Astral Questers
As you walk towards the figure it seems to pay no heed to your progress. You draw nearer until only a meter or so remains between you and the figure. As you prepare to address this lone man, you are startled by a cry from Bakatare, as you turn towards him, you are shocked to see his body spasming as he struggles to remain standing. His features distort, the cracking of bone shatters the quiet. They settle into that of the Dweller from before.

Bakatare
You feel something push it's way through you. It feels heavy and reeks of age. You shrink back as it claws it's way through your memories. It seems to tatse every one of them it can find. The rough lapping of it's tongue along the inside of your skull fills your body with liquid pain that rushes over you like a never ending wave. You feel your lips open and something work your throat like an inept musician.

"The forms must be followed so listen and learn. Potmos is the oldest of the Endless; in the Beginning was the Word, and it was traced by hand on the first page of his book, before ever it was spoken aloud. Potmos is also the tallest of the Endless, to mortal eyes such as yours." Bakatare's head jerks to the side as it speaks, spittle runs down his chin as she continues to speak through him.

"There are some who believe him to be blind; whilst others, perhaps with more reason, claim that he has travelled far beyond blindness, that he sees the fine traceries the galaxies make as they spiral through the void, that he watches the intricate patterns living things make on their journey through time."

With that you feel hollowed out as whatever she is leaves, your body aching and the stamp of violation firmly fixed on your mind.

Bakatare shudders, and drops to the ground like a limp rag doll as whatever animating force was speaking through him departs as suddenly as it arrived. Waves of liquid pain wash through his body, he remains on the ground for long moments, contemplating the sky in this twisted place. He struggles to his knees eventually, and croaks, "I'm...I'm alright." to the group.

Paladin goes down on one knee and helps Bakatare back to his feat. "Hang tough, my friend. We'll get through his."

His eyes go back to Potmos, "What do you want from us?"

Concern for the guide in this realm shows clearly on Shiver's face, another display of the dweller's power. A subtle glance to Paladin, questioning, and then the troll steps forward.

"Greetings Lord Potmos, our thanks for allowing us passage through your realm. I am the one known as Shiver. Accept my humblest apologies that we were not able to bring the appropriate gifts for visiting you. May I ask what service we may complete for you to be granted access to all the realms of your kin so that we may finish our quest? I would know the next step in my path, as I have seen all those taken to place me here."

Astral Questers
You can now see a man deep within the folds of the robe. His face is deeply lined and worn, with a look of well-preserved leather. He smells of libraries at night. His hand moves across the page as each person speaks, as if tracing their lines from the page before him. You get no feeling from him, he appears as impartial as the stone and earth around him. As you take in the details of him, you notice he casts no shadow in the ever present light of the realm.

After a moment he speaks, eyes never leaving the pages before him. "I want nothing, that is the providence of my sister. I am simply here because I am suppose to be here, at this time and in this moment. As for leaving this realm, only the one the opened the door here can take you back to the Gallery."

"My thanks again."

Shiver bows deeply to Potmos before stepping back and turning towards his companions.

"I am confused, was there not to be a trial in this land? Or does the responsibility of such lie in the hands of Bakatare-san alone to unravel?"

"Well, he opened the door, so its on him then I guess."

Paladin turns to face Bakatare expectantly.

Bakatare looks to Paladin and glances at Shiver. "What is up to me? Yes, there are supposed to be trials here. Has that hallucination you're talking to given us any idea what we need to do to leave?

"My guess is that I'd would be a good start to stop referrin' to him as a hallucination... in more ways than one."

:: Glancing from Potmos to Bakatare and back again, she hesitantly steps forward. ::

"Sir, our friend here is the one who chose this realm, yet he cannot see you and does not know the way out. Can you assist us?"

Potmos continues to trace the dialogue across his book. He pauses as Moira finishes speaking.

"He has chosen to deny my truth and his place in the tapestry. While he remains blind to my truth, blind he will remain to me. He must decide and in doing so, you will all face the choice he makes." He pauses and he reads further along his tome.

"I would warn you, the risk to you grows from realm to realm. I am the least passionate of my brothers and sisters. They will greet you with less care and courtesy than I have. Listen to what the one who tends the Gallery says, it is bound by certain oaths and can provide you with help if asked the right questions. But be warned, it has served for many lifetimes and its' service is not willing, so it will try to lead you astray and see harm come to you."

"Bakatare-san you made mention that you must reflect more on the words you read in the book before we were brought to this realm. Do you believe the truth of their words? There came a day where I was forced to choose what path I would walk, I do not envy you if you are faced with a similar choice but to deny the truth of one's purpose is dangerous. In a land embodying Destiny itself, to choose poorly could be suicide itself."

