chime_ra_tilt: (Alone and Aloof as always.)
So he had gotten a little carried away. They had reached the outer world, and he was still set in his quest to regain his human form.

Things had been a little tense lately, what with the prophecy and all; zeal and a need to let off some steam gotten the better of him.

So he might have broken (read: exploded his way) into all major temples in the town in his search. That still doesn't warrant getting a spiked mace to the face, Filia.

Ow.

Battered chimera in the bar, getting some ice for his face and some ice for his (very strong) drink.
chime_ra_tilt: (Hide my face)
Damon's Spire held many books containing much knowledge, captivating Zelgadiss for many days of study.

None of them held the information he sought.

It was, perhaps, to be expected, but he had had such hopes of finding a way to return to his human shape, here. If his own world did not have a way to do it, certainly some other world out there would.

He would find a way, eventually. He would not stop until he did. There were, after all, many worlds that led to that strange bar.

* * *

It was a dirty and weary Zelgadiss that wandered back into Vane one evening. He had taken his time on the return journey, stopping for a few days' rest at Althena's Spring, where he had taken some much-needed baths, and for a night in Reza. But Reza and the Nanza Pass were over a week behind him, now, and it showed. And smelled.

He kept his hood up as he made his way through Vane, back the way he remembers coming.
chime_ra_tilt: (masked man)
Upon entering the spire, Zelgadiss found himself immediately approached by a short man who, with a brusque manner that managed to irritate Zelgadiss straight away, demanded the password of him. Zel was, if anything, more brusque in his manner of reciting the demanded password, and was soon allowed entry into the first floor.

It was a kind of puzzle to reach the second floor, a puzzle that seemed rather pointless to Zel as he stepped on the clearly marked floor tiles that would allow him to proceed.

When he found the stairs to the second floor, he was once again faced with the test-giver, who eyed him as though he did not belong there. Zel knew he didn't belong there- this wasn't his world -but that had never stopped him before. The man asked, "What is the source of all magic, whose touch gave us life?"

Remembering Mia's mentions of the goddess of their world, and her healing statues spread across the lands, Zel quickly answered, "Althena," and was gratified as he was bade to continue on.

* * *

The second floor was much like the first, with the same layout and the same tasks to complete. There were many monsters here, however, and they were a nuisance he could have done without. He found, though, that he learned pretty quickly how each monster could be defeated. A disproportionate number of the monsters were only harmed by magic, he discovered as he nearly chipped his blade on the tough hide of one. He was forced to make use of the many starlights he had brought along to restore his energy.

Upon finding the stairs to the third floor, Zelgadiss found the test-giver once again waiting for him. He seemed impatient, so Zel deliberately chose to take his time in approaching. Without preamble, the man proposed the second test, asking shortly, "What is the key to swordsmanship?"

Zel thought about it. The question was not so objective as the first had been. He knew quite a lot about swordsmanship, and knew himself to be a good match for Gourry (when he wasn't using the Sword of Light), who was the best swordsman he knew. He thought back to when he had been learning the art of the blade, focused with determination to master it, though others told him that he would do well to turn to other, more profitable pursuits. He had wanted that power so badly, it had changed him; he had received that power, the mastery of the blade and much more. Now, he knew himself to be on par with the best in the world, and all through the fact that he willed himself to be so. Zel thought of Gourry and the Sword of Light, then, and how its strength fluctuated with the willpower of the person wielding it. If that was not the key, then he did not know what was.

"Strength of will," he said, and almost smiled as the man bade him continue his way upwards.

* * *

The third floor was more difficult, but mostly because the layout was different from the previous two floors. The tasks to be completed on each of the floors weren't difficult, but the monsters that roamed the rooms slowed him down considerably. Once or twice he was faced with a monster that he could only harm by using Astral Vine on his sword, for neither his normal swordwork nor his magic would even faze it.

