FLASHBACK
TO 2602 - (Picking up the pieces after 9 years)
Session
04/07/06 @ 8am
Prologue
21/02/2602
- Eastern Daas, the Hill of Wan above Darksea....
The
Canabrium of the Dead has been used by three beings to create a new plane
of existence; Kerri Dhwen (Mother of Ceraph),
Grey (High Doman of Wan)
and Shefanhow (Alondian / Dragon Guardian
of the Sun Kings) have all three bound their
souls to the fate and existence of this plane in a desperate bid to battle
the very Source of the Living Dark and it's Three Black Kings.
Opening
Scene - Gray, High Doman of Wan stands beneath
a cherry blossom tree in full bloom. The landscape of the newly created
plane stretches before him from horizon to horizon, blurring beneath the
blazing artificial sun overhead as Shefanhow adds wave after wave of ever
increasing detail to the grass, plants, earth and atmosphere.
Gray
feels the energy coursing through his connection to the plane - energy
provided by the combined states of Esium gathered in combined prayer -
a tremendous feat organized by the once Queen, turned Holy Mother - Kitara
(bearer of the Demi-God, Aslan).
The Gods of Elondil are using Kitara and her unborn child Aslan as a conduit
of religious power, in one last ditched attempt to rid the World of the
Living Dark forever.
Outside
of the plane of the Living Light and its portal to the Hill of Wan is the
Keystone of Wan, Kitara, Quiverin and Hollis.
The
Hill of Wan has been surrounded by the Mist
of Ages (of which
Hollis is Lady of and in complete control).
The Mist of Ages has effectively hidden the entire Hill of Wan and the
entrance to the plane of the Living Light from any detection. To an onlooker,
it is as if the entire Hill of Wan has simply vanished.
Inside
the Plane of the Living Light, Ceraph is still in her flesh shrouded form.
Only minutes have passed since giving birth unnaturally to her daughter
Harmony. Ashar, Harmony's spiritual father, has just departed with the
child to safety. (Ashar has the Soul Cord
of Olahdan...). Shefanhow has blessed the
child. Gray has given Harmony the Ring of Weal (The Gray
one) - (Alyx
has Black One, Kitara the White One). Ceraph
has given the Aurial of Ion. (Which was always
destined for Harmony anyway.)
Shefanhow
is hovering in his astral form - that of a large glowing blue astral falcon.
Gray
flames (combusts his aura in soul fire)
and shifts entirely astral - to see his companions. He observes pulses
of energy travelling from Shefanhow into the landscape, strengthening its
reality - as is an Alondian's gift.
Check
check check.
Gray
then shifts back to talk to his companions about protection.
"What
will I see when I am inside the Living Dark?"
Gray asks.
"Probably
nothing. Just blackness," says Ceraph, a little
distracted by the spirit of the freshly created grass beneath her. Crouched
down, letting it fall through her fingers she tries to recompose her thoughts.
"As we're all connected to the plane and therefore
one another, perhaps I can give you some part of my perception. That would
allow you to at least make things out inside the Kingdom."
(Ceraph's name for The Living Dark Plane).
Gray
concentrates and Ceraph does too. Ceraph dissolves her physical positive
energy form and lets her real spirit - that of the Living Dark, expand
into the surroundings. At first all Gray perceives is a growing black shape
devoid of any detail or definition. But then his vision shifts slightly,
like putting on a pair of prescription spectacles. He sees beyond the darkness
to what lies within it - Ceraph in her Living Dark flesh form.
Taking
that as a success, the next thing the Doman suggests is his Soul Fire.
Shefanhow
is quick to take up the offer, but Ceraph and Kerri aren't keen. "I
don't want that stuff burning around me. Something tells me that my aura
and it won't mix very well."
"LET'S
DO IT..." booms Shefanhow.
Gray
wills it so and suddenly Shefanhow has a white fiery aura just like Gray's.
"This
will protect us from Dark Fire and from Drathelmox's power drain,"
says Gray.
"But
surely Ceraph's aura will do that anyway?"
states Shefanhow, flexing his wings and admiring the fiery effect he makes.
"Yes,
but we can use this Soul Fire to protect us when we're inside the Living
Dark."
Shef
growls in delight and then nods, sagely, like these are wise words. "I
still find Darkfire, a bit beyond me..." admits
Shefanhow as they continue to discuss sharing abilities.
"Where's
your body gone...?" Ceraph asks Shef, repeating
one of Gray's earlier questions.
"I
have dissolved it."
"Could
Kerri do that too?" asks the Doman, obviously
seeing Kerri as their weakest link and most vulnerable target.
"I
wouldn't advise it," states Shefanhow.
"It's
ok," says Kerri. "If
we control this plane, I should be able to will myself anywhere in it."
To demonstrate, she reappears a few hundred yards away. Then she shifts
again to several miles away, at the bottom of a large waterfall, freshly
created by Shef's creative Alondian mind.
When
she returns she is a bit wet but ecstatic. "See.
I'll be ok."
"If
we can share perception, we should be able to share other things as well..."
suggests Ceraph.
Kerri
seeks clarification from the Doman. The Doman wants to hit the Living Dark
plane quickly, grab some priests and then push them out onto the Hill of
Wan. As soon as Drath and Laylak enter the plane, the Keystone has to be
sealed... The Doman agrees on this.
Over
by lake....
Kerri
gives Gray and Shefanhow the vision of the living dark....
Kerri
and Ceraph then kiss and hug one another, saying a quiet goodbye.
Gray
contacts Alyx via aura of the ring...
"Gray,
is that you, have you possessed me?"
"Look
after yourself, you've always been a true follower of the faith..."
says Gray, sadly.
"Good
luck Gray.... You've been the best little bald guy I've known... I will
get Vengeance. On everyone. And anyone who speaks a bad word against Wan
- Will be visited in the night and strung up by their testicles. And if
they don't have any, by their tits. I love you Gray."
Gray
cannot help but smile at the monster he has for a friend.
Preparing
for the bridgehead.
Ceraph
brings her hands together and opens up a Dark portal 500 feet away, just
above the water at the centre of the lake.
Shef
and Gray stand ready, not knowing how quickly their enemy will react.
However,
as the seconds pass, Gray turns to Shefanhow, hovering above him in his
Falcon form. "Shall we?"
"YES,"
Shefanhow replies, hammering his conviction home.
Dark
Penetration
The
Astral dragon grips Gray in his talons and soars at astronomical speed
down the throat of Ceraph's dark portal. It twists and turns like a roller
coaster ride until an instant later it spews them out above the landscape
of the Dark Kingdom.
Shefanhow
roars into the sky like a rocket. The inhabitants of the plane see two
glowing black stars, bursting up into the heavens, darkening their World.
Yet to Gray and Shefanhow, it seems as if they are bringing light.
*Note - Those beings dwelling in the Living Dark perceive things opposite
to those beings in the positive realm of spirit. Thus a Wraith appears
flesh and the Doman with his Soul Fire appears as a Wraith.*
Shef
and Gray leave tremendous astral sparks in their wake as they soar into
the sky above the landscape of the living dark....
*Note
- There is always a chance of a Planal Fire eruption when positive energy
causes friction with negative. Planal Fire is also referred to as Dark
Fire (Living Dark originated) or Soul Fire (Material Plane originated).*
Gray
sends out an astral summons to his priests but is disappointed and deflated
when it only travels to the edge of Shefanhow's aura.
"I
hate this plane..." Gray thinks to no one
in particular.
A moment
later and Shefanhow tears his way through the sky of the Kingdom like a
blazing comet. Shef roars above the Castle of Dawn and lets his aura expand
and soak through the entire structure - walls, ceilings and floors. Once
everyone is caught within his giant astral net, Shefanhow decides to put
an idea of his into practice. He begins the process of vibrating his aura
and effecting everyone inside of it (bar Gray who is protected by his own
Soul Fire).
When
the vibrations reach their climax, Shefanhow's unique ability to alter
alignments kicks in and all the aura's contained within his aura, switch
to their opposite alignments. Sure enough his guess pays off ;- By calling
on the Power of Ceraph, Kerri and the Doman, Shefanhow's aura converts
the polarity of everyone's spirit from negative to positive.
Gray
is delighted. Gray - "That's cool..."
The
entire inhabitants of the Living Dark castle are suddenly spiritually normal
again and the Castle has been erased down to its very foundations.
