The Taveril’domaine Trip: Chapter 1 - At The Door
Upon arriving in the famed Dekn city of Taveril’domaine with Zachriel and his bodyguards, Valek and Branuul, Ka’yel was hit with a wave of nostalgia. The tall city towers, the bustling streets filled with Dekn men and women and children, and the various districts they walked past. It was like she never left home. She had spotted a few changes here and there since she left to stay in the Library, but overall, it was mostly how she remembered it.
After hours of searching and finally settling into their temporary residence, word had reached them that even though it had been around a month or so since the door first appeared outside the city on May 15th, there were already rumors being spread around about the door. Some were saying that the door had actually opened and something on the other side got out. Some said the Arkn had summoned the gods and as a result caused the appearance of the door. True or false, these were just rumors. You had to be up close and personal to see the truth for yourself. But after Marchosias Aversen released his propaganda video to the Dekn population, no one dared to go anywhere near the door.
When Ka’yel heard this, she immediately understood what this was. She had learned enough from her father and from various historical books about using scare tactics. She also gleaned enough about the Master of Beguilement and Debauchery himself to know that this video was just a ruse. A ploy to get people to stay away from the door so he could take control over the door and do Hethe knows what with it. She assumed it involved his “Society” somehow. She knew better of course. They all did. Anyone with logic and common sense could see right through the facade he was putting up and how much of an egotistical son of a bitch he was. Despite the warnings and threats, his shitty propaganda video was not going to stop them from seeing the door.
The day finally arrived and they all walked together out of the city and towards the door. Ka’yel was feeling butterflies in her stomach and looked more nervous in contrast to Zachriel’s confidence as he led the charge. It stemmed less from fear and more excitement at finally being able to see the door. She knew that Zachriel was feeling the same way, he just had more experience in not showing it. Many things were running through her mind; what would it be like? What would they find there? Had Marchosias already gotten his greedy hands on the door? Would she have a chance to touch it? She didn’t know. All she could think about at that moment was keeping herself together despite growing more anxious with every step closer.
The door was near in sight. Its shiny golden surface was dazzling brightly in the sun, decorated with beautiful symbols, runes, and gems that too sparkled with the sunlight. It was breathtaking. As they got closer, however, she could see a group of people gathered around the door. They appeared to be… worshipping it. All of them were wearing various robes, dresses, suits, and outfits of all shapes and sizes... all of them coated in a signature purple and white color scheme. She had assumed correctly, they were members of the Society of the Purple Rose and she immediately knew that this was not going to be good.
Some of these figures leading this worship looked up and saw them approaching, immediately causing one of them to point to some Purple Rose guards and gesturing them in their direction. These guards nodded and began to intercept them. Upon seeing this, Zachriel silently told everyone to stop and wait and see what these guards wanted from them. Slowly, the guards arrived. They were ornate with brilliant purple-colored silk undergarments and shining silver armor, images of purple roses carved into the metal, and more. Their horns on their helmets supremely menacing in appearance and holding weapons at their side. She had to hand it to them, they at least had some style.
The guard in charge stepped forward.
“Turn back strangers.” It was a woman’s voice.“This door is currently in use by the
Society of the Purple Rose as declared by the God-Emperor Elucidis himself. Henceforth, you all are not permitted to approach it beyond this point. Turn around now and return back to the city.”
“When will it be available to be seen alone?” Zachriel inquired.
“Ah, not for a while I’m afraid as our God-Emperor has exclusively booked us here for three months.”
They all stood there with a look of surprise and frustration.
“Three months?!” exclaimed Zachriel.
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“I am not. I apologize if you wished to see the door right this second, but this is the situation. I must now ask you again to leave.”
“Who in Hethe’s name needs to book a door for three months? Ka’yel angrily exclaimed, “It’s in the public domain, why is it being used privately by you?”
“As I have explained, it is our God-Emperor’s will that this happen. The door is a sign of his power and he has now ensured that we stay by it at all times.”
“Bullshit. Marchosias Aversen is just using its sudden appearance to manipulate you into believing he made it appear and scaring everybody away so that your cult can worship it without interruption.”
“How dare you call the Society of the Purple Rose a cult!”
“Then what are you then?” Ka’yel yelled as she pushed past Zachriel to the front. “A peace-loving charity that believes in the power of Elucidis who believes that all will be well if you give in to him? Don’t give me that crap. This “society” is nothing more than a fabrication created in the mind of a twisted monster in the body of a man. You’ve been lied to. Conditioned to follow him and his so-called “beliefs”. He’s using you to get what he wants.”
The guards drew their blades out towards her and she took a step back in shock.
“Blasphemer!” she yelled. “You dare to speak against our great God-Emperor and his chosen few?! He has saved us all from our darknesses. He foretold this event was to come and he would guide us to a better world. You are misguided to ignore him. Who do you think you are coming here to tell us such lies?”
Ka’yel suddenly felt Valek and Branuul on either side of her, both of their arms crossed.
