, “So I’ve heard,” she said, cutting him short as she closed the space between them and crouched down near him. “What happened here?” she asked with a little gesture in his direction, questioning why he was wrapped up in bandages. “Tell me what hurt you first, then we can discuss Frostmaw.”
Linn couldn’t help an embarrassed laugh when Hildegarde queried him on his injuries. “Rocks. I was attacked by –rocks-. Or someone controlling them in very clever ways.” He pushed his feet out to try and flex them a little bit, wincing in pain. “Stepped on some spikes, somehow it got inside my armor as well, it was like wearing sandpaper. Not fun.” He shrugged, “I never could figure out just what was causing all of it. It seemed to limit itself to a small area. The moment I left it all stopped.” As if to indicate where it happened he pointed towards one of the cliffs overlooking the area. “Apparently something like it has happened a couple times before from what I’ve heard. The earth just randomly decides to pick on someone every now and then it seems…” He trailed off, unsure really where to go with the rest of the explanation.
Hildegarde’s eyebrow cocked with disbelief. Attacked by rocks? How strange indeed! “Well, at least you weren’t stoned to death,” she said with a little smile. “But what you describe, it could be a druid? Terramancer, maybe. Psion, possibly. It could have been anyone with a good grasp of magic or some kind of creature with those abilities. Hard to say. Who can say for sure?”
Linn snorted at the idea of being stoned to death. “At least I wasn’t…” At Hildegarde’s suggestions of what it might have been he blew out another sigh in thought, “Whatever it was, it was well hidden or powerful enough to do all of that from far away. Either way, it seems running from whatever causes that has been the best way to deal with it. Which fortunately, most people have the sense to. I just needed a little… encouraging first.” He chuckled again before shaking his head, turning his gaze back to Hildegarde, “So, with me being kicked out of Frostmaw I guess my next course of action is well, to back you up on whatever plans you have. I pledged service, but not to the Frostmaw that’s come up right now, if you’re looking to restore that, I’m in.” With an affirming nod he concluded the statement.
Hildegarde smiled as Linn reminded her of his pledge of service. “The Frostmaw that is now… the one that forces an exodus, that hurts those who seek only a home, that is not the Frostmaw I pledged service to either,” she told him softly. “I promise you, my friend, I will do everything in my power to regain Frostmaw. To return it to the one that we know and love.” The Silver looked at the enchanter and asked him gently, “Do you know someone by the name of Pilar?”
Linn smiled in return to Hildegarde’s response. “It’ll be a long road, but we’ll figure it out.” The mention of Pilar brought a couple blinks before he nodded again quickly. “Yeah, she’s been sticking around Frostmaw trying to help another one of her friends get out. Apparently said friend is refusing that help…” He couldn’t help another roll of his eyes, “Only person that crazy I can think of is Aira, but I don’t know entirely for sure. But yes. She’s been letting me know what it’s like in the city. I even wound up giving her something to help her go undetected if she has to.”
Hildegarde listened carefully as Linn confirmed he knew the name. “I did not realise she was trying to help another… Hrm. Xzavior had told me she was in Frostmaw and we reasoned that it would be becoming dangerous for her soon, if the xenophobia continues,” she reasoned to the enchanter. “But we need to contact her. I need to know if it is Aira, as you suspect it might be.” The Silver paused for a moment before asking Linn with a furrowed brow, “Have you been travelling into Frostmaw to see her?”
Linn released a small ‘heh’ as Xzavior’s name was mentioned. It seems everyone he knew was banding together as things went to hell. “Probably. She’s working pretty close to everything but she’s a careful person. Unless things go really wrong she should be fine.” At the mention of a contact he nodded slightly with a smile. “I can at least let her know you want to see her and where.” When questioned about going to Frostmaw he shook his head. “I haven’t been back there since you came back. Much of these past few days I’ve been helping Talyara set up a new home considering she had to leave as well. And then well…” he shrugged, “I got beat up by rocks.”
Hildegarde shook her head, “No, no, I cannot go to Frostmaw and if she leaves, there is no guarantee she will be able to return safely either,” she said. “How is it that you contact her? I need to know what she is doing in Frostmaw and whether or not she is with anyone. If not, I have a friend who can help her.”
Linn ’s foot began to idly tap at the air in thought before with a wince the motion arrested itself. When questioned about his own method he began to reach for something at his side, only to find he wasn’t wearing his belt with his armor. “I was experimenting with a form of binding for enchantment and gave her a crystal to help me test it out. It works well enough that I can send a message to her through it regardless of how far apart we are, though she can’t respond without seeing me.” His thoughts wandered to what the experiment was supposed to be for before he dispelled it. That wasn’t important anymore. “She’s been able to slip in and out of the city from what I know, she at least managed to come see me a few days ago to tell me about what’s been going on. As far as I know she’s just trying to get her friend out.”
Hildegarde nodded her head as he explained in detail how he contacted her, the limitations of such and why Pilar was staying. “Can you talk to her now?”
Linn blew out a disappointed sigh. “Not right now. I left the crystal that I need on my end back with my armor. If you need me to let her know anything I’ll tell her when I get it.”'
Hildegarde grunted at Linn’s disappointed sigh, “That’s okay. Tell her… Tell her to go out to the woods, if she can. Carefully. Tell her to look for a rainbow like feather.”
Linn nodded attentively at Hildegarde’s orders. “Okay. I’ll let her know soon as I can.” A short pause came as he thought on another topic, his curiosity beginning to get the better of him. When he spoke up again his voice was soft, “If you don’t mind me asking… what was it like actually dying?
Hildegarde was ready to straighten up and leave at that point, but was caught out by Linn’s question. Her face fell for a moment, as if considering how best to tackle that question. What was it like to die? “It’s... It feels like there is something more. Like… If you were at the beach. The weather is pleasant, it’s not hot, it’s not cold. There is shade over your eyes. There is stillness. It feels like there’s going to be more but it never happens,” she explained in a quiet and soft voice. “I felt like… like something was just out of reach, something was waiting for me.”
Linn stared forward in thought as Hildegarde described what her death felt like, her conclusion bringing a small nod. “Thanks, I was just curious really. Not a lot of people go and come back again like that you know.” He gave a halfhearted chuckle to lighten the mood again, “But enough of being dead. You’re alive now and we have things to do. Once I’m healed up I’ll be able to go out pretty far again. But for now we need to get ready.” Rising to his feet he winced before taking a couple ginger steps. “If you need to find me, I’ll still be around Xaliosu frequently. Cause well…” he shrugged sheepishly, “I’m with Talyara now and we still have a lot going on at home, if you can call it that now. I can get around quickly enough though. Hopefully enough to handle everything going on.”
Hildegarde smiled and reached out to pat Linn gently on the shoulder, “It’s okay. But you are right, we have to spend our time getting ready. I’m going to head to Gualon soon, see what allies we have left to us. You and Talyara be careful, okay?”
Linn nodded with a smile of his own as he looked back to Hildegarde. “Sounds good. If I really need to find you I can make my way there. Until then I’ll keep seeing what I can do to help get us ready. We’ll be careful, as long as I don’t get attacked by any more rocks…” he finished with a broken grin before heading out. “Good to see you alive again. Hope you stay that way.” And with that he started walking off with careful steps, slightly favoring his left foot.