Shefanhow,
able to get a firm and unbreakable grip on the inhabitants now that their
spirits have changed, rises up into the air, gathering them about him in
a cloud. An instant later, he and Gray are about to re-enter Ceraph's portal
and return home. But at the last moment, Gray looks back and sees a giant
dark shape wearing a spiky black crown, rising from the remnants of the
castle. A pair of burning Green eyes the size of search lights sweep across
the forest below them and up towards their portal - Just as they fly in
and escape.
Shefanhow
also observes something taking off in the Mountains to the East - something
large that causes damage to the surrounding peaks with the force of its
takeoff.
Once
back, Gray and Shef waste no time. They speed towards the portal leading
back to Darksea and the Hill of Wan. They then jettison all of the spirits
they have liberated through it.
On the
outside, Kitara sees and hears the spirits pouring through before her.
However, the spirits are in shock and quickly vanish - drawn away to their
respective afterlife's.
"Well
done High Doman," she whispers.
You
rang?
As
Ceraph opens another portal so that Shef and Gray can perhaps enter again,
a Black Dragon comes bursting through from the Living Dark side - It is
Ragnahad - Drathelmox's cannon fodder - and not what Shefanhow or Gray
was expecting.
Shefanhow
hurtles towards the bitter and fierce Servant of the Living Dark, claws
extended at it's head. At the last moment Gray is released (like a bomb)
and sent speeding beneath Ragnahad's wings and directly into it's belly.
Gray
releases a Power Strike at the Dragon's stomach, calling upon the energy
of the plane to be behind him.
"WAN!!!!!!"
The
power strike to Ragnahad's stomach, delivers damage equivalent to 65% of
the Dragon's total - in one blow. It is so devastating that the Doman literally
punches himself a tunnel into the creature's stomach.
Simultaneously
to this, Shefanhow's light burns it's way through Ragnahad's wing and his
claws dig deep into the Dragon's skull. Ragnahad screeches with mind staggering
pain and implodes.
*Note
- All Wraiths / powerful servants of the Living Dark implode upon death.
This creates a vacuum of spiritual energy that power drains anyone in the
immediate vicinity. On the astral plane this implosion acts as a magnet,
drawing things into it to fuel it and make it bigger. Killing a Wraith
is a dangerous thing.*
As Ragnahad
dies and implodes, Shefanhow pushes himself away. But Gray is not confident
on the astral plane and lacks Shef's experience. He makes a futile attempt
to anchor himself to something but fails and is sucked into the implosion
and right out the otherside.
To his
shock he finds himself in Ceraph's portal tunnel - just as Ragnahad's implosion
collapses the end behind him. The tunnel begins collapsing behind, propelling
the Doman down it towards Laylak, Drathelmox and the 3 Kings of the Living
Dark!
With
the tunnel's end in sight and something big and black waiting to swallow
him, the Doman reaches out to try and re-establish a link with the Plane
of Light. He manages to create a side tunnel of positive energy and bounces
himself down it. But an instant after he creates it, the friction between
the two opposing tunnels causes both to combust in planal fire. Gray finds
fire hot on his tail but reaches the safety of his home plane just in the
nick of time.
"I'm
back!" Gray exclaims.
"So
we can hear," replies Shefanhow (sharing
a private bit of humour with Ceraph at just how loud someone as small as
the Doman can be), gripping the Doman and
pulling him across the plane, back to the lake.
Gray
quickly explains what he did. "This opens
up possibilities. We could create a positive tunnel and attack them through
that..."
Shefanhow
ignores him, letting him calm down - especially as the only person who
can contact the Living Dark plane is Ceraph and she can only create Living
Dark portals.
"OPEN
THE PORTAL AGAIN..." says Shefanhow to Ceraph.
This
time a large sphere of Dark Matter comes bursting through. As it reaches
the opening it ruptures like a bubble and releases dozens of smaller but
devastating dark spheres. The resulting power drain collapses the entrance
and causes thousands of sparks - all of which fail to ignite into planal
fire (because of Ceraph and Kerri's unique
balance between the light and dark).
Ceraph
is quick to reopen another portal.
"WAN!!!"
Gray sends his retaliation - another huge power strike right down the tunnel
to the Kingdom. Boom.
On the
Dark side, Laylak looks up when he hears the distant call.... "It's
the Doman..." he says aloud. "He's
like a rabid dog that just won't let go. WHY am I plagued by this morose,
holier than though, grey little midget? WHY?"
Drathelmox
flies up to the opening and sends a message through.
Words
- "CEASE THIS FOLLY. CERAPH, RETURN TO YOUR
HOME."
"WAN!!!!"
Gray yells with his spirit, every ounce of Faith behind his attack. Another
power strike explodes near Drathelmox, who becomes increasingly agitated
by the lack of any proper response.
Words
from Drathelmox - "LET US MEET IN THE TUNNEL.
BETWEEN THE PLANES."
Boom
- another strike goes through.
More
words from Drath, echoing down the tunnel between the planes - "STOP
THIS. STOP THIS NOW. OR WE WILL ATTACK AND DESTROY EASTERN DAAS AND DESTROY
THE HAIMISH."
All
three (Shef, Gray and the will of Kerri)
send power strikes through to the Living Dark Plane...
*Note
- Kerri lends her will behind the blast but not her aura. Her aura would
automatically cancel out chances of a Dark Fire eruption. *
Ceraph
then opens yet another portal... But no words come through this time for
a few minutes.
Who
set the sky on fire?
In the
plane of the Living Dark, things have escalated. The last joint (3
in one) power blast that came through caused
an eruption of Dark Fire that triggered a chain reaction in the plane's
atmosphere. As Drathelmox and Laylak watch, the sky is slowly consumed
by the devastating effects of Dark Planal Fire, leaving nothing in its
wake. Laylak shakes his head is horror. "This
can't be happening. Can't you stop it?"
"I
AM RELATIVELY IMMUNE TO ITS EFFECTS, BUT THIS PLANE IS NOT. IF CERAPH WERE
HERE, SHE COULD NEUTRALIZE IT. WE NEED TIME."
Drathelmox
sends a message through the next time a portal opens - "LET
US DISCUSS TERMS OF SURRENDER.... WHAT IS IT YOU REQUIRE...."
Shef
- "They're buying time. No doubt at this very
moment they are attempting to locate our link to the material plane or
find our friends and allies. We should continue pressing our advantage.
Force them to act out of desperation for their own survival."
Gray
- "I agree."
With that Gray propels another blast of positive energy through Ceraph's
portal tunnel and directly down the throat of Drathelmox on the otherside.
Drath
has positioned itself over the portal opening to try and protect the Plane
of the Living Dark... but it is already too late. The plane of the Living
Dark has begun to burn up in Dark Fire. The sky is on fire and being eroded
into nothingness while Laylak can only look on in horror.
"That
BITCH!" he yells at the great black dragon.
"She's betrayed us. Didn't I say she would.
I said 'That Bitch is too twinkle twinkle little living star for what we
have planned.' We should of consumed her when we had the chance. Damn her.
Bitch. If we get her back here I'm going to delight in ripping her soul
apart!"
Shefanhow
and Gray now send a combined blast of energy down the portal tunnel. This
time the tunnel destabilizes and fragments, spewing energy out of several
different fissures in the atmosphere. Onlookers in Laylak's castle below
see the sky illuminated by multiple explosions - like a giant firework
display.
"THIS
IS NOT WORKING," states Drathelmox. "WE
MUST LOCATE THE SOURCE OF THEIR ENERGY. THERE MUST BE A CONDUIT FOR THIS
MUCH POWER ON THE MATERIAL PLANE...." With
that, the dragon rips open a Dark portal and ploughs through, leaving Laylak
alone.
"Don't
leave me you stupid black MAGGOT!" screams
Laylak. "What if they come and get me?"
"HIDE."
"Hide!
HIDE! Go and flatten the Hill of Wan! Flatten Gost Yaroch. Flatten the
whole of ESIUM ! FLATTEN THE WORLD!"
Over
the next 15 minutes, Gray sends 10 more immense power strikes through Ceraph's
portals. As each one explodes, Laylak rushes through his castle grabbing
his favourite belongings. He opens up a Dark Portal and sends a few of
them through. One explosion detonates directly above the castle, blowing
apart his prized statue, the one depicting him as God Emperor of Eldahar.
"WAN!!!"
"BASTARDS!"
Laylak screams, visibly shaking in uncontrolled rage.
Each
time a power strike detonates, Laylak hears "WAN!"
The noise makes his undead spiritual skin crawl. "Wan...
Wan... Wan... fucking Wan. That little bald pious God licking dwarf of
a WANker. WAN WAN WAN..." Laylak does a little
manic dance and hits a stone bust of one of his Kingly ancestors, obliterating
it with his dark sceptre.
