Fable - Ask As above, so below

[Clementine]

Oh no, oh no.. Clementine had definitely not meant to end up here! A painful grimace stretched across her face as she traced her hand along the ley line that had just spit her out. That had never happened to her before. She hadn’t seriously injured anything, but she felt sore and bruised - especially her wings felt heavy. Pixie dust highlighted where she had hit the ground, confirming her thoughts that something had impacted her ability of ley line travel somehow.

Well, traveling onward or back though this ley line would not work. She’d have to find the next one, and hope that that one wouldn’t be.. Faulty? Clementine once again let her hand rest upon the ground, reading the ley’s energy. It buzzed, where normally it hummed, and she could feel it pushing back at her, zapping her almost. There was something going on, for sure. Something had interfered with it’s magic, maybe? Clem eyerolled at her surroundings. She wouldn’t expect anything different so nearby the creepy Crossroad Mire. She avoided this place like the plague, knowing damn well what kind of business was being done here. If she wasn’t careful, her wings would be cut off to be used in some potion of sorts!

Though a disturbance in the leys was her responsibility to fix, so she couldn’t just fly away and leave it for what it was. Well, she needed a rest anyways, with her body as painful as it was. Her eyes darted around the swamplands surrounding her, looking for a place to set up camp. A shiver ran along her spine - gahh, it was wet and cold here in comparison to Elbion. With her arms crossed before her chest she started walking towards a fallen tree-trunk, conveniently hollow. She inspected the place, but it seemed empty of critters, and good enough for a resting place. Well, first a nap, then she’d tackle all.. whatever this was.

Beatrix​

 

[Beatrix]

Clementine's disrupted travel was of course not just by random chance, there was a very real reason for the disturbance in the ley line and it had to do with a nearby witch of the bayou...

For a few days now Beatrix had been researching a topic of importance to her and it had to mainly do with the 'veins' of the world and portal stones. The bayou itself had no known portal stones and so she had the intent to see if the construction of one would be possible. The witch was cautious when it came to unexplored fields of magic however, and so most of her time had simply been spent with her nose buried in old tomes and examining other already known stones.

She knew that there was some kind of tangible link between the various portal stones but she wanted to know exactly what that was. There had to be some kind of channel, some kind of path between them all that formed their connection. The stones themselves had runes upon them and being quite the adept of runic magic herself she felt she had a better chance on unravelling the mystery than most.

The last few days the witch had been drawing runes of her own in various points through the bayou, their purpose was simple; to detect strong currents of latent or passive forms of magic. Her theory was that these connection points between the stones must be somewhere deep beneath the earth and so she had started to comb the bayou in search for one of these passing currents. If she could find one and isolate it, then maybe she could make some real progress.

Whether it was one of these 'paths' she had found or not was undecided, it was possible after all that portal stones used an entire system separate from ley lines but she had in fact found just that. The rune at her feet was about a meter across in diameter, etched into the damp soil beneath her, the grooves filled with powdered gems and the blood of a mage.

Her arm extended over the circle, her hand still dripping crimson. Thankfully these runes didn't ask for much of a price for their purpose was simple, but this rune unlike the others seemed to have found something. It thrummed and pulsed with energy as the cold gaze of the witch peered down curiously towards it.

The power of the rune itself seemed to have increased, no doubt draining magic from the ley line, not that she knew it was a ley line. Such things she believed to be the fancy of folktales, stories from elden times where magic was less understood, but if they were real and one could harvest the energy from them? It could prove to be a very potent source for the price, the magic she could wield with that would be catastrophic indeed...

It was this very disruption of the ley line energies however that had caused Clementine's journey to be cut short, and while the witch wasn't yet aware of her presence it would surely be made clear what the cause of the disruption was if the Pixie followed the line just a little further...

---

Clementine

 

[Clementine]

A short nap was all that she had needed. When awaking about an hour later, she felt restored. Pixies may not be the most powerful of fae, but they were fae nonetheless; magical beings not bound by the same laws of mortals. Clem sat upright and stretched out her arms, yawning somewhat undignified, after which she got up and stretched her wings as well. She no longer felt sore; a bit drowsy maybe, but that would be fixed in no time.

Clementine exited her tree-stump-made-camp, looking around to hopefully find out which direction she had to go in. She didn't immediately find a clue or something like a disturbance, so she decided to fly higher up, hoping to get a bird's eye view. She always felt a bit exposed above the treeline, not necessarily because of the humanoids down below, but because of the dangers of the sky. A pixie could make a fine bird snack, if they weren't careful. Clem made sure to keep an eye on the skies as well as she scanned the ground down below. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed something, it stood out to her as shimmering water reflecting the sun. It was a rune etched into the ground, too big to make sense of if you'd be standing next to it, but up here the shape was clear as day. Clem didn't work with runes and wasn't sure what it meant exactly, but she knew of runes, and most importantly who used them the most. Witches were the most obvious answer, though druids, alchemists or even devils were on the list as well.

With this information gathered she flew back to safety, not lingering in the sky for longer than she had to. With a hand resting on the hilt of her rapier, she made her way towards the rune, inspecting it carefully. As mentioned before she didn't quite recognize it's purpose, but the magic she knew; unlike her magic that came from within or from the leys, this magic needed outside interference to work. Not a devil, then, and probably not a druid either. The pixie flew around, looking for anything left behind; footprints, a keepsake, something to continue her investigation. It took her a while before she realized there was blood dripped onto the ground that the rune was carved into. She grimaced, not very fond of touching blood, but it would do. She grabbed a small wooden box from inside her pouch, and with her hands scooped some of the bloodstained mud into it. A gift left behind for the fae, one side of a contract - every bloodstained rune etched into this specific type of mud would belong to the contract and its terms. She'd give something in return, of course, that would be necessary for it to be considered a deal. She looked around, quickly finding a suitable branch. It was about the same size as her, slightly larger, and not too easy for her to carry. She imbued it with her own magic, its source being the ley lines, directly connecting it with the flow interrupted. And so she created a wand responsive to the well being of the leys, which would curse its owner would they harm them. She willed her intentions into it. Blood left for a deal to accept, magic gifted from root and ley. No minor spell will call a price, for the fae-spark in the wand shall suffice. But if you wound the lines, your blood shall answer in kind - cursed, soured, and bound to pay.

Now, to find the witch responsible.. With the blood acquired this would be an easier task. The contract forged a connection between them that those attuned to magic were able to sense. The pixie followed the pull she felt, arriving at her destination not much later. Her plan would usually be to keep out of sight, but chances were low that a witch would not notice her presence. With the wand clutched in her arms, she disregarded the stealth she'd normally use and flew up to the woman. "A gift," she said, after which she put down the wand so the witch could pick it up.

Beatrix (let me know if this is too much, lol)​