#bluntstone

[tarnishedinquirer]

Church of Irith

It took me a moment to get my bearings, make sure i was fully back on this plane of reality. i took a few looks off the side of the tower to see what I could see. Most of it wasn't worth writing about. Unusual, to be fair, but I categorized it as "I'll get to it when I get to it."

Now, when I looked out to the northeast... that was something worth looking at.

another tower, north of Caelid, all on its own. Interesting enough, but behind it...was that a waterfall? A waterfall in the ocean? I remembered that a few times I had seen something weird in the central sea, but to see it confirmed like this... I'll have to get a closer look when I visit Caelid again, something I'm not in any hurry to do.

I returned Liurnia of the Lakes and headed towards the nearest landmark: A church called the "Church of Irith."

Hm. That name. It brought to mind another life. A cold valley bathed in moonlight. A corrupt pontiff. A princess in a tower. The sun realm up above.

The connections were vague here, except that this was a land of the moon, at the foot of the land of the sun.

After picking up the sacred tear, I noticed a man sitting on a bench near the statue. He was one of those guys who just radiates sadness. Not just because he's sad, which he certainly is, but because he makes you sad just looking at him. Like this is someone who has never caught a break in his entire life.

He introduced himself as Thops and said that he'd give me information for a small donation of runes. I was expecting him to be underplaying it, but no. He wanted ten runes. Ten?! That'll hardly get you a meal. I think sheep have more runes than that. Just how hard-up is this guy?

He offered to sell me spells too. Nothing too impressive, but I bought one just out of pity. After that, he told me that i needed a glintstone key to get into the academy, and that he...left his inside. Jeez.

I had to leave him alone before I started spiraling into depression. The man just had a cloud over him. I headed somewhere a little more cheery, like the graveyard.

The skeletons here were a bit more dangerous than elsewhere. Some of them were death sorcerers who summoned skulls with their scythes, while others were hulks with axes that must have been executioners in life. The latter took three pots of holy water to fell, so I might need to think of a new strategy.

I found an Academy Scroll resting on one of the graves. I couldn't decipher it so I took it to Sellen. She informed me that this was typically the place where a "bluntstone" stopped learning. Thops had used the same word to describe himself. I wonder if this was his scroll? Perhaps he left the Academy to visit a friend's grave? That sounds right. It makes him sadder.

Well, not a lot to do here, but it was a good start to my journey through my homeland.

Why did they lock down the academy?

[moe-lazyeye]

You came back...

Blinked his eyes heavily, slowly sitting up from where he had fallen asleep in the corner of Haddock’s room, pushing off the fur blanket over top of him. When the fortress had been destroyed, Stonegit had a small bit of the narcotic plants Blunt had given him in his pocket. Of course after that incident he wanted nothing more than to light it up, but he couldn’t, not while Haddock was in such immediate peril. So he had saved it. But the trauma of the battle, and discovering that he succeeded in keeping Haddock alive, but failing to save his legs, was too much for the boy. Not even the arrival of his parents had been enough to totally cause him to relax. 

But now the King was stable, and resting, no threats would come that day, so Stonegit had hit the makeshift pipe hard, and burned through pack of opium the way a fire would eat up a thin pinch of straw. He had been out for a long time because of that, and had to drink a ton of water to re hydrate himself. As he drank from a bucket he paused to think, reflecting back. Something had occurred to him. That blanket...that was some nice fur...and defiantly not his. His parents where here, they had spent that first night just talking, but Stonegit was so revealed he hadn’t bothered to ask them how they even got there. But there was only one way...wasn’t there? And with that thought, Stonegit dropped the bucket and ran from the room. 

***

Blunt was helping in whatever way he could around the dungeon and paused when he heard someone approach. Turning around, he saw Stonegit slowly walking over to him. The boy’s head was turned slightly, a curious smile on his face. He squinted at Blunt. “You...came...back?” he said slowly.

Blunt shrugged, spreading his arms. “What can I say? I prefer to be dramatic when I help out.”

“How did you even manage?” Stonegit said. “And Shovel...?”

“Flew me back to Port Krum he did,” Blunt said. “I had to stop by the wreckage to get the dragon nip. I got back to Krum and explained everything. We used the nip to lure in wild dragons. He roped them to our ships and flew them into the battle.”

“Oh my gods you crazy bastard...” Stonegit said, his smile widening. “But how on earth did you get there so quickly? I saw you sailing away and the battle happened so quickly?”

“I lightened by load,” Blunt said. “I tethered Shovel to the mast and had him fly, and then got rid of everything but the dragon nip and food.”

