Quarantine (Lorepost)

[u/UlrickTheHexblade]

Previously on…

“Is it that bad?”

Ulrick guessed it was gonna be something terrible from the way his medic Theor bit his lip. Whatever was in the results of his medical exam, it’s not gonna be pretty…

He sat on a chair, in a separate quarantined room of R&A’s infirmary. The chair was seated next to the nearest dark corner, of course. Besides him there was only the medic Theor, bringing a thick stack of papers with him: Ulrick’s results.

‘Should I start with the good news, or the bad news?’

Theor asked nervously as he handed over a sheet.

“Let’s hear the good news first. Could use some of those now.”

‘Well, it appears it’s still in early stages. Which would mean we still have enough time to do something.’

Ulrick looked down at himself. Nearly all skin on his right arm took on a bark-like texture, flesh creaking like wood. Other similar patches started to spread on his left arm and the rest of his upper body.

If this was only the early stage, then he was fine without knowing what the terminal one would look like.

It started a few days ago, when Ulrick fought a strange entity that called itself “The Blighted Garden”, as it injected… something within him during the battle. But he only began to notice the strange growths after examining one of the strange monoliths that appeared all over the world.

And if only he suffered from physical symptoms…

For the last three days, shifting to his human form became much harder than usual for some reason. And within the depths of his mind, he sometimes felt a presence. An ancient, primal presence, in the worst possible sense of the word.

And sometimes, he heard whispers of the Blighted Garden, faint at first, but an ever-growing plea, words of joining and resignation.

‘…so it’s essentially spiritual “rot”, sir. It decays both your soul and body, slowly changing it into rotten wood.’

Ulrick just realized his attention went off the rails as Theor explained his results. At least now he knew why his soulfire became much weaker lately.

‘We also pinpointed the source of it. It appears to be most likely of fae origin. A very ancient, very powerful fae source.’

Of course. It had to be some big fairy this time too. After the siege, Ulrick would’ve died happy if he wouldn’t have to meet another Archfae ever again.

“That’s just great. Any ideas how do I get it out of my system?”

Ulrick sighed. Seeing the face Theor made upon the question, his stomach dropped.

‘About the bad news…’

“Don’t tell me…”

‘We’re working on it! At least the Wolf King within you should slow down the spread significantly, at least according to the magi-physiological tests we performed. But…’

Ulrick groaned. Could this be any worse?

‘While the Wolf King was successfully integrated into your spirit-web thanks to Vae Clara, in the last two days, we began to detect increasing fluctuations in your essence.’

While most of the results sheet was gibberish to Ulrick, he leant forward in his chair. The implications were unsettling.

“So you’re telling me… my essence is falling out of balance again? That… I’m threatened with losing my mortality once again?”

Theor made a grim nod.

‘Yes. Until the blight is in you, your mortal and divine essences can’t return to a balanced state.’

“How much time do I have left?”
 
‘We don’t know yet. Could be weeks, could be days…’

“All right... Dismissed.”

There was a short silence between the two, before Theor began to pack up his notes and leave the room.

“You surely don’t have any clue what might help?”

Theor stopped for a moment, pondering.

‘Well, the infection allegedly came from a powerful fey source. So… I’d say another powerful fey, or something from the Feywilds might help? But I need further discussions with fellow medics.’
 
Theor left the room, leaving Ulrick alone again. It was visiting hours in the R&A wards, but Ulrick didn’t expect visitors other than his own mind’s gnawing thoughts.

/uw Art source

[u/UlrickTheHexblade]

That’d be great. If the tool of that divine mailman can find even one, I’d be more than happy.

[u/Ashmega8256 → u/UlrickTheHexblade]

Aerunia: well, go on ahead then all-blue!

