Myth of Immortality [Open]

so as it stands the further up the group had traveled the more they naturally fell into an order. From how thing's have progress our mysterious unicorn friend with the peculiar abilities had decided upon himself to take point and move ahead of the group, in which following next are Cardon and Copy standing on either side of Shatter Stroke. With those three standing side by side on this path it would be difficult for anyone to move passed them without having to push someone aside. Behind them is the diamond dog Krix who had shown up shortly before the group had transpired to head up the mountain. Ambr was somewhere in between Krix and Quimia.

Ambr herself was in a pretty chipper mood, but with each step she took it was as if she had a bounce in her step. speaking a loud so most can head her. "My, My it feels like such a sour mood is just floating around. I dun't like sour thing's too much. I mean sometimes I get into the mood for it from time to time, but most times' I prefer sweeter things." what exactly could she be referring about this? Well due to her abilities she had an extreme sensitivity toward's the emotion's of everything around her, so it was extremely difficult to keep something from her. Though this was her own secret ability that no one knew about.

"So what does everyone do?" She looked back at Quimia and smiled at her. "I know this fine Zebra is an alchemist, but what 'bout the rest of ya'll?" she was particularly curious, wanting to strike up some conversation and kinda diminish this dead serious mood that's floating about. It's almost as if the group was expecting for something to be living up in these mountains. "It's be mighty nice to open up some and share with everyone." Still she beamed with joy as she awaited for a response from anyone willing to answer.

Quimia looked around. The mood did indeed seem rather sombre, at best, and it wasn't one she particularly relished. Then again, her role in it could not be denied; perhaps it was being in the presence of people she was unfamiliar with and some she didn't feel inclined to trust that was bringing out the paranoia in her. Being part of the Royal Guard, if only a nominal part, ingrained in her a sense of caution that always seemed to come up in situations where she felt threatened.

Like this one, basically.

"I would not be averse to sharing more of my background, so long as the rest of you are amenable to a long, boring life story." She smiled a little. "But I would not want to deprive others of a chance to share. Would anyone else like to talk about themselves?"

The unicorn at the front of the group spoke up first. "Well then, I guess I'll go first. I'm Auftrag. This is my week off from guard duty in Canterlot. I'd like to wrap this up within the week. I'd tell you all more, but that's classified. Who's next on the list?"

For several steps, Krix remained silent and had a simple notion to keep that way. After all, what he wore told a number of stories. The patches and tears on his cloak spoke of the traps, and rough terrain he'd gone through. The heavy wear of his boots spoke of the miles he'd traveled. His battered shield had scrapes and scratches along from where others had taken offense, or monsters had attacked on his venture. A hole in the chainmail shirt from when something had managed to pierce his armor when he was less experienced, without the knowledge to block, dodge or predict the force of the blow and know he had to. Even his ears spoke of a time when he'd not had the experience and paid for it.

But each trip held something to learn, every venture a teaching, and every scar a lesson. For a brief moment, Krix wondered what he might get from this travel and then, in the thought to trying something new and against his traditionally quiet nature, Krix spoke. "Krix, hunt, treasures, legends, myths, old tales," he said with pauses between the slowly pronounced words.

Carbon noted Auftrag's name, then thought a moment.  He'd already introduced himself, but a bit more background couldn't hurt.  "I'm Carbon-"

"Copy."

"I'm skilled with magical gems."

"And I'm looking for a way to create a stone of eternal life."

"I figured adventuring for myths of immortality was better than starting from scratch."

"Especially after a couple attempts went wrong." Carbon unconsciously touched the crystal on his necklace, Copy mimicking the movement. He quickly realized what he was doing, and put his hoof back down.

"Anyway, I hope to at least find an adventure here."

"Immortality would be nice, though."

The twins kept the back-and-forth monologue without a single hesitation between the two, each seeming to know exactly what the other was thinking. They simply alternated every sentence, although Carbon- recognizable by the crystal- always started.

"That's all."

"Who's next?"

"Me, I guess," Shatter said as the twins finished. He glanced at the group around him, careful not disrupt the cat atop his head. "I can't say I have a job persay, but I do earn some profit through selling my wool. Mittens here earns his keep as well." He watched each member of the group for a brief moment. They ended on Auftrag, his tone suggesting to Shatter at least some arrogance, or at least superiority afforded by his job.