Suddenly
the sky splits apart and in a swirl of darkness, Drathelmox reappears.
"IT'S NO GOOD. I CAN'T LOCATE IT. FAITH IS
BEING CHANNELLED BUT THEY HAVE MASKED ITS FOCAL POINT. THE HILL OF WAN
HAS VANISHED AND ITS ASTRAL FOOTPRINT IS HIDDEN. FURTHERMORE, THE ELDAR
HAVE THE ENTIRE SITE IN THEIR MIND'S EYE. I CANNOT RISK ANOTHER BLAST OF
THEIR COLLECTIVE MENTAL ENERGY."
"So,
now what?"
"WE
HAVE NO CHOICE. WE MUST GO THROUGH AND GET CERAPH. WE MUST FORCE HER TO
RETURN. ONCE HERE, I WILL TRAP HER WITHIN MY HEARTSTONE AND BRING HER BACK.
SHE WILL THEN STOP THE DARK FIRE."
"I'm
not going through there. No warting way,"
shouts Laylak, leaping onto his hovering black spiritual disk and floating
up to eye level with the dragon. "I'll guard
here in case another portal opens."
"SO
BE IT, YOUR MAJESTY...." Drathelmox rumbles
with a gush of contempt. Drath then turns to the 3 Kings of the Living
Dark and addresses them. "BESTOW YOUR POWER
UPON ME. I WILL BRING HER BACK TO US. WE WILL BE ONE AGAIN."
The
Kings nod in unison and Drathelmox feels their power coursing through him.
Swelling in size and presence, the exiled self proclaimed Dragon King waits
for the next portal to open and spurs himself through. En route he encounters
another blast of positive energy but it impacts harmlessly upon aura....
The
portal tunnel distorts and warps to accommodate Drath's gargantuan spiritual
power.
On the
Light side, Ceraph feels her portal bulging and a sense of dread comes
over her. She braces herself and allows herself to float for a moment in
the calm emanating from her mother. "We have
incoming.... This is it..." she astrally shouts.
"We
have Incoming..."
Gray
takes up an offensive astral stance before the portal opening, gazing into
the expanding darkness. "Shefanhow..."
he thinks....
At the
entrance to the Plane of Living Light, Shefanhow watches, standing guard
over Kitara, Hollis and Quiverin. He hears Ceraph and Gray behind him and
knows it is time. Before turning and leaving, he gazes at Hollis and in
a blinding flash of astral energy, hits Hollis' mind and spirit with his
own. Quiverin is thrown backwards by the blast and even Kitara has to shield
her eyes.
When
Quiverin helps Hollis a few seconds later to her feet , Shefanhow has gone
- back to float by Gray.
"What
happened? Did he attack you?" Quiverin asks.
"I
don't think so. He forced something into my mind...."
"What?"
Quiverin stares at her in concern.
"I
don't know... My mind is in shock. The only thing I remember is him saying
"Sorry" as he did it."
"It
sounds like a mind ream of sorts. Those things are utterly illegal."
Hollis
has to laugh. "You go tell him that. I don't
think he realizes."
"Power
up the stone," Quiverin shouts at Kitara.
Unhappy with Shef's assault on Hollis, Quiverin feels the need to assert
some Mount Eldahar authority.
"No.
I haven't received the signal," says Kitara
calmly.
"We
shouldn't take any risks. Power it up now."
"Battlemaster,
this is a War between the Light and the Dark. You are here to observe humanity
taking care of its own. I shall do what needs to be done when and only
when I am told to do so. Thus, in this matter, I do not answer to you or
your kin, but to the Gods of Man."
Quiverin
attempts to stare Kitara down but the Holy Mother stands her ground without
showing a trace of fear or doubt. Ultimately it is Quiverin who nods, bows
and backs away, flashing a private thought to Elluva as he does.
"Do
you have a lock?"
"Yes.
It took time to fine tune to your frequency but the beacon is now working
fine," replies Elluva, distantly.
"Stand
by to C.E blast this whole sector on my signal."
"Aphriel
is standing by, awaiting your firing solution."
Quiverin
steps alongside Hollis and takes her hand. "It's
going to be ok."
To
the Bitter End...
Drathelmox
bursts into the Plane of the Living Light and quickly expands to over 1000
feet across. The plane's newly created sun is blotted out of existence
by Drath's expanding aura of darkness and a wave of absolute draconian
terror manifests itself as shapes, limbs and tentacles within his darkness.
As the aura expands it obliterates the lake below it and bores down over
two hundred feet into the plane's earth, instantly disintegrating it.
Ceraph
stands defiantly before the onslaught as Drathelmox's attention - and aura
- settles directly on her. She knows Drathemox wants her.
"Come
and get me then," she spits.
Then
Shefanhow's comet like aura slams against that of Drathelmox. Dark tentacles
are severed and the two Alondian titans go head to head.
A power
struggle ensures that drives Drathelmox and Shefanhow crashes to the side,
levelling trees, ploughing up the earth and spinning together in a vortex
of crackling apocalyptic energy.
Ceraph
calls to Gray. "Go get Laylak. He's not here!"
Sure
enough, Gray cannot see the wannabe King of Esium anywhere.
Without
hesitation, Gray plunges headlong back into the tunnel between the planes.
He navigates the twists and turns to emerge above the landscape of the
Kingdom - a Kingdom in flames.
Gray
sees the sky burning in planal fire and scenes of devastation from his
power strikes in every direction. His aura then fixes on Laylak, floating
on a black disk some hundred yards away.
"Come
on then Laylak, as it was meant to be..."
says the Doman.
Laylak
screams in fury and shakes his sceptre defiantly at the Doman. He then
turns and speeds off, down towards his castle below.
The
Doman realizes he is a Wraith in the plane of the living dark and wills
himself towards his target. Normally Gray has had problems moving when
astral but this time, with Laylak firmly in his sights, he knows exactly
where he wants to go and goes there.
"Get
away from me!!!" Laylak screams.
As Laylak
frantically opens up a portal to escape, the Doman hurtles in after him
and puts a firm, iron like hand around the Wraith King's wrist.
Laylak
spits and snarls like a viper, unable to break free of the Doman's painful
burning grip.
Gray
then opens up a tunnel back to the Living Light, dragging Laylak behind
him, ahead of the tunnel's exploding in planal fire.
Laylak
appears as flesh within the tunnel but as he arrives at the Living Light,
he becomes Wraith-like again - with all the strength, speed and power that
comes with that form.
As Gray
drags the screaming Laylak back into the Plane of Light, Laylak presses
his face up against Gray's and screeches - "So
this is how it will end... Embraced together to the death. My soul shall
not rest until you are dead!!! Forever !!!"
Gray
sends his spiritual signal to Kitara. "Activate
the Keystone..." As soon as the Holy Mother
of Daas hears the Doman's command, she channels the power of the Gods into
Wan's astral prison - The Keystone of Wan
- From which nothing can escape. The holy energy activates and empowers
all 7 seals of the Astral winds for yet another 800 year cycle, sealing
the fate of Gray and his friends with that of the Living Dark.
And
into the plane - battle commences.
Session
12-07-07 @ 9am
The High
Doman and Laylak strike and attack one another, swirling through the sky,
punching and clawing. The sky explodes around them in flashes of light
and dark while nearby the two dragons are also locked in terrible combat.
""Ah
well Laylak, Revenge is a dish best served bald...!"
shouts Gray, continuing to beat down on the Wraith King with a vicious
flurry of precision astral punches.
Gray
now has his chance to take out Laylak.... and he knows it. Every fibre
of his being, every ounce of his faith, is focused on that purpose. It
was the Living Dark that destroyed his priesthood. It was the Living Dark
that took away his future and consigned him to limbo between the living
and the dead. It is pay back time...
"Suck
Bane Ball !" screams Gray - thrusting his
secret weapon at Laylak... As he does, the Bane Ball expands and releases
a tremendous burst of energy at the Wraith King.
But
it isn't enough. Laylak shrieks from the burning light that surrounds him
and eats at his dark aura. But ultimately, when the ball fades, Laylak
lashes back with even more ferocity and venomous fury. The reservoir of
dark energy Laylak can call upon to insure his continued existence is deep
and seemingly endless. *Note - In reality,
it is rapidly diminishing. As Dark Fire continues to consume the Plane
of the Living Dark, it's 3 Kings know their time is running out. They must
commit all available resources and energy or risk losing everything.*
As Laylak
and Gray continue attacking one anothers aura's, the sky lights up in flashes
of black and white energy that have the appearance of a strobe. Down below,
Ceraph contacts her mother; "This is way out
of hand. I'm going to close the dark portal. It might limit their conduit
of energy." Kerri - "Be
careful honey."
