Fontana’s Gift

The young mage shook his head, allowing the world to resettle around him. A moment before, he had been following a friend into the tavern of King’s Crossing. Now, he stood in a place that seemed both foreign and strangely familiar at the same time.

Alderin gazed at his surroundings. He was now in a lush garden filled with
plants of an unearthly variety. The walkway on which he stood wound its way
through the garden in an intricate web-like pattern. Immediatley his eyes came
to rest on the tiles beneath his feet, each decorated with mystical runes. He
had no need of a detection spell to realize that the entire place was endowed
with a powerful magic.

Kneeling down, Alderin inspected the tiles more closely. “Interesting,” he
muttered to himself. It appeared that the markings worked in tandem, as if they
formed a complex array that bound the garden together. But why would such magic
be necessary? Alderin grew both intrigued as well as worrisome, for this level
of magic was something he had not experienced before. “Why am I here?” he wondered
aloud.

“Because I have brought you,” answered a delicate female voice before Alderin
could ponder the question. The voice seemed to come from all directions at once.
Whether the words were carried on the wind or being spoken directly into his
mind, the mage could not tell.

“And who might you be?” he asked politely, although no amount of undue concern was plain in his tone.

“My name is Fontana,” the voice said simply. Alderin quickly realized that information would not be as forthcoming as he had hoped.

“And where exactly am I?” he continued, trying his best to remain composed. He couldn’t help but feel like a fish out of water.

“This is Formica, a place created by mages. You are in the Astral Plane.” The voice remained as delicate and matter-of-fact as before, as if it were reporting nothing of particular interest.

Alderin was taken aback. He had been to other planes of existence, but none
that were quite so pleasant. Memories flooded back to him of hands reaching
out of walls covered in blood, of demons and souls caught in undying torture.
This place was so far removed from anything of the sort. “Formica?” he repeated
aloud, prying his brain for the meaning behind the word. “I suppose the more
pertinent question,” he continued, having given up trying to remember, “is why
you have brought me here?”

“You are here so that I can give you something,” came the voice again. Alderin was beginning to find Fontana’s lack of explanation quite trying, and got the distinct impression that the vagueness of her responses was intentional.

“And what might that be?” he asked the obvious follow-up question.

“You must come to me to retrieve it,” said Fontana.

“And may I assume you’re at the center of the garden?” he said, looking around
at the paths nearest him. Their pattern suggested quite clearly that they congregated
at a central point a short distance away.

“Correct. I shall await you there.”

“A stroll in an extraplanar garden. What fun,” Alderin said with a hint of sarcasm, and set off down the path at a walking pace. As he walked, he took particular note of the flora. Alien flowers in hauntingly beautiful hues bloomed by the path. Oddly-shaped fruits and foliage grew skyward. Looking up, Alderin realized that no sun was apparent, although the sky was most certainly alight. He wondered in passing whether night ever came to this place.

After a short but wondrous walk, Alderin arrived at the center of the garden.
He parted some willow-like branches to behold a prestine, circular fountain.
Clear water flowed in perfect streams through what could only be described as
a work of art more majestic than any Alderin had every seen. He stood transfixed
by the sight of it for a moment before he realized that he was still alone.

“Fontana?” he called out, walking toward the fountain and looking around.

“Yes,” came the woman’s voice, although it seemed to be close at hand. Alderin
looked to the apparent source with a start, as the face of a beautiful woman
gazed up at him from beneath the waters of the fountain.

“I’d say you have a very appropriate name,” Alderin said a bit jovially, at which the woman smiled lightly.

She was dressed in a gown of iridescent blue with long, flowing hair of palest white. Alderin’s immediate attention, however, drew to her eyes, which were a deep, alluring navy. Despite her delicate appearance, there was an undeniably powerful presence behind her eyes that gave Alderin pause. “Welcome, Alderin,” she greeted the mage.

“Yes, thank you,” he said, and his expression remained one of thinly-veiled concern. “You said you had something to give me.”

“Indeed,” she said, and, in a shimmering of the water, a set of black shoulder guards appeared in her hands. The armor appeared to be made of leather but was otherwise unadorned. Fontana extended her hands forward, lifting the armor beyond the surface of the water in offering.

Alderin eyed the gift with blatant suspicion. “Agnosco arcanum,” he spoke, passing his hand over the armor, which glowed with an imperceptible hue. Alderin looked at it curiosly, although his concern had not ebbed. “Forgive me, Fontana, but I’m not usually one to trust such things given freely. Can I ask why you would give me such a thing?”

Without appearing to take any offense from Alderin’s suspicion, Fontana answered. “You have a destiny to fulfill, but before you can, you will be subjected to many dangers. This will protect you.”

Alderin raised an eyebrow. This had not been the first time that his destiny had been hinted to him. “I don’t suppose you can tell me what these dangers are, or what I’m expected to do.”

“These things remain to be seen. Only time will tell for certain,” she said simply.

Alderin considered for a moment. The familiarity of this place and the thought of his destiny troubled him. Nothing Fontana had said or done had led him to doubt her intentions, and the armor was tainted by neither necromancy nor infernalism. Something still troubled him, though, as if there was something important that Fontana must be concealing.

After a great deal of consideration, Alderin reached his hand forward and accepted the armor from Fontana. “What choice do I have?” he thought to himself as he donned the armor, accepting the only key he had ever been offered that might unlock his destiny.