He reminded himself as he took a breather and used one of the starlights he had bought, to thank Mia for suggesting he stock up before he left. He was thankful to find that there were fewer rooms on the third floor and that he found the stairs to the fourth floor quickly. As he approached, however, he stopped short at the sight of a man... not the test giver... crumpled on the floor before the stairway. His calls, asking to be healed, were suspicious, to say the least. What was he doing in a place like this? Was it a trap? It was only after watching him for a good length of time, from out of sight, that Zelgadiss approached. He asked him to stay still, then cast Recovery upon him. The man was healed and, though he eyed Zelgadiss' strange form and strange magic with a half-wary, half-curious gaze, thanked him, bidding him continue up into the spire.

Zel grew quickly impatient to see the end of the seemingly meaningless tasks that were required of him at every floor. Upon the fourth floor, the test giver demanded that Zelgadiss leave behind something he carried with him, either his sword or his pack containing his food and supplies, whichever had been least useful in coming this far. Zelgadiss reasoned that he would not have been able to make it this far without either, but the man said that he would have to leave one behind, or he would perish.

Zel smelled a bluff. He quite nonchalantly said that both were of equal importance, and that he'd believe the man's threat when either his sword or his pack were prised out of his cold, dead fingers.

He was allowed to pass.

The fifth floor's test was not as easily bluffed. He was told to scupt the image of a great treasure out of a lump of clay.

...Zel preferred working in marble to clay, but he was in no place to argue, really. He just didn't know what to sculpt.

How does one sculpt knowledge? How does one sculpt power? They were abstract, and he doubted than a sculpted representation of an abstract concept would do for this particular test. He eyed the clay as he kneaded it under his hands, making it soft and pliable. He could, perhaps, sculpt himself having returned to human form. That was a treasure he would delight in having... it was the treasure he sought by venturing here. In his mind's eye, Zel could see Amelia's honestly confused look as she asked, "You're still trying to do that? But why?!" He smiled very faintly, thinking about her. She was so naive. She didn't understand what it was like, being stared at wherever you went, being eyed as a monster, as something different and possibly dangerous.

She didn't see how difficult it was, everyone staring. ...Though, she didn't see why it bothered him because it never bothered her. Amelia never really understood how he could work apart from or even against their traveling group, for she saw them all as one team, together. She accepted him, never saw him as a monster, but as-

"A true treasure, indeed. You may proceed." The man's voice broke into Zelgadiss' thoughts. He blinked at the man, then looked down at the clay figure of Amelia before him. He seemed to have caught her in the middle of one of her justice speeches, to judge by her pose.

Even stone can blush, it seems.

* * *

The test giver greeted him once again as Zelgadiss finally stepped into the room at the top of the spire, commending him on his determination. He finally said what Zelgadiss had wished to hear, that he was free to read any and all books kept within this storehouse of knowledge.

Zel wasted no time.
chime_ra_tilt: (Heartless Sorcerer Swordsman)
It's been a long few weeks of travel for Zelgadiss. The terrain is nothing he isn't used to, mountainous and rocky. There is a clear path through the mountain pass, but the abundance of hostile creatures that inhabit the less-populated regions of Lunar is nothing to take lightly. He's found that he cannot expect to travel very far from dealing with one group before another shows up.

They aren't exactly difficult to deal with, but, after a long day of uphill hiking, they do start to wear one down.

And it is strange. The rocks and grass, the few trees and the even fewer streams of fresh water... all are familiar in substance and appearance, but the stars overhead appear in constellations so very foreign to him, he often finds himself struck by a feeling that he is rather surprised to realize is homesickness. A yearning for something familiar. A couple of weeks into his journey, it occurred to him that it would be much better, perhaps, if he were not travelling alone... but no, he dismissed the idea almost right away. A traveling companion would just slow him down, or would drag him off to villages out of his way just to try some new food.

The thought had made him smile, though, if only for a short while.