“That’s my secretary you’re talking to, ma’am,” came Zachriel’s low angered voice from behind them, “and I do not appreciate you pointing your weapons at her. If you so much as lay a finger on her, there will be consequences. I will be damned to let you harm her in any way!”
His eyes flashed a deep orange-red at the guards, causing them to take a step back before he took a deep breath and calmly spoke again.
“Excuse me for my sudden outburst. Now, let us put our differences aside and maybe we can negotiate a way to see the door today.”
The guards looked at him, thought for a moment and they soon lowered their swords from Ka’yel’s throat. But they didn’t put them away.
“Very well,” said the head guard, looking back at Ka’yel. “I apologize, Miss. I forgot some people just don’t understand our God-Emperor and his ways and I am a very devout believer in him. I must continue to control my emotions as he would scold me for not saving face.” She turned back to Zachriel. “As for negotiating, I’m afraid I must insist that it is not going to be possible.”
“Listen, ma’am,” said Zachriel, once again taking the front, “we are on a tight schedule at the moment as we are only going to be in Taveril’domaine for a few days and we don’t have any other time to spare to come back another time. Least of all three months. So, we’d greatly appreciate it if we could get a closer look at the door right now.”
“Again, I’m sorry, but we cannot allow that.”
“Why not? We’re only here to see the door up close. We swear we won’t disturb the society’s prayer time and we’ll keep our mouths shut while we examine the door. Won’t we?” Everybody in the group nodded. “I don’t see why that should be so harmful?”
“Uh, w-well…” the guard stuttered. “It’s… it’s b-because your presence has an effect on everyone else. W-we need the space to um… concentrate without sensing others than ourselves.”
“Well, surely if we went to the other side of the door we’d be fine right? You’d still have your space and there’d be a door between us and your lot. Better yet, we can stand at a distance behind that door and you’d still have your space. Everybody wins.”
“Furthermore, I am Zachriel Rofocale, the Dekn Lord of Memories and Devastation. I have more knowledge on things relating to the Old World than most and I must glean some insight and more information about this door so it may be preserved on the shelf of my library, and you are blocking my path to see it.”
Ka’yel noticed that the guard seemed to be sweating and stammering a lot. Something wasn’t right here.
“You can tell it, can’t you?” she telepathically said to Zachriel. “It’s more than just scaring people away. They’re hiding something.”
“Yes, and they’re not doing a good job at hiding it,” he replied.
“I’m working on it. I didn’t expect to have to deal with cultists today.”
The guard cleared her throat.
“L-look, Mr. Rofocale, or whoever you are. I understand your humble desire to see this door, but we have our orders, and I’m afraid we’re going to have to escort you from this area by force.”
Suddenly, Ka’yel was struck by a brilliant idea.
“I’ve got this one,” she telepathically said to Zachriel.
She looked directly at the guards.
“No, you’re not,” she said.
The guards all looked at her once more with a look of disdain on their faces this time.
“You heard me,” she said as she walked up to the front once more. “You are instead going to take us to the door right now or I’ll cause more problems for you.”
The guards laughed upon hearing that.
“You’ll cause more problems if we don’t take you to the door? What, in the name of our God-Emperor Elucidus, makes you think you can order us around?”
“Well, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ka'yel Luueth'dei of House Luueth'dei,” she said as she reached under her shirt, pulled out her Luueth'dei emblem necklace, and held it up for the guard to see.
"If the name Luueth'dei rings any bells, you'll know that I am related to Mastema Luueth'dei, the Dekn Master of Dreams and Nightmares whom you may also find works alongside Alastor Andromalius, the Dekn Master of the Gallows, who I'm sure would find it very interesting to see what it is you all are doing and hiding from the rest of the world. After all, your “Society” still has to abide by certain Dekn laws set in place, right?"
She got right up into the head guard's face.
"So, unless you and your Purple Rose friends want me to ensure you receive a visit from the Master of the Gallows, you will take myself and my posse closer to see this door. Is that clear?"
The guards stood in stunned silence at her half-truth. She hoped it would be enough to get them through. The head guard nodded, closed her eyes, and stood there for a few minutes, then finally opened them to face Ka’yel’s.
“We will… escort you to be at a closer distance to the door. About 2-3 yards, no more.
You will also be given a short time to look upon it. I’d suggest you gather your notes quickly.”
They all nodded and they were quickly escorted to their destination.
The site of the door was more beautiful than anything Ka’yel could’ve imagined. Even from a distance of 2-3 yards, she could somewhat hear the distant whispers of the Hethe. She was making so many notes, she feared she might run out of ink in her pen. But she had to get everything she could see down. It was the only chance she had. Zachriel was intensely analyzing it. Making sure he recorded every single observation into his memory as well as reminiscing a bit. The Old World symbols, she imagined, probably reminded him of home. It was a nice, yet sad thing as well. However, their time there soon came to a halt and they were forcefully removed from the distance and were told to be on their way. They had done it. Though they were not as close enough to touch it, their allowed proximity was enough to satisfy her.