Switching to his native Japanese, Shiver lowers his voice.

"The sacrifice of your own ideal for that which the Ancestors require may be the trial that you face. My apologies if I speak too boldly, it is not my desire to upset you."

Bakatare spends a long minute struggling internally, the conflict obvious on his face. Finally, with a sigh that seems to take with it the core of his very being, shoulders slumping, he nods.

"I acknowledge the truth of the words." he says simply, gaze focused on the ground.

The air around Bakatare seems to constrict, drawing tight around him. With a snap that is almost painful, it ripples outward. The garden around twists and changes, You each lose the seperate vision of the world around you. You find yourself standing on a large circle of anceint stone with paths radiating out from it. Potmos stands at the center of this nexus. As you look the paths appear to stretch on towards the horizon. The lush smell of the grass and foliage rises up around you. The statues have all vanished. The only thing that remains untouched by the transformation is Potmos himself.

"....and so the price of passage is paid. You may leave my realm anytime you wish, my word is the door to return to the Gallery."

Bakatare speaks quietly, the hollowed, whispered voice of stripped of emotion, at least for the moment.

"Fate."

Paladin almost wants to reach out and put a hand on the guy's shoulder or something. Anything to give him some emotional support, but at this point he figures it's the last thing Bakatare wants. Great... can't wait to see what I have to go through...

Potmos stops reading and nods once to all assembled.

"All things carry a price Michael." He appears to be addressing Bakatare. "For denying me and forcing your passage to this realm I bind you to tell no lie about yourself or your magic since it was that vanity that lead to this. Bear my judgement and remember well the lesson learned here this day."

With that, he turns and begins to walk a path. Once again his finger traces the print contained within the tome.

As he walks away, the world around you becomes darker and less distinct. The shadows seem to leap forward and wash over everything. There is a moment of nothing as the shadows swallow you whole. You feel the fear gibbering in the back of your mind as you hang in void with no sensation. With a twist and a sudden lurch, you find yourself returned to the infinite white space of before. The Dweller stands some distance off, once again wrapped in the flesh of small girl. Behind her hangs the portals to the other realms. Her smile, which never quite reaches her eyes, greets you.

"Next........." As she speaks her perfect white teeth glint like a predators.

"Hello again, Locket. Thank you for your assistance so far, I would ask for knowledge. Can you tell me the price that must be paid in the realm that I can open, and the name of the ruler of that realm?"

Shiver looks to the Dweller with a new understanding of her purpose than before. He stands near his angelic ward as much to protect her as to remind himself of his own path.

Her laugh echoes out, bright but hollow. "Mine is a life gladly spent in service Bone Bag." She turns, raising a small delicate hand and points to the shelf with the barbed ring resting upon it. "Aponoia is the one you must seek out and as to her price..." She shrugs her tiny shoulders. "...who can say. Be assured though, she will collect her pound of flesh from you all." She giggles to herself as she straightens her dress.

(double post)

Bakatare looks smaller some how, as if an inflatable person had somehow slightly collapsed in on itself, and it's obviously an effort to muster the will to speak.

"Then we should all agree. Aponoia's realm."

:: Moira's eyes pass over Bakatare's figure with deep compassion and sympathy for the obviously difficult decision he was forced to make. She immediately recognizes the fact that no word or act of comfort will alleviate the painful outcome that has seemingly drained him. Instead, she sends a private prayer to the Goddess to give him her strength. ::

:: The moment of reflection is broken as her mind alerts her to the conversation being had with the devilish dweller. Taking a step forward, she speaks again in her quiet yet melodically soothing voice. ::

"I think it wise to attempt to gather more information about Aponia's realm. Dweller, can you tell us what aspect of life she represents, what is the realm she dominates?"

She looks to Moira, her face a perfect oval nestled in her honey colored locks.

"Her realm is the doorway of all human suffering. She waits like a bloated spider in her web, to snack on whatever morsel she entraps. She is queen of her own bleak bourne. She only promises pain and silence."

As she speaks, her face grows more animated and child-like. Every word a treat to say and share.

"What door will each of us be able to open? I can open the door to Aponoia's Realm and Bakatare was able to open that of Lord Potmos. What of our other companions? Also can you tell us what each realm is?"

Shiver had been startled when the smaller mage had pushed for immediate agreement, he wanted to know what realms they must all pass through. If his sacrifice was the next to be asked, then that would be what must be. The large, aged troll simply hoped for more information before such a choice.

