Editing System Agnostic/Episode Three: Ainok's Quest

{{Worldbuilders}}{{DISPLAYTITLE:Episode Three: Ainok's Quest}}

The story picks up once again with the librarian Celeste, tracking down anything she can find regarding the adventuring party from the era when the planet was still spherical. She comes across a pile of artifacts, including a bucket. Having witnessed its questionable magical properties in the last film, she turns it over to discover yet another reel. 


The camera returns to the adventurers, who pick up some rations for their journey before deciding where to travel first. They pool their knowledge of volcanoes, ultimately determining to pursue the “heart” of a nearby volcano—which may involve a mountain protector known as an oread. Arriving on the surface, they stop by the temple first to see what they’re up against.


Back in the library, Celeste is eating popcorn from the “magic bucket” as she watches the film. When the temple comes into view, she suddenly stops eating. Even with a flat screen and several thousands of years between her and the scene she’s witnessing, she feels the power and importance of the temple before her.


Back into the film, Sae points out this temple that suddenly appeared recently is actually older than her own god. Aranwe sends his hawk Ronin to survey the massive, impenetrable structure, but the hawk quickly runs into an invisible barrier so strong it immediately blunts his talons. Indomitus suggests they try the door, to which Ainok steps back ten feet even as he’s agreeing. Ainok claims he’d already been at the door and “nothing happened” other than the door showing him what he needed to open it, but refuses to get any closer despite Indomitus’ attempt to intimidate him. 


Citizen Doctor begins praying to her deity, dedicating herself to defending her party members (or “pre-believers” as she calls them) and embarking on a personal quest. Her skin hardens, giving her better endurance, but realizes she can no longer lie in exchange.


Sae examines the architecture and comes to the conclusion the temple is taller than most surface structures, and the existence of the domes crowning it seems strange to her. Puud Een attempts to utilize the site as a place of power to draw out the “unfiltered magic, frenzied and free” that’s one of the required ingredients, but quickly discovers a paradox: the magic she’s seeking would likely be found inside the temple, but if she was already inside the temple she wouldn’t need said magic to get past the door. However, she comes to realize that current beliefs dictate every living creature has a spark of magic that’s released upon death; perhaps a place where death is found in abundance would provide the unfiltered magic being sought. She immediately suggests a mass sacrifice at the site of the temple, which is rebuffed by most of the others. Ainok makes the surprisingly sound suggestion of using a graveyard instead. Indomitus offers his magic weapon, but Puud Een admits she’d likely have to disenchant it. Indomitus isn’t happy with that idea, but also says he doesn’t want to kill anyone, because he’s “done enough killing in his day” and would rather avoid it where he can.


Leaving the idea of unfiltered magic alone for the moment, the group decides to make the two day journey towards the volcano. After setting up camp for the night, a few party members stare into the campfire. For a brief moment they’re suddenly watching themselves from a different angle, almost from above, before being thrust back to themselves and the fire. Upon waking the next morning, Indomitus tries to convince Puud Een to exercise with him but winds up accidentally landing on her instead. 


Aranwe sends Ronin to scout the area, and the hawk returns with news of a cave hidden by magma—“possible, but a tight squeeze.” Also, ducks. Ducks from the Plane of Fire that can swim in magma. Who knew? A large plume of ash erupts, and a pair of eyes lurks within as it watches the party approach.


Celeste pauses the film. Two books lie open in front of her: one on Mount Vargola, whose name lived on beyond the passing of the prehistoric adventurers, and a book on unusual sites such as temples and theaters from the era that survived—but can’t find anything on the temple in question. She’s distracted by the cawing of a raven within the library, who stares at her briefly before flying off.


Coming back to the group, they find the cave behind the magma waterfall Ronin discovered. Aranwe shares with the others that the pair of eyes was likely the oread watching them. While the others slip through, Indomitus decides to pull a metal umbrella from the bag of holding to “protect” himself. The magma only slightly sets him on fire as he follows the others into the cave.


The group traverses through the maze of tunnels. Sae asks Rian for guidance, and they’re led to a small chamber with one of the fire ducks Ronin had seen. Puud Een decides to hold a staring contest with it, but it lets her win, holding itself to standard above such things. Aranwe asks it to lead them to the center of the volcano, but it demands bread in exchange. He offers it his rations, which it devours in a blast of flames before agreeing to guide them. 


The duck takes them to a large chamber with a glowing pillar in the center. Behind it, the oread emerges from the dark stone. He demands to know who the group is. Aranwe tries to claim the fire duck is a friend, but the duck denies it and quacks its way out of the chamber. Indomitus informs the oread they seek a boon, to which he inquires the nature of their request. 


Puud Een identifies herself as a divination wizard and warns of the portents she has seen. The oread dismisses her claims, saying the mountain will survive as always. Sae points out the events *after* the destruction would suggest otherwise—that oblivion will overtake everything, and literally nothing is going to survive. The oread counters if the heart of the volcano isn’t properly cared for, it could spell oblivion for the mountain regardless. 


He asks what assurances the group has to prove they won’t end the world themselves. Puud Een shows him the contract they signed laying out the requirements for opening the temple. Indomitus asks him how he keeps the heart safe, to which the oread responds passionately as the chamber begins to shake and the pillar burns even brighter. Indomitus suddenly feels freezing cold for a moment, and realizes the heart may have actually stolen heat from his own body in its passion.


At the end of the oread’s speech, a column of lava erupts from the center of the room. He again asks the group what they can offer him for the heart. Indomitus tells him they can offer passion themselves, strengthening it, but the oread dismisses the claim as mere words and asks if they know the value of a heart. 


