Intermission #10: Etana

Etana stepped through the portal ring with the rest of the refugees and witnessed the small town beyond as rain pounded down on her from above. The Watch’s guards lined the walls of the small border town on the northern edge of The Watch’s territory on the western continent. “Okay, that’s six more portal rings down,” she thought to herself, while still taking in The Watch’s military build up. Then she traveled back to Termily, appearing once more in one of Trina’s refuges.

For a moment, she considered traveling back to one of Termily’s portal rings, to sneak in among the refugees leaving the city, and obtain yet another destination. She sighed in frustration, realizing The Darkness’ words had irked her into acting irrationally. She needed a better plan than traveling around randomly expanding her access to the world.

“Lady Trina?” Solyn said from behind her, interrupting her thoughts.

She turned and waved at the Professed who approached her, apparently ready to satisfy whatever need she had. “Short visit today,” she said simply and walked down the long hall, her bare feet sticking loudly against the wood floors.

She passed a small office on her right and saw Prany folding clean laundry inside. The woman’s hair was hidden beneath a white head covering, wrapped tightly. The woman glanced at her with a smile on her face as her blue eyes seemed to sparkle in the daylight that streamed in from a nearby window. Etana merely glowered at her once more. What she saw in the woman’s name was impossible to reconcile with her existence in the refuge. Prany was little different from the Marf she had witnessed outside the tower, yet Solyn had reassured her that his assistant was trustworthy.

Passing her and moving into the large room beyond, Etana saw Alora tending to the people recovering on cots within. “Alora?” she asked. “Do you have a minute?”

The girl stood up abruptly, but relaxed a moment later. “Lady Trina! Of course!” she said with a smile on her face. “I’m sorry, I thought you were Prany for a moment. I’ve kept her away from Norimor as you requested.”

Etana gave her a smile, “Thank you for that. How is she doing?”

Alora looked down at a covered person sleeping near her. “Solyn has helped her sleep. Ever since the aspects were returned to Trina, no one has died from trauma within a refuge. She says she isn’t experiencing any pain as well. We just need to keep her here until she can heal.”

Nodding, Etana couldn’t help but feel some disappointment at seeing the woman sleeping. “I was hoping to ask her some questions.”

Alora didn’t look up, but her shoulders slumped. “Can we just let her sleep for a while longer?”

Etana chuckled softly. “Of course. I’ll return later.” She turned to leave, but Alora quietly walked the space between them.

“Trina, I might be able to answer some of your questions,” she said with a smile on her face.

Hesitating, Etana finally said, “Alora… you know my situation. Norimor exposed it back in Randar. I have questions about my family and Norimor’s choices. You know I’m not…”

Alora placed a hand on her shoulder. “I don’t care. You’re Trina to me. Ask me, and I’ll let you know if I have the answer.”

Etana leaned slightly to the side under the weight of Alora’s hand, feeling unsure. “Do you know anything about my mother? Did Norimor say anything about her?” she asked. She felt Alora’s hand stiffen at the question, and she retracted it a moment later.

Hearing her heart skip a bit, Etana watched Alora's gaze seemed to look through her. After a moment she began to speak slowly. “I… Yes. I’m sorry, but I used your mother’s memory in Valanire to try to kill Vina. From what Vina remembers of her, I knew Priya was powerfully skilled in runecrafting. I know using her mother’s memory was cruel, but I thought Vina was there to kill me. I had figured at that time my cruelty was justified. I realize now that it wasn’t.”

Taking a steadying breath, Alora cotinued “Your mother’s memory did something with runecrafting that I still don’t entirely understand, but I lost control of her. She bound my divinity up, siphoned it from me, and spoke with Vina for a time before I finally ran out. While that happened, I saw all of Vina’s memories of Priya, Shan, Ann, and you.”

Etana’s heart beat faster as she received the details of the story of Valanire she had already seen from both Vina and Alora’s perspectives. “What did you see?”

“I saw a toddler’s perspective of their family. I doubt Vina herself recalls her memories directly, but they are accessible with the Aspect of Memories.” Alora started. She gestured toward an empty cot and moved to sit down. Etana joined her a moment later.

