The Tyrian Alliance has officially been called for a second summit to discuss what happened to Caithe, Malice, and me in Janthir. Time to see what the rest of the world thinks.
***
Stoic Alder met me outside of the venue - this is going to be his first big introduction to the rest of modern Tyria. He was nervous but expectedly prepared. His people are in danger, and putting them above himself is the way of the Claw.
The room was already tense when we entered. I took my place at the podium, and things kicked off. The Astral Ward confirmed what Malice seemed to know immediately upon the first encounter: Titans had indeed returned to Tyria. Demonic creatures from the Mists. Until now, they were thought to be eliminated from Tyria.
I listened to the room's rising concerns, confusion, worry, and fear. As we broached another moment of tension, Livia appeared at the door to toss a little more fuel on the fire. She called for utilization of the Scepter of Orr - or Legavo - an ancient seer weapon designed to control or manipulate creatures from the Mists. No one had a straight answer about whether or not the thing actually works, but at least a few of the council were willing to risk it to calm this threat as quickly as possible. The room couldn't come to an agreement on what to do, so I called for a vote. Queen Jennah and Ludo were at each other's throats, but even they agreed that neither would concede. Everyone took a moment to dwell on their stance before reconvening.
With everyone decided, the council voted. We will not be using the scepter; most of the room couldn't rationalize the risk. As a result, Countess Anise ordered Malice, Caithe, and me to return to Janthir with Stoic Alder to do more research and determine the scope of the threat. I saw Alder off and will make my own preparations before heading back to Harvest Den.
Let's see if we can even kill a titan.
***
When I arrived back at the village, Poised Arrow was in a panic. Fading Aurora had left Harvest Den on her own, likely in pursuit of the titan and whatever survivors it may have dragged along. She was headed straight to the isles. Alone. I figured the kid was going to throw himself into that fight whether I decided to join him or not, so we're sailing right into the thick of the storm.
***
Poky guided us across the bay and to the first island. Damp and eerie, it was uncomfortably still when we stepped off the skiff and onto land. We made our way west, where we found the corpses of those shard-like creatures, which I'm now piecing together as being connected to the titan. Did Fading Aurora do this? We didn't have long to linger, though, as even more of them ambushed us on the path.
As we pushed westward, Poky saw a clearing ahead in the swamp-and Fading Aurora. We finally caught up.
***
A bit brave for a healer from the Shiverpeaks, Fading Aurora stood face-to-face with the titan. He called himself Greer, and nothing about us was threatening to him.
Aurora told Poky to flee, but the kid refused. We threw ourselves into the fight in a desperate attempt to keep Poky alive. Aurora was unexpectedly grounded, given the circ*mstances. She immediately looked for a solution to overcome Greer's rapidly spreading rot - magically imbued seeds. Aurora ordered us to kill Greer's minions so that we could cleanse the arena of twisted, rotten magic.
When we thought that we'd achieved the upper hand, Greer turned to Poky instead. Before the titan could attack, Aurora stepped between them. And in that moment, her façade finally dropped. After conjuring a spell far exceeding the capabilities of a humble healer from the Shiverpeaks, it became dear: Waiting Sorrow was standing before us. She halted Greer's attack with ease.
With her full powers revealed, overcoming Greer was an easy task. But all eyes immediately snapped to the missing wizard. Poky was distressed; his mentor had lied to him, and another facet of his once-comfortable reality was shaken. He told me that he needed to walk it off, so he's headed to a nearby research camp to do just that.
With Poky out of earshot, I turned to Waiting Sorrow for an explanation. Beyond establishing diplomatic bonds with the lowlanders, finding her was my next priority. Powerful, certainly, but not the intimidating runaway she was painted as - another melodramatic musing from Isgarren, perhaps? Her concern was with Poky first, and then the titans. Caithe and Malice, who remained as stalwart as you'd expect, prodded her with additional questions: Are there more? Are we safe? Waiting Sorrow was hazy, claiming that an uptick in Mistburn - energies radiating from the Mists - were causing unnatural disturbances on the island. She asked if I intended to detain her, but if a titan does indeed roam this island still, she might be the ally we need to shut it down, since she's helped us take out one already. Keeping her identity from the kodan might be a more complicated challenge given their hesitance toward magic, but at least the majority of the Astral Ward wouldn't be able to recognize her. She's kept her identity a secret for this long, after all.
Even while tensions are high, Caithe and Malice handled Waiting Sorrow's reveal with curiosity - leave it to the spymasters to be unphased by secrets. While they mull over the news, I'll see if I can track down Poky and see how he's doing. Kid's been through a lot, and he shouldn't be left alone in a place like this.
