♜ Homebound ♜ [Rhace]

Rhace Tarrin

Homebound

By contrast to the titan himself, Rhace Tarrin was almost the picture perfect visage of impeccable maintenance. While Dagda had allowed the ravages of time to overtake him in his long-suffering quest to find a way home, Rhace refused to allow himself to be anything but his absolute best. Without any worry that burdened down his spirit other than his nigh narcissistic need to be at the absolute top of his game of swordplay, he was content to ensure that he was consistently presentable every single day. It was pure vanity, if truth be told; there was nobody to impress but himself, yet he insisted on being at the pinnacle of everything that he could possibly bring to the table. Perhaps it set himself a poor reputation as a self-centred selfish prick, but this was not a concern that belonged to the scion of the Granven school. This could not be a concern. To weigh oneself down with the opinions of others was asking to sink in the infinite sea of self-doubt and self-flagellation.

Yet, it was precisely the opinions of others that had drawn this entire scenario together this morning. When many people lived in such close confines for extended periods of time, word always spread about anything and everything. Rumours could move like wildfire through the crew decks of the ship, where people would gladly gossip about any topic that came up in order to break across the monotony of their moving existence. This situation was one such thing. Most of the crew, if not all of them, had noticed the Captain’s rapidly declining physical state. Most too knew not what the issue was, and speculation became rife; anything from the fact that the captain might be suicidal to he was about to make a scientific breakthrough that would allow the Endeavor to teleport anywhere across Fiore in an instant was all equally on the table. Nobody knew the full truth, and those who might have known bits and pieces played their cards close to the chest in order to preserve either the sanctity of the Captain’s privacy or to make what information they had seem even more valuable.

The fact that this was the hottest topic of conversation aboard the ship, combined with the fact that Rhace had received a request from the Captain himself to have a quick chat in the arboretum early the following morning, clued Rhace in to the fact that he was quite possibly going to be one of the first to learn the actual truth of the matter. Interestingly enough, he had no idea why he, of all people, was to be chosen; in terms of importance or even actual combat strength compared to some of the more veteran members of the guild, Rhace felt that he was barely a blip on the radar. Cassiti and Cordelia, for instance, were not only the captain’s loyal aces but also incredible warriors in their own right. The swordsman had experienced that, certainly. Perhaps it might have been because Rhace was spending a reasonable amount of time with them for training’s purposes, but there were certainly other options available. Maybe Cass and Cord had recommended this conversation for some reason as yet obscured to Rhace’s understanding. Realistically, he just didn’t know. Therefore, in the spirit of gaining the understanding he needed, and being a good soldier who followed orders, he had acknowledged the request almost immediately and pledged to be there on time.

That morning, the arborium was its usual beautiful self. This was one of the first places he’d seen after the hangar bay itself. Wide, lush, covered in trees and wildlife, this place was absolutely picturesque. Here one could spend hours in deep meditation, surrounded by nature even thirty thousand feet into the air, and become one with the inner mysteries of even a clouded mind with how powerful the calming aura of this part of the ship was. Yet, there he was. Dadga stood as the mighty monster that he was, pensive and brooding over whatever it was that plagued his thoughts.

As Rhace approached the towering man, he could already sense that there was something auspiciously wrong about this situation. Not that the Captain himself was presenting oddly, but there seemed to be a weight that not even the titan himself could shoulder that was crushing his spirit. The rumours that floated around the decks of the ship that he was not sleeping well were in fact true, and it seemed that the swordsman was about to be one of the first to know the terrible truth of that burden. Nonetheless, Rhace drew nearer to Dadga, hands coming to fold behind his back under his cape. He knew that this was not a social call, for certain. Whatever this was seemed rather pressing, if not critically urgent. The way that Dagda’s brow furrowed over his brewed coffee seemed to speak to that.

”Captain,” Rhace said by way of greeting, accentuating it with a stern nod. ”I understand you called for me?”

Rhace came to rest a few paces away, almost stood at attention. Cass and Cord had told him far too many times that he was too rigid for his own good, and sometimes that was absolutely true. Now it was being used as little more than a coping mechanism, just as much for the Captain’s sake as for his; the curiosity plaguing Rhace was being tempered by his strict adherence to protocol, and perhaps Dagda could find solace in that protocol as well. No matter which way this played out, Rhace was incredibly curious as to what this was going to become.

