Where The Old Gods Rest

[Kaili Talith]

Hood up, feet down. The girl followed Micah as he stepped outside of the ship and took a look around at all the snow. With the gentle shake of her head she began walking to what she thought was the entrance. The blinding snow and the sea of white wasn’t exactly her thing.

“Just about.” She replied in return to her brother. “Can’t see a thing.”

Kaili followed behind her brother and sisters. The tales of the Moross wasn’t something she was acutely aware of. She had heard them, but in the droves of other stories she had heard they all just kind of seemed to fade somewhat. Maybe at some point she would ask father to retell them, but that would most likely take a while.

“I’m right behind you guys.”

 

[Aela Talith]

She went first, or rather, she passed Micah.

Aela very much doubted that Micah had read the maps that Father had provided them. The fortress in it of itself could pass for a small city. There were hundreds of rooms, huge chambers, and massive amounts of defensive and battlements. They had to make their way through it quickly, and they would have to do it without disturbing anything major.

She frowned slightly, looking back at her three siblings. Briefly she wondered if this was a good idea after all. Whatever they found beneath the fortress itself, she doubted that it would just be the crystals that lay within her lightsaber.

Gently she stroked her fingers over the hilt, trying to find that odd peace that came with holding the saber.

She frowned slightly, then moved forward towards the massive doors that would allow them to enter to the fortress. Oddly, as they approached the massive golden doors, they began to open.

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Aela Talith"]

Slow opening doors via some intangible force? Check.
Really creepy vibes? Check.
Second thoughts about running amuck in a massive fortress Gods used to dwell in? NOPE!

"Well, so much for needing a key," Micah would quip with snark, catching up to Aela as the group strode cautiously through the threshold. It was rather dreadfully quiet. The void enough to hear the slight shuffle of their footsteps.

"So where are these attendants at?" he would ask, his voice resonating as they entered a great hall. It was dark, and he began to squint to make sense of anything. The only shaft of light coming from behind them, illuminating polished black stone floors.

"Seems as if - " the sudden flare of glow lights would illuminate the chamber, revealing rows, upon rows, upon rows of carved stone pillars, the inlay of minerals glinting under the illumination. Everything was immaculate, and the flicker of the lights would only continue down what seemed to be an endless hall well suited for the most epic game of hide and seek.

"--- Well kriff me!"

 

[Kaili Talith]

Kaili hadn’t paid attention. The snow kept on blinding her and only too soon did she realise her mistake as the blind spot covered up the near entirety of the gates. She heard the creaking noises and the idea that the gate opened by itself didn’t really strike her as something that was too far-fetched. After all, the local convenience store had those, most stores did. For all Kaili knew this was very much just that but on a larger scope.

“Still can’t see.” She muttered as annoyance took over. “All this stupid snow and this stupid cold and this stupid door.”

Teenagers rarely grumbled but Kaili did it anyway. The small spot across her line of sight slowly faded as she continued to rub her eyes. Her jaw dropped as she saw the great halls and the great pillars. She imagined it was easy to get lost in here and didn’t rule out that a great amount of people probably had. Some by accident and others by purpose. After all, if someone annoyed Kaili and she was a god there was no way she would have just let things slide.

She would have had them tossed in the dungeon, no doubt. Which just brought up another question, or several. Was there a dungeon? Was there more than one? How big were it, or they?

“Think there are any spooky dungeons or ghosts around here?” Kaili had to ask. “I mean, I am not scared or nothing, just a bit uhh... Careful.”

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Aela Talith"] [member="Maleah Talith"]

"Doubt there are any." Micah informed Kai with a twist of his lips, his attention still on the massive columns and vast entry hall they had walked into. Polished stone glinted under the faint glow of ethereal lights that would illuminate their surroundings.

"Though dad did mention that the 'caretakers' still remain." he would add, starting to move forward. There was no time like the present. While the Fortress certainly bore an amount of interest, their ultimate goal was to reach the caverns below.

"Come on... nothing will get done if we just stand here and gawk." he'd tease, turning to face them as he would walk backward, a devilish and daring grin pasted upon his youthful features. Micah, ever ready to jump with two feet without looking.

 

[Kaili Talith]

“Good, I mean I wasn-... That’s good.” Kaili let out a slight sigh of relief. “Right, well, after you, Mic.”

The trio delved deeper into the fortress and for the first time in a while she felt that slight unease when you just knew something bad was lurking around the corner. Not that there necessarily was something that actually lurked around the corner but a girl had the rights to her emotions and gut feelings.

“How long did you say this had been abandoned?” She had to ask. “I mean, it doesn’t look as if it’d been abandoned for a very long time.”

For all she knew she might not be wrong with that assumption.

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

A tightness grew in her chest.

She knew there was no logic behind that. She knew it was silly. Father had told her that the fortress itself presented no danger to them, that inside of its halls they were more than safe. It was what below that posed the danger, nothing else. Aela knew that, she knew it in her rational mind and she knew that anything else was just an odd trick of the mind. Nonetheless her lips thinned, and the tightness in her chest grew with each passing second.

Her head shook slightly as they moved deeper into the fortress.

She tried to recall some of the stories that her father had told her, the tales of this place.

Aela knew that it had once been meant for an entire world, a place of safety. Thousand, if not millions should have inhabited this fortress at once point, and yet it lay empty. There was something terrifying about that thought.

 

[Micah Talith]

“I don’t think it has ever really been abandoned, Kai” Micah tossed back at his sister, leading the way as the phantom lights would continue to illuminate their path.

“It’s been almost twenty years since Moross fell in the wake of the event,” he’d offer a bit more information, frowning a bit in curiosity as their path would take them past the stone pillars and into an atrium beyond. Light would bloom with a soft glow, almost reminiscent of the morning dawn.

“Huh, curious.” he’d muse silently, moving forward. “Dad said there was a path here somewhere… it was hidden.” Within the atrium there were several statues, each perhaps carved out as a representation of the Gods. It would not be surprising to find one of Neth the Keeper, Aatrox the Deceiver, or Inari the Reviver among them.

Strange, and a bit weird, but true.

“I think he mentioned something about a belly button.”

[member="Aela Talith"] [member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Maleah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

Deeper the Talith children would go into the caverns of Exocron. Their expedition would be a lengthy one, but ultimately, not be in vain. They were lucky that there was no Big Red ice monster have to face off; likely a feat that would put their parent's mind at ease.

Finding the Angraal crystals took a bit more patience, but with the combined skills of all the Talith children, they were able to scour the caverns to attain a small, but valuable catch of the rare crystals for their safekeeping and use. Micah would use one for his second lightsaber with an alchemized hilt.

The rest of the time spent would be to the benefit of each Talith child, the excursion lasting for a month as they settled within the great Fortress built by their father.

Given them but a glimpse of just what was left of the Moross Crusade in its glory.