Aranwe observes the pillar may offer something useful to them as the oread continues explaining the heart already knows what it needs for happiness long before the head does. He knows the group’s concern is genuine, and acknowledges the mountain’s time may be coming. 


Puud Even begins searching the bag of holding for something that burns for a very long time. Indomitus decides to try stalling for time, but the oread grows weary of speaking and another column of lava shoots upward. He asks the centaur if he believes the group’s quest is correct, to which Indomitus says it is. The oread tells him to prove it—but before he can explain how, Indomitus takes it as an invitation for battle and attacks him, followed closely by Citizen Merhermbler. A column of lava explodes outward, burning the party as the oread acknowledges they’ve chosen violence and responds in kind. Indomitus tries to knock the heart out of the pillar, but his shield is covered in liquid magma. The oread tries to tell him to prove his commitment without weapons, but the fighter hurls his weapon into the creature mid-sentence, stating the group will “take him out” to accomplish their mission. The oread counters he’s not the one they have to prove themselves to.


The battle continues, the oread continuing to defend his territory and trying to break through to Indomitus. Caught in the heat of battle, the fighter and paladin still relentlessly attack their opponent as Puud Een continues frantically searching the bag of holding. Indomitus uses the magic in his weapon to try making the oread trust them, but gets the impression the oread already had some element of trust in the group before the fighting began—it just needed one thing. 


Aranwe leaves the chamber, choosing not to fight a creature of nature and exiting into the tunnel where Ainok waits. Sae, torn by a desire to keep the party alive but against attacking a foe that wished to offer an alternative, heals Indomitus while turning back to follow after Aranwe.


Indomitus and Citizen Merhermbler are eventually victorious, and the oread explodes, melting into a black, viscous puddle. Puud Een manages to pull a rune-inscribed branch from the bag and sets it in front of the pillar, but nothing happens. She drops the branch into the pillar directly and sets the wood ablaze, but there’s still no response. Indomitus thrusts his weapon through the pillar and sets it on fire as well, but again, nothing. Puud Een then conjures an unseen servant and has it charge the pillar, to which it is also set on fire and promptly pops out of existence. Aranwe takes a moment to observe the area around him before rejoining the party, and comes to the realization the mountain and heart witnessed the party attack the oread. 


Puud Even finally places her hand into the pillar, retrieving the bright obsidian heart of the volcano, her arm surprisingly not nearly as burned as it would normally be in such circumstances. The group tries to regain their composure, to varying success, and they leave the mountain as they begin to argue.


Fractures appear in the party’s cohesion as Aranwe and Sae adamantly oppose the aggressive tactics of the centaur general, who insists he did what had to be done. Regardless, Indomitus declares the next time the party runs into trouble, he won’t raise a hand towards violence—even in defense. In the meantime, Citizen Merhermbler takes a moment to commune with her deity, claiming everything she did in the volcano was in their name, and asking if they’re proud of her. After a tense moment of silence, a singular word comes back to her: “No.”


The film comes to an end. Celeste finds some information on Mount Vargola: all sources indicate it’s been dormant since the beginning of recorded history. Closing the book, she reflects on the viewpoints of the different adventurers during the battle. The raven that had found its way into the library flies off, its intended destination—and purpose—unknown.

[[Category:System Agnostic]]
@@ Line 49: / Line 49: @@
+Puud Even begins searching the bag of holding for something that burns for a very long time. Indomitus decides to try stalling for time, but the oread grows weary of speaking and another column of lava shoots upward. He asks the centaur if he believes the group’s quest is correct, to which Indomitus says it is. The oread tells him to prove it—but before he can explain how, Indomitus takes it as an invitation for battle and attacks him, followed closely by Citizen Merhermbler. A column of lava explodes outward, burning the party as the oread acknowledges they’ve chosen violence and responds in kind. Indomitus tries to knock the heart out of the pillar, but his shield is covered in liquid magma. The oread tries to tell him to prove his commitment without weapons, but the fighter hurls his weapon into the creature mid-sentence, stating the group will “take him out” to accomplish their mission. The oread counters he’s not the one they have to prove themselves to.
-Puud Een begins searching the bag of holding for something that burns for a very long time. Indomitus decides to try stalling for time, but the oread grows weary of speaking and another column of lava shoots upward. He asks the centaur if he believes the group’s quest is correct, to which Indomitus says it is. The oread tells him to prove it—but before he can explain how, Indomitus takes it as an invitation for battle and attacks him, followed closely by Citizen Merhermbler. A column of lava explodes outward, burning the party as the oread acknowledges they’ve chosen violence and responds in kind. Indomitus tries to knock the heart out of the pillar, but his shield is covered in liquid magma. The oread tries to tell him to prove his commitment without weapons, but the fighter hurls his weapon into the creature mid-sentence, stating the group will “take him out” to accomplish their mission. The oread counters he’s not the one they have to prove themselves to.
@@ Line 62: / Line 61: @@
+Puud Even finally places her hand into the pillar, retrieving the bright obsidian heart of the volcano, her arm surprisingly not nearly as burned as it would normally be in such circumstances. The group tries to regain their composure, to varying success, and they leave the mountain as they begin to argue.
-Puud Een finally places her hand into the pillar, retrieving the bright obsidian heart of the volcano, her arm surprisingly not nearly as burned as it would normally be in such circumstances. The group tries to regain their composure, to varying success, and they leave the mountain as they begin to argue.