"I must say, I've never met such a curious bunch of characters..." he mumbled under his breath, Mitten's ears twitching in agreement.

A smug smile crossed Auftrag's face. "And I must say, I've never seen a ram in Equestria." His voice tone sounding extremely condescending. "And I can know about anyone in the country. You say you sell your wool? Interesting..."

"Oh, I'm sorry, did that offend you?" Shatter asked genuinely, looking at Auftrag. "I meant no harm by it. And I guess I am an oddity in Equestria..." he aknowledged, yawning as he continued up the path. "As for knowing about me, there's a difference between knowing and knowing." There was no condescention in his tone however. Rather, he was simply stating a fact, clearly unperturbed by Auftrag's tone or manner.

Carbon and Copy's eyes narrowed, quite perturbed by Auftrag's tone and manner.  Auftrag- what sort of a name was Auftrag, anyway?- seemed to have some superiority... thing. Whatever it was, it would get annoying fast. He was then surprised to see Shatter's reaction, he was expecting at least a little provocation. The ram had a thick skin.

Carbon decided not to say anything, and see how this turned out. He also took a few deep breaths. After being what was considered an "earth pony" in a place filled with unicorn mages, he had little tolerance for anypony being talked down to by race. Stupid nobles. He took some more deep breaths, pushing the thought from his mind. All in the past. Look at something else. Carbon kept his eyes on the trail, while Copy's gaze landed on Mittens. He regarded it with some curiosity.

Quimia stayed silent as she listened to the others talking. She had to admit that she was continually fascinated by the ability of Carbon and Copy to talk almost as one pony. And the diamond dog who identified himself as Krix seemed... rather grizzled. Like a veteran in some war that had never happened. Even if he couldn't - or simply didn't want to - speak in complete sentences, but Quimia assumed that diamond dogs would in general have problems adapting to the equine tongue.

Then there was that Auftrag. Despite the fact that Quimia was almost always in her tower, mulling over new potion recipes and the like, she was still nominally a part of the Royal Guard - in a post that was made just so she could ascend to it, since there were no other takers - so she was expected to know some things. When Auftrag mentioned that he was on guard duty in Canterlot her memory stirred slightly, but not very much. He did sound familiar, albeit more obnoxious than she'd originally envisioned. A lot more obnoxious. She frowned as he spoke to Shatter, although a more accurate term would have been spoke down at, considering his behaviour. However, she held her tongue.

Everyone had such interesting things to say about themselves. Ambr was quite pleased with it, though she wasn't exactly fond of the condescending feeling that was going about, but it seemed like nothing was going to develop out of that. Well it's worth keeping track of at least. She played what everyone said over in her mind, her eyes shifting from creature to creature.

Auftrag is on break from guard duty, Shatter seemed to be some sort of traveler who earned his bits in selling his wool, Krix, summed up, seemed to be a treasure hunter a bonafide adventurer! That was pretty great and brought about it's own merits. Carbon and Copy are also hunter's as well, in the sense that they are searching for immortality, but that still made them hunts...right? Least that's how Ambr made it make sense in her mind. She counted off everyone that spoke and she believe everyone spoke, well, everyone except her.

"Aye, I guess that last be me." she stated and just when she was about to speak, the pathway's ahead began to split off, but it wasn't this that would grab the attention, but rather there was a large sign.

On this sign there were two arrows, One arrow pointed towards a larger path that was fairly open and more comfortable than the current path they were on and the other path seemed to narrow out a bit more and it would force those that traveled to line up and walk in a single file.

On the sign above the arrows laid a question. Ponder thy choice for it's just the beginning of the tale that splits.

Under the arrow that pointed towards the larger path was a single word: Rumble
Under the arrow that pointed towards the narrow path was a single word: Breeze

"Rumble and Breeze? Rumble as in fight, or rumble as in avalanche? Breeze as in the phrase this will be a breeze? Or the burning winds of the mountains? GAH! I lack the patience for this!" Auftrag threw his hood back and let his white mane fall down. He closed his eyes and began to concentrate on the sign. "I call upon the ancestors. The lineage of tyrants. With the power of the crimson, I call upon the future! Show me what each path holds, Nyctores Predestination." One of his eyes turned a golden color as he glanced about five minutes into the future, the maximum he could try for two branching timelines.