“Your mother loved you three very much, but she was under a lot of stress. There were fights between her and Shan, but I’m not sure what they were about. Vina just remembers the shouting. She also remembers living in a dark place without much light, surrounded by glowing runes.” Alora smiled at Etana. “One of her happier memories was of you and Ann sleeping on either side of her in your very strange beds.”

Etana couldn’t help but smile at the thought. They had never had a chance to sleep in the same house together. “Why didn’t we do that?” she thought to herself and felt a knot begin to form in her stomach.

Alora paused and looked down at her hands. “Uhm… Your mother was constantly writing runes in a diary as well on the walls and floor. I saw creatures surrounding all of you constantly. Vina wasn’t scared of them though. There was only one thing that scared her about that place.”

Preparing herself for what Alora was about to say, Etana tried to swallow back her emotions. Alora blinked her eyes rapidly, tears already beginning to form. Etana realized she soon wouldn’t be able to stop herself from doing the same.

“A flash of bright light on the ceiling. Cheers of happiness. Your mother was breathing hard with exertion, but smiling. Shan stood by her side with a stone face, his hand resting on a rune covered device. A bright hole in the ground. Vina was sitting, but looking up at them, seeing their faces lit up in the bright light. Then she was pushed, and she slid away, falling into the bright hole. She felt weightless as she fell. Priya screamed, but her mother’s voice was abruptly cut off.”

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Alora paused as she wiped her eyes and Etana did the same. “Her next memory was darkness again with rain falling down on her. She cried for a long time before someone found her.”

Etana held a hand up, stopping Alora. Her heart hurt knowing upon learning how Vina was forced out of their world. She was quiet for several minutes, and Alora seemed willing to give her a moment to process her feelings. Although she had read Priya’s note to Vina on how she was sent to Earth, it was an entirely different experience hearing it from Vina’s perspective. Sniffing back her tears, she asked, “Do… Do you have any idea what these creatures are or.. or where the dark place is?”

Alora shook her head. “No. Vina didn’t see how she got there.”

“What about Norimor’s organization?”

“Yeah, while I was trying to break free from The Watch, I took someone else’s memories. A man named Klarx…” She hesitated when Etana took a sharp intake of breath. Alora frowned as she spoke quickly in her defense, “I didn’t kill him. He left Valanire before…” her voice trailed off.

Etana patted her hand. “I know. It’s okay. He attacked Ann and I later. We put his story to rest.”

Alora sighed in relief. “That’s good to hear. From his memories, I saw he was a friend to your mother just like Norimor is. Together Klarx and Norimor formed an organization at the request of your mother. They were supposed to keep you and Ann safe, revive Priya when you two turned eighteen, and recover Vina when she returned to the world. Klarx wasn’t sure what was supposed to happen then, but he was hopeful it was some determined quest to destroy The Darkness. Unfortunately The Darkness got to him, and he abandoned the organization shortly after founding it. Norimor has been operating alone for a long time.”

Etana took a moment to process Alora's words, letting the weight of decade-old decisions settle in her heart. She thought of Norimor, alone for so long, bearing the weight of a mission that had been derailed, perhaps doubting and questioning herself at every turn. And Shan who had forced Vina through the portal and caused this trauma to begin with. Etana could feel the sting of betrayal, but more than that, a deep empathy for the isolation and desperation Norimor must have felt. "All these years," she murmured, "and she kept going. Despite Klarx's betrayal, despite everything." The organization, which was meant to restore her family, had faltered, leaving behind fragments of what should have been. With a newfound determination, Etana knew what she had to do. The organization—whatever remained of it—was her next target to finding her mother. “Thank you Alora. Are you able to activate a portal ring?” she asked, hopeful.

But the girl shook her head. “No. You’ll need someone who has rune training for that. They’re quite expensive, I am told.”

“I can’t ask someone for help either. I need to maintain my identity as Trina for now.” Etana muttered.

“It would be strange for Trina to not know runecrafting,” Alora agreed.

