Going through every page of every tome was an option, Vale though decided he would instead work to narrow his search to tomes in which might be of interest to himself regardless of his memory. There were topics that maybe of universal interest to himself regardless of when, and so Vale worked to organize his efforts to focus upon these particular categories.
The Great Wheel of Palanar Cosmology
The History of the Githyanki & Githzerai
Cycles of Life and Death
Morality of Sentient Beings
Metacognition
Matters of Memory
Each of the topics were fields of study that could require a life time's pursuit of study to fully comprehend and become an actualized scholar of, though Vale was simply searching for notes he may have left for himself in a time forgotten. So he set to creating an inventory for each tome within the Font pertaining to each of his chosen topics.
The work was tedious and time consuming, and after a full day of exhausting efforts, Vale's goal remained a very distant horizon. The task before him required a keen and clear mind capable of absorbing and detecting any hidden or most subtle clues he may have previously left for himself. Vale knew he was in no condition to further continue his efforts.
The growing low hum between his ears and the strain upon his vision was becoming an insurmountable obstacle, and to lean into his work now would only be an invitation for errors as he made mistakes and increased the potential for missing that which was critical to his investigation.
He took to walking the city streets as he had uncounted times before in an effort to clear his mind, to exercise his body. He left the Font of Knowledge, knowing time was on his side. The events that unfolded informed Vale of how little he truly Knew.
Honing the Form
Re: Honing the Form
Current Characters: Ravik Ports
Re: Honing the Form
There were some Monastics who spent nearly their entire lives within the relative safety of libraries pursuing quiet contemplation and academics, Vale Clearwaters was not one of them.
There was a secret Vale only shared once with a few members of the Adventurer's Guild. They had over extended themselves in battle, and a member had been slain. Vale knew what was responsible for this, and it was not a lack of prowess or team work on the part of those that were present. They were well seasoned and capable combatants who had worked together long enough to function as one, there was no mistake made other then answering the call of the void.
It was a siren's song that Vale knew well. He shared with those who had survived what he knew of it's temptations. Vale wanted them to Know the dangers of answering such lurked within their own hearts and minds, no different then his own. Vale spoke to them of the elevated state of being experienced when surrounded by death and danger on all sides, the clarity and euphoria that came with the rush of battle. Vale spoke to them of the glow that was created within, when one's true limits were tested against stakes that at a minimal, were matters of life and death.
Vale spoke to them, of the deadly dangers of allowing one's self or others to become drunk upon this experience. There existed a fine line between dancing with death, and racing towards it. The edge of madness is where excellence awaited those willing to brave it, and oblivion was the only reward for those that went to far.
Vale's thoughts were not upon this lecture and confession he shared with his Guild Mates of days past.
Vale's thoughts were not upon his current troubles nor concerns.
Vale was not deciding which topics of research to add or remove from the mountain of research and investigation awaiting him at the Font of Knowledge.
Vale's thoughts were not upon anything as he moved through the murky waters of the salt marsh in time with the invisible rhythms of existence. All of his senses were opened wide, and he was as much a predator as he was prey. This was not his first time attempt to cross the marsh alone, though it could be his last, and that is why he was there.
That elevated state of being that existed when one was truly challenged, had become Vale's guiding light. When his mind was muddled, when his wits were at their end, and when his patience was running out, it was through subjecting himself to very real and immediate dangers and seeking challenges that pushed the very limits of his being that he realigned himself. The very edge of oblivion was a vantage point upon which all of the Great Wheel revealed it's self, and so it became where Vale choose to plant his feet, time and time again.
This place where the shifting tides kept the waters dark and the soil to soft to stand sure upon. This place where the intentional malevolence of the Yuan-ti, worked in concert with the brutally effective savagery of the Crocodiles to create an opera of death. This is where Vale Clearwaters came to find his calm and correct his internal compass.
The Dangers of the Salt Marshes were many and more, and Vale was one of them.
Like a tightly coiled spring, Vale waited in the murky waters for the patrolling Yuan-ti Abomination. Vale launched himself at the Abomination in a graceful and unerring eruption of violence that left the Abomination dead before it made a splash.