As Ceraph
looks for an opening in the astral turbulence to shut the portal, Laylak
finally spots the approaching horizon and realizes what is about to happen.
"Thelmox - It's shutting down !!!"
Laylak screams, becoming even more desperate to escape back to the Living
Dark - despite what awaits him on the otherside.
He tries
making a run for it but Gray punches him across the sky before securing
a headlock around the Wraith's slippery neck.
"Help
me.... HELP ME!!!!" Laylak screeches.
"How
does it feel... All this torture Laylak? This is the way it should be,
you squirm and squeal, you deserve nothing more...."
Gray says calmly, tightening his grip into a choke hold.
Ceraph
spots an opening and goes for it. With her aura fully extended she causes
the portal to the Living Dark to collapse. Drathelmox and Laylak are now
unable to make a last moment dash for the safety of their own plane. *Note
- As all 3 "rulers" / living gateways of the Living Dark plane are still
in the same place, within the shrinking Keystone of Wan, the entire Living
Dark plane is also trapped. *
"Thelmox
- Swallow us...." Laylak screams again, hoping
that the Dragon will use its tremendous mental powers to literally suck
everyone into its imagination and somehow escape.
Gray
to Ceraph - "Help Shefanhow. Help stabilize
us.... See if you can stop the plane collapsing..."
The
ground splits asunder revealing a fiery chasm. Drathelmox and Shefanhow
fall into the heat, rolling over and over until Drathelmox suddenly comes
out on top. Shaken and weak from Drathelmox's superior mental strength
and aura bombardment, Shefanhow floats for a few moments, stunned. Drathelmox
uses this time to soar back to where Ceraph is concentrating on neutralizing
dark fire eruptions. Ceraph gazes up at the monstrous visage before her
and stands, hands on hips in defiance. "Do
your worst."
And
Drathelmox does. He envelops Ceraph with his mind and like a bottomless
well, pulls her inside. She cries out and vanishes from existence, only
to appear an instant later, floating within Drathelmox's nightmarish imagination.
Trapped, warped and pulled apart by forces beyond her comprehension, Ceraph
finds her entire life, memories and will being shredded as an image of
her mother stands opposite, frozen in a silent scream.
The
plane's horizon is now less than a mile away... Gray notices it and wonders
to himself how they will escape - or even if escape is possible.
"Die...."
Gray growls. "Just die !"
Then
the horizon comes crashing down upon them and Time itself seems to stop.
The
plane has collapsed and imprisoned everyone in it or connected to it.
No astral
energy flows in or out of the Keystone of Wan.
Launch
it out of orbit
Kitara
sheds tears. Hollis puts a comforting arm around her.
"It
is done," says Kitara. "They
are sealed inside. Let us pray this is the end of it. Let us pray that
the World will never again experience darkness like it. And let us pray
for the Doman, for the Sun Dragon and Kerridhwen, who made this possible."
Hollis
nods, but Quiverin is somewhat distracted.
"Elluva
- The Keystone is sealed. Kitara thinks its over."
"Only
time will tell Battlemaster. This isn't over until we possess that Keystone."
"Shall
I take it now?"
"No.
Leave it with Kitara for the time being. Let us wait until this all dies
down. Then, when he Keystone has left everyone's thoughts, we shall take
it, fly it up into high orbit and cast it off into space."
"Will
the astral seals survive in the void?" Quiverin
asks.
"They
will if we put the Keystone in a Sigma shielded containment sphere. Once
it is out of our atmosphere, it's someone else problem."
"Why
not just destroy it. Destroying it might work."
"And
it might not. This whole astral, religion, belief system foolishness is
too illogical. We must act on what we understand and can measure. That
is my decision. Clear up there and come home. We have other more pressing
matters to attend to. These events have not gone unnoticed in the North."
Quiverin's
face darkens at the prospect.
Our
Purpose is... Wan
Meanwhile,
deep in Darksea, outside of the Vault of Wan, a long black haired girl
around 16 years of age sits, tapping her immense two handed black sword
on the stone floor and pondering the plain cold ring in the open palm of
her left hand. "The colours have all gone,"
Alyx says, her voice sounding distant, almost not her own. She brushes
the back of her hand across her eyes and gazes up at the Jixiliah above
her. "He must be dead. I'll never see him
again. Never... again...."
The
strange immortal creature regards the black clad girl with cold, logical,
purpose driven eyes. Something deep within it though compels it to speak,
even though it hasn't been asked a direct question. "Our
purpose is... Wan."
"You
said it. And after I wipe Emonra off the face the map, I'm done. I'm done
with it all. Gray made it all worthwhile. He was the best friend a person
could ever have. And he will never be forgotten."
She glances at the Doman's enormous scroll collection ; the sum of all
of his experiences since that fateful day the Living Dark escaped. "But
before anyone can learn about him, some poor sod's got to make sense of
all that though." Alyx laughs and cries at
the same time, hugging the Jixiliah's leg. And the Jixiliah, unsure what
to do in these situations, rests one of it's enormous stone hands on top
of her head in response.
Ashar
gently lays the newborn baby girl in a white wood cot and pulls a soft
blanket up around her. He then steps back out of the cocoon shaped chamber
and with a gesture of his hand, closes and seals the door, watching it
vanish and become part of the whole. "Protected
and secret. There are those who are already seeking you. But you are mine
and mine alone. You may be the greatest yet. You may be the thirteenth
- The One - The "Urgamis," of the Animus."
Ashar
turns his head, as if hearing something a long way off. He strains his
abilities to sense it and cannot help but smile. "Waste
not want not," he mutters to himself cryptically,
before turning towards a nearby font of placid water and gazing through
it at the World. "And now all eyes turn to
you Moorum, precursor of the Blood Dawn."
"The
World is wounded young Gray and we are all wounded along with it.
No
single soul is broken but all souls, everywhere.
It
must all be healed and one day soon, it will be."
ISCHANDI THE WISE to HIGH
DOMAN GRAY OF WAN.
The
Next Chapter - 15 years later...
T-Minus
13hrs 59 minutes.
Deep
in Darksea, after navigating through hundreds of twisting maze like tunnels,
lies a room. A simple rough cut chamber of indeterminable age. And in that
room there are two smooth black metal obelisks of unknown origin and quite
alien appearance, marked on one side by strange symbols. Between these
two obelisks hangs a curtain of energy - energy only visible to the gifted
few or those that are familiar with such skin crawling sensations.
A vibration
begins from somewhere deep beneath the obelisks and slowly rises to fill
the chamber. Small stones skitter across the floor and a sub bass hum gains
intensity and volume to the point that the very air begins to distort in
response. The obelisks start to glow and the curtain between them starts
to bend and warp as if buffeted by a high but deathly silent wind.
Then
suddenly, without noise or light, a being simply appears between the obelisks
and staggers forwards.
The
being is over 10 feet tall... it has multiple arms, a 4 sided black and
white stone face carved with sharp angles and detailed facets.
It
stands there for an instant and then doubles over, making an inhuman sound
from deep within its chest.
Images
flood its mind - images of a childhood. Of a black haired girl. Of a Good
and Holy Queen and a an Evil Unholy King. The images come so fast that
they become jumbled and burn into the being's mind in random order. The
being makes no sense of them and to make matters worse, it senses more
to come. Suddenly the being's mind is split between two identities. The
being is Gray, High Doman of Wan. The being is also Wan, Guardian of the
Arda and Jixiliah of Orthank.
A mental
schism occurs that throws the being's purpose of existence and identity
into turmoil. As this happens, the being's outline blurs and it slowly
transforms.
A minute
later, a bald headed, clean shaven young man in his mid 20's stands naked
before the obelisks, staring in confusion at his hands.
"Are
these my hands? Shouldn't they be smaller? Shouldn't they be made of stronger
material, rather than this soft, pink skin over fragile bone?"
A hundred questions and doubts flash through the being's mind until after
a few more moments, everything slows down and it finds a centre of balance
- a place of calm in the mental storm. There the beings realizes something
- The only thing that it can be sure about. It establishes it's identity.
It isn't an "It."
It is a "He"
and he knows his name.
"I
am WAN" he says aloud.
And
a new chapter begins.