Rhace Tarrin

Homebound

There was a reactive twitch of the corner of his mouth into a smirk - the swordsman could not count the amount of needling that he had received already from certain parties regarding his demeanour. In his life, there originally hadn't really been... time for levity. There was an odd pressure on him to be the best, constantly, unendingly - and that was precisely why he'd left home in order to see if he could, and quote, pull the stick out from between his cheeks. When Dagda had pressed him in just the right way, it forced him to unwind just a touch. The sort of uniformity and precision he had been expected to show for years needed to disappear just a little, and there was a visible shift in Rhace's shoulders as his body relaxed ever so slightly.

"Yeah... sorry. Old habits die hard. Cass and Cord make sure I hear no end of it from them," he said with a grin. The aces were, in fact, generally on his case about most things like that, which was enough to make sure he knew that it was a point of reference to work on. Given how much time he spent with them these days, the fact that they gave him enough crap for it to keep him humble was something that was now becoming a seed planted in the back of his mind for when he wasn't with them.

And then, to the crux of the matter, but in a rather roundabout way. It was very evident that whatever was going on bothered Dagda considerably, but this was no time to either be nosy or to push too hard. Best to keep it simple and honest, as far as Rhace cared. He wasn't a rumour-monger of any sort to begin with, and idle speculation on someone else's life was well outside his wheelhouse. "Truth told, Captain, I've barely any idea why. I mean, I know there are plenty of rumours around the rumour mill at the moment, but I generally prefer to keep my nose out - honestly, all I know is that you've been working yourself to the bone on something."

There was a moment where a quizzical look flashed across his sharp features,

"Whatever it is, it's definitely big, that much I can tell, and I'm all ears for it. I doubt you would have called me if you didn't think my presence necessary."

Now that much was true. This was not blind loyalty, though it may have seemed it at the time. Rhace was here to be a part of the guild, which meant helping fellow guild-mates; this was the reality of the situation he found himself in, and the fact was that he had received help from fellow guild members himself.

Rhace Tarrin

Homebound

Well. That was a bombshell. Nobody had actually told Rhace about that, and truthfully it wasn’t exactly something that he was going to ask about, all things considered. There wasn’t really a niche for asking ‘hey, is this person an alien?’ - it was, apparently, a thing that happened around here a little more commonly than the Ca-Elian man had really expected to be, but that was fine. Everyone here came from somewhere else… some, somewhere other than Earthland. Fine by him.

The demonstration in its entirety was rather mindblowing. Blue hardened skin, a six-legged goat– well that explained not only the goat’s name but its very appropriate nomenclature– and even the fact that he’d found one of his own people here that had given the man before him a glimmer of hope that he could get home one day. The fact he’d held all this back from the people around him spoke to two things: first, his discretion, and secondly, his resilience for being able to handle holding back the pain and suffering that he’d been experiencing for so long without managing to break down about it. This was huge. Even the ship was an alien artifact, or so it seemed, and it was impossible not to empathize with someone who had found the actual heart of someone of his own species. That was an insane thing to find, and its painful method of discovery was something beyond Rhace’s knowledge– were he to know that, it would have broken his heart entirely.

He shook his head. He was so sorry. The pain and suffering would have had to have been incredibly intense for the man, knowing that he was so close to the final answer but every time he reached his hand out to seize it, the answer only drifted away just that little bit more. However, as a member of the guild, there were only a few things they prized as common traits: common goodness was one of those things, and respect for the world around them.

“Captain, with respect?”

There was a pause. A long pause. Rhace had to process this titanic amount of information and manage some form of response, given the fact that there was just so much to take in. However, he knew that there was only one real answer that he could possibly give, under the circumstances.

”You shouldn’t even be thinking about us right now. Honestly, if you have a chance to get yourself home, you should take it with two hands and run with it as hard as you can. This guild can, and will, manage. This is something else entirely.”

Another pause, as he studied Dagda’s reaction to it all; it was clear that all of this was beginning to weigh heavily on the mind of the man, that it was consuming his entire life to be both simultaneously searching for a way for him to return home while running a guild - both required a lot of attention, but only one was a truly morally-just cause. While running a guild was nice, it was Rhace’s immediate view that there had to be a greater priority on getting home. His journeys around the world, to see sights and learn things, as well as his recent sojourn home, had taught him that there was value to be had in feeling like one had somewhere to belong. For Meliora Vitae, that may have seemed like an incredibly hypocritical dichotomy; they belonged to a wandering guild aboard an airship– no, the term was starship, now that he knew that it was in fact designed for an alien to return home– and typically travelled the skies and used shuttles to make their way to where they needed to go. Most of its members lived on the ship, and they seemed to have adjusted to the lifestyle. Goddess, what would it be like to live so far detached from everything you loved? Rhace, by contrast, was from Ca-Elum, however he could– and did-- use a shuttle to get home and see his loved ones every now and then in order to make sure his needs were met, now that the vast majority of his warrior’s journey was complete. He could at least access the people and places that he had connections to. Dagda, by contrast, was trapped here, with no way home, very few reminders of his home– Six excepted– and now he was finally given the chance to get some of his life back. No, this was more important than a guild that could run itself with a clear line of succession, and plenty of further succession planning.