The Dangers of the Salt Marshes are many and more, and Vale Clearwaters was only one of them.
The Yuan-Ti Pure Blood who had sent the Abomination forward was waiting silently and cloaked beneath invisibility. At the sight of Vale Clearwaters, her fingers slithered through the air weaving somatic gestures as the verbal component of her spell escaped her fangs with a hiss.
It was then the nearest Crocodile snapped at Vale with force enough shatter bones, and then another.
Surrounded by uncounted Crocodiles, and with all of his magical warding striped from him, Vale pirouetted along the edge of oblivion and raced for the edge of the marsh. If he could reach the edge of the marsh, and make the high ground, there would only be a hundred feet of grassland between him and the City Walls.
With an explosion of elbow strikes and violent use of his knees, Vale managed to fight his way free of the maws that had done well at salting the marsh with his blood. Without hesitation he used the opportunity to hurl himself up the wet terrain towards the grassy plateau that was the high ground, only to find it littered with half a dozen dead eyed crocs with their eager tails wagging and waving in time with their appetite for flesh.
Every foot of the last one hundred feet was punishing. Vale had to maneuver through and sometimes over the ravenous Crocodiles to reach the wall. He was little more then broken bones, blood, and bruises bound together by sheer drive when he reached the wall.
With all the strength he could summon in his weakening legs, Vale launched himself shoulder first at the wall and willed a dimensional door into existence so that he may land within the city street beyond where he rolled across the cobblestones leaving a wake of marsh mud and blood behind him.
With staggering strides and determination, Vale hailed a driver to deliver him to the Pilinth of All Faiths where he may tend to himself in an effort to put his tattered body back in order.
There was a secret Vale only shared once with a few members of the Adventurer's Guild. They had over extended themselves in battle, and a member had been slain. Vale knew what was responsible for this, and it was not a lack of prowess or team work on the part of those that were present. They were well seasoned and capable combatants who had worked together long enough to function as one, there was no mistake made other then answering the call of the void.
It was a siren's song that Vale knew well. He shared with those who had survived what he knew of it's temptations. Vale wanted them to Know the dangers of answering such lurked within their own hearts and minds, no different then his own. Vale spoke to them of the elevated state of being experienced when surrounded by death and danger on all sides, the clarity and euphoria that came with the rush of battle. Vale spoke to them of the glow that was created within, when one's true limits were tested against stakes that at a minimal, were matters of life and death.
Vale spoke to them, of the deadly dangers of allowing one's self or others to become drunk upon this experience. There existed a fine line between dancing with death, and racing towards it. The edge of madness is where excellence awaited those willing to brave it, and oblivion was the only reward for those that went to far.
Vale's thoughts were not upon this lecture and confession he shared with his Guild Mates of days past.
Vale's thoughts were not upon his current troubles nor concerns.
Vale was not deciding which topics of research to add or remove from the mountain of research and investigation awaiting him at the Font of Knowledge.
Vale's thoughts were not upon anything as he moved through the murky waters of the salt marsh in time with the invisible rhythms of existence. All of his senses were opened wide, and he was as much a predator as he was prey. This was not his first time attempt to cross the marsh alone, though it could be his last, and that is why he was there.
That elevated state of being that existed when one was truly challenged, had become Vale's guiding light. When his mind was muddled, when his wits were at their end, and when his patience was running out, it was through subjecting himself to very real and immediate dangers and seeking challenges that pushed the very limits of his being that he realigned himself. The very edge of oblivion was a vantage point upon which all of the Great Wheel revealed it's self, and so it became where Vale choose to plant his feet, time and time again.
This place where the shifting tides kept the waters dark and the soil to soft to stand sure upon. This place where the intentional malevolence of the Yuan-ti, worked in concert with the brutally effective savagery of the Crocodiles to create an opera of death. This is where Vale Clearwaters came to find his calm and correct his internal compass.
The Dangers of the Salt Marshes were many and more, and Vale was one of them.