Wan
takes a few steps away from the obelisks, but his few steps take him a
tremendous distance. Passages, tunnels and chambers blur by at supernatural
speed as Wan moves ten times faster than any natural living thing. In but
moments, he finds himself directly beneath the Holy Hill of Wan, surrounded
by three ancient and collapsed stone coffins. Wan receives more flashes
of memory - Kings once lay here. Kings of Darkness.
His
gaze is drawn to two changes that do not sit in with his memories of this
place. The first is a gold casket, 7 feet long and very ornate crafted.
The top of the casket shows a bald boy in bas relief while around the outside
of it are 22 slots containing identical golden scroll cases. As Wan moves
closer he notices only 20 out of the 22 scrolls remain.
Inscription
on the Doman's casket - "High Doman Gray of
Wan. Gave his life protecting and serving the Country of Daas. Preserving
the sanctity of the human soul. Fighting the Darkness that sought to consume
the World. May the light of his Soul Fire burn forever in the Hearts and
Minds of the Daasin people. 2590 - 2602."
Wan
takes hold of the casket's solid gold lid and slides it effortlessly to
one side. The casket is eerily empty, but for a single woven locket of
black hair.
Next
Wan turns his attention to a freshly dug and braced corridor. In an instant
he is at the corridor's end, standing before a thick stone door. On this
side he sees a large stone wheel with square holes cut into it's rim (for
blocks of wood to be inserted for leverage to help turn it).
However, Wan has no wood; he grabs the wheel and spins it through his palms.
Counterweights move and bolts slide back allowing the tremendous door to
open outwards.
Wan
steps out into the light, only to see water stretching before him.
The
Holy Hill of Wan and its surrounding fields have undergone quite a spectacular
change over the last 15 years.
The
Hill itself is no longer occupied but is tended to by Priests of Wan every
week.
Where
once simple buildings housing Wan's followers stood beside low stone walls,
now only overgrown foundations remain.
The
hill is in colourful bloom surrounded by flooded fields as far as the eye
can see (a pleasant side effect of Hethcanter's Elemental attack in 2602.)
Atop
the hill is a large 100 foot high stone dome supported by 22 open to the
air arches. This is the Memorial of Wan.
Wan
strides to the top of the hill and surveys the tranquil landscape. He notices
the original stone that led down into Darksea has now been sealed within
a larger frame, rendering it immovable by normal means.
In the
distance, to the northwest, Wan makes out the sun glinting off of the walls
of Gost Yaroch. He decides that is where he should be.
The
Death Watch.
T-Minus 13hrs 48
minutes.
Moving
at great speed, Wan's feet barely touch the surface of the water between
the Hill and the City. He arrives just outside of the southern gates, surrounded
by people. A dog witnesses his arrival, yelps and retreats under a nearby
cart.
Wan
reaches, grabs and dons a simple grey smock hanging over a sellers chests.
The man hears the buzzing of a nearby fly but by the time he turns to look,
Wan is already inside the city and on his way to the palace gates.
The
city seems strange, yet familiar. Memories of the city rise from the depths
of his consciousness but quickly and elusively evaporate before he can
grasp them.
A large
crowd of angry people are gathered outside the Palace gates. Facing them
are 9 white masked men of identical heights and builds. Wan moves through
the crowd, listening to what people are saying...
"Who
do they think they are?"
"What
do they want?"
"Where
are the Palace guards?"
"Let's
rush 'em."
"This
City and its surrounding lands are hereby under the jurisdiction of the
Death Watch. Go on about your daily lives. We are here for your protection,"
orders one of the white masked men.
"Protection
from what!" someone yells back. One brave
man does indeed rush the leader of the identical masked men.
The
leader of the Masks fluidly side steps and with a quick flick of his hand,
sends the man somersaulting through the air to land unconscious several
feet away. A tremor of shock passes through the crowd and a few edge backwards
- especially as the masked man never actually touched his attacker.
But
these events do not concern Wan. He steps through the seemingly frozen
crowd and stands before the Palace gates, contemplating how to bypass them.
As he "appears" there, the Death Watch to either side of the gate immediately
respond. From their point of view, someone has just materialized next to
them.
"Omega
- We have a problem... Moving to engage... Prepare reinforcements..."
says the Death Watch leader.
Wan
watches with curiosity as 8 of the masked men take to the air and converge
on him. Weapons seems to materialize out of thin air in their hands, surrounded
for a moment by the glow of their auras. Incoming punches and kicks, precisely
aimed with devastating power behind them, blur in from every direction...
and then begin to slow. Wan watches each man hanging frozen in the air
and begins stepping between them. He punches one in the chest, another
in the stomach, kicks one up into the jaw and delivers another punch to
those remaining. Finishing next to the leader of the Masks, Wan grabs the
man by the throat and lifts him up off the ground, while behind him, the
Masked men suddenly begin flying in different directions from Wan's hasted
attacks. The Death Watch hit walls, slam into the ground and fly up into
the air. Moments after being struck, each one disappears in a flash of
light either unconscious or dead.
Wan
removes the leaders smooth white mask. He recognizes the face underneath
but realizes the truth of what he is seeing. "You
are not Ashar..."
As the
Death Watch begins drawing in his spirit to strike Wan, Wan hits him and
watches him vanish in a flash of energy.
The
crowd applaud... "Where is the Holy Mother
- Kitara... Is she still alive?" Wan asks
them.
A man
speaks up. "The Holy Mother? She's dead."
Wan
feels a wave of sadness come over him. But he knows he has to continue
into the Palace. What these people say and know may not be the truth.
"Long
live Daas...." he says aloud, but doesn't
know why. He then pushes at the Palace gates, breaking their locks and
chains before proceeding through the grounds to the main building. Once
again Wan speeds passed the Death Watch inside the palace. They hear and
sense a noise from the astral realm but before they can track it or even
shift vision to see it, it is gone.
However,
not all the Death Watch are as slow to perceive things around them. There
are other weapons and devices in Ashar's spiritual arsenal.
A Vacant
Hall.
T-Minus 13hrs 40
minutes.
A black
sphere appears fifty feet in the air above Wan and starts firing bolts
of energy. Approximately 3 feet in diameter, it too seems incapable of
keeping up with Wan's speed of travel.
Wan
stops when he reaches the Palace's throne room. It brings back flashes
of memory, especially the astral wards placed in each corner. Who put those
there and why? At the end of the room, on full display, is a very familiar
looking quite simple stone chair. To Wan, this holds far more significance,
as he feels sure it is connected with the hill above Darksea.
A Priest,
dressed in grey robes and with a shaven head approaches him. In his mid
40's, this man introduces himself as Demarn,
a Doman of Wan.
"Do
you have a name..." Demarn asks.
"I
am Wan..."
Demarn
assumes that from the stranger's peasant attire and evident lack of intelligence
that somehow in the panic sweeping through the city and recent terrible
events at the Temples, an imbecile has slipped through security.
"Where
is Prince Aslan ?" Wan asks, relentlessly.
Demarn
is about to try and placate the stranger and guide him towards some guards
when to his relief he sees one appear at the entrance to the hall. At least,
for a moment it looks like a guard. Demarn's demeanour changes to one of
fear when he sees the man's white mask.
Wan
doesn't wait to exchange words but blurs over and punches the spiritualist
into the wall where he vaporizes in a flash of ethereal energy.
Demarn
is shocked, unable to move and unable to believe his eyes. Stuttering he
attempts to communicate with Wan, but fails.
Wan
heads over to the stone chair. He now remembers it for what it is; The
Throne of the Gods.
After
a slight pause to examine it, he turns and lowers himself into its well
worn seat. But nothing happens. "This should have transported me to Elondil,"
Wan contemplates silently.
Another
black sphere appears in the hall, humming with energy. The voice of Ashar
crackles out of it.
"Cease
your aggression... let us communicate."
"This
is the Voice of High Guard One - Identify yourself by order of the Deathwatch."
"Sharendayne.
Taramon. They were Deathwatch...." Wan replies,
talking to himself and trying to make sense of exactly what is going on.
He
leaps up towards it, but as his feet leave the ground, he suddenly feels
slow and vulnerable, as if his connection to the ground, to the very earth,
is what gives him his speed and physical strength.
Wan
decides he has had enough. There is no Aslan. There is no Kitara. He needs
guidance, feels lost and seems to be attracting too many buzzing flies.
Session
18-07-06 @ 8am
Ancestral
souls... Visions of the Past.