”Look. You made a guild with the needs of its members in mind. Which means we’re going to be taking yours into consideration too. How many of these Keys have you found, where are they, and what are we going to do about it right now?”

There was no option for Dagda to escape this; the swordsman was already resolute in the fact that he would be there to help. He had been summoned for a task, and now he knew in his heart what the path forward was here: he was going to help the Captain get home, no matter what happened.

Rhace Tarrin

Homebound

”That makes sense,” Rhace admitted; it explained the prolonged absence and the distracted nature of the guildmaster’s job, where he had in fact already done most of the leg work to get to where he needed to be. Truthfully, it mostly seemed now that Dagda would merely need to assemble the Keys wherever they were supposed to go, perform whatever task was required of him, and… that was it. He’d be gone home. Goddess. It seemed so incredibly simple when you put it like that, really.

First, however, came the complex task of managing getting to wherever the keys were needed to be transported to, and then the follow-up task of ensuring that the process went smoothly. Because, knowing the way that everything around here worked, nothing would ever go simply and smoothly to plan. That was just wishful thinking. Besides, if Dagda even thought there was a chance this would go smoothly he would not have asked for assistance. Which, as far as Rhace was concerned, was fine; he could certainly hold his own in the defence of another. Emerald eyes followed the Captain’s motion up towards the ship’s conn tower, where the keys awaited their bearers; it was going to be a heavy task to take them to where their inevitable final resting place was. Truthfully, Rhace simply considered it nothing short of a miracle that the keys were even available to the Captain; the fact that he had a way home was a blessing, one that the swordsman wasn’t going to discount. Never look a gift horse in the mouth, right?

Together, they trudged through the Arboretum towards the tower, which gave them a moment of repose to consider the rest of the situation. There was a slightly amused smile at the antics of the hexagoat - Rhace made a mental note to come back and check on Six later, especially if he wasn’t going to be going back with Dagda - that was another question to be filed away for later. Besides, his mind needed to be on the here and now and the task that was before him. There was a lot for him to take in, but really, it could be cut down to a few key questions - one more important than the rest.

”Are you expecting any sort of resistance on this side?” Rhace asked, before he paused and gave that question a little more thought. ”Or, to put it better, what sort of resistance are you expecting?”

That was a far better question, especially considering the fact that Dagda asked for what was effectively an armed escort to the location to take the keys. It filled Rhace simultaneously with a momentous sense of importance and gravitas as to what was about to happen, but also gave him a sharp sense of foreboding. This was huge. This was a capstone event for the Captain, and Rhace was going to support it to the end - he was still coming to terms being in a foreign country, let alone an entire foreign planet. That had to sting, on some level, surely. It was why Rhace wanted to back Dagda’s bid to get home; this world was secondary to where he hailed from.

Time would tell, as would these Keys.

Rhace Tarrin

Homebound

The elevator ride to the command deck was a familiar enough one for Rhace. After all, if Cass or Cord needed him, they'd call - and more than once he had attended the offices here for whatever nefarious purpose Cord had in mind. It was never Cass' fault, all things being equal. She wasn't the one who came up with such nefarious schemes as steal Rhace's clothes while he was in the shower. Thank you, Cordelia.

"Right. So we could be walking into a death trap," Rhace said as little more than a way of thought - before his lips curled into a devilish smile. Goddess, he really had been spending way too much time with Lethe. Was it a little overconfident? Sure, but that was the attitude that he needed to project - the surety that he could handle the problem before him, but not so much so that he was willing to run into excessive danger and put others at risk. "Very well. We'll manage even the toughest foe."

Finally, in the sanctity of the Captain's office, they were able to reveal everything about the mission with a little more discretion. As it stood, it seemed that all of this was going to be a wild ride that was going to take life from zero to a hundred in about ten seconds when they actually put boots on the dirt in Seven. He couldn't help but think that this mission was going to change more than one life. Dagda's certainly. His own? Very likely. Nothing would be the same.