Like a tightly coiled spring, Vale waited in the murky waters for the patrolling Yuan-ti Abomination. Vale launched himself at the Abomination in a graceful and unerring eruption of violence that left the Abomination dead before it made a splash.
The Dangers of the Salt Marshes are many and more, and Vale Clearwaters was only one of them.
The Yuan-Ti Pure Blood who had sent the Abomination forward was waiting silently and cloaked beneath invisibility. At the sight of Vale Clearwaters, her fingers slithered through the air weaving somatic gestures as the verbal component of her spell escaped her fangs with a hiss.
It was then the nearest Crocodile snapped at Vale with force enough shatter bones, and then another.
Surrounded by uncounted Crocodiles, and with all of his magical warding striped from him, Vale pirouetted along the edge of oblivion and raced for the edge of the marsh. If he could reach the edge of the marsh, and make the high ground, there would only be a hundred feet of grassland between him and the City Walls.
With an explosion of elbow strikes and violent use of his knees, Vale managed to fight his way free of the maws that had done well at salting the marsh with his blood. Without hesitation he used the opportunity to hurl himself up the wet terrain towards the grassy plateau that was the high ground, only to find it littered with half a dozen dead eyed crocs with their eager tails wagging and waving in time with their appetite for flesh.
Every foot of the last one hundred feet was punishing. Vale had to maneuver through and sometimes over the ravenous Crocodiles to reach the wall. He was little more then broken bones, blood, and bruises bound together by sheer drive when he reached the wall.
With all the strength he could summon in his weakening legs, Vale launched himself shoulder first at the wall and willed a dimensional door into existence so that he may land within the city street beyond where he rolled across the cobblestones leaving a wake of marsh mud and blood behind him.
With staggering strides and determination, Vale hailed a driver to deliver him to the Pilinth of All Faiths where he may tend to himself in an effort to put his tattered body back in order.
Current Characters: Ravik Ports
Re: Honing the Form
The cart ride was less then comfortable, and Vale used the opportunity to take inventory of his wounds. None of what he discovered under his near unblinking clinical gaze and self examination was good. Bones in his left hand were likely broken, as were half the ribs on his right side. The few places where the teeth of the salt marshes found his flesh left large open wounds and in time if not staunched the blood loss would become fatal. The most positive diagnosis he could provide himself was that he was still alive.
With a pained expression, he shuffled and hobbled into the common floor of the Plinth of All Faiths where the homeless and destitute of Waterdeep often congregated to seek shelter from the streets. This place had become his home when he decided to forsake pursuits of material wealth, titles, and land owning. It was here he rested among the masses. It was here he was reminded everyone has their struggles, and that together community may accomplish what the individual may not.
After carefully and gingerly applying a herbal paste to his open wounds to stop the blood loss, he worked to steady his breathing in an effort to moderate the pain he was in. With his eyes closed and his breath steady, Vale came to enter a brief reverie that was violently interrupted.
There was no sound that warned him.
There was no gust of air across face.
There was nothing.
Yet his eyes opened in time to see the Shadow swinging wicked talons. Without hesitation Vale went from resting upon his knees to immediately rolling across the floor to rise swiftly to his feet several yards away.
His eyes flared wide and began to water in reaction to the pain of having rolled about with ribs in the condition they were in.
Through the blur of tears he saw that there was more then one Shadow, and they all followed his movements with the slow swivel of their ethereal heads and studied him with an unblinking gaze of malice. Vale took stock of the situation.
The room was large enough for them to easily surround him, and his previous wounds made him weak and fragile.
With a violent effort Vale pushed through the pain of wounds and moved to flee the room, cross the hallway of the Pilinth and post himself in a doorway where he might limit their numbers. There he spun to face the Shadows and used his mastery of ki to knit some of his broken pieces together.
It was then Vale realized his miscalculation. It was as the Shadows crossed the Hall in pursuit of him that the Waterhavian Guards who had been assigned to guard the Pilinth that day took notice of what was afoot, and drew steel.