Carbon and Copy moved to either trail, looking down each one.  "Well, this is interesting."

"Certainly has that mystery element now."

They both turned back to the group.  "I can't quite tell much by looking."

"So we'll have to pick one."

"Or we could split-"

And then Auftrag cast his spell, and both twins stared. Carbon sighed. "Or we could use magic to find out what's ahead."

Carbon muttered under his breath. "No sense of adventure."

Krix too paused to regard the sign, his expression however didn't let on if he could actually understand it's writing. His gaze shifted towards one path, then to the other. When Auftrag recited his little incantation however, the dog's ears swiveled back towards him quickly and his one eye narrowed into a glare of his own, but it was settled over his shoulder and on the pony.

Krix almost growled as the magic began to work and with no words, set off up the larger path. A blatant dislike was readily prevalent, but for what there was no explanation. Either way, Krix was beginning to set off down the wider path. Despite his reactions though, Krix's speed did not increase, he simply continued his long but slow and heavy stride with the regular chink and jingling of his armor.

Shatter didn't even raise an eyebrow as Auftrag started his enchantment, instead trotting past him and heading up the "breeze" path. Mittens batted his horn and he snorted. "Using magic to see into the future? I'll pass thanks. I'd rather have fate deal me a hoof I never see coming." His words were not harsh, rather a statement of facts as he saw it.

Quimia walked in silence along with the party, waiting patiently for Osia's contribution, but then the sign came up and everyone's attention was focused on it. She sighed and took a glance at the sign, reading what it said and taking it into consideration. Clearly this was a riddle, one that the map had not indicated, and thusly its answer was to be found in long, deep thought. Perhaps the words it's just the beginning of the tale that splits implied a-

Then she heard Auftrag speak up and make his incantation. She reached for her saddlebags, where she kept all her healing potions. In case he blew a blood vessel.

Ambr stood there a bit perplexed as to how quickly some of them made their decisions. Well...that'd be much shame. Splittin' up already... she thought to herself. It didn't matter so much to her as they would end up meeting once again at the next check point, but they didn't know that. Shatter went the route of Breeze and Krix went the route of Rumble. Everyone else kinda stared at Auftrag as he did was she could presume, based on his incantation, a clairvoyance spell. she stood there a moment to look over everyone once more before she decided to pick a route. She herself went after Krix on the rumble route.

This is what Auftrag would see through his clairvoyant spell. He would see those that made their choices pick their routes. Further along the routes he would see this;

The larger path, Rumble, kept big and wide and went up in a gradual ascent. The further up it went the more rock's and boulders began to show up along the path. Every so often a rumbling noise could faintly be heard. Just at the end of the five minutes for the Rumble path he would see another sign with two arrows pointing in different directions. The direction of one pointed towards a cavern and the other arrow pointed further up the slope.

The smaller, more narrow path, Breeze, continued for a good amount of the five minutes with its narrow path. Along the walls were chain's bolted into the mountain, which could be used as grips, if necessary. Further along the path the narrow path opened up some allowing for room for two ponies to walk side by side. What could be heard is an extremely strong breeze, which rattled the chains every time it blew. Eventually near the end of the path there looked to be gap's to stepping pillars in which one had to jump to to reach the next one until it would reach the path on the other end. Beneath the pillar the mountain sloped downwards and from the looks of it, it seemed to be purposely smoothed and what could be seen was how it lead to the same place, a dark opening, like a tube, which led down. At the end of the five minutes he would just see the path extending just a bit further, but no sign.

Just as he felt the pain coming on, he shut off the spell. He suffered a violent coughing fit, took a deep breath, then spoke. "Whoever doesn't like jumping, take Rumble, there's something there, and maybe even another path split. Breeze is narrow, and has pillars you need to jump between." Auftrag assumed a lying down position. He was gasping for breath. "I'm going to lie here a few minutes and try not to pass out. I'll catch up."

Carbon and Copy glanced at the paths they were at, and stepped away from the starts of the paths. Carbon opened the saddlebags Copy carried, and removed a smaller set of saddlebags, placing them on his own back. He moved some supplies from Copy's bags into his own, packing maps, a few crystals, and rations. Stepping away from his twin, they nodded to each other, and went down the separate paths. Copy went down Breeze, and Carbon took Rumble.