There. In his hand - that had to be the heart, for it was the only item that matched the descriptions given; these smaller stones, the keys, were brilliant. While Rhace's senses were wonderfully keen, they were unfortunately not magical so that their true nature could not be gleaned by him - but he was a smart enough cookie that he could work out precisely what these stones were. Without thinking, Rhace scooped one up with his fingers, letting it play over his flesh with its jagged edges as he gave it a once-over, as well as those that formed the rest of the collection of volcanic stone. They were beautiful and played out with an inner warmth, that was for sure. Carved with the hands of a master to be inlaid with such resplendence as they were, it was clear that these absolutely had to be the key stones that Dadga had sought in his quest.

"Thanks," Rhace said, even if it was a little too late for the acknowledgement to come. He was far too preoccupied with the stone in his hand, barely even casting a glance at the man whose stony gaze was locked upon the thing that captured his attention. The fact that this was the heart of one of his people was not lost on Rhace, but he wished not to draw attention to it - it didn't seem like the proper thing to do. So, no, the blademaster pondered the key in his fingers, and considered the next action that they were going to take. He was ready, after all. There was very little preparation that Rhace actually needed to do these days, now that he'd picked up his new combat tricks at the urging of Lethe. He was ready to depart on any trip, any time, any where, at little more than a thought. It was sort of nice to have a high-tech pocket dimension at one's fingertips that could carry just about anything one needed.

To that end, Rhace began to ponder their journey from the Endeavor with a little more seriousness, knowing that the time of departure was rapidly approaching them now. The stone was finally placed back with its brethren, and his eyes cast to the maps upon the table with a keen and appraising eye. He could see that whatever was on these maps he did not understand, but their true meaning would become clear enough with time.

Instead, his eyes finally cast up at the Captain. "Were there any additional pertinent details we might need? I think we have enough to go off between the two of us."

Rhace Tarrin

Homebound

Rhace almost contained a chuckle at the words that Dagda spoke in regards to the keystones being scattered after their first earthly collection. Of course it was a spell. It was always a spell. A failed attempt at use and the magics imbued in the items were invoked to create a reaction, so that their mystical nature could be revealed to them. Rhace had little patience for magical artifacts and their odd effects; as a trueborn Ca-Elian, their chances of being born magical were some of the lowest in the world. He was fortunate enough to know not one but two Ca-Elian mages himself, which was a shocking thing, one of which was actually a fellow member of the Guild and a longtime family friend. However, the fact that magic was such a minor part of life back home for him meant that he always had some slight disdain in the back of his mind. "Spooky magic at its absolute finest," Rhace commented dryly. "I'll never understand it, really. Why does there always need to be spooky magic on top of the insane quest? Why is there a quest in the first place? Mages are weird."

Okay, yeah, that time he laughed. Mages, man. Rhace was never going to understand them, not being one, and he was okay with that. He was getting used to being surrounded by people who could bend reality to their will when all he had was a sword and some plucky courage. It was a very strange dichotomy, but hey - wizards bled too, at the end of the day.

Once that particular moment of distraction settled down, Rhace turned his attention to the actual task at hand. Focusing on the Captain during his explanation, he processed it as it came. The fact that Seven seemed to be the key made sense; it was a little further out of the way than most, had a very highly magical population - actually one of the highest in the world - and would be a wonderful place to settle down and cross the border between worlds with how utterly focused on the natural world the country was. Yeah, they were definintely very similar to the guild themselves. It just seemed to click.

"That seems reasonable," concluded the swordsman as his emerald eyes darted down to observe the map himself in closer detail. He wasn't so geographically inclined, having yet to be truly focused on the navigation of the world; really, not only had Dagda seen the entire world on his travels, but he also captained an airship that ventured across so much sky that the land below became navigational markers. Knowing these maps intimately had become part of his life's work and it was almost impressive in regards to the level of detail that Dagda could exude when it came to his knowledge of the geography of the regions below.

"We have a starting point then. Let's pick one of these mountain villages, see where it takes us, and hope that whatever awaits us is entirely prepared to receive guests."

Whatever was there was going to find two very strong-willed men who were prepared to do whatever it took to see out the end of this quest, that was for sure.