The melee that ensued was chaos, and when it was over a man laid dead upon the floor. This time it was the gaze of the living that turned to Vale with malice. They had lost a brother in arms to a fight they were not expecting, and they wanted an explanation.
Vale himself was a mind divided. He was appalled that his choices lead to this, and knew it was not the first time they had.
As the guards asked their questions, Vale's mind raced asking their own.
"What were those?"
"What have I done?"
"Why were they here?"
"How many lives have I sacrificed for survival?"
"What do you have to say?"
"I....I am.....Sorry."
Vale was told to leave the Pilinth, and he did.
He left Knowing he never belonged there.
He left Knowing that he was a danger to those around him.
He left Knowing it was the Eye of Vilquar that allowed him to believe he could live among the humble masses without consequence.
He left Knowing his continued existence and presence were a source of death to others.
He though did not Know how right he was.
With a pained expression, he shuffled and hobbled into the common floor of the Plinth of All Faiths where the homeless and destitute of Waterdeep often congregated to seek shelter from the streets. This place had become his home when he decided to forsake pursuits of material wealth, titles, and land owning. It was here he rested among the masses. It was here he was reminded everyone has their struggles, and that together community may accomplish what the individual may not.
After carefully and gingerly applying a herbal paste to his open wounds to stop the blood loss, he worked to steady his breathing in an effort to moderate the pain he was in. With his eyes closed and his breath steady, Vale came to enter a brief reverie that was violently interrupted.
There was no sound that warned him.
There was no gust of air across face.
There was nothing.
Yet his eyes opened in time to see the Shadow swinging wicked talons. Without hesitation Vale went from resting upon his knees to immediately rolling across the floor to rise swiftly to his feet several yards away.
His eyes flared wide and began to water in reaction to the pain of having rolled about with ribs in the condition they were in.
Through the blur of tears he saw that there was more then one Shadow, and they all followed his movements with the slow swivel of their ethereal heads and studied him with an unblinking gaze of malice. Vale took stock of the situation.
The room was large enough for them to easily surround him, and his previous wounds made him weak and fragile.
With a violent effort Vale pushed through the pain of wounds and moved to flee the room, cross the hallway of the Pilinth and post himself in a doorway where he might limit their numbers. There he spun to face the Shadows and used his mastery of ki to knit some of his broken pieces together.
It was then Vale realized his miscalculation. It was as the Shadows crossed the Hall in pursuit of him that the Waterhavian Guards who had been assigned to guard the Pilinth that day took notice of what was afoot, and drew steel.
The melee that ensued was chaos, and when it was over a man laid dead upon the floor. This time it was the gaze of the living that turned to Vale with malice. They had lost a brother in arms to a fight they were not expecting, and they wanted an explanation.
Vale himself was a mind divided. He was appalled that his choices lead to this, and knew it was not the first time they had.
As the guards asked their questions, Vale's mind raced asking their own.
"What were those?"
"What have I done?"
"Why were they here?"
"How many lives have I sacrificed for survival?"
"What do you have to say?"
"I....I am.....Sorry."
Vale was told to leave the Pilinth, and he did.
He left Knowing he never belonged there.
He left Knowing that he was a danger to those around him.
He left Knowing it was the Eye of Vilquar that allowed him to believe he could live among the humble masses without consequence.
He left Knowing his continued existence and presence were a source of death to others.
He though did not Know how right he was.
Current Characters: Ravik Ports
Re: Honing the Form
The Zartruss Hobgoblins and the Kryptgarden Drow hunted the Westwood Witch, and Vale Clearwaters hunted them in turn. His plan was a simply one, although far from easily accomplished.
He would come to Know Kryptgarden.
He would take the fight to those that threatened those he would protect.
With the aid of Laird Briarbrush, former Majordomo of the Adventurer's Guild, former Knight of Plagues, and once a victim of Zartruss cruelty, Vale worked to come to Know Kryptgarden.
Together the pair planned and executed long range reconnaissance deep into the twisted trees and sunless canopy.
Together they found the chasms that defended the Zartruss strong hold from Assualt, and the hidden tunnels that could be used to access it.
