A Tower for Learning, ii.

[Kala Leukos]

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1st of Ash, Year 123 of Steel
An island on the Crystal Sea

There were three moons; the brightest limned the tower that she knew better than most.

I'm looking for the tower of learning.
I'm looking for the copious prize.

Indric's gate winked out behind them. Three full seasons had passed since she and her little band of Silver Wings had been here. The tower's location was stable in the slipspace now, and between their bond, Kala and her magus were able to direct the passage directly there.

The youngest goddess had sent word through shadowy channels to reach Venetia, but she didn't know if the woman would come. She had sent word through the Ara Saedene to reach Nessena, but she didn't know if the dragon would come. She assumed the Grimlord was aware of her presence here. His runic mark remained on her hand, the key to the Elliador Gate.

Kala hoped Venetia would come. The woman was a mystery she wanted to understand. She hoped Nessena would come. The dragon was a friend, and fluent in draconic, which could be invaluable. While she had spoken to dragons in Solunarium, as well as the Kalzasern princess' bonded dragon, and even Lord Aoren, her study of the draconic language was slow, slower than her growing mastery of necromancy, slower than her budding skill at alchemy.

Not only would draconic be helpful here, but it would be necessary to fully unlock the gifts of knowledge that the Necromancer had bequeathed unto her in Atoria.

Without words, Kaus, Ceran, and Indric took wing, circling the tower in a widening gyre to secure a perimeter. Kala's senses, magical and mundane - and even divine, were open to the possibility of peril. But she and Asallon approached the Elliador Gate, content to study it for a while until the boys returned. If nobody else joined them, then she would hold her hand to the tower and unlock it.

It still called to her after all this time, in a manner she couldn't pinpoint.

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[Paragon]

P A R A G O N

The Elliador Gate remained as mystifying as ever, the complex patterns and underlying structure of the enormous arcane gate was a wonder of the ancient world but...not quite as baffling as before. Words and phrases on the outer most edges of the arcane markings would be recognizeable to Kala now. Her tutelage in Draconic with Aoren and Nessena having been slow but clearly fruitful. While the greater meaning of these marking would still elude her, words with meanings tied to Lock, Contain and even some phrasing regarding the need to bar one's passage would stand out. This was, perhaps, the most obvious portion of the gate's mechanism but the very fact that Kala could point them out was a feat in and of itself.

As time stretched onward however, it would become clear that the broken tower would be just as impassable without Wraedan's intervention as before and the Grimlord was nowhere to be found. Nor, did it seem, that Venetia would be presenting herself. The boys would return after a while to report that the isle was just as quiet as ever, with only them being present as far as they could tell.

The longer Kala would stay, the more a growing sense of...not now...not yet would whisper to her.

Perhaps an echo of the tower's ancient builder.

The tower was waiting for her. It always would be. But it yet waited for her to come to it at the right time.

And that time wasn't now.

R E W A R D S

Name: Kala
XP: +10 XP

Note(s): I do not want to pick up this story so far in the past. So, I am going to say that the Tower did not open for Kala today. Nor will it until the present day, but each time she returns, more insight into Draconic as well as the mechanisms of the Elliador Gate that guards the tower, will present themselves to her.

When you are ready, please reply to the following thread and we will move forward with this plot:

between nowhere and somewhere