Rhace Tarrin

Homebound

As soon as they had arrived on the terrestrial lands of Seven, Rhace had considered offering Dagda the convenience and courtesy of storing the keys within the dimensional tapestries of Rhace's utility belt, but had decided against it; the fact was that Dagda deserved to be the bearer of the items that would bring him home and, perhaps, it would serve as a metaphysical reminder of the weight of the journey that he carried. Not that he needed another reminder, to be fair; this wasn't going to be something he forgot any time soon, especially considering the prize that was at stake upon his return to his homeland. The Marmor before him was going to get his wish, however. Of that Rhace was certain. He planned fully on ensuring this mission's completion, and Rhace would see this to the end no matter the cost to him personally. This was the way that it was going to be - his determination would be the death of him one day, likely. The Ca-Elian swordsman didn't mind one iota of that, however - a worthy cause merited such attention as this.

But the view of this city, wrought of stone such that master stonemasons would have carved it over innumerable years out of the same pure rock that this entire mountain was something to behold. It was a perfectly-crafted thing, with lines and angles that could not have come from anything but the hands of a true master of the craft. It was breathtaking, truly magnificent - almost otherworldly. Perhaps that was the point.

"I've never seen anything like it," Rhace had to admit. This was unique and, frankly, something to be marvelled at. Actually, so much so that he pulled out his iLac from the white boxes of his utility belt that was now strapped around his waist and snapped a photo - the girls would probably would want to see the adventure that they embarked upon.

However, the iLac was swapped for two items - first, a vambrace for Rhace's left wrist, which was strapped on quickly and magnetically sealed into place so that were his brand-new energy shield to be required he would have it ready and prepared for any enemy that crossed their path, and then of course the legendary blade with which his family's history was written. The onyx blade of Granveil materialised in the swordsman's hand as if out of thin air, its familiar weight a boon to his ability to fight against his foes. The blade rested against his shoulder, the flat pressing against the fabric of his shoulder cape as he looked out over the distant assembly of buildings. It was reassuring to have his weapons prepared, for not one day passed that Granveil was not in his hands for use.

"Right. Shall we?" he asked, already taking his first steps towards the stone village.

Rhace Tarrin

Homebound

Their journey began in earnest as they reached the streets of this little stone village, which Rhace could appreciate the seriousness of. At this distance it was a good chance to examine the stonework that was employed here, and it was just as fantastic as he had hoped upon their approach. The strain of time notwithstanding, this place had weathered much and survived well, preserved for future generations to see as they came to learn about this place. The buildings were almost a little too uniform, all pointing in the same direction, and what little sun they found dappling over the rooftops making the buildings shimmer was in fact an incredibly interesting touch. It was not in his usual wheelhouse of design; he preferred grand, sweeping architecture and beautiful carvings, but he could get all of that here. This reflective colour was just the cherry on top.

"Yeah, I found whoever made this place is more than a little extra," Rhace yelled, but the dryness in his tone was entirely readily apparent.

As he walked, Rhace found himself carried down towards the north end of one of the streets that they were walking down, when his eyes caught glimpse of a flash - something wasn't quite right here, and he couldn't quite place exactly what it was. The only that that appeared even remotely out of the ordinary was a sundial that Rhace found etched into the stone - and only then, he'd barely noticed that there was a small triangle of stone jutting out of the floor that he'd almost tripped on just before he'd actually located the thing proper. His foot brushed over the layer of dust that had settled over the stone device, but it was clear as day what it was intended for - after all, Ca-Elum had them in many of their ancient ruined settlements to tell time. Society had evolved past using the sun to tell time. There were sixteen symbols carved into the stone that Rhace could not readily identify to begin with, and the triangular stone flag poking out of the floor was barely able to reach the top of his foot.

Yet, as Rhace looked more towards the small thing inscribed into the floor, it didn't make sense. Yes, it was surrounded by a series of sigils that he did not recognise in any way, shape or form, but something about this sundial felt off. For two reasons: one, Rhace couldn't quite tell what direction it was pointing, and two, this sundial was in an area where there was little more than shadows. Why on Earthland would they require a sundial under the shade of a mountain? It beggared belief as to why this thing existed. More to the point, the actual triangle used to shield the sun that most sundials employed was far, far smaller than its usual height; it could barely shade one hour, let alone entire half-days at a time. Was this actually a sundial, or something else?

Then Rhace paused. He realised - why speculate, when there was someone who could potentially identify this item was right here on the journey with him? After all, it might have been in a language that Rhace did not understand but Dagda did, and there might have been some form of cryptic warning as to what was going on.

"Hey, Captain? Found something. You might wanna get some eyes on this."

Rhace could have given a number of reasons as to why this might not be an actual sundial, but the most prevalent at this point was the fact that the sun barely existed on these streets.