T-Minus 13hrs 36
minutes. (Visions pass no real time)
Wan
blurs back to his Vault in Darksea. But when he arrives there, it is quiet
and abandoned. There is no Jixiliah guarding it and this gives Wan an ominous
feeling. His feelings are confirmed when he sees that the Vault door is
buckled, broken and torn from its foundation, lying on the floor.
There
are 22 steps leading up to the Vault, like the 22 levels of the Arda
towards ultimate enlightenment; the opening before him is like a big gaping
black mouth.
As his
he takes his first step upwards, his surroundings melt away and he finds
himself standing somewhere else.
A clear
blue sky overhead with green grass underfoot. He feels different and a
quick inspection proves it. He is in a different body.
Glancing
around, Wan recognizes the holy hill and its surrounding land, but some
details are different. Instead of a shrine at the top or the 3 temples
he remembers as the High Doman, he sees one single structure with 7 towers
and a main building 150'x300'. Instead of the simple low walls and scattered
buildings from Gray's memories, he sees a few dozen more. More surprising
than this though is the men dressed in black, gardening or building around
the hill and out in the fields. Wan sees many of them performing menial
tasks but a few just seem to be sat down, meditating.
"Where
am I? When am I?" Something tells Wan that
he is in the past. "Am I really here or is
this a vision? A memory? And if it is a memory, who am I?"
A priest
in his early 40's with a short grey beard, smiles as Wan stands there looking
lost. He puts down his hoe. "Good morning...
I was hoping for some rain. The lettuce could do with some,"
the man says.
Wan
doesn't know what to say back. Luckily, someone else intercedes. He hears
a light and sing song voice calling down towards them and looks up to see
a young girl of around thirteen years running down the hill's stone paths.
She has long braided black hair and is wearing a short, simple white dress.
This
is Lupa - One
of the 7 daughters of Altur and Aiah. "Altur... Altur..." she calls. Wan
looks around, seeing if he can recognize someone as Altur, but no one looks
familiar.
"Good
morning Alizar." Lupa greets the man besides
Wan with a sweet and vibrant smile. Then turning to Wan, "Come
father, you will be late. Your time keeping is atrocious. You really should
control yourself more on these long walks,"
the girl chides him.
"It
is a very odd morning...." says Wan / Altur
in response.
Wan
accompanies the sprightly girl to the top of the hill and into its Temple.
He sees a large chamber to the left filled with black robes and another
identical chamber to the right containing three chatting women, dressed
in white.
Lupa
continues talking to him, without expecting a response. "You
wouldn't want to be late would you? Mother is not always around so it is
down to us to keep you out of trouble." She
smiles and leads him into the main part of the building. He barely has
time to admire its architecture or the Throne of the Gods (that
hasn't changed at all) before she begins leading
him down steep stone steps into the cavern beneath.
At the
bottom of the steps, an old black robed man with virtually no hair waits
impatiently with a torch in his hand and writing tools in the other. "Ah,
good. You found him. Good morning Altur. How is your wife today? I hope
she is feeling better."
"If
you were to ask any man, in any world, how is your wife, he would have
no idea...." replies Wan. "Who
are you?"
The
priest raises an eyebrow, but believe it or not, it's not that uncommon
for Altur to ask such things. "I am Sanyel,
Altur. Let us go."
"I'll
have food waiting for you when you return,"
says Lupa.
Sanyel
begins leading Altur through the corridors and tunnels of Darksea. Wan
recognizes many of them but some seem different.
"Work
down here continues at a good pace," Sanyel
mutters. "We continue to unearth chambers
both buried and hidden by the Suraanese Cabal. I seriously doubt we will
unlock all of this place's mysteries before I am dead. Perhaps in my reincarnation....
perhaps," Sanyel muses.
Wan
pays particular attention to the chamber directly beneath the Temple; during
Gray's time this chamber had more entrances. It had three tombs but here
and now it has none. Instead, it has seven statues carved in bas relief
from the walls and ceilings; each of the statues leans inwards and looks
down upon the centre of the cavern. But when Wan looks to see what is there,
he sees nothing. *Note - Directly above the
centre of the cavern though is the Throne of the Gods.*
Sanyel
leads him on a now familiar route. The two men eventually emerge in the
exact same chamber that Wan first appeared. To his surprise though, instead
of just seeing the twin black obelisks and a veil of darkness between them,
he sees them without the veil and standing directly in front, he sees a
very inhuman looking being.
Wan
(as Altur) gazes
directly upon the Jixiliah Wan and feels a slight shiver up his spine.
"Wan
- We are here at the appointed time.." says
Sanyel, bowing deeply and reverently before his God. "What
wisdom can you offer us today?" Sanyel prepares
to write it all down.
Wan
- "Do you know me...?"
"You
are Altur, but you are also others...." the
Jixiliah replies.
Wan
nods in understanding.
"Do
you know what will happen?" Wan asks the Jixiliah.
"You
are Wan," the Jixiliah replies as all Jixiliah
do - cryptically.
"Here,
now, I am Wan."
"What
wisdom of the Ages do you have for us today..."
Sanyel asks the Jixiliah again, a little put off by Altur's forthright
questions.
The
Jixiliah's 6 hands come together in 3 fold prayer... "The
journey of the soul is Eternal. We each lead multiple lives. For One, these
lives are the Arda. For only One can achieve the Arda. Once achieved, this
soul is become the Soul of Life."
"Am
I connecting to souls through time?" asks
Wan. "I have many thoughts and many memories.
I am One and I am many. Why did you link your soul to mine... My eternal
soul?"
A wife,
7 daughters and a conjunction of moons...
But
the Jixiliah doesn't answer him. Instead, things shift around him again
and he finds himself in another time and place.
It
is night time. All around him, men and women in black and white robes carry
torches aloft. Wan is walking with them, as Altur again, through the warm
night air towards a ring of standing stones about two miles away from the
Holy Hill.
He suddenly
feels something small and warm in his hand. When he looks down, he sees
the hand of a small pale dark haired girl around 10 years of age. She smiles
up at him and helps lead him into the ring of the stones.
Miri
and Lupa, two of Altur and Aiah's seven daughters walk alongside their
father. In the sky above him, Wan witnesses the great moon Eldahar about
to participate in an extremely rare conjunction. Those
who possess the secrets of the Heavens, know that Eldahar has 3 moons.
Only one is normally visible. The others both orbit differently. The second
moon is small and passes in front of the first once every 7 years. It is
normally invisible to the naked eye because of its gaseous nature. When
it passes in front, it reacts to the first moon's proximity and flares.
It is also outlined by the larger moon behind it. The third moon is much
larger than the first but also more distant. It is a black moon with peculiar
properties that also render it undetectable to the naked eye. Only during
such conjunctions can it be seen, eclipsing the first moon from behind.
Wan
sees a beautiful raven haired woman approach him and take him gently by
the arm. It is Aiah, Altur's (his), wife. "Husband,"
she smiles. "Tonight we will touch the stars..."
Wan / Altur cannot help but see the physical similarity between this alluring
creature beside him and Alyx, the High Doman's vengeful companion. A firm
believer in reincarnation, the migration of souls through Time and Astral
cycles, Wan realizes that Alyx may very well be the reincarnation of Altur's
soul mate, Aiah. And if he is in some way the reincarnation of Altur, it
opens up a lot possibilities that Wan doesn't currently feel emotionally
qualified to handle.
Aiah
addresses the assembled priests and priestesses. "Welcome,
brothers, sister, husband.... To this most special of eves. Let us gather,
let us unite. And for this time and this time alone, let us soar and touch
the heavens. Let our souls be freed of our earthly confines and our hearts
and minds soar upon the winds. Time, Space, Void - all these things stand
before us, but nothing stands behind."
As everyone
in the circle holds hands and the three moons overlap, Aiah begins to rise
from her body and Wan feels the spirit of Altur rising along with her.
Together they pull the spirits of everyone in the circle with them, gently
lifting them into the air and onto the Astral realm.
They
begin to soar upwards, leaving the mortal coil and their bodies behind,
drawn by the rare overlapping waves of energy that exist many miles above
them. Soon the whole group is surrounded by crackling energy and bright
swirling colours. Each and every person begins to feel waves of power coursing
through them accompanied by visions of the past, present and future. For
those gathered there, at that moment, it is a deeply religious and spiritual
awakening - a moment of true enlightenment and a rite of passage for the
soul.
Aiah
swirls radiantly around Altur's aura and embraces him, for at that moment
in time, the two of them are at one with the World and each other.
Then
Wan snaps forward through Time back to reality, back to his silent broken
empty vault in Darksea.
"Well
that never happened before...." he says aloud.
Ashar
drops in for a quick chat.