Hours after the incident, Ka’yel, Zachriel, Valek, and Branuul were all sitting together at a table in a restaurant close by to where they were staying. Testrath’s Cuisine it was called. It had a nice atmosphere. Calm, yet loud at the same time with its rich architecture and design. It brought people together. Ka’yel used to come here sometimes to enjoy a nice meal and to simply read and write at a table in a corner. Taking a bite out of her Ata’karai curry had warm memories flooding her mind. Oh Hethe, how she missed this.
“Well, that was quite a trip,” Zachriel said as he took a bite out of his Onsapur curry.
“Tell me about it,” Ka’yel remarked, “those cultists were absolutely up to something back there.”
“Indeed. Nice job threatening them by the way.”
Ka’yel shrugged. “Well, I had to get us to the door somehow because nothing else was working.”
“And you did a great job at it. Didn’t she guys?”
Valek and Branuul, both eating, nodded in agreement before returning to their plates of food. Ka’yel smiled.
Zachriel took a few more bites out of his curry in annoyance.
“Sadly, I had hoped we’d be right up to see it. But, no. Marchosias and his fucking purple flower cult had to get there first.”
Ka’yel sighed. “Yeah. And what really ticks me off the most, is that he’s gotten everyone convinced that the door is dangerous so that he can use it to further his own gain and worship. Furthermore, those people who “worship” him are out of their minds!”
“The bastard has a way with people, that’s for damn sure.”
“And not the good kind of way,” Ka’yel said before returning back to her meal.
“Regardless of him,” Zachriel continued, “whatever that part of the cult is hiding seems very important and detrimental if it were discovered by a member of the public.”
“It must have some relation to the door I would assume.”
“My thoughts exactly. And it’s making me more curious about the door and what could be behind it as a result. Argh, I want to know so badly!”
"Same here. I just wanted to touch it initially, but now there are more questions surrounding it. Hethe above, it's so frustrating not being able to get close enough to touch it."
"Exactly! And very unsatisfying too."
Zachriel then sighed. "But with them in the way, guarding that door like there's no tomorrow from all sides, I guess we'll never know."
Ka'yel sighed and took another bite out of her curry.
"Yeah… As much as the thought of trying to sneak by them sounds cool, it could cause more problems for us if we did and were caught."
She then looked at her notebook filled with her somewhat rushed handwritten notes on the door. Thank goodness it was still legible enough to read.
"At the very least, we have enough information from what we could get to do an analysis on it and write a book about it."
"Very true," Zachriel agreed. "I wish we had more. But this will certainly suffice."
“What could you discern about it?”
Zachriel put his spoon down and thought for a second.
“Obviously, it’s unnatural. Even though we were still at a distance, I could still hear those whispers that were mentioned. It’s just as the rumors say, that’s the tongue of the Hethe coming through. So, I’d have to imagine they had a hand in this door’s appearance. To how much extent that was, I have no idea.”
“You seemed to recognize some of those symbols on the door.”
Zachriel chuckled. “That I did. There were only a few of them that I could discern their meaning, and plenty of them were very unknown to me. But there’s no denying that they were all definitively Old World symbols.”
“Did it remind you of home somewhat?”
Zachriel initially seemed hesitant to answer, but eventually, he nodded and looked down at what remained of his Onsapur curry. Ka’yel immediately felt guilty.
“I-I’m sorry Zachriel. I didn’t mean to-”
He put a hand up to interrupt her.
“It’s fine Kay. I’m just… thinking a bit. Seeing those symbols made me nostalgic. Like I was back home in Elysia again. I felt happiness, joy, things I hadn’t felt in a long time. Yet it also made me feel… sad, and... alone. Being here in this new world, it all still feels... surreal, you know? To know you’re one of the last living remnants of a world long past… that the home you once knew, your friends, and your... family… are all gone now… and you’re still here… carrying their memories… until you’re gone too…”
His voice trailed off somewhat as tears formed around his eyes. He put his face in his hands and silently cried for a moment.
Ka’yel immediately got out of her chair, moved past Branuul, and sat right next to Zachriel. Without hesitation, she pulled him into her arms, then wrapped them around him to comfort him as tears started to form around her eyes as well.
“Oh, Zachriel. I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry.”
Zachriel eventually wrapped his arms around Ka’yel and they sat there like that for another minute or so until Zachriel pulled away from her, sniffed, and then took a deep breath in to calm down.
“I’m okay now, Kay. Thank you,” he said as he wiped his tears away. “I’m not sure what I’d do without your help sometimes.”
Ka’yel smiled and wiped her own tears away.
“Now then, I’m not feeling like eating the rest of my curry at the moment. So, if anyone else is not feeling hungry either I think we’ll all leave a tab for the fine people who provided this delicious cuisine and be on our way. What do you think guys?”
Everybody at the table nodded.
“Very well. Let’s head on back then.”
And as the sun was starting to set, they all paid for their food and left the restaurant full and more cheerful than they were when they entered and made their way back to their residence in Taveril’domaine.