Cadash Thaig and the Lights of Arlathan

[mythalenaste]

WHO: Sina, Velanna, Morrigan, Shale, Katniss, and Pel
WHAT: Finding an ancient elven magic and the history of a dwarven thaig.
WHEN: Forward-dated to the 17th
WHERE: Cadash Thaig
NOTES: Some violence, but only against darkspawn. Well. Darkspawn are a warning too.

The journey to the thaig provides few encounters with darkspawn, which are handily dealt with. That's the best thing to be said about it. Pel has never been in the Deep Roads before. It's actually sort of nice, she thinks. In the Deep Roads, there are usually only two directions from which you can be attacked. There's something reassuring and secure about that. It's also missing sounds of life, aside from life that wants to kill you. Fewer guessing games to be played about what caused that sound. Other than that, it's a bleak, dead place with occasional breathtaking architecture. Modern elves don't really have architecture. It's fascinating to see it, when she can.

They arrive at the thaig and it's...surprisingly green. How in the world a place that has never seen the sun can have this much green, she has no idea. There's no mistaking it for the surface, of course, but it's a comforting color to see.

Comments

[the_effect_she_has]

Katniss watched as Sina and Pel lifted their hands and reached for a light she couldn't even see -- and felt her throat tighten slightly. She ignored that, however, because as entranced as the two of them were, they weren't exactly up for pointing out other kinds of danger.

An arrow in hand, she trailed after the scholars, grey eyes trained to the shadows.

[mythalenaste]

They round a corner. Pel spots the first lantern and takes in a bit of breath.

"Do...both of you see that?"

Only Sina will at first, until the spell is broken.

[eolasemah]

"Yes," Sina breathes, her eyes widening as well. She curls her fingers over the light from her palm, dimming it slightly.

[the_effect_she_has]

"Not ... even a little bit." Katniss stated wryly, shoving the 'even rejected by my ancestors' feeling down. The look of wonder on Sina and Pel's face -- well, it eased the ache.

"What do you see?"

[mythalenaste]

Pel's heart skips a beat as she reaches out toward it. Silently, she dispels the magic hiding the Light.

"Can you see it now, Katniss? We have to be very careful with it. It must be thousands of years old."

[the_effect_she_has]

Katniss tips her head around towards where Pel was pointing - and her mouth dropped open.

"Creators, one and all." She muttered, grey eyes wide. "What ... what is it there for?"

[eolasemah]

Sina gives a start as well, and approaches slowly, walking around the object with her head tipping back and forth like a curious deer. "How is it suspended?" she asks no in particular, "and why?"

[mythalenaste]

Pel uses the haft of her staff to sweep carefully over the lantern, then under. It is clearly suspended only by magic. She pulls a bag out and delicately captures the lantern without ever touching it.

"We'll find out soon enough, after I've run some tests. What I really want to know is why these came here."

[the_effect_she_has]

Katniss waits for a moment, eying the area around them because honestly it couldn't be this easy. A lantern that appeared because of elf blood and magic and they didn't trigger a single trap? Come on.