T-Minus 13hrs 35
minutes.
Having
now heard about the strange entity that attacked his Deathwatch in Gost
Yaroch, Ashar projects himself to the city and tracks Wan back to Darksea.
He finds it odd that the stranger is outside the High Doman's vault, but
for the life of him doesn't recognize the beings aura. The idea that this
strange entity could be anything other than a rogue immortal of Elondil
or from some more distant pantheon is quickly dismissed. After all, what
is the likelihood of it being the High Doman or a Jixiliah? It doesn't
radiate as either. If Ashar weren't so busy, he would probably consult
the Oras Remus, but thanks to the Crown Wielders, their ridiculous use
of energy and the power drain of the Hollow, he simply doesn't consider
it.
Wan
notes a halo of blackness around this Ashar and the lack of a white mask.
It is a tangible, sickly sweet power that permeates the vault chamber like
thick astral treacle.
"Why
did you not keep your word?" asks Wan. "You
have been touched by evil."
"Here
you go with these opinions..." Ashar comments.
"Like so many, you're quick to judge and see
the worst in people. I advise you to not interfere with my servants. They
have an important role to fulfil and my patience may wear thin if they
continue to be assaulted."
"What
happened here? Where is the Jixiliah?" Wan
asks, gesturing at the smashed vault behind him.
Ashar
decides to answer. What purpose would it serve not to say? "I
killed it. It was necessary to remove such things from the World. Now,
who are you? I have a lot of things going on at the moment and cannot afford
to have an unaffiliated loose cannon causing me trouble. Are you a fallen
Immortal of Elondil? No, evidently not. Is it so hard to give me a name?
I am being polite. I'm asking nicely. Do not mistake my courtesy for weakness."
Wan
- "You know who I am."
Ashar
- "I assure you, I don't. I do not recognize
you and frankly am losing interest by the second."
Ashar appears distracted. Unbeknownst to Wan, Ashar is performing several
things at the same time in different locations around Eldahar. Only a small
part of him is here in Darksea and this part is still recovering from his
defence against Midian
and the other Underworld Pantheon Overlord's across Eldahar.
Wan
sees him make a gesture and anticipates an attack. With blinding speed,
Wan attempts to grab this Ashar in a hold but the moment he makes contact
with Ashar's inner aura, he is overcome with nausea and a sickening taint.
Forced to let go, Wan retreats back to his vault.
"Who
do you think you are?" Ashar asks, surprised
that anyone would be foolish enough to try and touch him. But just as quickly
as he asks the question, Ashar senses that he needs to go. "It's
no matter. I don't care who you are. Do not attack my Deathwatch though."
On that note, Ashar sinks into darkness and out of existence, deciding
to try another tact.
Wan
allows the waves of sickness to pass from his spirit. After a few seconds
he feels replenished and pure again. He turns his attention back to the
Vault and what might lie inside... But as he once again walks up the steps,
he finds himself swept up into yet another interactive vision of the past.
Godless
- A Darkness Rising.
See
Timeline entry.
He is
Altur again, walking through Darksea with Sanyel and Alizar. All three
of them arrive at the Dark portal chamber and stand shocked, for the Jixiliah
Wan isn't there and the Obelisks appear activated with a thin veil of darkness
hovering between them.
"His
body has been sucked into the Pillars... He has gone,"
says Altur, breaking the stunned silence.
Sanyel
drops to his knees in prayer. "Wan, have you
forsaken us? Have we done something wrong? What can we do to help? Should
we follow you or await your return?"
Alizar
joins the older man on the floor. "We are
alone, without guidance."
Suddenly
Wan is back outside his Vault again. He takes another step and... flash,
he is Altur standing in the chamber beneath the Holy Hill. The seven statues
have crumbled and a hole has opened up in the centre of the floor. He experiences
grief and a deep sadness as he finds himself standing over 3 shrivelled
bodies on the floor.... It is Alizar, Sanyel
and Ebus,
three of the priests of Wan.
They
appear drained, as if sucked dry by some terrible evil... Wan has seen
victims like this before... victims of the Living Dark.
Sure
enough, noises rise up from the hole in the floor and a terrible cold permeates
the air, causing Altur's breath to freeze. He hears the cries of his three
priests, in spiritual torment, screaming out from the black hole for forgiveness
and aid...
"The
darkness... the cold... forgive us... Wan, save us...We only wanted to
find you, to help you return... so cold... so.... dark...."
In attempting
to bring back their God, the three priests performed a forbidden ritual
that left them helpless and open to malign infection. Wan sees the remains
of the book they used on the floor and things begin to make sense. He suddenly
knows that Altur forbade anyone from entering pillars of darkness after
Wan until first, all other possibilities had been explored. But Alizar,
Sanyel and Ebus could not wait. The evil in Darksea had seeded dark thoughts
in their minds. And now that evil had claimed its sacrifices, for these
three misled priests of Wan had become the three Kings of the Living Dark.
Aiah
enters from nearby and for a moment stands in shock at what she can see
and hear. "What evil is this? The damage above...
There have been deaths."
Altur
replies "It is called the Living Dark."
Aiah
joins her husband and gazes into the gaping hole. She too hears the moans
of the priests' tormented souls. "This is
terrible. It is growing in power and unlike anything I've ever seen. We
should call upon Soloman. He will know what to do."
Altur
suddenly sees an image in his mind, of a Keystone with seven complex symbols
carved into it. "We must make a prison for
it. I know how."
Aiah
stares at him and nods. "Solomon's creations
have no equal. Summon him I shall."
Flash...
and Wan / Altur is ahead in Time again. He stands in the same spot, staring
at the hole, listening to the whispering voices inside. This time a priest
of Wan stands nearby. "See, it is still growing
Altur. What can we do? The whispers reach into our very dreams and still
there is no sign of the Wizard. How long must we wait? The others have
voted in your absence. They still believe that the best course of action
is to enter the portal, seeking Wan. But they want your support."
Wan
leaps through Time for the last time. He finds himself floating disembodied
in the same chamber. The bodies of the priests have now vanished and been
replaced with three familiar mounds of earth.
The
same priest as before enters the chamber holding a torch and places it
in a wall cresset. Why is Wan now floating without a body? Wan assumes
it is because he is now remembering a time when Altur wasn't around. Perhaps
his perception of these events is from the Jixiliah soul, cut off and left
to float around Darksea; the same half of Eternal soul that bonds with
High Doman Gray at his moment of death.
Wan
sees Soloman the Wizard enter the chamber from a side door. Resplendent
in his white robes and gripping an incandescent white staff, Soloman apologizes
for being late - several months late.
The
priest, called Thalamar,
though slightly older now, appears nervous and vexed by the Wizard's delayed
return. "Do you have it? The whispers have
driven people from the hill. So many have died already because of this
evil. We have lost our greatest lights to its darkness."
Soloman
confidently before the darkness and raises a hand for Thalamar to be silent.
"By the might of Wizardry and the might of
Prayer.... we shall consign this evil to an
Eternity of imprisonment. Yes, I have it."
Soloman bangs his staff upon the floor three times and conjures from thin
air a spinning cube of stone engraved with seven complex sigils. Wan recognizes
it as the Keystone of Wan.
The whispers begin rises in volume until three distinct and malevolent
alien voices can be heard spitting hatred at the Wizard. "I
am Soloman. With this stone, I shall imprison you forever!"
*Note
- Soloman was always a bit too confident in his abilities. By forever,
he actually had a number of years in mind, but secretly hoped that his
magic and skill would transcend such limitations. Of course, he wasn't
about to tell Thalamar that the Keystone would probably fail after the
first Astral cycle of 800 years. Or that he refused to waste time anticipating
the effect negative spirit would have on the keystone. If something went
wrong, he would just come back and fix it again. As he did with all of
his mistakes.*
Wan
snaps back to the future again and finds himself, finally, at top of the
vault steps.
Inside
the vault is empty. Wan feels sadness. "Why
did this Ashar do this? Why would he need to destroy a Jixiliah?"
Wan
realizes he needs Alyx and attempts to summon her to him. But after a few
minutes, she still hasn't come.
Session
27/07/06 @ 08.44
Equinox
- "When Light and Dark are Equal"
T-Minus 13hrs 29
minutes.
Instead
of Alyx, a man appearing in his mid 30's, with black hair, streaked with
grey ethereally materializes. Dressed in a flowing black and white robe
with bright silver lining, he arrives in a circular arc of light that starts
at midday and flashes quickly around to midnight.
"Very
busy.." thinks Wan, commenting to himself
about the amount of spiritual traffic passing by his Vault these days.
