RP:Visiting the Chasm

Part of the Rynvale New Dawn Arc

Part of the The Orb Of Life Arc

Summary: The Governor of Rynvale is informed of the mysterious disappearance of the Hallowed Grove. Upon visiting the site, she discovers one of the shards that had been discovered scattered at the scene. The incident prompts the now expectant mother to appoint her husband Rhocielle, Ambassador of Rynvale to Hollow, that he might negotiate on her behalf with the world’s leaders in the event that she is herself unable to do so in person for some reason.

Characters: Arien, Rhocielle

Location; Rynvale: Private Beach, Wildflower Field, Arien’s Island Retreat

Rhocielle held out the strange shard in his leathery palm as he walked along the beach, having paid yet another visit to the Fog Forest. The Governor, General of the Fold, his wife... she would need to know of the incident in all of her roles in life. His muzzle scrunched faintly as he approached the villa. Not even a day returned from their getaway, and already the world beckoned for their involvement.

Arien had spent part of the day in the shops of Larket, the mother to be reluctantly caving to the reality that the once toned flatness of her stomach was now a thing of the past. Packaged away in the bundles she still carried, her first concession to maternity wear. What had been left of the day had been spent within the compound in Sage and the elf was by and large unaware of the events that had taken place in Rynvale, although the chatter that assaulted her ears on the ferry trip across made her aware immediately that something was amiss. As soon as her feet touched the docks of the port, she sought her husband with her spirit ~Rho..what’s going on?~ She would not reach him in his place on the beach as quickly as she would have liked.

Rhocielle lifted his ears to the silent calling to him. ~There has been an incident, north of the city. The Hallowed Grove is gone, and its Sage is missing... I have something to show you.~ There was a calm sense of urgency to his thoughts, assuring her that she needn't hurry, but that it was nevertheless important.

Arien deposited her bags on the lowermost steps of the porch and turned with not a look back for their security towards the dark silhouette on the beach. It would be a matter of steps taken before she would be upon him, her arms finding their home around her husband for the greeting that would always come before she asked anything further of him. He was her heart first, and after her mind. Her lips found his for a brushing contact before she leaned back to find his gaze. “The grove is gone?..What do you mean? And what is it you have to show me?” Concern shimmered in her gaze. It would seem if it were not one thing, it was another. Would her small patch of lands in this world never know the peace of undisrupted days? Still, they had no solid leads on the ferry accident.

Rhocielle allowed the world slip away for what moments he could steal in the embrace of his High Elf. A pleasant murr escaped his throat as his free paw held her lower back affectionately. His initial smile grew further as he took both visual and physical notice of the bump of her stomach pressing against him. Their children grew. At last drawing his head back away from hers slightly, he explained, "...it is gone. There was a wave of power in the skies over the island, and it ended at the grove... An ogre assigned by Ryeanna was stationed there, to make sure others did not fall into the chasm left behind..." Already seeing the worry in her eyes, he continued as quickly as he could, "The Sage that tended the grove is missing, but another man there says that he got away... I am sure he is still safe then, but we should find him as soon as possible." His other paw opened to display his possession, a peculiar shard, "These were littered around the site, I took one. Several others have taken a few. I do not know how many remain."

Arien eyed the shard that glimmered in his paw like hand with some wariness, her concern for the fact that there remained some part of the lands now possibly a danger to others evident. "I must thank Ryeanna for seeing to the security of the citizens then, when I find a moment. I leave the island for one day..and look what happens." If the elf sounded almost overwhelmed by current concerns, it may have some connection to the same life stirring in her womb. Not only was she enduring the assault upon her hormones, but her maternal desire to protect the lives she harbored within her was thriving. “Are you sure it is safe to keep or carry the shards? Remember what happened with the chaos, the infection..the taint.” She murmured. Emerald gaze lifted to search his face carefully. “You have noticed no effects from carrying it? I’d like to see the site..if you have time to take me.”

Rhocielle nodded to her, "I have been around those with the Taint... This... this does not have any feeling of that about it." That could not be said that the shard would not have any side-effects. "All the same, I should take this back to Kumorohyou at the lab," he said, tucking the shard away into a runic pocket of his bandoliers. They had been designed to prevent premature rupture of whatever dangerous items he held. The same runes might disarm or weaken the shard temporarily of whatever it is that it did. His muzzle lowered to rest his black nose against her ivory one, "It is not far past the bridge if you think you can manage it." His voice was soft spoken, full of concern for the mother of their unborn pups, "We could always go in the morning, Arien..." He knew his mate. Stubborn as he was, she would want to see it tonight, but this was something that needed to be said.