Rhace Tarrin

Homebound

"So, someone's been here lately for sure," Rhace concluded, hand coming to his chin as he puzzled out the way to proceed on this particular thing. If someone had been here, then it was possibly their travelling friend who had attempted to search for the portal, and this village was a clue in the right direction. Rhace hoped so. He didn't want to be out here on a wild goose chase for a number of reasons-- one, there was no point wasting their time, and two, he really wanted to get some closure on Dagda's behalf for all of this. This was  a huge undertaking for sure, one that needed sufficient work to be given to it. Nothing but success was on his mind.

As Dagda began to crouch, so did Rhace. Hands-- both titanic and normal-- began to brush away the layer of dust and dirt that covered the diminutive artifice, its nature becoming revealed as both Dagda and Rhace began to peel back the layer that had been placed by the passing of time and the whims of nature. What remained was something completely foreign to the Elumish man, for it was surrounded not only by sixteen symbols made as raised carvings that he could not decipher at all, but then within the main circle of the emblem were even more things that Rhace couldn't understand to begin with for he had never seen them before. Words, possibly, or phrases. Maybe just letters that represented something when additional meaning was imparted to the whole thing. But for Rhace, who lived here, he had seen sundials plenty back home when ancient ruins had them aplenty.

"Look, I'm not sure. I wanted to say sundial, right? But that doesn't make sense when this entire thing is covered over by a rock," Rhace said, gesturing vaguely upwards at the stony canopy that shrouded them in that moment. True to that, this place was in fact a poor choice for the placement of a sundial. No true amount of sun could have reached this thing for it to be used as an instrument for telling time. After all, a sundial was entirely non-functional without the giant ball of nuclear flame above being able to reach it in a reasonable fashion.

Hold on. Wait. Something was starting to add up.

"Hey, uh, Captain? How many keystones did you say there were again?" Rhace asked, realisation suddenly dawning on him. Whatever maormer tongue had inscriptions probably had actual meaning to the leader of the guild, but Rhace harboured no such pause in his logic. As such, he could approach this from a different direction - perhaps it served as instructions, or something entirely unknown to the swordsman himself; however, there was no denying that if the number of keystones and sigils here were linked, then this was one clue on the path that they'd need to be following. It made sense. It was the only thing about all of this that made sense to him - this required foreign language understanding which Rhace absolutely lacked, and possibly some further knowledge on the mores and customs of a people from another planet. Way too much for his smooth little brain.

Rhace Tarrin

Homebound

"I mean... they'd have to have been here to listen to local beliefs and legends, right? What if they were looking at it from the local perspective?"

Rhace knew little bits and pieces. Was he a particularly devout man? Not really, mostly claiming belief in the Goddess when it suited his needs - usually when there was a crisis of faith to be resolved. In this particular instance, however, he wasn't sure if it referred to the heaven where souls went after death, or in fact to the skies and the stars - both were in fact equally likely. However, the more he thought about it, the more it made sense that someone who had lived on Earthland for a considerable period of time would have contemplated local Earthland meaning for particular phrases, and contemplated further that someone who had absorbed local culture would consider that there wasn't just a goddess in the sky - there was the entire firmament of glistening, beautiful stars; the stars that blossomed each night, and the blazing star that crossed the horizon each and every day. Would it then make sense that someone from another world used local parlance in order to reach a far-off place? It seemed to work for Rhace, no matter how distant it seemed. It wouldn't do to keep all of his thoughts on this inside, though, because Dagda might not think the same way he did - the sheer fact that he was a Marmor and had been conditioned to believe the Marmor way might inspire a different train of thought to someone who had lived on Earthland for all their life.

"The heavens might just be a reference to the sky - particularly space, I guess. Wherever all the stars are. This might just be saying 'hey go to space'. I really am not sure."

Exhaling, Rhace looked down at the odd sundial. That smallish triangle was interesting to him, if nothing else - Rhace didn't know which way it was pointing, but maybe it indicated the direction that they needed to go next. He didn't have a compass or anything on him that would tell him what his orientation was and not only was he not smart enough to work out direction by time and sun, the sun was currently not visible to him thanks to the massive rocky outcropping that was in the way. Whatever the case was here, the fact remained that this entire thing was a mystery. A puzzle, of its own sort, and Rhace lacked almost every single piece in order to solve its innermost mysteries. These were things that perhaps only a Marmor could understand.