“What?!” Stonegit said, his hands dropping to his sides. “But! But Blunt your chests of wood beads! Your coin! The chest the cloths! All your stuff-!”

“Gone!” Blunt laughed, shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe himself. “It’s all gone! Tossed overboard the stuff was holding me back...” he stepped over to him. “Besides...there were more important things than all that junk...although I did save a fur for you. To replace the old one.”

“Oh my gods!” Stonegit said, pacing in a circle as he gripped his head, his eyes shining. “Oh my gods you really are a good person! I mean Blunt...” he stopped and looked up at him. “You were...this whole time...” flashes of his actions against Akkey and the men on the battlefield came to his mind, and he shook his head. “And I’m just...” 

“Just? Just!? Just what now!? I’ll tell you who you are!” Blunt said with a huge grin, grabbing his hand and spinning him once. “You’re the guard! You’re THE guard of the King of the Grounded Dungeon! And more than that! You are you! The boy who faced the scariest person in the world and never bothered to shrivel under him despite what how much he tried. You are Stonegit Elmiss! And I l- absolutely think you’re a  pretty awesome guy!” With that Blunt bent down and scooped Stonegit up, spinning him around as he did so.

For the first time in a long time, Stonegit tilted back his head an laughed. His eyes were closed and the pain from all he had experienced in this long journey were evident on his face, but he was still laughing, and truly happy in that moment. The laughed calmed and he sighed. Blunt had stopped now and was just looking up at him, and Stonegit had to reach over to place his hands on his arms so he didn’t slip. He blinked as he looked down at Blunt, going quiet for a second. “Put me down...” he said quietly, not taking his eyes from his.

“Oh! Right!” Blunt said, setting him down and rubbed the back of his head and Stonegit straightened himself out. Blunt cleared his throat. “Well...I guess you got work to do.”

Stonegit brushed back at a bit of his hair. “Um...yeah.” he said. “But uh...If you ever want to chat, I mean, we have a lot to catch up on I guess...um....I’ll be with the King, I can step out every once in a while.”

Blunt nodded. “Cool...and uh...I put Shovel in the stable for ya...”

Stonegit gave him a small closed smile, hugging himself lightly. “Thanks for coming back Blunt.” he said, and then turned, hurrying off to get back to his post.    

[moe-lazyeye]

You did what?!

Stonegit walked along side Blunt, people were still being treated even as the rebellion slowly started making its way back towards their old prison. He watched as battleofthegroundeddungeon hovered over his family and he ducked his head. After all this time, they were going to be right back were they started. “Hey Blunt,” he said.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for breakfast...I know I was in a rush, and a bit rude, but it meant a lot, I was starved.”

Blunt rubbed the back of his head. “Oh...yeah, no problem man, it was nothing.” Blunt side stepped slightly as Shovel accidentally bumped into him in his attempt to get to Stonegit.

Stonegit smiled sadly as he rubbed the dragons nose, and then frowned. He leaned over, examining his back. “His saddle’s not on right...”

Blunt squinted and then snapped his fingers. “Oh yeah, me and Shovel went out on a mission to save everyone in the pit, it went rather well.”

Stonegit slowly turned his head to meet his eyes. “You...did what?”

“Relax,” Blunt said. “Because he was blind he had no trouble going down into the pit and finding everyone.”

“In the pit!? You flew him into the pit! Blunt you maniac do you know how old this dragon is!?” Stonegit half yelled. “He can’t handle something like that, and besides, you kidnapped my dragon!”

“Borrowed,” Blunt corrected confidently. “Borrowed without permission.”

“This isn't funny,” Stonegit said, shaking his head. “He’s old, and blind, and who knows what was in that pit, what if those people you were traveling with weren't so friendly? What if something happened to him?!”

“Gee wiz take a chill pill,” Blunt said. “Shovel and I are best buds...aside from you of course,”

“Geeeeez!” Stonegit said exasperatedly, throwing his hands in the air. 

Blunt huffed once and shoved his hands in his pockets, continuing to tromp along beside him. He licked his lips. “Hey...maybe once we get settled I can...” he cleared his throat, trying to say this without sounded like he was coming on to hard. “Help you relax, you know, get you some water, bandages, loosen your uh, shoulder and stuff, you know,” he said, suddenly becoming rather sheepish sounding as he scuffed his foot once.

Stonegit closed his eyes. “Thanks but...there are bigger fish to fry at the moment don’t you think?”

Blunt bit his lip. “Yeeeeeeah, no, no that’s fair...” he sighed. “That’s fair.”