The little girl cocks her head to the side. "Only one way can be shown at a time here. I can answer no more questions regarding the others until you return." She moves towards the windows behind her, glancing behind her. "If you return." Once again a smille of sharp white teeth.

"Welp, looks like yer up, big guy," Paladin says with a smile.

"I agree to take my test. Does the group stand with me in this choice?"

Shiver stands straight, forcing arthritic joints to behave. Now the team must all agree and the choice taken. He crosses the void to stand near the ring which will open the gateway.

"Right behind ya man."

:: Moira smiles at Shiver, trying to belay her fear of what the Dweller hinted about their next journey. ::

"There is no doubt that we are beside you. This journey is one we all share, together, equally. From this point on, we are all brothers and sisters of a sort. Lead and we will follow."

Bakatare gives a bitter smile.

"As I said before, I am agreed."

Having seen the price that was extracted of Bakatare, Angelina was starting to wonder if coming here was such a good idea. What if there was a price asked that one of them couldn't...or wouldn't pay? In particular, she wondered what would be asked of her. But they were here now, and it was too late for them to turn back. "Lead on. But as we must all be, be careful."

Shiver places his hand upon the ring, lifting it from the resting place.

"What must I do to open the portal, Locket?"

The slim girl walks to Shiver's side, sharing an intimate whisper. "The way is through the flesh. The hook is the key. One merely needs to insert the key and turn. The doorway to the soul is the lock, put the key there."

"I understand."

Weighing the plain ring in his hand, Shiver looks intently upon it. He slips the band sized to his own ring finger on to his left hand, the same finger which had held a promise so many years ago.

"Angelina give me your support please, as I have helped you through these rough times."

The large troll places his hand upon her shoulder, bracing himself in case his sacrifice should overcome his will.

"I take this sacrifice freely, that it may lead us to the next realm. Worry not my friends, for a loss of material vision will unlock truer insight to the soul if we are successful."

With that, Shiver breathes deeply and as he exhales forces the wicked barb into his eye. The key in the lock all that is remains is to turn it.

Gripping his ward and support's shoulder tightly, Shiver turns the key.

The sight of Shiver piercing his eye with the barb sends phantom pains through the rest of you. The wet popping noise brings bile to the back of your throat. You see the troll's hand tighten on Angelina's shoulder from the wound. The bood flows freely down the side of his face as the Dweller skips back, laughing and clapping with glee. Her voice is light as she sings out into the space.

"Too old and too slow. Too old and too slow."

The group waits for the slide from this realm to the next but nothing manifests around you. She stops a distance away from the group, laughing with her hand over her mouth and smiling. "Not your flesh Bone Bag." She wipes the tears from her face from the force of her laughter.

Angelina stood by Shiver, looking on, despite the urge to turn away from the gruesome sight of the troll gouging his own eye out. And then the Dweller laughing. Laughing because Shiver had misinterperted her instructions. She felt the change coming over her. Anger. And for a change, she remebered perfectly just what it was that ticked her off.

"You enjoy seeing people hurt, don't you." Desdemona snapped at the child. "You could have corrected him before he damaged his soul's window...." Part of her wanted to give the girl a good thrashing. But the more sensible part of her told her that this girl was not to be trifled with.

"Desdemona, please."

The large troll pulls back on her shoulder slightly, not with the same protective energy he uses with Angelina but rather the reigning in of a friend who may do something dangerous. Shiver then reaches into the voluminous pockets of his overcoat and pulls out a dark sillk handkerchief to limit the bloodflow.

In an effort to pull his mind away from the pain screaming through his skull, he watches the blood drip down off the ring, curious to see how it reacts with the odd positive void that they are trapped in.

"Locket, perhaps I was too slow and my years show plainly upon my face even as yours are hidden behind a mask of innocence meant to deceive those who travel here. Whose flesh must be sacrificed to grant us passage? What cost will Aponoia demand as a toll to enter her lands?"

Bakatare reaches out, unable, even in the midst of his own emotional trauma, to let the kind old troll that was providing the calm voice in the midst of the hurricane suffer.

He reaches out for his ally spirit's help, thoughts tinged red with irony as he considers his companions form, and places a hand on the trolls back. He murmurs a few words of Latin to himself, anything to center himself away from the roiling turmoil of his own emotions.

The Dweller smiles at the shifted woman. "Careful. You did not arrive here as the others did. The laws that bind do not cover your presence here." Her face takes an ugly cast as she speaks, the skin around her face ages slightly and distorts. With a show of effort she regains composure. "The doorway lies under her breast." She indicates Desdemona. "Be done with it and leave me to my duties."

"Thank you."