Zelgadiss didn't sleep much on his trek, often sitting up late into the night, reclining with sword near to hand as he looks up at the bright stars, listening to the sounds of the night creatures moving beyond the reach of his firelight.

Soon the mountains fell into foothills, and the foothills turned into ordinary hills, and the hills into flatland, with patchy grass and the occasional tree. The going was easier, at least.

The creatures that he met, however, were just as annoying.

It was only another week of long days hiking and nights of sleeping lightly until Zel reached the village of thieves, Reza. Lucky he reached it when he did, really, for the last spring of fresh water was passed days before, and Zel was nearly out by the time he walked into the village.

"This is Reza, a refuge for those too guilty to face the law-abiding world."

...he thought it would be impolitic to let the thieves know that the name of their village bothered him.

Without much delay (best not give them too much time to start staring at him), he let them know that he had traveled to Reza in order to join the Thieves' Guild. Since he looked like a capable person, i.e. capable of cutting off the hand that stole from him, Zelgadiss was told relatively succinctly of the ordeal he would be required to complete before he could become a member:

To go to Damon's Spire and retrieve the Thieves' Handbook and the Thieves' Guild crest.

...what a coincidence.

Zel only spent two nights in Reza, resting at the inn, cleaning the dust and dirt of travel from himself and his clothes, eating better food than the travel fare he had brought with him, keeping what money he had out of reach of any thief too stupid to listen to common sense, and restocking some supplies. He did not yet know the properties that allowed that certain kind of nut to be able to heal wounds, or how that bit of starlight gave him back the energy needed to cast spells again, even after he was much wearied from a day of fighting his way through forests. He did not know how they did it, but he knew better than to go without them in this strange land.

He soon set off again in relatively high spirits. He was clean, well-rested, well-fed, and it was more of a walk than a hike. That was always a good thing.

There was little cover in the open land, so he spent many of his nights perched on a tree-branch, out of the reach of whatever might think to attack while he caught some sleep.

The grasslands may be less dusty than the more desert-like northwest, but the hot spring Mia had mentioned was still a welcome sight, indeed, when he finally reached it. On the hot and dusty road, one rarely got the luxury of a hot bath, and Zelgadiss made sure to take full advantage of the opportunity, glad he had thought to bring soap and towel with him.

A week or so more of traveling east brought him to the forest he had been told surrounded Damon's Spire. The creatures inhabiting the forest were much tougher than those that lived out in the grassy plains, and it took Zelgadiss a long time to find the test-giver he had been told to find. The test-giver gave him the password for the Spire, and, barely rested, Zelgadiss continued on his trek. Soon, the forest gave way to the grasslands on the other side, and by that time he could see the Spire rising in the distance.

He resolved to make that night the last he spent in the open country, and, through sheer determination, soon he was stepping inside the Spire he had traveled so long to reach.
chime_ra_tilt: (at night)
The rumors were everywhere.  The monster race's barrier that had stood for a thousand years had fallen!   Travel to the outer world would finally be possible, with whole new countries to explore.

...and that many more chances that Zelgadiss might find a way to regain his human body.

Unafraid of the heights or of the night, he stood on the roof of the tallest building in the seaside city, looking out at the ocean and the strange, distant pillar of light that lit the forest of faintly creaking masts and yardarms in the harbour brighter than any moonlight.  No one knew what that pillar was, what had caused it, or what it foretold.

Zelgadiss had some guesses as to what had caused it, but the only sure thing he knew was that his best chance for finding a way to regain his body, not this... unnatural form of rock and wire... lay in the outer world that was now open to him.

A peace delegation to the countries of the outer world was to set sail tomorrow, and Zel intended to accompany them, even if he were forced to be stow away aboard one of the vessels.

Even if he couldn't sneak on board, he could find his own boat.  He could be patient.

Turning, Zelgadiss went to the stairs down from the roof, intending to return to the inn where he had taken a room for the night.

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Zelgadiss Greywords

April 2010

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