Arien brushed her nose to his in wolfen kiss, shaking her head in quiet if firm denial of his concern. “We have likely had citizens trampling all over what evidence may remain all day already. I should like to see it with my eyes before the site is further corrupted” she murmured softly. “I can make it. I am pregnant..not an invalid..” she teased gently, “And these are early days yet. I rested this afternoon. Shall we go?” and already she was easing out of his embrace, her eyes turned north and east toward the town center.

Rhocielle teased back gently in kind, "By your leave then, General..." The smile could not be hidden away. Her stubborness was something he loved about her, though it would a fair assumption to say that he loved everything about his wife.

Arien: Over an hour later, the elf might perhaps have begun to reconsider her earlier claim for vigor and endurance, though she would be careful to mask her weariness from her mate. She might have betrayed herself by standing quietly still for moments longer than necessary at the great chasm before she began a slow wandering roam of the environs immediately surrounding it. “Flowers..they are beautiful..surely something that could generate something this lovely, could not be a threat. But if not, why remove the grove altogether? And no one saw or heard anything beyond the flash of light?” she asked quietly, though why she whispered out in the open, she could not explain herself. The winking of something refracting the light of the moons caught her eye and brought it to the heart of a particularly thick cluster of flowers and she bent over to retrieve what seemed to be another shard of the same makeup of the one her husband had secured. “I wonder what they are..and what they do..” she mused aloud, lifting the item to her eyes for a closer look.

Rhocielle was her husband long before they were wed, but he kept silent on the matter of her apparent fatigue, for her sake. His paw gently stroked her lower back as they stood for a moment to observe the... It could not be called devastation or destruction. It was as if the grove had never existed, leaving only a chasm and its surrounding fields of flowers. He remained at his station while his eyes followed her every movement. The wolf had missed her presence. Canting his head as she had bent over to pick something off the ground, he snorted a bit in self annoyance and amusement for having not seen it before. "I do not know, Arien... We should speak to Ryeanna for more than just thanks. Her town has an academy, just as we also have our library..."

Arien wandered back over to the wolf’s side, her eyes fixed upon the nature of the shard, a thoughtful expression on her face. “You are right my love, as you always are. I am just…so pressed for time.” And the journey to Vhys could only be accomplished by foot over the plateaus..or perhaps, horse, wearying nonetheless, if this short trek had winded her. “ Unless she is willing to come to the city, I may need for you to make initial contact with her, and report to me your findings..perhaps arrange for her to meet with me at a more central location if she is desirous of the contact? I can give you a letter of introduction I suppose.” She glanced his way. “Really Rho, it will not do..I need you at my side in Rynvale..and I will not take no for an answer.” She smiled to soften the request that seemed an order. But she truly trusted none other to be her voice in the city’s business, and he as yet bore no official public affiliation.

Rhocielle slid his arm around the High Elf, holding her fondly against the warmth of his frame. "We can speak of it on the way home in detail, my elf... It is late..," he said softly, though wolfen drawl expressed that suggestion to go home was not one to be negotiated. Already, he was leading her away from the chasm. His muzzle rubbed against her neck. ~And yes, my wife.~

Arien: For once, Arien was not inclined to be stubborn, home seemed entirely too far away. Falling in next to her mate she turned a baleful eye his way, responding to his too humble thought. ~I’m serious Rho. As the months progress, there will be less and less I can accomplish on my own without a skilled representative. There is none to whom I am more willing to entrust my city’s welfare, and that of its people~ she communicated silently. Aloud, she added, “I shall make the necessary arrangements for your appointment to Ambassador in the morning, and making contact with the duchess of Vhys will be your first priority.” Now she spoke to him as the Governor about to entrust him with solemn responsibility. “Eventually, we must continue the work of building bridges with those leaders we have not already secured an alliance with.” She added thoughtfully. The passage of time and the rigor of the journey would eventually still her speech, if not her thoughts, until the pair found themselves once more at the familiar doors of their villa home.

Rhocielle would never tire of calling the elf his wife, and behaving as such. Expectant or no, he swept her off her feet when their feet hit the porch. Carrying her through the threshold, the wolf offered the elven bride the divine pendant. A wolfen female in his arms, or an elven husband carrying her to her bed, the choice was hers to make. Regardless, her husband's lips would soon be pressed to hers as they crossed the doorway and entered their bedroom.

Arien gasped softly as she was swept up into wolfen arms, her own reaching to cling to his neck for security as they crossed into the common room of the villa where she was eventually gently set upon her feet. The pendant was taken with a smile and slipped over his dark head with almost regal formality. His shift was swift and painless, and the elf allowed her eyes to linger upon the noble elven visage of her husband for some moments before a soft thought was communicated~You will make a noble Ambassador for the High Born wolf~ and then, all thoughts of office were gone, subsumed by her need to be in the arms of her mate in the manner that found them without any title but that of husband and wife. When that door finally closed behind them, it would be more than their lips that would be joined in sacred union. It would seem, in some regards, that their honeymoon would never end.