Together they found the single stream that cut a small passage through the otherwise impassable foilage that concealed where the Drow laired.
Together they learned of the hazards hidden Dire Gopher Nests, and the Bullettes that roamed in Search of flesh.
Together they discovered a passage that lead up and into the Mountains of Swords.
Together the pair took the fight to the enemy in an effort to see them crippled and discouraged from daring to make continued advances into the Westwood.
Together the pair gave the Drow the opportunity they needed to see the Witch of the Westwood made their captive.
The Zartruss Hobgoblins dominated the southern portions of Kryptgarden which effectively limited the moblity of the Drow, that is until Vale and Laird's repeated raids withered and depleted their ranks.
The Drow waited, and when Vale Clearwaters and Laird Briarbrush cleared a path through the Zartruss, they sprung into action moving as swiftly as they could through the night and across the battlefield to reach their objective. They had Ravel Puzzlewell's daughter, and it was none other then Vale's efforts that made it possible.
He would come to Know Kryptgarden.
He would take the fight to those that threatened those he would protect.
With the aid of Laird Briarbrush, former Majordomo of the Adventurer's Guild, former Knight of Plagues, and once a victim of Zartruss cruelty, Vale worked to come to Know Kryptgarden.
Together the pair planned and executed long range reconnaissance deep into the twisted trees and sunless canopy.
Together they found the chasms that defended the Zartruss strong hold from Assualt, and the hidden tunnels that could be used to access it.
Together they found the single stream that cut a small passage through the otherwise impassable foilage that concealed where the Drow laired.
Together they learned of the hazards hidden Dire Gopher Nests, and the Bullettes that roamed in Search of flesh.
Together they discovered a passage that lead up and into the Mountains of Swords.
Together the pair took the fight to the enemy in an effort to see them crippled and discouraged from daring to make continued advances into the Westwood.
Together the pair gave the Drow the opportunity they needed to see the Witch of the Westwood made their captive.
The Zartruss Hobgoblins dominated the southern portions of Kryptgarden which effectively limited the moblity of the Drow, that is until Vale and Laird's repeated raids withered and depleted their ranks.
The Drow waited, and when Vale Clearwaters and Laird Briarbrush cleared a path through the Zartruss, they sprung into action moving as swiftly as they could through the night and across the battlefield to reach their objective. They had Ravel Puzzlewell's daughter, and it was none other then Vale's efforts that made it possible.
Current Characters: Ravik Ports
Re: Honing the Form
"Only the laughter. That horrid laughter, breaking the souls of those left to hear it, whether they have fled or survived his handiwork.
Murder. Rape. Burglary. There is nothing he has not done."
High Seeker Clarina Gardner had spoken, and Vale Clearwaters continued to hear her words for days to come.
Vale did not find what he was looking for within the Crypt of the Homeless, but what he learned he would not ignore. The Mischief Colonel was a Monster, and Vale Knew this to be True. His companions had different opinions about this discovery, and none of them made the burden of this Knowledge lighter.
Vale knew he and the Mischief Colonel were one.
His choices were his own.
His actions were his own.
His crimes were his own.
Vale Clearwaters needed only study himself to understand why the Mischief Colonel did as he did. The answers Vale found to the questions he asked, not make him laugh.
The Mischief Colonel had been a Monster, and Vale Knew why.
Murder. Rape. Burglary. There is nothing he has not done."
High Seeker Clarina Gardner had spoken, and Vale Clearwaters continued to hear her words for days to come.
Vale did not find what he was looking for within the Crypt of the Homeless, but what he learned he would not ignore. The Mischief Colonel was a Monster, and Vale Knew this to be True. His companions had different opinions about this discovery, and none of them made the burden of this Knowledge lighter.
Vale knew he and the Mischief Colonel were one.
His choices were his own.
His actions were his own.
His crimes were his own.
Vale Clearwaters needed only study himself to understand why the Mischief Colonel did as he did. The answers Vale found to the questions he asked, not make him laugh.
The Mischief Colonel had been a Monster, and Vale Knew why.
Current Characters: Ravik Ports