The hunt for goldenfire (Afina and Jaela, later Surraruthru too)

[Anastasia]

"It is only the natural order of things." A figure appears in that place. It is a massive bulky humanoid of glowing, sun-yellow metal. It's about as tall as two Hannas and much broader. Afina can tell its a golem, one that's smiling. "I am Origin, the first adamantine golem created by the Morninglord's own hand. Even adamantine golems melt in goldenfire, save for the most exceptional."

[Ebiris]

"Hello Origin," Afina smiles. "I've created and awakened a few golems of my own. It's a shame none of them can fly or I might have brought Smrgol along, it'd be nice for him to meet another golem that wasn't made by my hand." She figures the ironwyrm with a fragment of Sunnis in it is a fair match for the first golem made by a god, right? "But isn't there any way to determine which will be exceptional before testing them with the flames?"

Then again maybe not. They're after the first embers to burn through destiny, would that make divinations suspect where any goldenfire is concerned?

[Corwin]

"I'd love to hear more about the properties of goldenfire, and the weapons and golems made with it," Jaela muses. "Would you mind terribly filling us in? Also, not to forget about Lixer, who we really want to kill. Any good suggestions there?"

[Anastasia]

"No, because they are forged in it. It is the way it is and must be," Origin intones. "I oversee the creation of the golems for the Dawnbringer."  He descends down, level with the party. He extends a hand out, bigger than Afina. "A pleasure to meet a fellow golem maker and her marvelous friends."

Mirajane smiles slightly, "Thank you and yes, it is not a hidden secret here."

As Origin blinks and then grins at Mirajane, Kascha clears her throat, "Nice to meet you. I'm Kascha and I serve Seira. Ah, are you part of the trials we're going through?"

[Ebiris]

"Afina Devilsbane," Afina introduces herself, pressing her tiny hand against one of his fingers in greeting.

[Corwin]

"Jaela," she introduces herself, even if belatedly. "Like Kascha says, it's a pleasure."

[Anastasia]

The rest of the introductions go around and around. "I heard you gave Lixer a black eye on the Negative Energy Plane. Good work." He grins, one massive hand thumping Jaela's back (and sending her sprawling forward) as he shakes Afina's hand with his finger. "We have the ability to burn away undead with flames they cannot resist. We bring life to them and immolate them in it."

"Lixer, Lixer," Hemurmurs after, "The trick with him isn't killing him. He's powerful but not the strongest ever. I think I could take him." A cocky grin spreads anew, "Wham, wham!" A few fake punches into the air, "But his father makes sure he's protected at all times. You won't ever get Lixer in a fair fight. You'll face him behind a creature he possesses and aided by as many minions as he sees fit. The little runt's survived this long with Lathander AND Orcus both wanting to end him. Get him in person and you can end him like any other devil. Probably."

A pause there, his free hand going to rub his chin. "I don't know for sure, but he's probably a godling, so you'd need to be one to put him down for good. Or have a trick around it, which I've heard Aurora has."

[Corwin]

"We heard as much," Jaela agrees. "Do you know any hideaways he'll show up in person to defend if we were to hit them? Anything his shriveled heart cares about? Where he keeps his prisoners?"

[Ebiris]

"Well we did," Afina makes a face at that. "But we had to dispose of it, the price of its use was too high even for me. That's why we're here looking for the first embers actually, since that other weapon served to counter the Duke of Destiny and now we need a replacement for that. Anyway, I don't expect we'll be lucky enough to catch Lixer in the open, but if we ruin a few of his strongholds and minions it'd do enough to send the message of our displeasure."

[Anastasia]

"You know about Castle Crumbling, 'course," The golem remarks, as Kascha furiously writes all of this down.

"Negation we know about," Mirajane adds.

"Right," Origin agrees, "That's where anything really important to him is. It's also right in his father's shadow, which means it's almost impossible to attack. He's no fool, I've never had any luck forcing him out by hitting his possessions. Just more possessed undead or minions, as well as his father's Nessians. Kid's balls haven't dropped after all these millenia, though the devils call it being cautious. I call it being a chicken shit little daddy's boy."

[Corwin]

"We're going to hit his other holdings, and if we hit enough of them in quick succession the other devils mocking him might get too much for him. Wanna come along for the fight?"

[Anastasia]

"Tempting," He admits, peering down at the goldenfire lake below. "But my creator taught me something about this. He said, 'Origin, whenever mortals or the like ask for your help, it's important that they earn it. It's a sacred tradition to test them before that.'"

[Corwin]

"I really like Lathander, speaking of. So are we gonna go to Ysgard for this, Origin?"

[Anastasia]

"No, I'm thinking of an even more traditional test," He grins at this, "Finding something important and bringing it to me. You know, most of the time, if they can do your test, they prove to themselves they don't need your help anyway. On the other hand, it is Lixer. Anyway," He gestures to the side, a swirling portal appearing. "There's a maze here full of danger. Somewhere in it is a figurine of the sun, made entirely of gold and platinum. You'll know it when you see it. Find it and bring it back and I'll pitch in."

[Corwin]

"Plus you know you'd have fun kicking his houses over!" Jaela adds. "But before that, it's not the naked portal, is it? Cause Mirajane came this time and Kascha's already pretty embarrassed."