With his canine hearing, it was easy for Krix to hear Auftrag's collapse and when it happened, Krix couldn't help but grin slightly. The gesture however might have gone completely unnoticed because of the cloak's hood that occasionally obscured most of his face. It didn't last long though as the dog continued along the pathway fairly easily working around the steadily worsening terrain that he was fairly used to.

While he walked, Krix's ears continued to move about as he listened for several things. The sounds of rumbling getting steadily louder and not stopping being at the top priority. Close seconds on that list were the others who decided to travel the possibly rougher path with him.

Shatter continued down the breeze path, not looking past as he trotted along. He chuckled as he felt the first gust of wind, his horns glowing and his wool attaining a very faint greenish tinge. Mittens purred and buried himself into the wool, curling up. When the next gust came along, it would find no purchase on his wool, instead sliding over it as if it were not even there. Content, Shatter continued on his path, his eyes spying the pillars ahead.

Quimia sighed. While she was appreciative of Auftrag's efforts, it wasn't exactly very much to go on. She decided to tale Breeze, because at least she was alright at jumping. And if what she heard was right, another path split could possibly lead to their already split party splitting up even further. And though Quimia had no problems travelling by herself, something about this place unsettled her mildly. Perhaps it was the cryptic signs or lack of any clear directions, but she didn't quite trust the route - or routes, as it were - she had to take.

As she started down Breeze, she hesitated, stopped beside Auftrag, and pulled out one of the small vials from her saddlebags, this one filled to the brim with a red fluid. She placed it on the ground beside him. "Thank you for the help. A healing potion to help you recover, should you need it." Glancing at the others travelling down Rumble, she left another three vials with him, and then proceeded down Breeze.

A genuine smile crossed Auftrag's face. "Thank you." He drank one of the vials, and stored the others in a saddlebag under his long-coat. He decided to sit and rest a bit longer, as moving after using any of his Nyctores other than Oroboros was dangerous to his health. He wondered how far the group was going to split up, as Rumble ended in a split road. Breeze ended in a straight path, he would end up taking breeze anyhow, as Oroboros definitely helped in jumping and getting around. Carbon/Copy was using an artifice, it was interesting how Crystal Magic worked.

Carbon and Copy were both much quieter now that they were apart. They seemed to be much more focused, keeping their mouths shut and eyes forward on the trail. Carbon looked for the signs that Auftrag had mentioned, as well as his ears open for the rumbling. Copy simply kept moving, spotting the pillars up ahead. He shivered in the breeze, a motion that would be shared by Carbon, if anypony took notice.

As it stands the travelers going the route of rumble are; Krix, Amber, and Carbon.
The travelers going the route of Breeze are; Shatter, Quimia, and Copy.
Only one was left behind still undecided; Auftrag.

Rumble Path

This path much larger and allowed for more freedom in walking in group's than the other. It would proceed being mostly an empty space, eventually rock's and pebbles would start to show up randomly about the area. If one took notice, they would see every so often there would be a rattling sound, as if someone had a bag of rocks and shuffled them about. These sound's would be minute and come in every few minutes, as well as those that were paying attention would come to feel vibrations moving through the bottom of their feet. So far nothing dangerous showed up and it would stay that way, for at least five minutes.

Ambr had quickly trotted up the path, still as carefree and cheerful as ever, and slowed her trot to a walk once she arrived to Krix's side. "Why, hello there, Krix." she said in a cheerful tone. Shifting her eye to look at him as she was now able to get a better view of him. She turned her head to him and she gave him a big smile. "This is quite the fun route." Her ears twitched to the sounds of Carbon catching up and her ears turned in his direction. She turned her head to look at him and beamed a big smile as she raised a single hoof waving him over while still walking.

Breeze Path

Like Auftrag had said this path was more narrow and did require jumping. Though what he didn't say was how strong the wind was. It was a fairly simple path that curled around the side of the mountain eventually coming to a gap that has multiple pillars between them in which you must jump from one pillar to another. The distance between the pillars aren't big so it's easy to jump to, but also it was easy to slip off the pillars as well if you weren't careful.