Gilderwatchers.
As the name suggested, they were gigantic serpents that appeared gilded. All from their eyes on their head to the feathers adorning their body shone with the color. They possessed a presence of mind expanding far beyond their body, and the ability to communicate telepathically with their kin by touch alone. In the past, Argrave and Elenore had used this ability in several circumstances, from sharing their true thoughts to scouting out the cities of Blackgard or Vasquer.
Erlebnis’ knowledge gave Argrave several new insights on top of what he already knew. For one, most of their kind resided deep underground. Given their ability, it made some sense. Argrave likened it to snakes that used sound to aid in detecting prey. For two, the ‘watcher’ part of their name came from their propensity for neutrality, not their presence of mind. Their ancestral matriarch had been a rare exception.
Argrave was sorely tempted to return to Vasquer and inquire deeper about the character of his alleged great-granduncle. But they had timed things with the raid against Kirel Qircassia to avoid undue scrutiny, and they couldn't delay further. Argrave did inform his siblings of the message he’d received, but it turned out that had been a futile thing.
“I heard it too,” admitted Elenore as they leapt through the endless corridors of space in Raccomen’s realm, heading for where Lindon was supposed to be. “I don’t like it. It makes me hesitant to think.”
“He’s our relative! I, for one, am looking forward to it,” Orion said, ever the optimist when it came to family.
Argrave was hesitant to speak, but since they’d passed into Raccomen’s realm, Lindon had gone silent. He risked the god’s ire and said, “I think you’ve learned by now that just because someone’s family doesn’t mean they’re a saint. Let’s be cautiously optimistic.”
“And I’ll be cautiously pessimistic,” Rook, the only one who hadn’t heard Lindon, added. “That’s the job of a guard. Keeping you three alive. If he were an ancient god, surely I’d have heard of him by now.”
Argrave wasn’t so sure, but he didn’t voice that opinion.
#####
When they finally emerged from Raccomen’s realm to another part of the world, Lindon’s voice came back to them.
“There you are. You were beyond me in Raccomen’s realm,” Lindon said. “Oh... that pleases you, does it? Were you speaking ill of me? What was it, I wonder?”
Argrave thought of nonsense about purple elephants, and he felt a glow of amusement that wasn’t his own.
“So guarded. Rest assured, I won’t pry too deeply. For now, I shall merely inform you that I’ve sent a boat to retrieve you. Seek out the port in the nearby city, and tell the green-capped man, ‘amaranthine.’”
Argrave looked at his siblings, and he could tell they’d received much the same instruction. Raccomen’s portal wasn’t too far from a city, and they found the place quickly. Argrave had been preparing to do a great many things to gain entry, especially with Orion hauling a giant golden cube, but instead...
“Welcome back, sir,” the guard at the gate, wearing armor of a foreign style made largely of fur. “Enjoy your stay.”
They were let in without incident. Argrave was tempted to ask more questions, but they continued on into the city to its port. Largely wooden houses and oaken palisades, this place seemed more tribal than Vasquer or the Great Chu. There weren’t very many people at the port, most having gone out to sea in skiffs to fish, but there was a single fisherman remaining wearing a green cap.
There was a moment of silence in the boat ride, and the small black island loomed ever closer. It would be time to disembark soon enough.
“But I’ve given explanation enough; seeing is believing. You’ll be coming upon an entrance to our home soon. I share you and your sister’s caution in trusting kin. I have a vague idea of what you came here to ask of me, but blood relation alone is insufficient to listen, trust, and help. When you come inside, I suspect your other relatives will wish to greet you. They’ve never taken the time to learn your language as I have. Or rather... I never taught it to them as I did others.”
Argrave’s mind danced as he considered what the deity was driving at.
“Greet your family. Enjoy their welcomes, and suffer their rejections. Just as humans, we Gilderwatchers each and all have personalities of our own, and Vasquer’s ascent to the surface to aid mortals was perhaps the most controversial event we’ve endured in recent centuries. I understand that you and your sister both like to gain awareness of a situation before plunging in. You like to know the people, know the terrain. To that end, you two have a task.”
Task? Argrave hesitated, unsure of what he was getting involved in.
“I can try and mend the fractured mind within the box the best of you holds. But would you be so eager to lend a helping hand to a dozen-timed removed relative who comes knocking on your door? I think not. If you cannot understand us, you are not worth my help. To that end, my prerequisite is understanding us.
“You two must figure out what I want in return for my aid. Ask my children, my nephews and nieces, and all the ones that have ‘grand’ prefixing them. If you come to meet me without knowing what I want, I will banish you from this place as I have countless before you. You will remember nothing, not even in that strange thing you call a wiki. And try as you might, you will never remember me again.”
Argrave felt a chill. To forget something forever... he could understand, in part, why people had been afraid enough of the Gilderwatcher’s power. Despite who might overhear, he even wondered if it had been justified to limit the abilities of their kind.
“Enjoy,” Lindon left them as parting.
Elenore looked at Argrave. “He’s giving us a gods-damned riddle?”
Argrave nodded. “It sounds like it,” he said, voice stiff after remaining silent for such a stint.
“All I’ve seen is you people making various weird faces, looking at each other in total silence,” Rook noted. “Very bizarre.”
They said nothing more as the fisherman took them over to the island. His boat bumped against the black rock, and once everyone was out, they saw him row away without a word. It was only when he was a sufficient distance away did he seem to come back to himself.
Argrave looked around the island. Initially he saw nothing, yet eventually a stairway revealed itself to him. ‘Revealed itself’ was the only description he had for it. It was like an illusion had been torn away to show a passage downward. Perhaps it had always been there, but he wasn’t sure.
“Reasonably... we should get out of here,” Argrave told Elenore.
“Maybe,” she conceded, crossing her arms. “Almost certainly... even definitely.”
With that said, Argrave took the first step down the stairs. Apparently, a large family reunion awaited them. Argrave was no stranger to meeting relatives he barely knew. He wasn’t particularly accustomed to the idea of those relatives being giant snakes. And apparently Vasquer, that warm scaly old lady, was the youngest of the bunch.
It proved to be an eventful day, and one only just beginning.