“Yeah.” Etana sighed. “I’ll have to figure it out on my own. Thanks Alora.” She took a step forward and traveled to various locations in Termily, preparing herself for what she needed. Moving swiftly through a mental list, she found what she was looking for and then traveled once again. She looked around the brightly lit area of the Committee’s backrooms in the dedicated Traveler’s Wing in Randar. Her aspect of senses warned her of the many people filling the compound now. She frowned as a man rounded a corner and jumped upon seeing her. “Lady Trina!” he shouted.

She stared at his name and gathered his life history, struggling to hold on to all she had taken. “Tormlin. Evacuate the traveler’s wing. See to it I am not disturbed.”

The agent for Norimor’s organization nodded aggressively. “Of course, my lady.” He turned to leave, but Etana stopped him with a word.

“Wait. Where did Vasuk go?” She asked. While she had told The Committee leader that he had better be gone when she returned, she almost regretted that choice after meeting Norimor. He might still be useful.

“Uh… he took a portal ring out of the city,” Tormlin said hesitantly.

Etana blinked in confusion as she summoned the travel logs into her mind. She almost groaned at seeing she had manually approved his travel request just as she did all travel requests. She had just done so without truly considering who had made the request. She shut down all travel for him to ensure he didn’t leave from wherever he was. “I’m not really paying attention to these things,” she thought. She quickly checked the portal ring’s address against others and found it was the exact same that Norimor had traveled through when she arrived in Randar. “Thank you Tormlin. You may go.”

She stepped over to the nearest portal ring and set down everything she had gathered. Then she placed a hand against it. The aspect of travel immediately fed her various bits of information about the portal ring.

Portal Ring: 11039 Crafter: Priya Esca Creation Date: 17th day of Terthnal, 15451

“She crafted it... in winter?” Etana mumbled, her voice laced with disbelief. The echo of knowledge revealed the ring was made during the coldest month, a time when most would be huddled by a fire, hiding from The Darkness and ice alike. The sudden depth of understanding was startling. To think her mother, amidst winter's harshest days, had poured her energy into creating such an intricate tool of travel. “She had some real determination…” Etana muttered.

Stepping away from the portal ring, she began to coach herself, “Okay, Vina learned how to do this while stuck in a cave. She didn’t even have a book to teach her. I can do this too,” she told herself. She remembered Vina's account of her own experience, the frustration, the bleeding knuckles, and the unintended discovery of Blood Runes. Etana was determined not to repeat her sister's actions.

Before even trying to touch her divinity, Etana carefully spread a clean cloth on the floor, placing various instruments upon it: a small magnifying lens, a quill, and a piece of parchment. Lastly she placed down a book she had stolen from one of Termily’s libraries.

Item: Book Description: A Primer on Runic Craftsmanship Author: Minova Mtalma

Remembering Vina’s initial approach, Etana first chose to make a methodical record of each rune provided in the book. With careful precision, she sketched the symbols onto her parchment, doing her best to remember the name and sound of each rune. Once that was done, she activated the 'Examine' ability and studied each rune, satisfied to see more than half were lit up in her vision. Over the next few hours, she repeated her efforts, taking only a small break to obtain refreshments.

When one of the portal rings activated in front of her, she ushered the people who came through out of the large room. The agents of The Committee quickly left the Travel wing with apologies for disturbing her focus. Mentally chastising herself for not anticipating the distraction, she quickly reviewed the travel logs in her mind. With a quick thought, she restricted access to the portal ring she intended to study. "No more distractions," she murmured, ensuring she would not be interrupted by anyone coming through that particular portal ring.

Returning to her studies, she finally sighed in relief when every rune she had written down appeared to be correct to her examinations. Then she softly touched a rune. Nothing happened. “That’s okay. It happened to Vina too,” she reassured herself. “Just… don’t give them blood.”

She consulted the book once more, but realized it would not tell her how to activate the runes, only how to craft them. The subsequent chapters only went into further detail on combining the letters to form words, then phrases. She closed the book softly. “Okay. The rest is up to me.”