The case of the sixteen stones matching to the sigils remained at this point, and Rhace decided that giving his energy only to what was in front of him and not to the what if scenarios had to be the final choice he made here. He exhaled, then contemplated. "We could try touching them, sure. Might do something. Might do nothing. Might kill us. Heck, it might just tell us where to go next," mused the swordsman as he looked down at the sixteen markings, before a smirk crossed his lips. "Willing to risk it all for this one, sir?"

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

Rhace Tarrin

Homebound

For the most part, Rhace didn't wish that Dolomia was incredibly far across the universe. After all, that was going to make for an incredibly long trip and, as far as he could tell, one that could not necessarily be made in reverse without a lot of trouble. At the end of the day, that was something that Rhace knew Dagda was probably going to want to do, and there would be plenty of people in the guild that would miss the Marmor for what it was worth. To be unable to see the people in one's life was the problem here to begin with; if the end of that journey just became creating a new subset of that problem, what was the point? Then again, if Dagda was forced to make a choice here, Rhace would make the same choice the Captain was each and every time. There was far more value in his returning home and never seeing Earthland again if it meant being back with everything that his heart yearned for.

Then, once the final keystone was placed, they got a free light show. For their trouble they received a glowing beacon of energy, one that shot out from the sundial-esque device that was beneath their feet. It was certainly a beautiful thing, as the beam of glowing power scintillated with what little sunlight it was receiving above. The golden line was something to be investigated, for sure. Wherever it went, it likely contained the next part of the answer that they needed to chase.

"Strange is certainly a word for it," Rhace commented dryly, trying to contain his lack of surprise. In all fairness, when it came to magic, he was neither experienced nor tolerant; while he didn't hate mages, he knew that they were capable of a great many things. Things that he could never be, things that technology could not always hope to match even though Meliora Vitae itself was home to technology so advanced it was literally out of this world. He benefitted from such technology constantly - the utility belt wrapped tightly around his waist proved that point thoroughly. However, when he knew people whose swings of a sword could decimate buildings, cuts so powerful that the after-trailing heat rivalled that of a small sun, when he had misery and tragedy follow in the wake of incredibly powerful mages. And that was just Lethe. There were plenty more of them out there, as modern times were all too willing to prove over, and over, and over again.

"I think we'd be insane not to follow it at this point," Rhace added, before he leaned down to start collecting the sixteen keystones, presenting them to the Captain as he scooped them off the dusty floor. At this point, they'd probably still need them, which meant that there was plenty more for them to be doing as they approached the future that they forged for themselves. The only answer was the path that the light illuminated, which was precisely where the Tarrin scion began to go - sword in hand, ready to face whatever it was that was thrown at them next on this grand quest to return a man to where he rightly belonged.

Rhace Tarrin

Homebound

At the Captain's command, Rhace's eyes followed to where the light began to creep towards the concealed heavens, dancing its way up towards the canopy. As the light began to reach its inevitable terminus, Rhace looked over to Dagda, who was now staring intently at the light as it traipsed its way skyward. All of a sudden, Rhace had the bag thrust upon him with the weight shocking him-- thank the stars he was in half-decent shape so that it only burdened him so much-- but then all of a sudden something began to change.

It wasn't the rock. It was Dagda himself. First of all, his arm popped off, which was a real shocker in and of itself, but the real shocker was about to come right as Rhace began to stare wide-eyed at the sudden and inevitable change that the man was undergoing. There were blue veins, glowing stuff, all sorts of magical crap-- typical-- but the end result was something that he was absolutely in no way shape or form was prepared to witness.

"Holy sh-" started Rhace, who was now all of a sudden entirely lost for wrds. The form of the titanic monster before him was nothing short of something out of a storybook; not only was Dagda a humongous creature that dwarfed everything that Rhace had ever seen in his entire life, but this had to be seen to be believed. Remember about a minute ago when we discussed people with crazy magic powers that could do things that utterly beggared belief, defying the laws of logic and thought at every step with the insanely otherworldly things that could be achieved with magic?

Yeah, no, this blew everything else out of the damn water.

The scion of the Granven school stared up at the stone titan, utterly dumbfounded by the transformation that had just taken place; yes, of course, Rhace had been warned ahead of time that Dagda was not actually human, but when Rhace pictured stone titan he was thinking maybe fifteen feet tall tops? This was, um, certainly a mite bigger than that. This was a little bit beyond what he'd been anticipating. To be absolutely clear: this was insane beyond all mortal belief. So, emerald eyes stared as Rhace attempted to legitimately comprehend the transformation that had just taken place and finding that his brain was only going to throw back error codes as he absolutely failed to make sense of this change that had just taken place. A good few moments passed as Rhace just watched whatever the heck it was that Dagda was up to, not really taking in exactly what was going on. No, there was a big old rock in front of him. This rock had been an actual human being about a minute ago. This was no longer a human being but was instead a living, breathing, talking rock, that he knew personally. This was in fact a big rock. A very big rock.