Shiver lowers the handkerchief from his face, wiping the blood that he can away from the closed wound. He blinks, once, twice. A twinge of phantom pain echoes through the muscles that had just been reknit around his eye socket. The magic wouldn't leave a scar, but enough other wounds had that it would be hard to discern them upon his passing.

"We shall leave you to your duties Locket until we next return to this place."

Turning to face Desdemona, a wry look crosses the old man's face. There had been countless times over the last several months where he had asked himself if he had the will to sacrifice the life of his ward and angel to stop the threat of her demonic counterpart. Each time the knowledge of necessity had won in him and that was why Mynce had given him this task. No matter the cost, indiscriminate of the suffering it would cause him in the doing, he would complete his duty. He lowers his voice and steps to the side of his companion whose scales matched his own.

"Sister, I need your flesh if we are to leave this world. It must be done through my hand and your heart. Bringing back your other half would cause the three of us much more pain, so I will ask that you do this yourself."

Raising his voice again, he calls out to the others.

"Please, stand close and lend your guidance, I do not want you to slip away in the cracks between realms."

Bakatare steps close, sparing a glance for the malicious Dweller.

(Found an internet cafe...not much time...but here's something)

Desdemona didn't like the dweller in the least. She liked her even less when she revealed what Shiver had to do in order to pass to the next realm. "When I signed up for this, was looking for enlightenment...not to be the sacrificial lamb...."

"We must all make sacrifices, this chapter simply sees us both sacrificing."

Shiver places one hand on Desdemona's shoulder, tightening his grip with an unshakable force.

"I'm sorry."

He drives the ring into her chest, pushing the ring through her flesh and feeling the phantom pain rip into his own heart as he must make his own ward suffer, not from duty to mynce and the debt he owed her but from the Necessity of this place.

The grunt of pain is felt rather than heard as the two stand together. The Dweller's face seems to soften as the barb is driven in. Her voice comes out a hoarse whisper as she backs away from the group.

"The way is open and she knows you're coming...."

The world once again distorts around you. You find it hard to keep track of the others around you as your brain scrabbles to sort out the sensations of life turning sideways. The air around you grows chill as the warmth of your bodies is drained away. You stagger from the shock as you find yourself elsewhere.

You take a moment to steady yourself and quickly make sure everyone has arrived as well. The air around you is damp and smells earthy. A grey light bleeds out the color from all around you and leaves you feeling clammy. You see little detail hanging in the empty waste that surrounds you.

Memories wash through Shiver, pulling and twisting at his mind even as he is cast into the space between Word and Thought. only the shock of regaining material form and the bone numbing chill that pervades the land is able to clear his thoughts.

"Kyoto..."

The bleak landscape doesn't remind him at all of the lands he grew up on outside the city, this must be Aponoia's realm. His heavy coat isn't enough to keep the cold from creeping into his joints. They were going to start aching from the weather change if the large troll and his companions spent much time in this place.

A gasp of pain and surprise escaped from Desdemona. He had actually done it without her conscent... Her eyes flared with demonic fury in the moments before they were shifted to the next plane.

It was hard to hold on to her fury as her thoughts were twisted with strange new sensations. By the time they reemerged in Aponia's bleak realm, her anger was down to a somewhat more managable level.

"How dare you..." she growled at Shiver.

"Desdemona you have my apologies, the mistress of this realm laid your flesh down as the price for entering this land. I would have much rather given of my own body and taken the suffering onto myself to save you such pain, as evidenced by my earlier mistake. I will not say that such hurt me more than it hurt you, for I cannot know how deeply such a betrayal struck, but know that taking such action against your will held a terrible cost for my own heart."

Shiver stands openly, his body relaxed as much as possible despite his joints beginning to tighten under the cold, damp air.

"And yet you still went on this path to self enlightenment..." Desdemona snapped. She weighed the options of striking out physically, but rejected it. Knowing him, he'd likely just take it. And there was no satisfaction there. Instead, she turned to stalk off, despite the dangers of the strange landscape.

Paladin watches the exchange uncomfortably. He could understand the need for Shiver to do what he did, but still, Desdemona had a point. He glanced at Shiver, then moved to follow Desdemona, not wanting her to run off alone.

"Hey, wait up. Look, I know you are pissed, you have a right to be, but we're all stuck in this together... If you ditch the group, who knows what will happen to all of us."

Desdemona hadn't gotten far before she noticed Paladin was following her. "All in this together? I seem to recall the Dweller saying the rules didn't apply to me. I don't recall what went on before the change, but from what I've seen thus far, I'm not overly keen on this whole 'all for one and one for all' thing."