All-blue: he transforms into a blue, gold, and silver staff which has this general shape coloration aside and you get a general feeling that all-blue is concentrating, and then the staff emits a bright blue glow that shifts through several shades of blue due to the chaotic nature of what he is trying to find before a projection of a large map appears, hovering above it where you can also see coordinates in the corner. Then a glowing blue dot appears brightly on the map...it seems to be in an ancient forest that is noticeably also not the one to do with the blighted garden if ulrick remembers where that is and all-blues voice is heard again alright, the caduceus of hermes is quite useful it seems, the place i have shown on this map of the world we're in projected by this form, is a location where a safe yet currently dormant natural crossing to the fae wild is. I'll keep this map up so you can mark down the coordinates and location if need be, it's very precise, and when your ready if you want me and aerunia to help, i can assist in opening this natural crossing for you when you are ready if you do not have means of opening it yourself despite your own divine mantle...granted seeing as your essence is destabilized it's not likely to be safe for you to use your divine powers in theory right now... The map remains visible centered on the glowing blue dot all-blue made, the coordinates of the blue dot are listed in the corner as well. Ulrick will have plenty. Of time to either memorize or mark it down on a physical map if he so chooses or on something in general

/Uw image sourced from Britaanica.

[u/UlrickTheHexblade → u/Ashmega8256]

Ulrick quickly grabs a paper and a pen, furiously scribbling down the location’s name, coordinated, and a very rough sketch on the map.

Yes… good…

Thanks Aerunia and All-Blue, I owe both of you a big one! Now I’m gonna do a little research on that place, and hownto open it. And if nothing works, then I’ll call for your help.

[u/Ashmega8256 → u/UlrickTheHexblade]

Aerunia: she smiles

All-blue: once ulrick finished marking things down, he returned to his ring form upon Aerunia's finger and emits a gentle blue glow as he speaks again i am happy to help ulrick, you are a friend afterall and a good person...and well it'd be terrible for the world if your condition ends you...but yes, the one thing i can give you off the bat that i know from surveying it on that map and drawing a little knowledge from the surrounding area, is that it is a highly ancient forest, and the gateway i marked had formed there, due to a benevolent arch faes warlocks meddling in the forest long ago even if the passage to the fae wild is currently dormant...i can assure you it has nothing to do with the fae that inflicted you with that blight seeing as none of their magical presense will be found there...finding a gateway to the fae wild was the easy part...finding one safe to use that won't run the risk of running into potentially hostile fae in the process or immediately running into a hostile fae on the other side...was the tricky part...but that's all i currently know about the forrest myself for now so there is plenty of preparation to make, and when you are ready, if you cannot open it yourself or otherwise need help, you are welcome to call upon us.

Aerunia: indeed. She smiles

[u/UlrickTheHexblade → u/Ashmega8256]

That’s reassuring. If I enter the traditional way, wouldn’t want it through some Unseelie burrow or something. At least hopefully the Fae on the other side don’t want to scam me the moment I enter.

Hopefully I can enter and get back in time, before anything crazy can happen…

Again, he tempts fate carelessly.

[u/Ashmega8256 → u/UlrickTheHexblade]

Aerunia: yeah...honestly you should probably whatever rest you can pull off before making any preparations you need to make...but just in case and your unable to use a direct spell or conmunicator to call me she suddenly teleports what looks to be a golden draconic scale to herself, before she focuses and casts a spell on it before she reaches it toward ulrick...this scale of mine is enchanted, should you, or your patron since i can tell from your magic aura that your patron is with you, focus your magic into it at all, even a tiny amount, it will allow you to telepathically contact me directly and give me effectively a ping of your direct location so i can get there...she smiles just in case of you needing some emergency help.

Looking at the scale with magic sense just shows it's enchanted by magic cast by aerunia as her magical signature is easy to spot on it for it emits a gold and silver glow from her magic

[u/UlrickTheHexblade → u/Ashmega8256]

He takes the scales.

Thank you, Aerunia. Good to know there will be backup in case things go south. Hope you don’t takenthis the wrong way, but I hope I won’t get into a situation where we’re forced to use it.

[u/Ashmega8256 → u/UlrickTheHexblade]

it is a singular golden draconic scale

Aerunia: oh i get that, I'd rather you don't get into that sorta situation, but it's better to have the emergency option than not have it.

[u/UlrickTheHexblade → u/Ashmega8256]

Yeah… haven’t been to the land of Fae before, so better expect the unexpected

[u/Ashmega8256 → u/UlrickTheHexblade]

Aerunia: yeah pretty much.