A very big rock they called Captain.

"I have so many questions right now," Rhace said, unable to contain himself any more. Nope. Nope. Thank the Goddess that he didn't have to fight this particular rock, because Rhace knew already that he would be totally boned. Nope. To be absolutely clear, he'd seen some things in recent history that made him question his sanity. Certain people in his life had revealed truths to him that he had not expected, and that was not just including the fact that his sister was legitimately planning to not only tear his inheritance away from him but also to ensure that her method for doing so involved possibly his extended torture and possibly death. Having your family turn on you was one thing. Big rocks were another.

So when Dagda was currently engaged with pressing against the top of the stone canopy with one had to actuate its magical conduits, Rhace was legitimately just too busy watching awestruck to actually process what was going on. The light from above was absolutely pretty, though, that was for sure. The stone titan was effectively now suddenly bathed with an angelic glow, a halo set against the rock that he had been plucked from. It seemed, if nothing else, that the stone titan belonged here, almost blending seamlessly into his surrounds with little to no effort, as if he was born to be there. Or, to be more entirely accurate, that the place they were in was carved specifically for his existence. Such things were actually likely true, even if they were therefore true for someone else of his kin; how different could rocks be? Well, to be fair, rocks could be very different. If Meliora Vitae proved nothing else in its time, it championed the cause of nature's beauteous differences, and how vast, wide and varied the myriad creatures and plants of the world could be. Rocks could be different too... like, different colours.

Yeah, Rhace wasn't really all here right now.

Dagda speaking, on the other hand, was like feeling the way a gale wind pushed against the chest; Dagda's stony bass undertones were enough to rumble his ribcage just from the sonic vibrations of speaking, and that was something else to be considered as a mindblowing different. That seemed to be enough to break him away from that fantastic reverie and suddenly the very small swordsman remembered that he was here to do something and not to be distracted by the now actual ooh shiny moment that was consuming his ability to think logically.

"Sundial. Right. Okay. Sundial. Sundial."

Rhace had to scramble to remember exactly where that sundial had been despite the golden line still shimmering away in front of him, because he was a little bit distracted and was currently not operating at maximum efficiency, for obvious reasons. A deep breath to find his centre and remember how to actually be useful to this operation followed, and Rhace found himself shadow stepping his way back to where the sundial had originally been. If time was a concern, then using his most advanced techniques seemed to be the appropriate response to the situation. This was not a normal situation, after all, and only a few seconds passed before the blademaster had returned to where they had originally started this insane escalation of displays of power and ability. Casting his eyes down, Rhace could see the edifice was glowing, where it now shimmered with a brighter golden light much similar to the line that had been cast from it originally. Now, however, there was a single change to it that indicated what they needed to know: the small triangle that had originally clued Rhace in to this being a sundial was having a shadow cast below it. This shadow was a shimmering thing, cascading and shifting much in the same way the buildings around them did as they caught the light. Those buildings, now glowing with that otherworldly pink-purple-blue sheen, now surrounded them and bespoke a beautiful brilliance that words could not really capture.

But they could capture the fact that there was an unmistakeable arrow pointing towards what was probably their next direction. It used the triangle to make part of the arrowhead, which in hindsight was probably the hint that they should have taken to begin with - but whatever was in that particular direction was likely where they needed to travel next.

Suddenly, Rhace remembered the weight of the sixteen keystones on his back, and then exhaled slowly as the weight of the bag enmeshed itself with the weight of reality finally coming back around to ensnare his senses once again. He had to communicate this. So, he looked up to the Marmor and weaved his hands around a little bit, suddenly feeling real stupid. He could still see, you dolt. Rhace cupped his hands around his mouth just in case he was now too small to actually hear properly and shouted like he was holding a megaphone, but that probably wouldn't have made much of a difference at this point.

"Hey, uhhh, Captain? Yeah, we've got an arrow down here. We probably could have worked it out without, uh, all this, but we have the answer now, I guess?"

The answer: north, right through the mountain range and towards something else in the distance. Hopefully, if they had actuated the magical circuitry of this city, towards something that would already be active and waiting for them.