"I
am the Spirit Equinox. I was travelling in the vicinity, of a few 1000
miles, when I heard a powerful summons being sent from this place."
"I
too am a Spirit, of the House of Equinox. I am the Keeper of the Spirit
Road."
"And
you are...?" Equinox asks.
"I
don't really know. I am working on it."
"The
end of the World is nigh...!" exclaims Equinox.
"That
is a distinct possibility... someone has opened the Primary Gate of Mount
Eldahar..." says Wan.
"There
is no Mnt Eldahar, Law and Chaos were wiped from the face of the World..."
Equinox reveals.
"Brother
Spirit, I am flesh, I am spirit, I exist..."
says Wan, still cryptic and unwilling to give his name.
"I
have memories of defending the Spirits on the edge of the Dark lake...
In that respect, you do not worry me."
"The
Spirits of Akilla are no more..." Equinox
declares triumphantly, as if that news will bring shock and awe.
A 360
degree spiritual light appears above Wan's head. As it begins turning,
like a lock mechanism, Wan decides to move out of its path. He makes it
clear a fraction of a second later, just as the light locks down into a
powerful spiritual holding cell.
"He's
attacked me..." Wan thinks to himself, moving
across the dividing space between him and the newcomer. Wan grabs Equinox
into an unbreakable neck hold. Equinox tries to evaporate but doesn't go
anywhere. "Who are you...?"
Equinox squirms and shouts.
But
Wan doesn't tell him. Instead, Wan starts interrogating him. Equinox doesn't
reveal much. "You cannot just summon spirits
and expect to be granted respect and an audience without even announcing
your name or purpose. Do you not understand?"
Equinox stresses. "I bow to no one I do not
recognize or now of."
Wan
has had enough. He turns and leaves, speeding through Darksea to the surface.
Wan has remembered the golden scroll cases; perhaps they actually contain
scrolls and are not mere ornaments upon his tomb.
As Wan
vanishes from sight, Equinox stands up straight and dusts his robe down.
"So Doman, my old friend, the World plays
you as a Bishop against me. The depths that this World will go to preserve
its existence is astounding. How on earth it brought you back up I can
only guess. You're one annoyance I was definitely not expecting."
Equinox clicks his fingers and vanishes in a warp of darkness.
T-Minus 13hrs 24
minutes.
He
opens one and takes a delicately rolled sheet of vellum out. "This
is the 14th Scroll of the High Doman of Wan..."
it reads and Wan breathes a slight sigh of relief. Something about these
scrolls seems familiar and he settles down, reading through them all at
an incredible speed.
But
they are edited, embellished and not the same as he remembers. They fill
some holes but leave others wide open. One thing Wan does learn from the
scrolls is that he needs help - someone who he can trust and help him make
sense of the World... Someone like Alyx of Akilla.
Memories
of Alyx
T-Minus 13hrs 10
minutes.
Flash
of memory, sat on the steps before the vault. Alyx arrives on the scene.
"Oh,
I'm really pissed off now..." she says, berating
the Merlendy Resistance for several minutes.
"I
hope when you get your memory back you don't become some asshole..."
she adds.
"Do
you think we were destined to be together?"
"At
least I'll have a fiend, someone who doesn't judge me and accepts me for
what I am..."
Alyx
"high five's"
the Doman, demonstrating to Wan, through this simple gesture, the seal
of their friendship.
Home
is where the Spirit is.
Session
09-08-06
T-Minus 13hrs 9 minutes.
Wan
leaps up and relying on the memories of Altur to guide him, transforms
into a pure astral being. He wills himself into the sky, travelling higher
and higher until he is at the same height that Altur and Aiah reached during
the lunar conjunction. Once there, visions and voices assail his mind but
he attempts to tunes into one in particular. Locking on to a specific feeling
and direction, he speeds North, across thousands of miles and a mighty
range of mountains before descending, touching the ground and becoming
solid again.
Wan
stands before a black wooden door with a skull knocker, at the bottom of
a fifty foot long earthen tunnel. At the base of the door, Wan sees a door
mat saying "Unwelcome".
"Who
is it?" a young woman asks from the otherside
of the door.
"Someone
looking for somebody," Wan replies, unsure
how to proceed in such circumstances. After all, how often do you turn
up, having come back from the supposed dead as the very being you once
worshipped as your God.
Wan
hears the woman on the otherside donning armour and unsheathing weapons.
The sounds are promising, as the Alyx he remembers would definitely react
like that.
The
door then opens, revealing a slender but well endowed (she
always was) woman in her early twenties, with
jet black hair tied back and braided. She is wearing a black suit of chainmail
armour of very fine design and links (Dark
Fey) and grasping with white knuckles, a slender
long sword.
As
soon as the young woman sees Wan, she gasps and staggers backwards, her
hands shaking.
"Alyx?"
says Wan.
But
Alyx barely hears him. Instead, she just stares at the apparition before
her and panics, sending out a spiritual summons for aid.
"I
need your help!" Alyx says aloud, but not
to Wan, her heart thumping like a drum in her chest. Can this really be
who it appears to be? Can it be Gray? The person standing before her seems
real enough, but Alyx can't help pinching her side just in case.
"High
five?"
Furry
slippers with "Laylak"
and "Ross," written
on them.
"He's
a slippery fish monger..." - Wan's description
of Ashar.
Another
object in Alyx's strange collection is the severed head / bust of a bald
headed Gray, High Doman of Wan - swiped one night from a Daasin Temple
so that Alyx could have it in her house. Unfortunately when Wan sees it,
Alyx has been using it as a modelling dummy for her ivory hair clips.
*Note
- The Dark Spirits of Akilla & Cairis used to number 336. Half were
left up North, half down South. Ischandi didn't want to keep all of his
"eggs" in one basket as this would increase the risk of rebellion and in-fighting.
Out of the 168 Spirits of Akilla in 2602 there are now only 81 houses remaining.
Alyx has been frantically trying to reestablish Houses by using Woethorn
and the aid of Cantoninus but it takes time. People with the right qualifications
don't grow on trees.*
Very impressive
tall man. 6'8" tall with long white hair, streaked with silver and gold.
Dressed in a white shirt, black trousers. Big elaborate belt, buckle. Buckle
is like a shining moon. Eyes are golden... liquid.... "My
name is Cantoninus, Lord of the Host. And you are?"
"You
can call me Wan..." says Wan, finally admitting
to someone who he thinks he is.
"Do
you mean Alyx harm...?" Cantoninus asks.
"No.
I travelled 1000's of miles to find her. She is my friend. We fought a
great war..."
"I
have come from the pillars... someone has opened the gate. Ashar has not
fulfilled his end of the bargain..." Wan continues.
"I
need to prove to Alyx and myself that you are who you say you are. I can
do this with my aura but you must allow it to pass through you. Will you
allow this?" Cantoninus regards Wan quite
seriously and stands protectively by Alyx's side. Alyx is still trembling
from shock.
"I
will do this, purely for my friendship of you..."
Wan says to Alyx.
Cantoninus
proceeds and analyses Wan's aura. Wan notices that the Spirit Lord's aura
contains thousands of living spiritual organisms that briefly latch onto
his own aura and spirit and come away altered by it. To Wan's recollection,
he has never seen a being with spirit quite like this. After a minute,
the Spirit Lord withdraws and the verdict is in. "He
is one of us, He is ANU. He is one of the Great House, a branch of it I
have never encountered before and cannot fathom. He can be trusted." But
before Cantoninus finishes speaking, Alyx rushes forward and hugs her friend,
a few tears running down her face; Tears she hasn't shed for anyone or
anything in 15 years.
"You
can call me Gray, or you can call me Wan. I am Wan, but Gray's thoughts
and memories are mine as well... I have very sketchy memories of what finally
happened with Gray, but he must have known that he had to stay... He would
have stayed. But it may not be the last time that he you see him. I feel
that we may be reunited again. Things are not right."
Wan
thinks there may be a major problem somewhere. "Everybody
seems to be having illusions of grandeur... Ashar must have managed to
manipulate himself to rule over hell... I need to know what has happened
over the last 15 years... Why would Ashar be destroying spirits linked
to the Eternal flame?"
Wan
- "Nice to meet you Cantoninus, I am WAN."
Cantoninus
- "A pleasure."
Wan
- "I feel I should be here, and that I should
have met you. However, I am newborn, and I do not know what problems we
face, or what future lies ahead. But I swear by the power of my Faith,
I will protect the Arda and the Cycle of Life. |